AN: Hello everyone and welcome to the final part of this short little bridging story; I hope you are all well.
As usual at this time, my thanks to everyone who read and reviewed the previous chapter.
Beverlie4055 – thanks.
Challenge King – yes this day at the beach went a bit better for the majority of them, though of course Cat and Freddie enjoyed the beach the last time anyway.
Fanfic-Reader-88 – Freddie wanted to act because of his forthcoming movie appearances; he wanted to get a little more experience in the school environment. The show demonstrates repeatedly that neither of the Vega parents care too much about Trina but maybe she will get to deal with Robbie herself at some point. Certainly their next meeting will be interesting.
SeddieHeartLand – Sam is prepared to work when it's something that interests her and she really is trying to do better, realising that she has a chance to make something of her life after the events of juvie, her mother abandoning her and finally getting a stable home with the Shays. As for what's wrong with the Vega parents? I don't know but clearly they just flat out don't care about their eldest daughter.
Pbow – yes, 4 chapters in 4 minutes; I wanted to have a mass update before I went on holiday and I hope people enjoyed them all. I'm not sure that Carly's really a sandcastle builder (she's not as childlike as Cat, though she has her own inherent goofiness); Sam probably would have commented had Freddie been involved but she knows Cat's rather sensitive so she probably bit her tongue. Maybe Carly could have learnt a little more about the topic of directing but she was happy enough to let Sam have a go; I'm sure she'll pick up a few things by osmosis as the week goes on.
Ok, that's everyone so let's get on with the final chapter of this little story.
Chapter 4: Jade Gets Crushed
Valentine Residence, Hollywood Hills
Tuesday, 12th July 2011.
The atmosphere in Cat's front room was relaxed and jovial. The kids had spent another fun day at school, continuing with their course. Sam and Jade had had another successful session planning and directing their performances; both felt hopeful that their groups would be ready to go by the back end of the week when they needed to perform them, though Sam still had her concerns over the script.
"It's fine," Carly had sighed as her friend had voiced her concerns once again that afternoon. "Seriously, Sam, if I was you I'd look more at the set design; I know the school's got people in to do it but maybe they're the ones that you should be supervising."
"Right, I'll do that now." She had disappeared from the room, only to return a few moments later, wearing a sheepish expression. "Uh, Freddie? Could you tell me where the Art room is?"
Jade hadn't even tried to suppress a laugh at this. "C'mon, I'll show you; I should check on ours too."
Happily the set designs were both coming well and the directors had been able to report to their teams that all looked like being good to go by Thursday.
As they relaxed, Cat sat snuggled close to Freddie; Sam was on his other side with a bowl of chips in her lap. The blonde idly, almost subconsciously, dipped a hand in the bowl and munched on her snack as they watched TV. Carly, meanwhile, shuffled around in the hallway with her phone pressed to her ear and a smile growing on her face as she spoke. She turned towards Freddie and grinned at him before turning back and walking a few more paces.
"Who's she talking to?" Cat asked her boyfriend.
"Spencer, I think," he answered, "she said he was hoping to come down for a day or two at the end of the course."
"Can he get the time off work?"
Sam responded to this by practically choking on her chips. "Spencer? A job?" she laughed.
"There's your answer," Freddie smiled at the redhead. "He's an aspiring artist but… not terribly successful."
"That's so sad," she observed morosely.
"Meh, he enjoys his art," Sam countered, "but it would be good if he could sell some more stuff; it would make us less dependent on Colonel Shay."
"Carly's dad pays for everything?"
"Yeah. He probably wishes he didn't have to, especially as he's feeding me as well now," she grinned. "Anyway, how are you guys doing?"
The couple wore identical questioning expressions, as if they didn't understand why she was asking them, especially given how much fun they were all having with the course; Sam persisted, "I mean you've been hanging with the two of us non-stop. I just figured you might… y'know, want a bit of time together now and again, just the two of you."
Freddie raised his eyebrows slightly at the blonde's unusual show of perception; he turned to his girl and saw that she was beaming and her eyes shone with anticipation now that the seed had been planted.
"I guess that would be nice," the brown-haired teen accepted awkwardly, "you're right that we haven't had too many uh… opportunities of late to have some 'us time'."
"Hmm, there might be something…" the blonde was cut off in her thoughts by Carly; the brunette had hung up her phone and her face was practically glowing with excitement. "He's coming Thursday," she confirmed happily.
"Awesome," Freddie matched her smile, "it will be great to see him again."
"Where's he going to stay?" Sam asked, wondering about the logistics.
"Oh," the brunette's face fell as that occurred to her, "I was so excited that he was coming we never talked about it."
"I don't think we've much more room," Freddie shook his head regretfully, "with Sam in our guest room. I guess we could put him on the couch for a couple of nights. I could ask mom."
"We could have a proper sleep-over," Cat addressed Carly; her eyes shone again in excitement as she warmed to the idea. "Spencer could have your room and you can sleep in my room."
"Maybe," the younger Shay's voice was a little weak; much as she loved spending time with Cat she wasn't sure how much sleep she'd get if the two were in the same room. "We still have a couple of days to sort everything out. Oh, Celebrities Underwater," she turned her attention quickly to the television and grabbed a handful of chips before Sam could finish them all, noticing as she glanced around the room that the other three seemed a little lost in thought. "What were you talking about?" She wrinkled her nose.
"So, what do you want to do? About getting a little alone time," Sam pressed as Freddie drove them back to the Benson home.
"Well, if Cat was at school early enough… and if you wake up early enough," he glanced slyly at his friend; she rolled her eyes at his jibe but let it go, having to concede that mornings were still not a strong point for her, "then maybe there'd be something we could do before school…"
Hollywood Arts High School
Wednesday, 13th July 2011.
Sam was leaning casually against the door of the janitor's closet as Carly walked by looking a little more flustered than usual.
"Whoa, where's the fire?" the blonde asked with a smile; the brunette turned huffily to her.
"I haven't seen Freddie since we got here – and I can't find Cat anywhere. She rushed us out of the house this morning and she's just disappeared! Freddie's gotta be here if you are, so do you know where they are?"
"Yeah, they're uh… having some 'private time'," she explained delicately, "they've not had much time for just the two of us with us visiting," she continued, "so they're catching up a little."
"Oh ok," she nodded, appreciating what Sam had observed the previous evening, that the two Seattle girls were something of a burden on the couple's privacy. "I guess I'll see them in class. You coming?"
"In a bit." Sam made no attempt to move; Carly eyed her suspiciously for a few moments before bustling off. The blonde allowed her mind to wander to her blond-haired boyfriend and smiled as she thought of him; much as she had enjoyed being in LA with Freddie and the others she was looking forward to seeing her man again before long.
A cautious, stealthy knocking drew her from her musings a few minutes later; she glanced around, making sure that the hallway was deserted before opening the door, grinning as Cat and Freddie emerged, both wearing decidedly crumpled clothing that they desperately tried to smooth.
"Thanks," the former tech producer smiled at his friend; Cat grinned her gratitude as well before moving onto tiptoes to plant a peck on her boy's lips and informing them that she was heading to the bathroom to tidy herself up a little. "Anyone cause any trouble?"
"No," the blonde watched the redhead skip off before turning to her confidant, "Carly came by looking as harassed as ever and I told her you two wanted some alone time – though I didn't say what you were doing or where," she added slyly. "André was looking for Tori but other than that," she shook her head, "nobody came around."
"Oh, there they are," the brown-haired boy nodded in the direction of his friends as the dreadlocked musician and half-Latina singer came around the corner and passes some of the lockers.
