𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 | jori ✓ {revamping}

15

revamped! 28/11/2020

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

Tori found herself standing alone by her locker, clutching a binder in her arms for whatever reason and not realising that most of the hallway had emptied out already from the ongoing bells that rang overhead her. Her mind had drifted off to the debut of Sikowitz's play happening in less than 48 hours. She felt more confident in it than usual, however, she wasn't entirely sure about Jade. Now that her thoughts had turned off, she just stood there staring off into space.

She could've sworn she also heard a voice calling her name, but she shrugs it off anyways.

Tori releases a brief sigh before hurriedly placing the binder that's in her arms inside of her locker, shutting it quickly and strutting awkwardly towards Sikowitz' class, assuring herself that her friends had gone ahead of her. As she continues to walk, she tries to take her mind off her anxious thoughts by admiring the various posters on the walls, all showcasing different performances from people with different talents. She frowns slightly at the sight before looking straight ahead.

She clutches her bag even tighter, digging the tip of her fingers into the material.

However, a hand suddenly lands on her shoulder, instantly startling her and causing her to jump and face backwards, seeing Andre behind her who steps away from the surprised girl. He meets eyes with her, giving an awkward smile on his face.

He clears his throat, a warm smile on his face, "Hey, Tori."

Tori runs a frustrated hand through her strands, greeting a lot less cheerfully than normal, "Hey, Andre."

"I called you by your locker but you seemed really distracted, are you doing alright?" Andre asks, tilting his head to get a better look of Tori. Now the brief memory comes back to her of her hearing the faint voice of someone's voice calling out to her, guess she wasn't dreaming after all.

Tori just nods sheepishly, trying to hold in an incoming yawn. "Yeah, yeah, I-I'm doing fine. I went to bed late last night because my dad came home for the first time in weeks and it just startled me. I really wasn't expecting him to appear so late at night." She feels herself grimacing from the lie, hoping that Andre wouldn't catch on since the boy tends to be quite skilled at reading her expressions and finding the contradictions in her words. But he didn't seem to notice this time, only gasping lightly.

Andre's eyes widen in surprise. "Your dad? Damn, I haven't seen that man in a long time! How has he been doing?"

The stress washed over the brunette even more, Tori shakes her head solemnly, lips pursing into a thin and worried line. "Not that well in all honesty𑁋he's been suffering a lot of stress lately and I feel bad for not being there to help him. He looked like he wanted to faint when he walked through the door. "

"Poor guy," he mutters, fixing his posture upright next to Tori. He looked slightly nervous. "I'm guessing it's his work, huh?"

"I mean, what else could it possibly be?" Tori asks, the burning frustration icing in the tone of her voice. She thinks for a moment before speaking, specifically about her mother and how she's never there to assist with anything. It makes her sigh. "And with the absence of my mom as well, I'm not sure what they're doing."

Andre raises an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Tori shrugs helplessly. "I-I don't know. They just don't seem... that close anymore. It's like the cause is my dad being gone from the house all the time, so my mom doesn't have much to do and just... leaves." She bites her lip awkwardly. Andre put his hands in the pocket of his pants, letting out a sigh.