General A/N: I don't own Victorious, though that's probably obvious. This is just an idea that came to mind while binging the show during quarantine. Happy reading!
Chapter 8: So name a game to play, and I'll roll the dice
Chapter Summary: Jade has a secret she can no longer stand to keep.
Chapter A/N: Chapter title is lyrics from Into You by Ariana Grande.
Saturday mornings in the Vega residence were once synonymous with one thing: pure, unadulterated family time. From hours spent watching early morning cartoons to buffet-style homemade breakfasts, there was nothing quite like the feeling Tori would get the second her eyes snapped open and she realized what day it was.
But, as the years passed and she and Trina got older, family time quickly eroded and Saturdays were no longer about spending time together, though by middle school, no day really was.
Lately, Tori would wake up on Saturday mornings alone, with the house to herself. Trina was—surprisingly—always out and their parents seemed to travel more than they actually worked.
The day after her impromptu beach day with Jade was no different. Trina was nowhere to be found—probably passed out at some ditch day party—and her parents had boarded an early morning flight for a conference in Miami.
Even though she was alone, Tori loved days like these. No school work, no commitments, no expectations, no loud, obnoxious singing coming from her connecting bathroom; just some time to herself.
Not quite ready to get up and face the day, she laid comfortably in bed for the better part of an hour, reveling in the peace and quiet of an empty house. At some point she grabbed her phone from her nightstand and fell down a scrolling-spiral on The Slap. She had fallen asleep pretty early the night before, unexpectedly exhausted from her day at the beach, and missed a great deal of notable content.
Cat's latest rant about her love for bibble—and how everyone was just trying to keep them apart—Andre's twenty-post thread of his attempt to take his grandma to the movies, and the latest round of Rex and Robbie's standoff over TV privileges, were the main highlights. But what caught her attention the most was Jade's post in the middle of the night, not because of its content—a debate over what horror movie to watch next—but because it came from her.
A quick glance at her name and Tori was drowning in recollections of the day before; her arms around Jade, Jade's arms around her, the way Jade never tore her eyes off of her when she was dancing—and acting—like a fool. She smiled to herself at the thought, a regular occurrence as of late.
Recently, just thinking about Jade made her stomach somersault with delight, her heart flutter like a thousand butterflies, and her breath hitch in her throat. That combination was unfamiliar to her—even Ryder never made her feel that way—but she wasn't clueless and as much as she tried to pretend she didn't, she knew what it all meant. She was crushing on Jade West… hard.
She let the information sink in as she laid sideways in the middle of her bed, phone as close to her face as possible, staring at Jade's 1:34 a.m. post. Her thumb moved mindlessly to click on her profile, and before she knew it she was looking at Jade's page, eyes navigating to the recently-uploaded profile picture of her at the school library.
The soft smile that had previously crept onto her lips at the thought of the day before was now a full-on grin, and her cheeks lit up with a rosy blush. What was this girl doing to her?
Call it coincidence or call it fate; but the second she went to click on the picture to expand it, she received a banner notification of an incoming text from the source of her smile, and her heart skipped a beat.
Jade✂️: Are you awake?
I have been for a while
What's up?
Jade✂️: I'm coming over
Jade✂️: Just thought I'd give you a heads up
Jade✂️: ETA is 5 minutes
I'm still in bed
Can you give me 30?
Jade✂️: 4 minutes
JADE 😫
Jade✂️: 3 minutes 45 seconds
Are you driving?!
Stop texting
I'll get up
Jade✂️: 3 minutes
Tori didn't respond for fear that Jade would just continue texting while—presumably—driving. Instead, she jumped out of bed—a tad too excited—and got dressed, discarding her pajamas for high-waisted denim shorts with a white "Good Vibes" t-shirt tucked in. She quickly freshened up in the bathroom, trying to focus her attention on anything but the fact that she was about to see Jade again, the girl she realized she was harboring a crush on no more than ten minutes before.
When she was done, she grabbed her phone from where she left it on her bed and checked for notifications. Her text conversation with Jade was still up when she opened the screen, but there were no new messages. She glanced at the time and noted it had been more than three minutes since she last texted her.