"Hey guys," Tori took in Freddie's crumpled clothing with a slightly surprised look.
"You found her then?" Sam addressed André, seeking to quickly change the subject as her friend tried to smooth off his shirt again.
"Yeah, since you all are here too, wanna listen to my new song?"
They all agreed and encouraged him to take a seat on the main staircase; Sam and Tori flanked him on the stairs while Freddie stood leaning against the handrail.
The musical genius played his tune, causing Tori to cheer appreciatively.
"Nice fingering!" Sam declared; Freddie shot her a funny look and she grinned wickedly back at him.
"Thanks," he gave an embarrassed chuckle.
"The tune sounds really good," Freddie encouraged.
"So what's that song for?" Tori asked.
"Is it for Friday night's end-of-course party and concert?" the blonde guessed.
"Nah... it's for the short film our group's putting together for this class," he explained.
"You're putting music into your production?" She was impressed with the level of detail that they were going into for it.
"Yep," he confirmed, "and it's wiggin' me out."
"Well, put your wig back on..." Tori cried, before giving a weak laugh as André and Sam looked at her, "haha... 'Cuz that song sounds really cool."
"Thanks," he accepted the praise. "But I got no lyrics yet... and I'm running out of time to get it done."
"Then get the others to help you," Freddie suggested.
"I find it better to do the whole thing on my own," he countered.
"But if you can't get any lyrics..." Sam reasoned.
"I know," he accepted the problem before turning to Tori. "But why I was looking for you earlier? When I do come up with the lyrics, I want you to sing 'em."
"Me?" she asked in surprise.
"You're the only you I know."
"Wow... that's deep," she acknowledged.
"So you in?"
"I'd love to but I'm busy with my own class projects," she complained, "I just don't think I'll have time over the next couple of days."
André looked downcast; Freddie and Sam, however, had spotted Jade walking by. The blonde gave her friend a surprisingly gentle punch as a thought occurred to her.
"Hey, what about Jade?"
"What ABOUT Jade?" the pale girl approached the group, wondering why her name was being uttered.
"Yeah, Jade can sing the lyrics for you," Freddie agreed.
"Lyrics?" she raised a pierced brow at the musician; he looked a little sceptical at the idea but Jade was extremely enthusiastic about it, once the others had explained it to her.
Mr Allen's Classroom
To Carly's immense surprise, and that of the rest of her team, Sam was proving to be an extremely tough taskmaster as the end of the course, and the performance of their production, approached; the blonde, for so often so laid back when it came to preparing scenes for the web show, had become possessed by manic energy and was busily critiquing the performance of every member of her group, along with making minor changes to the dialogue after every read through, as often as not returning to the original wording after two or three changes.
"Sam, Sam, SAM!" Freddie, who had seen her getting more and more worked up, left his read-through momentarily and caught her arm as she began to rave while scribbling on one of the scripts.
"WHAT?" she snapped, looking unusually flustered and harassed.
"Take a quick break," he suggested, "it looks like you're getting way too worked up over this and I don't think it's helping anybody," he added with a grin as he eyed their cowering classmates.
"Right, right," she paused for breath. "It's just… the pressure of the whole thing and wanting it to be great."
"Well maybe now you know how I feel when I'm planning iCarly and you're eating meatballs," Carly huffed.
Sam nodded humbly. "I think I will take a few minutes," she strode out of the classroom before doubling back and addressing the brunette again. "Can I have a dollar for a soda?"
Freddie grinned as Carly rolled her eyes in exasperation before delving into her purse and extracting a couple of bills. "Get me one," she instructed.
"Take five everyone," Sam called over her shoulder as she left again; her charges heaved a collective sigh of relief at her departure.
Across the room Jade was feeling rather more relaxed; the gothic teen had confidence in her script and her team and she felt that their scene was already pretty much as good as it was going to get. Overhearing the end of the Seattle girls' conversation, she felt that a drink sounded like a good idea so she, too, instructed her team to take a break and followed the blonde into the hallway.
"How's it going?" she asked as Sam bent down to pick up her bottles.
"Oh, it's ok," the reformed tearaway looked over her shoulder at the newcomer; she was distracted by the sight of the girl's bare forearms as she thought she could just make out a couple of very faint lines on her left arm. Sam's mind raced back to her last visit to Los Angeles and how Freddie had, without going into specifics, suggested that all wasn't quite well with Jade. Feeling that the silence was threatening to become awkward she managed to restore her gaze to the other girl's face and continued, "It's probably better than I think it is, I just… I really want to make a good impression with this, y'know? It's the one chance I'll have and, even though it probably won't mean much once I'm back in Seattle, to get praise and recognition for work at this school… I dunno, it'd just mean something to me."
Jade nodded; she couldn't quite understand where the other girl was coming from, given the differences in their circumstances, but she understood the importance of making the most of one's opportunities and, having been cast in Freddie's upcoming movie with him, she was determined to make the most of hers, especially, she thought with a degree of bitterness, if certain other people are getting more than their fair share of chances to shine.
"How are you, anyway?" Sam asked; she narrowed her eyes a little and squinted at Jade's forearm again.
"What do you mean?" Jade threw a hurried glance at her arm but didn't allow her gaze to linger, not wanting to draw any more attention to the faint scarring that persisted.
"I mean you might want to reapply your make-up," Sam elaborated delicately and she nodded at the arm. Jade looks down at it again before turning suspiciously to the girl. "They're faint but… I remember one of the girls in juvie – she liked to show them off and act all tough around us but when she had a family visit," the blonde almost spat out the last two words as she thought of her own family and the lack of visits she had received, both during and since her incarceration, though she had been talking more frequently with Melanie of late (and, if she was to be believed, neither sister knew where their mother was) "she'd try to cover them up with make-up too."
"Right," Jade nodded uncomfortably, still feeling a little suspicious but accepting the explanation, given that the alternative was to believe that Freddie had betrayed her confidence; it was something that she didn't want to have to think possible.
"You want to talk about it?" Sam offered; Jade looked around. The corridor was deserted but she jerked her head towards the janitor's closet; Sam grinned, thinking about its use this morning, as the two made their way to it while the gothic girl fired off a quick text.
"After Spring Break," she began once they were alone, "I was in a dark place."
"After Yerba?" Sam prompted.
"Yeah. Not so much what happened there but… Beck, our break-up, him and Alyssa, them going to Cancun, his family preferring her to me, the… the loneliness," her eyes filled with sorrow as she went through the list of issues that she had fought – and, at least for a while, lost. "The pain…" she barked out a mirthless laugh, "it sounds crazy now but it helped somehow and I… I got… maybe not quite addicted to it but," she shrugged, not sure quite how to put it all into words. Sam waited silently, wordlessly encouraging her to continue; she sighed. "Anyway it went on for a while without anybody realising but then one day Freddie started to notice some… changes about me, some things that were off, and he challenged me about it; finally he got me to fess up." Jade managed a genuine smile as she continued, "He was great about it, so was Cat and even his mom really helped me out, can you believe that?"
"Mrs Benson?" Sam was surprised to learn that the nurse had been so useful. "She seems a little less crazy these days than she was in Seattle but I wouldn't have believed it from the woman I knew back then," the blonde conceded.
"She found a counsellor at the hospital who helped me through it all. Cat applies make-up regularly to just about conceal them; they're fading with time," she inspected her forearm again, "though obviously not completely yet."
"But you're not still…" Sam gestured uncomfortably. Jade shook her head.
