See chapter one for disclaimer.
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The Vega girls had only been home a short time before Tori's friends started arriving. Almost expectedly, Jade was the first to arrive, bringing Cat. "...leaving me to clean up the mess. I mean, who does that?" Jade finished.
"You, all the time." Cat replied. "So why don't you just get rid of it? Not violently, cause I know you're you, but maybe another way? Maybe take it to a no kill shelter?"
"It's not my cat." Jade shrugged, neither smiling or showing any real strong emotion. "Fur ball belongs to my dad's new live in girlfriend. Miss party favor brought it with her when she moved in, and now it's making a mess." She gave a dark shiver, not happy about something. "I barely got used to that slobber machine moms boyfriend got her, and now I have to get used to another animal invading my home."
"You're mom got that dog for home defense." Tori pointed out. "And her boyfriend feeds it, which saves you money, as well as walked it almost daily so you don't have that much to do to take care of it. And the dog came already trained, house broken and everything, so you know it's easy to be around. Companionship and everything. Plus, it does some tricks." It almost felt like Tori was pro dog. Holly smirked knowingly from her spot in the kitchen, eyeing the girls.
"It's still a slobber machine." Jade pointed out. "And I'm glad Steve is feeding it, cause it eats more then mom and me, combined. It's chizzing huge."
Trina chuckled. She'd seen pictures of the puppy Jade's mother owned, and it was huge. Worse, from Jade's description, was while the dog was supposed to be for home defense, it was also a big cuddle junky. The Saint Bermastiff was about two hundred plus pounds, with a shaggy hide and a slobbering tongue. "So, where's everyone else?" Trina asked.
"They're coming." Jade said as she stalked over to claim a seat on the couch.
Cat walked to the kitchen, motioning for someone to help her move the table. "Someone, help me move this. We're probably gonna wanna play cards." Holly took that as her cue, and headed upstairs.
"Lets let the guys do that." Tori called out, while Trina walked over to help Cat move the tables around and set the chairs. There was a storage closet behind the kitchen door, next to the stairs that led down to the garage and exercise room. Cat wanted to replace the dining room table with the poker table that occupied a space in that closet.
As they were finishing putting the table away and pulling out the extra chairs, Andre and Robbie showed up. "Sorry we're late, but I had to stop and pick up Rex." Robbie said, producing the puppet.
"Thats okay." Jade replied. "It's not like we missed you."
"JADE!" Tori snapped. Jade raised her eyebrow, the pierced one, and the two girls had a stare-down. To Trina, it screamed sexual tension. To the others, however, it was just Jade challenging Tori to contradict her. "I'm the host, and I like having Robbie around."
"Really?" Jade drawled.
"In a group type setting, yes." The singer said, looking to her friends for support.
"So, anyone know where Beck is?' Trina asked.
"I like having Robbie around." Cat chimed in.
"Cat, we've moved on." Trina told the shorter girl.
"Yes, thank god." Andre added. "And Beck should already be here."
"He's in his car." Robbie said. "I think he and Maddy were..."
"ROBBIE!" Cat screeched. "We don't talk about that in polite company.
"What?" The puppeteer asked. "I was gonna say kissing."
"Cat's got herself a dirty mind." Rex chimed in.
"How far do you think I can throw Rex?' Jade asked the room.
"I see Jade's as mean as ever." Rex said, looking around. "Hay babe, if you need a man..."
"I'll look elsewhere." Jade cut the puppet off.
"You don't know what I got." Rex protested.
"But I can make sure you don't have it any more." Jade threatened, pulling her scissors out just an inch.
"Everyone just calm down." Andre tried. "None of us wanna see what Jade does with those scissors, so why don't we all just calm down, maybe play some cards."
That's when there was another knock on the doors, only this time it was the french doors nearer the kitchen. "Look, it's Beck." Cat called out, pointing at the couple waiting just outside.
