Imprisoned Love

Opposite Date

Tori's POV:

"So, you're grandma actually washed your laptop?" I ask André, with an amused expression as I'm listening to yet another one of his crazy grandma stories.

"Uh huh." He says with an exasperated sigh, and I lightly chuckle as we sit down at our table, with our lunches in our hands. 

"Hey guys." Beck says in his casual tone, and I smile at him with a small wave.

I'm SO grateful that my friendship with Beck hasn't torn down since I got together with Jade.. mostly coz he was always there for me since my first day in Hollywood Arts.. and I really got close with him. He's a really sweet and reliable friend, and I'm glad nothing's really changed between us, even after everything's that's happened.

Of course he was a bit distant and upset at first, but after a few days, he became his normal self again, and he started talking to me as if nothing had even happened.

Honestly though, he is such a chill guy, and I'm really lucky to have him as a friend.

"Hey, have you guys heard of that big bone that they found a few days ago?" Beck asks, and I get really excited about it because I've been wanting to see it ever since I heard about it.

"Oh my God. Yes! It's like the third largest bone that's ever been found in California." I squeal, and he chuckles at my enthusiasm.

André takes out his PearPad to search for some more information, and we're joined by Robbie ranting about how bad his day has been and how he misses Rex.

"Hey where's Jade?" Beck asks, as he slightly elbows me to grab my attention away from Robbie's really long rant.

"Oh, she told me she had to go home to check on Tyler since he's sick and her mom's away on a business trip again." I tell him, and he nods.

"Oh, I got it! So apparently, the femur bone will be on display, tonight from 7 to 11pm at the Museum of Large Bones." André announces, reading off of his PearPad, and I get super excited.

"Oooohh yes! We should all go!" I shout, and they simply shrug their shoulders while nodding their heads, not nearly as interested in it as I am.

"Ohh.. my gosh!" Robbie exclaims, while looking down at his phone.

"What about your gosh?" André chimes in.

"To celebrate the launch of the new PearPad 3, the Pear store at the Grove is giving away three new PearPads!" Robbie says excitedly, as he reads off of his phone.

"How do you win one?" I ask curiously, my mouth still full of food, which is kinda gross, but honestly who cares?

"Uh.." he goes back to his phone and starts scanning it. "Oh! By making a video, showing how much you want one. The best video makers each get a PearPad 3... I gotta work on this all week." He says happily.

"Nooo, what about the dinosaur bone?" I ask, more like whine..

"I gotta work on my video. André, you wanna shoot the video with me?" Robbie asks him, but he shakes his head with a smirk, telling him that he already has a perfectly functioning PearPad 2.

Apparently the PearPad 3 just has a slightly better screen.

Suddenly, our conversation is cut short when something blasts through André's PearPad, causing it to completely crack, and form a hole in the middle of it.

What the chiz!?

We turn around to see two kids running away as fast as they can, and I roll my eyes in annoyance.

"Ugh! Those slingshot kids!!" André shouts frustratingly, which only adds a smirk to Robbie's face.

"Well.. now you do need a new PearPad." He states, with a smug look on his face.

"What kind of video should we make?" André sighs, as he puts his now broken PearPad away.

Wait.. André's not gonna come see the big bone too??

They get up from the table to discuss more about the video they're gonna make, and I stop them before they can leave.

"Wait! So neither of you are coming with us to see the Museum of Large Bones tonight?" I ask, and they shake their heads with a shrug before walking off, and I groan.

"So.. tonight. Guess it's just you and me." Beck says casually, and a million thoughts race through my head, as I think it over.

Chiz! There's no way that's gonna happen..

Jade would probably murder me if I hung out with Beck.. alone.

I guess I could just ask her if she wants to come with us..

But let's be real here. It's Jade! She wouldn't wanna spend her Monday night looking at a bone..

I'll just let him down easy..

"Yeahhh.. I can't go. I-I'm, uh, busy.." I stutter, picking up my phone, acting like I just got a text.

Wow. Even after all those acting classes, I'm still a terrible liar.

"Busy? We were just talking about the museum-" He asks, with furrowed eyebrows, and I roll my eyes at how I gotta be straight forward with him now.

