Miniature Clone - Chapter 8

Tori's POV

"Maybe she only agreed so she can get us alone to kill us."

I couldn't help the laugh, but I made it too obvious that I was nervous, which wasn't helping ease Cat's worry. "Cat, Jade isn't going to kill us okay? Besides..she's not allowed to bring her scissors."

Last week ended roughly, with Jade practically stepping on my sincerity. But I know Jade just says whatever she can to push people away. Maybe sometimes she means it, but I know not all the time, so I tried my best to brush it off. She still needs us, whether she wants to admit it or not. During the school week both Cat and I stopped by occasionally to check on them which always ended with us getting kicked out within the hour.

I sighed in disbelief thinking back to Cat's proposal to take advantage of our upcoming winter break. I tried to contain the disbelief I felt from Cat actually having came up with a smart idea. We all needed a break. Apparently Cat really liked log cabins, so we decided to rent one out near the border of Hollywood. It was far away from everything we knew, so it would be fun for all of us. The only problem was convincing Jade to go along. She cursed at us for a couple days at first but eventually, eventually got too annoyed to keep saying no.

"I Tori Vega promise to think of Mason's best interest and make him my number one top priority on this trip." I had said when Jade groaned at us to leave her alone on the 6th day we asked.

"No," Jade stated with no room for argument. Did she not trust me? My face must've gave myself away because she softened for a SPLIT second. "I just mean, Mason isn't going with us. It's getting too cold and it's too far away and I just I-" I cut her off and placed a reassuring hand on her arm.

"It's okay I understand." Jade shrugged my grasp away and I let my hand fall back to my own side. Huff. "I will call Lily right now and confirm what we already talked about," I said walking away before Jade could say anything else. We spent the rest of the week straightening out the kinks before we finally set off for the road.

"CAT!"

I jumped, sending Jade a small worried glance. I didn't want her to swerve the car and kill us all. I didn't really mind Cat singing but obviously Jade minded. A lot.

"You don't want to wake up all of Hollywood," I muttered to which Jade only grunted. The goth was chosen as the designated driver, Cat not the best and I still didn't have my driver's license. After only an hour, she was at her wits with the redhead. "Cat I have an idea," I said deciding to save both of our asses from the upcoming wrath. "Let's play the who can stay quiet the longest game!" I heard Jade chuckle beside me at the idea I pitched. Cat squealed in excitement and puffed up her cheeks filling them with air making her look like a chipmunk. Jade instantly seemed more relaxed considering the circumstances.

"Do you want me to take over?" I offered.

She glanced at me with a scoff. "You can't drive."

"Of course I can, I just..don't have the license."

"Because you can't drive Vega."

We stopped at a gas station, Cat whining for the last twenty minutes about how much her behind hurt. Jade got out to refill the car while I got out with Cat to stretch. I didn't see when Jade approached me, but there was a sudden strike to my bottom. I yelped and spun around seeing Jade looking very pleased with herself.

"I asked what you wanted from the store," she said annoyed with an eyeroll eliciting an eyeroll of my own.

"That doesn't mean to smack me!" I whisper yelled. "Especially not ..there."

She mumbled a "whatever," while walking away towards the corner store.

With us all back in the car, Jade passed out the snacks, Cat jumping in her seat at the skittles she'd requested. Then I realized I never answered what I wanted and Jade handed me an Almond Joy. I didn't mean to distort my face the way I had and quickly fixed it taking the candy from her. Jade got me something and it was better than nothing. And technically .. that would mean she thought of me. I smiled and opened the candy bar taking a bite off a corner. Yuck, Coconut

It wasn't long before we arrived and the walk was short after we checked in at the office. I couldn't help noticing that Jade was too quiet. She hadn't made any sarcastic remarks for a while. She must be worrying about Mason I thought starting to feel a little bad.

"I call the biggest room!" Cat said sprinting up to the cabin. She realized she didn't have the keys, Jade did, and she huffed while waiting for us to catch up.

"Will you calm your tits?" Jade asked unlocking the door. Cat immediately grabbed her chest with a shocked gasp. I almost laughed but I bit my lip and looked away walking in after them. "Why did I agree to this," I heard Jade mutter to herself.

