A/N: Hi everyone! I am back with the newest part of this story. After a couple re-writes, it is MUCH longer than my usual chapters so I hope it appeases you all haha. Over 10,000 views now! Really cool of you all to stop by. Thanks to Tobi-Is-Fluffy-Chan for favoriting/following and thanks to Jakarie for the lone review :).
An update, or rather a promise, for my other story "New Student..." Being that my Thanksgiving break is a week and a half away, I plan on getting through a new chapter for that ready for posting by the end of the break. I know it's been far too long for an update on that but I just wanted you all to know in case you've read it and were wondering about it.
I really like this chapter after the re-writes. Please let me know what you think could happen in the following chapters or what you hope might happen. It might give me some inspiration for writing even though I have an image of where I want to go with this. The remainder of the story shouldn't be too long I suspect, maybe a few chapters. But please let me know if you liked this in any case :).
Tori sits in a chair in a small room; there's a table in front of her and on the other side of that another chair. An interrogation room… Tori had seen one before when she was younger; her dad had given her a tour on "Bring your daughter to work day" and she remembered watching, through the one-way glass, her dad's partner talking to some guy. Of course now she knows this is where criminals were taken for interrogation. She grows sad as she imagines what might happen if the police don't believe her story, the true story. She leans back in her chair, the foiled robbery from the night before almost feels like a dream at this point. About thirty minutes after the goons headed for the hills, Wanko's Warehouse security guards arrived to check out the store before the big opening. What a shock for them to see all the girls trussed up in the middle of the store. Tori remembers how embarrassed she felt and rubs her arms. As embarrassing as it was to be found like she was, she was so grateful to be freed from her bonds. The position she was left in, not to mention the amount of saliva that fell from her lips, was excruciating. At least she decided to wear a long sleeve shirt last night; the rope marks around her arms weren't as bad as Jade's looked when she was sitting next to her in the police car. A furious look appears on her face; she hates that that slime-ball Seth was right about the cops arresting them all for trespassing. Even so, she was just waiting for a chance to explain the whole story to the cops. No doubt they were talking to her friends too. Hopefully, their stories would convince the police to start tracking down the real crooks.
The door opens and Tori sits up straight and watches as the officer who enters is her father. The brunette swallows hard; she doesn't know if he's angry or worried since his back is to her while closing the door. Her father David finally turns around and locks eyes with her as he takes his seat across from her. A feeling of nervousness grows inside the girl so she speaks up first. "Daddy, I can explain−"
David raises his hand, causing the girl to go quiet. Tori's anxiety grows; she's never heard her father yell at her before so she braces herself for it. Instead, her father just sighs and closes his eyes. "I'm glad you're okay, baby. I'm sure you were scared of what might have happened to you. You were smart to just listen to those four and not try anything stupid." Tori nods silently, a couple tears falling from her eyes as she relives the events quickly in her head. "I just came to see how you were… I'm not allowed to interrogate any of you since you and Trina were involved." He gets up and Tori runs over and embraces him tightly, the father kissing the top of her head. "And don't worry, no one's going to be arrested. I'm sure with the information you have they'll let you all go with a warning. That and I have a little pull around here," he says authoritatively with a slight wink.
Tori smiles, "Thanks Daddy, you're the best."
"You're still grounded for what you did though," he says bluntly.
Tori nods, "I figured as much." The two hug for a little longer before Mr. Vega exits, leaving Tori again alone in the small room. A couple new officers enter the room and start asking her questions. She feels like she's being put through the wringer with the amount of queries thrown at her, but her details seem to make the officers happy. After letting them know the name of one of the goons, one of the officers, a heavyset man with a gray mustache named Officer Baldwin, sets down his notepad and puts his hands together into fists, looking at the teenager.
"Well, now we have two of their names, thanks to you and your red-headed friend."
Tori smiles knowing that the information was helpful. "That's good news, right? You can find them now?"
"Well, it's enough to know it's the same four guys we've been tracking for months now. But we haven't been able to catch them in the act… they have no set pattern and they know how to stay hidden."
Tori looks puzzled, "What do you mean?"
"They always change their plates or their vehicle with each robbery. Sometimes it's a big store like last night and sometimes it's a mom and pop shop just for fun."
The other officer speaks up, a Hispanic man with slicked back black hair named Officer Ordoñez. "Also, they take the security tapes, if any, with every score. It doesn't give us any evidence except of word of mouth from witnesses. It's not enough for a warrant."
"But we KNOW they were there last night!" Tori retorts angrily.
"We can't PROVE that though," the Hispanic cop replies, trying to quell the girl's fury. "Remember, they got the tapes. If we tried to arrest them, they'd be out in a day."
Tori lies back with disgust on her face; the fact those goons were always a step ahead may mean they will never be caught. After a few more minutes of talking, the police release Tori and she meets up with all her friends, including the boys, in the lobby. Before leaving, they all agree that the girls need a good rest after being thoroughly trussed up all night. Beck offers to take Jade and Cat home and André and Robbie go to the Vega household with Tori and Trina.
