Disclaimer: If I owned Victorious there would have been a glorious, Jori-centric spinoff by now. So, obviously, I don't own it.

"I can't believe you let Jade freakin' West, of all people, top you. I mean, that girl is totally a top, so I'm not really surprised, but I kinda hoped that you'd have enough pride to at least put up a fight over it."

"For the last time, Trina," Tori yelled into the hands covering her face, "we weren't doing anything!"

"Uh-huh. Sure." Clearly Trina didn't believe her sister, and Tori could only groan as she sank into her seat, finally lowering her hands as they pulled into the school parking lot.

"Just," Tori fidgeted with her seatbelt, "please don't say anything about it? We're still trying to figure stuff out and I don't think she wants anyone to know."

Trina scoffed as she parked the car. "Seriously? No one's figured it out with the way you guys stare at each other?"

"We do not stare," Tori protested. Trina's head whipped to the side and she gave her sister a very pointed look. "It's not staring so much as it's, y'know… looking. Occasionally glancing, perhaps."

"Keep telling yourself that." Trina shook her head and got out of the car, Tori following a moment later. "But, speaking from experience, keeping things a secret doesn't really ever end well."

"Speaking from experience?" Tori repeated as she followed her older sister across the parking lot. "What experience is that?"

"Do you remember that cute pizza delivery boy?"

"The one from Giuseppe's?" Trina gave her a sly smile and Tori held back a laugh. "Giuseppe's that we had to stop ordering from because the delivery boy took out a restraining order on you?"

Trina huffed and tossed her hair over her shoulder. "It was not a restraining order."

"Really? Because Dad had to go to court and-"

"It wasn't a restraining order, Tori!" Trina snapped, stomping away into the school.

"Thanks for the advice, sis!" Tori called out, even though Trina completely ignored her. Tori shook her head and chuckled to herself, pushing through the doors.

She had barely made it down the hallway when an arm draped over her shoulder. "So…?" Andre greeted, a huge grin plastered on his face.

Tori smiled right back as she turned the combination on her locker. "So…?"

"Come on, don't leave me hangin'!" Andre removed his arm and leaned against the locker next to Tori's. "What happened with Jade? I saw y'all at lunch yesterday. Did you guys…" He made a strange gesture with his hands and Tori laughed.

"We talked a bit yesterday," Tori answered slyly, opening her locker.

"Yeah? And?"

"And it was nice?" Tori offered.

"Nice?" Andre said in disbelief before breaking into a grin. "Come on, you can tell me." He pointed his thumbs at himself and shook his hips. "The Love Doctor did good, right?"

"Eww," Tori laughed and shoved his shoulder. "Don't ever call yourself that."

Andre chuckled and straightened up. "But y'all are cool, right?"

"Yeah," Tori took some books out and shoved them into her bag. "It's complicated, but I think we're cool."

Andre's brow furrowed. "Complicated?"

Tori closed her locker with a sigh. "Yeah. I can't really talk about it?" She gave him an apologetic sort of grimace.

Andre nodded and threw his arm around her shoulder again. "Okay. But I'm here for you when you can."

"Thanks." Tori shot him a sweet smile. "Hey, how 'bout your song? Have you done it yet?"

Andre shook his head as they headed off towards Sikowitz's class. "Nah, I'm up today. But it'll be cool. My teacher already told me I got an A."

"Really? But you haven't even performed yet."

Andre pinched his shirt between two fingers and popped the fabric with a chuckle. "I'm just that good, baby."

"Shut up." Tori laughed and shoved him away.

They were still laughing when they walked into Sikowitz's, and Andre clapped Tori on the shoulder, shooting a glance at the back of Jade's head while mouthing 'Good luck'. Tori gave him a smile as he headed off towards his usual seat.

"Hey, Jade," Tori greeted with a small wave.

Jade glanced up from the notebook in her hand and nodded, looking back immediately.

And Tori erupted into a ball of nerves. Was that not okay? Was she not supposed to acknowledge their… whatever-it-was in school? Were they actually a secret? She suddenly wished that they had actually done more talking, like actual talking yesterday. "Um," she chuckled nervously and pointed to the empty chair next to Jade, "is anyone sitting here?"

Jade looked at the empty chair. Then to Tori. Then back to the chair. Then back to Tori. She quirked an eyebrow, as if to say, 'Really?' and Tori felt her heart drop. Maybe they weren't cool, after all. Tori had thought that Jade's teasing right before she left had just been, y'know, flirty. But maybe she had misunderstood. Maybe she'd totally misread the signs?

Jade rolled her eyes and pulled the chair a little closer to her own. A little further from Tori. Tori's shoulders sagged. She had totally misread the signs. "Sit down already," Jade turned the page in her notebook, "your hovering is annoying."

Tori beamed. Neither of them said anything, but Tori didn't really feel the need to. Because the corner of Jade's mouth was twitching with the effort of holding back her own smile.

Cat took the seat directly in front of Jade, and Beck sat next to Andre. Sikowitz waltzed in through the other door that hardly ever got used and the class settled down as he stepped up onto the stage.

"So, how many of you were actually paying attention during yesterday's lesson on Plutchik's wheel?" A few students raised their hands, including Tori, and Sikowitz winked at the class. "We'll see how true that is. I want you all to break into groups," Tori glanced at Jade, who just cocked a brow without meeting her gaze, "and pick two neighboring aspects on the wheel. You'll have all week to write a short scene, using those emotions and hopefully incorporating the way they relate to each other, and then perform your scene Friday in front of the class." His assignment was met with silence and he threw his hands up. "Go! Pair up! Make theatrical magic!"

The class was a flurry of activity as chairs were pushed out of the way and students hurried to find their friends. Tori turned a bit in her seat and faced Jade. "Um, do you wanna," she gestured between them, leaving her question hanging in the air.

"Which emotions would you want to do?" Jade asked.

Tori's brain kicked into overdrive, trying to actually remember the lesson from the previous day. She could see the flower shaped chart in her mind, and she said the first emotion she thought of. "Uh… rage and…" Jade's eyebrow arched high as Tori tried to remember what was next to it on the wheel, "loathing?"

"Seriously?" Jade smirked. "That's twisted. Yeah, we can be partners on this."

The reasoning behind Jade's decision may have been a little twisted itself, but Tori didn't really mind. She'd take any opportunity she could to spend more time with her. "Great," Tori agreed quickly and settled into her seat.

Jade flipped to a blank page in her notebook and looked at the girl next to her. "You're not gonna write anything?"

Tori shrugged. "I just figured you'd write it."

"You figured," Jade repeated slowly.

"Yeah. You were always better at the writing thing than me," Tori mused, remembering the countless times Jade had written stories for her on the inside of paper planes. Even when they were together in one of their blanket castles, Jade would make up the stories and Tori would just giggle along. "But if you want me to-"

"No," Jade interrupted. "No, it's cool, I'll write it. I'm just used to," she trailed off, glancing in Beck's direction, "more of a fight about it."

