The next morning before school
"no, two pills, they messed up" begs Cat
"no Cat it's one, they cut your dose in half, it's doing too much too fast, Tori's doctor aunt Sabrína said the medication needs to be taken over a month, you're already twice as far as you should be because of her miscalculation, your doctor chewed her out for the miscalculation, if you take more than the bottle says your doctor would refuse to renew your meds and fire you as a patient and make it harder to find a new doctor, people are finally seeing me for who I am and not the mega grunge they used to see me as, I refuse to ruin it all and be called 'the girl that led Cat to drugs', you don't understand what's at risk" says Jade
"but I like how it feels, I get to cuddle you at school" says Cat
"nobody says that has to stop Kitty, if you take too much of this medication it could cause a fatal seizure" says Jade
"oh…… I hate those" says Cat finally understanding and giving in, taking the single pill Jade gave her
"wait you've had siezures" asks Jade
"small ones, epileptic seizures my dad called them, the weight thing started really showing at the same time, my doctor told me to stop eating certain things and eating more of something else and they stopped, at least most of them, I still get them every now and then but definitely not as bad as I used to, Sofía gets them too but changing what she eats hasn't stopped them, that's what Jimmy, her dog is for, Brian has an emotional support turtle, or rather he did, Sofía tried to feed him after Brian was sent to jail for hurting Tori so bad but she's short, she got the step ladder got the food and she slipped as she finished feeding him and grabbed the turtles glass enclosure to try and steady herself only to have it tip, the turtle fell and Sofía landed on him, it's one of the reasons she's scared of Brian, she called him at the jail sobbing, telling him she was sorry, that she'd tried her best but that his turtle died, he was calm about it but she feels that that's just because there were jail guards watching him, that when he gets out he'll hurt her" says Cat
"that incident, was it because of a seizure" asks Jade
"yes, a small one, oddly enough it stabilized her, her foot locked into the supports for the step she was on, two minutes passed locked in place, I'd heard the glass shatter but I'd gotten there too late, see when she comes out of her seizures her body jolts, her feet unlocked from the step ladder and she fell, it happened quickly, I only managed to get in and stop her from hitting her head on the floor" says Cat
"is she very emotional after these seizures" asks Jade
"very emotional yes, you think I'm all over the place, Sofía after one of these seizures is ten times more emotional, she's broken plates, bowls, cups and three phones, none of them her fault, her arms drop like you'd expect to happen during seizures but most of her body locks up, as if every muscle in her body is tensing up and staying that way, which is what our doctor says is happening, he can't explain it and since he can't explain it he can't treat it, anyway unless you strap something to her arms it will ultimately fall out of her hands and she feels extremely guilty about it, it's why she doesn't want a phone anymore, she'd rather have something like what Hailey has than a phone that costs a lot of money, she's scared to the point that her peartop is chained to her desk in her room, she refuses to move it, she'd rather ask us to move it than to risk dropping it herself" says Cat
"Naomi says Sofía texts her all the time, I heard her say that to your mom this morning during breakfast" says Jade
"it's this wifi texting thing Sofía has on her peartop, it costs her twenty dollars a month which is most of her allowance but she'd rather do that than have a phone that costs mom and dad hundreds of dollars every time she drops it, wait aren't we going to be late for school" says Cat
"water pipe burst near school last night, it appears to be harder to fix than usual, rather than have everyone bring an extra pair of clothes to change once in the school so they don't stay all day in moist clothes Principal Hellen called today off for both students and teachers, she said it completely flooded the asphalt Café anyway so it would be way too crowded for lunch anyway, she said she'd rather have the weekend to make sure inside the school stays dry than have students in the way of the janitors" says Jade as Tori walks over
"well I'm in no hurry to get home then am I" says Tori
"avoiding Andre again Tori, come on even I know that's not healthy" says Cat
"he hasn't texted me yet this morning, anyway the quickest route home on my bike is right past the school and therefore the burst pipe and trust me wet shorts or bikini bottoms on a bike seat in the heat isn't fun, I learned that the hard way riding home from Venice beach last summer" says Tori
