Just Us
Chapter 1. The Act
4:43 AM. Another sleepless night. I get up from my bed and walk downstairs to get a drink of water. I am slightly startled by the front door opening, until my mother comes in sloppy drunk with yet another man that is not my father. You see, they were happily married. They had the love that made people envious and made me and Trina nauseous sometimes. However, my father decided later on in life to go to the military, Air Force more specifically. He always knew that my mother would not be happy with his decision because she has had family go into the military and not come back. Essentially, she felt like my dad chose himself over her. Even though he calls the house when he can and keeps in touch with her, she is still miserable. Every weekend, she stays out all night and brings home a stranger. In my opinion, she is being ridiculous, but if this is her way of coping, so be it. When she spots me, she jerks her head towards the direction of the stairs. I stand there staring her down, pretending I don't get her message. She gives me that "get your ass upstairs look". After ten seconds, I silently head up the stairs to my bedroom. As I lay back down in my bed, I curse myself realizing I only have an hour or so left to sleep. Since I know that is not going to happen, I will do what I do every night this happens. I grab my phone, my portable speaker and walk out to my roof. I put on my early morning playlist, light a blunt, and just look up at the stars. These are the times where I wish I could just disappear off the face of the earth. I'm not talking about committing suicide, I do value the fact that I was blessed with life. I just want to leave my surroundings without a trace like some people do on the true crime tv shows I love to watch so much. Unfortunately, I don't have the funds, nor the heart to actually leave my friends at Hollywood Arts, and even though my mom isn't the greatest person alive, I still love her and would never want to see her get hurt. There is one more reason I could never bring myself to disappear…she comes in the form of a porcelain-skinned, green-eyed, black-haired beauty: Jade West. Before you ask or your mind starts to wonder, I, Tori Vega, do not do labels. But I definitely have a major crush on her. Despite her bad attitude the majority of the time, I firmly believe there is a heart in there somewhere. She definitely has her moments of loyalty towards her friends, and if I am honest, her bad attitude intrigues me and makes me want to know more about her and why she is the way she is. Anyone that knows her knows how extremely guarded and bitchy she is, but I want to know why. Why does she have so many walls up? And could I ever be the one to break those walls down? As I continue having these thoughts, I decide that I am too high to be on my roof any longer and I head back through my window, to my bed, and fall into a deep slumber.
6:30 AM. My alarm goes off signaling the start of another day. Unfortunately, it is Monday, so this week is just getting started. It's going to be yet another day I have to go to school and fake a smile. See, as toxic and depressing as my home life is, I don't need anyone worrying about me, nor pitying me. So, every day I go to school, I act like nothing is wrong. I am the peppy, upbeat, Tori Vega that everyone knows and loves. Not only that, but I am also "dating" Ryder Daniels. Now, I use the term dating very loosely because we are just using each other and are both very aware of it. Call it a mutual beneficial relationship if you will. He's using me because he is in the closet and I am using him to not make my crush on Jade so obvious. I am a great actress, but I'm not THAT good. There is just something about her that gives me butterflies when I'm near her. In class, it's hard to concentrate on anything but when I will see her again. And don't even get me started on what happens to my brain when she touches me. But these feelings also scare me because I have only ever felt this way one other time in my life and let's just say that things didn't end well. I am abruptly snapped out of my thoughts my a knock on the door. Hmmmm…no one ever comes to my house this early. I quickly get dressed, grab my Hollywood Arts bookbag and head downstairs to see who this possibly could be. As I take each stair one at a time, I can't help but feel this weird pang in my stomach, but I quickly shake it off, chalking it up to my lack of sleep the previous night and my empty stomach as well. I finally get to open my front door, and as I see the person behind it, my blood instantly runs ice cold. "Hey babe. Did you miss me?", the familiar voice says, with that signature unattractive smirk of his. In return, I instantly ask him, "How the hell did you find me?"