Author's note: Thank you guys for the reviews! And a special thank you to SKRowling for helping me with my Spanish again. You have no idea how much I appreciate it.

{~~~~~TORI~~~~~}

Jade's house is nice. I'm only a little ashamed that I imagined she lives in a castle with a draw bridge, a moat filled with great white sharks, and human heads on spikes littering the place.

Okay, so maybe I didn't actually think she lived in a castle with a moat and sharks, but I wasn't expecting her house to be normal either.

It's bigger than mine, but not in a way that seems uninviting I guess. I mean, the outside isn't painted black or grey, but a very rich, creamy, beige.

Not that I get a lot of time to admire her house, inside or out, because Jade is all but pulling me inside, through what I'm gonna assume is a dining room, and then upstairs into her bedroom.

I look down at my arm, the one Jade is holding onto. I thought she didn't like to touch people. I mean, she had a wazzfit when I grabbed her arm in the bathroom earlier today; so, why does she keep touching me?

I jerk my arm out of her grasp and cross my arms over my chest. If I can't touch her, she can't touch me. So there!

Okay, that sounded way more immature than I meant for it to, but the concept still stands.

Jade raises a studded eyebrow at me, like she can't believe I had the nerve to snatch my arm away from her. I stare back at her defiantly. Yeah, I had the nerve. It's my arm!

Then it appears; that evil, evil, smirk. It's there for half a second before her face settle's into this blank, 'I couldn't care less about anything' look.

I don't like that look. Only Sociopaths can master it. So I move out of her way when she starts to walk forward.

She pushes her bedroom door shut and I immediately feel stupid. She was shutting her door, not planning on doing anything to me.

She doesn't even spare me a glance as she moves over to her dresser. "I'm gonna take a shower," she announces.

I frown immediately. She's gonna take a shower? And leave me standing here in her bedroom? Doesn't she have the slightest bit of manners? I mean, who does that?

"Those are for you." She says, and I blink a few times before looking at where she's pointing. Sitting on her bed is a small heap of clothes…for me.

That's when I look at her. Really look at her. She's filthy. There's dirt on her face, on her arms, on her clothes, in her hair; just everywhere. Of course she wants to take a shower. We'd just been rolling around in the desert.

"Just stay right here and don't touch anything until I get back." And with that, she leaves the room.

I know Jade doesn't like me. In fact, I'm pretty sure she hates me. I bit her, made her fall, and then licked her boyfriend. We just fought in the desert, and I kicked her in the shins so hard her face practically turned purple due to the effort it took to keep her screams inside, yet she pulled out a change of clothes for me and is going to let me shower after her. I would've expected her to make me stay dirty and uncomfortable until I got home. That's what an evil person would do. Maybe Jade's not as bad as I thought.

Then I take a better look at my surroundings and change my mind. Jade's room is…unique. Sure the wallpaper's relatively normal, and there's a few cut out posters of boy bands that I don't recognize; but there's this one shelf that has a bunch of jars on it. In the jars are…things; like things I can't even describe because I don't know what they are; things that look like they belong in a sci-fi movie about genetically mutated babies or something. Que escalofriante; just plain freaky. I move a little closer, raising my hand to touch, but then I change my mind. Jade did say not to touch anything.

So, I drop my hand and don't touch anything. I just stand there forever waiting for Jade to come out the shower.

"Hey, Jade…whoa. Not Jade."

Jade's bedroom door is opened abruptly, and I'm staring at the cutest thing ever! There, in the doorway is a little girl of about eight or nine; and she is cute. Don't get me wrong, but she's not the cutest thing ever. The cutest thing ever is the bright yellow extensions in her hair.

This is Jade's sister. There's no doubt about it. The blue eyes, the chestnut brown hair, the fierce scowl, but those streaks, she wearing streaks in her hair the way Jade does. Jade's got a sister who admires her so much that she's copying her! Jade can't possibly be as bad as I think she is with a sister who obviously idolizes her. I mean, I've got a big sister too, but I never wanted to copy anything Trina did.

