A Summer in Film
By PD31
Disclaimer: I still don't own iCarly, Victorious, any of the episodes or any of the characters.
Rating: T
Pairing: Established Caddie (Cat/Freddie), others may come. Strongest friendships are Cade, Jedi and Seddie.
Summary: Third part in the iSwitch Schools, A Place to Call Home series. Having completed their junior year the gang, and their friends from Seattle, have the summer to figure a few things out; they have a programme at school to occupy them while they also seek to gain a foothold in the industry.
AN: Hello everyone and welcome to the latest story in this series. This will be a short story, just a few chapters, bridging between A Place to Call Home and the, currently untitled, story that will cover their final year at Hollywood Arts. As Carly and Sam feature prominently in this one it is, as you can see, in the iCarly/Victorious cross-over section; the next story will be in the Victorious archive. I hope that you all enjoy this one.
Chapter 1
Los Angeles International Airport,
1 World Way, Los Angeles, CA,
Thursday, 30th June 2011.
Two teenagers sat near the baggage claim carousels in the airport as they waited for the inbound flight from Seattle to land and its passengers, two in particular, to disembark. The couple, however, found a way to keep themselves occupied while they waited; what had begun as a quiet cuddle had evolved into Cat Valentine wriggling into Freddie Benson's lap and them beginning to trade increasingly passionate kisses as the throng of airport customers passed them by.
This was to be the sight that greeted the two Seattle natives as they hauled their luggage (in truth it was mostly Carly Shay's; Sam Puckett had travelled reasonably light) away from the carousel. The brunette paused briefly as she spotted them, Sam's eyes lit up as she surveyed them; the blonde teen broke into a broad smile and, as stealthily as she could given the luggage she was wielding, approached the couple, still kissing and totally lost in one another.
"Hey lovebirds," the former miscreant called jovially as she reached them, "knock it off." Freddie and Cat separated with a start at the call and looked over to the blonde. "Some people around here aren't getting any," she teased, throwing her brunette housemate a look.
"Sam!" Carly shrieked, scandalised by her phraseology.
"Sam," Freddie grinned, "Carly," he nodded at the girls (which was all that he could do with his arms around the redhead in his lap); he and Cat both reddened a little as they processed her words as, independently, they both had been thinking back to that night the previous week.
Cat smiled broadly at the newcomers, hopped to the floor and pounced on Sam; Freddie laughed at the discomfort that the blonde showed with the enthusiastic welcome, happy that it was his friend's turn to feel a little awkward.
"Hey Carls, great to see you again," he walked over to the brown-haired girl and pulled her into a hug, one that she eagerly reciprocated. Sam soon fought Cat off and she, too, hugged Freddie, even accepting a cheek kiss from him, while the two cupcake-loving girls also greeted one another pleasantly although still with a slight trace of reservation, particularly on Cat's part.
"Good flight?" he asked the girls, taking the heavier of the cases.
"Meh," Sam shrugged.
"Oh it was alright," Carly spoke up, swatting her friend on the arm.
"Yeah, I'd just rather not have to fly," the blonde grumbled.
"You don't like flying?" Cat asked sympathetically.
"It's not that – though it is long and boring – more that…" she tailed off, not sure quite how to put her feelings into words.
"You miss Brad?" Freddie guessed.
"Yeah," she confirmed, "don't get me wrong, I'm looking forward to the course and seeing and hanging with all of you guys – even you," she playfully dug an elbow into Freddie's ribs, "but it's going to be a long few weeks until I see him again."
"Sounds like someone's in love," Freddie teased back with a grin; Cat was elated by the pronouncement and joined in the gentle teasing of the blonde, who took it in a surprisingly good-natured way. "I'll have to see some photos of you and the legendary Brad," his mirth increased as he spoke; Sam made a mental note to get him back for it later.
"I have some on my phone," she told him, "I can show you later, once I don't have my hands full of Carly's emergency clothes."
