Pains of Sacrifice
Disclaimer: I own nothing
A/N:
Chapter 3 (Seeing Another Side)
Trina resigned herself to her room most days, not feeling so eager to come out except to eat. It was quiet there, and she could work on her college studies. She did keep tabs on Tori and her friends every now and then. Things were getting rough for all of them, however, as far as she could tell.
The fire hit everyone hard, and as they went into their first year of college, they seemed ready to break apart. Then there was Tori, she seemed to change, and it wasn't for the better. A rift had formed, and Tori only seemed to be growing away from them-she hardly spoke to her own family anymore either. Trina could only assume it was a result of the shock from the fire and witnessing Jason's death; but she had no certainty of that.
As for her, she was just trying to hold on through this pregnancy. Her studies were the only thing helping her to get by, the only thing distracting from everything. She didn't really want to give up her child, but she knew she'd make a terrible mother. She knew she couldn't give that kid a life it needed. She was worthless, and everyone damn well made sure she knew; but nothing proved it more than watching the man she loved vanish in those flames.
There was a brief knock on the door. Trina jolted back in shock, dropping her pen on the desk and glancing over. The only people home right now were Tori and her friends. "Hey, it's Andre." She raised an eyebrow. "I know it's weird, but is it okay if I come in and say hi or something? It's a bit dull downstairs."
She looked at her textbook and notes, then answered with a shrug. "I need a break anyway. May as well." The door opened partially and Andre poked his head in, he smiled gently and glanced at the textbook.
"Hope I'm not interrupting."
"I've been studying in and out, and working out as much as I can. My body and my brain muscles are sore enough as it is." He chuckled softly and entered the room. "Why are you even talking to me? You guys usually stay away from me."
"Well, that's the others; and mainly Jade…everyone else kind of just follows her lead, unfortunately." He blinked twice. "Except for Cat and Robbie, they just don't voice their opinion much. Beck's too wrapped up in all the drama going on with him and his girlfriend to really react."
"That leaves you. You're a follower."
"That I am. Unfortunately." He sighed heavily and sat on the edge of the bed, his hands swept down his face and he looked to the still-boarded up window with curiosity. "What's with that?"
"Don't ask." She spun her chair around fully and crossed her arms. "Dad put it up just after that fire. Been there all summer long, worn out its purpose but he hasn't taken it down yet."
"I hope your parents aren't locking you in the house." He raised his eyebrows, pulled the corner of his mouth into his cheek and hummed. "Tori seems to think they are, says maybe you've gotten crazier or something so they're keeping you inside." Trina laughed out, hurt but intrigued.
"Don't believe everything you hear about me or my parents."
"I try not to. Not anymore, anyway. Someone in that group has to start thinking for themselves, and it might as well be me."
"So." She played at a smirk. "What's going on downstairs that's so dull you felt like coming up to talk to the 'imprisoned psycho girl'?" Andre coughed out a laugh and raised his shoulders.
"Everything. Beck and Jade are caught up in their usual argument-"
"Over, let me guess…" She rubbed her temples, closing her eyes and making a strained look for a second before pushing open her hands. "Another girl." Andre leaned back, laughing and smacking his leg.
"Same old nonsense, yep. Jade thinks he's cheating on her with some girl he looked at, and he's standing his ground. I keep telling them, they need some kind of therapy."
"We all need therapy, Andre. Every last one of us."
"True." He sighed once more and ran his hand through his hair. "Sometimes it feels like Cat and Robbie are the one with their heads on their shoulders." Trina smacked her lips and started to nod. As far as she could tell, those two didn't seem as caught up in all the drama. "Robbie's actually becoming less of the person he was. Growing up a bit."
"That's nice. What are those two up to right now?"
"Downstairs? Cat's on the phone with her roommate, Sam, discussing a babysitting client they're booking. Robbie's studying a book of artwork for his class. He's got a plan already, more than most of us." She hummed and lifted her eyebrow, growing even more curious. "Seems he wants to be an art teacher. I say great, he's always had an appreciation for the arts."
"And what about Tori? She should be keeping you guys entertained."
"She's actually out in the back yard." He poked his thumb over his shoulder and Trina's expression fell flat. "Practicing some of her singing and checking out social media pages for different booking agents. She's trying to become some hardcore celebrity."
"Well, she seemed to think that's what all of you guys wanted to. Wasn't it?"
"Nah." He waved his hand through the air. "Most of them want to teach. I don't mind playing for local joints, but I don't really want to be some major celebrity." It was a surprising admission. "I mean, that incident with Squires, and then the whole thing with Tori when she got discovered that one time; it left a bit of a sour taste in our mouths. Beck already doesn't need a million girls fawning over him, especially since he's trying to make that relationship with Jade work out. Jade saw what Tori was going through with that agent incident and decided she didn't need other people telling her how to behave, what to do, and so on."
