TUESDAY AT LUNCH AT Hollywood arts
"Tori didn't seem right today, it's like she became a shrugger over the weekend, Andre what happened, what did you do" asks Cat getting angry as she sees Tori automatically sit with Trina instead of them
"you wouldn't understand Cat" says Andre
"don't you dare think I couldn't possibly understand Andre George Harris, she looked completely broken, she wasn't like that on Friday when you picked her up" says Cat
"she bought me special bodywash, shampoo and conditioner, real expensive stuff, it cost almost a hundred dollars before taxes, she was having issues with smells on Friday, I took her to her aunt at the hospital on Saturday, after everything was explained to me I learned that Tori can't just spend her money, that it has to be as VV only, that she only has so many 'help me' cards that she can play, I can't afford that stuff, my job barely pays my for my gas, I have to borrow money from my parents to pay for my gas most days, it hurt Cat but I didn't have a choice, I wasn't going to let her dad kick me out because I can't keep Tori happy because my skin is too rough to sleep in the same bed" says Andre
"African Brand" asks Mo
"yes, the shower I had with the exfoliating body wash was amazing, I'd never felt so clean but like I said I can't afford it" says Andre
"what about your music" asks Jade
"no record label will sign me as a solo artist, they want me as a duo, either with you, Cat or Tori, I'd been working up the courage to ask Tori about going with me as a duo, then you guys told me she already has a music career, what did you want me to do, rob a bank so I could afford the shower stuff just to be with Tori, what good would that do, I'd be in jail and she'd be without anyone by her side just as she is right now, I know you'll hate me for it Cat but I seriously had no choice" says Andre as Cat attempts to calm herself down
"you could have asked me or Jade for money, we'd have given it to you" says Cat
"I know your parents Cat, they'd have wanted me to pay you back, same with Jade's dad, I already owe my dad four hundred dollars in gas and parking tickets, I can't afford to owe anyone else money, I'm probably best walking off a bridge or crashing my car, at least that way my life insurance would kick in and my dad would get his money back, you can hate me Cat but like I said I had no choice" says Andre as Tori rests her head on Trina's lap, unable to get herself to eat her lunch
"Andre listen to me, Tori will lose everything if her manager finds out, VV has been helping people scrape by so much that VV doesn't actually have that much money left, she's due for another hundred grand next week, money she might not get if her manager finds out Tori's suicidal" says Cat
"she told me she's not that depressed, that she wouldn't kill herself" says Andre
"Andre you buffoon, you and Cat were the only ones giving her the will to live, she handed me Cat on a golden platter, you just walked away, who exactly is left to stop her from ending her life" says Jade
"Trina, she promised me she'd try" says Andre
"OH MY GOD Andre, Trina's as good at keeping Tori alive as she is at singing, which is to say she can't, Tori isn't eating her lunch, which means she likely didn't eat breakfast, which also means she likely won't eat dinner either, remind me again how biology works, does weight stay the same if you don't eat or drink anything or does it drop like a rock" says Cat as Andre starts to realize how badly he messed up
"ok I get it I need to be with Tori, but like I said I can't afford the shower stuff on my own and she won't let me sleep in the same bed if my skin gets rough" says Andre
"Andre, I'll talk to my dad, I have my own bank account now, I can buy you several months worth of shower stuff, consider it a gift, Cat and I love her music Andre, it's the only part of her Cat has left" says Jade
"and you're sure your dad won't ask me to pay you back" asks Andre
"he donates a quarter of his income to charities so he can pay less in tax every tax season, besides Hailey absolutely loves VV's songs, she's the only one besides us that know of Tori's secret music life, Hailey would rip up most of my cute dresses and steal the scissors Cat got me for secret Santa if I let anything happen to Tori, I'm not just looking out for you and Tori, I'm trying to protect my favourite dress collection and my favourite scissors here, you go back and make Tori feel like a princess and I will max out my new credit card to make sure you have several months worth of shower stuff and razor blades or whatever, just go make Tori happy again" says Jade
"ok" says Andre as he heads over to Trina and Tori
"not a good idea Andre, she's feeling very suicidal right now" says Trina
