Night and Day

Chapter Thirteen

Tori took in a deep breath. "Jade. None of this seems real. What he said, it's like we're in some kind of sick reality, sic-com drama and I… I don't know what to think. It feels as though I'm breaking a fourth wall of sorts and that I'm finally realizing that none of this makes sense. Jade… Am I going crazy? Am I…? Have I finally lost it and don't know what to do anymore?" Her voice trembled with uncertainty as tears welled up. "Jade…?" She stared at her girlfriend, waiting for an answer.

"I-I don't know," she admitted in return. "I don't know anymore. My life in Hollywood Arts is unreal whilst my life outside is far too real. I think…" She looked at Tori. "I think we now know that we're not invisible. That we… are vulnerable. The accident you had made life a horrid nightmare that I wanted to wake up from and to just return to what we know. Hollywood Arts is… different. We're different. Tori. Everyone here is different and we all have our problems that I think we just wanna escape life so fucking much that we've made the abnormality of Hollywood Arts a reality we want. Where we are happy. We're doing things we love here with people we love.

"What Kyle said… We've never acknowledged. Everything has been straightened out. All the problems he's listed has been fixed. But we glance over it because we don't focus on things that are… much too real. Maybe this is a fucking show. Maybe none of this is real. Maybe we're figments of someone's imagination being written down on a piece of paper and typed to entertain people. But that's what life is, Tori…

"Maybe none of this is real, only a string of events written by someone in complete control of our thoughts and actions or maybe justt… choose to believe what we want to keep our sanity. What's happened has happened. What will happen will. I'm not sure. But what I am sure about is that no matter how real or unreal things seem, how far fetched or painfully realistic it is, I love you. And I'm gonna be by your side. No writer or god can dictate that… No one but me. Whatever path you take and whatever the consequence, I wanna be with you. Will you allow me to?"

The Latina clenched her eyes shut, tears rolling down her cheeks as she nodded. "Of course," she sobbed as she grabbed her, holding her tightly. "Of course."

"You've been through a lot and it's barely even halfway through the day. Do you wanna head home?"

"No," Tori answered truthfully. "No. I wanna stay. I can't keep running away. I gotta face it sometime, don't I? And I honestly don't want to spend a lot of my life hiding from everything. I'm handicapped. Simple as that. And as much as it fucking scares me, I gotta live with this… and everything that comes with it…" She dipped her head. "I'm scared though," she admitted.

"About what?"

"About it all. I fear that my life has been stolen from me. That I can't be a singer or actress and that I have to resort back to my old dreams of becoming a layer or something boring along those lines. And it fucking sucks. This place has given me new dreams and aspirations and hope for a future that isn't dull. I made me realise the person I truly am and.. I don't wan tot revert back to pretending that everything is gonna be okay because it won't be… My life is too different now… It's insanely awesome and I don't want it to go back to being sane… Because this has been the most sane I've ever been."

"I couldn't have worded it better myself," Jade whispered after several moments of silence. "You're right. Everyone here should be in a fucking insane asylum. But those are the kids who have aspirations and hope in life and dare to be different. They didn't take the path their parents wanted them to. And who could blame them? It's so fucking boring to sit behind a desk and listen to people's problems. To be a lawyer and either be bored out of your mind or traumatized by a horrid case. Not that being a lawyer is bad… Just… the job isn't for me."

"Of course it's not," Tori laughed. "You wouldn't be here if it was."

"Oh, you think you know me so well," she teased.

"You've come to me constantly with all your problems. I say that I do," she smiled in return.

"Fuck you."

"When and where?" she demanded in return.

"Watch it, Vega. I won't hesitate to fuck you now in the janitor's closet," she playfully threatened.

"Joke's on you. I won't feel it," she stuck her tongue out in return, Jade's eyebrows shooting up.

"Damn. That's really fucking dark," she whispered.

"True but if a guy tries anything, I can make it really uncomfortable for him."

"If a guy tries anything, I can make the rest of his life really uncomfortable for him," she mumbled, growing visibly upset at the thought.

She chuckled. "Jade. Relax. I know you got my back. But you can't always be there for me."

"Says who?"

"Says me."

"Vega!"

"West!"

"You're being unreasonable!"

"You're being gay!" she laughed, smiling more as Jade's face turned a bright red. "You're so cute."

"You're lucky I love you or else I'd heal you and then cripple you again."

"Oh, I'm sure you will," she smirked, enjoying the banter going on. Anyone outside the relationship would perceive it as real arguing based on how low they were going with the insults. But it seems there was an unspoken line that both knew to stay behind.

"Suck. It. Vega."

Tori smirked, taking her arm gently and pulling her towards her. "Now?" she winked. She smiled in success upon watching her face turn the brightest red she had seen to date.

"Vega…"

"You said it, not me," she laughed, throwing her another wink.

