Talentless

by Nature9000

Fed up with the treatment they receive from Tori's friends, the Vega clan set up an event at a local athletic complex to challenge the group and show them that there is more to talent than what they already know. The group competes individually against Trina in a series of competitive games perhaps discover another side to the Vega family as well as more ways to have fun.

Talentless

Disclaimer: I own nothing

A/N: So this is a little oneshot that I thought of while binge watching Netflix (What, after a long work week, downtime is needed). Hopefully you'll enjoy it

-ENOUGH IS ENOUGH-

The day was long and the weather was hot, so the cool water on her skin felt like soft kisses running along her body. When she stepped out of the shower, she couldn't help but to shiver while wrapping the warm towel along her body. Gazing into the mirror, she studied her physique with a gentle smile, happy to have gotten some rest before her next workout.

"Are you almost done in there?" Her sister asked from outside. She rolled her eyes with a sigh and answered that she was just finishing up. Her showers were usually ten to fifteen minutes, but her sister always made it out to seem that she spent an eternity. Certainly her friends believed she did.

"If your friends are still downstairs, can you make sure they don't come up here before I can get to my room?"

"They never come up here, Trina. It's off limits."

"Just making sure." She opened the door to see Tori standing cross-legged with an exasperated look on her face. "You didn't want to use the restroom downstairs?"

"Jade's commandeered it. She saw her mascara running and went to apply makeup and stuff. She's been in there for about twenty minutes."

"This is not her house." Tori bit her lip and Trina's eyebrows flattened a bit. "When are you going to stop letting your friends walk all over you? Hell, walk all over all of us? They don't own you, they don't own this house. If Jade wants to use the restroom, fine, but she can't hold up in there and tell you to get lost…"

"Well, you know, I don't want to upset them."

Trina rolled her eyes. "Of course, because standing up to them for anything is too frightening for you." She walked out of the restroom and Tori rushed in with a relieved sigh. As Trina walked towards her restroom, her lips curled into a tiny smirk and she thought about her conversation the night before with her parents.

Once she finished getting dressed, she stepped out and noticed Tori was still in the restroom. Tori had always taken a long time on the toilet; it was a medical thing. Trina took this time to descend the stairs, her fingers gently caressing the wooden handrail.

Tori's friends were all over the living room and kitchen, looking as though they owned the place. Robbie was sipping a water bottle, and had an empty water bottle on the table beside it. Jade was finally exiting the bathroom, and in her hand looked like a makeup container that belonged to Holly.

Crossing her arms, Trina looked to see Beck reclining on the couch, his feet propped up on the cushion with his shoes still on. Andre was playing a song on the piano, and snacking on a bowl of peanuts. There was nothing wrong with this, except some crumbs and food bits were falling onto the piano.

"She lets them do whatever they want," Trina whispered aloud. "Let's them talk shit about me, talk shit about our parents, and they don't even respect our home?" She looked over her shoulder in time to see Tori walking out of the restroom. Her eyes narrowed and Tori started to freeze. "Really, Tori, really?"

"What?"

Trina inhaled deep and walked down the rest of the stairs. She tapped Andre on the shoulder and he looked up casually. "Andre, could you please make sure you're not dropping any food on our piano?" His eyes went wide and he looked down before sweeping off some crumbs into the palm of his hand.

"Sorry about that, I didn't even notice I was making a mess."

"It's okay, just keep an eye on it." Trina passed him by, then leaned over the back of the couch. Beck looked up from the book in his hand and flashed a smile. Tori walked up behind her, nervously whispering for her to leave well enough alone. Trina looked back at her sister. "Why is it you're afraid of your friends? If they're your friends, they'll show you some respect."

"I'm not demanding. I need to be accepted, and if I demand things, they might not like me."

"Come on." Trina rolled her eyes and looked back at Beck. She cleared her throat and pointed at his shoes. "Beck, please don't put your shoes on our couch." He glanced down and closed his book.

"Sorry, I forgot to take them off." He put his feet down and sat upright as Jade walked over, her brow furrowing.

"What are you doing?" Jade asked. The girl looked up at Trina. "Why are you telling my boyfriend what to do?" Tori winced and Trina jerked her head back. "He doesn't have to take orders from you."

"This is not your house, Jade." Trina reached down and took the makeup container from her. "And this?" She spotted the engraving 'HV' and pointed to it. "Is my mother's. Did you get permission to use this?" Tori put her hand on her shoulder and leaned forward.

"Trina," Tori whined, "Leave it alone."

