A/N: Well, after several one-shots recently, I've decided to take a jab at writing a multi-chapter story, although one such story in the past had been placed on indefinite hold.
This is based off on my one-shot, 'Probably The Heat'. I'm thinking that I could make a multi-chapter story where Jade drives Robbie to school and gradually gets closer and closer to him as time passes on. Just how many chapters, I'm not sure yet. I'm also not sure of how often I will update this one (probably not as fast as circuswheel, lol) but I will update from time to time.
This idea came from Zen's review on the aforementioned one-shot. After a few months of mulling over it, I have finally decided to make that idea a reality. Hope I'll do good (I'm a lousy Rade writer, I know).
Also, this could be considered as an early contender for Rade Week. Hope y'all don't mind, lol.
With that said, read and enjoy. Oh, and review, favorite, subscribe, or whatever you want to do too. ;)
Disclaimer: Victorious belongs to Dan Schneider.
Driving To School: Chapter One
By GallaudetLurker
Jade West scowled to herself as she impatiently drummed her hands on her car's steering wheel, occasionally glancing at the car clock. She heaved out an annoyed sigh.
He was late. Several minutes late, to be exact.
Normally, she would have simply drove away and left him to walk to school alone - and Hollywood Arts was several miles away. But for some reason, she was sitting right there, as if something was anchoring her to the spot.
Seeing movement out from the corner of her eye, Jade turned her head to the left, and simultaneously felt relief and revulsion course through her like a jolt.
Robbie Shapiro was walking, more like scurrying like the mouse he truly was, toward the car, carrying that damn puppet he called a 'best friend'. Jade scowled further at the sight of the detestable piece of wood.
She utterly detested it with all her soul, that is, if she had one.
Before she could unroll her side window and yell at Robbie, the aforementioned boy had already made his way around the car and began scrambling into the front passenger seat, slamming the door closed beside him, setting Rex awkwardly on his lap, and fumbling around for a seatbelt.
"I-I'm sorry-I, um, kinda overslept and-and lost track of time, but-" Robbie didn't get far with his sniveling attempt at an apology as a growling Jade abruptly grabbed the puppet, unrolled her window, and threw it out into the sidewalk, ignoring the puppet's protests and Robbie's shocked cries.
The puppet slammed onto the concrete sidewalk with a sickening, yet satisfying, thud.
He was quite good, Jade had to admit to herself, even although she would never ever say it aloud.
"Rex!" Robbie called out and was about to get out of the car to retrieve Rex when Jade's voice stopped him.
"Listen up, puppet boy. I offered to drive you to school, not...that thing." Jade nearly spat out the last word. "You either leave the damn puppet there, or you walk to school by yourself. Your choice." Her tone beckoned no argument.
Jade derived a sort of sick satisfaction as she watched Robbie writhe on the seat, an expression of terrorized indecisiveness etched on his bespectacled face.
"B-but...but...he...I..." Robbie's slightly oversized lips repeatedly flapped open and closed like a fish out of water as he seemed to be waging an internal conflict with himself. "I...we...I-I can't leave Rex out there alone!"
"So go get it, and I'll get going, then." Jade said coolly as she turned the key in the ignition, making the car vibrate as if to make a point.
"B-but what if he gets kidnapped?" Robbie protested, looking panicked. Jade rolled her eyes.
Normally, she should simply tell him to get out and leave him in the dust, but she made an offer and she had to follow out on it, as much as she was starting to seriously regret it. Yeah, Jade didn't know what she was thinking when she offered to give him a ride to school until his old convertible got fixed.
Apparently Vega was rubbing off on her.
Ick. Jade had to shudder as she thought about the unrelenting kindness her detested rival constantly showed her at school. Did Vega have a secret crush on her or what?
Jade had to contain herself from violently retching at that horrible thought.
With a glance at the car clock, Jade knew that they had to get going if they were to make it to Hollywood Arts on time.
