July 26th, 2018
Hope you enjoy!
:)
No One's Perspective-
Jade could sum up her morning in a simple list: wake up, feed the rabbit, feed the dog, make a cup of coffee, abandon the cup of coffee, sleep.
When she woke the second time that day, noon had already passed. And so, with that, the thespian shuffled her way down the stairs and drained her cold cup quickly. Her mind was fogged, nose stuffed and movements groggy. "Better not be sick," she growled under her breath. Jade glanced towards the family room, Rat curled in his small bed. She grumbled, stalking back to her cave. It wasn't until she flopped back onto her bed - Pancakes glaring from his cage - when Jade knew she couldn't go back to sleep. She slowly lifted her head to her alarm and read: 2:37.
"Great..." she groaned.
The day was both a speeding bullet and a dragging sloth at the same time.
Her eyes trailed towards her side table, a fat pile of papers settled on top of it. At its peak, there sat a thick - though slim compared to the monstrosity underneath it - packet, a blue cover at the front. While some of the edges were still crisp, the packet was obviously used, scrawled over and folded, speaking truthfully of its history days and weeks beforehand. Jade, not having anything else to do, sighed, scooping the script from the table. She flipped through, scanning over the highlighted parts carefully.
Jade almost thought herself foolish to think that, with Tori technically being the star of the show, she'd have little to no lines. The opposite was true - majority of the pages were marked. How many lines did she have - a hundred? Two hundred? Perhaps that was right; the play was supposedly three hours long. (However, Clark had been adamant that he'd push it to four with the "scene expressions" - whatever the hell that meant.)
She rolled her eyes, pausing over a couple of pages. Tori walked out on that... Then there came the next set of pages a few scenes after. And that... It wasn't until Pancakes started gnawing on his food when Jade began to read the last scene. It had been the first time in weeks since she had, and her gut twisted. She'd been alone, just how she was in her room, at a coffee shop. Even though it was supposed to be one of the shortest scenes overall (but, then again, that "scene expression" shit may change that), it had taken the most time to read.
She didn't know why.
. . .
[Janitor grumbles before brushing the rubble away, leaving the stage. Annabelle looks back towards Cassy, and walks towards her.]
ANNABELLE Wait, Cassy. We need to talk. Please.
CASSY I don't get you. First you say that you'll give me another chance - just one! - and you never do.
ANNABELLE (exasperated and tired) I thought that you were working with the ghost, okay? I wanted to-
CASSY But you didn't, and that's that. I can't have you batting me around like this. I know-
[Cassy sighs and scratches the back of her neck.]
CASSY I know I screwed up before. But I travelled around the world for you. Around the world Annabelle! What have you done?
ANNABELLE Me? I have risked this whole town for you!
CASSY (hurt and frustrated.) You mean you risked me for this whole town.
[Annabelle hangs her head before shuffling awkwardly. When Cassy begins to leave, Annabelle grabs Cassy's wrist.]
CASSY (snaps and yanks hand from Annabelle) Hey! What are you doing?
[Annabelle grabs Cassy's wrist once again, this time not allowing Cassy to break away. Annabelle brings her torn sleeve to her teeth, yanking the fabric down her forearm, all while she stares at Cassy. Cassy remains confused until she sees the fresh, burned mark on Annabelle's arm. Cassy remains speechless as Annabelle hastily shoves her free arm against Cassy's shoulder.]
ANNABELLE I know I thought you were with the ghost, but I wanted to keep you away from the mages still! Don't you see? I can't find myself to function properly without you even though you're such a- such a-
[Cassy watches Annabelle, thumbing gently over the burn before pressing her lips against Annabelle's palm.]
CASSY What? What am I?
ANNABELLE (almost snaps hysterically) I need you to trust me! I've done everything I could and I'm not on the same page as you right now-
CASSY (interrupts and gestures towards burned mark) I am! I do! Okay?
[Annabelle appears surprised, though relieved. Cassy gently caresses her cheek.]
