I wasn't kidding when I said the updates would be more regular...

Hope you enjoy!

:)

Tori's Perspective-

My eyes blink open, red numbers printing '6:32' with the accompanying shriek of the alarm. Groggily, I raise my arm and pound on the button, promptly shutting off the annoying clock. Despite my limbs' best efforts to keep me in bed, I rise, glancing over to the mirror. Seeing nothing but bronze skin and a mess of hair on my head, I shuffle over to the door, grabbing my towel as I do so. As I stray along the hall, I lean my head against the door, closing my eyes briefly.

However, my moment of dozing vanishes once I startle, hearing a loud cough from behind the door. "Uh," I start, rubbing my eyes, "Trina? Are you- are you gonna explode in there?"

"Shut up!" she snaps, adding to my soft giggles. I know I shouldn't but, well, the joke was kind of funny. The handle quickly dives down, the door swinging open before I could even catch myself. I groan with small clips of laughter above me. "Now that's what you get for laughing at me."

"Ow..." I growl weakly, picking myself up as Trina brushes pass. "Wait, isn't dad coming home today?"

She pauses by her doorway, looking up in thought. "I think so," she answers.

Alright. Today's a good day then.

With the water hitting the shower's floor, I undress before my eyes fall onto the mirror. My brows piece themselves together as I tilt my head to the side; there's nothing on my skin. There's no fading bruises or trails of scratches. No bite marks or anything else - like there was anything else - to be seen.

A grin stretches across my lips effortlessly as I step under the warming water. Today's gonna be a good day.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, hot, hot," I ramble, the water now scorching against my skin. Okay, maybe not that great... But, at the very least, I will be able to not have Beck questioning anything. I mean, I don't think he'll actually see that much skin for a while though, well, the thought kind of makes me jumpy. Well, not that word. Skittish maybe? No, not that either... Whatever, its just a nice thought that I won't have to explain something I can't. That, and I'm not so sure if he would like it much to know I don't even know who I did, well, it with.

Wait, I said I was a vir- Okay, definitely a good thing that this has cleared up, literally.

Although, what if he was the one? I mean, he wasn't, and as I said before, I don't know who. Perhaps a really hot senior who was just as drunk as I was. I pause in my lathering of soap in my hair, staring off into the curtains. "Whoever he was knows where I live...and that I sleep with Cathy," I mumble in disbelief. That, that's not a very good thought to have. Whatever, it's a good day, dad's coming home and Beck's going to be at school.

Unless he's sick. Well, then it will be an okay day then.

The water soon shuts off once I had thoroughly cleaned my hair, which rested damp on my shoulders with a towel as I scan through the closet. Perhaps I should do something that exposes more skin, I mean, I don't have the skin showing. I bite the bottom of my lip in thought, my eyes flicking between two shirts. One was a plain, blue long sleeved shirt while the other a bright, orange shirt with less fabric. There's so much going on with the shirt - in a good way I suppose - that I can't even begin to describe it.

As I turn my attention back and forth, I exhale impatiently. "I don't really want to expose any skin though," I mumble a thought out, not even thinking about it when I pull the blue shirt over me. As I look behind me in the mirror, I grin, satisfied with my decision, while drying out my hair even more. With a bag over my shoulder, I manuvuer my way down the stairs, cringing at Trina's coughing.

"Are you sure you're okay?" I hear my mom ask as I seat myself at the table.

"Yeah, yeah," Trina waves off, "I'm fine." A nice silence settles as I grab my bowl, the soft clinking of glass and, well, whatever the bowls are made of filling the room.

I shovel a few bites of cereal into my mouth before I look to my side uncertainly. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"I said I'm fine..." Trina answers.

I raise a brow, twisting around. "Are you sure its not just to go to that party for you friend, Chrissy or whatever?"

"No..." she mumbles humbly, though sighs in defeat once I don't take the bait. "There's going to be really hot guys there..."

"And they'll appreciate your cough?"

"Yes."

"Really?"

"Maybe," she mutters, giving me the chance to roll my eyes with a sly grin, going back to my food.

-(:)-

I dart away from the car towards the main hall doors, Trina's constant string of coughs racking in my skull. I doubt that she's well but, hey, she's a stubborn one to deal with so I don't think it'll change. Today, strangely, the hall is a lot tamer than the few days prior. The papers on the wall had been torn away rather quickly in the rush to fill the, not one, but two spots for the shows this weekend. I make my way over towards the locker door, pulling it open as I shuffle through my bag. I place unnecessary papers and text books in the locker before grabbing a few that is needed.

