AN: Hello to all my readers. Thanks are due, again, to all of you for reading and especially for those who have reviewed.
Goldy18 – the rest of the gang (minus the Vegas) will be showing up now that they're starting school.
Agent-M-0167 – yes there's a burgeoning Freddie/Cat though there's plenty of scope for… complications.
Rihann – I would certainly encourage you to watch Victorious; it's an amazing show and I am stunned at Nick's stupidity in cancelling it.
It had been a long, hot and thoroughly enjoyable summer but the day had finally arrived; Freddie and Cat's first day as Hollywood Arts students. The former iCarly tech producer woke early, showered and dressed in dark blue jeans and with a dark blue T-shirt under one of his grey shirts, which he wore unbuttoned, before joining his mother in the kitchen for a quick breakfast. The Bensons left their new home (having moved in a week earlier) and Marissa drove her son to school on her way to work; he was a little early but sat in an outdoor area called the "Asphalt Café" while he watched a number of other, older students arrive and greet their friends. Even some of those who looked about his age seemed to have their own established friendship groups; he realised many of his peers would, like Cat and Jade, already know one another from Middle School. Just as his nervousness and anxiety about fitting in at the new school began to bubble to the surface he saw, out of the corner of his eye, someone take a seat at the same table as him; he turned and recognised Eli from his audition day.
"Hey" his sandy-haired classmate greeted with a smile.
"Hey" Freddie returned with a smile of his own "finally someone I recognise."
The boys shared a laugh before Eli commented
"I know; none of my friends are going here so it's gonna be tough for me too. It's gotta be as bad if not worse for you seeing as you've come from a different state." Seeing Freddie's eyebrows raise slightly at the comment he elaborated "I watch iCarly; it's not as good now you're not there."
Freddie sniggered slightly but signalled his gratitude for his peer's feedback and support. The two then spent a little time getting to know one another before a typically bubbly and excited Cat bounced to the table to join them, dressed in a baby-pink T-shirt and very short denim shorts that cause Freddie's eyes to rake up and down her slender legs. A far less enthusiastic Jade, dressed entirely in black, followed a few paces behind.
"Hi guys, can you believe we're actually here?"
"Hey Cat, good to see you" Freddie greeted her warmly. "Jade" he nodded to the sullen brunette.
"Hello" she shot back. Eli, who hadn't met her before, recoiled slightly and cast a wary look in her direction before lowering his gaze as she frowned at him.
Any further awkwardness was curtailed by the tolls of the bell. Seeing the elder students begin to file inside Freddie motioned towards the door. "I guess we should head in"
Cat nodded, giggling excitedly as she got up and led the quartet inside.
The new students were directed to the Black Box theatre where Principal Eikner formally welcomed them to the school. Timetables were distributed and the freshman class were sent on their way. Freddie and Eli compared theirs and noted that both had Sikowitz's class first up; a quick discussion with Cat and Jade confirmed that they were also in the balding teacher's lesson.
"Welcome, freshmen, to your first" Sikowitz slapped his thighs for dramatic effect "acting class" he announced to the assembled group. "Well let's get right to it. Public Speaking is the key to acting; if you can't speak in front of an audience then you can't perform. So" and he leaned closer to the class with a smile on his face "every one of you will take it in turns to come up here and introduce yourselves to the class; just a few words, we don't need long speeches just yet." He then took a seat at the back of the room and the class looked from one to another, not quite sure whether they were meant to start or not.
Just as the tension was beginning to rise and the embarrassment of the class as a whole increase, a long-haired, tall young man stood up and climbed onto the stage. He turned to his classmates and began
"My name's Beck Oliver, I live in an RV in my parents' driveway and I'm here to become an actor." He glanced to Sikowitz; when the teacher made no comment Beck shrugged, stepped down and returned to his seat.
Emboldened by Beck's example Freddie was the next to rise, noting as he did that one or two others had made slight moves to get up. He followed Beck's lead by climbing up onto the stage and turned to face the class.
"I'm Freddie Benson, I'm originally from Seattle. I used to produce a webshow called iCarly; I also act a little and it's something, along with the special effects, that I want to learn more about, and have more opportunity to do, while I'm here."
As he stepped down Freddie could see the expressions on his classmates' faces as they comprehended who he was. He smiled slightly to himself as he settled down, feeling that being a celebrity, no matter how minor, could well have its upside when it came to fitting in to a new group.
Next up was a youngster with curly hair, glasses and holding a puppet. Freddie looked to his right; he traded looks of bemusement with Jade (who looked to have little patience for the guy) while Cat was giggling at the 'double-act' Great Freddie thought Another girl who's gonna notice every boy except me and he dropped his head sadly.
"I'm Robbie" The boy on stage announced; Freddie turned his attention to him. "I'm Rex" the puppet 'added'.