"Who the fudge-monkey are you?" The mini Jade frowns at me.

Oh my gosh! Que linda! So, dang cute that I just wanna pinch her cheeks the way my abuela used to do to me before she died.

"I'm Tori. I'm a friend of Jade's from school." I answer with a bright smile.

The little girl's eyes narrow. "Jade said she doesn't have any friends at school, just a Cat." She says suspiciously.

"Well, I just started Hollywood Arts today. Jade didn't have time to tell you about me." I answer smoothly.

"Oh." The girl accepts before folding her arms over her chest and staring at me a little more.

I shift a little, waiting for her to say something else.

She doesn't. She just keeps with the staring and it's really starting to make me a little uncomfortable.

"So, what's your name?" I ask, just to strike up a bit of conversation.

"Amber." She answers immediately.

I smile. I expected her to give me a harder time with it because of the way she's staring at me. Hopefully this means she's starting to be a little less wary of me.

Then it hits me. Amber and Jade. That's so cute!

"Why are you all dirty?" Amber unintentionally breaks into my musings.

"Oh, me and Jade were… uh wrestling"-

"Why would you be wrestling if you're friends?" She asks, going back to being suspicious.

"Well, I'm Jade's special friend. We like to wrestle each other. It's…uh fun."

"But Beck is Jade's special friend."

Face palm moment.

"Well, I'm a different kind of special friend, so there!" I poke my tongue at the little sabelotodo. Really, a kid that age shouldn't be so dang snarky.

She sticks her tongue back out at me.

"Get outta my room, Riley!"

At the sound of Jade's voice, both me and Amber jump…wait Riley?

Amber, or Riley, rolls her eyes at Jade. "Is she your special friend?" She asks, completely unaffected by her older sister's less than friendly tone.

"What?" Jade scowls.

"She said she's your special friend and you guys like to wrestle and that's why she's dirty."

Jade rolls her eyes and plops down on her bed. "Mind your own damn business."

"Mind your own damn business." Amber/Riley mocks.

"Don't you dare start that shit."

"Don't you dare start that shit"

"Riley, I swear to God!"

"Riley, I swear to-ow!" the girl exclaims as a pillow crashes right into her face. "I'm telling Mom! You're gonna get it!"

"Not if you get it first you little brat!" Jade gets up suddenly and Riley takes off running. Only pausing long enough to give Jade the middle finger at the door before she disappears down the hall completely.

I stare after her. Why did she lie about her name like that, and without the slightest bit of hesitation? Is that something that's normal here? Learning how to be someone else? Do the kids start practicing this young so that they can get into Hollywood Arts?

"Vega, you can shower now."

"Is she gonna try to get into Hollywood Arts?" I ask. I don't know why. Maybe because that thought is what's on the surface of my mind right now. Riley's gonna be a good actress someday. She deserves to go to a school like Hollywood Arts. I, on the other hand, just kinda got in by accident. I don't really have much talent. Not like the other students.

Jade makes a face at me, and I can't really blame her. That question did just come out of the blue. "She said her name is Amber" I say, as if it adequately explains what's been going through my head.

"Well, it's not. Now, go take a shower. You stink."

I scowl back at her and snatch the clothes off her bed. "You stink" I mutter under my breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing." I call brightly before practically running out of her room. That's when I realize that I don't exactly know where the bathroom is. Luckily for me, Riley comes out of a door not even ten feet away. I'm assuming it's her room.

She doesn't see me though; probably because she's too busy with her phone.

"Riley!" I call.

The girl looks up at me and frowns. "I'm Amber." She tells me.

I roll my eyes. Not this again. "Where's the bathroom?" I ask, deciding not to get riled up over the little girl's little game.

Hehe. Riled up. Riley. Yeah, it's lame; but lame things tickle me.

