AN: Hello everyone and welcome to the latest chapter of this story; I hope that you have all had a pleasant week. Thanks, as always, to everyone who read and reviewed Chapter 9.

Challenge King – yes, Freddie has his car and a little more independence. Jade, meanwhile, is learning from the best mistakes; somebody else's, and figuring out whether or not she's ready for that step.

Fanfic-reader-88 – life is a constant state of upheaval for our group, isn't it? Hopefully all will settle down for them soon.

"Guest" – you're right that Cat won't wait forever and Freddie needs to figure stuff out one way or the other. He will work through it all in time, and with help from his friends, then hopefully all will be well for him to pursue a certain little red-head again.

Agent-M – I'm glad that you like this Freddie and, of course, rebellious Jade. Cat may well learn a little something from this part of her life too; we can but hope.

Pbow – some good points about Beck and Jade. As for Freddie buying an RV – hmm, he'd likely need to save for a while before he could do that; I think it would be cheaper for him to just move in with Beck's parents if it came to it again. As for Cat, she likes her gift; hopefully the two can talk when life calms down for long enough.

Alright, that's everyone so on with the show.

Chapter 10

6829 Camrose Drive, Los Angeles

Monday, January 11th 2010.

Cat smiled as she dressed for school; finally the girl was just about getting used to her new surroundings and she felt as though she had fully settled into life and her new routine at her grandmother's house. Last night she had spoken, as usual, to her parents and received the latest update on the situation in Idaho; her brother was settling well into the residential hospital that they had taken him to and the Valentine parents were hopeful of actually being able to return to California ahead of schedule. Their daughter had assured them that, though she was delighted to hear the news, there was no need for them to hurry back on her account, she was happy where she was and loving life again. Her mother and father had been pleases to hear it and it had set their minds at rest somewhat, given how her state of mind had been before they left.

In truth, though, the girl still had plenty of moments when she was a little troubled; she had visited Lane, the Guidance Counsellor at her school, on a weekly basis since their first session just before Thanksgiving. She felt that talking to him was helping her and that she was coming, gradually, to terms with all of the recent events and upheaval in her life.

"Caterina?" her grandmother knocked gently on her door. "Are you up? It's almost time to go to school."

"Yes Nona, I'm up; I'll be out in a minute," she called back, skipping around the room as she found the rest of her outfit for the day; in addition to her favourite skinny jeans she wore a pink top and her shin-high boots in anticipation of a slightly chilly January day. The girl picked up her book bag and deposited the books and files she had used last night for her homework back into it before leaving her room and joining her grandmother in her small kitchen.

"Hi Nona," she swooped in to give her a quick kiss on the cheek as the older lady prepared coffee and a spot of breakfast for them.

"Hello pet," she greeted her granddaughter in return. "Are you having to catch the bus this morning?"

"Yes. Freddie offered me a ride but he's not really supposed to drive people around unsupervised just yet so it's probably better if I get the bus for now. At least until mom and dad come back; they've promised to get me a car when they do," she giggled giddily. Nona had to suppress the urge to smile; she had already heard this from her daughter but was pleased for her granddaughter and always happy to see the girl so excited, however something else that she had said was concerning the elder family member.

"I should think he wouldn't drive you," the elder lady commented, adopting a slightly horrified tone, "a fifteen-year-old boy driving you around unsupervised?"

"Freddie's careful; he'd make sure I was ok," the girl argued.

"You like this Freddie then?" her grandmother smiled, happily changing the subject to a friendlier one seeing as him as a driving companion was clearly something that they would not agree on.

"Maybe," she grinned back shyly, "I'm just not sure that he likes me anymore," she added as her smile dropped before answering the older lady's confused expression with a brief description of the two teens' history together.

"Sounds like you need to talk to him," Nona commented.

"I tried a couple of months ago, he wasn't ready to talk about it all," Cat supplied, adding a few details about the boy's reaction and the changes in his demeanour since the ending of his relationship with Lindsey a few months earlier.