"I'm an actor" "Who can't act" "Rex!" he whispered before persevering "and a comedian" "Whose jokes stink" "And a singer" "Who's tone-deaf"
By this point Cat was laughing and simpering at the sight of Robbie looking daggers at his puppet as he returned to his seat; Jade looked far less amused but rose from her chair to take her turn.
"I'm Jade West; I'm a singer and an actress and most of you should stay out of my way" though she did smile at Beck as she stepped down from the stage. Freddie glanced over and noticed that the Canadian-born student was smiling back at her. Why is it never that easy for me he mused sadly, particularly hearing Cat continuing to giggle sweetly and softly next to him. The girl with red velvet hair replaced Jade on stage, composing herself with a couple of deep breaths before she told her peers
"I'm Cat Valentine. I sing and act as well." She flashed a quick, shy smile towards Freddie, which cheered him up immensely, before skipping back to her seat between him and Jade.
The next student caught his attention. Harper? he thought; the guy on stage bore a striking resemblance to the musician they had befriended during the ill-fated experiment to turn iCarly into a TV show.
"I'm André Harris" Clearly not then "and I'm a musician. I also sing a little" he concluded with a modest shrug.
The rest of the class, including Eli, introduced themselves in similar veins before Sikowitz returned to the front as the last child sat down.
"Excellent" he declared with delight. "Now that wasn't so hard was it? At least once Beck got you all started" and he smiled at the long-haired teen who returned the look with a confident one of his own. "I've had some classes sit in silence for fully 10 minutes before I have to start sending people up there and I can tell right then and there that none of them will succeed; as I said, if you don't have the guts to stand in front of this little group then you'll never make it in this industry. Now, to business." He clapped his hands and began the lesson.
"Hey André" Freddie greeted the musician as he reached the table where his fellow student was eating his lunch. Gesturing with his own meal to an empty seat he asked "May I?"
"Sure Freddie" André nodded and the tech producer smiled gratefully as he sat down.
"Are you related to a guy called Harper?" Freddie asked curiously.
"No" his classmate responded in mild confusion. "Why?"
"He briefly worked with us on iCarly; you two look alike" Freddie shrugged "Must just be coincidence."
The musician laughed slightly before turning back to his lunch.
"Could you help me learn an instrument?" Freddie asked suddenly. "You know how we all need to play an instrument while we're here; I'm not all that musical and it seems to be your specialty. Could I maybe have a couple of lessons?"
"Sure, so long as you help me when I have to sit in tech classes" André smiled.
"Deal" the shorter teen laughed.
The bell rang to signal the end of Freddie and Cat's first day at their new school; the red-haired girl invited Freddie to go for a smoothie with her and some of the others (including Jade, Beck, André and Robbie) but Freddie noted that his mother had only given him enough money to get the bus hone so he, regretfully, declined. Cat nodded sadly and they went their separate ways, both teens feeling decidedly (albeit privately) downcast at their parting.
Freddie arrived back in his new home; he still had some unpacking of his stuff to do and a number of things had been placed in corners or closets that he still needed to find. He was alone so, after spending some time organising his room, he decided to cheer himself up (after missing out on the smoothie and spending more time with Cat) by loading up his laptop and spending some mindless time on-line.
To his immense surprise, no sooner had he logged on than he had a chat request – from Carly Shay.
"Freddie!" the brunette began, smiling at him. "It's been a while; I've not heard from you since you left."
"Hey Carls, how's the new school?" He hoped to deflect her observation. It worked, albeit temporarily as she responded
"Well I've only been there one day but it was really good thanks, though it's a whole new experience for me. The school building's old-fashioned but they're really up with modern technology; you'd LOVE the science and computer labs, although we've got a really janky uniform that we have to wear" she gestured to the clothes hung behind her. "It's just totally different to Ridgeway. Speaking of totally different to Ridgeway… how's your new school?"
"Awesome" he replied enthusiastically. "And it is completely different; there's acting classes, tech, directing, costumes, make-up… not at all like most schools."
"Sounds like fun" the brunette observed before looking back at her friend. "You sound a little different Freddie."
"Yeah, that's what puberty does to a guy" he noted with a laugh. "So how's Sam coping without you?"
"We're… not seeing eye-to-eye at the moment" she admitted. "We fought a bit over the summer and now we're at different schools…" she trailed off.
"What did you fight about?" he enquired curiously.
"Shane – and which of us should date him."
"Oh" Freddie stated flatly as he fought the urge to roll his eyes – of course girls would be fighting over any guy who wasn't him.
"Yeah" Carly's tone was equally flat. "So what about you, any girls catch your eye yet?"
"Just one so far" he responded calmly, though excitement and anticipation crept gradually into his tone and his eyes lit up involuntarily as he continued "Her name's Cat, I met her when we auditioned, we hung out a lot over the summer and we're in most of our classes together."
