Thank you for the follows, faves, and reviews. This one takes place during Tori's song writing session with Ryder, and Jade sitting between them.
Sorry for not updating earlier in the week like I said I would.
Disclaimer: I don't own 'VicTORious' or any characters.
Jade POV
I watch between Tori and Daniels as they work on their song. Before, when I got here after they already started, Ryder got upset and tried to make me leave them alone, but his attempts failed each time. And with Tori okay with me being there, which I'm guessing has something to do with what she and Andre talked about a while ago in the janitor's closet, he didn't really put up a fight, not wanting to upset her. So now, I sit a few feet behind them, but in the middle, watching them work on lyrics for their song, and Tori pressing a few keys on the keyboard in the music room to test it with the lyrics.
"Do you even know how to play an instrument, Daniels?" I ask, glaring at him when he makes no attempt at helping write the music, just giving a few half-hearted suggestions for the lyrics.
"What's it to you?" Daniels asks as Tori writes down some lyrics after testing them with the piano.
"Well, I've been watching for almost an hour now, and not once have you picked up a guitar or bass, or headed to the drums, or anything else since you two started. And barely made any effort to help with the lyrics. Without your help, there would be little to no change in lyrics and music." I tell him, crossing my arms under my breasts, glaring when he looks at my chest.
"Why are you here?" He asks me as Tori raises an eyebrow at us, giving me a quick look of confusion before going back to the lyrics.
"What? Don't like an audience? If that's the case, you're in the wrong school, Daniels." I say with a smirk.
"Jade, would it kill you to be nice for a few minutes?" Tori asks with a curious look as she taps the pen against the sheet of paper.
"I don't know. Not taking that risk though." I say, shrugging my shoulders.
"You're not needed here, West." Daniels says, glaring at me. "So you can leave."
"Based on what I've seen, you're not needed either." I point out, smirking triumphantly. "And if Tori wanted me to leave, she'd have said." I say, looking at her.
"How about we just finish for the day and come back tomorrow?" Tori suggests, giving me a quick pointed look. "We've got time before the Full Moon Jam, and most of what we need is the music, so why not?" She asks, putting the sheets of paper in a folder and shuts off the keyboard.
"I'll give you a ride." Daniels says quickly, smirking at me when I try to offer her a ride.
"Sorry, Jade and I are working on a project for Sikowitz. It'll be easier if I just grab a ride with her instead." Tori says apologetically as she puts the folder with the lyrics and music in her bag. "Meet here again tomorrow after school?" She asks, shouldering her bag.
"Yeah. Sure." Daniels says, standing up and grabbing his bag.
"What was that all about?" Tori asks me as I pull out of the parking lot a moment later.
"What was what all about?" I ask as I watch Ryder pull away in his mid-2000's Ford Mustang. "Does he actually think he's cool with that car? The 60's and 70's had a much better era of Mustangs." I say, insulting his car and speaking appreciatively of mine, a black late 1960's Ford Mustang, the only thing my father gave me without a hint of disdain. (It was his when he was younger and kept it as perfect as he could, fixing anything that needed it, and when I passed my driver's test last year, he gave it to me, not wanting me driving anything that might 'insult the West name'.)
"I'm talking about your messing with Ryder. And who cares what he drives? A car's a car, isn't it?" Tori asks as I drive towards her house.
"He was lazing around, making no effort to do anything. His attempts to 'help' with the song sucked ass, and he can't play an instrument to save himself." I say as I drive. "And the kind of car you drive says a lot about you, more-so if you're a guy. Just ask Andre or Beck. They'll tell you." I say, thinking back to when I got the car and how they both wanted to drive it, complimenting me on getting such a good car.
"That doesn't give you the right to mess with him. Maybe he's still learning to play an instrument or something? Or they didn't have it in the music room?" Tori suggest as we near her house.
"Oh, don't defend him, Tori." I say, rolling my eyes. "Hollywood Arts have every instrument someone could play, even instruments from around the world that most people here haven't even heard of." I say, pulling onto her street.