"Hey, it's not all mine," the brunette pouted sulkily, drawing chuckles from the other three. Her glower only caused their mirth to increase until finally she admitted defeat and cracked a smile of her own.
Benson residence, Hollywood Hills
The quartet had returned to Freddie's home for a light snack (or not so light in Sam's case) and hung out for a little while, catching up with some recent events in each other's lives (including checking out the photos of Sam's new beau) before Cat left, taking Carly with her, as the girl would be staying with the Valentines while Sam stayed with Freddie and his mother for the duration of the course.
With Marissa at home, Sam opted not to probe Freddie on his own love life in front of the matriarch. She waited, therefore, until they were getting ready for bed, changing into her nightdress before slipping into Freddie's room.
"Hey," she greeted him softly, padding over to his bed and taking a seat on it; Freddie was lying under the covers and had been reading a book, but he set it down on his nightstand after looking up at the visitor's arrival.
"Hey Sam," he returned with a smile, "is everything ok?"
"Yeah I just… I wanted you to know I didn't mean anything by the crack at the airport," she began in a low voice. "What you told me a couple of days ago – I've kept it to myself, just like I've kept what you told me about… about Lindsey to myself; I haven't said a word about it to Carly or Spencer or anyone."
"I know you wouldn't, Sam, and I appreciate the discretion," he told her sincerely, then he surprised her with a snigger, "the look on Carly's face when you said that though!" She joined him in laughter, though they tried to keep it muted so as not to rouse Mrs Benson, feeling that she wouldn't appreciate the blonde being in her son's room late at night.
"So how was it?" the blonde probed; they hadn't discussed the act as such over the phone, but Sam was curious given her own lack of experience.
Freddie looked a little uncomfortable at the personal line of questioning but it was asked in a tone of genuine interest and curiosity rather than some kind of interrogation so, as his mind wandered back to that night, he gave a dreamy smile as he admitted, "it was the best night of my life."
"I'm glad," his friend told him sincerely, happy that he had had a better experience than the previous one he had related to her.
"The morning after was a little awkward though," he found himself able to grin at the memory, now that a few days had passed.
"Oh?" she pried gently, raising her eyebrows.
"Yeah, you see her parents had let her have the house for the party and we… we both fell asleep after." Sam wickedly matched his grin as she grasped the inference of his revelation. "And her mom and dad came home, saw my car was there, looked in to her room, saw us there in her bed; despite the sheets covering us we were fairly obviously minus clothing…" he tailed off with a frown as the girl could contain her laughter no more.
"Sorry Freddie," she gasped an apology once her mirth had sufficiently subsided, "but that's awesome. So they woke you up in cold fury and chased you naked from their home?" she suggested with a broad smile.
"No," he frowned a little and corrected her misapprehension, "I daresay her dad would have begun beating me with Cat's pink putter until both me and it were out of shape as a way of either waking me up, or alternatively making sure I never woke again, but…" he smiled fondly, "Cat told me later that her mom thought she looked so happy and so peaceful lying there with me that she was able to stay her husband's hand – though it was still rather awkward the following morning."
"You weren't offered breakfast?" she guessed.
"No, I was – but it was something of an inquisition. I can't blame Mr Valentine; he's looking out for his baby girl but it was all a bit embarrassing – and he's been rather frosty towards me since then."
"Oh, I wish I'd been there then," Sam smirked. "What about your mom? What does she think of baby Freddie being all grown up now?" She reached over and tickled his midriff teasingly through his sheets and nightwear, sniggering as he swatted at her hands.
"She sat me down and talked at me, basically said there'd be no repeat under her roof – but, however grudgingly, she does approve of Cat as a girlfriend for me now so she wasn't overly hysterical."
"I'm guessing there's been no repeat at her place either?"
He shook his head to confirm the girl's assumption; having talked about it both he and Cat would quite like a repeat at some point but her parents seemed determined to make sure that it didn't happen in a hurry. Freddie and Sam sat in companiable silence for a few moments before the blonde grew bored of the quiet.
"So what do you have planned for us for tomorrow?" she changed the subject.
