A/N: Looks like this is gonna be a really long part of it. Try to stick through it for me? A lot of the space taken up is lyrics anyway…anyhow, I'd love it if you reviewed! :D
Lunch Time
Tori POV
We all sat down for lunch at our normal table. It was almost as though our names were etched into the table in gold letters or something, because since I had been there, no one else dared to sit there.
We all ate in silence for a while, wrapped in our own thoughts…our futures, today, our memories together of the past…everything. It was all too much.
"So, what are you guys doing after you leave here?" I asked.
"I'm heading off to an acting college in Chicago of Illinois. I was accepted all the way back in junior year, and I will be there for a couple years I believe," said Beck. "I leave to go there tomorrow at 10 AM."
I looked at the others.
"I have some good news," Cat said. She looked at us happily, reading something from her phone.
"Do share," I said, listening.
"I got a record deal, and they want me to go to the studio here in Hollywood tomorrow at 11 AM!" she squealed.
"OH MY GOD CAT!" I yelled, followed by Jade.
"That's insane!" yelled Robbie. We all got up and attacked her with hugs.
"I'm proud of you kid," I said. She smiled at me.
"How about you Rob?" asked Andre, looking at Robbie.
"Ventriloquism," said Robbie, holding up Rex.
"He tells bad jokes, I interrupt and make them funny," said Rex. We all laughed.
"I am playing backup instruments and being backup vocals and helping write songs for artists like Dr. Dre, Eminem, Rihanna, you name it," said Andre.
"Sounds fun!" said Cat, and we all agreed. I had given up on trying to eat. My stomach was like a hurricane from anxiety and upsetness.
Everyone looked at me and Jade.
"What about you?" asked Beck.
"I got accepted to a movie," Jade and I said at the same time. I looked over at her.
"What movie?" I asked.
"It's supposed to be called 'The Daily Life of American Sisters' I believe, you?" she said.
I was shocked. I couldn't even move. I just looked at her, mouth slightly open.
"No way," she said. She seemed to get what I was thinking.
"Yes way! WE'RE GONNA BE ON THE SAME MOVIE!" I cried, throwing my arms around her. At least I knew I didn't have to let go of her quite yet.
Jade hugged me back, a huge smile on her face.
"This is great, I can't believe it!" she said. She almost squealed it, she was so happy.
"I know!" said Cat, who also seemed happy. But I could see she was sad.
"Don't worry Kitty, we'll all see each other again someday," I said. As I repeated the line in my head, my sadness started to overcome me again.
"I think we're all going to make it far in life," said Andre, a smile on his face.
"Only one way to find out, isn't there?" I said. I half smiled to reassure him that everything was okay.
For a while, we talked about what we wanted to do. Like, Jade and I talked what kinds of movies we wanted to look into. Cat and Andre talked about the kinds of music they wanted to work on. Beck talked about what he wanted to do with his acting degree, and said he was aiming for a TV series. Robbie talked about what he wanted to do on the side of ventriloquism, which was to design sets for movies and stuff, and develop more special effects.
Before now, I felt like I had nothing planned out for my life. Yet, it seems like I have drawn a map from point A to point B without realizing it.
Sikowitz's Class
Jade POV
We all trudged into Sikowitz's class, the last class we would ever attend at Hollywood Arts.
As we sat down, I noticed it was just us six and Sikowitz.
"Where's everyone else?" asked Cat.
"They're with the other acting teacher. I wanted to be with just you six on your last day here," said Sikowitz, who was drinking coconut milk as usual. I was going to miss hearing about his crazy visions.
I felt my throat start to constrict at just that sentence.
"Okay. What are we going to do today?" asked Robbie.
"I have prepared a video for us to watch. I made it last night. Hope you like it," said Sikowitz.
He turned off the lights and rolled down the projector screen, then turned on the projector and started the video.
The song "Been Here All Along" by Miley Cyrus started to play. I was SOOO glad that the lights were off, otherwise I wouldn't have allowed myself to start crying as easily as I did. There are two reasons I started crying at this song. First, was because it could be looked at in a friend-friend way. But the second reason was the biggest part. Sikowitz had practically turned into our second father. The song was built around a father-son/daughter relationship. It hurt.
Sikowitz started off with showing pictures of us before Tori came. More memories were flooding in as I watched. I watched as he showed the video of our first attempt at a scene, which we failed epicly at. I chuckled.
There was a pic of us on the first day of school. We looked like such children….
More and more pictures appeared, and I couldn't help but wish that I was back in freshman year. I know you get it now, but I am not ready to leave yet.
I smiled at the pic of us going to the fifth Harry Potter movie. Just that made me think how long we have really been together. I had a scar on my forehead, and I looked like a dork.
Next was the picture of us in junior year. This time Tori was in the picture. It felt like one of those times when you think "Oh, there they are, they weren't in that last picture." It seemed like Tori belonged in the freshman year picture.
The video kept going. Memories of all sorts, good and bad, funny and sad, angering and calm, flooded in from short clips and pictures that were appearing on the screen.
The more recent they got, the more my heart got that longing feeling. It's like…knowing you have a home, but you can't go back to it.
What really broke me was when a picture that we took just yesterday appeared; it was the last picture in the video. A dramatic guitar strum added even more of an emotional effect.
In the dark, I could hear the sounds of sniffling and attempts to stop the cries coming from our throats.
When we had calmed down enough, Sikowitz turned on the lights.
"Would any of you like to present something or anything?" he asked. He sat in his chair in the back of the room.
I raised my hand.
"Go ahead Jade."
I went up to the front of the room, then plugged my phone into the speakers so the backtrack for my song could be played aloud.
"I'm going to be singing a song. It's called A Thousand Years," I said. Sikowitz nodded, then I started the music.
