"Do you see them anywhere?" Tori asked as she looked around.
"No. I can't believe I lost them. Fucking LA traffic." Jade scowled as she parked her car next to the sidewalk. "What now?" She asked as she looked at the half Latina.
"I only got one option." Tori said as she pulled out her phone. She quickly began typing and a few seconds later her message was sent.
"Who did you message?" Jade asked. Just then, Tori's phone rang.
"Andre. He says he brought them to the place where that karaoke bar was." Tori said.
"Karaoke Dokie?"
"Yeah, that place. It looks like there is something else there." Tori said. She quickly typed something back to Andre.
"Let's go see what there is now." Jade said. Tori's phone again rang. She immediately opened the message. "What is it now?" Jade asked as she waited for a chance to join the traffic again.
"Andre's asking if we are going to spy on them." Tori said.
"Just type of course." Jade said as she finally began driving towards their destination. Then Tori's phone again rang. "What now?"
"Nothing. He just wants me to let him know if anything happens." Tori said.
"I'm not sure what I expected." Jade said.
"How are we going to pull this of?" Tori asked.
"Easy. We walk in there, sit somewhere where they can't see us and observe what Robbie has planned for them." Jade said.
"And what if they do see us?" Tori asked.
"Oh please, Robbie will be looking only at Cat and Cat will be looking at her hands because she will be nervous to look at him at first." Jade explained.
"Yeah, you're right about that." Tori admitted.
Five minutes later, they arrived at their destination. Jade parked her car further away so neither Robbie nor Cat could spot it when they leave the place. Both got out of the car and made their way towards the entrance.
"So they turned it into a restaurant?" Tori asked as both girls stopped.
"No wonder. That owner and his daughter must have chassed away all customers. Well, I can't say I'm that sad that they had to close." Jade said as she smirked.
"Come on, let's go find a table where we can see what they are doing." Tori said.
Both girls walked into the restaurant and were greeted by the doorman. Tori was surprised to see a familiar face stand there.
"Hey, do I know you?" Tori asked the young man.
"I'm sure you do. You walked into me a not too long ago in school." He said. "My name is Simon, by the way." He said.
"My name is Victoria, but everybody calls me Tori." She said as she extended her hand. He gladly shook it. "And this is Jade." Tori added, looking towards the other girl who had her arms crossed over her chest and showed no interest in talking to him.
"Nice to meet you. Do you need a table?" He asked.
"We do, but…" Tori began.
"What is it?" Simon asked.
"Two of our friends are having their first date here and we want a place where we can see them, but they won't see us." Jade quickly explained.
"Hm." He uttered as he looked inside. "You mean Cat and Robbie?" He asked.
"Yes. Can you help us?" Tori asked.
"Sure. There is live music in here during the weekend and usually all guests look towards the stage. I'll give you a table behind them. That should do it." Simon said as he wrote them in. "Table eight. A waitress will be there in a moment. Good luck."
"Thanks." Jade said as she went ahead towards their table.
"Thank you so much." Tori said.
"It's nothing. Have fun." Simon said with a smile.
Tori walked inside and towards their table where Jade was already sitting. She sat down and saw Cat and Robbie sitting two tables away from them. Both had their back turned towards them and their eyes seemed glued either on the stage or on each other.
"This is perfect." Tori whispered, not wanting their cover to blow.
"Yeah. Robbie sure knows how to make a great first impression on a date." Jade said as she looked around.
"Look, Cat has her hand on Robbie's!" Tori said, grabbing Jade's arm. She saw Jade smile as she watched her best friend finally being treated right by a guy.
"He better not break her heart." Jade said.
"He won't. Not Robbie. He wouldn't hurt Cat, and you know that." Tori said. The waitress came and both girls looked through the menu.
"I don't think I should take anything." Tori said.
"Why?" Jade asked.
"I don't have much money left, and I don't know when dad is going to be home." Tori said.
"Don't worry about that. I'll take care of the bill." Jade said.
"No, I can't accept that." Tori protested.
"Sure you can. Order whatever you want. And stop worrying about unimportant things." Jade said as she handed the waitress her menu and told her what she wanted. Tori did the same thing and the waitress left.
