Inspired by the soon-to-be Oscar-winning film, The King's Speech
Our Lives, Victorious
Chapter Four: The Queen's Speech
Wednesday. November 2nd, 2011. 9:30 PM...
Outside, the sky was dark, and the sense of desperation filled the air. Cat was half-asleep on the couch, trying with all her might to stay awake and help her soon-to-be friend. Andre' sat in a chair that had been moved next to the raised section of the room, which held the Vega's frequently-played piano. Tori stood just in front of him, her throat growing extremely sore.
"One more time," Andre' said, his voice hoarse and showing his exhaustion. "From the top."
Tori nodded, then cleared her throat. "Can you feel it in the air? Can you l-let in the wind?"
"Stop," Jade instructed, throwing her right hand on the arm of the white couch. "Look. I need you to focus." The girl crouched down next to her struggling co-star. "You're not stuttering when you're talking...why can't you sing like that too?"
"I don't know," Tori responded. "I've just...I've never been able to sing right since I was, like, five."
"What happened when you were five?" Andre' asked, leaning forward.
"I don't know," Tori answered.
"Try to think, Tori," Jade replied. "People don't just stutter when they sing...now what is it? You're not left-handed, you don't have any throat problems."
Tori sat down on the couch, closed her eyes, and tried to focus. "I know I used to love singing when I was little," she began. "I still do, but the stuttering got really embarrassing. I remember, one time at school, I was sitting on the playground, singing the theme from Full House, and some boy pushed me."
"That happened to me once," Cat blurted out. "Only I was singing something from Titanic."
"Uh...I don't think that's what caused it," Andre' said, trying to focus on Tori. "Was there anything else? Were you ever yelled at for singing?"
"...No, I don't think so," Tori started. "...Except for Trina...She used to hate when I'd sing. She was always the little super star in the family."
"She made you stop singing?" Andre' asked, growing intrigued.
"No," Tori answered. "She just whined...My parents always thought I was picking on her, then they'd send me to my room."
"Did you ever put the two together?" Andre' asked. "You know, singing and getting punished?"
"More like singing and making my sister cry," Tori replied. "I used to feel so guilty."
"So what'd you do?" Jade inquired. "Did you stop singing? Start stuttering as a joke?"
"No," Tori answered. "I...started hiding from her, I guess. Then...when I would sing, I'd get nervous of her finding me, crying, then running to Mom and Dad."
"So, singing started becoming the source of the tension?" Andre' asked, growing excited over finding a conclusion.
"...I think so," Tori said. "I guess I still feel like I'm gonna get in trouble for singing."
"You know that's not true," Cat declared. "Trina was just...being jealous."
"Maybe she still is," Tori replied, growing depressed.
"Too bad," Jade declared, growing angry. "She has to learn how to grow up. You shouldn't feel guilty about singing. She's the guilty one."
"It's okay, Tori," Andre' summarized. "You're not hurting anyone."
"Do you think you can sing now?" Cat asked, her voice sweet.
"I think so," Tori answered. "I feel better." The teenager cleared her throat. "Can you feel it in the air?" she sang. "Can y-you l-let in the w-wind?" The pain of failure made the stuttering all the worse.
"...What the heck?" Jade demanded. "Why are you still stuttering?"
"I don't know!" Tori hollered, feeling a painful lump form in her throat. "What's wrong with me?"
"Maybe you just need to practice for awhile," Andre' suggested, trying to give his friend some comfort. "Try harmonizing for a little while."
The brunette nodded, then began belting out some light cords. Jade fell backwards on the couch, clenching her throbbing forehead. Andre' and Cat closed their eyes, and listened closely. At one point, Tori's voice broke up slightly, as if she was suffering from laryngitis.
"Hang on," Andre' interrupted. "Did you notice that?"
"What?" Tori asked.
"You, like, stuttered while you were vocalizing," Andre' informed her. "Are you sure you don't have any kind of throat issues?"
