Thanks as always for your kind words and encouragement. Here is the next installment:
We acquire the strength we have overcome.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
The feeling of contentment didn't last long. It was three in the morning, the week after graduation, when Beck received a call from a hysterical Tori. Having still been awake, reading a novel that she'd started earlier that day and had been unable to put down, Jade was the one to answer the phone. Beck woke slowly as he listened to her side of the conversation.
"Slow down," Jade said, her voice eerily calm. It was a tone that worried her boyfriend immediately. "I can't understand you. What happened? Where are you? Slow down," she said again. "Take a deep breath." She was speaking slowly but her actions were hurried - she jumped out of bed and began dressing, indicating that Beck should do the same.
"We're on our way." She paused and listened. "No," she said. "No. Don't hang up."
Jade picked up her purse and handed Beck his keys. She held her hand over the phone and told him where they were going. They were at the Vega house within ten minutes. Jade talked to Tori the entire way, asking her simple questions to keep her calm – or as calm as was possible. Beck could hear enough to know that their friend was completely distraught and that something had happened to one of her parents. Her voice was an octave too high and her words were hurried and punctured by sobs. While Jade talked to Tori, he used his hands-free link to call his mother, explain that something had happened, and ask her to go to the house to stay with Cat. Then he tried to call Andre, but there was no answer.
Arriving at the Vega household, they saw a police car sitting in the driveway. An officer let them in when they knocked on the door. Tori was pacing the kitchen and living room, her cell phone clasped between her hands. Her eyes were red and swollen. When she saw Beck and Jade, a new torrent of tears began to fall.
Jade ignored her outburst and turned to one of the police officers. "What happened?"
"Detective and Mrs. Vega were in a fatal car accident this evening," the officer said softly. "We came to notify the family. My partner and I didn't want to leave her by herself. We asked her who we could call. She tried to call someone named Andre – and then when he didn't pick up, she called you."
Jade couldn't believe what she was hearing; she didn't want to believe it.
Beck was following in Tori's footsteps, trying to get her to stop pacing. She was ignoring him. She was shaking and her breathing was shallow; she was showing the beginning signs of shock. Jade stepped in her path and spoke.
"Tori," she said sharply. "Stop and look at me." The intensity in her voice stopped the other girl in her tracks. "Let's sit down," Jade suggested. She led Tori to one of the sofas and made her sit.
"Tori, where is Trina?"
"I don't know," Tori said tearfully, her words quick and gasping. "I don't remember." Jade picked up Tori's phone and dialed Trina, handing it to Beck.
"Tell her to get here now," Jade ordered him. He nodded and walked away to speak with Trina in private.
Tori's eyes were glazed over and she stared into space. Jade nudged her to get her attention back. "Tori, you're going into shock. If you don't snap out of it - you're going to have to go to the hospital." Tori tried to calm down – she tried to catch her breath. She tried breathing exercises. But it wasn't working. After fifteen minutes and the realization that her symptoms were only getting worse, Beck carried her to the car and put her in the back seat with Jade and they drove to the closest emergency room.
They waited for over two hours, during which time Tori said precisely two words – "they're gone." Each time the words spilled from her lips, she broke into another fit of sobs. The attending doctor barely looked at her, listened to what Jade told him about the situation, gave Tori prescriptions for sleeping pills and sedatives, and sent her on her way. They got back to her house at six in the morning. Jade gave her one of the sleeping pills and tucked her into bed.
Trina arrived around noon later that day. Tori was still sleeping. Beck was in the living room and still trying to get in touch with Andre, who had apparently fallen off the face of the earth and, in the meantime, dropped his phone into a volcano.
Jade was in Tori's room, curled into an arm chair, trying to sleep while at the same time not wanting Tori to wake up alone. Cat was back at Jade's house with Ella, baking cookies, clueless as to what was happening. As soon as Trina arrived, Beck panicked. "I have to go get Jade," he said, before disappearing up the stairs.
Trina watched him go and then followed, irate that he was leaving after bothering her during a spa weekend. "Why in the world did you wake me up at the three thirty in the morning? I need exactly eight hours of uninterrupted sleep—" She stopped rambling when she saw Tori sleeping and Jade getting out of the arm chair in her room. "What did you do to her?" She demanded shrilly. Beck shook his head, indicating that Trina had no idea what had happened.
"Let's go downstairs," Jade said simply. "You stay here, coward," she hissed to Beck – who didn't disagree.
"I don't want to go downstairs," Trina said defiantly.
"Since when have I ever cared about what you want?" Jade asked, grabbing Trina by the arm and dragging her to the living room before her screechy objections could wake her younger sister.
