Going to school in the morning had never been harder. Sure, there had always been some days when Jade had wanted to play hooky (and some days where she actually did it), but that was always out of a desire to do something more interesting (like getting her eyebrow pierced at that sale at the mall) or to satisfy her rebellious streak. Jade's current feeling—this strong desire to avoid school—was uncharted territory. Every day when she woke up, Jade started getting ready normally, until she remembered Tori. That wicked, overrated (and somehow insanely well-liked?) new girl who had kissed Jade's boyfriend. These thoughts always filled Jade with rage, which soon gave way to unbearable hurt. She kissed Beck. And he kissed her back…. Every morning, Jade cursed Tori and stared in the mirror for a solid five minutes, contemplating possible excuses for staying home. Then she would remember the super important play she was rehearsing, or that intriguing guest speaker who was coming into her writing class, and she realized with a sigh that she had to go.

It wasn't any easier when Jade got to school. She was still happy to see Beck, but feelings of betrayal were forever stuck in the back of her mind. She assumed she knew the reason Beck had agreed to kissing Tori: he thought Jade had been unjustifiably mean to Tori and wanted to give Tori a chance at payback. Jade knew she had been a jerk, but she also knew that Beck's loyalty should be placed in his girlfriend, not in this obnoxious new girl. She also strongly believed that it's never okay to help someone out by hurting a person you care about. (Somewhere deep in her heart, Jade knew this last belief made her a hypocrite, but she justified her mean behavior by telling herself she didn't care about anyone, so it didn't matter how she treated people.)

Then Jade saw Tori. Actually, she heard her first. She was arguing with Trina, something about the semester plays? From the other side of the hall, Jade cringed. Trina was the most talentless, obnoxious… Wait. No. Tori is worse… Jade shuffled around her mental list of "The Most Annoying People at Hollywood Arts." She put Tori right at the top, a position her older sister had always held. She had never expected anyone to be worse than Trina… but apparently that family's got an annoyingness gene?

While Jade was caught up in her thoughts, Tori started walking toward her. When Jade finally noticed Tori, she felt a quick rush in her chest, her throat tightening a bit as she was filled with a jittery anticipation more intense than any stage fright or coffee rush she had ever experienced. Jade felt herself drawn toward the girl, and before she knew it she was walking toward Tori. When she was within a few feet, Jade looked over the large pile of textbooks the girl was struggling with.

Jade spoke automatically, fulfilling her heart's strange, sudden desire to be kind. "Need some help?"

Tori looked up gratefully, seeming a bit shocked that Jade had even offered, yet still appearing trusting. "Yes!"

As Tori responded, the sound brought back Jade's memory of a few days before, when that same voice had boldly told Beck, kiss me. Hurt and anger trooped into Jade's brain, crowding out the excitement, hope, and kindness that had previously been stationed there. Jade instantly regretted that she hadn't duct taped her mouth shut before coming to school. I don't want to help her! This is Tori, and she kissed my boyfriend! To cover her mistake, Jade racked her brain for a snarky comeback. After a moment, she sneered and said "interesting," then waltzed away from Tori before her tongue could betray her again.

Wow, Jade really hates me. This thought wedged itself in Tori's mind throughout the whole morning, even when André and Robbie helped her with her books. No one had ever really hated her before… or if they had, they hadn't shown it. Jade's spitefulness stung, but Tori felt it was unfair to be hated without having had much of a chance to prove herself, and she resented Jade for judging her so quickly.

Things were even worse for Tori in class. Tori had seen Jade acting, and she was always blown away by Jade's polished characters and obvious confidence. Maybe Jade was a jerk, but she was a jerk who could act, and Tori greatly respected her skill. Honestly, that was the problem…

… because the next day, here Tori was, standing on the stage in Sikowitz's class, performing the bird scene for the first time. She had rehearsed it for hours the day before, trying to figure out the perfect way to say each word. She had hogged the bathroom after dinner, working on her facial expressions in the mirror. She had even stayed up an hour later than usual, making sure she had all the lines memorized. She had poured so much effort into her performance, but when she looked out at the classroom, all she could see was Jade staring at her. Tori wondered if Jade was judging her, and as soon as the possibility crossed her mind, Tori became convinced that it must be true. She knew that Jade must be evaluating her performance, and it freaked Tori out. She felt panicked. She felt like a fake, standing here on the stage, pretending she could act when really, she didn't deserve to be here. She had no clue what she was doing, and if Jade was judging her, clearly Tori should just leave the school and never come back. She was talentless.

Yeah, those aren't great thoughts to have as company while giving a super important performance. When Tori finished the scene, she breathed a quick sigh of relief that it was over. She hoped that she could pass, yet according to Sikowitz, she had done it all wrong. Tori felt Jade's sneer without even needing to look in that direction, and she tried to hide her disappointment and embarrassment. What would it take to be good enough?

Tori's Bird Scene, Attempt 2 out of ?. This time she brought… a backdrop?

Jade couldn't help thinking that was kind of cool. Very original. No, wait, this is Tori. She's neither cool nor original. All she does is lure me in with her cool shoes and angelic voice and beautiful brown eyes, and then she stabs a knife through my chest. She's a siren. No, she's the devil's spawn.

