*Disclaimer: I don't own Victorious. But I wish I was affiliated with Nickelodeon. (js)
A/N: I haven't edited this since the summer and it's kind of an unfinished chapter but I wanted to post something for you... plus I just watched the pilot ep & the cast hung out the other day so I thought it was fitting.
(side note: this chapter has random tandre. and is a bit cheesy. Soz :/)
Sunday, 8:00pm
"CAT," Jade bellows as she slammed their apartment door shut.
"JADEY," Cat yells back and runs from her room to the living room. Using the couch as a spring, Cat lunges herself at Jade. Luckily Jade was prepared to catch the girl.
"You know I hate when you ambush me with a hug," Jade said as she drops Cat back onto the ground.
"Hehe, you hate a lot of things." Then Cat cocked her head and gave Jade a coy grin before crooning, "But you don't hate Beck." She adds a shimmy and plops onto the couch while Jade rolls her eyes and takes off her damp snow boots.
"Yes, he is indeed one of the few people not on my list of 'People I Hate'," Jade sighs and takes a seat in their maroon armchair next to the couch. "You on the other hand..."
Cat gasped and lifted her chin. "I am not on that list," Cat replied in an indignant tone. Jade smirked and shook her head.
"I haven't seen you since last night! What'd ya do?" Cat asked.
Cat grabbed the throw pillow next to her and squeezed it, ready for a story.
"Okay but I'm leaving out details on purpose," Jade said. She told Beck too much about herself yesterday and today, she needed to get a grip on divulging her life to everyone. Life thrives on secrets.
Cat nodded, understanding. Jade continued, "He had powder donuts that we ate and the white flour got everywhere. I've now removed flour donuts from my 'Foods I Hate' list- they're goood."
Cat opened her mouth to let out a squeak of joy but Jade put her hand up to stop her. "We aren't buying them for the apartment. You don't need any more sugar than you already have. And you know how you get when you have too much."
"Yeah..." Cat looked down and Jade continued on.
"Tonight we got sushi for dinner-
Cat gasped again and Jade's eyes widened in annoyance, "One time my brother had sushi and then he took his shirt off and ran around the house."
"CAT! You tell that story every time anyone says the word 'sushi' and it remains irrelevant EVERY TIME," Jade felt her high school self returning as she yelled.
"Sorry for interrupting," Cat said with a sigh, leaning back against the couch to show she was calming down.
"Whatever," Jade mumbles. She bit her tongue as she debates whether or not to tell Cat the only important part of the day. Jade knows she'll have to tell Cat sometime. It might as well be now, she thinks.
Taking a breath, Jade mutters her words quietly, "Beck asked me to be his girlfriend and I said I'd let him know later."
"WHAT! YAYY! MY BEST FRIENDS ARE DATING!" Cat ran from the couch to the kitchen to grab an already opened bottle of wine and two glasses to celebrate.
"Cat, Cat wait," Jade pinches the bridge of her nose. Putting the glasses and wine down on the coffee table, Cat sat back down.
"What?"
Jade's emotions were flying all over the place but she took a deep breath to return to a somber state.
"I told Beck about Ryder," Jade spoke quieter than before. Once Jade left Beck's presence, she had time to think back on the day, particularly focusing on the part where she rehashed the dark memories she had worked hard to repress. Cat gave Jade a small smile.
"I'm proud of you, Jade," Cat matched Jade's low volume. Neither spoke but Jade noticed Cat's eyes looking at her. Keeping her face down Jade took another deep breath.
"Come here," Cat pats the couch cushion next to her and Jade got up to join her.
"Was it hard this time?" Cat asked gently. Her instinct was to give Jade a hug but she knew better than that.
To Cat's surprise, Jade slowly mustered one of her rare real smiles.
"No, not really. When I think about it now, explaining it to Beck felt...relieving," Jade bit her lip before speaking. "And in the past several hours, I've been thinking of Beck, instead of focusing on Ry-him."
As she mentioned before, there were some things she was not going to tell Cat. Sticking to her word, Jade avoided admitting how difficult it still was to say his name. How she struggles to not succumb to the paralyzing pressure she still feels in her chest. How nausea still subtly swirls in the pit of her stomach. Her inability to stop him from having an effect on her even after they ended turned her pain into bright red hatred. Although these feelings have drastically subsided, she was still left with the reality of wasted time and crushed emotions.
