Hi everyone. I hope everyone had a really good holiday and is looking forward to the new year. Because I know I am…anyway, enjoy!
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To say that Jade was angry was putting it lightly. Beck sat on the couch and she stood in front of him, arms crossed over her chest and a furrow in her eyebrows. Anyone met with that stare usually showed a little bit of cringe, but not Beck. After two years, he was used to it. However, being used to it didn't mean he was in the mood to deal with it. Especially after being on set since five o'clock in the morning.
"You lied to me," she said, voice venomous, as if daring him to challenge her. Never backing down from a challenge, Beck answered her in a cool voice.
"How did I lie to you?" he asked, raising the remote to turn the volume down on the television. But not by much.
"Why didn't you tell me you were going to school on Monday?"
"Will you please sit down?" Beck asked, trying not to lose his patience. "Can we just eat dinner and watch TV? I'm tired."
"I don't see how watching a stupid stand-up comedian is more important than discussing how you kept something from me. Something that was plastered all over social media!" Beck blew his hair out of his eyes. He couldn't deny that a lot of their mutual friends had talked about how he was on campus on Monday, but he didn't see how it was a big deal. Especially since he had left campus by two o'clock, only to see his girlfriend later that night. And when asked, he had told her the truth. But apparently, not in time.
"I completely forgot that I had agreed to go, but when my alarm went off that morning, I remembered. And I told you when I saw you later-"
"Right after about fifty other people did via internet," Jade said, cutting him off. She still didn't move from her position in front of the TV.
"I don't see how going to school is a big deal. If we were anyone else, this wouldn't be a big deal!"
"But we're not!" Jade shrieked, placing her hands on her hips and not relenting. "Did you go to school to meet your stupid partner?" Beck let out an exasperated sigh. He didn't know that Jade knew Tori from their freshman year, but the issue had become a big one when she had discovered they were partners for their project. He honestly couldn't be surprised that she knew Tori. Andre hadn't exaggerated the miniscule size of the Hollywood Arts campus. And, knowing Jade the way he did, Beck wasn't surprised that Jade didn't like Tori. She never needed a legitimate reason to not like anybody. What DID surprise him, however, was how adamant she was that Tori was his reason for going to campus. He'd just met her and somehow, that was the equivalent of being caught with his pants down.
"Jade," Beck said, reaching for his girlfriend in an attempt to calm her down. She pulled away like he was a leper.
"Did she ask you to come to campus to meet her?" Jade snapped.
"No!" Beck said, finally losing it and standing to meet her at eye level. "Andre said that it had been a while, so I-"
"Oh, so now it's Andre's fault?" Jade snapped, shoving him slightly. Beck steadied, refusing to meet her eye. He was getting really mad.
"I need a drink," he mumbled, more to himself than to her.
"Is that the answer to all your problems? Boozing up?"
"Better than sleeping around," he retorted, bringing himself to look her dead in the eyes as he said it. Jade's face paled a bit, but her eyes darkened. Beck knew he had pushed the wrong button. He let out a long exhale, sitting back down on the couch and picking up his box of takeout.
"Look, let's just relax and eat-"
Jade slapped the container out of his hand, causing food to fly all over the floor. Beck stared, but didn't say anything. Neither did she. And he didn't say anything as he got up, brushed some food off of his shoe, and walked to the door.
"Where are you going?" Jade demanded, stomping after him.
"Away from you," he retorted, grabbing his jacket off the kitchen table.
"I thought we were supposed to eat dinner together," Jade yelled, her voice edging on a shriek. One thing Beck knew about her was how stubborn she was. This was nothing, however, to how much she hated being ignored.
"Well, considering that my dinner is now all over the floor, I think I'll go eat somewhere else." Beck pulled his keys out of his jacket pocket and got into his car. He saw Jade in the doorway as he drove away, and knew soon he'd hear the familiar buzz of her ringtone. He also knew he wasn't going to answer it. Searching for some peace, Beck drove downtown, not exactly sure where he was going or what he was doing. But he didn't care at this point.
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Tori sat at Cat and Robbie's dining room table with Andre, dealing the cards as Cat stood in the kitchen making snacks. Robbie sat on the counter, every so often glancing over and just staring at his girlfriend. Andre was making jokes, so he was too busy to catch the little glances. But Tori never missed them. It was a heart melting moment that she always looked forward to seeing. She'd never seen anyone look at anybody so lovingly, not even with her own parents. It was nice.
Cat bounced from the kitchen, causing the trance that she had over Robbie (and in some way, over Tori) to break.
"Who wants snacks?" she said, voice high pitched and happy.
"I do!" Andre yelled, tickling Cat as she walked by. Both Tori and Cat giggled.
"Andre, don't do that or I might drop the food!" Cat said as she placed the tray in the center of the table. Tori helped herself to one of the chicken fingers, letting out a low moan of pleasure as she chewed.
