A/N: I'm so sorry for my sudden disappearance and abandonment of this story. The last time I updated was before summer break, where I also took a short break from my admiration of Victorious. Do not get me wrong-writing is my passion, and I still love Jade. But, I just began to flourish my writing pieces in different ways and mediums over the course of June, July, and August. I spoke to my previous English teacher from my prior semester a few days ago and they were very insightful and actually inspired me to keep writing this story when we spoke; so if I have anyone to thank for getting me out of my neglection of updating Road Trip, it's them. Hopefully, I'll slowly be able to update this story more and more.
"What are we supposed to do now?!" Tori cried, looking to Jade, only to view her expression just as worried as her own. The pitter-patter of the forceful rain on the windshield did not relieve Tori and Jade of the tension both girls were experiencing in any way.
Jade turned her head, watching the other vehicles on the road pass her small black car at their place on the edge of the road. "How am I supposed to know? I'm not a mechanic!" Jade stammered, leaning her chin on her hand.
A thought sparked in Tori's mind. "Good idea." she affirmed, pulling out her Pear Phone. "We'll just call a mechanic. They'll fix your car up. We should only be delayed by an hour." Tori explained, beginning to feel herself relax. Who knew I would be the one to come to the reasonable solutions, she thought.
Tori opened the web browser application on her Pear Phone, searching for a local mechanic. One was actually remotely close to their isolated spot on the road. Tori dialled the number, inspecting the fingernails on her free hand.
"Jeff's Auto-Repair. How may I help you?" A husky voice with a southern accent greeted on the other line.
"Oh, hi..." Tori addressed, looking to Jade with hope in her eyes. Jade gave Tori a thumbs up, squinting her eyes, as if she did not care. Tori knew she did. "I, um, I am...kind of stuck. On the road. And I think we might need a boost, or some kind of repair of some sort?"
"Where ar'ya abouts?" The man asked, his accent coating each word individually.
"Um," Tori covered the speaker on her phone. "What street is this?" she asked in a slight whisper.
"I don't know. Hollister Avenue?" Jade responded, coldly.
"Uh, Hollister Avenue." She answered, hope in her voice.
"Alright ma'am," the man began. "Just hold on up, our services will be with you within the next ten to fifteen minutes." he concluded.
Tori beamed. "Thank you so much!" she hailed, eyes trailing to the rain, hoping it would not slow down the auto repair company from arriving. She ended the call, slipping her Pear Phone back into her pocket.
"So, any idea who's paying for this?" Jade interrogated, crossing her arms.
Tori rolled her eyes. "Jade, it's your car!" she fumed. "You're the one who didn't bother to change the oi-you know? Why do I bother? You probably already tuned me out. How did you even forget about changing the oil?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I don't know, Vega." Jade spat out. "Why did Trina forget she's allergic to herbs? Why did her tongue swell up at the showcase? Why was that the cause and effect of having you plague my life at Hollywood Arts?" she barked, putting her head in her hands.
"You need a Midol." Tori huffed, shaking her head.
"Fine. I'll pay three quarters of it. You can pay the rest." Jade muttered, under her breath. She craned her neck to the left, looking out the window splattered in rain drops, not speaking a word.
Fifteen minutes passed, when Tori and Jade eagerly looked out their windshield to see a man pull up in a fire-red tow truck on the side of the road where their car was parked.
"Thank you, God." Tori said aloud, praising the services for coming as fast as they said they would. She could not stand another tension-filled moment in the humid car with Jade.
Tori began to unbuckle her seatbelt, opening the car door, making her way outside to greet the man in the heavy rain. "Hi..." she greeted, trying to bring her soft voice above the irritable loudness of the rain.
"Ar'ya Miss Vega?" the man inquired, using the umbrella in his hand to block Tori and himself from the rain. He adjusted his belt, pulling it upward.
"Yeah, my friend, Jade West, is in the car; she's actually the owner of the vehicle." Tori explained, trying to notion him to coming into the dry car, where she began to envy Jade's shelter.
"Alright." he said, huffing. "I just needa get my papers out of the truck for Miss West to sign, y'all okay if this takes about a half an hour? Nothing much but a little engine tweaks and we'll get y'ladies up and runnin' very soon."
Tori's eyes twinkled. "Sounds okay to me. I'm going to go wait with Jade." Tori moved back into the car, where she found herself shivering, even after the humidity of the car began to set in.
"Cold or something, Vega?" Jade asked, rhetorically.
