Harmony amidst Chaos | A Jori story

Heartstrings on a rooftop

-JADE'S POV-

God, why?! Why does everyone have to annoy me so much this morning? The sun's barely up, and the world feels too bright and loud for this hour. My brain is a foggy mess, and every little sound around me is like nails on a chalkboard. It's way too early, and I haven't had my coffee yet, which means I'm barely functional. Usually, Beck would've already gotten me a cup, knowing exactly how much I need that first hit of caffeine to survive the day. But not today. Not anymore.

He clearly doesn't want to be around me anymore. Not that I can blame him. I mean, it's not like I've made it easy for him. I've pushed him away more times than I care to admit, and now he's pulling back. I can feel it in the way he looks at me—like he's already made up his mind, like he's tired of the constant strain. And to be honest, I think I'm tired of it too.

Every little disagreement between us turns into a full-blown screaming match. Over nothing. Over stupid things that shouldn't even matter. But somehow, they always do. And I hate it. I hate how quickly it escalates, how we can't even talk without it turning into a war of words. It's exhausting. I'm drained, and I don't know how to fix it anymore. I don't know how to fix us.

So now, I'm left with this knot in my stomach, a tension that's been building for weeks. I can't even look at him without feeling like I'm suffocating. But I can't ignore him either. Not when everything's so... broken. I don't know what happened to us. We used to be okay. Or maybe it just seemed that way, and I'm only realizing now how much we were both pretending.

Then there's also this thing I can't shake. Something in the air that I can't put into words, but it's there. It lingers, and it messes with my head. It's not like I haven't dealt with complicated feelings before—hell, I practically live in chaos—but this... this is different. Every time I try to make sense of it, the lines just get blurrier. Something's shifted. And I think I know exactly what it is, but I can't bring myself to admit it, not even to myself.

And, of course, there's someone else testing my patience today...

"Why is Sikowitz late again?" I snap, glaring at the empty doorway like it personally offended me.

I step out into the hall, hoping to see him strolling in with his usual coconut, but no luck. Just a bunch of freshmen loitering around. Ugh. Rolling my eyes, I head back to my seat and drop into it with a huff.

"Maybe we could try an acting scene on our own." Robbie suggests, his tone way too chipper for my liking.

"Ooo! What if we act out the final scene from Titanic? You know, when the boat sinks?!" Cat chimes in, practically bouncing in her seat.

Typical.

"Oh my God, I just gave away the ending! Spoiler alert!" she adds, gasping dramatically.

I pinch the bridge of my nose, resisting the urge to bang my head against the wall. What have I gotten myself into today?

"Y'know," André says, leaning back in his chair, "whenever she starts talkin', I think to myself, 'maybe this time it'll make sense', and I'm always wrong."

Well for once, someone gets it.

Then, the most irritating sound in the world breaks through the chatter—a loud, obnoxious screech from the phone of the most annoying person I can think of.

Tori fucking Vega.

The girl who, from the moment she walked into this classroom, has been pushing all my buttons. She doesn't even have to try. It's like her entire existence is designed to irritate me. Everyone can see her bright eyes, her perfect smile, hear her loud laugh, or how she can make people smile even when they're in the worst mood.