Imprisoned Love

Bad Move

Trigger Warning: A bit of abuse at the end of this chapter. If you're uncomfortable with the topic, just skip past the part where there's a (TW).

Jade's POV:

I feel like a monster. And I never thought I'd say that about myself. I knew telling Tori about the screenshot was going to be hard. But, God, seeing her cry like that. She was bawling, and it made me sick to my stomach knowing that I was the reason she was so upset. But it had to be done.

She locked herself into her room and I honestly didn't know what to do. I got pretty frustrated and started yelling at her. Still nothing. I went downstairs in search of a tool, and as I went through some drawers, I found a hammer. I just needed to see if she was okay. I know I'm the last person she wants to see right now, but I can't just leave her like this. 

She opens the door and refuses any of my reassurance so I demand for an answer. I wait, giving her time. It's the least I could do. When she finally nods her head, I smile.

But she just puts her face in her hands and sighs.

Am I really that terrible to be around with?

I start to feel a bit upset on why she's acting so cold but I try to change the subject.

Think Jade. What could make Vega happy?

The first thing that pops in my head is ice cream. I remember her telling Cat that her favourite thing ever is Rocky Road ice cream. Maybe that'll distract her.

I decide to go home to change since I feel the need to give Vega some space. After what felt like forever of my mom giving out to me about yesterday, I leave the house and can't help but think about Vega. She probably hates my guts so much right now, but I dunno how to fix this. I didn't think it would be this bad. I mean yeah, I took a screenshot of the tweet, but I don't think I'd ever show it to the record label. I'm not that cruel. Does she really think of me like that?

When I pick up Vega, I try to smile at her, but she just scowls back at me. Since when did we reverse personalities for the day?

All throughout the car ride, she stays quiet and looks outside the window.

Say something Jade. Anything.

I tell her she looks nice but she remains quiet. I even went to the lengths of speeding just for her to give out to me. I know how seriously Vega is about the law. Since her dad's a cop.

Shit. I didn't even think about that. What if I go to jail for blackmailing a cop's daughter. s**t, s**t, s**t.

We finally reach Freezy Queen and I try to act all courteous by opening the door for her.

She still hasn't even looked at me. And she's making a desperate effort to walk as far away from me as possible. Not in my book. I grab her hand and drag her to a booth in the corner.

We stare at each other in silence. I want to tell her I'm sorry. I want to tell her that I won't actually go to the record label. I want her to forgive me, but nothing comes out of my mouth.

Then her phone rings and she her while expression changes. Her eyes quite literally light up, and she can't help but smile. A part of me is very confused, but another teeny part of me is kinda happy to see her smile. I haven't seen it for a while, and it's pretty rare for Vega to not smile. 

"Ryan!" She shouts into the phone.

Wait what? Ryan?? Who the chiz is Ryan? And why's he calling her? And why's she so happy about him calling her? The f**k!?

My jaw tightens and I clench my fists. After a while, Vega finally notices me and gives me a weirded out look, before continuing back into her conversation with Ryan.

This b***h!!

"So what's up?" I hear her ask, the smile still planted on her face.

She's quiet for a few seconds, and then her face brightens up even more, if that's even possible. She gets super excited and practically squeals.

What the f**k are the f*****g talking about!?

"No way! You're actually here! How!?" Vega screams excitedly, not giving a damn about the people around her giving her weird glances.. and me scowling at her!

"Oh my God, you have no idea how much I've missed you Ry" she says, and my blood starts to boil.

I swear if this is her boyfriend, this chick better break up with him. I'm not one to share.

Since I literally can't stand her gushing over this Ryan dude anymore, I clear my throat in a rude manner, reminding her that I'm still f*****g here!

She quickly glances up at me and immediately her smile turns into a frown.

"I gotta go Ry, but I'll call ya later so we can hang out, yeah?" She quickly says and then she hangs up.

Ha! Over my dead body!

She looks up at me and stays quiet. Seriously! Not even an apology. We're supposed to be on a date right now!

