Jade sat in Sikowitz's office. He sat across from her. Neither of them had spoken to each other in a few minutes. Finally, Sikowitz opened his mouth. "I don't think this was your fault. I watched you. You were on top of things. Sinjin must've made a mistake."
"Then I shouldn't have let Sinjin anywhere near this play," said Jade.
"You can't beat yourself up over this," said Sikowitz. He got out of his chair. "But it looks like there's going to have to be an investigation over this."
"An investigation?" said Jade.
"To determine how this happened," said Sikowitz. "Like I said, I don't think you did anything wrong. But this has to happen. It's standard procedure."
"I understand," said Jade.
"I'll put in a good word for you with the board," said Sikowitz. "Hopefully this won't affect your grade."
"I don't care about my stupid grade!" said Jade.
"I see," said Sikowitz. "Anyway, until this thing gets resolved, we can't have anymore plays. Not yours or anyone else's. At least until we figure out what happened."
"Wait, other people shouldn't suffer because of my mistake," said Jade.
"Well first off, this isn't your fault," said Sikowitz. "Second, this isn't just about you. A student got hurt and we need to know why to make sure it doesn't happen to anyone else."
"If you don't want it to happen again, don't let Sinjin be prop master," said Jade.
Sikowitz sighed. "Have you seen Tori since it happened?"
"No." Jade looked at her feet. "I think I'm the last person she wants to see."
"I don't think so," said Sikowitz. "Some people need space after something like this happens. But other people need emotional support. I think right now she needs a friend."
Tori was still in her room. She'd went there as soon as she got back from the hospital. They'd washed the blood off her face. The last time she was Joanna was when they wheeled her away in the ambulance. The look on her face as she collapsed to the ground was seared in Tori's mind. It was a look of surprise and shock as blood oozed from her mouth. God. Tori wished she'd never auditioned for the play. Not even as Mrs. Walton. Someone else might've noticed the knife didn't feel right. Then again, the prop knife felt the same as the real knife. Maybe it was unavoidable. Maybe it was just in the cards and nothing could've been done to stop it.
The rest of her family had given her a wide berth. Trina hadn't said a word to her since she came home. Neither had her father, even though he knew about the investigation. The cop in charge was a friend of his. The only one who'd talked to her was her mother, and she mostly said basic things like, "are you okay?" or, "call me if you need me." Tori lay down on the bed and sighed. She was going to be expelled from Hollywood Arts. She just knew it. That school had been like a second home to her. Sure, things were weird at first. She had to get used to those new traditions. But in the end, she found her niche and made things work for her. She'd made new friends and met interesting people. Now that was going away. Well, at least she had some cool memories of that place. Those couldn't be taken away from her.
Tori heard a knock at the door. "Yes?"
It was her mother. "Tori sweetie. One of your friends from school is here."
"Let them in," said Tori.
The door opened and Jade walked in. Tori's mom stood behind her, but slinked off. Jade closed the door once she was gone. She turned to Jade. The two girls stared at each other for a while. Finally, Jade spoke. "I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault," said Tori. "I was the one who-"
"No," said Jade. "You didn't know the knife was real. It was my fault for putting Sinjin in charge of props and assuming he wouldn't mess things up."
"Sinjin's done good work in the past," said Tori. "You couldn't have known he would make a mistake this time."
"Well then I should've double checked the props," said Jade.
"You can't blame yourself," said Tori. She got up from her bed.
"Why not?" said Jade. "I was the one in charge. That means I take the responsibility when something goes wrong."
"Can't you see that this attitude is taking a toll on you?" said Tori. "Did you look at yourself in the mirror?"
"Oh nice one Tori," said Jade.
"When's the last time you got some sleep?" said Tori.
"I take naps," said Jade. "Lots of naps."
"Look, we're here for you," said Tori. "Beck was trying to be supportive, but you pushed him away."
Jade sighed. "I shouldn't have done that. It's just I was under a lot of pressure and...wait what's that?"
"What's what?" said Tori. Jade pointed out the window and to a young girl playing in the Vega's front yard. She was a brunette with dark clothes. "I've never seen her before."
Jade ran out of Tori's room. Tori followed her. "Jade? Jade? What's wrong?"
They passed Tori's mom, who was preparing dinner. "What's going on?"
"I don't know," said Tori. Tori caught up to Jade, who was now standing in the middle of their front lawn. "Who was that?"
"A girl I've been seeing around school," said Jade. "I don't know her name."
"Where'd she go?" said Tori. She looked up and down the street, but couldn't see any evidence of her.
"I have an idea." Jade reached down and picked up a black, cube-shaped item from the ground.
"What's that?" said Tori.
Jade pulled the cube opened, revealing it was hollowed out. "A box."