"Tori! Beck and Jade are here!" yelled Holly Vega up the stairs on a sunny Thursday morning. "Coming!" shouted Tori, who was still getting dressed. She hurried down the stairs, frantically pulling up her tight denim shorts with her tank top still over her head. As she arrived in the living room and finished pulling on her top, Tori saw Beck and Jade standing in the doorway, each carrying a large Jet Brew Coffee.
"Hey Tori" greeted Beck, giving her a one-armed hug with his free arm and a quick peck on the lips. Jade turned away and failed to suppress a scowl. Despite her best efforts to hide it, the thespian still got jealous whenever Beck and Tori were intimate with each other. Tori noticed, and quickly gave Jade a hug and a kiss, which calmed her down immediately.
"Would you like some waffles?" asked Tori as Beck and Jade followed her into the kitchen. Both teens accepted her offer, so Tori threw some waffles into the toaster while Beck and Jade sat down together at the kitchen center-island and began watching Splashface News, which Tori was casting to the TV in the kitchen from her Pearphone.
"The LAPD has just released footage from Karaoke Dokie's parking lot surveillance cameras of the initial police response to the barfight. The footage shows Sam Puckett, former star of popular web show iCarly, aiding a young officer who was quickly overwhelmed while responding to the barfight."
Grainy, choppy surveillance camera footage started playing on the TV, showing an overhead shot of the Karaoke Dokie parking lot. A young officer could be seen attempting to arrest one of the Northridge cheerleaders. Suddenly, the surfer dude without any foot injuries came running out the front doors and tackled the officer, knocking him away from the cheerleader and putting him in a tight headlock. Several Northridge football girls came running over, and, seeing the officer restrained in a suffocating headlock, started punching him in the face, stomach, and areas that could make it difficult for him to have a family.
Moments later, Sam rode into the shot at high speed on her motorcycle with one hand on the handlebars and the other hand holding her butter sock behind her shoulder, crashing into the Northridge football girls and sending two of them flying while running over another one. Without slowing down, she swung her butter sock as hard as she could and connected with the surfer dude's face, shattering his cheek bone while knocking him to the ground.
Tori and Holly both gasped, Beck's raised his eyebrow and opened his mouth slightly, and Jade muttered "wow!" under her breath.
Sam proceeded to get off her bike and kneel on the ground next to the officer, who looked like he was about to pass out. Then the news report cut to news anchor Tammy, who was standing in front of the LAPD headquarters with David Vega and Officer Gary.
"When we first arrived," said David into Tammy's microphone, "we found Officer Patrick on the ground in critical condition, and Ms. Puckett was kneeling by his side sharing her buffalo nuggets with him."
"Oh yeah, she was adamant that buffalo nuggets would make him feel better" said Gary, nodding in agreement with his colleague and earning a small chuckle from news anchor Tammy.
"On behalf of the entire department, we'd like to extend our sincerest gratitude towards Ms. Puckett for helping one of our officers during his time of need" said Gary.
"Absolutely. We're delighted to see a former convict turn her life around the way Sam has. We've reached out to the Seattle Department of Justice to see if we can get her probation ended early" said David.
Holly looked up from her Pearphone. "I didn't realize your friend Sam was on probation" she said, raising an eyebrow. "Yeah, she spent time in juvie before she was on iCarly" replied Tori as she pulled four waffles out of the toaster and put them on plates for Beck and Jade.
The news report switched to a live shot of both surfer dudes being arraigned on multiple charges, including assaulting a police officer and attempted murder. The surfer dude who was charged with attempted murder had a huge cast on his foot and was walking with crutches.
"A judge has just rejected Hollywood Arts' motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed by Ryder Daniels and other students who failed Principal Helen's reauditions, so it looks like the litigation will proceed. Students on the school's social media site, The Slap, are divided over whether said students deserve to return, and the hashtag #helengate is trending across the internet."
"Ugh! I cannot believe they might actually let that chizbag back into Hollywood Arts!" huffed Jade, wrinkling her nose in disgust and shooting a nasty glare towards the TV.
"I don't want Ryder to return any more than you do, but Helen did try to expel Trina, which was really unfair considering she already auditioned and got in" said Tori with a sigh.
"What's unfair is that someone as talentless as Trina was able to get into Hollywood Arts in the first place just because someone was high on rotten coconut milk!" grumbled Jade, causing Tori to glare at her and indignantly shout "JADE!". Jade smirked. Even though they were dating, the thespian still loved getting under Tori's skin, a fact Tori had come to realize would likely never change, and that, in a way, she found to be almost cute.
