Songwriter

by Kasamyra

Alex Zellar and her sister moved to Hollywood just before her last year of high school. At Hollywood Arts, Alex encounters new friends, old friends, and a lot of people she dislikes. Throughout the year she has to handle school and the chaos caused by her new friends while juggling the drama of her family, a possible record deal, and her already established songwriting career.

11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

"Hey hey," Alex said, beaming as she sat down at the lunch table on Monday.

"Someone's in a strangely good mood," Andre commented as the others shifted to make room for her between Beck and Cat. "You didn't kill someone did you?"

"Of course not," Alex said, rolling her eyes, but her smile stayed on her face. "Just seriously maimed. He might walk again. Some day."

"I really hope you're joking," Tori said as the whole table stared at her.

"Of course I am," Alex said, chuckling. They continued to stare at her.

"What's got you in this mood then?" Beck asked, speaking for all of them.

"I finished my song for my lyrics class," Alex said. "And I think it's probably the best song I've ever written. I'm really happy with how it turned out."

"Well lets hear it then," Andre said, assuming she had it recorded somewhere.

"It's not done yet," she said, rolling her eyes. "Cat has to sing it."

"Oh right," Andre said. "That assignment."

"Can I see the lyrics?" Cat asked, giving Alex a look. Alex was sure that the other girl didn't want her friends to know about her secret, older, sometimes boyfriend.

"Sure," Alex said, digging them out of her bag. The others leaned over to try to read them over Cat's shoulder, but the red head jumped away from them, guarding the paper as she read. They all watched her read, her eyebrows growing further and further up her forehead until she got to the bottom of the page and came back to the table, handing the paper back to Alex.

"Well?" Andre asked when Cat said nothing.

"I don't think it's appropriate for school," Cat said, glancing at Alex, who shrugged.

"Mr. Klume said I could write a song about a slutty old woman if I wanted to and I think this is way better," Alex said, chuckling.

"He did say that," Tori agreed. "So can we see the lyrics?"

"No," Alex said. "You can hear the song when it's done."

"Can I read them?" Beck asked, giving her his pouting look. She sighed, then held them out to him.

"Favoritism!" Tori accused, pointing to him and scowling.

"Well if you want to make out with me I'll show you some favoritism too," Alex said in a mockingly flirty voice. Robbie squeaked, staring between them with wide eyes.

"I protest," Beck said, not looking up from the paper.

"Fine,"Alex said with a fake disappointed sigh. "Next time, love." She winked at Tori who laughed as Robbie let out another 'eep'.

"This is… really something," Beck said after a minute, handing the paper back to her.

"Oh come on, give us something better than that," Andre said dramatically. "One adjective?"

"Go on," Alex told Beck, smirking a little.

"Uh," he said, thinking. "It's very sexy." The table fell silent for a moment, trying to imagine what kind of song Alex had written.

"I thought these songs still had to fit your partners personality, just not the obvious traits," Tori said, frowning in confusion.

"I think it does," Alex said, shrugging. "What makes you think Cat can't be sexy?" They all glanced at Cat who looked up at them with overly innocent eyes as she nibbled on the end of a piece of broccoli. She blinked at them, and they all decided to change the subject.

"Have you heard back from… Olivia yet?" Beck asked when the others were all busy talking.

"It's only been a few hours," Alex said, pulling her phone out to check her texts. She had no new ones. "Oh yeah, Grace game me permission to tell people about the baby."

"What about a baby?" Jade asked, finally joining the table.

"What?" Cat asked, looking up from her salad. "I love babies!"

"My sister's pregnant," Alex said, grinning at them.

"Gross," Jade said.

"That's so exciting!" Tori said, ignoring Jade. "Boy or girl?"

"She doesn't find out for another couple of months," Alex said, smiling. The conversation drifted for a few minutes until the bell rang.

"Are we starting dress rehearsals in class today?" Robbie asked as they all made their way to Sikowitz's class.

"I'm not sure," Tori said, pushing the door open for them all.

"Alright let's rehearse the scene with Jade, Cat, Robbie, and Alex," Sikowitz said as soon as they entered the room. "You background people, to your places! The rest of you can just sit and wait."

Beck gave Alex a kiss on the cheek as they parted ways, and she smiled at him for a moment, then went to the front to take her place as the others prepared to be bored for the rest of the class. Many of the sound and lighting people, which was most of the class, were doing checks of their equipment and some of the sets were still being finished. They ran through the scene once, then began it a second time under Sikowitz's eye as he pointed out things they needed to work on.

Cat giggled at certain scenes when she wasn't supposed to, which made Alex roll her eyes, and Sikowitz sigh. They were interrupted by Tori, who was playing some funny video on her phone which the others were laughing at. As Sikowitz turned around to chastise them, Alex felt her phone vibrate in her pocket, so she pulled it out to read the text message. It was from Olivia, simply stating that she had gotten confirmation that the demo would be listened to sometime this week.

"Jimminy Crackers!" Sikowitz said, getting to his feet. Alex looked up, not having been listening to the conversation. "I'm trying to teach you kids something about-" Andre's phone rang, cutting off whatever the man had been about to say.

"One second," Andre said, reaching into his pocket for his phone. Alex leaned over the prop counter, resting her head in her hands as she waited. She took the slightly unscheduled break to text back Olivia, then to ask Grace if they needed anything from the grocery store on her way home.

"Hang up that phone, right now," Sikowitz said sternly, and Alex looked up to see Andre looking slightly guilty. I'm getting sick and tired of-" He was cut off again as everyone's phones began to ding or chime. Alex's buzzed on the prop table, she picked it up, then laughed at the image of Robbie wearing a girls 'My Little Pony' t-shirt.

"Okay that does it!" Sikowitz yelled, waving his hands around dramatically.

"What?" Tori asked innocently, looking up.

"You people are sick!" Sikowitz said, continuing to be dramatic.

"I feel pretty good," Cat said from her seat next to Robbie.

"I'm talking about your addiction to your stupid phones!" He said, sounding exasperated. "I swear you can't go two minutes without…" He began making some very weird cell phone noises with his mouth while pretending to text. Alex rolled her eyes, then glanced down at the short list Grace had sent her of things to get. Alex replied that she would be home in a while.

"Oh come on," Tori said, leaning forward in her seat. "I don't think it's fair to say we're 'addicted' to them."

"Ho ho ho ho, very well," Sikowitz said, getting that excited expression on his face that he always got when he was about to challenge them to something. Alex, guessing what it would be this time, texted both Grace and Olivia that she probably wouldn't have her phone on her for the next few days, then as a second thought, texted Olivia to forward all of Alex's calls to her own phone. "Then I challenge you all."

"Alright," Robbie said, standing up and pulling his shirt over his head. Alex stifled a laugh. "Let's fight," he said, then began to jump around in a very bad imitation of a fist fight.

"I don't think he means a fight," Andre said, shaking his head. Robbie glanced around at them all, then slowly went back to his place beside Cat and put his shirt back on.

"I will give each and every one of you all A's for the whole semester," Sikowitz began, and they all looked up with interest.

"If?" Tori asked slowly. Alex sighed as Olivia texted back questions, then told Olivia that she could still be contacted through Grace.

"If you can all go one full week without using modern technology," Sikowitz said.

"Uh, I still have a song to record for an assignment in my lyrics class," Alex said, rolling her eyes. "I'm not failing that class for your bet."

"Yes alright," he said impatiently. "If it's for an assignment for class you can use the recording room here at school but only here!"

"Great," Alex said sarcastically.

"No phones?" Cat asked, just having caught up.

"No phones!" He yelled at her, and she shrunk back a little. "And no laptops or pear pads. No electronic device made since I was born. Wanna take that bet?" They all looked at each other, exchanging glances until Tori stood.

"Let's do it," she said, speaking for the group. Sikowitz held his hand out for her to shake, and she did so.

"Great," he said, stepping back and making a little basket out of his shirt. "Let's have your phones." Alex switched hers off, then walked forward to drop it into his shirt. "And the contest begins now!" He said enthusiastically. They made a little chorus of 'great' and 'yay's that sounded far too sarcastic as they all returned to their places.

"Wait," Jade said, smirking. "How will you know we're not using other peoples phones?"

"Because I trust your honesty," Sikowitz said, straight faced. Alex snorted, exchanging a glance with Jade, who also looked amused. "And I'm going to have Sinjin and Berf spy on you."

"It's you and me baby!" Sinjin called up to the catwalk where Berf was eating a yellow pepper as though it were an apple. Alex just shook her head as Sikowitz directed them back into rehearsals.

---

"Cat!" Alex called as they wrapped up their rehearsals. The small girl turned around, looking up at Alex curiously. "I recorded the music for my lyrics class song, want to record the vocals now?"

"Sure," Cat said, grinning. "But I'll need to call my brother and ask if he can pick me up later."

"I'll drive you home," Alex offered, assuming that Cat had already forgotten they couldn't use phones. "I'll meet you in the recording room in five."

"Kay kay," Cat said, then skipped off down the hall. Alex went out to the lobby where she knew Beck would be waiting for her.

"Hey," she said, opening her locker. He was leaning against some lockers a couple down from hers, posing. She smiled, but didn't want to point it out. She secretly liked his poses, they made him look alluring, which was probably what he was going for. Her favorite one was when he tilted his head down and looked up at her through his eyelashes, hunching his shoulders a little. That look made her immediately want to forgive him for whatever he had done, which she was glad he didn't know or he would use it all the time.

"Hey," Beck said, stepping a little closer to her. "Can I ask a favor?"

"Maybe," she said, raising an eyebrow at him as she pushed her hair out of her face. She began sorting the books she would need to take home, stuffing them into her bag.

"You're about to record that song, right?" Beck asked as she shut her locker.

"Yeah," Alex said, smiling up at him. "Cat's waiting for me. Why?"

"Can I stay and listen to it?" Beck asked, and she frowned.

"Why?" She asked, crossing her arms.

"I am curious to know how it sounds," he said, shrugging.

"Okay," she said after a moment, shrugging. "It won't take that long. I got the band from my studio to help record the music yesterday after we were done with the demo."

"Cool," Beck said, then frowned. "If you don't have your phone won't you miss when they call you about it?"