"so you're looking for him to come get you, that's romantic" says Cat
"I invited him to live in my house when he asked me out, he's been using my shower, my towels and eating my food, I've given up a lot, I don't see how picking me up should be something hard for him to do" says Tori
Meanwhile with Beck and Andre at Tori's house
"come on Andre, up the romance, we both know there are boys at school waiting to take your place if you screw this up" says Beck
"but she banished me to the guest room because I talk in my sleep, her dad scares me, he banned Cat from ever dating Tori because she wanted too much too fast, how do I know I won't make the same mistake" says Andre
"if Tori wanted you out of here she'd tell her dad to make you leave, besides it's her dad that wants you out of the house, the fact that you're still here means that Tori begged him to let you stay, he thinks Tori's moving too fast this time, where are your shower things in the shower, are they above hers or below hers" says Beck
"do you know something I don't" asks Andre
"Cat told me a few things about how particular Tori is about her shower organization, now is your stuff above or below hers" says Beck
"above why, what's the importance" says Andre suddenly flustered
"Cat's was above as well and when they'd kiss, Tori would pull Cat on top of her in bed, it's a pattern, Cat also put Cat's feelings first and we know Tori hid her VV life from you because she didn't want you to hate her because she felt you deserved a record deal more than she did, you get to use her shower, you get to use her expensive towels and you get to eat her food, we all know how stingy Tori is about HER food, especially since her mom walked away from the family, the fact that she's giving up food and her expensive towels means she's trying to get you to make a move" says Beck
"why doesn't she make a move" asks Andre
"DUDE, you're living in the same house as her, she DID make a move, the ONLY one of us that has EVER lived in this house with her is Cat, she his her other life from you, did you really think her first move was going to be blatantly obvious" says Beck
"ok so what am I supposed to do, I'm terrified about coming off the wrong way, I don't know if you know this but Cops don't tend to go easy on black people, some of us end up dead" says Andre
"dude make her feel loved, even if her dad does have something against black people, if you make her happy she will protect you, she has him wrapped around her little finger, the reason she even took the record deal offer was because her dad had gotten injured at work and Holly was siphoning off his money, he couldn't pay the medical debt and Trina certainly wasn't going to be able to get a job that would pay the bills, as long as she's making payments to pay his medical expenses he won't go against her, not after she broke his arm after he expelled Cat from here, from what Trina says, Tori was pissed off more than Trina has ever seen her and Trina knows a thing or two about pissing off Tori" says Beck
"what, else did Trina say about that situation" asks Andre wanting to know more about Tori's aggressive side
"Trina said Tori screamed 'I HATE YOU, SHE WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO WAS WILLING TO LOVE ME BACK, THE ONLY OTHER PERSON I LOVE WOULD NEVER EVEN THINK ABOUT LIKING ME BACK BECAUSE OF YOUR JOB AS A COP, YOU'VE RUINED MY LIFE, CONGRATULATIONS I'M IN A SUICIDAL FUNK AGAIN' Trina said Tori then ran off and was gone all weekend, though she didn't know to where or what she was doing, just that she showed up for school and came home the following Monday" says Beck
"if I had to guess she probably checked into the psych ward at the hospital, her aunt, the one that's treating Cat for the nerve damage, she works in the psych ward at that hospital, Tori has a hospital ID band that says 'room twenty-five, forty-eight hour psychiatric hold' in a shadow box beside her bed, she draws hearts on it every day before she leaves for school" says Andre
"you're saying she still loves Cat, how does that make you feel" asks Beck
"Cat isn't someone you break up with because you want to, you break up with her because someone tells you to, I've talked to every single one of the guys who've dated Cat, all of them said 'my friend told me Cat was nuts or crazy, I got scared and broke up with her' or something to that effect, always starting with 'my friend told me', somebody wants Cat to be lonely and I thought it might have been Robbie" says Andre
"you don't anymore" asks Beck surprised
