Disclaimer: I don't own Victorious. They just haunt my dreams sometimes.
:}
During the week, Jade paid Ryder another visit, and let him know that he was now on probation. "No more spilling secrets to the enemy, or anyone in the Vega family." She warned him. "I've debated placing your name on the sex offenders registry, but settled for placing an add with your number in the anything goes section of the Village Voice. Be grateful I didn't choose a local paper. Besides, they're mostly female, just with a little extra."
Ryder didn't question what she'd done, just went ahead and changed his phone number. He knew when he got off easy. 'What is with her, taking it so easy on me, twice in a row? I suspect Tori's having an effect. Man, wasn't expecting that.' Ryder reasoned as he texted his contacts to let them know his new number.
Meanwhile, Tori spoke with Jack every night, building up to their big Friday date. It was on Thursday, during their phone conversation, that Tori asked the question she'd spent days coming up with. "So, how is it that you and Ryder are friends?" She had another question, but since Jack never brought up Jade mentioning his physical deformity, she didn't see the need to either. Also, she didn't need to go phone tease the day before the date.
"Thats a long story." The boy said, letting out a long breath. "And not that interesting either. It happened abut nine months ago? No, thats when we ran into each other for the first time. It happened after that, mostly due to familiarity."
"Just familiarity?" The singer echoed, urging him on.
"Yea, initially." Jack continued. "Ryder was chasing tail, making up for missed opportunities from high school, back when he just used girls for grades. In collage, it got harder to use a girl for one performance. Ironically, he often has girls throwing themselves at him for his talents. I mean, they offer to sleep with him in return for him singing or dancing with them."
"Hows that ironic?" Tori asked. "I'd think he would be happy to know that they're willing to trade their dignity for a good grade."
"Nope, he wanted to date the girls better at that shit then he was." The handsome boy continued. "But having girls offering him everything, they'd be his girlfriend, or suck his dick, in return for him helping them, it was sobering. He just didn't realize it at the time. He wanted something simpler, where the girls wanted him for who he was. Thus the one night stands. Shallow, but come on. It's totally what he needed, a stepping stone towards being a descent human being. I kinda ran into him in the early stage of that process, and we bonded in a funny way."
"You know, he's manipulated people before." Tori pointed out. "He set us up on a date, lying to everyone to get us there."
"Like I said, a work in process." Jack stated. "Thing is, we met because I had this hot little Asian number pressuring me to go into the next club and have some fun. He pulled her off, told me she was probably a scout, a girl paid by the cougars to find good looking guys and bring them over. After he helped me, he offered to buy me a drink, and proposed the whole wing-man scheme. I initially didn't want to do it, but he offered to help me as often as I helped him."
"Did he?" Tori asked.
"He's been trying for a while now." The boy admitted. "I told him about me being in a relationship, and as we got closer, he realized I was holding on to something long dead. He tried, unsuccessfully, to get me out of my shell, and even helped me when things got harry."
"Harry?" Tori asked. "As in a hair condition?"
"As in I sometimes have issues with some of the guys at the clubs Ryder and I hit, and sometimes those issues lead to confrontations." Jack's voice edged in secrecy, like he didn't want to admit this part of himself.
"I think his name was Randy." Tori said. "Hit on Trina and me last Friday. Told the bouncer..."
"Kyle." He filled in.
"Not Randy?" Tori asked.
"The bouncer at the Habbit is Kyle." Jack filled in. "Or at least on the weekends, he's the guy at the front door."
"Oh..." Tori seemed lost.
"But you met Randy, huh?" Jack said. "If he was both smooth and slimy, then I know him."
"Someone said you kicked his ass." The singer filled in.
"Oh, yea, that." The boy said, and she could hear his nervousness coming back. "I don't like some of the guys I deal with. We have disagreements, and while I'm not looking for a fight, some of them think they can tale me, cause their bigger, and bulkier."
"Tony says your freakishly strong." The Latina filled in.
"Yea, I am." The pale boy admitted. "And I do know something about fighting. Tony's helping me get so much better. But back to the point, Ryder helped me when I got into a fight over something some jerk said to a girl, about how she wasn't worth the seaman he'd invested in their relationship. Who knows, it may have been true, but that wasn't the kind of thing you say to a girl in the middle of a club, especially when she was trying to be polite and not start anything about him picking up some piece of Northridge talent."
"And you got in a fight with him?" She asked.
"For trying to comfort her." The boy replied. "He called me out, called me all kinds of names, and threw the first punch. Then I beat the living hell out of him, made him apologize to her, and sent him home to tend his wounds. Ryder made damn sure he didn't cause any more problems. Boy recoded the fight, including my trying to talk him down, and told the guy that the video was heading to the cops if anything happened to me. Our friendship kinda grew from there."
"And he knows all your secrets?" Tori asked, now wondering just how much they knew about each other.
"He's figured out more then I feel comfortable about, but I do think he's changing. I suspect he's getting tired of not having someone to love him, and is almost ready to pay the price for that devotion." Jack sighed. "Look, I know it's hard for you, of all people, to believe he's changed, cause I don't know how much he has. But he's trying. He's really trying. I mean, after he nailed that Tara chick, when she went off to find a better paid lover, he felt used. Thats a first for him." He sighed again. "They grow up so fast."