"No," Alex said, glancing around them to make sure Sikowitz and his spies weren't nearby. "Before I gave my phone over I told Olivia to forward all my calls and messages to her phone. She will call Grace if anything important happens."

"You are devious," Beck said, chuckling as they stopped outside the recording room door. "And that is totally cheating."

"No it isn't," Alex said, rolling her eyes. "He never said anything about having other people manage your life for you. That's what I pay Olivia for after all."

"Well aren't you just the important big star," he said, chuckling as he reached a hand out to cup the side of her face. He ran a thumb over her cheekbone and sighed.

"What?" She asked, tilting her head into his hand a little more.

"Its still a little weird that I get to do this now," Beck said, stepping closer to her. "Anytime I want." He leaned in to kiss her and her arms went around his neck. "I would have killed to be allowed to kiss you when we were in eighth grade."

"You literally could have just asked," Alex said, grinning up at him.

"Really?" He asked softly, kissing her cheek. She pulled him into a hug, sighing as his arms went around her waist.

"Really," she said after a moment, pulling away from him. "Now come on, Cat is waiting."

---

"You have an amazing voice," Alex said an hour later. Cat grinned up at her, bouncing in place. "It's perfect for this song."

"Thanks," Cat said happily. "Do you think it turned out okay?"

"Definitely," Alex said, stuffing her things back into her bag. "I think we both get an A for this assignment."

"So Cat already wrote a song based on you?" Beck asked from his seat against the wall behind them, and both girls jumped, having forgotten he was there.

"Yep," Cat said, grinning. "It's on her demo CD."

"Really?" Beck asked, raising an eyebrow at Alex. "Can I hear it?"

"No," Alex said immediately. He pouted, and she rolled her eyes.

"Why not?" He asked, trying to look sad, but his mouth was twitching in amusement.

"Because its a secret," Cat said before Alex could come up with a good excuse. It wasn't really a secret, it wasn't even a dramatic love song or something like that, it was actually quite simple. But maybe it was because it had been written about Alex's life, she felt like it was really personal.

"What's a secret?" Beck asked Cat, focusing on the sometimes gullible girl.

"That Alex-" Cat began, but covered her mouth, looking at Alex with wide eyes.

"Time to go," Alex said, grabbing Cat's arm and tugging her out the door. "I'll see you later Beck."

"Bye," he said, lifting a hand and chuckling as they passed him.

---

The next morning felt quiet to Alex, and she didn't realize until lunch time that it was because she didn't have her phone on her. She hadn't realized she used it so often until she didn't have it anymore. Her fingers tapped against the table, itching to make a note on her phone about the earlier idea she'd had for a new song.

She hadn't seen very much of the others this morning, just a little in class, and she hadn't spoken to any of them. It was almost December, which to the students meant they only had a month till Christmas break, but to the teachers it meant they only had a month until semester exams, so the lectures had become more in depth in most classes, or maybe it just seemed that way to Alex because she didn't have anything else to do in class without her phone.

She joined the others at their table for lunch, taking her place between Beck and Robbie in silence. They weren't talking to each other, but every one of them was doing something. Jade was tapping her fork anxiously on the table, Tori was tapping her fingers, Cat was staring around at them all sadly. Even the boys looked twitchy. Beck was bouncing his leg up and down, and she rested a hand on his thigh to get him to stop. He glanced at her apologetically, and she smiled at him encouragingly.

"I don't even miss our phones," Andre said, breaking the silence of their table. "Do you guys?"

There was a chorus of 'no's around the table, all of which sounded false. Alex shook her head.

"How long has it been since we had them?" Tori asked, looking slightly forlorn.

"Like twelve hours," Jade said, still tapping her fork.

"Seems like years," Cat said sadly.

"Oh, it's not that bad," Robbie said, trying to comfort her.

"Years!" Cat shouted back.

"Well uh, one good thing," Andre began, looking around at them. "You know, about not having our phones; it makes us pay more attention, to the world around us."

"Yeah," Jade began, glancing at the other people in the courtyard. "Like, I've never really noticed this before, but a lot of the kids that go to Hollywood Arts are really not very good looking." Alex snorted, taking a bite of her salad.

"Well, I've noticed some things that aren't cruel to say out loud," Tori said, rolling her eyes at Jade, who just shrugged.

"Like?" Beck prompted, probably trying to stem the impending argument.

"Like," Tori paused, looking behind them. "Look. Look, there's the Hollywood sign, right there," She said, pointing to the distant hills." We can see that from our school. That's… it's really cool." She lost heart at the end of her sentence, clearly knowing that wasn't a good enough replacement for their phones.

"Yeah," Beck said, patting her back sympathetically.

"And here's another cool thing," Robbie said, making some strange hand movement as he spoke. "You guys know how usually keep my phone in my shirt pocket, here?"

"No," Alex said, rolling her eyes as she took another bite of lettuce. Beck patted her leg then, keeping her from further comment as the others gave fake 'yes's.

"Well now I'm using this pocket to carry cheese, and my allergy pills," Robbie said, grinning at them.

"Uh, won't the cheese melt in your pocket?" Beck asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No the cheese won't melt-" Robbie began imperiously, pulling a stick of half melted cheese from his shirt, then dropping it on the table with a odd sound of disgust as the others shook their heads.

"Gross," Tori said as Beck held out some napkins for Robbie.

"I miss my phone," Cat whined. "What do you think it's doing right now?"

"Probably dying of neglect," Alex commented sarcastically.

"Oh no, you think so?" Cat asked, but the others ignored her as Alex shook her head.

"Come on Cat, we can do this!" Tori said, setting her soda down decisively. "Let's try to not even think about our phones."

"Okay, but-" Cat began, but at that moment, Sinjin came running between the tables.

"Hey everyone!" He was shouting, looking around at them all excitedly. "Look at your phones! Look at your phones! Look at your phones!" He skipped around each table, yelling until everyone had their phones out except their table. "There's a new funny video on SplashFace! Just go on SplashFace and look up 'Wacky Donkey'. It's hilarious!"

They all exchanged looks as everyone else in the courtyard began watching their phones and Cat made a distressed sort of whine.

"You guys, come on," Tori said, rolling her eyes. "It's just another one of those videos, you know. I'm sure it's not that funny-" She was cut off as everyone around them broke into laughter, and Sinjin, behind them, threw up from laughing so hard. They fell back into silence as lunch continued.

"I never realized how much I rely on my phone before today," Alex said after a moment. "I always thought I didn't really use it that much, but I guess I didn't even notice how convenient it is."

"Yeah," Jade agreed as the others nodded. "Without it I have to talk to you people. And most of you are boring."

"Love you too," Alex said, rolling her eyes. "But think about it, ten years ago cell phones were these giant, blocky things that couldn't even fit in your pocket, and all they did was make calls. Now we have internet and texting and everything in a tiny little piece of technology."

"This isn't helping," Tori said with a sigh. Alex shrugged, turning back to her food.

"Hey, what year do you think Sikowitz was born?" Alex asked a few moments later.

"I dunno," Andre said, shrugging. "Why?"

"Well, he said we couldn't use anything made after he was born," Alex said, thinking.

"Well he's gotta be about 40," Robbie chimed in. "If I had my pear pad I could look up his birthday in the teacher/student directory."

"Well you don't," Alex said, rolling her eyes. "So why even mention it? Anyway, if we say he's about 40, that means we can use anything made before 1975."

"So?" Jade asked, sighing. "That's like nothing."

"So, the IBM DOS computer was invented in 1974," Alex said, rolling her eyes. "The internet was invented in the 60's, though it wasn't for the public until the 80's, and cell phones were made in 1973. And camera's were invented in like the 1600's."

"Why do you know all of that?" Andre asked after they had all stared at her for a few moments.

"I wrote a paper about technological advances in the last century for my history class sophomore year," Alex said, shrugging.

"Okay, but that doesn't help us at all," Tori said, sighing. "Our cell phones weren't invented until this year."

"I'm just making conversation to keep you all distracted from the fact that you don't have your phones," Alex said, shrugging, and they all groaned again at the reminder. They stood as the bell rang to signal the end of lunch, and went their separate ways to class.

Sitting in their shared History class that afternoon, Alex thought hard about the various things that they technically were still allowed to use. She knew that Grace had a few vintage camera's from the time a few years ago when she had been interested in photography, maybe she could bribe her sister to let her use one. Learning how it worked would keep her entertained enough to forget she didn't have her phone, and if nothing else, she would have fun documenting what was bound to be a struggle of the others going without their things.

That afternoon between classes and rehearsals for the play, they had a free hour. She was standing at her locker waiting for Beck when Andre came in, an old record player hoisted over his shoulder.

"Whatchya got there?" She asked, walking out to meet him as he came in the doors.

"It's a record player," he said.

"Yeah, I know that," sh said, rolling her eyes. "I meant, why are you carrying it around like a boombox?"

"Oh, well I was thinking about what you said at lunch about old technology, and I remembered my grandma had this," Andre said, grinning. "I need to listen to my music."

"And your grandma actually has records to use with it?" Alex asked, noticing that he wasn't carrying any.

"Sure," Andre said, moving a hand out from under the record player to hold up three vinyls. "Circus music, Chinese beatboxing, and some other crap. It's terrible."

"You think that's terrible?" Robbie asked from the floor beside them. They looked down, not having seen him before. He was typing what looked to be a class assignment on an old typewriter. Alex squatted down to look at it, turning it on the floor a little. "Try writing on this."

"What is it?" Andre asked, coming closer.

"Some sort of prehistoric typing machine," Robbie said, frustrated. "And it takes me ten minutes to type two words."

"That's low," Andre said. Alex rolled her eyes.

"I know," Robbie said, then scoffed. "And guess how you fix mistakes. With this!" He held up a bottle of white-out. "Paint! A little tiny bottle of white paint! Whenever I wanna change anything, I have to paint over it with this, let it dry, then type over the dried paint!"

"It's called white-out," Alex said, sitting beside Robbie and pulling the typewriter over in front of her. "And this is called a typewriter. Haven't you heard of them?"

"No," Robbie said, crossing his arms.

"My mom has one," Alex said, letting her fingers brush over the keys. "She's an author. She used to type on one for fun."

"So you know how to use it?" Robbie asked, his eyes lighting up.

