Jade. There it was. One word, her name, taped up onto her locker. A note from Tori. Jade longed to know what it said; she longed to pull the paper off her locker, unfold it, and read it three times over, to soak in all the words and cherish them. A note from Tori. The thought made Jade giddy. Tori had written something just for her.

But deep inside Jade, her nervous excitement was dulled by this other, growing feeling—this fear that if she read that note, she would never be able to get Tori out of her head; she would be powerless against a never-ending cascade of emotions and cycle of thoughts about Tori. The past couple days had already been hard enough, trying to stop thinking about Tori so she could make room for other things, but if she read this note? Jade didn't think she would be able to function.

Jade knew she had to protect herself from her emotions. She couldn't let Tori take over her thoughts completely. Even though it greatly pained her to do so, Jade knew destroying the note was the only possible course of action. She slowly detached the piece of paper from its spot amongst her locker scissor decorations and held it gingerly between her fingertips. Before she could change her mind, she tore it in half in one swift stroke.

Jade looked down at the paper. Two pieces isn't enough. I could still read it, if I wanted to. And oh my god, I really want to… No! And Jade ripped it again and again, until she was left with tiny pieces of confetti in her hands. She looked at the remains sadly. I really wish I didn't have to do that. But it was the only way.

Right after Tori had taped the note onto Jade's locker, she had hurried off to class, too afraid to stick around and see what Jade's reaction would be. Maybe it was cowardly, but that's how Tori felt; she didn't think she would be able to bear the disappointment if Jade just read it, scoffed, and threw it away. So Tori had no clue what to expect from Jade later that day, when they had another class together.

When Tori got to the Blackbox Theater and saw a boy beating up Beck, one thought stuck out in her mind: I must protect my friend. Well, I don't know if he's my friend, but I can't let this guy attack him! Tori jumped on his back and unsuccessfully tried to take him down, and when Beck told her it was just a performance, she felt incredibly stupid. Great. I've made a fool of myself in front of the person who's going to be teaching my class. Could it get any worse?

Just at that moment, Jade waltzed into the room. Tori felt a need to defend her stupidity, and she quickly explained that she had assumed Beck was actually in danger. Wrong thing to say. Jade smirked at Tori and said, "Oh, you poor thing." Tori grimaced. So I guess she's still upset at me, despite the note? What more am I supposed to do?

After the teacher introduced their stage fighting unit, Jade jumped in with another attack. "And now Tori says, 'what's stage fighting?'" The mocking tone was deeply hurtful on its own, but it was even worse because Jade wasn't wrong; she was just revealing Tori's deep ignorance about everything related to the performing arts. First she stares and judges during the bird scene, and now this. Nothing's changed. As these thoughts fluttered through Tori's mind, anger began to surface as well. If Jade still hated her despite an apology, was there any reason to try being nice any more?

Tori turned to Beck again, wanting to apologize once again for messing with his and Russ' practice. She told him, "It looked like he was hurting you."

Jade got up in Tori's face. "Why do you care?"

That jerk. She doesn't care about my apology, she just wants to be mean to me. Well, so be it. I can do this too. "I figure he already suffers enough pain dating you." Yeah, that's a good comeback.

Jade lunged forward, ready to attack. "You wanna see pain?" Suddenly, all Tori's anger was replaced with panic. I'm so dead.

Beck swooped in just in time, guiding Jade to a chair a couple yards away. Tori breathed a sigh of relief. Why did I think it was a good idea to provoke her? It seems like she really would be willing to actually hurt me… and I'm sure she would've just now, if Beck hadn't intervened. I'm so stupid…

Out of the corner of her eye, Tori saw Andre sidle up next to her, trying to calm her down. Tori turned to her friend, desperate for answers. "Why does she hate me?" Seriously. Shouldn't an apology be enough to at least get her to not attack me?

But Andre was no help. He just joked about her terrible french horn playing, which only made Tori feel more self conscious about her lack of general performing arts experience. Everyone else here knew what stage fighting was. I didn't, and it made me look like a total fool. And I can't even play the stupid french horn! But still, that doesn't come close to explaining why Jade hates me. I thought the note would fix it, but apparently not, and now this… maybe I should just try to avoid her?

"Tori and Jade." Jade's eyebrows shot up. I'm with Tori… great, now she's going to bug me non-stop about the note. And I'll have to spend a lot of time with her to practice.

Then Jade heard Tori's timid response from across the room: "Tori and who?" She's even more freaked out about this than I am. Good to know. And although Jade may not have known how to deal with her own feelings, what she did know how to do very well was get under people's skin. So that's what she did. Jade faked a smile, looked over at Tori, then turned her smile into a smirk.

