Author's note: Thank you guys for all the reviews and pms. I was really nervous about this, but you guys made me feel better.

Disclaimer: Um, I'm not sure how many times I'm supposed to disclaim ownership of Victorious per story, but here it goes again. Also, this chapter contains dialogue and such from season 3's "Driving Tori Crazy." I hope that's alright with y'all;)

{~~~~~JADE~~~~~}

Today has got to be one of the worst days I've ever had since coming here to Hollywood Arts. Not only did Mr. Whiskers (Hey, I was seven when I named him) die this morning, but I'm in the girls' bathroom trying to wipe coffee out of my shirt because of the stupid new girl. She's lucky my top is black and the coffee stain won't show, otherwise I'd take a pair of scissors to her earlobe.

Actually, I might still do it. I'll have plenty of time to later. She doesn't know it yet, but I'm gonna make her come to my place after school today. I'd rather not. I don't want her to know where I live. And I really don't want to see her after school hours, but there's something of hers that I need.

Her clothes.

I wish I was going to do something drastic with them; like cut 'em up and make her walk home in her underwear, but I'm not. I'm going to wear them tomorrow, after running them through my washer half a dozen times of course.

It's that buffoon Sikowitz's fault. He's made her my partner in our newest method acting exercise; an exercise in which we have to switch identities with one of our classmates for a day.

That's right. All day tomorrow, I have to be "Tori Vega" and she has to be Jade West. God, I'd rather be Cat. All I'd have to do is say stupid, airy, things and run around like a five year old all day. Don't get me wrong, Cat's my closest friend here, but under normal circumstances I'd rather slam my tongue in a car door than act like her.

Today however, I'd gladly do it. It would beat having to be Tori Vega. I mean, she's new. What else do I know about her besides the fact that she's awkward, clumsy, stupid, annoying, a gank, easily intimidated, -

"Hey, um Jade?"

I shift my eyes in the mirror and immediately make eye contact with her, the Vega girl.

"Vega," I grunt and continue to wipe at my shirt, refusing to let her even think she's important enough to upset me.

"So, I'm sorry about the coffee on your shirt, but since we're partners I was thinking maybe we should start fresh, you know? Be friends? Maybe?" She smiles nervously while twisting her fingers about each other.

Inside, I'm rolling my eyes and thinking about how stupid this girl really is if she thinks that I'd easily forgive her for what she did. "Yeah, well, I don't like you; so, I'm not gonna be your friend." I manage to sound completely bored rather than irritated; which is what I was aiming for.

"Look, I'm really sorry. What do I gotta do to show you that?" She all but begs.

Pathetic.

I pretend to consider her offer, though I have no intention of accepting. "Come to my place after school." I command before turning from the mirror and walking toward her.

She's got her mouth hanging open, obviously shocked and scared out of her wits.

Good.

As I pass by her, she grabs my arm.

My eyes go wide. She just touched me. I don't let people touch me; not unless I like them, and there aren't very many people I like. "Never touch me," I growl.

Her eyebrows nearly kiss her hairline. "I'm s-sorry, but I don't know where you live." She stammers. She's fidgeting with her hands again, but that smile is still there. God, what a weirdo. "And also, I don't have a car yet, so…"

I stare at her blankly as I work out what I want to do. As I do, she swallows like five times.

She's so fuckin' spineless.

"Fine, I'll give you a ride." I give in. "Meet me by my car after school."

"Uh, which car is yours?"

What was I thinking? Of course she doesn't know which car is mine.

