Robbie Shapiro, Jade West, Beck Oliver, Tori Vega, Trina Vega, Cat Valentine and Andre Harris were all in the Black Box Theater at their high school, Hollywood Arts. They were all acting in a play together this weekend and had stayed late at school with their acting teacher, Mr. Sikowitz, to run lines and fine tune different parts of the play. They were all getting ready to leave when Mr. Sikowitz told them that he would be right back, he just had to grab something from his classroom. A few moments after he left the door to the theater slammed closed. The seven students jumped, not expecting the loud noise caused from the slam.
"What the hell?" Jade asked, looking towards the door.
"No one was even over there. Why did it shut?" Tori asked.
"It looks like the hinge broke" Beck informed them as he stood examining the now closed door.
"Yea, and now the doors stuck" Andre said as he shoved his shoulder against it.
"That's the only exit! How ware we supposed to get out of here?" Trina asked concerned.
"Maybe the Hulk will come and break the door down hehe" Cat very innocently offered. The others just looked at her in amazement of her child-like train of thought.
"Maybe when Sikowitz gets back he can open the door from the other side" Robbie suggested.
"Did I hear my name?" A voice called through the door.
"The door is stuck and we can't get out" Beck informed him.
The students could see the door wiggle, but with no luck of getting it open.
"So it is. Well, I suppose I should go get help then, huh?" Sikowitz asked from the hallways.
"That'd be nice" Jade scowled.
"I'll go see what I can do. I don't know how long it will take. You kids stay here" Sikowitz responded.
"And where you expect us to go?" Jade shouted back at him as the sound of his footsteps grew fainter. Beck grabbed Jade's hand, pulling her close to him and planting a soft kiss on her lips. He knew his girlfriend was tired and the last thing she wanted was to be trapped in this relatively small room.
"Do you always have to be so mean, Jade? It wasn't his fault the door got stuck" Tori said.
"Shut the hell up, Vega. Do you always have to be so dependant on others? Does Robbie always need to have the stupid puppet around? Does your sister always need to be so self-centered? Does Cat always need to act like a child? Huh?" Jade yelled as looks of hurt flushed over the faces of everyone she just called out.
"Rex is NOT a puppet!" Robbie demanded.
"I'm not self-centered…I'm just confident" Trina responded.
"You forgot Andre and Beck" Cat pointed out.
"Jade that was cruel" Beck told her as Tori just stood there amazed at what Jade had just said.
"Yea, well it's the truth. I'm mean. It's just who I am. Yes I do always have to be mean for the same reasons everyone else is the way they are!" Jade was clearly getting more irritated by the minute.
"Maybe some of us have reasons" Tori told her.
"Yea, like what?" Jade asked, actually interested in how Tori planned on defending herself.
Tori didn't say anything right away. She moved to the stage on the other side of the room and sat on the floor, followed by Robbie who surprisingly left Rex sitting on the chair he had been on during rehearsal. Cat skipped over next and sat down on the right of Tori. Andre followed suit and took a seat on the floor next to Robbie. Trina was the next to join the forming circle as she situated herself next to Cat. Beck dragged Jade over to the circle on the stage and sat down next to Trina. Jade was the last to sit, taking the last empty spot between Beck and Andre. She clearly was not happy to be joining in, but cuddled up with Beck and went along with it.
After a few minutes of sitting there with everyone just starring off at different things, Jade finally spoke.
"So, Vega, you gonna tell us why your so messed in the head?"
Tori gave a slight glare at her before speaking.
"I have my reasons" Tori said, as her eyes focused down at her shoes.
"Yea, well what are they? I'd love to hear them" Jade said sarcastically.
"Jade, let it go" Beck said in an attempt to prevent a fight.
"No, Beck, its fine" Tori said from across the circle. "You want to know why? Because my sister gets all of the attention, okay? She gets attention from anyone and everyone, all kinds of attention. And all I get is shit from you. So sorry if I cling to any positive attention that comes my way. I cling to it and then become dependent on it, like I need that person to get anywhere in life. My parents never pushed me to try new things, so I never thought I could. Then I came here and everyone is so supportive and pushes me to test my limits. It's a nice change and I don't want to loose anyone…even you, Jade."
Jade was taken aback by this response. She tilted her back onto Beck's shoulder and broke eye contact from Tori. She didn't know how to respond. She never expected Tori to open up like that. Tori's eyes shifted to her right, to her sister. Trina sat there looking down at the floor, before she slowly lifted her eyes to meet Tori's gaze.
"I'm sorry I steal all of the attention" Trina said to her sister. "I got jealous when you were born and all of the attention was on you, so I started doing things to get attention from Mom and Dad. But then they just became annoyed with me and you became their favorite, so I found ways to get attention from everyone else. If I don't believe in myself no one will."
"Trina, Mom and Dad love you. You know that."
"Yea, but they don't always show it. And Tori, they do believe in you. They just always wanted you to decide where you wanted to go in life. They'll support any decision you make."
