A Dangerous Friend

Into the Closet

Hi. So, Carla's been kicked into touch by a furious Tori, and the girls are heading back to Jade's place. Now let's catch episode one of The Tori and Jade Show.

And remember kids, just say no.

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"So, here it is," Jade said, kicking open the door. "Welcome to The Closet."

"The what?"

"That's what I call it. The Closet."

"You call your apartment 'The Closet'?"

"Yeah," Jade said, slightly disconcerted. "Why?"

"No reason."

"It's because it's small, you see?" she explained. "And kind of cramped."

"Right."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Then why are you smirking?"

"I'm not," Tori said. "It's just... Boy, this box is heavy." She shouldered her way past Jade and into the apartment.

It was, as Jade had meant to imply, not big, but that wasn't what struck Tori. She'd assumed that Jade would be either recklessly untidy, or obsessively neat, but this place was neither. It was rather like standing on the deck of the Mary Celeste - Jade hadn't been expecting her to come here, and everything was just as it had been when she'd picked up her bag and headed out of the door. The unwashed coffee cup on the table, lipstick still on the rim, an open notebook, the calendar recording the minutiae of her life. A single sock that had begun its journey to cleanliness with its partner, but had somehow fallen wounded by the wayside. It had a kind of ordinariness to it, a melancholy, the ticking of the clock in the silence, the grocery list made out for one, that startled her. All their friendship had been by necessity on Tori's terms - when she could get away, where they could go - and it had never occurred to her to think about Jade's solitary existence. Jade had said she had no friends, but she'd never really appreciated what that might mean.

Jade mistook her silence for disappointment. "I'm sorry," she said, kicking the errant sock under the table. "I'll clean up a little."

"No." Tori turned to her. "It's lovely."

Jade looked around the tiny apartment, skeptically. "Is it?"

"Yes." Tori took her hands. "Thank you for this," she said. "It means a lot."

"Yeah, well," Jade shrugged uncomfortably. "It's the least I could do. Well," she frowned. "Not the least, obviously, but-"

"It's fine."

"Right."

They stood, awkwardly holding hands for a moment. "Anyway," Jade said briskly, breaking away. "Bring your clothes through. I'll find you some space."

Tori followed Jade into the bedroom, and again felt a small thrill of intrusiveness at seeing the clothes strewn on the bed, evidence of Jade's packing, deciding what to wear to come and visit her. Jade crossed to the wardrobe in the corner, opened it up, and after a moment's deliberation, grabbed half the clothes and flung them into a corner. "There you go," she said, pointing to the empty rail. "Space."

"Thanks." Tori looked around. "What's this?" she said. She was stood by a desk, on which lay Jade's 'Tori Timetable'.

"It's nothing," Jade said, making a grab for it, but Tori was too quick for her, and she stood, squirming, while Tori held it up to the light. "It's just a... thing."