"Well Caterina, you need to decide what to do but if he won't move past her then maybe you need to move on from him." Cat gave her a surprised look at the blunt comment but she was adamant. "There's lots of boys out there so there's no point in wasting your time just on one of them if there's no sign that he's interested."

"I guess," the red-head replied weakly. "He's seemed a little happier recently so maybe it's time to try talking to him again."

"There's a High School just down the road from here, you know," Nona added, "so there's plenty of boys in the area. I'm sure loads of them would be only too thrilled to date a girl like you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" the teen yelped, wondering what 'a girl like you' meant.

Nona sighed at her reaction. "I mean a beautiful, lovely and happy girl like you would be a catch for any of them, cupcake."

"Oh, 'kay 'kay," the placated girl answered with a grin before finishing her breakfast. "Ok, I've got to go for the bus, I'll see you tonight," she called, kissing her grandmother's cheek again before dashing off in the direction of the bus stop.

"I don't know where she gets her energy," Nona commented to her teacup, smiling once more at the thought of her ebullient granddaughter.

Asphalt Café, Hollywood Arts High School

"Hey Cat," Freddie waved and smiled broadly as he spotted the girl, or more accurately her hair reflecting the low winter sun as she arrived at school. She hurried over to join the group at their usual table.

"Hi Freddie," she smiled at the brown-eyed boy before contorting her face in confusion, "I thought you had your meeting this morning," she commented.

"No, it was cancelled," he shrugged, "so here I am. Oh, I did have one task though," he remarked thoughtfully as he turned to face Robbie, "the guys in charge want to know if you're still interested in writing reviews of plays and productions as there hasn't been anybody to do this lately."

The curly-haired ventriloquist swallowed a little nervously. "Well uh, I'll think about it," he replied, recalling the problems that led to the official paper's cancellation in the first place.

Freddie nodded amiably. "Let me know what you decide and I'll pass it on to the crew," he smiled. Seeing Freddie smiling and happy had become a regular thing for the group since the turn of the year; it was as if all the baggage that had weighed him down over the previous term had suddenly been lifted and the teen was back to his old self, something that Cat and Jade had commented upon between themselves in private. Jade, still the only one of the group in whom he had confided the full story, was especially pleased; if the boy had genuinely been able to put everything behind him then she hoped that he would make his move on Cat once the red-head's own life settled down a little more with the return of her parents in a few weeks' time.

It had been a curious Jade who had asked him the previous week about his improved mood; while she didn't want to jeopardise it she was rather intrigued, if pleasantly surprised, to see the return of the happy boy she had come to know during the bulk of their freshman year.

"Did something happen over Christmas?" she had asked him. "Not that I'm complaining but it's like we finally have the old Freddie back with us."

"Nothing happened," he began to explain, "but I did some thinking, actually a lot of thinking, over the break and when we got to New Year's – I'm sorry I missed your party but mom wanted us to spend it with family and we're trying to get on better…"

"It's ok," she held up her hand to halt him, "I understand. We missed you but we got it."

"Well," he continued, "it got to midnight and my aunt was all 'make your resolutions everyone' and I just decided that mine would be to let it go, to just accept what happened, that the past is the past and I can't change it. You were right; I couldn't go on letting it weigh me down forever so I figured – let it go so it has no power over my life anymore and I can move on at last."

The girl smiled her surprise and nodded her agreement. "Well it's good to hear – and great to see that you could put it into practice."

"It really is," he agreed, smiling broadly at her.

If anything it was the dark haired aspiring actress who seemed troubled lately; Jade was suffering badly as a result of her punishment from her mother – while Mrs West hadn't insisted on her actually removing the piercings the grounding and loss of allowance she had dealt was hurting her daughter, though not as much as the haunting feeling she had carried over from just before Christmas – the worry over just how far Beck wanted things to go between them, and how soon.

The gothic girl's troubled manner was not lost on the happy boy; feeling that it was time to return s little of the favour for everything that she had done for him over the last few months. He cornered her at the beginning of lunch.

"Hey, are you alright?" he asked in a supportive tone.

"Why wouldn't I be?" she retorted testily, picking up her bag and turning her back on him.