"Why are you even here in our house? Trina demanded. "And why the cryptic call at three in the morning?"
"Would you shut up for a minute so I can think?" Jade spat, walking away from Trina. She went to the refrigerator, grabbed a bottle of water, and took a sip. She braced herself against the kitchen table and took a few deep breaths before turning back to the other woman.
"I don't know how to tell you this – Tori called us this morning after she got a visit from the police. I'm sorry to have to tell you – but your mom and dad were in a car accident. They didn't make it."
"You're wrong. You're lying."
"I wouldn't do that," Jade said, almost softly.
"You would," Trina said shakily. "You hate Tori. This is some kind of sick joke."
"I tolerate Tori," Jade informed her. "I don't hate her." It was true; Tori had moved up a bit in Jade's hierarchy. She continued, wishing she could be anywhere else but delivering this news. "I wish I was joking – or lying – or whatever it would take to make it not true. But it is true. Officer Sanchez left his card – it's on the kitchen table. You have to call him to let him know what funeral home you want them taken to. He said he would take care of getting them there."
"You are unbelievable," Trina said, walking to the table and picking up the card. She pulled out her phone and dialed Officer Sanchez's cell phone, which was written on the back.
"Hi, Gary, this is Trina Vega. Can you—" She was interrupted when the other man, who she had known since she was a child, offered his condolences. Her eyes flitted across the kitchen and locked on Jade, who she now realized had red-rimmed eyes. Trina hung up the phone and set it on the table. She was silent. Her silence scared Jade more than any accusation could.
"What happened to Tori? Why is she still sleeping at noon?" Trina asked, shocking Jade. She wasn't crying, she wasn't upset, her voice wasn't even tremulous.
"She almost went into shock after they broke the news to her – we took her to the ER – they gave her sleeping pills and a sedative."
Trina nodded. She walked to a drawer in the kitchen and pulled out two phone books – one personal and the yellow pages for the area. She spent the rest of the day on the phone, talking to a variety of people, making arrangements and consoling long-distance relatives.
Tori woke up around dinner time and for the first two minutes; she didn't realized what had happened. The minute she saw Beck and Jade, she realized it wasn't a nightmare and tears once again streamed to her eyes.
"It's going to be okay," Beck said, putting his arms around her. Jade didn't know what to say – she knew it was unlikely to be okay. She chose to remain silent. Andre arrived around seven that evening and took over consoling Tori. Beck stayed at the Vega house to be on hand and attempt to help Trina with the preparations for the funeral. Jade went back home to break the news to Cat – and to take a break from the stifling grief. The aura of pain and sorrow coming from Tori was almost tangible; Jade felt like she was drowning in it.
Jade had never realized true exhaustion until that moment. She might have gotten an hour of sleep the night before and that day. She stood outside the front door, taking deep breaths, gathering herself.
Cat bounded to the door the moment it was entered. "Jade! We made cookies – and funfetti cupcakes. We didn't have any red velvet."
"I'm sure the funfetti is great," Jade assured her. "Where is Ella?"
"In the kitchen," Ella yelled. Cat scampered away while Jade walked into her kitchen to find that Ella was in the middle of making every recipe she knew of. There were cookies and cupcakes and stews and casseroles.
"Would it be easiest to ask you what you're not making?" Jade asked, smiling slightly.
"Don't tease. It's a good stress releaser. And I'm sure they won't want to cook for a while." She looked up from the bowl she was mixing, her eyes actually settling on Jade for the first time. "You need to go sleep," Ella said in astonishment at how incredibly tired Jade looked.
"I will," Jade promised. "But I need to talk to Cat."
"I haven't told her anything," Ella said, nodding toward the living room where Cat was fixated on something. Jade understood; she didn't blame Ella; she certainly wished she didn't have to be the one to clue in the tiny redhead who had a history of explosive emotions. Jade walked in to find Cat lying upside down on the sofa, watching a Toy Story movie. She found the remote and turned off the television, earning an indignant "hey!" from Cat.
Jade sat next to her on the sofa, ignoring her objections. "I need to talk to you," she said to Cat. The small redhead sat up. Jade met her eyes and spoke. "Something really bad happened last night. Tori's mom and dad died." Cat gasped and sighed almost at the same time, emitting a noise that Jade had never heard before. She looked away and started to bounce nervously on the sofa.
"Cat, look at me," Jade said forcefully. "It's okay to be sad. What are you thinking?"
"Poor Tori," Cat said sadly. "Is Tori okay?"
