Through Fresh Eyes
Chapter Three – Tattoo
Hey, people. I'm in Tobago with my family right now. It kinda sucks here, but ah well. We're actually from Trinidad, which is Tobago's sister island. Weird as it sounds. Anyway, we spent a lot of time at the beach, but I got a bunch of sand in my hair and my mom's mad. There's no Internet here, so I won't be able to upload anything for a while, and right now the electricity current is dead and my computer battery is about to die, which means I probably won't be able to finish this now. Whoa, a gust of wind just blew the door shut. Or, at least, I hope it was a gust of wind. Dun, dun, DUN!!
Anyway, last chapter we came head to head with Sophie, who's pissed, which means a cat fight might be coming on. We'll have to wait and see. Other than that, I'm not sure what's gonna happen. Let's find out.
A/N: Named after "Tattoo" by Jordin Sparks, and it kinda fits the chapter, too.
Disclaimer: I don't own Step Up 2, but I own any characters not in the movie, and the idea of making Andie a prostitute.
"What's up, I'm Andie." Andie said, making her way down the two small steps in the middle of the room and over to Sophie.
"Chase, why is she in our house?"
"Uh," Benny interrupted, "this isn't your house, it's ours." She pointed to Tori, then herself.
"Do you pay the bills, little girl?" Tori asked, "This is my house."
Benny laughed and shoved Victoria.
"Whatever." Sophie sighed, throwing her hands in the air. "So, Andie. Are you one of Victoria's business partners?"
Andie shook her head, and her pretty brown hair flew everywhere. "No, I just met her."
"She works with me!" Chase interrupted loudly. "She's one of my business associates."
Andie raised an eyebrow at Chase, but nodded anyway.
"So, you and Chase know each other pretty well then?"
Andie smiled and nodded. "Yeah, we go way back."
Sophie frowned as Andie put an arm around her husband. "Well, you sure are dressed–oddly–for a businesswoman."
"Yeah, well. It is casual Friday."
Sophie glared at Andie, but nodded none-the-less. She forced a smile, then started for the door. "Chase, are you coming?"
"Yeah, I'll be right there, Soph. Let me just say goodbye to my sisters."
Sophie rolled her eyes. She just couldn't understand why Chase insisted on calling Victoria his sister. What made her so special? "Fine. But, please, hurry up."
Chase sighed and nodded as his wife walked out the door.
"So, what was that all about?" Andie asked, taking her hand off of Chase. She's only put it there to annoy "Soph".
"That was Sophie. My–uh–wife."
Andie's eyes widened and a shocked smile spread across her face. "She's your wife?"
Chase raised a blonde eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Well, she seemed pretty cold to me."
Benny snorted. "Sophie's cold to everyone. Even Chase."
"Benny—"
"No, she's right." Tori interrupted. "Sophie's mean. To me, to Ben, to Morea. Even to you, Chase."
Chase sighed. He knew they were right. Sophie was mean. To everyone. Even him. He hadn't even known why he'd married her…
"Well, it was nice meeting you." Andie said, heading for the door.
Tori followed her. "Oh, where do you live? We'll give you a ride."
"It's the lot, a couple blocks from here."
Benny raised an eyebrow. "You live in a lot?"
"I… live in a car."
Benny's jaw dropped and Chase and Tori raised their eyebrows. "Cool, can I live in a car?"
"No, Ben." Victoria said, "You live in a car?"
"It's a van?" Andie smiled.
"Chase," Tori began, pulling her brother into a corner. "We cannot make her live in a car!"
"It's a van."
"Chase!"
"Okay, okay," the blonde businessman sighed, "fine." He made his way back over to Andie, followed by Victoria. "Andie, if you wouldn't mind… we'd like you to stay here. Just until you make enough money to rent an apartment or something."
The beautiful hooker shook her head. "I couldn't intrude."
"Okay."
"CHASE! Andie, we really want you to stay. It would be no trouble at all."
Andie looked from Chase, to Tori, then to Benny, who she'd actually taken a liking to. She smiled and said, "thank you, I'd love to stay."
"Awesome!" Benny chimed. "I'll take you to the guest room." The young blonde grabbed Andie's hand and led her up the stairs and out of Chase and Tori's sight.
"Tori, I can't believe you invited a hooker to live here! Sophie's just down the hall. She's gonna figure out sooner or later!"
The curly haired woman smiled. "Chase, we're doing a good deed to someone in need. Don't be so selfish."
Chase glared at his sister with his big, brown eyes. "I'm gonna make you pay for this."
"Ooh, I'm shaking in my stilettos." Tori laughed.
The former dancer sighed in defeat. "Fine. I'm out of here." He pulled Tori into a tight hug, then kissed her forehead. "I love you. Tell Ben I said goodnight."
"Love you too."
--
"I've been waiting for you." Chase heard a familiar voice say as he closed and locked the door to his home.
"Sophie?"
"Come into the bedroom."
Chase followed the voice into his bedroom upstairs. When he pushed open the door, he saw his wife sprawled out across the bed they shared, wearing only a pink satin panty and bra set. To his amazement, this didn't arouse him nearly as much as Andie had. As a matter of fact, this didn't arouse him at all.
"Hello, Chase."
"Hey, Soph."
Sophie's seductive smile dropped. "That's it? 'Hey, Soph?'"
Chase looked confused for a moment. "Hello, Soph?"
"Chase, do you know how much this was? And all you have to say is hello? Don't you wanna—"
"Sophie," Chase sighed, "I'm still upset at you, for one. And two, I'm just tired okay?"
Sophie scowled at Chase as he pulled off his suit and tie. What kind of man didn't want to have sex with his wife? Well, that was exactly it. Chase wasn't a man. He was still a boy. The same little boy who used to play house with that little girl. Victoria. She was gonna have to turn Chase into a man. Even if it meant getting rid of the little girl.
