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CHAPTER 7
Tori's POV
Thank God it's finally Friday! But that means that Jade and I would have to get cracking down on Sikowitz's project if we wanted to pass. Trina, of course, drove me to school, and on the whole trip there I was planning on how I would approach Jade this time. As soon as she parked I was out of the car, yelling back to her, "Bye, Trina, I'll see you later!"
"Okay, Tori, and remember, I'm having my party tomorrow so you and your friend can't work on Sikowitz's project at our house."
Wait, what?
"What party?" I asked, retreating a few steps.
"I'm celebrating the anniversary of when I first discovered I was going to be accepted into Hollywood Arts," Trina said proudly, seeming to wipe a tear from the corner of her eye.
What the heck was she talking about? It was the middle of the freaking school year, for goodness' sake! And as much as I love my older sister, I think her getting that acceptance letter was a mistake at the post office, no offense to her.
"Trina," I said, "Does Mom and Dad know you're hosting your 'party?'"
"Of course, silly!" she replied, ruffling my hair and starting towards the entrance of HA. "Bye, Tori!"
I stood there, my jaw hanging open. Now what am I going to do? Maybe Jade will let me over to her house…maybe…but then there was that conflict and my suspicion of her dad...so maybe that wasn't such a great idea...
I trudged up the steps to the school, heading to my locker. There was hardly anyone here yet, but after I had exchanged a few books and tidied up my locker a bit, I found that André was sitting on the steps of the main stairwell, a keyboard on his lap. He looked incredibly somber.
"Hey, André, what's up?" I said, walking over and sitting down next to him. I remembered that Lane had always told us not to sit there, because it was a fire hazard. But it was the morning, and hardly anyone was here, so I dismissed that thought immediately. "Have you seen Jade? I know it's early and everything, but I need to—"
"I'm not sure if Jade's coming to school today," André said in an unusually dark manner. "Did you hear what happened to Beck?"
"No, what?" I did admit that I had a little bit of the crush on that boy, but I think my attraction to André was stronger.
"Well, apparently, yesterday night his grandpa passed away."
"Oh."
"So he told me that he's going to spend some time by himself at home," André said, a little sadly. "And then his grandpa's funeral is tomorrow, in Bakersfield. So Beck'll be out of town, and he's taking his RV too, for some reason. I think he mentioned something about wanting to bring more relatives."
"Well, I'll be sure to send him my condolences," I said sympathetically.
"And, um, because of that, he wanted me to make sure that you don't work on your project at Jade's hous—" André was cut off as the mean queen herself walked by. "Hey, Jade! You're here today!" André greeted, changing the subject abruptly and acting a slight bit too friendly.
"Hello, André," Jade replied coolly, although her facial expression didn't match that. Her face was clean of any injuries—unless she covered them up with makeup—but her eyes were sunken into her head like she hadn't slept and been crying all night. I wondered if this had something to do with Beck.
"Jade, what's wrong? I heard about what happened to Beck's grandpa and that he's—" I tried to say.
"Are you okay, Jade?" André interrupted, to my surprise.
"What does it look like, Harris?" Jade snapped. Her voice cracked in the middle, and she continued angrily, "I don't really want to talk to you right now, Vega." She walked down to the vending machines and took a left turn before disappearing behind the corner.
"So, um, what were you saying, André?" I said, trying to remember our previous conversation. "Something about Beck not wanting me to go to Jade's house…?"
"Oh yeah." André looked incredibly uncomfortable. What the heck was wrong with everybody this week? First Jade, and then Cat's confession about her father, and then Beck getting overly upset about nothing, and now André. "Well, he said that since he's not really here to, I guess, 'keep Jade under control,' you probably shouldn't go to her house."
It probably has something to do with her dad, I thought.
"Then how are we going to work on the project?" I questioned. "Trina's having a party at my house that's going to last who knows how long, and we need to finish our play! I'm not failing Sikowitz's class all because I couldn't get along with my partner. Or schedule a time to work together."
"No, Tori, it's not just that," André stumbled over his words.
Uh-huh…
"I know Jade can be really mean and rude sometimes, but I seriously doubt that she would ever try and seriously hurt me," I said back, remembering he had said those exact words earlier in the week. My mind was churning with plans. "Here, I'll go find her and maybe we can figure something out."
André watched me as I started down to the black box theater. I had my first period with Jade, and I figured she might be going down in that direction.
I opened the double doors, peeking my head inside. There was one person in there: Jade. I suddenly felt really awkward and I didn't know how to start our conversation. Should I just leave and come back when the bell rings, or should I just go in there now? I pondered to myself.
"You're blocking the exit, Tori," Jade's voice echoed in the theater suddenly.
"Sorry." Oh well, no backing out now. I stepped inside and walked up to Jade hesitantly. She was sitting on a foldable chair, and her feet were up on the one next to her. She was holding something in his hands, which I couldn't identify; it certainly wasn't a PearPhone but some sort of electronic device.
I sat down on the free chair next to her. Now that I was much closer to her and she didn't have her bangs, I could see shallow cuts on her forehead and a bruise hiding under a pile of makeup on her left cheek.
"So, we need to work on the project," I said slowly.
Jade looked up at me, her eyes blazing angrily. I tried not to gulp too loudly.
"Yeah, even I don't want to fail Sikowitz's, Vega," she replied.
"And, uh, the project is due next Monday, which is in about three days," I reminded her.
"I can count, Vega."
