March 13th, 2018

Hope you enjoy!

:)

No One's Perspective-

She scowled - hard - at the reflection in the mirror.

Of course, it was only shot back, leaving Tori to sulk in front of her locker. She shifted the jacket over her shoulders, her simple, blue shirt underneath still cold; Trina had spilled water all over the car as they made their way through the drive thru. She didn't even realize her mistake until moments later, finding her sister glaring at her. Tori rolled her eyes at the thought: The window-boy wasn't even that cute. Then there was the fact that virtually no sleep was achieved the night prior. Trina wasn't an issue (school work, apparently, posed to be a threat to her singing career - not that anybody was complaining). However, Tori found that her dread for the following day - that day - was the problem.

And as the double doors opened, revealing a few students, the main culprit strode in.

Jade.

Tori - who barely computed the slam of her locker - narrowed her stare as she watched Beck trail along behind her, their hands intertwined. In his free hand he clutched a black bag, a certain small head poking out. Rat turned towards Tori, his pink tongue gliding over his nose. He yipped before struggling with his collar; Beck paid no mind as he conversed with Jade. It was only until her yell, "RAT! GET BACK HERE!" that he noticed.

Beck glanced down towards the now emptied bag before his eyes shifted towards the blond bullet streaming passed many students. "Ah shit, sorry Jade!" he apologized, jogging after the small pooch. Luckily, however, Rat halted at Tori's feet, wriggling about in his reunion.

"Hey there bud!" Tori grinned, bending down to scratch his ears. "Did Jade dunk your head in a bath?"

"No," came a snarl. The half-Latina glanced at Jade crossly.

"Well at least there's that," she deadpanned.

Jade opened her mouth to retort when a long chuckle came, Sikowitz striding from the corner. "Well, well! Look at you guys. Good weekend?"

"Fair" and "Fine" were both answered by the two girls.

"Ah..." he sighed, observing their unamused glances. "So Beck, can I see you for a-"

"No," Jade snapped, her hand clamped tightly around his. "We're going to the café."

Beck blinked, apparently snapping out of his thoughts. "We are?" There was a quick glare. "Uh, yeah. We are." Beck added a brief nod to the clarification before being tugged away. Sikowitz shook his head, his arms folded.

"I'd feel sorry for whoever had to date her. Luckily Beck is...you think she'd bite off any other date's head?" Tori remained sullen, jerking her locker open in response. "Oh, what crawled up your socks? Or down...is it down?"

"I don't know," she pulled out a textbook, "and I'm fine." There was a slam of a locker before the half-Latina started off, struggling with the large bag over her shoulder and then the dog-bag in her opposite fist. Rat yipped Sikowitz a good day.

. . .

Students jumped once he rustled in the bushes, a ripe apple in his hands. He gave a measly grin and a short wave as a result, only to whip his attention back towards the crowd of hungry students. Sikowitz sighed, chomping on his piece of a fruitful lunch. After a few more moments, he grinned before standing to his full height. Once dusting off his floral shirt and jeans, he fixed his long scarf before trotting towards the food truck.

Festus - mid-order - snapped his attention towards the teacher. "Hey! What did I say about coming here? I'm not servin' you!" the chef barked. Sikowitz arched a brow, narrowing his stare towards the younger man; Yerba, ever since, had left several feuds.

Instead of giving a few pieces of his mind, Sikowitz pulled a tight grin. "I wouldn't want your spoiled produce anyway," he snickered before wiggling through the line, leaving the chef baffled. "Ah, there you are, m'boy!"

Sikowitz patted a very surprised Beck - who had been hearing whispers of a strange man in bushes. "Oh, hey Sikowitz. Do you need anything?"

"That, in fact, I do," the man grinned, stepping the two of them aside. "I need a favor of you for the play... Are you signing up, by the way?"

"The one that Jade and Tori are in?" Sikowitz nodded his answer. "Yeah. I'm thinking about being the baker."

"The baker?"

