Jade and Trina stood in the middle of the bedroom. Trina stood in front of the doorway, preventing Jade from leaving the room. Her eyes were fixed on Jade. Jade made of point of avoiding Trina's gaze, tilting her head away from her and pretending to look at a spot on the ceiling. Trina continued to stare at her. Jade turned to face Trina, looking right into Trina's eyes. She hoped this would shake Trina, but Trina was unfazed by Jade's glare. Jade looked down at her fingers, as if she were looking at something on her nails. "Jade."

Jade groaned. "What?"

"We need to talk," said Trina. "What was that fight with Tori all about?"

"I don't know," said Jade. "Your sister's had it in for me."

"Jade!" said Trina.

"Okay, it was something about a pillow," said Jade.

Trina raised an eyebrow. "What's this about a pillow?"

"I told Tori that I didn't have a pillow for her," said Jade. "Which is totally true. I only have the one and I'm not going to take one from my brother or my mom. And then Tori got all mad and started complaining about how her sleeping bag has holes in it. And you know that's not my fault. It's been years since I went camping."

"You expect me to believe that's what happened?" said Trina.

"Surprise, surprise," said Jade. "Of course you side with your sister."

"I'm siding with her because I know you," said Trina. "Do you think I'm stupid?"

Jade looked at Trina. "Well..."

"Ha, ha," said Trina. "You know, Tori was right when she said you were awful to us."

"This is the thanks I get for taking you guys in?" said Jade.

"You can drop the act," said Trina. "You're not fooling anyone."

"What act?" said Jade. "You guys could've stayed with anyone else, but I volunteered to let you guys in my home, even though I didn't have to. You think I'd do that if I didn't want you guys around?"

Trina sighed. "Look, I know you have issues with my sister. But can you just pretend to get along with her? Dad's going to come home tomorrow. You literally have to tolerate her for less than a day. Can you handle that?"

Jade paused and thought for a moment. "Fine, I can do that."

"Great." Trina went to pat Jade on the shoulder, who flinched. "Sorry."

"Never touch me," said Jade.

"I'm sorry, I just wanted..." At that moment, Trina heard the sound of bushes rustling. "What's that?"

"Probably some animal," said Jade, but the sound of bushes rustling continued.

"Why isn't it stopping?" said Trina.

Jade shrugged. "Maybe it's stuck?"

"What if it's Ponnie?" said Trina.

"Seriously?" said Jade. "Looks like Tori rubbed off on you."

"What do you mean?" said Trina.

Jade adopted the southern accent she used to imitate Tori. "What if Ponnie's the reason dear old Mother isn't calling? What if Ponnie's hiding out there in the bushes? What if Ponnie's why that sweet kitten's stuck in the tree? You know, Ponnie isn't behind everything bad that happens."

"When someone tries to drive your sister insane and replace her, you can act as stone faced as you want," said Trina. "In the meantime, we've got to figure out what's in the bushes. You here that? Whatever it is, is still stuck there?"

Jade rolled her eyes. "Like I said, it's probably some animal that got stuck there."

"Awww," said Trina. "Well we should help it."

"No!" said Jade. "It's going to get out all by itself."

Yet, as they talked, the bushes still rustled. "Okay, well whatever it is sounds like it's stuck there."

Jade sighed. "If you want to free it, be my guest."

"What if it's Ponnie?" said Trina.

Jade let out a groan that echoed throughout her house. "Enough with the Ponnie talk! Ponnie's in Nevada."

"Well I'm not going out there alone," said Trina, putting her hands on her hips.

"Fine," said Jade. "I'll go out there with you to show you there's no Ponnie. Happy?"

"Alright," said Trina. "I'll come with you."

"Knock yourself out," said Jade. "Better you than me. Tell me what you find."

"I'm not going out there by myself," said Trina. "What if Ponnie's out there? I need you to have my back."

"Fine." Jade and Trina left the room and went down the hallway. Trina went up to Jade and grabbed her arm. Jade pulled her arm away rapidly. "What did I say about touching me?"

Trina grabbed Jade's arm again. "Too bad. I'm not letting us get separated."

