Jade walked quietly out of Sikowitz' class, shocked at the way Tori had just passed her over. Jade was used to being the one doing the passing, not the one getting passed. She's probably just stressed about a project or something Jade said to herself, although she didn't entirely believe it. Tori wasn't the kind of person to snap like that, she was always nice and polite to everyone. Hell, she was the kind of person to openly volunteer to take care of old people at retirement homes. Something was wrong, and Jade would find out.
Tori had walked out of the classroom quickly in an attempt to put as much space between herself and Jade West as she could. Devil woman! Who did she think she was to constantly treat Tori as terribly as she did? Tori had heard rumors about Jade's troublesome home atmosphere, but that's no excuse. Its not like she always had the best environment either. A lot of times she would hole up in her room while her parents tried to 'quietly discuss' their personal matters, which meant her mom yelling at her dad about how he's never home, and him yelling back at her that he's always working because they need money to keep up their lifestyle.
After depositing her books into her locker, Tori met up with Cat by the front doors of the school and headed off to Cat's car. She drove a little Sunfire that was as red as her hair, with pink and black seat covers that had Bunnies stitched into the center. Tori couldn't help but giggle, it was exactly the kind of thing Cat would go for. It smelled like strawberries and cream, probably from Cat's shampoo she usually bought, and everything had its place.
Cat slipped into the driver's seat and turned the key, bringing the engine to life. It idled low and quiet, almost like a purr. She plugged her PearPod into the stereo, handing it over to Tori. "Find something you want to listen to, I'm good with anything." After handing the PearPod over, Cat put the car in Drive and began navigating the parking lot traffic, waving at Beck as they passed him and Jade getting into his car.
Tori searched through the artists on the PearPod and decided on Katy Perry. As soon as the first song started up, Cat squeaked "I love this song!" and turned it up. Tori just smiled at her and turned her head towards the window, watching the trees fly by as they drove. Tori was still reeling from her encounter with Jade. She felt bad that she basically told Jade to go screw herself, but Jade did that to her every day. She shouldn't feel bad, but she couldn't help it, it was who she was.
Tori had dealt with bullies a couple times when she was younger for wearing glasses. Some of the boys would pick on her and call her four-eyes, and even though it made her sad, she still wouldn't be mean back to them. The reason she was sad in the first place was just because she wanted to be friends with everyone, and she didn't understand why some people seemed to want to hate her, even though she didn't do anything. Although her dad wasn't around a whole lot, her mom had always told her the same thing, "Live and let live, Tori. They'll come around sooner or later. And if they don't, you don't want to be friends with them anyway."
Cat looked over at Tori in-between songs, noticing Tori hadn't said anything since they got in the car. "What's the matter Tori?" she asked, brow furrowing a bit in concern.
"Oh its nothing Cat, I just don't understand why Jade has to be so mean all the time."
"It's not just you, Jade's mean to everyone sometimes. She has her moments though, and if you're lucky enough to catch one, you see why her friends stick around. It's not all bad."
"I know, but it just feels like she has a special hatred for me. I didn't even do anything to her, and she seems to get some kind of joy out of my misery. I've had people be mean to me before, but not like her. A lot of bullies are mean because they have low self-esteem and stuff, Jade seems to be mean because she likes it."
"Yeah, she seems like a tough cookie, but she has a warm doughy center like the rest of us." Cat smiled at Tori briefly, then started singing along to the song that was playing. Tori looked at Cat in amazement. Cat definitely had her moments where she was pretty spazzy, but Tori believed there was a lot more to the spunky redhead than most people thought. She was small and cute and almost child-like at times, but Tori could sense a very centered adult in there somewhere.
A few minutes later Tori felt the car slow down and turn, and when she opened her eyes, she realized they had reached their destination. Cat blurted out "Yay! Fuzzy things!" and took off toward the door at top speed. Tori laughed and closed her door, stopping to check her phone before she headed into the store. There was a text message; It was from Jade. Tori felt her stomach tighten a bit and her heart raced, but she had no idea why. She didn't have time to deal with it now, though, so she put the phone back in her pocket without reading the message and headed up to the store.
