Hello again! Thank you all for your reviews and kind words. I really appreciate them and am glad to hear you're into the story. After this chapter, a lot of things will pick up, so bear with me and stay tuned.
Enjoy Chapter Three!
Tori's POV
I think I've tried on about eight different outfits before finally settling on one; A pair of black skinny jeans with a red off-the-shoulder top. I made my hair into big curls; I always preferred my hair curly to straight. I toss on a pair of black fashion boots and start to accessorize when Trina comes barging in, shutting the door and locking it behind her. She has a robe and shower cap on, and there's green stuff all over her face.
"Um...you do know we're supposed to leave in a half hour...right, Trina?" I start applying light make-up to my face as she paces back and forth through my room.
"You are such a twit sometimes! You can't get all dressed up out in the open! What if mom and dad come by?! They'll know we're not staying in tonight!" She whispers fiercely at me, rummaging through my closet and grabbing every over-sized sweater I have. "Put one of these on, stat!" I roll my eyes, finishing my make up and turning to face her.
"So you're telling me I have to look like crap to go to this party?" I eye her outfit, and she groans, opening her robe and removing her shower cap. She reveals a very short black dress, and her hair falls down at her shoulders in small curls. Just when I think she can't surprise me any further, she pulls off the green stuff, revealing it was a mask.
"Tori, you've got a lot to learn." She checks herself out in my mirror, blowing a kiss to her reflection before she starts to tie her robe back up.
"Okay, Trina. I get your plan, and I'm sure it's worked dozens of times. But I think I have a better idea. Take off your silly get up, look nice, and meet me downstairs."
"I swear to God, Tori, if you mess up this night for me by trying to play the honesty card with mom and dad, I'll never speak to you again!"
"Promise?" I chuckle at my response as Trina stomps out of my room and back into hers. I gather my things and throw them into my purse, looking myself over in the mirror once more.
"You got this, Tori. It's just a party. You'll be with all of your friends and have an awesome time. Just relax and stop worrying." I nod at my reflection and head out of my room, Trina meeting me in the hall way.
"Your plan better be good, Tori." Trina mutters as we make our way down the stairs. My mom is in the kitchen washing a couple of dishes while my father is on the living room couch, reading the paper. He has the TV on, but it's more for background noise. I keep my pace natural, Trina tagging along behind. I pray that she doesn't try improvising too much and destroy my plan; her acting can be a bit...much. My mom looks up from the dishes, smiling when she sees us.
"Hey girls, don't you both look lovely! Where are you off to?" Her tone is sweet, but I know underneath, she's suspicious because I'm with Trina. She thinks better of me then to do something I'm not allowed to do, but she knows Trina is basically unstoppable.
I wouldn't say my parents are super strict, but they aren't so keen on parties. I did ask last year if I could go to one, but when they found out there was no parental supervision and that there'd probably be alcohol, I was instantly denied. Did I mention that I have a hard time not telling my parents the truth about everything?
Well that stops now.
"Thanks, mom. We're heading to Nozu to meet up with a few friends and get some food. Then we're going to Karaoke Dokie to sing a bit. Is that alright?"
My mom's suspicious eyes soften, and I realize I'm actually getting away with it.
"Of course that's fine. And...you're bringing Trina, too?"
I tense a little; my mom knows I'd never willingly bring Trina with me, mostly because all of my friends hate her.
"Well if she wants to get there she's going to need someone to drive her, since she, as we all remember, failed her road test." Trina snickers, elbowing me gently to go along with it. I'm pleasantly surprised, and play off of her words.
"Yes, Trina. I failed. We all know. But you gotta promise not to be all over Beck! He's not into you!" I grin, knowing I mean this both in our improv and in reality. She glares at me, but keeps quiet, thank goodness.
"Well, you girls have fun. We'll probably be asleep by the time you get home, but promise me you won't be out too late! Midnight is curfew, got it?" Trina rolls her eyes and starts walking towards the door. I walk over to my mom and hug her, giving her a reassuring smile.
"I'll make sure we're back in time, mom. No worries." She nods and walks back into the kitchen, while I give my dad a hug and meet Trina at the car.
