Feb. 5th, 2018
Hope you enjoy!
:)
No One's Perspective-
She groaned before finding her hazy gaze settled on the nightstand. The room was filled with a warm morning light, and a small smile spread across her face: The room she had been sleeping in as of late was dark and dingy. Well kept, though forgotten all at once. Tori stretched, shifting her cozy blankets from her lap before shuffling down the stairs. The house was quiet and still as she ventured towards the kitchen, thoughts on a delightful meal: Cocoa Pebbles. The bowl soon clinked against the counter, followed by a spoon, before she grinned at the sight of the box of chocolate flakes - or rather pebbles.
The singer shook the contents into the bowl before shoving the box away, then poured fresh milk. And so she sat, munching on her simple breakfast, enjoying the peace and quiet of the house. It wasn't as if Jade's house wasn't quiet - it rarely wasn't - but the pure silence of this particular household was more appreciated.
Sooner or later, however, Trina trotted down the stairs, interrupting the quiet atmosphere.
Though because it was habit, Tori smiled anyhow.
Trina paused at the counter, groggily staring at her sister. "Hey," she murmured.
"Hey," Tori parroted, standing beside her chair. "Did you visit Dad yesterday?"
The older sister nodded as Tori set her empty dish down, rinsing the bowl. "Yeah. He doesn't look too bad. They said that they'll keep him at the hospital tonight just to watch his blood pressure. I mean, he says he's fine but I think he forgets that he's not in his thirties anymore," Trina explained.
"That's...good," Tori said hesitantly, sitting herself onto the counter as Trina made her own breakfast. "So, is there anything else going on?"
"No," the sister shrugged, "not much. I have a few assignments for my psychology class and my ancient cultures one... That's about it though. What about you?" Tori returned with the same gesture, only explaining about a few assignments herself. "Which reminds me," Trina drawled as she settled down at the table, a buttered toast in front of her, "what about the dog? You did name him Rat, right?"
"Jade did," Tori grumbled before adding, "but yeah. On Sundays we agreed to just keep him with her so that he wouldn't have to go back and forth."
"Is that smart?"
The half-Latina arched a brow, folding her arms. "What do you mean?"
"Uh, she's Jade. Will she actually take care of Rat?"
Tori hesitated, recalling the several instances of Jade's reluctance to take care of the little pooch. Though, she still did. "Yeah. It's not like she will just let him starve. She even has a rabbit."
"So?" Trina asked.
"She'll take care of him," Tori assured. "Anyway," she scooted off the counter, "I'm going to see what Cat's up to."
"Whatever."
Tori rolled her eyes, darting up to her room - not a room that felt like Belle's library sanctioned away from the forbidden West Wing (Tori knew she was being a bit melodramatic). Soon, she found herself under her covers, her phone in her hand.
Tori: Hey
It barely took a minute for Cat to respond.
Cat: Hey! :3
Tori: Whats going on?
Cat: Nothing much
Cat: Oh!
Tori arched a brow once there came nothing after that. She chuckled before typing her response.
Tori: What?
Cat: Andre told me about this party on Friday. You should come with us!
Tori: Ok. Where is it?
Cat: idk
The half-Latina groaned once Trina shouted from the other room, asking - or rather commanding - her to clean her dishes. Noting to get back to Cat later, Tori trudged across her room, knowing that even though she hadn't seen her sister in a few days, Trina would still order her for services.
Tori sighed as she reached the bottom of the stares, silently noting one of the perks of not living with Trina. At the very least, she could've held her conversation with Cat longer than a minute at the West manor.
. . .
Dishes clinked as the splashing water ceased, leaving Jade to stroll across the room. Rat - huddled in the corner of the kitchen - wrestled with his bowl, downing all of his food. As she continued to roam about the house, Jade groaned quietly - homework. With a series of tests just around the corner, she figured having the time to complete the homework was a good idea.
And so, with that, Jade meandered her way down the stairs, gripping the wooden railing as she did so. She flicked her lamp on, bathing the room and its odd characteristics in a dull yellow glow. Various crude pictures or framed butterfly wings were strung along the wall, siding with the many bookshelves with knickknacks and other things. Pancakes, in his large cage, rustled in his bedding as Jade slumped onto her sheets. She really didn't want to do homework.
Even so, because she recalled the long banters all through middle school with her brother not doing his own, Jade decided to just get the work over with. She pulled out her bag and set herself down at her desk. The next few hours were trudged through, an essay and a trigonometry packet completed. By the time she had settled on her bed, Jade flipped through the needed book for English (Frankenstein which she'd already read for sophomore year), starting at the thirteenth chapter.
Her gaze froze blankly in the middle of the pages, a small rustling sounding from the foot of her bed.
