There were more than a few flirty tones in Tori's voice as she ran up behind Jade at their lunch table. "Hey, Jade. How you doin'?"
"I managed to not kill anybody, somehow." Jade grimaced.
Tori couldn't help but notice the scissors in Jade's hand. They were still in their packaging.
Jade caught Tori looking at the menacing blades. "Just a little bit of security."
Tori smiled. "I see. So, what do you want for lunch? I'm buying."
Someone muttered "coffee" and giggled. Thinking is was Tori, Jade barked, "Yea, coffee. Is me drinking coffee a shock or something?"
Tori raised an eyebrow. "No." Her expression changed to a grin. "But you're getting a death-trap burrito."
"Hey!" Jade spun around in her chair.
"You said anything."
"Well, not that! Ug."
"Alright, then, I'll get you a burger. It's what I'm having."
"Fine." Jade pulled her butterfly notebook and a pencil out of her school bag.
Tori pushed her way through the crowds of students to the line of in front of Festus's Grub Truck. She barely noticed her lowering their voices when she was near. Cat and Beck stood in line in front of her. Beck had his arm around Cat's waist, which made Tori wish the girl with the streaked hair was standing next to her. Their conversation did not help matters.
Cat poked Beck playfully. "Y'know, I had this really weird dream last night. Maybe you could tell me what it means."
"Try me." Beck's voice was strong.
"Ok, so, there was a cute little rotwiller puppy running around, jumping on furniture and chasing its tail." Cat jumped up and down like a five year old as she told the story. "The puppy was running so fast it hit its head on a wall. I thought it didn't hurt too badly, but then the puppy fell in two right down the middle. Like a broken doll. Then, out of nowhere, a bat flew down and a commelion ran up. The bat flew away with the head, and the chameleon picked up the back half with its super long tongue. Oh! And there was this red girraffe wearing jeans there too. He didn't do anything about the fight, but he cried when he saw the broken puppy."
"Hmm..." Beck looked up, thinking. "Was your brother playing 'Zoo Animals' last night?"
"Yea."
"That's probably why."
Cat smiled. "Oh, wow, I guess you're right. You're so smart."
The couple stepped up to place their orders. Tori waited patiently, her hands clasped to keep her from missing Jade's hand in hers. After they got their orders, Tori walked up to the Grub Truck's window.
"Can I get two burgers, a water and a coffee with two sugars, please?" Tori placed her money on the counter.
"Sí, sí." Fester spoke in Spanish as he prepared the food. "La chica caérsele a algu la baba con."
"Gracias." Tori used one of the many Spanish words she knew.
Festus gave Tori her order. Under his breath, he muttered, "Las chicas deben saber que hay un tiempo para momentos románticos."
Festus's words confused Tori, as she did not know how to translate them. She took them as a compliment, picked up her food, and went back to Jade. The dark-haired girl looked up cooly as Tori gave her her lunch.
Tori became even more confused by her girlfriend's change of mood. "What's wrong, Jade?"
"It's nothing." Jade shifted in her seat and reached for her coffee.
"Oh, come on." Tori sat down next to Jade "It can't be nothing."
Jade picked up her burger and stuffed it into her mouth before Tori could get her to speak.
Tori folded her arms. "This is just silly! I'm your girlfriend. You should be able to tell me whatever you're worried about."
Jade just shook her head. Her refusal to respond stung Tori. She took a few sips of water and began to eat.
A boy wearing a dark grey hoodie walked past the couple's table with a smug look on his face. "Good to see your scissors are still covered."
Tori sat up, almost dropping her burger. "Excuse me?"
"Oh, wait, you'll be uncovering them tonight. Never mind." The boy chuckled as he walked away.
As soon as Tori stopped staring at the insulting boy, she focused her attention on her girlfriend. Jade was tracing the plastic seams of the scissors with her right hand, glaring at the packaging as if she could force it to burst open if she stared at it long enough. The knuckles of her left hand were white as she gripped the side of the table.
Tori slid over to Jade's side. "Was that what you were worried about?"
Jade didn't move. "Lane said I should work on self-control so I don't get expelled, but I hate those people."
"Oh, Jade!" Tori reached over to put a hand on Jade's shoulder.
Jade flinched away. "Don't touch me! It's not worth it."
Tori looked down. "Why would anybody say that?"
With no response, Tori moved back into her side of the table and finished her food. Several times, people approached their table as they ate, leaving snide words that could only be met with silent glares and stares. Tori became even more bewildered. Something had gone terribly wrong after their interrupted make-out session. Robbie was the only person there, wasn't he? Jade became more and more agitated. She began to pick at the plastic which forced her scissors to lie flat against a cardboard backing. Without warning, two skimpily-dressed girls walked over to their table.
A girl with curly blonde hair sneered at Jade and shoved her. "You really can't go a day without somebody's face against yours, can you, Jade?"
Jade glared at her. "You jealous or something?"
"Why would we be jealous of a stupid little gank?" The blonde girl laughed.
Jade was breathing heavily, her muscles tense. She was like a time bomb with two seconds before it destroyed everything.
Tori had to be the one to cut the wires and defuse her. "Because the 'stupid little gank' is getting more than you ever will? Because she is one of the most popular girls at Hollywood Arts? Because she's wearing actual clothes? Who said Jade was a gank, anyway?"
"You don't have to hear something to know it's true, Tori." The blonde girl's friend sneered. "Did somebody have to tell you the sky was blue in your public school?"
The blonde and her friend left, laughing, their tiny skirts swishing as they walked.
Jade stood up and yelled after the girls. "I hope you like that blue sky, because after today, you won't be seeing it anymore!"
Jade tried to run at the girls. Tori held her back, hugging her tightly. The raven-haired girl kicked and thrashed, but eventually relaxed. Tori patted Jade's head and whispered claiming words into her ear. She could feel Jade's breath against her cheek.
Other students began to gather around them. Some hoped for a fight. Others hoped for a kiss. While the majority merely wanted distraction from the homework or rehearsals they could have been doing. Most of the students formed a ring around Tori and Jade, but one boy strode through the circle to jumpstart the action.
The boy threw the remains of a salad at the girls. "Hope you like your salad tossed!"
The salad landed on Tori's head. The black plastic container it came in slid off and clattered to the ground, leaving pieces of lettuce, tomato, and onion in her hair. Tori stood like a statue, with her hand barely touching Jade. Her eyes were wide as she tried to process why strawberry vinaigrette was suddenly running down her face.
Jade's eyes lit up with fiery rage as she stared at her lettuce-covred girlfriend. "It's Robbie!"
"What'd he do?" Tori touched her sticky hair.
"Stupid puppet boy must have told!" Jade spun on her heels and threw Tori's arms open.
With her lips tightly pressed together, Jade grabbed her scissors and stormed towards the door, seething. Tori's focus returned to the real world. She broke into a run, but Jade was too far ahead. The door to the school slammed shut before Tori could reach it.
"Jade!" Tori's desperate cry did not reach Jade's ears.
Author's Notes: In case you haven't noticed by now, I'm trying to stay as close to the Schneider-verse as I can. This means things like arrests don't happen like they would in the real world. Unfortunately, it allows me to write scenes like this. The school does become an antagonist for a day in the real subplot to The Bad Roommate.
The first person to locate and explain all the innuendos in this chapter will get an OC or minor character cameo in the next chapter. Oh, and you can give a regular review too.