"Heart beats fast
Colors and promises
How to be brave
How can I love when I'm afraid?
To fall
But watching you stand alone
All of my doubt suddenly goes away
Some how
(Chorus) One step closer
I have died every day waiting for you
Darling don't be afraid I have loved you
For a thousand years
I'll love you for a thousand more
Time stands still
Beauty and is she is
I will be brave
I will not let anything take away
What's standing in front of me
Every breath,
Every hour has come to this," I sang. I was able to keep cool up until this point, but now I began to cry again.
"(chorus)
One step closer
One step closer
(chorus)
And all along I believed
I would find you
Time has brought
Your heart to me
I have loved you for a thousand years
Ill love you for a thousand more," I finished. I didn't even try to stop the tears flowing down my face. My friends came up and hugged me. I didn't hesitate for a single second to hug them back.
I seemed to hold on to Beck, Tori, and Cat for the longest. I even hugged Robbie gratefully.
"If I could cry right now I would," said Rex. For some reason that single sentence made me smile. I don't know why though.
"Very very good Jade," said Sikowitz. I smiled and nodded at him.
"Can I sing a song too?" asked Cat. Sikowitz nodded, and I sat back and waited for her to sing.
She didn't plug in her phone, and she decided to sing A Capella.
"I'm going to be singing the song 'Me Myself and Time' by Demi Lovato," said Cat. I smiled as the familiar tune came into my head.
"I can make the rain stop if I wanna just by my attitude.
I can take my laptop, record a snapshot, and change a point of view.
(Chorus)
I just entered a brand new world
And I'm so open hearted
I know I got a long way to go but i
I'm just getting started!
I'm over my head and I know it, I know it
I'm doing my best not to show it, to show it
Whatever it takes to be what I was meant to be
I'm gonna try
Cuz I'm living the dream and I know it, I know it
I'm trying my best not to blow it, to blow it
I know everything will be fine with me, myself, and time!" she sang. I wasn't really tearing up at the song…I was more happy that she was so open-minded on her future. I always wanted her to see life that way. I never wanted her to be afraid. I couldn't stop smiling knowing that I had gotten my wish.
After Cat finished, we all had smiles on our faces.
"Cat, this is always how I wanted you to look at life like. Great job Kitty," I said, hugging her. She smiled, and Tori hugged her from the other side.
We stood there for a couple seconds, and I could see everyone else in the room smiling.
When we let go, we went and sat down. Well Cat and I did, Tori stayed on stage.
"Andre, you ready?" she asked. I looked at her confused.
"Just listen," she said. I smiled.
She was going to be singing A Capella as well with Andre.
"We're going to sing Love That Let's Go by Miley Cyrus," she said. (A/N: I am not like a HUGE FAN of Miley, it's just that many of her songs fit the situation they're in. Just for the record.)
Tori began to sing.
"There's a gold frame that sits by the window, and my heart breaks a little more each time I try
To picture the memory inside," Tori sang, in a relatively low voice.
I could see the tears pricking the corner of her eyes.
"There's an old book, it's too hard to read it. But if you looked, you see how it looked through my eyes," Andre sang.
"But now one more chapter's gone by, and I know," sang the both of them.
"Sing along," said Tori.
"It's time to move on, even though I'm not ready! We've got to stay strong, and trust where we're heading! And even though it's not easy (it's not easy!) right now the right kind of love, is the love that let's go!" we all sang together.
"Take it away Jadey!" said Tori.
"There's an old dance that we've done forever! You'd give me your hand, but let me decide when to reach! You always let me be me," I sang.
"But now's my time to take chances, and find my own wings, and whatever happens, I know you'll be there waiting for me!" sang Cat.
We sang the chorus again, but instead of ending it with "love that lets go" we continued.
"Doesn't wanna miss the future
But stays in the past
It will always hold on
But never hold you back
And even though it's not easy (it's not easy!)
Right now the right kind of love
Is the love that lets go," we sang together.
"It was not until now that I have realized that I HAVE to let go someday, and I can't hold on forever. But no matter how many miles away we are, our love will stay strong and never falter. It won't hold us back from pursuing our dreams, but it will stay throughout our futures," said Tori.
"We've been there for each other forever, for as long as we can remember, and we have always had each other's backs. We'd sort of guide each other along our lives, and we still will. But it's time for us to find our own wings and try some stuff on our own. We have to take chances and risks," Cat added. I was slightly shocked by that, considering she had never shown the slightest bit of logic in all the time I have known her.
"Even though we are leaving each other's sight for now, it doesn't mean we're leaving each other's hearts. So we're not truly separating today…we'll always just be a thought away. I know I will have you guys in my mind forever," I said, sort of concluding the long speech.
Everyone started clapping. Tori, Cat, and I smiled. This brought smiles from everyone else.
But our smiles soon faded. For the sound we had been dreading all day rang out in the halls.
The last Hollywood Arts High School bell that our ears were ever going to hear.
I looked at the others, my heart now pounding, my thoughts jumbled.
I saw Cat's lip starting to quiver.
Sikowitz looked at the six of us, and it's like we were all frozen in place.
"I guess this is our final farewell?" asked Sikowitz, his usually crazy sounding voice turning incredibly soft for him.
"I guess this is," we replied.
We all went in for a group hug.
"Sikowitz, thank you. For teaching us how to be great actors, for being here for us when we needed you, for…just everything. Thank you," I said. Sikowitz smiled.
"I shall miss you very much children, now go get a life and enjoy it!" said Sikowitz. We all laughed.
The six of us walked out of the room and out into the hallway, observing every little detail, as though we didn't want the memory of this place to ever leave our heads.
We walked out into the parking lot. That's when we all lost it.