2 days before Hollywood Arts Grad
"hey uhhh Jade can I tell you something" asks Cat
"sure" says Jade
"I like you" says Cat nervously
"Cat you know I already told Beck I'd marry him, as much as being with you has actually been on my mind I made a commitment to him, my family takes that kind of thing very seriously…. You'll still be at Grad right" says Jade
"no I won't be, my freak out last week ruined any chance of me being free, I'm being sent to a mental health facility in Sicily, that's where my family is from, I guess this is goodbye" says Cat as she leaves Jade standing there dumbfounded
Later that day in Beck's RV
"ok so we're gonna rent a boat and have dinner on the ocean, then come back for a drive in movie, then I'm going to make you breakfast" says Jade
"you're overcompensating, what happened today, I saw Cat talk to you today, you never plan this much for dates" says Beck concerned
"she came out to me, she has feelings for me, I told her what everybody at the school already knew, that I'd made a commitment to you and that my family takes that seriously" says Jade
"what have you done Jade, she's fragile" asks Beck
"it was a last chance admission Beck, that freak out last week, well apparently it was so bad they're sending her to a mental health place in Sicily, it wouldn't have mattered what I said, I could have taken her in my arms and made out with her right there, she still would have been taken to Sicily" says Jade
"do you love her more than me" asks Beck
"it doesn't matter anymore, my family isn't allowed in Italy after a vacation mishap a few years back, if I could go after her I would but it's just simply not possible, she won't even be at graduation" says Jade
"so you're with me by force not by choice then, I don't blame you" says Beck
"I just wish Tori hadn't made Cat upset causing that freak out" says Jade
"hey now she's gay, don't blame her, I happen to know her and Cat had been dating for about three months by the time of the freak-out" says Beck
"and how do you know this" asks Jade
"Trina said she was supposed to keep it a secret but was excited and said she couldn't not tell someone, she said being with Cat helped pull Tori out of a serious slump, there is something the Vega's aren't telling us about Tori, for all I know Tori has terminal cancer and that's why Cat freaked out, Tori hasn't been mentally present at school since, it's like she's on autopilot, Lane is seriously concerned" says Beck
"Lane would be though, remember Tori was tired and walked to school with no shoes last month in the pouring rain and he literally drove her back to her house to put socks on" says Jade
"Cat never wore socks and he never had a problem…. what do you think they're hiding" says Beck
"I doubt it's cancer, if she did and the outlook was grim there is no way they'd keep that a secret, chances are Tori got burned by a record label again, Cat loved Tori's songs, I could totally see her going nuts at Tori getting rejected AGAIN by a record label, that would be the fourth time this year" says Jade
"why does Tori have such a hard time getting a record deal, you didn't do anything did you" asks Beck
"no I didn't do anything, she's visibly Latina, the record labels around here can have issues with that, for the same reasons Cat wasn't taken seriously" says Jade
"I'll never understand why companies hire rasist people, who I might add are often not people of color, it irks me to no end" says Beck
"I'm part Asian Beck, trust me it's not easy" says Jade
"not to be mean but you're pale, how could you be part Asian" asks Beck
"I'm lucky, I'm an albino human Beck, well that's what the doctor said anyway, I don't feel lucky at all, my dads genetic body structure is dominant in me that's why I don't really look Asian, my mom is Japanese, that's why in all my videos I don't have shoes on, it's disrespectful to wear shoes indoors, I'm not exactly fluent in Japanese culture but that's what my mom says anyway, I'll talk to Tori Tomorrow as it's our last day of school" says Jade
The next day at school
"hey Tori can we talk" asks Jade
"I don't really have a choice do I" asks Tori following Jade to the Janitors closet
"man I'm going to miss this closet, anyway you've been different since Cat had her freak out, she's headed to a mental facility in Sicily, I'm worried about you" says Jade
"I'd just gotten a diagnosis I wasn't ready for, Cat and I were a couple, not anymore, I'd asked her for comfort and she freaked out" says Tori
"it's not cancer is it" asks Jade
"no not cancer, I'm autistic Jade, Cat's autistic, I didn't know what to do with the information I was given, I still don't, being with Cat I was the happiest I'd been in years Jade, I'm lost without her, Sadie has been trying to calm me but it doesn't always work, I'm terrified Jade" says Tori
"did you know she had feelings for me" asks Jade
"yes, it was quite evident from the start you were her end goal, her and I were never really in love per-se, the first kiss wasn't planned we always pillow fight before we go to bed when she sleeps over, that last time though without thinking I kissed her on the lips, I'd Never considered myself bisexual or gay before Jade, it just happened, I'm just utterly confused, classes ended two days ago, I have no idea why we still have to come here before graduation" says Tori
"it's a Hollywood arts tradition, classes end and we get time to spend with our teachers, saying goodbye and stuff, it's a form of closure for this section of our life, Cat was one of the most cherished students here, seeing her freak out like that has scared everyone, do you know why she freaked out the way she did" says Jade