"Do you wanna go out for lunch today?" she quickly changed the subject.

"I mean, I wasn't necessarily thinking about doing so…I kinda wanted to eat lunch like normal. Why do you ask?"

"Because… Well, other than the sushi place, we never really went on a date. It was more of a threat to be failed by Sikowitz."

"True. But I do… kinda wanna stay here. I want today to be more normal and it has been. Apart from Kyle and now. But… How about we go out to dinner Friday night? Just you and me? A nice dinner at a nice restaurant where Robbie won't eat a giant bowl of caviar and I won't have to sing to make up for the dinner bill."

"But you did look wonderful in my dress," Jade hummed in return. "I still have it if you want it for Friday night."

"I couldn't possibly! It's your dress, Jade."

"Happy early birthday. You can have it. Besides, I only bought it for that night so I'm not gonna miss it."

"Yeah, if it still fits me," she mumbled. "I lost so much weight in that fucking hospital, it's pathetic."

"Bullshit, you look beautiful," she smiled. "And if you dare say otherwise, you and I are gonna have a problem. Got it?" she placed a hand under Tori's chin, lifting her head and placing a tender kiss on her lips.

"Got it," she smiled. She heard the bell ring and students began to exit the classrooms. The other four approached. "Hey, are you guys okay? He said some really shitty things," Tori addressed them.

"Don't worry about it," Andre shrugged. "He doesn't know anything. If he truly did, he would understand that isn't us." He stopped, looking at Robbie. "Well, us minus one."

Robbie rolled his eyes. "I'm completely normal. There are other people who have puppets too."

"Yeah. Ventriloquists. Which are only for shows. Not daily usage," Beck smirked as they began to head to lunch. Tori stopped when she saw her sister pass by.

"Trina," she grabbed her sister's hand, stopping her momentarily. "Trina… Can we-…?"

Her sister gave a glance to her, her eyes filled with pure sadness and guilt before she ripped her hand away and hurried off, the others watching in confusion. Tori sighed, dropping her hand. "Fuck," she mumbled to herself.

"What was that about?" Beck looked over.

"She's been ignoring Tori since the accident. Doesn't want to take fucking responsibility, the bitch."

"Jade. I've told you how I felt about you commenting on Trina about this," Tori sighed as they began to head off once more.

"I know you have but it's not fucking right. She's your sister! She should be with you as opposed to running away. Sure, she feels guilty but she better stop drowning herself in self-pity before I actually drown her. I get it. She's upset. But there has to be some kind of fucking line… something that," she sighed, annoyed. "It's not right. If I wasn't here, she would be leaving you here to deal with this yourself."

"You don't know that," Tori attempted to defend her sister.

"I think Jade's right," Andre sighed. "She is selfish and while she might feel bad, I really doubt she's gonna notice that she's hurting you. Especially if this has been going on for some time now."

They watched as Tori became disheartened, her eyes saddening. Cat placed a hand on her shoulder. "Tori, are you okay?"

She shrugged her hand off, wheeling herself outside, the others following. "I wanna fucking smash Trina's head against a brick wall. More so than normal," Jade mumbled to herself, not taking kindly to how Trina was hurting Tori.

"Do you think she'll ever learn her lesson?" Robbie inquired. "She's taken advantage of Tori a lot. I think that this is a step too far. Does she still do this at home?"

"She does," Jade replied bitterly. "All she does is ignore her at home. Just ignore her like a fucking dog. The only reason I haven't touched her is because Tori tells me not to. And it's disgusting that she cares more about her sister than her sister cares for her. I fucking hate it with everything I have and all I want to do is smuggle her in her sleeps. Get this. She started to sleep downstairs so Tori can't go in her room anymore. She's such a selfish cunt and… Tori doesn't deserve the way she's being treated."

"No, but at least she has us," Beck interjected.

"Yeah," Cat nodded. "And we love her more than Trina does."

"We'll be there for her even if Trina decides to fly halfway across the world," Andre agreed as they got to the lunch table. Tori was sitting down at it, her wheelchair empty.

"Did you…?" Beck began, confused.

Tori nodded. "Yep. I moved myself from my wheelchair to an actual seat. As I told Jade, I want the rest of the day normal."

"That's some upper strength you got there, girl," Andre laughed.

"Yeah, well… Holding Jade back constantly helps it," she teased as Jade sat down next to her, smiling at a peck on her lips.

"She's not wrong," Beck agreed.

"Hardy har. It's all fun and games until there isn't anyone strong enough to hold me back when I go to attack you two," Jade teased.

"Try me," Tori smirked, leaning into her girlfriend. The goth rolled her eyes, a smile apparent regardless as she pressed a kiss on the top of her head. At the very moment, even for a few, she was entirely content. The most she had been for a while now. And she wouldn't give it up for anything.