--
"Wake up!"
Andie's eyes shot open and she jolted out of bed when she heard a loud noise coming from the hallways. She ran out her room to see a blonde teenager banging on a boiling pot with a wooden spoon. A brown young woman was shuffling around the room as if nothing was going on. "What's going on? Is everyone okay?" She said under long, brown hair.
"Yeah," Tori smiled. "Ben's just waking us up."
Andie raised an eyebrow. Waking them up? On Saturday? With an army helmet and a shovel? "Why?"
"The early bird catches the worm." Benny smiled, then walked back to the kitchen to put away her pot and spoon.
Andie sighed. "Whatever." She made her way down to the kitchen table and sat on one of the chairs. "What are we doing today?"
Victoria and Ben shared a look.
"We don't usually do anything on weekends." The fifteen year old finally said.
Andie's brown eyes hardened in a glare. "You woke me at seven in the morning to do nothing?"
"Well, what do you wanna do?" The brown girl asked, taking out all the makings for breakfast. Bacon, eggs, toast, and a fruit salad for Benny.
Andie thought for a moment, before a smile spread across her face. "I know! Let's go shopping."
The two sisters shared a look before shaking their heads.
"We don't shop." Again, Benny said.
"Oh, come on. It'll be fun. I swear."
--
Benny, Andie and Tori all filed out of the small convertible when they reached the Los Angeles Shopping Centre.
"Where do you wanna go first?" Andie asked, pulling the two girls into the mall.
Neither of them said a thing.
"Come on, there has to be something you want."
Benny tilted her head to the side. "Well, Ryan said I'd look good with a tattoo. Do they do that here?"
"What!" Tori shouted, eyes wide. "No! No tattoos."
"Aw, come on." Andie interrupted. She poked out her bottom lip, then mustered up the best puppy dog eyes she could.
"Yeah, please." Benny begged, making puppy dog eyes herself.
Tori sighed and rolled her eyes. "Chase would kill me."
"So, she'll get it somewhere he can't see it."
Before she could protest, the two were pulling Tori down the mall's corridors. They drug her for only ten minutes before reaching a parlor called "Joe's Tattoos". Three large men with about sixty tattoos a piece sat in reclining chairs.
Benny was the first to enter. "Hello?"
The man turned from each other to the small blonde.
"Can I help you?" The one with a nametag saying "Tony" asked.
Tori and Andie stepped into the shop behind Benny. "She wants a tattoo," Andie began. "Somewhere people can't see."
Tony looked the little girl up and down. "Where you want it?"
Ben tilted her head to the side in thought. "How 'bout on my hip?" She pulled down her pants just a little to show where she wanted the tattoo.
Tony nodded. "Alright. Take a seat." He said in a deep voice.
Benny did as Tony said and sat in one of the black leather reclining chairs. The large man went into the back, then returned carrying a large electric needle.
"Oh, I can't watch this." Tori groaned. She turned on her heal and walked out the door, leaving the two in the parlor. But, before she even left the room, she ran into someone.
"I'm so sorry."
"Oh, I'm—" Tori looked up to see a head of curly hair covered by a cap turned to the side. "Oh, Moose. Hey." She said, almost blushing.
"Hey, Tori. What are you doing here?" He asked, blushing too.
"I'm here with my little sister. She's getting a tattoo."
Moose chuckled. "That's funny. My little cousin's wants a tattoo, too."
Tori was so distracted by Moose, she hadn't noticed a teenage boy with wild, curly hair standing beside him.
"His name's Max."
Tori smiled dorkily and nodded. "That's nice. Mine's name is Benny."
Moose turned to his little brother. "Hey, man. You go on in, I'll be right there."
The boy nodded, then turned toward the store and walked inside.
"So, we never got to finish our conversation. You were telling me about your sister?"
"Oh, yeah." She smiled. "Morea. When Chase and I were kids, Morea got pregnant. So, I dropped out to help her take care of the baby. Chase would come over every day and dance for her. I even painted a picture for her."
"What's her name?"
"Laine. We named her after our aunt. My parents weren't really around, so she kinda raised Morea. Then Morea raised me." She looked down at her hands for a moment, then looked back up at Moose. "Well, enough about me, tell me about you."
Moose wracked his brain for a moment. "Well, my brother and I lived with our mom. Our parents were divorced and our dad got remarried. His wife was so mean to my brother and me, we just stopped visiting."
Tori gave a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry."
He nodded.
"Tori look!"
Tori spun around to see her sister pulling down her pants to show a tattoo of a small rose with blood drops on its pedals. "It's cute."
Seconds later, Max came out of the parlor, too, exposing his upper arm. On it was small rose with bloodstained pedals, same as Ben's. "We decided to get the same ones."
"Let me see yours." The small blonde exclaimed, pulling Max off into a corner.
"So, I guess we'd better get going." Tori said, smiling at Moose one last time."
Moose grabbed her arm. "Before you go… I was wondering if you wanted to go out tomorrow." His voice cracked as he talked.
Tori's fiddled with her fingers. "I don't know if I—"
"She'd love to." Andie interrupted, finally walking out of the parlor.
"Great." Moose laughed. "I'll pick you up at eight." He grabbed his brother by the arm, then pulled him down the corridors.
"Andie, what the hell?"
Andie smirked. "I could tell you like him."
Tori rolled her eyes, but smiled a little. She was right.
All done. Hope you like it. And sorry 'bout the lame ending. But, I am sick. Anyway, I think it's nice that Max and Benny get along. And Tori's gonna go out with Moose.
Reviews will make me heal faster!
Naomi