Author's note:

Here's the third chapter (: I finally brought some of the other characters into the story, so there's a lot of dialogue this time... Let's get the party started :D Hope you like it!
And thank you so much for the story alerts and reviews! You guys are so nice!

Disclaimer

I do NOT own Victorious! All rights belong to Dan Schneider.

CHAPTER THREE

MOMENT OF TRUTH

JADE'S POV

(flashback)

"No, you don't."

"I do."

"No. No, you don't!"
"But..." He immediately cut himself off as he noticed the death glare I was giving him.
"Beck! You will NOT go to that stupid party without me!" I yelled.

"Why don't you wanna come with me? All our friends are there and I bet it's going to be fun." He still didn't get it? What the hell? Is my boyfriend really this dumb? I took a deep breath trying to calm down a bit, but it didn't work at all.

"That Vega girl is not my friend!" I said in a rage "I only tolerate the others and Cat's basically a pet! You really want me to spend time with these freaks? No way, Beck! NO WAY! I'm not going anywhere."

"I don't get what your problem is! You're my girlfriend, I like you... But they still are my friends and I want to spend time with them. Don't you think you should at least give them a try? Tori has been so nice to you the la-"
"STOP TALKING ABOUT VEGA!" I interrupted him. He sighed and then looked at me with a serious expression on his face.

"Come on, Jade. Give them a try! Please. Come with me."
"NO!"

"You really wanna stay at home?" I nodded and he looked at me for a few seconds. I just stared back trying to put all my rage in that glare I was giving him. It obviously didn't impress him at all. "Fine!" he yelled "do what you want, but I will go to Cat's party – with or without you!"

"Fine! Go to that stupid party! Go and see your stupid friends! Have fun! WITHOUT ME!"
"You know what? That's exactly what I'm going to do!"

"GREAT!"

"GREAT!"

(end of flashback)

I didn't want to believe he really wanted to go to that party without me. I'm his fucking girlfriend! Didn't I mean anything to him? But fine... he will see soon enough that that was a mistake. No one ever dares to upset Jade West!

TORI'S POV

I was kinda nervous as I knocked on the door of Cat's. I really needed someone to talk to but I wasn't quite sure if Cat was the wisest decision... Sure, she was my best friend and I really loved her. But she had this little problem with keeping secrets. She would never tell a secret on purpose, it was always more like an accident... But she was the only person I could talk to right now. Beck was definitely no option, let alone Robbie (and inevitably Rex). And André? He was Beck's best friend after all. Of course I trusted him, but I would feel uncomfortable if it was him of all people who would know how I really felt. Sooo... no one was left but Cat. Let's just hope she will keep her trap shut.

When Cat finally opened the door there was a weird silence between us. For a few seconds she just looked at me with an absent-minded smile on her face, then she suddenly hugged me and pulled me into her house.

"Toriiii! What are you doing here? You are too early!" She shrieked in her generic high voice.

"What a nice way to say 'hi' to your best friend" I answered playing a bit offended but I wasn't really able to hide a grin. She pulled a face and I quickly nudged her playfully. "Nah, it's okay. I just thought you might need some help preparing everything? Sooo... here I am. Ready to help!" With a bright fake smile on my face I lifted my hands to show my enthusiasm. I had quickly decided not to go like a bull at a gate. Just in case...

"Aww, that's so sweet! Okay... you could help me with the music."
"Sure, okay!"

"Um, I have some problem with the stereo. It doesn't work! I don't know why..." she said and pulled another face.

"Well, let's see... Did you do anything?" I asked giving her an encouraging smile.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, I just want to know if you did anything else than usual..."

"Oh... Um... No, I guess not. I just..." Cat walked over to the stereo and examined it doubtfully. I could see her fiddling with something behind the speaker and I slowly moved over to get a closer look. When she suddenly turned around holding a cable in her hand I raised an eyebrow.
"What's that?" I asked pointing to the cable.

"A cable."

"I see it... But what are you doing with a cable?"
"Oh... it was just lying there..."

"Was it connected?"

"No."

"Cat!" I groaned.
"What? I didn't do anything! Don't scream at me!" She shrieked. I sighed and smiled at her.

"Cat... if you want the stereo to work you have to connect it to the power outlet!" I felt like talking to a five-year-old. That was... Cat, yah. A typical Cat-example.
"I know! I'm not stup – oh..." she suddenly cut herself off and looked at the cable. I grinned and took it out of her hand, then walked over to the stereo and re-connected it to the wall outlet. As soon as I did so the music started playing.

"Yaaaay, problem solved" Cat screamed joyfully and clapped her hands together.

After that we prepared food – a masterpiece of an ice cream bomb and some sort of cold buffet – and then finally went upstairs to Cat's room. She asked me to help her with her hair and we sat down on her bed. I guess it was time to come out with the truth now...
"Cat?" My voice was a bit too high. It always was when I was nervous. And as if that wasn't enough I could feel the weird feeling in my tummy.

