"That's it?" Jade asked. She couldn't hold the disdain from her voice. "Write a single scene script, between seven and ten pages, involving a mystery, three characters, and a surprise plot twist? Vega, do you have any idea how easy that is?" Jade said. "I swear, Gradstein is just repeating old assignments."
"That assignment's hard. Do you have any idea how long it would take to write?" Tori was feeling offended. "I mean, we could work on this for hours, and not get it right."
"Or we could relax. Tori, it's no big. Gradstein may be a hard one to please, but if we just give him what he wants, it'll be an easy A." Jade smirked. "Write for the teacher. Know his weaknesses. And Granstein's weakness is romance." The goth shifted to look at her partner. "That's where you come in. I'm not the most romantic person. C'mon, we can get this done in an hour if we try. It's just five to six thousand words, depending on how much dialog we include." Jade's smile grew. "Include lots of dialog, it makes us seem smarter."
The next forty minutes Jade worked Tori hard, building a story about a girl who goes to a bar to meet the boy she'd fallen for, only to realize he was part of a robbery ring. As she turned to her feminine wiles to convince him to leave his life of crime behind, promising him a better life if she complied. Then, once he's agreed, she fakes going home, but heads to the back to talk to the rest of the gang. Instead of explaining how she wanted him to go straight, she says she didn't have it in her to kill the man she loved. The scene ends with her gunning down the other members of the gang.
"Wow. I had no idea you could type that fast." Jade said. She'd started by throwing out ideas, and watched as the Latina typed it all down almost as quickly as she said it. That speed was what helped them finish the project so quickly. "Now, you just girly it up a bit, and we have something Gradstein would love." Jade told her writing partner.
"Do you always do that? I mean, you wouldn't change your play for Mrs. Lee, but you give teachers what they want?" Tori was upset. She felt Jade had principles, and now she wasn't sure anymore.
"But Tori, this story is good. Besides, just because I gave him the kind of story he likes doesn't mean I changed who I was." Jade told her girlfriend. "My schoolwork is always balanced between freaking the faculty out and giving them something they'd like. It helps me keep my grades up, and I have a mug with my name on it in Lanes office."
"Okay. Let me work on the romance parts of this, and hopefully you'll still like it when it's done." Tori said.
"Tori, sweaty, you were as much a part of this as I was. I just added the twist where she was a contract killer." Jade smirked.
"You never mentioned..." Tori started.
"It's implied. Look, Tori, I'm going to work with Trina for a bit. We can hang out once I'm done, kay?" Jade told her.
"Kay kay." Tori replied. Then the Latina set herself to use the fifteen hundred words she had left to build the romance, painting a picture of how they'd live with the girls promises, all to entice her man. Tori imagined how her date with Jade to go, and how she'd want their lives together to be. Before she knew it, she was editing it down to fit in the assignment.
Jade, meanwhile, was outside with Trina, going over some moves. As she got the older girl settled into the rhythm of their practice, it was time to talk about Trina's project. "I was thinking, maybe you should consider stunt work? Or you could be a dancer. I really think, if you just treat the dance as a Kata, you'd have no trouble following the choreography." jade paused. "Maybe you could be a choreographer?"
"Maybe, but I really want to be a star, and dancers don't get the kind of fan base that actors and musicians get." Trina replied. "Maybe I could do like those jackasses did, you know, practical jokes and chiz?"
"I don't think you'd enjoy the self harm that goes into that kind of chiz." Jade replied. "Keep up with my movements. Remember your form. This is important. Maybe you could do action movies. But you'd still have to be able to act. We'll work on that." Jade seemed to be deeply involved in the process.
"Okay, lets do that." Trina said, her mind already thinking about the possibilities, but only as much as she could following Jade's lead. "So if we can't decide what I should be doing, then how do we start?"
"We start by retraining you." Jade said. "Now remember, this is more than just moving your body. Power, even in kata, is important. Each move, each step, do it as if you were striking or blocking a real opponent. Fight to win."
"Right." Trina was starting to sweat. Jade was pushing her, and still insisting on talking.
"Okay, once you've got the moves right, sing." Jade seemed calm. "And not your usual stuff. Something easy."