Despite not having an update, she made her way downstairs to wait in the living room. With each step she took, she felt her excitement evaporate into a sea of nerves. Soon, she would be face-to-face with Jade again and having to pretend she wasn't enthralled by every word she said, every glare from those mesmerizing blue-green eyes, and every touch, no matter how rare.
"Get it together, Tori," she mumbled to herself as she walked down the stairs.
"Good morning weirdo," Jade said, poking her head up from the other side of the couch where she had been laying on her phone for the past fifteen minutes.
"Jesus! Jade, what the heck?" Tori cried out, her left hand clutching her heart as the right grabbed the banister for support, keeping her from falling.
Jade leaned over the back of the couch and folded her arms across its edge, chin resting atop them. "Were you just talking to yourself?"
"No, I—" Tori began, then cleared her throat. "What are you doing here?"
"I told you I was coming over. Do you not recall our conversation from five minutes ago? That wasn't a fantasy, you know."
"I know that, jerk. How did you get in here?"
"A true magician never reveals her secrets."
Tori looked around the room as she slowly descended the remainder of the staircase, but everything looked normal. "Did somebody let you in?"
"Is someone else home?"
"No."
"Then no," Jade revealed.
"When did you get here?" Tori inquired as she inched closer to the couch. She was a little nervous to hear the answer. Knowing Jade, she could've been there for hours.
"Fifteen minutes ago."
With a quick glance at her phone, Tori checked the time of Jade's last message. "But you texted me like five minutes ago."
"Yeah, so?"
"You— You've been in here the whole time?" Tori stuttered, her eyes wide in disbelief at the realization that Jade was in the house at the same time she was full-on Slap-stalking her.
"Oh my! Sweet Sally Peaches, you done did it! You figured it out! Oh, I knew you could get there!" Jade cried out in her fake Tori voice, clasping her hands in front of her chest in feigned delight.
"How many times have you broken into my house now?" Tori asked, ignoring Jade's attempt to rile her up with her annoyingly over-done imitation.
When Tori sat down on the opposite couch, Jade repositioned herself so she was facing her, legs stretched out across the length of the couch.
"Enough to know where you keep your night guard," she revealed as she leaned back against the armrest and tucked her hands behind her head.
"I don't wear a night—"
"Top drawer of your bedside table. Far back on the right, next to your—"
"Okay! Okay! Please stop talking," Tori begged, hands up in a pleading gesture.
The look on her face could only be described as utter mortification, and Jade eyed her with a quizzical expression.
"Damn, Vega, what else is in that drawer?" she questioned, her voice coated with curiosity.
"I thought you said you looked… You know what? There's nothing in there," Tori said, trying to sound convincing.
"I was kidding, well, sort of. I definitely looked in there a couple months ago, but…" Jade began, a smirk pulling at her lips, "wait, are you hiding something new in there?"
"No," Tori replied defensively.
Unconvinced by her answer, Jade stood up, walked around the couch, and made her way over to the stairs.
"Jade, no!" Tori called out as she realized what she was doing. She shot out of her seat and ran toward her. "You can't go in there!" she ordered, stepping in front of the staircase to physically stop Jade from going up. "My room is… a mess."
"I'm supposed to buy that?" Jade said, folding her arms across her chest and tilting her head slightly.
Tori extended her arms out to the sides to better block Jade's passage. "Yes."
"Now I'm definitely curious."
"If I tell you what's in there, will you drop it?"
"Sure."
"Okay it's… uh… foot cream," Tori stammered, nodding her head like she was sure of herself, "yeah, foot cream."
"Oh, Peaches, you gotta do better than that. I know you're lying."
The tint on Tori's cheeks was noticeable, but again, she tried to play it off. "I'm not lying."
"What is it? Some embarrassing ointment? A love letter to Robbie? A vibrator?"
At the last suggestion, Tori broke out into a coughing fit and her cheeks flamed with humiliation. If Jade didn't know her answer before, she definitely knew it now.
