Chapter 3. Aftershock

Disclaimer: I do not own Victorious.

...

Sikowitz's Classroom, Hollywood Arts

...

"Well students," Sikowitz stammered, his train of thought, his intended plans for the rest of the class – with what little time there was still was of the day – having been completely ruined by the drama that had taken place only moments earlier. For him personally, he found himself perhaps more conflicted than even his students might have been. On one hand, it was terrible that something could happen to a student here, possibly even one that was his student. But on the other hand, if there were ever a chance to really get a firsthand account at drama, at seeing people grieve and worry, then this was it!

"Sikowitz!" Jade barked out, drawing the instructor out of his daydream and back to the present, to him standing upon the stage with his class back in their seats, themselves somehow having been drawn back rather than remain out in the hallway and watch what might have happened next.

A quick glance out into the hallway, multiple students dragging their feet as they reluctantly began trekking in the opposite direction where they had only minutes ago migrated towards. "Hmm, yes. Well, it seems like that, how should we put this? Distraction! That's an appropriate term to describe that," He enthusiastically remarked, the upbeat nature of his words seeming a bit strange, if not even wrong.

"You really think distraction is the right word?" Tori asked. "I mean, Ro-" she caught herself before saying anything further. The fact was, she didn't have any proof that Robbie was the one who had been hurt other than perhaps a nagging feeling. For her to blurt out his name aloud to the class, it would be terrible for her. "Someone might have been seriously hurt!"

She hoped that nobody would notice her slip, and quickly swiveling her head around the classroom, a few nodding heads of students in agreement with her was the closest thing that looked like people picked up on it. She wanted to sigh in relief, but smartly decided against it, knowing it'd only further draw attention to herself.

"I'm quite aware, and it's a terrible tragedy. I'm sure whomever it was will be fine," he lied, at least hoping that there might have been some students who'd believe the same. Never in the time that he had been teaching at Hollywood Arts could he recall a time when there had been such a heavy-handed response to a student being injured. Perhaps the closest thing to it he could remember in recent time was that freak accident involving Trina Vega. But other than that, he was drawing a blank.

"But, call it cynical, call it cruel, that is life. And it is also our profession, whether we like to admit it or not," He jumped off the stage and proceeded towards the door to the hall, not bothering to look at the students, knowing that half of them were probably either texting their friends asking about what happened or alternatively passing along whatever little information they might have known themselves. "As performers, artists, entertainers, the sad reality is that most of what will drive us is disappointment, is pain. This, though being a terrible example, is nonetheless an early exposure to something to which could unfortunately, and this I say with a heavy heart, that could happen to any of us."

With those words, it seemed that everyone's attention had diverted from their phones and instead back onto Sikowitz, standing there morbidly, his extended arm reaching towards the door as he held it open. Considering the rather ominous remarks earlier, Tori couldn't help but think it might have been more appropriate if he were dressed in black robes and holding a scythe, rather than the empty coconut husk he had seemed to have been holding onto for dear life.

"Well, I think that all things considered, this might be a good point for us to finish for today." Although a bit unexpected, the students seemed pretty receptive to his suggestion that class be dismissed early. While the circumstances behind it might not have been the most pleasant, by any stretch, there was no disputing the fact that pretty much everyone would be in favor of getting out of their final class of the day early. Especially considering how badly backed up the parking lot of Hollywood Arts had been known to get. "Those of you who we didn't get to today, be ready by tomorrow!"

Tori was a bit slow to get up from her chair, unlike the rest of the gang who had practically bolted from their chairs upon hearing Sikowitz. But to her surprise, she noticed that Cat had not rushed out much like how Andre and company had seemed to have. In fact, it almost looked like she was waiting for Tori, like she was worried. "You OK Tori? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"You know how people look after they've seen ghosts?" She knew that Cat probably meant all the best intentions, but still Tori couldn't help but receive it and return it like a joke.

Whether Cat realized that Tori was being sarcastic or not, it didn't seem like it processed entirely with her. "Not quite, but this one time my brother was sleeping and he got up to get a glass of water and then all of a sudden he started screaming and said that something tried to grab him from within the sink."

