Tori stepped outside and was nearly choked by the scent of cigarette and marijuana smoke wafting into her face. She wandered the perimeter of the building nervously. She almost never went anywhere alone. It felt really strange to be walking around unaccompanied, especially since it was getting dark and the neighborhood surrounding the venue wasn't exactly the nicest. "Maya?" She called out nervously, hoping the blonde girl would just pop up and end the spiral of anxiety that was burrowing itself deeper into her chest every second she walked around alone. The world was scary. She felt like she was never going to feel safe wandering it alone. "Drew? Dallas?"
"Tori!" A familiar voice called out across the scattered crowd. "Over here!" It was Drew Torres. As Tori walked toward him, his face twisted a little bit, looking more unsure as she approached. "It's Tori, right?"
Tori nodded, confirming her identity without words. She and Drew had never had much interaction, so it was pretty fair that he didn't have her existence committed to memory. She hoped that would change this summer. A friendship with the school president could be totally beneficial, especially if she wanted to rule the school with Tristan during their tenth grade year.
"Where's Maya?" Tori asked.
Drew and Dallas were just leaning up against a grimy, graffiti covered wall. Imogen had said that the two guys had stayed outside to try to find a way to get Maya in, but the blonde girl was nowhere to be found.
"She's talking to this guy that she saw at the school earlier. He was saying he could get her in. We're just waiting on confirmation that she's safe before we head into the concert… Which will probably be over by the time this chick stops talking." Dallas answered.
"Chill, bro." Drew said to Dallas, then looked over to Tori apologetically. "Sorry about his crappy attitude. I promised him nachos, and…" Drew paused, holding a hand to his mouth and pretending like he was sharing a secret with Tori. "He kinda turns into the Incredible Hulk when he's feeling hangry."
Tori raised an eyebrow. "Um, where's Maya?" She asked. As much as she wanted to kiss up to Drew and Dallas and win them over with her pageant girl charm, schmoozing would have to take place after she found her friend.
"Over there." Dallas and Drew answered simultaneously, then high-fived and the synchronicity. They pointed toward a darker corner of the alley, which could not seem less sketchy or more unsafe. They were just letting Maya hang out in a dark alley with some guy she saw at the school? Who was this guy? Tori immediately headed in the direction that Dallas and Drew pointed.
"Maya? You alive back here?" She called out, her hands beginning to slightly shake. The alley wasn't as creepy as it looked from afar, but the whole situation was still giving her heartburn. "Maya?" Tori approached, opened her mouth to call again, but then immediately saw the blonde girl she was seeking flirting with an insanely cute guy. Of course Maya digs her claws into the first new cutie that floats in. Now that Tori knew Maya was safe, she felt alright holding a little resentment.
Maya looked over at Tori and widened her eyes, clearly not expecting the interruption in the conversation. "Hey! I thought you and Tris ditched me…" "Never! I was just… keeping an eye on Zoe." She admitted. Tori had noticed that something was off in Maya's attitude when Zoe was around, so maybe Maya had something to contribute to the conspiracy theory that had been baking in Tori's head. "I thought Imogen would have your back."
Maya hopped off down off of the ledge she was sitting on and approached Tori. "Yeah… She's a bit obsessed about Adam and Becky. She offered to help me out, but I could tell she would rather be ogling Adam and throwing eye darts at Becky."
Tori giggled at Maya's absolutely truthful observation of the whole situation between Imogen and Adam. She knew that experiencing that drama unfold all summer would probably be better than any recent season of West Drive. Someone was going to get their heart broken, Tori knew it. And as sadistic as it was, she sort of wanted a front row seat for the action.
"So what's going down here?" Tori asked.
"The bouncer wouldn't let me in. He said I look underage. The minimum at this venue is thirteen. Do I seriously look less than thirteen? I mean, Mo once said I looked ten… Is it really that bad?" Maya looked to Tori, her head slanting slightly up because of Tori's height advantage as well as the flat sneakers Maya wore.
Tori grimaced a bit. Maya did look young for her age. She was fourteen, but if she wanted to order off a kid's menu at a restaurant no waiter would blink an eye. Before Tori responded she observed Maya's cherubic face. There was honestly nothing wrong with Maya looking a little younger. In fact, all of the pageant coaches Tori had ever met always bowed down to the girls who had more youthful features like Maya. But it was an insecurity for Maya. Tori thought she had two options: tell Maya the truth, that she does look youthful, but that she should enjoy it or lie and say that she totally looks mature and try to boost her ego?
"You just need a more mature look." Tori said, finding something perfectly in the middle. "What's your name?" Tori addressed the boy who sat behind Maya for the first time. He had a joint between his fingers, pressing it to his lips every minute or so and taking long drags. Every girl swooned for a bad boy, and Tori wasn't excluded from that. She tried to keep her head on straight, though. This wasn't the time to flirt with the dangerous boy with gorgeous eyes and a goofy smile.
"Miles." The boy said. Miles took one more long drag off of the joint that was practically burning his finger tips at this point, then threw the spent joint on the ground and pressed his shoes into it as he stood up. He was wearing ridiculously expensive designer shoes, which only made Tori more and more intrigued. Again, though, she told herself that this wasn't the time. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance. And you are?"
Maya cut in before Tori had a chance to introduce herself. "She's Tori. What do you mean when you say a more mature look?" Maya was clearly a bit desperate to get into the concert. "What should I do? Show cleavage? I don't really...have cleavage." Maya spoke self consciously, embarrassed as she openly spoke about her chest in front of a boy she barely knew.
Tori looked to Miles and gave him a devious smile. His eyes sort of clicked with hers in a way she wasn't expecting. He almost seemed familiar. As their eyes locked in, they both spoke almost simultaneously. "Makeover?" They both said, their words stumbling onto one another in a messy way. "Now?" Maya said, but Tori had already begun searching for her makeup bag. "Alright, I just…" Maya started speaking, but Tori and Miles had begun directing her toward a spot where she could sit that had a bit of decent light.
"You know, I totally support a bad girl makeover," Miles spoke as Tori brought out her black eyeliner and begun work on darkening Maya's eyes. Step one of the 'Make Maya Mature' project. "But I could just get us in backstage. No bouncers there to fret about." Tori paused after only applying makeup to one of Maya's eyes, making her look a bit like an unbalanced raccoon.
"You could what?" Tori said, nearly feeling her ears turn like a cartoon character towards Miles, giving him his full attention. "You know the band?"
Tori attempted to go back to Maya's makeover, but she was definitely distracted. The second eye that she was applying makeup to was definitely not turning out as good. She smudged the makeup a bit, making it look like it was intentionally a bit messy. Maybe Maya could pull off grunge.
"I have my ways of getting backstage. Do you guys want to? After you finish this, obviously." Miles referenced Maya's lopsided makeup job. The charming grin that took over Miles's face was completely melting Tori. She kept trying to convince herself that this was not the time for flirting, but her heart just wasn't listening. In front of her was an insanely cute guy who seemed funny, charming, approachable, a little bad… And he was offering her the chance of a lifetime to go backstage at a show. Maybe he was bad news. Tori always saw the good in Zig and he definitely wasn't what he seemed. She could feel herself talking herself out of this amazing spontaneous opportunity that was presented to her. So instead of thinking more, she just spoke.
"Let's do it." Tori decided.
