"Where are you going now?" My Mom was sat at the breakfast bar, her blonde hair half backcombed making it stand at all different angles, her make up was smudged and patchy and a pair of white heels rest by her feet. She'd obviously been out last night. She took her hand off her head to look up at me slightly, her eyes squinting against the daylight. "It's so early?"

"Out." I replied bluntly, grabbing a banana from the fridge beside her.

"Don't slam the fridge door so god damn loud, Jade. I have a banging headache. Be considerate will you?" She snapped at me.

I cocked my eyebrow at her, unpeeling the banana slowly, biting at the tip of it and chewing it carefully in my mouth. swallowing loudly to talk. "It's your own stupid fault, Mother. You shouldn't be partying at your age anyway. You're not twenty one anymore."

"I don't need your sassy attitude this morning missy. Go be a bitch elsewhere please." She flicked her hand at me pathetically, indicating for me to leave. "Go hang out with that girl, whatever her name is. You seem to spend all your fricking time with her anyways. I've barely seen you the past two weeks! Just leave!"

I stood still, a smirk pulling at my red lips. I tapped my nails loudly against the marble counter, waiting for a reaction.

"Jesus, what is wrong with you child? I'm hungover as hell, all I want is a little fucking peace and quiet." She shouted, grabbing her glass of water and knocking back two small tablets.

"I'm sure you have another house that's quieter than this one." I replied slyly, batting my eyelashes innocently at her.

Her face dropped, her normally calm and boring demeanor slowly changed and her face contorted in an all consuming anger; her nostrils flaring, her blue eyes flashing and closing into slits, her mouth quivering and muttering words that were unintelligible and vulgar. "Excuse me?"

"You're excused, Mommy dearest." I took one last bite of the banana before throwing it over her head, forcing her to duck out of the way as it landed perfectly in the trash can behind her.

"Get out." She ordered, an evil look covering her face.

"It would be my pleasure. Enjoy your hangover."

"What was that yelling about?" At the top of the staircase stood my seven year old brother, Jett. He was small for his age and stuck out like a black smudge on a white shirt. There was something odd about him, for example, his eyes were too wide, his mouth too small, his nose just a little bit crooked, as if his face didn't quite match his head. He was odd and strange, but he was my little brother, and I loved him more than anyone else in my family.

I crept up step by step until I was at the top, sitting on the top step to be level with him. "Nothing." I assured, taking his hand gently and squeezing it.

He raised his eyebrow at me, a confused look on his tiny face. "I don't believe you. Mom was yelling and cussing. Did she and Dad get in another fight?"

I shook my head, sighing heavily. "No, she's just mad at me, like usual. Nothing for you to worry about kiddo."

"You promise?" He held out his loose hand, raising his pinky finger at me.

"Pinky promise." I locked fingers with him, a small, weak smile on my face. "Now go back to your room and play with your toys. Mom has a headache, so don't annoy her."

"Ok, Jade." He wrapped his arms around me, forcing me into a sweaty cuddle.

"You're gross and smelly." I laughed. "When Dad comes home, take a bath. Got it?"

He nodded at me as he stuck his tongue out. "Have fun with your friend." He whispered as I headed back down the stairs.

...

"You're late." Tori smirked at me; her foot tapping gently against the wooden floor of the coffee shop, her arms crossed and her brows raised slightly at me.

My eyes glanced down at the black watch on my left wrist. "Four minutes late." I heard the door click shut behind me as I stood beside her at the counter.

"Still, you're late, but I'll forgive you because you look cute." She smiled, snaking her arms around my neck and kissing my cheeky gently.

"I don't look cute." I replied, moving my hands smoothly around her tiny waist. She was wearing a cute pink crop top which showed off her perfect, flat and tanned stomach. Our bare skin touched briefly as we embraced, the warmth of her tanned body glowed through mine.

"Do too." She scrunched her nose up as I pecked her on the lips shyly. "So where are we going?"

"It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you."

She rolled her eyes at me. "You're the worst, Jade. Just tell me!"

I shook my head, pulling my fingers over my lips like a zip. "My lips are sealed."

"Ugh." She turned away from me, grabbing two coffee cups from the side behind her. "Black, with no sugar, right?"

I shook my head again. "Two sugars. So close though." I shook two sugar packets into my steaming hot coffee, stirring it quickly and slamming the plastic lid back on top. "Ready to go?"

"Totally." She linked her free hand in mine, clutching her vanilla latte and brown handbag in her other hand.

...

"I hate buses. I cannot wait to turn 16 so I can get a car and drive everywhere." I groaned as we stepped off the bus. "I can't stand people, loud people, sneaky people, smelly people. Everyone in the general public just pisses me off."

Tori laughed nervously as I ranted. "You didn't have to give an evil glare to everyone who looked our way. Maybe then people wouldn't have been so rude to you?"

"They were checking you out." I replied quietly, biting my lip as I spoke.

"So Jade West is the jealous type?" She smiled sweetly, her eyes sparkling under the California sunlight. She had the worlds most contagious smile, whenever I see her lips pull into a smile or smirk, I can't help but do the same.

