Imprisoned Love

Blackmail

Tori's POV:

My eyes flutter open, but then squint to the bright sunshine coming from the windows. I'm about to get up, when I notice an arm draped over my waist. At first I tense up, but then I see raven hair along with a few green streaks. And then I remember that Jade slept over last night. I sigh as I remember everything that happened yesterday.

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(Yesterday)

I was in Sikowitz' class when Beck stormed in, obviously wazzed off about something. He told us about his break up and I instantly felt terrible for him. I tried to reassure him and he gave me a small smile in return. That's something I love about Beck. No matter how wazzed off he is, he would never intentionally hurt any of his friends. I can't believe Jade would break up with a guy like him.

Jade. Jade and I never got along. We were practically enemies in the school. Sikowitz, however, sent me to go get Jade when he found out what had happened. But there was literally mo point, because there's no way Jade would ever come back to class. But he still sent me, no matter how many times I begged him to send someone else.

When I got there, Jade was just standing in the middle of the corridor. She looked so broken, and I actually felt bad for her for once. She looked as if she was trying so hard to fight back her tears, but after some sweet talk and some reassurance, she let it all out. I knew it was a huge risk to hug Jade, since she never lets anyone touch her, except Beck. But I did and I was very surprised that she even let me. But what surprised me even more, was the fact that she hugged me back!

For once, my deep hatred towards Jade started to fade away, and in that moment, it felt like we were friends.

She sobbed for a few minutes, but when her sobs died down, she didn't move. She stayed in the same position. And when I asked her if she was okay, she just hugged me even harder. I'm not gonna lie, I was struggling to breathe a bit, but a smile remained on my face as I soon relaxed into her embrace.

However, our moment was ruined when she suddenly pushed me away with much force. So much for friends. She told me that she didn't need me and she just walked off.

Whenever Jade usually yells at me or screams at my face during our fights, I usually just shout something back at her and I don't really get offended. But when she pushed me away this time, hurt flashed across my face. And I'm sure she must've noticed it too.

Afterwards I went back to class, still upset about everything that happened. I thought she was starting to loosen up to me. I thought we could actually stop this whole hatred nonsense. But nope. She just pushed me away. Like all the other times she's cried in front of me.

I know I should've been mad at her, but I couldn't help but to be worried when she didn't return at lunch. I told Cat, André and Robbie to call and text her, because I didn't wanna show that I cared about her. But I actually do. I care about all of my friends. Is Jade my friend? I dunno, but all I need to know right now, is that she's safe.

I get even more anxious when she doesn't pick up anyone's calls. My mind starts racing and I feel a pit in my stomach. The bell rings, signalling the end of lunch and I just pray that she's safely at home.

When the last bell rings, I go to my locker to get my books. By this time, I was mostly just focused about how I had a 5-page essay due Monday along with a pop quiz. I better get a lotta study done when I get home and during the weekend.

Just then, Beck walks over to me. He seems panicked and I instantly remember about Jade.

He tells me that she's still not back and her mom says she's not at home either. I get super worried again and immediately take out my phone. Apparently she's been avoiding everyone's calls so I doubt she'll pick up mine, but I still try anyways.

After a couple of rings she picks up! I ask where she is, trying to sound as calm as possible coz I know she doesn't like to be yelled at, but then Beck grabs my phone and starts shouting at her. I wait patiently until he gives me back my phone, sighing in defeat.

Jade then calls my name. And I raise my eyebrow at her tone. She's never spoken so soft to me before, and it's kinda scaring me I'm not gonna lie.

She promises me that she's fine so I relax a little and head home. However, I don't relax fully because I keep thinking about her. Where could she possibly be? Just then Beck calls me and tells me that Jade still isn't home and her mom's super worried. I look outside and it's pitch black. Oh Jade.

I call her a bunch of times and send literally hundreds of messages. Trying to get some sort of reaction from her. Some sort of indication that she's alright. Wow. It's weird how much I care about a girl who torments me every day.

It gets super late and I just pace around my living room. Wondering where the hell she could be. I even consider calling my dad to send a search team to find her, considering that he is a cop. But I decide to wait it out a few more minutes.

And then I hear a very faint knock on my door. I practically run to the door, hoping it's Jade coz who else knocks on your door at 1 AM?