Riley points to the door closest to the stairs.

"Thanks!" I call.

"Uh-huh." Is her answer.

She's so much like Jade. Not that I know much about Jade because I just met her today; but there are certain characteristics of hers that are nearly impossible not to pick up on quickly.

Once inside the bathroom, I don't even hesitate to strip. Usually I do when I'm in a foreign bathroom. I usually have to figure out how the shower works because not all knobs and shower heads are created equal. Not this time. I need to get out of these clothes ASAP. I'm filthy…and a little bloody. I hope the cut on my elbow doesn't get infected.

It doesn't take me long to figure out the shower. It's like mine. Cold water on the left, hot on the right. Pull the little dohickie in the middle to activate shower mode.

I'm in the shower for all of five minutes when I hear the door open.

I freeze. Crap! Why didn't I lock it?

"Hello?" I call tentatively.

"Relax, Vega. I'm putting your clothes in the wash." Jade drawls before shutting the door loudly.

Phew.

Wait; no phew. Jade probably just saw my underwear!

Calmate, Tori. Just calm down. It's no big thing. Jade's a girl. She probably doesn't even care.

I pull the curtains back a bit and take a peek. My eyes widen at what I see, or rather what I don't see. Clothing. Jade took them, and not just my dirty clothes but the clothes she was supposedly going to let me borrow.

How could I have been so stupid! How could I have thought Jade was truly being nice to me. She's evil. I know that! Yet I let my guard down anyway and now she's getting me back for humiliating her in class today.

What am I going to do?

I try to think of something as I wash my hair. I mean, I might as well finish my shower, right?

I don't come up with anything. I'm in a strange house, with strange people, and my clothes are gone along with my PearPhone, and the only thing I can use to cover my body is a towel that's laying on the floor. It's probably Jade's. Therefore, I don't wanna touch it.

Riley.

The thought comes to me suddenly. Maybe I can get Riley to help me out. Maybe she can get me something of her mother's, and hopefully it'll fit.

It's not the best of plans; but it's the only one I got. So, I crack the bathroom door open and poke my head out, hoping Riley walks by soon.

She doesn't.

I wait, and I wait, and I wait. I wait for an hour, maybe two, possibly three. I wait so long that my hair has completely dried. Now, that's a long time. So long that I nearly give up and head for Jade's room wearing nothing but my birthday suit; but then I see her. Riley. She's coming up the stairs. I've never seen so happy to see someone in my life.

The name Riley nearly escapes my lips, but then I remember her game.

"Amber!" I hiss.

Riley stops in her tracks and stares at me for a few seconds. Then she smiles. "I'm Riley."

"Oh, so now you're Riley?" I scoff. Unbelievable.

The little girl just smirks and gives a light shrug. "What do you want?"

Jeez. The whole family's evil.

"Can you do me a big favor, please?" I plead desperately.

For some odd reason, Riley's smirk turns into a full out grin.

Oh no.

"Okay, but if I do it, you have to do me an even bigger favor." She negotiates.

"How much bigger?"

"Way much bigger."

I narrow my eyes at her.

She shrugs and begins to walk away.

"Okay, okay. It's a deal." I agree. "What's the favor?"

She turns back to me, wicked smile in place. She obviously knew I would surrender. "I don't know yet." She answers, a thoughtful look on her face. "When I figure it out, I'll tell you, okay?"

She holds her hand out so we can shake on it, and I take her smaller hand in mine with a huge smile on my face. "Okay." I agree, knowing that I'll never see this little terremoto ever again.

"Cool chiz, gimme your number," she commands while pulling her phone out of her back pocket.

Jammit!

I give her my number, my real number, because this is what happens when I try to be evil. It just doesn't work for me. I'll just have to owe Riley a favor. Fair's fair.

"So, what do you want me to do?" she asks while pocketing her phone.