"Tell you what, Shapiro." Jade growled. "We'll get going now. If the puppet's still there when I drop you off home after school, wonderful. If not, you can get a new one then, although I strongly suggest against doing that, ever."
Without giving Robbie the time or the chance to even come close to say something, Jade stepped on the pedal and the car cruised onto the street, accelerating until it was slightly over the speed limit.
As she kept her eyes trained on the street in front of her, Jade could see from the corners Robbie look back toward the back of the car as his beloved puppet steadily disappeared in the distance. She heard him sigh sadly and saw him slump on his seat.
How pathetic.
She wondered how Robbie didn't see that the infernal puppet was, well, an inanimate object that he himself made it come 'alive', that Robbie didn't really need to constantly lug it around with him everywhere like an overgrown toddler (which he, in a sense, was). If the truth had to be hold, Jade surmised that the puppet hindered Robbie in a few (ok, many) ways that it wasn't funny.
For one instance, the puppet constantly belittled, insulted, mocked, and put Robbie down every fucking day. Which meant, in essence, that Robbie was basically putting himself down, which did wonders for his self-confidence (which was absolutely zero, by the way) and his self-image. A tall teenager clutching a piece of wood and talking would look, well, plainly silly if not ridiculous.
She might as well take her skateboard and make out with it.
It was like he was dependent on it for his self-image along with many things. Emotionally attached to it.
That could hurt him, though, Jade thought. Not that she was worried about him or anything like that (she only tolerated him, after all), but she knew that attachment, especially the one that Robbie had with his puppet, could end up hurting him. She would know, she had become...attached to Beck, and look at what happened.
Her heart began to constrict slightly as painful memories flooded her mind. She and Beck having one of their countless arguments in front of their friends at Vega's house. She giving him an ultimatum as she stormed out of Vega's house. She standing in front of the closed front door, listening and waiting for him to come out. Her heart rising with hope every time he took a step toward the front door, only to crash down and shatter into a million pieces as he stopped and then walked away, deeper in the Vega house.
She remembered the overwhelming desire to break down and cry overcome her as she made her way to her car. She remembered passing by Beck's house, seeing his RV, and feeling the temptation to break into it and just...hack everything up with her trusty scissors, but she drove on. She remembered collapsing into her bed and...
Shaking her head, Jade blinked a few times to refocus on driving as she took a couple of breaths, trying to divert the topic of her thoughts back to Robbie and his puppet.
Attachment hurt, that was for sure. And what was even more sure was that Robbie would become a much, much more normal (and better?) person without the puppet. That was certainly true, and she could see it.
For example, he could actually hit it off with girls despite his supposedly-horrible luck with them (as his flirtation with Tori on her first day of school years ago, the Northridge prom and the infamous Prome had proved), although the latter two 'came' from his "best friend." Remove the puppet from the equation, and Robbie could easily get a girlfriend.
'Yeah, one in you', a mysterious voice from the back of her head spoke up.
Widening and then narrowing her eyes, Jade forcibly muted the voice as she began to make a left turn, feeling several feelings course through her that she refused to describe, opting instead to continue with her mental dialogue.
Where was she? Oh yeah, Robbie and his potential normalcy without his puppet. He actually did a damn awesome job singing against Sam Puckett of iCarly in the rap battle at Kenan Thompson's house. It was really impressive. And speaking of singing, he sang that song in which he all but confessed his undying love for Cat and got 'rejected' because Cat, well, was being her oblivious self.
She had to inwardly admit that through the song, which had some cheesy and weird lyrics, Robbie had proved that he could become a really romantic person (not to mention the cotton candy machine that he gave her for the Secret Santa assignment. And he did all that without the puppet, which reinforced her point that without it, he could as a normal person easily get a girlfriend.
Even although he was a little on the lanky side, dressed up in women jeans, used male makeup, fell far too easy for women who as much gave him a glance (more like a fake kiss), and could be a bit...obsessive.
Ok, the last part was a bit of an understatement.
