Disclaimer: I do not own anyone or anything from Victorious.

Oh my gosh, it's been too long! Did you guys miss me? I'm so sorry for the extra long delay; I've been on vacation for the past week and I just couldn't find the time to update the story. But I'm back now with a new chapter for you all :-). Hope you guys enjoy it!

Chapter Three

They had traveled a good distance before the terrain outside changed from a traffic-filled cityscape to a remote two-lane road that cut through vast dunes of sand, patches of arid grass and green desert shrubbery. The sun hovered just above the gray-blue silhouette of the valleys in the distance. Tori smiled admiringly at the scenery around her as she listened to the music playing in the background. All the while, Andre lounged in the backseat and talked with Beck about the disastrous date he had had last weekend.

"My grandma always said 'Andre, crazy is as crazy does.' This was before she lost her mind of course."

Beck chuckled. "Have you talked to this girl since your date?"

"No," said Andre with a shake of his head. "I drew the line after she kept staring in her bag and talking to it."

"What was in it?"

"We'll never know."

A wide grin spread over Beck's lips as he glanced over as his perfectly normal girlfriend. Tori was skimming through the playlist on Andre's mp3 player in search of a new song to play. He reached over to grab her hand and gently laced their fingers together. Tori looked up and smiled sweetly at Beck.

"You're awfully quiet," he observed, arching an eyebrow at her.

"Just thinking," Tori casually replied.

"About tonight?"

"No." There was a moment's hesitation before she grudgingly said, "Yes."

"Don't psyche yourself out, Tori," reassured Andre. "They're just actors like we are."

"I know…" Tori said, though the sound of her voice seemed to betray her words.

Wanting to change the subject, she turned to Beck and Andre with a bright smile.

"Hey, let's play a game."

"Sure," said Beck, turning the volume down on the stereo.

"Okay, we're going on a camping trip and each of us can only bring two things." She held up two fingers for emphasis. "What are you guys going to bring?"

"Two things, huh?" Andre said as he rested his chin on his hand, resembling a likeness to The Thinker statue.

"Can I bring a tent and a box of matches?" Beck asked.

"You can bring the box of matches, but you can't bring the tent," Tori replied. "See now, I can bring a tent and…a violin!"

Beck frowned thoughtfully. "What kind of camping trip are we going on?"

"Can I bring a sleeping bag and some bear repellent?" Andre asked.

Tori shook her head. "Nope. Beck can bring bear repellent though. And an orca."

Andre's brow knitted in confusion. "Why the heck would Beck need a killer whale to go camping?"

"Andre," Tori started, gesturing a finger at him. "You can bring arrows and a horse."

"Whaaa–"

"Again, what kind of camping trip is this?" Beck insisted with a perplexed tone in his voice.

Tori simply shrugged and leaned back in her seat.

With a playful smirk, she said, "Sorry boys, but that's the game."

Meanwhile, in Robbie's convoy, an uncomfortable silence stuck to the air like glue as Robbie miserably watched while Cat fiddled with the buttons on his car stereo. Earlier, Jade had taken the liberty to cease Robbie's maddening show tunes music by fiercely pressing the stereo buttons, trying to turn it off.

"I think it's broken," Cat said after a while.

"I fixed it," Jade bluntly stated.

Robbie gave a dejected sigh. "I'll ask Beck to look at it later."

In the backseat, Jade cuddled closer to Cole to resume their game of chess on his pear phone. It was his turn and with a single swipe, Cole claimed his first victory.

"Checkmate," he said with a triumphant smirk. "That's one to one. Another win and I get ten-minute make-out session in the haunted house of my choice tonight."

His breath was warm against Jade's neck as he whispered the words that made her skin tingle with excitement. The sensation was bittersweet. Though she found it thrilling whenever Cole whispered sweet nothings into her ear, Jade hated the way he could easily make her feel weak like putty in his hands. She turned to him and feigned a serious expression.