"Meet me here then!" I snap a little impatiently because I'm starting to feel like idiocy might be contagious. She's already riddled with the disease and I don't wanna catch it, so I get away from her as fast as I can.

~~~O~~~

I'm still wazzed off, even more than I was before. I talked to Sikowitz...again. I was trying to get him to let me switch partners, to let me work with anyone besides Vega. Hell, I'm even willing to be Robbie tomorrow and endure all of Rex's dirty comments about my hand being stuck up his back, but Sikowitz said no. He's a stubborn one he is. I hope he drinks a sour batch of coconut juice one day.

I march into the bathroom and spot Vega right away. God, she's so stupid. She could've waited outside the bathroom.

"Let's go," I snap; then I walk out. I don't check to see if she's following me. I know she is. She's spineless Vega isn't she?

The trip to my car is made in silence. As if I'd have it any other way. I don't like Vega's voice. It's pitchy, whiney, annoying, slightly nasally-

"You should put your seatbelt on, Jade."

It's bad enough that I was so lost in my thoughts that I hadn't even realized I was in my car, but to be jarred out of thoughts on how annoying Vega's voice is, by Vega's annoying voice telling me to put my seatbelt on…? Without even realizing it, I fix her with a glare so fiercely murderous she snaps her mouth shut and literally gulps like a Looney Toons character.

"Sorry, my dad's a cop, so…" she offers, before buckling her seatbelt and looking out her window.

I pull off without a word.

Her dad's a cop, huh. That's good. I could use that information. I need to learn everything there is to know about Vega. It's the only reason she's coming to my place. I have to get to know her if I'm going to be her all day tomorrow. I'm not here, at Hollywood Arts, by accident unlike some people. I take my craft seriously. If I'm going to play Vega, I'm going to be Vega. I don't half-ass any of my assignments; and I'm professional enough to keep my dislike for the girl on the back burner while I perform.

"Uh, Jade?"

I raise my eyebrows rather than give Vega a verbal response.

"You… you have a shovel in your backseat." She comments. She's trying to be nonchalant, but failing miserably. She's possibly the worst actress I've ever come across.

"Uh-huh." I answer. That's it. That's all I say because I'm not gonna tell her my cat died and I buried him on my way to school this morning. It's none of her damn business.

"Uh, Jade?"

I raise my eyebrows again, refusing to look away from the road. It's relatively deserted, like always, which means I don't necessarily have to concentrate so hard on it, but I'd rather not acknowledge Vega unless I absolutely have to.

"Uh, my phone's not getting any signal."

I don't answer her. Of course she's not getting any signal. We're in the desert, idiot. I don't exactly like not getting phone reception for twenty minutes out of my day either, but this is the shortest route to my house. I don't exactly live close to the school.

"See, no signal," she persists, shoving her PearPhone in my face.

I look at her for the first time since she told me to put on my seatbelt, and what I see makes me smile. She's scared.

My god. I know we're in a desert, with no signal, and I've got a shovel in my back seat, but does she really think I'm going to kill her?

On second thought…that's not such a bad idea.

"Yeah, we're about to drive through Shadow Creek Park. There's not much signal up here." I explain ominously before adding on, "there's not much of anything up here."

"Oh." She gulps loudly.

Man, she's easy. I turn back to the road and begin to hum, quietly at first then I get louder. "La la, la lala la" I sing as creepily as I can, over and over again, just to fuck with her.

Suddenly, she screams; which was actually pretty amusing until she opened her door and jumped out the car; out of my moving car.

What the…

I slam on my brakes and reverse until I'm aligned with her. Okay, I gotta admit, I'm impressed a little, but she's still stupid. She's staring at elbow, and I can see from the driver's seat that there's blood on it. Lots of it. Stupid girl. What did she think would happen if she jumped out of a moving vehicle?

"Hey, why'd you jump out of the car?" I ask, knowing the answer already and not feeling the tiniest bit of guilt. She jumped. I didn't push.

"Oh, no reason!" she shouts back before slowly standing on wobbly legs. Then she looks down, frowning at her dirty jeans before muttering, "Coño!"

I roll my eyes. "Well, hurry up and get back in!"

"No, that's okay. I'll walk it from here."

I narrow my eyes at her stupidity. "You don't know where I live."

"Guess I'll just go home then." She shrugs.

"Just get back in the car." I'm starting to get really irritated.

"No thank you." She waves politely before turning her back to me and walking away with a slight limp. She's hurt, obviously, but I don't care. She just… dismissed me.

I get out of my car quickly. She's not going home until I get what I need from her. I'm not going to fail this assignment just because poor little Vega's a fuckin' scaredy cat!

Once she hears my car door slam shut she screams and runs, actually runs, away from me. I'm not a very fast runner, but luckily for me, she can't run so fast either because she's injured.

Words can't express just how pissed off I am at her for this. We're in the desert. I'm dressed in all black and boots. It's fucking hot. I don't want to run. I've never sweated a day in my life and I'm sure as hell not about to start now!

I catch up to her easily and tackle her to the ground. It's not necessary, but I wanna hurt her, so I tackle her hard.

She grunts and starts squirming like a maniac, trying to shake me loose.