Jade's POV

I watched Tori check the rooms. There was only one. "I'll take the couch," she said plopping down on it. I didn't have a problem with her taking the couch, but she was dumb. Cat didn't like sleeping alone and I wasn't in the mood to have her come in the room that was now mine, for a cuddle session. I looked at the pouting redhead. "Tori is taking the bed and you're going with her." I ignored the confused expression Tori was sending my way.

"But Tori snores," Cat said quietly.

"What?! I do not! When do I ever snore?"

I smirked. Tori looked so offended. "Do you really snore Vega?" I asked, because hey, I just wanted to know. There's no crime in that. But of course I already knew the answer from the dumb sleepover last month when Cat had snuck in. Her head whipped in my direction.

"What do you mean?! I slept with you before, you know I don't snore."

I grinned. "Vega, if we slept together, I think I would remember it." I watched her face gradually become a shade of pink as she scolded me for having a dirty mind.

"You know that's not what I meant," she said as she darted off towards the bathroom to wash up. It was getting late, it was almost ten pm when we got here. Cat hadn't moved from her spot for a few minutes now.

"Aren't you going to change?" I asked before clearing my throat and just walking away. I don't know why I asked. I didn't care. I walked out the back wanting to see the sky from here. "I hate it here," I muttered. But then why did I agree. Seriously, what the fuck is wrong with me. Staring at the stars I sighed. Tori's face creeped into my head. I saw the hope in her eyes and the pout in her lips when she came to me with Cat to ask for the Cabin vacation. Wait. Shit. No. I shook my head ridding it of all things Tori Vega. Shit's ridiculous. I scoffed at myself and tried to count the stars. I'm going to be stuck here with idiots.

When I got back, the girls were already in bed, Cat telling Tori to leave the bedroom light on or she'd get scared. I sighed and made myself comfortable on the couch. I wanted to call Lilian and check in on Mason, but I knew they would be sleeping by now too. An hour passed but I was still awake. I couldn't sleep. I wanted to go home. To see my kid, to be with my damned scissors again and the dark interior of my bedroom.

Tori's POV

I couldn't sleep. Cat lay stretched out beside me. A puppy couldn't be as cute as she was when she was sleeping. With a yawn I quietly slipped out of the bed and went out to locate the sink for a glass of water. Walking past the couch I could hear Jade tossing and turning. She must've been having trouble sleeping too. "Jade?" I asked quietly but she didn't reply. Hesitantly I poked my head over the couch. Her eyes were closed; her breathing a little on the heavier side. "Jade?" I repeated. After going to get the glass of water, I filled it with ice and came back to the couch. She looked to be sweating so I pulled the blanket off of her. I needed to check if she had a fever. When I put my hand on her forehead, she was warm. I wasn't sure if it was warm enough to be a fever, but I didn't get to think farther when her eyes opened scaring the crap out of me. I froze, meeting her eyes. She didn't move or shy away. I could swear she leant towards the cold of my hands from holding the ice water. "Jade?" This time she replied with a small grunt. "Let's sit up and drink some water okay?" She didn't reply but she slowly shifted, her eyes sleepily searching and locating the glass of water I had next to us on the table. Grabbing it I handed it over and watched her take a few sips. When she passed it back to me I put the glass down and moved to stand up when she grabbed my arm.

"Stay here," she mumbled. She kicked the blanket farther until it landed on the floor and scooted over to make room for me. It was still a pretty small space but I didn't want Jade to regret asking me so I timidly crawled in beside her. Her head turned to look at me, she was staring and it made my heart stop. I wasn't sure how long I was holding my breath but eventually she blinked and lay down shifting to a comfortable position beside me. I waited an hour to fall asleep, just incase she came to her senses and yelled at me, but she never did. I noticed when her breathing evened out again and I let myself fall asleep soon after her.

