A/N: What I hope to accomplish on the next slew of chapters is to touch upon what the gang was up to post graduation. Kind of fill in the gaps between the events of Victorious and when this story takes place.
Please drop a review and let me know what you think.
HAVE FUN!
Mia woke up to the chipper sound of mom buzzing around the apartment like a hummingbird.
"What in the world?"
She reached for her phone and took it off the charger and saw the day was Sunday.
"Oh yeah, that's right," she mumbled.
Mia rolled out of bed and dragged herself to the bathroom to brush her teeth.
"Babe!"
Tori bumped into Mia on her way.
"Oh, good, you're up! Getting a shower?"
Her daughter made a face and nodded.
"Good; don't mind me I'm just straightening up a little."
Mia gave the thumbs up and closed herself off in the bathroom.
Tori was too excited for today so she made a point to turn in early last night because she knew she wouldn't need the alarm this time.
Jade was coming and bringing Alice as well. This was the first time the old friends (and new) got together outside of school. To Tori this was major!
Since they didn't normally entertain these days, their domicile had gotten away from them. It wasn't uncommon for there to be dishes piled up in the sink or clothes strewn about. Clean? Dirty? Who knows! Tori didn't drink but the reality setting in that she was having company made her sober up. She looked at her home with fresh eyes and rolled up her sleeves and decided, "That's it! I'm cleaning up!"
After nearly half an hour, Mia emerged from the steamy bathroom, towel tied around her as she didn't bring anything to change into.
"Mia, hey!"
She turned to face her mom.
"Listen, I've got everything else. Just tidy up your room, okay?"
"Ugh, fine."
Tori smiled and bounded away to the next thing.
"Whatever, mom," she huffed. "My room's not..."
Mia opened her door.
"...ah, shit."
To put it mildly, she would have to clean up for her room to reach "did a bomb go off?" status.
The teen dropped the towel and threw it into the hamper, along with whatever discarded garments she could find. At the rate she was moving, Mia was sure she would naturally air dry.
Now that she had clothes on her (and not the floor) Mia took another survey into her own space.
Her eyes widened at the shoebox sitting pretty conspicuously on the chair.
Mia snatched the small box and pulled the lid off. Inside was some cash, her earnings overtime from her part in Ethan's lucrative street hustle. She replaced the lid and hid the shoebox under her bed.
[FLASHBACK]
"Mia, what is this?"
The girl's heart sank when she saw her mother holding the very familiar shoebox.
"Where'd you get that?" she asked.
Tori took a deep breath.
"I was cleaning up your room a bit," she narrowed her eyes. "I wasn't snooping! And I dropped my phone and kicked it under the bed and..."
Mia gulped.
"Mom...I..."
"I know you're probably too old for a piggy bank, but do you think this is the best place for your money?"
The young lady folded her arms.
"But it's convenient. When I need it, boom it's there."
Tori shook her head and chuckled mildly to herself.
"That's not very safe, sweetheart. If you want to open a bank account, I can go with you!"
Mia eyed the offending box.
"I...uh..."
"It will make depositing your paychecks easier."
(Right, paychecks.)
The teen pointed out the window even though it was two blocks away.
"That's alright, mom. I just go right to the check cashing place nearby."
Tori folded her arms.
"Mia! That is incredibly dangerous. WHAT IF YOU GET MUGGED?"
"Okay, fiiiiine! I'll open an account, mom."
She hugged her daughter tightly.
"I'm proud that you found a part-time job and want to be independent, but you also need to be careful. That never goes away."
Mia returned the hug, but not as tightly.
"I know, mom."
[END OF FLASHBACK]
She clutched her growling stomach and dashed down to the kitchen for breakfast.
Mia grabbed two bagels and threw them into the toaster oven.
"What are you making?" asked Tori.
"Just bagels," shrugged Mia. "You eat?"
"Yeah. Mostly coffee."
The girl looked at the nearly empty pot on the coffee maker.
"Damn, mama. You wired or something?"
Tori scoffed and sipped her mug.
"Well, I wanted to be sure a fresh pot was ready for when they come over."
She made a frown and rushed to the cabinet and looked at the cans.
"Just hope she still likes Colombian roast," Tori said.
"When are they coming again?" asked Mia.
Tori stood there like she had seen a ghost as she closed the cabinet door.
"Oh crap! I never gave Jade a time! All I said was see you Sunday."
Mia tried not to laugh while checking on the browning of her breakfast. She smiled and turned off the toaster oven and grabbed a plate. Mia sat the onion bagels down where the orange juice and butter were already waiting.
"Maybe they..."
The ding of Tori's phone derailed her train of thought.
She checked it and gasped.
