When Worlds Collide

Disclaimer: I own nothing

A/N:


Chapter 4 (Two Princes)

Tori chewed her lip as she crinkled the schedule sheet in between her fingertips. Scanning the sheet, her heart was filled with joy when she saw homeroom was Mrs. DeBord's class. She also had an advanced science course, which she was extremely happy about.

For an elective she had Theatre, which she wasn't sure why she bothered to go with. Trigonometry was her math course, and a second elective, choir was also on her sheet. She also had world history, and was a bit sad over the fact that Sinjin probably wouldn't be around to help her with some of her history homework as he was a history buff.

Her cell phone buzzed in her pocket, causing her to roll her eyes and glance down; it had been going off all morning from her friends trying to get ahold of her. "I'm sorry," she whispered, "I don't want to talk right now." She wasn't hiding from them and she did want to talk to them, but she was scared. There was no way to explain all that was happening to her, especially when she had been hiding so much from them.

She felt more alone now than ever. Trina was gone, her status she gained at Hollywood Arts diminished, her current friends were going to know she lied to them about who she was, and her old friends weren't going to want anything to do with her.

Remembering the direction to the choir hall, she walked towards the classroom. It wasn't the next class on her list, but she wanted to get a feel for how it was. Once there, she leaned her back against the wall beside the door and pressed her head against it, listening with her eyes closed to the singers inside.

The choir students were practicing Here Without You, by 3 Doors Down. Tori chuckled softly and bowed her head, thinking of all her friends. Perhaps whenever she began choir class, it would be better to remain in the back without drawing attention to herself.

Her phone buzzed again, so she removed it to see who was trying to get ahold of her. Unsurprisingly, she had multiple texts from her friends. She scrolled through their frenzied texts with her thumb, sighing at each. Her heart couldn't get much more broken than this, and she yearned for them.

There was a missed call from a private number, but no voicemail. She'd gotten a couple of those calls before throughout the last few months and it was always unnerving because the caller never left a message or answered.

With tears in her eyes, she lowered the phone. Part of her wanted to run away from this school and never return, just as she had Hollywood Arts when she first encountered Jade; but now was the time to put her big girl pants on and try to endure. She just didn't know how she was going to do that without her friends or any kind of support system. Hell, if it hadn't been for Trina, she would never have gone back to Hollywood Arts.

Elsewhere, Beck Oliver entered the building in front of the main office. His cell phone was clutched in his hand and his determined gaze looked around the area for any sign of Jade. "Why on earth are they skipping school to be here?" He grit his teeth and furrowed his brow. He understood them wanting to see how Tori was handling things, and even check out the school, but this wasn't the time or place.

He knew Tori would come to them when she was ready. Jade was the one to tell him about the situation she witnessed and he hadn't told the others that Tori's mom was out of money or anything; but they suspected something was wrong because she had to leave Hollywood Arts and return to Sherwood.

Walking through the school, he got a bad feeling running through his veins. It wasn't often that he lost his cool or was unsettled, but he could almost feel the icy glares being shot towards him from the students he was passing. Even the women he passed would lean towards each other, hands over mouths, whispering gossip while turning their eyes like knives upon him.

It was a situation he hadn't encountered before. He was used to just his looks getting him out of tough scrapes, but this wasn't the time nor the place for that. "You don't belong here, Hollywood!" One student heckled. He froze, turning his gaze over to the student that passed him by. He recognized him as Danny, the man that went between Tori and Cat. "Cover up that logo on your jacket, dumbass. I'm warning you for your safety."

He glanced to the HA logo on his denim jacket and grunted, it wasn't important enough to him to be concerned what Danny had to say. After all, he tried to poison Tori's friendships. "Why should I care what you say?" Beck crossed his arms and turned to Danny, chuckling softly. The boy shrugged and shook his head.

"Because you're Hollywood, everyone at this school knows what school you're from." Danny raised his hands up and looked in the distance. "I'm only trying to help you. Nobody here likeso Jh you Hollywood Arts people."

