Disclaimer: I do not own Victorious.
Chapter 8: Monster
Tori P.O.V
"Have you seen Cat?" My voice barely carries over the blaring music. For the past thirty minutes I've been searching for the ditzy girl to no avail.
"Who?" Andre's voice booms over the music, which is actually probably the most impressive thing I've witnessed at this party.
"Cat. You know about this tall-" I lift my arm to slightly below my own head. "red-velvet hair, a little bit clueless."
"Ohhh, Little Red. Nah, I haven't seen her for like an hour." His words come out slightly sloppy but I'm able to make out what he's trying to say. "Maybe Red is having some fun, if you know what I mean." He muses.
"Andre, stop! This is serious."
"Relax Tor. What's go your panties in a bunch? Just loosen up little lady." Andre pokes my stomach before turning his attention back to some busty blonde.
"Andre!" I whine, but it does nothing to drag Andre's attention away from the random blonde. "Fuck it." I mutter. I turn around and leave Andre to his devices; since it's pretty fucking obvious that he doesn't give a fuck about helping me find Cat so we can get the hell out of here.
After wondering around the first floor of the party house, like an idiot, I still can't find Cat. Finding the young girl is proving to be far more challenging than I imagined. Bodies of intoxicated teenagers buzz around me and the only thing to be heard over the music is the laughter of a few hundred of my peers. Red solo cups and articles of clothing litter the floor and make it quite difficult for me to walk around in the three inch heels Trina insisted I wear.
"This is such fucking bullshit." I mumble to myself, pissed that I have to practically walk through a maze just to find Cat. Too preoccupied with sorting my way through the mess without falling on my ass, I don't notice there is someone in front of me until I walk right into them. "Omigod I'm so- Beck?" I look up into glassy chocolate eyes and instantly know Beck is blazed out of his mind. "Jesus Beck…" I shake my head in disappointment because it's not every day that you see an ex-friend so fucked up.
"Damn Vega, walk much!" He spits a rather Jade-like insult, which almost makes me smile. Almost. His face bears a cold scowl and his eyes look ferial. Whether I like it or not, a strange feeling of fear grips me as I look into his wild eyes and I'm not certain what to do.
"Did you fucking hear me?" He advances. "Get the fuck out of my way!" Before I can voluntarily get out of his way, Beck raises a heavy hand to my shoulder and pushed me out of his way. I whimper as I am pushed into another hard body, but luckily they have some fast reflexes and catch me before I hit the ground. I'm about to thank my rescuer when I look up to find none other than Ryder Daniels smirking at me while he holds my small frame in his strong arms. Everywhere I feel his touch, my flesh burns, not in the good way but rather in a sickening way that causes my skin to crawl. I force myself out of his sleazy arms and glare at him with bewilderment, but his attention is focuses on Beck.
"Who the fuck do you think you are?" Ryder roars, moving so he stands eye to eye with Beck.
"Who the fuck do you think you are?" Beck's responds and pushes Ryder away from him, but Ryder quickly regains lost ground.
"You think you can come into my house and abuse my girl!"
"Oh please, we all know that you don't give a shit about that little whore!" Beck spits in Ryder's face. Ryder's gaze only hardens as he wipes the saliva from his face. "News flash Ryder, she's not going to sleep with you, she's just a fucking tease." As Beck's foul words sunk in all I could see was red.
"Fuck you Beck!" I shout as I push past Ryder so I stand directly in front of my new-found enemy. "Don't fucking talk about me, you fucking drugged piece of shit!" I drive my finger into his sternum with every hateful word that spews out of my mouth.
Suddenly I feel a red-hot stinging pain on my left cheek. Tears prick my as the realization of what just happened dawns on me. Too caught up in my own pain, I hardly notice Ryder and three of his goons jump Beck, but it's not like I care anymore. Even with blurred eyes I can tell that every set of eyes at the party are no looked on me. The music has died out when the commotion first began, but I would give anything for a distraction right now. I cup my burning cheek and shove my way through the sober crowd. Drunken whispers come from every direction and I find it harder, and harder to swallow the sobs that want so badly to surface.
"Is she okay?" is followed by a, "What the fuck just happened? Is that shit true?" and, "I can't believe Beck finally snapped." The mummers of the horde of my colleagues float around me and make the pain seem so much more intense. Full comprehension of the situation finally hits me like a freight train and panic sets in. My heart beat intensifies, tears stream down my face, and I can barely keep the mass of emotions I'm experiencing at bay.
"I can't do this." I breathe. My heart beat continues to pick up speed and all of my thoughts seem to mash together. "I can't do this." I can feel the walls closing in on me, I can feel the tears burn tracks into my cheeks, I can feel my social life collapsing. I shut my eyes, conceding to my fate.
Before I can comprehend what's going on I'm being pulled away from my pity party, away from the crowd and away from the house all together. The party of my nightmares becomes a faint hum as I'm towed away by a mysterious hero. When champion finally stops, we stand in a small, dimly-lit park. The stinging in my cheek has subsided greatly but the burning within my heart has only intensified.
"Tori, are you okay? Did that fucking bastard hurt you? I swear I'm gonna kill him." A small voice wakes me from my stupor. I lift my gaze to find that my knight-in-shining-armor is none other than Jade West clad in dull black. All things considered I still can't help but smile at Jade, even with the slight pain it causes my red cheek. "What?" she questions, frowning at my smile.
"You called me Tori." Even with the hell I just witnessed, Jade's use of my name makes it all worth it, well kinda. She just looks at me like I've grown another head. "You never use my first name. Plus it sorta sounded like you cared; just a little bit though." She rolls her eyes at my response but a small grin on her face becomes apparent.