"They're downstairs!"
Mia folded the one side of her bagel and shoved it in.
"You should get them," she said with a full mouth, trying to chew.
Tori went by a mirror hanging just outside the kitchen and checked her hair.
"Ugh! I look like a mess!"
She then looked down at what she was wearing.
"Oh, come on, I couldn't bother to throw on something nice!"
Mia's phone dinged. This time it was Alice.
"MOM. GO!"
"I'M GOING!" she shot back on her way out the door.
Tori rushed down the stairs of the side entrance.
Jade was pacing back and forth, inspecting the seemingly abandoned first floor.
Alice waved when she saw Tori.
"Good morning!"
"Morning to you, Alice" she smiled back. "Jade?"
She looked at Tori, still hung up on what piqued her curiosity.
"This looks familiar," Jade said, pointing to what looked like an old store front.
Tori rubbed the back of her neck nervously.
"Oh, well. That can't be possible, you've never been here before until today."
Jade narrowed her eyes at the building and pursed her lips.
"That's true but...I dunno...I think I passed this before..."
"Well, it's closed now, and this is the way in," Tori said indicating to the stairs.
Alice followed and Jade eventually joined them.
(Okay, this is weird even for you. Why are you acting like the presenter in a game show but there's a gun is pointed at your head?)
"Interesting," remarked Jade as they ascended the stairs. "Reminds me of Harry's Aunt Jillian. She lived in a duplex, and you had to go up one of these to get to it. The other people lived beneath her."
"Oh," said Tori. "That's cool. But there's no other tenants here."
(So, the whole building is yours? Hmm...)
"Hello?"
That was Tori's little way of alerting Mia, who was already chowing down on her last bit of bagel.
"Sorry, I didn't eat earlier."
"Hey, Mia!" smiled Alice. "Cool shirt."
The older teen looked down at the white tee that sported an image of a grinning raccoon ripping a cactus apart to drink the juices inside. Said cactus is shown lying dead on the desert ground with X's over its eyes.
"I like this girl," Jade nodded.
Tori was a bit embarrassed that Mia chose such a morbid shirt but compared to her old frenemy, this was tame.
At least Mia isn't threatening her peers with a pair of comically sized scissors.
"Welcome to our home," Tori said. "It isn't much, but we make it work."
"Mom, don't lie."
Mia grinned as she downed her orange juice without coming up for air once.
"Mia! How about you show Alice your room while Jade and I talk?"
The younger Vega shrugged and nudged her friend in the shoulder.
"Come on, I'll show you my stuffed animals."
Jade covered her mouth, attempting to hide her smile.
(The level of sass coming off this girl, I'm obsessed! And being Vega's hell spawn makes it all the more glorious.)
Tori tried to look like a good sport as the girls went upstairs.
"Oh, Jade. There's some coffee. It should be done soon."
She rushed to the maker and hastily poured the rest of what was inside into an empty mug. Tori than began brewing the next batch.
"You alright?" Jade asked.
"I'm fine," Tori coughed. "Just silly me didn't have the coffee ready."
The pale woman picked up the mug filled with the last of the recent pot.
"Is this anybody's?" she asked.
Tori shook her head no.
"Good," Jade replied before sipping the room temperature beverage. "Nice."
"I can heat that up if you want..."
Jade held up her hand.
"Fine like this. Least it's not ice cold. Just enough to tide me over until the new hot pot."
The Latina looked down and blushed. She was still in her "cleaning clothes" from early this morning. She wanted to change into something nice. Nothing fancy but Tori wanted to fix herself up a little. She looked like she just rolled out of bed.
"Sorry, sorry. If you give me a minute, I can change."
Jade shrugged as she was wearing jeans and a green top.
Now that Tori called attention to it, this was the first time she had seen her outside of her business attire. It must have had layers or was tailored a certain way, because that suit did NOT do her justice. Wearing a white tank and grey sweatpants, her figure was more evident. In high school, Tori was something of a waif. She had some "curves" but they were very subtle. Nothing compared to her sister or Jade. She was like a taller Cat.
This was different. While Jade worked her butt off at the gym following Alice's birth to get back into shape, Tori was somehow blessed by motherhood. Her hips were more pronounced, and she wasn't a B cup anymore (Jade was sure of it!) No doubt she had put on a couple of pounds but the way she wore it, Tori was stunning. Jade never envisioned using a word like "voluptuous" to describe her but here we are.
"It's fine," Jade said folding her arms. "You look...fine."
(Very smooth, idiot!)
Tori blushed and brushed back her hair.
"Okay."
"Oh, I thought you had stuffed animals."
Alice looked over to Mia.
"Kid, you got to work on your sarcasm detector."
