Chapter 1: Fresh Meat
"Tori! Tori!" Robbie yelled from across the hall as he sprinted towards her. Tori was sliding a green notebook into her locker when she heard his voice. His approach made her jump and her eyes went wide.
"Umm nice to see you too Robbie," She said with a slight laugh. When Robbie looked into her gentle eyes, he was speechless.
"Umm umm umm..," He mumbled. Just the sound of Tori's voice made Robbie's heart beat 100 mph. His hands began to tremble and sweat.
"Yo dude. You're soaking up my pants. I know you like the girl, but drenching me isn't going to make her like you any quicker," came a stern voice. The voice came from Rex, Robbie's puppet. Rex's comment made Robbie blush in fury.
"Rex! Do you mind? I was going to tell Tori something important," he shouted and grabbed Rex by the back of the head. Tori watched them in confusion then rolled her eyes and slowly began to back away.
Robbie looked up and stopped her. "Tori wait! I do have something to tell you," He said and moved close to her again.
Tori folded her arms across her chest and leaned against the wall. "What is it Robbie? I'm going to be late for class so make it quick,"
Robbie was about to speak when Rex interrupted him. "There's a couple of new kids' strolling in," He said coolly. Tori raised her eyebrow, a little interested.
This made Robbie furious. "You keep interrupting me! I thought we discussed this. You're always doing this to me!" He almost growled at Rex.
Rex argued back, wanting to push Robbie over the edge. "We discussed nothing you dope," Tori had heard enough out of them. She turned around slowly and walked to class. When she reached Mr. Sikhowitz'room, she saw Andre, Cat, Beck, and Jade talking. She set down her bag on a chair and walked over to them.
Approaching the group, she rested her elbow on Andre's shoulder. "Hey Andre. What's going on?" She smiled and asked with curiosity.
Andre glanced over his shoulder and returned her smile. "There was an announcement this morning that there are some new kids and they're in our hour,"
Tori nodded slightly. "Oh, well has anyone met them yet?" She said a little louder, seeing if anyone was listening.
Jade turned towards Tori and smirked at her. "They haven't come yet, but who would want to be in the same hour as you? They must have not been thinking clearly," she said with a solid voice.
Tori raised her eyebrow and lowered her arm from Andre's shoulder. She put her hands on her hips. "And yet you're here," She with the same tone as Jade. Laughter began to fill the room. Jade showed everyone a deep glare then turned away from Tori. Suddenly, the bell rang and everyone began to file to their seats.
Making an "interesting choice" Sikowitz crawled into the classroom through the window. "Good morning young performers!" He said boldly and opened his arms wide. He held them up, waiting for a response. "Wow, you guys are boring today," He said and lowered his arms then clapped them together, causing the students to jump a bit. "Aha! Your blood is starting to get pumped! Excellent!" He said happily.
Tori stared at him and leaned in to whisper in Andre's ear. "Who put what in his coffee this morning?" They both silently laughed.
Just as Sikowitz was starting his lesson on musical improve the door opened and two tall, blonde kids stepped into the room. Tori turned her head to see who they were. One was a boy with shaggy hair that fell close to his eyebrows. He wore a light blue shirt, blue jeans, and black converse. He had deep brown eyes and a glum look on his face. Next to him was a girl with wavy hair that flowed down way past her shoulders. She wore a purple shirt under a blue jean jacket. Her skinny jeans fit nicely around her waist and black converse were on her feet.
Sikowitz turned around and greeted the newcomers. "Ah, fresh meat. Say kids, have you ever considered coming in through the window?" he said and pointed towards the window.
The two looked at him with looks of disgust. "Umm…should we?" The girl said with confusion.
"Yes! You should!" He said with pride in his voice and walked off the stage towards the pair. "And you two are?"
"I'm Jake, that's my sister Bethany," The boy said without meeting anyone's eye. Bethany nudged him in the ribs.
"Well Mr. Jake, as a performer must always remember, never look at the floor when you are speaking," He said, squatting down to meet Jake's eye level.
Jake stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked up at the ceiling. "Yeah, whatever," He said with no emotion in his voice. Bethany sighed.
Sikowitz stood up and patted Jake on the back. "This kid needs some work," He said to the class. "Go find a seat you two," He strolled back up to the stage.
Bethany found the closest to her, which was next to Andre. She sat down slowly and gave him a sad smile.
Andre nodded and returned it with a dazzling grin."I'm Andre, it's nice to meet you Bethany," Jake slumped over and shrunk down into the seat next to Tori. She didn't pay much attention to him and focused on Sikowitz's lesson, whatever it was.
