The Confession (A Jori Fanfiction)

"I should've just kept my mouth shut," Jade heard the familiar voice from Cat's Pearbook. Curiously, she watched the screen, showcasing Tori sitting on her stupid red couch with Beck. Of course, Jade thought to herself. She'd always suspected Beck and Tori had feelings for each other, but she couldn't believe either would be stupid enough to act upon them. No, Beck and I aren't together, Jade reminded herself. He can date whoever he wants. Even if that someone is Vega.

"No, you were right," Tori's voice answered. "I mean, if I'm going to be successful, I want it to be because of my talent, not for throwing tantrums and wearing meat hats."

Jade zoomed in the video, watching nervously. She had known that the character Tori was portraying had been ridiculous. Mason Thornesmith had made her out to be a huge diva, and that just wasn't Tori. Tori Vega was nice, too nice for her own good, in fact. So nice that she'd stood up against Mason, consequently losing her chance to perform at the Platinum Music Awards. Jade was grateful for Tori's kindness then, though, since it finally gave her the chance to perform. She was there at the Boomerang Theatre- although nobody had wanted to come with her except Cat.

"Well, can't you be famous for your music and wear a meat hat?" Beck answered. Though she faced Beck, Jade could tell Tori was grinning. Of course he wants this for her, Jade thought jealously. Why wouldn't he want this for me? She'd invited all of her friends to watch her rehearse. She hadn't expected Tori to come, but she hoped Beck would still want to support her. Even now that they weren't together.

"Seriously," Beck continued, "meat, whenever you want, just right out of your hat."

"Right out of my hat?" Tori giggled in response as Jade rolled her eyes. She watched with irritation as Tori and Beck lingered onto the joke a moment, and through the zoom, she could see Beck's arm rested over Tori's as her arm dangled off the edge of the couch. She contemplated hanging up, shutting the Pearbook in a fit of jealousy and rage- but she found herself fixated on the screen. She needed to know what happened. She knew she couldn't exactly get mad at them for whatever they did- wait, can I?- she and Beck weren't together. But it would confirm what she'd been suspecting since the day Tori started at Hollywood Arts, and somehow justify some of the cruelty she'd directed towards Tori.

"So.." Beck stated, gaining more seriousness in his voice.

"Yeah." Tori said awkwardly, as Beck leaned in towards Tori. Jade's eyes widened in disappointment, and shock as she realized they were going to kiss. Tori leaned towards him, too, their lips almost connected when Tori stopped.

"Uh.. oh.. you." She  muttered out awkwardly, playfully nudging Beck's chin with her fist.

"I'm sorry," Beck apologized, scooting away from Tori.

"No, I'm sorry," Tori immediately answered. Beck resumed apologizing, as Tori, too friendly fucking Tori, assured him he hadn't done anything wrong.

"Then why can't we kiss?" Beck asked Tori, as Jade felt a twinge in her chest.

"Because.. of Jade." Tori sighed. Me? Jade thought. Since when does Vega care about how I feel?

"Jade and I broke up," Beck reminded her.

"Yeah, but kissing your friend's ex boyfriend..." Tori began explaining, much to Jade's surprise. Tori certainly hadn't felt remorse kissing Cat's boyfriend a couple years prior. So why should Beck be any different? They weren't even together anymore.

"Wait.. wait, wait, since when are you and Jade friends?" Beck questioned her. "Last week, she took your hamburger, and just rubbed it against her bare foot."

Jade nodded. She had done that, and she'd never really considered her and Tori friends.. did she? No, Jade reminded herself. We're not.

"What? I ate feet meat?!" Tori exclaimed with a disappointed sigh.

"And, she took your spot in the Platinum Music Awards." Beck reminded Tori. I didn't take it, Jade huffed. It was given to me. By Mason. Still, she felt a small twinge of guilt. When it had happened, she didn't think even Tori believed she'd do it. The whole friend group was shocked, as Beck had said, "no." But Jade had just stood there in front of Mason, eager for the chance to finally get her recognition. So she'd linked arms with Mason, and said, "absolutely."