"Five minutes," she said, narrowing her eyes.

"Seven. That's my final offer."

"Hey guys, look!" squealed Cat before Jade could answer. "It's foggy outside! It's like we're driving through a cloud!"

"Uh…" Robbie said as he squinted at the smoke. "I don't think that's fog Cat…"

Cole and Jade sat up in alarm after taking notice of the white clouds of smoke rising from under the hood of the car.

"Robbie, you need to pull over now," Cole said as he started to unbuckle his seatbelt.

"I got it!" exclaimed Beck with a snap of his finger. "I can bring a buffalo and ointment!"

Tori clapped her hands excitedly. "Yay! You got it!"

Andre's gaze moved from Tori to Beck and back; he looked more confused than ever.

"Alright, I see how it is," Andre said in mock offense. "Leave me out of the loop, why don't you?"

Tori placed a hand reassuringly on his shoulder and smiled.

"Oh come on, Andre," she said. "You almost have it. Think about it. I can bring a turtle and a vest, and Beck can bring a buffalo and ointment."

"Okay…" Andre thought for a moment. "Can I bring a dog?"

Tori shook her head. "No."

"A limousine?"

"No."

"My keyboard?"

"No."

As he was thinking, an alarming site in the rearview mirror caught Andre's attention.

Unsure if what he was seeing was real, he uttered, "Smoke?"

Once again, Tori shook her head. "No, it's–"

"No, look," Andre hurriedly interrupted, pointing to the rearview mirror. "There's smoke coming out of Robbie's car!"

Beck's eyes quickly darted to the rearview mirror, while Tori turned around in her seat to see the startling scene out the back window. In a matter of seconds, Beck pulled the car over on the side of the road, and the three of them ran over to Robbie's car that had already stopped a few feet behind. The doors burst open as Robbie, Cat, Jade, and Cole rushed out of the vehicle.

"Are you guys okay?" Tori called, running over to Cat's side.

"Yeah," Robbie said in between coughs from the combination of smoke and desert debris. "I don't know what happened. The car was running fine before we left L.A."

Beck narrowed his eyes thoughtfully at the smoking engine.

"Looks like the radiator might have overheated," he said.

"Is there any way to fix it?" Tori asked.

"Not without the right tools. We need to take it to a shop."

"There hasn't been a town for miles," Robbie said as his shoulders slumped dismally.

"Good call on the short cut, Vega," Jade said scathingly as she sent Tori a pointed look.

Tori placed her hands on her hips in indignation. "How was I supposed to know Robbie's car was going to break down in the middle of nowhere?"

All of a sudden, a flurry of frustration and blame erupted like a volcano among the teenagers and panic slowly seeped into the dry desert air. Fingers were being pointed and angry words were tossed. After a while, Cole stepped in to break the commotion.

"Guys, guys!" he exclaimed. "I think we might have passed a gas station a couple of miles back."

The heated outburst slowly subsided and a pensive silence followed.

"Great," Beck said as an idea occurred to him. "So let's do this. Robbie and I will drive to the gas station and see if we can get some help. Cole and Andre, you stay here with the girls."

Though the tension had eased, everyone agreed to Beck's plan with slight apprehension. Heavy rainclouds had begun to gather in the distance and the sun was beginning to set. The last thing they all wanted was to be stranded out in the middle of the desert at night. Beck quickly kissed Tori on the lips before heading to his car with Robbie.

"Be careful," she said quietly.

"We won't be long," he said, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.

Tori and her friends watched as Beck's car sped down the road, leaving a trail of dust in its wake. As soon as the car disappeared into the horizon, Tori turned to look in the opposite direction, towards their destination. The dark, ominous rain clouds seemed to become larger and more daunting by the second and afternoon sun was already sinking below the valleys in the distance. The night was fast approaching and Tori could not shake the feeling of bad things to come.

Hmm…can any of you guess the secret to Tori's game? Please review!