Tori followed her gaze and frowned. "He'd fight with you about it?"

"He wasn't happy that I always wrote everything. He had plenty of input, but," she shrugged and pulled a pen out of her bag. "He wanted control over the final product, but his final products were always shit."

Jade started taking notes and Tori's gaze returned to Beck. She still didn't know what happened that made them break up, and she really didn't know how Jade felt about it. He was another thing they had to talk about. She glanced at what Jade had written and frowned at the title of the page. "Contempt?"

"Rage and loathing, Vega," Jade's pen moved across the page, "culminate in contempt. You picked it."

"Ah, this is a strange pair," Sikowitz sidled up next to them. "Jade, Toro, what have you picked?"

"Contempt, apparently," Tori mumbled.

"You're going to kill your partner, aren't you?" Sikowitz deadpanned as he turned to Jade.

Jade chuckled and shook her head. "No death this time. Promise."

"No… no death?" Sikowitz clutched at his chest dramatically. "Who are you and what have you done with Jade West?"

Jade laughed openly and Tori was kind of awestruck by their strange interaction. She made a mental note. Jade actually liked Sikowitz, despite his insanity. Or maybe because of it? "Don't you go and typecast me, old man," Jade said as she jotted something down. "I might just surprise you with this one."

"Hmm," Sikowitz narrowed his eyes as a coconut materialized in his hand. "We'll see. We. Shall. See."

He wandered away towards Andre, Beck, Cat, and Robbie, and Tori turned back to Jade. "So," she slapped her hands on her knees, "what have you got so far?"

They spent the rest of class brainstorming. Whenever Tori threw an idea out, Jade's eyes would either light up, or roll, but Tori was happy because a lot of her ideas had actually made it onto the page. A few were even underlined. When the bell rang, they had only actually decided on one thing, but both of them were optimistic on how it would turn out.

"I'll write up a draft tonight," Jade stood up and threw her bag over her shoulder, "and then tomorrow we can run through it in class and see if it works."

"Okay, but," Tori slowly stood up, "I was kinda hoping we could," she glanced at Beck as he walked past, shooting them both a quick smile, "y'know, Q and A later?" she added quietly.

Jade's eyes narrowed as she cocked her hip to the side. She lifted her chin, looking at Tori in a ridiculously intimidating way, and Tori's nerves were on edge again. "Meet me by my car at lunch." Jade leaned in close as she brushed past Tori. "You can Q my A all you want, baby."

Tori screwed her eyes shut as Jade left the classroom. Yeah, she totally regretted letting that whole baby thing slip. She knew Jade was just doing it to mess with her, to tease her, but it still sent a ridiculous shiver up her spine. "Oh, man."

She really did want to take things slow. She wanted to get to know Jade as she was now, figure out how they fit together now, but she had grown up, and Jade had really grown up, and the teenager in Tori didn't want to go any slower than a race car. She just really had to hope that one of them had some self-control, or else things between them could get really messy really fast.

The late bell rang and Tori didn't even realize she was still standing, alone, in Sikowitz's empty classroom. "Oh, man!"

The rest of the morning lurched by slowly, and it seemed like the entire week had passed before Tori was back at her locker, quickly swapping out her books for the afternoon. And then she was practically sprinting out towards the parking lot.

Jade was leaning against her car, her arms at her sides and her head thrown back, soaking in the grey, cloudy skies. "Jade!" Tori called, waving a hand in the air to get her attention. Jade's head turned and a smile slowly stretched across her lips. The sight honestly made Tori a little giddy, and she quickened her steps. Jade was happy to see her! That was awesome! That was a really good sign! Tori loped closer, aware of just how ridiculous she must have looked.

Now, Jade's eyebrow wasn't exactly sexual. It was an eyebrow, for the love of chizz. But man, what that girl did with her eyebrow? Could lead a man to commit murder. Or a Tori to trip over her own feet and fall, flailing forward, landing on said girl. On a very inappropriate part of said girl. Tori just kind of stared at her hand, and the definite body part underneath of it. And she could only think one thing. Boob.

"Havin' fun there, champ?"

Tori looked up, still not moving her hand, and smiled weakly. Jade's hands were thrown out to her sides, and that eyebrow was quirked. "Sorry," Tori said hurriedly, straightening up and finally dropping her hand. "I'm so sorry, I tripped and fell and-"

"Decided to cop a feel?" An amused smirk played across Jade's lips. "What happened to 'hands off'?"

Tori swore she had never blushed so hard in her entire life. "I- It was an accident. Seriously. I wouldn't ever- I mean, I would, totally, but not in school! I mean, I'd at least- I mean- Shutting up now."

Jade's smirk was a full blown smile, and her eyes danced with mirth. "No. Please. Continue." She folded her arms across her chest, and Tori's eyes were suddenly glued to the sight. "You'd at least what?"

"I'd, ya know," Tori fidgeted, doing a fair impression of Cat when she really had to pee. "Buy you dinner first?"

"Oh?" Both of Jade's eyebrows rose. "Would you now?"

Tori couldn't believe this was actually happening. She'd been so… smooth yesterday. She'd been all flirty and doing her best sexy impression. And Jade had totally eaten it up. But now, she was just… kinda-dorky Tori again. "Yes?" She offered weakly.

Jade gave Tori a blatant once-over, and suddenly Tori was blushing for an entirely different reason. "Then Friday will be quite interesting, won't it, baby?" Tori's jaw fell open, and she stared as Jade strutted away from her car. "Come on, this way."

Tori shook her head like a cartoon character and followed, blindly, wherever Jade was leading her.

Which was to the coffee shop across the street. The one she could see through the window in their screenwriting class. "Oh, I've wanted to come here!" Tori gasped excitedly as she followed Jade inside.

Jade's eyebrow did that thing again as she turned slightly. "Then it's your lucky day, isn't it?" There were only a few people inside, and Jade walked right up to the counter. "Coffee and one of those things with the stuff."

Tori smiled at her vague order, but Jade must've gone there a lot because the young man behind the counter nodded and set off to get her order, like he knew exactly what she was talking about. He poured a little sugar into the coffee before setting it down on the counter. "You got another play coming up soon?" He asked as he grabbed 'one of those things with the stuff', which turned out to be a bear claw.

Jade shrugged as she picked up her coffee. "I've got a lot going on right now, with classes and school, so probably not for a while. Sorry, Mike."

"Aww. That one with the girl trapped in the well was so good, though!" He actually looked disappointed, and Tori felt a strange emotion stir in her stomach. Mike placed the bear claw on a large napkin and set it on the counter. "If you do one, let me know."

Jade just nodded and stepped to the side, both of them turning their attention to Tori. "What can I get you?"

"Water," Tori answered automatically. Mike glanced between them and Jade raised her eyebrow expectantly. "And a muffin? Blueberry?"

Mike chuckled and opened the glass display case. "One blueberry muffin," he placed it on the napkin with Jade's bear claw, "and just grab a water from the drink case over there."

