A/N: Jade's home life, let's face it, we knew wasn't going to be awesome. And for those of us that experienced broken homes, the weekend feels like the longest time of the week. While some look forward to Saturday, others dread it.
But now Jade is going back to school and Tori (reluctantly) is going to take her there.
TW: suicidal imagery towards the end of this chapter.
Jade had woken up about an hour ago. But she played like she was asleep until she heard her mother leave this morning.
Having already showered the night before, she just worried about getting dressed and making breakfast.
She decided to keep school days simple with a black skirt rather than a pair of shorts. This way she could wrap the skirt around her hips and button it up. Compared to anything else which had to squeeze over the cast and then be dragged up her wrapped leg. Fortunately it was a knee-length skirt, so even in a sitting position there was an air of modesty. The dress code for Hollywood Arts wasn't too stringent but really short and tight skirts was pushing it.
On her good leg, she had a sock and a sneaker. Her left side barefoot, much to her dismay.
She wasn't a fan of not wearing something on her feet. That's always been a thing with her, even if it was indoors. Watching people just run outside and into the street or wet grass with bare feet made her extremely uncomfortable. But after that hassle of putting one's socks on a leg that refuses to bend, she just gave up.
Jade then slipped on one of her plain grey t-shirts. She brushed her hair some but put little stock in her makeup.
She just didn't care anymore.
Grabbing her crutches, she limped into the kitchen to make her breakfast.
Jade really wanted some oatmeal but it was going to be a real bother since it was on the bottom of the pantry.
"Okay, that's out" she sighed. "Eggo's it is."
She opened the freezer half of the refrigerator and pulled out the bright yellow box. Jade threw it onto the counter by the toaster and while standing there, grabbed the butter and sugar-free syrup. The counter where the toaster lay was pretty close to the fridge so it was more of a hop to her waffle station.
Jade was actually pretty hungry this morning, so she filled all four slots with a checkered buttermilk disk. This was a powerful toaster so she remembered to make sure the setting was below medium and to check up on it after a minute. Two minutes and they would be really flat hockey pucks.
The smell was a comfort and an early warning to hit the big black button to make all four waffles leap out of their red hot chambers.
She plated her Eggo's and used the counter to help hoist herself onto one of the stools. This was her preferred way to eat meals. The kitchen table was too low and it had a big leg in the middle instead of four legs, so sitting with a cast was difficult.
Jade reached over to her left and opened the drawer to get a knife and fork. Now buttered at the top and smothered with sticky syrup, the goth regarded the stack before digging in. Halfway through, she finally felt like the morning was going her way.
The vibration of her phone made her turn her head. She swore at herself for not taking it with her.
(It can only be one person now.)
KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.
(Yup.)
"It's open!" she shouted.
She could overhear the unmistakable noises of Tori Vega in unfamiliar surroundings. The girl would mutter to herself everything from affirmations to complete nonsense sound effects. This was Tori's offbeat way of getting through a new situation. The house wasn't even a mess and it wasn't like Jade didn't invited her inside, but Tori might as well be tiptoeing through a mine field.
"It occurred to me," Jade said, after swallowing her last mouthful. "That you've never been at my house before."
"Yeah," Tori said, walking into the kitchen.
"Trouble finding the place?" she asked.
Tori shook her head.
"No, not really."
She noticed the setup on the counter.
"Already eaten?" asked Tori.
"Uh, yes" Jade said as she tried to get herself situated with her crutches.
Before she could react, Tori grabbed the plate and silverware.
"Sink or dishwasher?" she asked.
Jade looked a little embarrassed.
"Dishwasher."
The Latina opened the door and carefully set the plate on the bottom tray and the fork and knife in the side pocket.
"Thanks," Jade said softly.
"It's okay," Tori said. "I'm not gonna just stand there and watch you struggle, as amusing as that might be."
The goth made a face.
"And I thought I woke up on the wrong side this morning," Jade remarked.
"I'm cranky when I'm hungry," Tori sighed. "I got up and completely forgot that I was supposed to come get you. So I sort of missed out on breakfast."
Jade looked apologetic.
"Did you want to grab something on the way in?" she asked. "There's a McDonald's a block away."
The thought of a McGriddle with bacon made Tori's tummy rumble.
