Chapter 1:
Hollywood Arts High School - Main Stairwell
Freddie clutched his blue bag tight as he stared at the performing arts high school. Just from the exterior of the building it looked nothing like Ridgeway. He swallowed his apprehension as he took a step inside. He let his eyes gaze around the school taking in the unique lockers.
"Make it shine." He read out, before he heard someone clear their throat. The boy turned to see a older man looking at him curiously.
"Can I help you?" The man asked, as he questioned where he had seen the familiar face before.
"Uh, yeah... That would be nice actually." Freddie noted, scratching the back of his neck. "I am actually here for an audition to... You know join Hollywood Arts."
"Wait, Freddie Benson?" He exclaimed surprised recognizing the face of the iCarly technical producer. "Wow, I wasn't sure when I read the audition list that it was really you. I'm Lane by the way." He introduced, offering his hand. Freddie let out a nervous smile as he shook his hand.
"So what brings you to L.A.?" Lane asked curiously.
Freddie frowned slightly before responding with a guarded tone, "That is kind of a long story and one I really don't want to get into right now." The guidance counsellor narrowed his gaze at the boy as he tried to read his face, but Freddie kept a blank expression as best as he could.
"Well your audition doesn't start for another twenty minutes," Lane noted, glancing at his clipboard. "However, one of the other students called and said they were unable to make their audition due to illness, so you can go right now if you want?"
The boy goes out a breath as he slowly nodded and choked out, "Sure." Lane smiled and gestured for the boy to follow him.
Hollywood Arts High School - Black Box Theatre
"So Mr. Benson, what do you feel you can bring to Hollywood Arts?" An odd looking man questioned.
Freddie looked down and noticed him barefooted before looking up and staring at the trio of adults eyeing him from the table in front of the stage.
"Well I am... was the technical producer for iCarly. I used to create all the special effects and help plan skits with Carly and Sam." He explained, "I never was on camera much, but I am hoping to be able to get a chance to do that more if I get in. So even though I am fairly inexperienced when it comes to acting, I still think I can learn to become much better."
The three judges all wore impassive looks as one scribbled down a quick note.
"So what will you be doing for your audition today?" The balding man asked.
"Well sir- Sikowitz." The man corrected.
"Right well Sikowitz, I am going to be performing a skit I made. I never had a chance to show it on iCarly, but hopefully you find it good."
Sikowitz let out a small smile as he remembered "The Bird Scene" that he used on new students to help them learn to become more confident in their work. The boy glanced nervously at the judges before performing the skit. Freddie felt goosebumps on his arms as he went through the scene trying to act with confidence and use a tone different than his normal one
"Well Freddie, we will give you a call most likely by tonight with an answer." Lane explained as he walked the boy out.
Benson Hotel Room
Freddie paced around nervously as he stared at his phone sitting on the coffee table. It was 8:00 P.M. and he was yet to receive a call. He began to question whether or not coming here was such a wise idea after all. Back in Seattle he was doing great in school and he wasn't sure if he was cut out to fit in Hollywood Arts should he be accepted. He pulled out his wallet and looked at the picture of a girl which reassured him the reason for his sudden departure was worth the trouble. It never crossed his mind of the possibility that he could have a sister or let alone a sibling, but in the weird life of Freddie Benson the weird and impossible seemed to be becoming the norm for him. Besides, it wasn't like he had anything left in Seattle any ways. The girl he loved completely ignored him while her best friend made it her life's goal to torment him. Maybe a fresh start was what he really needed.
The Galaxy Wars ringtone brought him out of his thoughts as he set the photo down and hurriedly picked up and answer.
"Hello."
"Freddie." A voice that was all to familiar rang through his ears. Carly Shay. She was probably worried about where he was, but he knew that her concern hovered more towards him missing the show. With him leaving Seattle out of the blue he had left them with no technical producer. A part of him felt bad for doing so, but another part of him felt a sense of happiness that he was able to do something for himself for once and not have to put the show or his friends lives before him. It may have been lost on his family and friends back home, but he wasn't happy in Seattle. When arriving in L.A., he felt a sense of freedom that he had quite never experienced before. With his overbearing mother who barely give him an allowance with the fear of him leaving and his two apparent friends that cared more about each other and the show than him, he never got to do what he wanted in life.
"Hello? Freddie are you there?" Carly asked pulling him from his thoughts.
"Yeah, but I can't really talk right now. It's not a good time." He replied, hoping to get out of telling them where he was right now.
"Where are you? We go live in 10 minutes!" Freddie felt a wave of anger crash over him. His love stopped him from believing it before, but now the prospect stuck out like a sore thumb that Carly cared more about the show then she did about him. He let out a dark chuckle as he remembered when Carly forced him to apologize to Fred so it wouldn't hurt her web show. He remembered her being fine with letting Sam beat an apology out of him.
