Chapter 2. "Everyone Needs Someone."

All your friends feel like enemies

When you're broken down and empty

That afternoon, Jade drove herself, Tori and Cat to Tori's house. Her mom was already home, but her dad was still at work. The three girls put their backpacks down on the couch and moved stealthily through the house. Tori lead them across the the kitchen and Jade instantly looked in the refrigerator without asking. Tori sighed and rolled her eyes, but said nothing. Jade would be Jade.

"Mom!" Tori called out loudly, her voice echoing through their house. Cat jumped and Jade swung around staring at her in agitation.

"Tori, is that you?" Her mom called from upstairs. "Did you just get home from school?"

"Yeah, it's me." Tori yelled back. "Can you bring my PearBook down from my room?"

"Where is it?" Her mom called back.

"On my bed!" Tori shouted.

During this exchange Cat and Jade exchanged looks and Jade rolled her eyes.

Tori's mom came down with Tori's laptop and then smiled when she saw them.

"Oh, hi girls." She said. "How was school?"

"Great." Cat said smiling happily and went over to sit at the kitchen table with Tori after she accepted her computer (and her glasses which her mom had kindly brought down) from her mom.

"Are you guys going to look something up for a project or something?" Tori's mom asked.

"Actually…" Tori said slowly, testing the waters. "I'm looking up hotels in San Francisco."

Her mom had began to wash a plate that was sitting in the sink which Trina had left from her breakfast that morning, but now she turned off the water and set the dish down.

"San Francisco?" She repeated. "Why?"

"Well…" Tori said smiling up at her mom sweetly from over her glasses. "Me and my two best friends here were thinking we'd take a roadtrip over the weekend. You know, since it's a four day weekend and all. We're all going to pitch in and pay for a hotel up there and go to a concert."

Her mom folded her arms and stared at her for a moment. That wasn't a good sign when her mom folded her arms and cocked her hip. That meant there was going to be some firm parenting.

"Tori, that's more than six hours away." She said. "I don't feel comfortable with just you and your friends, and girls I don't mean anything against you because I know you're good girls, but I don't feel comfortable with just the three of you going up there alone. I would worry about all of you."

Jade snorted softly because she didn't know how anyone could think of her as a good girl.

"Don't worry Mrs. Vega." Cat piped up with a huge Cat grin. "We'll be together the whole time. Nothing bad can happen when we're all safe and looking out for each other. We'll use just do what they taught us in elementary school, use the Buddy System. Oh my God, when I was little, my neighbor had a puppy named Buddy. He was so cute, but then my neighbors moved away and-"

"Cat!" Jade cut her off loudly.

Cat gulped and shut her mouth, Jade's commanding voice effectively shutting her up. Mrs. Vega looked over, surprised at Jade snapping at Cat.

"Eh hah hah." Jade forced a somewhat convincing laugh and tilted her head to the side, pasting on a huge fake grin and directing it at Tori's mom.

Tori sighed to herself, rolling her eyes and shaking her head.

"No, but she's right Mrs. Vega." Jade said in such a sugary sweet tone that caused Cat and Tori to turn and stare at Jade with wide eyes. "We'll be together the whole time and we all have our cell phones, and we'll call as often as you like. Or you can call us to check up on us. We'll get everything all squared tonight, like booking the hotel, packing, and everything so it won't be a hassle. We'll leave tomorrow morning and be back by late Monday afternoon at the latest."

Jade was still grinning widely at Mrs. Vega when she stopped talking and Cat and Tori kept staring at her. Oh, she was good. She said it with such finality and sweetness that there was no possible way Mrs. Vega could say no. Or at least not without it being very, very awkward. Mrs. Vega lowered her eyes and sighed, then pinched the bridge of her nose with her fingers for a moment. The three girls watched her, holding their breath, even Jade.

"Well, what about your girl's parents?" Tori's mom asked.

"I called them at lunch." Little Cat informed her. "My dad said it was fine. They have their hands full with my brother right now so I don't think they really mind me going. They want me to go out and get life experiences because they're afraid I might end up scared to do things on my own."

Tori and her mom were looking at Cat with sympathetic looks, like she was just the cutest and easily empathized with thing in the world.

"When aren't your parents busy with your whackjob of a brother?" Jade commented under her breath.

Tori elbowed Jade hard and Jade glared at her and rubbed her side.

"What about you, Jade?" Her mom asked.

Jade shrugged.

"My dad is too busy worrying about his new family and my mom doesn't care what I do." Jade replied.

Tori's mom laughed awkwardly and kind of nodded her head.

"Oh, okay then." She said and cleared her throat.

Tori sighed and stood up.

"Please will you let us go, mom?" Tori said. "This would mean so much to me. The concert is for this band from the UK and they're only here for one night. You know how it feels to be a teenager and really, really want something, don't you?"

"Tori…" Her mom sighed out. "I… why didn't you tell me this before? Did you think springing it on me so suddenly would shock me into saying yes?"

Tori smiled up at her mom innocently and Mrs. Vega sighed again.

