Second Guesses, Second Chances

Chapter 12

Jade

The bell for third period rings, and I sit down in my seat in Sikowitz's class. I haven't seen either Tori or Beck since this morning, which makes me feel a little uneasy. I try to take a few deep breaths to calm myself down, doing my best to maintain my calm and controlled image, but the knot in the pit of my stomach won't go away. I make sure not to glance at the door too often, lest someone catch onto the fact that I'm incredibly stressed out right now. Since deep breaths aren't helping me feel any better, I try to talk myself out of my worries, hoping to rationalize my fears away.

This is ridiculous. Who knew that someday, I'd be so worried about Tori-freakin'-Vega!

C'mon, Jade, don't be such an idiot. She'll be fine. She even said it herself; She and Beck won't cross paths until third period starts.

As more people stream into the classroom, I look at my phone so I can pretend to ignore them.

"Jade!" Tori's voice cuts through the noise of incoming classmates. My head immediately snaps up to look at the brunette happily jogging through the door. The knot in my stomach instantly disappears as I see the triumphant grin on her face, the weight of the world lifting off of my shoulders as she sits next to me. I give her a curious look, doing my best not to seem too interested.

"Guess who finally got rid of a certain cheater?" She asks, gently nudging me with her elbow. Despite the need to uphold my reputation, I can't help but smile a little, proud of her for dumping that cheating son of a bitch.

"It's about time," I say, nudging her back. As more students pour into the classroom, Cat joins Tori and I and sits behind me, ecstatic to hear the brunette's good news. The three of us chat for a few more minutes about nothing in particular before class officially starts.

"...So then, my brother went outside to yell at the fire hydrant across the street from our house, but..." Cat's voice trails off as her usually cheery expression turns into one of alarm. Both Tori and I turn around to see what she's so freaked out about, the air around all three of us quickly filling with tension and discomfort as a certain fluffy-haired dumbass enters the room. He approaches us and sits next to Tori without a word, pretending to be completely unbothered by what happened between them this morning.

To anyone looking at us from the outside, Beck and Tori sitting together would be completely normal, but to Cat, Tori, and I, having him so close to us feels like a threat. Tori quickly and carefully moves her seat a few inches closer to mine, trying not to look at the boy next to her who seems to be doing everything he can to make her aware of his presence without actually talking to her. Cat looks away to a different part of the room, and hums a nonsensical tune with a faraway expression, as she often does when the situation becomes too stressful for her to handle. I give Beck a death glare and shift forward slightly in my seat, ready to chew him out, when suddenly, our teacher bursts through the door as class begins.

"GOOOOOD MORNING LITTLE MUTANTS!" Sikowitz greets us with the most god-awful attempt at a Scottish accent I've ever heard. Much to his dismay, nobody moves or says a word, not even the shruggers who are known to simply react to whatever's going on. "Let's talk about the new play I'm directing." I perk up a little upon hearing the words 'new play'. If there's anyone who'll get the lead role, it's me. I'm Hollywood Arts' greatest actress, after all.

"Do I get to star in it?" I ask, impatiently.

"Hey, I think it's my turn to star in one of Sikowtiz's plays," I hear Andre protest from a few seats away. I narrow my eyes a little, confused as to why Andre, of all people, would get to play a lead role in any play. Sure he's a musical genius, but he's certainly no actor.