"No, not since that night when I told Cat, Freddie and his mom about it."
"Will they ever go away?"
"From what I've been told, probably not completely on their own… hence the make-up. When I make it big," she spoke as if she was in no doubt that it would happen and Sam grinned at her self-confidence, "I can probably get some sort of cosmetic surgery that will get rid of the evidence but for now…" she frowned thoughtfully before actually smiling, "I dunno, sometimes it's actually good to look at them, to be reminded of the dark place I was in and of the friends I have that pulled me out of there."
"So this would have been just before we came down for that Ke$ha gig, right?" It was the blonde's turn to be thoughtful as she finished off putting all the pieces together.
"Yeah," Jade nodded.
"Right, something seemed off with you, I just couldn't put my finger on it and Freddie wouldn't go into details when I asked."
"He trusts people with his secrets and keeps theirs in return," the gothic girl told her friend, feeling relief that her faith and belief in the boy had been justified; Sam nodded her agreement.
The door opened; the two girls' heads turned to it, only to see that Cat was the new arrival. The redhead was surprised to see that Sam was with Jade but the taller girl gave a curt nod so she happily went about reapplying the make-up, completely hiding the scars.
"Nice job," Sam complemented; the childlike teen smiled her thanks. "Well, I'd better get back to it," she nodded to the two girls, "I need to get this thing finished in time to perform on Friday."
Cat and Jade nodded, the latter noting that her group needed to finish as well, and the three returned to the classroom.
"Ready to go again?" Freddie asked with a smile as Sam returned; he raised his eyebrows a little as the other two girls filed into the room as well and greeted them with a small wave.
"Yep," the blonde confirmed, "ok, what have we got?" she asked her team.
The more relaxed Sam was certainly welcome for her team; she, Carly and the others worked well together and, when Mr Allen finally told them that it was time to finish for the day, she felt that they would be ready in plenty of time.
"No more script changes tonight," Carly demanded.
"Well maybe one or two tweaks," the blonde countered; the brunette practically tore the sheaves of paper out of her friend's hands.
"No. More. Changes," she repeated. Sam looked a little mutinous but acquiesced.
"We'll see you at mine later on?" Freddie prompted to his girlfriend as the couple joined the Seattle duo.
"Yep, once we've eaten we'll come on over," Cat smiled, giving him a quick kiss before walking over to join Carly; Sam replaced her by Freddie's side.
"No Jade?" the blonde looked around.
"She left about half an hour ago," he supplied, "she had to go and help André out with his song."
Music room
"What are we stopping here for?" Sam asked as Freddie led her to the music block, rather than the parking lot at the end of the day's classes.
"Oh, I just wanted to check on André and Jade and see how it was going before we left."
The blonde nodded briefly as the brown-haired teen ducked his head inside the room.
"Hey man," the dreadlocked teen waved as he spied him.
"Oh hey." He looked around, surprised to see that André was alone, "Jade's not here yet?"
"No, I thought that she would be but um, listen: about Jade..." André began awkwardly.
"Yeah?" his friend prompted cautiously as he stepped inside the room, followed by the blonde.
"Look, don't take this the wrong way but... I dunno if she's the right girl to sing my song."
"Why not?" Freddie was surprised. "She has an awesome voice."
"I know; it's just... she scares me," he admitted.
"Jade scares you?" Sam could barely repress her laughter at the complaint.
"She scares everybody," the musician insisted.
"Not me," Freddie contradicted.
"Nor me," Sam supported him.
"Look," the tech genius continued, trying not to offend his friend, "sure she can be a little... abrasive if you get on her bad side but..."
He was interrupted as the dark-haired girl stormed angrily into the room; she had a cup of Jet Brew coffee in one hand and a pair of scissors in the other. "I am gonna kill him!" she snapped furiously.
"Ohhhh," André recoiled in fear; Sam grinned as she and Freddie exchanged a look.
"What happened?" Her confidant's voice blended concern and curiosity.
"Sinjin sat on my new scissors!"
"Okay, okay, it's not that big a deal..." Sam observed; despite the upbeat nature of their earlier talk she had a light concern that a relapse could be triggered in the girl.
"It's a HUGE deal," the mean girl countered, "they're bent! They've lost their sizz!" She flung the offending object into the wall, where it sank into a noticeboard.
"Why did you leave them lying around where he could plant his butt on it?" the blonde pried; Jade just glared at her, increasing André's anxiety.
Freddie grinned awkwardly. "We have to go and eat before we see Cat and Carls," he took Sam's arm and steered her towards the door, hoping to head off any potential argument. "You kids have fun," he called as he and his blonde friend left.
Benson residence
"So she was upset?" Cat asked softly after she and Carly had heard the tale from the other two.
"Oh yes," Sam smirked.
"She definitely wasn't pleased," Freddie chuckled, "André looked terrified."
"What are you thinking?" The blonde glanced over to Carly; she seemed not to be listening to their conversation but was grinning broadly.
"Sorry, I'm just excited 'cos Spencer's gonna be here tomorrow. Anyway…" something occurred to her, "I didn't get a chance to ask with Sam cracking the whip all day," she eyed her housemate slyly, "did you guys have fun this morning with your alone time," she put special emphasis on the last couple of words and her look became teasing.
"We did, thanks," Freddie smiled warmly; he slipped his hand towards Cat's lap and she laced her fingers with his own, "much as we're having fun with you guys it was nice for it to be just the two of us for a little bit."
"Yeah," Cat agreed slightly dreamily; the quartet watched TV in comfortable silence for a while before she broke it by suddenly gasping. "Hey, what about Soapy?" she wondered aloud; the other three looked at her in bewilderment at the apparently random and meaningless question.
"Soapy?" Sam asked as she tried to control her giggles, wondering what on earth the girl was talking about.
"Yeah, as a boyfriend for Carly." The brunette buried her head in her hands and groaned at the change in topic, especially back to her private life; Sam grinned malevolently. "You know," the redhead addressed her rather perplexed-looking boyfriend, "that guy in our play who is in that scene with me."
Freddie frowned in thought for a minute as he tried, and failed, to place the name. He thought back to the classroom and grinned as he thought he'd managed to identify the scene, and boy, in question. "Oh, do you mean Dusty?"
"Dusty, right…" the cupcake lover acknowledged her error with a shy nod, "I wonder why his parents called him Dusty," she continued thoughtfully, "he smells really clean… they should have called him Soapy", she decided with a nod.
Freddie shook his head and looked helplessly at the two Seattle girls; Sam was shaking with barely contained laughter while Carly looked more than slightly irritated at their continual attempts to interfere with her love life.
"Thanks for the thought," she managed to supply, "but I'm not looking to date anyone else from LA. Not right now anyway."
"Ok," Sam shrugged, "I'll just have to try harder once we're back in Seattle."
Carly groaned again and threw a cushion across the room at the blonde, amid howls of laughter from the couple.
"Anyway," she huffed, "has there been any word from André and Jade yet?" She looked particularly at Cat and Freddie. "Do you know if they're still at school?"
"I don't know, but with how meticulous André is about his music I'd guess so." Cat nodded her agreement with his assessment.
"I wonder how they're getting on," Carly pondered thoughtfully.
Music room, Hollywood Arts High School
It had been a tough night for the duo; midnight was almost upon them and they were still struggling to finish the lyrics, even though André pretty much had the tune down now.
"Alright," the gothic teen sighed, stretching a little to relieve some of the tension from her muscles. "You ever try this when you were a kid?" and she reached for his hand.