"What" she snaps.

Count to ten, Jade.

1..2..3..

"Who. The f**k. Was that?" I say in a low voice, through gritted teeth.

She rolls her eyes at me.

4..5..6..

"Ryan" she simply says.

I give her the biggest death glare possible. She's obviously trying to make me mad.

"Who the f**k is Ryan?" I snarl.

She then picks up her phone, giving it more attention than me.

7..8..9..

"A friend" she tells me without even looking up from her phone.

At least it's just a friend. I visibly relax a bit. Since when did I tense up?

"Just a friend?" I raise my eyebrow at her.

She doesn't reply, eyes fixated on her phone. So I grab her phone out of her hands and make her look up at me.

"Give me back my phone!" She yells.

"No! We're supposed to be on a f*****g date!" I yell back at her.

She scoffs and mutters "worst date ever" under her breath.

UGHH! This girl is soo frustrating!! How am I supposed to fake date her?

I glare at her and she does the same. We stay like this for a while, until she finally gives up.

"Ryan's just a friend, Jade. He's my best friend." She says calmly.

At least she doesn't sound mad.

I'm about to respond, but am interrupted when the waitress comes back with our ice cream.  Vega looks as if she's about to pay for her ice cream but I quickly pay for both of ours.

"Thanks" she mutters. And I smile.

We eat our ice cream, and I can't seem to take my eyes off her. She's so cute as she's eating her ice cream. Like a little kid on Christmas day. Vega catches me staring at her and raises an eyebrow at me.

"So.." I start. She doesn't say anything, so I continue.

"There needs to be some rules." I tell her. "First and foremost, you can't tell anyone that this is fake" it's a pretty obvious rule and she nods her head.

"Secondly, to make it seem kinda easier for us, I think we should treat it like an improv acting exercise. If you break character, you fail, got it?" She nods again, but then dips her eyebrows.

"What about when we're alone?" She asks.

Hmm. Never thought about that. I think about it some more and then I answer her.

"I say it'd be best if we try to stay in character all the time. Even when we're alone. That way we won't get confused when switching back and forth". I tell her, trying to keep my tone soft, which is pretty rare.

She seems to think about it some more but then settles with another nod.

"It's pretty obvious that we shouldn't be flirting or dating anyone else while we're in this fake relationship. You have to be committed." I tell her, indirectly telling her to back away from that Ryan guy.

She stays quiet however so I speak up.

"Okay?" I push, so that she knows I won't let this go.

She barely moves her head, but it's a nod nonetheless.

"Lastly, I'm the one who can break up with you when Beck and I get back together. So you can't escape this until I say so. Deal?"

She keeps the sadness on her face but nods her head again.

Ugghh. Whaddo I do to get her to look all bubbly again? Like she was with Ryan.

She goes back to her ice cream, eating in silence.

I reach across the table and grab her face in my hands, and look her dead in the eye.

"I'm sorry Tori. I never meant to hurt you this much, but I did. And for that, I'll constantly be seeking for your forgiveness" I tell her sincerely, and for the first time in what feels like forever, she smiles at me, and I do the same.

"Dyou have any rules?" I ask her, since I don't wanna force her too much.

She thinks about it and I can't help but smile at her cute expression she makes when she's thinking.

"Can we be official on Monday?" She asks.

I mean, what's the difference? Maybe she just needs time to wrap her head around all this.

I nod anyway.

"We can practice being a couple today and tomorrow.. if you're okay with it?" I ask her.

And she nods her head again.

God, how am I gonna get her to trust me? She's barely speaking to me.

"Anything else?" I ask. I can tell there's something in her head, but she won't tell me. She's still got that thinking look on her face. So I grab both her hands from across the table.

"You can tell me babe" I softly say.

"Will we have to kiss in front of everyone?" She asks nervously, not looking at me eyes.

I nearly snicker at how easily she can get flustered.

"Couples kiss, Vega." I bluntly say, while rolling my eyes.