Beck bobbed his head. "Yeah, seems like a cool dude. Anyway, what do you need?"

"Right, right." The teacher's voice dropped low as he began to explain, "You see, I know you know, but the two have been a real hard time getting along. And I need them to get along because if they don't, they could wreck their whole careers - or at least delay them significantly. I just don't want them to flop in front of a bunch of producers willing to give our seniors a chance, you hear?" Beck mumbled quietly, Sikowitz then continuing, "Right. So I just need another pair of eyes to keep me up to date on everything-"

"Hold up, what do you mean?" Beck raised a brow. Sikowitz pursed his lips, taking another bite of his apple. "Aren't Tori's parents updating you for them?"

"Yeah but they don't see everything that's going on. I need to know what is happening between the two that makes this performance so much more harder than the last one."

Beck scratched his chin. "Maybe because Tori isn't asleep half of the time?"

Sikowitz rolled his eyes. "No, that's not it... And it's the same lame excuse they gave me. No. They're acting different, right? Do you see it?"

Slowly, the student nodded, watching the two at the gang's usual table carefully. "Yeah, Jade has been acting a little different for a bit now."

"See? They're having some sort of fight and it's going to screw the whole play over," Sikowitz muttered. "Anyway, I need you to keep me up to date with them, and to maybe - I don't know - help them solve their issues?"

"What do you think is wrong with them?"

"Oh I don't know. Girls are confusing. They can be fighting over socks for all I know." Sikowitz raised his arms before sighing. "No... I don't think this is it though. They've been rocky for a while, haven't they?"

Beck shrugged, offering, "Maybe Tori did something so bad that Jade's pissed off over it?"

"I don't know, something that they can't fix in a week and go back to bickering like little pansies," Sikowitz murmured. Swiftly, he checked his bare wrist before grumbling, "Ah man. I have to grade papers before lunch is over. So will you do it?"

"Yeah, I'll help them," Beck nodded as he answered.

"Good!" the teacher cheered, whisking away after bidding Beck a good meal. He shook his head as the man jogged through the double doors, disappearing behind a group of freshmen. Beck pondered on the prospect of fixing Tori and Jade, and wondered if he'd be able to finally not have them argue anymore (though, he found that unlikely, but maybe have the two as more friends than anything). After a few minutes, he worked his way back towards the table with a sandwich in his hands, Cat and Robbie enjoying Rat's company.

"He's so soft!" Robbie announced as Cat giggled her agreement. Tori watched the two and as they stroked the pooch's right ear, fawning over the fact that it was the softest (and cleanest) part of his body; the half-Latina shivered, not having the heart to tell them why.

Once Beck shuffled back between Andre and Jade, he grinned at the dog. "He's just a funny-lookin' guy, isn't he?"

"Yeah." Both of the girls briefly glanced each other in unison, their stares hard and tired. Beck shifted - Sikowitz was definitely on to something. Even so, he took a bite of his lunch calmly.

"Hey, are you two coming to Sierra's party?" Jade and Beck blinked towards each other before nodding; they figured that neither of them got her name right. "What about you guys?"

"Yeah," Robbie mumbled nonchalantly, glancing towards Rex who sat motionless in his bag. "He'll want to go."

Cat nodded, her attention solely on Rat as he licked her fingers. Tori grumbled, "Sure, I could use some fun."

"What," Andre chuckled, "Jade's house isn't fun?" As he snickered at his own comment, the two girls glanced towards each other.

Jade, watching as the two continued to rub Rat's right ear, smirked. "Yeah, sure. A lot of fun. We cleaned Rat after chasing him into a trash can and finding a condom on his ear." Cat and Robbie froze, staring at their hands as Beck, Andre and Tori snorted their laughs back. With her hand pressed to her cheek, Jade hummed, "It was used."

The two wrenched their hands away from Rat - as he licked his nose, his tail wagging - whilst Andre howled. "Oh my god!" Beck shook his head. "Really? How much soap did you use on him?"

