New Story, or rather one I worked on last year and dropped, but was too attached to to just let it go. I have a few chapters written, and hope this encourages me to write more.

Disclaimer, the usual about me not owning the victorious characters.

:}

It was another Thursday, and the gang was sitting in their usual spot for lunch, but no one was talking. Once again, Jade and Beck were fighting, and everyone wanted to stay out of the crossfire. Maybe Back and Jade were keeping it down, for their own reasons, but the whole thing was building, waiting to explode again. They'd fought before, But this time it was different. They weren't bickering on and off, like they've done in the past. Rather, it was one ongoing, continuous fight with long stretched of tension filled silence between the brief flareups of the arguments. Neither combatant asked for anything more than an occasional opinion, but that was more then enough to drag everyone else into the fighting. Now, people were trying not to get dragged into taking sides.

"So, Jade, You never told me, how's the new place?" Robbie asked, trying to make conversation. He immediately placed his hand over his mouth as soon as he'd asked, but it was too late, the question hung there like a cancer growing before their eyes.

The fighting had started over two months ago, with what was at the time good news. "I'm moving into a new house. It's big, huge even. It's got two master suits, lots of other amenities, and the best part is, I'll be living with my dad." Jade had told her friends. Actually, she'd told everyone. She'd posted that exact statement on The Slap, plus announced it in more than one of her classes. Tori in particular was happy to see the moody girl so excited about something good happening in her life. Only Beck had tried to keep her grounded, telling her that living with her father was still going to be the same as living with her mother. Just other peoples rules to follow.

"I don't want to talk about it." Jade snapped back, glaring at the nerdy boy. After the move, she was suddenly silent about her new home. Jade told her friends that Beck was right about one thing, there were rules. She wasn't allowed to have friends over, or even show them where she lived. Strangely that's what started the fights with Beck. No one but those two knew the details, but it led to a lot of tension. They were still dating, but Jade was more reactionary than she'd been in a long time, while Beck was almost gloating.

"Come on, Jade, give the guy a break. You told everyone how big and beautiful this house was going to be. The least you could do is show us a picture. Oh, that's right, your daddy won't let you." Beck taunted.

The Canadian had acquired a certain smirk that appeared when he talked to Jade, and often alluded to things not spoken about. That would add to the tension, until Jade snapped back, and the argument ensued. They often fought over how Beck didn't trust Jade, how unstable she was becoming, and how he couldn't trust her if she couldn't trust him. They would fight over other things as well, but those were the main points. It was obvious that her living arrangements were at the core of the fight, and on days like this, it came spilling out into the open. Things were getting ugly.

"Guys, please, I'm sorry I brought it up. Can we go back to the uncomfortable silence?" Robbie asked, sounding almost desperate.

At the same time, Robbie had developed his own problems, or rather his problems got worse. Ashamed of his family, he usually met people at their homes. This wasn't new, he hadn't had anyone over in over six months, and even then it was Beck giving him a ride home. Robbie usually kept as much of his family away from his friends as he could. Despite that distance, they all knew about his issues with his family. They knew he had a sister who collected rare butterflies, had once nearly dropped his cousin into the Tiger habitat at the zoo, that his mother had more than once threatened to leave him, and that his father was embarrassed by his actions, and possible his entire lifestyle. Robbie didn't have people over, but despite whatever he may claim, everyone knew it was because no one wanted to go to his place. The Shapiro's seemed to be a majorly dysfunctional family, with lots of issues. Just recently, it seemed to be getting worse.

"So Rex, anything new with you?" Robbie asked his puppet after a couple of minutes of no one talking. Despite asking for it, he didn't like the silence. He once told Cat it reminded him too much of home.

Rex had been unusually quiet. Normally the puppet could be counted on to use whatever new and embarrassing things happened in Robbie's life to humiliate the nerdy boy. Recently, it seemed that the puppet had chosen to pick his battles. Since there wasn't anything Robbie could threaten the puppet with to make it stop harassing him and his friends, everyone assumed his family was into something so freaky, so vile, that the puppet was suffering bouts of amnesia as a defense mechanism, blocking things out to keep sane. Tori in particular was worried when that excuse made a lot of sense. She didn't like buying into the crazy that much.

