Jade's P.O.V
Oh god, how? How could I just walk by her in such a state and not do jack shit? I mean, sure, I can be a real bitch sometimes, but how did I just leave her there? I was so selfish, and now she's gone and no one knows where she went. Fuck, fuck, FUCK! I am so mad at myself for doing what I did.
I guess I just figured….what the fuck is wrong with me? There isn't a single excuse in the book that I could use to make myself feel better.
Tori was hurting, shit I could obviously see that she was already on the run, and I just left her to it. Suddenly a hand is being frantically flung in front of my face, Cat's hand to be exact, and it snaps me out of my thoughts.
"Jade! Do you know where Tori is at today?" The bubbly redhead asks, tilting her head slightly as she does.
I scoff, acting as I normally would in a situation like this.
"I don't know, why are you asking me?" I snap.
Cat jumps as usual, but I truly know what happened to her. I don't know where she is, but I know what happened. She ran away. I desperately want to tell the people around me, but I can't, they will all be horribly angry with me if I do. I will lose all of them at once, and I can't take that right now. I've already lost Tori, maybe for good, I can't lose them too.
I start to rack my brain as to where Tori could have gone. I should've been nicer, had deeper moments with her, or had just gotten to know her better. I would probably have known where she was if it was like that, shit she probably wouldn't even be missing. Missing….God she actually is missing and I may be the only person that knows. Wait a second….Trina! Maybe she knows where Tori went, or at least has noticed that she is missing!
"Cat, have you seen Trina today?" I mumble, ignoring the weird looks I get for the out of character question.
"Uhm yeah…" Cat looks scared. "The last time I saw her, she was in the black box practicing a play, why?" I fake a sneer and snicker.
"Oh no reason, just need to talk to her about some things that transpired a few days ago" Wow, that was your best excuse West? Damn this whole thing has you thrown out of whack.
Cat just nods and goes back to talking to Robbie about some random Cat-like shit. I'm just glad I scare everyone I come in contact with, this mean less questions. Okay, maybe I'll get some questions from Cat, but she at least knows to wait until we aren't around the rest of the group. With that I continue to walk out to the black box, silently rehearsing what I should say to Trina. After all, Tori and I weren't exactly best friends. I suck at showing that I care. I mean god, I started to develop feelings for her almost immediately, but I was so afraid of losing my reputation that I stuffed them down. Now I wish I was a bit more caring, maybe showed her the softer side of me when we were alone. Sure maybe I did, but not like I could've. All the other times I did it was an extremely guarded approach.
Ugh, that just brings me back to what I'm going to say to Trina. I mean I can't exactly just walk up and say:
"Oh hey Trina, did you know that Tori is missing? And If so, where the fuck did she go?"
This is actually going to take some thought, damn it. Okay, let's see here…..I could just ask her where Tori is. But even then, that's going to take an explanation. Shit, shit, shit. Okay I'll ask where Tori is….and then explain that I have to talk to her about a project I'm doing for my sociology class. Yeah that will work….wait, but why am I asking her. Shit. Okay…I'm asking her because she….
"Jade! I have to ask you something" The older Vega chirps.
Damn, how did I get here so fast? Oh well that saves me a hell of a lot of lying.
"What is it, Trina?" I mumble trying to act cold as usual. Truly I am hopeful, hopeful that Trina knows where Tori is.
"Do you know where my sister is?" Trina looked honestly worried, and it ripped my gut apart.
I tried to look as clueless as I could. "Uh…no….why?" I muttered. Nice going West, real fucking clueless alright.
"Because she left a few days ago, and took most all of her stuff with her" Now Trina looked like she was on the verge of tears. Shit.
"Oh" I tried to look shocked. Shit, I need to tell her, but I can't let her know it was me who saw her.
Then I had an idea, a pretty good one, one with the perfect cloak to shield me from me taking the blame for letting her go like that.
"Actually, Trina, my dad said he saw her sleeping in the tube at the park…" I lied.
Trina's eyes widened and then filled with more tears. She was so upset, and it just made me feel worse for not doing anything.
"Oh god, no, not Tori" The older Vega cried.
"Wait, if she left a few nights ago, why didn't you report it to the cops or something…..better yet, do your parents know?" I asked curiously, but cautiously.
"I know, I'm a terrible sister okay? But she has done this before, last time she went to a friend's house for a few days, so I didn't think much of it until….she didn't come back, or text me." Trina sobs.
Fuck so this has happened before? Damn…..are they having family problems too? I do admit, I've run away before, but that was when I had Beck's to run to. When my parents would fight, I found sanctuary in that dingy ass little trailer of Beck's. But that was before we broke up, and damn that seems like forever ago.
