Shelby and Tori

How Robbie got a Girlfriend.

The Home of Erwin Sikowitz: the middle of the night.

Tori Vega lay sleeping in the theater seats of her Acting teacher's living room, she was leaning against one of her classmates from that class. Her head laying against his as they dozed off after an interesting night to say the least. She, along with Andre, Beck, Cat, Jade, and her Robbie, sans Rex, were answering a challenge issued by their favorite teacher, Mr. Sikowitz, about the difficulty of method acting. They were given characters made for each other, by one another, all of them were hilarious, and a few of them were deliberately made to get a rise out of each other.

Tori's character was a police officer, with extremely red lipstick, and obsessed with raisin bran cereal, made for her by Andre. She remembered giving him a dirty look, before sticking her tongue out at him when she heard her character. At least she got some satisfaction, when she gave Jade her character: A country girl, who no matter what was happening, was always, extremely polite to everybody she met. Cat made Tori's Robbie, a motivational speaker with jelly-legs. It was really funny watching him try to give inspirational speeches while trying to stay on his feet, but since her Robbie was a natural comedian, it gave him material for his Rex and Robbie character. Cat was a stand-up comedian from the 1980's, she basically made herself a female Jerry Seinfeld. Beck was an Englishman, with a cockney-accent that nobody could understand, and could not keep his hands to himself, and Andre was a pregnant, long-distance runner, just finishing a marathon.

Tori's dreams were not about the shenanigans of the previous evening, they were about her life since coming to Hollywood Arts in general, and specifically the time she spent with her friends, especially her Robbie. Since the incident with Brad Battis, she has found herself looking forward to spending as much time with her Robbie as she could. Her heart and mind were at war with each other, over what she wanted to do more with him, fight him or kiss him. Of course, in her dreams, she believes that one could very easily follow the other, he could kiss her after she defeated him, or vice versa, she kisses him after he beats her. Or if it is a tie, they could kiss each other to help alleviate the pain of their bruises, either way, they would be kissing, which would open them up for more than kissing later, like a relationship.

Her mind drifted back to this Spring Break, the first weekend was a boring one, until they decided to go to the beach. Jade, Cat, and Beck rode there in Beck's RV, while she, Andre, and Trina, who had invited herself along, drove there in her Robbie's Army-Green, International Scout. Jade and Beck would have been trapped in the trailer by a huge RV next to it, if her Robbie did not make the driver move his vehicle. They decided that it was too dangerous for Beck to put his RV in a parking spot, so they maneuvered it on to the apron of the lot, with the door facing the beach. Beck unhitched his trailer from his truck to park it properly, next to her Robbie's vehicle.

She and the girls had yet to reveal their own beach attire, but as soon as her Robbie hit the beach, he removed his shirt, to say that he had a washboard stomach did not do his body justice. She had seen male MMA fighters, who were less ripped and cut than her Robbie. His muscles were not that big, if Tori had to put a description to her Robbie's physique it would be streamlined, but his muscles were as hard as granite, with enough fat for warmth in the winter. She could tell from her experience that his true power lay in his acceleration, he could literally explode into action when necessary.

Tori very nearly drooled when she saw him, and was subconsciously licking her lips, she did not realize she was holding her breath until Jade, who was standing next to her, grinned deviously. She leaned in, "if you pass-out, I'll make sure Robbie is the one to give you mouth-to-mouth." This caused Tori to begin breathing again, right as Robbie turned to look at her, and purely unintentionally (maybe) Tori's chest was rising and falling in a steady rhythm and doing interesting things to her teenage breasts. Jade was still speaking though, "Robbie is my brother, and my feelings on that are pretty much set in stone, but even I can't help marvel at him when he's like this. The only positive for me is that with Robbie here, acting as girl-chum, I have less to worry about from any of these other skanks, getting their grubby little paws on Beck," she said, gesturing to the immediate vicinity, where Tori spotted nearly every girl and woman, near to her age or older, eyeing her Robbie like a piece of steak on the grill, "that, however, is now your problem."

Tori's eyes narrowed into slits, and something primitive in her mind began to growl and snarl, it almost sounded like the call of a mountain-lion, from a nature documentary she once saw. "Oh no, it won't be a problem at all," she said, as she began to walk over to her Robbie with a sway to her hips, she reached him as he was finishing with the umbrella, getting ready to put the blankets down.

Robbie turned toward her with a welcoming smile, which she will not lie was starting to send the butterflies in her stomach racing through her. "Hey, Tori," he greeted happily, "come to join me under my umbrella?"

"Of course, Robbie," Tori said with an enticing smile, "do you mind if I share your blanket today," she asked, while running a hand along his arm? "I wanna get to know you a little better, if what Rex said about you at the beginning of the semester is true?"

Robbie's blush was very evident, as he nodded and demurred, "Yes," he said quietly, as he bustled about, getting our beach camp squared away. This brought a glad smile to Tori's lips when she heard the answer, and watching him be humble about his feelings, made her regard for him rise even higher. He was Adonis made flesh, and he was still embarrassed when a girl talked to him, meaning he had never had a girlfriend, or at least not a serious one. Tori did not have much more experience herself, with only one boyfriend in the past.

"Thanks, Robbie-honey," Tori urged him to continue, then when he resumed his task, she said, "I'm just going to get more comfortable while you're working." He merely nodded as he laid their blanket down. Behind his back, Tori turned to look out at the women ogling her Robbie, then reached down to the hem of her tucked, white t-shirt, and pulled it over her head quickly. Then, just as quickly, she opened the button, and unzipped her shorts, letting them drop to the ground. She stared out at the area when she revealed her body with a challenging glare in her eyes. Her fighting spirit practically glowed from her eyes, the message was clear to every woman in the area, this is Tori's property, let any who would dare trespass be wary.

Tori turned away from them, just as Robbie finished preparing their blanket and turned back to her. They seemed to be in harmony with each other, he looked at her, right as she stepped out of her clothing, and turned to face him. Their eyes met, and the whole world fell away, his eyes remained fixed upon her face. His eyes were glued to hers, refusing to ogle her without her permission. She remained still and quiet for a pregnant instant, before a small, subtle shift of her eyes seemed to grant him approval, and not just for this moment.

He looked below her neck, at her figure, at the body that had been sculpted from rich, earthy clay, painstakingly crafted to the peak of perfection, like a formula one race car, sitting ready at the starting line. Arms and legs that looked to be chipped from solid granite, yet still retained that soft, supple femininity, proclaiming her a woman in all respects. A core that looked like burnished-copper marble, with a ladies six-pack crawling up her abdomen, until it disappeared, behind the solid-black chest area of her one-piece, open-bellied swimsuit. The suit might have been a size too small, or her chest was developed that much, but there were the tiniest slivers of flesh, peeking from the bottom and sides of the brassiere.

Robbie's eyes cycled up and down Tori's swimsuit-covered body, the hips and rump were as smooth and blemish free as the rest of her. Look at me Robbie, she granted him in her mind, look at the body of your celebrity crush. Does it meet your expectations, she wondered in her mind, or are you disappointed with what you see? Will it fuel your fantasies tonight, what would you give me just to touch this body? Would you give me your body? Would you allow me to claim your heart as mine? Would you sacrifice your very life to have me? It is what I require, but you must give me something else as well, something that nobody has ever been able to give me. If you can give me what I have never had, I could be yours forever, in whatever capacity you want me, it would complete me, make me whole to be granted such a supreme honor. Will you, Son of Sparta, Child of Israel, be the man to give me what I desire, what I need, what I crave? Tori and Robbie came out of their silent discourse and completed the setup of their encampment.

The whole group had a blast just spending time together, and Tori got to know Robbie even more. Tori got to know her curly-haired, glasses-wearing, Jewish-Spartan, quite a bit more. His Spartan heritage was from his mother's side, and they kept most of the traditions from ancient Sparta alive, by training their body and mind's from a young age, in martial arts, mainly in Spartan Pankration as a base, and any other combat arts that appeal to them. Robbie's mother learned that and spent years training in Muay Thai, which she taught to Robbie. His mother worked as a Deputy US Marshall: Fugitive Retrieval Division and was well respected throughout the law enforcement community. Tori's own father was extremely surprised, and happy, when he found out she went to school with Deborah Shapiro's son, they had worked a few manhunts together, and he was quoted as saying she was quite competent and tough-as-nails.