Cat was already knee deep in squares of fuzzy felt, and Tori couldn't help but smile when she saw how bright Cat's eyes were. She was really in her element, as costumes and makeup were Cat's favorite thing to do. Tori wasn't sure if that's what she wanted to do for a living, but she knew that every time there was a production at Hollywood Arts, Cat was doing costumes and makeup. Tori made her way over and asked Cat if she needed any help finding something specific.
"I need scarf material for the pirate costumes, and shaggy material for the werewolf costumes." Cat stood silently and held up a square of fabric next to Tori's face, comparing the color of the fabric with her eyes. "This will go over swimmingly. Haaaaa! Get it Tori? Swimmingly? Pirates, on the boat? Ahahaha."
Tori grinned from ear to ear. "Yes Cat, that was a good one." She patted her softly on the head and then went to find some silky material for scarves. Tori checked the next few aisles over, stopping when her eyes landed on the Sewing Machines. They reminded her of her mom, and so many times when she was young, making costumes for Halloween or some play that Trina was in. Since Tori's dad worked a lot, her mom usually kept busy working with her machine. Hemming the girls' pants, fixing buttons, busy work. Tori slid her hand over a model that looked just like the one she had at home. She was glad to have fond memories of bonding with her mom, but it always reminded her that she didn't have that many memories with her dad, and it upset her.
Ready to put those memories back in the box, Tori rounded the next corner and found spools of silk fabric. She grabbed a few of different colors and made her way back to where she left Cat. When she got back around the front of the store, she spotted Cat with a basket full of all different colors of fabric, fabric scissors, assorted buttons and spindles of thread.
"Holy cow Cat, do you plan on buying everything you see?"
"I'm pretty sure it has to have a price tag on it for me to buy it Tori, so I don't think I'll be buying everything I see." Cat shook her head like she was disappointed Tori wouldn't know something as simple as that, grabbing a few more things to put in her basket. "Okay, I think I have everything I need now. Are you ready?"
"Yeah, I'm good to go when you are."
"Kaykay, let's go." Cat took her basket up to the first open register and started a quick conversation with the employee behind it. Tori's hand kept itching towards her pocket, subconsciously remembering the text message from Jade just waiting to be read. Not being able to take the suspense any longer, she opened up her phone and looked at the message.
Tori: I'm sorry for making you feel bad. It's not my fault you're so sensitive. Take the chip off your shoulder and let me help with the project
-Jade
Tori seethed with anger. The audacity of that woman made her blood run hot, and she was definitely not going to call her for help with the flyers. Tori didn't want to ruin her afternoon with Cat, though, so she put her phone away and tried to pretend like nothing was wrong. It was obvious though that Tori needed to work on her poker face, as when she got in Cat's car, Cat immediately asked her what was wrong.
"I got a text from Jade. It was a half-hearted apology that actually ended up blaming me. I don't understand how she does this all the time."
"You just gotta take her with a grain of salt sometimes" Cat cooed, putting a hand on Tori's knee and smiling at her before turning her eyes back to the road. "I've known Jade for a long time. She's been mean to me more times than I can count. But she also comes to me when she's sad, or excited. I don't think she knows how to vent her anger very well, so she ends up blowing up at her friends. It's not ideal, but we've all learned to let it go and try to help her without actually helping her, you know." Cat shrugged gently and searched for a song while they were stopped at a red light.
"I guess. I'm just not really used to it. It's only been a few months though, so I should give it some more time. I can't imagine how you've dealt with her for years." Tori leaned her head against the window of the passenger side door, watching a flock of birds fly over them. She was still the same old Tori, because even though Jade was horrible to her, she still wanted to be her friend. That meant forgiving even when it wasn't really deserved, and having to bite the bullet when she wanted to just scream right back at her. It wouldn't be easy, but Tori figured it would help the group dynamic to just go with the flow. Hopefully its not too much easier said than done.