"Oh, this is gold!" Jade exclaimed, holding back a laugh behind her smug smirk.
"Please shut up," Tori begged, burying her face into the palms of her hands.
"Who woulda thought? Sweet Sally Peaches ain't so sweet."
"Can we please move on?" Tori pleaded, face still hiding behind her hands. She wasn't ready to look up and see the gratification on Jade's face.
But Jade wasn't exactly reveling in satisfaction at the nonverbal confession. Sure she thought it was great, hilarious even—and a little hot—but a part of her felt an unfamiliar sense of remorse for putting Tori on the spot. Before letting herself think anything through, she reached out and grabbed Tori's wrists, lightly tugging them down to reveal her fiery red face.
"Relax, Prudence," she said with a reassuring tone, "It's not that big of a deal. I have one, Cat has one. It's completely normal."
"Cat has one?" Tori asked, the expression on her face softening as she looked at Jade.
"Yeah, it's pink," Jade replied, grimacing at the revelation. "She's not very good about hiding things. I didn't even have to snoop."
Tori chuckled. "You're going to get yourself arrested one day."
"Yes, and you're going to bail me out. We've already discussed this."
As they silently made their way back to the couches, Tori looked at the clock in the living room, hoping to take her mind off of the embarrassment she had just suffered. It was a little past ten, which shocked her considering lately Jade liked to make her surprise visits at the crack of dawn.
"Don't take this the wrong way," she began as she sat on the couch and crossed her legs, "but why are you here? Besides just to torment me."
"I was bored," Jade said as she plopped unceremoniously on the opposite couch.
As much as she wanted to outwardly pretend that she was only interested in Tori's companionship to cure her boredom, inside she knew there was far more to it. Whether it was to help Tori or to practice a scene, she had gotten accustomed to spending a part of her most recent weekends at the Vega residence. And while she had absolutely no reason to be there now, she had found herself wanting to spend more time with her. In fact, it was the first thing that popped in her head when she woke.
"And you chose to come here?" Tori asked, a sly little smirk sneaking its way onto her lips. She didn't want to make it obvious that she was actually grateful for her company, even if she was expecting a day to herself.
"Cat talks way too much, Robbie is just annoying, André has a crazy grandma, and hanging out alone with Beck is just weird now."
"So what you're saying is, I'm your last resort?"
"You said it, not me."
"Glad I can be of service then," Tori said, sarcastically rolling her eyes.
"You should be nice to me, Peaches. I brought you something. Two things, actually."
"You did?" Tori asked incredulously, like she didn't believe a word she said. To her credit, Jade wasn't one to do generous things without motive, or of her own volition.
Jade didn't answer her. Instead, she got up, walked over to the dining table, and grabbed the two cups of coffee that had been sitting there since she arrived.
"I stopped by Venice Café and got some coffee on the way," Jade revealed as she handed Tori one of the drinks. "Though, they might be cold now since you took your sweet time coming downstairs."
Tori smiled warmly as she took the cup and disregarded her comment. "That's so nice, Jade. Thank you."
"Don't make it a thing, okay? Just drink your coffee," Jade said, nodding her chin toward the drink in Tori's hand.
If Jade could peer into Tori's mind, she'd find that she was a hundred times more ecstatic about the gesture than she led on. But she tried to keep her cool in front of her, in part because Jade didn't like over-the-top reactions, and in part because she was like a ticking time-bomb, just waiting to go off.
"You said you had two things. What's left?" she asked.
Jade dug through her bag for her final item, donning a child-on-Christmas-like grin as she did, and Tori watched her attentively, captivated by her rare smile.
When Jade pulled out a DVD and looked up to show her, Tori diverted her eyes toward the coffee table, pretending she hadn't just been staring at her. Of course Jade noticed, but for once, she let her have it.
"I brought the entertainment," Jade stated as she inched toward Tori, waving the DVD in front of her. "The greatest movie of all time."
"The Scissoring?"
"Wow, look who finally remembered the name. I was sure you were going to call it the scissor movie again."
Tori shook her head in disapproval. "Let it go, Jade, let it go."
