[Insert Epic music of your choice here] So here we go! Another chapter that is amazingly short (to me, that is)! Sorry about that, but there's a reason and that reason is expressed in an Author's Note at the end, so read that before reviewing/commenting about whatever. I'll know if you did or not by what you leave for me after reading! Ha! Gotcha! (Sorry, I'm a little delirious right now and am in a rare form, so just work with me here!)

Anywho, thanks again for reading and sticking around for so long; we're definitely nearing the end. Another chapter or two, maybe? Still not sure yet, but I guess we'll find out!

..:..

When I Look at You

Chapter 7 ~ Thursday

Tori

Bum. Bum. Bum. Bum.

Run. Run. Run. Run.

Bum. Bum. Bum. Bum.

Tori was running.

Running from everything it seemed.

Then again maybe not.

She liked how the strenuous exercise made her muscles scream in both pain and pleasure; she loved pushing herself up hills and practically rolling down the other side in full force. The freedom of it all made her laugh as if she were hopped on some wonderful unknown drug yet to be found.

She was just high on life.

Or maybe it was all the endorphins from her running.

Yeah, maybe that was it; it had to be.

Looping around the cul-de-sac of her neighborhood she passed her house before exiting out onto the main street, hanging a left at the corner so as to divert over to the street behind her house. There they had pretty houses and clean cut lawns that made her imagination go crazy, something that was a welcomed distraction.

Only yesterday had she told Beck that, in a nutshell, they couldn't be friends anymore.

Or talk anymore.

Or even interact anymore for that matter.

Was it dramatic? Yes.

Excessive? Maybe.

Totally called for? Absolutely.

At least in her mind.

She sighed as she ran out into the middle of the street to avoid a nearby sprinkler, the water bouncing off the asphalt though still managing to hit her legs. It felt nice for a fleeting second until it warmed to her heightened body temperature and mixed with sweat, running down to wet the tops of her socks.

Some things were just too good to be true.

And she wasn't just talking about The Weekend (as she had dubbed it).

Granted, she enjoyed herself, immensely, but for her the only way out of it all was to simply sever ties where they needed to be severed. She definitely wasn't going to come clean about what really went on between her and Beck to Jade (maybe Andre, but that was pushing it), so why not just pretend the whole thing never happened.

There really was no evidence to frame her.

Just memories…and god were they nice.

Yesterday, sitting in the hall feeling so pitiful and out of fuel, Tori had ended her friendship (possible relationship?) with Beck. It had felt awful, dirty, rude, and just plain heart shattering. She had left him sitting there alone in the hall looking after her as she backed away, tears ready to fall from her eyes. It only took exactly one step through the hallowed entrance way of Hollywood Arts for her to realize that she had made the biggest mistake ever and began to regret everything she had said.

But that didn't matter.

Sure, she regretted it, but it was what needed to be done.

So that's what she did.

Taking the car and leaving Trina abandoned at school did make her feel slightly better, as did the extra large helping of Fro Yo (Tim was shocked at the size upgrade) she inhaled in a record three minutes. She could have done without the brain freeze, but the decadent mix of flavors was worth it. Returning home, however, did nothing to make her feel better…or maybe it did in one of those sadist kind if ways.

Trina was pissed to say the least.

Tori had passed Andre on the way into her neighborhood where he only saluted her before gunning it for the exit. Trina wasn't even inside when Tori pulled into the driveway, meaning the neighbors got a pretty good fireworks display upon Tori approaching her fuming sister. The younger sibling took it in stride though, owning up to her lack of communication and pure selfishness of taking the car without asking. Tori allowed her sister a decent five minute rant before finally shouldering around her and into the house, where the rest of the evening she bunkered down in her room, smiling slightly as Trina continued to rant and rave to their parents.

Then morning came where Tori got ready for school, said nothing to her sister as Trina drove them there, and then peeled out before Sikowitz's class so as not to see him (it was too soon to face the aftermath).

And ever since then she'd been running.

Through town, down the beach, around the mall, through neighborhoods.

Everywhere, as if she could just magically out run everything from the past week of her life.

Frowning, Tori moved closer to the curb as the beeping of a car horn broke through the ear popping volume of her music. She put her hand up in the air to motion them to go around her in the plenty of road there was; there were two lanes after all. The car eventually passed, the driver a person unknown to her even though they waved as if they were old buddies.

Maybe she looked like someone they knew?

Shrugging this off she rounded another corner that would place her two streets over from hers in a neighborhood where the grass was always greener on the other side.

Literally.

Talk about quality fertilizer.

Just as Tori was staring in awe at the emerald hued lawns, a body collided with hers, sending both the jogger and attacker face first into the sidewalk.

"AAAIIIEEEEE!" Was all Tori could manage as foreign hands wrapped around her waist to prevent her from making impact and instead rolling them into the lush padding of a yard. Smacking violently at the hands and person behind her, Tori fought with a newly found burst of energy.

"Stranger danger! Stranger danger!" She yelled, hoping some yard wandering person would hear and come to her rescue.

"Chill out, man, jesus!" A voice said suddenly from behind her, causing Tori to cease all actions in confusion.

"Andre?" She asked, incredulous as to why her friend was randomly body-checking her while running.