Sudden panic began to shroud Tori, not sure if Cat was entirely serious or not. Perhaps that was the scariest thing of all, that she very well might have been telling the truth, but then again her brother wasn't exactly "right" in the head. Whichever case it might have been, she gulped and weakly nodded, very quickly wishing she hadn't tried to be funny.

"But really though, you OK?" Cat asked once again, not satisfied that Tori didn't answer the first time around.

Tori wanted to say sure, to just put it past her, but the nagging worry in the back of her head seemed to plague her. If she was right, that Robbie was the one who had been hurt, and she didn't say anything, how was she going to live with herself? Her mind raced with how she thought to justify it, Oh sorry guys. I knew it was Robbie but didn't want to spoil the fact that we got out early. Oh, yeah I knew it was Robbie, but I didn't think it was all that serious! I know he's our friend, but it's not like it was Andre or anything, am I right? Each excuse made her feel sick. "Um, did the others leave?"

Cat quickly proceeded towards the door, sticking her head out into the hallway for a moment before returning back towards Tori, "Nope! Beck and Andre are both outside. Jade too! But she doesn't seem as excited."

No doubt only waiting because Beck's there or cause you're in here. There's probably like a zero percent chance that she's waiting for me. Actually, better than zero percent. More like a negative 100 percent chance. Tori sighed, composing herself before the expected disbelief the group was going to give her. "OK. Come with me. Something I wanna talk to you guys about."

...

Main Hallway, Hollywood Arts

...

It was remarkable really, how in just a short time it seemed that for the students within Hollywood Arts, they inadvertently found themselves divided into – for the most part – two groups. Those who were there when the emergency responders arrived to deal with whatever it was that had happened to whomever it was. And those who had come to find out about it from someone who was there. The few that were completely in the dark, even in spite of how briefly ago it the occurred, they now represented a small minority of the student body.

And yet, even in spite of that, of how quickly it seemed that every little thing that everyone knew had been spreading around, there was no way to dismiss the fact that when it came to the person possibly being someone that they were friends with, then it wasn't possible. Even as Tori spoke, as she expressed her thoughts – as unpopular and perhaps paranoid as they might have been – the only thing that seemed to stick out to her were the looks of disbelief, if not almost like faces of laughter of the group.

"Look Tori, I know it's hardly the route you're looking to take, but you may wanna give some thought to trying stand up," Beck remarked, chuckling every so often alongside Andre.

Tori couldn't believe it, that even in spite of all the pieces having been set up so perfectly to play out a terrible scenario, nobody seemed to want to believe her. She couldn't believe that they all just assumed that she was joking. When had she ever made jokes like this before? And they did really think it was hilarious themselves? She hoped not.

Andre chuckled a little bit, but otherwise composed himself, surprisingly quick. "Yeah, I'm sure he's at the nurse or something. He wasn't looking very good, but to assume that because of that that was him? A bit of a stretch, wouldn't you say?"

While his laughing didn't exactly bolster her case, Tori knew somehow or another that Andre believed her. After all, it was too convenient of an explanation to accept at face value, and one that she wasn't going to until someone proved it. It tore her inside, a part of her as much hoping that she was wrong that Robbie wasn't the one hurt as she was not wanting to be judged for immediately assuming that he had either. Either way, Tori found herself in a lose-lose situation.

"I don't see why we're making such a big deal out of this," Jade's words spewed like venom, Tori finding herself wincing with each word spoken. At how cold and with how much anger she carried with them. But perhaps what most stung was that – if Tori was right – it wasn't likely that it'd much sway Jade's opinion. Nor her wording.

Leave it to Jade to be a bitch at the worst possible moment.

Turning her head, she could see the satisfied smile on Jade's face, looking right at Tori, as if she had said those words with that in mind. Hell, to Jade it must have been like killing two birds with one stone. She gets to talk down on Robbie while making Tori visibly uncomfortable. I take it back. Leave it to Jade to be a cold, heartless bitch.

Yet for as much as Jade might have taken a liking to it, she was the lone minority in this. Beck shook his head disapprovingly, this being just the latest example of her piss-poor attitude seen today. Andre also found her words in poor taste. Not cool Jade. Not cool.

Of them though, Cat strangely enough didn't seem at all phased by Jade's words. In fact, she seemed to have been completely silent, not even having made a sound when Tori was explaining what she thought happened. Now though, that anonymity was gone and Tori found herself shifting her attention away from Jade and instead onto the redhead. "Cat, you alright?"

