Favorite Crime

Jade West walked into Hollywood Arts the following day. She made it her mission to talk to Tori and apologize. Jade didn't expect Tori not to be there. Tori never skipped school.

"Hey, have you seen Tori?" Jade asked Cat. She was hoping that Tori was at school and just avoiding Jade. That would be better than Tori being at home dealing with her feelings. Jade knew that Tori wasn't good at dealing with emotions. She had opened up to Jade before. Jade thought it was ironic that the girl who was so good at helping Jade with her feelings was terrible at dealing with her own. But that's just who Tori was. She was always putting people before herself.

"No she stayed home from school today," Cat said. "She's feeling upset about the girl who broke her heart. We missed you last night. Tori's really going through it."

"Oh, she probably texted me that she wasn't coming and I missed it," Jade said lying. She felt awful. Cat didn't know but Jade knew that the girl who broke Tori's heart was Jade. Whatever they had done last night Jade wasn't actually invited. She figured Tori lied about Jade's whereabouts. "Have you seen Trina? I want to check on Tori."

"Yeah I saw her go that way," Cat said pointing down the hall before skipping away.

Jade wanted to talk to Trina to see how Tori was doing. Jade didn't have the courage to text Tori herself. She was afraid the other girl would ignore her and Jade didn't want that.

"Hey, Trina can we talk?" Jade asked nervously when she found the older girl. Trina was with her friends outside of her locker. Trina stepped away from her friends and pulled Jade into an empty classroom. "How's Tori?"

"You cannot ask me how my sister is," Trina said diving into an angry rant. She's upset with Jade and wasn't afraid to tell her how she felt. If she hurt Jade, she wouldn't care. Jade deserved to feel like shit for how she treated her sister. "You broke my sister's heart. You don't understand the amount of damage you did to her heart. She had panic attacks because of you. She's not at school because of you. You fucked up big time Jade and I want you to stay away from my sister."

"So you know about us?" Jade asked. She hoped Trina didn't know and thought some unnamed girl broke Tori's heart. She should've known that Tori would tell Trina. Trina and Tori were a lot closer than Jade and Josh were.

"I figured it out a while ago," Trina told her. "You left your shirt at our house like an idiot."

Jade knows which shirt she's referencing. It was one of Jade's favorite shirts. It also became one of Tori's favorites as well. Jade always thought Tori looked cuter in it so it had become a part of Tori's wardrobe.

"Trina I love your sister," Jade said. "I just-"

"Save it. You don't love her. If you loved her you wouldn't have hurt her," Trina said. "If you truly love my sister then you'll leave her alone." Trina left the classroom after that and Jade was left alone to think about what Trina said. Had Jade really messed up that badly? She didn't mean to hurt Tori. Jade felt like an idiot. Why didn't she just tell Tori how she felt? Now she was stuck in the worst situation possible.

Jade goes through her classes feeling like a robot. She has a million and one thoughts going through her and none of them are good.

"What's up with you?" André asked her once lunchtime hit. "I've never seen you this quiet."

"Nothing I'm fine," Jade snapped. She didn't mean to snap at André but she didn't want to talk to him. He wouldn't understand. André put his hands up in surrender. He knew not to keep pushing Jade. It wasn't worth it. "I'm sorry. I just- I can't tell you what's going on. I didn't mean to snap at you."

"Hey don't worry about it," André told her. "If you're not ready to talk about it's fine. You'll tell someone when you're ready. I'm going to be annoying and pry for a second. No one is bullying you because you're a lesbian right?"

"No," Jade told him. "It's nothing like that."

"Okay good," André said. "I don't know if I said it yet but I'm proud of you. You'll make some girl happy."

Jade wants to cry hearing that. She made Tori happy but she broke the other girl's heart. Tori, the one girl who would never hurt a fly. Jade didn't deserve Tori or her forgiveness. "Yeah hopefully."

"I'll leave you alone now but if you need anything let me know," André told her before leaving Jade and her thoughts alone.

"Youre the one who broke Tori's heart aren't you?" Beck asked coming up to Jade.

"What?" Jade asks.

"Tori is home and heartbroken and you're not being your usual self," Beck told her. "What happened?"

Jade sighed before diving into the whole story. She started with the night playing seven minutes in heaven and ended with her conversation with Trina.

"Oh," Beck told her. "I never did apologize for making you play that night or making you go into the closet with Tori. When I saw your face afterward I felt bad. I didn't mean to hurt you like that. I thought about it after it happened and it sort of felt like I was outing you so I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize," Jade told him. "I don't think I was ever actually mad at you. I was mad at myself for not understanding my feelings about Tori."

"You should apologize and tell Tori how you really feel," Beck told her.

"I don't think Trina will let her near me," Jade told him.