"Robbie told us you two were testing the seats." Jade called towards the couple, and Tori hoped they wouldn't be able to hear from outside. The singer had already started moving towards the door, intent on letting them in.
"Sorry about that." Maddy said as she stepped into the house. "It was just an impulse."
"Well," Tori said nervously, "Impulses happen. Whats important is you two are here, ready to play cards."
"Oh." Maddy said. "I was kinda hoping we could talk. You know, get to know each other a bit better."
Despite the tall blonds desire, they wound up playing cards. Problem was there were too many of them to really fit around the half table the Vega's had. The tight fit was exacerbated by the fact that Maddy wasn't nearly as into the card games as the others. Yet, for a while, they squeezed together, played cards, and talked. Maddy, for her part, mostly listened as each of them shared stories, or whichever crisis of whomever they were dealing with, as well as the groups options on fixing it. Then, after a bit, Maddy excused herself from the table.
"Not into poker, are you?" Trina asked, getting up to join her away from the gang.
"Some people love it." Maddy replied with a half shrug. "I'm sure it should be fun. But you guys, you're cut throat. I mean, what is it with you people? Are you planning on being professional poker players or something?"
"Not me, I'm an actress." Trina told her.
"I know, everyone here is." The blond said, smiling.
"No, I'm a professional. As in, I'm paid for my work." Trina corrected her. "Of course, most of them have been paid, at one point or another, to act. If we include singing, their all professionals. You do realize their the diddly-bops, right?"
"Oh my god, we used to hate their song." Maddy groaned, holding her head with her hand. She perked up a moment later, addressing the shorter girl. "You know, favorite foods? My mom's a model, so we eat healthy, and the food they sung about, it was like our kryptonite. Well, not me, cause I eat a fair amount to feed my body. I'm big, and I work out a bit."
"You really don't have to sell us on how hard it is to stay in shape." Trina assured her.
"For me, in shape, but for mome, ridiculously under weight." Maddy said. "One of the reasons I didn't do high fashion, they need to be impossibly thin. I'm a bikini model, do fitness molding, and hell, lingerie. But not fashion. I could never hack it if I had to be that impossibly perfect."
"But you are." Trina hadn't intended to say that out loud.
"No I'm not." Maddy insisted.
"But your what everyone says we should want to be." Trina insisted. "Like a Barbie come to life."
"My waist is to thick, my bust too small." Maddy told her. "Okay, my hips are close, but that body of hers, the classic her, it's impossible. And then, in the early nineties, before they gave her 'More realistic' measurements, they went and produced an exercise video of her. It literally included a spot where she tells the viewers she has to work hard to maintain that figure."
"And now I hate Barbie." Trina said. "Used to envy her soo much."
"The cars, the beach house, the cloths." Maddy said. "Yea, what girl doesn't wanna be her, at some point in their lives. I mean, she was a model, a doctor, an astronaut..."
"And her cloths were always so perfect." Trina added. "Too bad Ken lacked…." Trina gave a mischievous smile.
Maddy looked at the shorter girl. "Yea, life was simpler when you didn't realize that boys had pee pee's, and girls didn't."
"Is that why you became a model?" Trina asked. 'I wonder, did they already ask, cause no one brought it up at the table.'
"My mom, and all my step moms, were models." Maddy admitted. "I was raised to believe that I had to be perfect, a beautiful girl inside and out. I worked hard in the pageants, then shifted to modeling as soon as I could make money doing it." Her violet eyes looked through Trina. "I had to make money, cause that's what my dad respected." She seemed to need to explain. "He kept telling me I had to marry a guy who could help run the family businesses. I had to land me a guy who could be his legacy. Then, Junior was born, and the pressure was off. I didn't have to bring in some dude to be his heir. All I had to do was be pretty and trust my brother, my younger brother, to manage my trust fund. God, you have no idea how frustrating it can be when you have a younger sibling who constantly seems to outshines you."