Beck raised an eyebrow, turning his head as the tension in the courtyard began to grow. "Why? Is Tori at risk too?" He was concerned about his friend because if he was recognized, that meant Tori and Jade certainly would be. "Also, have you seen my girlfriend?"

"Better hope Monica doesn't catch either you or your girlfriend snooping around, Hollywood." Danny's eyes narrowed and a cocky smirk spread across his face. "She'll put you right out. Tori, on the other hand, is free from judgment. Students look at her as coming back home, not originally going to that rich kid cheater school." His jaw fell open and he did a double take.

"I'm sorry, I must have misheard." Rubbing his ear, he moved closer to Danny. "What did you just say about my school?"

"You heard me." Danny bounced on his feet, clapping his hands and raising his voice to the students surrounding them. It couldn't have been more than ten or twenty, but it was enough to intimidate. "Hey! What do we think of Hollywood Arts?"

"It's an easy out," one student replied. Another laughed and shouted another reply.

"Rich, snotty, entitled brats go there to play and graduate without doing any real work!"

Beck took a small step back, chuckling as he swept his hand through his hair, as though attempting to sway the students with his charm. Danny motioned to him, sneering. "Hollywood here is the school's most popular guy, everyone wants him. What do you make of that?"

"He's nothing!" Beck frowned, his heart sinking for a moment as the color drained from his face. "He's not wanted here, he's not even close to being popular."

Just then the students silenced and Danny took a few steps back, doing a makeshift bow before walking away from the crowd. "Just so you know, Hollywood, this school has a most desirable guy and you don't come close to him…"

"Some popular type?"

"Kind of yes, kind of no. People respect him around here, it's too bad you can't run into him rather than Monica."

"Who the hell is-" Heels clacking behind him caught his attention, and he slowly turned to see three women now in the middle of the circle of students. The tall, sneering blonde appeared to be in charge as all eyes were on her. "…Monica?" He let out a breath of air and flashed a smirk, hoping it would buy him some influence. "Hello."

"What are you doing?" Monica's glare was unsettling and chilled him to the bone. "You're on my turf, and you are not welcome here." He took a step back, raising his hands defensively.

"Look, I am only trying to find my girlfriend."

"No one here would touch someone like you." Monica crossed her arms and Beck frowned. "Must be another filthy rich kid from your school coming to show off superiority." Beck's jaw dropped and Monica spread her arms out, looking left and right. "Am I right? That's all they ever do, look down on us public school kids, thinking they're better!" The kids began to shout their agreements, leaving Beck with a growing anxiety.

"Now it's not like that."

"So." Monica took a step forward, looking smug and curling her eyebrows together. "What's your girlfriend look like? I'm sure we'd love to help look for her." Beck took a step back, bumping into a student by accident. The student pushed him forward, causing him to stumble.

"Sorry!" He dusted off his jacket and started to tremble. "Come on, there's no need or savagery." Monica's eyebrows rose and Beck instantly regretted his choice of words.

"Did you hear that? He called us savages." She hissed, her glowering eyes brimming with hate. Beck tried to protest and defend himself, but he had no chance to get a word out. "The rich asshole thinks he's better than us, thinks public school kids are savages. Oh, I'm sorry we're not worthy of you!"

"Shit. That isn't what I meant!"

The crowd grew more intense, shouting and pumping their fists in the air. The student that pushed him grabbed the back of his jacket, causing him to turn to try and escape, only to have his jacket yanked of. Stumbling once more, he bumped into Monica by mistake and caused her to fall to the ground.

She let out a shriek and her two girlfriends hurried to her side, helping her to her feet. Beck's eyes grew wide as he watched her pull the hair from her face and shake as though trying to get her footing.

"Oh my god. He attacked me. You saw it, you all saw what the guy did. Hollywood Arts indeed!" She managed to tear up and bury her face into her hands. Beck's chest tightened and he let out a groan as the crowd closed in even more on him.

Soon he was being shoved from student to student, his jacket being stretched by two. His vision blurred and the world seemed to spin as his stomach started to churn and rumble. "Get him! Make him pay!" Monica threw her hands around her lips, egging the students on. "He isn't superior, he isn't better than anyone just because he can afford an easy out!"