"Well, baby sister, I guess that was okay. Now let's get going! Oh, and by the way, Beck so wants me. He's just is in denial."
"Whatever you say, Trina." I take a deep breath as she starts driving towards the party. Here we go!
Jade's POV
I laugh hysterically, finishing off my first drink as I watch Robbie attempt to arm wrestle André. For a bit, André pretended it was tough, just to mess with Robbie. But then, in one swift move, Robbie was down and out. For losing, Robbie had to take a shot. Cat giggled, watching intently with her eye lashes batting his way. To impress her, he took the shot and acted as if it didn't burn. The moment she looked away, he downed a sweet drink to rid himself of the shot taste. I looked Beck's way, raising an eyebrow, and he just chuckled, knowing that my prediction about Robbie was probably going to be correct.
The party itself was getting underway; people playing games, dancing or just hanging out and chatting. There were already a lot of people here and tons more would be showing up. The house itself was quite large, with three main big rooms downstairs alone. The upstairs had five bed rooms and another large room where people usually smoked. There was a huge yard with a pool and jacuzzi. People didn't really use them unless it was a pool-themed party, but they were still a really nice addition.
"Yo Beck, wanna play beer pong?" André shouts, grabbing a bunch of cups off the kitchen counter. "Free table in the other room and I'm claiming it!"
Beck nodded, grabbing a six-pack of beer and following behind. "Partners?" Beck held out his free hand as the two slapped up."Jade, find a partner and play!" Beck called as he disappeared into the other room. I look around for a potential team-mate. Currently, Robbie was listening to Cat go on about a dream she had, and I don't even need to hear it to be able to guess it's about a tiger, giraffe, or unicorn.
As I turn my head to the rest of the party, eyeing potential candidates, I see the door swing open and a very loud Trina Vega comes barging in. I roll my eyes, guessing my prediction about her will be right as well. It dawns on me that if Trina is here then Tori...
Whoa.
Is...is that her?
My jaw drops slightly as I seen a glowing Tori Vega walk awkwardly through the door and into the house. She smiles softly, and I can tell she's uncomfortable. But something about her shyness is...it's endearing. And then her outfit...it's so unlike her. Black jeans? A low-cut red top, and it actually shows some skin? And those boots...what is this?
I swallow hard, opening another beer and chugging half of it down as quickly as possible. I guess she was serious about taking a risk, huh? I finally regain my senses and a small, devious smile forms on my lips. I quickly grab a cup, making a mixed drink and grabbing a case of beer. I move through the mass of people, making my way to Vega.
"Well, well! Looks like Tori Vega made it." I say, swaying my hips as I walk over to her, handing her the mixed drink. "It's one of those fruity drinks. I figured I'd start you off with something tolerable. Now come on! You're my partner in pong."
She tentatively takes the drink from me, looking down at it awkwardly as she quirks an eyebrow. "Um...pong?" she question, and I can't help but chuckle at her naïvety.
"Just follow me, Vega. And by the way, you don't look like a pink cloud threw up all over you today. It's refreshing." She playfully rolls her eyes, taking a small sip from her drink.
"Gee, thanks Jade. You're so sweet." she says sarcastically. "But for what it's worth, you look really great." She smiles sincerely and starts walking with me to the next room.
I don't let her words linger on my skin; I can't let them get into my head. After all, who wouldn't think I look good tonight? I wore a tight black skirt, a dark purple v-neck shirt and my black combat boots, of course. And I may have a little more cleavage than I should. Sue me; I work with what I've got.
"Hey guys, found me a partner. You might know her, but also might like her just a bit more tonight." I joke as I put the case of beer down and step aside for Beck and André to see Tori.
"Dang, girl! You look fine!" André says, running over to her for a hug. "So glad you finally came out."
Tori beams as she wraps her arms around André, giggling as he spins her around. Beck, however, just looks in shock. He looks at her like she's on fire; as if he's never seen anything like her before. I feel my fists clenching as I step closer to Vega, pulling her from André and dragging her towards me.
