Tone of Deceit

Disclaimer: I own nothing

A/N:

Chapter 6 (Cautionary Tales)

Jade knocked on Tori's door, understanding that an unannounced visit was probably not a good idea; but she didn't know what else to do. Cat was with her, ready to see how the family was holding up.

Yes, they had many questions that would remain unasked and unanswered, for now they just wanted to be a presence. For all the slack Sikowitz was being given, it seemed he had decent advice. "She needs a friend," Jade whispered, "So we're not going to bombard her with questions or anything like that." Cat nodded slowly.

"Should we tell her that we know about Sherwood? That she's still a student there?" Jade wasn't sure what to do with that matter, only that Tori hadn't been forthcoming with it yet and she didn't think bringing it up now was right. At least, if they brought it up, the family might think they were following them around.

The door slid open and Trina's head poked into view. Her eyes scanned the girls up and down while her mouth remained tightly shut. She opened the door farther. "Here with anymore cameras?" Jade nervously opened her pockets and saw Trina's eyes move towards the purse. "Come inside and set your purses by the door."

"Okay." They followed Trina in and obeyed her words without resistance. They didn't want to upset her any further than she already was, or at least, they didn't want to earn her ire as the boys had.

Once inside, they saw Tori seated on the couch with Ian. His arm was draped around her shoulders and he was peering down at a yearbook in Tori's lap. Tori was tracing a photograph with her fingers and gazing at it with misty eyes.

After a while the girl looked up at them, but said nothing. "Sorry we didn't call ahead, Tori." Jade walked over with great caution, and Cat soon followed suit. "We just wanted to check in on you."

"Thank you." Tori looked back at her yearbook. Trina walked past the back of the couch and into the kitchen where a pot of water was boiling on the stove. A box of spaghetti noodles was next to it and a second pot held sauce with meatballs.

Ian's hand slowly ran down Tori's arm. He looked to the girls, speaking softly. "She was our closest friend at Sherwood, we would literally do everything together." Jade smiled and looked down at the picture in the yearbook.

The photo was of the three friends standing together. It seemed to be taken some time ago, as the trio couldn't be older than eleven or twelve in the photograph. Courtney stood in the front, holding a blue ribbon designating the group as the winners of a science fair. Tori was on the right, her hands on Courtney's shoulder as she gazed with proud eyes at the ribbon, and Ian was on the left, grinning as wide as he could at the camera.

Underneath the photo was the caption The Three Musketeers Win Take the Prize.

"That's cute," Cat remarked as she took a tentative seat beside Tori. Tori wiped a tear from her face and a tiny smile broke one her face. "Was that what people called you guys?"

"Yeah," Tori's voice was hoarse, and her hands were shaking. "There's only two of us now." She whimpered and shut her eyes. "I thought, I had hoped…" Jade looked towards the kitchen where Trina was, the woman was facing them and leaning slightly over the island countertop. Her left hand was balled up on the surface while her right clenched around a mixing spoon. Her jaw was locked and her eyes held a similar sorrow but an anger as well. "Have either of you guys ever lost a best friend?"

Jade looked back. "Not like this," she whispered, "Never like this. I don't even know how I would respond." She looked towards Cat, wincing at the possibility.

The kids at school would never guess it, but amongst the group it was known that she and Cat held the longest friendship. Perhaps even Tori didn't know that to be true. "You know, Cat and I, we go way back." Tori sniffled and lifted her gaze towards her. "Fourth grade…I was getting picked on and she helped me."

"You were being picked on?" Trina asked. Even Tori looked surprised, her eyebrows rising almost with disbelief. It was hard to believe, but true, Jade was not well liked growing up.

"I was the weird kid." She chuckled, remembering fondly how her childhood was. "Out of place, I loved all the strange things that I do now. Back then, people made fun of me for it. I remember going to show and tell one year with a pet tarantula." Tori shuddered and Cat started to laugh.

