A Jori Story:Coffee Shop Confessions

Chapter 14

When everyone went home,Jade and Tori were left alone.As Tori was cleaning up,she felt Jade's arms wrap around her waist and Jade's soft voice in her ear."Thank God they're gone."Tori smiled and said,"I'm cleaning.Later,"but Jade wouldn't have it.She lifted Tori off her feet and put her on the sofa.Jade straddled Tori and said,"Five minutes."Tori submitted and when they were done Jade and Tori both had hickeys.The evening passed and soon enough,both of them were laying down comfortably in bed,cuddling.Jade hugged Tori close to her under the freezing air-conditioner and they fell asleep in each other's warm embrace.

Morning came faster than they'd hoped and as usual,Jade woke Tori up with a kiss.They went downstairs and when Tori started on breakfast,Jade said awkwardly,"Just so you know,I don't want the school to know for sure."Tori looked up from the stove."But they do know."Taking a sip of her coffee,Jade said,"I can change that."They got into the car and drove to school,almost completely silent on the way.They reached the parking lot and Jade leaned over to kiss Tori,even longer than usual."Have a good day."Jade smiled and got out of the car.Tori stared after her and tried shaking off the feeling that something was going to go wrong.She stepped into the school and was relieved to see Jade surrounded by a group of people.They were laughing with her and Tori smiled at the sight.

She made her way to the crowd and said,"Wanna walk to RnB vocal together?"Jade shook her head and said,"I'll catch up."She turned to walk away when she heard the group of people explode into laughter behind her.Shrugging it off,she walked her way to the RnB vocal class on her own.The moment she entered the room,everyone stared at her and the loud banter dropped to hush whispers.She managed to catch a few words of what a group of guys were saying. "...yeah it seems she begged Jade..."Her ears perked up at the words and she spun around to look at them."What are you talking about?"The guys smirked and said,"Why'd you wanna know so bad?Clingy much?,"and the other guys burst into laughter.She turned back to the front and tried hard to focus on what was escaping her teacher's mouth but couldn't bring herself to.

After RnB vocal,she tried looking everywhere for Jade but found she was nowhere in sight.She was already 10 minutes late for her third class of the day,the third class filled with people laughing at her silently.She cried silently at the back of class as the teacher didn't even notice. The only thing stopping her from sobbing all the way through was the fact she had Sikowitz's class right after this one so you could imagine her relief when the bell to dismiss them rang.She nearly sprinted to Sikowitz's class,silent laughter still following her.The moment she entered,she saw Andre,Robbie and Cat pacing furiously,focused on something.It was only at the sound of her footsteps that Andre ran to her and wrapped his arms around her."Tell me you watched the video."Tori looked confused at the three of them and said,"What video?"Andre looked at Robbie and Cat who locked both entryways into Sikowitz's class before sitting Tori on a chair and bracing her for what was to come.

Andre's laptop was already logged into the Slap and a video with Jade as the thumbnail was on the screen.Robbie hit play and the video started with someone filming Jade standing in the hallway."Are you getting this?,"she asked the cameraman,who nodded and motioned for her to continue."I just want to clear things about that picture on the Slap.I did not kiss Tori Vega.Her dyke ass begged to kiss me and when I said no,she pulled me towards her."Tori's could literally feel her heart shattering in her chest at these words,the words coming from the girl she loved so deeply,the girl she thought she knew.To rub salt in the wound,Jade went on to say,"I would rather slam my head in a car door than willingly kiss that slut.I have standards.I'm only friends with her out of pity.She has a huge crush on me and I don't want to crush her stupid dreams,ya know?"Tori could barely stand to hear anymore.She pushed Andre's laptop out of her face and fell to the ground,numb.

Jade was on her way to Sikowitz's class after laughing along with some other people about the video.She felt disgusted but brushed it off as quick as the feeling came.She loved Tori,but her reputation as the bad bitch had to be taken care of.Tori wouldn't check the Slap anyway.She reached Sikowitz's class and tried the handle which was locked,surprisingly. She looked through the little window to see Tori sobbing on the ground,Andre and Cat comforting her.She saw the video.She began banging on the door and Andre was the only one who looked up at Jade.He said something to Cat and unlocked the door.Jade was about to come running inside when Andre stopped her."No,you've done enough damage."She looked at him,longing to see sympathy but found herself staring into eyes that were black with fury."Andre,I-"she began but was cut off by Andre's voice,much louder and scarier than her own.

"Save it.Leave Tori alone."She tried pushing past him but was blocked by Robbie,puny Robbie who looked intimidating to her right that moment.She lifted her hands in defeat and watched as Andre and Robbie helped Tori up,supporting her limp figure.Cat picked up Tori's backpack and was about to follow after the boys when she stopped in her tracks and looked hard at Jade."She really loved you,Jade.She really,really loved you."With that,she walked out of the room,leaving Jade alone.Andre and Robbie helped Tori to her car."Where are we going?"Andre got behind the wheel followed by Cat and Robbie in the back seat."You,my friend,need a pick-me-up,"said Andre with a soft smile.They drove in silence to the mall where they went to all of Tori's favourite places,but didn't manage to get a proper smile out of her the whole day.

When they reached Tori's house,Jade was seated on the doorstep with her head in her hands. Tori spotted her and turned to the other three."Set up your stuff in my room.It's big enough." Robbie and Cat walked right into the house but Andre stood cautiously with Tori,staring at Jade. "Go,I'll be fine."He nodded and rubbed her back before reluctantly going into the house with the boxes of pizza and tubs of ice cream.Jade got off the pavement and started,"Tori-,"but was cut off by the brunette's voice."No.Listen to me.I get that you don't want people to know yet but was making that video necessary?I begged you to kiss me?Wow,Jade.What are you trying to prove?How dumb I was to ever love you?"Jade was quiet for a couple of seconds before Tori said,"I asked you something."Jade's eyes welled up with tears when she burst out saying,"I had to take care of my reputation,Tori!People know me as the bad ass and I can't have that ruined!"

Tori stared at Jade in utter disbelief and crossed her arms."So you'd ruin another person's reputation just to save your own?"Jade was about to protest when Tori's eyes welled up again and her voice cracked as she said,"We're done.I must have fallen in love with the wrong person." Jade could feel her heart break deep within the confines of her chest and reached out for Tori's hand."Tori...,"but she pulled away and walked back into the house,not bothering to look behind. She closed the door behind her and exhaled when Andre came up to her and hugged her again. "That was the right thing to do chica,and you know it.I'm proud of you."Cat and Robbie wrapped her in hugs and before long,it was a warm friendly group hug.When they all pulled away,Robbie picked up a pizza box and said,"Let's get our dough on!"They put on some fun music and joked together while they indulged in the pizza,not mentioning Jade once that night.

It was about 2 am when Andre and Robbie lay down on the mattresses Tori had set up and Cat jumped under the covers next to her.As everyone said their good nights,Tori said sleepily,"I love you guys."In unison,all of them responded with,"We love you too,"and fell asleep.2 am and Jade had no place to sleep.She was too tired to walk back home and too devastated to go anywhere else.She'd ruined the one good thing that had happened to her in a while,and she wasn't sure if she would ever be able to forgive herself for it.So she sat in a 24 hour diner,drinking cup after cup of coffee,trying her best to stay awake and not burst into tears right there.