Trina started singing, and Jade started correcting that too. "Trina, keep going, but smooth it out. We're not concerned with you getting the words right yet. I just want to get past the chiz and find your voice."
Inside, Tori marveled at how long Jade was able to listen to the screeching that was Trina's singing. The singer had to finish the project in her fathers office, safely away from that horrible noise. Tori edited as if her life depended on it, and spent extra time making sure every word told the story Jade had wanted to tell. More importantly, she wanted to melt Jade with the romantic imagery she'd conjured for the story, hoping it would be enough not just to convince a man to give up his life of crime, but for Jade to accept the girly part of herself.
Tori wandered out about an hour later, to find Jade was apparently singing in a different tone than her usual. It wasn't great, but it was good. The tones were filling out, and it sounded like something that would be a good part of any background singer. Then she walked out to see Jade wasn't the one singing, it was Trina.
"Okay, relax. Don't push too hard. It's melodious, soft and full. We've made a start. Just don't try anything tricky until you learn how to tell what your singing." Jade was saying. Trina was singing simple things, the lullabies and other easy songs that could be used to help her find her voice.
"Oh my chiz! Is that Trina?" Tori managed to say, having trouble finding her own voice.
"Yep, and she can sing." Jade said, looking incredibly proud of herself. "Problem is, she's tome def. I've found some research that says, with a lot of training, she can correct this, but it's going to take a lot of work."
"So, she's going to be able to sing, does that mean she's going to be a singer?" Tori asked.
"It's deeper than that. This is throwing off her rhythm. It only seems to affect anything musical, so it doesn't affect her kata's or ability to fight." Jade explained. "I suspect she overcame the fighting part due to the extensive training she received from the dojo. Hopefully, by the time were done, she'll be able to sing, dance, and whatever else she wants to do." Jade was beaming.
"I'm impressed." Tori said. "You've managed to fix Trina."
"She fixed herself." Jade corrected. "She was willing to listen to me, and together we were able to put in the work." Jade suddenly got a little nervous. "Um, sweaty, she's going to need to practice, and she won't be able to correct herself. Could you maybe work with her?" Jade was trying to look cute, and failing miserably. "She won't be able to hear any examples, you'd have to train her to hear the differences in tones."
"Do you think I can do it?" Tori asked.
"Maybe, but it'll be hard for you. Your a better singer than I am, and you didn't need as much training to sing like you do. I'll bet it's painfully obvious whenever she misses a single note. You and Andre both." Jade said. "It'll be hard for you, just because you never had to do any of this yourself."
"But I'll do it, for my sister." Tori said. Jade could see the determination in the steel in her eyes.
"I know." Jade said. "Like me, you tend to achieve what you set your mind to. It's gonna be scary once you figure out the rest of your strengths. And Vega." Tori met her gaze. "I'll let you take the lead on any science projects we do." Tori smiled.
"So Trina." Tori started. "Have you heard. Beck's dating this chick, Hope Quincy, and Jade thought he was hiding it from her." Trina sat down on the couch, ready for some gossip. Jade sat on the other couch, and tori snuggled into her. It was time for the date part of the evening.
'Tomorrow, after class, I can talk to Trina about how badly she wants this.' Jade thought.
"Well, apparently, Beck is trying to hide Hope from all of us." Tori said. "She's more difficult than Jade was, and not as much of a physical threat. But, she's so much his type. I can see why he's dating her."
"You hate this girl, don't you?" Trina asked. "I can tell by the way you say her name."
"Yea, I do, but if Beck gets serious about her, then I'll have to find some way to coexist." Tori told her sister.
"No you don't. If you hate her, then hate her." Jade interjected.
"Jade!" Tori seemed okay with her girlfriends statement, but since it was inappropriate, had to reprimand the girl. "We make her feel welcome. Maybe she'll change, be easier to live with."
"You are not dating that girl." Trina said. "I like Jade."
:}
For the record, even though Tori and Jade haven't gone out on a proper date, they are dating. Tori just hasn't accepted that yet.
As for Trina's change, I was looking up "Tome deaf" and found an article that says many who suffer from it can be trained to overcome it's limits. To a degree, I agree. Trina's starting in what I'd imagine will be a long road that leads to being able to sing. Now about her acting.