"Do you think you can go into your mom's room and get me something to wear? Your sister's washing mine." I answer half-truthfully, deciding not to be a tattle.

Riley shakes her head. "Mom locks her door when she's not here."

"What? Why?" I whine.

"Because she doesn't trust us."

And with good reason I bet.

"Fine." I sigh. "Do you think you can discreetly try Jade's door. See if it's locked. Oh, and discreetly means"-

"I know what it means!" she cuts me off with a sharp hiss before walking away.

I watch her try the door; then she turns around and gives me the thumbs up. Jade's door is unlocked.

I grab Jade's towel off the ground and wrap it around myself tightly. The idea of streaking my way across the hallway rather than wearing it is no longer appealing.

"What took you so long?" Jade comments as soon as I walk into her room. She's sitting on her bed, notebook in her lap and ear buds in her ears while she idly snips at the edge of her blue extensions with the most deadly looking pair of scissors I've ever seen.

"You took my clothes." I accuse.

"I took my clothes," she counters.

Valid point; but she's had her fun. I learned my lesson…whatever it was supposed to be. She can give me some clothes now.

"Can I have something to wear now?" I ask as nicely as I can.

She tilts her head to the side for a moment, considering me before she answers with a simple "No."

"No?"

"What? You want me to say it in Spanish? No."

I scowl at her.

She smirks at me.

I think I actually hate her, and I don't hate anybody.

"Okay, so let's get started. Gimme your schedule. " Jade says, abruptly getting all "professional" on me; but how can she be so serious when I don't have clothes. The joke's over, right?

"I can't work without clothes on."

"You'll get some when I get what I need from you."

She's withholding clothing from me as an incentive for me to give her what she wants? Who does that? It's not like I told her I wouldn't participate and then she took my clothes ransom. It's like she's already decided I'm going to be difficult and had to find a way to beat me to the punch.

Jade's got major trust issues.

Hmm. It's a note; something I've learned about her. Isn't that what I'm here for? To observe Jade so that I can pretend to be her tomorrow?

"Where's my bag?" I sigh.

She points to a corner of her room, smiling triumphantly. She thinks she's won, that I've decided to do what she says; but she's only partially right. I doubt that when it's my turn to interview her, she's going to give me honest answers, because I'm pretty sure she'd get a kick out of me failing this assignment. So, I'm not going to depend on my interview. I'm going to watch and observe. I'm gonna learn everything there is to know about Jade West without her having to say a single word.

I sit down on the bed next to her and pull out a notebook as well as my schedule before handing the latter to Jade. Wait, why does Jade need my schedule?

"Why do you need my schedule again?"

She hands me a piece of paper with her schedule written on it. "Because I have to take your classes tomorrow, and you have to take mine." She answers. Her tone is bored, not condescending. I would've expected the latter, so I'm relatively pleased she hadn't insinuated I was an idiot.

"Oh." That makes sense. If I'm going to be Jade, I shouldn't show up for Tori's classes; but what about the teachers?

"Your teachers aren't going to be surprised to see me in your classes?"

Jade grunts, but doesn't look at me. She's too busy copying down my schedule. "It's a performing arts school. Stuff like this happens all the time." She finishes with a shrug.

"Oh." I answer again before taking a few notes. I write down the obvious things first. The "Jade smirk," the blue extensions, the obsession with scissors, the dark clothes; all things people notice about Jade right away.

"So, what's your morning routine? Wake up time, shower time, if you even shower, breakfast…?" She asks me.

I rattle off my answers to every question she asks truthfully and without getting the slightest bit offended when she insults me. Which is a lot. I just take note of it; of the fact that Jade insults people…a lot. Then I start on the little things about Jade; like the way she holds her pen and notebook, the way she sticks her tongue out to the side sometimes, the black fingernail polish, the way she-

"Jade, I'm hungry." Riley walks in the room without knocking and I notice right away that she looks a little different; a little less mischievous, softer even I guess. Probably because she's begging Jade to fix her something to eat rather than scowling suspiciously at me.