She looks a bit uneasy, so I try to say it softer.

"Are you okay with it? I don't wanna force you" I say with a softer tone, but cringe when the words come out.

She raises an eyebrow at me, and then goes back to her ice cream.

It's coz I  am forcing her to do all this s**t. Yup, I'm going to hell.

After I finish scolding myself, she finally speaks up.

"I don't mind if we kiss Jade. It's just, I've never had a girlfriend before so I'm pretty awkward about all this." She shyly says.

I squeeze her hands and smile at her.

God, I can't wait to stop comforting her. It's so awkard.

"Don't worry, Vega. You'll be a great fake girlfriend" I tell her.

Vega somewhat smiles. "And how would you know" she asks.

"Coz you're a good actress." And once those words leave my mouth, I scrunch up my face.

Uggh, what is wrong with me!? I just called Tori-f*****g-Vega, a good actress!

She raises her eyebrows again, but mutters a quick thanks.

The rest of our 'date' is in silence. I dunno how we're gonna make anyone believe we're in a relationship if it's like this.

Hopefully, Beck gets jealous quickly so that I don't have to hang around Vega much longer.

Once we finish our ice cream, I hand Vega her phone back. I forgot I still had it. At least she made eye contact with me during this 'date'.

"Can we go home now?" She asks, avoiding my eyes.

Spoke too soon.

I nod my head and we hop in the car before I start driving off.

The car ride back is in silence again, and Vega's doing that thing where she doesn't look at me and just looks out her window.

Ugh. I swear I can't stand this girl. She makes my life so much harder.

When we reach her house, we both unbuckle our seatbelts, causing her to look up at me, confused. I don't bother saying anything to her so I get out and walk to her front door, waiting for her to hurry her ass up and unlock it.

When she finally does, she sighs and unlocks the door. She clearly doesn't want me here, but oh well. We gotta practice.

I expect to hear Vega to shout into the house that she's home, and her family to come and greet her, but she doesn't. Which gets me thinking. It was awfully quiet this morning after all the screaming that took place.

"Is anyone home?" I ask but she just shakes her head.

Since we're technically not a couple until Monday, I figured it would be best if we got to know each other first.

She nods her head.

Ugh. What will it take for her to actually talk to me, as if I wasn't some sort of demon or something?

She sits down on the couch, and I sit down opposite her, waiting for her to lift up her head and look me in the eye.

"What's your favourite colour?" I ask her.

"Purple." She says, but still doesn't lift her head.

"Favourite movie?" I ask, getting a tiny bit frustrated.

Count to ten, Jade.

Ughh.

"The Breakfast Bunch" she replies, still refusing to look at me!

I glare down at her. Seriously!? How are people gonna believe that we're a couple, of she won't even f*****g look at me!

1..2..3..

My nostrils flare and I get even more mad.

4..5..6..

She's just trying to make me mad on purpose! Why can't she f*****g act mature for once in her life!?

"Vega" I growl. She knows what I want.

Nothing. I hear nothing from her.

7..8..9..

"Look. At. Me" I demand, in a harsh tone.

She doesn't. Her eyes stay fixed on the ground.

10!

The nerve of this girl!!

I stand up, done with her charade, and grab her face, forcefully, so that she looks up at me.

Instead, she slaps my arm away, and when I try to grab her again.. she punches me. I'm assuming she was only trying to push me away but I was in the way so it came out as a punch to the guy.. but still!!

Usually, it wouldn't affect me at all, but it caught me by surprise, and before I knew it, I landed on my ass with a loud thud.

THAT GIRL IS SO f*****g DEAD. THAT HURT!!

Vega's eyes widen, when she realises that she pushed and punched me so hard, that it caused me to stumble and fall.

"Jade.. I'm soo sorry! It was an accident, I didn't mean to punch you that hard. And I didn't mean to push you. I'm sorry!" She frantically says, panicking a lot.

She's so dead! She pushed me.. Jade West.. and caused me to fall!! Betcha there'll be a f*****g bruise on my stomach!