Robbie's father was Kidon, back in Israel, with ten-years in the Israeli Defense Force, during the 80's and 90's. He immigrated to America, to get away from all the strife and was a peaceful man these days, working as a housing contractor all over California. David Shapiro taught Robbie, the IDF version of Krav Maga, but also taught Robbie his woodcraft, as well as several other skills from his time in the military. He taught Robbie to be an advocate for peace, and inducted him in a peculiar Jewish sect, called Messianic Judaism. They keep the Jewish Law as scripture but understand that it does not lead to salvation of one's soul, which may only be achieved when accepting Jesus Christ as their savior. His mother, meanwhile, exposed him to the Greek Orthodox Church, these two traditions, have made Robbie a devout Christian. He considers himself a Christian-Jewish, Greek American, and calls himself a proud geek.

That Spring Break, Tori and Trina flew to Florida to visit their grandmother. This was the woman Tori lived with, when she was Shelby Marx, and just like with Shelby, Ruth Marx did not let her granddaughters act like God's gift to the world. She had none of Trina's pretensions, while she was under her roof and made her do chores, the way she made Tori-as-Shelby when not off training or fighting. Her philosophy of life is to always celebrate your gifts, but still remember to be humble, because someday they could be gone, and you will be required to live among mortals once again.

Tori relished the opportunity to catch up with the woman that raised her for three-years. She told her all about her new school, and the things she was doing, about her friends at school. It was Trina who told Ruth about her Robbie, with a teasing glint in her eye, she talked about how Tori seemed to really shine when he was around. Though Ruth suspected as much when Tori had talked about him, while mentioning her other friends, they teased her a little bit about him.

Tori told Ruth all about him, and her grandmother had never seen her speak about any boy the way she spoke about her Robbie. Ruth and Tori because of the years spent together, were closer to each other than Tori and her mother, Holly, not because of a lack of love, far from it, Holly was a good mother and loved both her daughters fiercely. It was just that for so many years, Ruth was the only person she could be her true self around, where she could remove the mask of Shelby Marx, and be Victoria Vega, even for the briefest of moments. Tori talked about how powerful her feelings for her Robbie were starting to become, "it feels like a river, raging down the side of a mountain, getting closer and closer to a cliff. If I don't hang on to something, anything, I'm going over and nothing will be there to stop me," Tori's face was scared, but also exhilarated, anxious but hopeful at the same time. She looked at Ruth and said, "It scares me, I'm not going to lie, but I'm also looking forward to seeing what's around the bend, you know what I mean, Grandma?"

Ruth just had a big grin on her face as she nodded, before answering, "yes, it's called getting swept away, and I've felt it a time or two myself, usually right before I fell in love. The strongest it ever was, was right before I fell in love with your grandfather, and it can lead to either a dark abyss with no light, or a beautiful, crystal-clear lake, full of life. Which one it will be, depends on a few things," when Tori looked at her to explain what they are, "I can't tell you what they are, baby, each instance is always unique. Naturally, you may always choose to give up on a river, you don't always have to follow the canal to the end," Ruth explained to her, "if things get too scary for you, then take your kayak and go to another stream. In matters of the heart, there is no shame in giving up."

During the day, Tori, Trina, and Ruth, would spend as much time together as they could, and her time in Florida, seemed to have knocked some of her delusions out of Trina. She would always be full of herself, but that week in Florida, really opened her eyes to many things. Like, she had no talent in singing, or music, except dancing, but she seemed to be a natural actress, and would, when she returned to school focus her energy in those areas. At night, however, just before going to bed, Tori seemed to like chatting with her friends, back home over the internet. She would start off the night in a group chat, but as the night progressed, they all seemed to drop off, except her Robbie. They would chat until it got late in California, then Robbie would need to sign-off, because he had work in the morning. He was working with his father, on a job in San Francisco, and his dad liked to get an early start in the morning.

Trina and Tori got back to California, Saturday night, the only interesting thing that happened on the flight was meeting Perez Hilton in First-class. Tori had actually met Perez once as Shelby, who seemed to remember the meeting as well, she played it off again as her just being a doppelgänger of the fighter, but she could tell he did not fully buy it, the way Russ did. Tori was beginning to believe the time was coming, when she would have to come out as Shelby Marx, better for her to do it of her own free-will than to be exposed. As it was, she had been very lucky to keep her secret so far, what with the Showcase, her song credit, and the few plays at school she had been cast in as the lead. Before she came out though, so to speak, she wanted to prepare her friends at school, she felt they deserved for her to tell them personally, rather than telling them when she told the rest of the world. She especially wanted to tell her Robbie before anybody else, even if she suspected he knew, she wanted to be the one to confirm it for him.

The weeks that followed progressed as normal with only a couple of interesting moments, like Beck getting cast in a new movie starring Melinda Murray. They actually went down to the set to watch him work, it was demeaning, and Murray was a total star-bitch, but that's what you have to do to get started in showbiz. Most of them took the way Murray was behaving off screen as how not to conduct yourself as an actor. Then they went out to a fine dining establishment, because it was Robbie's birthday, and Tori wanted to make it special for him, so she and Andre wrote him a song called, Tell Me That You Love Me, which unlike her sister, he totally appreciated, even if they still copyrighted it. Not for fear that Robbie would pull another Trina, he is not that kind of man, but they were in the business of exposure, and any recognition they could get, will help them in the long run.

Tori footed the bill for that night, in secret, when she booked it, she used one of her credit cards linked to her Shelby Marx account. The amount, even after losing her endorsements and the fines, was enough that even if she never worked again, would allow her to live in luxury for the rest of her life. She can use it without raising any legal eyebrows, because she incorporated the Shelby Marx name, with Victoria Dawn Vega as the only authorized spender. She pays a reputable business management & accounting firm to make smart investments, and pay all taxes and legal fees, to keep the account healthy. That night, when the time came for the check, they were told, as she requested during booking, that an anonymous patron paid their bill.

A few days after that, Tori received a blast from her recent past, when Cat began dating Daniel Murphy, her old boyfriend from Sherwood. Jade had a grand old time, taking the mick out of her about losing a boyfriend to Cat, but Tori surprised herself. She was rather indifferent to him regarding his dating Cat, she felt nothing for him except a small sense of nostalgia. She remembered how she felt about Daniel, even in the beginning, and she was swept away as her Grandma put it, but what she felt for him when compared to her feelings for her Robbie, was as nothing. Her feelings for Daniel, could best be described as a small stream, compared to Robbie's torrential river, which was already showing signs of white-water ahead. The only person to show any visual signs of displeasure, was her Robbie, but not outwardly, he kept his voice and face bland, the only demonstrative display of his emotions came when he shook Daniel's hand. Her Robbie practically crushed it, the only two, other than Daniel to notice, were Tori and Jade, and both of them shared a smirk when they realized, their Robbie was jealous.

Tori kind of liked that, it showed her just how serious her Robbie would be, when they began dating. Tori would never be the type of girl that deliberately tried to make a guy jealous, she held nothing but contempt for girls like that, but if a man was indifferent to another man, he did not know, making time with his woman, then what else would he see as unimportant? The promise of fidelity, maybe? Cat and Daniel were like most high school relationships, fleeting and fickle, they were over in a month, with no hard feelings from either of them.

There was a small incident with Rex, a week after learning about Cat and Daniel. Tori was working special effects for a play Andre and her Robbie were in, specifically a turbo charged fan that looked like a jet engine. She had also been put in charge of Rex, while he was on stage, something she considered a supreme honor, considering what Rex represented in her Robbie. On the night of the performance, Tori inadvertently reversed the flow of air on the fan and Rex got sucked in and shredded. When her Robbie found out what happened, he acted the part of the distraught parent, it was so convincing that he had Tori feeling so guilty for her part in the incident. So much so, that she started to have doubts that he even liked her anymore, let alone wanted to date her.

Her Robbie disabused her of that notion, as soon as everybody, not from their immediate friendship group disbursed, he popped up and gave a bow to them all. He was smiling as if he had won a Tony Award, it was then that Tori began to breathe again, when the others began clapping, even Sikowitz was yelling, "mazel tov," to her Robbie. Tori was a little mad at how he tricked her like that and walked up to him, and smacked the back of his head, before turning away to sulk with her arms crossed.

"C'mon, Tori, that was my best performance yet," her Robbie plied her solicitously, "you're not really mad at me, are you?"

"Yes, I am," she replied in a broken tone, "you had me doubting, if you liked me any…more," she turned back to him with tears in her eyes, "I thought I'd ruined your feelings for me. That the one boy I liked, hated me now, because I destroyed your best-friend," she was sobbing quietly as Tori turned to hug him, pressing her face into his really firm chest. "I wanted to wait and see how I felt a…bout you, be…fore I re…turned your feelings for me. I was just about ready to re…turn your feelings for me, and then I go and ruin your puppet, that represents your inner desires. I was afraid you might think I was stomping on your feel…ings," she said in a broken tone, he could hear her sobbing into his chest. She seemed to be snuggling deeper into him, hugging him harder.