"Because something's bothering you; come on Jade, of all people I know what it feels like to have something bothering me."

She turned to face him, a glower on her face; he stared back defiantly, meeting her glare with a challenging look of his own before shrugging.

"Well, I trusted you with my problems and you kept my trust. When you're ready I hope you know that you can do the same," and he turned to leave the classroom.

"Freddie," she called after him, taking a step of two towards him; he stopped and turned his head to look at her over his right shoulder. "Not here," she muttered, slipping her arm through his and leading him briskly to the janitor's closet; they ignored the curious looks and mutterings of the students that they passed en route.

She closed the door carefully behind them; Freddie took a seat on an upturned bucket and waited for the girl to speak.

"Just before Christmas," she began, "Beck and I were in his RV, alone."

He nodded, urging her to continue.

"Anyway, we were making out a little on his bed and suddenly I just…" she looked away and took a couple of breaths while the boy's mind raced and he began to panic slightly about what she was going to say, "I suddenly got to thinking – what if he wants to, y'know, go further?"

"Oh I definitely know," Freddie muttered a little darkly; his resolution to let it all go was receiving its first major test. Let it go, let it go, went through his head like a mantra as he tried to stay on top of his feelings and really control it. "So, what happened?"

"Nothing," she said. "Nothing," she insisted, seeing that he still wore a concerned expression on his face. "But it just panicked me. I know how bad it was for you and I just… I worried whether it would be the same for me."

Freddie stood and ran his hand through his hair as he paced the cramped room. He sighed and turned to his friend.

"I can't answer that Jade," he told her simply. "I wasn't ready for what happened to me. If you are ready then when it does happen it won't be a problem, or it will be less of one anyway, so all I can suggest is what you've been saying to me all this time – talk about it. At least you know exactly who to talk to about it all," he finished with a smile.

"You're right," she smiled, brightening by the second. "I guess it's a lot easier to see that when you're looking in on someone else's life. Thanks, Freddie," and she reached for the door handle.

"Any time. Now, how are things with your mom?" he enquired as they left.

"Urgh, don't ask," she complained. However this time, albeit privately, Freddie's sympathies were a little more limited, feeling that the issues with her mother were largely self-inflicted by his friend.

"You could always apologise," he suggested, earning himself another frown from the brunette as they walked, "and explain why you wanted them and got them when she said you couldn't. Is she suing them too?" he recalled that the West matriarch had taken legal action against the tattooists in the summer who had left the permanent mark on her daughter's right forearm.

"Probably; she called her lawyer after I got home that day."

"You'll be banned from every tattoo and piercing place in the state soon," he joked.

"That's probably mom's aim," she agreed with a half-smile.

The two made their way companionably to the Asphalt Café to meet their friends for lunch.

Guidance Counsellor's Office

Cat, meanwhile, had escaped from class the moment the bell sounded, much to the surprise of her two closest friends; they had eyed her with a little concern as she went before returning to the task of packing up and having their discourse both in the classroom and the closet. The little red-head had still not told any of her friends that she was talking to Lane about her multitude of 'personal problems'. Instead she made her way briskly to his office at the start of her lunch period, set her bag down on the floor and took a seat on the worn couch opposite the wicker chair in which the counsellor was ensconced.

"So Cat, how are you?" the counsellor began.

"Uh, pretty good, thanks," the cupcake loving girl answered; Lane smiled and waited for her to continue. "I've settled in to my Nona's house and I'm happy there. I do miss mom and dad and my brother. Mom and dad have called; I haven't spoken to my brother since Christmas though. They say he's doing fine and that they expect to be back home in a couple of weeks."

"Well that's good to here. I know you said you're happy where you are but are you looking forward to moving back home then?"

"Yes, it will be nice to be back there, though Sherwood is a nice part of the city and I enjoy living there."

Lane nodded again.

"So how are you dealing outside of school?" he pressed. "You're quite a journey from your friends now, how are you dealing with that?"