"Well, Miss Fire is finally in the theatres so we were planning on going."
"Oh cool, your big screen debut," his friend enthused.
"Yeah, my friends want to see it so," he shrugged, "we're going now that you guys are here too – assuming Carly and Cat make it tomorrow."
"Why wouldn't they?" Sam sounded surprised and a little confused.
Valentine residence
The two girls were holed up in Cat's room; the redhead had propped up a few poles and draped a bed-sheet over them to create a make-shift 'den' where the two cupcake addicts were steadily working their way through a large tray of their favourite red-velvet treats.
"This is a great way to spend an evening," Cat enthused.
"I know; I need to get a tray just before we go back to Seattle. These are good," Carly sighed contentedly as she took another bite, savouring the mouthful for a few moments before swallowing. Cat cocked an eyebrow at the girl's reaction; much as she loved the treats even she didn't think they quite merited that level of enthusiasm.
"So how's things in Seattle? How's your school?" she enquired; Carly paused on the brink of taking another bite and, instead, put the half-eaten bun back on her plate.
"Life is good," she confirmed. "I'm close to the top of my class which, for a private school, is pretty good," the girl attempted to sound modest but struggled to keep the pride from her tone.
Cat nodded along; she felt a small pang of envy at the other girl's academic prowess but reminded herself that her own skills lay elsewhere – performing, singing, costumes – and that they were where she wanted to focus her life anyway.
"Any guys catch your eye?" she smiled, recalling the brunette's admission that she was in 'a dry spell' last time they had met.
"Some," Carly disclosed, "but none who are single – or seem that interested in me."
"Why not?" Cat was surprised to hear this. "You're famous! And pretty," she added artfully. "I'd have thought the guys would queue up for a date with you."
Carly shrugged sadly. "Well they haven't been recently. Sam's guy is a transfer student to our old school – she met him at the Groovy Smoothie when she was hanging there one afternoon, I had a club meeting so I wasn't there. How about you?" she sought to turn the conversation around a little. "How's Freddie treating you?"
"Very well," she stressed, "I couldn't be happier with him," she smiled before diving into a cupcake, giggling again at the sensation of the cream topping and filling clinging to her nose before she used her finger to mop it up and licked the digit clean.
"I'm happy for you both," Carly told her, saying it with sincerity – though a small part of her longed for the good old days of Freddie loving and being eager to please her. She finished her bun rather more daintily than the approach taken by the redhead. "Ok, I think we should stop now and get some rest," she took the other girl's wrist gently but firmly as she attempted to select another treat, she then closed the box and took it out of her hostess's reach, "otherwise the sugar will keep us up all night and we won't be able to join the others tomorrow."
"Right," Cat looked disappointed but had to concede the point, "we're going to see Freddie's movie tomorrow," she cried happily.
Carly smiled but dug a finger into her ear, hoping that the other girl's enthusiastic vocals hadn't damaged her hearing. She crawled out from under the sheet and, bidding the redhead goodnight, headed for the guest room while Cat took the sheet off the poles, spread it back on her bed, kicked off her slippers, slipped underneath the sheet and turned off her bedside lamp. She pulled the covering up to her chin and smiled as she waited for sleep to take her, thinking of her brown-eyed lover as she did.
Green Meadow Mall,
6801 Hollywood Blvd
Friday, 1st July 2011.
As agreed, the gang met at the mall a little before one showing of Miss Fire was due to begin. The remainder of the Hollywood Arts gang were pleased to meet their Seattle-based friends again and they had a short period of time to chat before having to enter the cinema.
The group enjoyed the film, though all of them would have preferred it if their friend had had more of a role in it than the couple of lines during a scene in a restaurant (Tori was also able to smile as she spotted herself as a background extra in the same scene; she was sitting at one of the tables drinking coffee but a clear shot of her face looking at the camera had made the final cut). Cat, meanwhile, only just managed to restrain herself from cheering as her boy appeared on screen, settling instead for hugging his arm a little tighter during his brief stint in the limelight before resting her head on his shoulder and half-taking in the rest of the movie while her mind wandered.
