Chapter 5- Who Did it to TORI?

The sun cast its golden light down upon the petals of all the flowers, illuminating their colors twice as bright as normal. The flowers swayed in the slight breeze. The weather would be its normal uncomfortable hotness if it wasn't for the cooling wind. Tori marveled at how perfect the day was to be walking at the park. It was a serene way to wind down the week; walking in the park a few blocks from her house.

Tori walked alone, just thinking. She had no one to talk to, so she made up for it by thinking to herself.

This is life. This is perfect.

She had a lingering feeling in the very back of her mind that something was missing, something that would make this walk absolutely perfect. It was such a slight thought, though, that she decided to ignore it. Her life was going perfectly, so what could be missing?

After walking around the entire perimeter of the park, she started for home. She reached her house, stopped by the mailbox, and absently felt inside while contemplating what she would do with the rest of her Saturday. That was when her hand touched something hard, and she yanked it out with curiosity.

"A CD case..?" she mused. "Oh gosh, did Trina order more singing lessons?"

She turned it over to see that her name was written on the front of it in permanent marker. She hastily took it in the house. She made a course straight to the radio, where she set up the CD to play. She wasn't sure what it was or what to expect. Once turned on, music started to play. Within the first few seconds she recognized the song, and she felt moved by positive memories. It was the song she sang at the Platinum Music Awards! Her manager must have recorded her performance and sent her this CD. She never really liked him and thought he was a total jerk, but she thought it was very thoughtful of him to send her this. She sat on her couch and listened to herself start to sing with rapt attention. Her finger tapped to the beat. She felt close to singing along with it. Hearing herself outside of her own performance showed her what a fantastic singer she really was. It was no wonder she now had a life of fame at school.

I should listen to this with a friend. Maybe Cat or Andre…

Tori picked up her phone, but then refrained from texting either of them. Her heart was not into her mind's suggestion. She realized that when she wanted a friend to listen to her performance again with her, that one friend could only be Beck. She wanted him to be sitting so close to her that their arms barely touched each other. She wanted to feel proud knowing that Beck thought she was amazing. She looked down. The song continued to play, but it was just her background noise now.

"What am I doing?" she thought aloud. "I can't just walk alone to be happy. I need Beck to share in my happiness with me."

It took the time for herself she requested to open her eyes to the fact that she wanted Beck. She imagined him coming over again. This time, she would not be held back by the guilt of wronging her friend Jade. She could finally release the emotions crammingwithin her. Though she wanted to fix everything right there and then, she decided to wait. Monday was in two days, and she could wait to tell Beck then.

Tori went back to listening to her song in a state of bliss.

"Trina! Come on, we are running late!"

"Just a sec!"

Trina pranced out the door while fluffing her hair like she was a supermodel. She ran around the car to the driver's seat and got in.

"Wow, you're in a great mood today, Tri," Tori stated.

"Yep. Today just feels like it's going to be a good day," Trina announced.

Tori smiled and shrugged. She was feeling a little nervous. She wanted to get to school as quick as she could and tell Beck how she felt. A whole five minute drive would be eternal. While Trina drove down the road, Tori rehearsed what she was going to say. She couldn't believe she would ever have to rehearse lines to Beck when she had always been so open-minded to him before. While she thought, Trina merrily sang along to the radio and danced more than she paid attention to driving. Torus, normally bothered by Trina's abstracted behavior, was tolerant. She did wonder, though, what made Trina more obnoxious than usual.

They finally made it to school. Tori got out of the car and slammed the door. Trina seemed to disappear the moment Tori got out.

Wonder what got into her.

The normal crowd of kids was clustered outside the doors of the school. As Tori was walking in, she sensed she was being noticed by them. She thought they were looking at her, but when she turned to look at them, they looked away. She wasn't stupid. She brushed it off and walked into school. She headed off to find Beck. His locker was in the hall adjacent to the hall with her locker. Every morning he stood by the corner of the two halls and waited for her or her friends to walk to Sikowitz's class with. To her surprise, Beck wasn't there. In his spot was Sinjin playing with a wad of silly putty. At least, she hoped it was silly putty.

"Figures," she grumbled.

She walked over to her locker. A few people glanced at her when she went by. People looking at the new celebrity were common, she knew, but it was the way they looked at her that let her know they knew something. When she opened her locker, she checked herself over in the mirror. Everything seemed okay…

A group of two students passed by. Instead of looking and walking on or talking about her behind her back, one of them looked her way and said, "Nice, Tori. Nice."

"Uh, thanks," she said, and followed them down the hall a few steps. "Thanks for what?"

They didn't answer and kept on walking. Tori looked at herself one last time in the mirror, just to be sure.

"Not even a meat hat could draw this much attention," she pointed out brusquely. "I'm getting to the bottom of this."

She slammed her locker door closed and made her way over to Sinjin. He was too absorbed in stretching his silly putty to notice her approach.

"Sinjin."

He leaped back with surprise. "Hi, Tori," he said shakily when he got his bearings back.

"What's going on with everyone today?" she demanded. "Everyone is giving me weird looks. And random compliments!"

"Oh, well people are really interested in your latest update on The Slap," Sinjin stated matter-of-factly. His pupils followed the string of silly putty stretching towards the ground.

"But…I didn't post anything recently."