"Well it's difficult to see Jade because of her mom grounding her," the girl disclosed; Lane raised his eyebrows slightly but didn't comment. "I can see the others but we tend to just go somewhere, the mall or Jet Brew, straight after school because that's easier than going to Nona's and then having to come back. But with Freddie working and having his gym and fencing hobbies, it is difficult to find time that we can all spend together," she conceded sadly.

"Have you made any friends in the area?"

"Not too many," she admitted. "There's a couple of malls nearby with movie theatres and places like that I could go but it's different going there alone to going with my friends."

"Well maybe try going one evening anyway," the staff member suggested, "just to do something different. You never know, you might meet some people your own age there. It can't hurt."

The short girl nodded with a smile. "I'll try tonight," she promised. "Thanks, Lane," and she got up to leave.

"Same time next week?"

"'kay 'kay."

She swung her bag over her shoulder and carefully left his office, arriving at the group's table for lunch shortly after Freddie and Jade had.

"What happened to you?" Jade enquired, knowing, of course, that the girl had left before they did – and that they had had their little discussion before going to the Asphalt Café.

"Oh, you know, I got talking to someone and then here I am," she answered vaguely.

"Talking? Talking to who?" the gothic girl pressed, earning a reproachful look from Beck; the Canadian actor clearly felt that his girlfriend was prying about something Cat was uncomfortable discussing. She ignored him and continued to stare at her childlike best friend; the cupcake-loving teen quickly cracked under the gaze.

"I went to see Lane," she admitted. "I was finding it difficult, you know, with my brother, my parents moving away, living with my Nona; I just needed someone that I could talk to about everything. I think he's helping," she finished defensively.

"That's great," Jade encouraged, feeling a little embarrassed that she had drawn the confession from the girl and trying to make it up to her a little by being supportive, "in fact," she shot a quick but meaningful look at Freddie, "I think people should talk about things that are troubling them; it's probably better than bottling everything up. Good for you, Cat."

Her friend smiled happily at her words before the new arrival tucked ravenously into her lunch. Beck looked slightly mollified but still frowned a little when his girlfriend looked away, something that wasn't lost on Freddie. The tech genius, however, had a less contentious discussion for his long-haired friend.

"So Beck will you be fencing again this week?"

"Yes I will," the laid-back teen showed a rare flicker of excitement. "I got the all clear from the docs so I will be there with you this week. It's been too long."

"I've been keeping up with my lessons," André spoke up, "I think I'll actually be better than you now," he continued with a smile.

"Well hopefully I can catch up soon. How about you, Freddie, how's the advanced class going?"

"Really well, thanks," he began to explain, talking about the different things he'd learned and how much better he had got. He had even come across the obnoxious teens again (who had attacked him a year or so back outside the gym) and comfortably defeated them in practice bouts, despite them being older than he. "And we're heading to the gym as normal tomorrow?" he glanced to his musician friend for confirmation.

"Sure thing," André acknowledged. "I need to see my grandma after school but I'll do that before I meet you there."

"It must be nice now that you can go where you want when you want," Cat spoke up suddenly; the others turned to her to see if she would elaborate on the pronouncement. "Now you have your car," she explained, looking at the boy she had briefly dated, "I can't wait until mom and dad get back and get me a car too."

The others exchanged glances; none of them liked to voice it but the idea of Cat behind the wheel of a car was a prospect that provided more than a little foreboding for many of them given her easily distracted nature and tendencies.

Instead Freddie settled for agreeing with her. "It certainly helps," he said with a smile. The bell then alerted them to the end of lunch; the sophomore group made their way back inside the school for their afternoon lessons.

"Cat's getting a car then?" Freddie asked Jade to confirm when they sat together in Theatre History.

"I guess so; it's news to me," the black-clad girl informed him.

"Really? I thought she'd have at least mentioned something to you."

"I guess it depends when she found out; obviously we don't get to see one another outside of school right now with… everything that's been going on," there was just a hint of regret in the girl's tone; Freddie refrained from advising her to listen to her mother in the future.

"Ok everyone," the teacher called, looking to begin the class, "Just a reminder that we'll be finishing the course today, then next week will be the end of course test for this semester so make sure you revise everything that we've covered, ok?"

