Green eyes pierced into her own chestnut orbs. Tori struggled to gain control but found herself surrendering. Breaths hitched. Fingers exploring newfound areas. Their faces moved closer and closer until..

—

"Tori, snap out of it!" Jade was standing beside her in the main corridor of Hollywood Arts next to her embellished "Make it Shine" locker. What the hell is going on with her lately? Jade thought. Ever since they took that trip together, she was acting all kinds of weird. "Our script is due tomorrow and you're not even going to offer any more annoying suggestions?" With Tori's unusual silence as a response, the raven-haired girl shrugged and began to retreat back to her locker. Tori watched her go, still unable to form a sentence. She watched the other girl walk away, clad in all black, a skirt and tights completed by a three-quarter sleeved sweater. It was the same outfit she'd always worn and yet today, Tori saw it differently.

Shutting her locker, she took a deep breath and began to approach Jade, only to be encumbered by another presence. She quickly turned around and began walking to class. There was no way she was getting into the middle of that.

—

Beck Oliver looked at his former-girlfriend impatiently.

"Jade..we need to talk about this."

"Nothing to talk about."

The boy ran his fingers through his dark brown locks. He was verging on exasperation,which was rare for his temperament. "I don't know how many times I have to say it. I'm sorry okay? It was wrong of me to say those things. I was just trying to move on."

"Yeah, well then let's do that. Let's move on."

Go live out your fantasy with little Miss Perfect, she almost added. Jade turned away and began shuffling through her locker preparing her bag with the essentials. Today was just starting out great..she thought, bitterly. She was putting towards an effort, trying to be civil to everyone. Honestly. But they just wanted so much out of her lately. This was why she never let down her walls. Once you open up , they expect that same behavior constantly. Ever since the Platinum Music Awards, when Jade saw the almost-kiss occur through Tori's webcam..she'd been fighting an internal battle.

On the one side, she blamed herself for being such a gank to Beck, but on the other, she realized that he was never going to truly love her the way she was. He was always criticizing her approach to situations. He'd even gone so far as to insult her in front of Tori. Lately, she always had to try so hard to win his approval. It took giving up her spot at the award show just to have him to respond to her civilly again. Frankly, she was exhausted. Jade had let it slip quite some time ago to Tori that she'd seen how she'd refused Beck and she was thankful for her newfound friendship. At least, she could be herself around one person. Nevertheless a nagging insecurity always made itself prevalent when it came to those two. Although, Tori did repeatedly express that her loyalty lied in Jade..

"Come on, Jade. I don't really like Tori that way. It was just that—"

Jade didn't wait until he finished. Almost on cue, the first warning bell before class rang out. She calmingly shut her locker and strutted to class, not even bothering to glance back at the chaos she'd left behind.

—

Tori sat in the back of class, knawing on the end of her pencil, deep in thought. It was math class and after finishing the warm-up exercise she'd found herself gazing out the window. A yawn escaped her as she lethargically rested her cheek into her palm. Those recent memories at the mansion never seemed to elude her conscience. Especially during those vulnerable points in the day when she had little more to ponder. She couldn't help but recollect the way Jade had fallen into her lap and instinctly put both hands out to break the fall but had wound up embracing her instead. Her long legs had sprawled out over her lap onto the edge of the opposite armrest. The way Jade had gazed into her eyes. For a split second, Tori thought she saw something else there.

Desire perhaps? Fear? It certainly wasn't anything close to the mask of anger Jade so famously wore around her. The entire incident had taken place within less than a minute before Jade had immediately recovered and gathered her footing. While standing up, Jade had left Tori with another one of those seductive smirks before landing a kiss on her cheek. Tori was left with her mouth agape in shock as the other girl lightly bounded out of the room. She was good at that, bringing unpredictability into what was perceived to be Tori's perfect little world.

—

Images began to blur together as the wetness on her cheeks began to seep into her reality. Dark ebony-colored hair, brilliant green eyes and an almost maniacal expression gazed back at her through the glass. Jade had never felt so conflicted. She didn't know why she did the things she did..she pushed people away in hopes that they would come back to prove their affection, but she knew that that wouldn't be the case if she continued with her standard methods. Especially Beck. But the truth was, she wasn't even sure if she wanted Beck back anymore. Her emotions had invested themselves into other whereabouts and it was wrenching her heart into turmoil. It had all begun with her stupid quest to get over that boy. Well the plan had worked, in a way. She sharply inhaled and withdrew her breath before adjusting her makeup. The bathroom was empty for a short time before lunch officially started, giving Jade just enough time to prepare herself to meet her companions at the table. You were only supposed to play the game Jade, not lose yourself in it.

—

"Hey little Red!" Andre scooted comfortably next to the velvet-haired girl seated at their usual table in the Asphalt Cafe. Cat had been the first one there and she was happily pretending to feed her stuffed purple giraffe some lettuce. "What's going on?"

Cat chirped out a greeting before delving back into her fantasy. A moment later, Robbie sat down on the other side of the girl. "Hey guys. So I ordered a burger with no pickles and Festus put extra pickles in it..again. I'm beginning to think he does it on purpos-"

"Man, no one cares!" His ever present puppet was hollering at its own master. Again.

Rex and Robbie proceeded to bicker about Robbie's personality flaws for a few minutes, before Andre interrupted.

"So Cat, I saw your guys' status on the Slap. How was the trip? And how is Tori even alive after going somewhere with Jade?"

"Oh um..that." Cat nervously shifted and began munching on her salad again, eyes darting sporadically avoiding his gaze. "I'm not sure I should say."

"Oh come on..you can tell us." Robbie nudged her gently.

"Yeah..what's the big deal?" shrugged Andre. "Was it that scary?"

"No..it's not that. It's just.." Cat leaned into the musician and covered his ear before whispering.

"OH." Andre's eyes widened. "Okay..well let's just keep that to ourselves then."

Hey guys, thanks for the reviews and sorry about the wait. By the way, to the person who asked: tentative means unsure. I've been crazy busy at school and on top of that I wasn't sure whether to make this a multi-chapter story or a two-shot. So let me know what you think. Thanks again!