"Positive," Tori answered, feeling her face grow hot as her sorrow welled up. "What is wrong with me?"
"Look, it's getting really late," Jade said, getting up off the couch. "Let's practice more tomorrow after school. We have to get this worked out by Friday." The girl realized how impossible the situation was. Problems like this take years to solve, she thought. We have to find someone else to fill in for Trina.
"Sorry, Tori," Andre' said, gathering his book bag. "I promise we'll help you with this." The teenager left the Vega's home, feeling like he failed.
"Do you want me to stay a little longer?" Cat asked.
"No, Cat, that's okay," Tori answered. "Thanks, though." The girl wrapped her arms around her new friend.
"See you tomorrow," Cat said, her voice sad. With that, the brunette departed.
Once the door was closed behind Cat, Tori walked upstairs, and entered the bathroom. Trina's head was in the toilet, and she was still vomiting violently. The girl knelt down beside her older sister, and began to lovingly stroke her back. Katrina jolted, then loudly threw up.
Her body weak and trembling, Trina let out a moan, and pulled herself out of the toilet. "Hey," she croaked. "What time is it?"
"About ten," Tori answered. "You feeling any better?"
"I guess," Katrina replied. Now that her system was empty, the teenager felt like the worst was over. ""Oh, are they gonna replace me in the musical?"
"Yeah," Tori answered, her voice sympathetic. "T-...they want me to take your place."
Feeling a flash of rage, Katrina sprung up, then stumbled slightly. "You?" she demanded. "W-why?"
"Cuz I know most of the parts," Tori answered. "What's your problem?"
"This was supposed to be my big break!" Trina yelled. "You can't even sing!"
Tori gazed at her sister with disgust. "Yeah, you made sure of that," she snarled, before departing to her bedroom.
Her stomach flipping and filling with guilt and anger, Katrina put her head back in the toilet, and began violently vomiting once again.
Come eleven p.m., Tori was laying on her bed, her eyes drenched in her dried tears. This is all so horrible, she thought. Maybe this whole thing was a mistake. Soon, the teenager's mind drifted into unconsciousness. "Hey T-T-Tori," a young Trina mockingly sang. The surrounding area was so dark. Tori saw her younger self crying. Her own whales of sorrow echoed throughout the girl's mind.
With a flash, Tori woke up, coated in cold sweat. Looking at the clock, the girl saw it was midnight, which seemed to make no sense. Distressed and upset, the girl rolled over, her eyes glazed over with tears, and tried to control her sobs. All the terrible things from her childhood were attacking her mind.
"Tori," Katrina gently called, half-hidden behind the door frame. "Tori, are you okay?" Trina's voice was still weak from her food poisoning.
"I'm fine," Tori answered, still somewhat annoyed with her sister's cruel comments. "Um...can you sit down for a second?"
Trina walked over to Tori's bed, her legs still weak, then sat down beside her. "What's up?" she asked.
"...Why did you say that to me today?" Tori asked, her voice just above a whisper. "About my singing? You never liked it when I sang."
"...Tori, I'm sorry," Katrina replied, her voice hinted with sorrow. "I just...I was upset. I...it's just, you've always been a great singer. I was always afraid you'd be better than me. I was a jerk...if I can't do this, you should."
"But I can't sing," Tori argued, feeling desperation well up inside of her. "I'm always gonna be T-T-Tori." Even now, those words burned.
For a second, the room was silent. "...Tori, I am sorry," Trina confessed, feeling a lump swell up in her throat. "I never should've made fun of you."
"...It's okay," Tori replied, feeling relieved. "You know...this is one of the first times you've ever apologized to me." The girl wrapped her arms around Katrina, trying to hold back her tears.
Katrina didn't say anything, not that she had to. Tori's eyes were closed, but her sister's were wide open. Not everything was sound, but Tori didn't have to know that.
