Chapter 4- An Opening for Trina

"Tori! Tori!"

Beck called her name so loudly, yet his voice faded into nothing before it reached her. There she was, standing alone, looking over the balcony of the cafeteria. Her back was turned to him, and she had no idea he was there. She looked stunning. She was wearing a sleek black dress, and her curly hair was tied back in a fancy ponytail. He made a move to go to her, but his feet seemed to be glued to the ground. His frustration built as he tried to move, to no avail.

"Tori."

It took him a moment to realize that the voice was not his own. This time, Tori responded. She turned to her left to greet the person who spoke to her. Beck was frenzied when he saw Danny walk up to her. She smiled as he moved up close to her and put his arm around her hip.

"Tori, wait!" Still ignored. Still stuck.

"Hey Danny," said Tori sweetly.

"Would it be wrong for me to be here like this?" Danny asked.

It definitely was! Beck was completely free to date Tori, but how could she know that? Tori thought she was unavailable to him. She had nothing to hold her back. She wouldn't listen to him. He was going insane.

"Wait!" he tried again. He reached out as far as he could. His fingertips were barely a centimeter from touching Tori's arm. It just wasn't close enough.

Then Danny started to pull Tori closer, and she was very accepting. Beck knew what they were about to do, but there was nothing in the world he could do to stop them; to tell Tori that she was wrong.

To tell Tori what she had to know.

Beck awoke with a start. He stared at the ceiling of his trailer with eyes as big as moons for seconds, which waned into minutes. He relished in every detail that happened in the dream, how real it felt. He tried to calm down by assuring himself it was only a dream, but the anxiety was not ready to leave him alone. It all felt too real. He checked his phone to see what time it was. It was 4:35 in the morning, but that wasn't what got his attention. He had a text message from Andre from earlier in the night.

Hey, are you feeling alright lately? You seem a little wonky. Am I imagining it?

Beck typed up a response.

Just had a few thoughts on my mind.

He did not expect a response from Andre at 4:36 in the morning. Beck's phone vibrated to indicate he got a reply.

About Tori?

He hesitated before replying.

Yeah. Tori.

I get that. I learned from my Grammy, before she lost her mind of course, that you should never keep any feelings to yourself. Just let them out and things get better.

Perhaps Andre was right. He kept his emotions to himself for the past few days while Danny followed Tori around like her shadow. He thought he convinced himself that his jealousy was nothing and that he was over it, but he wouldn't have dreamed this dream if that was the case.

He sighed again and sank his head deep within the comforts of his pillow. He closed his eyes for a minute to think. When he opened them again, he typed a short but fulfilling comment.

I'll remember that.

Thursday morning came at last. Beck parked his car and walked out into the bright sunshine baking the black asphault of the Hollywood Arts parking lot. The drive was the most quiet, pensive ride he ever had. The mob of fan girls he usually took to school he turned down, so he went alone. There was only one girl he wanted to take to school in his car, and it was definitely not any of those brainless trollops!

There was no stalling, no hesitation. When he went through the front doors and saw Tori at the drinking fountain, he set his course straight for her. He didn't even care that Jade was eyeing him suspiciously from her own locker. He especially didn't care that Danny was leaning against the wall by the fountain like he was the coolest guy next to Rider Daniels.

"Hi," said Tori as she swallowed a mouthful of water.

"Come on."

Beck led her away. Danny stared after them in bewilderment. Tori reluctantly followed him as he took her to the janitor's closet. He closed them both in the secluded room.

"So…what's this about?" she asked nervously. She knew he wouldn't have taken her here if he didn't have something very imperative to say.

"I need to tell you that…well…"

Speak, you idiot! True terror is something you don't feel, so talk!

"Yeah...?" Tori pressed.

"Do you remember what you said on the night of the Platinum Music Awards? About Jade and I?"

"Yeah, of course."

"I want you to know that Jade talked to me about it, and she is cool with you. Cool with us. We are officially broken up."

"You are…Since when?"

"It happened right after the Awards. In the parking lot."

"Oh…"

She folded her arms tightly over her chest while rocking awkwardly back and forth. Beck's eyes trailed up the wall absently. His heart was thrumming over twice as fast as it should have been and his skin felt burning hot everywhere. Could this be what true terror actually felt like?

"So now I have a question to ask you."

"Go ahead," she responded.

"Will you go out with me?" he breathed.

He waited for her to answer. She opened her mouth to speak twice, but no words came out. He was melting waiting for her. Finally she looked up, and she found her voice to give him her answer.

"No."