"Look," Tori stated. "I guess Jade and I aren't really friends friends, but we're kind of friends. I think. And kissing her ex boyfriend... I can't do that to a friend."

There it was. The rest of the guilt Jade had trapped inside of her was slowly slipping out. Maybe they had been better friends than she'd thought. She didn't hate Tori- not really. She hated the way Tori got everything, and didn't know anything- but nobody could really hate her. Jade had always figured that despite Tori's kind persona, she was the one who hated Jade.

"Jade! We found the blue skirt!" The chipper voice of Cat emerged from the dressing room hallway as Jade as she spun around, pressing the "mute" button on the keyboard.

Cat, with one arm linked to her bibble- body guard Oliver, excitedly waved a blue skirt around in her hand.

"NO!" Jade boomed. Cat winced at the sound of Jade's yell. Jade could hear the muffled conversation of Tori and Beck continue. Desperate to know more, she sent Cat and Oliver on another quest.

"I decided blue isn't for me," Jade spoke, with less harshness. "Why don't you go see what other colors they have, Cat?"

"Kay Kay," Cat grinned giddily.

Oliver followed with a sigh. "Great, now we gotta find another skirt..." he muttered out.

"Yeah, bye," Jade called after them, turning her attention back to the pearbook.

"Jade has been nothing but mean to you," Beck was insisting, pleading almost.

"She's been nice... some." Tori shrugged in response.

"Name one time," Beck asked with a laugh.

"Okay.. uhm.." Tori hesitated a moment, causing Jade to roll her eyes again. "Okay. Well, she was grateful when I helped her produce her play. She made me get over my fear when I was a stunt double and gave me the push I needed," Tori paused a moment. "Literally." She said as they both giggled.

"Jesus, Vega." Jade muttered to herself.

"I think she does care. In her own way." Tori added.

Beck scoffed, but didn't say any more.

"What about us, Tori?" He asked her. "I thought.. I thought we liked each other."

Jade watched Tori sputter a moment. "Huh?"

"Come on, Tori, don't tell me you feel nothing."

"You are attractive," Tori admitted. "But I don't want to pursue a relationship with you right now."

"You've got to stop letting Jade control you," Beck insisted. "If you want to date me-"

Jade was about ready to slam the Pearbook closed when she heard Tori say, "I don't, Beck. I'm sorry."

"Is this just because of Jade?" Beck was irritated then, desperate to blame Tori's lack of interest on someone else.

"I like Jade, okay?" Tori finally snapped. "I like her. A lot. More than I should. And I don't want to do anything to hurt her."

Beck sat stunned for a moment, as did Jade. She stared at the screen. Did Tori mean what she thought she meant? Liked her liked her? But that couldn't be...could it? Beck himself was trying to understand.

"You mean like her as a friend... or... what?"

Everything fell silent for a moment. Jade couldn't hear any conversation at the Boomerang Theatre. The screen seemed to fall silent as Tori sat a moment, contemplating the question.

"Or what." Tori answered quietly, so quietly Jade wouldn't have been able to hear had she not been staring intently at the screen. She heard a sniffle, and made the assumption that Tori was crying.

"Oh.." Beck said, almost smiling. Of course he's relieved it's not about him, Jade thought. "Well.. uhm.."

"You can't speak a word of this to Jade." Tori pleaded. "She'd kill me."

"No she wouldn't," Beck argued.

Jade saw that as her sign to close the Pearbook. Did she want to kill Vega? No, she didn't think she did. Jade wasn't completely repulsed by the confession, although she figured most of that was flattery. One of the prettiest, most popular girls at Hollywood Arts liked her. She couldn't deny that Tori was pretty, everyone thought so. They always complimented her perfect cheekbones which made Jade nauseous every time- but Jade knew Tori truly was beautiful. She wasn't fake. She was really a kind girl, much too kind to like a girl like her...