"On a lighter note," continued the news report, "this weekend, Leafstorm Entertainment is hosting a massive gaming tournament for their massively-popular Harry Potter RTS game! Professional gamers from around the world will be competing for a prize pool of over a million dollars in this massive esports event!"
Jade spat out a bite of waffles in shock and disgust. "Professional gamers?! Esports?!" she snorted, staring at the TV in disbelief. "Actually, yes" replied Beck, looking up from his waffles. "Sinjin and Robbie both play the Harry Potter RTS, and apparently it's become a popular spectator sport, particularly in South Korea where matches are frequently broadcast on TV" he said. Jade rolled her eyes. "That's even lamer than hamboning!" she sneered.
The argument about the merits of esports was interrupted, however, by Trina coming downstairs wearing a tank top and a pair of jeans that appeared to be a size too small, her hair still wet from showering. "Hey Treen" Tori greeted hopefully. The older teen, however, was not in the mood to be friendly: she stalked into the kitchen without looking at Tori or her friends, grabbed two waffles off Tori's plate, and headed towards the door, flipping the bird at the Trio over her shoulder as she left.
Holly sighed and shook her head, embarrassed by her eldest daughter's behavior, while Tori stared after her sister looking crestfallen. Jade opened her mouth to say something to the older teen, but Beck nudged her and shook his head no, causing the longtime couple to get into a heated whisper argument.
Eventually, Holly diffused the argument by suggesting that the Trio should be heading out if they were to make it to school on time.
"Alright class!" said Sikowitz, standing at the front of the classroom with a coconut in one hand and a stack of papers in the other. "Today is an exciting day because!" he said, pausing for dramatic effect, "…we are going to start working on a NEW PLAY!" he finished, his voice rising with excitement.
"Who am I playing?" demanded Jade, standing up in her seat. "Patience! Jade!" chided Sikowitz as he began passing out scripts, which Tori noted was rather odd since he usually only handed out scripts to students who received acting roles.
"This play," Sikowitz explained, "was given to me by my good friend Mr. Fletcher, who's the head of the drama department at Pacific Coast Academy" he said, making his way around the room to where Tori was sitting with Beck and Jade, handing each of them a script as he passed by.
Tori examined the script. The cover had a picture of a blond girl wearing a crude alien costume. Tori mused that the girl looked kind of like Ginger Fox. "'Zorka, by Chase Mathews'. Who's 'Chase Mathews'?" asked Tori, reading the title and playwright aloud to the class.
"He is one of Mr. Fletcher's students. He wrote the play several years ago for a drama assignment" replied Sikowitz.
"So, who do I play?" demanded Jade, more urgently this time.
"Alright! ALRIGHT!" cried Sikowitz, signaling for everyone to stop talking. "Let me assign your roles before Jade gets her panties in a pretzel!" he said, shooting Jade a sharp look while the thespian winced at the word "panties".
"Jade! You will be playing Zorka, an alien girl whose starship crash lands on earth!" said Sikowitz. Jade grinned broadly, happy to be assigned the leading role.
"Tori! You will be playing the lifeguard, who rescues Zorka and falls in love with her!" continued Sikowitz, looking pointedly at the half-Latina.
"Oh cool! I get to play a guy again!" replied Tori happily.
"No, why would you assume that?" asked Sikowitz, giving Tori a sharp look.
"Oh, because my character falls in love with Zorka, who's a girl, I just assumed that…" Tori started to reply, but stopped, blushing as she realized that she'd just cornered herself. Jade wasted no time capitalizing on her girlfriend's embarrassment.
"Uh oh! Sweet Sally Peaches has never seen a same-sex relationship!" drawled Jade in her thickest, most unflattering Southern Belle accent.
"I don't talk like tha- AHAHAAA EEEK AAAHAH!" Tori squealed as Jade began tickling her.
"Uh oh Tori! The tickle bunny twins are gonna getcha!" said Jade, wrapping her arms around the squirming brunette to restrain her.
"EEK! AAHAHA OMG THAT TICKLES!" squealed Tori as Jade's "tickle bunnies" scribbled across her ribs.
"Your underarms are so smooth! You've got to get me some of that pit cream!" teased Jade as she mercilessly tickled Tori's armpits which were conveniently exposed by her tank top.