(TW)

I get up, with a very angry look on my face and stomp up to her. I grab a fistful of her shirt and lift her up off the couch.

She has a terrified look on her face. She shuts her eyes tight, too scared to look at me. I'd almost laugh at her, if I wasn't so damn mad at her.

I reach for my waistband and smirk as I pull out my favourite scissors.

Her eyes almost pop out of their sockets when she realises. She even tried to make a run for it, but I've got a pretty firm grip on her and I backed her into a corner.

"Please Jade. I really am sorry. I didn't mean to do it" she whimpers, tears already starting to form.

Pathetic. All this girl does is cry.

"It's okay baby" I say with a sinister smile. "This will only hurt a lot" I whisper into her ear.

She shuts her eyes tight, and a few tears escape. She just waits. Waits for the pain to come. And it does.

I open up my scissors, and evilly smile when I see that she's wearing an off-the-shoulder top.

I press the end of my scissors on the tip of her shoulder and press hard.

She whimpers and clenches her fist, desperately trying to push away.

"Resisting will only make it worse baby" I whisper.

I then drag my scissors along her shoulder, causing a line of blood to form.

Vega seems to be supressing her sobs and I'm almost impressed that she hasn't screamed once yet.

She's biting her lip. Hard. And the tears are starting to stream down her face more.

Usually, I would've kept going. Making more lines. But I stop when I hear Vega finally let out a sob.

I lean in close to her ear and whisper,

"Never, ever think about pulling a stunt like that again, babe. Or else it'll be worse than this. Clear?"

She keeps her eyes shut, but nods.

"Good" I say smugly, before stepping back and going back to the couch.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Tori's POV:

I'm still standing here, in shock. Tears all over my face. My eyes still shut. Immense pain shooting from my shoulder.. from where she dragged her scissors along.

I don't think I can take this anymore. I want to scream at her. I want to shout at her so much, and scare her away. But deep down I know.. that I'm the puppet.. and she holds the strings.

"Babe, you coming?" I hear her voice from the couch.

As much as I want to lock myself in my room again and cry, I know it'll only make it worse in the long run. She might do it to me again. I knew Jade was violent and that she had a deep hatred towards me. But never in a million years, would I have expected her to physically harm me.

"Vega!" I hear her getting frustrated and impatient, so I force myself to walk over to the couch. I quickly wipe away my tears and just sit down.

Jade gets up as soon as I sit down and walks towards my kitchen.

Huh?

I start to think about how hard the next few weeks are gonna be. I'm praying Beck will just apologize to Jade so they can get back together, and I can get my life back.

I'm still so shocked at her though. I don't think I've ever met anyone as evil as her. And I always look for the best in people. That's why I was so determined to be her friend,at first, no matter how many times she pushed me away.

Jade returns with a wet cloth in her hand. At first, I don't look up at her, but I quickly lift up my head, when I think back to a couple of minutes ago, when I did ignore her.

She has a look of concern on her face.

Ha. As if.

She then takes a seat really close to me and starts dabbing at my shoulder. I automatically wince from the pain, and close my eyes.

Ohh. That's why she went.

I was so engrossed with my thoughts and the shock, that I had completely forgotten about the line of blood on my shoulder, because of Jade's scissors.

Great. My white top is ruined.

Jade gently dabs the white cloth against my shoulder, and holds it there for a few seconds.

When I open my eyes, I see Jade staring at me. Her face seems to be deep in thought. I don't dare look away from her, mostly because I'm scared of what she'll do to me.

So we just stare into each other's eyes for a while. I'm trying to force myself to act sincere and happy when she's finished cleaning up the blood, but it's pretty hard to do when she's the one who caused it in the first place.

Seriously though? First, she blackmails me into being her fake girlfriend. Then, she acts somewhat nice to me on our 'date' and then she cuts me with her scissors!!

How the chiz am I supposed to be her fake girlfriend!?