Tipping the book from her view, Jade scowled. Rat shuffled in a small ball, curling himself deep in the blankets. "Get off," she grumbled. Floppy ears perked as his black eyes stared curiously towards her. His tail wagged while his pink, small nose licked the coal nose. "Get off," Jade put more forcefully, shoving the dog (lightly, mind) with her foot. He scooted out of the way and hopped down to the floor obediently. He sat on the worn rug, his glassy eyes staring up at her from the bed.
"No."
Rat - all while his cheerfulness budded through his youthful stare - laid his stomach flat on the rug, closing his eyes. Chapters later, Jade peered down, finding the small dog still on the rug. His blond fur had already lightly stained the red and green. His tail thudded lightly against the floor, immediately having Jade to look away. It wasn't a few minutes later when the doorbell rang - twice. Grudgingly, Jade set the book down and crept up the stairs, Rat padding along behind her. Her eyes landed towards the wide windows beside the front door, long curtains draped to the sides and the blinds mid-length. She found Tori's Mazda sitting outside.
There was an inexplicable lurch in her chest.
Jade ignored it, opening the door. Beck beamed, standing on the door mat with a grocery bag in his right fist. Once her eyes were brought up towards him, he greeted, "Good morning! Can I come in?"
"Sure. I wasn't doing anything anyway." She shrugged before stepping to the side, allowing her surprise guest (though Beck had always dropped by at random intervals) into her house. "What did you bring?" she asked once the front door was shut.
Beck answered by fishing out a few bags of candies and an older, cheap movie. "I figured I could pop by when you're by your-lonesome. And since you weren't doing anything, why not now?" Jade rolled her eyes at his grin, settling down in the couch beside him. Rat hopped up as well, staring at Beck with his black eyes. "He is a cute one," he grinned, patting his small head. "Anyway, my dad started working on the patio in the backyard and I couldn't do anything - let alone think - with him working outside."
"Oh, what's he working on?"
"The barbeque. He's looking to have one built-in," Beck answered, popping in the disc in the Blue-Ray player. "But he's with his jackhammer tearing up the patio tiles. D'you mind me coming over whenever he's working on it?"
"No. You can keep Vega out of the way whenever she's here," Jade grumbled. As the television began to play its string of ads, Beck furrowed his brows.
With a comforting arm, he murmured, "Is everything okay with that? I know you two had a rough start to the week and...finished rough."
"It's Vega, what did you expect?"
"Dunno," he sighed. "You two have gotten along better in the past...is there anything wrong?" Her hesitance answered instead of any words, pale eyes lowering to the floor. "Jade," Beck mumbled carefully, "you can tell me anything. I can help you."
She shook her head, her eyes drifting towards him. Beck - immediately - felt that there was something off-kilter. Tilting his head to the side, he wished for an answer, a verbal one. "She just fucks up everything and gets in the way."
"Jade, I know you don't think that. And you know she doesn't, she's helped all of us in one shape or form," Beck replied calmly, ignoring the movie as it began to automatically play.
Her voice struggled to maintain its bite, though she snapped anyway: "It has nothing to do with you. Either stop asking questions or fuck off." Beck breathed in slowly, studying his girlfriend.
"Okay," he hummed before pressing his lips softly against her temple. "You want to watch the rest of the movie?"
"Yeah..." she answered after a while. Beck nodded, setting his gaze towards the screen. He doubted either of them knew what the film was about, their thoughts off on different matters.
Clearing his throat as he watched a strange being writhe as its body was sawed in half - he imagined Jade enjoying that scene later on - Beck murmured, "You want some?" He held out the bag of hard caramel, Jade only silently taking a few pieces. Every now and again, she would take a few more, Beck's eyes blinking towards her blank gaze. He only wondered what Jade was thinking, though couldn't fathom any idea.
Small conversations were littered throughout the time that the movie had flicked across the screen, including simply asking for the bags or talks about assignments. By the climax - a strange cult began its séance while several bodies laid across a metal platform - Beck commented, "Andre said something about a party this Friday."
There was a short spell of time where Jade didn't answer. "Oh?"
"Yeah. His new girlfriend- He started dating her yesterday...he didn't tell you about her, did he?"
"No, he did," Jade murmured, adding, "while Tori and I were eating at the mall. Well, he texted Tori but yeah."
Beck leaned back, stretching out his arms. "Yeah, anyway, she goes to Northridge-"
"Of course."
He allowed a languid smirk as Jade grinned, grabbing a couple more caramels. "But, uh, they have a party on Saturday so we can meet her then...if she doesn't pop by this week."
"What's her name again?"
"Stacy, I think."
Jade furrowed her brows. "I thought I heard Sarah..."