Jade put on a believable performance as Cat smiled at her for "moving on." A performance that has gotten easier to put on as she constantly swims towards a land free of pain and hate.
"Beck's a great guy," Cat said after a beat.
"Jade," Cat paused, briefly contemplating whether or not to finish her thought. Jade looked at her curiously, forcing Cat to continue. "I was there for his whole relationship with Tori, a girl he swore he loved. But, the few times I've seen you with Beck, I've never seen him look so genuinely happy."
"I'm five seconds away from barfing," Jade (poorly) attempted to hide a smile. "It's your turn, Valentine."
Cat blanched and said, "We should just order pizza."
"I already ate. Cat, what did you do today?"
"Well, I walked with Robbie through Central Park and then," Cat took a breath and spoke as fast as she could, "I kissed him, we got coffee and I saw dog poop in the middle of a pile of snow next to a half eaten hotdog. And then I came home."
Jade leaned over and opened the bottle of wine. Ignoring the wine glasses, Jade took a gulp straight from the bottle then passed it to Cat.
"But you still don't know how you feel about him, huh?" Jade asked sarcastically. Cat hesitated, she already knew the answer to her question but she was afraid of how Jade would take it. Here I go, Cat thought.
Clearing her throat, she sang, "I'm going to ask him to be my boyfriend." Cat paused for Jade to make a comment, but instead Jade just looked doubtful. Despite this, Cat shared her news confidently.
"I've decided I'm not scared anymore."
Jade could tell Cat was serious and she felt her lips curl upward, giving Cat a look of pride. Jade lifted the bottle in the air and enthusiastically punched Cat on the arm.
"OW! But aren't you excited?! How exciting is this!? I'm so happy!" Cat cheered, happy to have told her and relieved she was met with a happy Jade. She began jumping up and down on the couch. Jade was indeed happy for her friend but she'd never, ever, reach that level of excitement. She just gave her a big smile; it was easy to placate Cat.
"Do you know when you're going to see him again?"
"Actually, I was going to invite him over tomorrow morning..."
"Caaat," Jade narrowed her eyes, looking at Cat suspiciously. "How early are you inviting him over?"
Cat slowly started to say 9:00, but studying Jade's expression she burst out, "11:00!"
Jade nodded, "Good."
"Hey, man, you're finally back," Beck turned his head to look at Andre as he walked through the door.
"Yeah...Are you watching a documentary about giraffes?" Andre asked, looking at their small TV.
"Yup," Beck said.
"Cool," Andre said with approval as he joined Beck on the couch.
After a beat Beck answered Andre's unspoken question, "Because nothing else is on TV."
"Ohhh," Andre said, nodding.
"Where were you all day?" Beck asked.
"I was just hanging at a studio, you know, writing some new songs." Andre froze, realizing his mistake.
"Woah, you were at a studio? Like a music studio? Dude, why didn't you tell me?! That's awesome! What studio was it?"
Andre's gaze remained straight ahead, avoiding eye contact with Beck. "Um, I, uh, meant a studio apartment," Beck gave Andre a weird look. "Yeah, working on new material with this kid in my theory class," Andre gulped, hoping Beck wouldn't notice the obvious wonk taking over him.
"Alright then," Beck smirked and turned his attention back to the TV. Andre relaxed and the pair sat contently and quietly as they learned about giraffes.
Suddenly, Andre's phone started ringing, breaking the peace.
"Shit, I have to take this," Andre said, jumping from the couch and heading towards his room. Just as Andre entered his room, Beck heard him answer the phone.
"Hey Tori, what's up?"
Beck's head shot up. There's no way...I probably just misheard him.
"What was that about?" Beck asked as soon as Andre came out of his room 10 (excruciatingly long) minutes later.
"Nothing much. I do have to go back out again, the kid I was working with called and wanted to meet up again to work on some more music," Andre said as he rushed to put his shoes and jacket back on.
"Peace," he said, bolting out the door again. Beck's chest tightened with building agitation and suspicion, but he couldn't do anything about it now. With a sigh he turned back to the Discovery Channel.
"Sorry I took so long, there was underground construction so the subway trains were delayed," Andre said with a huff as he hung his jacket on the coat rack next to the heavy soundproofed door.