"Nope. My Nothridge girls seem to want to give me some space. You're a tang repellent, Robbie." The puppet said, glancing at Beck and Jade for just a second. Cat humphed quietly at Rex.

Cat had an easy out from the fighting. As things were escalating, she was spending more time with her roommate and their new business, babysitting. That meant that Cat wasn't available after school nearly as much, so missed a lot of the fights. She had been slowly growing away from the group, but missed hanging out. Jade and Beck responded to her distancing with a sort of truce. They would try and keep things civil during school hours. That way, Cat could feel comfortable at school, the only time she was able to spend with her friends. It worked, to a point. The power couple still fought, but the silence held a lot better than expected. The stress brought on by the silence, however, was getting everyone on edge.

"You got something to say, Red?" The puppet said, then immediately "Sorry Cat, I forgot you're going through stuff right now."

Cat was also quietly holding a semi-tourch for Robbie. It wasn't like she wanted to date him, but she didn't want him to date anyone else until she figure out just what was going on in her heart. Cat had become possessive of the nerdy boy, not happy when he talked to any pretty girls. She was trying to balance that with her desire to have a big, gorgeous man of her own. It made her just a little crazier than normal, and for reasons no one could fathom, Rex respected that.

"It's Okay, little red. Rex is just having trouble now, since he knows Jade is looking for an excuse to rip him apart." Andre said, sounding like he was joking. No one laughed.

Andre also had an out, but not as big of one. His after school job was taking up a fair amount of his time. Unlike Cat, he was working under the limits of a work permit, so there was a lot of time where he wasn't on the job, time for him to be a kid and hang out with his friends. Andre's boss was a less than talented business man who's yogurt shop always lost money. Other business interests, mostly run by the mans wife, kept the shop going, as well as kept the boss in money. Andre didn't mind. The shop could do decent business, but offered only a handful of choices any sane person would want to try. One promotion after another sucked the cash out of the shop, while Andre just kept quiet. His boss didn't like being told he was a dufus, and the musician liked getting his paychecks.

The silence was broken again, this time by Trina running up to the table saying "Oh my god, Tori you have to see this. I found a rare first edition of 'The Lost Seconds' on line. This is so exciting. If it's signed, I have to buy it." This was a level of excitement Trina usually reserved for boys she wanted to stalk, when she got a roll in anything, or any time she got to be the center of attention. Tori just smiled and shrugged it off.

Then there was Tori's personal life, starting with her sister. You see, Trina was in love. Well, not in love so much as totally into this new author, Amanda Rothschild. Trina absolutely loved her work. Of the authors six books, two from the current series, Trina had read them all twice. Even the first three Amanda had written, while under contract with Lonely girl publishing, Trina adored. Trina had joined a book club just to discuss these books, and found her way to other fangirls. Unfortunately, one of those fangirls turned out to be Holly Vega, the matriarch of the Vega clan. You could imagine how this affected Tori.

"Trina, please, how rare can the book be. Miss Rothschild's only been writing for about two and a half years." Tori said, feeling embarrassed by Trina's excitement.

Despite her reaction, Tori understood the attraction. Amanda Rothschild's writing style was often grim, but with a deep under layer of hope. No matter how bad the situation got, her characters held onto their basic humanity and their love for one another. It was the kind of romantic drivel Tori loved to torment Jade with. That included acting out a few pages in Sikowitz's class. Beck eagerly volunteered to play the male part, and Jade was forced to listen as they performed the scene with all the romance they'd be allowed at school. That was just days before Miss Rothschild's management announced that her series had been optioned, and was going to be made into movies, with some big stars competing to play the lead rolls. Tori could see why the stories were best sellers, and how Lonely Girls fucked up when they didn't offer her a huge amount of money (beyond the practically nothing they offer all their writers) to stay and keep writing for them. "The Lost Seconds" was her first self published book. Miss Rothschild self published, and was probably rich.

"I think it's great that so many people love her work. We should rally look into doing one of her books as a play." Beck said, probably to annoy Jade. His eyes were on the goth the whole time he said it.