"See, wasn't that hard, was it?" Jade smiled and looked at Tori.
"Thank you. I'll pay you back, I promise." Tori said.
"Sure. Whatever." Jade said as she looked back at Cat and Robbie. They seemed to be talking about something, yet none of them let the others hand go.
The night continued and Cat and Robbie seemed to have a great time. Their conversation did not come to a halt and their seats seemed to move closer together as the time passed. Two hours into their date, their chairs were right next each other. Robbie had his arm wrapped around Cat while she had her head leaned on his shoulder.
Jade and Tori were watching them carefully, but as the night went on, their conversation didn't come to a halt either. The attention they gave their friends was slowly diminishing compared to the attention they gave one another.
"And Beck never took you to a place like this?" Tori asked, not believing what Jade had told her.
"Never is not the right word. He did when we started dating. But after a while he barely took me anywhere. What we did most often was hang out in his RV. We would watch a movie and then stop giving any attention to it and just make out. But even that stopped at one point. The last six months of our relationship, we stopped giving any attention to the movies because we would start arguing." Jade explained.
"But why did you argue?" Tori asked.
"I don't even know anymore. It was almost as if we didn't have anything else to do. It's dumb, I know, but that's what we did." Jade said.
"It's not that dumb. Daniel and I were the same. We were always together the year we were together. I lost all my friends in my old school because I only hung out with him. I completely ignored them. And honestly, I just grew tired of spending time with him. Getting into Hollywood Arts was the best thing that could have happened to me. I had broken up with him two weeks before and then I got a new start. The rest you know." Tori explained.
"So that's why you don't talk about your time before Hollywood Arts." Jade said.
"Mhm. But when he came to see us, I hadn't talked to him or even seen him in months. And then I found out that he and Cat were together. That hurt more than it should have." Tori said.
"I'm sorry for provoking you then. I wasn't much of a help." Jade said.
"No, you weren't. I couldn't believe that Cat forgave me. She is so amazing." Tori said.
"You have no idea. What she had to go through with and because of me…" Jade said, shaking her head at the memories.
"What happened?" Tori asked. But just as Jade wanted to answer, the waitress walked to their table and placed two drinks in front of them.
"We didn't order." Tori said, looking at the waitress.
"The young man told me to give you these. They are on him." The waitress said.
"Who?" Jade asked.
"Me." Both heard behind them. They turned in their chairs to see Robbie stand behind them. "Are you ladies having fun?" He asked.
"Robbie, we can explain." Tori began, but Robbie only raised his hand.
"Oh, don't worry. I'm not the one you need to be afraid of." Robbie said as Cat walked next to him. She covered her arms over her chest and looked at her two best friends. She began taping her fingers on her arm, waiting for the excuse she knew she would get.
"Kitty, I can explain…" Jade began. "It was Tori's idea." Jade said, pointing towards the other girl.
"Well…" Tori gasped, looking at Jade, who only shrugged.
"Oh and I'm sure she had a hard time to get you to join." Cat said. "We are going to have a serious conversation tomorrow." She said in a serious tone. Robbie put her hand around Cat and gently kissed her temple.
"Don't be too harsh on them. They only wanted to make sure that I was treating you right. Isn't that true?" He said, looking back at them.
"Absolutely…"
"The whole truth…"
"It was exactly that…" Both said one after the other. Cat only sighed and shook her head.
"Alright. Then for your information, I have a new boyfriend." Cat said as a smile formed on her lips at those words.
"Congratulations. I'm so glad." Tori said as she got up and hugged both of them.
"Just, please don't be mad at us." Jade said as she got up and hugged her best friend. "I'm happy for you."
"I know you are. And I'm not mad." Cat said as she got out of the hug. "I'm glad that the two of you had a little date of your own." Cat said with a smirk.
"It wasn't a date." Jade said, crossing her arms and looking away.
"Sure. Only the two of you, at a restaurant, eating together, talking, enjoying the music… Kinda what we did." Robbie said.
"Wouldn't be the first date we had anyway." Tori said with a small smile.
"True. Well, enjoy the rest of it then. I'm taking Cat home." Robbie said.
"Do you two need a ride?" Jade asked.
