DISCLAIMER: Nope. I don't own Victorious! I'm just borrowing the characters to enhance my writing :) I don't own any names italicized, either.

Andre soon forgot the interesting "scene" in acting class. Tori, however, couldn't get it off her mind. Stupid, stupid stupid! I'm so embarrassed!

She walked into the black box theater the next day for the first Detect rehearsal. Cat, wanting to get in the spirit of the play, brought a fake ruby from her brother. He found the most interesting things at bus stops...

Everyone met on the stage. Beck had on a tweed jacket, with a magnifying glass in the pocket. Jade wore a long, fitting black dress, her hair straightened to flow down over the spaghetti straps. Her face was twisted up, as she held Beck's arm a little tighter than usual. Andre had on some glasses and pulled his hair back, but otherwise, was still the same old Andre. Hollywood Arts hoodie, jeans, and some Adidas. Tori wore a green dress down to her knees, with matching heels, a pearl necklace and pearl earrings. Cat, of course, wore a red dress, down to her ankles, draping behind her a little as she walked. Of course, it sparkled, as did her red lips, earrings and matching ring. And Robbie wore a suit and his glasses, gelling his hair back. They dressed up to get in the mood for the first rehearsal (after the table read, of course). It was a Hollywood Arts tradition.

"Alright, let's rehearse this thing!" Sikowitz ran into the room. He, being their acting teacher, decided to be the director for the play. Decked out in full knight armor, he ran to the stage to greet the group. But he was surprised to find no one else in Medieval attire.

"Dear Ghandi!" Sikowitz was embarrassed. He looked down at his knight costume, and ran out of the theater. Everyone looked at each other.

"Why was he-?" Cat asked Jade.

"I dunno." Jade interrupted lazily. Cat nodded slowly and turned back to the rest of the group.

Breaking the silence, Tori jumped in. "Why don't we go ahead and start rehearsing?" She suggested.

"Oh, what a wonderful idea!" Jade said in her Tori-voice. Tori rolled her eyes in annoyance as she flipped the script open. "'Scene 1. Everyone is at the birthday party, until Rosina reveals her gem has been stolen'. Okay! And, action!" Everyone stepped into place.

"I can't believe I even bothered to show up to Rosina's birthday!" Jade scowled.

"Why not, Darla? Rosina considers you her close friend." Robbie asked.

"We're nothing of the sort. That's just her excuse to be perfect and nice to every one." Jade sighed. Everyone looked around, waiting for something.

"'Enter Red Dress'. Cat? You should be entering from the kitchen!" Tori called over to her. She was poking around backstage. She turned to them.

"Hi guys!" She giggled. "I'm just exploring!" She peeked into the trap door. She jerked back from the door, looking frightened. Nobody thought much of it, because she's, well... Cat.

"Cat, come read your lines!" Andre said. Cat frowned at him. "Now." He said firmly. Cat walked up to them, pouting. He patted her shoulder, and she read her lines.

"Why, look at this place!" She said in an accent, which was required for her character. It was elegant, soft, like she was on a cloud.

Robbie, "Marcus", stared at "Red Dress", a dazed look in his eyes. "Hello. I'm Marcus. Who might I have the honor of addressing, ma'am?" He asked courteously. She blushed as he took her hand and kissed it.

"Aw, Robbie!" Cat giggled. But she snapped back into character. "You can call me 'Red Dress', Marcus." She said mysteriously, kissing him on the cheek. Leaving him frozen in place, she walked out of the room, heels clicking on the floor, red dress trailing behind her. Instantly, "Rosina" ran in.

"My gem! My precious ruby has been stolen!" She cried. Everyone ran to her side.

"Are you sure?" Marcus asked.

She nodded. "Positive."

"Who would've done such a thing?"

Red Dress entered again. "What's going on?"

Marcus explained. "Some on has stolen her ruby! Rosina's 9th birthday present from her deceased father!"

Red Dress gasped. "We must catch this culprit!" She flirtatiously leaned on Marcus's shoulder.

Beck and Andre, or Detective Lifford and Theo, entered the room. "Detective Lifford, at your service."

Rosina ran to the detective. "Oh, Detective, someone has stolen my precious ruby!" She wailed.

"Stay calm ma'am. The criminal," Theo looked around at every one. "Is someone in this room. And no one's going anywhere."

. . . . .

Tori sat next to Cat and Andre the next day at lunch. They were reading over their script. They only had two weeks before the show would go public, so they had to memorize their lines as soon as possible.

"Hey guys! How's it going?" She asked, poking Andre's shoulder. He smiled up at her, then looked back at his script seriously. Maybe I should ask him if we could see a movie or something? No, that's dumb! The guys should ask the girls! Still, Tori was about to ask him, when Jade walked up.

"He's in play-seduction mode. They both are," She sat down. "I'd consider it an illness." She grumbled as she dug into her salad.

"Where's Beck?" Tori asked cautiously.

"Why do you care?" She snapped, like the plastic fork in her hand, now in three pieces.

"Um, I- Just wondered why you two weren't together?" She tried to return the peace, but to no avail.

"He's rehearsing his stinkin' play, memorizing the stinkin' part when you two stinkin' kiss, happy?" She stood up, threw her salad on Tori, and walked to another table. Tori turned to Andre and Cat, who were still reading their scripts.

Pulling the lettuce out of her hair, she looked at them and asked, "Did you guys see that?" They didn't respond. She continued to clean her hair. I wish there hadn't been dressing on that!

"Hey, people!" Robbie walked up, patting Cat's head lightly. His eyes grew large as they fell on Tori. "Um, you got a little-"

"Thank you, Catherine Obvious!" She frowned. Robbie started to correct her, but decided against it. "How am I supposed to get this stupid gunk out of my hair?" She whined.

"Like this," Jade walked past Tori, pouring her water bottle on her hair. She smirked over her shoulder and waved as she walked away. Why?

"Guess what I found out?" Robbie waited for someone to guess. Tori just stared at him. Cat and Andre didn't even acknowledge him. "It turns out, Detect is based on a true story that happened right here at Hollywood Arts!"

"Shut up!" Tori laughed. Robbie didn't laugh. "Y-you're serious?"

"Yuparoony!" He sat at the table.

"Yeah. Red Dress, Rosina, Marcus, Darla, Theo and Detective Lifford were real people. At the time, Hollywood Arts was a mansion, but was torn down after Rosina died." Andre finally stopped reading his script, but only for a moment.

"Told you!" He pointed to Tori in triumph. She nodded. "Cool."

Sinjin walked by the table, stopping to look at Tori. Tori growled at him, but he didn't flinch. He grabbed some lettuce from her hair and stuck it in his mouth. Tori looked around at the others. But they were all reading their scripts. She sighed and ate some lettuce from her hair.

I know it sounds kind of useless right now, but that will come into play later. Especially that trap door part; don't forget that, kay?

Thanks all my reviewers! You all rock! Please keep reviewing!