"JADE!" shouted Tori indignantly, blushing with embarrassment as a wave of giggles rippled across the room, especially Robbie, who practically fell out of his chair laughing.
"Hey! I still have that video of you!" warned Tori, glaring at Robbie.
"Alright! Settle down! Settle down!" said Sikowitz, "though I am glad to see you two getting along! It's a nice change from the bad old days when you two were always at each other's throats!" he added, smiling at Tori and Jade as the brunette rested her head on Jade's chest while the thespian draped her arms around her shoulders and held her hands.
After everyone had settled down, Sikowitz assigned the rest of their roles. Andre was assigned to play a fighter pilot, Beck was assigned to play Commander McGuillicuddy (who apparently was the head of NASA), Robbie was assigned to play Sheriff Juggers, Meredith and Pepper were both assigned to play hula girls, Sinjin (as usual) was assigned to do special effects, and Cat was assigned to make costumes (which she was very excited about).
After everyone had been assigned to their roles, Sikowitz had everyone read through the script.
"Okay, this is the lamest play I've ever seen!" yelled Jade after she had read a few pages of the script. While she wouldn't have been so blunt with her teacher, Tori had to agree. The script was pretty bland; there was almost no conflict to speak of. In fact, it almost seemed like the play had been written purely to have Zorka and the lifeguard kiss.
"Precisely" said Sikowitz, taking a long sip from his coconut. Jade glared at him, furious that the one time she was assigned the lead role was in a terrible play.
"When you're an actor," said Sikowitz, pacing back and forth at the front of the classroom, "sometimes you'll be given a terrible script by incompetent writers. And it is your job, as a performer, to take that bad script and make it good.
"Some bad scripts can be saved purely by good acting. If that's the case, great! You're done! However, occasionally, you'll receive a script that is so outrageously bad that the only option is to change the script. And that is what we will be doing with the steaming pile of rancid rat chiz that our dear friend Chase has handed us!"
While Sikowitz paused his ramble to take a long sip from his coconut, Beck looked up from his script. "Um, Sikowitz? My character isn't in this play" he said. "Neither is mine" said Andre. "Same with mine!" added Robbie.
Tori expected Sikowitz to suddenly realize that he'd printed the wrong script, or that he assigned roles from the wrong play. However, Sikowitz did neither.
"Correct!" he said, smiling broadly at his students. "Those characters aren't in this play. Yet. You're going to add them" he said.
"Andre! Tell me about your character! What role do they play in the story?" he suddenly cried, crouching down so he was face-to-face with the musician.
"Well," said Andre, slightly startled by the sudden invasion of his personal space, "I'm a fighter pilot for the US air force, and I shot down Zorka's starship" he said.
"An action-packed opening scene! I like it!" cried Sikowitz enthusiastically. "Now Beck! Tell us about your character!"
Beck thought for a moment. "As the head of NASA, I wish to have Zorka captured and brought to our lab so that we may dissect her!" he said, grinning at Jade.
"A main antagonist! Wonderful!" cried Sikowitz, smiling with excitement. "I like the way you think!" cried Jade, sounding genuinely impressed with the character Beck had come up with. The rest of the class murmured excitedly while Beck smiled, clutching Jade's hand and stroking her palm, enjoying the rare compliment from her.
"Alright! Robbie! Tell us about your character!" said Sikowitz after the class had settled down again.
"Well," said Robbie, "as Sheriff Juggers, I'm called in to arrest the lifeguard for breaking into a top-secret NASA laboratory while trying to rescue Zorka!" he said.
"Wait," commented Sinjin, "so in this play, Tori rescues Jade from Beck?" he said. "HA! Just like in real life!" jeered Rex, causing Tori to whack him with a rolled-up copy of the script while Beck looked on with amusement. The half-Latina still felt a little guilty about the fiasco at her birthday party, and she did not appreciate Rex reminding her of it.
"And there you have it," said Sikowitz, "by adding some new villains and some obstacles for our heroes to overcome, this horrible play is looking better already!" he said excitedly, sipping on his coconut and staring off into space.
The bell rang, signaling the beginning of lunch. "Alright everyone! We shall start rehearsals tomorrow morning! Call time is 5am, sharp! Do not be late!"
"Do you want us to start rewriting the script?" asked Jade, hopefully. "Nope! We will rewrite the script during rehearsals by harnessing the power of improv!" replied Sikowitz. Jade and Tori exchanged puzzled looks and shrugged. They'd both learned long ago to trust Sikowitz's unconventional methods.