Her Robbie's arms came around her and returned her hug, and in a very contrite tone, said, "ah, shit, I'm so sorry, Tori-darling, I wasn't thinking about your feelings," he admitted. "I was only thinking about myself, I thought that if I can fool my friends into thinking I was really distraught, when I wasn't, then I could fool any audience, into believing any performance I show, up on stage or screen," he pulled back and looked her in the eye, "will you please forgive me, dear? I do still have feelings for you and would consider it a great honor to date you," he stated, while looking into her eyes, "whenever you're ready."

The butterflies in Tori's stomach were doing flips and loops as he confessed his true feelings to her, but that was not what she was going for at the moment. Soon, very soon, but not right this second, she placed her arms around Robbie's neck and brought her face close to his, as slowly as she could. At the last instant before impact, oh, did I really want to kiss him, but she had to fight back that urge and she very, nearly lost, to do what she had planned all along, she redirected her head, god, his smell, I could've happily, drowned in it, she compromised with herself, and planted a breathy kiss on the side of his face, next to his ear, and whispered just loud enough for every one of them to hear, "psych."

Her Robbie jerked away from her in shock, and Tori was smiling from ear to ear, even if she still kept her arms around his neck. "What," her Robbie barked?

"As you said, if you can fool your friends with your performance, you can fool anybody," Tori reminded him.

"So, the part about your feelings…" Robbie asked with dread?

Tori shook her head, and leaned into his ear with a true whisper, "the dialogue I chose reflects my true feelings, Robbie, I do accept your feelings for me, and am almost ready to return them, just not yet, please wait a little longer," she requested, to his happy, smiling nod. Then pulling back to look at the others, even Mr. Sikowitz was fooled by Tori's performance, and started to applaud her.

"That was brilliant," their teacher thundered, "and totally improvised," and the rest of her friends joined in with their teacher, all of them were clapping their hands…

Sleepover at Sikowitz

My dream came to the reason we had come over to Sikowitz's tonight, because of a challenge we got that week, while in class, from our teacher…

We were all in his class, sitting in our usual seats, while Andre and I played a role on the class platform. I was playing the role of a woman who needs to have a life-saving surgery, and Andre was playing the doctor that just broke the news to me. The rest of our friends were scattered around the room, amidst the shruggers. Beck and Jade were on the back row, closest to the door. My Robbie had Rex on his knee, sitting by the seat with my stuff in it, close to the window, with Cat slouched in her chair, on the front row.

Andre was speaking to my weeping character, "Listen," his character demanded, then grabbing my arm, said more forcefully, "Mrs. Travis, listen!"

Mrs. Travis (me) rounded on the doctor, with a sobbing, "what?"

As we were performing the scene, our teacher came skulking up onto the stage, with an intrigued facial expression, as if he was just so fascinated by the scene. "This is a simple surgery," the doctor tried to reassure my character, "I've done this operation hundreds of times. You'll be fine."

"Well, what if I'm not fine," my character demanded in near hysteria, I caught sight of Sikowitz from the corner of my eye, wondering what the hell he was doing, but I continued with the scene, "What if…if I die on that operating table?" By now, their teacher was standing in the middle of us, and seemed to be retrieving something from his pocket. "I…I have three…"

"Uh-huh," came a small sound from our teacher, causing me to briefly glance at him, then continuing with my dialogue.

"I have three childr…" I tried to say, with a continually distracting Sikowitz, muttering 'uh-huh, uh-huh,' as he looked at me from next to Andre. "I have three children," I finally got out, though not with the emotion I should have for that scene.

At this, Sikowitz interrupted our scene, "I'm sorry, kids," gently pushing Andre to the side, with an "excuse me," as he turned to face me. "I don't mean to interrupt the scene, but Tori," he called, as he pulled out a card from his pocket, and held it up in front of me and him, "look at the red dot on the back of this index card." I focused my eyes, as he instructed, when, "BOO," he shouted and seemed to charge at me.

I screamed and, in a reflex, dropped into a fighting stance, I just barely kept myself from launching one of my legendary haymakers, when I realized what happened. "Sikowitz, you scared the shit outta me," I shouted in outrage, from behind my raised arms!

Sikowitz, unaware that he almost earned himself a broken nose, threw the card aside and stepped close to me, and asked with a disappointed expression on his face, "why did you stop crying?"

Not understanding what his deal was, I remained in my stance and responded with, "What?"

"You were playing the role of a woman, who has just been told that she was going to have surgery," he reminded me, then asked the same question with different words, "why did you break character?"

I made a consternated shake with my head, and was still in my stance, but I answered in the most obvious manner I could think of, "because you interrupted me and then shouted, BOO, in my face before charging at me!"

With a resigned sigh, he moved to the side and gestured to the audience, "Tori and Andre, take your seats." As I settled into my seat next to my Robbie, exchanging a smile with him, and Andre took the aisle seat next to Cat, Erwin Sikowitz began explaining his purpose, "I'm trying to teach you kids about, method acting, and that means, whatever character you're playing, you must stay in that character, the entire time, no matter what happens. On Camera or off camera, on stage or off stage, you have to understand that…'' and just as he was getting into the heart of his speech, the bell rings. He takes a step back with a huff of breath, and bid us adieu with, "until the morrow!"

All of the other students had risen to gather their things and depart, while Sikowitz, sits at the edge of the dais in a semi-lotus position, taking a meditative breath. My friends and I, look back at our favorite teacher, and halt our exodus from the room. We see the distraught look on his face, and feeling somewhat guilty for letting him down, some more than others, we turn back, and standing next to my Robbie, I am the first to speak, "Look, I'm sorry, we disappointed you," I acknowledged, "but my reaction to your outburst was a reflex action, made out of pure self-preservation, I couldn't have stopped it even if I wanted to."

"Yeah, and we think method acting is, rather dumb," my Robbie added, as we all returned to our seats. There was a rumble of agreement from the others, about my Robbie's assessment of method acting.

This was when Sikowitz's voice took on a condescending tone, "Well, of course, you think method acting is dumb," he stated with a dismissive wave of his hand, "it's too challenging for you."

"Yeah, I really don't think that's the issue," Jade snarked.

"Staying in character, no matter what happens is something that only true, professional actors can pull off," Sikowitz scoffed, then with a deprecating chuckle added, "sometimes I forget you're all just children… amateurs, really." I recognized a thrown gauntlet when I heard one, as trash talk went, it was pretty pitiful, and from the corner of my eye, I saw my Robbie quirk an eyebrow himself. We were not the only ones to see it either.

Even Cat took offense at his words, "he called us amateurs."

"Yuh whack job teacher, just called all uh y'all out," Rex heckled, with a scoffing laugh, "I love it."

"I'm sorry," Sikowitz retorted, with a voice saturated with derision, "I didn't mean to hurt your little, amateur feelings."

"He did it, again," a highly offended Cat called out.

"I really don't think method acting is all that hard," Beck responded as he advanced to stand in front of our teacher.

Sikowitz stood up abruptly, "then I issue a challenge," he declared, stepping upon the platform, and into a fencer's pose!

I was never one to back down from a challenge as Shelby Marx, and even if it was more to teach us a lesson, and the trash talk was totally obvious, I wouldn't begin doing it now. Me and my Robbie advanced to stand before our teacher, and I replied with a toss of my head, "what kind of challenge?"

"Who wants to have a sleepover at my house," Sikowitz asked with an almost girlish raise of his hand?

"I do," Jade and our Robbie responded together, when we all looked at them, Jade explained. "Oh, come on, you guys don't want to see where this lunatic lives? No offense," she said to our teacher, while moving her hands to her hips.

"Mm-hm," came my Robbie through Rex, "that's right."

"Down, Rex," he responded to the puppet, as if quelling a misbehaving animal! Then he looked at Jade with an annoyed expression, before replying with a mocking tone, "that's alright Jade, I savor your bitterness, like a sweet, rancid, cream sauce."

After smirking at Jade's expense, Cat got us back to the point of our little conversation, "so, what's the plan?"

"All of you will show up at my house, on Friday night, at 7 pm," Sikowitz began, "each of you will be playing a distinct character, and you must stay in your character, until Saturday morning."

"What happens if we break," Andre asked?

"You'll be immediately banished from my home," was our teacher's reply.

"So, who picks the characters," Jade wondered?