Then there was the "Layers of Shadow" series. Somewhere between the romance and supernatural fiction with an emphasis on old school horror, this series was the hottest thing in two genre's to come along since 'Interview with the Vampire'. Fans flocked to the bookstores to get the latest release, while reading some of her earlier works to understand her style. The supernatural member of the pair, a sorcerer turned into a vampire, was fighting deeper, darker creatures of the night as well as his own kind to protect the world and the girl he loved. That girl started, as girls do in this kind of chiz, innocent and pure. In the second book, to survive, she becomes a witch. It changed the dynamics of the pair while giving the girl the power to help her lover stand against the growing legions of the night. People were eagerly awaiting the release of the third book in the series, "Illuminations," Even though the second book was released less than four months ago.

"Trina, I think we shouldn't talk about this here. Lets just keep everything peaceful for the few minutes left at lunch." Tori said, looking around the table. Mostly, she was glancing at Beck and Jade.

Of course Tori had read the books. She'd secretly read every one of Trina's copies before getting the digital versions for herself. Honestly, Tori didn't know anyone, except Jade, who hadn't. Even Cat had read the more romantic books, and seemed familiar with the whole "Layers of Shadow" series. So Tori had read the books, mostly to get her dose of romance when her life seemed to be lacking, but she did like them.

Only thing was, she was far more interested in the relationship between Beck and Jade then the romance of two supernatural beings or some whinny lovestruck heroine's need to prove herself worthy of her lover. Their story had more of a personal feeling to it. Tori was watching, waiting for something, but unsure what. She knew the relationship was dying, and that idea scared her. Beck and Jade had broken up before, even stayed single for months, but during that time, Tori was sure that the two would get back together. Now she wasn't so sure. To her eyes, they were ending, and she didn't know where that left her. Tori wanted Beck, just not Beck. She couldn't put her finger on what that meant, but it's what kept her up at nights.

"Dude!" Jade said. "Don't taunt Tori." She was talking to Beck, making it clear she wasn't happy about anyone making a play out of that girls work, or perhaps just reminding Tori just who didn't have a date for the weekend. Jade managed to smirk at her redirect, but only for a second. It was a subtle jab at Tori, but it seemed to give her some joy.

Once again, it seemed, Tori was single and not dating. She meet some nice boy, and inevitably something would go wrong, or be wrong, and she'd break up with them. The only exceptions were the guys who seemed too perfect to be true, because the weren't. These were the guys who knew how to approach a girl, how to talk to her, flattering her while seeming a bit humble. As the girl fell for them, the manipulations began. Loyal friend like Beck and Jade tried to keep her from falling into the traps these guys laid, but that seemed to be the kind of guy Tori trusted. Other then the bad ones, she only trusted a few of the good guys, guys like Andre. She'd date Andre, but along with her trust came an almost familial relationship. He was like a brother to her. So she didn't have any prospects at that moment, and felt safer waiting for whatever was happening to blow over before seeking companionship. She did have Miss Rothschild's early works to keep her warm.

"But we all need a little romance in our lives." Trina whined.

Problem was, Tori had figured out that life wasn't like the cheesy romance novels. The hero didn't know he was in love by a deep feeling that was understood from years of soul searching. The damsel, unaware the perfect man was just around the corner, didn't manage to stay strong and wait it out. People had no clue about what others wanted until the others told them, or hinted in a way that would be understood. Tori was focused on her work, because that she understood. Jade and Beck were her forever couple. As their relationship died, so did her hope for a fairytale ending.

"You guys give me a rash." Jade's words were hardly original, but was still a decent line to walk out on. Tori watched her go, feeling deep inside that somehow, when the dust cleared, they wouldn't be friends.

Later that day, in Sikowitz's class, things were not progressing, and they couldn't hide their problems behind the class projects. Part of the reason was their teacher was out. He never called in sick unless he was so out of it he couldn't get out of bed. Last winter, the crazy coconut lover had infected half the school because apparently the flue wasn't reason enough to miss a day of educating his students.

