Miniature Clone

"The fries aren't so bad today."

"Can I have some?" A hopeful Tori asked taking a seat at their group's table eyeing the fries from the school's grub truck. She arrived a little late, the line being too long to stand in.

Jade of course being Jade, didn't reply verbally, but spew her saliva all onto her own food. Tori grumbled, not surprised as it was Jade after all. Cat giggled to herself watching Jade act up before asking everyone if they wanted candy that she proceeded to pull out of her bra. licorice, sour patch kids, even jaw breakers and skittles. Tori watched wearily, knowing that the skittles at least, would've melted some and the color would've sunk into her bra by now.

".. Sure Riding Hood I'll take some," Andre said, Robbie agreeing too, them both soon having candy in their hands; Cat happily squeaking from the nickname she was given.

The group jumped startled, except Jade, when Trina popped up rather rudely shoving Robbie aside to make room at the table for her. "Who do you think Sikowitz is going to pair me up with?" she asked. Everyone knew Trina was hoping to be partnered up with Beck. Lately Trina was obsessed, more than normal after finding out the 'Bade' couple was broken up and no more. Sikowitz was putting them through another one of his fun projects.

Annoyed Jade growled "No!" successfully scaring away the hated sibling, earning grateful smiles from the rest of the group.

"Robbie wants to get paired up with dumb red," Rex stated, calling out his best friend with a pointed nod in Cat's direction who covered her face in embarrassment causing Robbie to blush and scold Rex threatening to take away his back massage before bed.

With class almost over, the students were waiting for their nutty teacher to drop the partner lists on them already so they could leave. Trina groaned obnoxiously loud, everyone rolling their eyes wondering to themselves why Trina had to get switched into their class so last minute and if they could possibly switch her back to wherever she came from. The shruggers didn't mind much about the wait, as they usually ended up doing the projects preferably on their own anyway. The next person to get impatient was Jade.

"Yo nutjob!" She yelled loud enough to get his attention. "Our projects?"

Sikowitz seemed to realize that he'd forgotten but gave the class no time to prepare for the names being called. Not wasting a second more, he stated loudly:

"Beck you're with Andre, Cat is with Re-" he cleared his throat. "-Robbie, Trina with Sinjin, Shrugger pick another shrugger, Andre you're with Beck, Tori with Jade, Robbie with Cat, Sinjin you're with Trina and Jade you're with Tori!"

In the moments of silence, the only pair that seemed happy with the pairing were Andre and Beck.

Tori sat there in dumbfounded belief that her highschool drama teacher would screw her over like this yet once again. Did she hear him right? She chanced a nervous glance in the goth's direction to find that she was already seething at her causing Tori to internally groan. It wasn't her fault. She didn't choose who she got partnered up with. The only thing she could think of that'd be worse was being partnered with Beck and having a seething plus jealous Jade on her ass.

"No trades or whining" Sikowitz announced as the bell rang and most students left grumbling. Jade was already gone, along with Beck and Sinjin. Trina was on the stage arguing, more like whining about her partner as If Sikotwitz would care and change his mind, even offerering to sing for him.

"You will be fine girl," Andre assured a nervous hair pulling Tori as they left the classroom, a Shy Cat and Robbie tailing behind.

Tori wasn't so sure. "You're just saying that. You're with Beck, you don't have to worry about him killing you," Tori grumbled to herself. The past times they've been partnered together crossed her mind and she bit her lip in worry. "I need to invest in pepper spray. Is Jade repellant a thing?"

"Huh." Tori had been grumbling all weekend trying to avoid the goth when she'd received a text from an unknown number. Sitting up from her lounge position on the couch and slipping her glasses back on, she unlocked her phone.

Your house. Be over in 30

Tori being oblivious texted the number back, hitting send; her tongue sticking out in silent concentration.

Who is this?

No reply.