CASSY Now I can't do that- I can't do what I want to do most if you don't trust me.
[Cassy tilts her head to the side.]
CASSY Do you trust me.
[Annabelle takes a few moments before nodding softly, cupping Cassy's cheek. They lean into a tight embrace.]
ANNABELLE (over Cassy's shoulder.) I do.
~Fin~
. . .
And she still didn't know - or, rather, refused to know why. Jade glanced at the clock, reading, 4:13.
The lines were simple.
The acting - overall - was simple.
Tori. Of course it was Tori. Jade scoffed, folding her arms. The play was left on her lap as she contemplated to herself. Why couldn't she be asleep half the time? After all, she was being hunted down by a ghost - which could do shit (serious shit...like seriously).
Jade continued to sit there, though, thoughts drawled as they persisted to (correction: try to; she's only running on cold coffee) hammer on. Pale eyes slid to her side, a framed picture beside the tall pile of pages barely peeking over. Her frozen smile stood with her tangled arms, his cheery grin and shaggy hair just as happy. She recalled the warmth of his lips against her own, back against her locker and grins stretching. Heads swam in the most glorious ways, absurd to the mere freshmen.
And yet, she closed her eyes.
And then, she pulled away, breaths filling the quiet, car, the radio still playing. Dark eyes blinked up, intoxicated with thrill and lust. "Who cares about your parents?" she whispered, a meek smile pressing bashfully against soft lips. Soft lips which lured her back to...
Jade leaned forward, palms covering her face as fingers pressed against her temple.
Tori... The half-Latina continued despite her nerves, and even started trailing along her jaw, down to her neck. She let out a sharp gasp - it could've been a laugh, actually - as teeth scraped against pastel skin. Her bite only sunk deeper as hands travelled from under her jacket and shirt, nails raking against bare caramel skin. Even though her hips didn't rock anymore, the pressure was still there.
And the heat.
God, the damn heat.
It raced through her veins, then swirled erratically with the fluttering in her stomach and gut.
Her head too - it didn't just swim, it plunged, whirled.
She snapped her eyes open. Jade growled, gripping the script before it rocketed across the room. Various things then began to scrawl across her mind. The dog wasn't going to do anything. The play was stupid. The monster should've eaten or possessed everything. And she shouldn't have...that night...
And Jade shouldn't have been in any plays with Tori.
Why did it happen again? That same question did flood her thoughts as she hurled the covers over her head, begging for some sleep, some escape - just this once, at least.
. . .
As utensils scraped the last of the food off their plates, she only twiddled it between her fingers. Holly shoveled the last bite into her mouth as David leaned back, eyes closed. "Honey? You've barely eaten half of your food."
Tori sighed as both Trina and her dad paused, sparing a glance. "I'm just not hungry. It's been a weird week."
Holly pursed her lips, though nodded in conclusion anyway. Tori looked down at her casserole, and mashed potatoes. Both looked appetizing, and they were still warm. And yet, she didn't want any - not at the moment, anyway. Her thoughts wandered to strange places, almost as if it was still in a hungover haze (it wasn't). For starters. the half-Latina noted how her mom didn't usher to finish her meal, as she would've done a week prior.
Perhaps she was busy thinking too.
Tori glanced across the table, finding her mother's eyes right towards her, observing. Perhaps she was thinking too, about her. Tori didn't want more interrogators. Having her sister - and a police officer - do that was enough. She tried another bite, just to sooth the stare boiling down on her. And, of course, she enjoyed the savory bite.
It still took her much too long to finish, her last, final bites cold and bitter.
She couldn't believe she was actually looking forward to Monday.
...hey...here's another chapter. XD I don't know what's up with me. I've been off, wanting to write but not doing it. Hopefully I can finally get back into the groove of things, since my neck is better (it has been for a week) and I'm typing more.
Hope you enjoyed anyhow!
:)
PS- *Las Vegas... I'm not gonna edit that far, but thank-you ThunderHeartAW. XD