"I will never let that go," Jade said emphatically.
"Whatever. You're not seriously expecting me to watch this now are you?"
"Hell yeah we're going to watch it now!" Jade exclaimed. She pointed toward a section of the DVD cover and looked at Tori. "Look, I even brought the special edition with an extended ending."
Tori's lips pulled into an involuntary smile as she watched Jade practically geek out. She was sure no one else had ever seen this side of her, except maybe Beck. That reaction alone was enough to make her want to watch a hundred scary movies with her.
"Fine, but we're keeping the lights on in every room and you have to sit near me," Tori bargained, "I'm easily scared."
"Lights on? Vega, it's morning! There's plenty of sunlight in here."
"Every room," Tori repeated.
"Okay, whatever, it's your electricity bill you're running up," Jade said as she sat down next to her.
The second Jade had settled in beside her—their bodies only inches apart—Tori felt her heartbeat just about pounding in her chest. It took everything in her to keep it together, and to not just scream "I like you" at the top of her lungs.
Instead, she looked at Jade who was busy removing the disc from its case, drew in a shaky breath, and said, "Let's do this."
Never in her seventeen—almost eighteen—years of life had Tori imagined she'd be sitting on her couch next to Jade, willingly watching a horror movie. It was as if she'd fallen into another dimension, one where Jade voluntarily came over to hang out and share her favorite movie with her.
Even though it was at her request, being so close to Jade made watching the movie ten times harder than it already was. At certain points, she couldn't even focus on the plot, because she was far too preoccupied thinking about how between her own jumping, shrieking, and flinching, the small gap between them had significantly shrunk. Jade noticed their closeness too, though she tried to occupy her mind by laughing at Tori's reactions instead, but that only worked for so long.
It never really occurred to Jade that watching a scary movie with Tori meant having to face her attraction head on. Every time Tori jumped at a scene, she wouldn't just get closer, she'd involuntarily reach out to hold onto something. First, it was a couch cushion during the opening scene, which Jade quickly took away when she tried to hide behind it. Then, with nothing else to rely on, she subconsciously resorted to reaching out for Jade. Most of the time, it was her hand, but in one extremely suspenseful scene at the climax of the film, she missed her hand and went straight for her legging-clad thigh. That one really did a number on both of them, but neither one was eager to address it, they just silently dismissed it like it never happened.
It took nearly two hours to watch the movie full-through and an additional thirty minutes to get through the entirety of the bonus content that Jade made Tori watch afterwards. Despite the fact that she wasn't going to be able to sleep again for a month, Tori actually liked the movie—what she paid attention to, at least. She wasn't going to start a fan page or anything, but she could see why Jade loved it so much.
Somehow, at the conclusion of the last bonus video, Jade managed to persuade Tori to follow up their viewing of The Scissoring with Valentine's Dead Day, which she had purchased on DVD just days before and brought with her just in case. It didn't take a lot of convincing to get Tori on board, not because she wanted to watch another horror movie—she'd take just about anything else—but because, again, she didn't want their time together to come to an early end. Plus, if she had an excuse to be closer to Jade, well, she was definitely going to take it.
After a nearly-six-hour double feature, interrupted only by the delivery of a pizza for lunch, they sat side by side on the couch, debating what to do next. While neither one wanted to outright say it, they were both thinking the same thing: they didn't want to leave each other's company.
"We could watch another movie," Tori suggested after going back and forth on several other options. She shifted her body so that she was facing Jade, legs crossed and hands resting on both knees.
"There's another really good horror—"
"I was thinking maybe I could pick this one," Tori suggested, interrupting Jade.
"No way! You're just going to pick some cheesy, boring rom-com."
"Hey! I just sat through two horror movies, Jade. Two!" Tori defended, putting two fingers up inches from her face. "It's only fair I pick the next one."
Jade's eyes settled on Tori's fingers, then, without a single word, she bit the air, pretending like she was going to bite them.
"Get those out of my face, Vega," she ordered, "unless you wanna lose them."