"No." I shrugged, my cheeks starting to burn red. "They were ugly, and you can do better than that, that's all."

"I have a lot better than them though. I have you." It was her turn to blush. Her eyes avoided mine as she smiled to herself. "What are we, Jade?" She spoke softly, her voice shy and quiet.

I paused for a moment, her question taking me off guard. I hadn't really even began to comprehend what was going on between the two of us the past few weeks. None of it made sense. Everything we did, said, felt, confused me. "We're just Tori and Jade." I replied eventually. It felt nice, she made me feel special and warm inside, that was all I knew.

She stoppd beside me, pulling my body so I was level with her. "Just Tori and Jade?" She repeated.

I nodded, chewing on my bottom lip. "Yep."

"Nothing more?" Her eyes were wide and sad, like a puppy begging for food.

"I don't like commitments." I replied, losing our eye contact and walking past her.

"Why not?" She ran a few steps to keep up with me, her feet hitting the ground heavily.

"Commitments ruin things. Marriage ruins true love. That kind of shit. I just don't like it." I tried to sound confident as I spoke, my voice sounding more angry than anything.

"That's not true. My parents have been married for nearly twenty years and they are still madly in love." She argued back.

"Whatever. I don't wanna talk about this now."

She shut her mouth, opening it a couple of times as if she were trying to form words, but giving up the moment she saw the look on my face. "Oh." She finally managed as she turned around to face a large, blue building. "An Aquarium?" She watched as I nodded, a large smile finally gracing my face. "Are you for real? Aquariums are so cool!"

"I know." I smirked, entering the building and grabbing money out of my purse. "This is one of the coolest Aquariums in California. I used to come here as a kid."

"I love fish. I've never been to an Aquarium. How did you know?" She stood wide eyed, her face in a state of shock as she took it all in.

"I have my sources." I took our two tickets, taking her hand gently in mine and leading her towards the entrance.

"Oh Jade! Look, it's sea horses. They are so cute, look at how they swim!" She stood close to the glass, her excited face reflecting against the water.

"Yeah, they're cute." I mumbled, keeping my eyes on her reflection rather than the sea horse.

We continued through the first exhibit, Tori's eyes exploring every section of the room, our hands still firmly entwined. Holding hands is nothing special in and of itself. But, for me, holding hands with someone that make me feel so special and so happy inside, makes me feel safe, like nothing in the world can make me feel more special than I do in this moment. I feel proud to hold her hand, even though no one stares because we just look like two school friends holding hands, I'm proud of her.

"Are those penguins? Holy crap they are the cutest things ever!" Tori let go of my hand, rushing over to the penguin exhibit, her hands placed against the glass, almost as if she were wishing she could be in there with them.

"Oh look, a baby one." I pointed in front of her, showing the tiniest penguin in the exhibit.

"I didn't even see it, it's so tiny. I wonder who it's Mom and Dad are?" Tori's eyes scanned around the icy room.

"I think it's those two." I smirked, moving my eyes towards the two penguins huddling one another.

"Aww." She gushed. "I think it's so cute and clever when they huddle for warmth."

"Did you know, some penguins mate for life. So those two could be together forever. I bet they get so fed up of one another. It's a shame humans can't be more like fucking animals."

"I think it's lovely that they do that. Falling in love with someone and being together forever isn't impossible, Jade. If they can do it, so can we." She reconnected our hands, her fingers trailing gently over my skin.

"We're far too smart to fall in love and be happy forever. That's why they can do it, they're dumb."

She huffed quietly, squeezing my hand tight. I could tell she felt awkward."This is so much fun." She rushed. "Is there more to see?"

"Loads more." I replied, taking us away from the penguins.

Tori turned around as we walked away, keeping her brown eyes on the penguins until they were totally out of sight. "I think we're the dumb ones." She whispered quietly, so quiet I knew she hadn't meant for me to hear it.

We stopped for lunch after viewing several more exhibits of ocean fish and marine life. Tori nibbled on a ham sandwich, toying with the bread in her fingers before eating. Her eyes wandered around the cafeteria, her view on everything but me.

"Are you having fun?"

"Of course." She whipped her head back around to face me, her eyes landing on mine briefly. She pulled her lips into a real smile, her cheekbones lifted slightly and her eyebrows dipped a little. Her chocolate colored eyes were crinkled slightly with warmth and life.

"Me too." I admitted.

She giggled slightly, blowing a kiss from her heart shaped lips across the table at me.

I held my hand up and caught the invisible kiss in my hand, making her smile even more than before. Her eyes twinkled as I placed the fake kiss against my heart. I rolled my eyes heavily as I realised what I was doing and how cheesy I had become. Tori had something about her that made me turn into a insane girl, I couldn't tell if I loved it or hated it.

"Come on, there's so much more to see according to the map!" The moment Tori and I finished our lunch she grabbed my arm, pulling me towards the next exhibit.

"I never knew you were such a geek." I joked. Every exhibit we had come across Tori had taken the time to read the side notes about every fish and plant. She'd read the more interesting ones aloud to me as I nodded and listened to her. I enjoyed listening to her talk about something she was clearly passionate about, it only make her more likable.