"I'm sorry" she mutters, and that's when I realise that I've been staring at her with fiery eyes.

I force myself to smile at her.

Seriously!? She better not think that a weak 'I'm sorry' will cut it!

She starts to get up, and a small part of me starts to get really excited that she's leaving. I really just need some time to myself after all that has happened today.

However, Jade doesn't get up to leave. She gets up to throw away the cloth.

Uggh.

I snap my head back into the couch and I close my eyes, trying to think of a way to get her to leave, without getting her mad at me.

It's not long until I realise that it's pretty much impossible, so instead I just sigh and wait for her to return.

She returns shortly after and sits on the other couch this time.

At least, she can't do anything to me if she's far away from me.

We sit in silence for a few moments until she speaks up.

"Wanna watch a movie?" She asks. I really don't see a point of her asking. After all that, does she really think I'll say anything but yes?

I nod my head and turn on the TV. She orders some pizza, and I get some popcorn. We watch 'She's the Man', which happens to be one of my favourites. But honestly, I'm not even focusing on the movie. I'm lost in my thoughts.. again.

I still can't get over what she did. Did she ever do this to Beck? How did he stay with her for so long? She must've had something on him too. But then he wouldn't have broken up with her. How will he react when he finds out that we're together? He'll probably hate my guts. How will the rest of my friends react?

My thoughts are cut off by a weight shifting onto the couch. I look up and realise that I've been staring at the ground again.

Chiz. What's Jade gonna do to me this time?

I tense up, and start to get really nervous. I look into her eyes, and thankfully they don't look mad. But then again.. this is Jade. She's probably thinking of the different ways she gonna kill me.

"Vega?" She asks, and I realise that I've zoned out again.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to zone out. I was just.. thinking" I blurt out.

Her eyebrows dip in confusion when she hears my outburst but then a small smile comes to her face.

What the chiz is wrong with this girl!?

"You're cute when you're nervous." She says.

Freak.

"What were you thinking about?" She asks, in a soft tone. But now it doesn't make me as nervous when she uses it.

"You know.. general stuff. School, homework, life.." I trail off, and then my eyes widen.

My 5-page essay!!

I completely forgot about it.

Chiz, chiz, chiz..

What am I going to do? I can't get a bad grade or a bad reputation from any of my teachers.

"Vega?"

I look up into her eyes.

"Sorry." I mutter. "I just remembered my 5-page essay that I was supposed to be doing." I say, in a very quiet voice.

"What's the assignment?" She asks, and I raise my eyebrow at her sudden interest in my life.

"To write a 5-page script involving a mystery, three characters and a plot twist." I say, panicking some more.

"I could help you if you want?" She asks me, and I raise my eyebrows in shock.

Jade.. wants to help me.. with my homework!?

This has got to be a trick. It has to be. I've already learnt that I can't trust her. But I can't exactly say no. She'll probably get mad at me again.

Uggh. What has my life come to?

"Umm sure" I say hesitantly.

She simply smiles back, and I get nervous again.

I turn off the TV, before we both head upstairs to my room.

Surprisingly, it wasn't a trick and Jade actually helped me with the script. She's really good with this kinda stuff, and we both pitched in some great ideas.

I finish up typing the last scene, and save it with a proud smile. I, for sure, wouldn't have been able to get even half of it done on my own.

Once I shut my laptop, I look up at Jade.

"Thanks" I say, sincerely with a smile, that isn't forced this time. "It's probably one of the best scripts I've ever handed in" I tell her, looking into her eyes.

She smiles at me. One that doesn't make me panic or hyperventilate.

"No probs" she tells me before getting up and walking around the room. Her eyes scan through the pictures on my wall, until she stops and points to one specific picture.

"Who's this?" She asks.

I turn my head and see that it's a picture of Ryan and I.

"That's Ryan. We took the picture last year" I tell her, pretty confused as to why she brought it up.

"You two seem pretty close" she says, still looking at the picture.

Why's she so bothered about it?