"Sort of," Alex said, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Will you help me? I have to turn this paper in before Mrs. Abenta leaves for the day if I want my extra credit," Robbie said, staring at her pleadingly.

"What's in it for me?" Alex asked, surpassing a smirk.

"Um, I dunno," Robbie said. "What do you want?"

"A Chai latte every day before school for two weeks," Alex said, grinning.

"Okay, deal," Robbie said.

"Tell me what you want me to type," Alex said, leaning over to place her fingers on the long keys. Andre watched for a minute as Robbie recited what he wanted written and Alex typed it, much slower than she would have on a computer, but still faster than two words per ten minutes.

It was only a one and a half page paper, so they had it done within the hour and Robbie rushed off to hand it in. Alex got to her feet, then hoisted up the heavy typewriter.

"Ready for rehearsals?" She asked, nodding her head down the hall, indicating that Andre should walk with her.

"Yes," he said, perking up a little. "We are doing the fight scenes today."

"Great," Alex said, walking slower than usual due to the weight of the type writer. Robbie caught up to them outside the theater doors, and Alex shoved the typewriter into his arms, then went into the room, not bothering to hold the door open for the two boys.

"Hey," Beck said as she sat beside him. "Where have you been?"

"Getting free coffee every morning for the next two weeks," she said, smiling at him, then leaning up to kiss his cheek.

"Do I want to know?" Beck asked, tangling her hand in his.

"I helped out Robbie," she said, waving her free hand towards where the other boy had set down the typewriter. "I typed his paper on that and he owes me coffee."

"I see," Beck said, chuckling. "Didn't your mom have one of those?"

"Yeah," Alex said, chuckling. She opened her mouth to say something else, but Sikowitz cut them off, entering the room right before Tori, Cat, and Jade did. All three of them looked jittery, and none of them spoke.

"Alright," Sikowitz said, pointing to Robbie and Andre and a few other boys in that area. "Boys, go get into your costumes, it's time to fight!" They rushed off, Beck joining them. They had been looking forward to this rehearsal for days now, and Alex, Tori, and Jade took seats in the audience to watch. Cat, who was playing the role of a male in the play, went to get her costume too, though she didn't fight, just stood in the background mostly.

Alex had to admit, after an almost two hours of watching the boys do the fight scenes in dress, it looked pretty good. The funniest thing turned out to be Cat. Since she was obviously missing her phone, Sikowitz had decided to taunt her by putting the box with their phones in it on the center of the prop table. Cat, who was supposed to be a background fighter, kept making runs for the table, but the boys stopped her each time and managed to do so without stopping the scene. They would see her seeking closer to the box and one of them would either stand in her way while delivering their lines or they would use their swords to block her way.

That evening Alex spent almost three hours hanging out with Beck, but all they did was work on their History paper. It took a lot longer to look things up without google, and even though their text books had a glossary and index, writing their paper was much more time consuming than usual.

"Are you staying over tonight?" Alex asked Beck as he turned a page in his text book.

"I can't," he said without looking up. "I need to be home tomorrow morning when my mom goes in to work."

"Okay," Alex said with a sigh. It had only been two days since Moose had left and Beck had gone home, but she already didn't like sleeping without him.

"I'm sorry," he said, looking up at her tone.

"It's fine," she said, smiling. "It's just kinda weird not having you here."

"We've only been dating for a week," he said, chuckling. "But I know what you mean."

"It's been more than a week," she said, frowning in thought.

"A week and a half," he said, shrugging. "It feels like longer."

"Yes it does," she said, turning back to her textbook.

"What are you guys doing for Christmas?" Beck asked a few minutes later.

"I'm not sure," Alex said, glad to have an excuse to look up from her book. "I think we are just going to have a little family dinner. Grace might want to drive up to see mom."

"Well, my mom always has a Christmas party," Beck said. "This year it's on Christmas Eve. You and Grace are invited, if you want to come."

"I'd love to," Alex said, smiling. "I'll ask Grace when she gets home."

"That's right," Beck said, glancing around as though he had only just noticed that Grace wasn't there. "Where is she?"

"Work I think," Alex said, shrugging. "She usually gets off at eight."

"It's almost nine," Beck said, glancing at the watch he had acquired to use while they didn't have their phones.

"She should be back any minute then," Alex said, glancing out the window. "And I think I'm done with this for today. Want to work on it tomorrow too?"

"Sure," Beck said, closing his book. "So Andre and Robbie want to change the bet."

"To what?" Alex asked, raising an eyebrow.

"They think Cat is going to make everyone lose," he began, chuckling. "I think so too."

"So what?" Alex asked, frowning. "Are we kicking her out of the bet?"

"No," Beck said. "They are going to ask Sikowitz to change it to boys versus girls."

"Oh," Alex said. "So we will be on opposite teams then."

"Yeah," Beck said, giving her a half smile. "No hard feelings when we win?"

"What makes you think you are going to win?" Alex asked, smirking as she stood from the table. "Robbie is going almost as crazy as Cat is without his pear pad."

"True," Beck said, chuckling.

"Are you going to tell on me?" Alex asked, frowning for a moment. "That I'm having my calls forwarded?"

"No," Beck said, standing too. "I know why you're doing it."

"Because I like cheating," Alex said, raising an eyebrow.

"It's not really cheating," Beck said, grabbing her hands in his own. "More like going around the system."

"Olivia hasn't told me anything about any messages anyway," Alex said softly, looking down at their hands.

"Are you worried about the record label?" Beck asked, tugging her closer to wrap an arm over her shoulders. She sighed into his chest, her arms going around his waist.

"Sort of," Alex said. "I mean, Grace is pregnant. That's huge. She keeps worrying about money, and it's not like we don't have enough, but it would be nice to have a contract just to show her that I have guaranteed income for a while."

"It'll be fine," Beck said, rubbing a hand down her back. "They'll love your demo."

"Thanks," she said softly, not wanting to argue that he couldn't possibly know for sure.

"I'm home!" Grace called, and Alex stepped back from Beck as her sister poked her head into the kitchen. "Getting your schoolwork done I see," she said, wriggling her eyebrows. Alex rolled her eyes, but Beck chuckled.

"I was just leaving," Beck said, turning back to the table to collect his books.

"You can stay anytime you want, you know," Grace called as she climbed the stairs.

"See even my sister wants you to stay the night," Alex said, smiling up at him.

"Maybe tomorrow," Beck said, leaning down to give her a slow kiss.

"See you at school," Alex said when he had pulled away and started toward the door.

---

"What's that?" Tori asked the second she sat down beside Alex. The school day had seemed longer than ever, and Alex had spent her last class, English, fiddling with the old camera she had taken from the attic. Unfortunately she had shared the class with Tori, who was overly social at worst, and when she was curious it was even more annoying.

"Take a guess," Alex said, rolling her eyes as she snapped a picture of the other girl, then caught the Polaroid that popped out of the bottom. She waved it around a bit, letting it develop, then handed it to Tori.

"That's really cool!" Tori said, looking at the picture. Even though Alex had caught her unaware, Tori still looked as though she had posed for the picture. "How old is that?"

"It's from 1972," Alex said, resetting the camera. "It's a Polaroid SX-70. My sister got it for a vintage photography class she took a few years ago."

Cat walked into the theater room and straight passed them, squeezing a squeaky dog toy in the shape of a phone as though she were texting on it.

"Who are you pretending to text?" Tori asked, following the other girl up to the front of the room where they both began to pace. Alex looked back down at her camera.

"My brother," Cat said, smiling at Tori.

"Can I pretend to text him?" Tori asked, holding her hand out for the toy. Cat shrugged and handed it over, and Tori began squishing it too.

"I can't take it!" Jade said, storming into the room. "I can't take this!"

"Want me to rub your shoulders?" Berf asked, materializing at the end of the row of chairs Alex was sitting in.

"Down!" Jade screamed at him, and he dropped to lay on the floor. Alex moved her feet so she was sitting cross legged, but otherwise ignored him.

"What's your problem?" Tori asked, glancing up from her 'texting' for a couple seconds.

"Do you know what they are showing live right now on funny danger dot com?" Jade asked rhetorically.

"What?" Cat asked, looking worried.

"A roller coaster got stuck at Mystic Mountain and there's an old lady hanging upside down from it," Jade said, anxiously pacing a couple feet, then turning back to go the other way.

"Oh my gosh!" Tori said, looking worried. "Is it someone you know?"

"No!" Jade yelled, throwing her hands up in exasperation. "It's someone I wanna laugh at! But I can't watch the live video because of our stupid bet with Sikowitz."

"Alright boys, girls, and…" He trailed off, looking at Berf who was laying on the floor. "Others," he finished, walking up to the front of the room. Robbie and Andre trailed behind him silently as Sikowitz set the box of phones on the prop table for Cat to stare at. "Lets get this rehearsal started!" He said as everyone took a seat. Alex looked around, brows furrowed.

"Where's Beck?" She asked Andre, who was sitting closest to her. He shrugged.

"We're going to start with scene 14," Sikowitz continued, looking down at his script.

"Oh my god," Tori said, making everyone turn towards her. Alex was out of her seat instantly, jumping over Berf, still on the floor, to meet Beck at the door. His jacket was covered with what looked like broken eggs, and he had scratch marks on his face that were bleeding a little.

"Oh man," Andre said, getting up. "What happened to you?"

"Jessica Baxter," Beck said, glancing over at Alex. "She texted me about a hundred times last night and I didn't text her back." Alex frowned, but reached up to tilt his face so she could see his scratches better.

"Well did you explain to her that you can't use a phone?" Tori asked.

"I'll explain it to her for you," Alex offered, her voice sour. "You're still bleeding."

"Yeah," Beck said, both to Tori and Alex. "Right after she threw this egg at me and scratched my face." He brushed off the parts of the egg he could, letting them fall on the floor.

"Aw," Sikowitz said in a mocking tone. "Did Becky get eggied and scratchied?"

"Yes, he did-ied," Beck said, grabbing a nearby cloth to try to clean off his jacket.

"Listen," Sikowitz said, tilting their box of phones so they could see inside. "If you all wanna use your phones…" He sniffed the box. "They're right here."