"You've got to be kidding me," said Jade.

"Nope," said Trina. "Ponnie's pretty clever. I'm not going to let her get the best of us."

"We don't even know if this is Ponnie!" said Jade.

"It doesn't hurt to be careful," said Trina.

Jade grit her teeth. "Okay. You can hold my hand, but if Ponnie isn't out there, you've got two seconds to let go of me."

"Sure." Jade held out her hand for Trina and the two made there way down the hallway. Truth be told, Jade didn't mind having Trina holding her hand. It was dark in her home and hard to navigate safely, even for Jade, who'd lived there for years. The only light was coming from the bathroom, where Tori was taking her shower. Oddly enough, Jade couldn't hear any noise coming from there, despite Tori taking her shower there. Granted, the walls were designed to absorb those sounds, it was weird that they didn't hear anything. The sound coming from outside on the other hand was pretty clear. In fact, it seemed to be getting louder. Jade started to wonder if maybe Trina was right. An animal wouldn't be making this much noise. Maybe it was a person. And if it was a person, what were they doing in the bushes? If they were just stuck, they would be calling for help. It was looking more and more like Trina might be right. Ponnie could be out there. Jade hadn't really face Ponnie the first time she'd shown up. She had other things on her mind. She knew Trina had faced Ponnie with her sister and beat her. If Tori could hold her own against Ponnie, surely Jade could do the same. "Why are you stopping?"

"Oh, did I stop," said Jade. "I was just trying to figure out where the noise is coming from."

"I'm pretty sure it's coming from the front yard," said Trina.

"Yeah, you're probably right," said Jade. "It's just, if this is Ponnie-"

"I thought you didn't believe Ponnie was here?" said Trina.

"I don't," said Jade. "I'm just saying if this is Ponnie, then what is she doing in the bushes?"

"Probably spying on us," said Trina.

"But it's night," said Jade. "We're supposed to be asleep. Why would she be watching us from the bushes if all that's happening is we're sleeping? And wouldn't she try to be more stealthy? She's making too much noise if she's trying to spy on us."

"So what do you think she's doing?" said Trina. "I mean if she's out there."

Jade scratched her chin. "Well this is all hypothetical, but what if she's making noise to lure us out and away from-"

At that moment, a door that was in front of them was flung open. Trina jumped, grabbing Jade. Both girls screamed. Something dark popped out from behind the door. "Jade? What's going on?"

"Get back in bed!" Jade's brother rushed back into his room, closing the door behind him. Jade turned to Trina. "Trina, you can only hold my hand."

"Okay." Trina let go of Jade's body, only holding onto her hand. The two continued down the staircase and to the front door. By that point, the noise had started to die down a bit. Jade could still hear the unmistakable sound of the bushes rustling, but it wasn't as loud as it had been. Maybe whoever was making those noise realized they were drawing attention to themselves and was trying to hide. If that was the case, they were doing a bad job at this. Jade put her hand on the doorknob, lingering there for a moment. She didn't want to make too much noise and alert whoever was out there. She turned to Trina, who was looking back behind them. "Hey Jade, do you guys have a flashlight?"

"We don't," said Jade. "Use your pear phone."

"I don't have the flashlight app," said Trina.

"So," said Jade. "Use the light from your screen."

"Oh," said Trina. "I get what you're saying."

"Finally." Jade gingerly opened the door and lead Trina out of her house. They turned towards where the noise was coming from. The two tiptoed their way across the lawn. As they got closer, Jade could see a bush that was shaking. Jade turned to Trina. "Get your pear phone out."

"I'm trying." Trina had her hand in her pocket, fumbling around as she tried to get her phone out.

"Hurry, I can see something in there." Jade turned back to the bush. She could see a dark silhouette near the bush. It was in the unmistakeable shape of a person. Whoever it was, one of their legs was stuck in the bush. Jade's heart started to race. She reached down and picked up a rock from the ground, tossing it at the silhouette. "You want some more of that!"

"Owwww!" The silhouette's voice was familiar to Jade.

Jade's eyes widened. "Sinjin?"