After a quick mulling, Sikowitz began firing off who picked characters for whom, "Beck you'll choose for Cat, Cat will choose for Robbie, Robbie will choose for Beck, Andre for Tori, Tori for Jade, and Jade, you choose for Andre." He stepped back with a self-satisfied grin on his face, "I think that deserves some applause," which I, just to be nice, gave him a few claps of my hands, while Erwin Sikowitz bowed, as if receiving grand applause from an audience on Broadway, before continuing with his instructions. "We'll get together, at the end of the day, in the Black Box theater, to hear who's playing, what," he finished with an ominous air to his voice, and an evil grin on his face.

It had dawned on me, a few times over the course of my stint at this school, that the aloof, oblivious teacher act was just that, an act. When he picked our partners, he did it so quickly and decisively, that to the uninformed observer it appeared to be totally random, but his goal for issuing his challenge was to give us characters that would make us uncomfortable. Later I would look back on this time and remember how Mr. Sikowitz taught us.

Anybody can play characters they're comfortable with, because it conformed to their own image of themselves in their head, but to play one that would push them out of their comfort zones, not just as actors, but as people, now that could be a real challenge. Sikowitz seemed to pick the people that could make rather annoying characters for each other. If our Robbie or Jade, or my Robbie or me, had been picked for each other, we would have made characters that were complimentary for each other, conversely if Jade had chosen for me, she may have made a character that was a little too embarrassing for me, making it impossible for me to compete fairly.

At the end of Sikowitz's remarks, Rex leaned over and in an obnoxious tone of voice, "Hey, Tori, maybe you should play a character that likes to make-out with two-foot tall guys that happen to be me."

I was not as annoyed with the suggestion as my face let on, Rex was a part of my Robbie, and so far, there was not one thing about my Robbie that did not appeal to me in some way. So, with a smile, I turned and brought Rex in and gave him a smooch. My eyes were closed, and I pretended I was kissing Rex's flesh and blood counterpart. I contented myself with the knowledge that I was at least kissing something of the boy that had swept me off my feet, since the moment I arrived here. Now, if he would do that literally, then he would be my boyfriend, and he could kiss me whenever he felt like it.

I released Rex from my lips, and turned with a satisfactory smile on my face, "Is that what you wanted?"

Rex was shaking and could not speak, and my Robbie asked in a concerned voice, "Rex?"

"Take me home," Rex demanded!

Got a police officer uniform + red lips… going to SIKOWITZ's HOUSE, with my Robbie and Andre! YES! Feeling: CREATIVE 😊 [A/N: When Tori is Tori, the story will be told from a 1st person perspective. When she is Officer Pedesco, it will be told from 3rd person, though you will read her thoughts in 1st person. Also, I'm going to make their acting a little more subtle, than was in the show, nobody goes around shouting that they're a police officer, the uniform should be enough for that.]

My Robbie picked me up from my house, after getting Andre from his home. He was wearing a short-sleeve button-up shirt, with tan slacks, and the muscular definition of his arms was very evident. At school, he normally wore long-sleeved pull-overs and skinny jeans, as part of his Rex and Robbie persona, or character, but today he had to change his character for a bit, so his attire reflected that. Andre wore an oversized, basketball uniform, and what was known in showbiz, as a pregnancy vest, he borrowed from wardrobe. I was wearing an old police uniform of my dad's that was tailored to fit me by Cat, along with one of his utility belts, a prop gun, a set of handcuffs, and a tonfa-style nightstick, also one of my dad's, with a toy badge. I also carried with me a full box of raisin-bran. The persona I chose was based on the police-woman, Linnie Katz, who trained my father, when he graduated from the Academy. They were pretty good friends and I even called her, Aunt Linnie, until she retired and moved back East. It was an exaggerated version of her, and I wouldn't do it if I didn't know that she would find it just as hilarious as anybody else. I rehearsed it for my dad to be sure, he assured me that she would be laughing so hard, she couldn't sit in a chair, she would even feel complimented, that I chose her as part of my act.

We pulled up in front of the address we had from the student directory of school, and piled out to look at the very, normal building, which housed our eccentric, acting teacher. Robbie went to the back of the Scout and brought out a pair of metal, forearm crutches, the ones usually seen on people with feeble limbs. When we looked at him, he grinned, "these were my grandpa's before he passed, he had bad knees from WWII. I brought them, so I could have more options for my character, than to flop on the floor occasionally."

"Well, what do yuh know," Officer Pedesco raised an eyebrow, and spoke in a deep, New Jersey accent, "smart, as well as handsome, you're like the whole package. I'll let you eat my raisin bran, any day," she said with a lascivious smile on her face, as she shook her box, with a wiggle of her hips. She saw his face ignite at her innuendo, just a taste, Robbie, of what I'm capable of, do you want some?

"Can we please, find a place to sit down," the pregnant, African-American hermaphrodite complained, "I just ran ten miles, my baby's been kicking me for half that, and I need to get off my feet."

Robbie settled into the crutches, allowing them to bear most of his weight, while his voice seemed to take on a compelling quality, "Let us make our way along this path of stone, for like the Path of Life, it will lead us all to a promised place."

Officer Pedesco led the way to the door, with the Pregnant Man and the Inspirational Speaker, she rang the bell, and waited while opening the cereal box. She had just reached in for the first handful, when the door opened to their teacher's exuberant voice, "well, I wonder who'll be arriving first?"

"Officer Pedesco," she greeted him and introduced herself, as she ate the cereal in her hand, "may we enter your lovely home," then pointing to her companions, "I have a young person who may be giving birth as we speak, and a ride along who uplifts all our spirits. Would yuh like some Raisin Bran," she offered, as she held up the box?

"Uh, no thank you," he replied, "but please, all of you, come in."

"Sure," Officer Pedesco said, as she sauntered through the door and further into Sikowitz's home. Before Sikowitz could say anything else, Pedesco turned and began a security check of him, "do yuh have anything sharp and or pointy in your pockets that could injure me?"

Sikowitz looked at her with hands on hips, and a suspicious crinkle of his eyes. "I certainly hope… not?" Pedesco moves further into his home, while her teacher turns to greet those she arrived with.

"Thanks," The Pregnant Man waddled through the door, saying in an exhausted tone of voice, "Thank you, man, the last three miles of a marathon are always the roughest during the third trimester." He too moved further into the apartment, while Sikowitz greeted the third member of their group.

Robbie ambled into the room, he reminded Sikowitz of an insect, his legs were providing power to his motion, while the metal crutches provided stability and maneuverability. "Yes, thank you for welcoming us into your fine home, but hark do you hear the song of Wisdom? Her song is like a Siren's call to you from everywhere, you simply must hear and heed her song, and you will have riches, greater than Solomon."

Sikowitz grunted to acknowledge his point, then asked, "and what do you gentlemen call yourselves?"

The pregnant marathon runner answered first, "I'm Ronnie Smith, and I just finished a marathon, can I get some water?"

Their host for the evening pointed to the kitchen sink, "of course, it's right over there." As Ronnie turned to get a glass of water, Sikowitz found his other male guest, looking at the figurines on a table next to the sofa. As the young man stood up, Sikowitz asked for his name, "um, I never caught your name?"

"That's fine, I was simply admiring your fine animals statuettes," he said with an admiring grin, then turned his arm toward the teacher to shake hands and introduce himself, "I'm Kevin Bloom, inspirational orator, I use the Word of God to inspire people to become the best version of themselves."

"Ah, you're a motivational speaker," the educator summarized, then looking at the metal limbs, asked tentatively, "if you don't mind me asking, what happened to your legs, that made those necessary?"

"Please, it's Inspirational Orator, anybody can give motivational speeches, drill instructors do it everyday to turn civilians into soldiers. I inspire people to live their lives with an upright wisdom through the Word. The things I say aren't coming from me, I am merely a conduit through which God speaks to us all," Kevin explained to their teacher, "and as for the legs, I am afraid this is what happens, every time I drink alcohol. One little taste of schnapps, and my balance goes all to hell. I had communion right before going on the ride-along," Kevin answered, "but I should be alright by morning, it usually only lasts for twelve-hours."

"I see, well not to worry," Erwin assured him, "you'll not find any liquor here. It does funny things to my mind when I drink it."

"Thank you, for your courtesy," Kevin appreciated, before going further into the home.

Officer Pedesco had remained within earshot of the door, hmm, I never thought of a first name. There's so much you're teaching me about acting, my Robbie, what else will you show me, when we start dating? "We have a Caucasian, curly-haired male, possibly Jewish, operating steel crutches, suffering from the effects of a Catholic ritual," she recited as she reached behind herself to whip out her cereal box, "perhaps I could interest you in some Raisin Bran?"