Pleased with my selection, I make to close the door when I hear someone call my name. "Andre?" I mumble under my break, my face scrunching in confusion. He strides quickly over to me, his hand on my shoulder as he moves me over. "Wha- wait Andre! My locker!" I grimace as he grumbles, a slam of metal a brief second later before he pushes me towards the janitor's closet. However, we halt as the janitor - as it is his closet after all - goes in, broom and pan at hand.

"Damn," the musician curses lowly, going back to tug me towards the vending machines.

"What are you doing?" I ask frantically, rubbing my wrists as we remain at one spot, "And ow you grab hard."

"Sorry," he mutters bluntly, though it was laced an apologetic tone.

"Thank you," I reply curtly as he bows his head, "So...how did last night go with her?"

"Good. Like I said, it wasn't a date and she didn't think so either," Andre quickly states. His eyes flicker between mine, lips pursing.

I frown, leaning forward with my hands grasping the air. "What?"

He exhales slowly, his eyes shifting to the sides before he whispers, "Do you, well, remember that party a few weeks ago? Right before you started dating Beck?"

"Y-yeah," I nod.

"You had a weird morning, didn't you?"

"Ye-" I start before I halt in my words, eyes widening. "Wait...you know what happened to me?"

"You- you seriously don't remember?" he almost whines in frustration.

"I told you," I hiss wearily, "I only remember dancing. And drinking...and dancing some more."

"You really don't remember what happened," he groans exasperated, running his hands through his hair.

"Wait, whoa, whoa, whoa... How did you find out? Can you tell me?"

Andre purses his lips once again, shaking his head miserably, "Well...I-I can't. It's not mine to tell and," he sighs softly, "It wouldn't be right if I did tell, even if I am your best friend."

Oh my god I feel like I'm about to explode. "Why?" I snap, before cringing. "Sorry, it's just...well...it was my first, uh...time," the words die off as they fell from my tongue, becoming quieter and quieter while my cheeks burned.

He grimaces gingerly, teeth clenched. "That- that...oh god, that made it wor- god."

"Why can't you tell me?" I ask softly.

"I-I can't...but," he adds as an undertone, "have you talked to- when's the last time you talked to her?"

"Uh," my brows furrow, "She told me to 'f' off."

"And before that?"

"I don't remember!" I growl weakly, "When we got sodas from Sinjin."

"Wait, what? Sodas?"

"Yeah," I nod at his confused stare, "I don't know what happened to them actually."

He waves the random babble away, shaking his head. "Well, I would advise you to talk to her," he mumbles, "I mean...eh, are you?"

"I don't- I don't know if I want to talk to Jade," I sigh, her name flowing off my tongue like a foreign language, unused, "It's just, it would be awkward with Beck and I and I don't think that she's going to be happy if I did-"

"Well, no... She," he gives a short laugh, my eyes quickly flicking over his shoulder, "she wan-"

"Hey you two," Beck grins happily, white teeth flashing.

"Hey," I respond quietly, Andre twisting around.

"Oh, hey dude."

"You have fun on your date?" he wiggles his eyebrows.

"It wasn't a date," the musician shook his head, "We just talked is all. She's just having some issues so I'm helping her with all of 'em-"

"She fine," Beck immediately states airily, his arm wrapping around my side.

Shaking his head, Andre continues, "Well anyway... I'll talk to Tori more at lunch and I can describe the "date" to you at lunch, alright?" he gestures with his fingers, "Now I'll go find her before she goes into the ISS room..."

"She's fine," Beck insists.

"No, dude, she's not. I mean, she's sitting besides the principal's office. I'll talk more at lunch, is that good?"

"She's fine," the Canadian growls through clenched teeth.

I frown as Andre's eyes shift between dark ones above me, Beck's hand caressing my arm with stiff fingers. "I guess that's a no then," he scowls gingerly, briefly muttering, "See you later Tori." Both of us sit in a casual silence, my gaze wanting to break free and watch Andre however, my head was held in place gingerly with Beck's arm wrapped around me.

"That was..."

"Odd," Beck finishes, "Well, nothing we can do I guess."

"Yeah," I mumble in hesitant agreement, "I suppose."