It worked. Just as the bell rang, Tori squeaked out to the teacher, "Uh, wait… I'm not comfortable with my partner." Jade was happy with the results, but she wanted to push Tori further. She took a second to brace herself—to prepare herself so she wouldn't lose her confident facade once she looked Tori in the face. Then she went for it. While the teacher was distracted talking to Russ, Jade slid up next to Tori.

"Hey, partner. I can't wait for our fight… scene." She made a point to make it seem as if she had almost forgotten the last word, then smirked again and walked away.

As Jade was leaving the room, she saw Beck roll his eyes at what she had said before he joined her. No, Beck wasn't fooled by her act, but Tori was, and that's all that mattered.

When Tori arrived at the Blackbox Theater after school to work on the scene, she saw Jade was already sitting there, fiddling with a pair of scissors.

"Uh, hi, Jade," Tori said tentatively.

Jade didn't bother looking up. "Hey, partner," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

This again? Will she ever tire of calling me partner and use my real name? "So, uh…" Tori considered asking about her note, but then she thought better of it. If she's not acting any nicer toward me, then talking about the note won't do any good. It will probably only make her angrier.

This time, Jade looked up and held eye contact. "Got anything intelligent to say?"

Ouch. So she's just gonna keep rubbing in my ineptitude, huh? Tori remained silent, unable to figure out what in the world she was supposed to say to that.

Jade smirked. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

Tori desperately wished she could think of a snarky comeback—anything to defend herself—but her mind was blank. But luckily, Russ picked just that moment to walk into the room.

"Ready to make your stage fighting scene?" he asked enthusiastically.

Jade rolled her eyes, but Tori nodded.

"Great. Do either of you have any ideas you'd like to build off of?"

Tori opened her mouth to say that no, she did not have any ideas, but Jade was faster to speak.

"Someone mugs an old grandma."

Tori looked at Jade, horrified. "Are you serious?"

Jade smiled widely. "Of course, Vega. What could be more fun than that?"

Okay, so now we're on a last name basis? Is that even an improvement over "partner"?

Russ jumped into the conversation again, still full of energy. "That idea has a lot of potential. It's simple and elegant. Tori, are you on board?"

Tori considered it for a second, then shrugged. "Fine, I guess. So who's playing which part?"

Jade smiled slyly. "I'll be the mugger. That way you can be the innocent grandma coming home from her bingo game." Her last sentence was full of mockery once again, which Tori hated. But what was she supposed to do? If she said no to Jade's idea, Russ would ask her to suggest an alternative, and she had none. She had already made a big enough fool of herself earlier that day; she didn't need to make herself seem any less competent.

"Uh… okay."

Russ nodded. "Perfect. Now, let's work on the choreography."

Tori plays a really unconvincing grandma. I guess part of it could be that she looks too young and pretty—wait, that's not what I meant. Tori's not pretty.

"Jade, it's great that you're getting into your part, but I'm going to need you to tone the aggression down a couple notches. You're not actually attacking Tori." Jade looked over at Russ, then looked down to her hands, which were squeezing Tori's shoulders so tightly that Tori's skin was turning red and Jade's own knuckles were white. She eased off the pressure. She hadn't even realized she was being more intense than usual… I gotta stop letting my anger carry into the scene. If I keep this up, I'm going to end up actually punching her. I don't actually want to hurt her… because of the grade deduction. That's it. I don't want to lose half a letter grade. Straight A's in the arts classes are too important. I can't let Tori get in the way of that.

"Geez Jade, are you trying to kill me?" Jade saw genuine fear in Tori's eyes. Hmm… maybe there's a way I can use this to get her to stay away from me for good. Then I won't have to deal with her invading my thoughts anymore.

"Now why would I ever want to do that?" Jade responded sweetly. Then she grinned evilly. Tori gulped. There we go. She's sufficiently spooked. Now I've just got to come up with a solid plan for the performance tomorrow. I can do this. I can get Tori Vega to hate me so much that she'll keep away.

Later that night, Jade stuffed into her book bag the little fake blood kit she had prepared. Tomorrow will be very fun. But first… I've got to work on that stupid chicken play. Jade cursed her play-writing teacher for making them continue their plays. The teacher had claimed that "one scene isn't enough to get to know your chickens," but Jade wished it could be over. I'll just write it quickly and get it done.

SCENE 2

MEL: What's got you looking so cheerful today?

ZELL: (grinning) I've got a plan.

MEL: A plan?

DELL: Oh dear, I hope it doesn't involve Farmer Deneb.