"Do you think your mom would relax your grounding for a study session?" the boy asked optimistically once they had been given their task, answering questions relating to the final chapter of their text book; it covered the material that they had gone through over the last couple of classes.

"I could ask," his friend shrugged, "maybe she'd let you or someone come over, just not let me go to anybody else's house."

"See what she says, if she's cool with it then I can come over sometime, maybe after work on Wednesday and after fencing on Thursday? We can go through this course and make sure we're ready for the test."

"I will, I'll talk to her," she confirmed with a small smile. "I'm sure she doesn't want her lesson to wreck the rest of my education," she smirked, pushing the dark blue hair extension away from her face to clear her vision.

"What do you think of Cat talking to Lane," she asked a few minutes later, when they had completed another of the questions.

Freddie glanced around the room to ensure that they weren't being overheard before giving a considered reply. "She's going through a lot of upheaval and thinks he can help her figure it out; good for her, like you said," he reminded her.

"You're still not going to talk to anyone though?" she pressed.

"I have talked to people; you, Sam," he reminded her. "It took me some time but I've figured it out and got through it," he insisted, though after trying to swallow down his apprehension from the discussion with the girl over lunch he briefly questioned whether he was trying to convince her or himself.

"Great, so when are you going to get back together with Cat?" she challenged; their teacher buying him some more time to formulate his answer by coming over to check on them.

"Well?" she pressed once they were alone again.

Deciding that playing dumb would be useless, the boy smiled instead. "Cat's going through a lot of chizz right now," he pointed out, "let's wait until her parents get back then I'll try and talk to her once everything settles down in her life."

Jade nodded; his reasoning makes sense. "Don't leave it too long," she urged him.

Asphalt Café.

Tuesday, 12th January 2010.

André was slightly out of breath when he arrived at the gang's table, set his lunch down and swung his leg over the seat in order to take it.

"Hey, where's the fire?" Freddie asked in an amused tone.

"I'm just in a bit of a rush today," he explained before turning to Beck. "You know how I'm just finishing my first script-writing class?" The long-haired actor nodded his confirmation, "well we need to put on the productions and I need a lead actor. Will you do it?"

"Sure," the laid-back Canadian shrugged, "just get me a copy of the script and let me know about rehearsals, opening night, costume, that sort of stuff."

Jade and Cat sat, slightly expectantly; both girls wondered if their friend would ask them to be the leading lady but no request came forth from the talented musician, he simply smiled, thanked his friend and began eating his lunch.

"So who's your leading lady?" Jade pried after a few minutes. The scriptwriter swallowed nervously at her customary glare.

"Meredith," he admitted cautiously, causing a ripple of glances to lap the table; the gothic girl darkened considerably and he studied the table, and the remainder of his food, with renewed intent.

"Meredith?" she snarled as she and Freddie took their seats in their Maths class; most unusually she had kept her counsel over lunch and not questioned her friend's choice. "He chose her for the role? I need to watch her fawning all over Beck day after day?"

Freddie said nothing, content to let her rail against André's decision; he would later admit to her that he was surprised that their friend opted not to cast either her or Cat in the play. They discussed the situation off and on during lulls in the lesson or when they were busy with the tasks that their teacher had set them. Jade was clearly troubled by the thought of the dark brunette making moves on her man while they were working together; this was something that Freddie at least felt he could try to defend his friend over.

"It comes down to this; do you trust Beck?" he asked her simply, causing her to bite her tongue and really think about his question.

"I trust him," he admitted, "but I still don't want to watch her throwing herself at him on a daily basis."

LA Fitness, 7021 Hollywood Blvd.

The boys had just finished the cardiovascular part of their work-out and were taking on fluids before moving onto the weights machines. Freddie sat with his towel slung over his neck and wiped his forehead with one end of it to keep the sweat at bay in between sips from his water bottle.

"So this play you've written," he began conversationally; André turned to him, "why Meredith? I can think of a couple of other girls you could have chosen for the lead."

"She's in my class and she is good," he argued.