Tori laughed. "So you do guy stuff?" She asked, still chuckling.
"Yea, sometimes." Jack said. "But you need to remember, it's hard for guys to really be the kinds of friend girls are. You don't see us sitting in a circle, talking about our problems. The fact that Ryder and I can do that is telling to how close we've become in the last eight months. I know he's a jackass, but he's growing into a good man. I just see the good he could be. Also, he's coming from a good place when he keeps trying to get me laid."
"Does he now?" Tori growled.
"I think he just wants me to be happy." The pale boy said. "It's why he called me and point blank said he'd given me you as a gift. I'm sorry, I know you're not that easy to manipulate, but I wanted to be sure you were with me for being with me, and not because of something Ryder said."
"He told me you had a physical deformity." Tori blurted. "I tried to hold on, not talk about it over the phone..."
"But thats how he told you, right?" Jack asked. "It's okay. I do suffer from a condition, and it's something to discuss once we're at the point where we're thinking of getting serious. I do want to talk about it. Just not yet. There's still trust issues on both sides of the equation. I know a lot about you because I've read things Jade doesn't want me to read. I know so much more then you probably want me to know. So I get it. Also, there's the family baggage. You have Trina, and I know how she can be. I talk to Tony. Let me tell you, they seem to be better matched then I had thought possible. But I worry, cause he's so good looking, and I'm not sure the girls will allow him to be with Trina. I mean, she's hot, but not the right kind of hot to intimidate the other girls."
"Thats so sweet." Tori cooed. "Look, can we have the heart to heart tomorrow, after the fun part of the date? I really wanna have the talk, cause I've been thinking a lot about what comes after the heart to hear talk. I know, trust, but it's not as complicated as you seem to think it is. Just, level with me, and we'll get past it. Okay?"
"Okay." The boy agreed. They spoke a bit more and hung up, both feeling good about where they were going, but with very different ideas about what was about to happen
Friday came, and the Vega girls were once again in the process of getting ready for their dates. Once again, Cat showed up to help them with their hair. Only this time, it was a lot more advice, and a lot less dressing up. "Tony and I were gonna go hot tubbing again, but then we agreed we'd hit the beach tomorrow. So I invited him over for a nice home cooked meal." The older girl was saying. "So now, it's about making the food taste right."
"Oh, then you want to wear this dress." Tori said, reaching into the older girls closet. It was a simple sun dress with a floral print. "It looks more homemaker-y."
"And it hugges your figure." Cat added. "If I was into girls, I'd totally do you if I saw you in that dress." At the look her friends were giving her. "What? My brother wanted to make sure I knew what guys like him were after, so he always let me hide in his closet if I wanted too. He even cut me a secret passage, too small for him to use, between our closets. Then, when he had a hot date, and I use that term loosely, I could sneak over and watch through the slits in his closet door."
"Not so innocent." Tori commented.
"Yet still pristine." Cat added.
"Much as I love the sex talk," Trina interrupted, "I'm using this as a chance for him and mom and dad to get closer."
"So no sex?" Cat asked.
"Maybe not me." Trina said. "But Tori has been planning on nailing her man."
"Not planning on sex tonight." The younger girl assured her friends. "But I am planning on wearing two or more pieces to my ensemble. I think tonight might be the time to go for the whole feel me up part of the dance. I'll feel him, he'll feel me. It's the play before the big event."
There was a knock at the front door. "Who else did you invite to help out?" Trina asked.
"Jade said she was busy, had her own big date, so I didn't invite her." Tori said, looking for a moment out the window before coming back. "And I didn't invite any of the guys, cause that would be weird."
"Then who could it be?" The older girl asked.
"I'll find out." Cat volunteered. "And Tori, that top would go so well with your skinny jeans. Just saying, if you are planing on going for it, bring some kind of protection. Guys can be very forgetful."
"Don't worry, I have it way covered." Tori said with a knowing smile.
Cat returned to find the girls all but ready. "Now we just have to kill an hour before the guys get here." The younger girl was saying. "Just enough time for us to go over our looks, make sure they'll last."
"Not gonna happen." Cat chimed in. "Tony's here."
Trina rushed down stairs, pulling a dressing gown on over her outfit, since she still needed to do a few things, and wasn't sold on the dress yet. "Tony, you're early." She called out. "I haven't even started cooking."
"The chickens frozen." The tall boy said. "You're putting it off far too long. Jack told me that neither you nor your sister can cook. I'm here to save the day. You finish getting ready, I've got dinner for four to make. Or should it be six?"
"Tori's going out with Jack." Trina said, smiling. "But she'll enjoy knowing you were thinking of her."
"Yea, Jacks a great guy." Tony called back, his voice fading as he went along. Then he got busy cooking, avoiding any further discussion as his girl got ready.
:}
So, we've gotten closer to the date, and Tori's getting serious kinda fast. Wonder how far Jack will let her go? I mean, she's making wardrobe choices based on his ability to slip his hands under her top. What will his response be? Also, Tony was acting a bit weird, coming over to cook for Trina.
So, thoughts? And anyone need to know more about the Village Voice? I wasn't too cagy there, right? Anyways, review, ask questions, and I'll answer, assuming you give me a self addressed, stamped envelope, or have an account here so I can email you back.