"Cat, that sauce is amazing! What's in it?" Cat winked.
"I'll never tell," she said, taking a seat next to Tori.
"I promise it's nothing gross, though," Robbie said, taking a seat next to Andre. "Now who's ready to play some cards?" The four friends began to play, enjoying the evening as they went. The conversation, as always, turned to what was going on in their lives.
"So, Andre," Robbie said, looking carefully at the cards in his hand. "Have you and Jade met up to talk about the project yet?"
"She's coming to school on Monday," Andre said, trying and failing to hide the annoyance in his voice. "Pray for me."
"Is Monday going to be the new celebrity day or something?" Cat asked, throwing down a card. "First Beck, now Jade. Is Beck coming too?"
"Why do you care if Beck comes?" Robbie asked. Tori could see the slight worry in his eyes, but this disappeared when Cat reached over and planted a kiss on his cheek. Once again, his eyes relaxed.
"I wish Beck was coming," Andre said, throwing down a card as well. "He's the only one that can keep her on a leash."
"Is she a dog or something?" Cat asked, helping herself to a handful of the snacks on the tray.
"Or something," Tori said, rolling her eyes and remembering Jade. She was not looking forward to seeing her again. She threw her hand down on the table.
"I win. Deal again." Andre and Robbie moaned as Cat giggled, helping herself to more snacks.
"Babe, you can't eat all the snacks. That's rude to our guests," Robbie said, shooting her a look. Cat, in turn, licked the sauce off her fingers.
"Why? It's not like they don't know where we keep everything in the kitchen."
"But still!"
"It's fine, Robbie," Tori said, rising from her seat. "I was actually about to go get myself some water. Anyone want anything?"
"Can you bring me some of the spiked iced tea from the fridge?" Cat asked, helping herself to more chicken. "It's in the blue pitcher. You guys can have some if you want."
"I'm okay," Tori said, pinching her nose shut as she poured the tea into a glass. The smell was strong. Sometimes, Cat went a little overboard on the alcohol. Coming back to the table, Tori felt her phone buzz in her pocket. She ignored it as she sat down, earning a raised eyebrow from Andre.
"You never ignore your phone," he pointed out.
"It's probably just Trina," Tori said, taking her hand of cards off the table.
"Have you guys made up yet?" Robbie asked, stealing a snack out of Cat's hand.
"It wasn't a big deal," Tori said, focusing immensely on the hand she had. It was a good one.
"If it was enough to make you miss vocals, it's a big deal," Andre said. She could feel him staring at her.
"I was just tired," Tori said, shifting her focus immensely to the little face of the Jack of Hearts in her hand. She didn't want to talk about Trina. She hadn't seen her sister since that night, although their presences weren't lost on each other. Coming home the next day, she had discovered a pack of Skittles, her favorite, and a pack of cigarettes on the table. Tori knew they were peace offerings and took them, not wanting Trina to think that she didn't accept. But, in reality, she couldn't forget the sight of her sister on the floor. She couldn't forget her anger and the real heartbreak in her voice. She knew that to shake that, she'd have to get out of her own head for a while. But no opportunity had presented itself for her to do that.
"Put your hand down, Tori!" Cat said, bringing her back to reality. Smiling, Tori placed the cards down on the table.
"I win again, I think," Tori said, looking around at her friends. Andre sighed, throwing down his cards. Cat did the same, but Robbie smirked.
"Full House," he exclaimed, placing his cards down gently, as if they were made of glass. The friends giggled as Cat placed a full kiss on her boyfriend's mouth. Robbie placed his hands on either side of her neck and kissed her deeply, as if he couldn't breathe without her. It was beautiful, but almost hard to watch. The emotion behind it was raw and unprecedented. The moment was interrupted, however, by Andre making retching sounds. This earned him a playful punch from Tori.
"Don't be rude."
Cat pulled away, a dreamy smirk on her face.
"Whoa," she exclaimed, bringing her hand to her forehead. "I feel light headed."
"That might be the iced tea, Cat," Tori said, picking up her friend's glass and discovering half of it gone.
"Damn," Andre whispered, almost in awe at his little friend's capabilities. "You housed that, Cat." Cat giggled, her cheeks flushed. Her giggle was infectious, and soon, the room was full of the sound of four different laughs. This was only interrupted by the loud buzz of Tori's phone. All three eyes looked at her as she reached to her back pocket to silence it. No sooner had she done that, though, did her phone buzz again.
"Would you just answer it?" Andre exclaimed, slapping his hand down on the table. "It might be important."
"If it's Trina, I doubt that," Tori said. Cat waltzed back into the kitchen to get more spiked tea, but Tori could still feel Andre and Robbie's eyes on her. Knowing it probably was her sister and that she couldn't ignore her anymore, Tori relented. Putting in her pass code, she discovered that out of three text messages, one was indeed from Trina. The other two however, were from a number she didn't recognize. Opening Trina's text, Tori discovered a curt message from her sister simply stating "Be home late, don't wait up."
