Not Everyone Makes It in America

Chapter 3

Shocked, the phone had been lost from her firm grip. Clattering against the hardwood floor as Tori's delayed reaction made itself heard. "W-what?"

She couldn't believe what her agent had told her. There was no way Jade was in a mental institution. Much less refusing to do anything but stare mindlessly at a random television show. Correction, stare mindlessly at the Latina's own musical performances.

How could she even be sure it was true? What if the nurse who called her agent was just delusional herself? Why was Jade in there to begin with? And if she skipped town why did she end up in an institution here in LA? So many questions rushed through Tori's head, making it impossible for her to pull herself together.

Before she could forget Tori grabbed the pen off of her bedside table and wrote "Kedren Mental Hospital" down on her arm. She had to see Jade again. Then she could find out why she was in there, and if she could help.

She had to tell somebody, but she couldn't tell the group. Her first instinct was to go to Andre, but he wouldn't be able to hide something like that from the rest of their friends. Trina would just laugh at the idea of her in a mental hospital, and Robbie would all but insist that Jade really belonged in there.

Tori had to tell Cat, she used to be Jade's best friend after all. Besides, she was the only one Tori was sure she could convince to keep the secret. Grabbing her phone off of the bed where she had thrown it after the conversation with her agent, she began searching for Cat's phone number.

After dialling she waited for Cat to pick up on the first ring like always, this time it took a little longer though. On the third ring cat finally picked up. "Hi Tori!" She exclaimed at a rather loud volume.

"Uh, hey Cat. What's up?"

"Oh... Robbie and I, uh, just woke up?" Cat sounded rather unsure.

Tori choosing not to acknowledge it, as Cat often got confused by simple things. "Do you want to go out for some breakfast with me? We can go to your favourite restaurant, what's it called again? Toast?"

"Sure thing Tori! I'll see you there in twenty minutes?" Before letting Tori answer Cat ended the conversation with a sudden "Bye!"

She sighed, sometimes Cat was such a handful. She'd been hoping for more than 20 minutes to get ready and drive to Toast, but the redhead didn't leave her much option. However inconvenient as it was, Tori would have to make do.

By the time she arrived at Toast, Cat was already sitting at a table outside. As always the redhead was beaming with a smile, but this time it looked off. Like something else was going on in her head. Tori was sure that she was just trying to make excuses for herself not to tell Cat.

Sitting down, she noticed a bruise on Cat's shoulder. "Hey Cat! What's that from?" Tori asked, gesturing to the purple mark on her shoulder.

For a split second the redhead's eyes flickered to an emotion of pure fear as she stuttered, "I- I uh, my... Brother? He grabbed onto my shoulder last night and shook me... Yeah. That's it." Her breath hitched.

Noticing the change in Cat's emotion she inquired further. "Your brother is staying with you and Robbie? I thought last week you said he was in a special hospital in San Diego."

"Oh, yeah! Did I say brother? I don't think I did, I'm pretty sure I said a, uhm, bear did it?" Cat struggled to think of something that could do that to her.

Something was up with her. "Cat, a bear grabbed your shoulder and shook you? Inside your home in suburban Los Angeles?" All Tori wanted was Cat to tell her where the bruise came from, was that so hard?