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Girls Like You

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Tori finds me in the bathroom during fifth period, and it makes want to go out and buy a lottery ticket. Because I'm just so freaking lucky. I'm drying my hands when I glance at her, arms crossed and standing on the other end of the line of sinks. She's mad, practically fuming, at it irks me a bit that she would grace me with her livid presence. I didn't tell Cat to break up with her. I have my own crosses to bare, and none of them should have to do with her.

So after a quick glance, I go to grab my bag that's resting on the porcelain of a sink.

"How long have you been fooling around with Cat?" I pause, her words make me roll my eyes, like some kind of instinct with her.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Because I don't owe Tori anything, not honesty and not an explanation. That was Cat's job, and it's not my fault if she didn't give Tori closure. But then again, I'm pretty positive Tori didn't push too much out of her. Because Cat's just that wide-eyed little girl who's so easy to be taken advantage of, and Tori is just one white knight complex away from being a prince charming. And me? I'm the villain that stole her girl. I know that's how she sees it, because I see the way Tori looks at Cat.

Besides, I'm an easier target for her pain than Cat. I get that. I do.

Doesn't mean I care.

"Yes you do, Jade, and I know it." She uncrosses her arms to grip her hips, and I mentally shake myself out of my thoughts. She moves a few sinks closer to me, her back facing the mirrors, and I don't face her, idly fixing a few stray hairs in my reflection.

"How's that?"

"I'm not stupid."

"That's a matter of opinion." I retort with snide and smirk, not missing a beat.

It's almost funny, how I can literally feel my morose demeanor simply fade away. How quickly my old self slips back like a bike riding metaphor. I don't know why or what, but there's something about Tori. The girl brings it out of me.

"How long?" She repeats loudly, like this is a movie, and just over acting will be enough to pull the truth out of me. I stop and face her now, knowing that she really needs to take a good look in the mirror her back's to. Because guess what, Tori? I'm not stupid either.

"How long have you two been leading the rainbow pride parade behind everyone's back, Vega?" My hands present themselves toward her like I just did a magic trick. Tada! Denial. "You know…" I look side to side, a little dramatically before whispering; "there's words for girls like you."

Her face flushes a bit, and I can't tell if it's from embarrassment or anger, but either way, I'm chipping away at that Vega exterior, chipping and chipping, and starting to see cracks appear. Just a little more, just a little harder, and she'll break. It's so easy with her, to do what I do, and it's funny how much I'm enjoying this.

"There's words for girls who cheat on their boyfriends." My face falls slightly, but I push it aside.

"I broke up with Beck."

Tori scoffs at that, rolling her eyes and it makes me take another step towards her.

"That makes it okay? Since you broke up with him yesterday?"

My eyes narrow when I realize that she really wants to do this. She really wants to try to push me. She's going to regret it.

"How do you even know I was doing anything with Cat, smart girl?" I snap back, because I want to know if Cat told her, told her she just wasn't good enough.

But I don't think she did, the way Tori is giving me a once over full of disgust. "…I could smell her on you."

Oh, Tori. She's making it so easy. Like a sign on her head that says 'break here'.

"Bet it didn't stop you from fucking her." My smirks back full blown.

"Go to hell, you bitch." I almost laugh, because bad words just sound so wrong coming from her.

"Oh, you're using big girl words now, aren't you?"

She takes another step, making us toe to toe, and she can't be that smart wanting to step up to me like this.

"She deserves better than you." She says through a clenched jaw. "You're a pathetic sadist, and the only thing you'll ever do is hurt her." I feel a sudden weight on my chest at her words. And it hurts, but I push it aside, ignore it. Focus on her, on this.

Don't flounder, shoot back. Do what you do, Jade.

My eyes narrow.

"And despite all that, she still wants me more than you. She still thought about me every time she kissed you, every time you two were together." I look her up and down. "You know I'm right, because you're not stupid, are you?" My words get emphasized when I push Tori back by the shoulders, short and rough. Because this Vega girl is poking at a tiger, and my teeth are sharp enough to tear through her. It looks like she doesn't mind though, all kinds of anger flashing in her eyes. And when she pushes me back, I hope this girl knows what she's getting into, because I'm about to kick her ass.

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Tori kicked my ass.

I'm not exactly sure how it happened, because it was only a moment before someone walked into the bathroom and went to go get a teacher, and before I knew it, the guidance counselor Blaine was pulling her off me.

We're sitting in the nurse's office, a chair between the ones we're occupying, and that's when I kind of gather the overall score of our fight. She's a little scratched up, and rubbing her sore wrist, which apparently got bruised when she was punching me in the face. I'm over here with a bloody nose and an icepack on my temple, taking slow and steady breaths, because I think at some point she kicked me in the ribs.

Damn.

It must be her Latino blood, or the fact that I've never seen her as mad as I made her, while she slammed my head against the door of a bathroom stall.

I got my ass kicked…by a Vega.

"I could tell him, you know." She half whispers, making me look over at her. Which I regret because it makes my brain scream at me. She's looking down at the her hands, as they twist in her lap. Her voice sounds tired, all fight good and drained out of her. I could relate, but my fight was good and knocked out of me. "I could tell him why we were fighting, and he'd know the real reason why you broke up with him."

I try to chuckle, but no sound comes out, and it makes a muscle in my stomach pinch.

"You won't though."

Tori looks at me then, a little residual anger lingering in those brown eyes.

"Why not?"

I sigh as I adjust the melting bag of ice on my face.

"Because then he would know the reason why you had to kick my ass over it."

Her eyes go down at that. Yeah, you can fight better than me, but all that hiding and sneaking around with Cat was something we were both good at.

"I don't care about that."

That almost sounded convincing, Vega.

"I think you do. Because pretty soon the whole school will know, then Trina, then your mom, then you're cop daddy." My words don't even have enough energy to hold a bite to them. "They'll all know that perfect Tori Vega likes girls." Her eyes stay in her lap, all quiet and obvious, and I sigh after a moment. I'm not enjoying this anymore. Not at all. "…I had a reason to hide what I was doing with her, you didn't."

She takes a shaky breath and I pretend that I don't see her swipe quickly at her cheek.

"I really hate you." Her voice is breaking when she says it, because isn't that what I'm just so good at? I break things. I break everything.

"Me too." She looks at me weird when I say it.

Yeah, Vega. I hate me too.

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