"You'll know better than me," he conceded, "but I'd have thought Jade the obvious choice to play alongside Beck."

"Yeah but the girl in it is supposed to be all sweet and innocent," the songsmith explained.

"Jade can do sweet and innocent; she's a fantastic actress and could do it in her sleep – so could Cat."

André looked far from convinced. "Well I've already asked Meredith and she's said yes."

Freddie emptied his water bottle in one swallow before dropping it, along with his towel, on top of his bag before the two made their way over to start their weights routine.

Hollywood Arts High School,

Wednesday, 13th January 2010.

Jade was leaning casually against her locker; she was trying her best to look unconcerned while Beck read through his copy of André's script. Following her talk with Freddie she had forced herself to concede that she did trust Beck and that she had to give him the benefit of her doubts where his new co-star was concerned.

This trust was about to receive its first serious test, however, as the brunette in question, clad in a pink top and very short jean shorts, flounced along the corridor in search of the actor.

"Hi Beck," she called flirtatiously, seemingly oblivious to his girlfriend stewing by his shoulder. "Have a cupcake," she handed him the treat.

"Meredith, hey," he greeted her cordially and accepted her gift graciously. "Have you read through the script yet?"

"Yeah, André printed me a copy in class yesterday so I read it last night," she disclosed, continuing to smile at him, "and I thought that we could meet at my place this evening for a read-through and rehearsal together?"

"I dunno," he made a face, knowing that to accept would mean to suffer his girl's wrath in a few seconds; he could tell she was mere seconds from exploding as it is.

His co-star's face fell at his prevarication. "Well we do need to rehearse," she insisted. "I'll have more cupcakes there for you to try," she fluttered her eyelashes at him.

"Sure," he gave in with a smile, ignoring Jade looking daggers at him by his side. "Tonight then?"

"Great, I'll see you later," she grinned broadly and patted his arm as she walked away from them. The Canadian watched her leave with a smile before turning to his glaring girlfriend.

"You're going there?" she snarled.

"We need to rehearse," he reminded her. "And that's all that we'll be doing. I can't hang with you anyway, can I?" Jade, of course, was still grounded. He took a bite of his dessert. "Mmm, these are good," he said approvingly.

She glared again before turning on her heel and walking away from him under a cloud. Her boyfriend sighed, pinched his nose and walked to his own next class.

West Residence, Hollywood Hills.

Freddie was sat in the den; the tech producer eyed the blue-streak haired girl with growing concern as she paced the floor endlessly. They were supposed, of course, to be revising for their Theatre History class, but Jade was finding it impossible to focus at all, such was her anger with the situation and Beck's lack of interest in her concerns.

"Ok, stop for a second," he called, patting the seat next to him on the couch. She acquiesced and sat down next to him, resting her hands on her knees and letting out a few deep breaths.

"He's probably sampling her cupcakes right now," Jade lamented. Her mind returned to what she had been thinking about ever since Christmas and, she now feared, that if she had Meredith – and other girls – to compete with then sooner or later she would have to take that step in order to keep her man.

"You don't know that," Freddie put his left hand gently on her right thigh, seeing straight through his friend's euphemism, "and you don't know that he would want to cheat on you even if she did offer."

"Oh so you're defending them now?" the gothic brunette snapped.

"I'm trying to stop you from driving yourself nuts," he responded calmly, smiling at her in a reassuring manner before he sighed. "Look, I know you're worried about the whole thing but you said you trusted him."

"I did," Jade confirmed, "until he was all over her cupcake today and seemed eager for more. I guess I know what guys – most guys," she amended quickly as she met his eyes, "will want from me."

"Not if they're worth your time," he countered firmly. She gave him a grateful smile but her eyes betrayed that she remained unconvinced. He sighed again. "Do you want me to talk to Beck? See if I can get him to see how this is affecting you?"

She gave him a small smile. "Thanks, he might actually listen to you. Now can we change the subject? I guess we should make a start on the homework before mom throws you out because we haven't done any studying and that was the only reason for her relaxing my grounding," she grinned. The brown-haired pair gathered their text books and made a belated start to their study session.