"Why don't you like him? What has he done to you?" Tori asks as I park behind her sister's bright blue Honda Accord.
"Nothing. I just don't trust him, and I don't like how close he kept trying to get with you." I say as I shut off the car and the two of us leave my car.
"I'm fine." Tori says, looking at me. "I know he won't like it, but you're going to be there tomorrow, right?" She asks as we head towards the house to get started on the short script and acting assignment for Sikowitz's class at the end of the month.
"Duh." I say, following her in. "Why'd you accept him as your partner, anyway?" I ask as we make our way into her house.
"I don't really know. He said about how he was going to have trouble working on the music and everything, so I asked to make it easier on both of us." She says as we head to the kitchen to grab a snack and drink before heading to her room.
"Tell him plans change and you're doing a solo. Tell him to find some other loser to be his partner." I say, grabbing a large mug and filling it with coffee from the pot.
"Did you just call me a loser?" Tori asks, grabbing a glass and filling it with pink lemonade.
"Well, you did offer to help because you're too nice." I say, adding some sugar and stirring it with a spoon.
"How does that make me a loser?" Tori asks, offended.
"Chill out." I say, smirking. "Just messing with you. Though, not about telling him you changed your mind or something. I don't want him close to you." I add, sipping my coffee.
"He won't hurt me, Jade." Tori says, grabbing her glass of pink lemonade and leading me up to her room after grabbing a bag of pretzel sticks.
"He won't get the chance." I assure her, following after her.
The next day, I again meet Tori after school in the music room. This time, I get there before Daniels does and sit with Tori as she grabs the folder out of her bag. "What do you think of this? I thought about it after you left last night." Tori asks me, turning the keyboard on and playing a few keys as she sings her lyrics.
"You thought of that?" I ask, impressed, after she was done playing the song.
"Yeah. You like it?" She asks, putting some of her hair behind her ear.
"It's nice." We hear from the doorway. We look over to see Daniels standing in the doorway, nodding at Tori. "We're going to ace this assignment." He says, a small smile forming on his face.
"And the assignment matters, because?" I ask, glaring at him.
"It doesn't, I was just saying…" Daniels says, stopping himself.
"Uh-huh." I say in disbelief.
After that, the two get working on their song, and by the end of a few hours, they have it finished. I should say Tori has it finished. Daniels put a little more effort into it than yesterday, but by no means any to actually matter.
"So, should we get together after school tomorrow to work on getting everything right?" Daniels asks as they pack things up and shut off the equipment.
"Uh, yeah. Sure." Tori says, nodding in agreement.
"Want a ride home?" He asks her one everything is shut off and packed away.
"No." I say, glaring at him. "Her dad's a cop and doesn't like guys she doesn't know dropping her off." I say with a smirk when I see him flinch slightly at Tori's dad being a cop. "Besides, we still have some stuff to do for our assignment." I say, getting between him and Tori.
"Oh, crap. I forgot about that." Tori says, sighing. "Sorry Ryder. See you tomorrow." She says as I grab her arm and drag her out of the music room.
"Why did you play along?" I ask as I start my car.
"What do you mean? I thought we still had some final touches to do for our short scene?" Tori asks as I pull away.
"I lied about that. We got everything done." I say, shrugging my shoulders as I drive. "Unless you want to run through it one more time?" I ask, glancing at her.
"Wouldn't hurt." Tori says, looking at me.
"Fine by me." I say as I stop at a red light.
During the beginning of the Full Moon Jam, I sit in the crowd as Tori and Daniels get ready for their performance. As I sit, I listen to Cat talking to Robbie about something random, and Beck and Andre talking about some CFC match the night before. "When's Vega supposed to be on?" I ask, interrupting them.
"In a bit. Why?" Andre asks, glancing at me.
"I'm not allowed to ask?" I ask him, raising an eyebrow at him.
"Just curious." Andre says, raising his hands in surrender. "She's backstage if you want to talk to her." He suggests, a small smile on his face, turning his attention back to his conversation with Beck.