"Get Joy to feed you. I'm busy."

"But Mom's not here," Riley pouts.

That's weird. I look to Jade. "Why do you call your mom Joy?"

"I don't." Jade replies tersely.

And now I'm confused.

"Then go feed yourself, Amber. I'm busy."

Huh? Amber? What happened to Riley?

"But Mom said"-

Jade gets up quickly and rushes toward the little girl. I get up immediately, ready to help her if Jade becomes as violent as she looks right now, but it's not necessary. Amber/Riley doesn't so much as flinch at the sight of her sister coming toward her. She's not afraid.

Jade stops when she gets to her doorway and grabs a hold of her little sister's hand, "Riley!" she screams at the top of her lungs.

What the hell?

Almost immediately a faraway voice screams back. "Jade!"

"Come get Amber and make yourselves something to eat!"

"But Mom said we're not allowed to fix our own snacks anymore!"

"Do it anyway!"

"Okay!"

Oooh. Riley and Amber are two different girls. Twins, I realize.

Still I gasp when the other little girl, Riley, comes to Jade's door a few seconds later. Why couldn't Jade just say Riley had a twin?! Why does she have to be so…ugh!

I sit back down on her bed, snatch my notebook up and jot down more notes. Jade's secretive, a liar by omission, mysterious…

I'm slightly aware that Jade has plopped down beside me, but I don't pay her any mind until she asks me if I've ever had sex. I'm so caught off guard that I nearly tell her it's none of her business before remembering that she's not interested in my business. Not really. She's stuck with me as a partner and only needs to know so that she can pretend to be me tomorrow.

"Yes." I answer.

"Who, what, when, where, how many times…?" she trails off.

It's slightly upsetting, the way she's being so callous about this topic. But I guess that's not her fault. How could she possibly know how sore of a subject this is for me? And even if she did, she still wouldn't care. We're not friends.

So, I answer her questions as matter-of-factly as I can. All of them. It seems like she's asked hundreds before she closes her notebook.

"Okay, your turn. Lemme see what you got." she announces while snatching my notebook out of my hand and reading my notes.

"Hey!" I exclaim. I try to get it back, but she slaps my hand away.

I try again, but the next words out of her mouth stop me. "Not bad, Vega." She compliments before adding a few of her own notes to my notebook.

I stare at her. She just complimented me; and no, it wasn't sarcasm. It was a genuine compliment; like she's impressed.

When she hands me my notebook back, I stare at her notes. She didn't write down much, just the classes she actually enjoys, the classes she skips sometimes, the way she likes her coffee, and the fact that she "likes to kiss her boyfriend a lot."

The last one is underlined three or four times, like she wants me to know just how important that piece of information is.

So she likes to kiss her boyfriend, whoopee. What could possibly be so…important…oh no. I'm gonna be Jade tomorrow! And as Jade, I have to kiss my "boyfriend," Beck, a lot. But Beck isn't going to be Beck Tomorrow. His partner is Cat Valentine. Cat's gonna be Beck. I have to kiss Cat!

I start to wazz out. My eyes bug and my jaw drops. I'm too busy having my own internal freak out session that I pay no attention to Jade when she walks away, picks something up off of her dresser, and starts back toward me. I don't even register the fact that she's in my face, one hand holding on to my chin, the other poised just above my left eyebrow.

"That's it. Just stay real still. This will only hurt for a minute." She's saying.

What? Hurt? What the hell is she…Dios mío! She's got a needle in her hand!

"What are you doing?" I squeal and slap at her hand.

"My eyebrow is pierced." She answers calmly. "And my nose."

My eyes widen. She's gonna give me piercings? Is she crazy!

I want out of this situation, and I don't care how I achieve that. I'm willing to fight, scratch, freakin' scream bloody murder if it'll help me escape this psychopath.

