Chapter 1
"The Start of Something Beautiful"
Hi I'm Tori Vega. I'm a 17 year old girl with chestnut brown hair and brown eyes. My best friends are Andre, Cat, and Robbie. I also have a frienemy named Jade West. Cat is a ditsy girl that is the sweetest and most random person you will probably ever meet. Robbie is a comical boy that carries around a puppet named Rex that insults people all the time, or flirts with girls. Jade was a bitter, but sweet at times, type of girl. Jade loves scissors so much that it's an obsession that frightens me a bit. Then there's André, he got me into this awesome performing arts high school, Hollywood Arts. Well Trina, my sister, helped out as well. If her tongue didn't swell up minutes before she was supposed to perform at the showcase, I wouldn't be here right now.
I have this very weird Acting class with Mr. Sikowitz. His last name suits him because he is a little psycho. He is however one of the most amazing acting teachers in all of Hollywood. On my first day I gave him two dollars because I thought he was homeless. I still laugh at that memory because Andre just chuckled signaling that he completely agreed with me. Now onto relationships. I haven't had much luck with guys. Danny was my only really serious boyfriend. I dated him for eleven months but then I broke it off because things started to crumble with him. Ryder Daniels was only dating me for a good grade but Robbie found out the truth about him with André. André ended up helping me write an awesome grade for the full moon jam to get back at Ryder. Then worst of all, Steven Carson. We were dating for three months when I found out that Steven was cheating on me with Carly Shay from iCarly. We humiliated him at a party that Andre was hosting. That sums up my relationship life.
Right now might you ask? I am currently walking to my geometry class. Mr. Goldstein has been talking about a new project all week. Today was the official day he was assigning the project and he's assigning us partners. As long as I don't get paired up with Sinjin, I'll be happy. I was unexpectedly stopped by my favorite person in the world Cat.
"Hey Tori, what are you doing after school?"
"Ummm nothing why?"
"Want to go to the movies tonight with Robbie and I?"
"Sure. What movie?"
" Finding Nemo in 3D!"
"Ok text me the deats."
"Kay kay!"
Cat skipped off. I love how much a child Cat is at heart. She is so sweet but has a seriously messed up brother. She always tells us these bizarre stories at lunch. I always have a feeling that Cat and Robbie like each other. I really want those two together. They would be such a cute couple.
As I was walking into Mr. Goldstein's class, I saw the usual swarm of people around Beck Oliver. Every girl in this whole city practically drools over him. I will admit that I do catch myself staring at him but then again who wouldn't? His dark brown curls, that match his eyes caramel color that can put you in a trance, surely are not ignored. He isn't snobby at all. I accidently spilled coffee on him on my first day but he was so nice. That was the one time we spoke outside of acting. Sikowitz seems to always put us together for romantic scenes. I wonder why that is?
Anyway Beck sat a row to my left so I always had to squeeze through the crowd and snake into my seat and prepare for some desperate girl's hair on my desk from flipping her hair so much. At first it was annoying, but now I'm used to it. I just sat down took out my binder, calculator, and pencil then waited for Mr. Goldstein to start the lesson. When the bell rang all the girls walked over to their own desks and paid attention to the teacher for like the first ten minutes and went back to staring at Beck.
Everyone stopped staring and turned their attention to the teacher when he started announcing who was paired up with who. Every girl frowned when they realized they weren't Beck's partner.
"Lisa and John, Jimmy and Amy, Julie and Gerald, Henry and Eleanor, Jasmine and Jack, Tori and Beck."
Right after he said that I was paired up with Beck, I stopped listening and started thinking about what is with teachers and pairing me and Beck up? I could get why Sikowitz paired us up because he thinks we work really well together but why Mr. Goldstein? I almost didn't notice all the eyes on me right now from the other girls in my class. I also noticed that Beck was smiling a bit. Why is he smiling? We only spoke once to each other. I couldn't help but look down and notice that there was a folded piece of paper now on my desk. I looked around the room for a minute to make sure the teacher wouldn't notice me read it. I noticed something weird all the girls had their mouths wide open which made me curious. I shook it off because they were probably just jealous that I was paired up with Beck and they weren't. I unfolded the paper quietly.