ZELL: Well…

MEL: Zell, are you out of your mind? You've had way too many close encounters with Farmer Deneb to risk another!

BELLE: Yeah, she almost killed you like five times…

MEL: I was trying not to use the k word, but you know, Belle is right.

ZELL: Oh, don't worry. I won't be the one who's dying.

DELL: What did you just say?

ZELL: Oh yes, now I've got your attention.

MEL: What… what are you planning?

ZELL: I've got a plot to assassinate the farmer.

— END OF SCENE 2 —

The next morning during study hall, Tori walked into the Blackbox Theater slowly, dreading her final rehearsal with Jade. Russ wasn't going to be there this time, so if Jade decided she wanted to actually hurt her… well, there would be nothing to stop her, and no witnesses. Great.

Just like the day before, Jade was sitting in one of the chairs by the stage area, but this time she didn't have any scissors on her. I guess that's a good thing? Now at least I know she won't stab me. Jade looked up at Tori as she entered, her expression completely blank. It freaked Tori out; in her mind, Jade looked like a lion staring through the bars of its cage in a zoo, analyzing how best to rip her into a thousand pieces.

Tori felt desperate to break the silence. "Did you get your knee pads?"

Jade rolled her eyes and pulled them out of her book bag. "Any other stupid questions, or can we actually get started?"

"Yeah, okay." Tori went over to the prop area and pulled out the cane she had been using as a prop. She bent over awkwardly and began to say her lines robotically.

"Stop! Are you trying to get us a bad grade, or can you just not act?"

Tori shut up and stood to look Jade in the face. She tried to hide her nerves as she responded, 'You know what? I'll act when we're doing the actual performance, but right now, all that matters is the choreographed fighting. I know you don't want to be doing this, but do you think I do? So why don't we just get this over with so we can go about our days?"

Tori saw a brief stunned look flicker across Jade's face, but it was soon replaced by yet another smirk. "Okay, partner, whatever you say."

Tori wasn't sure exactly why, but something about the way Jade said partner made it sound like a dirty insult. She tried to brush it off, but that word, along with Jade's evil smile, was ingrained in her mind the rest of the morning, and it carried with it a sense of foreboding. When we do the actual performance, I'm dead meat.

"If you hate her so much, why don't you just stop talking about her?"

Jade looked up from her salad to meet Beck's gaze. "Because I have to do the performance with her!"

"But weren't you talking about her yesterday at lunch before you got that assignment?"

"That's different."

"Is it?"

"Shut up."

"Seriously Jade, what's going on with you?"

"Oh, now you're turning this into my problem?"

"It's not about—"

"So I try to talk about how annoying T—Vega is, and you turn it on me. Greaaaat. Good to know that you've got my back."

"I do! I'm just trying to—"

"To defend her. Yeah, I get it."

"Stop interrupting me! I want to help you deal with whatever's wrong, but if you won't tell me, then I can't help."

Jade remained silent.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No."

Beck sighed. "Okay. Let me know if you change your mind."

Jade stabbed her lettuce again with her fork, then scooched closer to Beck and leaned her head against his shoulder. He wrapped his right arm around her side, not quite pulling her toward him, but just encompassing her in a comforting half-hug. Jade closed her eyes. Things with Tori may not make any sense at all, but Beck was here for her, and he always would be.

As Jade watched Andre's (admittedly quite entertaining) stage fighting scene, she began to wonder whether she could really carry out her plan. Is it right to make everyone believe Tori actually hit me? Is it right to force her to take a penalty to her grade, just to get her to keep away from me? How much more selfish could I get? As Andre was thrown into a breakaway table, the loud crashing sound jarred Jade's thoughts back on track. I've never cared this much about other people. I don't have to care about Tori. If her grade suffers, that's just her punishment for being totally unbearable.

Although Jade didn't feel totally convinced, there was no more time to second-guess herself; it was showtime. It's just a quick application of makeup, then some fake fainting and other assorted acting. I can do that. Forget about Tori; it's just another performance.

"Alright, next up, we have Tori and Jade." Jade stood up, feigning a self-assured smile. She glanced over at Tori, who looked down nervously. This made Jade smile for real. Ah, poor Vega. She has no idea what's coming.

A breakaway chair. She gave me a breakaway chair to sit in after she "hit me" in the eye. Maybe she really is a terrible, mean person. I mean, not even I would give someone a breakaway chair when they were injured. Probably. Well… it doesn't matter what I would do. Tori clearly deserves this.