Cat pulled into her driveway and turned the car off, unplugged her PearPod and got out. Tori got out as well, opening the back door to help Cat grab some bags. On the way up to the door, Tori got a good look at Cat's house. It was pretty big, white with olive green shutters and well-manicured garden underneath a large picture window. The driveway widened up by the three-car garage, holding a basketball hoop with lines painted like a court. Cat unlocked the door and they stepped inside the mud room. Each girl kicked her shoes off, and Cat opened the door to the inside of the house.
The entrance hall was beautiful. Dark hardwood floors and marble stairs, with a glass chandelier hanging above head. Large windows with white lace curtains and sleek black picture frames on the walls. The room opened up in four directions: To each side, to the front, and upstairs. The front path went directly under the stairs, while the two side exits had wide, arched doorways, and the stairs curved up along the wall on each side of the room.
"To the left over there is the kitchen and dining room" Cat pointed out, walking to the right side of the stairs. "Over here is the living room and screening room. Through that door under the stairs is the garage and backyard. Upstairs here are all of our bedrooms. Come on Tori, I'll show you my room." Cat made her way up the stairs, and Tori followed close behind.
"Wow Cat, this is amazing" Tori gawked, taking in the pink and white walls. High ceilings, big windows and a skylight made the room feel very open and aerated. Cat walked over to her bed and laid her bags down, then tossed her sweater over the back of her desk chair. After putting her hair in a ponytail, Cat grabbed the bags and dumped them out, discarding them to side and spreading the fabrics out on her duvet.
"Hey Tori, can I take your measurements real quick? You're pretty close to the size of the girls that have put in for the lead, so I can use you to get a good idea for shapes."
"Sure Cat" Tori said absentmindedly, walking slowly around the edges of Cat's room, taking in each of her little knickknacks and stuffed animals. The desk contained a laptop, a snow globe with the Eiffel Tower inside it, and a mug full of pens and pencils that said "You Rock!" on the side, decorated with musical instruments. "I like your room, it feels really...spunky."
"Ahahaha, spunky," Cat giggled as she wrapped a tape measure around Tori's hips, pinching it off at the edge and writing down the number in a small notepad. "I don't know, my parents told me I could do anything I wanted with my room, so I made it pink cause I like pink. Arms out please."
Tori extended her arms while Cat got her bicep and bust measurements, then decided to stay still so Cat could get all the measurements she needed at once. After a couple of minutes Cat walked over to her desk with the notepad in hand, finishing writing some numbers on her way. She laid the notepad down and grabbed a different pad of sketching paper, then headed over to her bed and pushed some of the felt out of the way, sitting down against her pillow. She grabbed a case of colored pencils off her bedside table, and began sketching an outline of a pirate costume.
Tori walked over to the window in the back-right corner of the room and sat down on the bench, back pressed against the big pillow that was there. She stared out onto the street, watching multicolored leaves blow around in the breeze. A group of little kids were throwing a football around in a yard across the street, laughing and tackling each other. Tori watched for a few minutes, then turned back over to Cat, who was concentrating on filling something in with a red colored pencil, her tongue sticking just slightly out of her lips.
"Are the rumors true, Cat?" Tori asked, before even realizing what she was saying. Cat stopped what she was doing and looked up at Tori, slightly confused.
"What rumors? Have people been talking about my brother again? Because after last time-"
"No Cat," Tori cut in before she went off on a tangent, "I meant the rumors about Jade having a rough time at home. Is that why she's so mean all the time?"
Cat huffed out a breath and sat her pencil down, got off the bed and walked over to where Tori was sitting, taking a seat next to her on the bench.
"Well, Jade's dad isn't the nicest guy" Cat said slowly, twiddling her thumbs. "He's never been very supportive of Jade in school and stuff, thinks that she should focus on getting a real degree in something practical, and work on getting a real-world job for security. He thinks all of the Hollywood stuff is a sham, and doesn't go to any of her plays or anything. It's really sad."
