Disclaimer: I don't own, and neither do you. Wait, thats not true, if Dan Schneider is reading this, then he does, and I'm wondering why he never got these two together. But otherwise, I'm fairly safe in my assertion.
:}
The next day, the day after Jade's first date with the girl, Tori wasn't talking to the goth. They were in the same school, in many of the same classes, but the singer just avoided talking. It frustrated the girl who was so used to having an idea about what people wants.
Desperate for some kind of feedback, a reason why Tori was running cold on her, Jade tried stalking the singer at lunch. After a series of back halls that the students rarely use, She found herself led into a practice room. Only Tori wasn't in the room, and when she realized who was, it was too late, the door was locked, presumably from the outside. She was locked in with her red headed friend, about to have a conversation she didn't even know needed to be had. She did know, however, that this was a trap, of sorts, and Cat was expecting something.
"So, Jade, or is it Jack?" The peppy girl asked. She looked downright wazzed. "Is there something you've been wanting to tell me?"
For a moment she considered lying, or playing dumb. But this was Cat, the other person who she'd known long enough to have dealt with Jack, and she'd never let her so called best friend in. "I have something related to a split personality?" Jade tried. "Look, I know I've avoided talking about this, but thats just because I like you, as a friend, and I didn't want you to know how crazy I was."
"It hurts." Cat said, meeting her eyes, brown burning into blue. "I know why you didn't tell me, but I could have kept that secret. Even I know that there are some things you just don't talk about. You could have told me..."
"Thats not why I hid this from you." Jade choked. "Look, Kitty Cat, I..."
"NO!" The petite girl cut her off. "No, you don't get to use that nickname. Not until I understand what you're hiding."
"Okay, it's like this..." The goth tried to gather her thoughts. 'How badly is this gonna scar her?' She wondered. "I never told you cause the story of how it happened isn't pretty."
"Neither is my brother when he's out of control, but I still let you meet him." Cat said, never backing down from the taller girl.
"You're brother wasn't supposed to be dangerous." Jade replied.
"And Jack's dating Tori." Cat shot back. "Did it ever occur to you that maybe I'd like to have a date with the perfect guy?"
"You're like a sister to me." Jade said, looking shocked.
"You, not Jack." The smaller girl pointed out.
"You do realize, under his cloths and the strapping stuff he wears, he's me." The blue eyed girl tried to explain. "This body, with all it's curves. So no, he's not the perfect guy. He's the perfect guy trapped in an imperfect girls body."
"Thats not what the guys think." Cat corrected her. "They think you have a rocking body. They're just afraid you'll skin alive them with your scissors, then bury them in the desert."
"Don't be ridiculous." Jade scoffed. "I'd never try to skin someone with scissors. They're the wrong tool. You need a knife. And anyone who knows what their doing, and doesn't care about the quality of the work, could get something that did the job just fine at the dollar store."
"And thats the other reason you should have told me." Cat complained. "I've known you since we were nine. I know you're seance of humor, how dark you can be, and I never let that bother me. Well, almost never. There's a reason I don't do Halloween with you. But thats besides the point. I should have been told, somewhere along the line, that there was more going on in your head then you'd told me."
"I-I'm sorry, but it was so dark, and I didn't want to scar you." Jade tried.
"How bad could it be?" Cat asked.
"We're talking nightmare inducing for me." Jade said, her body shaking. "I-I never wanted you to see me as a victim..."
"I never saw you that way..." The other girl started, only to stop short. "I'm still mad at you." Cat snapped. "Both of you. But in time, I'll forgive you. Hell, I forgave you shaving my head, or was that Jack?"
"No, that was all me." Jade admitted, letting the silence consume them. Cat did allow herself to place one hand on Jade's arm, offering some consolation, but the anger was still there. Jade just took solace in the fact that this was the start of the healing.
They sat there, looking at each other, neither saying anything, for several more minutes. Then, the door opened, and Trina ushered the smaller girl out. "Go, have lunch, and pick her up at six thirty." The talentless one said to Jade before leaving with Cat. Jade spent the next few moments gathering herself before wandering off to find lunch, and with luck, not hurt anyone else she cared about.
Six thirty arrived, and the goth found herself once more outside the Vega residence. Only, when she walked up to pick Tori up, David was waiting for her. "Jade, change of plan. You're having dinner with us."
"Oh?" The pale girl asked, confused. "Don't you want Jack? I mean, he hasn't done dinner yet."
"How may hours, in any given week, is he in control?" The patriarch asked. "I asked Ryder, and he gave me a rough estimate. Which brings up the question, why does he know that shit?"
"Jack is his best friend." The blue eyed girl explained. "Once we reached the point where he knew the gory details, he wanted, no needed to know how often Jack could go out and party with him."
"He's changing, isn't he?" David detective asked.
"Who?" Jade wondered, thought she thought she knew.
"Ryder." the older man clarified.
"I thought more slowly than this." The high school girl agreed. "This was... totally unexpected. I have no idea..."
"He can't live with the idea that he's using someone he cares about, so he's trying to make the helping each other a two way street." The more experienced man said. "I agree, it is kinda sudden, but I think it's a snowballing effect. You started it, he found himself surrounded by people who weren't just there cause he could use them, and he started feeling cared about. Which brings me back to you."
