September 15th

"No."

"Come on, it's a good idea. We may never get this chance again!"

"I don't want to go to a school where the ratio of trust fund babies outweighs the actual talent."

"It isn't like that... Look, we searched some school performances on YouTube; these kids are really good."

Chocolate brown eyes looked up to meet a pair of identical irises. They were narrowed suspiciously at the opposite's enthusiastic claim. "Prove it." The twin eyed speaker quickly whipped out his phone, eager to show off what he and the rest of the band had found. Tapping the YouTube app, he quickly re-searched the girl. He handed the phone to his twin, who watched the video of the Latina girl with a critical eye and ear. Now that she thought about it… this girl looked kind of familiar. "And she goes to Hollywood Arts?"

"Yeah...," he started apprehensively. As the video came to an end, he asked, "Well? What do you think?"

"She was pretty good. While this doesn't prove anything much, I say we take the offer," the other agreed.

"Yes!"

"But—"

He groaned. "What..?"

"How did we get in?"

Rian Jarrett gave his fraternal twin sister, Kieran, a sheepish smile. "I may have sent the new principal an EP of some of the songs we've covered..." He rubbed the back of his neck and smiled wider to play it off as if it were no big deal. His sister's pierced eyebrow rose as she stared at him. Rian could never hold against his sister in a staring contest, so his eyes soon became one with the floor. For what seemed like a hour, was in reality, only five minutes, he looked back up at his sister to see her double pierced bottom lip between her teeth and her eyes not in irritation but consideration.

"Kieran?" he asked.

Without warning, she stood up swiftly from their living room couch, making her brother flinch at her sudden movement. Kieran smirked briefly at her brother's nervousness before looking up at her six foot tall brother, who towered over her by a good seven inches. She poked her purple polished, chocolate skinned index finger into his chest sharply, causing Rian to wince. "This better not tank, Ri..."

Rian's eyes lit up with excitement, his vanilla skinned face breaking out into a huge grin. "It won't, I promise!" He lifted his fraternal twin sister and pulled her into a tight bear hug, twirling them around the room. Kieran grunted as her face was pushed into his chest. She struggled against his firm chest and arms when she started to get dizzy.

"Alright, you big lug! Put me down!"

Rian set her down happily, his grin not fading for a second. Kieran huffed and jumped up, ruffling his black hair. She ducked to dodge his arms when he tried to retaliate by putting her in a headlock. Kieran couldn't help but smile as her brother tried again. She didn't have much to smile for ever since their parents finally gave up and signed over all parental rights to their maternal grandparents back when they were only fourteen years old.

Almost three years to the day.

Their parents barely had a parental bone in their bodies... Well, for the first nine years they sort of did. Kieran and Rian were ten years old when their family was shot to Hell.

Already thoroughly involved and stressed with careers that required long hours: a cardiac surgeon (their father) and a lawyer (their mother), the two had a strong outlook on what was an appropriate and professional career, how young men and women should act in public... Basically, what they wanted were Stepford children.

It was sort of understandable... They both grew up in Compton... Surrounded by drug dealing and violence... Luckily, neither sets of their grandparents let them get involved in such acts and stayed close together and they fell in love.

Kieran thought back to when they stressed learning at an early age. Promoting reading and math, teaching them four different languages; and Rian and Kieran, being the educational sponges that they were, soaked it up, able to talk and read on their own by age two and speak fluent Spanish, Italian, Chinese and Japanese by they were nine.

Their parents soon allowed Kieran and Rian music lessons (the violin and piano respectively), wanted them to be well rounded. After, it was ballroom dancing. The twins took to both forms of arts like fish to water. Then their tenth birthday came and their grandparents gave Kieran and Rian a guitar and drum set respectively. They quickly taught themselves, not giving any other form of learning a second thought.

Now an esteemed surgeon and lawyer couldn't have that, now could they? The twins were put on a strict schedule, making sure to give them as small amount of time as possible with their loved instruments...

"Kieran..?" Rian snapped his fingers in front of her face, pulling her back into reality.

"What?"

"You weren't thinking about them, were you?" he asked, concerned but his nose was scrunched up as if he smelled something bad.

She gave him a sly grin. "Actually, I was. I was thinking about how we'll make them see how they missed out on us. Let's go tell the guys then Nana and Grandpa." She grabbed her very worn out black jean jacket out of the hall closet.

"They're gonna freak. But when we see Grandpa and Nana, make sure Nana's sitting down so she doesn't faint like she did when she won the Powerball," he told her, following her out the front door.

"Y'know, that girl looked kinda familiar... Isn't she a friend of Dexter's cousin...?"