"That's awful" Tori added, her stomach feeling like it was folding in on itself. "As a parent you should support your child in whatever they want to do as long as it's not harming to anyone." Tori realized she was picking at her nail polish, something she did when she was uncomfortable.
"Well, he thinks she's being harmful to herself by being reckless with her career choice" Cat explained, understanding that it was basically a catch 22.
"That's too bad. What about her mom?"
"Her mom is okay sometimes, she's just really short and not very affectionate. She's always arguing with her husband about not being a good father to Jade, but in turn she's making herself be not a good mother. I don't think she understands what she's doing by it though."
"Well, I understand how that can make you feel, your parents arguing and all, but she doesn't have to deal with it the way she does. We don't have perfect lives either, but we don't take it out on her."
"Everybody has their own way of dealing with things, I guess. She internalizes a lot, and after a while it comes out."
Cat walked back over to her bed and sat down where she was before, grabbing her sketch pad and returning to work. Tori pulled a Math book out of her bag and decided to get a bit of homework done while they were just hanging out. Occasionally Cat would hold up her pad and ask for Tori's opinion, and Tori would give her input. Then Cat would stare at the pad for a minute, collecting her thoughts, and dive back into the drawing.
After a few hours, Tori put her books away and zipped up her bag. She hugged her knees and kept looking out the window. It was starting to get dark, so she took a deep breath in, held it for a second, and let it out slowly, getting up from the windowsill. "I think we should head out now Cat, its starting to get dark."
"Kaykay, I'll put some of this away and take you home." Cat scooped up the fabrics and put them back in the bags, stowing it away in the cubby under her bedside table. She took the colored pencils and put them back on the table where she grabbed them from, grabbed her cell phone and keys, and headed for the door. She opened it and waited for Tori to walk through, closing it behind her as she followed.
The girls headed out to the car in silence, Tori's head was so full of images of Jade locking herself away from her parents' bickering, same as she always had. Maybe they had more in common than either of them knew? Tori got into the passenger seat and clicked her seatbelt into place, her hand holding her phone, thinking of sending Jade a reply. She took her phone out and went to the message, hit reply, but couldn't think of what to say. Cat was singing loudly to the song on the radio next to her, so Tori decided to put the phone away for now and join Cat in the chorus.
A few songs later, they were pulling into Tori's driveway as the sun was starting to paint large sections of orange and purple. Tori unbuckled her seatbelt and turned sideways in the seat facing Cat.
"Thanks for the afternoon Cat, I had a good time."
"Yay! I'm glad you had fun, we should do it again sometime. I just can't hang out on Thursdays."
"Why's that?"
"Well, these people came to my house a few weeks ago looking for my brother, about the same time a lot of animals in the neighborhood started disappearing. They said that we should pick a night of the week where we all have fun together. I'm not sure why, but they said something about it being a good thing for everyone in the neighborhood..."
Tori raised one eyebrow, choosing not to think of what Cat's creepy brother would be doing with strange animals. "Okay then, hit me up on The Slap and let me know if you want to do something." Tori smiled at Cat and got out of the car, standing at the head of the driveway waving until Cat was out of sight. She then turned heel to the front door and headed inside.
Her mom was in the kitchen finishing up some final preps for dinner. Trina was sitting on the couch watching TV, and her dad seemed to be missing. Not an uncommon thing, but it did upset her when the whole family couldn't be together. Tori kicked off her shoes and headed over to the sink to wash up, then found her spot at the table.
"Hey mom."
"Hi Tori, how was school?"
"Good, I went to Jamie's with Cat after school to help her out with some costume stuff for Sikowitz' new production."
"That man is a hack!" Trina yelled, obviously still upset she didn't get the lead role.
"Just because you didn't get what you want does not mean the man is a hack" Tori's mom added, giving Trina a stern but loving look.
"She's doing costumes and makeup, so we headed to get some fabric samples and sewing stuff. She took my measurements as a base and sketched out some ideas. We hung out and talked, I got some homework done. It was fun."
"Well I'm glad you had fun sweetie."