Jake took a side glance at Tori and gazed at the soft features on her face. Wow, she is really hot. He thought to himself.
Tori turned her head and noticed Jake staring at her. She gave him a smile and said sweetly. "Hi, I'm Tori,"
Jake nodded and smiled back. "Jake, nice to meet you Tori,"
When class was finally over, Jake and Bethany were the first to leave. Tori followed them with a watchful eye.
At the end of the day, Beck walked up to her locker. "Hey Tori," He said, leaning against the neighboring locker.
"Beck, what do you think of the new kids?" Tori shut her locker and leaned against it. She looked at Jake and Bethany then up at Beck. Her voice was filled with concern.
"A friendly hello would have been nice but ok," Beck said teasingly then shrugged. His gaze moved over to Bethany and Jake. "I dunno', the chick's hot," he said and laughed.
Tori slapped his arm jokingly and laughed with him. "I'm serious. They don't look like they want to be here," She said and continued to watch them.
Beck leaned in close to her face and whispered. "Kind of sounds like someone I know," he winked. Tori met his eyes and sighed. Beck laid his hand on her back. "Don't worry so much Tori, it's their first day at a new school. It's a whole nother world for them. They'll adjust. I gotta' go. Catch ya later," he waved and walked away.
Tori waved slightly then folded her arms across her chest, thinking about what Beck had just told her. Picking up her bag off the ground, she left the school and headed for home.
At school the next day, while Tori was putting books and folders into her locker, she heard something that sounded like fighting from around the corner.
"I told you Bethany, I didn't want to come to this stupid school!" Jake said with anger and hatred in his voice.
Bethany shook her head. She put her hands on Jake's shoulders. "Jake, you know how talented you are. People think you're amazing. When you graduate from here, you will have so many opportunities available. You'll be living your dream,"
Jake shrugged off her hands and began to storm away. "You and dreams," He turned and yelled across the hall. "When are you ever going to grow up? We're not kids anymore Beth!"
Tori watched Jake leave then her gaze fell on Bethany who wiped the tears from her face with her sleeve and headed for Sikowitz's class. As Bethany passed her, Tori saw Jade grin behind her locker. Tori rolled her eyes and slammed her locker shut.
When Tori walked into class, she saw Jade and Beck near the front. Jade was holding a tin bowl in her arms. "Oh boy. This can't be good," She muttered to herself.
"What can't be good?" Andre said approaching her.
"Well Jade has a tin bowl and I think something's in it. Which probably means she's got something going on," Tori said pointing towards Jade.
"Ooo maybe she's got some pie," Andre said and started to walk towards Jade.
Tori grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him back. "No, that's not what I meant. I meant that she has something rotten and nasty planned for somebody,"
Andre rolled his eyes. "Oh relax Tori. I think you took that coffee and dog thing a little too far in the head," he said and gently tapped Tori's forehead.
Tori smiled and sat down as the bell rang. She decided to keep a close eye on Jade. Uh oh. Not good. She thought to herself as Jade approached Bethany.
"Hey Bethany," Jade said in a friendly voice. A sweet smile spread across her face. In the tin bowl was a blackberry pie.
Bethany raised her eyebrow. "Umm hi Jade. Can I help you?" She said and set her bag down on her chair.
"Well, I have this pie that I made for my neighbor and I have writing on it and I want to know if I made it big enough, will you check?" Jade said held the pie up to Bethany's face.
Bethany looked at Jade then at the pie. "Uhh ok then?" She said and bent down towards the pie. With a lot of force, Jade shoved the pie into Bethany's face, causing a giant SPLASH sound to fill the room. Bethany gasped and jumped away from Jade, berry juice covering her.
Laughter began to fill the room and everyone stared at her as she wiped the juice from her eyes and glared at Jade. "You bitch!" She yelled and jolted out of the room, almost running into Sikowitz who was coming in through the door.
He watched her leave then turned his attention towards the class. "Is there a reason why that girl has juice all over her face?"
"She missed her mouth," Jade said coolly and put her finger on the side of her cheek. More laughter filled the room. Beck just shook his head and put his face in his hand.
Jake stood up and glared at Jade. "You know what? You just need to shut the hell up!" He shouted and went after his sister.
Jade folded her arms across her chest and rolled her eyes. She turned and sat down in her seat.
Tori, being in shock the whole time, thought about when Jade poured coffee on her when she first came to Hollywood Arts. She stared at her hands, which were lying in her lap, then rose from her seat and left the room, following Jake and Bethany.