A Jori Story:Coffee Shop Confessions

Chapter 1

Stars were beginning to dot the beautiful night sky that evening.The full moon shone and so did the clothes of Tori Vega as she was getting ready for Simon's big birthday bash.Simon was the older brother of her best friend at Hollywood Arts,Andre Harris.She was all decked out in a black leather skirt that fell just above her knees with a red sequined top and leather jacket to match. After checking herself out in the mirror,she proceeded to wait for her ride downstairs.It was a quarter to 8 when she heard a honk and ran out to her driveway to see Beck's car with blinding white lights parked in the front.She bounded over and yanked the door open.

"Hey Beck,hey Jade",said Tori as she made herself comfortable in the back seat.Beck gave her one of his award-winning smiles and said,"Hi Tori."Both of them looked at Jade,waiting for her to speak.Tori waited long for a response from Jade until Beck elbowed her hard in the side. Rubbing her side from the pain,she mumbled what may or may not have been,"Hi Vega."

Tori fell back into her seat looking dejected.It wasn't in Tori's nature to care about whether Jade liked her or not but those past few weeks had been pretty strange.She'd began to pay close attention to the way Jade swung her hips when she walked and the way her hair fell in flowing curls over her shoulder.She just wanted to be Jade's friend,right?All she wanted was to befriend the gorgeous,raven-haired girl sitting in front of her.She snapped out of her little reverie when she felt Beck tap her shoulder and say,"We're here."

Her jaw hit the ground,or the floor of the car,when her gaze fell upon the gigantic white-washed mansion that looked like a castle in front of them.She was about to get out of the car when she noticed that neither Beck or Jade were moving so she asked,"Aren't you guys coming?"Beck waved her away and said,"You go in first.We'll join you guys later."She nodded and got out of the car with slight reluctance.Scanning the area,she found Simon and walked over to him,pulling him into a hug.

"Happy Birthday Simon!"He chuckled and pulled back after which she thrusted a box into his hands and walked away,leaving him stunned.She walked into the house and found Robbie and Cat sitting by the punch table.Pulling up a chair,she joined them and Cat wrapped Tori in a hug. "Hi Tori!",she said in her usual squeaky voice.To her dismay,Robbie had Rex with him and she tried her best to ignore the rude little puppet.She sat in silence with them for a bit until she stood up and announced that she was going to look for Andre.

She walked around aimlessly for a while,squeezing her way past dancing couples and friends.She finally found him up with the DJ and tapped his shoulder.He whirled around and beamed when he saw the face of his best friend. He must have been in a very good mood since he hugged her and lifted her off the ground.When he put her down,she laughed and said,"What was that about?"He just smiled and said,"Would you emcee with me?"Her eyes lit up and she nodded vigorously.The pair grabbed microphones and started shushing the enormous crowd before them.

"Hello people,I'm Andre Harris and I just want to thank you so much for coming to celebrate my brother's 21st birthday with us it means a lot."Applause erupted from the throng of people and there were some shouts and whistle action going on at the back.Tori stepped forward and spotted Simon."Now,ladies and gentlemen,let the man of the hour come up and say a few words.Give it up for Simon Harris everyone!"Tori passed her microphone to a blushing Simon and stood next to Andre in the corner.She looked around for a bit until she saw Beck and Jade standing in a corner.Jade's eyes looked misty and her make up seemed to be smudged.Beck was standing next to her with arms crossed,staring at Simon intensely.Tori eyed the couple with speculation for a few minutes until Jade turned to leave out the door,practically running.Tori leaned in and whispered to Andre,"I'll be right back."