I'm screaming, "Stop being an idiot and get back in the car!"

She's screaming, "Lemme go!" "Get off!" and "My dad's a cop!"

I ignore her and continue to wrestle her.

An eternity later, I somehow manage to get on my feet. I grab one of her legs and begin to drag her back to my car. It's the most tiring experience I've ever had because she's struggling against me so hard. Then she kicks me, right in the shin. I nearly say the biggest, baddest, four letter word known to man, but I hold it in cause I know that I wouldn't have stopped there. I would've gone on a tangent, saying every swear word I know and mixing them up into the most creative combinations ever heard. I would've kicked and screamed and gone red in the face due to the amount of energy used for my tantrum; but then, my little prey would've gotten away.

Much like the way she's trying to get away now. She's on her belly, slithering away at lightning speed just like the snake that she is.

I pounce on her. She turns onto her back abruptly, dislodging me. I bounce back quickly and end up straddling her stomach, pinning her arms to her side with my legs. She's still struggling hard against me, but I have the upper hand. So, I half sit/ half lay there, my hands braced against the earth on either side of her head as she twists and bucks. I'm gonna be here until she gets it through her head that I'm not going anywhere, and that the harder she struggles the less she'll be able to breathe.

Her face is nearly purple by the time the idiot figures it out. She's not fighting as hard, just kinda breathing heavily and giving a little twist here and there. Either she's that stupid or she's that determined to get away. If it's the latter, then I've got to admire the girl's survival instincts. I don't have to like her to admit that her will to survive is quite impressive.

Impressive. Ugh, I think I've used that word to describe Vega about three times now. She's not impressive. She's not! She's not! She's Not!

When she finally goes absolutely still, I speak. "You done there, Vega?"

She glares at me.

Eh, good enough.

I lean in a little closer, my nose merely a centimeter away from hers, and narrow my eyes. She tries to move away, but she's lying on her back, trapped beneath me. She can't really shrink away from me, no matter how hard she tries. The best she can do is squeeze her eyes shut. It's the reaction I want from her. The action I expect to receive. But she doesn't give it to me. She stares me straight in the eyes, defiantly.

That's fine too I guess. In fact, it might do her some good to look at me. To see the absolute murder in my eyes, because that's how I feel right now. Murderous. I really wanna put my hands around this girl's throat and squeeze until her eyes pop out of their sockets.

But I won't. Not yet.

"I promise not to kill you, just get back in the car," I say slowly, emphasizing almost every other word to let her know just how stupid I think she is.

Still she stares at me.

I work my jaw a little, my patience running on empty. "What? I said I promise."

Her arm twitches beneath me, and instinctively I clench my legs tighter around her, keeping her arm in place. "Girl…" I growl menacingly, my whole demeanor suggesting that if she moves an inch I'll break one of her limbs. I'm not in the mood to be pushed off, or to have to chase after her again.

"Pinky promise," she croaks.

I take a deep breath before looking up to the sky and rolling my eyes. Pinky promise? Even Cat has outgrown pinky swearing.

Then I relent because I don't want to be here, on top of Vega, all day. I've just learned that she can be incredibly stubborn. If I don't pinky promise her, we'll probably be here till midnight.

"Fine, I pinky promise." I shift slightly, just enough to lift one of my legs high enough for her to free her arm. She holds her pinky up for me to take, and I do it quickly. Like I said, I don't want to be on top of Vega all day.

I get off her quickly, grab one of her arms, and yank her up roughly. She crashes into me and I wrap an arm around her waist before pulling her toward my car. Normally, I'm not one for hugging on people I don't know, or people I do know for that matter, but I hold on tightly to Vega. She's weak and needs my support. I mean, I thoroughly wore her out and I'm proud of it; but at the same time I don't trust her not to run off again if I let go of her.

When we get to my car, I shove her into the passenger seat and nearly walk around to my side, but I change my mind when a thought comes to mind. I pinky promised not to kill her. She didn't pinky promise to stay in the car. So, I buckle her in myself before crawling over her to get to the driver's seat.

She protests and grunts; pushing and slapping at my butt until I get on my side. I glare at her for hitting me, but I don't say anything as I lean over her to close her door. I can't really blame her for her reaction. If she put her butt in my face I'd do more than hit her.

I start my car up with one hand. With the other, I'm holding onto Vega's seatbelt and I don't plan on letting go any time soon. If she jumps out of my car again, I'll kill her. Pinky promise or no pinky promise.

I have to drive like this all the way to my house and I'm annoyed by it. Truly wazzed actually; but, there's a small part of me that's just a little bit less angry about having to be Vega tomorrow. She's not just awkward, clumsy, stupid, annoying, a gank, or easily intimidated; she's a fighter as well.

I can work with that.

{~~~O~~~}

Author's note: Maybe the fighting was a little over the top, but hopefully still entertaining. I wanna try and put at least one "fight scene" in every chapter because of the title. Should be fun right? Wish me luck!