By Any Other Name

Chapter Eleven

Tori fled the café, dropping her lunch into the trash on her way out. She'd lost her appetite. Seeing Jade had made her entire system freeze, pressure building as those deep, desperate eyes bored into hers from across the lot.

God, Jade... what am I supposed to- I don't even... what am I, I mean...

Groaning in frustration, she rushed through the doors and immediately headed for the janitor's closet... but then the memories of all the times she'd been alone in there with Jade came creeping into her head so she changed directions at the last second. Her feet carried her instead to the Black Box Theater, which was Thank God empty.

Dropping down into an empty seat, Tori immediately slumped over, head dropping down into waiting hands. A heavy sigh escaped her as her eyes screwed shut, tight as they would go.

How was she supposed to handle this? Jade had... Jade had confessed that she had "feelings" for her... but she'd just broken up with her boyfriend of two years and up until that break-up Jade had treated her like dirt. Tori was happy that Jade had finally started to open up to her, but all of this made her wonder... was it real? Beck had asked her out too, so soon after the break-up... and Jade had known he was going to!

That's the weird part! Yesterday at the restaurant she'd asked me who it was that had texted, but it almost felt like she'd known it was going to be Beck even before I did! And then outside she told me that he wanted to go out with me...

So, should I be worried that this is all some kind of sick love game? Does Jade even care about me at all, or is just this her way of getting back at Beck?

It almost seemed like a plausible thought, until Tori remembered those miserable green eyes, staring at her, begging her to come over and sit so they could just talk things out...

...and then her body bean to remember what had happened yesterday. Her heart began to pound and heat raced to her cheeks. Her lips began to tingle of their own accord, eyes opening to stare at the floor as the feel of Jade's lips pressing against hers, hungry and desperate and yet so incredibly soft came back to her. The feel of Jade's warmth pressed against her... the heat that had flared deep in the pit of her stomach at first contact...

"This wouldn't have to do anything with Jade, would it?"

Eyes snapping open, Tori looked over her shoulder and screamed, lunging forward to get away and ending up sprawled on the floor, pain shooting across her side. Groaning in pain, Tori decided against getting up and just let herself marinate there on the carpet. Shooting a glare up at the person that had put her in this predicament, she couldn't help but feel irrevocably irritated.

"Sinjin, don't do that!"

The lanky, creepy young man stared down at her with pity in his eyes, magnified by the spectacles that always sat a bit too high on his nose. His thin arms dangled down at his sides like always, unoccupied and awkward. Everything about him was awkward if you got right down to it, but the fact that he never seemed to be doing anything with himself unless he was working the stage lights or sound booth was just weird. Tori didn't think she'd ever even seen the boy make a phone call, or fool around with an iPod like any normal teenager would.

She held out a hand, hoping that Sinjin would take the hint and help her up, but he just continued to stare. If Tori hadn't been used to his weird behavior, she probably would have high-tailed it out of there, afraid for her life. Instead, she just rolled her eyes and sat up. She met his gaze after brushing some lint off of her shirt and saw that the pity in his eyes was mixed with some bizarre sort of chastising glare, like a mentor would give to a pupil. "What do you want, Sinjin?"