Chapter 1
Three Weeks Later
After weeks of planning, Tori and her friends finally arrived at their hotel room, exhausted from a day of traveling. Because they'd gotten a deal on the tickets, Tori and Trina's parents agreed to pay for nicer accommodations, rather than a motel or an inn like the teens had been checking out online. Plus the cost would be split three ways thanks to Jade, who reluctantly agreed to take the fold-out couch since her roommates would be covering the majority of the bill. Of course Andre couldn't bunk with the girls, so he got a room just across the hall.
"I love this hotel!" Tori exclaimed, walking into an upscale room with two full-size beds and a large flat-screen television. "It's so...'vacation with your parents', you know? Like how family trips are never really fun but the hotel and restaurants are always really nice."
Annoyed Jade threw her bag onto the small couch. "I'm leaving."
Tori blocked her path to the door. "Why? Your negative outlook can't handle my happiness?"
"Not everything's about you, ya bursting ray of sunshine," Jade snapped. "If you're just dying to know, I'm supposed to meet Beck at the Space Needle in an hour. We're going to do all the touristy stuff so I can point out how lame it is."
Knowing that she wouldn't be able to talk Jade out of it, Tori stepped to the side. "Have fun. Tell Beck I said hi."
"I won't." Jade then went into the hallway and walked back towards the elevators.
Tori sighed. True, Jade wasn't exactly a good friend...barely a friend, actually...but Tori thought she'd spend at least one day with the group. Now Tori would have to call Carly and tell her there'd be one less person for dinner at the Shay's loft that night. To start the weekend off, Carly had invited their guests over for dinner with her friends and her brother, who was making "spaghetti tacos." The dish sounded strange, but Tori had to admit she wasn't opposed to two of her favorite foods in one meal.
Her peace and quiet was ruined when Trina entered the room, dragging her suitcase behind her. "I hate this hotel," she grumbled. "No spa, no indoor pool, not even a little boutique where I can spend a ridiculous amount of money on stuff I'll never use." She glanced at the cabinet beneath the television. "There isn't even a mini-fridge! What kind of place is this?"
"One we didn't have to pay for," Tori reminded her. "By the way, Jade left already."
Trina nodded. "Yeah, saw her in the hall. Good, I can't her constant negativity for too long. That's why I slept on the plane."
"I noticed." Unfortunately, Tori had been kept awake by her sister's constant snoring. Between that and Jade whining about how bad the inflight-movie was, she'd had to turn her PearPod full blast to drown them out. Tori would have tried to distract herself by talking to Andre, but he'd spent the whole plane ride working on a song. Well, trying to anyway. He'd seemed to have a bad case of writer's block.
Looking over her shoulder, Trina asked, "So what's going on? We're meeting up with Carly and Sam now, right?"
"They're not out of school yet," Tori reminded her. To make the most of the weekend, all of their parents agreed that the four teens could skip school that day to catch an earlier flight. "We've got at least an hour, probably more like two by the time they get here. They're picking us up because they didn't want us get lost trying to find Bushwell Plaza. That's Carly and Freddie's apartment complex."
Clearly disappointed, Trina checked her watch. "Well, at least I have time for a quick shower. Planes are always so gross."
"But I..." Tori protested, since she'd been having the same thoughts. But to be fair, Trina did call it first. "Fine, I'll use Andre's bathroom I guess. I doubt he'll need it, he seemed pretty obsessed with a song he's working on."
Within ten minutes, Tori had gotten a new outfit out of her suitcase, walked down the hall to Andre's room, and knocked. "Andre? Can I use your bathroom? Trina's already in ours." Okay, yes, it was slightly embarrassing to be asking a guy if she could use his bathroom to take a shower, but Andre was her best friend, so she didn't care quite as much.
Andre opened the door, notebook and pen in his other hand. "Sure, go ahead." He glanced at her spare clothes. "You're taking a shower?"
"Yeah. Don't you know about plane cooties?" Tori teased while she went into the room. "So what's with the pen and paper? You're still trying to get over your writer's block?"
Frowning, Andre glanced down at the notebook's blank page. "Um, yeah. It's bugging me too. I really need a new song before we're on iCarly."