Tori mumbled a thanks as Mike struck up another conversation with Jade. Why did he get to see one of Jade's plays? Why did he get to act all disappointed that she was too busy to write another one? Tori wasn't jealous, she was just… Okay, she slid the door to the case closed. She was a little jealous. She had just missed so much of Jade's life, and it made her kind of sad that she didn't get to be a part of it when Mike did.

"You good, Groucho?" Jade asked.

Tori turned and nodded. "Yeah," she mumbled as Jade held out the napkin for her. Tori took her muffin and trailed behind Jade to one of the tables outside.

"Mike graduated Hollywood Arts last year," Jade explained as she sat down. "He wrote a killer musical that he's trying to get produced and he promised me a role."

"So," Tori took her own seat, "he's a friend?"

Jade's face screwed up. "He's a good playwright and I respect his work, but god no! He hits on me every time I come here. It's gross."

That admission did absolutely nothing to loosen the knot in Tori's stomach. "Then why do you come here so often that he knows your order?"

Jade blinked and held up her bear claw. "I deal with that skeeze because this is literally the best thing I've ever put in my mouth." She broke a piece off and held it out to Tori. "Seriously. Try it."

Tori frowned at the offered pastry but Jade just shoved it closer. With a roll of her eyes, Tori took it and popped it into her mouth. And then her eyes rolled back into her head. It was absolutely delicious. "Oh my god. Yum!"

"Right?" Jade chuckled. She settled back in her seat and took a sip of coffee. "So, what's up?"

"I just," Tori swallowed and cracked open her water, "I wanted to talk to you about Beck." She took a sip as Jade's eyes narrowed.

"What about Beck?"

Tori gulped down some more water. The knot was still in her stomach, and she realized that Beck, like Mike, was the cause of it. "Why did you guys break up?"

Jade glanced to the street as a car drove by. She lifted one shoulder in a shrug. "Because we did."

"Yeah, but-"

"It has no relation to you and me," Jade snapped, "so it's irrelevant, and we're not talking about it."

Tori was about to protest, point out that Jade had said no restrictions on the questions she could ask, but thought better of it. Instead, she settled on something a little safer. "Are you okay with it? Like, are you upset about it?"

"I just said it was irrelevant."

"You said Beck was irrelevant," Tori countered. "Your feelings, however, aren't. I just want to know if," she trailed off, picking at the muffin in front of her, "if you're just…"

Jade's eyebrows drew together. "You want to know if you're just a rebound?" Her voice was low, dangerous, and Tori's eyes snapped up. "If I'm 'confused' or 'upset' about him and using you as a filler?"

"No," Tori said emphatically. "It's not like that at all. I just want to make sure that we're both as clear-headed as we can be, because our… situation is overwhelming enough without other influences."

Jade stared at her for a minute. It was a full minute because Tori started counting the seconds until Jade finally responded. "You're not a fucking rebound, Vega. I don't know what you are, but that's what this talking shit is supposed to establish, right?"

"Right," Tori nodded.

"You're not a rebound," Jade reiterated.

Tori was kind of glad that Jade was making that perfectly clear. Because even though she really hadn't meant it like that, the thought had crossed her mind. And it worried her. But it seemed like Jade knew that Tori might have been concerned, a little bit, and wanted to reassure her that her worry was baseless. "And you're okay? About Beck?"

"Yes. We grew apart, and the final split was a long time coming. I'm fine with it."

Tori studied her and gave a quick nod. "Okay." Jade turned her attention back to her bear claw, and Tori broke off a big piece of her muffin. "Andre asked me about you this morning."

Jade glanced up. "And?"

"I told him I couldn't talk about it."

"Do you want to talk to him about it?"

"Well, I mean, he already knows," Tori ventured, taking confidence from the fact that Jade didn't seem bothered with the idea of it. "And Trina's the only one who knows knows, and it would be nice to, like, have a human-"

Jade smirked at the insult. "Nice."

"-to talk to about it every now and then," Tori continued. "So is that okay?"

"Seriously?" Jade's eyebrow quirked. "You're asking my permission to talk to 'Dre?"

"About us?" Tori shot her a pointed look. "Yes. I'm talking the whole, messy story. Which isn't just my story, so I thought I would ask you if that's alright. For him to know."

An unreadable look passed across Jade's face and Tori gulped. Slowly, Jade's lips lifted. "Tori, you can tell Andre any and every thing you want. While I would prefer that you talk about me with me, I get why you want him to know." Tori tried really hard to keep her eyes from wandering as Jade leaned forward. "So, yes, baby, you can tell him."

Tori's smile was sort of a grimace and Jade smirked. "Must you? With the 'baby'?"

"Yes. I must." Jade finished her bear claw, a devilish glint in her eyes.

Honestly, Tori wasn't really bothered by it. She liked it. It's just that, knowing Jade was only doing it to tease her, kind of made it less special. But maybe, someday, it wouldn't be teasing. And Tori was absolutely okay with holding onto that hope.

They finished up lunch talking about Sikowitz's assignment and then headed back to school. Cat immediately latched onto Jade's arm in the hallway and started asking questions about whatever they were covering in science, and Tori wandered over to Andre's locker.

"Hey, where were you during lunch?" He asked, shuffling his books around.

"Jade and I were talking about our scene for Sikowitz."

"Yeah?" He looked at her, seeming like he wanted to say something else, but just nodded his head and turned back to his backpack. "Cool."

"We talked about some other stuff, too," Tori smiled. Andre glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes. "What are you doing after school?"

"The faucet in my grandma's kitchen has been leaking and she thinks it's trying to drown her," he sighed. "So I have to fix that, but it shouldn't take too long. Why?"

"Well," Tori fell into step next to him as they headed towards class, "I was hoping we could hang out? Maybe I could finally take you up on that offer to talk?"

Andre's face split into a grin. "Yeah, alright. I'll come over after I finish at my grandma's. Five good?"

"Sounds great."

Andre nodded as they headed in different directions, and Tori let out a small 'Yay!' to herself. She and Jade were talking, and taking steps towards something Tori was really excited about. Trina seemed as okay with Jade being back as she'd ever be. And now Tori was able to actually talk about it, all of it, with her friend. The situation was still complex, but pieces were slowly starting to fall into place. She couldn't help but feel optimistic.

When she strolled into her screenwriting class later and placed her report on the teacher's desk, she was positively chipper. "Um, Ms. Vega?"

"Yeah?" Tori spun on her heel, a smile on her face.

"This isn't due until Friday," her teacher said, glancing over the paper.

"Yeah, Jade and I finished it early and wanted to turn it in." Tori shifted out of the way as a few students headed towards their desks.

His head tilted as he skimmed the pages in front of him. "You and Jade," he glanced up, "both wrote this?"

Tori frowned. "Yeah."