Even before responding, Tori could tell that she wasn't all there. She looked worried, perhaps even frightened. Tori worried that unlike maybe Beck or Andre, certainly unlike Jade, Cat might have believed Tori. Damn it. Now I really wish that I hadn't said anything. Way to go Tori! Having to be the buzzkill, didn't ya!? Well look what've you done...

"You good little red?" Andre asked, gently wrapping his arm around Cat's shoulder, the mere contact causing her to basically awaken from the trance-like state she had been in. The slight gasp that escaped from her lips caught Beck and Jade's attention, both now looking too at her.

With everyone's eyes focused on her, Cat felt like she was a dwarf amongst giants, all of them waiting for her to take another step before they themselves squashed her. And Andre's words, even in spite of the caring nature to them, how his touch – although intended to be comforting – had her repulsed, more than anything there did one thought go through her head. "I'm…" She choked, her words sounding hollow, even artificial. "I'm fine. Just tired is all."

"Want us to take you to the nurse?" Tori offered, slowly moving towards Cat, though all the while further distancing herself from Jade. She knew that it probably wouldn't do anything, but maybe at least the excuse would be enough to give the redhead a bit of privacy, maybe even enough to make her a little bit more comfortable.

"Aww, that's sweet of you, but really, I don't need the nurse," Cat politely declined, the pursing of her lips actually managing to bring a small smile to Tori's face as well.

Even then however, while Cat's smile was a nice treat, there wasn't much of a chance of Tori just letting her skate by like that. "You're probably right, but might not hurt, maybe?"

"For crying out loud Vega! You're not her mother!" Jade grunted out, obviously annoyed with listening to Tori's efforts to help Cat, which she instead regarded as babying, and sickeningly so. "She said she's fine."

Immediately following this, Beck interjected himself, intentionally positioning closer to Cat but at the same time creating a divide between the two feuding girls. While there was no disputing the importance that Cat was alright, it was also hard to dispute the fact that ensuring that Tori and Jade's not coming to blows was an important thing as well. "Hey, no need for raised voices," he called out, almost hypocritically in fact. "I think, like Cat, we're all a little bit tired."

"Especially after having to run those laps in hell," Andre moaned, the very thought of him having to relive the painful mile in gym class being enough to fatigue him where he stood. "It could well be that we're a bit hungry. Anyone wanna go grab a quick bite to eat? A burger maybe?"

"A burger does sound nice," Beck nodded, though outside of perhaps Andre, nobody else seemed all that interested in food.

"You wanna join us Cat?" Andre asked, his eyes briefly darting at the slightly-shocked expression on Tori's face, which was understandable considering the circumstances. After all, here Andre was, shifting the entire focus of the conversation off of the important things which at the moment were Robbie's disappearance and Cat's well-being.

The redhead seemed lost in thought for a moment before turning and looking towards Andre, a smile on her face, "Thanks, but I'm not all that hungry."

"Jade, how 'bout you? Want to join us?" Beck offered to Jade, having a pretty clear idea that even before he'd finish inviting her that she'd turn him down, which she pretty much did immediately so with a quick shake of the head. "Fair enough," he conceded, not looking to pick a fight with her on the matter.

Tori couldn't help but notice a very, very faint nodding of the head by Andre, undoubtedly something that she would have missed had she not been so fixated onto him right now, and not in a positive manner. While she expected the callous level of disrespect to be shown by Jade, the fact that not only Beck, but Andre too, were so blatantly displaying the same behavior - in combination with how quickly it seemed that they had dismissed Tori's concerns - it honestly just disgusted her. "And you Tori?"

She couldn't take it any further. "Um, Andre. Can we speak for a second?" She didn't even wait for a response from him before she had her fingers tightly gripped around his wrist, dragging him off towards a more empty part of the hallway. "The hell is the matter with you," she hissed, her words being quiet enough so that only Andre could hear, but still enough so the harshness in her voice could be identified.