"Sounds like a plan. Your stuff ready to go?"
"Yeah," Jade said, moving into the living room. "My bag's over here."
Tori recognized the backpack and scooped it up. Then she carefully went around Jade so she could open the front door.
"Thanks, Tori. You didn't have to."
"Again, you're injured. Kind of the reason I'm doing this today."
The statement, whether Tori meant it or not, made Jade feel rather sad. Yes, she wasn't the most welcoming but it was still surprising to hear such a thing from Tori of all people. That it took near tragedy to have her come over to her house. While she never invited her over, Jade couldn't recall a single time where Tori even asked to.
Jade locked the door and went over to Tori's car. She opened the passenger side door.
"Actually, I can't really fit there," Jade said. "Has to be the backseat."
"Oh," Tori said. "'Kay."
Tori closed the door and opened the rear passenger door for Jade.
She gratefully took the gesture and did her maneuver of backing in, sitting down and using the handles from the ceiling to pull herself the rest of the way in.
"Wow," Tori nodded. "Building up them arm muscles?"
"Man, Vega between getting doors for me and the compliments, people are gonna get ideas."
"You. Wish."
The tan girl slammed the door and hopped into the driver's seat.
"Which way?" asked Tori.
It wasn't lost on the Latina that she looked like Jade's Uber driver with her sitting in the back.
"Make a left here and then a right at the stop sign."
Tori followed and eventually they saw the golden arches.
She pulled up and ordered a McGriddle meal with an orange juice. Then Tori felt a tap on her shoulder.
"And a large coffee," requested Jade.
Tori shook her head and added on the hot beverage.
They pulled around the building to pay but Tori then felt a hand on her arm.
"I'm buying."
"What?"
"I said I got this," Jade insisted. "You're doing me a solid plus I almost made you miss breakfast."
Tori looked in the rear view mirror and could see Jade was serious.
"Please."
"Okay. Thank you."
Jade passed up her debit card to Tori and the employee swiped before handing it back with the receipt. They drove up, picked up their food and drinks. Tori chowed on her hashbrown, which was still piping hot while they went to school.
In the parking lot at Hollywood Arts, Tori stopped the car and quickly tore into her sandwich. She checked inside the paper bag and frowned. Then she opened the glove box and took out two ketchup packets.
"You keep ketchup in the glove compartment?" asked Jade.
"Yep," said Tori as she squirted some red sauce onto her McGriddle.
"I knew there was something about you I liked," she joked.
Jade looked out the window, watching the students go by, laughing and carrying on.
"Hey, Tori?"
"Yeah?" she asked with her mouth full.
"Are we gonna be okay...like ever?"
The tan girl didn't answer.
"It's just...I know that Sikowitz made you come. Nobody volunteered. Despite that I want you to know that I appreciate you doing this."
Tori looked up at the rear mirror again and saw her frenemy's eyes downcast. She had never seen Jade so despondent. It had been a while since they had seen each other, or even spoken. Tori was expecting Jade in a cast but wasn't prepared for how much the life seemed to be sucked right out of her.
She hadn't forgiven her for what happened with Cat yet. But seeing her looking helpless and (maybe contrite?) it was hard for Tori to harbor such negative emotions.
"Well," Tori said, crumpling up her trash. "We'd better get going before we're both late."
Jade nodded and waited for Tori to open the door and help her get out.
Tori walked with Jade to the nurse's office where they had a wheelchair ready to go for Jade. She leaned the crutches against the wall and lowered herself into the chair. The left side went up to support Jade's leg.
"How does it feel?" Tori asks.
Jade grips the rims and pushes them down, moving forward.
(This is gonna be different.)
Admittedly she had grown accustomed to the crutches at home, so it felt strange to get around while seated. Jade did appreciate the relief and it wasn't like her upper body wasn't already doing much of the work.
"Are you okay?" Tori asked. "I can push you if you need..."
"No!" Jade blurted out. "Sorry but I don't want to be a burden."
Tori rolled her eyes.
"Jade you're not..."
"Tori, please. I need to do this on my own."
The goth departed the nurse's office and Tori slowly followed.
First period was all the way on the other side of the school, so it was going to take some time. The stroll was mostly quiet.
Tori couldn't stand the silence anymore.
"You don't have to go through this alone you know."
