This is it, the last chapter! Thank you so much for reading and taking this journey with me. I can't thank you enough for the kind words and feedback. 3
"I got accepted into college," Jade spat out as soon as Tori sank into the passenger's seat and buckled her seatbelt.
Tori laughed under her breath, outstretched her hands to grasp Jade's face, and kiss her on the lips softly. "I am so proud of you."
"UCLA, I won't even be far," the other whispered as Tori's lips still lingered near. "I thought you were going to be upset? I had this whole thing planned out and wanted to tell you later today but—"
Their lips pressed together yet again to stop Jade's nervous rambling. "You're going to have an amazing future, and you're going to be right across town. This is amazing news. I have far bigger things to be upset about rather than good news."
"I know, I know. It just might suck a little. We won't see each other every day," Jade's voice weakened as Tori's finger traced through a lock of her girlfriend's hair that framed her face.
"It's okay, everything is okay."
Jade pulled away and tilted her head back before groaning. "I should be telling you that."
Tori shrugged. "Okay, then go on."
Jade turned back to the other, her favorite pair of brown eyes melting her heart. "Everything is going to be okay."
Truthfully, she doesn't believe it now, but she hopes that they have a lifetime ahead of them to discover how to achieve this. "Yes, I think so. But we have an important thing to do now."
The pale-skinned girl closed her eyes and nodded slowly. "Indeed, we do. I've wanted to do this for a very, very long time."
The brunette winced as Jade pulled onto the street. "I can't say the same, but I'm looking forward to it, I think. Did you bring the stuff?"
"Yes, it's placed carefully in the trunk, don't worry."
"Excellent," Tori sneered while tapping her fingertips together like a cartoon villain.
Jade rolled her eyes amidst keeping them on the road. "How are we going to thank your dad for this? I mean, seriously. I could never repay him."
Tori picked the black polish off her own nails. "Umm… Here's what you could do," she shifted her posture as Jade listened intently. "Buy a fuck ton of bubble wrap, right?"
She had already lost Jade, as her girlfriend knew exactly where the dork was going. Tori always tried to use humor to cover up dark situations. Jade did too, but not at a time like this.
"... And then just wrap me up in it until I look like the Michelin man!"
"You're a dork," Jade scoffed. "But honestly, it sounds like something your mother would do."
"True," Tori sighed. "I don't know. But we really cannot tell anyone. Ever. Maybe in sixty years from now when we're drunk at the old people's bingo hall or something. But really, never."
Jade's eyes widened. "I already Tweeted it."
"JADE!"
"Kidding!"
Silence followed as Tori proceeded to pick the black paint off her nails. She and Jade hadn't talked in-depth about the reality they had been crushed by just days before. The brunette hesitated but proceeded with sharing the thoughts circling her mind.
"You know, while this all really sucks… Who knows if we'd be together if it didn't happen."
Jade's fingers tightened around the steering wheel. "While I am incredibly happy that we are together, please don't think that way. It's incredibly fucked up and he doesn't deserve any credit, even if it is true."
Tori's heart beat fast as she attempted to swallow the lump in her throat. "Okay, that's fair."
The silence returned as Tori stared out the window. They were almost out of the city now, and Tori couldn't deny how nervous she was even though nothing bad would happen to them, David had already made it clear.
"So, would you have ever tried to tell me how you felt about me? You know, before?"
Jade smirked, knowing she was planning on blowing her own secret after graduation. "Absolutely, I had a whole plan."
Tori perked up at this idea as her eyes glistened. "Really?"
"Yeah, sometime after we graduated. Because if you thought I was totally insane, I would have just had a miserable time getting over you but would have had plenty of time to whore it out in college."
"Jesus, Jade!" Tori couldn't hold back strong laughter as her hands brushed down her legs.
"What! It's true… That is exactly what I had planned," the blue-eyed girl laughed, too. She was thankful that her old plan didn't have to become a reality.
Tori's eyes widened. "I mean, that's valid."
"Yeah, now we can just whore it up together," the other spoke tauntingly with that gravelly tone of hers.
The brunette sharply inhaled. "Yeahhh, what if you have a roommate though?"
"She'll be trying to whore it up, too," Jade shrugged. "I'll just make sure she's doing that elsewhere. I'm sure I can be scary enough to make her wanna stay away."
"I believe that," Tori chuckled. "Ooo, we're almost there."
"Yeah, did David give us any clue on how to navigate this place? Like, we're not going to get lost here?"
Tori pulled out her phone to look in the notes app where she had written down exactly what her father had told her. "Turn right at the ugly red mailbox and look for an old fence gate about two miles down that road."
Jade nodded and frowned. "Foolproof."
Brown eyes closed slowly as Tori took a deep breath in. On her exhale, she opened her eyes again to begin her grounding technique.
Five things I can see. Glove box, feet, cupholder, Starbucks iced tea lemonade, bracelet from mom.
Four things I can feel. Jeans, my neck killing me, my heart beating, and the warm air from the vent.
Three things I can hear. Lorde playing on the radio, the tires on this old road, my own breath.
Two things I can smell. Black ice air freshener. Gasoline
One thing I can taste. Lemon.
She opened her eyes, shortly to see the ugly red mailbox her father had mentioned. Jade crackled, "That is pretty ugly."
Tori didn't reply, her heart was beating no different than before her grounding exercise. Her fingers reached for her iced tea as she stretched her feet out and tried to refrain from panicking.