"Nope. We'll walk home. Please, don't follow us this time." Cat said.
"Don't worry, we won't." Tori said.
"I'll see you tomorrow then." Cat said.
"Bye." Robbie said as they both walked out of the restaurant.
Tori and Jade looked back down at their table before looking back at each other.
"That went well." Tori said.
"At least they are together now. Might save us from getting lectured by Cat tomorrow." Jade said.
"Yeah, thanks for shifting the blame on me, by the way. Was really nice from you." Tori said as Jade left the money on the table and both walked towards the exit.
"Hey, you have one screw up with her. I didn't want any more on my list." Jade said.
"Hey, how did your plan go?" Simon asked them as they passed by him.
"Not so well." Tori admitted. "We got spotted."
"Eh. They left hand in hand, that's what's important. And Cat didn't seem angry at all. Both looked very happy." Simon explained.
"That's good to know. Thanks again for helping us." Tori said.
"No problem. Enjoy your weekend." Simon said.
"You too." Tori said as she and Jade walked out of the restaurant. They walked towards Jade's car and got in.
"Are you in a hurry?" Jade asked as she put the key in the ignition.
"No, not really. Why?" Tori asked as she put on her seatbelt.
"We didn't finish our conversation and I want to show you something." Jade said.
"Sure, I have time." Tori said. She saw Jade smile and turn the key, starting the car.
The trip lasted for half an hour while comfortable silence filled the car. Tori looked at Jade, who was focused on the road. Tori enjoyed every single minute she got to spend with the Goth. Be it the conversations they had, Jade's personality or her take on life, something made Tori feel good when she was with Jade. Everything bad that happened to her didn't seem relevant at all, and she hoped that Jade felt the same way. Maybe it was because they understood each other. After all, their stories, no matter how different, are also very similar. Tori realized how they are both very different and yet very similar. They share the same love for art, and yet it is different things they love in it. They both experienced similar family issues, and yet had different experiences within them. They are friends with the same people, and yet have different relationships to them.
They arrived at their destination as Jade parked her car in a small parking lot near the beach.
"Here we are." Jade said as she opened her car door.
"Where are we?" Tori asked.
"My uncle's beach house. He barely uses it and gave me the spare key. I come here quite often." Jade explained as she led Tori towards the entrance.
"Wow, it's beautiful." Tori said as she looked at the place. It was a wooden, two floor house that was a few feet away from the ocean.
"It is. I always come here when I want to be alone. Here I can write, sing and think without anyone disturbing me." Jade said. "This is a very personal place to me, and you are the second one who I tell this, just so you know."
"I'm sure Cat likes this place too." Tori said, knowing exactly who the other person was.
"She does. I brought her here after I almost got her in trouble with her mom's boss." Jade said.
"Was that when the earthquake happened?" Tori asked as Jade unlocked the front door.
"Yeah. A few things broke because of me and it was only because we were lucky that she didn't get the blame. I made her cry that day, you know. I made Cat cry, and I felt awful after that. She didn't even blame me. She wasn't even mad at me afterwards. So I brought her here and we spent the weekend." Jade said.
"I don't understand how she can be so forgiving. Really, at times I wonder how she does that." Tori said.
"I don't know either, and I've known half of my life." Jade said. She picked up a blanket and carried it over to the large sofa. In front of it was a fireplace, which she immediately turned on. Jade sat down on the couch and covered herself with the blanket as the red flames were dancing in front of them.
Tori walked towards the couch and sat down next to Jade, only to find herself under the cover of the same blanket.
"The fire is cozy but doesn't do such a good job with warming this place up." Jade said as she leaned back on the couch.
"Thanks. So what else happened between you and Cat?" Tori asked.