"Tori, relax," Andre spoke calmly and softly. He waited until she seemed at least a little bit calmer before he started again. "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong? What's wrong is that Cat's freaked and all you're thinking about is a burger? Really!? A burger!?" She stopped herself as she herself noticed her voice raising in irritation. Glancing over Andre's shoulder real quick, she let out a sigh of relief that nobody seemed to have turned to face their direction.

Andre put both hands on her shoulders, it appearing to have a calming effect to the Latina. "Tori, we're not actually going to get realize right?"

She lifted her head up in surprise, having been so convinced that that was what they were doing. "You're not?"

He shook his head, "No. First off, why do you think we'd be suggesting we go get burgers. You girls always say no to that."

It was true. For the most part, it seemed like whenever they were to go out and get something to eat, burgers were among the least chosen options. If Andre or Beck had been earnest in seeing if anyone was hungry, they'd know to offer suggest sushi instead.

"So, you're not actually thinking about getting burgers, are you?"

Andre nodded. "More like suggest something that none of you would like, giving me and Beck a perfect excuse to take a little trip to Hollywood Presbyterian,see if what you're thinking is true."

Tori rose an eyebrow in surprise. "That's... That's actually not a bad idea." She couldn't believe it herself. It was thought out, they had given themselves a perfect excuse to leave, and nobody had to know what they were really doing. However, for as impressed as she was, there was something that confused her. "Wait. You and Beck came up with this?"

"Yeah," Andre nonchalantly said.

"In just the last couple of minutes, right?"

"Pretty much."

"How?"

"You know, I'm not exactly sure how to explain. Just kinda did. Guess it's a guy thing I suppose."

It was hardly a satisfying answer, but Tori - reluctantly - accepted it. Perhaps mostly because she felt that as clear as it might have been for Andre to understand himself, she had the strangest feeling that it would go completely over her head. "OK, I suppose." Taking another glance over Andre's shoulder, Tori saw that now they, particularly Jade, were beginning to look in their direction, "Maybe we ought to get back, before Jade starts asking questions."

"Agreed," Andre said, nodding.

"So are you two done?" Jade asked, the tone of her voice clearly showing that she was quite annoyed with the two. However long her threshold for waiting might have been, obviously they were starting to strain it. And who else would Jade seek to blame than the one who prompted the whole thing in the first place; Tori.

Andre smirked at Jade's complaint. A part of him was expecting something less composed, less restrained, but at the same time he didn't mind her keeping her temper in check. Lord knows that she hadn't tried to throughout the rest of the day. "Well Tori isn't interested either in grabbing a bite, so I think Beck and I will head out. Don't want to get caught behind the dinner rush people."

"In that case, Cat, how about I take you home?" Tori offered, grabbing the redhead in a light hug. Even though she might not have been completely there, Cat had a seemingly inane instinct when it came to getting and receiving hugs. However she might have been feeling, she wasn't one to waste the opportunity to give someone a hug, and this was no exception. Perhaps it was the fact that Cat was in a rut that Tori found herself caught off-guard, because once those arms were wrapped around her waste, Tori found herself struggling to breathe, mustering all of her strength to break the ironclad grip that the redhead seemed to have had. "Cat! Let go," She squealed.

Quickly releasing her grip, Cat looked almost disappointed, not at Tori but rather at herself for being too rough with the Latina. Seeing this herself, Tori quickly struck a smile, playing it off like a joke as she gently threw a light punch that gently grazed Cat's shoulder. As that happened, Tori could still feel the strain put upon her ribs, each breath she took seeming to take a little bit out of her. "I'm sorry Tori! For a second I was afraid that I might have hurt you!"

Tori let out a fake laugh, one which prompted Jade to roll her eyes. "Oh, never! You know me," she sarcastically beat her fist against her chest in a Tarzan-like motion, "Abs of steel!" She got so caught up in trying to sell the lie that it didn't completely process to her until after she stopped hitting herself that she realized she was actually hitting herself, much harder than she probably ever meant to.

"You know, that might not be a bad idea," Andre began, almost wanting to test and see if Tori's core was just going to implode upon itself after not only the abuse she dealt to herself but also Cat's bear hug. "You said it yourself Cat. You're tired, and while I'm certain that you're probably fit to drive yourself, why not let Tori take you home?"

Cat seemed flattered by the offer, but extremely reluctant as well. "That'd be nice... But what about my car though? How am I going to get to school?"

