/TORI/

"Hey? Tori? Yo, Tori. Come back to Earth, Tori." I jolt up, blinking at the sound of Andre's voice breaking through my trance. My hand fumbles around quickly for the potato masher, but he and I both knew I had been thinking about Jade, again. "You can't let her insults get to you, you know. She's just upset."

I sigh, running a hand through my hair and nod, pretending to take in Andre's words. It was just getting so frustrating because no one else was actually aware of what had happened between me and Jade beforehand. And I would never get to tell them -unless I wanted to die a slow, agonizing death. I didn't even have any proof, but I could recall almost everything from that night. The way Jade had wrapped herself around me, the contours of her body as it fit against mine. Even if she didn't remember all of it, or wanted to forget, the image was still heavily ingrained into my mind and it wasn't going anywhere.

"I know. But it's not... don't you think she'd be a little better by now? It's been two weeks." I force myself to focus back on mashing the potatoes. I hadn't asked to get an answer. It was more for my peace of mind to try and stop the question rolling around in my brain.

"Well, you gotta remember Beck and Jade were together for a long time. Things will die down soon. Jade just needs...an outlet. I guess?"

Yeah. Me.

"It's just weird how I'm the one she's decided to take her anger out on." Andre's lips curl into a grin and I know the riff is coming before he even plays it, making up a song on his keyboard as he sings along:

Jade is being mean to Tori, but that's nothing new.
And I hope she mashes those potatoes right, because I hate lumpy stew.

I make a face at him but go back to mashing, even though it was a nonsense song... those lyrics resonated some of the truth.

"Oh hey. I meant to ask, where did you disappear to after lunch? Beck and I went looking for you but we couldn't find you anywhere." I pause my crushing, deliberating with his question.

"I had to go and get some things from my locker..." Andre's eyebrow is raised. I could tell he didn't believe me.

"Okay." I relent and set the bowl aside, walking over to the couch to slump down into the cushions. "I went after Jade to make sure she was alright."

I wince inwardly at my own words. I sounded so stupid, so desperate and needy. I mean, hadn't Jade more than made it clear over the last few weeks she still didn't want anything to do with me? She hadn't even answered me in the theater. Yet I still persisted. I still chased her. My fingers clinging to any small part of friendship she would feed me. I wasn't allowed to confess it out loud, but Jade had let her guard down that night. She had called out for me, hung onto me and turned my name into a drug on her lips.

I wanted to see more of that Jade.

"And what did she say?" Andre pries and I chew my lip, hesitating with my answer.

"She didn't say anything. I saw her run into the Black Box Theater and then...I'm pretty sure she hid from me." I bite my lip.

"She hid from you?"

Oh God. I sounded so crazy. I glance over at Andre, his face is a look of pure skepticism.

"Yeah. I don't know where she was and it was dark, so I spoke...to the room." I trail off lamely.

I should have just kept my mouth shut.

"Uh huh. So I'm assuming that you told this 'room' to pull back with the insults?"

"Yeah. No. Not exactly. I told her I was there-"

My words are suddenly cut off with a loud squeal of excitement, the source of the noise rushing into the living room with a large, bulky package. I raise an eyebrow and Andre grimaces at the sound, finding sudden fascination with the keys on his keyboard. I spin around to look at my older sister, studying the large brown box in her hands. It was stamped by Trophy Odyssey. Great, another giant fake trophy which would take up even more space on the mantle piece for actual awards and family photos.

"Tori! Tori! I need a pair of scissors! Where are all the scissors?" Trina demands loudly, emptying out all the kitchen drawers.

"You broke our last pair of scissors last week, remember? You got angry with them and threw them into the blender."

I don't even bother listening to the shrill cries, waiting until my whirlwind of a sister had stomped her way back upstairs.

"So you were saying?" Andre prompts me, grimacing at Trina's shrieking.

"Oh right. I just told Jade I was there if she needed me, and I kinda understood why she was using me like a punching bag and I was...okay with it?"

I look back over to Andre, his eyes were focused on me but I knew he didn't understand. Even I didn't understand, and I don't think I ever would. Over the past two weeks I'd been trying to summarize Jade. An impossible task. Jade West was a complex enigma, a Rubik cube. You'd figure out one side, but then you had all the other sides to solve and had to start all over again. Swiveling and turning, trying to fit it altogether but ultimately giving up because it was too complicated.

I felt I had actually got one side of the Rubik cube the night I had found Jade. I had one side which was completely color coded and all figured out. But then she had snatched it back and twisted it up into a mess again. As if she was almost afraid of being solved.

"Ohh yeah. Trina Vega, 1st place for the most amazing singing voice. Go me!" Trina flounces back downstairs, holding up her giant trophy, admiring the gold shining in the light. I have to restrain my eye roll, watching her casually sweep aside my Hambone medal to place her newest fake purchase in the center. My eyebrows knit together in confusion.

"Wait. How did you get it open?"

"I used your scissors." Trina responds simply, using her sleeve to start polishing her trophy.

"But...I don't have any scissors?"

"Uh yeah you do. The ones with the purple handles. They were on your desk." I can feel my heart start to beat a little faster. "Though I untied the bow around them. Who ties bows around scissors anyway? Seems pretty useless." She steps back to adjust the trophy, making sure it was positioned right in the center. "Well, what do you guys think?"

I'm not listening. My breath is trapped and caught in my throat, my stomach clenching in a soaring feeling, my heart pounding as if it had suddenly decided to wage war against my rib cage. I turn to look at Andre and he's staring back at me with a perplexed expression. I can hear my sister tapping her foot, talking in the background, but her voice is all but lost in the daze, my nails digging into the upholstery of the couch.

It was crazy, almost unbelievable, but I knew exactly who would tie a bow around a pair of scissors and leave for me to find.

My very own personal Rubik cube.

A/N: Jade does love leaving little things for Tori to find, a pair of scissors...the shrimp in her bra. Read & Review would be greatly appreciated!