"She's never been one for that."
"Exactly." He chuckled softly. "After the whole reality series thing, Robbie and Cat could see how much someone like a Hollywood executive could twist the truth. They see the way some celebrities act and just see that life as a life of lies." He snapped his fingers and grinned. "You ought to hear Cat's rendition of Hillary Duff's 'Dignity'. She does a damn good job, if you ask me."
"I hear my name?" Someone asked. Trina jerked her head over and saw Cat standing meekly at the door. Her hands were folded at her waist and she raised her eyebrows. "Got off the phone and wondered where Andre ran off to."
"We were just chatting," Andre replied. He stretched out his arm. "I was just telling Trina you do a mean cover of that Hillary Duff song." Cat blushed a bit and shrugged.
"I'm not one to brag."
"Actually." Trina reclined her desk chair and studied the girl closely. She was curious now. "I kind of want to hear it. If you don't mind." Cat stepped into the room and closed the door behind her.
"Okay. I guess." Trina folded her arms across her stomach, relaxing a bit. Andre leaned himself against the headboard of the bed and stretched his legs out over the bed, hanging his shoes off of the sheets.
Cat began the song on a fairly decent note, but as she went into it with growing power, Trina could feel the chills travelling down her spine. Her foot began tapping the ground and she leaned forward, being drawn into the girl's voice.
It was exciting, though not her style of music. When Cat finished, Trina applauded with Andre. Cat did a small bow and had to pull her hair back behind her head on the rise. "That was awesome." Trina flashed a toothy grin, still clapping a couple times. She then rested her arm on her desk and leaned her head to the side. "Are you sure you don't want to go be a singer?"
"Thank you," Cat smiled and then let her expression turn sour, "and no thanks." Cat paused, her eyes travelling to the walls. "I've never been in this room. I just realized that." It wasn't as though Trina ever invited them in. She wasn't sure why she was letting them in now, to be perfectly honest. "I didn't know you were so into MMA fighting."
"What?" Andre raised his hand, and Cat turned her attention to him. "You don't remember that time she kicked our asses? Doped out on that dental medicine, still able to beat the shit out of three men."
"That was something." Cat took a seat on the floor and leaned her back against the wall. "Honestly, I know that night began with Jade wanting to get Tori involved in taking out a couple of those girls at that karaoke place; but the whole thing with Tori wanting to get out of looking after her sister." Cat motioned to the posters. "I always suspected there was something more to everything; but this proves it. I don't see anything in this room that implies anything you were interested in at Hollywood Arts."
She arched an eyebrow and pat the desk with her hand. "Well…"
Andre slipped his hands behind his head, humming softly. "Actually that's true." She glanced to him and drew in a deep breath. "You've always acted like a crazy, obnoxious diva; but only whenever we were hanging out with your sister. I don't think any of us ever actually saw you in apart from those moments."
"Robbie did," Cat replied while rolling her eyes. Trina exhaled and studied the redhead closely. There was a small glimmer of annoyance as Cat crossed her arms and slowly shook her head. "A while back during his stalking phase, as I call it; and a bit into his reporter phase." Trina raised her chin. "He said he stayed a bit after everyone left because he wanted to see what your family was like behind the scenes. He followed everyone, watched how Mr. Vega had to leave family dinner because of a homicide. He saw how Mrs. Vega broke down and cried by herself in the master bedroom. Watched as Tori practiced for a stage play; and then there was you…"
Already amazed by how much intel Robbie may have gained on their family, she couldn't cut Cat off now. "What did he catch?" Andre sat upright, his brow furrowing and head tilting a bit.
"Yeah good question. He never shared any of this with us."
"Only me. Some things he and I talk about are just between us." Cat shrugged and then took another quick breath. "He saw the posters in your room, the workout equipment that is-" She looked around the room and Trina poked her thumb to the walk-in closet her father built some years ago.
"I store that stuff in the closet."
"Okay." Cat scrunched her nose and nodded. "But he said you were talking to your boyfriend on the phone, a boy none of us knew much about. I mean, Tori would have us believe that-"
"That no man would come near me with a ten foot pole." Trina circled her hand in the air and rolled her eyes. "Yes, I know, get on with it." She grumbled a bit and Cat reclined, an apologetic look flashed before her eyes.
"Sorry, I didn't mean any offense."
"It's fine." She smirked at Cat. "You know, that boy was the one you dragged off that one day at Sikowitz's sleepover." Cat's jaw dropped and her hands flew up over her mouth.
"Oh my god! Mr. Sikowitz's nephew?" Cat leaned forward, her voice falling into a panic. "I'm so sorry, I didn't know I was making any moves on someone else's man back then-much less yours. He tried to say-but I didn't let him get a word in or I certainly would-"
Trina laughed and put up a hand. "It's okay." Tears filled her eyes and she smiled briefly. "Actually when that happened, I was flattered. But, moving back to what we were talking about, what else did Robbie say about his findings about me?"