"Sure," he nodded, "even those filled with righteous wisdom, must fulfill the needs of our mortal flesh."

Tori gave an infinitesimal shiver when he said, 'mortal flesh.' I have never felt desire like this before, it's as if something deep inside me is beginning to crave you, my Robbie, what are you doing to me? Pedesco reached in and pulled out a handful of the cereal, but instead of placing it in his hand when he extended it, she raised hers to be even with his mouth. They locked eyes and something of my Robbie and me emerged from them, and he leaned down to sample from my bounty, by flicking his tongue out, kind of like a frog catching flies, snatching pieces of flake and raisin from my hand until it was empty. My hand was empty of cereal, yet I still held my hand close to his mouth, the invitation somewhat formed behind my eyes. I could tell that he was thinking about it, and his mouth had started to open, I could see his tongue behind his teeth when…

"DING-DONG," the doorbell rang and Officer Pedesco returned and yelled, "Doorbell!"

"By the wisdom of the Lord," Kevin jolted out of his fugue state, "those who seek wisdom, should also seek common sense, for they usually graze in the same pasture, but are not the same animal."

"I'll get it," the host for the evening declared!

While Pedesco and Bloom were having their little exchange, they were so lost in each other, Ronnie had moved to sit in a chair without them even realizing it. Kevin moved a little away from her to talk to Ronnie, and Pedesco remained rooted to the spot. Sikowitz opened the door, and a woman with red hair immediately stepped inside. She was wearing a hot-pink, lady's blazer, over black pants and under blouse, her hair had been teased into a 1980's frizzy hairstyle, and she carried an old-style transistor radio, with a microphone jacked into it.

She burst into the home making an interesting point, "what I wanna know, is what part of the chicken do the nuggets come from? Can someone tell me this please, I mean where's the wacky farm that raises Nugget Chicken," she asked her Socratic questions, while moving her hands through the air, ending with hands on hips, as if actually expecting an answer?

Their host for the evening merely smirked and greeted her with, "hilarious observations."

The comedian woman, moved over to speak with Officer Pedesco, she was hyper-aware of Kevin lurking behind her, "I noticed you are a stand-up comedienne," she greeted, as she popped a mouthful of cereal in her mouth,"would you like to join me in a handful of Raisin Bran?" Would he have actually licked my hand, would I have let him? What did it mean, that I would have let him do that, I am not ready to do anything with anybody yet? So, why would I have let him do that to me?

"I'm Denise Larry," she answered, through her microphone. "What's the deal with Raisin Bran, is it raisins, is it bran?" A little Cat shined through as she asked for real, "I want to know!" Pedesco was able to ignore Kevin in their vicinity, until he horned in on their conversation.

He turned to them with a small smile, "the search for high wisdom and common sense, will teach us humility and respect for God's power." Then to Denise, he grinned, "seek after knowledge like you would seek after silver, or other riches, and your mind and heart shall find the greatest treasure, understanding."

"Oh, I think I'm going into labor," Ronnie moaned from his seat, and began to take quick breaths, "oops nah, just false labor."

"DING-DONG," and Sikowitz hurried to answer the door, waving to them to continue talking, while saying, "you all mingle, I'll get the door." He opened the door and a couple was standing there. The man was wearing a tweed, three-piece suit, a sky-blue, long-sleeved shirt, and a maroon tie. "Well, hello," he greeted his new guests, "I don't believe we've met, and you are?"

"Oh, yes," he returned the greeting while shaking Sikowitz's hand with, "me name is Malcolm Winchester Fizzelworth." Behind Malcolm was a woman in a red, bandanna-patterned, button-down shirt, with the bottom portion tied up to reveal her midriff; she also wore cutoff jeans, with a rope belt. She had on her head a wide-brimmed, straw hat with blue-trim, and cowgirl boots on her feet. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance," he said, while using the hand shake to spin their teacher around, and keeping his arm around Sikowitz added, "it's a lovely home yah 'ave 'ere."

Malcolm literally took control of the host and began steering him back through the house. Meanwhile, Kevin had ambled closer to the young woman, who seemed to have a natural smile on her face. He seemed to be studying her, her smile grew fractionally when she saw him, "Can Ah help you, mister?"

"My apologies miss, my name is Kevin Bloom, and your smile reminds me of my sister," he answered her, "her smile always makes me feel blessed with the Lord's grace. If only she'd smile more often," Kevin admitted.

"Well ain't you, the most precious thing," she replied with an upbeat voice, then introduced herself, "mah name is Betty-Sue, Betty-Sue Hart, and Ah bet your sister, only likes to show those closest to her, her true feelings. Because she trusts you completely," Betty supposed, "she feels safe with you, and loves to spend time with you. Ah know that's how Ah feel about mah own brother, at least."

Pedesco had listened to their exchange and her eyes were misty, I just love how close they are. I think in a way, they're closer than siblings, I don't trust Trina, half as much as Jade and our Robbie trust each other. I envy their closeness, and when my Robbie and I begin going out, I will be sure not to interfere with them any more than necessary. Still, she and Jade had a role to play, so Pedesco strutted up to the country girl, in her uniform and her cereal, "Hey, you…"

"Well, hello there, officer," Betty-Sue greeted with a chipper smile, turning from Kevin to the police officer, and placing her hands on her hips, "isn't this just a lovely shindig?"

Pedesco looked Betty over and noticed a few things, she looked closely at her face, "I didn't know country girls had brow piercings, and I can see your belly button."

This caused Betty to look down at her own navel, "why yes, that is mah belly button."

"I'm surprised it too, ain't pierced," Pedesco wondered, then holding up her cereal box, "have you ever thought of filling it with Raisin Bran?"

"Well, no, Ah'm Betty-Sue Hart from Alabama, Ah am just tourin' this lovely city, and got the piercing cause Ah thought that's what people did here in the City of Angels…"

As Betty was talking, Pedesco reached into the box, with the hand other than the one that fed Kevin. She came out with a handful of cereal, and stuffed it in Betty's mouth, "now you're eating Raisin Bran," Pedesco told her, as if she were doing Hart a great favor.

This was the closest Jade came to breaking character, as a look of distaste filled her eyes, and her smile almost dropped off her face. "Mmm! Ah just love eatin' cereal that's been manhandled by your filthy hands."

The officer turned to Kevin who had been quietly watching them the whole time. She tilted her head back and whispered, "Kevin liked it."

This actually got Betty-Sue to return completely to her character, as she curled an eyebrow at the Inspirational Orator, "oh really, and what else have you been doing with him that involves your hands?" It's the one thing me and Jade can get along over, our ability to tease our Robbie.

Kevin backed away from them, as best as he could, with his liquor legs and metal crutches, "Heaven has no rage, and Hell no fury like a woman scorned," he determined. He sits in one of the theater seats that were in front of the television.

By this time, all of the students Sikowitz cares about are here, Robbie is sitting in the theater suite, with Cat sitting next to him. Jade is kneeling on the faux-oriental rug next to the grass coffee table, while Andre is lounging in the guru-chair, and Beck is standing on the opposite wall from the door, next to a window. Whereas I am standing behind my Robbie, subconsciously leaning into the back of his seat. This was where Sikowitz began to test our commitment to remaining in character.

He was helped along by a winged nuisance, a common housefly. "Uh-oh," he announced while looking at it as it buzzed through the room, "I spy a fly with my little thigh," while moving to the fridge and pulling out a flyswatter.

Pedesco was following it with her eyes, or trying to when the end of his statement caught her attention. "Thigh…" she asked in befuddlement?

Sikowitz brought out his swatter, brandishing it like a sword. His face was infuriated, his countenance determined, "come here, you winged nuisance," he bellowed while slapping his weapon of choice on the counter! He charged across his living room, like a knight going into battle. Reaching the intersection going into his bedroom, where he seems to lose his quarry, "where'd it go?"

This was when Malcolm stepped over to help, so to speak, "well, I believe the fly in question," he explained as he began turning the older man in the direction he talked about, as well as pointing in the directions he meant, "went this way and that way, and then over there, then round about, and every way except this way and over yonder."

Officer Pedesco spotted the fly, and pointed it out, "there he is!"

"Oh," Sikowitz exclaimed while pushing away from Malcolm, "come here! Time to die," he shouted as he charged forward blindly, and crashed through a plate glass window!

Kevin shot up and on his crutches to look at his teacher, "Mr. Sikowitz, has Sammael come for you, or should we call upon the angels of mercy?"

