Hello, once again! Get ready for lots of Jori, fluff, and drama. I really hope you guys are enjoying reading this as much as I am writing it, let me know what you think!
3.
Saturday Night
Hollywood Arts talent quest. You'd expect amazing things, right? Because it's an arts school and all. Well, wrong. I watch from backstage as Sinjin tells some absolutely terrible jokes to a very tough crowd. He gets booed off and I laugh.
"Next up, Victoria Vega!" I cheer loudly as she walks on from the opposite side of the stage and sits down behind a keyboard.
"This one goes out to a very special girl in my life." She starts to slowly play, and my heart flutters.
"I can finally see that you are right here beside me."
She looks over at me, before continuing to sing.
"I am not my own, for I have been made new, please don't let me go, I desperately need you."
She continues to sing and play, as I watch through my tears. I barely notice as she walks off the stage.
The crowd cheers as something surges through me. Pride. I am so proud to be with this girl. Once the theatre quiets down, I hear the MC's voice cut through the chat, and I tense.
"That was beautiful, next up, is Caterina Valentine!"
She pushes past me without a second glance and hops onto the stage, the usual twinkle in her eye, and I am curious as to what she is going to sing.
"This song also goes out to a very special girl in my life." She glances over at me and throws me a wicked smile.
Heavy guitar blasts out of the speakers.
"Back in school they never told us what we needed to know, like how to deal with the despair of someone breaking your heart!"
I stand there, gobsmacked, as Cat screams and sings, about me. Tears began to flow as I listen to the lyrics
Have another drink and drive yourself home,
I hope there's ice on all the roads,
and you can think of me when you forget your seatbelt
and again when your head goes through the windshield.
Is that what you call tact?
You're as subtle as a brick in the small of my back,
so let's end this call, and end this conversation.
Is that what you call a getaway?
Tell me what you got away with,
cause you left the frays, from the ties you severed
when you say best friends means friends forever.
Tears begin to race down, and I hurriedly wipe them away. I can't show vulnerability. Especially not to Cat Valentine. She finishes the song with a growl and basks in glory for a few moments.
She shoves past me and I shiver, she is so cold. And I am nervous. I am usually never nervous, and yet here I am, shaking.
"Well, that was rocking! And now finally, Jadelyn West!"
I breathe in and lean my shoulders back, walking onto the stage, getting the usual Jade West into gear. I pick up the guitar and sling it over my shoulder before strumming.
I begin to play. I can almost feel Cat's eyes boring into me as I begin to sing the song.
Our song.
I won't regret saying this, this thing, that I'm saying,
is it better than keeping my mouth shut?
That goes without saying,
Call, break, it off.
Call, break, my own heart.
Maybe I would've been something you'd be good at.
Maybe you would've been something I'd be good at.
I continue to sing, tears forming in my eyes, thankful that the audience is so far away from the stage, so they can presume that I am fine. I finish the song and everyone begins to cheer. I give them a half hearted wave and walk off into the waiting arms of Tori.
"Baby, baby it's okay, shhh." She hugs me closer and I break down.
"It hurts so bad."
"I know, I know it does." Tori's arms wrap around me tighter as pain racks through my soul. I claw into her, letting go of my tough girl facade, if only just momentarily.
"Let's go. Now." I growl into her shoulder, needing to escape this place. She nods as I pull away. I grab her hand and begin to pull her through the crowd. Compliments fly towards us as we walk through, but I barely give Tori enough time to smile at them, at the rate that I'm dragging her.
"TORI!" I roll my eyes. Please no, not now. The figure rushes into me and Tori with such force that I crush under their weight.
"Chicas, you were so good!" Andre, the dreadlocked wonder blocks my only path out of this goddamn place.
"Thanks!" Tori replies, not harsh enough to blow off her best friend. I usually don't mind Andre, but right now I don't want anyone to see me this openly vulnerable.
"Beck and I were planning to get some pizza, do you guys want to..." Andre falters.
I glance up and see Tori furiously shaking her head at him and motioning towards me.
"Riight... well, I'll see you guys at school Monday... bye!"
Tori waves and smiles at him, before I begin to pull her off again. I mutter thanks. She squeezes my hand and I can almost feel the fresh air upon me.
It's here. It's all around me, and I take huge gulps of it, trying to steady myself.