Well, this is gonna be awkward.

"Dude.. I can't go with just you." I cut him off with a sigh.

"Why not?" He asks with a small chuckle, taking a sip from his drink, genuinely confused.

Ughh. Now I gotta explain..

"Coz.. if it's just the two of us, then it's like.." I say, looking at him, hoping that he'll cop on because this is uncomfortable enough, and I don't wanna keep going..

However, he doesn't seem to understand, so he makes a 'go on' motion, and I sigh.

".. a date!" I finish.

"Alright. I get it. You don't wanna go on a date. So.. we'll do the opposite of a date." He says after thinking about it, and I dip my eyebrows.

An opposite date?

"Opposite?" I question.

"We won't dress nice, we'll eat terrible food and we'll do something un-fun... Then it's not a date. It's just us hanging out."

Huh. I guess that makes sense.

I agree to go on the 'opposite date' with him before picking up my stuff, and getting up to go to class.

I mean, guys and girls can totally hang out as just friends.. so what's the big deal? I'm sure Jade wouldn't mind it too much..

Hopefully..

Okay so maybe it wasn't the best idea to agree to the 'opposite date' without telling her first, but Beck and I are just buds.

And she's my girlfriend so she'll understand.

As I walk back into the school, I look around for her at her locker, but she's not there so either she's not back yet, or she's already gone to class early.

I decide to send her a quick text instead, hoping she actually sees it.

Me: Hey babe. Where are you? Xx

It's pretty simple, I know, but I'd much rather talk to her in person.

I'm sure she'll be okay with it. Like Beck and I hang out with the group all the time..

She doesn't text back so I decide to just head to class, hoping to see her by the end of the day in the corridors or something.

Unfortunately, I don't see her for the rest of the school day, so I go straight to her locker, hoping she'll be there.

Nope.

I take out my phone to check if she replied..

Nope.

Ugghh.

I should just call her..

The phone rings a couple of times, until she actually picks up with a frustrated groan/grunt.

"Uh hey ba-" I start.

"I'm busy Vega. Not now." She cuts me off, and I frown at her harsh tone.

"Wait Jade, I wanted to tell you that-" I'm cut off again when I hear the line go dead, meaning she hung up on me.

Seriously?

I guess I'll just have to tell her tomorrow.

But like, do I really need to inform her every single time I go out with a friend?

Coz if that's the case.. then I dunno how many times I'll be going out with just my friends and me..

I mean don't get me wrong, I love Jade, and I love spending time with her. But there's gonna be some times when I just need some breathing space from her, just to hang out with some friends.

It's not that big of a deal, right? If she trusts me, then she'd be okay with me hanging out with Beck tonight.

Kay, I guess it's settled then. I'm going to do some disgusting 'opposite date' chiz, just to prove that I'm nowhere near interested in Beck, and that we're just a couple of friends hanging out.

Perfect.

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

Since Jade's nowhere to be seen, I go back to my locker and start packing my books away until I'm joined by a familiar perky redhead.

"Hey Tori!" She shouts excitedly, and I turn to her with a smile, shutting my locker.

"Hi Cat!"

"So, are you guys all gonna go see the big bone tonight?" She questions, and I explain how Robbie and André cancelled so that they can make their video to win the new PearPad 3, making her chuckle a little.

"So.. you don't have any plans tonight?" She asks, and I awkwardly shift on my feet, debating on what I should say next..

Should I tell her that Beck and I are hanging out tonight?

But what if she takes it the wrong way and thinks that I'm cheating on Jade or something? And what if she tells her that I'm going out with him! She is her best friend after all..

Relax Tori. Just explain to Cat that you and Beck are hanging out as just friends..

"No, I, uh.. Beck and I are gonna-"

"Ooooooo" she says flirtatiously, with raised eyebrows.

"Stop. It's not a date. We're just hanging out as a couple of friends." I say with a small chuckle, and she slowly nods her head.

"Oh, so Jade knows?"

Chiz.

"U-Uhm, no. Buuut.. I'm sure she trusts me enough to let me hang out with just a friend." I say, and she dips her eyebrows a little.

