2
Tori sat in her kitchen with all of the books she needed to do homework placed in front of her. The time she had alloted towards completing the homework she was assigned was instead spent staring off into the distance and pondering.
The sound of Trina's stilettos clashing against the stairs removed any thought of studying from Tori's head.
“Tori!” Trina called.
Tori walked to the living room, where Trina stood, posing.
“Tell me, how do I look?”
Trina wore a black sleeveless strappy pencil midi dress, black stilettos, and a face of carefully applied make-up.
“Fine. So, who's the guy?”
“He's a guy I met online. He's super hot; he can sing; and, he's got tons of money,” said Trina excitedly.
“How do you know all of that is true?”
“It says it all on his profile, obviously.”
Tori smiled.
“And what did you tell him you were?”
“I just told him the truth: I'm an up-and-coming pop star, future Oscar award winning actress, and a budding Broadway legend.”
“Wow! In a couple of years, he'll be the luckiest guy in the world.”
“I know, right? Anyway, I better head off.”
Trina slowly made her way outside. Tori walked happily back to the kitchen. She saw the piles of books on the table and sighed. She sat down determined. For five whole minutes, she worked on her theatre history homework, writing vigorously and scanning through relevant chapters in her textbook thoroughly. Someone knocked at her front door. She opened it to find Jade standing on the other side.
“Hello, Tori,” said Jade.
“What do you want?” Tori asked politely.
“We're going out. Let's go.”
“Jade I—”
“Hey!” Cat shouted, jumping out from her place behind Jade.
“Cat?”
“I told her not to do it,” said Jade disapprovingly. “Now, c'mon, let's go, I'm getting bored.”
Tori nodded her head. The three of them gathered around Jade's car. Cat tried to take the front passenger seat.
“Cat, you sit in the back,” said Jade.
“Okay,” she said without protest before taking a seat in the back of the car.
“Wait, why?”
“No reason,” Jade responded.
Jade started the car and began to drive. Tori noticed that Cat hadn't put on her seat belt.
“Cat, put on your seat belt.”
“But I can't move around as easily.”
Tori was about to respond when she was interrupted by Jade.
“Let her do what she wants,” she said sleepily.
They drove out of Tori's driveway and down the street.
“Where are we going exactly?” asked Tori.
Jade yawned deeply.
“Don't worry about it. We're just going to get some food.”
Tory looked satisfied with the answer. She kept her eyes in front of her.
“I still don't think you should be driving, Jade,” said Cat.
“Why not?” Tori asked anxiously.
“She hasn't slept.”
Tori snapped her head around to look at Jade.
“You're driving on zero sleep?”
“I'll be fine.”
Jade stifled another yawn with her hand to her mouth. Tori leaned closer to her. She studied her eyes.
“What?” asked Jade, confused.
“Your eyelids are drooping. You're in no state to be driving.”
Jade huffed.
“I told you that I'm fine!”
“Stop the car.”
“No!”
“Yes!”
During their argument, Cat was silent in the backseat, staring out the window. For a moment, she looked ahead of her.
“Look out!” she yelled.
Jade quickly turned her head. She slammed the breaks, and the car skidded to an abrupt stop. Cat flew forward and struck her head against the seat in front of her.
“Ow!” she yelled in pain.
Tori turned to look at her.
“Oh my god! Cat, are you alright?”
Cat held her nose in her hands. She removed them for a second and stared down at her stained palms.
“My nose! It's bleeding!”
“Cat, I'm really sorry,” said Jade.
“Jade, we have to take her to a hospital.”
“Hospital? I wasn't even driving that quickly. I'll take her back to your house so you can give her some ice.”
“Fine.”
Cat held her hands to her nose. Jade turned around and began to drive back to Tori's house. Tori glared at Jade the whole way.
“Stop looking at me.”
“I told her she should wear a seat belt, and what did you say?”
“I'm wearing a seat belt now,” Cat declared.
They both ignored her.
“I'm sorry, you were right.”
Tori looked taken aback by the sincerity of her apology but decided not to comment on it.
They arrived at Tori's house. Jade stayed in the living room. Tori led Cat to the kitchen where Cat washed her hands in the sink and wiped her nose with tissue paper.
“Hold this to your nose,” Tory handed her an ice pack, “and keep your chin up.”
“I'll try.”
Cat gave her a smile.
“No, I mean, keep your head tilted upwards,” Tori explained.
“Oh, okay.”
“Hey, Jade, I'm gonna text André to pick you and Cat up, okay?”
Jade didn't respond.
Tori walked to the living room. There, she found Jade curled up on her couch. She tiptoed over to her.
“Jade,” she whispered.
No response. Jade breathed softly. Her head lay propped up on one pillow, and one arm dangled to the carpet on the floor. Tori walked back to the kitchen.
“Cat, André is gonna pick you up in ten minutes.”
“What about Jade?”
“I think we should just let her sleep.”
Tori sat down at the desk. She looked at her unfinished homework.
“How come you came over here today, Cat?” asked Tori.
“Jade asked me to. I wish I had hung out with Robby instead.”
“What?”
“Robby asked if I wanted to hang out, and I said 'yes', but then Jade told me she needed me to come with her to your house. So, I did.”
Tori said no more. She resumed her homework. Ten minutes passed. André arrived.
“Thank you, André,” Tori said upon his entrance.
“No problem.”
André saw Jade sleeping on the couch. He looked at Tori. She shrugged.
“Don't ask.”
Cat came into the living room and greeted André happily.
“Hey, Cat, what happened to your nose?”
“Cat learned a valuable lesson today,” said Tori.
“Always wear your seat belt,” Cat said, sadly.
André merely nodded his head. Tori said goodbye to the two of them.
The next few hours, she spent her time doing the homework that was due tomorrow, ignoring any that weren't required as urgently. The peaceful silence was destroyed by Trina, who barged in through the front door.
Tori got up and hurried to the living room.
“Tori, you won't believe—”
Tori shushed her.
“Uh, rude,” said Trina indignantly.
Tori pointed at Jade, asleep on the couch. Trina proceeded to take off her shoes.
“You won't believe what happened,” whispered Trina.
“What?” Tori whispered back.
“The guy never showed. I sat there and waited for hours, and he didn't even call or text me. On top of that, Sinjin was there and kept trying to talk to me.”
“I'm sorry. Was the restaurant at least nice?”
“What restaurant? Our date was at a Dunkin' Donuts.”
If it weren't for the sleeping girl on her couch, Tori would have burst out laughing. She managed to stifle her laughter to a minimal.
“You're telling me this super rich, hot guy planned on taking you to a Dunkin' Donuts?”
“It's not funny!” she whispered aggressively. “I thought he was trying to play it cool.”
“Wait! That's what you wore to a Dunkin' Donuts?” asked Tori, referencing the dress that Trina still wore.
“I'm exhausted. I'm going to bed.”
Tori watched her walk up the stairs. She, herself, planned on going to bed then. The clocks had struck past midnight. Before retiring, she carried a blanket from upstairs and laid it over Jade's sleeping figure.