"Like me having a younger sister who's part of the main people of Hollywood Arts?" Trina asked. "A younger sister who opened the Platinum Music Awards, gaining international fame, as well as always being the one that everyone raves about, usually for her talent?"
"Yea, something like that." Maddy said, nodding. It looked to Trina like the taller girl had felt trumped, but wasn't ready to give ground. "So, Tori is that hard to live with?"
"Not usually." Trina told her. "But sometimes. Like the time she and Jade invaded the studio where they were filming my hit show, ¡Divertisimo!, and the director invited them both to be in a scene. It was my show, and they just got to be in it, without even asking me, or auditioning, or anything. Imagine how bad it could have been if the director knew who she was." Trina held a beat, letting the emotions pass. "But luckily, he wasn't that aware of the world outside his projects, or Spanish language music. Kinda funny, cause this guy was far from a native Spanish speaker, yet he was running a show made totally in Spanish."
"But hay, you starred in a television show, right." Maddy pointed out. "Wait, You said it like they stopped filming. Did they maybe move the show, hopefully?"
"Turns out a show like that has a very limited life expectancy." Trina said, smiling a sad smile. Her face brightened a moment later. "I'm hosting some lame Spanish language game show now. Something they got from Japan, and re-purposed for our use. It's pretty embarrassing, which is probably why I got the hosting gig. But it's money, and I get to be on television." Her smile was beautiful, even if she didn't realize it. "It's just where I am until my inevitable stardom happens."
"I almost envy your confidence." Maddy confessed, smiling. "Me, I work hard, but I'm often so unsure if things will work out. That's why I tend to take the path of least resistance. I became a model, did pageants, cause my mother pushed me too, and it wasn't that hard for me. I could go a lot further if I were willing to live their lifestyle, dedicate myself to the craft. But like I said, I did it because I wanted to impress my father, and he believes models are kinda worthless. More of a wife brochure for successful men. Basically, he thinks all models really are is pretty, when there's a lot of work that goes into being a successful model. I suppose that's why I'm going to collage. I'm going to win my dad's respect if it's the last thing I do, and to do that, I need a degree."
"You just keep working at it." Trina assured her. "All things are possible if you just work hard enough."
"Which is why you have a show, while the people who constantly hear people gushing about their talents aren't currently working in the industry right now." Maddy concluded, smiling. It was off somehow, but Trina didn't have time to think about it.
"Tori is all but signed with Neutronium, but yea, that's a good point." Trina said. Then, the older girl deflated. "I put up this wall, claiming to be so talented, like I don't see the looks in the teachers eyes every time I audition for anything. Or how people look at me, all the time, at school. Like I don't know how most people react to my singing. Hell, I know, deep inside, I'm not great yet. But I keep working at it, and I know, one day, I'll be everything I say I am. I'm not delusional." Her eyes almost begged, for a moment, for someone to believe her. Or maybe just believe in her the way she tried to believe in herself.
Maddy give her best encouraging look while smiling at the Latina. "Maybe they're right, and you won't get that far. Maybe, but there are a lot of people who succeed just because they have the will, the drive, and the ambition to keep going. I have faith in you." The blond's face seemed to explode into an ah-ha look. "Lets make a pact. I agree to be the rock who gives you encouragement whenever you need it, and you do the same for me. I know, going into collage, this early, is gonna cause me all kinda of problems, cause I know what guys see when I walk into the room. They see the double D's and a tight ass. They see the blond hair, the deep eyes, and the face. Problem is, that's all they see, and sometimes, it feels like it's all they'll ever see. I'm gonna need someone on my side to make it, and while I'm not against hard work, your level, that dedication, not my thing."
"At least we know your plenty smart, graduating early like you did." Trina said, trying to be helpful.