"Don't get used to it, Vega." Her smile never fades but she does step away from me. She makes her way over to the empty swings on the far side of the park. She sits and propels herself forward without hesitation. I'm entranced by how her dark raven hair disappears into the darkness that surrounds us and the child-like wonder that blazes in her aqua eyes. "Well are you just going to stand there?" She shouts as the swing raises her into the sky.
"Well I guess not." My smile broadens as board the swing to her left. At first I'm excited that Jade is including me in something, but soon that amusement of it all dies, and I focus on the events of tonight. Even with a little bit of encouragement from Jade, I'm just too burnt out to do anything other than drag my heels through the loose woodchips below and think about how all the horrid things Beck said are actually true.
"You know Vega, this is why I don't hang out with you." Jade skims her feet along the ground with every pass until she finally stops. I pick up my sad gaze and look into her determined one.
"What did I do now?" I question. There is little force behind my words as my final fragments of energy burn out. She doesn't answer immediately so I drop my gaze back to the scattered wood chips.
"Look at me." She demands. Her voice is harsh yet it holds no type of distaste, but I can't bring myself to look at her. "Tori?" At the sound of my name my mind instinctually wants to look at the source of the sound but I keep my eyes fixated on the ground below. Jade lets out a sigh and I can hear her berate herself under her breath. "Tori it's not because I don't like you, I just don't know how to act around you. I'm not used to having a…having a friend like you." She struggles with the last part but that hardly makes any difference to me.
She thinks I'm her friend. I mean like come on, I didn't think this night could really get any more emotional, but then Jade shows up and says some mind-blowing shit like that. I'm friends with Jade, as in Jade freaking West, the wicked witch of the West Coast.
"Tori it's just really hard to be around you." A shuttered choke escapes from the pale girl's lips before she can stop it. "You're everything I'm not and I hate that I can't be like that or have someone like that always by me."
"I have faults you know." My voice isn't nearly as emotional as I feel but in a way I'm extremely grateful for that.
"I know, but even with your faults you're a thousand more times better than I am."
At her confession I finally look up at her, but now she's looking into the sky. The dim light given off by the golden moon washes over her pale face and reflects in her tear-filled eyes.
"Jade don't say that." I place my small hand over hers and I can't help but relish in the contact when she doesn't pull away like I expected. "We're way too different to even be compared, so don't try to." I squeezed her hand and she nods in acknowledgement, but does nothing to stop a lone tear that slides out of her left eye. "Come on Jade, don't cry." I get off my swing and kneel in front of her to tend to her. I rub small circles in her back as she falls to pieces.
"I just don't know how everything got so fucked up." She sobs as I try my best of comfort and cradle her. Every little stitch that held Jade together for these past few months have finally come undone, leaving her broken and fully exposed. She buries her face into the crook of my neck. Her hot tears run down my neck sending a shiver through my body as her raven locks tickle my nose.
"It's gonna be okay." I coo while gently stroking her back. "It's gonna get better. For both of us."
"How can you say that?" She lifts her head from my neck and quickly rubs her eyes and nose with the back of her hand, much like a young child would. She stares at me with awestruck, red-stained eyes. A small smile finds its way to my face when I catch sight of the dark make-up that streaked down her porcelain face.
"Jade, just take a deep breath and calm down." I offer with a light-hearted smile.
"How can I calm down when I've lost everything?" Her voice is meek and uncertain. Her words strike a nerve in me and I respond in a voice that mirrors her own.
"You have me."
"What?" Her eyes narrow and I can tell that she's trying to evaluate me but I couldn't care less.
"You have me." This time my voice comes out with more conviction, definitely more than I feel. Silence consumes us and I'm left staring into her eyes waiting for a response that may never come. I can't help but think that I may have ruined our blossoming relationship with my words. I meant them to be platonic but I know she feels the underlying emotion beneath them, and I'm not even sure I meant for that to happen. I like Jade, I really do. She's beautiful and I think she's great but I have never thought of her like that, well that was before the kiss. Since then things have kind of changed between us. Every glance, every word, every action now means something a little more. Even with Jade's history of degrading me and going out of her way to piss me off, I would gladly give up anything to be with this girl, physically of course but sometimes I feel like it could be emotionally too.
"You know…" She begins, with a small grin forming on her lips. "You're actually fun to be with." My heart swells and all I want to do is hug her. "When you're quiet." Her grin spreads and my joy is squashed.
"Dammit Jade." I whine, to which she replies with a light-hearted laugh. "It's not funny! I thought we were having a moment." I punch her in the arm but there's really no force behind it.
"Wow there Vega, I'm just joking." She laughs a little more and I can't help but laugh along with her. "Next time we have a moment don't punch me, it kinda ruins it." She teases, earning yet another glare from me. "Okay Tori, I think I've cried enough tonight we should probably head home." She finally rises from her swing and takes my hand in hers, just like she did when she rescued me from tonight's fiasco. She begins to lead me out of the park but I hesitate causing her to stop.
"Umm Jade, I live on the other side of town, isn't that a bit far for us to walk?" I question her not really understanding her logic.
"True…we'll since I'm too emotionally distraught to drive you and all our friends are probably messed up, you can stay at my house." Although technically her words are an offer, I feel like I have little say in the matter.
"Oh shit, I totally left Cat!" The realization hits me like a ton of bricks and I feel absolutely horrible. "I need to go get her."
"Tori, don't worry about it. Cat can easily take care of herself; plus I called up a friend to go get her, she's safe." Jade's assuring words were all I needed to calm my heart and follow her home.
A/N: My best excuse is that I died. Oops and sorry. Until next time-
JKJOKER