"So what did you think?" Freddie asked his friends as they left the cinema.
"I liked it," Carly smiled, "and Jennifer Connelly was really good," she enthused.
"It was good seeing you up there but you needed a bigger part," Sam observed.
"Well hopefully there'll be more opportunities for me soon," he replied.
"Oh that's right," the blonde turned to him thoughtfully as the others raised their eyebrows a little, "you said the studio had been back in touch about another minor role."
"Yes," he confirmed, "a little bigger than this one was; I just have to do my best, show what I can do and make the most of whatever opportunities I get here that people might see."
"That's why you're dropping Sikowitz's class then? You feel it's personal and you don't get chances?" Robbie pressed.
"It's a combination of things. I don't like him, I don't trust him and I do feel overlooked, given how long it's been since I had a part in something he's put on," he explained. "We have one year left here, one more year to build up our resumes and if he won't give me the opportunities to do that then I need to find someone who will."
The other Hollywood Arts students, other than Cat who, of course, had followed his lead in switching class, gave slightly surprised looks (as it wasn't something that many of them had really considered) while Carly and Sam nodded their understanding.
"Does anyone have any other plans for the long weekend before we start the course on Tuesday?" Jade looked around the group, feeling proud of herself when she was able to include Alyssa and Beck in those that she looked at, and keep a smile on her face even when addressing her ex- and his current girlfriend.
"Not really." "No," were the majority sentiments.
"We'll probably play miniature golf at some point over the weekend," Freddie's pronouncement drew an excited squeal from his girlfriend, a smile from Carly and a slight wince from Sam, "but other than that probably just hanging and catching up," he turned to the two Seattleites who nodded their agreement.
"Ok, cool, mind if I tag along?" Jade asked.
"Not at all."
Sherman Oaks Castle Park
4989 Sepulveda Blvd, Sherman Oaks, CA
Monday, 4th July 2011.
"You've played this course before," Jade mock-complained as Freddie took the group's first shot, sending the ball serenely into the hole for a hole-in-one. He grinned at her before Cat pounced on him to give a celebratory hug. He then, as was customary, 'helped' the girl with her first shot, drawing warm smiles from the others at their affection, and (much to her surprise) Cat's ball joined his in the hole, earning her a kiss from her man. Sam's opening shot came to rest a couple of inches from the hole and the blonde groaned slightly in frustration, though she felt better as Carly's wild shot ricocheted several times off the scenery before coming to rest a couple of feet from where she'd taken the shot.
"Good shot," the raven-haired girl taunted her gently before playing her own ball, which rolled into Sam's, sending the blonde's ball into the hole.
"Cool, thanks," the former tear-away smiled; Jade glared at her in reply. Cat laughed and laced her fingers with Freddie's as they retrieved their balls from the hole and waited for the other two girls to complete the hole (Jade managed it on her next shot while Carly took four shots to sink her putt).
As usual Freddie began to take a comfortable lead over the others; Sam and Jade battled Cat for second place (her familiarity with the course, and Freddie's occasional assistance, kept her in contention) while Carly's struggles continued, through the brunette kept a smile on her face and seemed to be enjoying the game and just being happy about the fun time spent with her friends.
"What are you thinking?" Freddie asked the brunette midway around as he spotted her smiling broadly but at nothing in particular.
"Oh, just how much fun it is to do stuff like this really," she grinned.
"Your school friends are still too straight-laced for this sort of thing?" he asked in surprise.
"None of them seem to really have a life outside of Briarwood," she complained, "other than when I recruited a couple to help with iCarly for a bit when…" she threw a cautious glance towards Sam; the blonde was talking with Jade so neither were paying attention to the brown-haired pair's conversation, "Sam wasn't around," she finished at a rush, "I have friends there," she insisted, "but nobody that I really hang with away from school so it's usually whoever is in the Groovy Smoothie when I meet Sam on an evening that I talk with – and people will usually only be there if they don't have other plans."