Not missing a beat, Andre continued on, "Don't worry about that little red. Beck and I can drop it off after we've gotten our burgers."

"But wait, how are you going to get back then?"

"Don't worry about it. We're two smart guys. I'm sure that we'll find a smart way of going about juggling between all these cars," Andre confidently said as he held out his hand for a high five from Beck, almost instantly getting the receptive slap back.

Jade simply shook her head slightly and snickered as she leaned against one of the lockers, looking like she was having fun dissecting the conversation, internally laughing at every joke she came up with. Tori glared at her, marveling at how effortlessly and easy she made it seem, not caring about anyone other than themselves. Taking it upon herself to ignore Jade for as long as able, Tori turned back towards Cat, "So what do you say? I'll even let you sit in the front seat!"

Cat's eyes lit up at that offer. "Really!? I get to sit in the front!?" Often times whenever Tori was driving somewhere with company, the front seat was typically always taken by Andre. It wasn't that Cat had an issue with that, as Andre always capitalized on it and assumed the role of the car's DJ, but that also meant that the likelihood that she'd have to sit in the front was seldom, to say the least. After a few seconds of empty thinking, Cat nodded her head, "Alright! Thanks!" She was about to put Tori in another tight hug, but at the very last second stopped, remembering how the Latina looked only a few minutes earlier.

"Alright, let's get going then man," Beck remarked as he kissed Jade goodbye and began to walk towards the parking lot, hopefully having been considerably cleared out by this point.

Andre gave him a nod of acknowledgement as he bid farewell to the girls, "On my way."

"Call me when you get back," Tori called out, hoping to make it sound as generic as possible to hide the real motives behind the call.

"Will do," Andre quickly muttered as he started to run down the hall, hoping to catch up with Beck.

Tori turned to Cat, "We should get going to."

...

Tori's Car

...

She had given much thought as to what Jade was going to do. It was a bit entertaining really, just the irony of the whole situation. There Jade was, the girl who'd waste not a second in ridiculing someone, even for just being alone, now being the odd one out themselves. If it weren't for the unfortunate circumstances that beset this situation, Tori might have relished far more joy in all of this. But right now the main thing was not just getting Cat home, but hopefully getting a call from Andre later along the lines of her being wrong about Robbie.

It was in her prioritizing of getting Cat home safely that Tori seemed to utterly miss Jade getting into the backseat of her car. If it weren't for her adjusting her mirror than she might not have ever noticed that she was sitting there.

Jade simply glared right at the mirror, her gaze nevertheless seeming to pierce right into Tori's. "Forget how to drive or something, Vega?" There was no end to Jade's remarks, but with Tori, it seemed like there truly was never a lacking of something she could say that would get under Tori's skin. In some respects, it was both a gift and a curse - but to Tori nothing but the latter.

Tori said nothing, preferring to pretend that Jade simply never was there. She thought it was an easy enough plan to carry through. After all, Jade was never part of the equation, never someone who Tori considered being involved in the "Help Cat Initiative" that seemed to have formed out of nowhere. Why should all of a sudden Tori care that Jade was there now? She's probably just here to piss me off some more. No doubt about it.

As she drove though, it became abundantly clear that Jade being in the car wasn't going away. Besides the dead silence that occupied the car throughout the greater extent of the drive, it seemed that every time Tori glanced in the rear view mirror, Jade would be right there, staring right back at her. Is she just watching me? Like, is that her plan? Scare me to the point where I end up doing something stupid and crashing the car?

"Tori?" A meekish voice broke the silence - much to Tori's delight - and quickly glancing her eyes onto Cat, just enough to give her acknowledgement and not long enough to completely distract her from the road ahead, she could see that the redhead was mirroring Jade's actions, staring right at her.

"What's up Cat?"

"He's OK right?"

"Who?" Tori lied. She knew exactly who Cat was talking about, and she hated that she was knowingly lying to her about it.

"Robbie," It sounded like Cat was struggling just to talk, which only ate at Tori even further. "Like you said, he didn't show up for class. I just... I don't know..."