"Who… who's there," he asked, apparently discombobulated from his tumble through the plate glass window.

"We've only met tonight, sir," he stated, before saying his name again, "it's Bloom, sir. Kevin Bloom."

"Ah yes," Sikowitz suddenly sounding, completely lucid, replied, "the motivational speaker with a balance problem."

"You must've hit your head," Kevin replied, "because I remember telling you that's not my profession. I am an Inspirational Orator, perhaps you should lie down?"

Jade and I were merely smirking at our Robbie. He was able to insure their teacher's safety and still maintain his character. It wasn't a surprise to either of us, he goes to school playing a character based on his own personality, it shouldn't be that much of a stretch for him to be able to maintain this character and still be a better person. If Sikowitz thought that scam would work on us, then he was underestimating us.

21:26

For the last two and a half hours, the students of Sikowitz's walked around interacting with each other, through the medium of their characters. Really, it was not much different than the way they interacted with each other and even the world on a daily basis. If one wants to think about it, our personalities could be considered characters we live as everyday, we all have personality quirks that make us unique. Actors just seem to be able to alter those personality traits, to fit into any role the script calls for. The question is, are they really changing who they are for a role, or merely expressing certain aspects of their own personality, they normally keep dormant?

Officer Pedesco had finally sat down when Kevin returned to his seat after Sikowitz's joke. He was in one of the four theater seats, with his affliction, he felt it would be easier on him to stay seated as long as possible. Robbie may be strong but he's still human, he just wouldn't be able to remain standing, with his arms holding up the majority of his weight. Pedesco sat next to him, on the end of the row, hooking her nightstick into the right-arm of her seat, and sitting her cereal on the table to the left of her. Kevin was inboard of her, with both crutches on his right-side, his arm was on his left arm rest, and Officer Pedesco was laying her arm on top of his and leaning into him a little bit.

Ms. Larry and Mr. Fizzelworth were behind them to the right, chatting, while the bloke was touching her face. Her microphone was down, away from her mouth and the speaker was switched off, to conserve battery power. Betty-Sue was over by the front door, looking at some sort of fabric, and Ronnie was on the opposite side of the room near the broken window.

Sikowitz was in his kitchen making dinner, and speaking into a tape recorder, "9:26 pm. So far, none of my students have broken character, and none have had to be sent home. All six of my students are still in my home. My first attempt at tricking them was a dismal failure due to Robbie Shapiro."

Denise breaks away from Malcolm's invasion of her personal space and goes to the other side of the room. "Why don't they make the plane out of the same material they make the black box out of," she asked through her speaker? "Um, hellooo?"

"That's quite an amusing commentary," Pedesco retorted in an annoyed voice, and an exasperated look in her eye.

"Officer Pedesco," Kevin admonished, "do not let your mercy flee from you, hang it around your neck as a fine necklace," he stated as he placed his hand on the back of her neck, and began massaging a pressure point that alleviated some of her stress from her character's habits, "so you will have grace in the eyes of God and others."

Pedesco sighed and let the tension flow out of her, as she acknowledged Kevin's rebuke, holding up her cereal to Denise, and asked contritely, "would you like some Raisin Bran?" She squeezed his hand underneath hers as her way of acknowledging him as a needle on her moral compass, something that did not surprise her, she already felt that her heart was his, it just needed that final push.

As that happened, somebody's cell phone began to ring, it turned out to be Ronnie's phone, and he answered it with a beleaguered, "hello?" The rest of the occupants could only here his side of the conversation, "I'm sorry this isn't Andre, my name is Ronnie, Ronnie Smith," he introduced himself, " I think you may have the wrong number, ma'am." He began taking shallow breaths, "I am gonna have to let you go, I am going into my second hour of labor, I'm going to have a baby," he said as he clicked off his phone, and turned it off. He waved at everyone, phone still in hand, "my apologies, wrong number."

As Ronnie went back to being a pregnant marathon runner, a person walked out of the back of the house. He had brown hair and was as built as any teenager should be. Not bad, Tori was thinking when she saw him, but I've seen my Robbie without a shirt, I doubt he's nearly as impressive as my Christian, Jewish Spartan. Still, she brought her whistle up to her lips, 'shrill' went the instrument, as Officer Pedesco jumped up with nightstick in proper, defense position, and grabbed her Raisin Bran under her arm, "who is that suspicious, young man over there?"

"This is my nephew, Jason," Sikowitz introduced, "he's staying with me, while his parents are away in Bangkok."

"Does he have a girlfriend," came Ms. Larry's booming voice, from the speaker, "because that's what I really wanna know?"

Jason turned to look at Denise, and grinned happily, "no, I'm not dating anyone."

"Well then you and this young lady have much to discuss," Pedesco told him, while flicking the long-end of the nightstick in the comedienne's direction.

"Where're you headed," Sikowitz asked?

"Me and some friends are going to see the Wall-dogs play at the Moxy," Jason answered.

Cat suddenly rushed forward, microphone down, with an excited smile on her face. "I'll go with you to see the Wall-dogs play at the Moxy, I'll go right now."

"Eh," Sikowitz grunted, "Cat, you just broke character," and seemed to do an umpire's throw out sign, "you're out," as he moved to the door, to open it.

Cat was not as heartbroken over the loss as some would have expected, she happily dropped her microphone and speaker, and placed herself under his arm. They almost made it to the door, when Kevin, having to be slower to rise ambled around to stand behind Officer Pedesco, came forward and spoke out to their teacher's nephew. "Hey, Jason," Kevin exclaimed, bringing him to a halt, and turning back, "when one is given a precious gift, one should praise the Lord for his blessings, but those precious gifts can be fleeting and they don't truly belong to the blessed. When that is the case, the gift must be returned to the hand of God, as good or better than when the Lord gave them the precious gift, or the hand of God will become the Hand of God's Wrath. Understand, Jason," Kevin asked with a look of righteous power behind his eyes?

Everybody there understood Kevin's meaning, he was speaking as our Robbie, but couching it in the way Kevin his character would say things. It was as if he was cycling between one personality and another, as easily as shifting scales for playing an instrument. Cat just looked at him, at his brotherly protection with a gentle smile on her face. Then looked at Officer Pedesco and Betty-Sue and said, "we're all lucky women to have him watching over us," to the nodding agreement of the other girls, "don't either one of you mess it up! Bye, everyone I'll be at the Moxy," she exclaimed excitedly, and left!

23:14

It was getting late in the evening, which was normally when I would be thinking of going to bed, unless I would be out with friends, but even then I would be thinking about going home. I had my head leaned back on Sikowitz's theater chairs, with my Robbie-as-Kevin sitting in the same chair as earlier, my nightstick situated the same as before. I set the cereal box next to me, and it seemed my arm had already found a permanent home on his arm, and we haven't even, officially, started dating. The other two boys were somewhere behind me, and Jade was off next to the door again. Tonight, she seemed to be spending an inordinate amount of time next to the door, which was usually all the way across the room from Beck. She didn't seem to mind all the time. Beck would accept Raisin Bran from my hand, though I made sure that it was not the hand I used to feed my Robbie with earlier in the evening.

Behind me, in the kitchen, my teacher was speaking into his recorder, "11:14 pm, so far only one of my students has been eliminated from my home, though largely of her own volition, Catarina Valentine was pulled away from the herd by my own flesh and blood. I blame that on… teenage hormones. I have prepared some… piping, hot quesadillas… from a recipe I got from Crispin Glover, back when… well…"

Just as he was talking, there was a knock on the door, which puzzled their teacher. He went over to answer the door with a jaunty, "Hello, may I help…"

"I DON'T KNOW YOU," came a loud voice from the door, before bolting back down the sidewalk, with a frightened scream!

"… you?"

"Who's at the door," the police officer in the room asked while standing up?

Sikowitz turned around, bewildered at what just happened, "I'm not sure, she was…"

"WHERE'S ANDRE," came a shout as she returned to the door? It was an old, heavyset woman of African descent, and she seemed to be afraid of everything.

Sikowitz, realizing he was talking to an irate parent, began to try to explain the situation, with an embarrassed, "Wha…," nervous chuckle. "Well, you see… that's a dilly of a pickle…"

"I DON'T EAT PICKLES," the woman looking for Andre shouted!

"You see, Andre, per say, isn't here," Sikowitz tried to explain.

"THERE HE IS, RIGHT THERE, she pointed behind the educator, Andre had walked back out of the back hallway! He had just been to the bathroom, it was sort of the only place in the home where the young actors could take a break from their character. The old woman barreled around the teacher, and rushed up to confront Ronnie, "ANDRE, WHY'D YOU PLAY GAMES WITH ME, ON THE TELEPHONE?"

