Cat shot her eyes open as the loud beeping of her alarm clock awoke her from yet another nightmare. Seconds passed, and she soon realized that it had just been a dream. Still a little disturbed, Cat walked into her bathroom, where sunflower wallpaper covered the walls. Her red velvet hair was tangled and there were still tear stains on her cheeks and underneath her eyes. Cat examined them and quickly realized that she must have been crying in her sleep, which wasn't a surprise at all. I'm such a cry baby, she thought to herself. Cat continued on with her morning routine until she was interrupted by a text from her best friend, Jade.

"Meet me at my locker before school. I have an idea that we can do for the talent show!" the text read. The thought of performing in front of her Hollywood Arts classmates with Jade brought a huge smile to Cat's face. Cat eagerly rushed to her car where her mom had been waiting, her red pigtails bouncing in the air as she ran.

"You seem pretty happy," her mom said with a grin.

"Yeah, I need to get to school early to meet up with Jade so we can talk about the talent show!" Cat exclaimed. The thoughts of her bad dream had vanished by now.

Before she knew it, Cat was at school and was dashing off to Jade's locker when Andre stopped her. He was standing next to a tall, brunette girl who had flawless tan skin. She looked at Cat and smiled, her white teeth glistening in the autumn sun that was shining through the window. "I'm Tori," she said, "Tori Vega. Nice to meet you." She held out her hand to Cat.

Cat took Tori's hand, noticing how white her hand looked against Tori's beautiful skin. "I'm Cat! Are you new here?" she asked.

Tori was about to answer when Andre interrupted, "Yeah, this is Tori's first day at Hollywood Arts! And let me just say, she's got a killer voice!" Andre nudged Tori and she laughed.

"Oh, Andre! I do not," Tori said playfully.

"C'mon now, don't be modest!" Andre eyes gleamed at Tori. He looked at Cat and said, "Maybe you'll get to hear Tori sing at the talent show!"

"There's a talent show here? That sounds like so much fun!" Tori beamed. "Do you sing too, Cat?"

Cat cleared her thought before she spoke, "Yes, my friend Jade and I are going to do a duet. Have you met Jade?" She pointed to Jade who was standing next to her locker, wearing all black."

Tori glanced at Jade and then looked at Andre and then back to Cat with a confused look. "You mean that emo-looking girl with all the highlights in her hair?"

"She's not emo! She's my best friend." Cat protested with an edge of anger in her tone of voice. Cat was already starting to dislike Tori.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it like that, I promise," Tori insisted feeling guilty now. "She seems…friendly" A fake smiled appeared on Tori's face and Andre tried to keep himself from laughing.

Cat looked over at Jade who motioned for Cat to come to her locker. "I gotta go now. See you later, Andre! And uh, nice meeting you Tori…"

Jade smiled when Cat approached her locker. "Hey Cat," Jade said. She looked over at Tori and Andre, who were still chatting with each other. "Who's that chick with Andre?"

"Oh that's Tori Vega. She's new here.." Cat said, giving a quick glare at Tori to hint to Jade that she didn't like her.

Jade raised one eyebrow. "Tori Vega?"

Cat nodded. "Yeah…do you know her?"

"No…but that name sounds familiar…Vega…" Jade searched her thoughts of where she had heard this name before. "Trina Vega! She's Trina's sister!"

Cat's jaw dropped. "Trina's sister…? She's doesn't seem anything like her."

Jade laughed. "Anyways, enough about this Tori chick. We're gonna be late for class. I'll tell you my idea for the talent show once we get to first period. Okay?"

"Okay!" Cat agreed.

As the girls walked to their class, Cat noticed Tori staring at Jade. Cat and Tori's eyes met, and Tori quickly looked away. There's something fishy about this Tori girl, Cat thought. And I'm not gonna let her treat my friend like that.

*I PROMISE this gets way better. I just had to find a way to start the story!*