It wasn't until everyone had eaten their fill, even Beck gave in and ate some, and the chicken was down to the bones that they noticed that their acting teacher hadn't shown up.

"I told you something was off." Jade reminded them. "He's not coming. This was his plan all along."

"I thought his plan was to get us out here to teach us to be better actors." Tori frowned. "Maybe he got delayed at the school or something."

"That would be an awfully long delay." Beck pointed out.

"Maybe his car broke down on the way up." Robbie offered. "That used to happen to me all the time, but my new car never breaks down."

"You don't have a car." Jade rolled her eyes. "It's a freaking bicycle."

"Is not! It's a car of the future!" Robbie protested.

"Let's just call Sikowitz and ask him." Andre suggested.

"About my car?" Robbie asked, confused.

"About where he is, diphthong." Jade barked. Tori pulled out her phone and dialed Sikowitz's number, putting it on speaker phone.

"Hello?" Came the familiar voice of their crazy teacher.

"Sikowitz! It's Tori, Beck, Andre, Cat, Jade, and Robbie." Tori explained. Jade rolled her eyes.

"Just get on with it!" She growled. Tori gave her a look.

"Um, Sikowitz?" She began, politely.

"Yes?"

"Where are you?" There was a long pause and then Sikowitz replied confidently.

"Ah, well you see. My car has seemed to have broken down, and well; I can't get up there until it is fixed."

"I told you!" Robbie grinned triumphantly. Jade frowned suspiciously.

"You don't have a car." She accused. There was another long pause.

"So I will see you children probably some time tomorrow." Sikowitz replied, evasively. "Have a good first night." The phone went dead and Tori shrugged, pushing it back into her pocket. The group scattered, heading for their tents, except for Jade who remained where she was.

"Oh come on!" She cried, causing the others to stop in their tracks. "You don't actually believe his car broke down do you?"

"Why would he lie?" Andre frowned.

"Because he's not coming! I told you! That was his plan all along!" The group rolled their eyes at her paranoia.

"I'm sure he'll come." Tori declared, earning herself a death glare from Jade. Andre, Beck, and Robbie nodded in agreement. Cat stood quietly, twirling her hair.

"One time, my brother said he was coming but-"

"NO!" Jade cut her off. Feeling the futility of her argument, Jade let it drop and began to herd Cat toward their tent. The fact that she had to share a tent with Tori and Cat did nothing to improve her mood. Tori waved good night to the guys, and followed Jade and Cat into their tent. Jade was already plotting her space, giving herself half the tent so that Tori and Cat had only a quarter each. Tori sighed, grabbing her sleeping bag and luggage and dragging them to her corner of the tent, she began to mentally prepare herself. She'd have to take up meditation, she thought grimly, if she had any prayer of surviving the week.

…

"Beck." It was just a whisper at first, and Beck had to question himself that he'd even heard it. He sat up in his sleeping bag, rubbing his tired eyes.

"Beck!" The whisper came again, harsher this time. Beck frowned and moved toward the entrance of the tent as quietly as he could to avoid waking the others. He pulled the tent door open to reveal an impatient looking Tori, motioning him outside. Careful not to step on the others, Beck made his way out, zipping the tent behind him.

"What is it?" He whispered, and Tori motioned him away from the tents. He followed her and she stopped when she felt that they could talk freely, without risk of waking the others.

"What is it?" Beck asked again.

"I got up because I had to go to the bathroom and when I was on my way back I kept hearing these weird noises." She explained.

"What kind of noises?"

"Rustling. Like foot steps." She replied, her voice beginning to shake. "I tried to shake them off but I couldn't. I just didn't feel safe going back to my tent." Beck frowned.

"And how exactly did you think I was going to help with that?" Tori shrugged.

"Well you're a guy. Aren't guys supposed to be like, protectors or something?"

"If you haven't noticed I'm not the only guy in this camp. And I'm pretty sure Jade would be just as good at fending off…whatever it is." Tori laughed.

"Yeah but Jade would probably kill me for waking her up, Robbie is Robbie, and Andre, well, he's not really that scary." Beck laughed.

"And I am?" Tori shrugged.

"Maybe in the dark." Beck rolled his eyes. "Just keep watch with me for a few minutes." Tori begged. "Please? It'd make me feel better." Beck nodded reluctantly and they found a place to sit near the campsite. They sat in silence for several minutes, just listening and looking around. Just when they were about to give up and go back inside, Tori grabbed Beck's arm.

"There!" She whispered. "Did you hear that?" Beck listened closely and she was right, the rustling sounded eerily similar to footsteps. He grabbed is flashlight and began to shine it around the campsite.

"It's probably just an animal." He said with as much confidence as he could muster. Tori gripped his arm tightly as the noise began to get louder.

"Beck." She whispered hoarsely. "What are we going to do?" Beck stood up and headed in the direction of the sound.

"I'll go check it out." He told her. "You stay here."

"But-"

"I'll be right back." He added, and without giving her a chance to argue, he set off into the woods.

…..

The woods were dark. The trees blocked the light from the moon and stars, creating an almost suffocating darkness and had it not been for the flashlight, Beck didn't think he would've been able to keep going. He could still hear the rustling and it seemed to be getting closer; his sweaty palms gripped the flashlight like it was his life-line.

"Hello?" He called uselessly into the darkness as if whatever it was may answer. The sound was getting closer and closer, and he was beginning to panic. He glanced around wildly, shinning his flashlight in all directions, trying to locate the source of the noise. His heart was racing a mile a minute and he made a sudden decision to turn back, desperate for the small comfort the campsite could bring. He spun on his heel, intending to sprint back to the site, but instead collided head first with a figure. He yelled and fell backwards, evoking a shriek from the person.

"Tori!?"

"Beck!?"

"I told you to stay at the campsite!"

"You're not the boss of me." Tori replied immaturely. She had also been knocked down from the impact for the collision. Beck stood and offered her his hand, which she refused, spitting hair from her face as she clambered to her feet.

"Why did you follow me?" Beck demanded.

"I couldn't let you go out here alone!"

"Yes, you could have!" He cried exasperatedly. "Just...come on; let's go back to the campsite." He sighed, grabbing the flashlight from where he had dropped it. They began to make their way to the site when a gravelly voice stopped them in their tracks.

"Just where do you think you're going?"

Author's Note: So? What do you guys think? Review, review, REVIEW! :D