The younger girl gave a look.
"Well, your room's cool anyway."
Alice noticed the 10-speed on the wall.
"Oh, you ride?"
"Not a lot. I just use this for deliveries," Mia lied. "Some local restaurant."
"Really? Which one?"
Mia shrugged.
"Ah, some fancy, French-sounding place...hey look!"
Alice followed Mia as she stepped out of the bedroom and pointed to a nearby door.
"Where does that go?" asked Alice.
"Up," Mia smirked.
Mia led Alice through the door which led to some stairs to another door. The tall teen opened it, and the California sun filled the stairway with its warm glow.
"No way," breathed Alice.
She followed Mia to the roof of the building.
"You know what's the best part?"
Alice shook her head.
"Up there is the bird's view. Down there, that's everybody's view. But right here...this is our view."
There weren't that high up but just being at least three stories above the pavement changes your perspective dramatically.
They were surrounded by other buildings of similar height and further away were much taller structures.
"This is amazing!" squeaked Alice.
"So, what's it like in the world of books?"
Jade put down her coffee and grabbed a cookie from the big plate.
Tori knew that those Danish butter cookies were her favorite accompaniment to fresh coffee.
"I do okay," she said as she chewed. "My output used to be a little faster. I had my second book and a couple of spec scripts around the time Alice was born. That's when things slowed down for me. Now it's like every four years, max."
"I only read the first two," Two confessed with trepidation. "I have Cold Blooded sitting on the shelf, and I WILL read Bitter Harvest, too. You know, after I get it."
Jade scratched her cheek.
"I'm on number five, you know."
Tori winced and nodded.
"I know, I know. Sorry, it's just finding the time to read is tough. And when I do find the time, I get tired, and I fall asleep with the book on my face."
Jade chuckled.
"Maybe you should consider the audiobooks."
The tan woman's ears perked up.
"Do you read them?"
Jade held up her fingers.
"Just the last three."
"Lucky me," Tori smiled.
"What...uh...what did you think about them?"
Jade's first book was picked up shortly after her moving to Boston. The change of scenery seemed to be the ticket to her writer's block. The Imaginary Wall was out by Spring of 2013 and caused a stir. It was about a group of friends who could imprison a demon through their own will but when the friends drift apart, kinks in the armor show and the evil escapes.
Sadly, this was the debut book that had Jade obligated for interviews and signings at Barnes and Noble locations. She couldn't get herself away for Tori's wedding as that would coincide with a piece by the TV news. Jade sent a card congratulating them but never heard back. And she never made the attempt to call.
Her next effort, Jessica Under the Bed, was an even bigger success.
This told the story of a student who was killed accidentally when a prank among the mean girls goes wrong. Now she returns as a boogeyman-like figure that terrorizes the girls. One by one they meet a terrible fate and only the last girl is spared when she comes forward and confesses her part in Jessica's demise.
That one got nominated for a Bram Stoker Award.
"Honestly, I thought they were great!" Tori said.
Jade was a little surprised.
"Really?" she asked.
"I always thought you were crazy talented. Nice to see you made it."
A sadness overcame Tori and Jade noticed. She understood what that meant.
Tori got a little glassy-eyed and wiped it away before it could mature into real tears.
"I'm sorry," she said. "Let me just...I need to use the bathroom, okay?"
"Alright."
She retreated from the kitchen, leaving the former goth by herself.
Jade was bored so she was getting a mental lay of the land. She saw the girls go upstairs, so that must be the bedrooms. The floor plan of this apartment was odd. Most of the space appeared to be right here on this level while the bedrooms had separate small staircases that led to each one. Jade imagined what other space might be up there because there is no way that top floor is just two bedrooms. Storage, maybe?
But she was more intrigued by what that bottom floor was.
(Goddamn, what is it? It's driving me nuts!)
Jade felt like the she was reading The Tell-Tale Heart and this secret was under the floor but nobody would acknowledge it. Except in Jade's case, she wanted the secret to come out.
(UGH! I CAN'T TAKE IT!)
After doing a quick recon of the various doors, one grey door was the only question mark.
The writer stroked her chin, debating if she should go investigate.
If this were the old Jade, no question. She made no bones about being in Tori's house (and bedroom) unannounced and being all up in her business.
But that felt wrong now.
(You gettin' soft on me, West?)
She reached for the doorknob, a slight tinge of electricity from her slender digits making contact with the metal.
Jade tried turning the knob. It didn't budge.
(Of course, locked.)
"Jade?"
(Eeep!)
"What are you doing?"
The dark-haired woman threw up her hands.
"Okay, you got me! I need to know what's the story with the first floor?"