"Come on, I gotta teach you how to play." I say with no emotion. I begin setting up the cups, and I see Beck doing the same, keeping his gaze from Tori.
What was that? It certainly wasn't jealousy; I didn't care that he was looking at Vega instead of me, I just didn't want him looking at her in general. His eyes had such lust in them, and I know despite what he may say, part of him still wants her. And I don't like that one bit.
But why?! If I don't want Beck, then why do I care who he looks at?
"So...how do I play?" I snap my head up, realizing I've been silent for an awkward amount of time.
"Oh...yeah. Okay, so first we fill up each cup about halfway with beer. Essentially we have to get our pong balls in their cups and they're going to try to do the same to us. We take turns. If they land in these three cups at any point, you drink what's in them. And these three are mine. We want to get all their cups out before they get ours. Get it?" Tori nods, drinking more of the mixed drink I made her.
"But before we play, you gotta chug that down." I say with a smirk on my face. She hesitates, looking down nervously. Her drink is about half gone, so I pick up my half empty beer and hold it up.
"Cheers, Vega!" She smiles at this, as we clink cups and down our drinks. I'm surprised by how well Vega does, and as soon as we finish, we start-up the game. At first she struggles to get a good idea on how easy or hard to throw the ball. But after a couple tries, she sinks one. She jumps up and down, clapping her hands and screaming as she does. All I do is roll my eyes, trying to fight the smile creeping across my lips.
The game ends after being tied one to one for far too long. And unfortunately, André sunk the last shot. I decide I need another drink after our defeat, and start to walk away when I realize Vega's instantly by my side. Something about that excites me, and I bet Beck kind of hates it.
But then it dawns on me; he was 100% correct about his prediction. She chugged the drink down, she played a drinking game, and both were to impress me. And like he said would happen, she's consistently by my side. I'm not sure if I'm angry about Beck being right or if I actually don't mind her sucking up to me.
"Sorry I wasn't so great at that game." she says softly, looking down at the ground as we walk.
"For a first timer, you did alright. Think you're up for another drink ?" I ask as I grab myself another beer.
"Yeah, could you make it yummy like the first one? Beer is okay...just...not as tasty." She giggles a bit and holds out a cup to me.
"Sure thing, Vega."
I start mixing her drink when I notice he expression change from silly to serious in less than a second. I quirk an eyebrow and turn around to see her gaze focused on Ryder, who is coming this way. I quickly finish her drink and hand it to her.
"Come on, Tori. Let's go somewhere else." I grab her wrist to pull her away, but she doesn't move. I turn around to see her staring down Ryder as her approaches her.
"Oh look, it's Tori Vega. She actually stepped foot outside of her house." He laughs at his own joke and drinks down a beer.
"Oh look, it's Ryder Daniels. And look what there isn't? Girls who want to be around him! You're just as pathetic as I imagined." She smirks, giving him a head nod before she starts walking away, following me elsewhere.
"Nice one, Vega. Didn't know you had that sass in you."
"I always have sass when it comes to Ryder. Now come on, let's go have a good time!"
I smirk, liking this side of Vega that's starting to show.
Later that night...
The group of us spent a better portion of the night chatting it up and drinking. I even managed to get Vega to take a shot, which she despised immensely. I couldn't help but laugh as she ranted and raved about how horrible it tasted.
But the funny thing is, whether she wanted to admit it or not, she was having a lot of fun. And she was drunk.
And drunk Vega was fucking hilarious.
She not only talked much louder than she needed to, but she had zero filter. She said and did everything that came to her mind, and I couldn't believe some of the profanities that left her mouth. She had everyone cracking up without even trying, and even I couldn't fight the laughter.
To our defense, we were all pretty drunk as well, especially Robbie, just as I guessed. So far, though, he wasn't getting sick, which even though it would be hilarious, I guess it's a good thing.
"So Tori, how are you liking the party?" Beck asks stupidly, his eyes fawning over the Latina standing next to him.
"What a dumb question! I'm obviously having fun! Duh!" she almost shouts, immediately laughing. I can't help but point at Beck and start cracking up, especially since he was so taken back by her answer.