"More like my tutors enabled me to do in two a half years what most people need four to do." Maddy explained. "I went to a school that has a very accelerated program. I'd have dropped out, do to the work, the stress, but my dad made sure I stayed in. Mom said it was the price for being a model. So I graduated, and I'm waiting for the end of the semester so I can attend UCLA. And yea, I could have gotten into other schools, but for what I want, it's plenty good. Gonna major in business, maybe go pre-law. Win dad's respect by becoming a business woman, and running the company with Junior."
"Whats Junior's first name?" Trina asked. Somehow, it felt like that was the next question, one that showed interest in the tall girls family.
"Sebastian." Maddy said. "His mom thinks calling him junior is a blessing. I get it, there just aren't that many cute nicknames for Sebastian."
"Oh..." Trina trailed off.
"So, friends?" Maddy asked.
"Sure, friends." Trina agreed.
"Great, cause I have a request, and it feels kinda skeezy." Maddy told her. "I want you to, I don't know, maybe become Jax's friend." She gave that smile small children give when their hoping to get ice cream for dinner. "Not that I want you to date him. No, no dating Jax. Just be his friend. He really needs one to help him find his way into adulthood. So, please?"
"Sure." Trina agreed. "Why the chiz not. It's not like I get a hot boyfriend."
"Jade says their often not worth the effort." Maddy noted, not sure why that statement caused Trina to break out laughing.
"Jade always had hot boyfriends." Trina told her. "Dated Beck for a while. Now, she doesn't have to worry about some girl waltzing in and taking him away. Also, she may not be dating a hot boy now." The Latina was still amused, not totally sure why she was saying anything about Jade's current love life.
Maddy smiled. "Sure, that makes sense. I mean, she's not rushing to tell anyone who she's with, assuming she is, cause Andre said that Jade's lied about dating in the past."
"She has." Trina agreed. "Only, I kinda know who she's dating, and I can guarantee you, as strange as it feels, they make a good match."
"Are you…?" The tall blond looked nervous, like she was tramping on a forbidden subject.
"No, but I know the girl she is seeing, and I promised to keep that secret." Trina assured her. "And no, I don't have any problems with Jade dating a girl. Just, no one is supposed to know about it, cause Jade isn't sure yet."
"So Beck doesn't know?" Maddy asked.
"As far as I know, no." Trina replied. "So don't tell, cause he'll ask her, and she'll know it was me. Please, keep my life simple."
"She's dating your sister, isn't she?" Maddy said more then asked. "That's the only reason I can think of you'd be so freaked out about her assuming it was you who told. That, and according to Cat, she and you were never that close, and now she's relying on you as a confidant? No. She has to be dating your sister."
"It doesn't have to be, I have friends." Trina gave a weak protest. Then she relented. "But yea, it's her. This thing, it's really new for both of them. It seems that things aren't as simple as I wish they were, cause this, it's way to complicated, because of Jade." She inhaled, trying to collect her thoughts. "You see Jade, she's not so much Bisexual as having certain people she connect with, and those are the ones she should be dating. She really got lucky that Beck was one." Trina smiled, having explained things to her satisfaction. Inside, she was happy to have shared this bit of family development with Maddy, hoping it eased tensions between the her and Jade.
"She told you that?" Maddy asked.
"Tori theorized, based on guys Jade's been interested in, in the past." Trina assured her. "Plus my own conclusions. But yea, that's what we've come up with, and it seems to fit, for now."
"So it's possible that a gay guy, with the right person, could be straight?" Maddy asked.
"Yea, except things are kinda skewed, with respect to the gays. It's probable those who could find the one person they could be straight with, try real hard, and many succeed. So when someone's gay, their not one good person of the opposite sex shy of reverting. But us straight folk, we may well one day meet the right person and feel drawn to them in a sexual way." Trina guessed.
"Has that happened to you?" Maddy asked.
"Not yet." Trina replied. "But who knows, maybe it did, and I found myself a really good friend, or explained the attraction away, or missed it. Or maybe, I just need something, like Tori and Jade. They had a difficult relationship, cause Jade couldn't accept she was attracted to Tori. Now, they're trying it, and who knows." Trina smiled. "I think their gonna wind up married, with a couple of kids, and a very nervous neighbor."