"She's really sad," Jade admitted. "but eventually, she'll be okay again." Cat was crying by then, big, heavy sobs that shook her whole frame. She crawled into Jade's lap and held on tightly, trying desperately to understand a world that was too cruel for her comprehension.
Jade couldn't get Cat to stop crying, but she did slow down. And maybe, for the time being, it was good enough. Two hours later, a very distraught Cat Valentine crawled into bed with Tori, putting her arms around her friend and crying with her. Jade watched from the doorway, leaning heavily on Beck.
The funeral was two days later. Trina had pulled out all the stops – it was ridiculously over-the-top. Jade thought it was ostentatious, bordering on tasteless. If Tori were alert enough to care, she would be angry at the way the funeral and surrounding events were planned. But that was how Trina did things - garishly. The smell of flowers was overpowering as Jade and Beck walked into the church with their fingers woven together, Cat and Robbie following close behind.
They sat where Tori had asked them to, in the second pew. Tori and Trina, along with a few distant relatives, made up the first pew. Andre sat directly behind Tori. Beck, Jade, Cat, and Robbie slid in beside him. It was a Catholic church, which none of them had ever attended before. Jade was uncomfortable with the fact that some people around her were kneeling while others were sitting. What was the deal? Which was the right way? She swallowed her annoyance at not knowing what to do; this day was not about her or her comfort.
Cat sat next to her, holding her hand and playing intently with her rings. While Jade had plenty of choices on clothing to wear that day, Cat had not. Nothing she owned was less than bright. No navy, no black, no gray. The closest Jade could find to somber was a sapphire blue dress, and it didn't make the cut. So, after several alterations and a quick hemming job she did herself, Cat wore one of Jade's many black dresses, her red hair standing out in stark contrast.
She was silent and fairly still for most of the mass, but started to fidget in the last twenty minutes. Jade wanted to scream in frustration; Cat shifted or moved every thirty seconds. By the time the caskets were being carried down the aisle by police officers from David Vega's force, Jade was more than ready to stand up. She stood and Beck put his hand at the small of her back as they followed Tori and Trina from the church. Cat trailed behind, having rebuffed Robbie's offer to hold her hand.
Cat was silent at the graveyard, but Jade could sense she had a million questions. Jade wished she had the answers- but she knew she wouldn't. Tori was dry-eyed for the entire event. From the way she could barely stand on her two-inch heels, Jade imagined that she'd taken too many sedatives and probably had no idea what was going on. Andre held her up as best he could. Trina cried perfectly on cue. Jade laid her head against Beck's chest, her arms wrapped around his middle as they watched the caskets be lowered into the ground.
That summer was difficult for Tori. She was lost, everyone could see that much. They pretty much split the summer into shifts so that the distraught girl was never alone. It was how Jade ended up spending her Wednesdays and Thursdays with Cat and Tori. Most of the time, the two of them swam and splashed in Tori's pool while Jade sat in the shade, reading or writing.
When school started, Tori moved into a dorm with the help of Andre, Beck, Cat, Jade, and Beck's uncle's truck. She was terrified but she was putting on a brave face. Andre was moving into his freshman dorm the next day and would be twenty minutes away. Beck, Jade, and Cat were staying put and all attending classes at UCLA, thirty minutes from Tori.
When they were getting ready to leave, Cat handed Tori a bag that she'd been toting with her all day. Tori extracted from it – Mr. Long-Neck. "He can keep you company," Cat explained happily.
"Cat," Tori said softly, touched by the offer and worried that her friend was doing something she would regret later. "Won't you miss him?"
"I have Mr. Purple," she responded sincerely. "And Jade. I'm okay."
Tori smiled and gathered the smaller girl into a hug. "Thank you, Cat."
"We're not that far away," Jade said. Her voice indicated boredom, but Tori knew it was a sincere offer.
"I know," Tori said gently. "Thank you."
"Enjoy your new room," Beck said, looking around at the space. It was small but already well decorated and comfortable looking. "And don't have too much fun with all the cute college boys."
"I will try my best to have a lot of fun with the cute college boys," Tori answered with a grin. The words and accompanying smile did little to fool anyone. They all knew she was lying; her plan was to change into sweat pants and watch movies for the rest of the night – as soon as they left. But they pretended – for a moment – that this was the normal Tori who would try to make the most of her freshman orientation.
Thanks for reading! Please take a moment to review. What did you think? Favorite part? Worst part? I don't know if I touched enough on Tori's grief – but this story is Jade centric, so I tried to keep that in mind as I wrote this Tori-heavy chapter. Share your thoughts Thanks!