"Who's going to be driving?" Her mom asked.

"Well… me…" Tori said slowly. "I was hoping dad would let us borrow his Jeep."

Her mom's eyes widened.

"Tori, your dad still needs to be able to drive around while you're gone." Her mom said.

"Well, yeah, but you guys have your car." Tori said. "Unless you want us to take your car, but it's kind of small. The Jeep has more room, you know."

"I don't know if your dad will be into that, Tori." Her mom said and although she had pretty much already agreed, she was still looking a bit reluctant about the whole thing.

"Hello!" Suddenly Tori's dad came through the front door and they all turned in surprise. His entrance was almost like it was planned or something. Like something out of a cheesy, family/comedy show from the 1990's.

"Hey, dad!" Tori called.

"Hey, baby." He said cheerily, putting his things down by the door and going over to give her a hug. "Hey girls." He said to her friends. Then he turned and placed a kiss on Mrs. Vega's lips. "Hello, other baby." He said grinning. Mrs. Vega grinned back and Tori put her head in her hands in embarrassment as Jade and Cat laughed awkwardly under their breath.

"So, what's going on here?" Mr. Vega took in the three girls huddled around Tori's computer. "A little studying? Doesn't seem likely. It's the weekend."

"No, no." Tori said. "We're booking a hotel for San Francisco."

"Excuse me?" Tori's dad asked. "San Francisco? Who's going to San Francisco?"

"Me and my gals right here." Tori said motioning to Cat and Jade.

"Yep." Jade said through a fake smile, her teeth gritted. "We're her gals."

Tori rolled her eyes inwardly.

"Tori, that's six plus hours away." He said. "And it's going to just be the three of you? I'm not sure I'm okay with that."

"But!" Tori said quickly, desperately. "Mom already said it was okay and so did Jade and Cat's parents. Everything is set. We're just gonna book our hotel and pack our bags and we're leaving tomorrow morning."

Mr. Vega turned to stare at Mrs. Vega in disbelief.

"You told her she could go… without consulting with me?" He asked.

Mrs. Vega was leaning back against the sink counter and she shrugged helplessly. "I'm sorry, honey. They wore me down. They said they'll call us as much as we want them to and they're going to stick together. I mean, they are seventeen, dear."

Mr. Vega turned back to Tori who was now grinning brightly, hopefully. Cat and Jade were smiling in the same way, Jade just forcing herself to play the part although she could think about a million other things she could be doing right now and more than half of those things involved cutting up pictures of her and Beck with her favorite pair of scissors and brooding over their relationship… or lack thereof.

"You're going to drive, Tori?" He asked.

Tori nodded. "That's the plan."

"And what car do you plan on taking?" He asked.

"Well… funny you should ask because just before you came in, I was telling mom how I was hoping you'd let us take the Jeep." Tori said.

Her dad stared at her silently for what seemed like a full minute and then burst into laughter so loud that they all jumped. They all continued to stare at him in shock throughout his laughing fit, but finally he realized they were not laughing with him and he calmed down.

"You're serious?" He said. "Tori, you and your friends can get a rental."

Tori stuck out her lip.

"But rental cars are small and the Jeep will have more room for us." She whined. Jade had the very strong impulse to punch Tori in her head at that moment and it took all she had to contain herself. She could seriously irritate her by doing the smallest things. "Plus we already have to pay for the hotel and the concert we're going to up there for. I'll be broke. I mean, I'm insured on the Jeep and you can just drive mom's car while we're gone. We'll be back on Monday. come on, dad. Please!"

"Please, Mr. Vega!" Cat and Jade echoed, giving him pleading looks.

Mr. Vega looked around at three girls and then sighed just as her mom had and shrank back against the sink, tucking in against his wife's side. Mrs. Vega smiled and put her arm around his shoulders and pressed a kiss to his cheek. She knew he was going to give in.

"Okay." He agreed.

"Yes!" The three girls cheered, Jade was somehow so caught up in the infectious glee in the room, that she actually felt excited and happy. She really was a good actress. So much so that what she currently seemed to be feeling, felt real.

"But," Mr. Vega added firmly. "Tori, you are the only one to drive the Jeep while you're gone, understand? You're insured on it and if anyone else, God forbid, had an accident while driving the Jeep and it wasn't you, our insurance would be through the roof."

"Okay, I promise!" Tori agreed excitedly and jumped up to hug both of her parents together. Her dad kissed her on the head.

"Just please, please promise to be careful, baby." Her dad said. "I'm trusting you to keep yourselves safe."

"And you need to call us everyday." Her mom added.

"I will." Tori said. "We will." She corrected a second later. "Thanks so much, guys." She squeezed her parents once more before the pair went upstairs.

"Well," Jade said in her theatrical voice that just commanded everyone's attention in any given room. "That went pretty well. I should be off."

Tori watched her as she headed for the door, Cat still stood by her side. Jade turned back when she reached for the doorhandle.