"You sure you don't wanna tell her about it? I mean, we all know how Jade can get.." she trails off knowingly.

"Yeah I'm sure. It's only two friends hanging out, and I know I wouldn't mind, if it were the other way round."

Really, Tori?

So you're saying that you wouldn't mind if Jade and Beck hung out as just friends for a night?

...

Well that's different! They were exes, and Beck and I are seriously just friends!

Hmm.. suuuuure. It's definitely a 'different' situation.

"Okay then.." Cat says unsurely, and I take this opportunity to quickly excuse myself so that she doesn't ask any further questions that make me regret my decision.

I'll just be sure to make this opposite date as real as possible so that everyone knows that I'm with Jade, and I don't like Beck in that way.

After my conversation with Cat, I head back home and do a little bit of homework before I start to get ready for my hang out with Beck.

I decide to wear the ugliest outfit that I could find in my wardrobe, and I don't even put any make up on. I leave my wavy hair down, and I decide to not take a shower before I go.

Yup. I am so acing this opposite date thing.

I proudly look at myself in the mirror and smirk at the complete mess in front of me. There's no way that anybody would suspect that we're going out, coz seriously, who would possibly dress like this on a date?

I'm about to grab my purse and head out the front door, but I stop when I hear my name being screamed from the top of the stairs, and I shudder when I realise it's Trina singing my name.

"Ugh, what do you want Trina?" I groan, and she skips down the stairs with earphones dangling from her phone.

"Where you going?" She asks curiously.

"I'm gonna go see the big bone with Beck.." I say, wishing I could just leave already, but she frowns and continues speaking.

"Wait, are you and Jade splitsville already? And why would you wear that on a date?" She scrunches up her face, and I roll my eyes.

Why does everyone keep assuming that we're going on a date!?

"Jade and I are not splitsville, and I'm not going on a date with him. We're just hanging out.. as friends." I say, in a clear tone, stretching some words so that she knows that I'm definitely not interested in Beck.

"Oh.. okay. Have fun, I guess." She shrugs, and I gratefully smile before leaving in a hurry since I'm running a little late.

Thankfully, the museum isn't a long drive from my house, and I smile when I see Beck standing outside the museum, obviously waiting for me so that we can both walk into the exhibition together.

"You look.. disgusting." He says with a laugh, as I approach him, and I chuckle.

I take in a good look at him, and see that he actually made an effort to dress just as horribly. His hair is messier than mine, and he's wearing a huge bagggy jacket, along with old ripped jeans.

"Thanks, you too!" I respond, and we laugh about how we had to make ourselves look disgusting just so that it would seem like an opposite date.

The exhibition goes really well, and I got sooo excited when I saw the big bone. We got a few looks here and there, since we don't exactly look great right now.. but as long as no one assumes that we're dating, then I couldn't care less.

We were supposed to stay in the museum for the whole night, but it got pretty boring pretty quickly, so we decided to just head out and grab some food instead.

"And I know the perfect place to eat." Beck says, and we get into our cars before driving off, me following his car.

I have absolutely no idea where we're going, but I hardly doubt we're going anywhere nice, so I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

His car starts to slow down, until it comes to a halt at a dark and odd neighbourhood, and I dip my eyebrows when I take a look around.

This.. is where were gonna eat??

I don't even see any shops or restaurants around..

I park my car behind his, beside the sidewalk, and get out to walk up to him.

We walk down the path for a while, and he still won't tell me where we're eating, despite my annoying protests.

"And... Here we are." He says proudly, pointing at a truck with dodgy people standing around it.

Ummm...

"Uh.. this doesn't seem so bad." I lie nervously, and he holds up an index finger.

"Wait for it." He says, and my whole face scrubbed up when I breathe in an awful reek of rotten seafood, which by the way is literally the worst smell I've ever whiffed.

Oh God. It's worse than the time I had to be Trina's assistant for a week, and she made me stick my nose in her dancing shoe, just coz she wanted me to suffer.

I groan at how we gotta eat from here, and I can so picture the rest of the night resulting in me puking my lungs out.

I decide to order a drink and some clams, since they seem to look like the only edible food around here, and we sit down on the curb with our plates in our hands.