"Huh. Might have been. I don't know, somebody that starts with an 's'." Jade chuckled weakly, eyes still on the screen. Feeling as if the tension had been swept away, Beck asked quietly, "D'you think I can spend the night tonight?"
She turned towards him, his dark eyes watching her curiously - hopefully. Her brows furrowed as she thought of the night not that long ago, the restless sleep as she was left unfulfilled, unsatisfied. "Yeah, but I'll be working on some stuff to get ahead," she murmured.
Beck only nodded his slight disappointment - it had been a spur-of-the-moment idea anyhow. "That's cool. Stuff for World History, or..."
"History and English," she clarified.
"Alright. I can just watch some cool movies you have here and eat the rest of the candies," he muttered, plastering a small grin across his features. Jade barely returned it, her eyes back to dully staring at the screen. Beck sighed, opening the small bag of chocolate pretzels before propping a pillow to his side.
He really couldn't fathom what was going through his girlfriend's mind.
. . .
"Well that's good Trina," Mr. Vega mumbled through the phone, "anything else going on?"
Trina sighed, answering, "No, not really. I've just been hanging out with Tori all day." The younger sister continued to munch on her bowl of chips as David chuckled. "Anyway, how's your arm?"
"It's good. Feels a lot better than yesterday. Your mom is going to come see me in an hour or two...said she'll spend the night too," he continued.
"That's good," Tori commented.
"Yeah, it is," he agreed. "Anyway, kiddos, I'll call you two later. Tori, maybe tomorrow night since I missed you over the weekend."
"Alright."
"Okay, see you later!"
"Okay, love you," the two chimed.
"Love you, bye!"
The phone silenced, leaving the two sisters on the couch with the television still put on pause. "So," Trina started as the show was playing once again, "is there anything going on at school?"
Tori shrugged, muttering, "Same old thing. Not much has changed, really, since you graduated. The play's still being worked on and they're trying to get the rest of the cast in by next week or so."
"Oh yeah, about that. What is it about again?"
"So Jade and I are playing this couple, again, and basically this magical being or whatever separated them for a long time. So it's really about their reunion and the after affects of the magical being's demise, or whatever," she explained. Trina nodded slowly, watching the television with her sister. The odd cooking show became muffled in the background once Tori had refilled her bowl of chips, Trina watching her.
"Can you bring me a pickle?"
Tori shot a quick, tired expression before sighing. The strange order was given, leaving the sisters to munch on their poor excuses for lunches. "Oh!" The younger sister swallowed her chips, turning towards Trina. "Could you drop me off to school in the morning? I don't have my car right now."
Trina snorted, mumbling, "You mean that old beater?"
"Trina! It works just fine," Tori grouched.
The elder sister chuckled for a few moments, nodding softly. "I'm just kidding, little sis. Yeah, I will. It's on the way to the college, remember? Anyway, why don't you have your car?"
"Beck has it since his is in the shop and he really doesn't have any other way to get to school," Tori explained. The conversation fell into a small silence, the singer furrowing her brows. She turned towards Trina who smirked, eyeing her sister impishly. Tori rolled her eyes when her sister's brows started wiggling. "Trina! Stop doing that, it's freaking me out."
"Oh come on," Trina chortled, "I was just kidding... But do you still have that thing for him?"
Tori's frown deepened. "I...never did really have a thing for him," she stated slowly, confusion slurring her words; Trina rarely ever asked about such things. "Why would you think that?"
"Really? I'm pretty sure you did have a little crush on him."
"A little crush is different from a thing," Tori retorted, adding, "for one, it goes away a lot sooner and two, he's like a brother than anything. And how would you know? You're the one who kept trying to get with him!"
She only shrugged, finishing her pickle. Once the last bite was swallowed, Trina murmured, "I notice a lot of things you wouldn't. And besides, how are they different? A crush is just smaller than 'a thing'."
"Exactly, that's why they're different," Tori responded. "It's like saying that just sleeping around and a serious relationship are the same."
"Sleeping around is with different people."
"I mean with the same person," the singer retorted. Shaking her head, she said, "Wait, how did we even get on this? I was just asking if you could take me to school!"
Trina watched her sister for a few moments, surveying the small blush across Tori's cheeks and the pitiful glare sent her way. "You do like somebody," she smirked.
"Trina."
"Yes, I will... God damn," Trina sighed, "I will take you to school. Just chill." Tori shook her head as Trina leaned against the couch, watching the strange cooking program.
It's been a bit, I know, but hey...even though this is one of my favorite stories I've written thus far, I still need to get the others done. XD But thank you, immensely, for all of the followers of the story, (we reached a hundred so I treated myself with a nap), and for that one dude who added it to a community. So yay. :D Anyway, I hope the next one won't be for forever...I hope. Kidding. It'll be this week... XD
Hope you enjoyed!
:)