"Me?" Jade asked.
"Yea, you're at this dinner cause I already know all about Jack. Now, I just need to know that you won't hurt her." He explained. "Jade, she's my baby girl, and I know just how deeply she's into Jack. But your the majority personality here."
"It would be easier if I just let him have control all the time, wouldn't it?" She asked, even thought she doubted it was possible.
"No, cause I'm almost certain that, without the Jade part, Jack would deteriorate, maybe develop some bad habits of his own. Far better you work on yourself, and be there for my baby girl. Okay? Good, lets have dinner. It's spaghetti tacos. One of the best things to come out of the internet. Easy to make, and filling."
"You should try it with vegetable pasta, and maybe a good addition of some loose veggies, minced. Add it to the sauce, and you'll have a totally different flavor. It's good." Jade assured him.
"So it's true?" David asked.
"What is?" The goth asked back.
"Sometimes, people with split or multiple personalities have greater access to their talents?" He said. "You can cook, do STEM, act, sing, draw, play piano, and who knows what else."
Jade sighed. "Jack's been following this on line series from MIT." She started. "Turns out they put a lot of their classes, unofficially, on line. Took a while, but he understands so much of that chiz now. I think he might even qualify as an engineer. Just not officially."
She sat down, getting lost in light conversation with the Vega's parents, and a short time later Tori came down to join them. This time, she greeted Jade with a quick, chaste kiss. "Sorry about this, but they insisted. I was gonna take you someplace where we could talk some more."
"It's okay." The goth said. "This way your family can ask me, both of me, whatever they want."
Trina joined them, sitting down and jumping in. "Okay, Tony and I are back together again. He sent flowers, begged, groveled, and in general let me know he was sorry. And since these two are back together, I decided to forgive him. He's on probation."
"I'm glad." Jade said to the older girl. "He's a good guy who deserves someone who's right for him."
"You think I'm right for him?' Trina asked.
"I think you compliment each other." The blue eyed girl said. "He needed a challenge, and you needed someone who could believe in you. I think you just work. Jack does too. Admittedly, he used to torment me by guesses at what you looked like naked." Then to the parents. "Sorry, that was inappropriate."
"It was." David agreed. "But I so get it. He's a part of you, but at the same time different enough to be like a sibling, and siblings fight. That must be one screwed up mind you have some times."
Jade just smiled, trying not to act to crazy in front to the first group she'd ever had dinner with who all knew about her complicated relationship with Jack. 'Okay, West, you can do this. Just relax, talk to them. They're Tori's parents, and despite her being crazy talented, she's the most normal girl at Hollywood Arts. Also, they're very understanding. Plus They know, and yet your still here, having dinner with them.'
"So, Jade, I meant to ask, why were you such a beast to Tori?" David said it so casually it took her, and Tori, off guard.
"It started with Beck." The writer tried to explain. "No, it started much earlier then that. I'd learned that I'd never have anything I couldn't hold onto. Both my parents divorce, and other experiences, had taught me that the only way to have something was to hold on with everything I had. It didn't help that I'd literally simply replaced Beck's previous girl friend. I did. I tossed her aside, physically, and took her place, right there in the park."
She glanced around to make sure everyone was watching her, and then felt a lot more self conscious because everyone was. "So imagine my shock when I walk into class one day and find this girl, one whom everyone is talking about cause of the big showcase, rubbing on my guy. Beck's saying it's okay, cause she'd spilled coffee on him, but it didn't matter. Thing is, girls spill coffee on guys to get closer to them all the time. I had one guy spill something on me once, hoping for a feel, way back when I was fourteen. Yes, I was already a D back then. But the thing is, Jack's a guy, so he figured what this perve was after, and he came out and threatened to rip his balls off. Then told me what the guy was after. Good thing too, cause if he'd groped me, I WOULD have ripped something off."
The Vega family was struck with both the capacity for violence they saw in the damaged girl, and how much she had endured in her life. "So, you felt threatened?" Holly urged, anxious to get back on topic.
"More and more each day." Jade continued. "Tori could take my guy, who I needed cause he was the biggest prize at school, any time she wanted. Then she was taking all the leads, as in all the plays, as soon as she was auditioning for parts. Before I even knew what was happening, I was nothing more then a footnote, a memory." It took an act of will to keep from breaking down, just a little, right there at the dinner table.
"Except you do get the lead in plays." Tori tried to argue. "Jade, I know I get more leads then you do, and I know it's as much about the faculty seeing me as more manageable then you are, as it is about talent. But the thing is, they have another reason they're not putting you in the lead as often, and thats because you do more live performances then any three other students. You lead the school in your solo and small group performances. They need to give others the ability to shine too."
"Getting off track here." David said, pulling everyone's attention. "Trina, you had a question."
:}
This is a bad place to cut it, but the whole thing is kinda long, and I'd rather hold off for next time.
Thoughts, questions, wondering why Tori is being so hot and cold? The review button is there, waiting for you. Also, I take really good cookie recipes.
So see you all next time.