"I thought it was the best thing ever," Cat said through her cheer. "I mean everyone wanted to show off their pets and it was either puppy or kitten. You had the occasional parakeet or hamster; it was so cute but it also became so repetitive that the overload was so much." Cat stood from the couch and walked over to Jade, who was smirking with pride. "Then this girl walks in with a damn spider!"

"And you weren't freaked out?" Tori sounded skeptical, but Cat merely smirked while Jade gave her friend a knowing look.

"Freaked out? My brother had a couple pet snakes and my mom had an Iguana. I was pretty much known as the lizard girl." The redhead shrugged. "Didn't bother me none."

Jade moved her hands behind her back and grinned wide. "People were laughing at me for owning a tarantula and being a creepy little girl, right? So they're making fun of me, throwing dirt at me outside, and next thing I know, I see this chick running at them with a snake wrapped around her neck and arms."

Tori threw her hand over her mouth, stifling a laugh. Jade's grin increased and she looked towards her oldest friend. "The other kids ran away screaming. Sure, they were calling us freaks, but that didn't matter anymore. Truth be told, at that point in my life, I didn't even realize people kept snakes as pets!"

Cat held her belly as she began to laugh. "I don't think any of the kids doing show and tell thought snakes or tarantulas could be pets."

Tori shook her head and looked back at the yearbook, smiling fondly. "It's funny you mention that. Courtney had a couple pet rats, so one day we decided we were going to prank some of the kids and the teacher by letting those rats loose in class. Everyone screamed."

Ian chuckled and wiped a tear from his cheek. "Oh god, and Mr. Grant was this big tough coach teaching a history course-jumps up on his desk and starts screaming like a banshee for the janitor." Tori threw her head back, laughing.

"We would've been so proud if we weren't trying to scramble and get the rats before Thomas, the janitor, came and got them."

"We got detention for like what? A week?"

"Something like that, I think it was closer to three weeks." Tori turned the page and let out a heavy sigh. "Sinjin wasn't too happy with Courtney for that, I think, since one of those was his."

"Yeah, but he was a good brother." Ian cocked his head to the right. "I seem to remember he didn't want her going to Hollywood Arts. She was attached to him at the hip though." Jade furrowed her brow and the smile faded from her face. "He didn't feel like anything was right about that place, even after he'd graduated and just started working for their stage crew."

Cat leaned her head back, her eyebrows rising. "He was working there?" It would explain why they so rarely saw him in class; but rather helping Sikowitz with the stage lighting and props

"He had to have a job, he was emancipated. At the same time, he's three years older than Trina. He won custody of Courtney, so yeah…all this shit hit him harder than any of us."

Jade felt her heart trembling from within, her throat tightened and she slowly closed her eyes. "I'm truly sorry for your loss, guys. I couldn't imagine what it would be like if I lost Cat." In truth, it would possibly be harder to lose Cat than losing Beck, to the point she didn't think it would be possible to function. "How…How did the three of you meet?"

"We met in the first grade." Tori reclined her head and Ian looked over, motioning at her with a finger.

"You and Courtney met in first grade, we knew each other but didn't really interact until the second or third grade."

"Oh yeah." Tori rolled her eyes and smiled. "Courtney was so sure that I had a crush on you so she ended up dragging you over to our lunch table."

"Yep." He laughed. "She told me to talk to you or she was going to drink my chocolate milk." A smirk played on his lips and his eyes narrowed. "To which I said she could drink it if she wanted, but I'd put applesauce and dirt in it to try and see what would happen."

"She was so disgusted, and yet impressed at the same time." Tori leaned her head onto his shoulder and started laughing. After a while, the laughter faded and she stared in silence at the photograph. "God, I miss her so much." Tori raised her head and looked over to her sister. "Does it ever stop hurting, Trina?" Her voice broke and Trina slowly closed her eyes. "Tell me it stops. I know the answer, but please…lie to me."

"You know I can't do that, it'd cause you more grief to have the lie." Trina stood straight and let out a heavy sigh. "It might ease in time, but losing a friend like this is never easy."