"Don't worry about Trina," Beck said. "I'll distract her if needed."

Jade was glad Beck was there for her. He really understood how Jade processed emotions and how she handled things. He didn't judge her and he always tried to help her. She appreciated him.

Soon the school day ended and Jade was ready to go home. She wanted to go to her room and wallow in self-pity. She knows she doesn't deserve to be upset with herself. Tori was the victim here, not her. She can't imagine what Tori feels like right now and be more Jade thinks about it the guiltier she feels. She knows she can fix this but she's scared. She's scared of rejection. She's scared of Tori rejecting her.

"You're playing your sad music," Josh said his voice breaking Jade's thoughts. He was standing outside her door. Part of Jade wanted to ignore him and pretend he wasn't there but the rational part told her to let him in. She needed someone to talk to. "What's wrong? Can I come in?"

Jade lets him in and immediately hugs him and sobs. Josh doesn't know what's going through his sister's head but he knows he's going to be there for her. Jade was rarely upset like this, she preferred to hide her emotions.

"Tori didn't come to school today because she's so upset and she never misses school," Jade rambled. "Her sister knew about us and told me to stay away and I just want to fix this whole thing but I don't know how."

"Jade," Josh says. "Do you love this girl?"

"I do," Jade said. "I'm in love with her."

"I told you, you have to go after her," Josh said. "I didn't realize how bad the situation is. It seems like she loved you a lot too. You have to ignore her sister and go after her. You're Jade West. You always come up with a solution. Your heart will lead you in the right direction."

Jade thought about it. She wanted to fix things with Tori desperately. Even if they didn't become a couple, Jade wanted to be friends again.

"Should I text her?" Jade asks.

"It's up to you," Josh tells her. "Whatever you think is best."

Jade nods before typing a text. She doesn't want to say everything in the text message, that seems like a dumb move but she wants to try and say something.

Hi

Vega: Msg 2108 The recipient you are sending to has chosen not to receive messages.

"She blocked me," Jade said. "I really fucked up."

"Maybe it's a temporary thing," Josh told her. "You know just while she's going through it. You could always try talking to her in person. It's probably a better idea anyways."

Jade nodded and soon Josh left her room leaving her alone with her thoughts. Jade wondered if she would've told Tori how she really felt if she had two parents who loved each other. Her vision of love was tainted by her parents. She remembers being a kid and her dad looking at her mom like she was the most important thing in the world. She also remembers all the fights and screaming matches. She remembers her dad leaving for days at a time. She remembers her parents telling her about their divorce. She was only seven at the time and Josh was only five. She barely knew what the word divorce meant. No one else had divorced parents. She felt like an outcast. The day her dad officially left, Jade's world changed. She didn't get tucked in anymore. She didn't get hugged as much. Her mom started working more and Jade was constantly left with a babysitter. So yeah her parents definitely tainted her vision of love. Jade didn't want to end up like her parents. She didn't want to love Tori so much and then one day wake up and not love her at all. It didn't matter anymore though. She'd broken Tori's heart and it was likely Jade would never be forgiven.

Jade sighed. She would miss all the times she spent with Tori. She regrets not telling Tori that she loved her that night on the field. That was her chance and she blew it. The worst part was that the universe gave her another chance by having Tori tell her first but Jade dropped the ball. Jade thinks about all the memories she's made with Tori over the last few months. Jade realized Tori was her favorite person. Jade would go as far as to say that Tori was her best friend. She missed the girl a lot. Tori was the only person who ever agreed to watch The Scissoring with her. Sure Tori had been scared the whole time but to Jade spending time with her was worth it. Tori had held onto Jade tightly the whole time but Jade didn't mind. She liked the close proximity. Jade should've known she had some feelings for Tori at that point. Jade never let anyone touch her. Even when she and Beck dated, he and Jade rarely held hands or anything. Jade wasn't comfortable with it and Beck respected that. With Tori everything was different. Jade wanted affection from Tori. It just felt natural. Jade had picked up some of Tori's hobbies as well like baking. Jade wasn't one for domestic tasks like that but with Tori was fun.

"Jade you're not supposed to eat the batter," Tori whined. "You can get salmonella."

"It'll be fine Vega," Jade told her.

"It won't be fine if you keep the batter. We won't any left to make the cake." Tori told her. Jade rolled her eyes. Tori was so dramatic sometimes.

"I won't eat that much," Jade said.

"Sure you won't," Tori said swatting Jade's hand to keep her from eating more cake batter.

Jade missed Tori a lot. A lot more than she thought she did. All she knew was she had to get her back one way or another. She wasn't going to let her and Tori's relationship die like her parents. No, she was going to fight for Tori.——————-Follow me on Twitter @ Jorichansaw Chapter name comes from Favorite Crime by Olivia Rodrigo