"Oh" the brunette's face fell a little at the news and the excited look he was unable to hide "so are you two dating?"
"No, we're just friends. I really like her though; I just don't want to blow it before it starts."
"Well I'll let you get back to whatever you were doing" the brunette's features were darkening by the second "I just wanted to say hi since I'd not seen you all summer" and she clicked off without another word.
"Something I said?" Freddie muttered at the blank screen. He shrugged and glanced to the equipment bag on top of his closet before he began looking for the best way to get to the Swordplay Fencing Studio.
A surprise waited for the freshman class when they arrived in Sikowitz's classroom; they would be splitting into small groups to perform something the balding teacher called "The Bird Scene". The teenagers traded concerned looks at the thought of having to put on a performance so early into their Hollywood Arts careers. Their surprise increased when the acting teacher handed scripts to Freddie, Cat and Jade before telling the trio that they would be performing in front of the 10th grade class the next day rather than being in their own acting class (their other classes would be swapped around to make sure they were in a class during the 9th grade acting lesson) while Beck, André and Robbie would perform the scene to the rest of their class (Eli and the others would perform it the next day in the 10th grade class). The six spent their lunchtime together reading and discussing the short scene. Freddie's evening was taken up by practising the scene in front of a mirror while Jade and Cat were working together and rehearsing the scene in front of one another. The three arrived in front of the sophomore class the next morning nervous but prepared.
Jade volunteered to go first; the brunette gave a stirring performance before sitting down without a word to the older teens or their teacher. Freddie followed her lead, delivering his lines perfectly and feeling elated as he concluded. His one concern was the lack of any applause for his or Jade's performances (unbeknown to the freshmen the class were instructed NOT to applaud or react in any way to the performances). Nonetheless he couldn't suppress a smile as he dismounted the stage and headed for his seat.
"Why are you smiling?" Sikowitz asked him.
"Because I nailed it" the former tech producer answered confidently.
"You think so?" the teacher challenged.
"Yes" but his voice started to waver just a little at Sikowitz's tone. He summoned up his courage and continued "I got the script right, some pauses for dramatic effect – I'm very happy with my performance."
Sikowitz met his challenging stare for a few seconds before shrugging. "Ok then, sit. Cat, you're up next."
The redhead patted his leg as he sat and they shared a smile as she rose to take the stage. Again an excellent performance was delivered and Cat followed her friend's lead in sitting down without debate.
Due to the three performances the actual "lesson" part was shorter than usual so the class ended quickly. The three 9th graders were told to wait back at the end and watched their peers depart. Finally with just four people in the room, Sikowitz called Freddie over first and spoke to him.
"You REALLY thought your performance was good?" he asked quietly, so as to not be overheard by the waiting girls.
Again the young man felt a little concern but could think of nothing he could or should have done to better it; he remained happy with it so he answered with a vehement "YES"
"In that case; congratulations Freddie, you passed the Bird Scene." In response to his student's slightly perplexed look he continued "The whole point of the Bird Scene is to teach you to believe in your own choices and performances, not those of your audience. You believe in what you did – and for the record it was good – but had you asked me, just once, whether it was good or right then you'd have failed for seeking the approval of others." Freddie's bewilderment increased but the teacher simply concluded by telling him "Now that you know the secret you have to promise not to tell ANYONE at school; they all need to learn it by doing the scene – and as many times as it takes."
The brown-haired boy nodded weakly and returned to his friends with a smile on his face.
"You passed?" Cat's voice was excited.
"Yep" he confirmed and she pulled him into a quick, friendly hug that he eagerly returned while Jade was called over by Sikowitz. A few minutes late both girls also passed and were sworn to secrecy over the scene; they were however allowed to inform their classmates that they'd passed the scene when they saw them at break.
Their rearranged classes followed, while Sikowitz took the remainder of the 9th grade (including the three boys who were attempting to pass the Bird Scene in that lesson) before Freddie, Cat and Jade eagerly made their way to lunch to discover how their classmates had got on. Beck and André passed, though Robbie failed the scene and would be joining the last few of his peers in performing in front of the 10th graders the following day. When pressed on what happened he said he wasn't sure.
"I told you it sucked and you almost cried" Rex piped up; the ventriloquist threw a furious look at his puppet.
"I did not" Robbie shot back, though the look on his face suggested the puppet was not inaccurate.
Cat looked at the curly haired boy with sympathetic eyes and reassured him that she was "sure it wasn't that bad"
"It was" returned Rex.
"Just go out there next time and really give it your all" she encouraged him, patting him gently on the arm, a gesture that caused Freddie's face to fall slightly; he attempted to look back at his food before anyone noticed.
AN: Ok so I tried to explain how on earth an entire class could pass "The Bird Scene" without any of them discovering the secret; this method of splitting the class up made as much sense to me as anything else.