Disclaimer: The show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.
Uninvited
Chapter 1 – Guess who's coming to dinner.
No one's POV
It was another Friday night and like the last few, Jade sat at home feeling depressed. About a month and half ago, she had Beck had broken up. The final fight was triggered over matter of almost no importance, but for Jade who had feeling increasingly confined, unhappy, frustrated and empty, let her feelings out and ended her and Beck's relationship.
Over the next several weeks Jade, though free, felt somewhat lost and adrift. She was lonely of course, but she kept that to herself. Her friends could tell she was somewhat withdrawn and much moodier and angrier than normal, as they knew what had happened. Out of respect and or possibly self-preservation, they let her know they would be there for her and then kept a safe distance. Beck of course, thinking Jade was going through some sort of phase, decided to wait out her emotional storm, where then he would take her back.
Over the last 6 weeks, once school was finished, she'd go home and stay there, feeling depressed, taking little interest in anything outside of homework, her writing and horror movies. Tori of course had tried to talk to her several times, even inviting her to go with Cat to the Movies. Jades response was a simple, "go to hell, Vega!" But in the last few weeks, she had even herself stayed away.
It was just before 7:00 Pm on yet another Friday, the only difference being is that her parents were out of town at a bed and breakfast up the coast. Deep down she felt even more alone in the large, quiet, Tudor style home that had become her refuge. She had just gotten off the bed, having done some reading, when the doorbell suddenly rang.
"What the Fuck!" Muttered Jade, as she debated answering the door or not.
About a minute later the doorbell rang again, indicating the person there wasn't going to leave. Jade of course, had no idea who it would be or why they would be here. There was no reason for anyone at all, beside her to be there.
With a roll of her eyes, Jade left her bedroom and headed downstairs to answer the door. Pretty much her entire intention of doing so, was to tell the person at the door to fuck off and die. A moment later she swung open the door to see the a rather happy looking, Tori Vega at her doorstep. She was casually dressed, in Jeans and a t-shirt, but Jade couldn't help but notice slung over her right shoulder what looked like a medium sized overnight bag. In her left and was a large grocery type back that was filled with something, though she did detect the faint smell of garlic.
Caring little about the bags, Tori was carrying, Jade immediately huffed and crossed her arms.
"What the fuck are you doing here Vega? If you're selling Avon, you can fuck off and die, if you're selling girl scout cookies, give me a box of the thin mints and then get the fuck off my property."
Much to Jade's surprise, Tori walked right past her into the house and dropped her overnight back to the floor. Tori then took the door and closed it behind her.
"Woah, that was heavy. To answer your question, I've come to sleep over at your house. You've been cooped up in here alone too long. We're going to have so much fun." Tori said, in rather giddy fashion.
"You can't just invite yourself over for a sleepover!" Ranted Jade "you of all people especially."
"Can and did! Come on! We'll have fun. Just a girl's night!"
"NO! Now get the fuck out Vega!"
Tori quickly shrugged. "No can do. Trina dropped me off so I have no ride home, unless you feel like driving me home."
"NO, I DON'T WANT TO DRIVE YOU HOME!" Bellowed Jade, as her pale face began to turn slightly red.
"Ok then." Replied a still very giddy and happy Tori. "It's decided, I'm sleeping over."
Before the now furious Jade could do anything else, Tori waltzed off in the direction of the kitchen as if she owned the place.
Jade didn't immediately follow as she was both angry and somewhat puzzled by Tori's boldness and for a moment, she wondered just what happened. A second later Jade snapped out of it and yelled.
"VEGA! GET OUT!"
By then Jade could hear Tori rattling around in the kitchen so she immediately stormed down the hallway to evict and or murder her uninvited houseguest.
Entering the kitchen, Jade could see Tori pulling out some foam to-go containers out of the grocery bag and placing them on the counter.
Tori looked up, looking just a bit puzzled. "If I leave, then we can't have the wonderful Italian dinner I brought us form Matteo's. Tori held up two containers, one in each hand and waived them in front of Jade's face. "You're choice, Chicken Alfredo or Spinach manicotti. Oh yeah, I got side salads to go with them."
The wonderful aroma of freshly cooked food, hit Jade's senses like a truck, causing her mouth to involuntary water. Jade knew perfectly well, that one her weaknesses was well made Italian food and Matteo's was probably the best Italian restaurant within 20 miles.
"Matteo's?" Said Jade, her once loud voice, reduced to a shaky whisper as a huge crack suddenly appeared in her resolve.
"Oh yeah. No crappy pizza, or anything like that. I want to make this night to remember. So, I got some of the best Italian food in the area."
Jade stood there, starring at the containers for another moment, looking rather torn. After studying Jade's expression for a moment, Tori put the food containers down and pulled out yet another container and grinned.