"no I don't, the way he talks about her shows that like Tori, He put her feelings first most of the time, though it would seem that in occasion he wanted to show her that he could be more than friends with her, which is where he says he messed up, he feels he went too far, which is why, he pulled himself away from our friend group" says Andre
"promise me you will show Tori how you feel, I mean really show her, kiss her, cuddle and snuggle her, because I was serious about other guys waiting for you to fail, Tori herself has been thinking you don't actually love her and is willing to look elsewhere for love, now do you think Jade is the right person for Cat" says Beck
"I promise to try and show Tori how I feel, as for Cat, I feel Tori would be the better choice but Jade is definitely stepping up and showing that she can be as loving as Tori and that how she feels about Cat is real, how are you feeling considering Jade was obsessed with you and now she's dating a girl" Says Andre
"on some level I knew her heart wasn't in it for the long run with me, us breaking up was more a test for her than anything, it seemed to do her good, she was a lot kinder to Tori and actually began talking to Tori about stuff" says Beck
"so what exactly happened that night, I've never really understood it, people are saying that she did it on purpose" says Andre as he texts Tori a cute text
"it wasn't intentional, Jade has this thing where her mind blanks, mostly it has to do with Cat's singing voice, it's like when Cat sings with purpose Jade loses control of her body and goes limp of sorts, if Tori hadn't pulled Jade away from the edge of the Catwalk, Jade would have flipped over it and dropped to the stage, likely dying as she hit the stage, it's weird because only Cat does that to her, Tori definitely does something to Jade when she sings but with Cat it's a different story, the whole bush daisy and blood disappearing thing she did with Tori, you could tell Jade was enjoying it, after Jade composed herself she looked down to me, she looked as if she wished Tori hadn't saved her, that's not a part of herself that she let's people see, I myself have only seen it once before that night, and the last time I saw it on her face she had actually tried to kill herself, Jade wanted the lead role in that play because she had a part in writing it, her and Tori wrote it, Jade has never once just given up and let someone stay in a role she wanted, she wasn't even supposed to be up on the catwalk that night, Tori begged her to be up there with her because Tori herself couldn't handle herself during the rehearsals and needed someone to talk to, to keep her mind off things, essentially the play was about what might have been if her dad hadn't intervened, Tori knew how it felt, Jade provided external view information so Tori could have it be accurate" says Beck
"wait but Tori has no playwright experience, she's never written a play before" says Andre as Tori sends heart emoji's back
"that's why she needed Jade's help and why it was written to be similar in style to Jade's play that Tori got the Chinese restraint lady to pay for except Tori's play was definitely written in the style of a musical, on another note, what did you text Tori" says Beck
"I told her I'd pick her up for a lunch date then spend some time at the beach, that she could chill for the morning with Cat, she seemed to like it, she sent several heart emoji's as a reply and she's not a big emoji texted, at least as far as I know" says Andre
"her and Cat text in emoji's for simple conversations, more in depth conversation are always in regular text" says Beck
"well I meant with us guys or Jade, texting in emoji's seems about right for Cat, one thing I do know about Cat is that she keeps her texts cute and to the point, assuming she understands the proper use of certain less PG emoji's I don't see it being hard to get her points across" says Andre
"has Cat seemed different to you since she started dating Jade, she seems different to me" asks Beck
"she doesn't seem that different to me, calmer maybe but not really different, Jade is the one I think is different now, she's gotten even softer, after the break up with you Jade softened but with Cat she's even more soft, also I don't understand why Tori has a driver's license but won't drive, it's like she avoids getting in the driver's seat, it doesn't make sense to me, she'd rather ride her expensive bike than drive" says Andre
"Cat explained that to me before the play because I'd asked her exactly that question because Tori got her license while she was dating Cat, apparently the drivers test was traumatic for her, that the only reason she didn't quit or stop trying was because of Cat, something about not wanting to rely on Jade to drive them around, Tori almost crashed three times during the final test, she stopped in time, Cat said the instructor suggested several times that Tori consider not driving, Cat said Tori's much better outside of LA, or bigger cities like LA" says Beck