"look, I walked away because I owe my dad four hundred dollars in gas and traffic tickets, I was afraid that I would never be able to afford the comfort Tori needs, as you know unless my skin is soft she won't let me sleep in the same bed as her, Jade just promised me she'd buy several months worth of whatever I need to shower or shave if I could make Tori feel like a princess again, your aunt told me on Saturday that Tori as VV could only cover my shower needs a few times and that I would be expected to buy the things myself, I barely make enough to cover gas for my car, let alone insurance, maintenance and the traffic tickets, I was under a lot of pressure to pay my dad back, he keeps a list of how much I owe and how much I borrow on top of that, that lunch date I took her to on Friday, I borrowed two hundred dollars just for that alone and it cost almost all of it, does Tori even want me back" says Andre as Tori barely moves
"there's no want about it, Tori needs you back in her life" says Trina
"these meds, they're making her like a zombie right, she was afraid of that on Saturday" says Andre
"yep and they're making her take them for a month, they figure if she's barely able to do math she's unlikely to hurt herself, unfortunately the meds make her stomach churn and makes her nauseous so she won't eat" says Trina as Andre sits down while tickling Tori's feet causing Tori to giggle slightly
"these meds, has she been on them before" asks Andre
"when she was six, Aunt Abby had come for a visit, one of the last times Tori ever saw Aunt Abby, anyway Tori got excited and ran across the street, nearly getting hit by several cars in the process, upon returning to the house she'd changed, she seemed to hate herself, it didn't help that mom and dad yelled at her for it, she got so depressed that she nearly tried to drown herself in the bathtub several times, dad took her to the hospital, extremely concerned about her mental health, the doctors put her on the meds for several weeks, they made her so tired and zombie like that she began failing classes, she went from an A student to an F in two weeks, she was falling asleep in class, she was falling asleep at lunch, teachers yelled at her for everything, her report card came in and dad was shocked, he picked up the meds and went straight to the hospital and threatened to sue them for a conspiracy to destroy Tori's future, they immediately took her off the meds and she got better once dad made it known he got the doctors in trouble, then when dad messed up and broke her and Tori up the doctors tried to do the same, she informed them that the last time the hospital put her on these meds doctors ended up sued and that two of them had lost their jobs, Aunt Sabrína couldn't protect her this time, other patients depend on her, she could have lost her job, anyway she's even worse now, she can't even eat solid food, at least last time she could eat regular food, now the only possibility is liquid food, more than likely baby food, I can pick some up after work today, I have the interview tomorrow, thanks for helping me Andre it means a lot to me, now I have to go, do you have any classes with her" says Trina
"all my afternoon classes are with her thankfully, I'll keep her by my side" says Andre as Trina nods and walks to her car
"I'm sorry babe, I was scared" says Andre picking Tori up and sitting her on his lap
"fank you" says Tori talking like a baby because of the meds effect on her mouth
"can you at least drink your water" asks Andre as Tori nods and proceeds to drink her water as she snuggles into Andre
Later that day back at home
"you did good coming back Andre, I appreciate your commitment to making things right, so you say the doctors at the hospital overruled my sister and forced Tori to take these medications again, ugh I want to kill them, it's on record that she doesn't freaking respond to them well" says David Vega
"Trina said Sabrína couldn't risk her job, that she has other patients that depend on her expertise, Trina also hinted that Tori did not exactly resist either" says Andre
"because of your fears Andre, your fears led you to walk away, without you or Cat she had no one to love her, she acts strong but all strong things can be snapped like twigs" says David
"do you admit that you made a mistake forcefully separating Cat and Tori" says Andre
"we all make mistakes Andre, the difference is you were caring enough to come back and admit to Tori that you made a mistake, unfortunately in Tori's case it wouldn't matter if I apologized to her, I crossed a line she would have never crossed, she tolerated Holly even when she wanted to say something to me about her, I got upset, I misunderstood the situation between her and Cat, I thought Cat was trying to persuade Tori to have sex with her, in reality Cat was actually only suggesting such activities, I assumed Cat was influenced by her brother, I assumed wrong, there's a saying about making assumptions, it goes as follows 'when you assume, you make an ass out of you and me', I had to learn that lesson the hard way, however what I will never forget is that even though she was extremely upset at me, when I got seriously injured at work, she stood up and got a record deal and released songs and made money in less than six months, I just wish she'd have used the name she preferred over her real name that she doesn't like" says David