"I'm not sure what you mean, ma'am," Ronnie attempted to placate her, and stay in the game. "My name isn't Andre, I am Ronnie Smith, a marathon runner, and about to have a baby."

"OH MY GOD," she had finally seen his pregnant belly, and pointed, "WHO DID THAT?"

"I did," he replied, "it was completely consensual."

"DON'T YOU PLAY WITH ME, BOY," she yelled, while wagging her finger under his nose!

Growing in frustration, Andre had enough and under his breath he said, " Grandma, listen, I'm doing an acting exercise," but Sikowitz had been listening into their conversation, "so could you please leave…"

But it was too late, Sikowitz busted in, with his buzzer sound and umpire pose, "Andre, you broke character."

"But, it's not my fault," Andre protested, "she came in here…"

Andre's grandma was not listening, she grabbed his arm, "COME WITH ME, " she ordered, and began hauling him to the door!

"Family can be God's greatest gift to us, or his greatest trial," Kevin epiphanized, "sometimes both at the same time."

"Mm-hm," everybody in the room agreed.

"We're down to four," their teacher clicked into his tape recorder.

Over the entire night, Officer Pedesco had been munching on her cereal, sharing as much as she could with Kevin, Malcolm, and any other of tonight's game players, but she was really getting sick of the cereal. I'm never eating it again, but she had a role to play tonight, so she sucked it up and ate more cereal. Still, she was hungry for something else to eat, so in a voice filled with disgust she said, "I am infatuated with Raisin Bran!"

Malcolm, understanding her, sat down on the other side of Kevin said, "I'm feeling a bit hungry meself."

"Uh, Sweet farm girl," their teacher motioned to Betty-Sue by the door, "would you mind, retrieving that tray of quesadillas from the kitchen?"

"Why Ah don't mind at all," she waved him away, as she moseyed over to where he pointed.

"Oh wait, that tray is hot," he shouted, but it was too late! She picked up the tray, and with a roar of pain, she dropped the tray.

Betty-Sue turned away from them, to collect herself, when she turned back she was still in character though barely. She even maintained a semblance of her smile, "mah goodness that tray was hot." She looked down and still smiling, she showed them all her wound, "well lookie-there mah skin's startin' to blister,'' she seemed to sniff the air, "and Ah do believe that's the sweet smell of mah burning flesh!"

Betty made her way out of the kitchen, when Sikowitz decided to act like our teacher for once. "Jade, perhaps I should drive…"

"Jade," she remonstrated frantically but firmly, "who's Jade? Mah name is Betty-Sue Hart, a happy, farm girl who is experiencing extreme pain right now!" She was in so much pain, she could not keep up her tirade, she let out a small scream of pain, barely keeping herself from crying.

For the first time since I have known him, Beck moved with haste, as he jumped up from the couch before rushing to her side. He still maintained his character, since that seemed to be what she wanted to do, even in the midst of so much pain. "How is it, luv," he asked with wide eyes, "fancy a trip to the hospital?"

"Well Ah have always depended upon the kindness of strangers," she said with a soft look at Beck.

Kevin and Officer Pedesco had also gotten up, he ambled over on his crutches, she walked normally, with her Raisin Bran. "I would recommend washing it with cool water from the tap first," he said, "I learned that as a Boy Scout at my church, growing up."

"Maybe I should call in some backup," Officer Pedesco offered, "and we can go to the hospital with you," she was looking between Kevin and Betty. My Robbie is barely maintaining his character, he's torn between besting this challenge, and seeing to his sister's wellbeing. I said I would never come between them, and family is more important than any role.

"Now, don't y'all go, and break up this little party, for lil' old me," she replied with a smile, it was her first genuine smile at me! "Ah'm gonna be okay, mah brother is supposed to be calling meh tomorrow," she said with a meaningful glare at our Robbie, who nodded as this assertion

Betty and Malcolm went to the kitchen and did as Kevin recommended, and ran some water over her burn for about five minutes, before wrapping it in a paper towel. Betty and Malcolm left after she gave Kevin a kiss on the cheek, and hugged Pedesco, but in my ear, it was Jade that spoke softly to me, "if you hurt him, break his heart, I don't care if you are Shelby Marx or Helen of Troy, I will destroy you."

"He's in good hands, Jade," I returned to her, just as softly, "I will take care of him."

She stepped back, and she was Betty-Sue Hart again, with a smile and she, with Malcolm left the house. Sikowitz was looking after them as they left, in admiration, then back at his last two students, "and they never broke character."

As soon as he said that however, "MOVE THIS FRACKING CAR," followed by the sound of glass breaking!

"Jaaade," came Beck's voice in protest!

"SHUT UP, AND TAKE ME TO THE HOSPITAL," she roared!

Sikowitz and Pedesco looked out at the scene, and their teacher egged them with, "Um, you broke character…"

"And your boyfriend's car window," she quipped.

They moved back inside to avoid any legal entanglements, to find Kevin, once again in his theater seat, he had a rueful smirk on his face. "A beautiful clear day can conceal Heaven's fury," he mused.

I am a POLICE Officer with very red lips! I 3 RAISIN BRAN, and I'm having naughty thoughts about Kevin Bloom! Condition: RABBITY🐰

It has been a little past midnight, and for the last forty-five minutes Kevin and Officer Pedesco have sat on opposite sides of their teacher. Sikowitz was well and truly over this exercise, and it showed on his face, and in his speech, "Uh, kids, it's getting late." His last two students were now just seeing how far they could push him. Kevin was speaking inspirational biblical phrases to him, and Pedesco was telling him fictional facts about Raisin Bran.

"When the Lord sends you trials, accept it with grace and equanimity, for God sends sharp lessons to those He loves, and strong tribulations to those he calls son. For Jesus is His son, in whom God loves above all, and He delivered His son to the people that crucified Him," Kevin prayed.

"This method acting exercise is… becoming rather tedious," Sikowitz decided.

"Raisin Bran was invented by Kevin McRaisinburg and Jack McBran," Pedesco informed him.

"I beg you, to go home," Erwin asked in desperation!

"All the gold in Fort Knox cannot make a man joyful, that comes with the gaining of wisdom and accumulation of knowledge…" Kevin began, but was cut off by Sikowitz.

Who lifted his tape recorder to his lips, "I can't take it anymore! ALL RIGHT," he bellowed as he launched to his feet, and moved away from them quickly, "since it's obvious, that neither of you will be breaking character anytime soon," he said with mounting frustration in his voice, "and I can't stand being here, with either of you anymore," he stopped himself, just barely, from saying what he really wanted to say, he chose the most non-insulting thing he could think of, "I'm going to bed. You can help yourselves to anything in the fridge," he began, "but please do not look in the cabinet, under the sink, in my bathroom!" Sikowitz toddled off to bed leaving them to their own devices.

They looked at each other after they heard his door shut, and burst out laughing. When they were finished, Pedesco moved over to the seat next to him, leaning her shoulder into his, while his arm went around her shoulders. They turned their heads to look each other in the eyes, they were very close, their lips practically touching, when Kevin spoke, "So, my liquor legs wear off, at around six in the morning," he told her, "what time do you go off duty, Officer Pedesco?"

Pedesco returned his gaze with her own intense stare, "yeah about that time," she whispered to him.

"When it happens," he asks, "will you tell me your given name?"

I looked at him clearly, his words bringing me back to my senses. I knew he wasn't talking about Officer Pedesco's first name, and he knew my birth name already, he was asking for my other name. More than that though, he was asking for my trust, he was asking for half of my heart. The question in my mind was, had he earned my trust? He was my biggest fan, or at least one of them, his life-sized posters of me in my fight gear, means he could already know me. He may have figured it out already, but hasn't said anything about Shelby Marx in the time I've known him, nor even talked about MMA at all. I wouldn't even know about his fandom if Jade hadn't let it slip to me. I have to know for sure how he feels about Shelby Marx, before I can know if I trust him.

"I will, if you show me where you live," Officer Pedesco nodded, while cupping his chin, "where you sleep, where you dream, where you keep your fantasies. Are you willing to do that Kevin," I ask with every seriousness I can muster in my voice as Officer Pedesco?

My Robbie was the one looking back at me, when I finished laying out my test of trust for him. I have never seen his eyes, so intense as when he looked at me, but my eyes were the same as his, when I looked back at him. Finally after a lifetime, his eyes relaxed and he looked at me with less intensity, but no less sincerity, "Yes," was all he said.