"She didn't, you know, write the whole thing herself and demand you turn it in so it looks like you actually helped, did she?" Tori balked, more than a little offended at his suggestion that she hadn't done any of the work. "It's just," he said quickly, "it wouldn't be the first time. So I kind of have to ask."

"No," Tori said indignantly. "She didn't. And I think you'll find that I actually made some of the better points."

He dropped the paper and held his hands up. "I'm sorry. You don't participate that much in class, and I just had to make sure." Tori stared him down and was glad when he fidgeted uncomfortably. "You can take your seat now, Ms. Vega."

Tori almost crashed into Jade when she spun around. Jade cast a curious glance at their teacher and quirked a brow at Tori, as if asking 'What the hell was that about?' Tori just shook her head and stormed over to her seat, deciding to raise her hand every chance she got. She'd show him 'participation'.

A small piece of paper was slid onto her desk not a minute later.

Did he freak over us turning the paper in early?

Tori scribbled a response and shoved it back over.

He thought that you wrote the whole thing and just wanted me to turn it in so it looked like I worked on it.

Jade rolled her eyes as her pen skidded across the note.

That happened one time and he won't let it go.

Jade!

What? My partner on that project was an idiot. He was even worse with names than you are.

I am not bad with names!

Alfredo.

Tori huffed and crumpled up the paper, earning an amused eyeroll from the girl next to her. Jade wasn't deterred, and another note ended up on Tori's desk. Tori promptly ignored it, instead choosing to raise her hand and answer a question. The teacher actually looked surprised and smiled at her when she got it right. Tori leaned back in satisfaction. Yeah, she showed him. Another note slipped onto her desk. Tori glanced at Jade before opening it.

Teacher's pet.

Tori rolled her eyes and opened the first one, a blush staining her cheeks as soon as she read it.

You're cute when you get all huffy.

Jade just shrugged in an 'it's true', nonchalant way, but Tori spent the rest of class doodling the small smile that played on the edge of Jade's lips. So much for her participation.

The bell rang, and for once Jade didn't immediately run from the classroom. Instead she leaned over, grabbed Tori's notebook, and ripped out the page with her face sketched all over it. "Creeper," Jade mumbled as she tossed the notebook back.

"Hey," Tori protested, quickly grabbing her bag to follow Jade out of class, "I've got actual notes on that page!"

Jade turned and started walking backwards down the hallway. "They're terrible notes, Vega. I did you a favor."

Tori drew to a stop and gaped, throwing her hands up in defeat as Jade smirked and continued walking away from her. "They're not that bad!"

Jade just threw a hand in the air. "Terrible!"

Huffing, yet again, Tori turned and headed towards her vocal class. That girl. It was just how Jade was. She always had a bite to match her bark, and when it was turned on Tori, it was never malicious. Just teasing. It's how Jade had always been. It didn't make it any less annoying, though.

"What's the smile for?" Cat poked Tori's side as she took a seat.

"Huh?" Tori dropped her bag by her feet. "What smile?"

"It's your 'I'm not smiling because of a boy' smile," Andre grinned, flopping his hands around theatrically as his voice rose about three octaves.

"It's not a boy," Tori mumbled. She hadn't even realized she had been smiling.

"I know," Andre nudged her side.

Cat giggled and shuffled a little closer in her seat. "So who's the boy?"

"It's not a boy," Tori and Andre answered at the same time.

Without missing a beat, Cat asked, "Okay, so who's the girl?"

"It's not a-" Tori blinked. "Why would you think it's a girl?"

"Because," Cat poked at Tori's cheek, "that's the same smile my brother gets when he watches the old lady across the street. He loves her. But she doesn't love him because of that time he set her car on fire. But it's definitely a love smile, and if it's not because of a boy then it's because of a girl."

"If you ignore the part about her brother," Andre pointed out, "Little Red's got a point."

Tori swatted his shoulder. "It's nothing." She shot him a look that said if he mentioned Jade, in any way, he was in big trouble. He turned in his seat as Cat just looked between them. "It's no one, Cat. Don't worry about it. Tell me more about the car fire?"

Thankfully, Cat couldn't actually continue the story because their teacher started talking, but she did continue to shoot Tori questioning glances throughout class.

Halfway through her last class of the day, someone knocked on the door. Tori's teacher frowned, dropping her chalk as she walked over to it. She glanced through the small window in the door and turned to the class. "Copy the notes on the board, no talking," she shot a glance at a boy in the back who had a habit of interrupting before slipping out into the hallway. Immediately, murmurs of conversations broke out, silenced just a moment later when the door opened again. "Tori? Grab your stuff." Her teacher walked back over to her desk.

Tori frowned, shoving her notebook into her bag. "Is everything okay?" She asked nervously, sliding out of her seat as she threw her bag over her shoulder. "Did something happen to my sister?"

"No, you just have to go to Lane's office."

A chorus of 'oo's echoed through the room.

The teacher shot a stern glare at her students and ushered Tori towards the door. "It's nothing bad."

"She probably cussed out another teacher," the boy in the back said.

"Hey!" She opened the door for Tori but stared at him. "You want detention? Because I can give you detention."

Tori slipped into the hallway, her stomach in knots as she slowly made her way to the guidance counselor's office. She wracked her brain, desperately trying to figure out what she had done wrong. The only thing she could come up with was that she'd left campus for lunch. But a lot of kids did that. Sure, they were mostly seniors, but underclassmen would do it, too, and she'd never heard of anyone getting in trouble over it.

Tori knocked nervously before opening the door. She poked her head into the office and smiled. "You wanted to see me?"

Lane turned around in the swing that hung from his ceiling. "Tori, come on in." She gulped and stepped inside. "You're not in trouble," Lane chuckled, pulling a foot up onto the seat. "So relax. I just wanted to talk to you."

"Okay," she said warily. "What about?" Lane reached over to his desk and picked up a piece of paper. He handed it over and Tori's eyes grew wide. It was her notes from screenwriting. Seriously? She was getting in trouble for drawing during class? Dammit, Jade! "I was paying attention, I swear," she said quickly.

"You're not in trouble," he repeated with a laugh. "But I do have a question for you."

Tori frowned. "Okay?"

"Are there any classes of yours that you don't like? That you aren't interested in?"

"Um," Tori thought about it for a moment and shrugged. "Not really? I mean the dance one is a little weird, but," she trailed off as Lane stood up.

He shuffled through some papers on his desk and grabbed one. "Interpretive Dance, fourth period?" Tori nodded. Lane dropped her schedule and sat on the edge of his desk. "Here at Hollywood Arts, we really believe in nurturing an artist's natural talents, whatever form they come in. So, when a talent comes to light, we like to confer with the student and see if it's a passion that they might like to pursue."

Her face was in a permanent, confused frown. "I don't understand."

"What I'm asking you is," Lane folded his hands on his knee and smiled at her, "would you like to transfer into a drawing course?"

"But," Tori looked at the paper again. They were just doodles. "I thought they were all full? When I was signing up they were all full."

"We make exceptions in special circumstances. And that," Lane pointed at the paper, "is a special circumstance."

