Chapter 13 – Opening Night

It's Sunday and here it is! I'm getting good at this.

Tori's POV

"Jade will you please just calm down?"

"I know, I'm just nervous"

"Come here" I say sitting down on my bed, motioning for her to sit next to me. "Okay, deep breathe... and relax" I say pulling her into a comforting hug. "You'll be fine, more than that, you'll be fantastic. You always are!"

"Yes but this time my mom will be there. No one in my family has ever taken an interest in my acting."

"Well it's their loss. Come on, let's practice the final song, I'll be Roxie."

***The next day***

Jade was nervous enough last night, though she seemed to relax a little after we'd rehearsed the final song. But it was opening night tonight, so she was back to being nervous. With a large travel mug of coffee in her hand, she stood at her locker with me between classes.

"Well I have to go to a final dress rehearsal this afternoon so I'll-" she gets cut off by Cat bouncing towards us.

"Hey Cat… what are those?" I ask motioning towards the strange shoes on her feet.

"They're Jupiter Boots!" she says still bouncing.

"And why are you wearing them?" Jade responds

"So I can bounce, silly!"

"Of course…" Jade says rolling her eyes.

"Jade-y I'm so excited to see you in your show later!"

"Don't call me that."

"Sorry, Jade… But I've heard Tori call you that before" she says looking a little confused.

"Oh, Tori calls me a lot of things that you shouldn't"

"I don't think I want to hear this…" she says bouncing away slowly, towards Andre to show him her new Jupiter Boots.

"Well… that got rid of her" I say laughing.

"Yeah. Anyway, I have to go to a final dress rehearsal this afternoon so I'll just meet you at home for dinner."

"Sure, I have to get to physics class now so I'll see you at lunch anyway."

"Yes you will" she says holding my waist and giving me a quick but passionate kiss.

"Get a room!" We hear Andre shouting across the hallway.

"See you later" I say before heading to class.

I get a lift home with Trina, leaving Jade's car at school for her to use after rehearsal; we get home to see dad in the kitchen.

"Hey girls, I'm cooking us all some spaghetti bolognese for dinner. Also Tori, I got a call off Jade's mom and I invited her to join us all for dinner before we go to see Jade's play… where is Jade?"

"She's at rehearsal, she'll be home soon… when did she call you? I don't think Jade knows about this…"

"I shouldn't suppose she does, anyway, it should be a nice surprise; you said your coffee morning with her went well"

"Yeah, I'll just go do some homework before they get here."

"Your mother should be home shortly too so I'll shout you down when they arrive"

"Do I have to sit through this meal? I'm not even going to the play tonight. I didn't get given a role so why should I?" I hear Trina complain as I head upstairs.

A short while later there is a knock on the door, I listen from my room to hear who it is.

"Jade! Hope rehearsals went well. We'll all be there tonight… well except Trina, something to do with her not getting a role, and I even made spaghetti bolognese for dinner because I know how much you love it." I hear dad say.

"Yeah it went really well, got my costume all here because we have to go in costume. Thanks for dinner. Oh hey Tori" She says noticing me stood at the top of the stairs.

"Hey, good rehearsal?"

"Yeah. I mean Sinjin almost broke the lights but we got it sorted in the end"

"Glad to hear. Your mom rang here and my dad invited her to join us for dinner"

"Yeah, I got a text from her when I checked my phone just before. I'll go put this costume upstairs before she gets here then."

No One's POV

After Jade and Tori disappeared upstairs the front door opened without a knock and in entered both Mrs Vega and Mrs West.

"Hey sweetie" Mrs Vega says upon greeting her husband.

"Caroline this is my husband and Tori's father, David"

"Nice to meet you Caroline"

"You too, David"

"We both pulled up at the same time" explained Mrs Vega

"Ah, well dinner will be ready shortly, the girls are just putting their bags away upstairs, they won't be long. Oh, and Holly… Trina said she will not be joining us at all tonight and has gone out to some friends house to 'escape us' for the night."

"Of course she has." Holly sighs, "Trina is Tori's older sister" she explains to Caroline.

"Yeah, she was mentioned when I met the girls for coffee last week. Can I just say how thankful I am for you two taking Jade in after what happened with her father."

"It's no trouble, we weren't going to let her sleep on the streets" says David as he starts to plate up dinner.

"And, I've been looking at some bigger apartments, just round the corner from here. So hopefully I'll have moved soon, and once it's all set up I'll be asking Jade to move in with me. I'll have her out of your way soon."

"That's great news! But really, she's been no trouble at all" replies Holly

"Well thank you again, and if you could not tell Jade. I want to surprise her once it's all sorted."

"Of course."

"And dinner is served, I'll shout the girls" announces David.

"No need to, papi. We're here" says Tori as her and Jade walk down the stairs.

Jade's POV

Dinner with my mom and the Vegas went really well, except a few embarrassing childhood stories that my mom thought necessary to share. But I also heard a few childhood stories about Tori which sort of evened it all out.

I was now in full costume for the play, but with a large overcoat to cover up my rather revealing dress as we drove to school for the play.

"Are your friends going to be there tonight, girls?" asks Mrs Vega.

"I know Cat is, but I'm not sure about the others" I say.

"Oh my, I haven't seen Cat since you girls were about 12!" my mom announces.

"Yeah well she hasn't changed at all" I say with a slight laugh, thinking of Cat's still childish personality.

"Well it'll be lovely to see her again."

We arrive into the building and as if on cue Cat comes bouncing towards us, still with her Jupiter boots on.

"Cat are you not tired from bouncing around all day?" asks Tori

"Nope, they're like mini trampolines for your feet!"

"Cat; you remember my mother" I say causing her to stop bouncing for a moment.

"Nice to see you again Cat, and Jade was right, you really haven't changed" she says raising her eyebrows at me.

"Nice to see you too Mrs West!"

"Cat, you've known me since you were 5, you can call me Caroline! Anyway… who are you here with?"

"No one, I was so excited to see Jade-y…" I throw her a threatening look when she calls me that. "Jade…." She corrects herself "that I had to come to the first show."

"How lovely of you, you can sit with us if you like" my mom tells her

"Yay-ey! I'll go save us… 1, 2, 3, 4…5 seats" she says counting us all before bouncing off to the black box theatre.

"Told you she hasn't changed."

"She hasn't changed since I met her!"

"We best go join her" says Tori "Good luck, you'll do great!" she says giving me a kiss, for which I gain a glare from Mr Vega.

"Yeah, I should go. I have the opening number after all"

Tori's POV

We all take our seats, with 5 minutes before the show starts.

"Tori, have you decided what you're spending that money on yet?"

"Yeah, I actually found out that the Broadway show of Chicago was doing a tour, and it's here in LA next week! So I thought I'd take her to see that and for a meal before it."

"I knew you'd come up with a perfect idea. I'm so glad she found you"

"I'm glad I found her" I smile as the lights go out and "All That Jazz" starts playing, and Jade enters on stage for her opening number.

I quite enjoyed writing this chapter, I hope you enjoyed reading it. I actually have the rest of this story all planned out so I hope to be able to write each remaining chapter soon. I may stick to once a week or I may upload as and when I finish a chapter, but I'm not making any promises yet. Reviews please x