A/N: Question: if I were to become a beta reader, would anyone have any interest in making use of my services? (Also, not to worry - Trina will return next chapter.)
Disclaimer: don't own.
"Why are you so mean to everyone?"
If Jade West had a nickel for every time she was asked that – well, she'd have no need to worry about making it as an actress, she'd just buy her own movie studio.
She had, of course, a ready arsenal of snarky replies. "Because they deserve it." "They say honesty is the best policy!" "Life's a battle, and I always want to draw first blood." But as for the real reason – truth be told, even she wasn't altogether sure what that was. Perhaps she had begun simply because she feared to expose any part of her true self to others, and sarcasm was an ideal defense mechanism; but by now, she was so long practiced in the art that it had become all but unconscious, a reflex action.
Only rarely did she worry about the consequences. In the back of her mind she had crafted a scale on which she placed her various friends and acquaintances, depending upon how well or poorly they would react to her bile. Cat, the most fragile, Jade would treat with kid gloves, unless she was in a particularly foul mood. Tori, on the other hand, could give as good as she got, so Jade rarely held back with her. Trina, insofar as Jade cared about her at all, sat at the far end of the scale; her ego was so swelled that nothing could deflate it – or so Jade had believed.
This time, though…as she slammed her locker shut, so fiercely that she nearly dislodged one of the pairs of scissors glued to it, Jade was distinctly uneasy.
No one had seen hide nor hair of Trina or Tori for three days. André, after missing two days, had returned yesterday, uncharacteristically sullen and withdrawn. He was one of the few people Jade genuinely liked, and she had been under the impression that he had a sweet spot for her as well, yet when she had tried to engage him in conversation at lunch, he recoiled from her as sharply as if she were a poisonous snake.
What the heck is going on? She wondered. The normally vibrant Hollywood Arts gossip mill was silent on the topic of the Vega sisters, and nothing could be gotten out of André. All that remained was uncertainty, and Jade hated uncertainty, hated it bitterly.
She adjusted the little pile of textbooks she held in her arms and turned to go to Sikowitz's class, but a sudden buzz of talk among a little clump of students near the front door halted her.
They parted, revealing Tori and André. The younger Vega's usual glamor was completely absent; massive black circles about her eyes gave her the look of a raccoon, while her hair was unwashed and tangled. André had a protective arm around her shoulder and was trying to guide her forward; she obeyed, but without any interest or vigor, as if she were sleepwalking.
Jade approached her cautiously. Automatically her lips began to form an insult, but she caught herself just in time: "H-hey, Vega. Where've you been?"
Tori fixed her with an unblinking stare. Jade winced and took a step back.
"Geez, excuse me for living. What about Trina? Haven't seen her since Monday."
The stare turned to a glower, but Tori still said nothing.
"…If it makes you feel any better, Beck's been giving me nothing but grief about…the stuff I said to her. She didn't take it too hard, did she? I mean, she's not the sort to let a little bit of snark get her down…right?"
Tori's shoulders tensed; her mouth twisted into a snarl. When she spoke at last, her voice was low, hissing, and the words that came out struck Jade like a physical blow.
"You goddamn bitch, I hope you burn in hell."
After Jade had had a chance to recover from the shock, anger flooded her veins. How dare she…"Listen, Vega, I don't know what your problem is, but nobody, nobody, gets to talk to Jade West like that. Am I making myself clear?"
Tori lashed her left hand across Jade's face. Her nails raked the Goth's pale flesh, drawing blood that ran hotly down Jade's cheeks and fell in heavy drops to the floor around her feet.
Now instinct and adrenaline took over. Jade threw a right hook at Tori, landing it square on her jaw. The Latina reeled, then, with a cry of primal rage, hurled herself bodily onto Jade, bringing both girls crashing to the floor.
They had only a moment to grapple with one another before strong arms pulled them apart – André holding Tori, Beck, who had appeared seemingly out of nowhere, holding Jade. "What in the world is going on here?" a voice cried from the crowd; Jade groaned inwardly. Lane. Suspension time.
She immediately went into excuse mode. "Listen, Lane, Vega started it. I was just defending myself-"
"My sister tried to kill herself because of you! You stinking, cold-hearted, soulless bitch!" Tori's profane screams became incoherent, but Jade didn't hear them anyway. The world was spinning about her dizzily, a cold wind howling in her ears. Trina tried to commit suicide? Because of me?
"I…I never meant to…" she stammered helplessly.
"Enough!" Lane bellowed. He was ordinarily a gentle and easy-going man, but now was one of his rare moments of absolute fury, and even Jade found it frightening. "Tori, my office, now. Jade, go get yourself cleaned up, and come see me in half an hour. Everybody else – get your butts to class!"
What ensued was less a collective departure than a stampede. Jade and Beck were left alone.
Anxiously, she seized Beck by the shoulders. "Is it true? Is what she said true?"
He sighed. "I don't know, babe. C'mon. I'll take you to the nurse."
As they threaded the empty halls, one thought echoed in Jade's mind, until it drowned out everything else:
I have to make it right. Oh, God, somehow I have to make it right.