Maddy smiled, enamored by the conversation. So she was almost caught off guard when Trina shifted the topic again. "So, your mom was a model, and your dad hates models? Guess that's why they broke up, huh?"
"No, see…." Maddy looked away, her mind trying to clear something up. "Both of my step mothers were models as well. Dad, he went through he list. My mom was a lingerie model, then he snagged a bikini model, then he went high class and married a runway model. I don't know if the next one is gonna be a different kind of model, cause I suspect he really wants to go back to the lingerie models."
"So, he likes to marry pretty women, and then keeps them around what, your seventeen, right? So thats maybe six years each? Man that's not a long time to be married. Try to make it last ten, at least." Trina was almost ranting.
"His marriages last a little over seven years, each." Maddy said. "So I guess step mom number three will last until she's what, thirty five? All I really know is she has a year left before my dad dumps her and finds his newest model wife. But she gave him a kid, just like each of his other wives, so she won't be gone, just banished from the castle."
"Sounds rough." Trina said.
"Wanna go into modeling?" Maddy asked. "Maybe you can become my fourth step mother."
"Think I'll pass." Trina assured her. "Yea, think I'll pass. Look, we should probably join the others. Beck is gonna be wondering where we were, while the other will be wondering why you haven't fled from my presence." They'd wandered out to the pool, looking across the valley while they talked.
"How bad could you be?" Maddy asked.
"I learned from my mistake..." Trina admitted. "But this one time, my sister and her friends won a private concert from Kesha, and I got to meet her. Only, silly me, I'm there, gushing over Kesha, and I insist on dragging her to my room, showing my stuff off. Found out that even rebels don't always appreciate my tastes."
"I met Kesha when she performed for one of my dad's functions." Maddy said. "I liked her music, and her style was memorable. But that rebel attitude, not exactly a big hit among my dad's clientele. We're sticking to more presentable recording stars. Would you believe that Rihanna can do corporate? Girls practically loves being naked in her videos."
Trina laughed, leading the taller girl back to the party. She would find herself banished to the edge of the gathering from that point forward, but it wasn't total. Jade, for some reason, made time to hang with her, if only for a little while. Tori checked on her, because the girl was a good sister, but as the accepted hostess she had to mingle. Besides, everyone loved Tori, so she was in high demand. Both Cat and Robbie also found time to talk to her, and Trina understood both. Cat was functionally everybody's friend, while Robbie still held a tiny hope that Trina might hug hum, with her largish breasts pushing into his virginal skin. 'That may be as close to a woman as he'll ever get, assuming Cat keeps playing her games.' Trina thought. While she agreed that Cat could do better, she also understood that it wasn't fair to Robbie to ask him to hold out for her, then go around looking for better options.
Eventually, everyone drifted out, saying their goodbyes before going home. Maddy stopped long enough to give Trina her phone number and a request to text her. "I want your number, and this feels like the best way to get it."
Trina thanked her, and went back to life as usual. She texted Maddy the next day, hoping the tall blond hadn't spent the night with Beck. She was rewarded with a response.
Trina (From Maddy): Jax's number, if you don't have it, is 555-xxy-yyxx. Call him, tell him you wanna be friends.
Trina (From Maddy): You are my friend, or I hope you will be.
Trina (From Maddy): And as a friend, I'm asking you to use that determination of yours to make Jax the kind of man a girl would feel lucky to date.
Trina rolled her eyes. 'He hasn't even called me yet. I mean, okay, he did call, asked me for Beck's address, and if I'd met Maddy yet. But thats it.' Trina thought. 'And, I suspect, he called me for a booty call. Not gonna go there, not with a guy I just met, no mater how hot he may be.'
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Sorry for the mistakes, had things come up this weekend.
New info on Jax, right? Review, and let me know what you think.