/TORI/

I realize I should know better but it was now beginning to really irk me that I still hadn't received any answers to any of the questions I had. Every time Jade and I hung out together to work on the blog, I would try and gently ease in the subject about the scissors or the alleyway, but she would shut herself down immediately. I learned quickly Jade was incredibly skilled at avoiding the subject, interrupting me, walking away in the opposite direction and in one case, downright booting me underneath the table one time during lunch. After the first couple of tries, I gave up pushing and since then we'd pretty much settled into a daily routine. Jade would give me a ride back to my house after school, I'd make the coffee and we'd talk. It was strictly about the blog - nothing personal and I was never invited back to hers.

Drive. Coffee. Blog. Leave.

I had to admit it was definitely a strange sensation. Being able to be fairly close to Jade, knowing I had something with her that no one else had. A part of me felt pretty happy we had some common ground to work with, but then the other part of me felt unsatisfied because it didn't seem to be moving our relationship anywhere. I had to keep telling myself I wasn't going to get all delusional and think that just because we had a blog together it meant we'd become closer. No. In fact,
Jade seemed even more determined to erase that part of us, and while it stung a little - okay. A lot. I still had to remember to bite my tongue to stop myself from inviting her to stay over a little longer.

"Ha! That's why you shouldn't have played with the safety belt, old lady!"

I sigh loudly, scrolling aimlessly up and down on our empty blog. We were both supposed to be figuring out a color scheme tonight, but so far Jade had drunk two cups of coffee and had started watching videos about people getting trapped on amusement park rides. My fingers tap in a rhythm against the laptop, my hot chocolate laying untouched on the table. It was nearing 8PM and Jade still hadn't left mine yet, which was weird because she was usually gone by 7. Another loud laugh breaks me from my thoughts and I can't help but shuffle over, intrigued with what was so funny about this video. For a split second I see Jade hesitate, but then she grudgingly swivels the screen so I could see.

After about 5 minutes in, I could kinda see why Jade found it so amusing. Even though it was pretty mean to laugh, the part where the people's tiny arms and legs were waving and kicking in the coaster cars tickled me a little. I could see Jade watching me out of the corner of my eye and I turn my head to look at her, just as she snaps her head back to the screen.

I turn back, blinking in disbelief. "Did- did that guy-?" I start to mutter and Jade answers for me.

"Yep, the dude pushed up on the safety bars and seemed shocked when he plummeted down 450 feet."

"Why do they let these people on the rides?"

"For our viewing entertainment, my dear Vega." Jade's answer is short but it makes my stomach clench with that strange soaring feeling.

"So are these your favorite videos to watch...?" I push carefully, gauging Jade's reactions.

Did this count as something personal?

"One of my favorites, yeah. I also enjoy watching rejected wedding proposals, botched sky diving, just generally watching people fail. Mainly why I enjoy watching you." We both freeze at her words and I could see the gears in her brain struggling to find an escape route from her slip up. "I-I mean you fail all the time so it's entertaining to watch." She rushes out and I have to physically restrain myself from letting the huge grin appear on my lips.

"Uh huh."

"Shut up, Tori."

"You like watching me."

"I said shut it." Jade's answer comes out through gritted teeth. I let it rest, pretty content with how flustered I had just managed to make her.

We go back to watching the rest of the video and I notice how Jade's almost forced her features into a neutral expression; a mask of nothing. Not conveying any emotion or feeling, but she knew what she had said. Just like she knew I had rescued her in the alleyway that night and she had left me those scissors to find. She knew all the answers and they were tightly locked away from me behind her stone fortress.

"Hey Tori, about that night-" Jade starts to speak, her sentence interrupted as someone barges through the front door.

"Oh! Hi girls. I wasn't expecting to see both of you here." I almost groan out loud. Trust my mom to walk in right now. She looks at her watch, balancing bags of groceries over her arm and then looks pointedly at Jade. "I have a family pot pie in the oven, does Jade want to stay for dinner?"

I look back over at Jade, giving her an inviting smile.

"You wanna stay? Family pot pie is the best pie you will ever taste." I can see Jade hesitating, almost battling with herself over accepting the invite. I feel a little thrill go through me at the thought of her actually agreeing, of witnessing Jade West sat at our family dinner. That thrill is extinguished almost as quickly as it came, Jade's blue eyes hardening in the light.

"No." She catches herself, directing a forced smile to my mom. "Thanks, but I should go." She snatches up her Gears bag, throwing the strap over her shoulder and I find myself standing up to walk her to the front door, trying to ignore the small niggle of disappointment.

I couldn't be surprised really.

"So... what were you gonna say earlier, before my mom walked in?" I edge outside, pulling the door closed to give us some privacy. Jade tosses her bag into the passenger seat of her car and walks back over to me. She stands so close I could smell the rich coffee on her breath, our faces only inches apart. A low growl pushes past her lips and her hand comes up, slamming into the wall beside me so I was effectively trapped.

Oh chiz.

"Don't. I know exactly what you're trying to do and I'm telling you. Don't." The usual sharp edge is gone from Jade's voice and I notice her eyes have softened, a sweet azure blue as opposed to stormy waves. "You're pushing for a friendship that's not going to happen. You should have learned by now nothing good ever comes from getting involved with me, so I strongly suggest you back out now." I glance at her lips, her full lips that were only centimeters from my own and that's when she leans in closer, my body going rigid against the wall. My throat closes up and my heart starts pounding hard, her hair tickling my neck with her scent slowly intoxicating me and I found I didn't care at all.

"I realize I never said thank you for that night." I can feel the hairs raise all over my body, Jade's breath soft and gentle against the shell of my ear. I open my mouth to attempt a response but she pulls away, sliding into the driver's seat as if nothing had even happened. Leaving me breathless, confused and always wanting more. I wave shakily and watch her car disappear around the corner before letting out a rush of breath I didn't even realize I had been holding.

I lean back against the wall for support, pushing a hand through my hair. A deep orange sunset painted the sky, my heart still thrumming against the bones of my ribcage, like a trapped bird. Her scent still clinging to me. I watch the other cars pass by on the road, too in shock to determine what had happened, still feeling the weight of Jade's body against mine. God, with only that small touch she made my head spin, my heart hurt and my brain turn to complete mush all at once. Her drug had been administered directly into my veins. My body was doing everything it could to fight it off but it seeps in, slowly making it's way around my bloodstream, causing it's damage until I was practically overwhelmed - taken prisoner by everything she was.

Jade wanted me to back out... but I feared I was already in too deep.

A/N: I really hope that I'm doing this story justice!
It has been dropping a little in interest (my own fault really :/) but reads and reviews would be really swell!