"That's alright," Tori replied, smiling. "Dave is on his way." Andre smiled back and looked over the room.
"Electric Room Studios," Andre shook his head in amazement.
"I know, right?! How awesome is this!" Tori leaned against the switchboard, careful not to hit any buttons or switches. Andre took a seat on a stool across from Tori, looking beyond the clear glass to the piano that had headphones lying on the top and a microphone hanging from above. "Just think of all the music that's been made in this place? Wow."
"Seriously Tori, thank you for asking me to work with you."
"Are you kidding? How could I not invite the guy who has been making music with me since the 9th grade?" Tori laughed. "And now, here we are in a real recording studio waiting for a professional music producer to make music with us."
Tori checked her phone and saw that it was already 10:00. "Why don't we start editing the stuff we recorded this afternoon so we aren't here till midnight." Andre agreed and the pair grabbed chairs and sat down in front of the desktop computer. The silent room suddenly filled with light piano accompanying the booming bass drum.
An hour passed and the producer still hadn't arrived. After working over and playing back the same song, Tori stood up and declared, "That's it. Andre, go in there and sing something. I'll record you. If I listen to this song one more time I will go insane.
"Plus it's been way too long since I last heard you sing."
Andre chuckled, "Alright, alright." He went into the sound booth, took a seat at the piano and put the headphones on.
"Are you ready?" Andre asked speaking into the microphone. Tori smiled and gave a thumbs up. Andre put his hands on the keys and paused for several seconds to remember the notes. He smiled back at Tori and began to play.
Tori's eyes widened as she recognized the tune.
"The situation's turned around," Andre looked up from the piano. "Enough to figure out, that someone else has let you down. So many times, I don't know why."
Tori's face broke into a smile.
"But I know we can make it..." Tori bit her lip and began to quietly sing the chorus with him from her place on the other side of the glass.
"Tell me that you love me, tell me that I take your breath away." Tori turned the volume up so she was wrapped in the smoothness of his voice.
Andre broke his gaze from Tori as he sang the last line, "Tell me that you love me anyway."
Andre looked back up again and froze as Dave walked through the door. Tori laughed nervously and began explaining what they were doing, her hands wildly gesturing to Andre in the booth and the sound board. Andre couldn't hear what they were saying but he had a feeling he just lost his new job.
Dave walked over to the mic stemming from the soundboard and said, "Andre, I'm intrigued. Please start the song over and we'll track it."
Andre let out a sigh of relief and replied with a big smile, "Thank you." Tori gave him two thumbs up and did a quick jump of excitement before Dave turned around to look at her. Andre slowly shook his head and started the song again.
Monday, 11:00am
Jade and Cat were dressed in sweats and t-shirts as they sat at their small kitchen table eating cereal.
"Wow, only one week until spring semester," Cat said with wide, sad eyes. "Yeah," Jade mumbled back.
Cat glanced at her phone for the time when there was a knock at the door.
"Robbie!" Cat exclaimed, immediately jumping out of her sad stupor.
"Hey girlies," Robbie said as he walked in.
"Ew," Jade grabbed her bowl from the kitchen and went to walk to her room.
"Jade, Beck says hi!" Jade turned around at his name and bit back a smile. "I went over to his place last night."
"How's he doing?" Cat asked, nudging him in the stomach suggestively, hoping to get some insight on Beck's thoughts on Jade.
Robbie laughed and poked Cat in the stomach. Jade rolled her eyes and finished the walk to her room.
"Well he was kind of freaking out because he thinks Andre's hanging out with Tori," Robbie said. "Can you believe it!?"
Jade paused in her doorway, eavesdropping.
"What did you tell him?" Cat asked, enthralled by his usually animated tone.
"I told him to eat some spaghetti. That always makes things better."
Cat nodded and spoke in a serious voice, "That is so true."
When it was clear they moved on from talking about Beck, she closed the door and sat on her bed, placing her cereal bowl on her nightstand.
Why would he care if Andre and Tori were hanging out? Why is Tori still here?! Jade let out a soft growl and took her phone out of her pocket just as a text from Beck came in. Ah, speak of the Devil.
"Hey babe, want to grab coffee later? :)"
Jade shook her head and threw her phone to the end of her bed.
A/N: Next chapter will have more bade! And will actually be well-written! xx