"Is Trina okay?" Andre asked, distracted by Cat bringing out the last of the chicken fingers.
"Uh…yeah, she's fine," Tori replied, opening up the other two text messages. The messages were short.
Hey. Have you eaten dinner yet?
If you haven't, you should meet me at Bailey's Pub in West LA.
As Tori was about to reply, the sender sent a third text.
9:00 okay?
Tori glanced at her watch, finding it to be 8:30. Looking up, she saw that Andre wasn't examining her anymore. He was looking at something on Robbie's phone, and Cat was slowly making her way through her second glass of iced tea. She didn't know why, but she didn't want her friends to look over her shoulder.
Tori: Who is this?
Tori received her answer within a minute.
It's Beck.
Tori: How did you get my number?
Beck: You gave it to me the other day after the acting exercise, remember?
Tori thought back to earlier in the week, feeling her face flame up as she remembered Beck, with his probing eyes and iron grip. That day had been foggy in her mind, with the lack of sleep and the shock of having someone she barely knew question her in a way her friends hadn't. He had come up to her after their classmates had gotten done mobbing him, telling her he liked the way she had portrayed her character. Tori was actually flattered by his complement, but had only managed to grunt out a muffled thank you. It wasn't every day that a celebrity complemented you. When class ended, he had asked for her number, telling her he would contact her later when his schedule had died down. Then, they could begin really working on their project.
She honestly hadn't expected him to text her at all, let alone proposition a meal on the other side of the city. Tori knew life was full of surprises, but she wasn't sure if she liked the way Beck kept surprising her.
Tori: Why are you texting me?
Beck: For dinner?
Tori: But you don't know me. Do you always ask strangers to dinner?
Beck: No, not usually. But we have a project to do together, right? Gotta start somewhere
Tori knew Beck was right, but his timing was nothing if not eerily convenient. She had been thinking about the project earlier that morning, silently wishing he would text her just to help ease her anxiety a little bit. She checked in Trina's room and found her bottle of Xanax, popping one to help herself calm down. Now, the edge was starting to come back.
Beck: So… will I see you at 9?
"Tori!"
Tori jumped and held her hand to her chest. Cat stared at her, half startled, half confused.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," she said, the alcohol strong on her breath. "Is everything okay?"
"Why wouldn't everything be okay?" Tori asked, feeling her pulse rate starting to come down.
"You've been staring at your phone for five minutes."
"Is everything alright with Trina?" Andre asked, concerned. Tori shot him a confused look, but quickly stopped. Everyone still thought she was talking to Trina.
"Yeah, is Trina okay?" Robbie asked, concern evident on his face as well.
"Um…yeah," Tori said, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "She's fine. She's just drunk out in the West side of the city. She needs me to pick her up." As Tori tucked her phone into her purse, she couldn't help but feel some kind of shame. She was lying to her friends, and she honestly didn't have a good reason to be. She didn't know why she was, but the lie kept slipping smoothly off her tongue.
"Do you want me to go with you?" Andre asked her as she slipped on her hoodie.
"No, it's okay," Tori said, slipping her arms into the sleevs. "We're going to go right home, anyway."
"She didn't drive herself?" Robbie asked.
"Um…no. Whoever he was, he picked her up."
"Are you sure you don't want company?" Andre asked, the concern so evident in his eyes that Tori felt dirty for the lie. She had no idea what was making her go along with it in the first place. But with the fight with her sister still weighing heavily on her mind, Tori saw her opportunity to get out of her head. She was going to take it.
"No, I'm okay, Andre," Tori said, smiling a reassuring smile at him. "I'll talk to you guys later, okay?"
"Bye Tori," Cat slurred, swaying in her chair. "Text us if you need anything, okay?" Smiling at her friends, Tori shut the door behind her and made her way to her car. Once she started the engine, she glanced down at her phone, and Beck's last text, again.
Beck: So… will I see you at 9?
Tori: Text me the address
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He hadn't expected her to get there so fast, but Tori quickly appeared in front of him. He was surprised, but not because of the speed at which she'd gotten there. She had immediately stood right in front of him; she hadn't texted first, she hadn't slowly, shyly, creeped up next to him. He just blinked, and there she was.
"I didn't exactly take you for a pub guy," she said, pointing to the sign above their heads. "Or a guy who hangs out outside of pubs, for that matter."
"Well, sitting alone seemed kind of pathetic. Plus, it's a nice night. I figured I'd enjoy the breeze." Tori raised an eyebrow.
"I highly doubt you'd be sitting alone for very long. Who wouldn't want to sit with a celebrity?" Beck rolled his eyes.