"I am not coming." He noted, "Now as I said before I can't talk right now so bye." He cut the call before the brunette had a chance to respond. Freddie was about to place his phone down before it began to ring again.
"Hello." He answered, making sure to check the caller ID this time around figuring it might have been Carly trying again.
"Mr. Benson, on behalf of Hollywood Arts we would like to inform you that you have been accepted into our school."
"Thank you." Freddie noted a bit surprised. It seemed a bit surreal, but he was actually on the verge of starting a new life. He felt a new-found sense of independence and the feeling that maybe he had a chance to finally be in control of his life. There was just one more thing he needed to take care of as he glanced back down at the photo sitting on his coffee table. He chatted with the woman on the other end for a few more minutes as she explained the variety of activities the school offered and how he would be required to know how to play an instrument. The called ended shortly as Freddie let out a small smile. Maybe things wouldn't be so bad after all.
The rest of the days before school started flew by as Freddie managed to find himself busy getting a job at the local Pear Store. He still lived in his hotel room, but he was looking at the prospect of finding if anyone needed a room-mate, maybe even someone he would meet at school. Of course Carly had called several times which he ignored along with his mother who told him not to do what he planned on doing. Freddie knew his mother hated him finding out about his half-sister, but she knew it was only inevitable given his curiosity about his father's whereabouts that stretched back to when he was young.
He had checked in on the iCarly website periodically and was surprised to see a new webcast posted on the site. He figured, Carly charmed her way into getting someone like Brad to takeover. At first he had ignored seeing the show without him, but a part of him wanted to see how it was. Curiosity finally got the better of him as he loaded up the website and played the video.
"Hello people from this universe and those beyond." Carly introduced excitedly.
"I'm Sam"
"And I'm Carly."
"And this is -"
"The new and improved" Sam added, much to Freddie's anger.
"iCarly!" They both exclaimed.
The rest of the webisode went like usual with them performing the usual skits and Gibby doing his unusual antics.
"And remember if it ain't ham, it ain't real food." Sam concluded as Carly rolled her eyes and giggled,
"That's it for now. Until next time." Carly waved into the camera as the broadcast ended.
Freddie shook his head as he saw them act like he never existed. It donned on him just how replaceable they viewed him to be. It made him wonder why he never thought about getting out of Seattle faster and what the younger version of him was thinking following Carly around like a lovestruck moron. He shut his laptop screen down and placed it on the night stand next to his bed. The boy laid down as he simply looked up at the ceiling hoping that things would go well tomorrow.
Hollywood Arts High School - First Day
The boy clutched his bag tightly as he stared at the Arts students walking around. A wave of loneliness crashed upon him as he realized that he was the odd man out. Another thought that bugged him was the looks he was getting from his new peers. They were all probably wondering what on Earth iCarly's own Freddie Benson was doing here and without Carly and Sam. Obviously, they didn't know someone had taken over his position on the show as he was never introduced or given any screen time.
He blocked the curious glances out as he made his way inside. He leaned on a locker as he glanced down at his schedule trying to figure out his first class.
"First day?" He heard a voice ask. Freddie glanced up to see an attractive brunette looking at him curiously. She stared at him similar to how Lane did before her face lit up with excitement, "Oh my god, Freddie Benson!"
"That's me." He declared, glancing around hoping her outburst didn't cause any more unwanted attention.
"Sorry, didn't mean to shout or anything it's just... I never expected you to be here. Shouldn't you be in Seattle with Carly and Sam?" Freddie clenched his jaw as he realized that people saw him as an accessory to the two web hostesses.
"No, I actually moved here to L.A." He explained, giving her a look that he was trying to avoid going into detail for his departure from Seattle.
The half Latina understood his look and held back her curiosity out of respect before noting, "Well anyway, I'm Tori. I think in all my excitement I forgot to mention that bit."
Freddie chuckled, "It's okay, it's nice to meet you Tori although I am fairly certain we have met before with you being under a different alias."
The girl's eyebrows furrowed with confusion as she wondered what he meant.
"It's just you kind of look like... Or maybe it's just me." He dismissed, before glancing back at his schedule. "I was actually just trying to figure out where my class was. This isn't exactly your regular high school." The brunette laughed as she too remembered how it was when she first came to Hollywood Arts. She glanced down at the boy's schedule before telling him with excitement, "Hey we both have Sikowitz's class first. You know I was just heading there if you wanted to come."