This looks SO gross!!

C'mon Tori. It's an opposite date, remember..

We talk and laugh about random stuff, I guess mostly just trying to avoid the food as long as possible..

I swear the smell is making my insides churn..

"Cheers to being just friends.. and to this opposite date!" Beck says happily, raising his beverage to clink with mine, and we take a sip, but end up spitting it out because it tastes like a mixture of sweat.. and wazz..

"I had a terrible time with you today Beck." I say with a smile, and he chuckles.

"Me too, Tori. But you know what?"

"What?" I say, while examining my clams, lifting them up to eye level.

Ewww. 

"We proved today that guys and girls can just hang out, without it turning into a 'dating' thing." He says, and I agree with him by nodding my head.

We try to delay eating our clams as much as possible, but we realise that we might as well try it, so we nervously lift it up to our mouths.

I'm about to take a teeny bite, but we're interrupted by a gagging man who shouts at everyone to not eat the clams, and I drop it from my hand immediately, and we simply leave them on the ground before getting up and walking away, back to our cars.

Phew. That was a close one.

Beck ends up getting a call from his aunt, asking him to go pick up her dog from an animal hospital, so we decide to both go, as it would be a great way to end our opposite date.

"Kay so I'll just follow your car ag-"

I'm interrupted by my phone ringing, so I take it out to see that it's Cat.

"Hey Cat." I greet happily.

"Hiiii" she says in her usual high tone. "Are you and Beck having fun?"

"Yeah, but you know, not too much fun.." I awkwardly say, and he chuckles while Cat simply does her high pitched laugh.

"So where are you guys right now?" She asks, and I take a quick look at my surroundings and tell her that I'm at a food truck near Melrose and LaBrea.

"Hey so what are you up to toni-" I start.

"Byeeeee" she cuts me off, and I frown a little but simply roll my eyes with a chuckle.

That was a bit weird... But then again, it's Cat..

As I'm following Beck's car to Pet Mergency, I get another call from Cat, so I click answer and put it on speaker since I'm still driving.

"Hey Cat."

"Hiii" she says, but with a little less enthusiasm.

"What's up?"

"Um.. where are you and Beck going?"

"Oh, uh, Beck's aunt called and..."

Wait.

Why is she even asking me?

"Hey, how come you keep calling and asking where we are?" I question.

"Ummm.." she starts.

Chiz!

Please tell me she didn't..

"You didn't tell anyone that Beck and I are out together, did you?" I practically plead, praying that she didn't..

"W-What.. that's so crazy.. ha ha.." she nervously laughs, and I get even more suspicious.

The line goes quiet for a second, until her voice returns to the phone.

"Hi Toriii. Um, my brother locked me in the closet so I'm really bored and I just wanna know what you guys are doing." She quickly says, followed by her regular laugh.

Eh. Sounds like something he would do..

"Oh, well, uh, Beck's aunt called him and asked him to go take her dog to an animal hospital and, uh, we're on our way to pick him up." I tell her, and I hear a light chuckle on the other end of the phone.

"Ooo fun, where's this animal hospital?" She asks in a kinda serious tone.

She's so weird today..

"Uhh Sherman Oaks." I answer, and she hangs up after shouting that her brother's coming back, and I dip my eyebrows as I continue driving.

Hmmm..

Beck parks his car outside the animal hospital and we both walk in and take a seat when the lady at the counter tells us that Buster's ointment will be out in a minute.

As we're sitting down, we talk about how gross our day was, and how unpleasant it was to be around each other's presence.

"Is that a dog?" A man sitting across from us suddenly asks, and I raise an eyebrow at his dumbfounded question.

"Yeah." Beck simply says, and then the woman next to us chimes into the conversation.

"Are you two brother and sister?" She questions.

"No. No we're not brother and sister. Why do you, uh, ask?" I question, trying to be as polite as possible even though I find the question quite odd.

"Because I heard you say that you weren't on a date.. and you're both so attractive, and you got a similar bone structure.. so I figured that if you're not on a date, then you must be brother and sister." She explains with a laugh at the end, and we chuckle while shaking our heads.

"Nahhh, we're just buds." Beck says, and I nod in agreement.