"Yeah you did."

Sinjin sounded so confident that she did that she decided to check. She punched in in her phone, loaded her home page, and took a look. What she saw as her latest update made her gasp. It nearly made her fall to the floor.

"Tori Vega is a relationship with Danny?" she exclaimed. "How did that get there?"

"Uh…you put it there?"

"I didn't put it there!" she screamed, making him flinch back again. "Someone must have rigged my account and posted this. This could not be weirder."

"You are being a little weird," countered Sinjin. With that he rolled up the silly putty, put it in his ear, and walked away like nothing happened.

Tori continued to stare at the update. Her entire body began to burn with embarrassment and anxiety. She quickly removed the update, but apparently it had been up since 11 o' clock of last night. Half the school had to have read it, and then that half no doubt told the other half that had not read it. This was very bad.

She continued her search for Beck, but this time at a frantic run. She began to worry when he wasn't at his corner or by his locker. Where could he be? She raced past the water fountain, took a left, and entered Sikowitz's class. All of her other friends were there. All but Beck.

"Hey, Tori," Danny greeted sweetly. "I was kind of surprised by how you asked me out, but hey, I won't question it."

"What a happy couple," Robbie added. "Now if only I could say that to me."

"I didn't ask you out," she panted, then turned to the others. "Have any of you seen Beck?"

"Yes!" Cat squealed.

Tori whirled to her. "You have? When?"

"Yesterday. And the day before that. And the day before that. I'm seeing Beck everywhere!" She giggled happily.

"Today!" barked Tori. "Have any of you seen him today?"

"No," Jade answered plainly for all of them.

"Calm down, baby," Danny assured her. "Come sit over here with me and take it easy. Beck will turn up."

"We're not dating," she repeated again. "Don't you get it? I didn't post that relationship status, and I don't want to take it easy. I gotta go."

Tori raced out the door again before her "boyfriend" could call her back to console her again. She ran upstairs, downstairs, and was back at the stairs by her locker where she started. She caught her breath and desperately tried to force her mind to think of where else he could be. In a last attempt to get him, she texted him.

Beck, where are you? I am waiting by the staircase. Find me please!

It sent. She sat down and impatiently started waiting for him. The bell rang, and the halls were deserted. She was supposed to be in class, but she stayed put, watching, waiting. A few minutes ticked by. Beck was nowhere to be found. Her heart sank down into her stomach. She had a feeling she was the reason he was nowhere to be found. She felt to frustrated that she clenched her fists and closed her eyes tightly. When she opened them, she looked down every hall one last time. Then she was forced to give up, get up, and drag her feet back to Sikowitz's class.

She knew that once she went into the classroom, things would not be good. She had being tardy to worry about, Danny, and Beck's lack of presence. She hesitated before walking in.

"Tori!" boomed Sikowitz. More calmly, he added, "You are late."

"I'm so sorry. Things just got a little crazy."

"Was it that raccoon in the parking lot? If it was, then I totally understand. Those little DEMONS!"

"Uh, yes. Yes, it was the raccoon," she lied. She figured it would be the only way to get through her tardiness unscathed. She scooted over to an empty seat near Jade, though she didn't realize it at the time.

"Figures," he mumbled. "Anyway, drive-by acting exercise! You are all angry Inside Out Burger customers complaining about the green hamburger you received. Go!"

The other students exploded into tirades to one another. Tori was standing there in bewilderment, unsure of what to do. Jade slid over to her and said, "Interesting move, Tori."

Tori replied. "If you mean the Danny thing, that was not me. I did not post that."

"Oh yeah. Then who did?" Jade asked. Her voice was as cool as ice, yet seemed friendly. That was as close to friendly as she could be.

"I don't know. It was just there when I-what a minute…I know who did it. Trina is the only one who knows my password. Trina did it!"

"Oh, well," Jade lowered her voice in a serious matter. "Either way, Beck is very disappointed. He texted me about it."

"Where is he? Can you please tell me? I need to fix this? I know that we are not the best of friends and that you are his ex-girlfriend, so I don't expect you to help me, but if there is anything I can do-"

"-He is at the Black Box theater," Jade interrupted.

"W-what?"

"He said he is at the Black Box theater. He will come back to class when he is ready to. You can go talk to him if you want."

Tori nodded gratefully. "Thanks, Jade. But…why are you helping me? I mean, we haven't always gotten along that great. To get along over this…"

Jade took a deep breath. Then she said, "This isn't about you. It's about Beck. I just want him to be happy, and I know what he wants to make him happy."

"Thanks, Jade. If no one has ever said it before, you are a good friend."

Tori looked up at Sikowitz. She found it hard to believe what she was about to do, but she tried not to think about the consequences her actions could cause. When he looked down to sip his coconut, she careened herself out the door. She was fueled by fear of getting caught, and she skimmed through the hall at record speed. When the familiar doors of the Black Box loomed before her, she slowed down. She tip-toed up to the doors. Her heart was beating so fast she thought it would beat right out of her chest. It took nearly all of her strength to reach out and touch her fingers to the door handle. The nervousness she felt before going on the stage of the Platinum Music Awards was nothing compared to the stress she felt now. She knew she had to go. She had to face this predicament.

Tori exhaled one last time. Then she pulled open the doors.

"Beck?" she called. "Are you here?"