I swear I didn't hit Jade! But not even Andre will believe me. What kind of best friend won't believe that you're not some violent monster? I'm not Jade, for goodness' sake. It didn't matter though; Tori was still called into the guidance counselor's office that next morning. Lane claimed she had "violence issues." Violence issues!? Again, that's Jade they should be talking to, not me. Well, I guess I've never actually seen her hurt anyone. But I could totally imagine her doing so. That seems like her. And I could have sworn she was going to hurt me today!

Lane went on and on about how Tori might have accidentally hit Jade because she was so nervous about Jade maybe hitting her. Is that possible? Could I really have hit her? Tori wasn't quite convinced, but she had to say something to get out of there; being told over and over about her "violence issues" was unsettling, so she "admitted" to having hit Jade on purpose. It's not like I'm going to convince them that I'm innocent, so I guess I might as well just go with it. What other options do I have?

But two weeks of detention and clean-up duty. That was brutal. Tori had never gotten detention before in her life, so she was upset to break that streak. But it was so much worse because she knew she didn't even deserve it.

Fuck. Andre figured out it was all fake. I'm so screwed. A bad grade in the class and months upon months of detention, plus everyone hating my guts more than normal, here I come.

She didn't tell on me? Jade was stunned. Here she was on Friday night, sitting in her room, while Tori was at the Blackbox Theater, scraping the remnants of a theatrical food fight off the walls. Why the heck didn't she tell on me? I would've… I guess she really isn't that bad after all. But taking the blame? I can't believe she's doing that.

The sound of Jade's ringtone cut through her thoughts. She tried to ignore it, but then she sighed and picked up her phone to check who it was. Beck. What does he want?

"Yeah? What?"

"Jade, did you really fake it?"

Jade remained silent. Who told him?

"Jade, I'm not going to ask again."

"Then don't."

"So that's a yes. You faked it."

Jade waited a couple seconds, then finally said, "Who told you?"

Beck sighed. "Andre did."

Of course he did. I bet he went around and told the whole school. Well, actually, that doesn't seem like his style. Maybe just Beck and Tori. "What do you care?"

"Why did you do it, Jade?"

"Because I'm evil and I want to make everyone suffer."

"Oh come on Jade, we both know that's not true."

Jade snorted. "Everyone else thinks that."

"So why do you play into it?"

"Why bother resisting? If they're just going to peg me as that kind of person…"

"You don't normally act this way."

"Really." Jade said it as if it were half a statement, half a question.

"Really. So why now?"

"You only care 'cuz it's Tori."

"Seriously, Jade, you gotta stop with this. I don't like Tori that way, and you know it."

"It sure seemed like you liked kissing her during alphabetical improv."

"That was a stage kiss. It meant nothing."

"Yeah, just like the stage fighting was fake and meant nothing."

"You clearly did this to hurt Tori."

"So? That's why she kissed you during improv. To hurt me."

Beck was silent for a moment. Then: "I guess you're right. I never thought about it that way."

"Yeah, 'cuz you were so caught up in defending Tori."

"You know what, Jade? I'm just trying to help here. I'm sorry about the kiss, but bringing it up over and over again isn't going to help anyone."

"Then why did you even call, if you didn't want to hear what I have to say?"

"Wait… is that why you did this, to get revenge on Tori for kissing me?"

"Well… not completely."

"So what's actually going on? Are you going to tell me, or should I just hang up?"

"Nothing's going on."

"Uh huh. Just like the past couple weeks at lunch where all you do is stare angrily at Tori and mutilate your food."

"Because she's a jerk."

"Yeah. I'm sure that's what most people would say about this situation. Tori is a jerk because you faked an injury to get her in trouble."

"I thought it would work," Jade muttered softly.

"Thought what would work?"

"Never mind."

"Okay, then. Goodnight, Jade."

"Yeah, whatever."

After Beck hung up, Jade threw her phone back down onto her bed. How come it's so hard to get Tori to hate me? No one else has ever had any problem hating me; they just do it automatically. So what makes Tori so different?

Jade suddenly remembered the note from that morning. No one has ever bothered to leave me a note before. And we're not even friends. Far from it, actually. But she's… reaching out to me? Why does she even want to know me? Ever since she's come to this school, I've only been a jerk to her. Why does she keep being nice?

Jade needed answers. She rose off her bed, grabbed a flannel and pulled it over her tank top, and pulled a bag over her shoulder. She snuck out of her room and across the hall—not that her parents would really care that she was leaving the house; they couldn't care less how she spent her Friday nights, so long as she wasn't getting another piercing.

Jade stepped outside into the crisp evening air and took a deep breath. Ah, the wonderful smells of darkness and night. She locked up the front door, then pulled her car keys out of her bag and got into the driver seat. As she drove, she tried not to think about what exactly she was getting herself into.