"No, I'm done with it." Trina pushed the object into Tori's hands and walked over to Robbie. She picked up the empty water bottle, her eyebrows closing in the center and her gaze narrowing. "This is trash, Robbie. Please, throw it away." She tossed it into the waste bucket and put her hands on her hips. "Now that I have all of your attention…"

"Well," Jade started to say with a smirk curling on her face, "You do like to be the center of attention." Trina stretched out a hand, poking a finger at her.

"Knock off the shit when you're under this roof. This is not your home, and you should respect this family. Tori may not stick up for herself or for us, but I've had enough of it. Mom and Dad have had enough of it."

"Oh come off your high horse, Vega." Jade leaned forward, laughing once. "You can't just boss us around. When are you going to realize that no one listens to you?" Trina raised an eyebrow and put her hands to her hips. "I mean…" Jade shrugged. "You don't have any friends of your own."

"Oh, I don't?"

"No one likes you, you have no talent, and you try too hard to be involved in everything. So you try to demand respect, but why would anyone respect you?" Jade leaned back and crossed her arms. "Sorry, I know it hurts to hear; but it's the truth."

"Truth? You want the truth?" Trina walked forward, towering over Jade. Anger swelled in her heart, but she remained calm. The truth was, every fiber in her being hated this woman. She tried for years to remain cordial, even going her parent's route by ignoring the group and disappearing whenever they were around. "Truth is, I don't have to explain myself to you. I don't have to prove anything."

"Oh don't worry, we don't expect anything from you."

Trina leaned her head back and sucked in a deep breath. "Right. You're still on this whole 'we're above you because you have no talent' thing. Okay." Trina crossed her arms and looked to the others, all of whom were remaining silent. "You think I have no talent. You think you're better than me because you're all talented singers, dancers, actors and blah, blah, blah."

She leaned over Jade, growling ferociously. "But you can't run a mile in my shoes, and I mean that literally. You couldn't possibly keep up with me where it fucking counts-and since you consider 'bitch' a compliment, I'm going to say this: You're no bitch, you're a fucking cunt and no…no one likes you." Jade's jaw dropped and her eyes grew large.

Tori cupped her hands over her mouth, gasping as Jade shot up from the couch. As Jade tried to throw a punch, Trina immediately ducked and thrust an open palm forward into Jade's chest, knocking the girl back into the couch.

"Sit down." Jade froze, stunned by the blow. "Don't say it hurt, because I didn't put any heavy pressure in that." Trina looked at the others, her eyes falling across them. "Mom, Dad, and I have a challenge for you. The whole Vega clan does, and that includes my sister." Jade and Beck looked over their shoulders at Tori, who looked like an innocent doe caught in the scope of a hunter. "She was a part of our conversation last night…"

"Whatever." Jade looked back and shrugged. "You're going to regret putting your hand on me, Vega."

"You're going to regret screwing with me." Trina walked towards the front door and looked over her shoulder. "Tori, you know what to do. Bring them to my park…let's see what happens when they're put in their place."

At her favorite skate park, Trina waited along a railing. She was leaning over it, her arms crossed on the top rail. Her fingers hung loosely, clothed in fingerless gloves. She wore a black sports bra and black track shorts with a red stripe. David and Holly stood behind them, and Gary Malone leaned against a wall a few steps way.

While this was a skate park, in it's entirety it was a huge athletic complex. Trina spent much of her free time here, practicing and training. She met her boyfriend, Jason, here and had plenty of friends that she saw all the time. "So how did the confrontation go?" Someone asked.

She looked over to see Jason approaching with his uncle, Mr. Sikowitz. Trina smiled cooly and straightened her posture. "Not as bad as I thought it would be. Of course, Jade did all the talking." Sikowitz laughed and nodded his head.

Nearby, she saw her best friend, Lindsay and her boyfriend, Travis. Travis donned his trademark black cowboy hat and was wearing wrangler jeans and a button up t-shirt. "Seriously Lindsay, when are you going to tell Travis that wearing that get up here doesn't help?"

"You know he won't go anywhere without his wardrobe." Lindsay chuckled softly and looked around at the large crowd of people waiting around the park. "I can't believe you and your parents orchestrated all of this."

"It's time those guys learned who I really am, and learn their place." As meek as Tori was, even she agreed in the conversation the night before that such an 'eye-opening event' had to happen. "There's no denying they're talented. Cat and Jade are amazing singers and dancers, Beck's a fantastic actor, Robbie's an excellent ventriloquist and Andre is a superb musician…"

Sikowitz nodded at each account. "If there's any lesson that I've failed to make them understand, it's that talent comes in all forms of shapes and sizes. Yes, there is acting, singing, dancing…but there's so much more out there. Craftsmanship, painting, drawing, and of course athleticism…"

"I don't know why I had to go to Hollywood Arts." Trina shot a look at her parents, who were the very ones that pushed her to go. "I tried so hard to fit in that it backfired on me. I can't sing, I can't dance, and I can't act. I had to do one of the three, and I can't do any of them."