After getting home, Tori and Trina retreat to the solitude of their bedrooms, both exhausted from the previous night's ordeal. Tori closes her door calmly and throws her phone on the bed in front of her. She takes a deep breath and stands in front of her mirror, taking off her long-sleeved shirt to look at the bruising on her arms. Even with the fabric protecting her, the ropes left their mark and she stifles a sob at what those assholes did to her skin. Her legs show the same damage as her arms as she takes off her jeans and slips into her pajamas. She notices more trauma on her stomach as she takes off her undershirt to slip on a new one for bed. Tori takes a deep breath as her phone starts to beep. Glancing at it, she sees the name and decides to answer the call. "Hi, Jade. I was actually just about to sleep," she says, stifling a yawn.
"You don't even have time to talk to me, Vega?" she says teasingly.
Tori raises an eyebrow, wondering why she said it in that tone. "After everything that happened last night, I'm not in the mood. It's just like what happened with Sam and that wasn't even a month ago!"
"You HAVE been unlucky recently when it comes to getting tied up by people," Jade answers.
"Yeah, what's with that?" the brown-haired girl replies quickly. She thinks to herself how it wasn't nearly as "fun" as it was being bound up with Jade. She did have some feelings for the Goth but being trussed up and humiliated twice in a month was not her idea of a good time. "How are your arms?"
"I'll be fine… I wear long sleeves many days anyway," Jade says casually. "So Cat mentioned on the way home that she wants to hang out again tomorrow since last night was a bust. Maybe we could work on our project for class and sit around after it's done?"
Tori smiles, "Yeah, that sounds nice. I just want to relax today and get some sleep. Tomorrow will be great."
After a couple silent moments, Jade speaks up again. "So, Tori, I know we haven't talked much about the whole Sam thing…" Tori thinks to herself the actuality of that statement. Though she enjoyed kissing Jade, and had a feeling her friend liked it too, she swept it under the rug to avoid embarrassing herself. "But if you want to, I'm okay with that."
Tori takes a deep breath, "Well, I don't really know what to say Jade. We got tied up together, we made out a bit, we got rescued," she said convincingly, even though her heart beat faster at the thought of Jade's lips against her own. "I was pretty embarrassed about the whole thing so I didn't even want to talk about it afterwards."
"Well I have to admit, you're a pretty good kisser, Vega," the black-haired girl replies. "Not that I like throwing out compliments to you, but I don't lie," she adds, trying to sound less complimentary.
Tori's face turns bright red at Jade's comment. "Well thanks, Jade," she stammers. "I… guess I enjoyed kissing you too." Tori's hand immediately covers her blushed façade even though Jade can't see it, regretting saying her thoughts out loud. She hears a laugh on the other end of the phone. "Ok, I really want to sleep now. Just come over around noon," she says, trying to end the conversation as quickly as possible.
"Alright, Vega, we'll see you then. Oh, one more thing," the Goth adds.
"Yeah?"
"Nice ass," Jade states simply before the line goes dead. Tori groans and tosses her phone next to her pillow, falling in her bed and hoping she isn't teased too much the next day.
The following afternoon, Tori, Jade, and Cat are sitting in the Vega's living room. Having already finished their assignment, the girls are having some lunch and talking about whatever comes to mind. After getting some water from her refrigerator, Tori turns around and sees Jade wink at her.
Tori giggles nervously, "Why did you just wink at me, Jade?"
"No reason really," the girl says coolly with a smirk on her face. "Except that your ass looks great in those jeans."
Tori's mouth hangs open and she blushes just as much as the previous night. Cat just laughs gleefully as Tori covers her face to conceal her humiliation. "Why did you just say that so bluntly?"
"Well, those guys did make you show it off to us the other night," Cat states matter-of-factly.
"Vega, relax," Jade butts in. "Honestly, you should be proud of it. You are a good dancer after all."
Jade's comment lessens the embarrassment but Tori still sits down in a huff next to her black-haired friend. "It doesn't mean I like to be objectified, Cat," she says to the red-haired girl. She turns her head to her friend next to her, "And thanks," she says with a small grin. "So enough about me… have you guys thought of anyway we can catch those goons?"
Cat raises her eyebrows, "Wait, we were supposed to think of a plan? I'm not good at tests!" she says worriedly.
"You heard what the police said, Tori," Jade says, placing a hand on her friend's forearm. "They're probably in a different state by now."
"I don't care!" Tori says with anger. "We can't just let those perverts get away with they did!"
Jade frowns a little, "No, we can't. But what can we really do? It's been over 24 hours already; they could be in Washington by this point."
The Latina frowns, "Maybe you're right. But I just wish we could figure out a way to help the police get those bastards," she says with anger.
Jade places a consoling hand on Tori's shoulder when their red-headed friend shrieks in glee.
"Oh my god!" Cat exclaims loudly, looking at her phone.
The two girls flinch in surprise at the sudden outburst. "What is it, Cat?" Tori asks worriedly.
"The Electric Station in San Diego is having a clearance sale next week! I want a new TV for my room," she says with a giggle.
Tori's eyes widen and her eyes meet Jade's. "Maybe those guys will hear about the sale!" she says excitedly.
"There's no way they'd try it," Jade reminds the brunette. "Why would they bother staying in California?"
"Who cares?! We need to let the police know!" the newly invigorated Latina shouts. She grabs her keys off the kitchen table before opening the front door. "Can you drive us there, Jade, please?"
Jade sighs and stands up. "Yeah, sure." The girls all exit and head to the police station to give them the new information.