Cat let out a little gasp from the front row, then she jumped up with a scream and lunged, the others all jumping up to restrain her. Alex tugged Beck's arm so that he followed her to the back row of chairs and sat down, then she wiped the rest of the egg off his jacket, ignoring the screaming and wrestling coming from the others.

"Are you okay?" She asked, tilting his face towards hers again so she could see his scratches. They had stopped bleeding.

"Yeah," Beck said, patting her knee. "But I think we need to update our SplashFace pages."

"What?" Alex asked, tilting her head in confusion.

"Jessica Baxter wouldn't have been texting me if she'd known I had a girlfriend," Beck said, smiling a little.

"Yes she would have," Alex said, frowning. "She's a gank. But I agree. As soon as we get our phones back we can change our pages."

"I need to clean off my face," Beck said, lifting a hand to his cheek.

"Don't touch it," Alex said, pushing his hand away. "It might still be bleeding. Come on, I know where the first aid kit in here is."

"Shouldn't we help?" Beck said, gesturing to where Cat was now suspended between the others, no part of her touching the floor as she fought to get her phone.

"Nah," Alex said, rolling her eyes. "They got it."

"See!" Andre called a second later as they got Cat into a seat. "I knew it. I told you the girls would crack before us."

"Yeah," Robbie said, slightly out of breath from having to restrain Cat. "And us guys don't want to lose our A's just because the girls are weak."

"Weak?" Tori said incredulously.

"He might have a point," Cat said, pouting still.

"That's garbage," Jade said. "You guys are just as desperate for your precious technology as we are."

Alex and Beck joined the now separated groups as the guys sneered at them. The girls sneered back, mocking them.

"You all wanna cancel the bet?" Sikowitz asked, frowning at them.

"No!" Tori said immediately.

"No," Andre seconded.

"Possibly," Cat said, flipping her hair back from her face.

"We just don't want the girls to wreck it for us," Andre said, turning back to Sikowitz.

"Exactly," Robbie said, shrugging.

"Right," Beck agreed.

"Okay," Sikowitz said, walking around the guys so he was in the center of the room. "Then let's change the bet. Boys against the girls."

Alex frowned at him, remembering that Beck had said it exactly that way when he had told her about their plans last night. She glanced at the boys who all looked smug, then understood that they had somehow gotten the teacher on their side.

"Whoever uses a phone, or any modern technology first, loses the bet for their side," Sikowitz explained.

"It's on," Andre said.

"It's on," Tori echoed smugly, hands on her hips.

"Just to be clear I am on the boys side?" Robbie asked sheepishly.

"Yes," Sikowitz said, his arms crossed.

"Sweet!" Robbie said, pumping his arm in a victory motion. Alex rolled her eyes.

"Can I get up now?" Bert asked, starting to stand from where he had spent the last ten minutes laying face down on the floor.

"No!" Jade snapped without looking at him, and he dropped back down immediately.

"Rehearsals start in fifteen minutes children," Sikowitz called, walking back to the set. "Costumes!"

They all went backstage to the costume room to change, and Alex once again tugged on Beck's arm to make him follow her toward the makeup table, where the first aid kit was stored.

"These aren't deep scratches," she said a moment later as he winced when she used a paper towel to clean them with peroxide. "Jessica Baxter is the one with blonde hair that she always wears in a braid, right?"

"Yeah," Beck said, then frowned. "Why?"

"She has a pretty face," Alex murmured as she put a bandage over his scratches.

"Not really," Beck said, raising an eyebrow at her. "It's kind of squished up."

"Sure," Alex said, giving him a half smile. "Go get in costume."

"I'll see you in a minute," he said, standing and touching his cheek. He leaned down and gave her a peck on the lips. As soon as he was out of sight, Alex let her smile fall and turned to the back exit of the room, sneaking out it while the others were all changing. She walked towards the courtyard where a lot of kids met up after school, hunting down one particular person.

Jessica Baxter was on the edge of the yard, chatting animatedly with the two girls that seemed to follow her everywhere. Alex walked over to her, a large fake smile on her face, and tapped the girls shoulder.

"What?" Jessica asked, turning around with her hands on her hips. Alex swung her arm, punching the girl straight in the jaw. As she hunched over, hands on her face, her friends crowded around her. Alex turned and left without a word as Jessica let out a very over exaggerated sob.

Alex was back in the costume room as the others started to emerge.

"Aren't you going to get changed?" Tori asked, spotting Alex as the other girl grabbed her 'princess' dress.

"I need help doing up the laces," Alex said, shrugging.

"Well come here, I'll do them," Tori said, gesturing.

Two minutes later they were in their places, just starting the rehearsal when the doors burst open.

"You crazy bitch!" Jessica shouted, storming up the middle aisle and pointing at Alex.

"I'm sorry," Alex said in a pleasant voice, feeling very satisfied as she spotted the bruise and scratches her rings had left on the other girl. "Is there a problem?"

"Yes!" Jessica screeched, then cupped her jaw as though it hurt, which Alex assumed it probably did. The blond girl turned to Sikowitz, her entire demeanor radiating a 'helpless victim' now. "That… girl, just came up to me an punched me in the face for no reason!"

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean," Alex said, looking at her nails as though she were bored. "I've been changing into my costume for this dress rehearsal."

"Alex," Sikowitz started, rubbing his forehead as though he wasn't even surprised. "Did you punch Jessica?"

"No," Alex said, smirking as she left the stage area to stand across from the other girl. "Though that bruise looks pretty nasty there. Must have been a pretty bad fall."

Jessica let out a wordless scream and launched herself at Alex, grabbing onto her hair. Alex's head was jerked to the side as Jessica pulled hard, and Alex's hands scrambled against the other girl's face, leaving a couple more scratches before the others pulled them apart.

"Detention, both of you," Sikowitz said. "Tomorrow during lunch." Jessica screeched and turned, storming out of the room. Alex freed herself from Andre, who had been holding her away from the other girl, then began to fix her hair.

"Alex," Sikowitz said, turning to her in disappointment. "It's not nice to punch people."

"Oh good," she said in a fake relieved voice. "If I was nice she might think I'm her friend or something."

"I give up," he said, throwing his hands in the air. "Back to rehearsals."

"Alex," Beck began, his voice low so the others wouldn't hear him.

"I'm not apologizing," Alex said, not wanting to look up at him.

"Do you remember our conversation from last week about my not having any reason to be jealous?" Beck asked, and she finally looked up at him, her face a little worried.

"Yeah?" She said slowly, not sure what he was getting at.

"That goes the other way too," he said softly.

"Places!" Sizowitz yelled at them. Alex took her place, frowning in confusion. Did he mean that? She had told him that he had no reason to worry because she had wanted him forever and she wasn't going anywhere, ever. Was he talking about that part of the conversation too, or had he just meant that he wouldn't ever cheat on her?

"Come over tonight?" She asked him as they left the rehearsals.

"How about you come over?" Beck asked softly as they walked out of the school.

"Now?" Alex asked, looking up at him. He nodded. "I need to go home first."

"I'll come with you," he said. "Then you don't have to bring your car."

"I can just park down the street," she said, knowing he didn't want her car in the driveway overnight. His mom would definitely notice that.

"Yes but its harder for you to escape when you don't have a car," he said lowly into her ear as they came to a stop by her car. She shivered.

"I'm not going to try escaping," she whispered, then chuckled. "Besides, it's only like a mile to my house, I could run it."

"Not if I hide your shoes," he said, grinning. She rested a hand on his cheek over the bandage, frowning.

"Does it hurt?" Alex asked, her voice concerned.

"No," Beck said, shaking his head a little. "Not as much as I bet Jessica's jaw is hurting her right now."

"She deserved it," Alex muttered, dropping her hand. He caught it in his.

"No she didn't," Beck said, looking serious now. "You can't go punching every girl who flirts with me."

"I didn't punch her because she flirted with you," Alex protested. He gave her a look. "Well, maybe a little. But it was mostly because she hurt you."

"It's just a scratch," he said, shaking his head again. She squeezed his hand.

"Her face will heal just fine," Alex said, not feeling sorry at all. "Probably."

"Alex…" Beck said, then sighed.

"Okay, okay," Alex said, giving up. "I won't punch any other girls that flirt with you."

"Good," Beck said.

"Unless they really deserve it," Alex amended. Beck gave her a look, and she smiled at him.

"You shouldn't punch any of them," Beck said, shaking his head. "But I'll accept that for now."

"Excuse me, but I seem to recall that you punched James Drango in the fourth grade because he pushed me down during tag," Alex said, laughing. "You dislocated his jaw."

"He didn't just push you down," Beck said, defending himself. "He kicked you in the stomach too."

"On accident!" Alex said, grinning up at him. "He tripped over me."

"Well then I'll send him an apology card," Beck said, rolling his eyes. "Come on, lets go work on that History paper."

"What a fantastic date," Alex said, chuckling now.

"It's not a date," Beck said, his face serious now. "But I will take you on one of those. How about Saturday? We can get sushi before the play."

"I'd love to," Alex said, leaning up to give him a peck on the lips, then his injured cheek. "See you at home in a minute."

He released her hand at last, turning to go to his own car as Alex got into hers.

---

"Did you guys get Sikowitz to take your side of the bet?" Alex asked as they were cuddled up against each other in Beck's trailer that night.

"Maybe," Beck said slowly. "How did you figure that out?"

"The way he worded the change in the bet earlier," Alex said, smiling to herself. She had been right.

"You are far too observant for your own good," Beck said, chuckling softly as he ran a hand down her back.

"I think the others are planning something," Alex admitted. "Tori wanted us all to come over after rehearsals for something."

"Why didn't you go?" Beck asked.

"Gee, choosing between spending time with you or spending time with Tori? How could I possibly not have chosen Tori?" Alex asked sarcastically.

"She's not that bad," Beck said, and Alex could see his mouth twitch up into a smile. She pulled her head back to look at him, narrowing her eyes.

"Do I need to punch her in the face too?" Alex asked, frowning.

"No," Beck said, sighing. "You didn't have to punch Jessica in the face either. I told her we were dating, after she scratched me."

"I wanted to ruin her pretty face," Alex said in a bored tone. "Temporarily of course. For now."