The assault went on for a few more seconds that felt like an eternity, his cheeks started to puff out and his hair flew wildly in the air. "Enough!" Someone shouted out. It was a somewhat deep and booming voice, enough to cause the students to stop shoving him around and back up. "Get away. I said get back!"

He fell to his knees, staring down at his trembling hands perched on the concrete floor. His vision was slowly adjusting and his stomach continued to lurch violently.

Looking up, he saw a tall man with a similar build as him pushing the students aside. For a minute, he thought he was looking in a mirror, as this man had a similar hairstyle, only wavier and less frizzy, and a lighter skin tone. "Give me that." The man grabbed the jacket away from the two students that were pulling at it, growling as his jade green eyes glared at the two. They took a few steps back, nodding slowly and raising their hands up. "Ought to be ashamed."

Beck rubbed his head, moaning as it throbbed and pounded, feeling as though he were still being thrown about. The man turned to Monica, who put on a neutral face. "And you!" He pointed at her, clearly disappointed and upset. "They're only following your example, you should at least learn some common decency."

"But-"

"It doesn't matter who it is or where they come from, this kind of nonsense isn't right."

"He called us savages, Ian. Savages! Then he pushed me to the ground!" Beck hunched forward, heaving and hacking, trying to get rid of the painful feeling in his stomach. Ian frowned at Monica, slowly shaking his head.

"And so you're going to act like savages as a result? I swear your stuck up, queen-of-everything logic never ceases to amaze me."

"You think I'm amazing?" Monica smiled and her eyes grew. Ian rolled his eyes and turned away from her, sweeping his hands through the air. "Ian?"

"God. There's nothing to see here people, go back to class or lunch or wherever the hell you need to be." He looked over his shoulder, narrowing his eyes at the girl. "You too, Monica."

She balled up her fists, huffing angrily and spinning around sharply. "Fine. You heard the man, leave!" The crowd dispersed and she turned back to Ian, smiling softly and touching his arm. "By the way, I was hoping to talk to you. About the Junior Prom?"

"It's not going to happen." He spoke calmly, his patience astounding Beck. Defeated, Monica puffed and gestured in the air to her girls to follow her as she stormed off.

Ian helped Beck to his feet, chuckling softly. "Sorry about that. I promise you the students here really aren't that bad. It's just when she's influencing them that the worst comes out." Beck swayed, nearly falling over. Ian grabbed him and threw an arm over his shoulder while stabilizing him with an arm around the waist. "What's your name, man?"

"Er…" He grunted and slammed his eyes tightly shut. "Hollwood?" His hand rubbed though his forehead and Ian started to chuckle.

"Okay Hollywood. Let's get you to the school nurse. She'll let you rest, even though you're not supposed to be here…"

After being guided to the nurse and resting for a small amount of time, Beck woke to see Ian still there and finishing a conversation with the Nurse. Now that his vision improved, he could see more of the man's features and details. His face was a bit narrower, but his head smaller, and he had a gentle look to him. Grunting, Beck sat up and Ian turned to him. "Ah you're awake!"

"My head is still throbbing."

"Yeah, sorry about that. Monica can be a little crazy."

"Crazy?" Beck rubbed the back of his head, then dropped his hand to his knees. "I know crazy, and that was just sadistic." Ian laughed and took a seat in the chair beside the blue hospital mattress. "So, what's he deal with you and Monica?"

"Other than she can't stand the fact that I'm the only one not falling down at her feet? Not much." Ian sighed and looked straight ahead. "I know she doesn't like that people listen to me more than they do her."

"Because you stood up to her."

"Yeah, I'm probably the only one that does that." Ian crossed his arms and leaned back against the chair. Beck wiggled his nose and raised his eyebrows, studying the man's posture. "I mean she has dirt on almost everyone in this school and will use it to destroy, but she doesn't have much power over people that just don't give a shit. I do what I want, help out around the school and the community and don't let her have any fuel."