"I…" Tori stared at the paper. She couldn't believe it. Jade had stolen her paper and… turned it into Lane? To get her into one of the drawing classes? Tori didn't know whether to hug Jade or hit her. "Can I?" she asked, a hint of hope drowning out the confusion.

"Yes." Lane nodded. "Absolutely." He pushed off his desk and handed her a form. "Think about it tonight. Talk it over with your parents if you want. If you decide to transfer, there's an advanced drawing class fourth period."

"Advanced?" Tori squeaked.

Lane chuckled, his eyebrows rising slightly. "Trust me, Tori. Advanced."

Tori might have breathed a 'wow'. She definitely broke into a smile. Lane ushered her out with another 'Think about it', and she totally squealed in delight as soon as she left his office. And then the bell rang, signaling the end of the day, and her eyes narrowed into slits. "Jade."

The girl in question was already at her locker when Tori stormed up. Jade pulled her head back as her locker door was slammed shut. "Vega. Lovely to see you, too."

"You went to Lane?" Tori hissed.

Jade scoffed, every inch of her face twisted in indignation. "I did not!"

"Then why was I called into his office, where he gave me this?" Tori held up her doodles and the transfer form.

"Because," Jade shoved Tori's hand out of her face, "I went to the drawing teacher!"

Tori threw her arms out. "How is that any different?!"

"Because he isn't Lane," Jade rolled her eyes, opening her locker back up. Tori slammed it shut again. "Vega," Jade said slowly, "do that again and-"

"And what?" Tori waved her hands frantically in the air. "You'll get me transferred into a college level form sketching class?" Jade actually seemed to contemplate that and Tori huffed. "You shouldn't have done it, Jade!"

"Did you want to sign up for a drawing class when you came to Hollywood Arts?"

"Yes, but-"

"And did you just get into a drawing class at Hollywood Arts?"

"Yes, but-"

"Then what's the problem?!"

"You went behind my back!" Tori was seething, and Jade softened a bit at the anger and hurt in her eyes. "You went behind my back and didn't even talk to me about this."

Jade ran her fingers through her hair. "Look, if I had suggested it to you… that you show Mr. Macey your pictures to get into his class, would you have done it?"

"Yes," Tori snapped immediately. Jade tilted her head and Tori eased back a little. "Maybe."

"No," Jade said bluntly, "you wouldn't. Because you call them fucking doodles, which means you have no idea how good they are, which means you don't have the confidence to stand behind them and fight for what you deserve."

A crease formed in Tori's brow. "I have confidence in them."

"Why did you perform in the showcase?" Jade asked, changing topics at such a lightning speed that Tori could only blurt out the truth.

"Because Trina's tongue got all weird and Andre was panicking and kind of made me."

"Exactly!" Jade shoved a finger into Tori's chest. "You didn't even have the confidence to audition on your own merits. Andre gave you the push that got you into this school, and I gave you the push that just got you into a class you wanted." Tori couldn't really argue with that logic and Jade folded her arms across her chest. "If you didn't get pissed at him for what he did, then you can't get pissed at me for this." Tori stared at the papers in her hands, only looking up when Jade cupped her chin and forced her to. "I'm not the slightest bit sorry," she said gently, "but I probably should have at least talked to you about it. Okay?"

Tori bit her bottom lip and shuffled her feet. "You really think I deserve to be in that class?"

"Your 'doodles'," Jade released Tori's chin to curl her fingers in airquotes, "are better than the shit that teacher shows in galleries. And that dude's won awards."

"Are you sure you aren't biased because they're all of you?"

Jade heaved out a sigh and turned her head away. "Your gorgeous subject matter aside, they are very good drawings. Even if they were pictures of Robbie, they'd still be rather decent. If people could stand to look at Shapiro's face long enough to realize that."

Tori beamed and threw her arms around Jade's neck, pulling her into a tight hug.

"Eww, Vega, we're in the middle of the hallway."

"I don't care," Tori murmured into her hair.

"Yeah, yeah, okay, you're welcome." Jade patted Tori's back awkwardly and then started pushing her away. She had never been a fan of hugs. Probably never would be. But Tori clung on until the last possible second anyway.

On the drive home, Trina kept giving her the side-eye. "Why do you look like that?"

"Like what?" Tori asked absently, re-reading the transfer form for the millionth time.

"Like that." Trina smooshed her palm against Tori's face for emphasis. "You're smiling so wide it's like your face is broken."

Tori giggled and pushed her sister's hand away. "Lane's letting me transfer into the advanced drawing class."

"Whaaa?" Trina's face lit up. "Tor, that's awesome!"

"I know, right! He said-"

"There's this boy with the bluest eyes I've ever seen in that class. You have to talk me up to him. But don't tell him you're my dorky sister. Just casually mention me in conversation."

Even Trina couldn't bring Tori's mood down. "Boy. Blue eyes." Tori clicked her tongue as she pointed at Trina with a wink. "Got it."

"Awesome," Trina breathed. "You wanna get ice cream or something to celebrate my new boyfriend?"

Tori had to laugh at that. "He's not your boyfriend."

"Yet," Trina emphasized. "Give it time, baby sis. I'll be marrying that beautiful boy by graduation."

"Yeah." Tori leaned back in her seat, her smile never dimming. "Let's celebrate."

By the time they got back home, it was almost five o'clock and Andre was already waiting on the front porch. "Andre," Tori gasped, having run from the car, "I'm so sorry. We went out for ice cream and-"

"It's cool," he interrupted with a smile, "I'm early anyway." Trina unlocked the door and they all headed inside. "How was the ice cream?"

"Delicious," Tori answered, holding up a small bag. "I might've brought you a little scoop."

"Sweet!" He took the bag with a grin.

Trina snapped her fingers to get their attention. "I'm taking my nap now, so please be quiet. No singing. No piano. Keep the girlish squeals of delight to a dull roar." Tori nodded and Andre mimed zipping his lips. "Thank you and goodbye." Trina flounced off towards the stairs.

Tori jerked her head towards the back door, and Andre followed her out to the patio. "So," he stretched out on one of the lounge chairs by the pool and opened the bag, "do you Vega girls always get ice cream or what?"

"Only when we're celebrating," Tori laughed as she sat down next to him.

"Celebrating?" Andre took out the cup and plastic spoon. "You and Jade official or something?"

"Oh, no. No, no, no," Tori said quickly. "Nothing like that. But Lane's letting me transfer into the advanced drawing class."

Andre's eyes grew wider than the styrofoam cup in his hands. "Advanced drawing?" he asked around a mouthful of ice cream.

"Yeah, isnt' that great?"

"Tor," he swallowed, "that class is like… legit. Their final projects get displayed in that big gallery downtown. The one with the glass ceiling and the naked lady out front."

"Naked," Tori's face scrunched up, "lady?"

"Well, I think it's a naked lady. It's a weird sculpture." He shook his head to clear his thoughts. "But it's for seriously talented artists and you got in? That's awesome!"