"Alex, you don't need to be jealous of anyone," Beck said, pulling her a little closer to him in a sort of hug. "Trust me."

"I do trust you," Alex said, sighing. "It's other people I don't trust." She paused for a moment, then glanced up at him again. "Are you mad? That I punched her?"

"No," Beck said, giving her a half smile. "I kind of like that you are so possessive."

"Really?" She asked, her voice wavering a little.

"I've always liked that about you," Beck said, smiling. "It was always so easy to make you jealous when we were little."

"I guess it still is," Alex said, resting her forehead back on his shoulder. He tightened the arm around her shoulders again in another little hug. "But I probably would have done the same thing even if I didn't like you. I mean, like like you. People do not hurt my friends without some sort of retaliation."

"I remember," Beck said, chuckling. "You pushed David Grayson out of a tree and broke his leg in eighth grade because he gave me a bloody nose during a lacrosse game."

"You knew about that?" Alex asked, lifting her head in surprise.

"Not until last year when I went back to visit and ran into him at Tim Hortons," Beck said, laughing. "We got to talking and he remembered that."

"I also filled Rachel Harrin's locker with shaving cream after she tripped you in the hallway in seventh grade," Alex said, snuggling back into him. "And one time when Grace said you were annoying I covered her entire bed in american cheese slices and turned the heat on high while she was gone at work so that when she came home it would be melted. She had to throw away the whole bed set because she couldn't get the cheese out."

"When did you do that?" Beck asked, chuckling.

"The year after we moved to Seattle," Alex said, smiling against his neck.

"I don't need you to protect me, you know," Beck said, his voice quiet. She frowned, glancing up at him.

"I didn't do it to protect you," she said. "You can protect yourself."

"Well then why did you?" He asked, looking down at her curiously.

"I…" She began, but she hesitated, then snuggled back into him. "I care about you. A lot."

"Oh," he said, his voice holding a tone she didn't understand. She pulled back to look at him again, confused, and he rolled so he was hovering above her, catching her by surprise. He looked down at her, his eyes shining, and his mouth twitched into a smile.

"What?" She asked when he didn't move.

"I just realized something," he said, grinning now. She stayed still under him, not really sure what was going on.

"What did you realize?" She asked, confused as she stared up at him. He leaned down to kiss her, and her hands went to his hair, pulling him closer. After a long moment, he pulled away to look down at her, his eyes glinting in the faint light coming from the street.

"You love me," he said softly, and she froze, holding her breath as she looked up at him, her eyes wide. He kissed her again, and it took her a moment to respond this time, her heart hammering in her chest. Finally, she kissed him back, pouring her emotions into the kiss, and he groaned in the back of his throat. Tears pricked the corners of her eyes as her feelings overwhelmed her for a second, but she blinked and they were gone, and she focused on him fully, kissing back eagerly.

"We should sleep," Beck said nearly half an hour later. Both of them were still almost fully clothed in their pajamas, though the clothing was mussed from their make out session.

"Do we need to… talk about, uh," Alex began, her head still spinning from their kissing.

"Nope," Beck said, kissing her forehead as he laid down next to her. "Not if you don't want to. I can wait."

"Okay," she whispered, snuggling back into him. He stroked her hair with one hand, his other arm falling across his stomach next to hers.

"Good night," Beck whispered to her. She smiled, letting her eyes drift closed. This was her favorite way to fall asleep.

"Good night," she said softly.

---

"-and we already tried it on Beck and Andre but they didn't fall for it," Tori finished her explanation of their plan to trick the boys into using their phones. Alex sighed.

"You guys were too obvious about it," she said, shutting her locker as the first warning bell of the day rang out.

"Too obvious?" Cat asked, her eyes wide.

"Yeah," Alex said, shaking her head. "Have either of you ever actually lied to someone and had them believe you?"

"I don't like to lie," Cat said softly.

"Yeah, I'm not very good at it," Tori said, shrugging.

"And you want to be actresses?" Alex asked, snorting. "You know what, leave Robbie to me and Jade. I bet she's good at lying."

"What are you going to do?" Tori asked, following Alex to their morning acting class.

"I don't know yet," Alex said, shrugging. "But Jade will probably have some ideas."

"Ideas about what?" Jade asked, coming up behind them.

"Perfect timing," Alex said, turning to face her. "You two go ahead, we will catch up."

"Okay byeeee," Cat called, skipping down the hall. Tori sighed but followed after her.

"We need a new plan to trick the guys," Alex said when the hall was empty. "Tori told me about what you guys tried this morning and I think they were too obvious about it."

"I told them it wouldn't work," Jade said, rolling her eyes as the bell for the start of class rang. Neither girl cared that they were now late, since it was Sikowitz.

"I like the idea though," Alex said, shrugging. "But instead of a picture of Tori's mole, it should be some sort of contest."

"Contest?" Jade asked thoughtfully.

"Yeah," Alex asid. "Like, we can say the cheer leading team is having a contest on The Slap where whoever wins gets to carpool to school with them for a week. Robbie would love that."

"What would the contest be though?" Jade asked.

"It doesn't matter," Alex said. "The second he went online the bet would be over."

"It needs to be something that will lure him though," Jade said. "A contest to see who can answer the most computer technology questions."

"Or maybe a contest to see who can guess which cheerleaders have fake boobs," Alex said, snorting.

"Do you think he would fall for that?" Jade asked, chuckling.

"Probably, it's Robbie," Alex said. "We can try it after class, but we need to make sure he's alone or the others will stop him."

"Should we get Tori and Cat to help?" Jade asked as they finally reached the classroom.

"Yes," Alex said, thinking. "But don't tell them they are helping."

"Oh," Jade said, smirking. "Good thinking."

"Okay," Alex said before they entered the room. "So right before the end of class, I'll trip Robbie, and you catch Tori and Cat in the hall, then as Robbie is picking his things up, we can talk about it in the hallway and he will hear."

"Perfect," Jade said, smirking as she pushed the doors open. Sikowitz didn't even notice they were late, he was turned around writing on the board as they took their seats. Beck gave Alex a curious look as she sat next to him, but she just shrugged. She didn't want to purposefully trick him, but if Robbie was the one to lose it for their side she wouldn't feel bad about it.

Towards the end of class, Sikowitz, luckily, made Robbie stay behind to help him put the props away. Alex nodded to Jade, then the door, and the other girl got up to catch Tori and Cat as the others left the classroom.

"I'll see you in a minute," she said to Beck as he waited for her. They didn't share their next class but they usually walked together since their classrooms were in the same hall.

"Are you up to something?" Beck asked, raising his eyebrow.

"No," Alex said, but she gave him a half smile. "I just need to talk to Cat about the song she wrote me and I don't want you to overhear."

"I'll hear the song eventually," Beck said, scowling at her.

"Yes but eventually isn't right now," she said, pushing him toward the door. He gave her a kiss on the cheek, then left, shaking his head. Finally the hall was empty and Sikowitz left through the back of the room, so Alex left the door open a little as Robbie collected his things.

"Hey, what's up?" Tori asked as Alex left the room. "Jade said you needed to talk to us?"

"Yeah," Alex said, glancing around to make sure the hall was empty. "You'll never guess what I heard before class."

"What?" Cat asked, leaning in closer.

"Well Sarah Addams said that the cheerleaders are having a contest on SplashFace," Alex said, leaning in a little while making sure her voice was loud enough to hear. "The winner gets a ride to school with them every day for a month."

"That's cool," Tori said. "But why do we care?"

"Well, you don't have a car," Alex said, shrugging. "I figured you'd rather ride with the cheerleaders than with Trina."

"That's so true," Tori said, leaning in. "What's the contest?"

"I'm not sure," Alex said, shrugging. "Sarah only told me a little. It doesn't start till ten."

"It's almost ten right now," Tori said, glancing at her watch.

"Well she said something about it being a photo editing contest," Alex said, shrugging again. "I think it's just a cheap way for the cheer team to get their yearbook pictures edited."

"Well we can't use a computer anyway," Tori said, sighing.

"Yeah but, a whole month without Trina every morning?" Alex said. "Isn't that worth giving up the bet? I mean, we can still get all A's in Sikowitz's classes. It's not like he's a hard grader."

"True, and I learned about photo editing last year in class," Tori said thoughtfully, then glanced at her watch again. "Crap, I'm going to be late for class."

She took off down the hallway, Alex hurrying to catch up to her. When they were a safe distance away from the classroom, Alex stopped her and Cat.

"Hey look," Alex said quietly. "I made all that up because I knew Robbie was listening. It was a trick, so don't actually give up on the bet."

"Ug, so I do have to ride with Trina?" Tori asked, pouting a little.

"If this worked and Robbie loses the bet for the guys, I'll give you a ride to school for a month," Alex offered, chuckling.

"Why are you being nice today?" Cat asked, frowning. "It's weird."

"I'm in a good mood today," Alex said, shrugging.

"Come on, let's go to class," Jade said, shoving her way through their little huddle.

---

"The cheer leading squad is having a contest on SplashFace?" Beck asked after rehearsals that day, his voice amused.

"Oh definitely," Alex said, shoving her books into her locker. "You should go check it out."

"Nice try, but we aren't falling for that," he said, leaning on one arm against the lockers.

"Stop posing like that," she said, pushing his arm down.

"I'm not posing!" He protested, taking a step closer to her.

"Yeah sure," Alex said, rolling her eyes. "What if I just stood around all day like this?" She leaned against the lockers in a very mocking model pose, arm thrown over her head so her elbow touched the lockers, and her hips jutted out to one side. She made the duck face for good measure, ruffling up her hair.

"That's kinda hot," he said, stepping forward to rest his hands on her hips. She rolled her eyes, standing normally again.

"I'm going to start copying your poses every time I notice them, then you'll see," she said, closing her locker.

"Fine," he said, leaning forward to kiss her for a second. "Are you coming over?"

"Can't," she said, hoisting her backpack over her shoulder as she stepped back. "Tori asked us all to go over to her house to help her keep Cat restrained."

"Good luck," he said, chuckling. "Andre wants us to meet in Sikowitz's classroom before school tomorrow to plan our revenge on you guys."

"Don't tell me that," Alex said, chuckling. "This is a bet you know."

"You aren't going to cheat," he said, smiling down at her.