This is so gross. Tori tried not to think about what type of food she was peeling off the wall, but there wasn't much else to focus on. This sucks. And it's not even supposed to be my punishment. Tori sighed. But if this is what I need to do to settle the score after I made the stupid mistake of kissing Beck, then so be it. I'll take the blame for Jade, and then she can stop hating me. Or she can keep hating me, but at least she won't actually have a good reason to. Either way is fine.

Tori suddenly heard the sound of a muffled step behind her—not the click of a high-heel, but the soft clop of a boot. Tori turned around. Black leggings, the bottom of a studded satchel. She lifted her gaze, her eyes quickly rising from the red shirt and flannel to the choker on the girl's neck to her face. Jade. What in the world is she doing here?

After a moment of tense silence. Jade finally spoke. Tori was relieved; she had no clue what she would've said if Jade had just continued to stare at her.

Throughout their stiff conversation, Tori tried not to let too much feeling show through her words or expression, but deep down she was glad that Jade was here (and not being a jerk). If Jade cares enough to come talk to me, then… well, maybe she doesn't hate me? But that doesn't make any sense. It sure seemed like she hated me earlier. Boy, Jade is so confusing. One second she's mocking me and plotting how best to make me suffer, and then she just shows up here… and now she's helping me clean up?

Tori looked over at Jade with a questioning glance, but Jade only smirked. Yup. There we go, she can't even do something nice for someone without mixing in some mockery. All these mixed signals are giving me a headache.

"This… might be more fun with some tunes." Tori looked up at Jade as the girl waltzed over to the wall, tripped and nearly fell, caught herself with her hand against the wall, and played it off as all part of the plan. Tori smiled as the music started.

When Jade came away from the wall with her hair covering half her face, then picked up her towel and started swinging it in a circle, bouncing her head along to the beat, Tori suddenly felt as if the rest of the world had stopped; all she could see was Jade, dancing goofily—and Tori was instantly dazzled by her beauty. I've never seen anyone so pretty in my life… how did I never notice before how beautiful she is?

A few minutes later, in the middle of the dance-party-slash-food-cleaning-bonanza, Tori felt a soft tap on the shoulder. She turned to her left to find Jade staring at her. Tori was confused for a second, then shifted her gaze to follow Jade's gestures; she saw the security guard who was supposed to be supervising, totally absorbed as he jammed out and scraped the food off the wall. Tori understood; she picked up her bag as Jade did the same, and then the two danced out of the room together. Dancing casually with Jade. I never would've imagined that would be something I would do, but boy, is it fun.

When they got outside of the school, Jade split off from Tori and began to head to her car. Tori knew she should just let Jade go so as not to anger her, but she couldn't help but call her back. She needed an answer to the question that had been bugging her for the past few days.

"Jade."

Jade immediately stopped walking, now about ten feet away from her in the parking lot, but she didn't turn around.

Tori took a deep breath. How do I say this so as not to make her mad at me again? Here goes nothing. "Did you ever read the note?"

Immediately after those words left Tori's mouth, she wished she could swallow them back up. Now I just sound annoying and desperate.

There was a long stretch of silence. Just when Tori had become convinced Jade was never going to respond, she heard a quiet "no."

"You… you never read it?"

"That's what I just said, Vega."

"So… you don't know what the note said?"

"How would I?" Even though Jade's back was to Tori, Tori could almost tell from Jade's tone of voice that Jade was rolling her eyes at her.

"Jade."

Jade finally turned around. "What the hell do you want from me, Vega?"

Oh great, now she's mad at me. I've already blown it. "I just wanted to apologize…"

Jade furrowed her brow and tilted her head slightly, asking a silent question: apologize about what?

"You know, for… kissing Beck." Tori mumbled the last two words, but she hoped they were still audible.

In the dim light of the light fixtures outside the school, Tori could just make out Jade's eyes widening, but she didn't supply any auditory reaction.

"That's what the note was about," Tori concluded.

Still no response. What is she thinking? I wish she would just say something; even if she yelled at me, at least I would know how I stand with her. This is just confusing.

When the silence felt too awkward to bear, Tori blurted out, "I just wanted you to know."

As Tori finished her sentence, Jade suddenly turned around again and walked back to her car. Tori watched, stunned and perplexed. As Jade ducked into the driver's seat of her car, Tori thought she could just make out the sound of a string of curses, rounded out by "fuck you, Vega." Ouch.

A/N: Thank you for reading! This one's quite a bit longer than usual, and it was insanely fun to write. I hope you all enjoyed it.

Also, starting next week, I'm going to update on Fridays instead of Wednesdays. Until then!