Jade furrowed her brow and shared a confused look with Cat. "I'm sorry to pry." Jade turned towards Trina, who arched an eyebrow at her. "But, you talk like you've lost someone close to you too."

Trina's fingers curled into her palms and her body began to tense. "A similar situation, yeah. I had a good friend, Lindsay. Jason was friends with her as well, or more, she wound up dating his best friend, Travis. The reason Jason hates his uncle so much is because he blames him for what happened."

"Do you mind if I ask-"

"You can ask." A sigh rolled away from Trina's lips and she glanced back to the pot on the stove. "I'll say a little, but it's still difficult to talk about."

"I understand. Did she go missing, though?"

"No. She died trying to protect me." Jade heard of Lindsay before, but it was around the time they first met Tori. There was an argument of sorts going on, perhaps it was playacting at the time. This was before Trina was truly no longer a student at the school, Tori said that Lindsay didn't like her anymore. It couldn't have been true.

"A long time ago, you and Tori were arguing about something and she brought up Lindsay. She said she didn't like you or something."

"Yes, that was during a time I was acting like a star-crazed diva." Trina rolled her hand in the air. "Lindsay was alive at the time, and no, she never stopped liking me." Trina blinked twice. "Believe it or not, I do and did have friends."

"I believe you. Lindsay sounds like a good friend. To protect you like that, I know Cat and I would give anything to protect each other with our lives." Trina scoffed and looked away, her stern gaze growing misty.

"I got sloppy, let the wrong person know that I wasn't who I seemed. Lindsay and I…" Jade felt a sickness take her and watched as every muscle in Trina's body grew tighter. "I was targeted one night, held down by a group of men in a movie theater parking lot while Lindsay paid for a ticket."

All of a sudden the air swept away from the room, Jade found herself struggling to breathe as she could only imagine the greatest horror unfolding before her eyes.

"One held a knife at my throat, threatening me to quit asking questions. I refused, another man had a gun in his hand." Trina's breath grew heavy and her body began to shake as she pushed her hands forward on the countertop. "Lindsay came after them, swinging something I think she grabbed off the ground. Got a good hit on the guy with the knife, he was bleeding everywhere."

Trina inhaled deeply, then paused for the longest few seconds that Jade had ever encountered. "She was a fighter, a scrapper. She held her own, even after taking a bullet in the side." Jade cupped her hand over her mouth and felt a tinge of tears begin to flood her eyelids. "She wrestled the gun away from the guy and started to shoot, making them run off; but…but she collapsed after that. I don't know whether she cut herself with that rusted object or if the bullet hit something too crucial, but she-" Trina's voice shattered like glass, and for the first time, Jade saw this girl's tough exterior crumble like dust. "She died in my arms that night. The police couldn't get there fast enough, I couldn't save her."

Tori closed her eyes and slowly shut the book. "And I couldn't protect Courtney."

Jade closed her hands into fists and looked off to the side, her entire body was trembling and anger had grasped her heart. "You know, Sikowitz was talking to Principal Eikner the other day. I wasn't paying much attention to their conversation, so I don't know what they said really-I assumed they were talking about grades." She took a deep breath as the two women turned their attention to her. "Sikowitz mentioned Courtney's name. Maybe I'm looking too into it?"

"I would avoid him if I were you." Trina slowly folded her arms across her chest. "Whether or not he has anything to do with Courtney's disappearance, it doesn't matter. Know that he was the one who found out I wasn't at all the person I was acting like; but it was hard not to when I was close to his nephew."

"That's why Jason doesn't like him? You guys think he was responsible?"

"There's no telling whether he had anything to do with what happened to me and Lindsay." Trina shut her eyes and breathed in slowly. "Jason has his suspicions, and he watches his uncle like a hawk because of it. Meanwhile, the man seems to want to improve his relationship with Jason; but I don't think that's ever going to happen. Jason is adamant that his uncle had something to do with Lindsay's death, even if he can't prove it. Even if I can't prove it or even Dad…and there's no evidence to suggest he had anything to do with Courtney's disappearance."