"And what makes you think that?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"It's not very nice," Beck said, pouting a little as he stepped toward her again. She copied his pout for a moment, but then she smiled.

"I'm not a very nice person," she said, standing on her toes to kiss his cheek, then turning to walk out to the parking lot.

"I think you are very nice," Beck said, catching up to her.

"Then I haven't been trying hard enough," she said, laughing. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Tomorrow then," he said, hugging her goodbye.

Alex drove straight to Tori's house, knowing the others had probably beaten her there.

"Finally!" Jade said as Tori opened the door. "Thought you got lost."

"Is Cat tied on a leash?" Alex asked, walking into the living room. Cat was sitting by the stairs, pretending to text on her fake dog toy phone, and tethered to the stair railing.

"Yeah," Tori said, plopping back down onto the couch. "If we let her loose she runs for the nearest phone."

"Oh!" Cat said, looking at her toy. "I'm pretending I got another text! It's from Robbie's friend Billy Quan!" She got to her feet and walked out until the leash pulled her back. "All the way from Asia!" She added, not seeming concerned about the leash.

"It's kind of sad," Jade said, staring at Cat as she went back to her fake texting. "Watching Cat go mentally insane." Jade continued to explain. "I always thought it would happen more gradually."

"I texted Billy back!" Cat said, grinning at them all as Alex sat not he end of Tori's couch. "I said 'Yay Asia!' ahahaha, haha, oh my god, I wish it were real!"

"So what's our next plan to trick the guys?" Alex asked, changing the subject, but just then the door bell rang.

"Who is that?" Tori asked exasperatedly, getting up to open the door. Outside was a girl who looked to be in middle school, crying a little. "Hello," Tori said, frowning in concern.

"Will you help me?" The girl asked worriedly. "I'm lost."

"You're lost?" Tori asked, frowning.

"Uh huh," the girl said. "Will you please call my mom and tell her where I am?"

"Uh, sure," Tori said, shrugging. "I'll call your mom-"

"Wait!" Jade shouted, getting to her feet. Alex stood too, following Jade over to the door.

"What?" Tori asked, turning back to her.

"It's a trick!" Jade said, stomping as she walked. "To get us to use our phones!"

"It's not a trick!" The girl said immediately, crying a little.

"Who sent you?" Tori asked the girl angrily.

"I have asthma!" The girl said. Alex rolled her eyes at them.

"Was it Robbie?" Tori asked, still shouting. "Andre? Beck? Who!"

"I just got lost," she said. "I took the wrong bus."

"Well," Jade said, pushing Tori back from the door. "You know what happens to little girls with asthma who take the wrong bus?"

"What?" The girl asked, confused.

"They get a face full of door!" Jade shouted, slamming the door shut. Alex sighed, then pulled the door open again, stepping out to look down the street past the little girl who was still crying.

"What are you doing?" Tori hissed, pulling on Alex's arm.

"Tori, you have a house phone don't you?" Alex asked, and Tori nodded. "Great. You can go use it to call your mom yourself then," she told the girl. "It's in the kitchen."

"Alex!" Tori said, frowning at her.

"This way we aren't using technology and if she actually is lost, she gets to call her mom," Alex said, standing behind the little girl.

"Alright fine," Tori said. "Come in."

The girl looked between them for a moment, then sprinted down the driveway.

"Guess it was a trick," Alex said, shrugging, then coming back inside and closing the door.

"Those boys are terrible," Jade said, frowning.

There was a momentary silence, and then a tearing sound. They turned to look at Cat, who was staring at the two chewed ends of her leash.

"Cat!" Tori gasped.

"She chewed through her leash!" Jade said, surprised.

"I'm free!" Cat yelled, then made a dash toward the kitchen. They began to chase her around the living room, Tori blocking the front door, Jade blocking the stairs, and Alex blocking the patio door, and eventually they managed to tackle her to the floor, all of them laying across her to keep her down.

"So I heard that the boys are planning something for tomorrow," Alex said half an hour later when they had found a better way to restrain Cat. The other girl was currently handcuffed to the stair raining using a spare pair of Tori's dad's handcuffs they had found. The others were sitting on the couch.

"What is it?" Jade asked, picking at the ends of her hair.

"I don't know," Alex said, shrugging. "They are meeting in the morning to talk about it. I'm going to get to school early to listen in."

"We should plan something in return," Tori said, crossing her arms.

"Like what?" Jade asked. "They won't fall for anything."

"I wish there was a way to bribe Sikowitz onto our side," Alex said, frowning in thought.

"He's a teacher though, he's supposed to be neutral," Tori said, crossing her arms.

"Don't be naive," Alex snapped. "He's obviously on the boys side."

"What if we could get another teacher on our side?" Jade said, leaning forward a little.

"What good would that do?" Alex asked, sighing. "Sikowitz runs the bet."

"Yeah," Jade said slowly. "But if we could get someone else the boys wouldn't expect to be in on it to trick them, they might fall for it."

"Okay, but how?" Tori asked. "Pay Lane to literally shove his phone into one of their hands?"

"That's not a bad idea," Alex said. "It'll have to be Robbie, he's the most gullible."

"Yeah," Jade said, smirking. "We could get Lane to catch him in-between classes or something, when his guard is down."

"Yeah," Alex said, getting to her feet. "Lane could be walking past with his phone in hand and say something along the lines of 'Oh, hey Robbie, your smart, can you fix this?' and Robbie would eat it up."

"Fix what though?" Tori asked, confused.

"Doesn't matter, anything," Alex said. "We could change his phone language or something."

"Well, we can't do it," Jade said. "We would have to find someone else to do it."

"Sinjin," Alex said immediately. "I know just how to bribe him too."

"Perfect," Tori said, nodding. "So how do we get Lane in on the plan?"

"Lotion," Jade said immediately, grimacing. "He's obsessed with the stuff."

"Great," Alex said, grabbing her purse. "Leave everything to me. Don't try to do anything, any of you. We don't want to ruin it."

"Fine," Jade said, rolling her eyes. "Where are you going?"

"Lotion shopping," Alex said, walking out the door and letting it slam shut behind her.

---

"What are you willing to give me in return?" Sinjin asked Alex the next morning when she had explained her plan to him.

"A hug," she said, narrowing her eyes. "Five seconds long, and I'll pat your pack."

"Hm, tempting offer," he said slowly, frowning in thought. "And all I have to do is change Lane's phone setting to Chinese?"

"That's it," Alex said, nodding. "And you can't tell anyone."

"How am I supposed to get his phone?" Sinjin asked.

"I'm going to distract him," Alex said. "I'll offer him lotion, you change the settings, then scamper off."

"Okay," Sinjin said, finally agreeing. "But I want the hug to be ten seconds, and a back stroke instead of a pat."

"Seven seconds," Alex countered.

"Eight," he argued.

"Fine, deal," she said, holding her hand out to shake his. "We'll do it after lunch. Meet me by the stairs."

"Yes!" Sinjin said, grinning at her, then jogging off down the hall.

It was still before seven, so the school was mostly empty. Alex made her way to Sikowitz's classroom, planning to eavesdrop on the boys conversation, but they were already inside when she got there.

"I'll word it very particularly," Sikowitz was promising. "Don't worry about a thing."

"Thanks dude," Andre said, and Alex hid herself around a corner as they began leaving the room.

"Yeah, we owe you," Beck said.

"Nonsense," Sikowitz said "Now go find somewhere else to be."

"I need to go get coffee for Alex," Robbie said when the three boys left the classroom. "I owe her one every day for two weeks.

"I need to go study for that test we have after lunch," Andre said, shaking his head.

"I forgot about that!" Robbie squeaked. "Chapter six right?"

"And seven," Andre said, nodding. Robbie squeaked again, then turned to run down the hallway. Beck told Robbie he would catch up with him, then turned towards where Alex was hiding.

"I know you're here," he said, and Alex sighed, stepping out from behind the corner.

"How'd you know?" She asked, walking up to him slowly.

"I had a feeling you would be," he said, smiling down at her. "Did you hear everything?"

"No," Alex said, frowning. "I only got here a second before you guys left. I didn't expect you to be meeting so early."

"I asked them to meet earlier yesterday," Beck said, chuckling. "Because I figured you would try to eavesdrop."

"You figured right," she said, sighing as she leaned into him. His arms went around her waist, and she rested her face against his shoulder. "I can't wait until we can use our phones again."

"They do make it a lot easier to make plans," Beck said, nodding against her hair. "I had to drive out to Robbie's house and Andre's place last night to tell them we should meet earlier."

"You poor baby," Alex said, chuckling.

"How was Cat?" Beck asked, his arms not moving from their place around her shoulders.

"A nightmare," Alex said, chuckling against him. "We had to handcuff her to Tori's stair railings to keep her from beating us up to get to a phone. And it was very low of you guys to use a little girl to try to trick us."

"That was Andre's idea," Beck said, chuckling. "And he didn't believe her when she told us you were going to let her come in and use a phone on her own. He said there was no way you would be that considerate."

"She was little, and crying," Alex said, shrugging against him. "I just wanted to make sure she didn't really need help."

"Deep down you are a huge softy," Beck said, and she could hear the smile in his voice.

"Don't go telling people that," she said, finally pulling back. "I have a reputation to maintain."

"Of course," he said, laughing as he took her hand. They walked down the hallway enjoying the quiet before a bunch of other people got there. "Are you going to be upset if the girls lose?"

"No," Alex said, shrugging. "I kind of like not having a phone to depend on. I learned how to use a really old camera, and I didn't realize before this how much time I spend on my phone."

"So when we beat you you won't be upset?" He asked again.

"You aren't going to beat us," Alex said, chuckling. "Just because you didn't fall for our plot doesn't mean we are going to use our phones first."

"You aren't planning something again, are you?" Beck asked, peering over at her. She rolled her eyes, purposefully trying to look annoyed.

"We were going to plan something yesterday," Alex began. "But your dumb little girl came, and then Cat got loose and we had to trap her again, and by the time we got her cuffed, I had to get home. Grace has still been throwing up."

"How is she other than the morning sickness?" Beck asked, not spotting her slight fib.

"Fine," Alex said, shrugging. "I think she's just starting to get excited about being pregnant. She always wanted kids when we were younger, and now that I've finally gotten her to stop worrying so much about money and things, she's relaxing a little."