Tori grinned. "I'm a little excited about it."

"Yeah, you seem thrilled," Andre chuckled, taking another scoop. "So, how'd it happen?"

"Apparently the teacher and Lane saw one of my," she was about to say 'doodles', but then Jade's voice rang through her head, "my drawings, and kind of insisted I transfer."

"Wow," Andre breathed. He stared at the pool for a minute and then turned to her. "Wait. I've never seen you draw."

"Well, I don't really show people. They're, just, y'know, things I doodle."

"Doodles don't get into advanced drawing," Andre said. "Can I see 'em?"

Tori glanced at the door to the house. Honestly, she'd really only been drawing one thing lately. "Um, they're kind of…"

"What?" Andre leaned over, his eyebrows wiggling suggestively. "Are they dirty pictures?"

"Andre! No, they're not dirty! They're just…" Tori shrank into herself a bit, "kind of all pictures of Jade?"

Andre let out a low whistle. "You got it bad, girl. And Lane saw a drawing that you did of Jade?"

"Yeah."

"Does Jade know?"

"Yeah," Tori drawled. "She's kind of the reason Lane saw it."

Andre narrowed his eyes and Tori could see the cogs in his brain turning. "I'm guessing that she didn't show him in hopes that it would get you expelled or arrested for stalking?"

"No," Tori chuckled. "She wanted me to get into the class."

More cogs turning. "There's a piece of this puzzle missing. 'Cause no offense, but y'all are crazy if you're that into each other after, like, a month."

This was it. Time to spill the beans. Andre was looking at her expectantly and Tori took a deep breath. "Well, it hasn't been a month. I mean, it has, but not really?"

Andre glanced at his ice cream before looking back. "Either I've got brain freeze or you need to explain better."

"You know that house next door?" Tori pointed towards the corner of her fence that separated her yard from the neighbors' and Andre's gaze followed. "Jade used to live there. When we were kids."

His head jerked back and he blinked rapidly. "Kids?"

"Yeah. Jade and I were actually, like, best friends for years before she moved away."

"No way." Andre screwed his eyes shut and shook his head, causing Tori's shoulders to sag. She'd expected him to believe her. And hopefully understand enough that she could maybe get his advice on the whole thing. Andre opened his eyes and gave Tori a disbelieving look. "Jade used to be a kid? I can't even imagine that. I always assumed she popped out of her mom fully grown with a scowl and a cup of coffee." Tori relaxed in relieved laughter as Andre just continued. "Seriously, just... Jade? Tiny Jade? With a friend?"

"Yeah," Tori managed to say between chuckles. "Tiny Jade camping out in Tiny Tori's backyard during the summer."

"Whoa." Andre turned from side to side, looking for somewhere safe to place his ice cream. He set it down on the end of his chair and turned fully to face Tori. "Seriously? Do you have pictures?"

He seemed way too excited, and Tori knew that when Jade had said to tell Andre 'any and every thing', photographic evidence probably wasn't included in those parameters. "Yeah, but you'll never see them."

"Aw, man!" He kicked a foot out and fell back in his seat dramatically. "Why? I won't tell anyone!" He squirmed like a toddler. "I just wanna post 'em on the Slap! I'd get so many followers!"

Tori laughed and slapped his knee. "You're not posting anything on the Slap."

He whined and curled into a ball. "Just one?"

"Just nothin'."

He stretched out with a defeated groan. "When did you get to be so not-fun?"

"How could you say that? And after I brought you back a scoop," Tori gasped and snatched the ice cream back, even though it was pretty much finished anyway.

Andre sat back up, still pouting, but seemed to be taking their conversation a little more seriously. "That explains a lot about y'all, though. Why it was like electric between you two. And the song." He nodded slowly, the pout turning into a contemplative look. "Definitely the song. And the staring."

"We don't stare," Tori said more to herself than to him. Did they really stare that much? One look at Andre's face told her that, yeah, they really did stare that much. "Fine," she sighed, "we stare."

"So, like," He adjusted to lean forward a bit, "is that why it's so complicated between you?"

"Yeah. We're trying to get to know each other again. Figure some stuff out."

"Love stuff?"

"And friend stuff."

"But you love her, right?"

"Yeah, she's," Tori glanced wistfully at the patch of grass where she and Jade would always camp, "she's Jade."

"Man," Andre leaned back in his seat and let out a quick, breathy laugh. "Y'all are on some movie chizz with this."

"What do you mean?"

"Best friends from childhood," he folded his hands behind his head and stretched his legs out on the chair, "separated and then reunited years later, only to find that their friendship was never really friendship but something more." He glanced at her before letting his eyes slide closed. "It's like something from a movie. A movie Jade would never watch."

Tori chuckled at the idea of Jade watching a movie like that. He was right. She would never watch something that sappy, but there she was. Living it. "Can you imagine?"

He snorted with laughter. "Yeah. I can also imagine her destroying the dvd case with her special scissors." His eyes snapped open with alarm. "Has she always had a thing with scissors?"

"No," Tori drew the word out as she shook her head, "that is something new."

Andre stared at her for a minute. His mouth twitched. "Maybe it's just you. Older, cuter. Jade's struck with her blossoming attraction to you and just can't help but… y'know… think of scissors."

It took Tori a moment to get what he was saying. And then when she did, her mouth fell open and she threw the ice cream cup at his head. "Andre! You are so… so dirty!"

"Hey," He held his hands up defensively, "you can't get mad at me for noticing. Jade is a very attractive girl."

"Oh, so she turns you on?"

"I'm a teenage boy," He said bluntly, "looking at a chair for too long turns me on." Tori huffed and rolled her eyes. "You can't tell me, honestly, that you haven't noticed."

She folded her arms across her chest, trying, and failing, to fight the blush creeping up her cheeks. "I hadn't noticed." They both knew it was a lie.

"Well you better get to noticing," he mumbled. "'Cause if you don't wanna tap that, about half the student body is more than willing to risk a limb trying."

At school the next day, Tori paid attention. Like, so much attention that it could have been called obsessive. She paid attention when Jade was at her locker, or walking through the halls, or sitting at the lunch table. And what she noticed was kind of terrifying.

Andre was right.

It seemed like half the students, both boys and girls, totally wanted to get with Jade. No one made a blatant move that Tori saw, but there were tons of glances, and looks, and stares, that gave away just how desirable Jade was. And Tori knew that. She knew Jade was attractive. She wouldn't have been so close to kissing her so many times if she wasn't attracted to her. But… realizing that she wasn't the only one who thought that was a bit of a shock.

Because Jade had kind of existed in a bubble for her. She was Jade, and Tori knew that no one really saw Jade like she did, so she just kind of assumed that no one saw Jade period.

Oh, how wrong she was.

Jade and Beck had been broken up for several weeks, and neither of them was going to stay single for much longer. One way or another, Jade was going to be the center of someone's attention. Lunch ended two minutes ago and Tori had already counted six people check Jade out.