"does Cat know what Tori sees in me" asks Andre
"if she does she isn't saying though I do know that if you go through with this lunch date, Tori will ask what you see in her, because you followed my advice and were cautious around Tori she's questioning if you actually have feelings for her, Cat won't let Tori go on that lunch date until she knows what you love about Tori" says Beck
"so Cat is trying to stop Tori from moving on or something" asks Andre
"no Cat's not stopping Tori from moving on, the problem is Tori gets taken advantage of, Danny successfully got her to get him to cheat on Cat, Cat nearly got Tori to have sex with her before Tori was ready to do so and I nearly kissed Tori while her and I were alone on this couch, Cat wants to make sure the cycle is broken, that you won't take advantage of how Tori feels about you as Danny, her and I did, so what do you love about Tori" says Beck
"her smile, it's contagious and it lightens the mood in the room when she smiles, how it affects Jade has been clearly established, also Tori's desire to keep me happy, several songs I'd written I'd almost shredded because I didn't like how out of my comfort zone they were, Tori can turn a situation on its head to give people a different perspective, she rights so many things in my life, I was afraid of how I felt about her because I'm black, I'm afraid of her father and I was absolutely afraid of what people would think if I told Tori I loved her, you have to understand that people make assumptions about people like Tori and I, most record labels assume I have family in gangs and when Tori did her first asphalt Café music event a record label scout asked if she'd accept a record deal if the job was to sing in strip clubs or sleazy bars, Tori was absolutely appalled by the implications" says Andre
"Tori as Victoria Whimsical Vega aka VV has done shows in sleazy bars but not until she was of legal drinking age last summer and she enforced a dress code for herself, VV wouldn't let them make her dress down for the audience, her record label had a talk with the business owner of the specific sleazy bar VV sings at and made it clear that she was to be allowed to dress how she wanted and that VV would only take a quarter of the profits from the bar during her performances, the bar owner liked the idea of getting to keep three quarters of the profits so he agreed, Tori gets to keep her identity secret and make thirty grand a night while dressing classy" says Beck
"one thing I don't understand is how people don't connect the dots" says Andre
"they did, one person who Tori's dad works with frequents the bar, he asked if she knew she looked and sang like Tori Vega, Tori responded saying 'she's my cousin, Tori and I spent a lot of time together practicing our vocal talent growing up, people always used to say we were twins' little did the bar patrons realize that the question was set up by Tori herself as a way to explain away the similarities, it worked pretty well actually" says Beck
"even more of a reason to love her, she can keep secrets, meaning I can tell her something in confidence and unless it's breaking the law she'll keep it" says Andre as he heads to the door
"where are you going, it's not even close to lunch yet" says Beck
"I need to borrow money for this date, my job doesn't pay me enough, maybe my dad will respect someone I'm dating for once, don't forget to go back and cuddle with Trina, I'm sure she's missing you" chuckles Andre
"you've got a point and hey don't make any assumptions about me getting close to Trina, nothing's set in stone, besides I wasn't about to sleep on the couch, Trina's room was the only one available, also she's changed since Cat stood up for herself and Tori, she's not just about herself anymore, she's a lot nicer" says Beck
"whatever dude just don't forget to use protection" says Andre
"I could say the same to you" says Beck
"Tori's not a sex bunny Beck, I'm sure that's further down the list than you think" says Andre
"dude she invited you into her house, you spent the first night in her bed before she pushed you away, I'm almost certain she expected something to happen, maybe not sex exactly but something sexual in nature" says Beck as Andre shakes his head
"I know Tori Beck, I think I'd know If she was a sex bunny" says Andre
"I never said she was, you have to understand Tori's liked you since she first met you, all you have in common is music, do you really think she wouldn't think of the fun you two could have that didn't have to work with music, she's been chewing on the idea