I open the door and I swear I've never been so happy to see Jade in my life. But then I start to get mad. I shout at her. Expecting her to shout back at me, but she mutters a sorry.

Wait. Did I hear that correctly? Jade West. Apologizing!?

We end up sleeping in my bed together and that now brings us back to the present.

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Jade must've cuddled up with me last night, coz her head is burrowed into my shoulder.

I try to get up as quietly as I can without waking her up, but it's an impossible task and she squirms around as her eyes adjust to the brightness of my room as they flutter open. Her eyes lock with mine and we both just stare at each other in a comfortable silence. Surprisingly, it wasn't awkward. 

"Good morning" I say, trying to sound chirpy even though I barely got any sleep last night.

All I hear is a grunt from Jade, and she turns around so that her back is now facing me.

I sigh. What if she goes back to hating me? Why does she hate me so much in the first place?

I decide to go downstairs to make some breakfast for the both of us. It's just the two of us in the house today.

My mom's on a business trip, and my dad's always working and only comes home for about 2 hours. Trina's staying over at her friend's house which just leaves me.

It gets pretty lonely in this house sometimes, and I'm not gonna lie, I miss spending time with my family. I still remember how we used to sit together, every evening, while eating my mom's famous Family Pot Pie. But now we barely see each other. Unless it's to say goodbye.

I shake my head at the thoughts and decide to sing a song to distract my mind. I sing 365 days, a song that André wrote for Jade when he had a crush on her once. At first I was super surprised since I never understood how anyone could have a crush on Jade. But I mean she's not the worst when she's not trying to kill you. I guess.

As I'm singing, I make some pancakes for Jade and I. I get some coffee ready for Jade and some hot cocoa for myself. Literally everyone knows how much Jade needs her coffee. Without it, she can be extra cranky.

I start to do some cringey dance moves as I'm really getting into the chorus of the song until I spin around to find Jade leaning against the counter with a smug look on her face. My face furiously heats up and my cheeks blush a bright red.

"Nice moves you got there Vega" she says with a smirk, before bursting out into laughter.

"Shut up" I mumble but I can't help but to laugh along with her.

"Well once you finish laughing, we can eat some breakfast coz I'm starving" I say.

Jade seems to be two steps ahead of me as she's already eating her pancakes, as if she hasn't eaten for days. But I mean, she must be starving. I doubt she would've eaten anything yesterday.

We eat our food in silence. I made sure to text everyone yesterday that Jade was okay and that she was going to stay over at mine, because I'm sure they were just as worried. André sends me a text asking if I'm still alive, and I couldn't help but to chuckle at that.

That catches Jade to raise her eyebrow at me and I show her the message. I notice a small twitch in the corner of her lips, as if she was going to smile, but it goes back to her bored expression almost immediately.

As we finish up our pancakes, I notice that Jade looks as if she's deep in thought. It looks as if she's debating whether she should tell me something or not.

"Vega" she says in a sweet tone, making me eye her suspiciously. Omg, is she gonna kill me or something?

"I need to ask you for a favour" she says, keeping her soft and sweet tone, which is seriously starting to freak me out.

I raise an eyebrow at her, motioning for her to continue.

"I'm assuming you already know that Beck and I broke up" she pauses, waiting to see if I know or not. I nod my head and she continues.

"Well he seems pretty mad at me, at the moment, and I figured that the only way I could get him back, is to make him jealous"

I dip my eyebrows in confusion.

"Or you could be a normal person and just apologize to him for upsetting his feelings, and tell him that you'll try to trust him more?" I say casually, but I can see the fire in her eyes. Oops. Nice one Tori.

"Anyways" she says through gritted teeth. "I came up with a brilliant plan where I 'move on' from him with someone else, and then he's gonna realise that he should have never let me go and then we can get back together, so things can finally go back to normal"

Umm, I don't like where this is going coz I don't wanna be in any part of Jade's plan.

"So.." she starts.

"So?" I push, still not getting what she's trying to say.

She rolls her eyes at me. Grunch.

"You're my new fake girlfriend" she bluntly says and I almost choke on thin air.

WHAT!? What the chiz is she on about!?