And then the "devil's spawn" took out a bird puppet. Okay, that was super dorky. Jade rolled her eyes. As Tori started the scene, Jade was surprised to note that, despite the backdrop, today's performance was significantly worse than the previous days'; yesterday, Tori had seemed confident when she started, yet today, she seemed nervous, glancing around the room, especially at… Wait, is she looking at me? Jade panicked as Tori's eyes fixated on her, yet she found herself unable to look away. She was trapped in Tori's piercing, evil, mesmerizing gaze. All Jade's thoughts fled her brain, and the room around her shrunk until it was just her and Tori. Or, more accurately, her small, timid, frozen figure and Tori's brilliant eyes.

Then it was over. The instant Tori finished her scene, Jade snapped out of the trance. The memory of Tori kissing Beck wormed itself back into Jade's mind, and with it came all the sorrow and enmity. All the anger Jade harbored for Tori took control once again. Jade scolded herself for getting drawn into Tori's performance, then resumed her brooding. Her only consolation was that Tori failed the Bird Scene once again.

Tori's Bird Scene, Attempt 3 out of… you know what? I don't care how many tries it will take her. They're all going to suck.(Yeah, right. No matter how hard Jade tried to convince herself, she couldn't believe those thoughts.)

Jade looked around the room again. Tori had enclosed the entire stage in curtains… and they weren't even nice-looking. Seriously? Curtains? What does she think she is, a professional? Nah, she can't even pass the stupid Bird Scene.

Sikowitz introduced Tori, and Jade learned that her last name was Vega. Hmm, that's interesting. A pretty last name for a pretty - wait, no. Stop that. Jade tried to suppress her emotions so she could think about things objectively. This girl is evil. She kissed my boyfriend. Therefore, she doesn't deserve to be called by her first name. Devil's spawn can only be referred to by last name, so last name it will be. Vega. I can get used to that… not that I'm going to need to think about her at all. I can block her out of my mind. That's totally doable.

Only a few moments later, Jade had already failed in her goal of not thinking about Tori. Jade tried to pretend not to be impressed by Tori's costumes and props, but the writer in her was already making note of the interesting set and staging choices that she might want to incorporate into her next play. But wait, why am I finding creative inspiration from Tor-... Vega, of all people? I don't WANT to imitate her. I don't like her! It was too late, though. Once Jade found inspiration in someone else's work, she couldn't un-find it. Jade had already been pulled into the watching-Tori-perform-and-staring-at-her-like-a-total-idiot trance, and she couldn't escape it.

Despite the curtain and all her props, Tori was still very nervous. Each of her two previous failures had made her less and less confident in her abilities, and it didn't help that Jade was staring at her again. Why does she constantly have to criticize me? She either makes fun of me aloud or mocks me silently during my performances. Why can't she just leave me alone? A little indignation bubbled up, but it was quickly quenched by Tori's nerves. Deep breaths. Deep breaths. I can do this… I think.

The performance went pretty smoothly, although it didn't feel like much of a relief to Tori; she was too fixated on Jade, who was still staring at her. Tori barely noticed everyone else in the class smiling after her performance; all she saw was Jade's blank expression. Stop caring what she thinks! Only Sikowitz's opinion matters. If only Tori could convince herself to actually believe her thoughts. She turned her attention toward Sikowitz, her words tumbling over each other as she nervously asked "Did I get it right?"

There was a tense pause that felt like hours, but in reality it was less than half a second. Then: "Nope."

Tori's heart sank, and then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jade smirk.

Jade smirked. She smirked. She knew I was going to fail. She expected me to fail. That gank! Tori became filled with fury. Jade cannot be right. She's wrong, and I have to prove her wrong! Just like during the alphabetical improv, when Tori had picked Jade so she could stand up for herself after having coffee spilled on her, Tori knew that she had to stick up for herself. She could not let Jade win.

Tori took a deep breath to brace herself, then started: "I did too get it right!"

"The scene I just did was good, and I'm proud of it, no matter what anybody thinks."

There was another pause, and then Tori saw Jade lean back in her chair, raise an eyebrow, then… start clapping?

Jade? Jade is clapping… for me? Tori felt a small swell of pride… which gave way to an overwhelming feeling of giddiness. Jade is clapping for me!

Later that night, Tori couldn't sleep. Her mind was swimming with all the experiences of the day. No matter how hard she tried to suppress her thoughts so she could go to bed, they kept popping back up… especially the ones about Jade. I thought she hated me. I thought she was just judging me. But then she clapped. She clapped and she smiled—for me! And it felt amazing. Tori smiled with the memory. She felt as though Jade's approval made everything alright—the long nights preparing for the Bird Scene, as well as all the stress of the performances themselves—it was all worth that small smile. Maybe Jade's not too bad, after all.

Suddenly, Tori shot up in bed. In her mind's eye she saw that day when they had done alphabetical improv. She recalled that kiss with Beck. She had forgotten all about it because it hadn't actually been a big deal to her, but… oh god, maybe that's why Jade hates me. Guilt consumed the rest of Tori's thoughts, and she could think of nothing else for the remainder of the night.

Sometime around three in the morning, Tori realized that she would never be able to get any sleep if she didn't make some sort of plan to apologize. She would have to be alone with Jade; that definitely made things complicated. Tori also had no doubt that Jade would make it insanely difficult to say anything. None of this, however, dampened Tori's spirits. Urged along by guilt and a confusing desire to befriend Jade, Tori resolved to put her plan into action.

A/N: Thank you for reading! I wasn't quite sure about how this episode would be, but it actually turned out really fun to write. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did!

For now, I'll be updating on Wednesdays. See you next week!