"ONE BURRITO!" shouted Festus to the empty interior of his Grub Truck. "Here you go!" he said in his thick Yerbanian accent, handing a sloppily-assembled burrito to the shrugger who was standing in line in front of Tori and Jade.
"And what can I get for ze girl who killed our chancellor?" he snarled, glaring at Tori. "Two fish tacos, please!" replied Tori cheerfully, ignoring Festus's sour attitude. Jade, who was standing behind her, draped her arms around her shoulders. Tori relaxed, allowing herself to lean on Jade as the thespian clutched her hands and gently rocked her back and forth.
"You know, in Yerba you dykes would both be stoned to death!" growled Festus, wrinkling his nose in disgust at the moderate display of affection. Jade was about to launch a nasty retort, but before she could, Tori looked over her shoulder and shouted "HI LANE!" towards her guidance counselor, who had just come out of the school building.
"Hey Tori! Hey Jade! How're you doing?" greeted Lane warmly, coming over to the Grub Truck. Lane was carrying a bottle of lotion in one hand, and, as luck would have it, was wearing a sweater vest with several Pride flags printed on it. "Oh, we're doing great!" said Tori dreamily before turning around and giving Jade a quick peck on the lips.
"Excellent!" cried Lane as he applied a generous helping of lotion to his hands. "Aren't they a cute couple?" he said, turning towards Festus. "Yes! WONDERFUL!" growled Festus, gritting his teeth in a painful forced smile before handing Tori and Jade their fish tacos.
After bidding farewell to Lane, Tori and Jade sat down at their usual table with the rest of their friends, where Cat was busy filling in a picture of a unicorn in a coloring book that Jade had given her. They had just started discussing Sikowitz's play when Joey Ferguson approached their table and asked to have a word with Andre.
"What's that about?" Tori wondered aloud after Andre and Joey had stepped away from the tables to have a word in private.
The group began speculating about what Joey Ferguson could want but were interrupted by Sam riding up to the table on her motorcycle. "Hey guys! Guess what? Guess what? GUESS WHAT?" she cried, looking extremely excited. "You won a lifetime supply of fried chicken?" guessed Tori. "No, nothing that exciting" replied Sam. "Look! A judge agreed to end my probation early!" she cried, proudly holding up her Pearpad, which was displaying an email from the Seattle Department of Corrections.
Everyone at the table enthusiastically congratulated Sam, giving her numerous high-fives and fist-bumps. "How did this happen?" asked Beck. "Well, Tori's dad sent an email to my probation officer about the assistance I provided the LAPD during the Karaoke Dokie barfight, and my probation officer was so impressed that he asked the court to end my probation early!" cried Sam, beaming excitedly at everyone.
"Tori has one cool dad!" said Jade. "I try not to brag about it" replied Tori casually. Suddenly, Cat, who had been reading the email on the Pearpad, looked up. "Hey, they spelled your name wrong!" chirped the perky red head, staring at Sam with her large brown eyes. "Huh? No they didn't" replied Sam, sounding confused as she leaned over Cat's shoulder to look at the Pearpad.
"Yeah they did! See? It's supposed to be 'Puckle'!" chirped Cat. Sam rolled her eyes. "How many times do I have to tell you, my last name is 'Puckett'?!" cried Sam, sounding exasperated. "No, I'm pretty sure it's 'Puckle'" insisted Cat. Beck sighed and shook his head while Tori, Jade, and Sam all glanced at each other and rolled their eyes.
The argument over Sam's last name was interrupted by Sinjin, who pulled a chair out from under a shrugger at a neighboring table and sat down next to Robbie. The two nerds immediately began eagerly discussing the Harry Potter RTS tournament taking place at the Boomerang Theatre the next day.
"Man, I can't WAIT to see Liviwasp compete!" cried Sinjin excitedly. "I know, right? I wonder if she'll win?" replied Robbie. "Doubtful" interjected Burf, who had just squeezed in next to Sinjin after relieving another shrugger of her chair. "You're so negative!" snapped Sinjin, glaring at Burf.
"I'm just being realistic," replied Burf, "Liviwasp may be a grandmaster, but she's simply not at the same level as professional Harry Potter RTS players."
"I just hope she smokes Radon!" said Robbie vehemently, before embarking on an angry rant about how toxic Radon and his fans were, especially the way they dominated any Splorch TV chat they entered.