Swordplay Fencing Studio, 416 S Victory Blvd, Burbank, CA

Thursday, 14th January 2010.

It was the evening, finally, of Beck's return to the studio for his first lesson since injuring his knee a couple of months earlier. He wore a knee brace for extra support and began slowly, being put thoroughly through his paces by the instructors as a warm-up before his lesson began. Freddie and André took the opportunity for a quick spar while this was going on (though the musician wondered whether there was any point in doing so, even with his friend going very easy on him it was always going to be a mismatch between the two of them). Afterwards they split up for their lessons, though André and Beck were in the same group, the taller teens' lengthy absence meant that he was starting almost from scratch again and working hard in an attempt to catch up).

Freddie's lesson ended (the Advanced class was appreciably smaller than the beginners) and he stood watching his friend put some of the teachings into practice while Beck also looked on, impressed at how much the songsmith had improved over the weeks of his enforced absence.

"I was studying with Jade last night," the shorter teen began; Beck turned in slight surprise, unaware that his friend had joined him. "She's not too happy about Meredith," he cautioned.

"Yeah I noticed," the actor complained, "but that's not my fault. I can't stop her from being friendly, can I?"

"No but… do you have to encourage it? Especially knowing that your girlfriend has a problem with it?"

"What is her problem?" he countered, sounding genuinely frustrated. "We're in a play together and she's just a nice girl being nice. Jade needs to chill and she needs to trust me."

Freddie bit his lip at the annoyance that his friend was showing. "She's just concerned," he tried to explain, "and I think deep down she's scared of losing you to someone else. I'm just saying that maybe you could take her concerns into account."

"I've done nothing wrong," Beck's voice rose a little in impatience, "it's her problem and she needs to deal with it."

The tech producer frowned; he wasn't happy – or impressed – with Beck's answer but wasn't willing to get into an argument or worse with his friend over it; not right now anyway, he thought. The conclusion of André's session gave him another reason to drop it for now; the three boys headed for the locker room to change before they went their separate ways.

Sikowitz's Classroom, Hollywood Arts High School,

Friday, 15th January 2010.

The bell had just sounded for lunch when Freddie, Jade, Robbie, Eli and Cat exited the eccentric acting teacher's classroom together. André and Beck had been excused a couple of minutes earlier as they had permission to use the Black Box theatre for a formal rehearsal of the play.

"Rec room?" Freddie suggested to his friends. "We've not been there for a while," he observed.

"Sounds good to me," the sandy-blond agreed. "I've not beaten you at ping pong in a while."

"Try ever," his friend shot back playfully; it was true that Freddie was the best player among them, given his reflexes from his fencing aptitude that he was able to transfer to a different sport. "Ladies?" he eyed the two girls.

"Yay, I love ping pong," Cat smiled. Jade looked somewhat less enthusiastic but, eager to learn the outcome his talk with Beck the previous night, she happily made her way across the school with the rest of them. After Robbie swiftly defeated his blond friend, leading to a little good-natured taunting, he handed the red-haired girl his bat and took a seat next to Jade; the two watched in silence as Eli and Cat played a rather comical game that soon had them both laughing.

"How did it go with Beck?" she asked in a low voice, mindful of Robbie sat close by, also watching the other two teens play; while Mrs West had relaxed her daughter's punishment for the Wednesday she was unwilling to do so for successive days, though she had said that Freddie would be welcome to come over on the Sunday so that they could do some final preparation for their test.

"Not good I'm afraid," he admitted. "He just says that he's done nothing wrong, Meredith is just being friendly and that you need to trust him. I'm sorry Jade; I did my best," he conceded in defeat as his friend bowed her head.

"I know you did, thanks," she gave him a small smile and squeezed his forearm gently. She turned her gaze back to the game in front of her, pretending to focus her attention on it; neither she nor Freddie were convinced that she gave it even one second of undivided attention.

AN: Thanks to all of you for reading; please feel free to drop me a review and let me know what bits you liked or didn't like and I hope to see you all next week where, all being well, a familiar face will join our little gang.