We slept through the night. I could see light through my eyelids. When I opened my eyes, I was met with the irises of Jade's eyes. She was staring at my lips. I'm sure they're not that entrancing but they had to be for her not to notice that I was awake. When I smiled, her eyes suddenly shot up to mine and instantly I was on the floor. "Ugh," I groaned from the ground in pain.

"Why aren't you with Cat?!"

I scoffed holding my side. Unbelievable. She was the one that told me to stay with her, and now she's acting like I'm the predator. She was the one staring at me! I huffed and got up off the floor. I ignored her heading to wake up Cat so we could start the day. We already booked for spas, hike trails, and even paragliding if we got to it.

Long story short, the day was a bust. Our spa guy refused us service because Jade couldn't drop her attitude and refused to let him do his job. I'm not sure what the problem was.. but I don't think she wanted him touching Cat and I. It was just a feeling when she started requesting a female massager, but she wouldn't admit it. Then Cat didn't like the hiking. It was "too much walking." And she only brought her trampoline shoes and her heels. You wouldn't believe it, even the paragliding was canceled because they got the date wrong and was on vacation. Jade had taken the phone from me and told the people in charge to get here anyway, which they didn't take well and hung up after apologizing for the inconvenience.

"Why did you pick here Cat?" Jade asked with a heavy sigh. She grabbed a bag of chips from the counter and sat on the couch. We were back for lunch and Cat was fixing her and I sandwiches but she wouldn't let me see what she put in mine because it was a "special secret."

"It's not Cat's fault," I said wanting to protect the redhead from blame. It wasn't worth it. When Cat handed me my sandwich, I chuckled. I could see Doritos sticking out of one side and a pickle sticking out of the other. I had to give her credit, she was pretty creative. I took a big bite, freaking starving from all the walking and waiting.

My eyebrows furrowed when I couldn't recognize every taste, my taste buds weren't acting like they were supposed to and I started to feel funny. Maybe chips and pickles weren't a good match?

"Hey Cat?" Jade asked from the kitchen. "Did you put peanut butter in yours?"

Cat nodded replying with "Of course I did, Peanut Butter solves everyone's problems." I watched Jade appear from the kitchen with the jar in her hand. She glanced over at me before her eyes returned to Cat.

"Just yours right?" she questioned and Cat looked at her blankly. At her blank expression Jade cursed and walked over to me. "Vega," she greeted while taking my sandwich away and taking it apart. She looked at it first, then smelt it. "Fucking Cat," she said. I felt my tongue becoming numb. I laughed. Of course. It's been so long since I've had an allergy attack that I almost forget what I'm allergic to. "Spit it out," Jade demanded in front of me again, extending out her hand. She wanted me to spit? Into her hand? I stared at her not sure what to do. How bad could a peanut butter allergic reaction be anyway? I thought back to elementary school when I passed out. Big whoop. I heard Cat gasp. They were both looking at my neck now and I reached up to feel it. Hives. Hecking Hives. "Damnit Tori. Cat go get my EpiPen."

This caught my attention. Jade had an EpiPen? What was she allergic to? I watched Cat run off and come back with it. Jade practically snatched it from her. "Jade wait" I said nervously trying to stall. "What if it hurts?" I asked moving away from her with the pen.

"Are you kidding me? Now's not the time to be a wuss Tori." Before I could run away she grabbed me and quickly injected the pen. It took a few seconds but my throat that was starting to close up, opened up again and I took deep breaths grateful for the oxygen. I took my airway for granted. Jade was staring at me. If looks could kill...

"Why couldn't you notice it beforehand?!" she yelled. I was frozen, not having anything to say to my defense. The last time I had peanut butter was elementary school. I almost forgot I even had the allergy in the first place. "Damnit Tori."

I didn't like the way she was scolding me. I wasn't Mason. Jade isn't my mom. But I knew she was only worried about me. "I'm sorry," I mumbled not wanting her to be mad at me anymore. Then a thought occurred to me. I looked up at her. "How did you know?"

Jade looked as if she was going to lecture me farther but paused. She sighed, stood up and walked away saying she had to use the bathroom. She really DID go through my health records. That sneaky goth. What else did she know?!

Cat's voice brought me back to reality. "Can we go swimming?"