"I know honey," David replied, "I'm sorry we made you go there. It was our alma mater, and we hoped you'd have a chance to enjoy it."

"Yes, I enjoyed coming across as vain and obsessed with trying to fit in and be recognized." She rolled her eyes and began to adjust her ponytail. "'Talentless hack' that I am."

"Hey." Jason put an arm around her waist and she turned her head, lifting her gaze to his. "Don't talk about my fiancé like that." His lips curled into a smirk that sent the blood rushing to her cheeks. She flashed a smile and quickly pecked him on the lips.

"What the hell?" Someone cried out in astonishment. Turning her head back, she saw Cat looking on with wide eyes and an agape expression. She was joined by the others in quick succession, and Tori sauntered past them trying to keep her head low. "Isn't that…Isn't that Mr. Sikowitz's nephew? The one I tried to go out with that one night?"

Jason chuckled a bit and Trina took a step back. "Yeah, we met here at this place." Trina walked towards the group, her hands wrapped at her waist. "During a martial arts class…got a problem with that?" Cat shut her mouth and slowly shook her head. "Good. Now, I trust Tori told you why you're here?"

"Yeah," Jade said with a groan, "We'll bite." The girl rolled her eyes and stepped forward with a sigh. "What's with the onlookers? Also, our teacher? Why this big show, do you have to try and make a big scene of everything?"

"This isn't about me, Jade." Trina narrowed her eyes and leaned forward, glaring into her eyes. "This is about you. All of you."

Sikowitz closed his eyes and began to speak, his voice deep and full of remorse. "As a teacher, I've taught you a lot of skills; but as a mentor, I've failed you." Jade was taken aback. "This is the lesson I have never been able to get across. Talent is so much more than acting, dancing, singing…all of which, Katrina cannot do."

"Yeah, she thought she had talent. Tried so hard and failed miserably."

Before Sikowitz could answer, Trina spoke up, her voice loud and filled with annoyance. "Enough of this! Let's get this on. If Tori told you what this is about, then you've had time to figure out what you're going to do and who will do what."

"Oh yeah…but you know, we're still going to beat you. We're not lacking in athletics." Trina raised an skeptical eyebrow, not quite believing the group to be well-professed in any athletic ability. They may be decent, if they did anything as a hobby, but if they ought to realize if something isn't practiced regularly, then nothing is above amateur level. Jade poked her thumb over her shoulder. "Andre's into boxing and wrestling, Beck's a runner, Robbie's a biker and Cat is a hell of a swimmer."

"Oh good." Trina cracked her nails and her lips spread into a wide grin. "Then allow me to show them all up. As for you, Jade, I hope you've figured out something you're good at."

"What makes you think you're better than us?"

"Simple." She locked her hands behind her back and began to pace. "Because while you've all spent every ounce of your free time practicing for dance routines, singing gigs, and plays, I've spent doing what I love. That is sports, activities, athletics…oh, and, sex." She jerked her thumb over her shoulder, pointing to Jason. David groaned softly and bowed his head into his hand.

With a sigh, she marched forward. "Sorry if I don't seem humble about it. All this bluster is agitation. If you're any good at the things you've mentioned, then I look forward to seeing it. But you should know, if you don't practice something regularly, you don't improve on it. I don't know that I've seen any of you doing the things you've mentioned."

"I've never seen it," Tori replied, "We hardly have the time for those things. We're always practicing things for classes." Tori crossed her arms and shrugged. "I'm the only non athletic one in this family." The group turned to Tori, their eyebrows rising. "Dad and Detective Malone, who are actually good friends, played baseball in college. Mom played tennis and volleyball in high school and in college; and Trina is highly athletic. She's over here all the time, swimming, running track, practicing her martial arts routines and playing in the sporting activities here."

"Okay," Jade remarked, "So she's into competition things. How about hunting?"

"She and Dad would go hunting all the time when she was a kid."

"Well, I think I'm pretty decent with archery and a rifle."

Tori raised an eyebrow. "Jade? When was the last time you shot a gun?"

"I went hunting with my father too when I was ten."

"Trina still uses the archery and gun range. She's old enough now that she has an actual gun license. So, if you want to go up against her in sharpshooting and marksmanship…I hate to say I wouldn't bet on you."