"she used an assumed name though didn't she, Victoria Whimsical Vega, I'm told she said I deserved to have a record deal more than she did so she would only take the deal if she could hide her identity so as to not make me jealous" says Andre as he kisses Tori laying on the couch
"that's a load of crap" says David
"what do you mean" asks Andre
"she may have felt you deserved a record deal more than she did but that's not why she kept it from you, she's ALWAYS wanted a record deal, she can play quite a few things, unfortunately French horn and flute aren't one of them, she's quite good at piano, she can play the guitar quite convincingly and even tried the drums for a bit when she was little, it's not an assumed name, Victoria is her full name, Victoria Debbie Dawn Vega, she dropped most of her name because people made fun of her, they called her a Spanish, British mutt, so she made us shorten it legally to Tori Vega, she's ashamed of signing the contract as Victoria and didn't want you to know because you were her last chance at love" says David
"ok so where did whimsical come from" asks Andre
"Aunt Abby's nickname, it sounds magical and Tori likes magical mystical things" says David
"her aunt Abby, is she still alive, I woke up early Saturday morning and Tori woke up from a nightmare, she said Aunt Abby died, it really shook her up, she was shaking the whole car ride to the hospital as she had nose issues again and I got nervous" says Andre
"Aunt Abby is alive and well, she is now living with Sabrína, the mental health facility feared several lawsuits after they realized that several doctors had tried to rape her, thankfully unsuccessfully thanks to Abby's affinity for loud noises, she ended up biting them and they tattled on themselves by admitting she bit them, the head doctor asked why and she replied 'they groped me, they wanted to do more, I said stop, they said no, we can do what we want', the head doctor immediately got her on a plane back here and called Sabrína to inform her of the situation and to pick her up, seeing each other again brought them to tears, I wouldn't be surprised if Abby was close by while Tori was in the psych ward over the weekend" says David
"is Abby autistic, could Tori be autistic" asks Andre
"Abby is autistic yes, as for Tori it has been one of my fears yes" says David
"why are you afraid Tori might be autistic, Cat's autistic, she got confirmation of the test results on Sunday, are you afraid Tori knowing she's autistic will change her" says Andre confronting the issue head on as Tori stares at them, unable to say anything because she's afraid
"she has this tendency to regress and spend a lot of time alone, Holly thought Tori was addicted to Cat's presence, I'm afraid that she will hide even further and destroy the amazing chance she has with both you and her music career, she's got everything to lose, autistic girls are seriously made fun of, even penalized for simply being autistic, I don't want that for her" says David
"maybe Tori liked being around Cat because Tori saw someone that was like her, someone that understood her on a more than skin deep level, since getting her official diagnosis Cat has been calmer, she's been firmer in her stance against bullying, she went to see her brother yesterday after school" says Andre
"and what did the leg breaker have to say" says David
"he's autistic, see the problem is this, Tori had made a promise to him that she'd protect Cat for the rest of her life, he accepted them as a girl couple even when most people wouldn't, he misunderstood the meaning of her promise, he took her promise to keep Cat safe as a promise to propose to and that Tor would marry Cat one day, you breaking them up is what caused him to attack Tori because he didn't take you as the type to meddle in your daughter's love life, he thought Tori wanted to break the promise as he'd understood it, he couldn't understand why someone as in love with Cat as Tori was could just walk away from her, he didn't realize until you arrested him that it was your fault not Tori's" says Andre
"why wouldn't Tori tell him it was my fault" asks David
"probably for the same reason she turned down a relationship offer from Jade AND Cat" says Andre as he comforts Tori
"I don't see the connection" says David
"the connection is you, ever since you broke her and Cat up Tori's been stepping on ice, trying to please you so she can be with me, that includes getting the record deal, she didn't do that so she could simply pay off your medical expenses, she got the record deal to pay off your medical expenses because Holly walked away, because Trina is being paid bottom of the barrel wages, because she was afraid that if she didn't pay off your debt with the money she got from the record deal that you'd tell the record label that she couldn't be trusted with a single penny of her earnings, that she only wanted the money and not the responsibility that came with it, she felt that if she didn't offer to pay off your medical expenses that you'd demand that she do so because you put a roof over her head" says Andre
"am I really that bad of a father, I'd have paid her back once I got the money back from Holly through court, she told me it was a gift" says David feeling absolutely terrible
