Postgrad Partners

West's Side Story

"Jade..." Nora crossed her arms again, leering at her daughter from across the room, "Where. Is. Tara?"

"And..." Tori walked over to the couch, sitting down next to Jade and reaching behind her back, "What are you...hiding?" Jade tried to push her back against the couch to block Tori's prying hand, but she was too late as her hand retracted after grabbing a green and orange folder with a large "U" logo on the front of it. "Jade, what is this?"

Jade quickly snatched the folder back from Tori and slid back to the other side of the couch, holding her secret folder close to her. "Look! Just let me explain, okay? I got this...when I was at the theater today with Tara..."

Previously...

"I was interrupting one of those moments, wasn't I?" Tara cringed behind the front door, "Sorry. Just...uh...meet us outside when you're ready?"

"We're ready!" Tori broke away from Jade, scooping up her bag from the dining table chair and slipping on her sneakers. "Come on, Jade! You're driving Tara in the SUV!"

"R-Right!" Jade snapped out of the daze and brushed her clothes free of food crumbs before grabbing the keys from the kitchen counter.

After stumbling awkwardly out of the apartment, Tori promptly walked to the black company coupe where Nora was waiting for her while Jade and Tara made for the red SUV and filed into the driver and passenger seats, respectively. They sat in silence for a moment, darting quick glances at each other before staring straight ahead.

"We don't...need to talk about that, right?" Tara cleared her throat nervously.

"What's to talk about?" Jade coughed as she turned the key in the ignition, "You walked in on worse, remember?"

"Well, it's not like I walked in while you two were actually—"

"Tara!" Jade snapped, then lowered her tone with a sigh, "That's 'talking about it'. Let's just get to the theater for that thing Sikowitz texted me about."

"Right..." Tara buckled her seatbelt and looked out the window as they left the parking lot. "He said he needed both of us for some...exhibition? You mind telling me what that is, because Nora just blushed when I asked her."

"I bet she did," Jade scoffed, "In theater terms, it means he needs our help presenting something to someone; probably a potential sponsor or someone who learned about the theater from the showcase. In any case, it's not like we had anything else to do today, right?"

"I guess not," Tara shrugged, "I haven't been needed at Neutronium since the showcase, so whatever this exhibition is, I can help; I owe Sikowitz that much, anyway."

"Thatagirl," Jade smiled, glancing in Tara's direction before focusing back on the road, "So, how've you been? It's been a few days. You finally replace that old music player or my mom's antique, hand-me-down phone?"

Tara let out a chuckle, still looking out the window, "Nope. I don't mind this 'dumbphone' as you called it once, and I'm still pretty attached to my music."

"You know, I'm sure you got paid a lot for being part of the showcase," Jade mused, "And you're basically living in my mom's hotel room for free, so what's stopping you from getting a smartphone and buying your favorite songs on the music store or something?"

Tara shook her head with a sigh, "I...don't have as much money as you think I do, Jade. I mean, yeah, they paid me a lot, but I donated a chunk of it to a charity that helps homeless youths. Nora helped me find it." Stopped at a red light, Tara watched a group of children crossing the street in front of them, chatting away and holding their backpacks tightly, "I was lucky Sikowitz gave me a place to stay when I left my foster home, and you guys helped me find a job, but not everyone's that fortunate; so...whatever I can do to help other kids live somewhat better than I did, you know?"