"So," he drawls, "Do you wanna go out to some races tonight?"

I bite my lip in thought, "I don't know...maybe I should look over the test questions."

"Oh come on," he chuckles, "It'll be fun. And besides, we'll have a good date there. The races are fun to watch."

"Oh alright," I give in to his dark eyes which flash down at me, pleading, "And if it sucks you have my 'F' for the test to be responsible for." He merely grins, planting a soft kiss on my forehead before we stride off towards his own locker.

-(:)-

His voice mumbles through my thoughts as Beck plays with my hand, his wild hair following his excited steps. My mind drawls insanely, incapable to follow along as I whisper every so often to ask Beck what was said. I nod at the answers, missing some more details as Sikowitz continues. The clock ticked by too slowly while any other, normal day it would have been too quick. There was something, wrong I guess. I frown; everybody was listening as usual and gave into the conversation like always.

God my mind feels like sludge with all of the work piled onto me the last few hours. Luckily, though, I finished all of it and looked over some of the test in history. I suppose that's a bonus. But...still. Something's missing. Perhaps it's just that Robbie's out sick or that Andre is still not talking to Beck. Cat, though, as always, continues to make bubbly comments that bring grins to everyone's lips.

Despite my inconsistent attention span in this class, I still make my attempts to tune in, trying to shake off the feeling that something was missing, or wrong. And, as my eyes check, it's only been a minute.

-(:)-

"Dad!"

He spins around, eyes wide with a piece of bagel lodged in his mouth, cream cheese spreading across his lips. He smiles enthusiastically, quickly chewing the baked good before coughing out, "Hey sweetie!" I throw my arms around him, letting my bag hit the floor beside the couch before he pulls away. "So how are you doing?"

"Good," I nod, "And you?"

"Exhausted. Anyway, I have some news," he grins excitedly.

"What?"

"I'm going to be filling in as your school's officer," my dad finishes. At Hollywood Arts, because it's a couple blocks from a kind of shady area, has always had an officer about, keeping things in check. And, I suppose, they also get some of the foods from the faculty lounge; that is, well, it's according to the last officer anyway.

I smile, almost dancing on the spot before I pause. "Wait, isn't that kind of de-promoting yourself?"

"In a sense," he eases into the couch, "But I'll always have something to look out after for work. And I won't be there all of the time, just in the mornings and afternoons just before pickup. During the day there'll be somebody else covering." I nod in understanding when both of our gazes switch to the door as it opens and shuts behind Beck.

"Oh, hey Mr. Vega," he greets with a small grin.

"Hey Beck," my dad nods, "What are you doing here?"

Steps glide down from the stair, my mom joining the company. "Oh hey Beck."

"Hey Mrs. Vega."

"Wait... Where are you- what's going on?" my dad's head swivels around, constantly glancing at my mom while I follow the Canadian towards the door.

"Hmm?" my mom frowns slightly before gasping as a lightbulb glows. "Oh! Yeah. Tori's dating Beck. You are fine with that, aren't you? You did say that he's good."

The officer's gaze unfocused briefly at the floor, his eyebrows stitching themselves together in thought. "Right, right," he grumbles. Both Beck and I remain at the door, unsure whether or not to stay and watch or just leave. "Right," my dad abruptly shakes his head, waving airily, "It's just I, well, just got here. Well, enjoy your time you two."

"Okay," I grin, "See you later."

"Bye Mr. Vega," Beck beams. He opens the door for me as I walk through, my view darting back to my dad whose gaze remains firmly on the floor. Shrugging it off, I make my way towards the truck sitting beside the curb, the rest of the night waiting for me.

Like I said, today's a good day.

-(:)-

In short, the drag racers bellow out their engines as they tear down the road, earning yells of excitement from those in the stands. Beck shouts happily, cursing occasionally that he hadn't brought any binoculars. The lights had eventually blinked on, blinding me for a moment with a white light before Beck reminded me that the show was with the wheels storming pass. It was fun, actually. Not really what I'd normally do but, yeah, it was a good way to end the day.

"I could make it better if we go to my place later," Beck mumbles cheekily, his eyes following the winning racer.

"No," I grin, I do need to study and I'll visit my dad some.

"Alright," he grabs his bag of popcorn, "Want some?" I look down at the bag, shoveling a few into my mouth before nodding a thanks. The popcorn was a good way to end the good day.