"Okay!" Tori said, bopping Jade's nose before quickly retracting her hand. She had no idea why she did it, and the look on Jade's face seemed to mimic her confusion.
"Go pick out a movie before I change my mind," Jade said, still looking at her like she'd lost her mind.
"I know exactly what I want," Tori said, a smug smile pulling at the corners of her lips.
"Me too," Jade accidentally let out, her voice below a whisper. As soon as she verbalized it, she glanced at Tori, anticipating a reaction.
To her luck, Tori was completely oblivious. She was too busy searching for her movie selection on Netflix to have heard anything.
"Tada!" Tori exclaimed, gesturing toward the television with the remote in hand.
Jade looked at the screen, saw Titanic in large letters next to a photo of Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, and groaned.
"Hell no. Pick something else," she demanded.
Anticipating her response, Tori shook her head, her smug smile still in place. "Will you please watch Titanic with me?"
"No."
"Nuh uh uh," Tori said in a sing-song voice, wagging her finger. "Two words. Sikowitz' assignment."
Jade huffed, folded her arms across her chest, and dramatically threw herself back into the couch. "I thought you forgot about that stupid thing."
"Nope! So, what's it gonna be?"
"I don't seem to have much of a choice, do I?" Jade asked bitterly.
Again, Tori shook her head. "You'll be fine! It's a great movie."
"I doubt it," Jade muttered, sinking further into the couch, arms still crossed in front of her chest. She let her attention wander off to the screen, waiting for Tori to start the movie. When her eyes trailed over the run time, she sat up again, unfolded her arms, pointed to the television, and exclaimed, "Wait a minute! It's over three hours? Are you serious?"
"We just watched six hours of really scary movies, Jade. I think you can handle three hours of Titanic," Tori said. She pressed play on the remote and shifted her position to sit back against the couch, allowing only a few inches between her and Jade.
"I died and went to hell, right?" Jade asked looking up toward the ceiling. "Is this hell?"
"Shut up! You're going to miss the beginning."
"That's my plan."
It took a few more minutes than Tori anticipated, but eventually Jade's passive-aggressive commentary died down and she focused her attention on the movie. She never meant to get so absorbed by it, but when Jack and Rose met, she was sucked in, and when they snuck off to the party in third class, her eyes were practically glued to the screen.
Jade was a bit of a closeted romantic that way. She wouldn't broadcast it, hell, she wouldn't even hint at it, but that was one of the many things about her that no one really knew, except Beck from experience, but even then, he'd only seen glimmers of it.
To keep up her facade in front of Tori, she pretended to be uninterested, inserting little snide remarks here and there about how Cal was her favorite character so far and how the story seemed to have been written by a toddler.
No matter how much Jade tried to act indifferent, Tori wasn't buying it. She could see how engrossed she was in the movie when she stole a glance—or two. Or three. For someone who didn't seem to care, her eyes never once left the television. That alone made Tori smile to herself.
Jade knew exactly what she was getting into when she—kind of—agreed to watch the movie, but what she wasn't expecting was the flood of memories that hit her like a tidal wave the second Rose found Jack at the bow of the ship, almost an hour and a half into the film.
The scene played on and Tori watched like it was her first time, but Jade sat frozen next to her. Her mind flashed back to their first—stage—kiss, their second, and every attempt after that. She saw herself kissing Tori onstage and remembered the feeling she felt when they pulled apart, how she wished it could continue. There was nothing she wanted more in that moment—as she sat rooted into the couch, her eyes idly staring at the screen—than to kiss Tori again, to feel that fire course through her veins once more.
Suddenly everything was Tori. She could taste her on her lips, smell the perfume she wasn't even wearing, hear her obnoxiously cute laugh, see her cartwheeling across the sand, and feel the comfort of having her wrapped in her arms. It was all so suffocating—the memories, the feelings, the emotions. She couldn't bear another second in her presence, not without completely bursting at the seams.
"I have to go," she muttered as she rose to her feet, scooped up her bag from the floor, and beelined toward the front door. She didn't even bother to grab her DVDs, she would deal with that another time.