"no you're not a terrible father, you made a mistake, the way you broke Tori and Cat up is the issue, you scared Tori and Trina into thinking that they can't date anybody unless you approve of them first" says Andre
"are you the person Tori was referring to when she said that she'd have nobody to love because the boy she loves won't even consider a relationship because I'm a cop" asks David
"yes, my parents have been targeted by cops since they were little, it went from jaywalking charges on ten year olds and forcing them to sit in jail for two days and arresting them for speeding because of a faulty speedometer to 'finding' drugs in there car" says Andre
"the air quotes around finding is what" asks David
"my parents are anti drug, of any kind, illegal or legal, if I have a headache I have to use ice or an ice pack because they won't buy me headache medicine, my little sister was in the hospital last year with a really bad fever and they told the doctor no drugs, that they had to find another way to bring the fever down, they simply wouldn't have any drugs in their car, I had asked Beck to get me some headache medicine last month and my mom found them and threw them out the moment she found them" says Andre
"why are your parents so anti drug" asks David
"my granddad was addicted to painkillers, granted he was in actual pain because he was a war vet and lost his legs below the knee but he took way too many every day and he died because of it, they believe every medication is addictive so they don't let any of us kids take even a single pill, the only time I can take pain or headache medication is when I'm at someone else's house and my parents don't know that" says Andre
"I'll talk to the chief about that, though I am curious about where her money goes, it worries me because no sooner is it in her account that she's on her phone doing stuff with it, I just don't want her being taken advantage of" says David
"nobody at school knows she has money, a group of ten nineth graders are foster kids, they can afford snacks and drinks from the vending machines, they used to sit in the black box Theatre during lunch, Tori noticed they were going hungry, I didn't understand where she got the money from at the time, but she'd handed Festus a cheque for seven grand, some of it went to paying his bills like that for the food truck permit he needed to keep the grub truck open, the rest went to free meals for the students, first of which was the ninth grade foster kids, the free lunches covered just over half the school, including teachers for a week and a half, then another check came and it was half price lunches, she only stopped two weeks ago, I'd assume because the money is low, nobody understood where the money came from or who the person was but what they did know is that they could breath easier, the stress level at the school went down, grades started going up as a result, she's not being taken advantage of Mr. Vega because nobody knows she's the one doing it, she swore Festus to secrecy about it, I'd asked him about how he could suddenly afford to give food away to us students, all he said was 'an anonymous investor decided students need food to do good in school' that's the line he used whenever someone asked" says Andre as Tori begins to calm down
"if nobody knew how did you find out" asks David
"simple, Tori got annoyed when I brushed off a question about her and I dating, I'd said 'why make that assumption', she'd walked off, bought a second lunch and sat down with Trina, Cat then proceeded to explain things to me, the main one being that Tori had feelings for me and that Tori was in fact Victoria Whimsical Vega, things began making sense to me, the day before the first round of free or bargain price lunches came she'd walked behind the grub truck to talk to Festus, everyone assumed she was asking for a job, the problem with that is after the yerba debacle she vowed to never ask a favor of Festus again, anyway do you trust her decision to date me" says Andre
"what's your plan for sex, I know I'm out of bounds for asking such a thing but that was my issue with Cat, I felt she was pressuring Tori into sex" says David
"I have no plans for it at this point but if Tori wants to then I see no point in saying no, while I do want to, I seriously have no plans to make Tori do it, especially not right now, she can barely speak and when she does it's baby talk and I'm pretty sure baby talk can't be used as consent even if she says 'yes pwease', I wouldn't consider it consent, that is unless you feel it would count, you're the cop and she's you're daughter, what's your view on it" says Andre
"consent can either be written or spoken, either is valid in my eyes for Tori or even Trina, 'yes pwease' and a visual indication that she wants to is enough proof for me, I'm not making the same mistake again, it's up to your judgment now Andre, I have to go to the record label, Sabrína messaged me this morning about the damn meds, I don't have money to sue them, the record label will be pissed at the doctors" says David as Tori freaks out shaking her head no as quickly as she can manage
