Tori and Andre alienated after the fight. Things went south, not drastically, but both wished they'd stayed home Saturday

6ix

Beautiful Mistake

Following the weeks of the breakup, Tori and Andre found themselves spending less time together. They talked, but it was mostly through texts and about the showcase. They still hadn't an idea as to what song they were going to perform.

Thursday Morning, Tori forced herself downstairs. She sat down gloomily in the kitchen and her eyes fell on the neon lights still hanging outside the patio door. She regretted Club Paradise.

Thinking about it all only made things worse, but it was hard not to. Andre had texted earlier to wish her a good morning, and she'd spent the last twenty minutes struggling whether or not to text back.

She wasn't the type to play mind games. It felt like the right thing to do, but at the same time it didn't. Deep in her heart, she didn't want to put their friendship on the wire over alienation.

U 2.

She sent the reply and shut off her phone. Minutes passed, and when her mother came downstairs she saw Tori slouched over a untouched bowl of cereal.

"What's the matter?" Mrs. Vega asked. Tori shook her head. "What do you mean?" Tori replied. Mrs. Vega frowned at her daughter. "What's the matter?" she badgered. Tori sighed. "It's nothing mom." She sat down next to Tori. "Andre hasn't been around as much, everything okay?" Tori looked at mother, then back to the neon lights outside.

"It's not, is it?" her mom asked. Tori hadn't talked to anyone but Andre about their relationship, but it was pretty obvious where things were headed to everyone, including her folks. "That was really sweet of him" said Mrs. Vega, noticing where Tori was looking. "You guys were almost there…what happened?"

Tori sniffed then looked down at her bowl. "I don't know mom…" she trailed off. Mrs. Vega sighed. "Well…don't let whatever happened get you down baby. Andre is a nice boy. Things may be complicated, but they always get better." Mrs. Vega kissed Tori on the forehead and left the kitchen. Tori dumped her breakfast and went back upstairs to get ready for school.

Andre stood outside his car in the parking lot, talking to Robbie and Rex. He'd developed a habit of sulking on the hood of his car before school lately, and Robbie thought best to check in on him.

"I don't think you should have listened to Jade" said Robbie. "What does it matter? Tori agreed…so we're good" Andre explained. Robbie fought the urge to disagree. "Are you sure about that?" he asked. Andre nodded. "I am… what else was I supposed to do?"

"How about letting things happen... the way they were meant to happen" Robbie replied. "What if things were meant to end badly between us?" Andre asked. Robbie shook his head in doubt; "Well…they're not exactly good."

Tori pulled into the parking lot not too soon after. She got out and made her way to Robbie and Andre. The magic in her eyes whenever they saw each other was gone, and Andre could tell. "Hi you guys" she said as she approached. "Hi Tori" said Robbie. "Hey Tor" said Andre.

No one spoke. Things went from strange to awkward pretty quickly. "Well… I should be getting to class" Tori whispered, breaking the silence. She wasn't looking at either of them. "See you Tori" said Robbie. She nodded at him. She looked in every direction but Andre's while she waited for him to speak. He didn't speak… because she wasn't looking at him.

Tori turned and walked away. "Wow" said Rex. "You're making it too easy for me" he added. Andre sighed, locked his car, and left for class.

Tori was missed at lunch that day; she and Cat spent the break walking around the school. "Do you think you're going to work things out with Andre?" Cat asked as they passed an oak tree. Tori frowned and looked away. "I don't think so…" she began. "Why not?" "It's been kind of weird between us lately" she admitted. "Aww…" Cat pouted.

"But you look so good together" she added. "Yea… I thought so too" said Tori. Cat gasped and pinched Tori. "OUCH! What was that for?" "Don't say you thought… it's true. Besides… you want to know a secret?" Cat bounced on her toes, awaiting Tori's answer. Tori couldn't help but smile. "Yea, what is it?" she replied. "We've all been waiting for you and Andre to get together!" she sang. "You have?" Tori asked. "Yea… but… I guess we're just going to have to wait…" Cat said, pretending to cry. Tori gave her a sad face but was too internally choked up to say anything else.