She should've guessed correctly really who it was, but she thought of Andre. She quickly set out his favorite pretzels and rushed to grab a quick shower. Mere minutes later a seemingly bothered goth walked into her home not bothering to knock. Jade dumped her shoulder bag on the nearest chair taking in the scene before her. Snack bags littered the living room along with a few soda cans and Tori's nerdy solid red glasses lay on the table. Trina walked in unnerved by the other girl's presence as if this were a very normal occurrence.

"Tori's in her room." Trina told her.

Jade clicked her tongue before heading to Tori's room already knowing where it was from the last few times she'd visited. Walking in she noted the room was still the same. The same Cliché Live Love Laugh hanging over her bed along with small photos of her friends against purple wall paint. Cringing, Jade looked for the Latina, quickly picking up on the sound of the shower from the bathroom.

"I, I wanna show some skin
Baby I need the ocean
And you can't stop me now I've got my heart in motion
I wanna make it in America"

Jade resisted appreciating the soft voice, quietly lifting herself up onto the bathroom sink counter humming softly to herself. "How much skin is Tori planning on showing?"

"Sh- it!"

The goody two shoes never cursed. This surprised Jade at least a little, who remained composed, a small smirk of amusement playing on her lips. She heard some stumbling and for a second almost considered checking on the startled girl. Almost.

Tori was searching blindly for her towel, her eyes squeezed as hard as she could but it was already too late as her shampoo already got into her eye. She couldn't help continuing to curse. The shower curtain was RIPPED back, a very naked Tori grabbing her towel and wiping quickly at her eyes. She seemed unfazed by the goth definitely and shamelessly checking out her nude body, Tori's focus being on more important things in that moment like the soap in her eyes. "Ugh" she grunted quickly getting back into the shower to attempt another eye rinse under the shower head. "When did you get here?!"

The goth rolled her eyes. "I texted you. Now can you hurry the fuck up I have places I need to be."

Jade's request was ignored, the Latina finishing up at her own pace. Poking her head out she stared Jade down silently until the goth got the message and got up to leave the bathroom.

"You were just out here naked minutes ago, Vega," Jade mumbled as she exit. "Hurry up," she repeated. The last thing she wanted to do was hang out with Tori more than she needed to if at all. She had responsibilities to take care of and they always came first to her.

Blue green Eyes drifted onto the clock once again.

Tori noticed. It wasn't the first time. "Do you have to go somewhere?" she asked also looking at the time nearing 8pm. Jade wouldn't have a curfew Tori knew that. But where was she so anxious to be at eight? And since when was Jade ever anxious? Especially in a hurry to be somewhere?

Jade's expression showed no emotion. She sent Tori a firm nod in response to her question, getting up and slinging her bag over her shoulder. "Same time tomorrow," she said leaving as fast as she had arrived, leaving Tori to wonder about Jade's whereabouts. The girl stopped herself. "Why am I thinking about Jade," she asked herself with a chuckle and a small shake of her head pushing the goth out of her mind for the rest of the night.

The next day Jade showed up at the same time on the dot, dumping her bag on the closest spot on the couch. This time Tori was smart enough to expect her company and not be in the shower. "Jade," she cooed in her sing songy voice that she knew caused Jade to cringe or scoff at her.

"Toss me a coke I'm thirsty," the goth replied in a tone daring Tori to say no. She sat down on her favorite side of the couch taking note of their presentation board and several typed drafts littering the table. "Dumbass, you're supposed to put our names on the bottom, not the top."

Ignoring the insult Tori brought over the demanded coke and went back to their project leaving Jade without a reply. Tori felt that if she typed it, she should be able to put their names wherever she wanted to. If Jade had a problem with it she should've done it herself.

Hours later Jade was back to stealing glances at the time. Tori whined from her spot on the floor where she lay. "Jadey I'm tired, let's take a break."

Jade didn't reply, instead getting up to retrieve her shoulder bag again. "Same time tomorrow." She stated simply. Tori sat up in confusion before she noted the time; 8:00pm.

"Where are you going?" Tori asked without thinking, the impulsive question breaking past her lips.

With Jade already half way out the door, Tori barely heard the "Home," that was sent her way, her front door closing behind the departing figure.