"Better than listening to you guys." I mumble as I stand him and make my way to where the performers get ready.
"Once we ace this thing, I can humiliate that Vega chick. Maybe make it look like I did all the work while she took the credit." I hear as I walk behind the curtain. Looking over, I see a smug Ryder Daniels putting his headset on, speaking to no one.
"Knew there was a reason I hated you." I whisper into his ear, surprising him.
"What are you doing back here?" He asks, staring at me wide eyes.
"Thought I'd come wish Tori good luck." I say innocently, walking around him. "Instead, I come back to hear you planning to lie about who did the work." I finish, locking eyes with him.
"No one would believe you." Daniels says smugly as I watch him.
"Oh?" I ask, pretending to be unaware. "And why's that? My reputation?" I ask as I walk around him. "The teacher's hate me? The principal is tired of hearing complaints about me scaring the others?" I ask, stopping. "You know, now that I think about it, you've had quite a few projects since I've joined Hollywood Arts. Each time, you partnered up with a beautiful, talented girl. And once you passed, you dumped her, giving her some bullshit story or something." I say, remembering the rumors of the past I've heard about him.
"They weren't bullshit." He says, glaring at me.
"Oh please. Everything you are is bullshit." I say, glaring back at him. "Back out now, or I guarantee you won't stay in this school." I tell him, crossing my arms.
"Screw you, West." Daniels says, scoffing. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a song to perform." He says, heading for the stage.
"I wouldn't be so sure." I say, making him stop in his tracks. "You see, I'm not as stupid as you. I actually think ahead." I say, pulling my phone out and playing the recording I made of him talking about humiliating Tori and taking credit.
"What the…?" Daniels says, staring at me.
"Hey, what are you doing back here?" Tori asks, coming around the corner and spotting me.
"Back out, or I play it again." I promise him, not looking at Tori.
"Play what again?" Tori asks, walking over to me.
"This." I say when Daniels doesn't say anything.
A moment later, after playing the clip, I look at Tori. "Are you able to perform tonight? Make it a solo instead of a duet?" I ask her softly, pocketing my phone.
"You were planning on using me and stealing credit?" Tori asks Daniels, ignoring me.
"It's a trick." Daniels says, looking at me. "She's messing with you."
"Why would she?" Tori asks, glaring at him. "Leave me alone, Ryder. You're on your own." She says, walking past him and onto the stage as the announcer, a shrugger from Sikowitz's class, introduces her.
"You, don't move a muscle." I tell Daniels when he goes to step onto the stage. "You won't mess with another girl, Daniels." I tell him, grabbing his arm and dragging him to the chair he was sitting in when I overheard him.
As I make Daniels sit, I hear Tori start singing her song, a small smile growing on my face. My smile becomes a smirk when, after her performance, the announcer tells the crowd that Daniels failed by not showing up, and Tori not saying otherwise.
"Congrats." I tell Tori when she comes back off the stage. "How do you feel?" I ask, pulling her into a hug.
"Let's go." Tori says silently, dragging me away.
"Tori." Daniels says behind us, sounding closer than he should be. "Please, listen." He says, placing his hand on her forearm.
"Don't." Tori says, shrugging him off and walking away.
"You're done, Daniels. I promise you that. " I tell him, pushing him and following Tori.
"Men are dicks." Tori says as she nears my car, stopping at the passenger door, making no effort to let the others know.
"Yes they are." I say in agreement, unlocking the doors. "Yes they are." I whisper as I climb in the driver's seat, not seeing the small smile on Tori's face at agreeing with her.
This is it for this one. Next one will take place during 'Prom Wrecker', and I may or may not do another for 'Terror On Cupcake Street'. Haven't decided if there will be one or two chapters left, but I know 'Prom Wrecker' will be the next.
Thank you for reading, and please review. And let me know if you think I should end season two with 'Prom Wrecker', or end with 'Terror On Cupcake Street'.
Blessed Be.