"That's good," he said, nodding. "When my mom was pregnant last she was an absolute nightmare."

"Woah, wait," Alex said, tugging him to a stop. "You have a sibling? And you didn't tell me?"

"Oh," Beck said, rubbing the back of his head. "I guess I forgot you didn't know, since you know everything else. Yeah, I have a brother, he's four."

"Wow," Alex said, shocked. "I missed a lot."

"His name is Brayden," Beck said, chuckling. "My mom likes weird names that start with B."

"Your name isn't that weird," Alex said, glancing up at him. "And Braydon is sort of common."

"I guess," Beck said, shrugging.

"I can't believe I didn't know that," Alex said, shaking her head.

"Know what?" Jade asked from behind them.

"That Beck had a brother," Alex said, shaking her head.

"Oh yeah," Jade said, smirking a little. "He's cute, you know, for a kid. You didn't know about Braydon?"

"No," Alex said, glancing at Jade, who wore a strange, almost gloating expression on her face.

"Guess you don't know Beck that well after all," Jade said, then turned to go to her locker. Alex stared after her for a minute, frowning.

"Hey, come on," Beck said. "It's not a big deal, you can meet him whenever you want. They're coming to opening night of the play tomorrow."

"Yeah," Alex said, turning back to him, but her mind was thinking over Jade's words.

She was right, Alex really didn't know Beck that well. She knew about his childhood and everything, but not who he had become in the last five years. She didn't know he was a brother. What else did she not know? She had fallen right back into the way they had been in the past without a second thought, not even realizing that there were things she didn't know, and things he didn't know about her either. A lot of things could change in five years.

"Don't do that," Beck said, drawing her eyes up to him. They had walked to their lockers without her noticing.

"Do what?" She asked, tilting her head in confusion.

"Overthink," he said, tapping her forehead. "I can tell you are because you scowl and look like you are about to run away."

"I'd like to go on a run right now," she said, opening her locker to get her books.

"Hey," he said, resting a hand on her shoulder. "It's not a bad thing that you don't know everything about me. It just means we have more to talk about."

"I guess," she said, sighing. "I just didn't even think, really. I just kinda let it feel as if we didn't spend five years not being friends. I guess I just don't really know who you are anymore."

"I'm still me," Beck said softly, cupping her cheek. "You still know me, there's just a little more to know now."

"Alex!" Robbie called, running over to them as he entered the building again. "I got your coffee."

"Thanks," she said without thinking, and he looked surprised. "Now get out." He handed it over, then ran.

"Stop thinking about it," Beck said after a moment, tapping her forehead again. She sighed.

"Jade knows you so much better than I do," Alex said, speaking her thoughts aloud.

"No she doesn't," Beck said, shaking his head. "Even when we were dating our relationship was mostly superficial." Alex didn't say anything, and Beck frowned. "Are you jealous of her?" He asked incredulously.

"Of course I am," Alex said, crossing her arms defensively. "She got to know you for the last four years and I didn't."

"There you go again, being sappy," Beck said, smiling. He leaned forward and kissed her forehead.

"I wasn't trying to be sappy," Alex said, sighing, but she relaxed a little.

"I know," he said, chuckling. "That's what makes it sappy. I'll see you at lunch," he said as the warning bell rang. She sighed and nodded, then leaned up to kiss his cheek as they parted ways.

---

"Lane!" Alex called out, waving the teacher down in the hall on his way to the bathroom. The lunch bell had rung nearly ten minutes ago, and Alex and Sinjin had been waiting in the hallway the whole time, waiting for the moment Lane would leave the room. She had decided against trying to bribe the teacher to be on their side of the bet, assuming that he would be easy to manipulate. The man turned to face her, one hand clutching his phone, the other rubbing over the back of that one. Alex caught the strong scent of lavender and citrus as she approached.

"Hello," he said, raising an eyebrow at her.

"You're the guidance councilor right?" Alex asked, watching as Sinjin went to stand behind the man. "I don't think I've met you yet, I'm Alex, I just started this year."

"Yes, of course, Alexandra Zeller," Lane said, and Alex sighed, but kept her smile on her face. "How can I help you?"

"Well, I was hoping I could make an appointment to come talk to you," Alex began, grinning inwardly as his eyes sparked with excitement. She had assumed, correctly, that most students avoided him unless they absolutely had to see him. "You see, recently I've been having a lot of trouble at home," Alex began, rambling in hopes he would become distracted. "I live with my older sister and we just found out she's expecting and it's been really difficult for me to cope with everything that's been going on- oh, hey, is that the new Pear Phone 6? Could I see it for a sec? I was thinking about getting one but I don't know if I'll like it."

"What?" He asked, confused at the change of subject. "Oh yeah, uh, sure." He handed the phone over to her.

"Anyway, about my sister," Alex said, not even glancing down at the phone. "I've always been the youngest in the family and ever since my parents disowned me I've been worrying about-"

"You're parents disowned you?" Lane asked, frowning in concern. Alex shifted her weight so that she was standing closer to the door, where Sinjin was standing, apparently invisible to the teacher. Alex held the phone out for him as she started speaking again.

"Yeah, well," Alex began, purposefully looking like she was trying to hide how upset she was. "They don't approve of my choice to become a musician. Anyway they live in Seattle, and my sister and I moved here, but I've just been so stressed about what's going to happen when she has her baby, what if she kicks me out too?" Alex was definitely reaching now. While it hurt that her dad didn't approve of her, she had learned to accept that years ago, and she wasn't even the slightest bit concerned about Grace leaving her.

"Goodness, it seems like you have a lot on your shoulders," Lane said, rubbing his hands together. "Yes, we can definitely make an appointment, come to my office for a second."

"Sure thing," Alex said, making it look as though she were going to follow him, then hesitating. "Oh, one sec, my hands are a bit dry, I think I have some lotion in here…" She trailed off, ruffling through her backpack.

"I have some if you would like," Lane began, but Alex pulled out the bottle she had gone to purchase yesterday.

"No thanks, I just got this," Alex said, rubbing a little onto her hands. "It smells like bacon. Oh! And it tastes good too, want to try some?" She held it out, and Lane reached out, eyes wide. She glanced at Sinjin, who held the phone out to her, and took it from him.

"This is excellent," Lane said, licking the back of his hand. "Fantastic really."

"I know," Alex said. "Oh hey, do you want this one? I have two more at home."

"That's so nice of you," he said, taking the bottle.

"Oh, and here's your phone back," Alex said, grinning. "It's pretty cool. I think I will get one."

"Yeah it's great," Lane said, easily distracted once again. "So much better than the five, it can- oh, what's this?"

"Is everything okay?" Alex asked, frowning in fake concern.

"No," Lane said, poking at his phone. Sinjin had left a moment ago, presumably doing as he was told and luring Robbie into the hallway. "There seems to be something wrong with my phone, I'm not sure what happened."

"Oh," Alex said, hearing talking coming from down the hall. "I'd offer to help but I don't really know anything about Pear Phone's, I've had an old Infinity for years. My friend Robbie is really good with Pear Phones though. He's out at lunch, I bet he could fix it for you."

"I'll go ask him," Lane said, still staring down at his phone. "Right after we make an appointment for you of course."

"Oh, that's okay," Alex said, smiling. "I'll come by after school to make it. You can go fix your phone now."

"Right," Lane said. "Well it was nice talking with you Alex, see you later."

"Bye," Alex said, waving as he walked away. She waited a few minutes, then went out to the courtyard with her lunch, smiling.

"Hey," the others at the table greeted as she sat.

"Hey," she replied, looking around. "Where's Robbie?"

"Off with that other freak," Jade said, rolling her eyes.

"What is that?" Beck asked after a moment, leaning closer to sniff her. "Do you smell like bacon?"

"Oh yeah," she said, chuckling as she lifted her hand. "It's this new lotion I got."

"It's weird," Cat said, sniffing her hand too. "Can I have some?"

"I don't have it anymore," Alex said, shrugging. "I gave it to Lane."

"Oh," Cat said, then she perked up and opened her mouth, understanding why Alex would be giving lotion to Lane, and Alex kicked her under the table. "Ow!" Cat said, clutching her leg.

"What happened?" Andre asked from her other side.

"Alex kicked me," Cat said, her voice accusatory.

"Oh, sorry," Alex said. "I didn't mean to."

"Oh, okay," Cat said, turning back to her lunch. Alex turned to hers as well, but caught Beck looking at her suspiciously. She tilted her head a little, giving him a half smile, and his eyes widened.

"I knew you were up to something!" He said, standing quickly. "What did you do?"

"Nothing," Alex said, frowning. "I don't know what you mean."

"Don't play innocent," Beck said, narrowing his eyes at her. "You did something to make us lose the bet. I knew it this morning. I saw your car when I got here, why else would you be here that early?"

"Because I was trying to eavesdrop on your guys' plans," Alex said, rolling her eyes, and trying to keep him talking as long as possible. "But I missed the conversation. I told you that this morning!"

"You were spying on us?" Andre accused, his eyes narrowing.

"Of course I was," Alex said, sighing. "After you guys tried to trick us with that little girl-"

"What little girl?" Andre asked, trying to seem innocent.

"Cut the crap," Jade snapped. "We know you guys sent her."

"Did you do something?" Beck asked Alex again, and she looked up to meet his eyes. She really didn't want to outright lie to him, but she couldn't betray her side, and she had to keep him there as long as possible. She doubted she would be able to lie convincingly to him anyway, he knew her too well, or at least, he had known her too well. Maybe now he didn't. She didn't really know him anymore after all.

As though he could hear what she was thinking, his eyes softened a little.

"Oh no," Andre said. "Robbie!"

"Crap," Beck said, grabbing his things and running after Andre.

"So?" Tori asked when they were gone. "Did you do something?"

"Of course I did," Alex said, rolling her eyes. "But I think we stalled them enough that it should be safe."

"What did you do?" Jade asked, leaning across the table a little.

"Bribed Sinjin to change the language on Lane's phone, then to get Robbie into the hallway right after I told Lane that Robbie was really good with Pear Phones and could probably fix his for him," Alex explained, smirking. "Robbie and Sinjin would have been the only ones in the hall, so Lane probably didn't ask anyone else to help him."