"Are you sure this has to be a new song? Can't you just sing 'Song 2 You'?' Tori asked, worried about her friend. He'd impressed music producers with that song before, but they were still considering other Internet sensations for a record contract. Much like a reality show, Andre unfortunately found himself directly competing with nine other singers, and only one would get the prize.
Andre shook his head. "Nah, they already saw me perform that at school. I need something different, something that will make me stand out."
"Okay, well, how about 'Tell Me That You Love Me'? Or 'Make It Shine'? You could remix them, fit them to your voice," Tori suggested.
"I already remixed them for my demo," Andre told her sadly. "But I may have to sing one of the three on iCarly anyway if I can't write a new song by tomorrow. Sure, Carly and Sam might like me, and I might get thousands of hits on the video. But some of the other singers already have that many views, even without iCarly's stamp of approval."
Very concerned that her friend might miss his current, certainly not his last, shot at the big time, Tori tried to think of promotional ideas. "Well, why don't you ask Freddie?" she said. "He's the show's technical producer, right? He has to know some way you can make your next video unique."
"Yeah, that's true. But I'm still going to work on this song. I can't believe I haven't been able to think of anything in three weeks," Andre grumbled.
"Oh, don't worry, every great writer has a creative block every now and then. You'll get a burst of inspiration soon, I'm sure." At Andre's doubtful look, she smiled back, and he hesitantly began to write.
After their last class of the day, Carly and Sam got the books they would need out of their lockers while they waited for Freddie. He had to stop at his locker too, so they wouldn't be waiting long. "I can't wait to hang out with Tori and Andre this weekend. They seemed cool at the party." After karaoke, both sets of friends had talked and danced for hours, though some new friends clicked better than others.
"Yeah, but that Jade chick had an attitude problem." When Carly raised an eyebrow, Sam rolled her eyes and explained, "I have anger management issues. There's a difference. At least, that's what my therapist says." True, Sam and Carly had avoided temperamental Jade, who pretty much stayed off to the side with Beck most of the night. They'd chatted with Tori and Andre the most, which was why Tori and Carly had exchanged contact information. Trina had seemed more normal than very strange Cat and Robbie, but she kept begging them to put her on the show, which got annoying after the first ten seconds. Ironically, she'd gotten what she wanted anyway.
"Well, you don't have to worry now," Carly assured her. "Tori texted me during class that Jade is hanging out with her boyfriend all weekend. She's not even having dinner with us tonight."
Relieved to hear that, Sam moved on to her next concern. "Okay, then what do we do if Trina can't carry a tune, like Tori said on the phone?"
"Then we'll fix her voice on the computer. We've done it before. Besides, Tori and I are hoping that Trina won't think to ask since we've already planned skits for her," Carly explained. Oddly enough, Carly wasn't nervous at all about their big special episode. When they'd advertised it at the end of their show last week, viewers' comments had been mostly positive, saying they were impressed that iCarly would actually be acting without a script. That in mind, Carly was happy to realize that viewers already had low expectations, and any mishaps would be attributed to the improvised material rather than the actors' failures.
After Freddie arrived, the trio left to meet Spencer in the parking lot. He dropped Sam and Freddie off at Bushwell Plaza first so there would be room in the car, then with Carly in the front seat, they picked up Tori, Andre and Trina at the hotel. The group talked amicably the whole ride there about what had been going on in their lives since they last met, and how excited they were to be doing the show.
An hour later they were all seated around the Shay's dining area table, eating spaghetti tacos while finalizing the taping schedule for the next day. Carly and Tori sat at the ends, with Carly facing the door. Both had a notepad and pen on the table next to them for notes. Freddie and Sam sat on either side of Carly, while Andre and Trina sat on either side of Tori. Spencer had quickly finished off a few tacos and went out to get some supplies for his latest antiquing project.
While there was momentary silence as the others ate, Trina warily eyed her second taco. "I don't get how you people can eat so many tacos. They're carbs on top of carbs!"
"That's the beauty of it, duh," Sam informed her.
Wrinkling her nose, Trina still asked, "Is there salad?"