"Whoa, whoa, whatcha doin'?" he yelped.
"Just give me your hand, don't be a baby," she insisted, reaching for it again.
"Alright," he conceded reluctantly, "I'm trusting you."
"Yeah, yeah... big mistake..." she grinned wickedly. "Make a fist? Okay..." once he had done so she began to massage it a little.
"What are you doing?" he asked, caution and intrigue mingling.
"Uh... talk less..." she scolded lightly, "and open your hand." She slapped his open palm with hers. "Fist," she commanded.
"You sure there's a point to this?"
"Yep..." she confirmed casually, massaging his hand again, "and here it comes... Open?" She pressed the palm of his hand with her index finger.
"Oooh, it's all tingly!" he exclaimed.
"See?" she smiled; the boy laughed.
"Do it again!" he implored her.
"No! You have to finish writing your song... the chorus."
"Eh, it's almost midnight, let's just bail."
"Uh uh," she refused. "You got a break, now finish writing the chorus."
"I've been tryin' to finish it for three hours," he whined.
"Wow. Great," she commended him with a voice laced with sarcasm, "now shut up and sing something." The dreadlocked teen began playing a few bars. "Keep goin'," she encouraged.
"I... I really wish that I could write the next line," he sang,
"my favorite letter's 'J',
tuna fish filet,
I'm gonna wash my dog with some blue shampoo."
Jade rolled her eyes in exasperation; she felt that they just weren't getting anywhere at the moment and really didn't want to be there all night given that she still had her group to supervise and direct over the next couple of days. "All right... let me try something. Record me," she ordered.
"All right. Here you go," he complied.
"There is no upper hand I'm givin' you mine," she began softly, "It doesn't have to end up wastin' your time,
There's things that I could say, but here in my way
I want to let you know that it's all okay.
Whatcha think?" she prompted; André sat in stunned silence. "Ya like that?"
"Mmm-hmmm," he finally managed.
Main Hallway,
Thursday, 14th July 2011.
"So you've really got no problem with Cat going around sniffing up other guys?" Sam asked in a light voice as she tried to keep up with Freddie's stride; he seemed to finally have had enough of her teasing (even though he knew she didn't really mean anything by it all) and had been pointedly ignoring her since they began their walk from the parking lot.
"No," he snapped, causing her to smile at his annoyance. "Tori, thank God," he smiled as he spotted the brunette slouching against her locker, "finally some sanity," he grinned at the blonde, who dug an elbow gently into his ribs; he retaliated by shoving her playfully against the locker with his shoulder. "Why do you look like you haven't slept?" he asked; Sam was so distracted by his question, and the half-Latina's appearance, that she forgot to give Freddie any reprisals for his shove.
"Because," she groaned wearily, "André texted me in the middle of the night saying he was outside my house and freaking out."
"Freaking out?" Freddie cocked his head curiously.
"Like majorly wigging."
"Because of his song?" Sam pressed.
"That was part of it but not the major thing… y'see," Tori began relaying the events of the early hours of the morning.
Vega house
The brunette had been roused from her slumbers by the insistent bleeping of her phone; she rubbed the sleep from her eyes and tried to brush her bed hair out of her face. The half-Latina reached over to her nightstand and picked up her glowing pear phone, groaning as she peered at the screen. The singer groped for her glasses and slipped them on, allowing the screen to come into focus. She wrinkled her nose as she processed the identity of the caller and wore a perplexed look as she read the message. She struggled out of bed and donned her robe before shuffling downstairs just as somebody began rapping on her family's front door.
"André," she greeted him tersely.
"Did you get my text?" he asked earnestly.
"Yes..." she confirmed, "why do you think I'm standing here at three in the morning?!"
"I'm trippin' out, Tori... I'm trippin' out," the dreadlocked teen's voice was panicked.
"All right, just come in, come in," she stepped aside, allowing him inside the house.
"Go make me cocoa," André pleaded.
"I'm not making cocoa," she countered; her friend groaned. "What is wrong with you?" she demanded.
"I think I'm in love with Jade," he dropped his bombshell, leaving Tori slack-jawed.
"I'll make the cocoa," she relented.
Freddie's eyes widened in surprise at the disclosure. "André's in love with Jade?" he repeated in a low voice.
"That's what he said," Tori confirmed.
"Yesterday he was terrified of her, now he's in love with her?" Sam asked in surprise. "Hmm, maybe Carly needs to try scaring them a little," she joked.
"Yeah, don't suggest that to her," Freddie smiled, "not after last night."
"Last night?" Tori was a little annoyed to have been side-tracked midway through her story but was eager to catch up on whatever gossip was circulating her extended friendship group.
"Cat wanted to hook her up with one of the guys on the course here," the blonde informed her.
"And she wasn't interested?"
Freddie answered. "I think she feels like a bit of a charity case with people trying to set her up. Whether she'd be interested if the right guy came along… I just don't know. Then there's the whole LA to Seattle thing." Tori's face fell as it instantly brought Steven to mind. "Exactly," his voice was heavy with sympathy as he saw her expression change.
"So did André say much else?" Sam, with unusual tact, sought to change the subject.
"Well," Tori's smile returned as she continued her tale.
"You think you're in love with Jade?" she had asked in amazement.
"I think so."
"Okay, what happened tonight?" she sought to get the timeline straightened.
"I dunno... We were just workin' together... All night... at school... And I just saw her sing... and then she just looked so... so pretty and sweet."
With difficulty, Tori hid her amazement at hearing their gothic friend so described. "Dude... you can't love Jade!" she insisted.
"Like I don't know that?! Beck is one of my best friends!"
"Beck?" she asked in surprise, wondering what he had to do with anything these days.
"Yeah, she's his ex. There's guy code to consider here," the musician explained. "I would never try to move in on a friend's ex. I don't play that way."
"So just forget about this," she suggested.
"I can't!" he protested, before groaning again.
"Why can't you?"
"All right, see... Ever since I was little, I could never keep my feelings inside. Even if I want to, I just can't... If I feel somethin', I gotta let it out, or else... I get wonky in the head!"
"Okay okay," Tori began to think; it wasn't easy with her friend continuing to groan pitifully in her ear. "Listen," she smiled. "I don't think you're in love with Jade."
"You don't?" he was surprised by the assessment.
"No. You guys were just there, together, alone, late... And you were tired..."
"Yeah, we were tired, that's true," he agreed readily.
"And you were writing a song, so you felt emotional..."
"Uh-huh, I did," again he accepted her reasoning.
"But by tomorrow, you'll be fine again."
"Yeah. I bet I will," he confirmed happily. "This cocoa is good."
"It's from Belgium," she told him.
"That's probably why then."
"Makes sense," Sam nodded. "But now I can't stop thinking about Belgian chocolates." She rubbed her stomach subconsciously as the pangs of hunger swelled despite the size of the breakfast she'd recently consumed.
"It would be a shame though," Freddie was more thoughtful; Tori looked at him in surprise. "He's a nice guy, you know how I think of Jade – I think they could be good together."
Tori opened her mouth to reply but closed it again as the man of the hour joined them; like Tori he looked both sleep-deprived and flustered.
"Hey, what's up?" Freddie asked in a bright, innocence-laced voice.
"Oh hey," André seemed too distracted to really notice.
"So…" Tori prompted, "how ya doin'? Feelin' wonky about Jade?" André looked from her to Freddie and Sam in mild horror. "It's ok," the brunette insisted, "I told them. They wanted to know why I look like I haven't slept."