We basically run towards her car, I'm just so desperate to get away. I stand at the passenger door, waiting.
"Shit." I hear her mumble, fumbling around in her pockets.
"I can't find my goddamn keys. Or my phone. I must've left them backstage, come on."
But I can't do it. I recoil against the bonnet.
"I can't go back in there, just go."
She stares at me. "I'm not going without you."
I shake my head. "Go. Now. Don't argue with me, please."
She wilts. "I'll be back in a minute." She gives me one last lingering look before running towards the direction of the school.
I sit on the hood of the car and calm myself down. I raise my face towards the sky and listen to the silence. Just as I feel my breathing slow down, I am interrupted.
"Well, look who it is!"
Please Lord no. I look up and there she is. Her red hair tumbling down her back, a pure look of hatred upon her face. Surrounding her were two girls I remember from Karaoke Dokie. Hayley and Tara, or something dumb like that. I can't believe she's hanging with these losers.
Cat steps closer to me and I flinch. I curse myself for letting my guard down. She continues to move closer until we're face to face.
"How dare you sing that song. How fucking dare you."
Ouch. Guess she didn't appreciate that then.
I stare into her eyes, bringing up my defences.
"Don't tell me how to live my life, you don't own me."
She laughs. "Don't worry about that sweetie, I'd rather not have anything to do with your life, but if you continue to do pathetic little things like that because you think it will get my attention, you're sorely mistaken."
I look into her deep brown eyes, hoping to see the familiar glint of friendship, forgiveness. All I see is hatred. No. A flash of pain as I speak.
"Don't worry, I don't want your attention."
I want to hurt her. "Now get the fuck out my face before I destroy you."
Mask back on, face void of emotion. I begin to rise and she backs off.
"Freak." She mutters, dragging those bimbos away.
"Go fuck yourself!" One of the bimbos calls out, and I smirk.
"Don't need to, I have someone to do that for me!" Cat pulls the fingers at me over her shoulder and I can't help but sigh at the pettiness of the situation, but that doesn't help the hurt.
No, Jade, mask on. Walls up.
"I'm back! I'm so sorry it took me forever to find them and I bumped into Trina and oh god I couldn't get away."
Tori fumbles with the lock and I am silent. I curse in advance at the shortness of the trip. As we drive, there is silence. We walk through the front door in silence, we walk up the stairs in yeah, and you guessed it. More silence.
I walk through her bedroom door before she does and she kicks it shut behind her. She sighs, leaning against the door.
She looks at me expectantly but I say nothing, lying back on her bed and staring up at the stars on her ceiling.
I feel her sit down next to me, and she begins to stroke my leg.
I tense.
"Baby."
I can almost hear the exasperation in her voice.
"Talk to me. I saw Cat in the parking lot."
Damn. I hoped I wouldn't have to go there.
"We were just having a... uh... friendly chat, that's all." I mutter, never taking my eyes off the ceiling.
I know she's rolling her eyes. I don't even have to look at her and I know. Damn, she's predictable.
"I'm worried about you. And her. You can't let your friendship go down the drain."
I sit up, angrily. "I'm not the one who flushed it away, Tori. I may have been the cause but I never wanted this."
She smiles at my bad pun. She takes my hand and begins to kiss it lightly, her eyes never leaving my face. The rage in me begins to die out, and instead butterflies fly in its place.
She shuffles closer to me and pulls me down to lie next to her. These are the second pair of brown eyes I've stared into tonight, but now I feel totally at ease, so safe, so calm, so... loved.
"I love how I feel when I'm with you." I whisper, our faces so close yet not touching.
"And how's that?"
I go to reply, but there are too many words that will describe how I'm feeling, so I just settle for one.
"Perfect."
She wraps her arms around me and I nestle into the nape of her neck, breathing in her scent and taking in her warmth.
"i love you." She mutters.
"Yeah, I know." We are silent then.
"I love you too."
I pull my head back and she smiles at me, moving closer and she places her lips against mine.
Like I said, perfect.
Well, I hope that makes up for the lack of drama/Jori in the last chapter. Songs in this chapter were; Meteor Shower – Owl City, Seventy Times Seven – Brand New and Call It Off (This story's namesake) – Tegan and Sara. Please review! Much love xx