Tori jumped to her feet just as Jade crossed the room to make her exit, a puzzled expression lining her features. "What did I do?" she asked herself. She thought they were having a good time.
"Jade," she said, her voice soft, tender, but still loud enough to be heard. "Wh—What's going on?"
The words sat in the back of Jade's throat. Everything she wanted to say, to voice, to admit, but couldn't. No, she wouldn't. Because this wasn't supposed to happen. She wasn't supposed to have feelings for Tori Vega. How could she?
Without uttering a single word, she reached for the handle, pushed down, and swung the door open, disappearing through the door frame. The door shut loudly behind her, causing her to flinch as she walked away. She only took a few steps before halting to catch her breath, to heave a shoulder-deflating sigh.
Maybe it was the adrenaline that coursed through her like a rain-swollen river, or maybe she was just finally seeing clearly, but the moment she stopped, something inside of her told her to turn around, to forget what shouldn't be happening, and instead think about what she wanted. And in that moment, all she wanted was Tori.
With her heart on her sleeve and her stomach in a knot, Jade turned around and retraced the steps she took seconds before. It only took one knock before Tori pulled open the door in a scramble. It was as if she was waiting on the other side, hoping Jade would come back.
When Tori came into view, Jade drew in a deep breath. What she was about to do would change everything, of that she was sure.
"I like you," she admitted, the words slipping off of her lips like silk. It wasn't how she intended to start her confession, but this was happening now without any real planning or forethought, and once she started she couldn't stop if she tried. "I have for a while now. I tried to pretend like I didn't because you're… well… Vega, but I can't keep denying these feelings and pushing aside my emotions. I've tried for weeks and it's done nothing but drive me insane.
"When Sikowitz gave us this stupid yes assignment he said he wanted us to step out of our comfort zones and to learn something from it. I thought he was crazy, which, he is but— but I understand what he meant. Embracing these feelings for you has been that for me. You know, for the longest time I thought I was just jealous of you. Hell, maybe at one point I was, and maybe I was even jealous of Ryder because he had what I couldn't. That's why I never liked him. Well, that and the fact that he's a piece of shit. But that's not the point. The point is that I— I like you."
The words flowed from Jade's lips and embedded themselves in Tori's mind, playing on loop like a broken record. Of course she felt the same way, she wanted so badly to respond with her own confession, to tell Jade she liked her too, but instead she stood speechless, a shock-ridden look on her face. And when she opened her mouth to speak, all that came out was air.
There was no way to describe the assortment of feelings and emotions that settled within Jade after her speech. Even though she had just poured her heart out, done something vulnerable for once in her life, it wasn't in her interest to wait around for a response. She only gave Tori a few seconds, but when she failed to even muster up one word—good or bad—she felt it was time to retreat. She took one step back and turned to leave, but was swiftly met with a tan hand that gently grasped her own.
"Jade, wait!" Tori pleaded, her tone soft, almost wistful. She'd be damned if she let Jade walk away without telling her how she really felt.
Jade turned back slowly, hand still in Tori's possession, until they were face-to-face and, after Tori reached out to take her other one, hand-in-hand. When their gaze met, as blue-green eyes settled on brown ones, everything appeared to move in slow motion.
They stood quiet for a beat, staring into each other's eyes, silently expressing every thought, every emotion. Then, without an ounce of hesitation, Tori stepped forward, closing the gap that had settled between them. She let go of Jade's hands and moved to cup her face instead.
The gesture caught Jade by surprise. She wasn't usually one to let anyone touch her face—or any other part of her body—but because it was Tori, she let it happen. In response, she rested her hands on Tori's waist, excitement flaring in her brown eyes at the touch.
"I like you too, Jade, a lot," Tori admitted, eyes scanning between blue-green eyes and soft pink lips as her thumbs absentmindedly caressed Jade's cheeks.
Although she had plenty more to say—her own confession—that all went out the window when Jade looked her dead in the eye and outright demanded, "Kiss me."
For Tori, hearing those two words escape Jade's lips was like living out a dream. She couldn't believe that everything that had just happened was real. That the feelings she had for Jade West were reciprocated, and that she was seconds away from kissing her again, for real this time.
