Chapter 3: Avoiding Each Other

The next day Andre found Tori at her locker, unpacking her bag and putting in books.

"'Sup Tori. How was your walk last night?" He rested against the locker beside hers.

Tori audibly sighed as she continued to unpack. "Confusing. And- nope that's it just confusing."

"So you still have a crush on-"

"Shh!" Tori clamped a hand over his mouth. "Andre! You want the whole school to know?"

As she shushed him, Tori noticed Jade walk in the front entrance.

"Gotta go." She quickly shut her locker and speed walked down the hall.

"Class doesn't start for 30 minutes!" Andre yelled after her. "What is she-" He turned around and spotted Jade at her locker. "Oh girls got it bad." He shook his head and went back to his own locker.

———

As Jade walked down the hall towards the library she heard a familiar voice.

She spotted Tori turning the corner with Cat, laughing about something.

She couldn't turn around or press forward without Tori spotting her, and so she did the only logical thing she could think of, she retreated into the nearest classroom.

As the door shut behind her she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well hello there."

Jade nearly jumped out of her skin, only to recognize another familiar face. "Jeez Beck. I nearly had a heart attack!"

"Sorry. What are you running from?" Beck asked.

"No one." Jade shrugged. "I mean- nothing."

Beck squinted dubiously at her.

"What?" Jade crossed her arms over her chest.

"Nothing. Can I get out now?" Beck asked, pointing to the door behind her.

"Be my guest."

"Great." Beck moved past Jade and opened the door to leave. "Oh hey Tori!"

Jade dove for cover behind the teachers desk.

"Hiding from no one huh?" Beck chuckled.

Jade, realizing his trick, stood up and brushed herself off, storming out the door.

————

For the next few days, whenever Tori saw Jade, or whenever Jade saw Tori, they immediately made excuses to leave, or ran the opposite direction in the hallway.

In Sikowitz's class, they sat on opposite ends of the room, and didn't volunteer for any roles, in case they were placed together.

Their friends, especially Andre and Beck, were tired of it.

At lunch, they gathered together. They didn't need to worry about either Tori or Jade being there, as both girls had been avoiding their usual table like the plague, so they didn't accidentally run into one another.

"We have to get them together somehow." Andre banged his fist against the table. "They are driving me crazy. I'll be talking to Tori one minute, and the next she is sprinting down the hallway to hide from Jade."

"And Jade's not any better. She is eating her lunch in her car right now." Beck sighed.

"Why are they avoiding each other anyway." Robbie asked innocently.

Andre and Beck looked at one another.

"Might as well tell him what's going on." Beck shrugged.

Andre nodded, turning to Robbie. "Jade and Tori like each other."

Robbie's face lit up. "Really? Oh that's great, their frenemy act was getting so tiresome. I'm glad they are just friends now."

"No, Robbie. Jade and Tori like each other, as more than friends." Beck explained.

They could see the gears turning in Robbie's head.

Finally, they clicked. "Wait, wait, wait. Jade hates Tori."

Andre and Beck shook their heads.

Robbie just stared at them, mouth agape. "You know, now that I think about it, they actually do make sense together. And all that tension between them could easily be-."

"Okay! Robbie, yep, they like each other. You get it now. So, how do we actually get them together is the question."

"One time, my brother didn't want to go to the dentist, so my mom tricked him into going by saying it was a candy store!" Cat laughed.

"That's nice Cat." Beck smiled, then turned back to the group. "Ok, so we need a plan-" he paused. "hold on a second. Cat!"

"Yeah?"

"That's actually a pretty good idea." Beck thought.

"We trick Tori and Jade into meeting at the dentists office?" Robbie offered.

"No, no, no. But we do trick them into coming together somewhere, somehow." Beck explained.

"That could work." Andre smiled.

"Can't hurt to try." Robbie nodded.

"Unless Jade finds out- then we're all dead." Cat shivered, biting her hair.

The friends looked between one another.

"Ok so objective one in the plan is- absolutely not letting Jade find out what we're doing." Andre whispered.