"I like drunk Tori. She's one funny bitch." I say, raising my drink up and taking a sip. She smiles, her cheeks flushed from drinking.
"Well, drunk Tori thinks drunk Jade is...meh..." she teases, walking over and standing by me. Beck runs his hands awkwardly through his hair, and I can tell that he is torn about Tori. I know he's my friend, but can't he just take a hint? She's clearly not into him.
"I'm gonna go get some air..." Beck says, turning to leave.
"Beck, wait! Let me join you!" Robbie stumbles behind, trying to catch up to Beck.
"Well I wanna dance!" Cat pouts, stamping her feet down. I groan and look over at André who disappeared for a little while and came back looking stoned as fuck.
"Well, André? Don't just stand there; take Kitty Cat to dance!" I command. He looks up through glazed eyes, sighing and shrugging as Cat grabs his hand and pulls him into the crowd. I look back to Vega, who's still standing in front of me, eyes bloodshot and mouth in a small smile. My vision is kind of hazy, and I realize the alcohol is starting to hit me a bit. I take another sip of my drink as I raise an eyebrow at Vega.
"What's up? Feelin' good?" She giggles again when I say this, and I don't know why, but I don't question it.
"Yeah...I'm having a lot of fun. Thanks for letting me hang all over you all night."
"Oh, Tori. You weren't hanging all over me." I turn and point into the crowd, easily spotting Trina draping her body all over a boy who looks like he'd rather be anywhere but here.
"That is what it looks like when you hang all over someone." She rolls her eyes at Trina, and I can see she's fighting a smile.
"Oh, so you mean if I were to be like...this?" Suddenly, Vega wraps her arms around my neck and throws her body against mine. "Oh, Jade! I'm so drunk! Pay attention to me!" I do admit, her Trina impression is pretty spot on. Without thinking, I wrap my arm around her waist, my hand resting on her lower back. She either doesn't notice or doesn't mind, but she continues to mock her sister from afar, who is completely oblivious to it.
"Jesus Vega! You're a bit too convincing there. If you wanted to feel me up, you could've just told me." Though I say this as a joke, I notice her quickly tense up, and without a word, we immediately release each other. Suddenly, things are awkward, and I'm not sure why.
"Sorry...I didn't meant to be so good at being Trina..." I can't tell if she's trying to be light-hearted or not, but I decide to shake it off and just playfully push her.
"Yeah, no one wants to be good at that." She doesn't react much to what I say. Her eyes are glued to the floor and she start fidgeting with her hands.
"Jade? Can I ask you something?"
"What's up, Vega?" She sways back and forth a bit before finally looking up at me.
"Why are you being so nice to me tonight? And why can't you always be nice to me?"
I sigh, knowing that I'd eventually hear these questions from her tonight. Normally I wouldn't be so open, but I have this bad habit of saying too much when I've been drinking.
"I don't know, Vega. Half of it is that I'm not really a kind-spirited person. But I'm sure even you could figure that out. But the rest...welll...sometimes you piss me off, Vega. You know, this is the first time I've ever seen you be completely yourself; you're not always second guessing what you do or say and you're not trying to be sweet or perfect. I know that who you are is mostly those things, but there's so much more and I guess...well, fuck, Vega! You're fun and you fucking hide it! You work to please everyone else, so what about yourself? Be a selfish bitch for once. Stop living up to standards others set for you."
I watch as she listens intently, drinking my words in as if they were her last. When I finish, she smiles, and I'm surprised by it. I pretty much expected her to run away, break down or cry. And while I wouldn't want any of those things to happen, I can't help my honestly.
"You're right, Jade. You're absolutely right. And I'm glad I know now." Her eyes stare deep into mine, and in that moment, I realize I can't form any words. I just stand there, staring back, my heart beat increasing.
"Hey Jade!" I'm broken from my trance by Beck, motioning behind Tori that he wants to go upstairs and smoke.
"Hey Tor, I'll be back in a bit. I'm going to go somewhere with Beck. Be alright with Cat, André and Robbie?"
A strange mix of emotions came across Vega's face, and for some reason, I suddenly felt the need to explain myself.