"He said you seemed 'normal', but also scary in a sense. He said something about not really wanting to get into a tussle with you." He may have seen her sparring. "He said you were very athletic and it surprised him that he didn't see any flyers about solo performances or musicals."
"I was never very into that stuff, to be honest." Trina sighed and looked to her desk drawer. Inside was an old application for the school she'd gone to with the superb athletics division. "I was attending this school, learning all the core subjects and taking part in their athletic program. They had the best in the state; but I left that school to go into Hollywood Arts."
Just then, the door, already cracked opened a bit and Robbie poked his head in. "Why in the hell would you do something like that?" Trina threw up her hands and Cat looked over her shoulder, shooting Robbie a scolding glare. He cleared his throat. "Sorry, I wanted to see where Cat went off to. Came up here and started to knock, but then heard you guys talking about me, so…"
"So you eavesdropped," Cat remarked with annoyance.
"Sorry. I-I'll go away, I didn't mean to interrupt."
"Well you're here now," Trina grumbled, "You might as well. But please, lock the fucking door." Robbie did as asked and took a seat beside Cat. "Is Tori still out back or something?"
"Yes, unfortunately. Beck and Jade aren't even talking right now. Jade's on her phone, and Beck has a pair of headphones on, listening to music."
"Wonderful." Trina rolled her eyes. "Because entertaining my sister's friends was on my plan today." She couldn't help but to crack a smile, since it was nice to have someone to talk to anyway. "And as for your question…Tori wasn't doing so hot in her old school, about to lose a grade because she wasn't understanding the material. I felt like Hollywood Arts would be somewhere she'd thrive, because she always did better when singing."
"So why not get her in the school without sacrificing your own goals?" Trina paused, hearing her counselor's voice in Robbie's. She cleared her throat and shut her eyes.
"At the time, Hollywood Arts was by audition. They were about to go through that brief period of invitation only, and the best way to do that was for a student to recommend someone. I'd just started dating Jason, met him at a martial arts camp, and I knew his uncle extremely well. So…I got Uncle Erwin-I call him that-to vote me into the school so I could get on good terms with Principal Eikner and convince him to pay attention to Tori during one of those performances."
"Wow…" Robbie clicked his tongue and gently brushed his pant leg. "You never went back to that one school?"
"No. It would've been too hard, to expensive and too long of a process. But then, Tori was getting picked on, so I couldn't leave."
Robbie seemed confused, but after a few seconds he sighed and shared a knowing look with Cat. "Jade."
"I told Jade to pick on me. Gave her a reason to by acting like an obsessed diva, and used that as an excuse to always be near Tori whenever Jade was around." Robbie slowly raised a hand over his eyes while Cat shook her head.
"And Jason…" Andre let out a weary sigh and looked at Trina. "He was in that fire. He didn't survive, did he?" Trina grit her teeth and bowed her head, tears were moving slowly along her cheeks now. Her hands tightened around her knees and every tensed muscle in her arms were burning.
After a few seconds, she caught Andre's eyes drifting towards the trashcan next to her desk. She knew what was in there, what he was likely able to see. His face grew more sullen Sand she thought he said a curse under his breath.
"So what major are you declaring?" Andre motioned to her textbook. Trina gently closed the textbook, heaving forth a heavy sigh.
"Athletic training." She didn't know why she was bothering with it, though. She didn't think she was going to be able to do anything with it, she didn't even think she'd be good at it anymore. "I figure I have to have something. Pointless as it seems."
"It's not pointless." Andre stood from the bed and mustered a tiny smile. "I think it's good to have something to focus on."
"Yeah, well. I've been studying night and day, so…I could use a break." She stood up and stretched, groaning softly. "Let's go downstairs. I'll cook some soup for everyone. May as well. That, and try to set something up that'll give you all something to do."
Robbie chuckled at that and helped Cat to her feet. "Yeah, and maybe actually get Beck and Jade to quit shooting daggers at each other for one bloody minute."
"I didn't know Tori was going to be so busy, guys. I'm sorry."
"Not your fault," Andre replied, "Not your fault or your responsibility." She smiled faintly and he gave her a nod of respect. "Thanks for letting us come up and talk. It was nice." The other two nodded.
"It was great seeing this side of you," Cat added. Trina chuckled softly and guided them out of her room. She didn't think it was a great view of herself to see; but it was a different one for them, that much was true.
Thoughts? I know the first four chapters are coming fast, but I really just want to get to the hospital point quickly for you guys. The past, as well as the events of Lessons won't get a huge amount of focus, just the crucial moments and some of the backstory like how Trina grew close to the friends. The primary purpose of this tale is a continuation of the future, with Trina forming a relationship with her daughter.
