The Challenge

Chapter 5

Tori's POV

"What are you doing here?" I spat

"Be nice to me... Tori" Jade said clearly kinda disgusted by saying my real name "I came here, because we need to figure out this challenge. And I also have something to tell you" she said coming in and sitting down on my couch. Suddenly I heard André voice coming down the stairs and we both turned to face him "What are you doing here?" he asked "That's none of your business, so just go ahead and leave" Jade said shooting daggers with her eyes. Andre quickly got the message and left, giving me a hug before he stormed out the door.

"Why do you always have to be so mean to people?" I asked sitting down next to Jade "Well, because then people would think that it's okay to come and talk to me" she said fidgeting with one of my cushions "So anyways" she continued turning towards me, staring at me with those icy blue eyes "Sikowitz came to bother me after school, and he told me to ask you how you would feel about telling ONE person about this challenge so we have someone to back us up every once in a while" she finished. I thought about it for a moment. Having someone to back us up every once in a while could be helpful, but who could we tell? "But, how would we choose one person that we can trust with this assignment?" I asked staring right back into her eyes. She made a thinking face, and we both just sat there, staring at each other until she came to a conclusion "We could tell Cat about this, but my one concern is..." "That she spills something without thinking" I finished for her "Yeah, but I mean, Cat does have her moments every once in a while. I was thinking maybe Andre..." I said waiting for her reaction "No way! I can't trust Andre, he's sure to spill something, but that's the least of our problems Vega. How the hell are we supposed to act like a fucking couple? I hate you" she answered with that usual smirk she always wore. "I don't particularly like you either, but this counts for more than half our grade, we gotta make it believable, doubtful" I said getting up and heading for the kitchen.

"Sikowitz said something about that today. He said that actors have to practice a lot before they can start to make chemistry happen in the scene" she said getting up and following "It can't be that hard, I'm a very good actress, I'm just hoping you won't mess this up" she continued. "I'm also a good actress Jade!" I spat opening a bottle of punch "Sikowitz said we can do this, and we can, we just have to practice" I said sitting across from her at the kitchen table. "Ok, then let's get to it" she said "We should probably get used to each other" she said with disgust "before we try anything else" She had a point, there was no way we could do this if we didn't get along at the least. "Wanna watch a movie?" I said after an uncomfortable silence "Sure" was all she said as she went back to the living room and chose one of the movies I had on DVD. I silently made some popcorn and got another punch from the fridge.

Jade pressed play as I sat down beside her and handed her her punch . After a few seconds, the title "THE SCISSORING" flashed on the screen. "Really Jade, haven't you watched this like a million times already?" I said rolling my eyes "Yes, now shut up and enjoy the movie" she answered not taking her eyes off the TV. When about half the movie was through, I had screamed three times and choked on my popcorn twice. And out of nowhere, this bloodthirsty killer appeared on the TV and out of instinct, I grabbed Jade's arm and buried my face on her shoulder. Realizing what I'd done, I slowly removed myself from her and searched for any sign of murderous look in her eyes, but for an unknown reason, they remained the same as they were before. "Are you okay? Why aren't you mad?" I said surprised, waving my hand in front of her face. "We gotta get used to each other remember, I'm only acting Vega, don't flatter yourself just because I didn't rip your head off" she looking at me for a brief second. After that conversation, we both focused on the movie, and I was determined not to do that again.

I was focused on watching the movie when unexpectedly, Jade slipped her hands into mine. I shivered a little at the touch, but then after a while I understood that we would eventually have to hold hands at some point.

Jade's POV

After that unfortunate conversation with Vega, I waited a while before intertwining hands with her. I felt her shudder at little at my touch but she soon gave it up, and just relaxed, focusing again on the movie. Her hands felt softer than I imagined, it almost, almost felt comfortable even, like our hands we made for each other, but I quickly shook those thoughts out of my head and dedicated the rest of my thoughts to the movie. For a while I was feeling comfortable and when I looked to my side I realized that Vega had rested her head on my shoulder sleeping. I was about to wake her up when the doorbell rang loudly. That was enough to make both of us jump, and for a quick moment we exchanged a glance, but Vega broke it when she answered the door.

She paid the pizza guy, and then she put the pizza down on the coffee table in the living room, grabbed a slice and resumed her place next to me, only further apart this time. I also got a slice and ate it, still watching what was left of the movie. It was an uncomfortable silence after the pizza was delivered. I looked at Vega for a moment and she looked at me at the same time. We held our eyes so that my blue eyes were staring at her brown eyes. She gave me a small smile, and for a reason I didn't know, I also gave her a small smile. "I should go, it's getting late." I said breaking eye contact and getting up from the sofa, retrieving my bag that was nested on the couch. "Yeah, it is. I feel as though we're gonna do well in this challenge" she said after a moment "We managed to watch a movie, dare I say it, like a couple, and we didn't kill each other" she said "Yeah, but we're gonna need a lot more than that to make people believe that we "love" each other" I said making air quotes on the love part, making sure there was no doubt about it being fake. "I'm impressed Vega, I think we're actually gonna be able to do this. See you tomorrow" I said as I got out the door and headed for my car.

The drive back to my house was pretty much 5 minutes, since there were hardly any cars on the road. I parked in my usual spot in the garage, and got out of the car only to find my dad waiting for me at the front door. "Where were you Jade? It's almost 11 o'clock, I thought we agreed your curfew was going to be 10:30 at the most. I was worried!" he said. I could see the concern in his eyes "Sorry, I was at a friend's house and lost track of time. It won't happen again" I hoped that was enough, so I gave my dad a quick hug and headed for my room, and apparently it was enough cause he didn't bother me after that. I took a long warm shower to think about the events that had happened, put on my pajamas and got into bed.

Who were we going to trust with this challenge was the question that burned on my mind for about an hour before I finally went to sleep.