"It's nothing like that, Vega. Me and him are just friends." Why did I explain myself? Why?! I don't need to explain anything to her.
"No worries, Jade. I'll be fine for a while. Thanks for your concern, though!" Vega quickly scurries off to find André and Cat while I finally have a moment of space to breathe. Fuck, what is Vega doing to me? I shake my thoughts once again and I follow Beck's lead. We head upstairs and into "The Smoking Room". A couple kids are already in here, but after a few head nods and quiet hello's, Beck and I get comfortable in the far corner of the room. I pull out my pot while he takes out rolling paper and starts rolling a joint for us.
"So, how's being around Tori all night? You ready to burst yet?" He asks, sparking up the joint and taking a hit.
"Actually, she's fairly tolerable." I take the joint and inhale deeply, relaxing my back against the wall and enjoying the familiarity. I take another small hit and pass it back.
"I don't know...I think she's being kind of weird." He takes the joint and looks up at the ceiling. "I mean, she's suddenly got this attitude I'm not used to."
"Aww, poor Beck can't handle Big Bad Tori?"
"Shut up, Jade. You know what I mean. The difference is that you like her bad attitude." He slowly takes a drag, almost pouting about Tori.
"No, I like that she's not trying to be Little Miss Perfect right now and instead is having fun. Vega may be all rainbows and sunshine but every person has their storm clouds."
"Oh wise Jade, do tell me everything you know!" I push him playfully, taking the joint and inhaling sharply one last time before I decide any more would be a bad idea.
"I've drank a good amount. I think I'm ready to go dance it up. Wanna come join? You can fawn over Vega." I stand up, watching as he glares at me.
"You're such a pain in the ass sometimes. Come on, we'll fawn together. Don't act like you're not doing it, too." He gets up and starts walking towards the door, while I grunt and follow behind. We slowly make our way down the stairs, mostly because we're both pretty intoxicated. I see Cat and André, and make my way over to them.
"Well someone looks stoned." André remarks, his eyes still not looking better.
"You're one to talk. Where's Vega and Robbie?"
"Hi! I'm Cat!" She throws her arms around me, and it's pretty clear she's wasted.
"I know, Cat. Now where's Vega?" I look around, starting to worry that maybe she got sick or something.
"Oh! Uh...I don't know...I thought she was here..." Cat responds, being of absolutely no use.
"Yeah, I honestly don't know either. She was here a moment ago..." André notes. I look over at Beck, both of our faces showing panic.
"Hello friends!" Robbie comes over to us, still stumbling and pushing through the sea of people. "What are we all up to?"
"Robbie, did you see Vega recently?" I ask, much more forcefully than I intended.
"Yeah! She went upstairs a bit ago with Ryder."
My feel my face go pale, and I almost get dizzy.
"How long ago? Did she say why?" I feel Beck put his hand on my shoulder, trying to calm me down.
"I don't know...maybe ten minutes? A little more? And we only passed each other on the stairs so I didn't get much detail. I guess he was trying to apologize to her or something."
I don't buy that.; I don't buy that for a fucking second. Ryder is not a good guy and he knows that Tori is not only a kind soul, but she's drunk, making it easier to manipulate her. Without a second thought, I turn around and run back up the stairs, Beck following closely behind.
"Jade, chill! What's your deal?!"
"Beck, it's Ryder! Nothing good could come of him being alone with Tori." As I get up the stairs, I open a few doors, most rooms empty, one with a couple making out, which I didn't apologize for interrupting. They were ugly, anyway.
Suddenly, I hear a scream. I turn and look at Beck, just to make sure I wasn't hearing things. His face looked as shocked as mine, and we simultaneously run down the hallway, trying to follow the sound. After checking a couple more rooms and finding them to be empty, I see one door we haven't checked. From the outside it looks like a coat closet, and despite its size, I decide to walk over and check inside.
When I open the door, I'm almost sick from the sight I see.
Tori is topless, wrists tied up to the pole above her. Her face is red and swollen and she looks pale. And then I see him, and I feel every amount of anger and rage I've ever dealt with explode all at once.
"What the fuck are you doing to her?!"