"Who me?" She chuckled, pointing to another fish tank with large, gross looking fish in it. "I just love the ocean. It looks like everything would revolve around water. But it's just many of those wonders. It's vast, and almost endless. Just looking out at the ocean makes you think. What's more amazing is beneath all that water there would be more land and many things uncovered. It's just majestic to think of what the ocean holds. To the smallest fish, to the biggest whales, and some things we've never even seen before. Eels and Lantern fish are pretty scary too."

"Deep."

"Yeah, the ocean is deep." She winked at me. "I just like the idea that the ocean is freedom, everyone and everything is equal in the water."

Sometimes no words can describe the feelings you get for someone so special. I paused to examine everything about her facial expression; she looked so happy, so passionate, so beautiful. A giddiness came over me, a feeling that everything was alright, that we can do anything together. My stomach tensed hard. I'd never felt this way before, not with anyone, not even Beck. Fear began to cloud my happiness.

"Are you okay?" Tori noticed my discomforted face.

I nodded. "Yes." I stood beside the entrance to the next exhibit. "You're not scared of big fish are you?"

"How big?" She squinted her eyes at me as I took her hand and forced her to enter the end exhibit. "Holy fuck!" She screamed loudly.

"I'm sorry, close your eyes and we'll leave quickly. Here, take my hand! Tori?" I span on the heel of my foot expecting to see a terrified girl, but instead I saw Tori with her hands and face pressed against the glass. She was totally entranced by the large sharks swimming past her. Her eyes have a certain undefinable sparkle to them as she pushes herself as close to the glass as possible. "You like sharks?"

She nodded, not shying her eyes away from the large creatures in front of us. "Yeah they are beautiful majestic creatures, who deserve a lot more credit. I mean, people are scared of them but we should really be more scared of each other. Humans have killed more humans than sharks have. Jaws gave sharks a bad name, not all of them are bad."

I could feel my heart tensing as she spoke with such passion and emotion. I could have sat there all day and watched the way she looked at the sharks. I'd never expected it from her, she seemed like your usual scared of a spider type girl, but she surprised me. She was a lot braver than I gave her credit for. Today only made me realise how much more I appreciate her.

...

"Thank you for taking me to the Aquarium today, Jade. It was the perfect day." She skipped towards me as we exited the bus.

"You're welcome. I would have never described you as a total nerd though." I played.

"It's a big secret of mine." She hid her blushing cheeks with a smile.

"It's cute."

"You're full of compliments today. Are you alright?" She placed her tanned hand on my pale forehead, feeling me for a fever.

"Having fun there?" I laughed, playfully whacking her hand off me. "I'm fine. You bring out the good girl in me. I think you're the bad influence!"

"I think it's true. Since we met, you've hardly been drunk, and I got you out of your bedroom most days." She laughed loudly. "That's got to be a good thing!"

"We met a few weeks ago, don't take all the credit. I would have left my house at some point, my Mom drives me insane."

"She's always nice to me." Tori stopped outside my front door, kicking her feet against the pebbles.

"Aren't you coming in?" I hovered my keys above the lock.

"Why are you so mean to your Mom? I could never imagine being like that to my Mom, she does so much for me and although we have our moments, she's my best friend as well as my Mom. It's sad you can't say that about yours." Her eyes fell heavy, landing on her fidgeting feet.

"She's a bitch. It's as simple as that." I forced the key into the door as hard as possible, turning it loudly.

"She must have done something to make you feel like this?" She whipped around to capture my eyes again, somehow I was paralyzed by her stare. She had emotion filled eyes that seemed to freeze you in your tracks.

"Are you coming in or not?" I held the door open, revealing my empty hallway. I turned my glance into a glare as I tapped my foot against the hard floor.

"Ok, but I don't want to watch a horror movie again. I had nightmares last time." An innocent smile soothed across her face as she changed the subject easily. Tori questioned me a lot, but she knew how far to push me before shutting up.

I smiled sympathetically in return. "I know you did, you almost kicked me out of my bed."

"I wouldn't have kicked so much if you hadn't of hogged all the duvet!" She raced up the stairs before I could form a response.

From beside me a noise clattered, the noise of a glass hitting our wooden floor in the living room. "I like that girl." My Mom smirked. She stood straight up, holding a bottle in her pale hands like a prop. I wouldn't have guessed she was drunk, but her eyes gave her away. Her pupils were almost the entirety of her eyes, black emptiness staring at me.

"Leave us alone." I replied, fear obvious in my voice.

She sniggered, taking a swig from the almost empty bottle, before throwing it out of the open front door, glass smashing loudly on the driveway. "Goodnight, Jadey."

A/N - Thank you for all the reviews, favs and follows! :) The response to this has been great. I'm trying to update weekly, but I get awful writers block.

I guess you guys wanna know why Jade hates her Mom, right? Well you won't have to wait much longer, but just for fun, try and guess why she hates her? If you get it right I'll write a special bit in the next chapter just for you!

I'm in a musical this weekend and I feel like Liz and Ari in 13 ;) That's not lame, right?

Anyways, hope you're enjoying your Thursday! Adios x