"Yeah, I've actually got a girlfriend." I tell her, and she nods.

"Oh, where is she?" Another guy from across the room asks.

Seriously. Is this a normal thing that happens? You just butt into people's PRIVATE conversations?

"She, uh, was busy tonight so she couldn't come." I say awkwardly, hoping they'd just drop this.

"And she's okay with you hanging out with another boy?" A young girl from behind us asks, and I furrow my eyebrows.

Is everyone listening to us or something??

"Umm, well, uh.. she.." I awkwardly start, and she simply crosses her arms to give me a look.

"Does she even know that you're hanging out with this handsome young boy?" The woman beside me asks, and I look down guiltily while slowly shaking my head no.

Where the hell is the damn ointment!?

Everyone "ooo's", and I roll my eyes.

"Okay hold on. The only reason Jade doesn't know about us hanging out is because she would take it the wrong way and accuse Tori of cheating on her." Beck says, shutting everyone up, and I gratefully smile at him.

"Yeah but maybe she just feels insecure, and she needs someone, like her girlfriend, to comfort her." The young girl says, and I start to feel terrible again.

Uggghhh. Why can't people just mind their own business?

"Look, you all don't even know Jade. She's like the toughest girl you can find." I say, hoping they'd understand and leave it.

"Just because she's tough on the outside, doesn't mean she's not hurting on the inside." The girl says, and I can't help but to think that it's true. "She's probably hurting right now, as we speak." She finishes, making me get annoyed.

"Ok you know what-" I say frustratedly, turning around in my chair, but then the doors swing open to reveal someone I would never expect to see in this moment.

Jade.

Chiz.

"Oh, well look who it is!" She says, her tone harsh and rough, and Beck and I quickly scatter up off our chairs.

"Jade.." I say in a quiet voice, and everyone "ooo's" again.

"Wow. Tori and Beck are here! Who would've thought that they'd be.. I-I mean, what a coinciden- ah who am I kidding?" Cat desperately tries to cover up at first, but soon gives up, making me roll my eyes.

"Wait, so.. that's Jade?" The woman sitting beside me asks, while pointing at her, an Jade looks down at her confused.

"Look, Jade. I can explain why Beck and I-" I try starting off, my voice wavering a bit.

"C'mon, how are you gonna explain that you're on a date with another guy?" The guy across the room asks, making me really frustrated.

I look over at Jade who is currently twiddling her fingernails, and has a look of absolute hurt flashed across her entire face, making me feel like the worst person in the whole world.

This was such a stupid idea!! Why the hell did I agree to this in the first place?

"It's not a date!" Beck chimes in, and I try to form a sentence, but I literally can't.

Jade's super quiet right now, and she's either gonna blow up at me and maybe even hurt me.. or she's gonna cry.. and right now, I'd much prefer the first option. I don't think I can stand to watch her cry.. especially if it's because of me.

"Jade, just listen to me. Beck and I were only han-"

"It's fine, Tori." She stops me, and I furrow my eyebrows.

She's definitely not mad at me, but she still looks and sounds extremely upset, and it's making me feel like I wanna crawl under a rock and die at this moment.

Uggghhhh!!

"I get it. You two are 'just friends', and you wanted to hang out with him.. alone." She says, using air quotes on 'just friends' with her fingers, and I shake my head at her.

"Jade, no please. Hear me out-" I plead, stepping closer to her, but she takes a step back.

"It's okay.. Enjoy your 'hang out'." She says sadly.

Suddenly Cat gets up with a worried look.

"Careful, it's a trick!" She shouts, and Jade huffs.

"It's not a trick! I mean, I-I thought I was mad... But I guess, I'm not anymore." She says, looking at me the whole time, and I really wish she'd just yell at me or threaten me or something. Coz this.. this emotion that I'm feeling right now.. guilt.. feels ten times worse than any physical pain that she can cause...

"I'm going home." She says quietly, and quickly turns around, but I don't fail to notice the tears forming in her eyes as she sees Beck standing next to me.

"Jade! Wait!" I shout after her, but she's gone before I know it, and all I know is that I might've just made the biggest mistake in my entire life..