"We have to work on it this weekend," I said. Jade's mouth moved to give me a retort, but I continued. "And we can't work at my house because Trina's using it to host her anniversary of being accepted into Hollywood Arts." I rolled my eyes at my older sister's weirdness, even though I loved her dearly.
"So what are you suggesting?" Jade's arms folded across her chest.
"Well, if it's all right with you, maybe we could work at your house…"
I thought my head was going to explode with the look that Jade gave me. Her eyes were pits of icy depths, and I was falling endlessly in them. "I don't want you coming to my house," she replied swiftly.
"Why not? I promise I won't tell anyone where you live, if you're worried about your address getting out," I said, chuckling slightly.
Jade obviously saw no humor in my joke. "It's not just that, Vega."
"Then what is it?" I insisted obnoxiously. I decided to bring up the subject that was on my mind. "By the way, how did things go with your dad? I didn't tell anyone anything because—"
"Because it's none of your business," she interrupted.
"Come on, Jade. Why don't you just tell me what's going on here, huh? I can help you. I know people that can help you. Seriously. Whatever's going on with your dad is pretty obvious to everyone. If you're getting abused, you really need to tell—"
She rudely cut me off again. "Shut up, Vega. Just shut up. You don't know me. You're jumping to conclusions, that's what you're doing. This is my problem, my business, my life. Not yours." She stood up angrily, picking up her things. "And for your information I am doing perfectly fine with my dad. It's the nosey, stubborn, annoying, bratty friends you have to watch out for."
Oh dear, what did I say? "Wait, Jade," I called after her as she made her way to the exit of the black box. I didn't mean to make her this upset.
"No, Tori, you can wait."
The door slammed loudly behind her, leaving me in the silence of the theater.
Wait for what? I'm not going to stand around all day when a friend could be a potential victim of child abuse. Jade might not want me to interfere, but I didn't care.
Something wasn't right here.
I had known from the start.
And the only way to find out was to visit the old man himself.
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It was afterschool, and I was by my locker. Trina had texted me a few minutes ago, saying that she was getting ready to leave. She had to hand out a few more invitations to her party, apparently. That was perfectly fine with me, because I had to find Jade again before we went home.
I had gotten Jade's number from Cat, and I quickly dialed it and brought it up to my ear.
"Hello, the number you've reached is no longer in service. We are sorry for the inconvenience it may be causing you," a robotic man's voice answered.
I hung up. Maybe Cat had given me the wrong number or something.
Just then, the redhead herself came around the corner.
"Hey, Cat," I said, walking up to her.
"Oh, hi Tori," she said, smiling.
"Uh, the number you gave me, you said it was Jade's but when I called it said that the number was 'inaccessible.'"
"Oh, sorry. She said she broke her phone yesterday by dropping it in the toilet." Cat giggled into her hands. I stared at her, cracking a grin. For some reason, I couldn't imagine Jade dropping her precious PearPhone into a toilet. "But she's going to borrow my phone for the weekend so she can stay in touch with Beck. So you can call my phone if you want to talk to her."
Aww, she's such a sweet friend. "Okay, I'll do that, then. Thanks!"
"Kay kay!" she said excitedly. "I'm going to get sushi with Robbie. Bye, Tori!" She bounded away happily. Geez, she never gets upset about anything, huh? If I had lent anyone my phone I probably would just mope around my house for the entire weekend.
This time I decided to call Cat—well, Jade anyway. The phone rang three times before I heard Jade's voice.
"What the heck do you want, Vega?" she asked in an angry tone.
"I'm sorry for whatever I said earlier to make you upset," I apologized, "but I need you to know that we really need to get started on the project. And we can't go to my house thanks to my sister."
"So you're inviting yourself over to my house?" Jade said in an incredulous tone.
"Well, indirectly, I guess. So yeah."
Jade was silent, and for a moment I thought she was going to hang up on me. "Fine," she said finally. "But I'm not responsible for anything that happens to you while you're there. And I'll pick you up, too. I don't need to give you my address."
"Okay, so tomorrow?" I said, slightly relieved, but the gears in my mind were turning wildly.
"Yes tomorrow."
"Good."
"Byee." She hung up before I could say anything else.
I put my phone back in my bag, just as Trina came around the corner, smiling widely at me.
"Come on, Tori, we have to get home and start getting ready for the party!"
I rolled my eyes but said nothing otherwise. I followed my older sister out of the school into the car. As soon as we had pulled out of the parking lot, she started yapping and yapping of the things she still needed to buy and how she would need my help to put up all of the decorations and such. But I stayed quiet for the most part, mumbling the occasional, "Okay. All right. Sure."
My mind was whirring with questions and assumed answers.
Jade's dad had the possibility of being home when I was over at her house. I would definitely need to tell someone, particularly an adult, where I would be going, but of course I would do that even if her father wasn't the person I suspected him to be.
But I kept thinking to that phone call I had witnessed between Jade and her father. Jade was definitely one tough chic, no lie, but the way she was reacting was unbelievable. It was like the day Beck had gone nuts at lunch because he learned that she was keeping a secret from him. Some people might call it 'out-of-character' or 'unusual behavior.'
It really bothered me.
Jade may not be a good friend of mine, but she was a friend of my friends. She was worried that night that her dad called, and I knew something was wrong.
And I needed to find out the truth.
I didn't realize that we had arrived home until Trina's voice woke me up from my thoughts.
"Come on, Tori. You gotta help me set up the banners," she said, banging the door to the car open and hurrying up our walkway to the front.
I sighed, but hopped out of the car after her.
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