"I would."

"Jade. Brutal honesty. You'll lose."

"Oh please." Jade moved forward, growling with aggravation. "Who's up first?"

Robbie raised a hand, speaking meekly. "Can I go? I just want to get this over with…and watch." He chuckled softly and started to smile. "I'm not going to lie, I'm actually looking forward to watching the games. They got the whole place to watch, I mean damn."

"Okay." Trina pat Robbie's shoulder and motioned with her hand in a general direction. "Jade said you're into biking? You want to do a couple laps?" Robbie nodded. "May the best biker win, then."

They made their way to the bike course. It was similar to that of a nascar race track, long and with sharp turns as well as hills. Trina pulled out a pair of Diamondback racing bikes. She heard Robbie swallow heavily and looked to see him gazing nervously at the track.

"My god, it's intense."

"You're a biker, right? You got this."

"I mean, yeah I'm a biker, but…"

"It's okay, Robbie. You'll do fine." She smiled a bit, having calmed down from the earlier confrontations. Now, it was all about sports, and while she was competitive she also tried to have a good degree of sportsmanship. "Just take a deep breath, and clear your mind. If you crash, get back on."

"Okay." He walked the bike to the start line, which was right at the top of a downhill slope. The slope wasn't very steep, but it was long. He closed his eyes and inhaled. "I'll do my best."

"That's all anyone can do." She watched Robbie get onto the bike, his entire body was trembling. With a sigh, she approached him and put her hand on the handlebar. "Robbie, you're shaking too much. You're going to fall over the minute you take off. Calm down, or get off the bike."

Robbie looked back at his friends, whimpering for a second. "Don't think about them, don't think about anyone watching. Put it all out of your mind and focus on the track."

"How do you do that? I mean, it's all that pressure."

"It's not about that. It's about having fun, enjoying yourself. Imagine it, you're in the zone and nothing in the world can stop you. The wind is racing in your hair and all you're thinking about is the journey and the destination."

"Okay. I'll try."

"Where do you want to go?"

"Um." He chuckled awkwardly and looked at her with a curious glance. "The finish line?" She chuckled.

"No, I mean where do you want to go right now? Where do you want to be?"

"Home, I want to go home. I want to sit down and enjoy the cupcakes my grandma baked last night."

"So instead of thinking that this is a racetrack, think that this is the road home. At the finish line is your grandma with a plate full of her delicious cupcakes." Robbie closed his eyes and smiled, humming contently. "You want to get there, and you want to get there as fast as you can. Don't think about the road, just think about those delicious cakes."

"Okay. It's on."

"Good." Trina got on her bike and leaned forward, her hands grasping the handlebars firmly. Holly walked up behind them and started to count down from three. When she yelled 'go', the pair took off.

Robbie took an early lead, his tongue sliding across his lips as he pedaled fast and hard. "Don't use up all your energy at once," Trina called out. She was pedaling slow, as it was only the first lap of three. "We have three laps to go, don't tire yourself out!" Robbie started to look back. "Don't look at me, look in front of you." He snapped his head back just in time to see a wall approaching fast. He let out a scream and swerved to the right, missing the wall by an inch.

By the third lap, Robbie had slowed immensely and Trina was taking a huge lead. She was leaning up on her bike and pedaling hard. Robbie was panting and his bike was swaying from left to right.

Jade and the others were cheering him on, but he was shaking his head and wiping the sweat from his brow. "I can't do it," he said, "I'm spent." Trina looked back as she crossed the finish line and watched as he toppled over.

With a sigh, she got off the bike and made her way to him. Picking him off the ground, she draped an arm over her shoulders and picked his bike up. "Come on," she remarked, "Let's get you home." Robbie smiled weakly and chuckled.

"I can just taste grandma's cupcakes now. I can practically smell them."

"You should, Dad called her while we were biking."

"What?"

"Look." She pointed at the finish line and Robbie gasped out. His grandmother was standing there with a plate in her hands and a pair of red velvet cupcakes positioned neatly in the center. "She came to bring cupcakes for everyone."

"Oh my god!" Robbie broke away from her and ran for the food. Trina laughed heartily and walked over to the group.

"Not bad," Jade remarked while wiping her mouth with a napkin. "But that was just game number one." She could see the others were beginning to get into it, as Beck was already stretching.

"So who's next?"

"I am," Andre remarked, "After the biking you might want to give your legs a rest. Right?"

"Sure, but what's the event? Boxing? Legs are still at work."

