Of Scissors And Scooby Doo

Chapter 16

Nine year-old Tori Vega skipped up the pathway leading to the West household, halting once to turn around and wave at her parents sitting in their car as they waited for their daughter to get safely inside the house. When the small girl reached the front door, she stood on her tippy toes to ring the doorbell. A bright smile on her face and an excited sparkle in her eyes that seemed to always be there when she was about to see Jade greeted Mrs. West as she opened the door.

"Hi, Tori!"

"Hi! I'm here to play with Jade!"

Jade's mother let out a small laugh as she gazed down at her daughter's best friend. "I know. Come on in." The dark-haired woman ushered the youngest Vega inside the house and sent Tori's parents a smile and a wave before they took off and Mrs. West closed the door. When she turned around, her eyes fell on Tori, rocking back and forth on her heels with her hands locked behind her back as she expectantly looked up at her. Mrs. West chuckled. "Jade is up in her room. You can go up if you'd like."

A bright smile immediately lit up the tan girl's face. She dashed towards the staircase, bouncing up the stairs excitedly. When she got to the top Tori took a right turn and promptly ran into Jade's dad. "Careful there," he said in his deep voice and Tori blushed and took a step back, peering up at the tall man.

"Sorry, Mr. West."

"No harm done. Don't worry." He nodded at her and fixed his tie before he walked past, down the stairs and, after grabbing his keys and briefcase, out of the house. Tori waited until the door fell shut behind him before she continued her way to Jade's room. Jade's dad was so different from her own. Her dad was always smiling and laughing and making jokes while Jade's was... just really grumpy most of the time.

A smile soon reappeared on Tori's lips as she finally reached Jade's room. Before she twisted the knob however, she paused. Pretty music filtered through the sturdy wood and after Tori pressed her ear against the door, she could make out the familiar tune and hear Jade quietly humming along. Curious as to where the music was coming from, Tori pushed the door open, eyes widening at what she saw. She gasped. "Oh wow! A piano!"

Fingers stilled and blue eyes lifted from the black and white keys to look at Tori. "It's a keyboard. My mommy got it for me." With her lip wedged between her teeth and corners of her mouth turned upwards, Tori quickly walked over to Jade and sat down next to her on the soft bed.

"Can I touch it?"

Jade readjusted the keyboard on her lap and pushed it a little toward Tori. "Sure, go ahead."

Tori reached her hand out, stretched out her index finger and carefully let it run over smooth white keys. A small excited gasp escaped her mouth as Jade placed her finger on hers and pushed down, making a single note sound through the room. "I can play one song already," Jade told her happily. Tori's eyes snapped up.

"I know! I heard it through the door! Will you play it for me?"

Jade quickly nodded and placed her fingers on top of the keys. She took a deep breath before she began playing. Dangling her feet off the bed, Tori began to sing along.

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.

You make me happy when skies are gray.

You'll never know dear, how much I love you.

Please don't take my sunshine away!"

When Jade hit the last note, Tori began to clap enthusiastically, mirroring the grin on Jade's face. "Do you want me to teach you?"

When Holly and David came to pick their youngest daughter up a couple of hours later, they found Jade and Tori sitting on Jade's bed with the keyboard placed across both of their laps, the slightly wonky tunes of 'You Are My Sunshine' and Jade's laugh filling the room.