Freddie nodded sympathetically. "What happened to the ones you did recruit?" he asked curiously.
"Their parents put a stop to them doing stuff like that. They weren't on scholarship like me so they are paying some pretty high fees to go there."
"And their parents want value for money," Freddie finished with another nod.
"So this is it," Sam declared with relish as she placed her ball at the start of the eighteenth and final hole, "me, you and Cat – all tied for second," she addressed Jade (Freddie was several shots clear and Carly still a fair few behind).
"Game on," the gothic teen grinned.
Cat enlisted Freddie's 'assistance' again, leading to vocal complaints from the other two; the redhead managed to officially come second, though both Sam and Jade decided to disqualify her from the competition (which ended in a tie as they both scored three on the final hole, to Cat's two). Some good natured arguing followed over ice cream before the quintet left the course in high spirits.
"So, what else are you guys up to?" Jade asked, feeling something of an outsider, given the living arrangements for the duration of the course.
"Is anyone hungry? Apart from Sam of course," Freddie smiled and shot a smirk at his friend; his jibe earned a playful elbow from the blonde, though her legendary appetite meant that she couldn't dispute his point.
"I can eat," Cat volunteered.
"Wok Star?" Jade suggested; the others agreed. Cat called Tori and the others, all of whom were happy to meet them again and the friends shared an enjoyable meal to celebrate the summer and the start of their course the following day.
Black Box theatre,
Hollywood Arts High School,
Tuesday, 5th July 2011.
"Alright, young performers," Sikowitz declared as he walked onto the stage to formally open proceedings. "Welcome," he gestured to a large banner behind him, which was emblazoned with the programme title, "to A Summer in Film." He smiled at the assembled teenagers (forty in number). "Over the next couple of weeks we'll be exploring some of the principles and ideas behind acting on film, how it differs from live theatre and live performances, the pros," he wrinkled his nose, feeling that the medium was inferior to theatre, "and the cons," his enthusiasm had returned, "and hopefully you'll all be a little more prepared for it if and when you begin landing roles." He spared a look at Freddie and Tori, who was sat next to him (Cat, of course, was on his other side). "Of course some of us already have roles on our resumes but I hope you will still find these classes valuable." The balding teacher motioned to the other staff members, sitting in the front row, and they joined him on stage. "Mr Allen will be taking a group and working on directing – some of the lessons should work equally well on stage as they do on screen, while Marty will be taking one acting class while I take the other. Lane will be on hand if anyone needs to talk to him – and providing additional adult supervision, Chris will be doing some directing as well, while Tilda will be covering some of the principles of filming and cameras, since that is her forte."
"The first thing to do," the female teacher spoke up, "is to divide you all into groups. With the numbers I think we'll work with five groups of eight. The groups for today are on this paper," she held a sheet up to them, "which I will place here at the side of the stage. We will be mixing things up as the course goes on but, for today, group 1 can come with me, group 2 with Sikowitz, Marty will take group 3 this morning, Mr Allen has group 4 and Chris will take group 5."
With that the short introduction came to an end; the teachers went their separate ways while a throng of students gathered around the note to see which group they had been placed in.
Sikowitz's Classroom
Slightly to his irritation, Freddie had been placed in Sikowitz's group for the first part of the course; he was in a group with Jade and Carly while André, Cat and Tori were together and Sam, Beck and Robbie were part of a third group.
Sikowitz threw his charges straight into a scene, asking them to perform from a script and critiquing them during the performance; he stopped them on a number of occasions, reminding them that, unlike a live performance, they needed to be mindful of where the camera and boom microphone would be so that their faces and dialogue were captured. Carly fared better than most, her experience of performing in front of a camera so often was a major boost and her performance was something the eccentric teacher pointed to, encouraging the others to attempt to emulate the brunette's efforts.
Asphalt Café
"That was a great morning," Carly enthused as she and her colleagues sat together at their usual table.