"Please get off of me, you're smashing me in all the wrong places!" Still pumped with adrenaline, Tori scrambled off the boy and to the side, where she sat with elbows on her knees staring at the dreadlocked boy. Yanking an ear bud from her head she smacked at his arm.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Damn you run fast for a white girl." Was all the panting boy could manage as he rolled onto his back and massaged his stomach as though in labor with a child. Tori just shook her head at this before leaning back onto her arms and trying to control her beating pulse.

"You don't just tackle people like that." She stated after a while when it seemed Andre had regained himself from his extensive running.

"Well I had to talk to you."

"And calling or texting wouldn't have worked?"

"What can I say," Andre smiled from he was looking at her upside down, "I'm more of a face to face communication kind of guy."

"Yeah, no kidding. More like a football player, too."

"Really?" He asked, genuine hope on his face as Tori contemplated her answer.

"Well you can definitely tackle." Andre laughed, seemingly accepting this answer for now as he maneuvered into a sitting position across from the brunette.

"I'll keep that in mind." He joked, brushing grass from his shirt and lap.

"You do that."

"Really, though, I was looking for you."

"Why?"

"I have information." He practically whispered as he leaned in close with a hand shielding his mouth from view.

"Is it a threat to national security?" She whispered back, figuring she'd play along for the fun of it.

"Please, if it was do you think I'd be telling you?" She smacked his arm again at this, secretly enjoying how he made life so much more entertaining. "Nah, but info of another kind."

"Oh." Was all Tori could manage, her mind whirling with possibilities. What could be so important that it had Andre sprinting down the street after her? "Tell me, then." She said with a shrug, bracing herself for whatever he was about to spill.

"Jade's cheatin'."

Her jaw dropped.

"And I told Beck."

Her eyes widened.

"And he's breaking up with her as we speak."

"Wwwwwwhhhhhaaaaaaaa!" Was the only sound that would come out.

"I know."

"But…but…but…"

"I know."

"But…"

"I know."

"But…"

"I kn—"

"I know you know!" She snapped, falling back into the grass as an arm was thrown over her face.

"I thought you'd be happy!" Andre exclaimed, smacking her knee in emphasis.

"Why would I be happy that Jade's cheating on him?" She asked, her free hand flying around in the air with her words.

"Well you and Beck ca—"

"Nope! Nuh-uh! Don't even say it!" She said, rising from her position like a zombie from the grave. "Don't even think it."

"Why not?"

"Because…" She said, not too sure she wanted to re-hash yesterday's events out loud, "I broke up with him." Wow; that just didn't even sound right.

"You broke up with him." Andre stated, confusion on his face as Tori nodded weakly and picked at the seemingly award winning grass before her.

"Enlighten me; how do you break up with someone you're not really with?"

"You know what I mean!" She sighed, throwing her handful of greens at him.

"I told him we couldn't be friends anymore because I couldn't trust myself to be around him because I didn't want to mess up his relationship and stuff…I'm pretty sure he doesn't want to talk to me. I know I wouldn't."

"I did notice you checked out early yesterday…today too." He said, acknowledging her sudden disappearances from school. "Never pinned you down as the delinquent type." She smiled slightly at this, finally looking up to meet Andre's coffee colored gaze. He smiled back gently, his head cocked to side as sweat continued to pour down his forehead.

"I did what needed to be done. That's it."

"That's it?"

"Yup."

"But it's not."

"You annoy me." The boy laughed at this though she knew his words to be true.

This wasn't it.

"So…" She began, somewhat hating herself for giving in so easily to his informative words, "how do I fix everything then?"

"Don't ask me, I don't have anything broken." Tori rolled her eyes at this; that sarcasm of his was going to be the death of her.

"Fine, I'll figure it out myself." She stated, pushing herself up into a standing position and stretching out her cramped up muscles.

"You do that." Andre shrugged, looking up at her from his still seated position. She shook her head and smiled as she walked around him, patting his head as though he was a small puppy being rewarded for performing a trick.

"You might want to move." She suggested from where she now stood in the middle of the street, Andre's confused gaze looking back at her.

"Why?"

"No reason." She shrugged, idly distancing herself from him.

"Huh?"

"Bye!" She exclaimed, taking off down the street as the front sprinklers kicked on with full yard watering potential. She laughed all the way down the street as Andre's yells echoed after her.

Tori was going to fix what she had so carelessly broken.

One step at a time.

Author Note: By reading this note you will know two things: a) why I didn't do Beck & b) about the next update. So here we go... ~ The reason Beck is not present in this one is because of the simple fact that I felt I could not do his break up with Jade justice. I tried (boy did I try!) but just couldn't produce anything I liked, so you (as the reader) get to use your imagination, so go crazy! I will say that bits of the break-up scenes I had written will appear in the next chapter, but not the whole thing. Feel free to insert your break up scene in a review/comment; I know you all are creative!

Secondly (and sadly) there will probably be only 1 or 2 more chapters. I never intended for this to be a huge story, but a simple happening in the span of a few days (in this case a week). Expect a lengthy amount of time as I work out the final kinks so this story will be the best it can be. Time and patienece are greatly appreciated, as are reviews and comments.

Sorry for wasting time and space, I just needed to clear the air some. Thanks again and much love, Fluff ;)