The dreadlocked musician was relieved. "Yeah, ok. I think I got my wonk under control. I probably just need to..." he broke off as he spotted Cat, Carly and Jade herself coming towards them. "Shhh shhh, be cool be cool."
"Okay, be cool, be cool..." Tori agreed.
"I said be cool!" he snapped.
"Hey," Jade greeted the gathering.
"What's up?" Freddie smiled back at her before turning to his red haired girl.
"Hi-iii," she bounced up to him and kissed him; Carly and Sam greeted one another with a smile.
"So did you get it finished? Can I hear the song?" Jade turned to André.
"Uh," the thought suddenly occurred to him that he hadn't actually managed to get it fully finished given his stop at the Vega residence. "Oh yeah, I just gotta..." he tailed off awkwardly, looking uncomfortable.
Jade waited for a few seconds before it became apparent that he wasn't going to continue. "André? The song?"
"I'll email it to ya," he told her. "Y'know, via the internet."
"Via?" She looked curiously at the others; Cat and Carly seemed as bewildered as she was while she got the feeling that Freddie, Sam and Tori knew something, given their looks were more amused than confused.
"Don't you think you guys should listen to the song together?" the brunette Seattle native asked him, subconsciously brushing a few stray strands of brown hair from her face as she turned in his direction.
"No," he rushed out. "Why together? She can listen to it by herself. I didn't do anything!"
Jade's confusion grew. Nevertheless she accepted the offer. "Okaaay. Email it to me." She gestured to the other members of her group with her head; Carly and Sam walked off with her while Cat wrapped her arms around Freddie.
"Looks like we'll catch you up," he informed the three girls cheerfully; Jade nodded.
"Via the internet?" Carly asked as they retreated.
"That's weird, right?" Jade agreed.
"Maybe you are in love with Jade," Freddie commented in a low voice; Cat gasped and looked stunned at the disclosure.
"Shhhh! Don't say that!" André demanded.
"But what if you are?!" Tori pressed.
"I am!" he whined.
"You are?!" the redhead asked in joyous excitement.
"No! Stop it! Ahhhh!" he groaned yet again, palming his forehead and walking off; with his vision restricted he stumbled into Beck.
"Ooo, sorry," he apologised as he tried to edge around his friend.
"I can't talk about it!" the musician yelped and hurried off.
"Man, André's acting wonky," the long-haired actor observed conversationally as he watched him go.
"Yep," Freddie agreed.
"What's his deal?"
Tori answered quickly. "Uhhh... it's nothing..."
Beck began turning his head in Freddie's direction. "So, how's Alyssa?" the shorter-haired fencer asked cheerily.
"Oh," the taller teen paused, caught off-guard by the sudden question, "she… she's doing great thanks."
"You two over that little… hump?" he asked awkwardly; Beck cast his mind back to his admission that Alyssa had been making some of the same complaints that Jade had done and gave a small nod.
"Yeah, we talked," he told his friend in a low voice, a little to the annoyance of the two girls as it made eavesdropping more difficult. "I get why it upset her, she gets that I'm not looking for the attention but, you were right," he admitted, "I guess I need to not encourage it and to actually discourage it a bit more."
Freddie nodded, though he wished it had been a lesson that his friend had learned earlier.
"What was that about?" Sam demanded as they headed to class a few moments later, having said goodbye to the others.
"Beck learning from his mistakes," Freddie didn't volunteer any more information and Sam, suspecting that it in some way affected Jade (given that she knew of the history between her and Beck) did not press further.
Mr Allen's Classroom
"Ok everyone," the teacher called as he prepared to start the session, "especially directors," he eyed Jade and Sam particularly at this, "today is the last day you'll be spending with me so the performances will take place this afternoon, then tomorrow we'll be having a day as a whole group to wrap the course up nicely. That means," he called over the rising murmur, "that you need to be ready to go by lunchtime at the latest so any last changes that you want to make, any last rehearsals, now is the time to do them."
"I think we're good to go," Jade stifled a yawn; she too had had a late night (though not as late as André or Tori had). "You all know your lines?" she demanded commandingly; her group nodded. "Ok, we run through the whole thing and we're going to be word perfect."
They were as, across the classroom, were the other group, much to Sam's delight and relief. The rehearsals went off with barely a hitch (the threat of Sam's or Jade's displeasure was enough to focus the minds of most of the participants) while Carly found herself casting the occasional shy glance in the direction of the boy she'd identified as Dusty; he was cute, she had to admit, but she stood by her statement that she was unwilling to try and enter into anything with a guy in LA at this time, despite the sly glances and grins that she received from her fellow cupcake lover.
Black Box theatre
Mr Allen ended the afternoon session early to allow the groups to prepare for their performances. They made their way to the theatre and Sam's team, who the teacher had decided would perform first, changed into their costumes while the finishing touches were put to the set.
Jade sat with Cat and Freddie near the front of the audience; Sam, on her other side, looked nervous as the play began, casting looks around the upper gantry to where Sinjin and a couple of others were filming the production (for the 'film' part of the course). She began to relax as the performance continued and her team reeled off their lines perfectly; Jade, however, felt her nervousness rising as the clock ticked round towards the starting time of her group's play. The two would inevitably be compared and, while she was both happy for Sam's group and confident in her own, the thought of it being completely out of her hands, yet knowing that the performance would reflect on her as much if not more than any of the others, was a troubling thought.
She needn't have worried; once Sam's group finished, to tumultuous applause, her team headed backstage to get ready while the appropriate changes were made to the set. Carly replaced Freddie by Sam's side and watched as Jade's team, too, carried out their production in a near-flawless way and both directors were left smiling broadly, in delight and relief, when the extended session came to an end.
"You look ready for bed," Sam observed as the applause died down; Jade turned to her with a grin.
"I guess I am," she agreed, "it was a long night working with André and then having to write part of the lyrics for him after all that."
Not half as long as his night was, Sam thought with a smirk of her own; fortunately Jade assumed she was smirking at the fact that the singer had turned song-writer and so didn't question her laugh.
"You guys, that was awesome," Tori enthused, hurrying to the front of the theatre to congratulate the two directors, both of whom accepted her praise graciously. They were still talking when the actors had changed back into their regular clothing; Cat and Freddie arrived to receive their share of the praise from their friends. Finally, as they were getting ready to leave, Tori took Freddie by the arm and steered him towards a secluded corner of the theatre.
"I'm still worried about André," she confided. "This whole Jade thing has really messed him up. I know your solution," she sighed as he opened his mouth, "but I don't know that he feels comfortable doing that so…" she trailed off awkwardly.
"What? What is it?" he pried.
"I uh… I thought of a plan, something that might help him. I'm gonna try it tonight."
"Well whatever it is, I can't help," Freddie replied with a hint of regret, "we need to collect Spencer from the airport and then we're going to spend the evening together as a group."
"Oh, that's ok, I wasn't trying to drag you into it," she gabbled, "I guess I just needed to tell someone and… I did," she finished in a suspiciously cheery voice.
"I think I'm best off not knowing for now," he observed; Tori privately agreed, feeling that he may well disapprove of what she had planned.
Terminal 3, Los Angeles International Airport,
1 World Way, Los Angeles
"And she didn't say anything else?" Cat asked; Freddie had filled her, Sam and Carly in on what Tori had told him (Carly was rather surprised to learn about André's feelings for Jade – and a little annoyed that the others hadn't told her sooner).
"No, in some ways it's better not to know; that way we can just enjoy tonight without worrying about what she might be up to."