I then start to think about it. She's obviously joking and pulling a prank on me. She has to be.

So I start laughing. Nervously laughing. Waiting for her to join in and tell me it was all just a joke. But she doesn't. She just stares at me as if I'm a maniac. And that's when I realise. She's being serious. She actually want me to be her fake girlfriend.

"Seriously!?" I ask incredulously.

She rolls her eyes again and nods her head.

She cannot be serious. Does she actually think, that I'll agree to be her fake girlfriend. Oh my chizzin' God. What the hell is wrong with her!?

"No!" I shout. "There's no chizzin' way I'm gonna pretend to be your girlfriend, just to make Beck jealous, Jade!!"

She glares at me. A very intense glare. And then she starts smiling. But it's not one of her genuine smiles. Nope. She smiling as if she's a psychopath. And I instantly start to get nervous. Chiz. What is she gonna do? I'm being honest, I prefer her glare a lot more than this creepy smile.

"I had a feeling you'd say that" she calmly says. That's it. I'mma die. I didn't even get to say goodbye to my parents and my friends. I never got to tell Trina to never go through my stuff. This cannot be happening.

As I am frantically panicking, Jade reaches into her pocket. Oh my God she has a weapon. Damn it! Why didn't I listen to my dad during those boring self defense classes!? I think I'm gonna start hyperventilating. I need a paper bag! It works in movies, doesn't it?

Jade then pulls out.. her phone. Kay well now I feel like a drama queen. But still. It's Jade! She could still somehow find a way to kill me with her phone. Oh God. Oh God.

"Jeez Vega chill" she smirks.

At least she's not doing her creepy smile anymore.

"Does this seem familiar to you?" She asks in a sinister voice, as she shows me a picture on her phone.

I suddenly gasp for air when I look at her phone. My eyes widen, and I swear my heart skipped a beat.

There's no way! How did she- Where did she? Oh my God. I'm in deep, deep chiz.

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Tori's POV:

I look up from the phone, at Jade to see that smug look never leaving her face. I can't believe she would do this to me! Just when I thought we were becoming friends too!! I was concerned for her, I comforted her, hell I even let her sleep in my chizzin' bed. And this is how she thanks me!! UNBELIEVABLE

"What's wrong Tori?" She says sweetly as she blinks at me.

I couldn't take it anymore.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!? WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME!?" I all but scream at her which causes her to even jump. I stand up, glaring down at her.

She gets up so that we are level in eye contact. She doesn't say anything. Coz I know what she wants. She wants me to act like I'm her girlfriend. Ughh. There's no way I'm doing that.

"You know what I want baby" she says, emphasizing the word 'baby'.

"No! There's no way I'm going to hurt Beck like that! He's a good guy Jade. Just go apologize to him" I try to talk her outta her stupid plan that involves me, but I can't get my mind off the screenshot she showed me.

"What's wrong babe? You're looking a little pale" she says as she walks around me in circles. Which is seriously scary btw.

I feel like my whole world has turned upside down. I never thought anyone but my friends had seen that tweet. But Jade did. This could ruin my whole music career. No record label will sign me. I'm gonna be homeless and begging on the streets.

I feel the tears prickling at my eyes and I try to hide my face from Jade. I definitely don't want her to see me cry, since she's probably going to laugh at me and tease me about being a crybaby for the rest of my life. She's honestly so.. ugghh. No word can describe how bad she is. And she knows this is a big deal to me.

I feel a tear stream down my cheek and I quickly try to wipe it away, but unfortunately that catches Jade's attention. She puts her finger under my chin, like last night, and tries to lift my face up so that we can make eye contact. But I refuse to look at such a horrid person, and so I keep my face down.

That didn't last for long. Jade instead, uses her hand to painfully squeeze my jaw and pull it upwards. She sees the tears in my eyes and I expect her to laugh at me.

Instead she has a look of.. worry? That can't be right. Whatever it is, I don't give her the chance to say anything, because I push her away, enough for her to lose her balance, and then I bolt upstairs and lock myself in my room.

When I sit on my bed, I let out the tears. I scream into my pillow. I sob and think of how stupid I was a few years ago. I scold myself for ever trusting Jade. If I had continued to be mean to her, this probably never would have happened. I just had to keep pushing her to be my darn friend.