Time froze around them as Tori closed her eyes, leaned forward, and captured Jade's lips with hers. She kissed her slowly, savoring the taste of her mouth, enjoying the feel of her lips as they molded with her own, and relishing the faint sound of a moan that Jade had so reluctantly emitted.
The kiss was exactly what she had yearned for since they pulled away after their performance, but it greatly surpassed that one, or any of the ones before. It was gentle, passionate, and had far more meaning behind it. There was no denying this kiss was Jade and Tori, not Jack and Rose.
It was Jade who pulled back first, desperate for air and a strange need to see Tori. She looked at her as they pulled apart, only slightly, and watched her touch her lips with her index finger, tracing where her own mouth had been only seconds before. As she did, Tori gazed back at her with a glint of something in her eyes, something Jade had never seen in her before: lust.
Inside, Jade was desperately trying to keep it together, because between their breathtaking—literally— kiss and Tori's stare, she was sure she was going to come undone.
"So… do you want to come back inside and finish the movie?" Tori asked, breaking her out of her trance.
"I think I should probably go," Jade admitted. "It's not that I don't want to hang out with you. Believe me, I do. It's just—"
"I get it. This was a lot to take in," Tori said, interrupting her. She let out a nervous laugh, suddenly very aware of how close they still were. It really hit her that she and Jade had not only confessed their feelings for each other, but sealed it off with a kiss.
Jade nodded. She didn't want to linger, to make this already semi-awkward moment worse, but there was something she was burning to ask.
"Do you maybe want to do something Friday?" she asked, rubbing lightly at the back of her neck.
"Are you asking me out?" Tori asked, wiggling her brows in that goofy way she did when she was uncontrollably excited—or begging for a hug.
"You know damn well that's what I'm doing."
"Ask me."
"Why are you like this?"
"Ask me," Tori repeated, her smile widening with every second that passed.
Jade groaned. She hated how much Tori had a hold on her already. "Will you go out with me?"
"When?"
"Friday, Vega," Jade answered begrudgingly. "Will you go out with me on Friday?"
Tori waited a second, just to add a dramatic effect, then exclaimed, "Yes!"
"I already regret this," Jade said with an eye roll. The small smile that pulled at the edge of her lips showed she wasn't serious, but Tori didn't believe her anyway. She'd come to understand most of Jade's sarcasm.
Before a silence could fall between them, Jade cleared her throat. Part of her wanted to offer Tori a goodbye kiss, but she settled for a smile—a rare full-tooth smile.
"I'll see you around, Peaches," she said as she winked at her.
Tori wasn't sure if it was the use of her favorite nickname or the flirty wink, or both, but whatever it was had her heart beating so hard she was sure the neighbors could hear it.
Every hour, every minute, and every second that passed between Jade's departure and their pending reunion in Sikowitz' class on Monday, was like torture. Of course they spent the majority of it—every second they were awake—texting back and forth about random things: how Jade was in the market for a new pair of scissors, how Trina came home only minutes after Jade left, still a little tipsy.
But at one point on Sunday evening, when enough time had passed for them to reflect on the events of their weekend together—one part in particular—the conversation moved away from casual discussions about nothing to talking about their date, or Tori asking as many questions as she could possibly get answered, which, with Jade, weren't much.
Jade was very secretive about her plans, so much so that Tori thought she had none. But little did she know, she had it all figured out. She'd spent a large portion of her Saturday night—once she was home, showered, and in bed, watching a horror documentary—thinking about it, mulling it over in her head, and refining every detail. By the middle of the night, she had it all ironed out. Still, Tori tried. The conversation would move to something else, and she'd bring it back around with a random inquiry. For every question that Tori asked, Jade tried to keep it as vague as she could.
When Tori arrived at school on Monday, she was practically skipping down the halls to get to Sikowitz' classroom, where she already knew Jade was waiting. Lucky for her, that level of energy at 7:55 a.m. wasn't suspicious, or out of the ordinary, and she didn't set off any alarms.