If only the puppet had actually 'died' at the hospital. Too bad, Vega had to find the heart to 'bring' it back and perpetuate Robbie's current mental childishness. She could probably enjoy his company if he was a normal person-
'Oh yeah, you would really enjoy his company' That damn voice was back.
Jade quashed it once again, banishing the voice back to the dark corners of her mind - along with a small blush that somehow managed to crawl up her cheeks.
Glancing at Robbie, Jade found he was still sulking, looking out at the passing scenery through the window. She let out a sigh.
"Lighten up, Shapiro. I'm sure the puppet will be fine and you two will be reunited soon and make some weird bdsm love. That must be something to look forward to." Light sarcasm traced Jade's voice.
It worked, as Robbie turned to give her a look, trying to look exasperated, although there was a flicker of amusement in his downtrodden eyes and the ends of his lips began to curl up infinitesimally.
"That wasn't funny, Jade."
Jade smirked as she slowed to a stop before a red light. They were nearing Hollywood Arts.
"You didn't deny it, Shapiro." Jade smarted off. Robbie rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"Thanks for reminding me," He said dryly. "We don't do that, thank you very much." He then sighed. "I...I'm just worried about Rex, that's all." Jade could see he was fidgeting with his fingers a bit, as if his hands were deprived of an outlet that they had always been accustomed to for a long time.
"Mhm." The car began moving. The school could now be seen off in the distance.
"You'll get over it." Jade said simply with a shrug.
"Yeah, that's easy for you to say..." Robbie muttered, looking out the window.
"It is. I just said it, didn't I?" Jade found herself smirking. Robbie turned to her once again.
"You didn't have to throw Rex out like that!" Robbie all but burst out, apparently expressing what had apparently been on his mind all day (note the sarcasm). "He's now all alone out there, at the mercy of strangers, these who could hurt him!"
Jade raised her eyebrows, mildly impressed by the way that Robbie talked to her like that.
"How could he get hurt? He's a puppet. And you know it." She shot a warning glare at Robbie who was about to open his mouth to protest the undeniable fact that...Rex was a puppet. "Like I said, if he's still there, even if he's in a trash can or something, good for you. If not, then get a new one, or more like, don't get a new one. And you'd better watch your mouth, you're talking to someone who can strand you in the middle of the street." She said the last part with a warning tone, her eyes narrowing slightly.
Robbie slumped down once again, mumbling something that was too faint for her to hear. She rolled her eyes for what seemed like the umpteenth time that morning.
Silence reigned once again as Jade veered her car through the last stop light into the parking lot of Hollywood Arts. As the lot was quite large, and crowded, it took a while for Jade to finally find an empty lot.
One that was some distance away. A glance at the clock indicated that they were a few minutes late for their first period class.
"Wonderful." Jade muttered to herself, although she wasn't really concerned about punctuality. Her teachers were too scared of her, anyways.
"Well, here we go. Your first day without your best friend. Let's go." Jade said sarcastically as she got out of the car, slung her black bag over her shoulder, and locked the car. Robbie did around the same.
"Yeah, yeah, I'll get over it, like you said." Robbie muttered as he walked alongside Jade toward the school building.
Jade snorted but said nothing as she and Robbie continued to walk.
"Um...Jade?"
Jade raised her eyebrows slightly as she looked at him.
"Um, uh, I-I want to say...thanks for giving me a lift. Despite the Rex stuff and all that." Robbie said with a smile tugging at his lips.
Jade stared at him. "Don't get all sappy on me, Shapiro." She said with a smirk as they entered the empty halls of Hollywood Arts. "It was the most I could do for you." Despite the jab, there was a very light joking tone in her voice.
Robbie chuckled and shook his head.
"I'm sure it was." He said.
"It was."
A/N: Hope it was good. If you thought it was, or it wasn't, type some words onto the review box at the bottom of the site and then press the cute 'Post Review' button. Oh, and don't forget to check the little checkboxes below the review box as well, lol.
Reviews give me motivation. You want me to continue this story, don't you? Then...review! ;)