"I guess," the redhead nodded, only partially convinced.
"Ah, c'mon Cat, tonight'll be fun," Sam squeezed her shoulder and gave it a little shake. Carly, meanwhile, continued to peer towards the gate, waiting for the passengers to disembark flight VX796.
She surprised her friends by lunging from her seat, only to sit down again looking slightly embarrassed as she realised that she hadn't spotted her brother.
"Chill Carls, he'll be here soon," the blonde teased.
"I know, I just can't wait to see him."
"I know," Sam sympathised, "I miss him too so it must be worse for you."
"Oh, there he is, there he is!" the brunette cried, patting the blonde on the arm as she spotted her lanky elder sibling emerge from the air bridge. "SPENCER!" she called and waved enthusiastically; he turned at the cry (as did a lot of other people) and broke into a broad smile as he saw his little sister and the rest of the 'welcoming committee'.
"Hey kiddo," he hugged her after lumbering over to them. "Sam," he hugged the Shays' blonde housemate as well. "Freddo, looking good my man," he shook the boy's hand, "and Cat?" he guessed, having never actually met the boy's legendary girlfriend.
"Yep, that's me," the redhead giggled, flinging herself into the arms of the twenty-something artist, who caught her with a little difficulty.
"Ok, let's go and wait for your bags," Carly looked around for a sign for Baggage Claim before her brother spoke up.
"Uh, Carls, this is all I got," and he held up the small carry-on piece he had with him.
"What?" She was surprised.
"Well I'm only here for, like, three days."
"Yeah Carls," Sam grinned, "we don't all need as much stuff as you."
The brunette frowned at her friend; Freddie spoke up. "Well, it means we can head straight off. Who's hungry?"
Led by Sam they all confirmed that they were; having piled into Freddie's car the group headed for Wok Star, enjoying their meal while Carly and Sam repeatedly fought off the owner's attempts to add them to her wall of celebrities.
Midway through the meal a beep on their phones drew the attention of both Cat and Freddie; checking them, both saw that they had received the same update from Tori.
The Slap Mobile
ToriVega: 'Ahhh! I feel and look so weird!
Feeling: Jaded
"I wonder what that's all about," Cat commented.
"Presumably it's whatever her 'plan' was that she was talking about this afternoon," Freddie speculated, "no doubt we'll hear all about it tomorrow."
"Might it not just be lack of sleep, making her jaded?" Carly suggested. "From what you say she was up half the night."
"Maybe," Freddie conceded it was a possibility.
"Well you'll know tomorrow," a grinning Sam added to the brunette in a low voice, "if you and Cat are sharing a room then I can't imagine you'll get much sleep."
The worried look on Carly's face implied that she agreed with the blonde's assessment.
Benson residence, Hollywood Hills
Marissa had gone to bed by the time Sam and Freddie returned to his home after spending the evening with Cat and the Shays; the former tech producer switched the living area TV on, with the volume low, and reclined on one of the couches, with Sam taking the other.
"Freddie," she began in a low voice, having first cast a cautionary glance upstairs to ensure that Marissa hadn't heard their arrival.
"Yeah?"
"I uh…" she began awkwardly; most unusually for Sam she reddened a little. Casting another look upstairs she slid over to the other couch to take a seat next to the boy before continuing, "I've told you all about Brad, right?"
"Well, you've talked quite a bit about him," he confirmed with a grin; he was pleased for his close friend and also wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to tease her a little, given that she readily did the same to him.
"Yeah, and I have missed him, I do miss him and I can't wait to see him again. I was just wondering…" she took a deep breath; Freddie wondered if he knew what was coming, "when's the right time to go there?" she rushed out.
The boy sighed; he looked away for a moment before turning to face her. "I can't answer that for you Sam, I really can't." Seeing the look of disappointment on her face he continued, "All I can tell you is what I've always told Jade about it when we talked; the right time is when you're ready, when you're absolutely certain that it's the right time and the right guy – definitely not because he's pressuring you."
Sam chuckled darkly. "You don't need to worry about that," she smirked, "if he tried something I didn't want, you know I'd rip it off him."
Freddie winced visibly but soon joined her in quiet laughter afterwards.
"So you think…" he prompted; it was her turn to sigh in thought.
"I dunno. I miss him, I really like him, I… I guess I feel like I want to but…"
Freddie put his hands on her shoulders. "If you have any doubts, any at all, then say no. You know how long it took me to put my bad experience behind me; I don't want to see you – or anyone else I care about – go through that."
"Thanks Freddie," she smiled. "I guess we could talk when I get back, see how he feels, figure it out together."
"Talking about it is probably a good idea," he nodded encouragingly.
"Oh cool, CFC," the blonde looked over his shoulder at the TV screen; she seemed to have had enough of the serious talk and simply slid off the couch to move closer to the screen, throwing enthusiastic punches as the fighter she was rooting for did likewise.
"Oh, I thought mom had blocked that again," Freddie muttered thoughtfully; he watched her for a few moments before informing her that he was heading to bed; she wished him a distracted goodnight before returning her attention to the screen.
Main Hallway, Hollywood Arts High School,
Friday, 15th July 2011.
As they headed towards his locker, Freddie and Sam met up with Cat (Carly was showing Spencer around the school before the students were due to assemble in the Black Box theatre); they spotted Tori standing alone by her own locker. "I guess it's time to find out about her little scheme," the blonde observed; her friends nodded and they made their way towards her.
"Hey Tori," Freddie greeted her.
"Hi," she waved back, grinning a little guiltily; Sam picked up on it and cocked her head inquisitively.
"So what was... 'Ahhh! I feel and look so weird! Feeling: Jaded,' all about?" she asked after 'borrowing' Freddie's phone and reading the girl's Slap status update aloud.
"Well…" she began awkwardly.
Vega residence
Mrs Vega answered the door, as Tori was hiding upstairs, having just changed into her outfit. "Oh hi André. C'mon in," the matriarch greeted him.
"Thanks," he walked past her into the house.
"Is Tori expecting you?" she asked as she headed for the kitchen to gather her belongings.
"Yeah, she asked me to come over tonight for somethin'. I dunno," he shrugged.
"Toriiii!" her mother called. "André's here to see you!" She turned to the musician. "Well, I'm gonna head to the market."
"Ooo, make sure you pick up some more a'that Belgian cocoa," he urged, a little to her confusion.
"All right," she conceded and departed the house.
Tori, dressed as Jade (clad all in black, even sporting green hair extensions similar to the goth's) and trying to adopt the other girl's mannerisms, strode purposefully downstairs. "What are you doing in my house?" she demanded.
André literally jumped in his seat at the girl's appearance and voice. "What in the name of gravy?"
"Whoa, whoa, you dressed up as Jade?" Freddie asked incredulously.
"Yeah, I did, I really did," she admitted awkwardly.
"Why would you do that?"
"I thought it was for the best, seeing how awkward it was making him feel," she tried to explain. "He doesn't seem to want to make a move, which you'd like to see," she acknowledged, "so I thought the only other option was to try and snap him out of it… by trying to show him the worst of Jade," she finished in embarrassment.
"Did it work?" Sam asked eagerly. She caught a look the irritation on Freddie's face and tried to defend the brunette. "Oh come on, she had good intentions."
"The road to Hell is paved with them," he countered quietly.
"Uh… anyway," Tori tried to suppress the awkwardness she was feeling and continued her story.
"Okay here's an idea," she responded to his surprised exclamation. "Say something intelligent or shut your face."
