Just a Stage Kiss (EXTENDED)

Chapter 5

POV: Jade

Why was I stuck with the most annoying, frustrating, annoying, pain in the... neck, annoying girl in the class to do this stupid stage kiss with? I'd spent forever working on that damn idea for this stupid thing and now she has to go and ruin it by being all scared! I almost threw Vega into my car just to get her to stop dragging her feet nervously as we left her house, seriously, anyone would think I'd just kidnapped her and was about to kill her! Which maybe wasn't such a bad idea right now, but I'd rather not get chucked into juvy because of Tori Vega. I jumped into the drivers' seat as she fumbled around with her seatbelt and I could see the look of fear in her eyes, which I laughed at.

"What!" She jumped, seatbelt flying out of her hands.

"Nothin'" I smirked just to irritate her.

"I'm not going through another scary ride with you like last time you gave me a lift to school with a shovel in the backseat and then let me walk from the desert all the way to school" she exclaimed.

"Hey! You're the wuss who jumped out of the car for no reason!" I defended myself unable to restrain my smug smile at the memory.

"Because you were being so creepy!" she countered.

"Because you were being so creepy!" I imitated her voice doing the southern bell accent I often use to mock her.

"I don't talk like that! And if you're going to be like this I'll just-" Vega grabbed the door handle, about to climb out of the car and run back to her house, presumably for what she thought was safety away from me. I should've let her go, but, against my better judgement, I layed a hand genially on her other arm, stopping her from leaving.

"Tori, look." I said softly. Honestly, and I'd never admit it to anyone, a part of me felt a bit sorry for the girl if she was really so scared of me to the point of getting all worked up over something like this. I mean I liked to scare people but not to the point where they're uncomfortable and literally terrorized to just be in my presence. It was a very small, very hidden, part of me that felt sorry of her, but it was there all the same, tugging on my heart strings and telling me to be nice to the younger Vega, just this once.

"Look." I repeated. She appeared to be frozen; her eyes watched my hand warily. "I don't like this as much as you, damn, I probably hate it more! But it's an assignment that has to be done, so we might as well do it, okay?"

She nodded, retracting her hand from the door as I do the same from her arm, then turned back to the steering wheel, wrapping my fingers a little tighter than usual around the leather.

"Besides, I'm not having my grades ruined possibly leading to my career in pieces, all because of you." I added, looking back to smirk at her again.

She rolled her eyes, but nodded all the same. I slammed my foot a little harder than necessary on the gas pedal as I pulled my concentration to the road, but I couldn't help but glance every so often at Vega as she sat in the passenger seat looking awkward and out of place, her fingers either fiddling with each other or picking at the material of the insanely tight skinny jeans she was wearing.

"Jade? The road." Tori's voice suddenly broke my thoughts and I whip my attention back to what's in front of me. Damn, was I just staring at Vega's legs? And did she just catch me staring? I gripped the wheel even tighter, annoyed at myself for being distracted by Vega's legs, of all the things I could've been distracted by. I thanked God, or whoever, for the make up I had applied to my face earlier as it hid the blush I could feel trying to glow on my cheeks. Jade West never blushed, not in front of people, especially not in front of Tori Vega. It was a stupid, giggly girly thing to do, something I'd associate with the Latina next to me or Cat, rather than myself. Damn! She was so... annoying!