06:30

I woke up beside my Robbie the next morning. My hair felt like a haystack, and my breath tasted like rotten bran-flakes. I was not anybody's picture of an attractive female. I turned my head to see my Robbie, fast asleep, his glasses were tucked into his shirt pocket, and his hands were folded over his abdomen. I took in the sight of his face as he slept, and it showed me how handsome he was, when he was not playing the nerd. I don't care about that sort of thing anyway, since when is it a crime to be smart? It's not his body or his brain I care about, it's his big heart, the fact that he's strong, but doesn't feel the need to show-off, or belittle others to raise himself up.

The only detractor I have found in him, is his penchant for writing creepy songs, like Broken Glass or My Big Toe, which I think is just a part of his comedy act. Nothing… nothing of who he is has given me reservations about being his girlfriend. Even the song thing attracts me, because if that's his biggest flaw, then any woman who goes out with him will be the luckiest woman in the world.

When he put his feelings out there the first day, he didn't know me at all, I could have been no different than any other girl besides Jade that he knew. Caring only about status, or how others thought of me, I could have been an arrogant celebrity who looks down on other people just because they're not me.

After making his feelings known, he could have been relentless in pursuing me. He could have constantly pestered me with date requests, lewd comments, or if he did know who I was that first day, blackmailed me into dating him. He didn't do that, instead he encouraged me to be the best actress and singer I could be, he brought me into his circle of friends, making me feel at home. In short, he became one of my closest friends, and regardless of what happens between us romantically, I don't want that to change. He will always be my friend.

I was watching him as his eyes opened, and I felt chills run down my spine when he looked at me. The good kind, that made me feel special when he saw me, he looked at me and even with my current disheveled state, I felt beautiful, even sexy. That was how I felt, when he laid eyes on me that morning. I found myself sitting up straighter, pulling my shoulders back, and pushing my chest out. His eyes remained on mine throughout my shift, despite my blanket permission to ogle my body from Spring Break, he only rarely takes the opportunity to do so, and only when we're alone.

"What name should I call you right now," he asked?

My smile widened, "until we can be in your home, away from prying eyes and ears, I'm Tori. Even after I tell you what you wish to know, I will be Victoria "Tori" Dawn Vega," I told him, " understand?"

"Tori is all I've ever known you as," my Robbie returned with a grin, "it'd be weird to start calling you anything else."

I returned his grin, "Let's get out of here, Robbie," I said standing up and holding out my hand. He took it and I pulled him up to me…

Outside of a two story, Mediterranean-style home

The house we came to after the thirty-minute drive, was impressive in my opinion. Not exactly a mansion, but definitely grander than my parent's house. There was a small, dirt road winding off to the south, around the side of the house, that he took the Scout along. It was a good five minutes until we came to a cabin, behind the larger house. It was a well-appointed house, made mostly of river-stone, with wooden accents around the eaves and the roof. We pulled into a small, covered carport, attached to the house.

"Is this where you stay, Robbie," I asked to get to know him a little more?

"Yeah, my parents are gone a lot," he explained, "that big place is just too big for one person to live in by himself, so me and my dad built this place for me to live. I pay rent and they pay utilities for it," he stated with pride, "I only stay in the big house, when they're home."

I looked around the area, taking in the surrounding landscape, which was rather open and hilly. From the carport, I could see a smaller work shed behind the house. He saw me staring at it and grinned, "that's where Rex was born."

I giggled a little, I'd heard about his workshop, from Jade and Beck. "So will he be home this morning or will I have you all to myself," I asked?

"Nah, Rex usually spends his weekends entertaining his Northridge Girls," my Robbie informed me, "for now, all you get is Robert, but you can still call me Robbie if it makes you feel more at ease. Jade and the others do," he told me.

"That's fine," I agreed, then turned to get my bag from the backseat. "Do you have anywhere to change," I asked, "I want to be me when I tell you who I was?"

"Of course," my Robbie agreed, "follow me, Victoria."

"Right behind you, Robert," I quipped, and we shared a grin that, at least for me, sent the butterflies tumbling through my stomach.

He showed me into his home, and it seemed to meet that line between rustic and modern, very well. The main room had plenty of light, coming through the picture windows on both sides of the room, and an entertainment center along one wall, surrounding a hearth. Couches and chairs faced that direction, a long table with chairs around it was placed between the living area and two corridors, one of which held the kitchen, and probably led outback, through laundry facilities of some sort. The other one led to the bedroom, and there was a bathroom along the way.

"Let me get a change of clothes from my room, and I'll change in the bathroom," my Robbie asked me?

I grimaced and looked at him, "I don't want to kick you out of your own bedroom, Robbie," I offered, "I can change in the bathroom."

He took on a stubborn expression, "I think you'll find what you need to trust me through there, Tori," he pointed to the bedroom.

I looked in his eyes and noticed his intensity, so I meekly nodded, as he stepped to his bedroom door. "Robbie," I called to him before he entered, he turned back to me curious, my face was looking at his feet, "please pick out clothes you don't mind getting damaged. Clothes you train in with your mom or dad," I no longer need to see his room to know that I can trust him, "I want to be your girlfriend, but Shelby Marx will have no man who cannot defeat me!" I turn my gaze up to meet his, and allow my fighting spirit to emerge once again…

Vega Household; 10:45

I opened my front door and entered my home, I saw my family sitting on the couch, watching TV, I would have smiled, if my busted jaw allowed me. My parents and Trina turned to look at the wreck of me. They all gave sharp gasps, even Trina, when they saw the state of my face, and I was barely standing.

They all rushed over to take me to the couch, my dad yelled "what the hell happened, baby?"

This time, despite the pain in my face I smiled, "he beat the crap out of me, daddy!"

"Who," he roared?

"Before you go all protective parent, I want you to know that I wanted this to happen," I said in as clear a conviction as I could convey, through my blackening eyes, "I needed this to happen, daddy!"

"What do you mean by that, Victoria," mom asked in rage?

"I needed to be defeated, before I could be with someone, mom," I told her, "I wanted a man who was as strong as me, or stronger, at least as strong as papa. I want to feel protected when I'm with someone, and I need to trust that person before I can even think about giving them my heart."

"Wait, you mean to say a boy did this to you," David Vega demanded of his daughter, who only nodded, "who was it?"

"It was a fair fight, dad," I snapped, pulling him out of his paternal fury, "it was a fair fight and I challenged him! I wanted you to know that before you go off and attack him. Especially since he's my boyfriend now," I glared at him, "and I think I'm in love with him."

"So you fought a Red Sonja-esque battle against a boy," Trina stated the facts, "you challenged him, fought evenly, and still got your ass handed to you?"

I had a lecherous smile on my face when Trina finished, "oh, yeah."

"Just for honor's sake," Trina asked, "you didn't let him win did you? You said you wanted him to win, needed him to win," she reminded me.

I stood and held my knuckles out for her to see, they were better off than the rest of me, but anyone could see how torn up and bruised they were. "I have never fought so hard in my life," I told them all, with absolute conviction, "my fights in MMA, even my first championship didn't bring out this side of me. I wasn't just fighting for a meaningless belt or even for money, I was fighting for a piece of myself, I was fighting for my heart. I believe I deserve the best, and only the best deserves me. If I had given anything less than everything I have to win this fight then I would have nothing, I would be nothing. I am not nothing," I declared with a growl, and a clenched fist.

David sighed in resignation, so one of his Ninas had found someone they could tackle life with, there was nothing he can do about it now, except run a comprehensive background search on him. "What is his name, Victoria," he asked?

I just smiled and said, "Robert Leonidas Shapiro!"

Note:

The biblical phrases are mostly paraphrased proverbs taken from the Book of Proverbs in the Holy Bible. They do reflect the author's true beliefs, the reader, however, may accept them or not as they believe. The author is not a minister or priest in the name of God, I do however, believe in everything I wrote for this story.

A lot of my readers may misinterpret the actions of Robbie before Tori shows up at the Vega household. Let me make it clear, that what Robbie did to Tori is not abuse, not even in the eyes of the law, in most states. Let me make it clear, the author does not condone abuse or bullying in any way, shape, or form. I made it clear that she challenged him to the fight, to prove his worthiness to be her boyfriend. Victoria Dawn Vega, aka Shelby Marx, in this story, has never known defeat until now, she probably watched Red Sonja as a kid, and identified with her as a fellow, female warrior. She probably watched, Xena, the Warrior Princess, too. I made sure in the story that this was the only way she would except Robbie, or any boy, as her boyfriend or potential life partner, if he could defeat her in battle.