But today he was out, for the one reason he'd excuse any absence. He had a part in a Movie. It was a small part, playing a drama teacher in a performing arts high school, as well as the female leads ex. Tori remembered Sikowitz, while preparing for the part, telling the class how he was having trouble relating to the character. More than once he'd say something like "I understand the whole ex boyfriend part, but the drama teacher thing? How would I act? How would I inspire my students? I'm just not finding this guy." The project, however, was just too good for him to pass up. While just a made for TV movie that would play on the romance channel, it was also a speaking roll, and he would be gone a total of two weeks for filming. With the crazy teacher gone, the poor substitute was trying to fill his shoes, but had no idea what was going on. Despite over a months advanced warning, Sikowitz had failed to leave lesson plans. Probably because he didn't have any. "Besides," Jade had quipped, "how do you fill the shoes of a guy who doesn't wear any?"

So the class was a mix of whatever acting exercises Helen would offer, and sitting around talking until it was time to go home. Today was talking.

"Can someone give me a ride?" Robbie asked, out of the blue.

"Dude, why?" Beck answered. Lately Sinjin had replaced Robbie as Becks main nerdy friend. Robbie and Beck were still friends, but Beck had a lot more in common with the lanky boy then he did with Robbie, so often the puppeteer would have to seek someone else to help him out. It further infuriated Jade, not just Becks hanging out with Sinjin, but that the handsome boy had allowed himself room for only one nerd as a close friend. Jade could almost forgive hanging out with Sinjin, but the lanky boy stared at things she didn't want to share. Also, she didn't seem to like the way he just 'dropped' Robbie as if the puppeteer wasn't good enough any more.

"Sorry, can't." Andre said. "I got work today."

"Trina's driving me." Tori said.

"I don't have room on my bike. Maybe Jade can give you a lift." Cat said. The ditzy girl's tone showed an unhealthy hope that Jade would break her 'Don't care' policy to give the boy a ride.

"Yea, Jade, maybe you could give Robbie a lift. I'll bet he would even pay for gas." Beck shot out, Sounding both tired and annoyed. Jade gave her boyfriend a death glare.

"Okay, I'll drive you. But if your bike scratches my car, you'll be paying for every repair it needs for the next year." Jade said. To Tori, it almost felt like she gave in too easily.

"No worries about that. I left me bike at home. My mother dropped me off. Unfortunately, she has to pick up my sister, but I told her I'd just get a ride from one of my friends." Robbie said. Rex would let that setup slide.

"You should walk home." Jade replied, voice flat. "You should never have assumed you'd be getting a ride." Somehow his assumption has further wazzed Jade off.

"Jade, you offered a ride, so drive the poor boy home." Beck said. His voice carried a load of frustration, and somehow that seemed to make Jade flinch, just barely.

Tori looked at her friends. This conversation was far too hostile for her tastes, and once again Jade was playing the part of the bad guy. The whole thing felt like the end of an era. Jade was taking everything as an attack. 'Why is she so reactionary?' Tori thought.

The confusion was heightened by the fact that Tori's main social group was caught in the middle of whatever was going on. They all could feel the tension, but no one bothered to try and figure out what was going on. Tori knew how private Jade could be, and Beck was more than willing to abandon his 'No secrets' image to keep whatever was going on strictly between him and Jade. Tori could understand, except the gang was being dragged in and suffering, becoming collateral damage to their fights. She needed another opinion, but it would take far to long to explain things to her remaining friends at Sherwood.

Tori wanted to talk to Trina, clear her head from all her worries. Unfortunately, all her sister was interested in was the hundred dollars it would take to get the rare, signed first printing of 'The Lost Seconds' she'd need to buy it from the collectables bookstore she'd found. Instead Tori started thinking about what she wanted to be doing over her weekend. 'One day of school left, then a whole weekend off.' She'd let her fears die with the morning. She'd see that everything was all right, and no one was leaving her little group of friends. That's how life was, almost nothing changes.

:}

I know, a lot of setup, and I'm sure you've already figured out all my twists. But I'll probably post more chapters later, as I feel like it. Or on Fridays, depending. Anyways, next chapter, something happens and we have a plot. See you then.