I think she can sense it because she tackles me, pinning me down; and for the second time today she's on top of me, trying to have her way. The first time, she wanted me to get back in her car, a place where I just didn't feel safe. Now, she's trying to pierce my eyebrow with a needle I doubt is sterilized

"Hold still, Vega. I saw this in a movie once when I was a kid." Jade grunts.

"What?" What kind of chiz did her parents let her watch?

"It's no…big…deal! Just…stay...still!" Jade huffs as she struggles to keep me underneath her.

There's no way I'm staying still.

She leans in to me, trying to get the leverage needed to pin me down successfully the way she did earlier today. I can't risk that one. I couldn't get from up under her no matter how hard I tried when she did that. So, I Mike Tyson her.

Not as hard as he did to What's-his-face; but hard enough to unsettle her.

"Jade West! You know better than to let Riley….Oh…"

I extract my teeth from Jade's ear and snap my head toward the direction of the door. The girls are there, Riley and Amber, and in between them is a woman. Most definitely their mother. She's frozen, mouth hanging open and eyes wide; but she hasn't lost all mobility. She quickly covers the girls' eyes.

It's then that I realize I've lost my towel. I'm naked and Jade is on top of me. Oh…My…God! She probably thinks we're…no, I can't think it! I push at Jade, wanting her to get off me so I can cover myself, but she doesn't budge.

"I'm busy, Joy." She all but snarls; and I know it's my fault. There's no way she really talks to her mother like that. She's mad at me because I bit her…again, and now she's taking her anger out on her mother.

"I can see that. I just wish you could be a little less "busy" with two young impressionable minds running around the house." She looks down at the twins, as if to emphasize who the young impressionable minds are.

"Or I could lock my door." Jade counters.

"You know the rules."

"Then find a way to keep your young impressionable minds out of my room."

I groan and cover my eyes with my hands. I can't take this anymore. Why doesn't Jade's mom just leave? She's got to know that I'm beyond mortified. She has to!

I hear the door close after a very loud and long silence. Jade's mom finally left; I know it, but I keep my face covered. I don't think I've ever been more embarrassed in my life. I feel sick, feverish even. I'm hot all over and I know my skin is practically a glowing red.

"Vega."

"What?" I whisper, still refusing to uncover my face.

"You got blood all over my bed." Jade says. Then she's up and out of the bed.

I sit up and check my elbow. Yep, that's where the blood is coming from. It was okay before, but I guess our little squabble reopened the wound.

Jade comes back to me, a t-shirt and some cotton shorts in her hand. My god, I'm still naked.

I snatch the clothes from her and dress quickly. She walks away and comes back with a white cloth.

"Give me your arm." She commands.

I do so without hesitation. I shouldn't because I know she's evil; but I have a very trusting nature.

Jade presses the cloth against my elbow and I hiss. It's drenched in rubbing alcohol.

Jade smiles at me. She enjoyed seeing me in pain.

Freak.

Then she pulls out a box of band aids and tosses it at me. I scowl at her but then I start laughing loudly when I see the box. There are little pikachus, charmanders, squirtles, and jigglypuffs on it. Big bad Jade West has pokemon band aids!

"What? What's so funny, Vega?" Jade's scowling at me from across the room.

"Nothing. I like Charmander. I cried when his fire almost went out on that one episode." I answer as I pick out a Charmander band aid and put it on. He reminds me of Jade. Earlier today, I compared her to a dragon, but since seeing her here, with sisters who love her, and her band aids with pokemon characters on it, she's kinda like a teeny wittle lizard, with just a little fire coming out of her tail.

"What are you talking about?" she scowls.

I show her my elbow. She walks up to me and grabs it before frowning. "What the hell," she murmurs before scooping the box of band aids off her bed.

Then she goes deathly still and the dragon comes back.

"Riley!" She screams.

"Jade!" her sister screams back.

"Where the fuck are my Invader Zim band aids!"