The two sisters gave each other a loving smile before remembering that there were five other people sitting with them. They looked back at their friends before both becoming slightly embarrassed at how honest and open they just were. It didn't take long for someone to finally speak.
"Rex isn't a puppet." Robbie slowly looked up to look at his friends. No one said anything in response, so he just continued. "I have an older brother….well I had an older brother. He was just like Rex. Not afraid to say what was on his mind, popular, and he had a way with the ladies. He was like Rex in every way, or, well Rex is like him in every way. Five years ago he was killed in a car accident. I don't like to think about it because I miss him so much, but when Rex is around it's like he isn't gone. Its like were hanging out just like we used to."
Robbie felt a hand appear on his shoulder. He looked up, trying to hide the tears that started to fall from his eyes, and saw Tori reaching out to hug him. He had never told anyone about his brother before, but he was glad he finally talked about it. Tori sat comforting Robbie for a minute before the next person spoke.
"I don't just love music a lot. It's my outlet, my sanity." Everyone turned towards Andre to hear what he had to say. "When I was younger my dad left. As the oldest I was thrown into the role of the man of the house and had to take care of my siblings and my mom. I had so many responsibilities at such a young age and I couldn't handle all the stress in my life so I started writing songs about it. The creative arts pretty much saved my life, saved my future. It kept me level headed and allowed me to ease my mind as a kid."
"I totally get that, man" Beck told him. "When I was younger my mom was really sick with cancer. I watched my dad take care of her and do everything for her. He loved her no matter what and he taught me to love unconditionally. But I couldn't stand seeing my mom in so much pain. It never made sense in my mind how the world could be so mean to someone so innocent, so I just left reality. I started acting so I could enter a fantasy land. It cleared my mind and the shows I was in put a smile on my mom's face, temporarily allowing her to leave the pain of the real world, too."
"My dad…" a small voice squeaked up, but didn't finish the thought.
"Your dad what, Cat?" Tori asked.
Cat looked around nervously, regretting ever opening her mouth, but she decided to continue anyways. "My dad does things to me. Things a dad shouldn't do to his daughter."
"Like what, Cat?" Tori questioned.
"Dirty things" Cat responded simply.
"You're dad molests you?" Trina asked surprised.
Cat's face was starting to turn a light shade of red. She was either embarrassed about this or nervous to be talking about, or she was both.
"My mom's really busy taking care of my brother, with all the trouble he gets into. She barely notices if I'm coming or going. She barely notices my dad too. He wants things from her, things she won't give to him, so he just takes them from me. He didn't always. When I was little he was just like any other dad. I loved being little. I never want to grow up. Life was better when the world doesn't affect you."
This was a side of Cat no one had seen before, a serious side. Everyone was instantly concerned for their friend. They had no idea what went on behind closed doors at her house and no one wanted to believe what they were hearing.
"We have to tell someone. You know that, right Cat?" Andre asked his teary eyed friend.
"I guess…Jade, what about you?" Cat asked, in an attempt to change the subject.
"What about me?" Jade responded, speaking for the first time since the secrets started to spill.
"What's your home life like?" Robbie answered.
"It sucks" Jade simply said.
"Elaborate" Tori told her friend, hoping to break down the wall that Jade keeps up.
Jade looked around nervously before deciding that it was okay to open up. She squeezed Beck's hand and he knew she was feeling uncomfortable about this. He let go of her hand and put his arm around her shoulder in an attempt to offer more comfort to her.
"My parents used to drink and use a lot of drugs" Jade started. "They hardly knew me and my brother existed. We didn't have toys and I'm surprised we didn't kill ourselves with some of the things we played with. I had no emotions. I don't feel anything. My parents never showed pride in me, they were never happy, but always angry. I built my wall and left it there. No one ever loved me, until Beck, and I don't want to lose him."
"You have to have feelings. Everyone has feelings" Robbie thought out loud.
"I only feel when I-"Jade started to say before stopping herself. Her eyes widened in the fear of what she almost admitted to.
"When you what, Jade?" Tori wondered.
Beck looked at his girlfriend. He knew what she was talking about, she had talked to him about it before, but he was really hoping she would tell the rest of them so that hewould have someone to talk to about it.
"It's oaky, babe. Tell them" Beck whispered into Jade's ear.
Jade looked up at everyone and then simply pulled up part of her skirt to reveal her thigh which was covered in red cuts and pink scars. Everyone stared for a minute, not knowing what to say before Jade pulled the skirt back over her thigh and buried her head in Beck's chest.
Just then the door to the theater flew open and Sikowitz walked in with the janitor behind him.
"Why so somber, children?" he asked as he entered the room.
No one said anything. They all grabbed their bags and left the theater, going their separate ways home. Everything was different now and they all knew that. No one would ever look at each other the same way now that all the reasons why had all been revealed.
Sorry the ending kinda sucks, but I wrote this at 3 am...hope you liked it :P
Please review, I'd love to hear your opinions :)