"Oh, uh, sorry about that, there isn't any. But you can make yourself some," Carly offered, pointing back at the fridge.
Tori glared at her sister, worried about appearing rude. "Oh come on Trina, they were nice enough to make these for us. You can indulge this one time. I mean, they're so delicious."
"Yeah, I guess..." Trina flinched as Tori kicked her under the table. Getting the hint, she first took out some of the spaghetti, then reluctantly continued eating.
"Okay, back to the show," Andre began. "Now I'm definitely singing, and I'm cool with playing improv games like ABC and Questions. But I'm not acting in those Pathetic Plays you guys do, especially without a script. No offense to you guys, as they really are awesomely hilarious, but I looked like a fool on the Internet once. It's not happening again."
"Hey, no problem. You can always co-host with me," Freddie offered. Since Carly and Sam would be playing the games too, Freddie agreed to take over hosting in between games.
That established, they went planned some more as they finished dinner and cleared the table. The guests had already been given a tour of the iCarly set, but the group still went upstairs to practice their improv skills for a while. By around nine, Tori, Trina and Andre were tired from a day of traveling, and stuffing themselves with spaghetti tacos, so Spencer agreed to drive them back to the hotel. Since everyone was having fun, Tori spontaneously invited Carly and Sam to sleep over at the hotel both for more practice and the usual sleepover movies and snacks, which all agreed sounded like a good idea. Though he wanted to work on his song, Andre was talked into a guys' sleepover night of movies and video games at the loft.
On their way out the door, Tori remembered that Jade would most likely be back at the room, and probably wouldn't appreciate the intrusion. "Hey Trina, should I call Jade to warn her?"
"Why?"
"Because..." Tori paused, thinking about that for a second. Carly and Sam would be sleeping over no matter what, plus inconsiderate Jade had bailed on dinner for no other reason than to spend a few more hours with her boyfriend. "Never mind."
Almost immediately after arriving back at the hotel, the four girls dropped the idea of improv practice altogether and rented a movie from the hotel's selection. They ordered up popcorn and other snacks from room service, settled onto the beds, then alternated between talking and watching the romantic comedy they'd all seen a dozen times before.
When they'd finished laughing at a story Tori was telling about her crazy teacher, Carly asked, "Okay Tori, seriously. What's with you and Andre?"
"Yeah, does he love you?" Sam teased.
Feeling blindsided, Tori stared at them, suspecting they were trying to play a joke on her. "What?"
"Oh come on, the guy's obviously crazy about you," Trina added. Tori gave her a betrayed look, so she explained, "Okay, I was going to bring it up eventually, but seriously Tori. I remember walking in on you guys when he was singing you some love song."
"That was Song 2 You! He just wrote it and wanted me to hear it!" Tori insisted defensively.
"Yeah. He just wrote a love song," Carly said, chuckling. "And wanted you to hear it."
Sam grinned. "Yeah, sounds totally platonic to me."
Upset over the accusations, Tori insisted, "It's not like that. I know that Andre and I are just best friends. I don't have to convince you people." She then turned to Sam. "Speaking of, what's with you and Freddie?"
Suddenly, Sam and Carly became very quiet. "What makes you say that?" Sam finally asked. "He's always had a crush on Carly."
"Yeah, but I think he's over that. Now we're all just friends," Carly added.
Tori shook her head. "No way, really? Sam, you and Freddie...when you argue it's like you're an old married couple, not like you actually hate each other." At Sam's glare, she sighed. "I'm sorry, okay? I noticed it today and thought maybe there was history. Plus iCarly fans who post on the website are always talking about 'Seddie'...I didn't realize it was a sensitive subject."
More quiet, then Sam sheepishly reassured her, "Nah, we're good. I was just shocked that someone who's not an obsessed iCarly fan would think that. It's never happened before."
"Wow, really? Guess I'm weird then," Tori replied, bewildered.
"Yeah, I don't know what you're talking about," Trina said. "Sam and Freddie fight way too much to be a couple. You can even see it on the show, and he's not even on-camera most of the time!"
Though she didn't seem convinced to Tori, Sam weakly nodded in agreement. "Yeah. What she said."