"it's like she'd lost her connection to reality, she knew I was getting a test to see if I was autistic per my doctors explicit recommendation, she was eager to hear the results, then when I told her, that happened, it's like she snapped, unable to handle it at all, it seriously scared the hell out of me, made me feel like being autistic was a really bad thing, I'm scared Jade" says Tori as she starts to cry
"how would you like to stay with Beck and I for the night, I'm sure your family can't understand what you're going through, I'd go after Cat but my family was banned from entering any part of Italy after my little brother set the cabin we'd rented a few years back on fire, it burned a ton of what little greenery that town had to ash, the Italian government didn't take it well because the town backs onto what we'd call a heritage site with protected forests" says Jade
"I thought Sicily was independent of Italy" says Tori nodding to Jade's suggestion
"they are in most ways, Sicily was furious at us and Italy backed them up on banning us, they had every right to do so, even though my dad paid for the damage, the fire killed three old growth trees on the edge of the property, they accepted the money so they could replant them but my dad said old growth trees are rare, most are cut down for wood, he understood why they banned us, I have a thing with blood and my brother has a thing with fire, it was a simple trip and fall mistake but it lead to so so much damage, he's still not over the damage he caused, he went from keeping secrets to telling on himself for the smallest things" says Jade
"do we like have to stay here or can we head right back to Beck's RV, all I can do is stand in front of Cat's locker and bawl" asks Tori
"lunch is soon then we can go, stick to my side missy I'm not letting you walk off for ANYTHING" says Jade holding Tori's hand
"like not even going to the bathroom, that's going to be awkward" asks Tori
"I have a blindfold for that however I'd stand outside the stall if it would make you feel better, I just don't want you cutting" says Jade
"when did you change from angry to calm" asks Tori
"remember the platinum music award thing, where I'd attempted to steal your spot after you refused to be the bad girl for Mason for an image, I'd seen you almost kiss Beck, you'd forgotten to turn off the video call, you called me a friend and that you couldn't kiss your friends ex no matter how much yo u wanted to, it really hit home for me that even though I'd attempted to ruin your day any chance I got that you actually cared about me, I believe in timelines, I was at the crossroads of a split, in one I take your spot and become a best selling artist to spite you or in the other I make nice and try to prop you up, I do really prefer acting over music so I'd chosen to defy mason and put you in the spotlight, I'd tried to make it right, give you a chance to make it shine and make your dreams come true, ya know it really hurt me to make you cry, I'm bi and I took my anger out on anything and anyone I could to hide it, you'd made me realize that anger doesn't scare everyone causing me to rethink my approach" says Jade
"wait really, you changed because of something I said, you sure you don't have a crush on me" asks Tori half joking
"unfortunately Cat is my girl, she's from Sicily, that's where she was born, her parents moved to LA with Cat's aunt who had gotten an acting job when Cat was two so they moved here, I was literally the first person Cat met in LA, my mom had worked at the airport and it had been a bring your kid to work day, that's a story for another time though" says Jade
"I didn't know that about her, I thought she was born here, she'd never mentioned Sicily before" says Tori as she grips Jade's hand tighter
"she doesn't like talking about it, immigrants are targets, especially first generation immigrants, she talks a mean Italian, by that I mean she's very fluent, when she's around people who know like family or me she will generally just speak Italian, I'm just fluent enough to follow along" says Jade
"so the Cat we know from school, that's all a lie, I dated a lie" asks Tori
"no not a lie, the only difference is the language she speaks, she's still the hyper as hell girl. Who has problems realizing how much she's spending, in my opinion Cat is utterly incapable of lying to the extent of appearing one way while being another, it's just a matter of comfort for her, education makes her nervous, she's seriously afraid of being judged or bullied, she had a tendency to be too trusting, her first week at Hollywood arts elementary in eighth grade she almost got kidnapped, a dude in a white car said he was her dad's friend and that he'd told him to pick her up, just as she got in her dad arrived and I pointed at the white car and her dad got her out of the car and sued the hell out of that guy for attempting to kidnap her" says Jade
"didn't you bully her" asks Tori
"yes and no, it was more playful than anything, remember when I called her basically a pet and she played along by barking, she knows I don't mean it with her, I get angry when people I don't trust try to be my friend, that's why I got the reputation of being a gank" says Jade
"so she knew all along that your angry pissy attitude was fake" asks Tori
"she's the one who suggested it so yes" says Jade