Later that night Tori found herself staring at her phone, chewing on her bottom lip in thought. Jade's name displayed at the top along with a keyboard waiting for Tori to type what she'd wanted to say. It took the girl almost 10 minutes to push past her worries of Jade killing her for texting her.

8:00 seems pretty early. We could've finished our project tonight.

Tori scanned the message a couple times before she pressed send. It was better to get to the point, knowing the other girl didn't like too many questions or beating around the bush. Tori settled more comfortably, playing piano tiles on her phone. Almost half an hour passed and she checked, eyeing the read receipt. "Whatever I don't even care if she replies or not," Tori mumbled.

On the other end of the conversation sat a tired Jade, her phone screen still on displaying Tori's text. With a scoff she tossed her phone aside. Tori was too nosy and it pissed the goth off. 'Why can't she just mind her own damn business.' Soon she got another text, assuming it was Tori she barely glanced at it. She didn't read the message, leaving it forgotten until the morning.

Lilian: I'm afraid I wont be able to make it tomorrow, I have a family emergency I must tend to. I'm sorry for the late notice. I will be bright and early to see Mason the day after. Hope you understand.

The goth didn't see it until she was already waiting for Lilian to show up, impatiently glancing at her phone, Mason in her arms nomming her hand. It wasn't until she finally thought to check her messages from her notifications that she saw actually the message.

"Shit."

"And that kids is how you catch a raccoon."

The group stared at him in silence, confusion lacing their expressions at their teacher's catching wild animals 101 presentation. Only Cat was happy, practically bouncing off the walls from excitement.

"Yay! Let's go catch all the animals in the world!" She then gasped. "What if they don't like my house and want to move out?" The poor girl looked genuinely sad. Tori sighed gently squeezing the redhead's shoulder in comfort, not saying anything.

"Hey, where's Jade?"

Pairs of eyes turned towards the direction of Jade's chair seeing it was unoccupied. They looked amongst each other but no one had an answer.

"Man who cares. All she did was throw me around," Rex piped up after the beats of confusion.

"You deserved it," Andre said shaking his head a little.

Class seemed to carry on as normal despite Jade missing. The only person that continued to be bothered by it was Tori who after deliberating for a few minutes, pulled her phone out and sent her a quick message.

Hey. Hope you're okay.

No response.

The missing girl shown up an hour later during passing. She didn't have her scissors stashed in her boots that she usually never left home without. Nor did it look like she did her usual blue or purple streaks in her hair. Or her complete makeup look. Tori took in more details noting that she must've been rushed this morning. Jade didn't acknowledge her friends, walking past them at their lockers and to her next period class.

Did I do something?

Tori didn't like when people ignored her, but Jade always ignored her so why did it bother her? Maybe she was just hoping Jade would be a little nicer to her now that they were forced to spend more time together. She couldn't help rolling her eyes at the response she'd finally gotten.

Leave me alone Vega.

"Trina! Stop scaring the little kids!" Tori scolded in embarrassment. She'd been dragged to one of the farthest daycares in the area, Trina claiming that she had to interview one of the employees there for her own project. God knew why. The car ride had been a nightmare. Tori shuddered at the recent memory of shaving Trina's pits and arms so 'she'd look good for the interview.'

Tori walked over to pull her annoying sister away from the windows when a particular little kid caught her attention from outside on the playground. She couldn't help but think he looked familiar though she had never seen him before. After the girls got their visiting stickers from the owners, Trina scurried off to find her unlucky target to interview while Tori subconsciously wandered her way out to the playground in their huge backyard, awkwardly standing around. The little kid that had caught her attention earlier notices her too and curiously strolls over.

"Hey there little guy" Tori greeted kindly, getting onto her knees in the grass. "What's your name?"

The boy only hiccupped and Tori didn't expect him to reply. By the looks of it he was pretty young, possibly not even at the average speaking age yet but old enough to walk.

One of the sitters walked over watching the one sided exchange and knelt down beside Tori. "This is Mason. He's usually a quiet little fellow isn't he?"

Tori nodded, Mason was the cutest.