They went back to watching the movie, but before long, Jade walked in, soaked from a rainstorm and clearly miserable. She glared at Sam and Carly. "Get out," she ordered, jerking her thumb back towards the door.
"No," Sam spat, very annoyed. Meanwhile, Carly looked slightly intimidated. "We're sleeping in here tonight. Tori invited us."
Jade then directed her fury at innocent Tori. "Where's Andre?"
"At the Shay's loft for the night."
"What's their phone number? I want his room if he's not using it."
Without another thought, Tori got the key out of her purse and handed it over. "Here you go. He gave me the extra key card in case Carly or Sam wanted a bed instead of their sleeping...bags..."
Ignoring her, Jade silently picked up her suitcase and left, closing the door behind her.
Carly and Sam gave their friends completely bewildered glances. Unable to think of an excuse for her roommate's behavior, Tori could only shake her head. "I'm gonna just apologize for Jade now, because she won't, so...yeah, sorry."
"What happened to her? Did you get a text or something from her at all today?" Carly asked.
Tori shrugged. "Nope. Guess she'll have to tell us in the morning. Or not. Could go either way."
"Okay then," Trina said. She went over to the table, which had most of their snacks. "Hey, anyone see the tortilla chips?" At that, the girls instantly resumed their sleepover party, snacking and talking until well after the movie was over.
Back at the loft, the guys were having a more drama-free night. Andre, Freddie and Spencer sat on the couch, each with a quart of chocolate beverage in front of them. "Okay," Spencer began. "When I say go, we chug. Last one drinking wins."
"How did this happen?" Freddie asked, nervously staring at the new, unopened cartons.
"My bad," Andre reminded him. "I saw the gallon in the fridge and asked for a glass."
Spencer shook his head. "Oh, quit whining, ya wusses. I already went to the store and spent money on these. We're doing this." In response, Andre and Freddie leaned forward and picked up their quarts, as did Spencer. "Okay. Ready, set...go!"
Five minutes later, Freddie and Spencer were passed out on the couch with chocolate on their faces, while Andre still worked through his container, which was more than half-empty. "Andre, you can stop now, you win," Freddie pointed out.
Andre held up his free index finger as he finished the last drop of milk. "Ah," he said as he finally set the carton back on the table. "Love me some chocolatey beverage. Did I forget to tell you guys that it's my number-one comfort food? I drank a gallon of it when I thought I'd lost a record contract."
"Yes, yes you did," Spencer replied sarcastically, disappointed that he'd lost. He paused when he thought more about what Andre said. "Wait, you have a record contract? That's awesome!"
"Yeah, do you?" Freddie added. "I thought Tori said you were all amateur singers and actors."
Trying to be modest, Andre explained, "It's not official yet, and I might not get one at all. But I'm up against a few other Internet talents for a contract with a big music producer. Actually, Freddie, I wanted to ask you for tips on my next video. I need something different. But I won't be able to finsih a new song for the show tomorrow so I'll have to somehow remix one they've heard already."
"Have you done a music video?" Freddie asked.
"Yeah, these guys are great at that," Spencer said. "You can film it in the iCarly studio and use insane special effects and hot back-up singers!"
Andre raised an eyebrow. "Um, thanks, but that's not really the image I'm going for. A music video would be cool though...I think..."
"Don't worry, if you've got an idea for one we can work with that," Freddie told him.
Considering that, Andre replied, "Well for Song 2 You...that's the song I played for you guys on my PearPod before...we could make it like a love story, where a guy sings it to a girl he really likes, but she doesn't really notice him at first."
"Nice. We can work start working on it tomorrow and get it done by the time you go back to L.A.," Freddie assured him. "Maybe one of the girls can act in it, and we can pick a location. Maybe a park, but then we'd have to worry about lighting..."
"Okay, if you guys are going to turn all geek on me, I'm watching Celebrities Underwater." Spencer turned on the television. "Huh, they've got 'Chandler' from Friends on the show this week. I guess that means 'Mr. Sunshine' probably won't be getting another season."
Freddie and Andre pointedly ignored him as they continued to plan the music video.