I snap out of my inner dialogue and focus my attention back to Trina.
"Oh…family issues?" Is all I can muster.
Trina looks up at me from her shoes with the weirdest look.
"How did you know?" She mutters.
"Oh c'mon Trina, isn't it obvious….my family isn't perfect either." I mumble numbly, half in disbelief that I'm even divulging this information to the older Vega.
"Oh….shit, I'm sorry Jade, I didn't…" She trails off after I wave it off.
"Don't worry about it okay? We all have them ya know, sometimes they aren't too obvious though" I say gently.
"Now, do you have any idea where Tori could've gone? Did she talk about any places far from here that she wanted to visit?" I press, trying not to seem overly concerned.
Trina stops a moment to think, and then her face lights up, bingo.
"Actually, she talked about visiting a friend in Seattle pretty recently. We had a conversation about places we wanted to go to and she mentioned that…oh my god" Trina says in awe. "How could I have missed that, shit I'm such a bad sister" She starts to cry again.
"No Trina, you just didn't think of it, did you try texting her?" I ask carefully.
"Yes actually, but she didn't text me back like I said" She mumbles.
Wait….I wonder. When I thought about running away, I thought about everything, I mean every single thing. One of those things was changing my number, so that no one could reach me.
"Trina….your dad is still a cop right?"
"Yeah…why?" She asks curiously.
"Because, I think Tori changed her number, out of fear that he could track it" I announce, trying to work out some things in my head at the same time.
Trina's eyes go wide again and then she begins to babble.
"Shit, Jade, how are we going to find her now? What if she is lost forever, what if we never find her, what if…" I stop her and attempt to calm her down.
"Trina, I promise you we are going to find her. I am going to do everything I can to find her, okay?" I promise her sincerely.
"Wait….Jade….." Trina is facing me head on with a confused look on her face. Shit. "Why do you care so much? Shouldn't you be glad she's gone?" She asks.
Ugh, here we go. "Because I care a lot more than you think Trina" I mutter. "I'm not the bitch you think I am, okay?" She nods and leaves it alone. Thank god she is smart enough to do that.
"Okay Jade, but you're going to have to tell me the truth sooner or later, ya know" What the fuck does she mean by that? Ugh whatever.
"Whatever Trina, look I'm going to go okay. I've got some work to do" I mumble as I walk off, giving her a slight wave.
Okay first things first, I have to try to contact her. I open up the slap's instant messaging system and send her a quick "Hey Vega"…now to wait. While I'm waiting I can't help but to think about her, and as the bell rings I realize that I was leaning up against her locker. I miss her more than I let myself believe, damn West. I put my phone away and quickly walk out to my car, doing my best to avoid anyone in the group.
"Jade!" Shit. I hear Cat calling out to me.
I turn around, I can't ignore Cat, I just can't.
"What is it Cat" I say with my usual tone.
"Why did you have to talk to Trina today? Was it about Tori?" She asks. Damn, she's good. Like I said, she can read me well.
"Yes, but only because of something weird I was told about a few nights ago" I say trying not to give off a caring tone.
"Oh...what was it?" Cat asks innocently, though I have a feeling she knows, after all she was someone who Tori talked to most.
"uh...My dad saw something that didn't seem right and told me...so I went to Trina to confirm it" I muttered.
"What was it? Did something happen to Tori? Is she dead?!" I chuckle a bit, typical Cat.
"No, but...she's gone and uh, not even Trina really knows where shes at" I get out.
"Oh no" Cat frowns and starts to cry a little.
"Don't worry though, I'm going to find her okay?" I murmur with a softer tone.
"Jade...you really do care, don't you" She smiles through the tears, and I laugh.
"Yes Cat, she is my friend too, and I know you know that. Even though I can be mean, you know that" I chuckle.
Cat just nods and hugs me. "I want to help, Jade" She says with determination.
"That's fine, in fact I could use the help. Can you start by trying to get a hold of her on the snap? She might answer to you more so than I" Cat nods again and walks off to her car.
"Will do Jadey, I'll let you know if I hear anything from her. I expect you to do the same okay!" I laugh and nod.
"Sure but don't call me that" I yell after her lightheartedly.
I'm glad I've got Cat. Sure, I'm not ready to tell her anything about how I feel towards Tori, but I know she will listen when I do. I get in my car and start on my way home when my phone buzzes.
One new message from Tori Vega
Yeah I know, its been too long! But I'm back, and I will start updating this story as regularly as I can!
Hope you enjoy this chapter!