"Hmm?"

"Can I tell you something?"
"Sure!"
"But promise me you won't tell anybody, okay? Especially not Beck! And not even Robbie!"

"Okay" she said nonchalantly. I sighed. Why did I feel like she would do it anyways?

"I mean it Cat. This needs to be a secret between us! No talking! To nobody!"

"I promise."

"Good... Well... You know... Beck and I are best friends, right? ... but... since he started dating Jade I always feel like... I need to kill her whenever she's around. I never could really stand her but it even got worse since... since she's his girlfriend... I don't know... I told myself things like how I should be happy for him... That's what best friends are supposed to be, right? Happy... I even tried to become friends with Jade! But... argh, I don't know what to do, Cat. Everytime I see them together I have to pull myself together not to vomit. I hate seeing them kiss or hug. I hate knowing that Beck is taken... God damn it, I'm the worst best friend ever!" As I finally ended my flood of words I could feel relief rushing through my body. I had finally told someone. Gosh, it feels so good.

Then, there was an awkward silence between us. Cat didn't say a word and I felt more and more like an idiot. Ugh, maybe it has been a bad idea telling her. Why didn't she respond? I mean... you usually expect your best friend to say something after such a flood of words, right? Especially when it was dealing with a problem like this... But... Suddenly Cat broke the silence. And the words she said didn't cheer me up at all. Quite the contrary...

"Oh my god, Tori! You're in love with Beck!" My heart skipped a beat. Um, what? No! No, no, no! Not at all! No way! Me? In love with Beck? Hahahahahaha. She was just joking, right? Pff, me... in love with Beck. That was insane!
"No!" I finally shrieked "Of course not!"

"Oh yes, you are!"
"No! I'm... I'm just... jealous?"

"Ohh, one time my brother was jealous because his best friend had a new girlfriend and he was in love with her... He had to..."

"CAT!"

"Ahhh, don't scream at me!"

"Sorry... but... I don't want to talk about your brother right now... There are other things that keep bothering me!"

"What things?" she asked curiously making me shoot her a "Seriously?" look.

"Beck?"

"Oh... yeah! You have feelings for him..."

"Yes... What? Wait, no! I mean... maybe... I don't know... I never felt something like that before... He's my best friend. I can't feel more than friendship for him!" Oh my godness, that couldn't be true. I wasn't in love with Beck. Beck Oliver was only my best friend. The most amazing friend I ever had... And definitely the most handsome... Wait! Stop thinking this. Are you insane, Tori Vega?

"Tori...What's so bad about that?"
"This is more than just bad! I can't be in love with him! He's my best friend and he has a girlfriend!" I jumped up and started pacing around.

"But..."

"No, Cat! Oh my god! No, no, no, no, no! This is not happening! I am not in love with him. I mean... HAHAHAHA. Why should I? We are only best friends. We've always been just friends! No need to change that!"

"Tori, don't freak out. You scare me!" Cat said with a whiny voice. I immediately stopped myself from walking and took a seat again.

"I'm sorry, Cat... It's just... I don't want this to happen. I don't know what to do! Gosh, why me?"

At that very moment the doorbell rang - meaning our conversation was over... for now. I immediately jumped up and so did Cat. She gave me an encouraging smile and promised we would talk later.

"Cat? Remember: No talking! This is our personal secret!" I reminded her before going downstairs.

"Yaaay, I love secrets! I won't tell anybody, I promise!"

"Good..."

Leaning againt the wall I took a deep breath and forced a bright smile as Cat opened the door . Ok, Tor, time to party! Just act like nothing's wrong... Come on, girl, you can do that! You're an actress! I sighed and finally looked up to see who it was. That was a mistake. There he was – the cause of my problems. Beck Oliver entered the house, his dark, tousled hair in his face, a sparkle in his chocolate brown eyes and this amazing bright smile on his face... As soon as he looked at me I felt my knees getting weak. Oh my godness... I didn't remember that this boy had such an effect on me.

"Hi Tori" he said with a grin and I felt myself blushing. I didn't even notice that he greeted me before Cat. I forced another smile and then walked down the last few steps of the staircase to give him a little hug. As he pulled me close I had to pull myself together not to have a go at him... Gosh, this smell! – Wait! Stop thinking this! You can't be thinking about this when he's around... or even worse: Jade... - Eww, speaking of Jade... where is she?

When I finally let go of him I gave him another smile.

"Where's Jade?" I asked trying to not sound that annoyed.

"She didn't want to come" he responded with a slight smile on his face.

"Oh... Really?" It took me everything to hide my happiness about that. Jade wouldn't be here? Seemed like somebody finally has answered my prayers. "Thank god!" I murmered under my breath. This would definitely be the best evening for a long time!