"No kidding." Tori blatantly responded, moving her wet hair off of her back.
Jade rolled her eyes, leaning into her Gears of War shoulder bag she had kept in the backseat of the car for her oversized, checkered flannel sweater. She threw it onto Tori's lap. "Doubt you brought one in hopes the weekend would be warm and rain-free."
Tori felt the warm cotton on her cold finger tips, looking at Jade, dumbfounded. "You're actually letting me, Tori, wear your flannel?"
Jade pursed her lips, lowering her eyebrows. "You're welcome!" she proclaimed, sharply. And Tori knew she meant it. Jade did not do much for anyone, and the simple sacrifice of her favourite flannel was pretty humble.
Jade began to sign the papers, handing over her driver's licensing and insurance to the man they assumed was Jeff, of Jeff's Auto-Repair.
A few moments passed, and Jade found herself finished with the papers. Jeff slowly returned to the slightly ajar door of Tori's passenger seat. "Um, Miss...West?" he asked, puzzled.
"What? What now?" Jade growled, throwing the ballpoint pen down by her side.
Jeff tilted his head. "Is this really your sick attempt at trying to pass off a fake driver's lisence?" he accused, holding up the plastic card in his hand.
"Fake?" Tori asked, distraught. She looked to Jade who had slowly began to close her guilt infused eyes. "What do you mean 'fake'?"
Jade took a moment to collect herself before she answered. "I may or may not have accidentally mixed up my fake lisence and my real drivers lisence before I left for school this morning." she gulped, gripping the handle of the driver's seat.
"What?!" Tori yelped. "Why the hell do you have a fake license in the first place?!" she cried, running a shaky hand through her damp hair.
Jade exhaled, then began to explain her actions. "When I was 15, Beck and I used to go to this really cool club near Hollywood Arts every Friday and obviously, you had to be 21 to actually get some liquor, or get in at all. So, I asked Trina about that guy she knew from Fresno who specializes in fake identification. Long story short, I'm old enough for a real license now and me and Beck haven't been there in a year." she said, in a rush.
Tori shook her head, still confused. "That still doesn't explain why you brought your fake one?" she interrogated, feeling in her pocket for her phone.
Jade made a face, then looked to Jeff standing outside in the rain, holding up his umbrella. "I'm always afraid if I throw it out, my mother will find it. So, yeah. I guess...I brought the wrong one. Somehow." Jade widened her eyes, falling back in her seat in defeat.
Jeff broke the silence between the three of them, after the sounds of hard rain hitting the exterior of the car could only be heard. "Well, m'ladies, thanks for that cute explanation, but I'm gonna have to tow y'all back to the shop until we get this sorted out for now." Jeff instructed, opening Tori's door as a signal for them to get out.
Twenty minutes later, Tori and Jade arrived to Jeff's Auto-Repair. A musty scent entered Tori's nostrils when she walked into the small office area where a blonde female receptionist sat. The pea green wallpaper was peeling at the corners of the wall, and the furniture choice for the waiting room identified heavily with 1982. To top it all off, the neon sign that read Jeff's Auto-Repair out front not only had the letters 'E', 'A', and 'O' burned out, but the framed logo over the sofa in the waiting room had cracked glass. Classy, Tori thought.
"You ladies can call whoever you need to bring you some proper identification. But until then, I cannot legally release your car to either of ya." Jeff stated, collapsing backwards into the sofa.
"Tanya, can y'fetch me a beer? It's been a long one." Jeff asked, referring to his day. Tori and Jade exchanged glances.
"Yes, sir." the blonde receptionist answered, running to the back of the building to get the drink.
"Okay..." Tori edged, looking to Jade. "I guess I'll call Be-"
"No!" Jade exclaimed, cutting the brunette off. "I will not stand here while you call my ex-boyfriend in need."
Tori smirked. "Okay, Jade, as much as I want to play this game, I literally, for every fiber of my being, can NOT right now." she begged. "We need to call someone, and our best bet is calling Beck."
Jade crossed her arms. "What about Andre? Or Cat?" she nervously chipped away at the midnight black nail polish on her finger tips.
"Andre has no money. The Northridge girls stole his wallet. And Cat? Really? Do I even have to elaborate?" Tori questioned, giving Jade a perplexed look.
Jade stomped her boot against the dirt filled, tiled floor, and sat down on one of the chairs against the wall in an aggressive manner. She looked to Jeff, who began to gulp down the beer Tanya had gotten him. "Fine. Call Beck. I don't care." Jade finally affirmed, putting her head in her hands.