"That would be nice, thank you." Freddie accepted graciously. The pair walked to class as Freddie stared in awe at just how unique this school was. He saw kids fake sword fighting in one class and another playing the trumpet as if it was second nature for her. It all seemed so... different than what he was accustomed to.
"Tori... And Freddie!" Sikowitz noted excitedly as he saw the pair walk into his class, "Nice to see you two."
"Hey Sikowitz." Tori replied casually taking a seat as Freddie gave a polite nod as he looked around the class to find an empty spot. He saw Tori pat the seat beside her and he smiled before taking a seat beside the brunette. The rest of the students began filing in as Freddie could see the intrigued and excited look on his classmates faces as they saw him.
"I guess you're kind of famous here." Tori whispered to him. The boy simply blew out a small breath as he hoped the news of his arrival would fade away like any school gossip eventually did. Freddie watched as two boys, one holding a doll, along with a smiling girl that had red hair walked into the class.
"Hey Tori!" The girl greeted excitedly while the other two boys followed suit. Their eyes soon rested on the face of the technical producer as he gave a polite smile.
"No way!" Cat exclaimed with excitement similar to Tori previously, "You're Freddie from iCarly."
"Hey man I love all the cool effects you do!" Robbie complimented.
"Thanks uh... Robbie." The glasses wearing boy supplied, "This is Cat and André." Freddie smiled and gave a nod to the pair as they took their seats behind Tori and Freddie. The boy continued to exchange in friendly conversation with the group, but would become evasive when they asked why he was in L.A. Luckily, Tori would cover for him by changing the discussion, something he reminded himself to thank her for.
"Alright settle down children." Sikowitz exclaimed, "Now welcome back to school or prison as some of you select few like to title it." A couple of students chuckled before the unique teacher continued, "Now as I was saying... What was I saying?" The teacher began to talk to himself as Freddie looked to Tori with a confused look. She simply shrugged her shoulders and explained that it was nothing new.
Sikowitz snapped his fingers in remembrance but as soon as he was about to talk the door busted open and in came two teens. Freddie turned and gasped slightly as he saw the person that fit the photo, something that wasn't lost on Tori.
"Beck, Jade." The teacher called out, "You're both late."
"Yeah sorry about that." Beck noted before explaining, "Jade wanted to stop by Jet Brew and grab some coffee and there was this big line and-"
"Say no more." Sikowitz interrupted, knowing all too like well like everyone else just how much Jade valued her coffee in the morning. The pair nodded as they took the two empty seats next to Tori and Freddie. The boy took in a breath as Jade sat beside him. He couldn't believe it at first, but it was true. From his research online he knew she went to the school, but he was kind of hoping not to run into her this quickly. Jade noticed the boy staring at him and he quickly looked away trying to keep his attention towards the front of the class. She simply snorted out a laugh thinking he was afraid of her.
"Hey aren't you Freddie from iCarly?" Beck stated, wearing an intrigued look.
"Yup." He admitted dully, having heard the same remark repeatedly today. Jade arched her pierced brow and was about to ask what he was doing here like everyone else had before her, but was interrupted by Sikowitz.
"Alright now instead of going through all the boring policies and rules and whatnot, how about we do a little bit of an improv warm up to get you guys going. You see acting is all about being able to become one with any character at any given circumstance. You should be able to go from an astronaut to an old person walking on glass with the snap of a finger. With that being said, I'd like two volunteers to come up and perform." The teacher looked around hoping for a swarm of hands volunteering, but sighed when he saw nothing. He stared at the former member of iCarly and grinned, "Freddie how about you?"
All eyes turned towards the boy as he tried to sink in his seat. He looked at Tori who gave him an encouraging glance as he cautiously got out of his chair and made his way to the front of the class. He saw the whispers bring exchanged by some of his classmates as he looked at all the eyes upon him.
"Okay we need one more." The eccentric teacher called out. His eyes turned towards the pale brunette, "Jade since you were late, how about you come up as well?" The pale girl rolled her eyes as she handed Beck her coffee and made her way up to stand on stage with Freddie. The girl glanced at the boy who avoided eye contact with her before looking at Sikowitz awaiting instructions.
"Excellent now what is their relationship?" The teacher asked the class.
"Brother and sister." Robbie suggested, as Freddie's eyes slightly bulged as he looked on.
"And what is the issue they are faced with?"
"Freddie has been keeping a secret from Jade." Cat added on.
"Sounds good. Freddie, Jade is your sister and you've been keeping a secret from her. Everybody ready?" Jade gave a nod and Freddie blew out a breath to try to ease his nerves from the irony that he was faced with.
"Alright and... ACTION!" Sikowitz called, staring intently at the duo.
The brunette boy eyed the class before looking at the girl in front of him. He took a deep breath and exclaimed, "Hey sis."