"she doesn't want them to know, apparently it's in her contract that she can't have a mood disorder linked to VV, they'd drop her as an artist" says Andre
"I read the contract Andre, it says she can't willingly seek powerful mood stabilizers, the thing about those meds Andre is they can mess with her memories, either creating false ones or alter, they're specifically psych meds, she doesn't have the disorder they're supposed to be prescribed for, at the dose they gave her it can cause blackouts, meaning they could easily rape her if she's out cold and she would have no memory of it, only pain, even then if they gave her pain meds she absolutely wouldn't know anything had happened" says David as Andre now panics
"these doctors, have they tried to rape her before" asks Andre
"yes, when she was in the hospital after I broke her and Cat up, I'd walked in on them groping her, like seriously groping her, her panties were on the floor and her bra was at her feet, this wasn't a physical, I drew my gun from my hip as I was technically still on shift and they bolted, I then called Sabrína in and got her dressed and got her out of there, she was barely conscious Andre, Tori and I may disagree on how protective I am of her but I saved her virginity that day, she hasn't trusted regular doctors since" says David
"why weren't they arrested and charged" asks Andre
"they'd had the security guy turn off the security camera in the room, the security guy was arrested and charged and convicted but because there was no video evidence and all I had was circumstantial evidence they couldn't charge the doctors, they just claimed they were doing a physical assessment looking for bumps" says David as Tori attempts to speak clearly
"they did daddy, it was dirty, no rape but groped bad" says Tori looking her dad directly, feeling ashamed
"so you're still a virgin, I guess that means Andre will be your first, I'm glad it wasn't stolen from you, that's my worst nightmare" says David, hugging Tori as he leaves
"well Tori what do you think, did he sound sincere" says Andre
"up yes pwease" says Tori as Andre gets confused
"you're not making sense, one thing at a time, did your dad sound sincere to you" says Andre as Tori's brain switches from multi-track to single track thinking
"yes pwease" says Tori as Beck arrives
"ugh she's still not making sense, Beck you picked her up this morning, did her aunt say anything about her ability to communicate" says Andre
"actually yes, she used a rail system metaphor, she explained it like this 'imagine a railway system with eight tracks, the medication slows down then can stop several tracks, because Tori doesn't have the disorder they're supposed to be used for it will often shut her down to one track for several hours' she said that's what causes the excessive baby talk, she also said that in those times you can't talk to her as you usually would, you have to make the question exclusively about one thing, she likened it to talking to someone on sedatives or hard core painkillers, their brains work slower" says Beck
"Tori, did your dad seem sincere when he was talking to me" asks Andre as Tori seems to take her time
"she seems out of it" says Beck
"Bb, yes" says Tori
"is she talking to me" asks Beck
"no, baby or babe is what she calls me, in baby talk you're simply just B, Jade is Jadey, Cat is Kitty and Trina is Trinny" says Andre
"what's so hard to say about my name" asks Beck
"the hard K sound, Kitty is a soft K sound, at least for Tori, did the good doctor mention anything else" says Andre
"she said that Tori can pass out or faint easily, she said she's not to be left alone, like at all while she's on this medication, especially since its by force, that means even in the bathroom she's not to be left alone, Doctor Vega feels that Tori might pass out and ultimately hurt herself by accident because of the medication" says Beck
"the school would never allow it" says Andre attempting to defend Tori
"Helen already talked to Doctor Vega about it, Tori's body on the medication is very predictable when it comes to bathroom schedules, Trina will check the bathrooms before you walk in with Tori to make sure there is nobody in them, the other girls at school will be informed of Tori's situation so they don't think you're creeping on them, however Helen will try and keep one bathroom clear for Tori at all times, it will likely rotate, Trina's covering her ass, the record label called her in for the interview today, likely so, she can back up their dad's story about the medication thing, it's pretty crazy to think that the people we entrust with our well being could be so corrupt and evil, the label needs convincing that unless they sue to doctors at the hospital that VV won't be getting any music done" says Beck
"in the mean time what can be done, I have a job I need to be at in a few hours, I can't afford to miss a shift" says Andre concerned for Tori's safety and wellbeing