Later that evening Andre stumbled across Tori. He'd been looking for her and decided that the best place to go was her locker. "Hi" he said, leaning against the one next to hers. "Hey Andre" she said, closing her locker and turning to him.

"I've been thinking" he began. Her insides fluttered. She knew that the last couple of weeks were just too bad to be true. "Yea" she said, hopeful. Someone walked by playing Official Girl by Cassie; it exhilarated Tori. "We can do a remake of Make It Shine for the showcase" he said. Her smile died away as the conversation registered. "The showcase?" she asked. "Yea…our song. We can't seem to come up with anything else, and we haven't sung that since the re audition a few years ago." Her head dropped to the folders she'd removed from her locker and she sighed.

"Oh yea… well that's sound cool" she replied. "Alright…" Andre said smiling. "I'll call you tonight so we can talk about it more" he added. "Okay…"

She looked at Andre and nodded, giving him the impression that she was okay, all the while inside she was emotionally unstable. Andre gave her another smile; weeks ago it would have been affectionate, caring, but now, it was just…

She was confused. She fooled herself into thinking that things were going to turn around so easy for them. She considered making things better herself; it was nothing for her to walk up to him and demand they end this foolishness and let their emotions, their real emotions, shelter them from all of this drama.

But there was something stopping her; the fact that they couldn't read minds meant that neither knew how the other was feeling. They were both scared to love. They feared for themselves, for one another, and their relationship. If only they could read minds.

Tori heard footsteps and turned around to see a girl staring at her. It was Sherry. Sherry was Andre's only ex at Hollywood Arts. She lived for public displays of affection, and she took it too far at times. She was pretty, but she drove Andre away.

"Hi" Tori offered. She had no clew as to why Sherry was mugging her… or maybe she did. Whatever the reason, everyone liked Tori, even Jade, so Tori never had a reason to be unfriendly with anyone, not even strangers.

Sherry smiled. "Can I help you?" Tori asked. "No… you've done enough" Sherry replied. "What are you talking about?" Tori asked. "Andre!" Sherry piped up, laughing now. Tori felt her body tense. "Thank you for trying and failing with Andre, Tori" Sherry added. "What's that supposed to mean?" Tori asked, agitated. "Now that this… thing… is over with…" Sherry said, pointing at Tori and taking a grossed-out expression, "— Andre has realized what he really wants… me!" she sang.

Tori rolled her eyes. She couldn't believe she was actually hearing this…this was the type of drama you watched or read about on Degrassi.

Tori sighed and made to walk away. Sherry grabbed her arm and gently pulled her back to her locker. "What?" Tori spat. "You may think that everyone wants to see you two together, and a lot of people do, I won't lie, but let it go, Tori. You and Andre are just one big beautiful mistake" Sherry finished. She shot Tori a nasty look then strutted away. Tori swallowed hard to fight back the frustration tears.

"She's insane" She told herself as she opened her locker. She checked to make sure she had everything, merely to not think about what just happened. Tori closed her locker again and made her way outside. She tossed her things inside her car and hopped inside. "She's insane" Tori told herself again. Thinking about Sherry made Tori chuckle at how crazy she had really seemed. Tori looked up and saw Andre and Robbie walking towards Andre's car.

They leaned against the hood and began talking. "She's insane" said Tori. That's when Sherry walked by and made her way towards Andre. When she got to the guys she wrapped herself around Andre… actually, she threw herself onto him… the way Tori used to. Andre responded by picking her in the air and shaking her. They laughed and bid goodbye. She turned and Tori saw that Sherry was staring straight at her from across the parking lot.

Tori started the car and looked away. The radio turned on, and when the music played, Tori choked. Beautiful Mistake by Keri Hilson played, and it killed her. Her eyes watered, but she hadn't the heart left to fight the tears falling in her lap.

It's About To Get Intense

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