"Why are you all dressed up like Jade?" he wondered aloud; Tori reached behind her back and handed him a post-it note. "I'm helping you," he read. "Just pretend I'm Jade, and you'll see why you don't wanna be in love with a girl like her."
"Congrats..." she snapped sarcastically, "you can read at a second grade level."
"This isn't gonna work," he countered; Tori rolled her eyes and supplied a second post-it. "'Yes it will. C'mon. Just go with it.'" All right. So, Jade..." he began awkwardly.
"What?"
"Wanna go to a movie?" he offered.
"Sure, let's go see 'Death of a kitten'," she suggested.
"Sounds like my sort of movie," Sam smiled.
"I'm not sure it's really Jade's genre," Freddie defended his friend, "she loves horror but I think it would offend her softer side really."
"Yeah, André didn't like the idea…" the brunette acknowledged.
"Or... maybe we should just go out and get a hamburger."
"Beef makes me puke," she snapped.
"Dang girl," he exclaimed.
"Tori... Tori, you seen my glasses?" her father asked as he entered the house; his daughter made sure to stay in character.
"Uh, I'm not your little find-it girl, all right? So if you lost your glasses, maybe you should lock yourself in the basement and cry about it."
"Sikowitz would be very proud," Freddie commended; the girl grinned happily. "He had us do a method acting exercise a while ago," he explained to Sam.
"Right, I think I remember you saying something about it," she nodded. "Wasn't that when Jade burnt her hand?"
"Yeah, that's the one," he confirmed.
"Anyway, I had to explain it all to my dad after André had left," Tori admitted sheepishly, "he was a little surprised by my response. Dang girl," he said.
"I'm not surprised," Freddie admitted.
"What did André think?" Cat asked her. "Did it work on him?"
"Not the way I thought it would," she shook her head.
"Uh, don't you think you were a little mean to your dad...Jade?" the dreadlocked teen asked.
"Deal with it," she countered, "'Cuz if you and I are ever boyfriend-girlfriend, I'll be way meaner to you." To her amazement he responded by leaning in to kiss her. "Uhhh..." she dropped the act, "what're... hey, now..."
"Oh Jade..."
In her normal voice, Tori yelled, "André!" and began to beat him off with a cushion.
"I - I'm sorry!" he wailed. "You just seemed so much like Jade I got all..."
"Wonky?" she guessed.
"Willy wonky!" he agreed.
"Man...You're really messed up about this," she sympathised.
"Y'know... last night, after... After I got home..."
"Yeah?"
"I couldn't sleep... So I stayed up 'til dawn, writing a song about Jade."
"Up all night? No wonder he didn't finish the song they'd been working on," Freddie noted.
"And looked wrecked," Sam supplied.
"He wrote her a song? That's so sweet," Cat simpered.
"That's what I said," Tori agreed," but he felt differently."
"It's evil! She's Beck's ex-girlfriend! She's dating that guy from the mall!" he protested.
"I know, I know..." Tori conceded, before an idea struck her, "Okay okay wait wait wait wait..."
"What?"
"The song you wrote about her, you expressed your feelings in that song, right?"
"Yeah," he began slowly.
"So, just sing Jade that song, and then you can get over her," she suggested.
"If I sing her the song, then she's gonna know how I feel. And then Beck'll know! And then I'm a bad person and I promised my grandma I'd never be a bad person! Y'know, before she lost her mind."
"Jade doesn't have to know the song's about her," she reasoned.
"Her name's in it, like ten times!"
"So just change all the 'Jades' to 'baby,'" she offered.
"Baby... Yeah, baby could be anybody," he nodded as the idea grew on him.
"Uh-huh. Then you sing your song at school..."
"Right, at the end of course concert."
"Jade'll be in the audience. You can sing her your song, and she'll never even know it's for her."
"I don't know if I can do it. I'm feelin' very emotional," he moaned.
"You want me to sing it with you?" she offered.
"Yes, please."
Freddie shook his head. "Why doesn't he just ask Beck if it's ok to ask Jade out? They're not together, he's with Alyssa. When Eli wanted to date Cat I said sure, he should go for it."
"You did?" the readhead asked in surprise, having never heard this before; he turned to her with a smile.
"Yes. I was with Lindsey at the time," he reminded her, "but Eli had the same concerns as André does, 'guy code' and all that. I just wanted you to be happy... I was at the time," his eyes glazed over a little; despite how happy he was with his life now, like he had told Sam recently, his past would always be there – the bad and the good.
Asphalt Café
André didn't arrive until the session had started, earning him the staff's disapproval as he tried to sneak into the Black Box theatre. Consequently there was no opportunity to talk to him about 'the Jade issue', though Freddie was able to have a quick conversation with Tori and Cat while the former's group's video was being played to them, complete with critique, both the good and the 'areas for improvement' from the staff. They decided that Freddie should try and keep the gothic girl busy while the others tackled André and, if necessary, Beck.
As it turned out, Jade was fairly easy to occupy; Carly commented that she wanted to get some 'proper coffee', given that, since Spencer's arrival the previous night, her coffee seemed to have taken a turn for the worse, and Jade, of course, jumped at the opportunity to head to Jet Brew. Leaving the two girls to their own devices, Freddie joined the others at their usual table; Tori gave him a concerned glance but he smiled in what he hoped was a reassuring way.
"Hey guys, what's going on here?" he asked as he sat down.
"André's had something rather interesting to say," Beck informed him.
"Oh?"
Beck threw Freddie a sceptical look, not believing for a second that he didn't know what was going on. "Yeah, he wants to ask Jade out. I told him he should go for it."
"Cool," the shorter fencer nodded.
"I still dunno," the dreadlocked teen complained, "What about the Jet Brew guy?"
Freddie shrugged. "Learn how to make really good coffee," he suggested, to general amusement from the rest of the table.
The subject was dropped for the remainder of lunch, while the kids talked enthusiastically about the various activities they'd done over the previous couple of weeks, how much they'd learned and how it should help them in the future. Cat, meanwhile, was beginning to get excited about her forthcoming internship while Freddie's thoughts turned to his two movies, the filming of which would also be starting in the coming days. Out of respect for his friends he tried to avoid bringing the subject up but, when it got raised, he succumbed to temptation to enthuse about the opportunities they were presenting to him.
"Y'know what," André spoke up as they left the table at the end of lunch (Jade and Carly had yet to return; Freddie suggested humorously that they were pouring as much coffee down their throats as they could while they had the chance), "I'm gonna do it; I'm gonna sing her the song, tell her how I feel." His confidence seemed to evaporate as he spoke the words out loud, for he continued, "then I'm gonna run away to Mexico. What am I thinkin'?"
"Dude, relax," Tori laughed, "she'll be flattered. Worst that can happen is she's not interested but she thinks the thought's a really sweet one."
"Well, the worst that can happen is that she walks up there and slugs you afterwards," Sam countered.
"Yes, thank you Sam," Freddie spoke up quickly, seeing the panic intensify on André's face. "Just get the song ready, sing it and see what she says. As Tori says, I bet she'll love it."
"Ok," he agreed weakly.
Saturday, 16th July 2011.
The teens had had an enjoyable day around LA; they spent the morning showing Spencer some of the sights before Cat finally succeeded in dragging them to a funfair in the afternoon. I thought I'd managed to get out of this, Sam had grumbled as they headed there.
"Sorry, but she insisted," Freddie smiled at the blonde.