"Only because Sikowitz loved you," Jade jibed.
"Well, that does help," she admitted, still feeling a little uncertain around the gothic teen.
Black Box theatre
The afternoon would turn out to be an important one for Freddie; it started out well enough, with the groups putting on some demonstrations one other, showing some of the different techniques that they had covered in the morning. After his scene Freddie was intercepted on the way back to his seat by a man he didn't recognise.
"Freddie Benson?" the man began.
"Yes," he confirmed cautiously, shooting a glance to Lane, who had arrived at his shoulder at the other's approach.
"I'm from Paramore Studios." Jade, who was close enough to overhear, raised an eyebrow while Cat, stood at her boyfriend's shoulder, gasped in happy surprise. "We were all impressed with you during Miss Fire and the productions that we've seen from you here; we know you're going to be playing a small role in one of our other forthcoming productions but we want you to have a decent-sized part in another new movie that we're planning."
"Why don't we talk this through in my office," Lane suggested; Freddie raised his eyebrows a little but went along as the Guidance Counsellor chivvied them out of the theatre.
"Oh, Miss West?" the studio rep called as they left. "Maybe you could come along as well?"
Jade shrugged nonchalantly but inside her excitement and emotions were bubbling up as she followed them to Lane's office. Cat stared after them, feeling excited for her friends, though a part of her wished, of course, that she had also received a summons.
"Are you staying?" the rep asked Lane in surprise as he took a seat in his wicker chair.
"Yes," he confirmed, "these kids are under-age and, as far as I'm aware, don't have formal representation – so I'm staying to make sure they have someone in their corner."
"You don't trust the studio?" he was challenged.
"To not take advantage of teenagers and brow-beat them into signing below market-value contracts? No," he shook his head. The man looked affronted but didn't respond. The two teens, meanwhile, looked at one another with raised eyebrows; Freddie found himself having to reappraise his view of the counsellor.
"Very well," the rep muttered finally before turning to the male teen and forcing a smile back onto his face. "Now Freddie, the movie is essentially about a group of teens battling to survive in a world wracked by disaster – post-apocalyptic or something similar, we haven't quite decided on what happened but want you to be one of the main actors in the group."
"Sounds great," he replied enthusiastically, happy to be receiving the recognition and feeling that this could be his big chance to really make a name for himself in the industry.
"And Jade," he turned to the girl, "yours would be a smaller role, since you're still an unknown, but you'd be in part of it at least. I saw your short film for the Showcase recently; that's the level of creepiness that we'd be looking for from your character – someone to chill the audience's blood a little."
"Oh I can do that," she replied confidently, a little disappointed that it would be a small role but eager to take full opportunity of whatever was presenting itself to her.
"Freddie," Lane called once the studio representative had left and the teens were making to follow him out of the door; both paused and turned back to him. "He'll be back, with a contract next time – in fact I'd be surprised if he didn't have one with him that he expected you to just blindly sign. You might want to get someone official to represent you by the time he does. You too, Jade."
"Good idea," the brown-haired boy conceded with a nod.
"Here," Lane gave them each a couple of business cards, "are some people our students have worked with in the past who are quite well thought of by the staff here." Freddie wrinkled his nose, feeling that it didn't sound that glowing a recommendation given his opinion of some of the staff, "or you can call someone at whichever guild you guys have joined; they can probably suggest someone."
"Guild?" Jade asked.
"Yes, you really should join one as Hollywood is quite heavily unionised," Lane explained, "not being in one is another way of finding yourself blackballed as the guilds would really like it to be a closed shop; if studios hire non-guild actors, big names stop working with them."
"I was told to sign up when I got this second part offered," Freddie nodded, "I'll call my rep and see if they can sit in the next time the studio pays a visit. Thank you for today though, Lane," he smiled at the man. Jade nodded and the two left the office.
"What happened?" Cat asked excitedly; she, Carly, Sam, Tori, André and Robbie had camped outside the Guidance Counsellor's office waiting for them to emerge. Freddie relayed the good news, Jade adding the details of her own part in the movie. The redhead squealed and pulled the two of them into a hug with her, Carly and Sam also offered warm congratulations.