"Not as much as running track." He shrugged. "Plus, I'm getting into this. Kind of exciting, fun even! I'm not the best, that's for damn sure, but I'm going enjoy it."

"So will I."

They entered the rec center on site and made their way to a room with a large floor mat. Gary brought the equipment over and explained the rules as they geared up. "So you know the rules. A clean fight, nothing below the belt." Trina nodded as she put on the helmet. Andre donned his gloves and looked back over his shoulder.

"I am so glad my grandma's not here."

"You do any street fighting, Andre?"

"Not really. I like to hit the gym sometimes and hit the punching bag a bit."

"Okay, but keep in mind a punching bag is a stationary object. You have to last three rounds with a legit opponent."

"Three? Isn't a boxing match nine rounds?"

"Professional boxing can be nine rounds, yeah. Here, a lot of us like to do five. Right now, we don't know your skill level, so we're doing three." Trina handed him a mouthpiece and green water bottle. "Either one of us could go down in one round."

"Hah." He started to put in his mouthpiece. "Why do I doubt you'd go down in one?" He slipped the mouthpiece in and tried to show it off with a grin. "Only Jade would think that."

"Again, you never know."

They made it to the center of the mat and Andre shook his head. Trina moved her left leg behind her and bent her right knee a bit, then bent her elbows to bring her gloves in front of her face. "I've done some streetfighting before, true, but you could get me."

"Wait." His eyes opened wide. "You've done actual streetfighting? Like without gloves and protective gear? When? Why? How?"

"Long story." It really wasn't much, just a group of friends getting together. "Hell, I've even done some parkour." She blinked twice and glanced over to see her a look of shock coming over her father. "Although, I will attest my dad probably didn't know that. I'm all over youtube."

"What?!"

"Look me up. KV Tricks and Stunts."

Almost instantly, Jade and the others whipped out their phones and began sweeping their thumbs across the screens.

Once Gary counted down to the fight, Andre raised his hands up and spread his legs out. "Bend your knees a bit, Andre. You don't want any cramps, and don't leave yourself open."

"Okay." He threw a punch and Trina closed her hands together, absorbing the blow into her gloves. Andre threw another and she continued to block.

Breaking it up, Trina quickly pulled her right hand out and swung it underneath, striking Andre in the stomach. His eyes bulged and he gasped for air. "Tighten your stomach a bit more so those blows don't take the wind out of you." Andre walked away, taking several deep breaths.

Trina lowered her hands and furrowed her brow, concerned that Andre might not be ready for an actual fight. "It's okay if you don't want to do this, Andre. You don't have to." He looked back, still huffing.

"No. I want to. I don't want to wimp out."

"It's not wimping out. Don't push yourself when you don't need to. Nobody will fault you for admitting that you aren't ready for something. I don't want to hurt you."

"I think you'd love nothing but that." He smirked playfully and faced her. "You're probably imagining I'm Jade right now." Jade jerked her head up.

"Hey!"

Trina laughed. "Not going to lie, Gary would be pulling me off you right now if that were the case." Again Jade cried out in alarm. Andre laughed and brought his hands up.

"Okay, let's go. I want to at least try to last a round with you."

"Great. I'll try to take it easy on you."

"Don't do that!"

"I have to pull my punches." She shrugged. "I can't go all out on a newcomer to the ring. Community rules." Andre groaned and threw a left jab. Trina's eyes widened and she quickly deflected the blow. "Good shot!"

"Well." He smirked. "You did say to avoid leaving yourself open."

"Ah, so you are capable of listening. Erwin wasn't sure."

"Erwin? You mean Mr. Sikowitz?"

"He is my fiancé's uncle, not my teacher."

"Good point."

They began their match, circling each other and exchanging various blows. Andre managed to get a few on her and she got a few on him, and true to his hope, he made it at least one round. He was panting hard, however, and taking a long break before next match. Trina sat in her corner, taking a swig of her water and letting Jason douse the sweat off her brow with a towel.

Andre lasted a bit in the second round, but missed a quick swipe to the right temple that sent him to the ground. He lay prone on his back, gazing up at the ceiling as Gary began to count down from ten. His chest rose and he moved the back of his glove over his face, groaning softly.

"Can't," he remarked, "Too tired." He groaned again. "I think I'm seeing spots."

"Knockout!" Gary exclaimed. "That's game."

Trina bent over Andre and extended a hand as he dropped his arm back to the ground. "Bet you're glad for that helmet." She smiled as he took her hand and let her yank him up off the ground. "'

"I'm a lover not a fighter." Trina laughed as someone poured over him.