"Matteo's world-famous Garlic bread, just dripping with butter. I got us an extra helping, for us to share."
An instant later, Jade greedily snatched the container of garlic bread out of Tori's hands. She then peeked inside and then composing herself said.
"Thank you. You can stay for dinner. And that's it!"
Tori could see there was a round table in the kitchen and a bigger more formal table, in the next room.
Jade put down the Garlic bread, then proceeded to go the cupboard and pull out some plates. "We'll eat here at the kitchen table."
"Wouldn't it be more fun to eat up in your room in front of the TV?"
"I don't want you in my room." Retorted Jade in a matter-of-fact voice.
"How Funny" Quipped Tori as she began to spread out all the food on the table. "You got to go up and check out my room….no wait…you just checked it out without asking."
"You showed up and announced you were sleeping over without asking!" Muttered Jade as she pulled some silverware out of a drawer.
"You did it first!"
Jade, plates and silverware in hand put them down on opposing sides of the table. "SO. I go where I want. As I said Vega, I don't want you in my room. I didn't want you in the house either."
"But here I am." Responded Tori as she began to distribute the salads and garlic bread. "and I brought killer food.
Jade then went to the fridge. "I noticed. I don't have any diet, all I have is Pepsi and Mountain Dew. Or water if you like."
"Pepsi Please."
Jade grabbed 2 Pepsi's, walked over to the table, handed one to Tori and sat down. "You did ok on the killer food bit. Cat, if she would have pulled this, she probably would have shown up with couple of happy meals, with most of the fries having been already eaten."
The pair started to eat, in what could be considered a somewhat uncomfortable silence. Tori could see that Jade appeared to be enjoying her food, but didn't look up at her, nor made any attempt to talk.
Once Tori got done with her salad, she pulled up her plate and looked over to Jade. "I guess you've been writing a lot in the last few weeks. I'd be interested in what you're working on. Another play perhaps?"
Jade stopped eating for a moment and briefly looked at Tori with annoyance. "You want to talk too?"
"That's what people usually do at dinner."
Jade's eyes darted to the empty dining room and its large table, then back to Tori. "Not in this house."
Detecting a hint of loneliness in Jade's voice, Tori smiled reassuringly. "I met your dad. I see your point. They don't know what their missing. I really would like to hear about what you've written or are thinking about writing."
Jade continued to eat, but said nothing.
"Come on. You know that eating a wonderful Italian dinner in silence is a crime against nature. Tell me something, anything. If it's a play, maybe I can help you put it on."
Jade paused eating for a moment, then reluctantly began to speak. "It's a short story. I'm almost finished with it."
"What's it about?"
"A pretty girl who invites herself over to a frenemy's house without asking and get killed." Retorted Jade.
"Fine, never mind then! Sorry I asked." Retorted Tori in a low but unusually harsh voice.
For several minutes, the pair ate again in silence. Finally, sounding just a bit bashful, Jade started to speak.
"It's about a real snotty girl who treats everyone like shit. She wakes up one day and she's hideously deformed. Her parents then sell her to a zoo, where she's put-on display for everyone to see and gawk at. That's it."
"Interesting." Something that Tori truly meant. "Any others?"
"I tried to get outside my comfort zone a bit. It's about this older guy named Joe who bought a bunch of medals and a uniform from a surplus store. He then says he fought in Vietnam; he never did. He just likes the attention as he claims he was a big hero. A real Vietnam vet calls him on his bullshit, but joe beats him up. Joe after that, goes to sleep, he wakes up, he's 18 again and he's really in the Vietnam war deep in the jungle. He's in a uniform and has a rifle and everything. He and some other soldiers get attacked by the enemy. The very first time he is shot at, Joe promptly freaks out, pisses his pants, drops his weapon, stands up to run away and gets shot right through the head."
Though rather weird and sometimes really gross, Tori found Jade's stories inventive and interesting. Once Jade got started talking about Horror stories and the like she talked all through dinner, with some enthusiasm. Tori simply listened and asked questions about various aspects of the story.
Finally, dinner ended and after pausing for a moment Jade looked to Tori and said.
"Ok Vega! Thank you for the dinner and conversation. You can go now! Because you were nice enough to listen without rolling your eyes constantly like Beck does all the time, I'll drive you home. Come on let's go."
"Do I have to go? We were really talking." Said Tori as she got up from the table.
"Yes?"
Tori held up one finger. "Just one second." Then she disappeared back down the hallway towards the front door. After digging in her overnight bag, she returned with something in her hand.
As she held it up, a slight smirk appeared on Tori's face "Are you sure you I have to go? The fun is only beginning."
This will be a short story. I'd guess 2-4 chapters at most. What will happen? Find out next time. As always, your reviews are greatly appreciated.
Thanks to Invader Johnny for the help.