One More Chance With Time

4.

Three days later

It had been nearly three full days since Tori had been laid to rest and the majority of the student body had gone on with it's business. But there was an unmistakable sense of sadness that had seemed to permeate the school since the funeral. The students of Hollywood arts had seemed to smile and laugh less since Tori had been buried. But for her closest friends and her sister, the loss was being taken much harder.

Trina Vega hadn't been to school since she had found out. One of the students who had brought her homework to the Vega household had said that her parents wouldn't let anyone see her and that an ambulance had been seen outside the house as he had arrived to drop off the homework.

Beck took a deep breath as he passed by the locker that had once been Tori's. The school had decided to keep it the way it was, a little reminder of what Tori Vega had accomplished and how she had made it shine.

As he walked past the lockers he saw Andre staring numbly into his open locker, seemingly oblivious to the world. Beck quietly walked up to him and gently placed his hand on his shoulder. "Hey." He said simply.

It took Andre a moment to realize that someone was speaking to him. He didn't turn around though, he just kept staring into his locker. "I miss her so much, Beck." He said quietly. "And this is my fault. I was rehearsing a new song with her the night before...before it happened. I shouldn't have stayed so late."

"It's not your fault, Andre." Beck said firmly. "It's Ryder's fault for doing what he did. No one thought he would do something like this." Andre shook his head and tears ran down his face. "No...She wanted to quit for the night but I told her we should keep practicing. It's my fault...It's all my fault." He muttered as he stared into his locker.

"Andre." Beck said carefully as he pulled him away from his locker. "You need to go talk to one of the grief counselors." he said in a firm but gentle voice "If not for me or yourself then for Tori. She wouldn't want to see you like this. She wouldn't want you to blame yourself for something that you had no control over. Come on, I'll walk you over to Lane's office and he can set up an appointment for you to talk to someone."

"Thanks." Andre muttered as they walked towards Lane's office. As they walked past the Janitor's closer closest to the lockers, Beck thought he heard soft sobbing coming from nearby. "Go talk to Lane." He said gently. "I need to check something." Andre nodded and continued on his way as Beck tried to open the door only to find it locked. "Hello?" He said as he tried to open the door again with no luck. "Who's in there?"

"Go away, Beck." Cat Valentine said quietly from behind the door. She let out a little cry of pain that caused Beck's eyes to widen in fear. "Cat! Open the door!"

"No!" She sobbed back. Beck took a deep breath and threw himself at the door. It held the first time but the second time he threw himself against it he managed to force it open. He saw Cat trying to pull down the sleeves of her shirt and he noticed that there was something red staining the fabric from underneath. She was trying to hide something in her hand,

"Cat, what did you do?" He asked fearfully. Cat shook her head. "Cat, show me what you've got in your hand." Beck said urgently. Cat shook her head rapidly. "No. You'll yell at me." She muttered as tears rolled down her face. "I won't yell at you. I promise. Just show me what's in your hand."

Cat sobbed quietly as she opened her hand and Beck saw a knife. He didn't know where she had gotten it from but there was blood on it. He gently held Cat's hand with one hand and gently grabbed the knife with the other and placed it on the floor. "Cat, how badly did you cut yourself?" He asked carefully. She tried to pull away from him but couldn't. "Please Cat, show me where you cut yourself."