"Jade!" Cat's voice returned. "I found you a purple skirt! See!" She held it up with a giddy smile.

"You better like that one, girl," Oliver insisted. "We ain't going back."

"I'll go back," Cat squealed, "if you give me bibble!"

"No!" Oliver and Jade scolded her in unison.

"Anyways, this one's fine, really." Jade shrugged, taking the skirt from Cat. "Thanks."

She held the skirt a moment, when Mason walked up to them.

"There's the star!" He grinned at her. He held a large garment bag in his hand. "We have your outfit for your performance."

"I thought I was picking," Jade said.

"Well, we thought it would look better if you wore this." Mason insisted, shoving the bag into her arms. "Go, try this on."

"Yeah, okay." Jade sighed, accepting the bag as she walked towards the changing rooms.

The moment she put on the outfit, she hated it- just as much as she hated the outfits he'd put Tori in. But she knew Mason wanted an original, bold look, or he'd replace her too. After she performed the following night, none of that would matter anymore anyways. So she sucked it up and tried on the outfit, much to Mason's praise. "Oh, we get the hair and makeup team on you tomorrow night, you're gonna be a star, kid," he assured her.

Jade didn't feel much like a star the following evening as some of the stylists completed her look. She wore a pink dress with a long  skirt that cut out in the front, exposing her thigh- high boots. The dress itself was horrendous- pink, shimmery- and.. were those feathers? Jade wasn't entirely sure. One of her arms was covered in a shimmery metallic sleeve and the other was exposed, with a silver metal looking brace around her other arm. The top featured a black and pink corset over the dress, but it overlayed more of a grey metallic fabric that Jade felt just made her look robotic. The look had been completed with a bubblegum pink wig with some form of twisty grey headpiece, and black makeup smoked around her eyes. Everybody had stopped by to visit her. Cat- and Oliver- were first, and she guided Andre, Robbie and Rex to the seats as she was getting the finishing touches of her look. Tori wasn't there, however. You should be relieved, Jade scolded herself, but it was impossible to be. It was supposed to be Tori's night after all, and no matter how jealous of Tori she was, she couldn't help but feel remorseful.

"I'm gonna go get some safety pins for you to hold that down," one of the stylists told Jade quickly, walking away.

"Thanks," Jade muttered out unhappily.

She peered at her reflection in the mirror, dissatisfied. She hadn't looked a bit like she envisioned she would if she ever got the chance to perform at something as big as the Platinum Music Awards. She couldn't shake the feeling of uneasiness that washed over her as she gazed at herself.

"Wow," Jade heard a familiar voice say. "Incredible outfit."

Jade peered at the girl's reflection in the mirror. Underdressed, as always, Jade thought to herself. Tori wore a grey sparkly top  and a matching black jacket with silver patches at the sides and collar, paired with sparkly jeans and black boots. Jade wanted to mock her, say she looked like she'd just crawled out of a Justice catalogue, but somehow she knew Tori pulled it off.

"I look like an idiot," Jade mumbled out.

"A pretty pink idiot," Tori stated as Jade turned around to face her. She couldn't help but allow a small smile to slip through her black painted lips. "With a... thing.. on her head?" Tori continued.

"Thanks," Jade said, placing her hands at her hips as Tori smiled at her. "I didn't expect to see you here."

"Well, everyone else was coming to cheer you on, so I figured I would too. And you look way better in that than I would have."

Jade could see the tears threatening to fall out of Tori's eyes, but she wore a supportive smile anyways. That's just like Tori, isn't it? Coming in to make me feel guilty... she thought to herself. But she knew deep down, that wasn't Tori's intentions.

"This isn't right," Jade sulked, averting her eyes from Tori's gaze.

"Yeah," Tori agreed. "It is a little tight in the-"

"No," Jade interrupted her with an eye roll. "Not the stupid outfit. This! Me!" She paced around in front of Tori as she spoke, all while Tori watched her with confusion.

"I don't.." Tori stuttered out.