"Yes I do," Jade mentioned as she rolled alongside Tori.
(It's all someone like me deserves.)
Later that afternoon, Tori finally made it home. Her first bout of taking Jade to and from school was not what she envisioned.
In her mind, Jade was still Jade. But the person she had in her car both trips didn't feel like Jade. It was as though an alien came to earth and was hiding in this husk pretending to be Jade.
During their conversations, a small bit of old Jade would creep out. Tori actually savored those short bursts of sarcasm because 99% of the time Jade looked downright depressed.
Tori knew that Jade had gone through such a public injury but figured the experience would probably make her more angry than sad.
She could totally imagine a more-pissed-than-normal Jade West hunting down the ones responsible for her current predicament. Like a psychotic Ironside she would roll up on the perpetrators and beat them within an inch of their lives.
That night, after mounds of homework, Tori fell asleep at her desk.
When REM sleep kicked in, a dream unfolded that at first fooled her because it looked like the picnic area outside Hollywood Arts.
But this was different; there was a green tint to everything. It gave a feeling of unease to Tori. A sickly, you're inside the Matrix, kind of feeling.
The sounds were strange too. The normal sounds of people talking and cars in the distance and the occasional bird singing, but everything had an unsettling reverb to it. All was a slowed down echo.
Tori recognized the table that her and her friends had shared for the last couple of years but it looked wrong. Like it had been abandoned for the longest time.
A girl Tori never seen before walked up to her.
"Hello," she said plainly.
"Excuse me," Tori said, kind of half noticing the other girl. "What's with the table there?"
She looks over and then back to Tori.
"That table? Nobody sits there. Not since what happened."
Tori was troubled by those words. They made her skin crawl.
"What happened?" she asked nervously.
"There was a girl. She was hurt really badly. Nobody could remember her name."
(I have a bad feeling about this.)
"What happened?" Tori pressed. "To the girl?"
"When she got hurt her friends never came to see her. She thought she had lost them forever. So one day she threw herself out the window."
Tori clutched her chest. Such a terrible thing and this stranger is just stating the facts without emotion.
She was afraid to ask the next question.
"Did she die?"
The girl nodded.
"But it got worse," she then said. "Then the girl who was her best friend killed herself. Slit her wrists."
Tori covered her mouth.
"There was another friend that the injured girl knew but she couldn't take it anymore and dropped out. She was going to be a singer from what I heard but had no desire anymore."
All of this was giving the Latina chills. She hated everything about this because she knew whom she was speaking of.
"Did she have any other friends?"
"Yeah," the stranger replied. "Some boys but they weren't the same afterward. They never talked to each other again."
Tori was overcome with grief. She couldn't believe that everyone she knew was gone. It was only words but everything this girl said felt real, prophetic. Something about this girl seemed other-worldly as if she wasn't a student at all but one of the Fates lurking just beyond our sight.
And Tori caught a glimpse of the future and it made her sick to her stomach.
"So nobody had ever sat there since," she added. "Kids say its cursed."
That's why it had been untouched for what looks like a good while.
"It's okay," the girl said to Tori.
She then grabbed her hand but not in a comforting way. The stranger's smile grew and grew until it was much wider than human proportions. Tori was scared but could not get out of her grasp. She struggled but the girl's hand was not giving her up.
Tori looked down, unable to believe this girl's strength.
Her eyes grew wide in horror.
Tori's wrists were lined with dark red lines and drops were falling from them. No mistake, it was blood.
She was the one who cut her wrists!
She tried to scream but her face was frozen in shock.
AHHH!
Tori landed with a thud onto the floor.
She looked up and saw her bed with the blanket strewn toward her.
Her eyes slowly lowered to her arms. Clean, no marks.
(A dream. It was a dream.)
Despite what should have been a relief, Tori just started to curl up in the fetal position and sob.
Tori didn't know what time it was and she didn't bother checking.
It was the worst nightmare she had ever had and she had the greatest difficulty getting back to sleep.
A/N: My first draft of this chapter had Tori coming off more cold and unforgiving toward Jade. But I didn't like it. It felt out of character. Knowing Tori, even if it was her worst enemy, she would at least help if they're injured.
I hope you guys agree with the change.
Special thanks to Quitting Time for the idea of that nightmare scene.