"You said that you ignored your friends and everyone else when you and Dany got together. Well, I wasn't much different when I got together with Beck. Cat and I used to spend every day together, but once I got together with Beck, it stopped. I made up excuses about how I was finally in a relationship and it was normal to want to spend time with my boyfriend. That lasted for half a year I think, I don't exactly remember anymore, before we had our first real fight. It was when I realized that I had no one to turn to. I understood what I had done, you know. And still, I called her because she was the only one I had ever really opened up to. And she just came over to my place without a hesitation or anything and listened to me complain about Beck. She listened to me complain about the relationship that made me neglect her. And the only thing she did was tell me how I shouldn't give up on him that easily. She could have told me off, she could have told me to break up with him. But no, she decided to save my relationship. And why? Because it made me happy. I couldn't believe it then, and I hardly can believe it now as I talk about it. And no matter how long we didn't talk or see one another, when we did, it was like nothing ever happened. She was always there for me, no matter what my problems were. I think I would have gone crazy had she not been there for me." Jade finished.
"I know that feeling very well. I can't explain to you how much she has helped me recently, with everything going on. I don't want to imagine what I would have done had it not been for her." Tori admitted. "But you helped me as well, I hope you know that."
"And you helped me more often than I want to admit. You know that I went through similar things with my family, so why wouldn't I help you out if I can. Might as well do something nice every now and then." Jade said, earning a chuckle from Tori.
"There is something I have to tell you." Tori said.
"What is it?" Jade asked.
"I know it's hard to believe, and I still have no explanation to what is going on with me, but please hear me out before you react." Tori said.
"Now you are freaking me out. What is it?" Jade asked, looking directly at the other girl.
Tori told Jade about her ability, about how she could see memories only by making physical contact with someone and how long it had been going on. She also told Jade about what she had seen of her memories and why she spaced out as often as she did.
"…and I saw what your stepmother told you. I had no idea that it happened until then. That's all I can tell you." Tori said.
Jade only stayed silent, looking down. Her face was emotionless, her attention seemed elsewhere. Tori waited for a response, growing more nervous by every second that passed in silence.
"You couldn't know any of these. I never told anyone about it, especially not in such detail." Jade said, finally breaking the silence.
"I'm not lying. I wish it wasn't true, but it is, and I don't know why I can do this." Tori said.
"Tell me something, and I want you to be completely honest." Jade said.
"Of course."
"Do you have any control over it? Did you ever look into one of my memories on purpose?" Jade asked.
Tori looked down. She knew that she should just lie. That she should say no and deny it. But she didn't want to lie to Jade, not after everything that had happened. It wouldn't feel right, and no matter the outcome, she wouldn't be able to live with it. She knew that.
"At first, no, but now I do. I can suppress the visions." Tori admitted.
"But did you ever do it on purpose?" Jade asked again.
"Yes, I did." Tori admitted. "But I did it because I wanted to see if I could help." Tori said.
"And you do that like that? It's like spying on me or reading my personal diary, Tori. I trusted you and you pull something like that?" Jade said, anger spewing from her voice.
"Trusted" Tori thought. She found it hard to breathe suddenly. Her felt as if she was being choked again. She understood that she just shattered every single bit of trust that had been built between Jade and her. She knew her well enough to understand that.
"Jade…" Tori pleaded, the name barely audible.
"No, I don't want to hear any excuse now. You know what you did. You know that you did it on purpose." Jade said, tears beginning to run down her cheeks as she shook her head. "You know what, Tori. I don't want to see you anymore. I don't need someone in my life. I'll drive you home and that's it." Jade said.
"I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have done that, but I couldn't help it. I know there is more things you have buried deep inside you, Jade." Tori said as she got up. "I made a mistake, but I had no intentions of hurting you. I swear to everything that is important to me, I only wanted to help you, because I know that all those things I saw are still hurting you, even today, and don't deny it, I know that. But you have every right to be mad at me." She said walked to the door. "I'm sorry, Jade. I really am. But I didn't want to lie to you either. You don't deserve that. And now that I think of it, you didn't deserve me invading your privacy like that either. You have to understand, I myself don't know how to deal with everything yet, even now." She said as she put her hand on the handle. "You don't have to drive me home. I don't deserve that either." Tori said as she opened the door and walked out. She closed the door behind there and stopped for a moment. She remembered the pain she felt in the vision where Jade was the one standing behind the door. She felt that pain, and she realized that she felt the same pain now. She let go of the handle and walked away. She needed to think, and she had quite a walk in front of her that would give her time for that.
A/N: Just want to wish all of you Happy Holidays. I hope you enjoy them.