"You can be both. You've got potential. If you want, I can coach you."

"No thanks, you stick with what I'm good at and I'll stick with what I'm good at." He thumbed is chest and started to stumble to the right. Robbie and Beck quickly ran to assist their friend in walking to a chair. "God that was fun as hell." He raised a hand. "Does anyone else see those stars or is it just me? Thank god I can say I lasted a round? Do you guys remember when she kicked our ass that one night? That was three of us, and I just went against her one on one for a match and a half! Holy hell that was awesome!"

Trina rolled her eyes and looked at the others. "Okay, take five." She took a deep breath and walked over to her family. It was time to take a break, and Tori's friends all looked eager to continue, even Jade, who appeared hesitant at first.

Around thirty minutes later, she was up and ready to do the next task. While she hoped for Cat, Beck was bouncing on his heels and seemed overeager. "Ready to run some track?" He asked with excitement.

"Sure." She smiled at him and smacked her palm into his. "We're doing one lap around a mile long track."

"Awesome."

"How often do you run?"

"Not as much as I should, but usually every other morning or so I like to jog for a little."

"Oh! Great! Then this should be a fun match." Beck grinned, his eyebrows rising high.

"How often do you run?"

"Every day. I wake up before the sun and start my run."

"Cool. May the best runner win."

"Let's just get out there and have fun." Truth be told, this was becoming more about simply having a good time and showing the group exactly who she was. At first it was about putting them in their place, but there was something about athletic activities that just made her feel good.

They made it to the start and Trina crouched low, pushing her left leg behind her and bending her right leg in front while placing her fingers on the ground. Beck mimicked her pose.

David counted them down this time, and when he shouted for them to start, they took off at full speed. Trina looked over, grinning when she saw Beck right beside her.

It was going to be neck and neck. She loved it, the thrill of having someone challenge her.

She increased her pace, trying to speed up and pass him up. He looked to her and began to speed up as well.

They continued to pass each other until they were three quarters of the way into the race. Trina could see signs of exhaustion on Beck's face, but he was still fighting. Tired as she was, she pushed ahead just as they reached the finish line. Beck was only a second behind her.

"How could you lose that?" Jade cried out. Beck chuckled as he bent over and grabbed his knees. He panted heavily and Trina smiled at him.

"That was intense," he said, "Oh my god, I'm out of breath." He rose, sucking in the air around him. "I don't think I've run that hard in my life."

"You did a damn good job." Trina panted for a bit and extended her hand. "Gave me a run for my money."

"Shit!" He shook her hand and laughed. "One of the girls should've ran that, they've got better stamina with all their dancing."

"You've got a good amount of it too."

"Yeah. I gotta hit the track more often."

"You're welcome to come out here anytime you like."

"Oh hell yeah, I want a rematch one day!"

Trina grinned. "I'd love to have a rematch with you."

Jade hurried over, throwing her arms protectively around Beck. "Mine!" She growled and Trina rolled her eyes. Beck frowned.

"On second thought, Beck, maybe not." As she walked away, she heard Beck groan. "So…what's it going to be?" Cat raised her hand.

"Me! Can we go swimming now?"

"I need to rest a bit, but yeah." They took another long break, a bit longer than the last one. Endurance was one thing, but overdoing the exercise could be an issue, so frequent breaks were a necessity. They'd already been out for most of the day, and the sun would be going down soon.

Making it to the pool side, Cat was already in a swim suit, ready to go. The swim would be a fast one, from one end of the pool to the other end twice. There wasn't much talk between them on this, just the standard well-wishing of luck.

When they dove in, their strokes were similar and they kept up with each other for a bit. Trina was just a little faster, though slowed down from the earlier activities. At the end of the race, she came out first by about a second.

"You're a really good swimmer," Cat said with a smile, "So am I. But not a lot of people know that about me." Trina nodded.

"You can learn a lot about someone if you actually give them a chance."

"Yeah." Cat frowned and pat Trina on the shoulder. "I'm sorry we never gave you much of one."

"My parents either. All Tori wanted was to be accepted by you, so she told you all what you wanted to hear and not the actual truth." She snapped her fingers and pointed to Gary and Holly. "Like my mom and Detective Malone? They're not having an affair. That was a lie Tori made up to explain away Mom staying away. Mom was just avoiding you guys because she didn't want to deal with the insults."

"Wow…"

"Mom's just overly sensitive." Trina raised an eyebrow and hummed. "Speaking of, where in the hell did that affair idea even come from? I can't picture Tori just outwardly saying it."