Tori's mom walked over and sat down a final bowl of string beans, and found her own chair. She called Trina over for dinner, and the three of them settled in to their meal. About 10 minutes in, Tori's dad came in the front door, looking exhausted.
"Glad to see everyone waited for me."
"You're usually always late David," Tori's mom commented, "you shouldn't fault your lovely ladies for trying not to starve."
She laughed softly like it wasn't meant to sting, but her smile faltered quickly when her husband wasn't looking. Tori caught her mom's eye, smiling weakly to try and raise her spirit.
"Hey dad," Tori called over, "how was work?"
"Same as always kiddo. Crime never stops, so I'm never out of work."
"Well I guess that's a good thing, job security" Tori joked half-heartedly, gleaning a sad understanding of the double-edged nature of his comment.
"I'd rather spend a little more time at home, if we could afford it. I kinda miss my family."
Tori caught her mom shoot her dad a disproving look, and tried to eat hurriedly so she would be able to split upstairs before the tension got any heavier. Trina took a bite of her potatoes and pointed her fork at her dad as she chewed.
"Dad, I need some cash to go shopping with Melanie in Beverly Hills this weekend. There's some sales we want to hit and my allowance is gone."
"Already? How did you manage to blow all of it in two days?"
"I needed some clothes for school."
"Okay, so you got some. Why do you need more money for clothes if you just got some?"
"Those were school clothes dad, I need some other clothes for dates and stuff."
Tori's face was hot, and before she could stop herself, she managed to get out "God Trina, can't you just deal with what you have?"
"Excuse me?"
"It's mostly your fault dad is gone constantly, working more overtime hours than a person should. You're trying to bleed him dry for yourself."
"Mind your own business, brat. If he didn't want to give me money, he wouldn't."
Tori had dropped her fork and was staring pointedly at her sister. How could one person be so selfish and ignorant? Suddenly at a loss for appetite, Tori pushed her plate forward and sat back, a disgusted look on her face.
"Don't give me that Tori," Trina spat at her, "you ask him for money too."
"I get my allowance Trina, same as you. I don't ask for what I don't deserve."
"Deserve?" Trina's eyes narrowed at her younger sister. "I do good in school and stay out of trouble, how do I not deserve some recognition for that?"
"You're a solid C student in core classes, and you can barely pass as a mediocre actress. I wouldn't call you a bundle of accomplishment."
"Alright, alright, cool it girls." Tori's dad sounded tired, maybe even a little defeated.
"No, she's not gonna get away with being a bitch to me, I didn't do anything to her."
"Trina that's enough," her mom added, "if you're not gonna let it go and be pleasant, get away from my table."
"Your table?" Tori's dad raised his eyebrows at his wife.
"Our table, you know what I meant."
"This is ridiculous" Trina yelled, standing up from the table. "I don't have to put up with this. I'm going to Melanie's."
Trina stood up from the table so fast her chair almost fell over. She marched straight upstairs without a word, and reappeared about two minutes later with a bag. Tori turned in her chair to see her sister putting on her shoes, phone glued to her ear. "Yeah, I'm heading over now, I'll be there soon." Trina opened the front door, walked through and slammed it, not bothering to look back at her family.
Tori looked at her parents, both were staring down at their plates, eating in a tense silence. No one even tried to strike up another conversation, so Tori grabbed her plate and took it to the kitchen, cleaned it off, and headed up to her room. She didn't even make it there before she heard her parents start on each other. Shaking her head, Tori grabbed her laptop and checked her messages on The Slap. Beck and Jade were hanging out at Beck's RV. Andre was writing music at home. Robbie was out to dinner with his family, and Cat was finishing up some sketches in her notepad. Tori didn't feel like updating her status with what had just happened, so she closed her laptop softly and decided on going for a walk.
20 minutes later Tori had geared up with a hoodie, her PearPod, some black yoga pants and a comfy pair of running shoes. She headed downstairs quietly and slipped out to the side door to the garage. Her parents were still arguing when she got down there, and she managed to hear a few lines before she got out.