"You're freakin'," Andre said quietly, leaning against the locker next to hers. "You need a tissue or a shoulder or somethin'?"

"I'm not gonna cry," Tori replied. At least, she really, really hoped that she wouldn't cry. But Jade was at her own locker, and some boy was staring at her ass from across the hall. Seven people.

"You finally realize how right I am?"

"Yeah," Tori whined. "You were right and now I'm worried. 'Cause what if-"

"It's a real date, Tor," he said quickly, practically reading her mind. They'd continued talking the night before, and Andre had seemed impressed when Tori told him about the 'date'. "Jade's kind of blunt about stuff, in case you hadn't noticed. If she told you that you were taking her on a date, she meant you were taking her on a date. Just… chill and try not to freak. No one is attractive when they're freakin' the freak out."

Tori glared at him, but her smile was a little more sincere. "Thanks. That's super helpful."

"It's what I'm here for." He moved behind her and rested his hands on her shoulders. "You've got a date with one of the hottest girls in school on Friday. You're starting your new drawing class tomorrow. And you've got the greatest friend ever in the world." Tori shot him a grin as he squeezed her shoulders and moved away. "Everything's comin' up Tori, so keep it cool."

"Why does she need to keep it cool?"

Andre jumped a foot in the air, and even Tori was startled. Neither of them had noticed Jade approaching.

"Uh," Andre took a nervous step away from Jade. "You know, she's just nervous about," he looked to Tori for help, "that thing."

"Yeah, the, uh," Tori glanced between Andre and Jade, "the thing."

"You two are the absolute worst liars I've ever met." Jade rolled her eyes, immediately dismissing whatever they were talking about before she showed up. Andre took it as his cue to leave and ran off. "Vega, we're working on our scene after school, so meet me by my car."

"Okay! Sounds great."

Jade was just turning to leave, but something in Tori's nervous smile made her stop. "Seriously, what were you guys talking about? You look like you killed someone and don't know where to hide the body."

Tori frowned. "Really? That's the analogy you're going with?"

"If the shoe fits," Jade shrugged before heading off down the hall.

Tori glanced at the ceiling when the bell rang. Great. If she didn't haul butt she was gonna be late for theater history. It didn't even matter, because they had a substitute, again, and Tori spent the entire class drawing Jade. Again.

Screenwriting seemed to become pass-notes-with-Jade-time. And somehow, Jade still filled two pages with actual notes from the class, while Tori had only managed to get 'dialogue = important' written down. Well, that and a cartoon of Jade dressed up as a cowgirl. When the bell rang, Tori dropped her head on her desk with a heavy thump.

Her notebook was slowly pulled out from under her, causing her head to hit the desk a second time, and Jade just breathed out a "Jesus."

Tori turned her head to look at Jade, never breaking contact with the desk. "Yeah. Exactly. I seem to be a little distracted."

The cringe never fell from Jade's face. She closed the notebook and shoved it into Tori's bag. "Screw Sikowitz, I'm tutoring you tonight."

"What?" Tori picked up her bag as Jade stood.

"We actually covered some important formatting shit today, and this is my best class. So, I'm schooling your ass in screenwriting." Jade took one step away, paused, then tossed a wink over her shoulder. "Baby."

"Yeah," Tori called to her back, "because that isn't distracting!" Tori could see the satisfaction in the sway of Jade's hips. "So distracting," she mumbled to herself, hurrying out of the room.

Tori got held up at the end of the day. Lane caught her at her locker and insisted on going over what she would need for her new class. She tried to pay attention, she really did, but her brain just kept saying Jade, Jade, Jade and Tori couldn't get away fast enough. Armed with a list of supplies, she hurried out to the parking lot.

And Jade was leaning against her car, exactly like she had been at lunch the day before, and Tori smiled like a maniac, just like she had then. She did not, however, trip and fall on Jade's chest. Which may or may not have been a little disappointing.

"What ya got there?" Jade glanced at the paper in Tori's lap as she pulled on her seatbelt.

"It's stuff I'm gonna need for the drawing class."

Jade snatched the paper away, her eyebrow slowly rising as she read over it. "I didn't even know they made pencils with numbers other than '2'. Do you have any of this stuff?"

"No," Tori shrugged. "I'll just ask my mom. She's not working today, so she can pick it all up for me."

Jade's eyes darted to Tori. "Your mom's home?"

Tori froze. Chizz. "Yeah, she is. We don't have to- I mean, if you're still not okay with-"

"It's fine." Jade shoved the paper at Tori and pulled her own seatbelt on. "We can just go to my house."

That… was a first. Ever. Even when they were kids, they never went to Jade's house. Tori only knew what one wall of Jade's room looked like, because it was the one she could see through the window. "We don't have to," she offered, setting her phone on top of the paper.

Jade shrugged as she started her car. "It's fine."

But it wasn't fine. Jade's jaw had clenched, the muscles in her cheek flexing with tension. Tori was panicking. Jade wasn't talking. Both of her hands were clutching the steering wheel so tight her knuckles had gone white. "Tutor me at the store?" Tori blurted.

Jade blinked and glanced over at her. "What?"

"I've got some money on me, and you can tutor me while we get this stuff," She picked up the paper and quickly put it back down. "Two birds, one stone?"

"That's a terrible idea," Jade grumbled. But her grip on the wheel eased a bit, and her jaw relaxed, so Tori knew that she was grateful. "You won't be able to focus."

"Sure I will," Tori chirped. "'Cause you're the best ding-darn screenwriting tutor Hollywood Arts has ever seen!" She said in a terrible impression of Jade's impression of her.

A smirk tugged at Jade's lips. "You're doing the voice all wrong."

"Well you can tutor me on how to do that, too, then."

Jade's shoulders jerked in a silent chuckle. "God, do I have to teach you everything?" She moved one hand off the wheel and took hold of Tori's hand.

Tori beamed. "Yeah, but I'm a fast learner."

"Let's hope so."

Jade rattled off information the entire drive to the art store, and Tori tried really hard to focus on the words coming out of her mouth. She held Jade's hand with both of her own, idly rubbing a thumb across Jade's knuckles, or letting her fingertips graze against Jade's palm, occasionally slipping her fingers between Jade's. The contact was never broken, even when Tori rolled her eyes and huffed out, "I know what dialogue is."

"Yeah, but do you know the standard margin measurements for a character's name? Or that the actual words they say have different margins? Or how to format dialogue that's broken up by action?" Tori was quiet, her thumb running over the bone of Jade's wrist. "Yeah, didn't think so. That's the shit we were covering today. That is the shit that's gonna be on a test."

"Why didn't we cover that in the beginning? When we were analyzing scripts?"

"Because," Jade's fingers twitched, like she was going to throw her hand in the air, but Tori's grip tightened a little bit and Jade sighed instead, "that dumb teacher's got this thing about learning to read before you can write. He wants us to know what a good, final script should contain before teaching us how to actually write one."