"Just enough to clean him," Tori shrugged with a smile. "She kept telling me to add more." Jade only sipped on her drink as Tori retold the whole ordeal - excluding their argument. The whole table listened - intrigued - as the whole escape unfolded. Beck furrowed her brows, however, munching on his sandwich. Even though no comments were thrown, nor any snippets of arguing, there was a silent wall between the two. They never locked eyes, never directly commented on what another had said.

He sat there, for a moment, wondering how many moments there were like this - before the whole play even started. Sure, the two girls argued and bickered, he could remember multiple fights that only lasted a day. However, many - too - lasted a few.

Was there something wrong with them? He assumed so.

He just didn't know when it all started.

Though, as the conversation continued, Beck began to conclude other things; for one, there were less arguments - funnily enough - throughout the day than there were before. But then, the ones that did occur were more hostile - or just extremely petty. He found that strange...and ambiguous. But then there were some moments that there would be nothing between them, and the two would act as civil as ever.

But then again...that was how they were since the beginning. So, what was the difference? There was one, but he couldn't put a finger on it. Beck sat with his sandwich, agreeing with Sikowitz full-heartedly on one thing: Girls were confusing.

He swore his brain was going to melt.

But he continued to think anyhow. After all, he did promise Sikowitz - albeit, minutes before - that he'd help their friendship. Like, what about the movies the Sunday before last? They were fine sitting beside one another (after Andre had urged them to, making it clear that there was no other option). Of course, they didn't talk to one another. Beck then figured that, perhaps, he was thinking about the two girls way too much and now was finding every little thing that may have something to do with their little "war" but didn't. But, Beck went back to the idea that maybe, just maybe, Tori did do something so terrible that Jade was livid to the point of it being a huge deal. Her words from the day prior floated across his consciousness, "She just fucks up everything and gets in the way."

So there was a good chance.

But what would it be?

Beck took on Sherlock's cap and pipe before furrowing his brows, his brain pounding on the idea until his skull hurt. "Beck!"

He jumped before glancing to the side, finding Jade with an arched brow. "What movie did we watch before we went to bed?" He swallowed his bite of his sandwich.

"Uh...the one I bought?" Jade rolled her eyes, shaking her head.

Tori shifted uncomfortably as she growled, "No, the one after that. The sea-monster one that we watched literally right before turning in."

"Oh, that one! Yeah, I think it was A Sea Heart or something." The half-Latina, as Andre let out a short whistle, wiggling his eyebrows, pushed her lunch forward. "Oh knock it off dude, we just went to sleep," Beck chuckled.

"Right...right," Andre snickered, giving exaggerating winks. Beck shook his head as Jade rolled her eyes. "So you come to school all lovey-dovey for the fun of it, and not because you two-"

"Andre, shut up," Jade growled. The musician only smirked, settling back into his seat. Beck only chuckled as Andre raised a fist. Hesitantly, the Canadian fist-bumped his friend. The goth sighed tersely, eyes down to her own lunch.

. . .

Beck: hey, I forgot to mention, my cars fixed so do you wnt to drive me there?

Beck: and thanks, btw

Tori quickly replied to the two messages before stuffing her phone to her bag. She scrambled her way towards the stage (balloons from the previous class were left over) and made her way beside Jade's tapping foot. She softly kicked a blue balloon out of the way. Mr. Mason, clad with his fedora, stepped onto the stage with the two. "Alright, so we're going to do this again...no robots, okay?"

"Right," Jade mumbled.

"And no witches?"

"Yes," Tori sighed.

He nodded. Mr. Mason rolled his eyes at the sound of scrambling nails and a ball, abruptly barking, "Would you quit playing with the ball Erwin!" There was a glare shot from behind several rows of chairs, Sikowitz dropping a red ball. Rat, however, chased after the toy.

"I told you, the dog needs something to do while we rehearse."

"Yeah, you're not the damn dog!" Sikowitz grumbled under his breath, walking towards the stage.

"Alright, I'm here. What?"

"I- We...just sit over there and watch. Girls, do the scene."