Much to her surprise, Sam actually enjoyed the afternoon; she preferred watching the others to actually participating in any of the attractions but cheered Freddie on as he tried to win his girl a prize on the coconut shy (and mocked him a little when he failed). Both he and Spencer, who also tried and failed, complained that the game was fixed; the girls humoured them, nodding along and smiling.
Finally, though, it was time to head back to school for the end-of-course party; most of the course participants were in high spirits, enjoying a last get-together before they went their separate ways for the remainder of the summer, promising to meet up and discussing their various plans.
There was one person, however, who wasn't joining in with the discussions; André stood off to one side, speaking when spoken to but the musician's nerves had clearly reached breaking point and Tori had literally had to push him up to the gantry to perform.
"Oh, cool, André's performing now," Jade looked up and saw them; she had realised that he wasn't with them but was unaware that he was trying to avoid her. "Did you know he was singing?"
"Yeah, he said he'd been working on something for tonight," Freddie confirmed vaguely.
"Explains why it took him a while to e-mail me our song," she complained.
"Via the internet," Sam interjected, to general merriment.
"Much as I'd love to stay and talk with you guys," Spencer spoke up; he had been with them for the start of the party before disappearing to talk to someone, now he briefly returned to the group before planning to head off again, "there's this really hot girl over there by that Grub Truck thing and I promised I'd teach her to make spaghetti tacos so… later."
"Wait, you're making them now?" Sam asked excitedly.
"Yep."
"Awesome. I'll be over as soon as they're done."
"Why am I not surprised," Freddie laughed; Sam grinned happily.
"Okay," the MC's voice came across the public address system, "comin' up next, we got André Harris and Tori Vega, singing an original song, written by André. Give it up everybody!"
The crowd cheered wildly, antitipating another fantastic performance from the duo.
"This is a song I wrote, for uh..." the musician began before his nerve faltered again.
"Go on," Tori encouraged.
"It's for Jade West," he admitted in a rush.
"WHAT?" the girl in question shouted in shock; she turned around to see Freddie, Cat, Sam and Carly all looking at her and smiling. "WHAT?" she repeated; when they didn't reply she demanded, "What's going on?"
"Just listen," Freddie replied slightly teasingly.
"Ready?" André turned to his friend and the band; they all nodded and struck up the tune. Monday, well baby I fell for you, Tuesday, I wrote you this song." Jade gawped.
Tori came in for the next line. "Wednesday I'll wait outside your door,"
"Even though I know it's wrong," André finished.
"Seven days a week, every hour of the month," the half-Latina continued, "Gotta let you know where my heart is coming from."
André joined her to duet, "I shouldn't feel this way but I gotta say," before continuing alone, "Baby gotta let you know."
The two continued in unison as, on the floor of the Asphalt Café, Freddie, Cat and Carly began dancing along; Jade, meanwhile, stared in amazement, trying to take in both the words and the fact that André had written a song just for her, was performing it publically. "I will try everything to make you come closer to me,
Baby 'til you believe it's not just a phase,
How can I get it through? You're the one I can't lose.
I'll try three hundred, sixty-five days, three hundred, sixty-five ways to get to you.
To get to you, you, you, baby."
"Did you know about this?" she challenged Freddie.
"I might have heard a little about what he was going through," he admitted; Jade served him with her most challenging and inquisitive stare and he smiled back.
"What do you think I should do?"
"Enjoy the song!" Cat cheered, dancing very close to Freddie; he slipped behind her and slipped his arms around her waist, nuzzling her neck as she wriggled and swayed against him; the dark-haired girl turned her gaze back to the elevated stage and looked thoughtfully as Tori and André continued the song.
"Every second, every tick tick of the clock, I want you all to myself,
Every second, every tick tick of the clock, I just can't help myself,
Feeling kinda guilty but girl I can't stop,"
"I don't want nobody else," André noted alone before Tori joined him again.
"No one else no one el-el-el-else,
I will try everything to make you come closer to me,
I'll try three hundred, sixty-five days, three hundred, sixty-five ways to get to you."
"Oh my God," Jade gasped as they finished; all around her people were applauding wildly.
"That was so good," Carly enthused.
"So what are you gonna do?" Sam pried. Jade looked back up at the stage, fixing André with her stare; he swallowed nervously before Jade's eyes flickered to Tori and she motioned to the foot of the stairs. The half-Latina nodded, seized the musician's sleeve and practically dragged him down to ground level.
"Hey," she kept her voice neutral; André stammered nervously. "That was a great, though I do wish you hadn't just sprung it on me like that."
"Hey, Spencer's made some spaghetti tacos over there!" Carly spoke up, sensing the awkwardness in the area.
"Let's go," Freddie agreed, gesturing towards Tori; she flew to his other side (Cat, of course, stood next to him).
"Spaghetti tacos!" Sam cheered, leading the way to the food.
"So…" the dreadlocked teen prompted awkwardly. Jade took a step towards him and he winced slightly until she surprised him with a quick hug and a peck on his cheek.
"Call me," she whispered, before stepping back. "You want to get some of those spaghetti taco things?"
"Uh huh," he agreed weakly, still a little stunned that she was receptive to his advance. When he remained rooted to the spot the girl rolled her eyes and seized his hand, practically dragging him over to Carly's elder brother. Freddie smiled approvingly at the sight and Cat clapped happily.
Los Angeles International Airport,
1 World Way, Los Angeles
Sunday, 17th July 2011.
All too soon the fortnight had come to an end; Carly and Sam had packed, ready to go home (Spencer had barely had to unpack anything) and the girls stood just outside the airport as Freddie and Spencer heaved their cases from the trunk of his car.
"It was great to see you," Cat enthused, hugging Carly tightly. "Oh here," she ducked back inside the car, taking a box from the parcel shelf and handing it to the brunette.
Carly's eyes widened as she opened it; it contained a dozen red velvet cupcakes. "Just something for you to enjoy," the redhead smiled.
"Thanks, Cat," the web hostess matched her grin; Sam leaned over and her eyes widened as she spotted them, causing Carly to hurriedly close the lid. "Not before we get home," Carly declared vehemently; Sam turned to Freddie with a broad grin.
"Take care, Sam," he told her; the blonde drew him into a tight hug.
"You too Freddie," she released him. "Thanks for everything," he nodded, thinking back to the previous week and the stand-off with Lane over Trina's 'accident'. Sam then turned to Cat with a nod. "Look after him," she ordered the redhead; Cat smiled back and nodded enthusiastically, slipping an arm around her boyfriend.
"We need to go," Spencer told the girls regretfully; he shook hands with Freddie and Cat before the Seattle trio headed into the airport to find their gate for the flight.
"That's that then," he commented, sadness in his voice as he watched them through the glass door.
"We'll see them again soon," Cat reasoned. "And in the meantime, we've still got lots to do."
He nodded; he'd miss his friends but expected the movies to keep him busy between now and school starting again in the autumn. He was also looking forward to getting something of a play-by-play of whatever was going on between André and Jade when he saw the girl on set.
"Oops, we need to go," he observed, spotting an officious-looking traffic warden walking towards them; they jumped back into his Corolla and he pulled away from the airport.
AN: And that's the end of this short story; the gang will be back for their senior year, so that story will be coming soon. In the meantime I also hope to wrap up ShelbyVision and When Something Better Comes Along soon.
My thanks at this time go to everyone who has reviewed this; klausgirl4055, beverlie4055, Fanfic-Reader-88, Challenge King, Martial arts student, darck ben, mkpunk, pbow, SeddieHeartLand, Guest – thank you for your feedback.
A huge thank you to everyone for reading. PD.