"Can't you just leave it alone?"
Jade stood there silently while Tori folded her arms.
"You're not going to let this go, are you?"
"You know me," Jade smirked.
Tori huffed and walked away only to come back half a minute later.
"Here."
She shoved a key into Jade's hand.
"There, go nuts! I don't give a shit."
She stormed away when Jade grabbed her wrist making the Latina gasp.
"What's the matter, Vega? Why are you acting so weird?"
"IT'S NOT JUST VEGA!"
This slip of the tongue stings more than anything else these days. Jade did feel bad about that, like she was deadnaming her.
"I'm sorry, Tori."
"No, you're not."
Jade rolled her eyes, put in the key, turned it and opened the door.
It was black as pitch going down.
She reached for a switch along the wall but Tori beat her to the punch.
"Thanks," the goth said.
Tori leaned against the wall, facing away from the open door.
"Honestly, what did I expect?" she mumbled. "Some things never change."
Suddenly, a crashing sound was heard below immediately followed by Jade's surprised yelp.
"Jade?"
She peered her head through the door and looking down the stairs.
Tori could make out a soft moan that sounded like Jade was hurt.
Without hesitation, she sped down the steps. In another life, these steps were a major part of her daily routine.
"Jade? Jade!"
"Down here..."
Tori turned on the light, bringing the room out of the shadows.
"That would have been useful," Jade said as she pushed some boxes off of her.
"Are you alright?" asked Tori, still a little peeved.
"I'm okay. Just karma." Jade turned to Tori. "I was being the curious cat and got what was coming."
Now she was able to fully take in her surroundings.
"What the...?"
There were shelves and shelves of records and CD's. More on the tables. More in boxes. All of it collecting dust.
The walls were adorned with old concert posters: The Monterey Pop Festival from 1967. Queen Live at Wembley Stadium, 1986. The Newport Jazz Festival from 1957, featuring Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday and more.
Across what bare spot on the wall remained were letters that read: FOR THE RECORD.
That name clicked in Jade's head.
"That's it! I remember passing this place before."
She always wanted to go inside and check it out. Now she's here and...it wasn't what she expected.
"This is...Sam's music store," Tori quietly said.
Jade's eyes looked like they were going to pop out of her head. She was barely grazing through the selection of music that was strewn about.
"Tori...this place is awesome."
She picked up a vinyl of Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here.
"Why would you hide..."
Jade turned around and saw a sobbing Tori on the floor, leaning against the wall. The woman quickly returned the record and went down to Tori's level and hugged her.
"This why I didn't want to come down here!"
"Shit, I'm sorry. Really." Jade sighed. "Ah, man. I must look like a real bitch right now, trespassing."
Tori sniffed and looked at her.
"Well, I let your bitchy ass in, so we can both feel guilty."
Jade helped Tori to her feet and the women were confronted with their teenage counterparts.
"Mom, what's going on?"
"Mia!" Tori's voice broke. "We were..."
The girl stiffened as she scanned the place she hadn't laid eyes on in years. She had attachment to this store as well.
"Whoa, what is this?" asked Alice.
"Nothing much," Mia whispered. "Just a tomb."
"Alice?"
"Yeah, mom?"
"We should probably go now."
The young girl was surprised but nodded OK in agreement.
That night, Tori and Mia were sitting quietly to a dinner of spaghetti and meatballs.
No chatter, no pleasantries. Nothing. Just the clatter of silverware against the dishes.
"I'm sorry we went down there," Tori finally said. "I know it must have been hard for you..."
Mia played with her food for a couple of minutes before asking:
"Why did you close the store, mom?" Mia asked.
Tori looked up from her plate, struggling with the words.
(Do I lean more towards honesty or simplicity?)
"We..." Tori cleared her throat. "We tried. But it just...didn't feel the same without your father."
Mia put down her fork.
"I know it was dad's store and he was proud of it. But wouldn't he want us to keep it going?"
"Mia..."
"I mean dad put his heart and soul into it..."
"Mia..."
"I think it's what he would have wanted..."
"MIA!"
Her fist came down on the table, making the plates and glasses rattle.
"We...can't," Tori confessed. "We..."
Mia slammed her hands on the tabletop and stood up.
"No mom, you! You can't."
"And WE won't!"
Mia was upset but knew this wasn't getting anywhere.
She grabbed her napkin, wiped her mouth and threw it onto her plate.
"I'm going to bed," Mia sighed. "Thanks for the spaghetti, mother."
The disappearance of her daughter was followed by the slam of the door.
Tori let her utensil drop and started crying heavily. She held her face and continued to do so until her last ounce of energy dragged herself to the couch.
The food and dishes would wait until the next morning.