"Sinjin? Is that Sinjin?" Trina got her phone out of her pocket and shined the light from the screen at the bush, revealing that the silhouette was in fact Sinjin. His pant leg was caught in a root in the bush.

Sinjin turned to the two girls, an awkward smile on his face. "Hi ladies."

Jade let go of Trina's hand and took a step towards Sinjin. Her hands were turning into fists. "Sinjin, what are you doing here."

"I was out jogging and accidentally fell into your bushes," said Sinjin, as he tore his pant leg out of the bush. "I tripped you see."

"You jog?" said Jade. "Since when?"

"Since a long time ago," said Sinjin. "I was president of the jogging club."

"You aren't dressed for jogging." Trina pointed to Sinjin's clothes. She was right. He was dressed in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. These were the clothes Sinjin typically wore, but weren't the kind of clothes one would wear for exercise. "There's no way you can jog in that."

"Sure you can, watch." Sinjin turned away from the girls and darted across the lawn, Jade following in tow.

Tori dried her hair as she walked out of Jade's shower. The steam from her shower filled the room. Tori sighed. She had to admit, Trina was right. Tori was feeling better after her shower. No longer was she mad. She was now relaxed. All her stress about Jade, Ponnie, and her Mother had seemed to have evaporated. She also enjoyed getting to use Jade's stuff for once. This would be how Jade would pay her back. Tori especially enjoyed her scented soap. It smelled of lavender. She also made sure to use the orange flavored body wash. It was almost empty, so Tori took the liberty of finishing it off. Instead of throwing the empty tube away, she left it back where she found it, hoping Jade would try to use it and find it empty. Jade's shampoo and conditioner were also great. Tori's hair hadn't felt so soft and fluffy before. She was actually surprised that Jade had stuff this "girly". She'd expected Jade's soap to be brimstone scented and conditioner made from the blood of the unborn. For all her attempts to put on a dark exterior, Jade's stuff wasn't too different from Tori.

Tori wrapped a towel around her body and was about to leave the bathroom. She'd laid out some clothes in Jade's room. Hopefully Jade had left those alone. However, as Tori was about to open the door, she heard voices from outside. Tori hunched down and put her ear near the door so she could hear who was talking. The voices sounded like Trina and Jade. Tori continued to stay by the door, wanting to hear what they were saying. She didn't want to interrupt them if they were talking about her. She could clearly hear Trina's voice. "Wow, Sinjin sure is a creep."

What about Sinjin? What was he doing. Tori then heard Jade. "Shut up! This all is your fault. You're the reason why we had to go out there."

"My fault?" said Trina. "So you're fine with Sinjin being out there, hiding out in your bushes?"

"N...no," said Jade. "It's just...it's just I thought Ponnie was out there."

"Same here," said Trina.

"Yeah," said Jade. "And you got me all worked up and made me think she was waiting in the bushes to attack us."

"Well, she wasn't," said Trina. "And are you saying Sinjin being in your bushes is any better?"

"Yes," said Jade. "Sinjin's a creep, but he's a harmless creep. Ponnie's a crazy psycho. I don't want to deal with that."

"Well I guess this is really Tori's fault," said Trina. "She's the one who got me all worried about Ponnie coming after us."

Tori's jaw dropped as she heard this. How could Trina try to blame her for being scared of Ponnie? Jade seemed to agree. "Oh come on, don't try to blame this on Tori."

Tori bit her tongue to stop herself from thanking Jade. She didn't want the other girls knowing she'd been listening to them. Trina spoke next. "I'm not trying to blame Tori. It's just this whole thing has been stressful for me."

"For you?" said Jade.

"Yeah," said Trina. "I've been trying to be Tori's rock through out this whole ordeal."

"You have?" said Jade.

"I have," said Trina. "You know, I've been trying to calm her down and stuff, but I don't think it's working. She's still stressed, and Mom won't call, and...oh I'm getting a call."

"From who?" said Jade.

"The police." Tori's heart started to beat faster. Why were the police calling. "Hello, this is Trina Vega. Uh-huh. Wait, really? You did? Wow, that's great news. I'll be sure to tell her."