"But you've written them, before," Tori said quickly. "I mean, you've written plays and had them performed, right?"

"The script for a play is totally different from one for a movie. And they're both different from television scripts. I've taken classes for all of them. This is, like, the fourth writing class I've taken."

"Four?" Tori's eyebrows rose as they finally pulled onto the street where the store was. She released Jade's hand so she could parallel park. "Why have you taken so many classes? You're an awesome writer already."

Jade rolled her eyes, focusing on moving the car into the parking space. "I, y'know," she didn't make eye contact and Tori noticed a slight pink rising in her cheeks as she mumbled, "made a promise to a girl that I'd never stop writing, so I take a lot of classes for it."

Tori's face split into a beaming grin. The fact that Jade not only remembered promising her that, but actually followed through and continued writing? Tori's heart exploded in her chest and warmth rushed through her veins. "Jade," she said quietly.

"Don't get all sappy, Vega," Jade grumbled, finally straightening out the car, "it was a long time ago and it's," she glanced over before quickly looking away again. "Whatever."

"Okay, Jade." Tori decided not to push her luck and brought the conversation back to their schoolwork. "I didn't realize that there were so many differences between different kinds of scripts."

"Formatting. All the differences boil down to formatting." Jade threw the car in park and turned it off. "That's really all these classes are good for. You can have the best fucking story in the world, but if it's formatted wrong it's going to read like shit. You've read Shakespeare, right?"

"We covered Romeo & Juliet at my last school."

"Eww," Jade actually sneered. "Dude's got way better plays than that. The only good part is that both of those idiots die at the end, but whatever," She shook her head. "Content aside, the way that was formatted was different from the shit we've been reading for this class, right?"

"Totally," Tori nodded and Jade shrugged. "Okay," Tori grabbed her bag and they both exited the car. "So, you're saying that if there's one thing I take away from this class, it's how to properly format a screenplay."

"Yes," Jade breathed as they started walking down the sidewalk.

"Okay, go over the margins again."

They only had to walk a couple of blocks, and Tori was totally paying attention while Jade talked. Like, actually paying attention. And even though she was kind of enthralled by how passionate Jade was about margins, of all things, she didn't get distracted. Tori listened intently, and couldn't help but smile. It was moments like those, where Jade actually showed how much she cared, that Tori was reminded that no matter how much she had changed, she was still Jade.

"I'll be quizzing you later," Jade said as she opened the door to the store, "so I hope you were actually paying attention." Tori paused for a moment, while Jade just held the door open. Jade glanced from Tori to the door and then back, lifting her eyebrows. "Well? Are you going inside or what?"

Tori grinned. "Are you holding the door for me?"

A flash of shock crossed Jade's features, but she quickly covered it up with a smirk. "Don't get too excited, baby. I just like the view from behind."

Tori rolled her eyes, smiling through a blush, and walked into the store. "Oh," she said excitedly, "it smells like-"

"Sawdust and mud," Jade grumbled behind her. "Gross."

"It smells great," Tori whispered, pulling her list out of her bag. They headed through the store, getting a little lost near the jewelry section.

"God, it's so shiny." Jade ran her fingers over a large bag of metallic beads.

"Cat would have a field day," Tori chuckled, tugging on Jade's hand.

"These things are a choking hazard." Jade followed as Tori led her out of the aisle. "We should totally bring her here."

Tori ignored the comment, letting go of Jade's hand when they finally found the pencils. "There's so many." Tori's eyes grew wide as she looked at all the bins, and kits, and packages of different pencils. She glanced at her list and started picking up random ones, trying to find one that felt right. Jade wandered off as Tori slowly built a collection of supplies. She had a handful of new pencils when Jade finally came back.

"Someone rearranged all of those little wooden manikins into dirty poses."

Tori slowly stood up, her eyes narrow suspiciously. "Someone?" Jade shrugged, her lips twitching, and Tori rolled her eyes. "Can you grab one of those sketchbooks for me?"

Jade folded her arms across her chest. "What's the magic word?"

Tori straightened up as their eyes met. Jade's gaze flickered between Tori's eyes and lips, and Tori couldn't help herself. Jade had been teasing her for two days, and it was totally unfair that Tori didn't get to have any fun. So she took a step closer and pushed her bottom lip out in a pout. "Please, baby?" Jade's eyelids fluttered as she took a deep breath, and Tori grinned. "Thank you." She pressed a quick kiss to Jade's cheek and practically skipped out of the aisle, leaving Jade to mutter to herself.

Tori paid for her supplies, and they'd taken exactly two steps down the sidewalk before Jade demanded, "When is 'continuous' used in a scene heading?"

The quizzing continued for the entire drive back to Tori's house. When Tori got an answer right, Jade would just barrel on to the next one. No 'good job', or 'yes', or even 'correct'. But when Tori got an answer wrong, Jade would yank her hand away, refusing to let Tori hold it again until she got it right. And Tori had to admit, it was a very good reward system. Although it did make her think of some other, better, ways for Jade to reward her.

Jade was nodding to herself when they finally pulled up outside the Vega home. "Not bad," she gave Tori's hand a squeeze. "Maybe you're not as hopeless as I thought."

"I did good?" Tori grinned, bouncing a bit in her seat.

"You didn't fail," Jade said sternly. "That's not the same as doing 'good'."

Tori rolled her eyes and pulled Jade's hand into her lap. "You wanna come in for dinner?" She knew what the answer was going to be, but figured she'd offer anyway.

Jade's nose scrunched up and she shook her head. "Meals with Trina are a torture reserved for the seventh circle of Hell."

"Alright," Tori chuckled. "If you ever change your mind, though, you're more than welcome." Jade grunted out some sort of reply and nodded. Tori gave her hand a quick squeeze before letting it go. Jade slowly pulled it back to her own lap. "Thanks for the tutoring and taking me to the store." She started collecting her things, only to be stilled by Jade's hand on her arm. Tori turned questioning eyes on the girl next to her.

"We…" Jade swallowed roughly, her eyes darting around the interior of the car. Tori could only smile at how nervous she looked. "We're still on for Friday, right?"

Any doubt that Tori had about being a rebound, or the stupid kids at school was immediately erased. There was no way Jade could act the way she did, or say the things she did, if she didn't mean it. If Jade was going to be the center of anyone's attention, it was going to be Tori's. She leaned over and cupped her cheek, drawing Jade's eyes to hers. "We better be, baby."

A hesitant smile pulled at Jade's lips. And then Tori went and ruined the moment by bopping the tip of Jade's nose. "See you tomorrow!"

AN I can't believe how many reviews this thing has. It's so close to 200, that's crazy! And it's got over a hundred favorites? I can't believe it, y'all are awesome, thank you so much!

As always, feel free to drop a review and let me know if you liked it. They're like wonderful presents that drive me to just write my little heart out for you guys. I've already started on the next chapter, so hopefully I'll get that up soon. See ya next time!