"I can keep an eye on her, I spoke to their dad on Monday, he said that if Trina wants me here then I can stay here with her but that I'd need to keep an eye on Tori if you had to go to work and Trina isn't back yet" says Beck as Tori refuses to look at him
"I'm not sure she entirely trusts you, I mean look at her body language, she won't even look in your direction" says Andre
"I have no intention of sitting beside her if she doesn't want me to, I'll mostly be in Trina's room anyway, I can make her food or get her anything she needs, as long as she can get to her bathroom without help I won't help her walk if she doesn't need help" says Beck
"what about showers, she probably needs one for tonight before she goes to bed" asks Andre
"that's up to you and Trina, when Jade needed help after she sprained her ankle last year before we broke up, I realized I'm useless at helping someone shower, I'm better at baths, besides Doctor Vega said she needs to be directly supervised while in the shower or bath and I'd hate for her to think I want to see her naked, when I first met her I'd have been game for it because she was single, you went wonky for Jade after she helped you with that song and you stayed true to the bro code, I have to repay the favor, Jade absolutely loved that song, she said that if you ever needed anything with any of your girlfriends that I should help, I promised I would, if she's hungry or needs help with something I'm more than willing to help but I draw the line at anything to do with her bathroom, out of respect for your relationship with her I ask that you please not ask me to help her shower" says Beck
"I won't ask you to help her shower, however from what Trina told me, Tori will have to remain on the medication unless the court system intervenes and gives Doctor Vega the ability to overrule the medication decision and take her off of them, I don't see an opening helping Tori when it comes to money so I can't always be here and I have a feeling that Trina won't always want to help her, would you supervise a bubble bath" says Andre
"if by supervise you mean watch her get in and out of the bath then no" says Beck
"no obviously not, I mean supervise once she gets in the bath, as in make sure her head doesn't slip below the water, I don't know the whole story but Doctor Vega said something about her muscles on this medication not liking water, either shower or bath, the tub is just long enough that she can just barely lean back while keeping her legs straight, if her legs buckle her head would slip below the water and she could drown" says Andre
"I don't know, I feel like she would hate me if I pulled too hard getting her head back above the water, I don't want her to get mad" says Beck
"you'd be saving her life Beck, I'm sure she will be okay with a little pain if it means she lives, Jade had to stop her from hitting her head on the sink in the girls bathroom at the end of the day before she was reunited with me, Jade pulled her back pretty hard, Tori was saying 'fank you' the entire way from the bathroom to me, I think stopping her from drowning in her own bathtub is probably even higher on the 'fank you' list" says Andre
"ok fine but only if she needs a bath before you or Trina get home" says Beck as Tori finally looks at him, in some state of awe and Andre notices
"I can tell just by the way she's looking at you that she deeply appreciates your consideration of her privacy, though she's either in awe of your consideration or confused by it" says Andre
"I'm definitely getting a mix of both, anyway you should probably get her to your guys bed, she looks kind of sleepy, even more than she looked when I got here, she'll probably want to cuddle you before you go to work" says Beck
"you're probably right, I just hope she doesn't have to stay on this medication, it seems to absolutely drain her of energy" says Andre
"most potent psych medicine do, Cat was on a new psych medication in September and she was also less energetic, a week off of them and she was basically back to normal, what scares you the most about her right now" says Beck as he follows Andre and Tori to their room
"right now her ability to understand consent and logic as well as her likely failing grades, she can't seem to understand when teachers are talking to her or asking her questions because Sikowitz is the only one that says her name when asking questions, teachers are questioning whether this version of Tori is the real tori and she's been faking since day one, this medication is literally ruining her reputation, I want her off it as soon as possible" says Andre as they enter Tori's room
"we'll know by tomorrow if the label wants to sue the doctors, I have a feeling they will but we have to wait, it kills me seeing her like this too Andre, those doctors want her to be unable to resist them" says Beck
"man I hope they sue and can get her off this medication, my greatest fear is that the effects will be permanent, I sure hope you're right" says Andre as Tori lays down with him in their bed
"let me know when you're headed to work so I can see if she needs anything, I'll be in Trina's room" says Beck
"ok" says Andre