First period went by fast for Tori as she kept replaying what she had seen again and again trying to make sense of everything. She knew now that three of her friends had something that they didn't tell her. But while Robbie's and Andre's memories seemed to be distant, childhood memories, Beck's was recent, and while Robbie's carried a lot of sadness in it, Beck's was sheer anger.
She thought about avoiding her friends again for lunch and hide away in the Blackbox Theatre or in one of the empty classrooms, but that would only bring more suspicion upon her. And after her panic attack the previous day, she didn't need any more of that. Luckily for her, she was the first there, sitting by herself and thinking how to proceed. She knew that she couldn't ignore what always happened, as the visions were too strong. Also, she wanted to know what had happened to her friends that equaled cheating or a financial crisis.
"Hey there." Andre said as he sat down and put his food on the table. "Feeling better?" He asked, looking at Tori.
She didn't answer right back. She looked at him for a moment, contemplating about doing something she hadn't intended to do at all. Maybe it would make things better for her. And maybe he would confess what it was that he hid from her, and possibly everyone else.
"Not really. I haven't slept all night." She said honestly.
"What? Robbie said that you felt better after catching some sleep." Andre said, confused at what he heard.
"I lied to him. I didn't want him to ask me any more questions." Tori admitted, looking down in shame.
"Why did you lie?" Andre asked, pushing away the plate in front of him and giving Tori his full attention.
"Andre, we are friends, right?" Tori asked, still not looking at him.
"Tori, you are my best friend and you know how much you mean to me. Now please, tell me what is wrong because I've been worried sick now for weeks." Andre said with determination, hoping that he would finally find out what was going on.
Tori looked up and around, seeing that the rest of the gang was standing in a long line waiting to get their food. She let out a sigh and finally looked at Andre. She didn't need any crazy ability to see that he was worried sick.
"Keep this between us, please." Tori pleaded.
"Of course." Andre said.
"My parents split a few weeks ago. My mom was cheating on my dad with one of his colleagues and he found out." Tori said, keeping her tears back.
"Tori… I'm so sorry. I…" Andre began, but Tori cut him off. She wasn't finished.
"He found out and confronted him. She only threw the blame at him and packed her stuff before leaving. Gary got transferred to Chicago and she went with him. I saw her leaving, I yelled after her in hopes we all could figure this out, but she didn't even look at me as she walked away. She left dad, Trina and me as if we meant nothing to her. Our own mother left us just like that. I haven't heard from her ever since." Tori finished.
Andre looked at her in defeat. When she told them that her parents had been arguing, he hadn't imagined that it was something as severe as this.
"How are Trina and your dad holding up?" Andre asked.
"Dad buries himself in work. He works from morning until evening and when he gets home he goes straight to bed. I haven't talked with him since mom left. And I'm not sure what I could say to him if I got the chance to. Trina is never home either. She says she is always at a friends place, but I'm worried that it's something else. She missed a lot of classes already. Can't really blame her." She explained, saying the final part with a small, ironic chuckle as she shook her head. She allowed her tears to freely run down her cheeks, not having enough strength left to hold them back anymore.
"Why didn't you tell me before?" Andre asked.
"Because there is nothing any of you can do. You can't bring my mom back. You can't undo what she did. You can't change my life back to how it was. All you could do is watch me cry and break down." Tori explained.
"And your solution is to avoid all of us and not tell a soul? How would that make things better?" Andre asked.
"You guys probably have issues on your own. I don't want to be a burden to anyone."
"Bullshit, Tori." Andre said. Tori looked at him, both shocked and confused at his retort. "You aren't a burden to anyone. Are you even aware how often you helped me out? Do you even remember how often you helped all of us out in the past? If you feel that you can't come to me during bad times then I feel as if I failed you as a friend."
Tori looked at him, regret beginning to choke because of his words. She looked at him, and she knew that he meant every word he said to her.
"Did I do something? Why don't you trust me anymore?" Andre asked.
"You didn't do anything. And I do trust you. I just… didn't know what to do. I'm sorry Andre." Tori said, looking down. Next to everything, she now felt as if she had hurt her best friend.
"Don't apologize. Just remember that I'll always be here for you if you need me." Andre said.
"But there is nothing you can do to help me now. All this is out of your control." Tori said, meaning both her situation at home and her recent ability.
"Even if I can't change the situation, it's always easier when you have someone with you. That's what friends are for. When you think that things can't get worse, they come and go with you through whatever approaches, no matter what. Pain, no matter how bad, is always easier to take when there is someone there to support you and even take pieces away from you." Andre said.
Tori took all his words in, especially the last part. She didn't know why he said it the way he said it, but he just gave an answer to all her dilemmas.
"Thank you. It means a lot." Tori said, looking back at him and giving him a small, genuine smile.
"Always for you girl." He said as he moved closer and moved in for a hug. She didn't try to avoid it. She made a decision. She would find out what the memory was about and try to help him as much as he always helped her. It's the least she can do for him. So she leaned in the hug, feeling his warm embrace for a moment before everything in front of her light up in a bright light.
In the backyard of a large house with a large tree, a young African American boy was kicking a ball around. He was around eight years old and ran around happily, shooting the ball through the backyard. An older lady, who was in her mid fifties, watched him happily as she sat in her chair, enjoying the beautiful weather. Then the boy shot the ball really hard with his full force and kicked it up high on the tree, where it got stuck.
He ran towards the large tree and began climbing it, wanting his ball back.
"Andre, come back down! It's too dangerous to climb that high!" His grandmother yelled as she stood up and ran towards the tree herself.
"Don't worry grandma. I'll just grab my ball and I'm down in no time." Andre said, climbing even higher. He was close to the ball.
"Andre, please, you'll get hurt! Climb down!" She yelled in a desperate voice filled with fear.
"Just a moment!" He said as he grabbed the ball. That moment, his foot slipped from one of the branches.
The vision ended as Andre had pulled back from the hug. Tori felt guilt build up in the pit of her stomach. It was what she felt throughout the whole vision. The vision wasn't complete though, she felt that. She also felt that the guilt coming from that memory was overwhelming before it faded a few moments later. She looked at him, new tears wanting to appear at what she found out. She never knew that he had to live with so much guilt. She couldn't imagine having to deal with it every day.
"So? You feel better now?" Andre asked.
"Yes. I do. Thank you for listening." Tori said.
"Anything for you, girl." Andre said.
"How are you? Is there anything bothering you?" Tori asked.
"I'm fine. You know me. The only thing I allow to worry me is if I can't come up with lyrics to a song." Andre said with a smile.
"You know that you can always tell me everything yourself, right?" Tori asked, hopping that he would spare her the need of seeing the full vision.
"Of course I do. Don't worry about me. For now, let's just keep sure you stay good." Andre said.
Before Tori could say anything else, the rest of the gang arrived at the table. Jade sat down next to Tori, bad mood as always as Cat sat down next to Andre and Beck sat down on the other side.
"Were you crying?" Jade asked, seeing the tearstains on Tori's face.
"A bit. Just had a heart to heart moment with Andre." Tori said.
"Don't worry. Everything is alright." Andre said.
"Geez, I was just asking. I didn't need a summary." Jade said as she began stabbing her salad.
"Oh, before I forget, here is your chemistry book." Cat said as he took a black book out of her bag and handed it over to Jade. Jade leaned forward to grab it, accidentally touching Tori.