6:00am (3:00am SEQUEL) // Jori fan fic

Chapter 19 - Jealousy

School ended like a slow-motion car crash—agonizing, inevitable, and somehow still not covered by my insurance. I was just about to crawl into my car and scream into the void like a normal person when my phone rang.

"Hello?" I answered like someone who already regretted being born.

"Ah, Jade! Just the tortured voice I was hoping for," came Sikowitz's chaos-dipped greeting, followed by his signature unhinged chuckle—the kind that makes you wonder if he sleeps in a tree or just in a vat of expired almond milk. "Just wanted to let you know I've assigned watchdogs to make sure you and Tori commit to the method acting project!"

I blinked. "I'm sorry—what?! Why? Who? What fresh psychological warfare is this?"

"Because you and Tori bond like cats in a bathtub, and I think this could be very healing for you—or at least educational! And if either of you break character, you fail. Bye-bye, Juilliard!" He sang, clearly enjoying my spiral.

"UGH. FINE." I snarled, hanging up before I could be possessed by the spirit of murder. I slumped into my seat, cracked open my emotional cigarette pack, and hit the number. The one number I knew would make this situation worse.

"Hello?" came her voice—Babe. The girl I really liked, the girl I fought with, the girl who could disarm me with a smile... and then detonate me like an emotional nuke.

"Hey, Babe," I said carefully, like someone defusing a bomb strapped to a jealous lesbian's ego.

"Ooh! Hey, honey!" she chirped cheerfully. Bangs and power tools blared in the background like she was building a doomsday device—or her own bunker. "I was just about to call you! What's up?"

"What's with all the background noise? Are you hiding a hostage in drywall or something?"

"Oh, that? Nah, just remodeling the studio! New gear, new game—I told you about it, remember?" she laughed, oblivious to the shitstorm brewing up my ass. "So, talk to me. What's going on?"

"Well..." I paused, already regretting every life decision that had brought me to this moment. "You're not gonna like this. And I'll make it up to you, I swear. Like, with real effort. Maybe feelings. Who knows?"

"Okay...?" she said, suspicion blooming like a rash.

"My professor paired me with a classmate for a method acting project. We have to play a couple. Couple of days. Like, full immersion. And, um... it's Tori."

Silence.

Like the kind of silence right before the devil shows up.

Then: "YOU FUCKING WHAT?!"

Everything on her end went dead quiet—tools stopped, people froze, even the universe seemed to pause to witness my suffering.

"Yeah, uh... and there are students assigned to spy on us. If we break character, we fail. Welcome to educational hell," I muttered, lighting my cigarette like it was the last comfort I had left in a world full of exes and emotionally unavailable girlfriends.

"Jade. This is not okay. This is like—so not okay, it's practically in another galaxy of not okay. You're telling me you're playing pretend-gay-married with your ex?! For school?!"

My blood started boiling, bubbling, foaming at the edges. I've been yelled at before—teachers, cops, Beck's mom—but this... this hit different. This was jealousy marinated in possessiveness, sautéed in insecurity, and served with a side of guilt trip salad.

"Dude. I get that you're mad, but this is Juilliard-level serious. This is what I do. There are gonna be roles you hate. Jobs you'll want me to turn down. But I'm not gonna nuke my future because you're uncomfortable with pretend feelings."