September 10th — Five Days Earlier

It was lunch time on a sunny Tuesday afternoon at California's most prodigious high school: Hollywood Arts; a school — obvious from its name — that helped students reach their dreams in the performing and theatrical arts.

Down in the parking lot, Robbie Shapiro was checking out the black and yellow BMX bike Sinjin van Cleef was selling.

"You said it goes all the way into 12th gear?" Robbie asked.

"And it has ten different speeds," Sinjin boasted. Robbie bit the inside of his cheek in thought.

"C'mon! I don't have all day! Three other people are looking to buy this!" he rushed.

"I'm thinking, I'm thinking!" Robbie started to pat his leg, creating a random beat. Sorting through the pros and cons, he briefly saw Tori Vega walking up to the Asphalt Cafe with two other students. "Tori! Tori!" he suddenly grabbed her arm and pulled her over to the bike.

"Ow! What?" she whined, rubbing her arm. "Is this about shaving the back of your neck again? You're one of my best friends, but I'm not gonna—"

"No, no!" Robbie interrupted. "What do you think about this bike?"

Tori looked down and eyed the bike critically. "It is a cool bike," she admitted.

"W-would it make you wanna date me?" he asked hopefully.

Tori almost bit out a sarcastic remark that would've made Jade proud but instead gave Robbie a pitiful smile and said, "No." She brushed her fingers over the back of his neck gently. "It is hairy..."

The ventriloquist ducked away from her hand before sighing and finally came to a decision. "How much?"

"Four hundred dollars," Sinjin answered.

The two looked at the awkward teen in shock. "F-four hundred dollars?" Robbie stuttered.

"I could go to someone else...," Sinjin taunted.

Taking the bait, Robbie sighed once more. "Fine..." He pulled out his wallet, counting out the money.

On the platform above the Asphalt...

"Uh, hello?" said the acting teacher, Erwin Sikowitz, into the microphone. "Hello? Can everyone hear me? I'm the one that is talking into the microphone."

While Sikowitz was still trying to draw the attention of the students, a pale seventeen year old girl with black hair that was accented with green highlights, who sat with her friends (though she refused to call them that), and her ex boyfriend/best friend, stood on top of the table. "Everyone, shut the hell up!" she shouted. Instantly, the student body respected the girl's wishes.

"Thank you, Jade." Sikowitz said. "So gentle and feminine..."

Jade West rolled her icy blue/green eyes and sat back down, crossing her arms.

"Now that I have your attention, I would like to introduce a man that needs no introduction... He was born by a river in Kentucky on July twenty first. A man of his word. A man who—"

"Sikowitz, give me the microphone," interrupted the principal. The two struggled for a moment before the teacher finally gave up.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Principal Eikner," he finished rapidly, handing over the microphone.

The students below clapped with confusion as to why their principal would need to talk to all of them.

"Now as you all know, I love being your principal... I've had a lot of fun times here and that's why it pains me so much to say... that I'm resigning." He paused until the gasps of surprise finally died down. "I've fallen in love with a Tahitian woman, and I plan to live with her and her people." It was then that a caramel skinned woman completely dressed in her native garb, eating a banana walked up on to the platform. She wrapped her arms around his waist and he around her shoulder.

The students down in the Cafe looked on in confusion before giving their now ex-principal a round of applause. They watched with unsurprised faces as Sikowitz suddenly snuck the banana out of the woman's hand and continued to eat it on his own as he walked down the stairs.

"Three fifty, three eighty and... four hundred," Robbie counted out as he laid the money into Sinjin's palm.

"Thank you, and you are now the proud owner of a new bike —"

It happened in the snap of a second. A red Mini Coop raced through the parking lot to park in the same spot Robbie's brand new bike was sitting. The three students immediately jumped out of the way, leaving the bike to — unsuccessfully— fend for itself. It fell apart on impact, gears and wheels flying in random directions.

"Hey!" Robbie shouted to the driver. "Watch where you're going!"

"You need to watch where you're standing!" said the driver: a middle aged African American woman who stood at a height of only five foot three. "I turned the blinker on..."

Tori interrupted her and an argument ensued with Robbie joining in. A small crowd surrounded them, eager to watch the exchange of words.

"Wait, wait, wait... Who are you anyway?" Tori demanded.

"My name is Helen," she retorted. "I'm your new principal here at Hollywood Arts."

The youngest Vega gave the woman a sheepish smile and looked at Robbie. "You need to watch where you stand from now on."

Welp… Here's yet another story that's been floating around in my head… At this rate, I'll never complete anything...

Though the disclaimer is on my profile, I'll say it here as well. I will be using songs in this story. I will never own any song that I use for this story. Be it from the show Victorious, or a song I think fits the story. I may claim a character wrote the song, but that is all.