Beck was disbelieving at first. He should have expected refusal to be her option, but he firmly believed in her mind that she wouldn't. He kept his cool, trying to make it seem like he wasn't exploding deep inside.

"It's not you," she explained sympathetically. "I'm sorry; it's not you at all. I just…don't really want to date anybody right now. I need some time to think through things myself without getting tangled in other distractions."

"Okay. I get it."

"But I really appreciate the offer. I may not have acted it recently, but I do have feelings for you. I just need some time before I can react on them."

"I can wait for you. If you want me to. It's totally your call."

She smiled. "Yeah, I would like that."

"No problem."

They had nothing more to gain from the conversation, so Beck opened the door. Tori walked through it the same way she did when he held the door for her to Sikowitz's class the day Danny appeared, only this time she had an uncomfortable look on her face. Everything was fine between them, but the intensity of the words said within the walls of that closet would stay fresh in their minds for some time.

Some time during Friday afternoon, Beck was walking by the vending machines. Suddenly, one of the girls in the area whirled around from his presence. Though they looked very similar from the back, the way she responded meant it could only be one person: Trina.

"Hey Beck," she gambled on. "Want a drink? I still have a good two sips left in this bottle if you want it."

He smiled and pushed away Trina's hand that was trying to give him her drink. "…No thanks."

"And I have something else to show you too. Eh?"

He rolled his eyes when Trina looked down to yank something out of her backpack. Knowing Trina, the surprise could be anything. It was a sheet of paper. She stood much too close and held it up so he could read it. It was a sign for the annual Hollywood Arts semester kickback.

Right, the kickback! Normally I look forward to those for weeks, but I haven't really felt much for it. Because Tori won't be my date…

"I designed the poster myself," she proudly remarked. "It is next Friday, and I was just thinking of someone I could go with. Could you…help me think of someone?"

The only way she could be more obvious was to hang a billboard over her head that read "I want you, Beck Oliver, to be my date to the kickback next Friday." He expected this after the way she reacted the night he and Jade broke up. He only wished Trina knew how much she was embarrassing herself.

"You're not going with anyone yet, are you, Beck?" Trina pressed sweetly.

"Um…I don't know yet. Well, I am sure Tori is looking for me about now. Later."

He slinked away as fast as he could. Trina was devastated. He could imagine her watching him leave, on the border between staying put and chasing after him again. Trina bit her lip and clutched her hand tighter around her drink. That was not how it was supposed to go. No, she was supposed to have him as her date to the kickback. When he mentioned leaving her for Tori, her anger proliferated.

What does Tori have that I don't? Besides lack of talent. I got it all, and it is about time someone is going to see it that way.

At the same time that Beck was talking to Trina about the kickback, Tori was talking to Danny about it when they walked into study hall. Trina was handing out her homemade flyers to every student in the room, including them. Tori looked over the flyer with astonishment.

The kickback is here already?

"I remember our last kickback!" Danny exclaimed. "Yeah, that was a lot of fun."

"Well, don't remind me…"

Tori was brought back to Danny dancing with Cat, watching from a distance, the spray of hot cheese, kissing Danny, and Cat running away in despair. It was definitely a kickback to remember; one that she didn't classify as "fun."

"It's alright," Danny assured her. "We can make up for the last kickback by making the most out of this one."

"Really? How?"

Tori could see Trina sitting behind them out of the corner of her eye and listening obtrusively. She ignored Trina and tried to concentrate solely on Danny.

He answered, "Because you are going to be my date to the kickback. Aren't you?"

"What?" she said on first instinct. "I never said I was going to be your date."

"But certainly you are going to. I mean, it is a perfect match."

"I think I should be able to decide that for myself." Tori folded her arms across her chest crossly. "I think I would rather go by myself."

"By yourself? Why on earth would you decide to do that?"

"Because I have a lot going on in my life, and this is exactly the kind of distraction I am not looking for right now."

"Oh come on."

"Just leave me alone, please. I'll talk later."

Tori turned away from him. She was relieved when he said nothing more to convince her. What she saw as Danny being her friend all week was really him trying to creep into her love life. She was fine by herself.

Danny stood up abruptly.

"I am going to get a drink before class starts," he dismissed himself.

The tension eased off a little when he left. Tori sank back in her chair like sitting up was too hard to do.

"Why can't anyone understand that I am fine by myself?" she moaned to Trina.

Trina shrugged. "I just don't know, Tori."

Trina sympathetically patted Tori's shoulder. She grinned to herself as she did so, now that she had a perfect scheme.