"Now get some sleep," Trina said, pulling away from her sister. "You have a musical to practice for."
"Thanks, Trina," the brunette said, her voice soft and peaceful. Clearing her throat, Tori lightly sang, "Can you feel it in the air? Can you let in the wind?" A gigantic, overjoyed smile shot onto Tori's face, and she gave her sister a big, loving hug.
"Way tuh go, little sis," Katrina whispered, her eyes closed and a smile on her face.
Come Friday night, Hollywood Arts was filled to the brim with excited parents and teenagers. Glancing out, Andre' spotted his grandmother, and a girl who may have been Jade's sister.
"Ready for your big number, Tori?" Cat asked, her voice soft.
"No," Tori answered. "...I don't think I can do this."
"You'll be fine," Andre' replied, walking back from the curtains. "We've been practicing for two days. Your stutter is gone...you'll be fine."
"But..." Tori began, her voice starting to tremble. "...What if I can't do it?...What if they hate me?"
"Yeah, what if?" Jade replied, her voice cold. "Look, we spent hours working on this. You're not gonna blow it."
Tori looked at the girl, then nodded. Clad in a shining silver and black dress, Victoria Vega prepared herself, even as her stomach floated with butterflies. The audience clapped, meaning the scene was over with, and Tori's time was coming.
"Good luck, Tori," Cat said, wrapping her hands around her friend.
"Thanks, Cat," Tori replied. The girl walked onto the stage, shielded by the large red curtains. Suddenly, the velvet barrier lifted up, and everyone in the auditorium had their eyes on Tori.
One of the pianists began to play. The music was slow, soft. "Can you feel it in the air?" Tori sang, her voice so soft she could barely hear herself. "...Can you let in the wind?" In that instant, the music began to flow through her. It was like electricity in its purist form. Several revisions had been made, allowing Tori an entire solo performance. "I never knew how to live...Holding life by the horns." The music swelled, and the audience cheered. "But now I'm baaaack again! I am standing here with my friends and now...I feel like I'm living in a whole new life. It might be a victory...But I'm leaving nothing behind! No matter how many roads I go down...no matter how far I run...I'll still have a part of you within myself! When I'm swimming in the ocean...when I'm feeling the snow in the mountains...I'll still be here right beside you! Just keep me in your memory! I'm never really that far away! Can you let it in one more time? Can you feel it in the wind? It's always theeeeeeere!" The girl threw her hand into the air, and the crowd hollered and cheered. Jade closed her mouth, and slid back behind the curtain.
It all felt so amazing. Tori gazed out at everybody, and felt it. Once the show was over, the girl ran backstage, and was embraced by Cat, and Katrina. "Great job, Tori," Trina said, so happy for her sister.
"We knew you could do it," Cat said, overjoyed.
"That was amazing, Tori," Andre' congratulated.
"We're so proud of you, Victoria," Tori's mother said, standing beside her equally blown-away husband.
A thin, somewhat short African-American man jogged over to Tori, obviously in a hurry. "Excuse me," he said, half out of breath. "Who are you?"
"Oh, um, I'm Tori Vega," the girl answered, growing nervous. "Uh, I don't go to school here, but I was..."
"Well that was amazing," said the man, not even noticing that he was interrupted. "How would you like to go to school at Hollywood Arts?"
"What?" Tori asked, shocked and overjoyed. The girl looked at her sister. "Um, I...I don't know, I..."
"Tori," Cat began. "You have to. You're so good."
"Yeah, you're amazing," Andre' added. "You're one of the best I've ever heard."
"Trina, what do you think?" Tori asked, turning to her older sister.
"You were amazing," the girl replied, somewhat withdrawn. "Why let those talents go to waste?"
Tori smiled, though she tried to control herself. Hollywood Arts was the most prestigious high school in California. Only the best of the best were admitted. "Okay," she said, causing everyone around her to cheer.
Victorious at last!