"Good morning!" she said with a big grin as she stepped into the classroom. It was meant for Jade, but everyone who was already in the room murmured their half-asleep greetings. Clearly none of them had as good of a weekend as she did.
"Someone's alert this morning," Jade said, a cocky smirk dancing on her lips as she looked at her. It wasn't suspicious, in fact, it was about as Jade as she could make it. "Did Trina spike your coffee with Red Bull again?"
"That has never happened," Tori defended. She strutted past her and made her way over to her usual seat in the front. While there was no assigned seating in the class, everyone had their favorite spots.
"Nobody believes you," Jade countered.
"One time," Cat began, turning in her chair to look between Jade and Tori, "my brother drank so much Red Bull we had to take him to the hospital."
Jade rolled her eyes in vexation. "Riveting story, Cat."
"It turned out it wasn't actually Red Bull," Cat continued.
"Oh, there's more," Jade said with feigned interest.
"What was it?" Tori asked, her curiosity aroused.
Cat laughed, paused to speak, then laughed again. "It was just nail polish."
Tori's brown eyes widened with bewilderment. "Just nail polish?"
While everyone was very accustomed to Cat's random—oftentimes concerning—anecdotes, there were some occasions, such as this one, where there wasn't a single person in the room that wasn't stunned by her revelation.
"Is anyone else wondering how Cat's brother is still alive?" André chimed in, a perplexed look on his face. "The dude has been through a lot."
"Why did he think nail polish was Red Bull? I— I have so many questions," Tori stated.
The whole room filled with an overwhelming choir of questions and comments directed at Cat, who answered to the best of her ability, until Sikowitz came in, seconds before the bell, and all attention was rapidly diverted to him.
"Five… four… three… two… one!" he said dramatically, counting down with his fingers before the bell went off, welcoming the start of first period. "You're free!"
A few students in the back stood up to leave, and the class watched in confusion.
"I meant you're free from your assignment, but go on," Sikowitz shrugged, shooing them away with his hand.
"So we can say no to things again?" Robbie asked.
"Yes," Sikowitz said, "but I hope you learned a valuable lesson."
As he transitioned into his lesson for the day, Tori's focus dissipated and thoughts of Jade and their date filled her mind. She was so invested in them, that by the time she redirected her attention to the stage, Sikowitz was no longer standing there. Instead, he sat off to the side, consumed by Robbie and Cat's attempt to master his Speed Conversations exercise.
While everyone was engrossed by the performance, Tori sneakily grabbed her purse from the ground and sat it on her lap. She kept her eyes on the stage, as to appear to be watching, and fished for her phone. She took it out—only halfway so that it wasn't obvious—searched for her desired contact, typed out a few words, and hit the send button.
Is there a dress code?
It took a strong will for her to not turn around and look back at Jade, to watch her read and answer her message. Instead she kept her eyes on their message thread, tapping the screen to keep it from going dark, and watching as the three little dots appeared to indicate Jade was typing. The sight made Tori internally giddy.
Jade✂️: You've been here almost two years and you're asking about dress codes?
For our date
Jade✂️: Whatever is comfortable
That wasn't helpful at all 😩
Jade✂️: You're never going to guess what we're doing so stop asking questions
Jade✂️: Pay attention or I'll volunteer you to go next 😉
Afraid she'd eventually get caught texting in class, Tori closed out of her phone, tucked it back into the bag, and set it down on the floor. As she came back up, she slowly turned her body to look at Jade, pretending to be stretching her back. When Jade looked up from her phone and made eye contact with her, she flashed a quick-but-charming smile and Jade shot her one back.
Tori smiled to herself as she shifted back to face the front, a rosy tint creeping onto her cheeks. It didn't even matter if anybody noticed—they didn't—nothing could really drop her from the cloud she was sitting on since Jade confessed her feelings.
End of Chapter A/N: Thanks for reading! I may or may not be on Tumblr… You may or may not be able to find me at GrounderRecords. Come say hi hi!
General A/N: I hope you enjoyed. Drop your thoughts in the comments, if you'd like. I welcome all feedback! 🙂ﾠ