Hey Tori why don't you come over tonight to my place to work on the project? – Beck
I was a little surprised. I thought he would want to talk about it after class since Mr. Goldstein gives us like five minutes before the bell rings. I picked up my pencil and wrote on the paper.
Umm sure why not? Just give me the address or let me give you my number. 867-435-972 – Tori
I quickly folded it and passed it to Beck who smiled at it and quickly wrote back.
I'll text it to you. If you get a text saying "Hey it's Beck" don't answer because it's not me ;) – Beck
I couldn't help but chuckle a little and the teacher looked up and stared at me then quickly shook his head, staring back at his clip board. My cheeks started to get warm for a minute. Then the bell rang and I quickly grabbed my things and walked out of class. Oh man I have to get my R&B vocals book. I hurried off to my locker and quickly unlocked it. I grabbed the book and realized it was 6th period which meant lunch. Oh well. I closed my locker and saw Beck leaning against the lockers to the right of me.
"Oh hi Beck, I didn't see you there."
"It's fine I was just admiring your locker. I never realized how much it stands out from all the others."
"Oh, thanks."
"No problem. So what time are you free?"
"Oh all afternoon actually."
"Oh great I'll meet you here after school and I'll give you a ride."
"Oh no Beck it's fine. You don't need to give me a ride."
"You want to sit in a car with Trina?" Beck asked cocking his head to the left.
"Good point."
"Want to walk to lunch?"
"Sure why not?"
Beck and I walked in silence for a little bit which was fine with me. Beck then faced me and asked the question I was happy to accept.
"Why don't we get to know each other a little bit?"
"Sure I mean it would make the project a little more enjoyable."
"I agree. Okay what to ask Miss Tori Vega?"
I couldn't help but laugh at that and he smiled and raised his hand to his chin as if he were stroking a beard.
"Okay um who's you best friend?"
"Easy Cat. Who's yours?"
"Eli. What is your favorite color?"
"My favorite color is blue."
"Green."
"What is your favorite movie?"
"My favorite movie is 'White Chicks'."
"Omg I love that movie! It's so funny."
"I know right!"
Beck and I started quoting from the movie and we couldn't stop laughing. I haven't laughed this hard in a long time. I never realized how cool of a guy Beck is. He seems just so calm and laid back. Before we knew it we were walking into the Asphalt Café. We were walking over to the grub truck when we finally stopped laughing and he took a step back for a minute.
"Ladies first." He said gesturing for me to move in front of him.
I laughed at him and moved in front of Beck ordering a turkey and cheese sandwich. After I paid and got my sandwich I waited for Beck to get his slice of pizza. We started talking again which led to more laughter. We started walking over by the tables when I noticed Cat and Robbie sitting alone to my right.
"Well this is my stop."
"Ok see you later Tori." Beck called out as he went over to his group of friends.
I took a seat next to Cat and she hugged me. She went off on another story about her brother and something about him shoving a toy car up his nose. Then Cat turned her attention to me when André started walking over.
"So Tori I saw you talking with Beck." Cat said while nudging me with her shoulder.
"Oh! Tori's talking to Beck?" Andre asked with a lot of interest.
"We got paired up for a geometry project and we were making plans on when we were going to work on the project. He decided we should try to get to know each other because it would make the project less of a drag."
"Tori's got a boyfriend." Cat teased me.
"Oh stop."
Cat did her little giggle then Robbie chimed in.
"So when are you guys working on the project?"
"Tonight." I then remembered what I said to Cat. "Oh Cat I'm sorry. We just really need to find out what we are doing for this project. I promise you next time ok?"
"Tori it's fine. Robbie is still coming right?"
"Yeah I'm still coming."
"Can I join you?" Andre asked.
"Sure! The more the merrier!" Cat said energetically.
"What did I say about the word Cat?" Jade had appeared from nowhere and was sitting between Andre and Robbie.
"That it reminds you of Christmas and Christmas reminds you of Santa and Santa creeps you out." Cat recited.
"Exactly." Jade said.
I can't stop thinking about how cool Beck is. He is sweet, handsome, funny, and not one of those other airhead guys in this school. Man this can be the start of a new friendship.