"What do you want me to do, Holly? If I work any less than I am now, we're going to fall behind. We both make decent salaries, but with the mortgage on this house, the 4 cars, pool maintenance, allowances...we're stretched thin."
"I don't know David, but it would be nice to have someone around once in a while."
"Oh, so Gary isn't enough?"
"Excuse me? How dare you!"
"Don't pretend like I don't know he's been coming over here when the girls are gone," David cut in hotly, shaking his head, trying to get his wife to look him in the eye. "He's my partner for fuck's sake Holly, I've known the man for 25 years. He's been hiding something from me, and the neighbors have told me they've seen his car parked down the street a few times."
Tori couldn't handle hearing anymore, so she opened the door quickly and fled to the sidewalk, not even bothering to stretch. After 20 minutes or so of jogging, her absentmindedness came back to bite her in the form of a charlie horse. She decided to take a rest at the coffee shop she was passing, stopping outside and putting her foot up on one of the table benches to stretch her leg. After Tori had sufficiently stretched both legs, she figured a nice hot coffee might be soothing to her insides, so she went around front to buy one.
"What are you doing here?"
Tori had almost run face first into Jade West.
"I needed to get out, forgot to stretch before my run, got a leg cramp."
"Typical" Jade mused, sounding mildly entertained.
"Whatever, Jade."
Tori went up to the window and ordered a decaf coffee with french vanilla creamer. Grabbing her coffee, she rounded back to the table she had stopped at originally, sitting down to enjoy her beverage in peace. Jade rounded the corner a second later, burning a quizzical look into the back of Tori's head.
"What's up your ass, Vega?"
"You are, Jade. I'm not in the mood to deal with your general pissyness towards the world."
Jade wasn't sure what to do. Tori looked really upset, and while normally that wouldn't phase Jade, she had a look in her eyes that reminded her of herself. She sat down quietly, stopping briefly when Tori looked up at her, but Tori shook her head yes and Jade took the seat. Jade gripped her own coffee tightly, trying to choose her words for the situation carefully.
"Look Tori, I may be an ass sometimes. Well, a lot of the time. But it doesn't mean I can't be civil when someone is having a real problem. So tell me what's up."
"My sister is a selfish bitch and my parents won't stop fighting."
Tori's eyes filled with tears, but she tipped her head back a little to keep them from spilling out. She took a sip of her coffee, basking in the hotness that covered her insides. It was like a security blanket to a child. Jade's eyebrows raised just a hair, almost unnoticeable, as she looked over the fragile girl in front of her.
"I know what that's like, the parents fighting thing. Happens at my house every day. Has for years."
"Does it ever get better?"
"Sometimes they'll let off for a bit, be civil to each other. But that only lasts a week or so. My dad will do something stupid and my mom will get upset, and they'll start yelling at each other all over again."
"That sucks, I'm sorry."
"I've learned to deal with it, I'm sure you will too."
"I don't want to deal with it, I just want things to go back to the way there were."
"Don't we all Vega, don't we all..."
Jade stared off into the distance for a few minutes. Tori watched her carefully. It did seem like there was a nice person in there somewhere, buried beneath the walls of protection she had built up over the years. The longer Tori sat there and looked at the girl, the more she felt panic rising in her chest. Panic that she would end up being just like Jade if the fighting continued. It scared her to death, and she stood up from the table too fast, getting dizzy and crashing back down into her seat.
"Take it easy Tori" Jade scolded, getting up and moving to the bench Tori was sitting on. "You look like you've just seen a ghost or something."
"I don't think I can put up with this much longer."
"Come on Vega, you can sleep at my house tonight. My parents are gone so it'll be quiet, and your parents will have some time to try to work out whatever they have going."
"Um, are you sure Jade?"
"Yeah, let's go before I change my mind."
Tori grabbed her coffee and walked down the street a bit with Jade until they reached Jade's car. She slipped quietly into the passenger seat and clicked her seatbelt into place, leaning her head against the window.