"You comin', Cat?" Jade asked, her voice still filling the room. Tori somehow wondered how she did that. When she talked, people listened, even if they didn't want to. "I can drop you at home if you want."

Cat shrank back a bit.

"Actually, I think I'll stay at Tori's for a little while if that's okay." She said timidly, her voice so tiny compared to Jade's.

"Fine, suit yourself." Jade said and began to step outside without a goodbye.

"Wait!" Tori said suddenly, leaping off the platform her kitchen was raised on and striding over to her.

Jade turned and was now standing on her doorstep looking like people do when they first arrive to someone's house.

"I really appreciate what you did for me." Tori said. "So, thanks."

Jade stared at her awkwardly and then looked at a spot behind her head because she wasn't good with emotions. She swallowed around an awkward gag in her throat because Jade didn't respond to thank you's well.

"Um, yeah, sure." Jade said. "No sweat, Vega."

Suddenly Tori stepped forward and enveloped Jade in a hug that made Cat squeak with happiness and grin behind them. Jade was giving Cat a look over Tori's shoulder like she was not enjoying it whatsoever and Cat just giggled. When Tori stepped back she could clearly see the Look of Death Jade was giving her.

"Don't ever do that again or be prepared to have both of your arms broken." Jade said smoothly.

Tori's eyebrows knitted together. "Well!" She said indignantly.

They stared at each other for another moment and Jade turned to leave again.

"Wait!" Tori said again.

Jade turned back and huffed impatiently. "Whaaat?" She whined out.

"Is there anything I can do to change your mind about coming, Jade?" Tori looked extremely sympathetic and Jade wondered why. Probably about Beck. Jade didn't know why her and Beck's relationship seemed to mean so much to her friends all of a sudden when they were the ones who hated them being together and arguing all the time. Like, what had changed that made them all so forlorn about them not being together? It seemed like that's what they had wanted, them to breakup, that is, up until the moment they had actually had split up. Then it became some teenage high school age drama and everyone was depressed. "I mean, really. I really, really want you to come."

Jade crossed her arms. "And Vega, I really, really don't want to come. Thanks for the sympathy or whatever that's making you feel so charitable, but I don't want it or need it. I can entertain myself and I can take care of myself."

"It's not that, Jade." Tori said. "We're friends, okay? If we weren't friends you wouldn't have put on that act for my parents just so I could see some boy band who you've probably never even heard of. You know you did it because deep down you wanted to make me happy."

"Don't make me puke." Jade said. "Maybe I just wanted to make sure my acting skills were still in tip top shape. Not that that's ever been questionable."

Tori smiled and put her hand on her shoulder.

"Come with us, Jade." Tori said.

Jade sighed and looked up at the top of the doorframe. She pushed Tori's hand off of her impatiently and it fell to her side. Tori's soft smile didn't faultier.

Cat came bounding over now, stopping at Tori's side and looking up at Jade with a grin to match Tori's. UGH, they were so irritating!

"Yes, come on, Jade." She whined. "Come with us. Please, please, please. It won't be as fun without you. We both really want you to come. What do you have to do here at home anyway?"

Jade's mouth dropped open and her eyebrows became considerably lower in that way they did when she was going to tell someone off.

"What Cat means is, we always hang out in Hollywood and it's getting a bit boring, don't you think?" Tori tried to cover Cat's implications quickly. "We've gone to all the restaurants around here, all the underage clubs, all the parties. Let's go to San Francisco, have a good time, do things over there that we've never done. It'll be so fun. We can do whatever we want. No adults around to tell us what we can and can't do. We'll have the Jeep the whole time so we can go anywhere."

Jade sighed again, uncrossing and recrossing her arms. Tossing her head to get her hair out of her face.

"And seriously," Tori added. "Do you really have anything better to do? Just sit around and be pissed off about, Beck? How is that fun, Jade? We're seventeen. We need to get out and go have fun. You're our friend. We're not just gonna leave you here. We don't want you to be alone."

"Jade West doesn't get lonely." Jade said raising her chin in what she hoped was a dignified way. Then she cringed at herself for referring to herself in the third person. She absolutely hated when people did that. "Look, I don't need anyone, okay? I'm not some weak little… ballerina."

Cat looked about to say something to that, her mouth opening on a single syllable, but Tori shooshed her quickly and she closed her mouth, looking like she had to make an effort not to say what she wanted to say.

"Everyone needs someone, Jade." Tori said. "And I don't mean, romantically. Everyone needs friends. And we're your friends. So just come. As a matter of fact, you don't have a choice. You're coming because I said so. Now get back in here and help us find and book a decent hotel on my laptop."

Both Tori and Cat reached for one of Jade's arms and dragged her back inside protesting and fighting to the kitchen. Tori kicked the front door closed behind them with her foot and smiled.

Not that many people have been reviewing so IDK if there's much point to keep posting this story. There's been quite a few hits and visitors on this story's stats, but no one is telling me what they think. So depending on if you guys review this will determine whether I actually get to them leaving on their trip. Thanks to anyone who is reading and reviewing. You make my day. :)