Trying to come up with the right thing to say, Tori glanced back at the rear view window, actually looking to Jade for some sort of guidance, but Jade simply smirked and averted her eyes towards Cat. Tori couldn't say for certain, but she thought that Jade might have been enjoying this. The question was, was she enjoying the fact that it might have been Robbie hurt, that Cat was seeming to be upset about it, or that the whole thing put Tori in an awkward and uncomfortable position.

"Tori?"

Tori blinked in rapid succession, trying to pass herself off as having been daydreaming. "Oh, I'm sorry Cat! Thought I saw a stray dog or something." Not exactly her best lie, but she didn't exactly have much time to come up with something. "Look, I'm sure Robbie's fine. I think I just got caught up in the hysterics of it all or something, but there's no way that it could be Robbie who got hurt. I mean, we'd know about if that were the case."

Cat nodded, seeming reassured by Tori's words. "Yeah! Yeah, you're probably right!"

The conversation died off after that point, much to Tori's delight. Lying to Cat, especially about something as important and serious as this, it made Tori feel physically ill, and she wasn't sure how much more she was going to be able to endure. It also didn't help that Jade continued to play the role of the silent, judging passenger. Perhaps it was the fact that Jade was there that all of this seemed to weigh so heavily on Tori. The sooner I drop off Cat, the sooner all this will be over with.

Only a short time later, she had finally pulled into Cat's driveway, prompting Tori to usher out a silent and discreet sigh of relief. Funny enough, it looked like she and Cat had switched roles, Cat now seeming to have been reinvigorated with energy while Tori was the one who appeared drained. Cat opened up her car door and looked about ready to run up the driveway inside her home, but stopped short of doing so, instead leaning against the car door, smiling at Tori. "Thanks again Tori!"

Of course Cat. Anytime... She found herself at a loss for words, managing only to smile really, though she finally managed to muster a handful of words as Cat began to walk away, "Anytime Cat!"

Once Cat disappeared out of sight, Tori took another sigh of relief, glad to finally be done with that. At first, she didn't think much of it; nothing more than a friend simply offering another friend a ride home. But instead, it had proven to be a more taxing challenge than what she could have expected it to be. Glancing up at the rear view window, wondering what sort of reaction at this point Jade was going to give her, Tori couldn't help but smile at the fact that Jade didn't seem to be there.

"Thank God's she's gone..." Tori felt a wave of relief overtake her. At least until she turned to her side, realizing not just that Jade was sitting there, but also the grave mistake she had perhaps made.

"Jade, what... What are you doing?" Tori stammered out, not sure exactly if it was her being paranoid or not that Jade might have actually heard her only a moment ago.

Jade looked at Tori for a moment before branding a sinister smile. "Well Vega. In case you haven't forgotten, which I wouldn't put past you honestly, I was sitting in the backseat. Now that Cat's gone, I've moved to the front. Does that make sense or do I have to use smaller words for you?"

Hardly a stranger to Jade's insults, there was something right now though which put Tori the wrong way. Perhaps it was the guilt she was starting to feel about Cat, or concern over Robbie. Whatever it might have been, it was definitely impacting Tori's tolerance for Jade right now. "No Jade, I get it..."

"Good," Jade remarked, there being a hint of happiness in her voice as she pulled out her phone. There was a short period of silence that followed, with the two of them simply sitting in the car before Jade spoke up, "Well!? We going or what?"

"Going? Going where?" Tori looked at Jade a bit confused. Just because she had given Cat a ride home, it didn't mean that all of a sudden she had become a chauffeur and was willing to take people wherever they might have desired.

Jade finally pulled her attention away from her phone, turning her head over to Tori and looking at her as if she was an idiot or something. "Where do you think? Back to Hollywood Arts."

"For what?"

"Because that's where my car is. Obviously."

To some extent, Tori was surprised. Not as to why Jade wanted her to take her to the school, but that she expected Tori to take her. "Jade, I'm not driving you back to the school."

What Tori didn't account for was how apparently offended Jade was by her rejection, "Excuse me!?"

"I'm not going that way," Tori found herself struggling to find the most appropriate way to phrase what she was saying, especially given how little of a distance Jade would have to close to get at her. "I'm going home."

"OK, that's like what, maybe a few minutes out of your way? I mean honestly, you don't have any plans or anything exciting going on. Otherwise you wouldn't have driven Cat home in the first place!"