Tori nodded, reaching into her pocket to dial Beck. She put her Pear Phone to her ear.
"Hello?" Beck greeted from the other line.
"Beck. Hi." Tori said, altogether.
"Tori? What's up? Aren't you and Jade voyaging away?" Beck asked.
Tori bit her lip, looking to Jade who still remained with her face in her pale hands. "Yeah...about that. Here's the thing. Jade and I had a little run in, and we need you to bring us her license. It's in her room; I guess you can just ask her mom to give it to you or something."
"Whoa, whoa, wait. Slow down. Tori...I don't know. How far away are you guys?" Beck responded.
"Two hours? We're near Hollister Avenue." Tori answered.
"Tori, I'd love to help you guys, but the only time I'm available is tomorrow morning. My cousin is coming in from Canada tonight and I need to pick him up at LAX." Beck explained.
Tori felt a pain in her head begin to embark. "Tomorrow morning?" Jade looked to Tori in immediate displeasure.
"Don't worry. I'll leave the house around 6, and I'll get it to you guys by 8. It'll be fine." Beck insisted.
Tori rubbed her eye with her free hand. "Fine. I guess we'll find a hotel until tomorrow morning. Thank you so much." she agreed, giving in. Tori ended the call, slipping the metalic phone back into her pocket.
"Alrighty!" Tori declared. "Jade, I guess we'll be getting a hotel for the night and finishing our drive tomorrow morning. Jeff, we'll be back tomorrow for the car with the license."
Jade, defeated, ran a hand through her jet black locks. "Let's get out of here, Vega." she said, pulling herself up from the seat.
"Jade, come on. Don't be such a Negative Nancy. Tomorrow we'll leave as soon as Beck gives us the license-you already filled out the insurance and stuff, so everything is covered. We can find a cheap motel tonight and grab something to eat on our way out tomorrow. The Scissoring doesn't start until tomorrow evening, anyway." Tori tried, somewhat cheering Jade up. She gave her a light pat on the back.
"Whatever." Jade huffed. She pushed open the heavy door, not bothering to say goodbye to Jeff or Tanya.
Tori smiled awkwardly. "Well, bye? I guess we'll see you again tomorrow morning."
Jeff nodded, taking another long sip of his beer. Tanya remained hunched over her old computer, like she was working as if her life depended on it.
"Okay." Tori mumbled, wincing slightly. She pushed open the door, following Jade out into the still pouring rain.
"Jade!" Tori called out after her, watching as the undetectable sunlight hid behind the dark rain clouds.
Jade stopped, turning around. "Where are we supposed to go?" she fumed, meeting Tori's eyes. Tori could tell Jade was in a state of panic.
"There," Tori began, pointing to a shafty motel across the street from the auto repair shop. "We can rent a room there and get dinner somewhere or order in."
"This wasn't the plan." Jade commented, dryly.
"I know it wasn't the plan, but that's the fun in a road trip, right? It's all about the experience." Tori justified, following Jade as she continued walking.
The cars sped by the two girls on the busy road before them, as they tried to find a crosswalk to get to the other side where the motel stood. They eventually made it across the street, where they entered the Buttonwillow Motel. The motel did not appear different from the hotel; it had the same retro furnishings and had a musty tone to it. The girls approached the old woman at the desk, who sat smoking a cigarette delicately.
"Um...hi!" Tori hailed, waving to the woman.
The woman, whose name tag faintly read 'Stevie', stiffly tapped the ashes from the cigarette into the tray, then looked up. "...Hi." she grumbled.
"Can we get a room?" Jade asked, impatiently.
"Yeah." she muttered. "It'll be 68.75 for the night." Stevie answered, getting up from her seat to acquire Jade and Tori the room key.
"68.75?" Tori restated, in shock. "That's incredible. I had high hopes for at least a hundred dollars." she chirped, nudging Jade to signify what a great price it was.
"Touch me again and you won't have an elbow." Jade hissed, pulling out 35 dollars from her wallet. "Cover the rest, Vega."
Tori nodded, paying her share for the room, and the two girls strolled down the lengthy corridor, making it to their room after the long, tedious evening.
"232," Jade read from the chain on the key. She unlocked the door and Tori flicked the light on.
"Okay, so I guess we'll go back for our luggage in the car after we find a place to ea-" Tori remarked, looking down at the floor, focused on closing the door behind them, when Jade cut her off.
"Tori," Jade began. "There's only one bed."