Just A Stage Kiss

Chapter 8

Tori's POV

I was peacefully dozing on the couch in front of the tv, trying not to think over the weird week I was having, the pale, gothic girl who was the cause of my weird week or the kiss we'd shared earlier at school- which had stuck itself in a continuous loop in my head for me to see whenever I closed my eyes- when I was rudely awoken by the sound of the doorbell ringing. I grunted, pushing myself off the cushions and slumped over to the door, really not in the mood to see anyone, especially not the squealing little red head who tackled me in a hug as soon as I'd opened the door to her.

"Hi Tori!" She giggled as I prised her off me.

"Hey Cat." I said, watching as the smaller girl jumped into the seat I'd previously occupied, beaming a bright smile from ear to ear, positively bouncing up and down with excitement about something or other. I stood up behind to her, one hand on my hip, the other resting against the back of the couch. "How come you're here? Aren't you meant to be practicing you scene with Eli?"

"Oh." She paused in her fidgeting, her eyebrows creased. "Oh yeah! I forgot!" She fell back against the cushions, laughing at her mistake and I shook my head, but couldn't help the smile that twitched onto my lips as I sat down beside her; the girl was just a contagious ball of happiness.

"So, how come you're here?" I repeated. It's not that I didn't want to see her; I just hadn't expected her to arrive. Although, my friends did have a habit of inviting themselves over whenever they felt like it.

Cat began bouncing again and she bit the side of her cheek in what looked like an attempt to stop herself from blurting out the reason she was at my house. My eyebrows were raised even higher as I watched, it looked like she was unable to contain herself and the words came tumbling out of her mouth before she could stop them.

"Do you like kissing Jade?"

I choked. "W-What!"

"Do you like kissing Jade?" Cat repeated, grinning. It looked like she already knew the answer to her question,

"I, uh-" I gulped. I was still having trouble admitting it to myself, but saying out loud to Cat... "It's my character."

"That's what Jade said!" The little red head giggled again.

"Well, yeah, that's because- wait! You asked Jade if she likes kissing me!" I stammered, staring wide-eyed at the girl next to me who nodded gleefully, the Cheshire cat grin back in place. "Well, what did she say!"

"I told you, she said it was just your characters."

I blinked. "Oh, yeah..."

We sat in silence for a few moments, me staring absently at the tv screen, not really paying attention to the show that was playing, while Cat sat beside me, once again jigging up and down in place, quietly laughing to herself. She looked like she was about to explode.

"You do!" Cat burst out suddenly in a sing song voice, making me jump a little.

I rolled my eyes, just managing to suppress a groan at her words as I sank back into the chair, throwing my arms over my stomach. Cat was giggling again, and she fell back as well to rest her head on my shoulder.

"Look, Cat." I sighed, knowing I couldn't lie to the girl. "You can't tell Jade, or anyone, okay?"

She nodded against me, but I could say no more. Admitting out loud that I may actually like kissing Jade was totally different to admitting it in my head. For a start, in my head, no one else could hear it, no one else could know and it was safe there, it could be tucked to one side and forgotten about, if I tried hard enough. But aloud, it was out in the open for anyone to find out, including Jade herself, and I didn't want that, at all. Cat looked up at me expectantly and I huffed, pursing my lips in defiance, but the smaller girls beaming grin only got bigger, if it were possible.