"Yeah we are, he's actually in this town so I'm excited to see him again. It's been a year since his parents moved away to California. They're actually super nice and-"

"Why's he got his arm around your waist?" She interrupts.

"Umm.. I don't know. It was for the picture, I guess" I tell her.

Is the Jade West jealous? But why? I told her Ryan's only my friend.

She simply responds with an "oh".

I decide to check my phone, and I feel Jade sit on the bed beside me.

"Wow. I completely lost track of time" I tell her when I see that it's 11:30 PM.

"Yeah" she says, while rubbing her hand at the back of her neck. "Umm.. I should probably go." She says, getting up to leave.

"Wait!" I shout, when I realise she's going. Before thinking, I ask her, "It's pretty late to drive home, do you wanna just stay the night at my house again?"

Why on Earth do I want her to stay!? A fee of hours ago, I was praying for her to leave.

She seems to think about it before nodding her head.

Wow. She's gone quiet all of a sudden.

I quickly get some clothes for her to change into, before she even asks. I get some for myself too and start to walk into the bathroom.

It's only then that I look at myself in the mirror.

Woah. I look awful.

There's bags under my eyes, and my hair's a tangled mess. And then there's the line going across my shoulder, along with some blood stains on my top.

I gently trace my fingers around the cut and wince again from the pain. It still hurts, a lot, but at least it'll be easy to cover up when I go to school.

I quickly change and head back to my room, to see that Jade's already under the covers. Her back facing me. Why did I ask her to stay? I mean, she blackmailed me and harmed me.. and yet I still want her around. Maybe, I just don't wanna be alone tonight.

I slip under the covers and turn away from Jade, keeping some distance between us. I can't help but to think about how much pain I've endured over the years, because of her. At first, I thought we just had one of those frenemies type of friendship. But turns out, we were real enemies. I had never wanted that to be honest. I always thought Jade was a really interesting person. She doesn't talk much, and she has a strong and dark facade. But then, she also has those sweet, caring moments too. Although, it's rare, it really does show that Jade can be a good person if she wants to be. Like, when she was helping me with my homework. I would've never expected her to help, but she did, and she was incredible at it too.

I sigh, truly confused about everything. And then the fact that I have to act like her girlfriend, is already making my stomach turn. What if she hurts me again? I can't cry in front of her like a baby again. I've gotta show her that I'm also the boss in our 'relationship'.

Before I knew it I was fast asleep and I was cuddled up to Jade's back, with my arm clutching to her stomach. I shifted in my sleep, and slightly jump when my shoulder rubs against my bed.

Ow. This stupid cut.

I retreat my arm from Jade's waist and gently press it on my shoulder. This action causes Jade to wake up and groan.

Oops.

She turns around to face me, and a look of confusion along with annoyance is on her face.

Chiz. I didn't mean to wake her up.

She suddenly notices that my hand is over my shoulder, and she looks a bit worried.

"What's wrong?" She asks, and I know that she's concerned.

Wow. Jade West.. concerned about me? That's something you'd never expect to hear.

"It's nothing.. I just.. my shoulder. Sorry for waking you up" I whisper, trying to form a chizzin' sentence.

"Stop apologizing." She simply says, before taking my hand to reveal the cut.

Her face softens at the sight and I look carefully into her eyes. They're obviously tired since it's like 4 in the morning, but there's also something else. Regret? Nah, that can't be it.

"Go back to sleep" she tells me, and leans in to kiss the cut, which makes me shiver.

"Mkay"

I turn around and sleep far away from her, but she then does something that really surprises me. She places her arm on my waist, and pulls me close into her body. I don't resist, and she moves her hand to under my t-shirt, touching my bare stomach. I sigh sleepily, and just as I'm about to fall asleep, I hear Jade mumble.

"I'm sorry Tori. I keep hurting you and you don't deserve any of this." She says while kissing the side of my head, and pulling me closer.

I smile widely before drifting off myself. Jade really does have a soft side. If only she showed it more often.