Once the two sat down, the girls started, standing at their respective spot. Tori cleared her throat. "Cassy? Why are you here?"

The goth took a moment before muttering, "Because I need to be."

Tori began pacing, asking, "But...that's not good enough."

"What is for you?"

She took a deep breath. "I told you not to, you know that right? Why?"

"'Why' wha-"

"Girls," Clark cried, exasperated. "You two are killing me! You had more emotion Friday and even then you were a couple of sitting boulders."

"I hate this scene."

The redhead rolled his eyes. "I don't care, Jade, you hate almost everything."

"Like Tori?" Jade jerked once she felt a heavy script smack her shoulder, the half-Latina stomping off the stage, hurtling over the edge.

"I can't work with you!" she spat, shouldering her bag.

Sikowitz, alarmed, sputtered, "Wait- Tori, don't walk out. I'll give you detention for the rest of the week!" Tori halted, glancing towards the stage.

"I don't care. Jade, you're taking Rat home." The slam of the double doors announced the end of rehearsal.

Jade scoffed, grumbling, "Stupid ho."

"Language, Jade," Mr. Mason sighed weakly. "Come on, we'll work on the one scene with you just in it." She nodded numbly, shifting through her script. There was a sickening twist of her gut, one that wouldn't be leaving any time soon, she knew; either way, Jade ignored it. "Alright, you at the page?"

"Yeah."

The man nodded. "Alright, go." And he watched her perform, with ease, the scene. While the performance left him speechless, it was in a sour way. His only words were, "So...why can't you do that with Tori?"

. . .

He patted the hood of his small truck before turning towards Tori. "Thanks, by the way, thanks a bunch."

She eased a smile, her own keys in her own grip. "No problem, it wasn't like the end of the world anyway." Beck shrugged, thanking the mechanic as he strode away for paperwork. "And it wasn't for that long too."

"Yeah, lucky that. At least now you're not forced to ride with Jade," he said. Tori only gave a soft chuckle. Finding a chance, Beck cleared his throat before asking, "So, what's up with you two anyway?" Tori furrowed her brows, shaking her head in response. So it's that bad? he thought. "Tori? You okay?"

"I'm fine," she mumbled. Beck felt uneasy: With Jade has his girlfriend, he knew that being just "fine" was taboo. And so he waited, watching her curiously. Her gaze dropped before she sighed, "I just don't understand her. First I try to be her friend, and then we get along kinda-well... And then she fuckin-" She stopped abruptly, playing with her keys. "Now she's a fucking bitch when it was her fault in the first place."

Beck frowned: So they were blaming eachother. Only one of them has to be right, right? "Well...all I can say is that Jade will be...erm, Jade. I can't really describe how she can be." Great Beck, nice advice, his thoughts pestered.

Tori, despite that, only chuckled, murmuring a quiet, "Yeah, she is."

"Well, anyway, thanks again. Hope you sleep well tonight," Beck continued. Tori nodded, bidding the same thing before walking towards her Mazda. He sighed: This, he suspected, would take a lot of work.

. . .

Rat scrambled around his bowl, making a game out of his food. The half-Latina smiled briefly before starting off, towards the stairs. Jade - hunched over her binder with several pages - remained quiet in front of the television. Neither seemed to care to look at what was playing, though Jade scowled at the noise of it. Nevertheless, she continued working through, eyes kept to her paper as Tori made her way up the stairs.

Her pencil hovered over the lines, her mind working through sudden impulses. Perhaps she could say something - anything - that would fill the void (other than the disgusting, petty reality television show, of course).

But her chance was lost once the door upstairs was slammed shut, leaving her to bask in her homework.

Jade growled, turning off the television entirely with a firm push of a button.

...did it! :D It took me a month to write (for no good reason) but I did it! :D Anyway, I've come up with a system of updating that should work... Basically I narrow the list down on my docx before refreshing the whole thing. Less frequent update for each but all updated fairly, if that makes sense...

Hope you enjoyed!

:)