Tori slammed her hands against the steering wheel, the suddenness of it being even enough to get Jade to raise an eyebrow, curious as to what the Latina might do next. And while she might have wanted to do something more, Tori couldn't bring herself to. Even in spite of how warranted it might have been. As to what that would have been, she wasn't even sure herself.

Instead, she just took a deep breath and sighed. "You're right. I don't have anything going on, which is why I drove Cat home." Turning her head, Tori glared at Jade, trying to be as intimidating as possible, though the fatigue that had overtaken her grossly diminished that. "Because I offered to drive her home. So why did you come too?"

There was a brief silence following this and Tori couldn't help but worry that she had walked right into a tornado of Jade's known fury. For as much as she tried to keep her composure, she nevertheless felt like she was trembling inside.

That trembling only got worse as Tori could see a grin form upon Jade's lips, her hands reaching into the bag that lay near her feet. What's she doing? Jade, what are you looking for? Her eyes never left focus on what she could see of Jade's hands, wondering - even panicking - about what it was that she might be seeking.

"Here," Jade grunted out as her hands became visible again and several green bills scattered across Tori's lap and her dashboard, all of them appearing to be singles. "Now will you drive please?"

While the intent might not have been there, Tori couldn't help but feel a bit offended by Jade's gesture. Here she was, literally throwing money at Tori like she was some disenfranchised taxi driver or something. However, she knew that whatever she said held the risk of another remark from Jade, and at this point, she was more willing to just drive than to have to put with any more of that.

The entire ride, both of them were silent, but it was apparent enough that neither of them had any much desire to talk with one another anyway. For Tori, the silence was nice, giving her the illusion that Jade wasn't actually there, though that only meant that her mind had to come up with some valid excuse for why she was driving back to the school. I forgot my books. Yeah, that's a perfectly understandable reason why I'm heading back there. Not at all because of some evil witch in the front seat of my car!

The parking lot was completely empty by this point, save for only Jade's car and perhaps one or two teachers' who remained in their offices grading assignments or something. Within Tori's head, a part of her was wanting to just pull into the parking lot, just get perhaps a tire or two into it before dropping her off. Make her walk the rest of the way towards her car, but even then - for as much as she might have wanted to - she found herself driving and pulling up right beside Jade's car.

A thank you. A sentence or two of appreciation for Tori's kind gesture; it wasn't too much for Tori to ask for, was it? As she watched Jade get out of the car, making not a word, not even giving her a single glance, Tori realized that it wasn't going to happen. When she realized that Jade still hadn't closed the passenger-side door, Tori quickly turned her head around, hoping to get a smile or some sort of look of appreciation. Once she saw the cold look Jade was giving her, Tori very quickly wished she hadn't.

"Not that it's any of your business, Vega, but your question earlier, why I am came. Because Cat's my friend, and I care about her." Her words, in spite of having a positive message to them, they still cut deep, as Tori was quickly realizing. She wanted to say something, the blank message that her brain was coming up with being utterly interrupted by Jade continuing, "Believe it or not, this isn't your world and we aren't just actors in it. You're no God. And you're no angel either, so how about you stop trying to pass yourself off as one..." The sound of the door being slammed shut was all that was heard after that, Tori sitting in her car, speechless, unable to do anything more than watch Jade drive off, never again looking back at the Latina.

After a minute of sitting there in her car, processing what Jade had just said, Tori finally begun to drive home. But with each turn she made, each street light she passed, she couldn't erase what Jade said to her. She couldn't ignore that very likely - for as much grief as Jade gave her for the sake of it - she meant every word of what she said. Does she really think that? Do others think that too?

It ate at her, dissolving away her desire to do anything more than to just get some sleep. For as much as she was hoping for Andre to call her, to tell her that she was crazy, she just didn't have it in her for the night. The day had progressively drained her, and the last couple of minutes had been the icing on the cake.

I'm going to wake up tomorrow, and everything will be alright. I know it.

She hoped.

A/N: My sincerest apologies that this chapter has taken so long for me to get done. I won't lie; this was probably one of the toughest chapters that I have written up to this point on either this or the other story I'm currently working on. I hope that for future chapters, I'll be able to get them out to you all at a more reasonable rate. Otherwise, enjoy the chapter!