Tori then heard the sound of someone knocking on the bathroom door. "Yes?"

"Tori," said Trina. "I've got something to tell you."

"Okay, just give me a second to get ready." After waiting for enough time to convince Trina and Jade that she'd gotten ready, she opened the door. Outside, she could see Trina and Jade standing outside. Trina was practically bouncing with manic energy. Jade on the other hand appeared apathetic. Her arms were crossed and a neutral expression was on her face. However, Tori noticed that the corners of Jade's mouth looked like they were about to form a smile. "What is it Trina?"

"They caught her!" said Trina.

"They caught her?" said Tori. "You mean they caught Ponnie."

Trina shook her head. "Yeah. The police just called. They arrested her in Las Vegas."

"So it looks like she was in Nevada," said Jade.

"It's the craziest thing," said Trina. "Las Vegas is where the shoot The Wood now. Apparently she auditioned for a part on the show."

"So I was right?" said Tori. "I knew that girl looked too much like Ponnie. But why would she try to sneak onto the show?"

"Apparently she thought you were still part of the show," said Trina.

"So it looks like you're safe," said Jade. "No need to worry about Ponnie anymore."

"Yeah, you're right." The thought hit Tori hard, sending waves of joy through her body. She jumped forward and hugged Jade. "Oh, it's finally over!"

"Uh Tori," said Jade. "You're kind of...you're only wearing a towel."

"Oh right." Tori stepped away from Jade. "Sorry."

"That's fine," said Jade. "Just put some clothes on and you can do it again."

"Really?" said Tori.

"Sure," said Jade.

"Okay," said Tori as she skipped towards Jade's room to get changed.

Afterwards, Jade seemed to have a change of heart, telling Tori she didn't have to sleep on the floor. She could share the bed with Jade. "Really?"

"Yeah," Jade had said. "There's plenty of room for two people. We'll have to be close, but we can make it work."

She wasn't wrong. Tori was hanging off the bed. Jade moved over to give her more room and let Tori rest her head on her chest. Tori clutched her Cuddle-Me Cathy Doll. Oddly enough, Jade didn't try to make fun of her for still sleeping with a doll. At that moment, she could tell that Jade was still awake based off of her breathing. Tori looked up, to see that Jade's eyes were wide open, staring at the ceiling. Tori bit her lip. "Hey Jade."

"What?" Jade continued to stare at the ceiling.

"Thanks," said Tori. "Thanks for everything. I know how hard this was for you and I'd like to say I'm grateful that you took us in."

Jade looked down at Tori. "Look Tori, I'm sorry. Not just for tonight, but for how I've treated you in general. I know it probably won't mean much to you, but I really do regret it."

"You don't need to say that," said Tori. "I know you-"

"No, I really do," said Jade. "You're right. I'm awful to you, and I don't mean to."

"It's not just you," said Tori. "I've done stuff to you that I'm not proud of."

"Not as bad as what I've done," said Jade.

Tori shrugged. "True, but I'm not saint. I get why you'd hate me."

"That's the thing," said Jade. "I don't hate you. It's something else."

"What is it then?" said Tori.

"I don't know," said Jade. "But I like you. I really do. It's just there's something else I feel and I don't know what it is."

"Okay," said Tori. "Well it's not too late. We can still be friends and whatever you want us to be. I mean, why would you let us stay here if you didn't like us."

Jade looked away from Tori. "Because I didn't want you to be with Beck."

"Fair enough," said Tori. "But you still let us stay here even after our fight."

Jade snorted. "That's because it was the right thing to do."

"That's right," said Tori. "You were willing to do the right thing for us. That's got to count for something, right?"

"And what was it even for?" said Jade. "Ponnie wasn't even in the same state."

"True," said Tori. "But you didn't know that."

Jade smiled and looked back to Tori. "Look Tori, you can try to spin it anyway you want it, but it doesn't change how bad I've been."

"Sorry," said Tori.

Jade put an arm around Tori and closed her eyes. "But it's sweet that you tried."

Tori hugged Jade, her face resting on her chest, and closed her eyes too. She placed her Cuddle-Me Cathy between her and Jade. "Anything for you."