"Well she didn't. Jade asked about it because that's why her parents divorced. Her mom was cheating on her dad and wasn't around as much, so she wanted to know if something like that was happening…and Tori said yes outright."

Trina rolled her eyes and shot a look at her sister, who bowed her head shamefully. "Tori. Honesty and respect go both ways. You want your friends to respect you and be honest with you, you need to do the same!"

"I know," Tori replied, "I just…got scared they'd reject me outright if, well, you know…"

"No wonder they think our parents are shit." Trina walked over to Jade with a heavy sigh and crossed her arms. "Okay Jade. You wanted to do the marksmanship and sharpshooting. Are you ready for it?"

"Yeah," Jade replied, "Been ready for it all fucking day."

"Same." Finally an activity that wouldn't be overly physical, Trina was exhausted and her muscles were starting to get sore.

"I hope you're ready to lose at something."

"So by saying that, you're acknowledging that I've won the last few competitions and have some actual talent to speak of?" She smirked and Jade simply rolled her eyes.

The first step was the archery range on the other end of the complex. They were going to do stationary targets first from distances of thirty to seventy meters. Targets had been placed high on tree trunks and low on both short and tall poles in the ground.

"Good luck," Trina said while stepping alongside Jade. Jade grunted and readied her bow. With a sigh, Trina readied her bow and pulled back the arrow. The first target was one that was closest to them and on a short pole. Jade fired first, hitting the ring just outside the bullseye. Trina fired next, hitting around the same area.

Their shots were relatively similar on the closer targets and the poles. Both hit bullseyes, both hit the inner and outer rings. The differences came on the tree targets farthest away, both missed a shot but both also made a shot. On the very last target, Trina hit the center while Jade missed entirely.

Jade let out a frustrated scream and threw down her bow, causing Trina to jerk back in surprise. "Hey relax, it's only a game."

"No it's not. I can't lose to you. I have to be better."

Trina raised an eyebrow. "Why? You already are better than me at a few things. Why do you have to be better than me at everything?" Jade crossed her arms and looked away, grumbling in agitation.

"It's not just you," Beck responded. Jade shot him a glare, but he deflected it by avoiding eye contact. "She's like that with everyone. She's insecure, thinks she has to be better than everybody otherwise she feels small." He let out a heavy sigh. "She can't have fun here because she doesn't want to admit that someone could possibly be better at something than her."

"I see." Trina looked at the targets and started to smile. "Jade, look, almost all our shots hit the same vicinity." Jade glanced over and tensed up. "That's pretty good for someone who doesn't practice regularly."

After a minute, Jade relaxed her body and looked over the targets. "I guess." There was hesitation in her voice. "But I'm still losing to you."

"Would you feel better if I let you win?"

"No!"

"It's not about winning or losing, Jade. It's about trying your best, giving it your all and just having fun." Trina looked at Mr. Sikowitz, who responded with a silent nod. "Maybe they don't teach that concept exactly at Hollywood Arts. I don't know, I never liked it there. Always felt out of my element, had to excel at stuff I didn't even like. So, I get it. It was frustrating for me to do something that I wasn't even good at, trying to figure out why it came so easily to some people when I couldn't grasp it. But that's just it, it doesn't always come easy, and for some they just can't do it."

"I guess."

"I have talent." Trina spread her arms out, motioning at the range. "This is it. Sports. Athletics. This is my talent. Your talent is singing. That doesn't mean we couldn't learn the other thing if we didn't want to, we could develop and improve a skill…it's a matter of desire. I don't care enough to pick up on singing, dancing, acting…I am good at what I do. I enjoy what I do. That is enough for me."

"Yeah. Same here…" Jade let out a defeated sigh and shook her head. "I don't want to do any more target shooting. I really don't. I mean, it's kind of fun but…I'm not enjoying it."

"Is it because of the competitive nature?"

"Kind of." Jade rubbed her arm a bit and let out a nervous chuckle. "I can't really put it out of my head."

"Yeah, it's hard to do at first. I know when I first got into competitive sports, I always wanted to win. Eventually, I realized people like you better when you're cheering them on despite competing against them. You know? Good sportsmanship, and not being a sore loser."

"It's not easy. I have to be on top, okay? I um, I don't know why, I just do." Jade rolled her head back and groaned. "You're not talentless, okay? I'll work on trying to be less of a…you know…what you said earlier." Trina chuckled.

"I'm really sorry about that, Jade. I was upset."

"Yeah well, maybe I deserved it." Jade hung her head. "But anyway…I think everyone had a lot of fun."

"For sure. We'd love to see you guys out here more, you know." The others cheered, each of them looking pumped. Trina grinned and looked back at her family. "Actually…we have one more thing lined up."