I keep sobbing, until I hear a knock on my door. It's obviously Jade. No one else is home. Oh, how I wish they were.

"Baby" she says softly.

Ugh. I'm not playing her fake girlfriend.

"Stop.. calling.. me that!" I say in between sobs, trying to sound angry, but it comes out as more of a pathetic whine.

"Please let me in" she says. "Please Tori"

She pleads for me to open the door but I don't. I can't even look at her after this.

You might be wondering why I'm overreacting so much. Why I'm sobbing over a darn picture. Why my whole career can be ruined coz of it. Well..here's why.

So basically, I have this AMAZING opportunity to sign for a real record label, KSR Records, once I graduate High School.

I was performing Beggin' On Your Knees a couple of months ago, for the Full Moon Jam. After my performance, a guy came up to me and asked me if I was interested in signing for a real record company! Turns out he works for KSR and he said he would recommend me to his boss. To say I was excited at the time is a HUGE understatement. I was practically jumping up and down.

This was my dream, and I might actually sign for a record label. They contacted me a week later saying they'd love to have me sign for them as long as I keep up my good reputation and I keep up my grades. And that's why I took every class so seriously this year. I haven't gotten a C in any subject and I study like CRAZY.

Everything in my life was going amazing until about five minutes ago when Jade showed me a screenshot on her phone.

You see, a couple of years ago I was on Twitter, having a laugh with my friends. (This was before I moved to Hollywood Arts btw)

My friends and I were young at the time, and we didn't know what we were saying, so we tweeted stuff about how KSR never produce any good artists and chiz like that. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, and I basically went along with it. Little did I know, that I'd go to Hollywood Arts and soon be signing with the same record label I had been trashing! KSR.

My dad was the one who told me to delete it straight away, after my first day at Hollywood Arts. I never, in a million years, would've expected it to come back up in my life again. Not only would KSR not want me, but no other record label will! This has got to be the worst day of my life.

And that's why I HATE Jade for doing this to me. She obviously must've seen it and known that it could come into good use later on. She's so cruel. How can you do this to someone who cares about you!?

"Vega, open this door before I break it!" She yells, her harsh tone returning.

I ignore her and continue sobbing. It's quiet for a minute, so I'm assuming she's gone. That's when I hear her start to pound at the door with something. I fear she might literally break my door, so I quickly unlock it, before I could dwell on it more.

She puts down the hammer, Where the chiz did she get my dad's hammer!? And walks into my room. She closes the door behind me and I bury myself into my pillow again. Life is just so unfair! I was fourteen!! Who even let me go on Twitter at the time ughh.

I feel a soft hand rub circles on my back but I violently push it off. I don't want her anywhere near me.

"Look Vega. I tried to be nice. But I don't give a damn anymore, so let's cut straight to the chase. Be my fake girlfriend or I'll directly go to KSR to show them your kind words about them. And I'll do the same for every other record label." She spits at me.

My sobbing gets worse, and I actually think I'm really hyperventilating. I'm trying to inhale as much air as I can, trying to take deep breaths but I can't. What's going on!? My lungs aren't functioning properly.

I start to panic a lot, until I see a glass of water being handed to me, which I drink eagerly. Once my breathing returns to normal, I look at Jade. I didn't even realize she went downstairs to get me water. It's the first time I look at her since she showed me the picture. She's just staring at me. Half impatient, half worried. I realise she's waiting for an answer. My eyes start to water again.

"Why are you doing this to me?" I whisper.

She smirks. I so want to slap her right now!!

"Jeez Vega, and people call me dramatic. All you gotta do is to fake date me. It's not like I'm asking you to jump off a cliff or something" she says.

"And besides, I'm not exactly a monster. I betcha you'll even like dating me" she smirks and I can't help but to tuck my knees into my chest and bury my head into it.

The truth is, I honestly couldn't care less about fake dating Jade. Well I wouldn't want to, that's for sure, but that's not the reason I'm crying so much. Like out of all the people that could've gotten their hands on that picture, it just HAD to be Jade.

And let's be honest. Even if I fake date Jade for a while, she won't delete that picture. It's like I owe her my life or something.