"This was supposed to be your night." Jade relented. Tori looked at her with surprise as a Jade continued, "this was your big chance. So.. for me to go out there and..."

"And?" Tori asked.

"I can't do that to a friend." Jade admitted. Tori's frown shifted into a smile as her eyes widened. Jade wasn't sure if Tori was more surprised she was getting things her way again or the fact that she'd actually called the wretched girl her friend, so she quickly blurted out, "or even to you." Tori frowned, but Jade smiled at her, causing Tori's smile to reappear.

"So, let's go get this dress on you..." Jade suggested, but Tori cut her off.

"No," she said firmly. "If I'm going to perform, I'm going to do it as me.. not as some..."

"Pretty pink idiot?" Jade finished her sentence.

"Yeah," Tori chuckled. "Right. But, Jade, they're going to announce you.. they're going to be expecting you..there's only a few minutes."

"Let me worry about that, Vega." Jade hissed. "Why don't you go to the dressing room and make sure you're all good to go?"

"Yeah, okay," Tori agreed nervously, walking away.

Jade scoped the scene, noticing the announcer sitting, waiting for his cue.

"Sixty seconds!" A voice called out as Jade approached him.

"Hey, Rick, you get the script change?" She asked.

"Script change? No." The man replied with confusion.

"Ugh, those guys," Jade scoffed. "Give me that." She removed the pen from his hand, scribbling her own name out of the lineup. Instead, she wrote in "Tori Vega" and turned to head back to the dressing rooms to ensure Tori's readiness.

"Have a good show," Jade told him with a devious smirk.

"Uh.. you too?" The man muttered out.

"Vega," Tori knocked on the dressing room door. "Vega, are you ready? Less than a minute."

Tori opened the door, wearing a different top than she had before. It was a one sleeved, sparkly maroon shirt, but she kept it underneath the same jacket. Jade stepped into the room, grabbing a makeup wipe from the counter to remove the horrible black lipstick she'd been wearing. "I don't know.. Jade.. I wanted to go on as me... but I don't think anyone's going to pay attention to me. I don't look.. different."

"You don't need to," Jade shrugged. "If you blow this, it'll be because of you, not your outfit." Noticing Tori's nervous grin, she added, "but you won't blow this."

"I- I don't look ready," Tori frowned.

"Yes, you do," Jade insisted, pulling the wig off of her own head, running her fingers through her hair. "Come on, we're all going to be cheering you on."

"But Jade.." Tori muttered out.

"Take off the jacket," Jade instructed her.

"What? Why?"

"It'll look better without it," Jade suggested. "And I'm cold."

Tori raised an eyebrow, but did as Jade told her, quickly handing off the jacket to her. Jade slid the jacket on, giving Tori a reassuring smile.

"Come on!" A stagehand called back. "Places!"

"Go," Jade insisted.

"But-" Tori began protesting.

"Shhh," Jade demanded. "Don't make me change my mind and make Rick deal with another script change."

Tori grinned, heading to the stage behind the curtains. As the curtains opened up, Jade slid into the seat beside her friends- beside Beck- still wearing the atrocious dress and Tori's jacket. Beck grinned at her, and she grinned back, watching as Tori began singing.

She couldn't help but smile through the performance, her conscience clean. As Tori finished the performance, Cat, Beck, Andre and Robbie rushed to the stage. She excitedly wrapped her arms around Cat and Andre, beaming as she saw Jade coming up behind them.

"Oh my god," she laughed with excitement, wrapping her arms around Jade.

"Good job," Jade assured her, as her excitement carried her towards her other friends.

Jade knew that she'd signed herself up for weeks of torment following the performance. There'd be people complimenting and congratulating her- and she knew Tori wouldn't be able to help but talk about it. But Jade couldn't help but feel proud, knowing that she'd at least somewhat made amends with the girl who seemingly liked her.

Oh. Jade had gotten swept up in the excitement, she'd nearly forgotten what Tori had said. She knew there was no way Tori could ever know she'd heard. But at least now, she figured, they were even.