Jade glanced over and noticed the blank stare on Tori's face. "It's okay, we are safe. Nothing to worry about."
The brunette nodded but seemed to sink further into her seat. "Uh-huh."
"Just think… This can all be behind us soon."
"No, this will never be behind us."
Jade bit her lower lip. Tori was right. "Well, luckily I can say confidently that I'm going to feel much better after doing this."
Tori finally lifted her eyes, remembering it's supposed to make you feel less anxious if you keep your field of view lifted toward the sky rather than at the ground. And there was the gate, hardly intact to the left of Jade's car that she carefully parked.
"Holy shit," Tori exhaled, suddenly forgetting that anything was previously disturbing her head. Jade smiled as she watched her girlfriend rush out of the car and run to the trunk.
Jade felt empowered in her flowy Stevie Nicks-inspired outfit as she stepped out of her car. It made this even more enjoyable which was already difficult to surpass. Tori was dressed like Tori, but in clothing darker than usual in an attempt to camouflage with the environment. The fair-skinned girl felt proud as she found Tori already had the gas tank gripped in her hand as she used the other one to close the trunk.
Tori's heart skipped a beat when their eyes met. Jade's electrifying stare was as chilling as the air, and while the other wanted to freeze in that moment of time, she also wanted to get this over with and leave as quickly as possible. "Alright, here we go."
Jade leaped in the air as she turned around. "Here we go!"
He deserves this. I don't need to forgive him, he doesn't deserve this.
The two young girls trod down the dirt path and carefully crawled under the gate that miraculously didn't pry open with how worn and damaged it looked. Tori couldn't see Jade's face as Jade led the way proudly, but she knew she was smiling. She was ecstatic, even. Tori could tell by the way Jade's hair bounced side to side as she walked.
What if I go to hell for this? Well, I guess I'll see him there for getting drunk, hitting me with his stupid car, and then leaving me to almost die in the street.
And there the car was before them, the black Lincoln that crashed into Tori in the fall. Jade reached for Tori's hand at her side and squeezed it tight. "You wanna do it? I don't even wanna go near it."
"I'll gas it, you torch it. I hope the doors aren't locked," Tori grumbled while squeezing Jade's hand quickly before letting it go. She proceeded down the old road slowly with the gas can in hand. She looked around, noting that her father had picked a place that wouldn't be prone to starting a devastating forest fire across the state. Mostly gravel on the ground, no trees nearby, hardly any grass. It's almost like all the sand and gravel was placed here deliberately, Tori wondered. At least it was supposed to rain tonight, Tori thought. Jade watched from a distance as Tori began at the hood of the car, then opened each car door and dumped gasoline all over the seats and floor. With every second that passed by, she grew less anxious, more numb.
How did my life come to this? He deserves this. People might even think he deserves worse than jail. And your dad is letting you do this, and there is no way you're going to get in trouble. Because he's encouraging you to do this.
Tori smiled as she remembered her dad saying, "It's unethical if I do it as a cop, but I won't stop you from doing it yourself. Who's going to blame you? And who's going to come after me for you doing this?"
It's fucked up, but it feels so good.
Tori walked back toward Jade, leaving the can tipped downward to leave a trail of gasoline a good distance away from the car.
Jade smiled warmly at Tori who stood at the other's side and set the empty can on the ground. "Holy shit."
"Ready?" Jade spoke softly while reaching for the matches in her pocket.
"Ready as I'll ever be, I guess."
"Should we count down?"
Tori's head turned slowly toward the other. "Would you enjoy that?"
Jade's eyes grew right before she replied. "Nope," and the match was struck. She tossed it on the ground and grabbed Tori's hand to pull them a few steps back together.
The flames slowly followed the trail to the car as Jade's hand gripped Tori's harder and harder.
"What the fuck are we doing," Tori whispered.
"Justice," Jade spoke confidently. "I can't wait for it to explode."
And then the entire car caught, causing Jade to laugh wholeheartedly and shoot her hands in the air. "YES! WOOOOOO!"
Jade's cheer of victory was chilling, to say the least. Tori didn't want to feel the guilt associated with this act. She wanted to feel like Jade, happy that something so miserable could bring this adrenaline. The car will burn, but Tori's life won't change. Her head won't change, her memory won't change, her broken family won't change.
Jade was the only thing important to her that could change. Jade could be gone if she wanted to be if this all became too much for her.
"Alright, let's go," Tori stated as she turned around.
"Wait, don't you want to watch it cave in on itself?"
Brown eyes full of fear met Jade's. "No, I want to get out of here."
Jade wasn't going to argue with her and suddenly realized that while this was liberating to her, it's probably not the best experience for Tori. "Okay, we can go," she replied softly, offering a smile. Tori headed for the car, but Jade turned around one last time to etch this scene permanently in her mind. "Rot in hell, Steven," she muttered before turning her back on a dream come true.
Tori was already in her seat when Jade got behind the wheel. The brunette immediately reached for her girlfriend's hand, tears in her eyes.
"What's wrong?"
She figured this was the worst possible time she could say these words for the first time, but Tori hoped with her entire being that she would have a lifetime to say them at any place at any moment. "I love you."
A gentle kiss was shared as the flames in the distance grew taller and their hearts beat harder.
"I love you, Tori."
If you're sad about this coming to an end, don't be. It's not the end. Stay tuned for a sequel fic. :)