"I already told Cat a thousand times, I'm not a celebrity."
"Right, because everyone doesn't expect you to hit the big time one day?"
"No pressure," Beck said, shrugging his shoulders. Tori laughed, but stopped short. It was like she wouldn't allow herself to. Beck found himself wanting to know why.
"I gotta admit," he said, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "I'm surprised you actually came."
"Yeah, well… me too," she answered, nervously twirling her watch around her wrist. The awkwardness hung in the air.
"So, why here?" Tori asked, turning to look at their surroundings. "It's pretty dead." As she twirled, some of her hair brushed against his face. He breathed in, taking in her scent. She smelled like peaches and baby powder. It was a simple kind of sweet, but intoxicating on a level he couldn't explain. She looked him in the eye, and there was that honesty again. He couldn't explain why she seemed so open, especially since her body language was one of a person who was the complete opposite of.
"Why here?" Beck repeated her question, half wondering if he had heard her right. She nodded, and he continued. "I like this place. It's very low key. Good food, great drink deals. Stuff like that."
"Not a big spender?" Tori asked, and he couldn't help but feel slightly miffed by the surprise in her voice.
"Celebrity does not always equate to big spender, you know."
"Are you admitting you're a celebrity?" Tori asked, a playful look in her eyes. Beck just looked at her. She'd gotten him there.
"…maybe a little," Beck said, relenting. Tori laughed again, this laugh actually reaching her eyes and ringing freely in the air. She was really pretty when she laughed. He couldn't help but think back to Andre's words, the ones about pretty not doing her justice. He could see what he meant. The way her eyes sparkled and her hair spilled into her face when she laughed was serene, in a sense. Her whole body was relaxed. Eventually, Tori's laughter faded into the wind and she straightened up, tucking her stray hair behind her ear.
"So, shall we?" she asked, motioning towards the door. Beck did a little bow.
"Ladies first." Surprised, and slightly pleased that she laughed at his gesture, Beck followed her inside.
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Robbie laid Cat gently down on their bed, tucking her in as he went. Andre had just left and Cat, after her third glass of tea, had placed her head down on the table and passed out. Robbie had cleaned up so she wouldn't have to do it in the morning, and then he carried her up to bed. As he took his shirt off and looked for his pajama top, he heard his girlfriend stir.
"Robbie?" she asked, turning herself over in the covers to look for him.
"I'm right here, Cat. Are you okay?"
"I feel sick."
"Three glasses of your spiked tea will do that to you. I told you to go easy on the whiskey."
"But I wanted it to be good," Cat protested, her whiny voice coming through. Robbie leaned over and placed a kiss on her forehead.
"It was good. Do you have to throw up?" he asked, placing his legs through the matching pajama bottoms.
"No," Cat said, sitting up slowly. "I want some water though." Robbie turned around, glass in hand.
"Already done."
"Thank you," Cat said, taking the water and gulping it down. Robbie made his way to the bathroom to brush his teeth.
"Hey, Robbie?" Cat called as she finished gulping down the last of her water.
"Yeah?" he called from the bathroom, voice garbled. He must have been brushing his teeth.
"Why did Tori lie to us tonight?"
Robbie stuck his head out the bathroom door, a confused look on his face and his toothbrush hanging out of his mouth.
"What do you mean?"
"I saw her texting someone on her phone tonight. It wasn't Trina." Robbie ducked back into the bathroom to rinse his mouth and then came back out. Getting into bed beside Cat, he placed a hand on hers.
"Are you sure?"
"It was a number I'd never seen before."
"What were they saying?"
"Whoever it was asked if they would see her a nine o'clock," Cat said, and Robbie was surprised to hear the concern in her voice.
"Well… that doesn't mean she's lying, Cat. That could have been Trina on another phone. She could have gotten a new number, for all we know. I mean, none of us talk to her anyway."
"I guess… Tori wouldn't lie to me, right?" Cat asked, her eyes shining with a drunken sadness. Robbie couldn't help but smile. She was so cute.
"I don't see why she would," Robbie said, wrapping his arms around his girlfriend.
"It's just, I don't want her to think she can't talk about things, you know? She never told me what happened between her and Rider."
"She will when she's ready, Cat," Robbie assured her, smoothing back her hair. "Don't worry. Let's just go to bed, okay? You can call her in the morning if you're really worried."
"Okay," the red head said, settling down into her pillow. Robbie turned the light off, pulling her into him as he lay down as well.
"Tori wouldn't lie, right?" Cat asked her boyfriend, playing with the button on his pajama top. Robbie smirked and kissed her forehead.
"Right. Tori wouldn't lie."
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Hi guys! Just wanted to say that I'm not sure if I'll be able to get another chapter out before the new year. My new term for nursing school starts January second, so things may be a little tight;/. But I am going to try and update just as frequently. Please read and review and tell me what you think. Happy new year guys!