I pretty much signed my soul to the devil at this point. But I realise that I'm outta options. I can either pretend to be Jade's girlfriend, and hurt Beck's feelings, and pretty much be a prisoner for the rest of my life. Or I could never be able to sign for a record company again. And then I'll be homeless. And I'll never get to live in a big house, with a perfect family, and- Tori, breathe!

I look up at Jade who is still waiting for an answer. I know I have no other option. I don't trust my voice, so I merely nod instead. She smiles and kisses my forehead.

"That's what I thought baby" she says.

I cover my face with my hands and I take a deep breath.

"Let's go on a date" Jade suddenly blurts.

I just look at her. Seriously, what is wrong with this girl?

"Why?" I ask.

"Coz we need to go over some rules about this" she says in a dumbfounded voice, motioning between us when she says 'this'.

I sigh. At least I'm not bawling my eyes out anymore.

"Okay" I reluctantly agree. "When?" I ask.

"I'm gonna go home and change. I'll meet you here in about an hour." She quickly says before kissing my cheek and leaving.

Great. Just great.

I hop into the shower trying to forget the fact that I'm going to have to listen to everything Jade says from now on. One slip up and my career is ruined. Would she be that cruel though? To ruin my career? I mean, yeah, she blackmailed me, but would she actually go to KSR if I don't listen to her? Ughh this is all too much to handle. I wrap a towel around myself before walking over to my wardobe.

I don't even bother wearing anything nice. I wear a tiny bit of make up, to hide the fact that I was crying. I leave my long, brown hair down and I wear some casual clothing. A white off-the-shoulder top and some skinny jeans.

Once I'm finished, I lay in bed looking up at my ceiling. How the hell did my life down spiral so quickly in the past hour?

I must've been thinking about it longer than I thought because I'm interrupted by the doorbell ringing. Jade.

I open it, to see my 'girlfriend' wearing casual clothing as well. She wearing her black denim jacket along with a t-shirt and jeans. She smiles as I open the door. I can tell she's trying to be nice to me. I just keep the scowl on my face and walk past her before locking the door.

I'll never forgive her, no matter how nice she tries to act.

I get in the passenger seat of her car and once she gets in, she drives off. We travel in complete silence, and I refuse to look anywhere else but out the window.

"You look.. nice" Jade mutters. If it weren't just the two of us in this car, I wouldn't have heard it.

I don't respond and I can tell she's getting annoyed. Good. She then starts to drive a lot faster. Much faster than the speed limit. And she looks at me with a challenging face. She wants me to talk to her, yell at her, anything. She wants some sort of a reaction from me.

As much as I want to tell her to slow down or stop the car, I'm not giving her the satisfaction of letting her know that she got to me.

After a few more minutes of driving, the car finally slows down pulling up in front of Freezy Queen.

I raise my eyebrow at her but she just smirks at me and gets out of the car.

I contemplate just sitting here, but before I can think more about it, she's opening my door for me to get out.

Ugh just do it Tori.

I get out and we walk into the ice cream parlour. I try to walk a few meters behind her so that it looks like we're not together.

But she catches onto my trick pretty quickly, and waits for me to catch up before grabbing my hand and walking in with me. Despite my struggle to get her to release my hand, it's actually a pretty comfortable and safe feeling holding Jade's hand. Tori! Focus.

We sit down opposite each other in a booth in the corner. I can tell she wants to say something, but she stays quiet. The waitress comes along and asks if we're ready to order.

"Can I have a Mint Chocolate Chip, and she'll take a Rocky Road" Jade says. The waitress jots down our orders before walking away.

How the hell did she know my favourite ice cream was Rocky Road?

"I can order for myself" I tell her through gritted teeth.

She just gives me a small smile before going back to staring at me. I sigh. Is this how the entire date is gonna be like?

Suddenly, my phone rings, startling the both of us. Her eyebrows dip in confusion when I look at my phone and suddenly get super excited when I see the caller ID.

A huge grin washes over my face and my eyes light up.

"Ryan! Hey! It's been sooo long." I say enthusiastically, when pressing the phone against my ear.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Jade tense up and I can tell she's giving me a death stare right now. I don't really care to be honest. Nothing's gonna spoil my mood right now.