"Seems like you charmed her though."

"Charmed?" Ian's eyebrow rose and he started to laugh. "Is that what that's called? She's been trying to get me to go with her to that stupid junior prom thing." He shrugged and looked away. "I think she's looking for a way to make me look bad, to be honest. It's the only reason she'd ask me to something like that; but I'm not interested in popularity contests."

"Popularity doesn't mean much."

"Exactly." Ian snapped his fingers. "It's about reputation and confidence. I wish people got that." Beck nodded slowly and watched as Ian's eyes started to glaze over and he lowered his voice. "I once knew a girl that I wish I could have got to realize that before it was too late." Beck folded his arms and Ian raised his head up. "I thought she'd gotten it, but she wanted to have the status Monica did she'd stop being bullied by her."

"What happened to her, if you don't mind me asking?" Ian's expression went blank for a minute, the man's eyes looked as though they didn't register anything.

"She left. Without a word." Ian ran his hands over his knees and slowly rose, shaking his head. "Next thing we know, she becomes popular and totally ignores her best friend. Even goes out of her way to insult her friend's older brother regularly." Beck winced, seeing the pain and utter disappointment in the man's eyes.

"I'm sorry." Beck furrowed his brow, feeling an odd feeling overwhelming him. "I'm sure it wasn't like that. Like she couldn't have meant to turn out that way."

"I believe it. That isn't who she is. Courtney says her brother believes her new friends influenced her-that they made her that way because she wanted to be accepted or something. I don't know, but I can understand the temptation." He closed his hands up and narrowed his eyes. "Bullied by the popular crowd, and then accepted by the popular crowd. Could make anyone want to be just like them, if nothing else, to be accepted. So, I blame those people for corrupting her."

"I would too, to be honest with you." He thought it was disgusting, and even more felt that people should just be accepting of others. "Social cliques are terrible."

"That's just the way it is. People hang with their 'own kind', just out of habit and fear of expanding outside their own little bubble to try something new." Ian smirked and looked over his shoulder. "I've been trying to get people to mix it up, realize different types of people can spend time with each other and have similar interests-maybe even learn to like new things."

"Good way to go."

"Right. Anyway." Ian extended his hand, flashing a smile as Beck reached out to shake it. "I don't think I got your actual name, and I doubt you want to be called 'Hollywood' for much longer."

Beck laughed, withdrawing his hand and maintaining a smile. "That's alright, it's kind of sticking. Maybe I'll use it as a nickname."

"That's the way to do it. Stick it to the popular crowd, own the nickname they give ya!"

"Sure."

"Seriously. Popular people use shame and humiliation as tactics for power. If you stop feeling like shit every time they hurt you, laugh and shrug it off, then walk away. Don't give them the fuel to feed off of that gives them their power."

"I'll have to remember that." Beck cleared his throat and locked his hands behind his back. "Anyway, I was looking around for my girlfriend, Jade. She and our friend Cat came here looking for someone, I need to get them back to school."

Ian's face scrunched and a skeptical look came over the man as he started to hum. "Jade and Cat? Okay. What did you say your name was?"

"Beck. Beck Oliver." All of a sudden Ian's demeanor changed like that of a cloud growing dark just before a thunderstorm. He was a bit taken aback by it, seeing the sharp frown and tight fists.

"Okay, got it." Ian cleared his throat and walked a few feet away, waving his hand through the air. "Come on, let's go find those two girls. Then, I'm going to have to ask you three to go back to your school." Beck leaned his head back and Ian turned to glance. "To avoid any further altercations with Monica or her popular crowd. I can only do so much."

"Right, got it." Beck grabbed his phone and slid his thumb over the screen, looking through the text messages. "Let's see. Jade says she and Cat walked past the library about three minutes ago and were heading to some classroom door in A-Hall."

"Great, so let's head that way now."


Well, an interesting chapter would you say? What are your thoughts here? Seems Beck's got Ian's respect, or did he just end up unwittingly shoot himself in the foot? Of course, we finally see Ian's debut amid Monica's leading of the mob. Thoughts? Observations?