"Did it work?" Cat asked, her eyes wide. "Did we win?"

"I don't know," Alex said, shrugging. "I didn't stick around to see because I didn't want to make Robbie suspicious. I was trying to make it so he was caught off guard. I know he's worrying about that test he has after lunch."

"You are devious," Jade said, smirking at her. "I like it."

"Be careful though," Alex said, warning them. "Sikowitz is definitely on their side and this morning I heard him say that he will 'word it carefully'," she said, raising her hands to make air quotes. "I'm not sure what he's planning, but think about what he says before you do anything."

"Right," Tori said, looking determined. "There's the bell. I'll see you guys at rehearsal."

The others stood, gathering their things for their next class. Today was the last day of rehearsals before opening night, and Alex was a little nervous, though she would never admit it. She had never been in any sort of live performance where she had lines before. Sure she had sung on stage, and that was fine, and she had made a lot of videos for SplashFace and Youtube, but those she could edit before anyone saw them. This time, if she messed up, everyone would know immediately.

She looked around the halls for the guys, but didn't see any of them on her way to class.

---

"Where's Robbie?" Alex asked, using both hands to hold up the heavy skirts of the dress she had to wear for the play. "He missed his cue."

"His costume is still on the rack," Tori said, poking her head around the side of the set.

"Dang nabbit," Sikowitz said, slapping his script down onto the chair beside him as he stood. "Where is Robbie?"

The moment they all turned to look around the room, the doors opened and Robbie came running in, grinning, and wearing some sort of ridiculous pink fairy costume.

"Here I am!" He shouted, posing in the aisle for a few seconds, then strutting around the set while the others laughed. Alex covered her mouth, trying to cover her chuckles. They were still technically rehearsing after all.

"Oh my god," Jade said as she watched Robbie do a little ballet type jump in the air.

"Why are you dressed that way?" Sikowitz asked, looking him over with confusion.

"Cuz I'm the scuba fairy!" Robbie said, pointing to a pair of scuba goggles on top of his head. "And I'm here to grant all of your under water wishes!"

"That is an embarrassing costume," Andre said, chuckling.

"Really embarrassing," Beck added in a fake surprised tone, and suddenly Alex understood what the boys were trying to do.

"Yeah," Robbie said, still hopping around. "So nobody better take a picture of me and post it online!"

"I have to take a picture of him and post it online," Cat said immediately. Alex jumped down from the little raised stage area and went to her backpack, digging out the old camera she had been carrying around all week.

"No!" Tori said, joining the others on the stage. "That's what the guys want us to do so we'll lose the bet!"

"Who cares?" Jade asked. "Look at him! This is too good!"

"Take a pic!" Andre and Beck started chanting from their seats "Take a pic!"

"Hey Robbie," Alex called, making the boy turn. She snapped a picture of him, catching the square of photo paper as it was ejected from the camera. She snapped another one of him too, just in case the first one was blurry.

"Hey!" Robbie said, holding his arms up and turning to Andre and Beck. "You guys said no one would have a camera!"

"It's not a digital one," Andre said, shrugging. "She can't upload it."

"We have to upload it!" Cat said, and Tori began arguing with her as the boys continued egging them on to use their phones.

"Stifle! Stifle!" Sikowitz yelled over their arguing, and they all fell silent. "I am a teacher, and I am tired of this nonsense." He turned back to his seat, grabbing the box of phones that had been on the floor next to him. "Here," he said, walking over to place it on the table. "If you want your phones, take them." He walked to the back of the room as the girls around the table glanced at each other. A second later, everyone in the room had jumped up and darted to the box to get their phones.

"Wait!" Alex called suddenly, holding her arms out. Everyone froze. "It's a trick!"

"No it's not!" Jade said, frowning. "Sikowitz just ended the bet."

"No he didn't," Alex said, watching Beck and Andre glance at each other. "He didn't say the bet was over. He said 'if you want your phones, take them', it's a trick!" When she finished talking, a loud gong filled the room and they all turned toward the doors.

"You are too clever for me, Alex," Sikowitz said, hanging the stick back on its holder beside the giant gong. "But it's too late. Cat already turned her phone on."

"Cat!" Tori cried as they all turned to look at the redhead.

"Sorry!" She said, holding her phone up.

"Ha!" Robbie cried, pointing to the phone. "We win!"

"Boy power! Boy power!" They began to chant, hoping around the girls as Sikowitz joined them.

"Woah woah woah," Alex said, raising her voice. "Just a moment. Sinjin!" She shouted up at the catwalk. The curly haired boy was wearing headphones and holding a clipboard, but he dropped both of them to go running down the stairs. Alex, moving as fast as she could in the stupid long skirts, ran to the base of the stairs to grab the collar of his shirt before he could get away. She dragged him towards the front of the room.

"I swear I didn't do it," he whined when she released him. He coward, even though he was at least half a foot taller than she was. She put her hands on her hips and glared.

"Is there something you would like to tell us?" Alex asked, scowling. "Maybe something that happened today, during the lunch hour… with Robbie… and a cell phone?"

"What?" Andre asked, turning to Robbie, who looked scared.

"You told us you didn't use it," Beck said.

"What is going on here?" Sikowitz asked, clearly confused.

"Robbie used Lane's phone during lunch," Alex said. "I saw him," she added, though that was a complete lie.

"I didn't use it," Robbie protested. "I just fixed the language-"

"Ah ha!" Tori interrupted, pointing at him. "So you did use it?"

"He just shoved it into my hands!" Robbie said to Andre and Beck, both who looked angry now. "I didn't mean to, it was an accident!"

"Sinjin," Alex said, turning glare at him again. "You were there to spy on him, did you see?"

"I've been paid not to tell," Sinjin said, withering under her glare. She narrowed her eyes.

"Remember our deal?" Alex asked, suddenly getting an idea. Sinjin nodded. "Double or nothing if you talk."

"Robbie used Lane's phone for 6.4 seconds at exactly 11:18 this morning," Sinjin said immediately. "He changed the language settings from Japanese to English."

"That hall was empty!" Robbie cried. "There's no way you could have seen… You set me up!" He said, pointing to Alex. "You didn't see me use the phone, Sinjin was the only one there."

"If this is true," Sikowitz said, frowning. "Then the girls have won the bet."

"It's true," Sinjin said, nodding. "I took a picture on my phone." He held out his phone to Sikowitz, showing him a picture of Robbie hunched over a phone, and it was dated that morning.

"I'm sorry guys," Robbie said, hanging his head.

"Woah!" Tori said, interrupting them all. "I have 43 new text messages."

"I have 200 more followers," Jade said, also looking down at her phone.

"Look at the wacky donkey!" Cat gasped, holding her phone out for them to see.

"Hey now," Sikowitz said, gathering their attention again. "We still have a dress rehearsal going on. Robbie, go get in costume. The rest of you," he glanced at Cat, who had laughed so hard she was now throwing up into the box the phones had been in. "Take a ten minute break."

"Ah ah ah," Sinjin said as the group broke up. "A deal is a deal," he told Alex, who sighed.

"Set a timer on your phone," she told Tori. "16 seconds." Tori did as she was told, confused, and Alex gestured for Sinjin to come closer, then she very hesitantly wrapped her arms around his shoulders, patting his back as Tori started the timer. Jade was full out laughing, and Alex thought she could hear some chuckles from the guys too.

"We agreed on a back stroke," Sinjin said, and Alex grimaced as she stroked his back twice.

"Time!" Tori called, and Alex jumped back.

"I need to go… disinfect myself," Alex said, holding her arms away from her body as though they were covered in something gross. "I'm so glad these aren't my real clothes."

"You bribed Sinjin with a hug?" Tori asked, laughing now too as Sinjin went back up to the catwalk.

"Yes," Alex said, rolling her eyes. "Get the sweater off me." Tori helped her pull the sweater she had been wearing over her costume dress over her head, and Alex sighed, relaxing a little.

"What should I do with it?" Tori asked, holding the sweater.

"Burn it," Alex said, shuddering. "I'll get a new one."

"Aren't you going to turn your phone on?" Cat asked, gesturing to Alex's Pear Phone, still sitting on the table. Alex shrugged and went over to it, switching it on.

"I sort of liked not having our phones," Alex said, leaning against the table. "It was a lot more peaceful."

"I'm glad the bet is over," Tori said, shaking her head as she read through her texts.

"You know," Alex said slowly. "We didn't technically win. The bet was to go a full week, it's only been three full days."

"Sh," Jade said, punching her arm. "You want Sikowitz to hear and take away our A's?"

"Sorry," Alex said, rubbing her arm as she retreated to the empty audience area, plopping down in the chair next to Beck.

"Hey," he said, looking down at his phone screen.

"Are you mad we won?" Alex asked, glancing down at her screen. There was nothing new there, because she'd had all her messages forwarded to Olivia. She ended the call forwarding as Beck replied.

"No," he said. "Though I'd really like to know how you orchestrated the whole lunchtime thing. Did you bribe Lane with hand lotion?"

"No," Alex said, chuckling. "That was just a distraction method so that Sinjin could change the settings without him noticing."

"Very sneaky of you," he said, nudging her with his shoulder, then he turned back to his phone and sighed. "I have over two hundred messages to go through."

"Are those the texts from that gank?" Alex asked, scowling.

"Easy there," Beck said, resting a hand on her knee. "You already punched her in the face. No need to attack her again."

"I wasn't going to attack her," Alex said, crossing her arms as she leaned back in her chair. "Maybe, plan an 'accident' or something…" she mumbled.

"Look," Beck said, holding his phone out for her to see. "She hasn't texted me since you punched her. No need for any 'accidents' to happen."

"I guess," Alex said, shrugging. "For now." He looked over at her, half smiling, half smirking as he raised an eyebrow.

"I like it when you get possessive," Beck said, wrapping his arm around her shoulder to pull her in. She rolled her eyes, but smiled, leaning in to him.

"I know you do it on purpose," she told him. "The making me jealous thing. You've done it since we were little."

"Yet you still fall for it," Beck said, kissing her temple. "Looks like we're back," he said as Sikowitz strolled out from behind the set. Alex sighed and stood, then went back up to the stage.