"He was talking about her though."

"You mean like how you're talking about her right now?" Jade frowned and bowed her head as Trina shot her a questioning look. "Should I have my dad detain and interrogate you because you're talking about Courtney?" Trina shook her head slowly. "It isn't that simple, Jade. Yes, Mr. Sikowitz is an oddity and he doesn't seem to be what he is, but just talking about grades and Courtney doesn't equate an full-scale interrogation."

"She's right," Tori added, "The best thing anyone can do is keep him at arms reach." Tori studied Jade and Cat with a somber gaze, one that broke Jade's heart to see. "We each lost our closest friend after an encounter with him, sure, but it can be summed up as coincidence. We failed to protect Courtney, failed to protect Lindsay; so the best thing we can tell you right now…" Jade looked over to Cat, who was looking back at her with tears in her eyes. "Be careful around Mr. Sikowitz. Whether or not he's connected to anything at all, just-just don't trust that man so much. Please. I'm not saying hate him like Jason, not saying treat him any differently, just be careful not to get close. You don't know anything about him aside from the fact that he is your teacher."

"I understand." Jade shut her eyes and let her shoulders fall. "I guess I probably shouldn't have let him buy me that hotdog the other day."

"Of course not." Trina's voice grew sharp and Jade quickly glanced over to her. "You should've refused and turned the other way. Regardless of anything whatsoever, Mr. Sikowitz is your teacher. Teachers are not supposed to be out socializing with students outside of school." Trina put a hand to her chest, narrowing her eyes. "He can buy me as many fucking hotdogs as he likes because he is not my teacher and he is my boyfriend's uncle. I don't care if he wants to buy me a hamburger; but you're his student, it isn't appropriate. Do you understand the difference?"

"I guess? It's on him though, isn't it?"

"Yes," Tori replied, "He should know better as a teacher and could get into a lot of trouble for it. Trust me, you don't want to get mixed up in that mess. For all you know, he could be grooming you and building up your trust to a degree he could abuse it. Play it safe, don't put yourself at risk."

"I'll…try and bear that in mind." There words, or even advice, hit her hard. She wasn't sure why they were giving her such advice or speaking in the manner that they were, other than they'd both been through something so horrible that they didn't want their friend to go through either. Yet, it also sounded like something more, something that somebody in a family of police officers might actually say.

Cautionary tales, that's what these tidbits of experience and advice seemed to be. They weren't saying that Mr. Sikowitz was a danger or threat, but they were warning her to be careful because they themselves had faltered-at least in their mind. Somewhere along the way their guard had slipped, and someone they cared for paid the ultimate price.

Looking towards Cat, Jade wanted to swear she wouldn't make the same mistake. She was analyzing her every interaction with her favorite teacher now, questioning her own judgment. Just how was his tone when speaking? What was he trying to get her to drink the other day? His demeanor did change when she mentioned Courtney, but she thought nothing of it.

Perhaps, perhaps then she would take the Vega sisters' advice to heart. Perhaps she would not pry in areas she had no business prying; but that was difficult to do. Always she had a lust for investigation, never had she not explored and investigated something simply because she could.

One thing still rested on her mind. Just who were these people? The clues seemed to be there, but the pieces of the puzzle weren't altogether. What were they doing at Hollywood Arts?

She wanted to ask, but she was afraid she wouldn't be given the answers she sought. Even now, all they told her was due to their emotional state of mind. In other circumstances, they wouldn't have given her any of this information-she knew that much.

Maybe she could leave Mr. Sikowitz and Courtney alone for now, she could leave the mystery to the police; but the mystery of the purpose the Vegas held in their life, that was a personal one. It felt a world apart from the teacher or the losses that the girls suffered.

At least, for now it did.

We learned quite a deal here, not just about the Vegas but also about the bond which Jade and Cat share. Seems both the sisters have lost someone rather close to them, and in their emotional state, they've let the girls in just a little. What are your thoughts on everything? For now, I leave you with the image of Cat running and flailing her snake-wrapped arms in the air.