Jade's eyebrows rose. "Oh no." The girl took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "What is it?"

"A classic…" Trina guided Jade and the others to a giant pool with a rope laying across it. Jade's eyes popped out and her friends made sounds of surprise and amusement. "Tug of war. You guys against the Vega clan."

"Whoa." Jade blinked twice and looked up, counting. "Wait a minute. There's five of us and four of you. That doesn't seem fair."

"You're forgetting I have a fiancé." Jason walked over and Jade let out a nervous laugh, her face turning red as she looked over the man.

"Um, I mean you need to like lose a member because we're totally going up against a family of athletes. Don't think I didn't forget what Tori said about your family." Trina started to laugh and noticed Jade's lingering gaze on Jason.

"Sure. But come on, you've got a few athletes on your side too. Cat, Beck, and even Andre has some damn good potential. Robbie did pretty fucking good at the bike racing." Robbie raised a shaky hand.

"I'm not that strong on the upper body."

"You guys will do fine. Mom hasn't played a game of tennis in a while, and Tori's not athletic."

"It's true," Tori said, "Literally no upper body strength whatsoever."

"Let's just get out there and have fun."

"Okay," Jade remarked, "Sounds good to me."

They line up on the opposite ends of the rope with the weakest at the front end and strongest at the back. For the Vega clan, the line up was simple: Tori was in the front, followed by Holly and then Trina. David was after her, and Jason was positioned on the end.

The line up for the friends began with Robbie, then Cat, followed by Jade and then Beck and finally Andre.

"Guys," Andre whispered, "We are so fucked."

"They're totally going to dunk us," Beck said, "And we totally deserve what's coming to us."

"Let's at least pull Tori in." Sikowitz started the count and then the game began. Everyone on Trina's side yanked the rope back, leaning back with it and pulling the group towards them. Robbie started to scream as his feet made it to the edge of the pull.

"Goddamn it! Get rid of Jason and Mr. Vega! They're too much!"

"I'm barely pulling," Jason replied, "It's all them."

"No!" Jason let go of the rope and wagged his eyebrows. Trina smirked and David's eyes slanted. Tori began to cackle as she slipped backwards and masterfully swapped places with Holly. "What the fuck?"

"Come on guys," Tori said, "You've seen me dance, and you know who my sister is. Do you honestly think that I don't work out with Trina on occasion?"

"We've been conned!" Robbie screamed aloud. "We've been conned and I knew we were conned! The strength wasn't coming from Trina's fucking eye-candy, it was coming from her damn sister!"

"Yep!" Tori cackled again, and with one cruel twist of her wrist, she and the rest of her family gave a powerful yank. Robbie splashed into the pool first, but like a game of dominoes, the rest of the group followed suit.

They swam up to the surface, laughing uproariously. "Now that's done," Jason said with a smooth chuckle. With Mr. Sikowitz, Gary, and Lindsay, he walked to the other end of the rope. Tori's friends watched eagerly, each gasping as the crew picked up the rope. "I think it's time for everyone to cool off. What do you guys think?"

"Uh oh." Trina chuckled softly and bowed her head. "Welp." Travis joined the line up as well, waving his fingers. The moment didn't last long, when they jerked the rope, the entire Vega clan fell into the water.

"Oh my god." Jade swam over to Trina, laughing still. "This was fun, Vega. This was a fun day." Trina grinned and nodded her head.

"Glad you guys enjoyed it. We really just wanted to take a chance to show you the real side of us and, well, show you that there's more to life than just those things you're good at."

"Definitely. We have to come out here more."

"Would love to see you guys out here." Trina looked up to see the group that pulled them in still holding the rope and exchanging high fives. She whistled at the others and motioned to the end of the rope now in the pool. "Come on." Everyone grinned and grabbed the rope, then slowly climbed together out of the pool.

When the group stopped cheering and felt a tug, they glanced back and Trina smirked at them. "Bad move still holding the rope, honey." Jason's eyebrows rose and they yanked the rope back as hard as they could. Jason, Sikowitz, Gary, Lindsay and Travis all fell in the drink one at a time. "Aw you're all wet." Trina winked as Jason's head poked out of the surface. "Why don't you join me in the sauna and we'll dry off together."

David groaned loudly and walked away while the others erupted with laughter. Travis swam over to his hat. "Well." He shook his hat off in the air and placed it on his head. "I guess that's a wrap."

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I hope you enjoyed that, it seems everyone had a good time and learned a few things about themselves and each other. What are your thoughts?