The other Hollywood Arts students in their group were supportive, though they admitted to a little jealousy of the pair.
"Well, the guy did say that he or one of his colleagues was going to be around for most of the next two weeks – plus there was a guy in the audience that I recognised from the set of your – and Beck's – " Freddie smirked at Tori, "stunt so there are people here to watch us; you have a couple of weeks to impress them."
"Right," the half-Latina squared her jaw a little in determination; she was hoping to receive a call from the studio after her recent efforts and felt that there was a lot of sense to her friend's words – that this was an excellent opportunity to stand out in the small group, to impress anyone who may be watching and to hopefully land a role of her own. All she had to do was work hard and be ready to take it when it came along.
Benson residence
Freddie, Cat, Sam and Carly sat in the living area toasting the boy's news (Marissa was still at work but Freddie knew she'd be excited as well when she got home and he told her). Sam could, though, detect at slight disappointment in the redhead's demeanour.
"Are you ok?" she asked.
"Yeah," she nodded, "I mean I'm thrilled for Freddie and Jade to be getting this chance but, if I'm honest…"
"You want the chance as well?" the blonde guessed correctly.
"I mean it's such a great opportunity, especially for you getting a pretty major role," she enthused, "that I guess I can't help but compare our careers."
"I promise that I'll put in plenty of good words for you if they decide they need any more female characters," he insisted.
"And in the meantime," Carly spoke up, "how about using these couple of weeks – and beyond – to expand your repertoire a little." Cat looked a little confused so she continued, "It's just, whatever you're doing, you always come across as this happy, fun-loving girl and…" she hesitated awkwardly as a little sadness crept into her hostess's eyes, "I'm not saying that you can't be her but when you're on stage try to go for a few more serious parts maybe?" she suggested. "If people from the studio are around then they're probably looking for actors who can play as many parts as possible – unless you absolutely excel at one part so taking on a few different roles might help you."
Cat nodded. "I'll give it a try," she said. "We did a little role reversal for our final performance in Sikowitz's class," she reminded her boyfriend, "and that went quite well. Thanks," she smiled at the brunette, who returned it graciously.
Valentine residence
Carly left the guest bathroom and paused on the threshold of her room; she looked down the corridor and saw a sliver of light under Cat's door. The girl swallowed twice before reaching the door, knocking gently on it and slowly pushing it open, peeping around to see the redhead in bed, propped up on one arm and reading a magazine.
"Can I come in?" she asked cautiously.
"Sure," Cat smiled and retreated slightly towards the edge of the bed, which Carly took as an invitation to perch on the other side of it.
"It turns out I was wrong after all," she brushed some locks from her face; Cat looked at her in confusion. "I know it was a long time ago and we've kinda put it behind us, but what I told you about Freddie? It's clear to me that he loves you in a way that he never loved me back when we were younger."
"Oh," Cat realised what she was talking about; suddenly the pain of the past flooded back into her chest as she thought on the brunette's taunts and claims, that she had acted on them and broken up with him, that it had led to so much sadness for her and to what Lindsey did to him. She really didn't want to dwell on it all so she hauled herself back to the present as Carly continued talking.
"He's crazy about you, Cat; make sure you never take it for granted – the way that I did," she finished sadly.
"I won't," the redhead promised her with a small smile.
"Well, goodnight," she got up to leave, hesitating as Cat wriggled out of bed, crossing the floor to pull her fellow cupcake lover into a hug.
"Goodnight Carly," she whispered.
AN: Thanks for reading and a special thank you to Pbow who has become something of a consultant for me on the workings of Hollywood. For those who are interested, the out-takes/blooper chapter for A Place to Call Home is also up. And for anyone who can't place the teachers – Mr Allen was from Who Did it To Trina, Chris form A Film by Dale Squires, Marty from Tori the Zombie and Tilda from The Slap Fight. PD.