Robbie's rant was interrupted by Sinjin's phone, however. The Hollywood Arts techie pulled it out, and then practically squealed with excitement. "Liviwasp's flight just landed! And she's doing a meet-and-greet later this afternoon at the Northridge Esports LAN center!" he cried.
Robbie squealed with excitement at this news. "Dude! We HAVE to go meet her!" he cried.
"Absolutely!" replied Sinjin.
"I'm totally going to ask her out!" cried Robbie. Cat scowled and angrily jammed her orange crayon into her coloring book, breaking it in half, but both Robbie and Sinjin were too excited to notice.
"You absolutely should!" cried Sinjin. "She was totally flirting with you while she analyzed your replay last night during her Subscriber Replay Analysis stream!"
"Wait, wait wait!" cried Sam, "You don't actually think this Liviwasp chick is into you, do you?" she asked incredulously.
"She totally is!" insisted Robbie, "she laughed at my jokes, she complimented my replay, she even said I was cute!"
Sam rolled her eyes. "Dude, Liviwasp is a web star! Being nice to fans is part of her job. I promise you she probably doesn't even consider you a friend!" she replied bluntly.
"No, you don't understand! There's a deep connection between us! She's even talked to me over DMs!" cried Robbie, looking around at his friends in the hopes that someone would back him up.
Tori sighed and gave Robbie a sympathetic pat on the arm. "Sam is one of the greatest web stars of all time. If she says Liviwasp is just doing her job, I'm inclined to believe her" said Tori gently.
The argument between the iCarly superstar and the nerd was interrupted by Andre running over. "Hey babe! I have exciting news!" he cried, excitedly grasping Sam's shoulders with his hands, practically bouncing up and down as he stared into the blonde's eyes.
"OMG me too! Me too!" cried Sam, bouncing excitedly on the balls of her feet. "You go first!" insisted Andre as Sam proceeded to excitedly tell him about her probation being ended early.
"Baby! That's wonderful!" cried Andre, holding Sam by her waist and picking her up in the air before giving her a peck on the lips.
"So, what's your good news?" asked Sam after Andre had put her down.
"Joey Ferguson asked me to write a song for Karaoke Dokie!" cried Andre, unable to contain his excitement. "Dude! That's wonderful!" cried Sam, excitedly picking up Andre. The sight of the skinny, petite Sam Puckett so effortlessly picking up Andre and holding him high above her head, despite him being easily twice her size, caused everyone around the Asphalt Café to stare.
"Oh, she does this all the time" said Andre casually as Sam put him down. "Way to go, dude! Can't wait to hear it!" cried Tori, giving Andre a friendly one-armed hug. "Heck yeah! And, I'd like you to sing it!" cried Andre, returning Tori's one-armed hug. "Absolutely!" cried Tori, "we can work on it tomorrow at my house after school!" she said enthusiastically.
At this point, Sam, who had been glaring at Andre and Tori throughout their friendly hug, intervened. "Woah woah woah, you are NOT hanging out alone with her!" she cried, pulling Andre away from Tori. Andre tried to explain that he and Tori were just friends, but Sam was hearing none of it. The two started arguing, but Jade quickly pulled Sam aside.
"Dude, it's cool, they're just friends" said Jade. Sam, however, was not so sure. "Come on, no guy is 'just friends' with a girl like that!" she said, motioning towards Tori. Jade nodded. "I get where you're coming from," she said, "but trust me on this: they've been best friends for over eighteen months."
Sam started to ramble about Tori's insane good looks, but Jade cut her off. "Look, Tori's my girlfriend. I'm okay with her hanging out with Andre, and you should be, too" said the thespian. Sam stared at Jade for a few moments, considering the thespian, but eventually seemed to deem her trustworthy.
The dirty blonde exchanged a sappy farewell with the musician before riding down Sunset Boulevard on her motorcycle.
As everyone sat back down, Andre suddenly noticed something. "Uh, Tori? What's that in your taco?" he asked, sounding alarmed. Tori looked down at where Andre was pointing, and sure enough, there was a foamy, slimy whiteish-yellowish substance towards the middle of her taco. "Eww! Is that SPIT?" she cried in disgust. Andre agreed that it did, indeed, look like spit. "Why would there be… FESTUS!" Tori cried, coming to a sudden realization.
"Festus?" questioned Andre. "Yeah," replied Jade, "he called us both 'dykes'" she said casually. Andre and Robbie both gasped, shocked that a school staff member would speak to students that way. A look of worry suddenly flashed across Beck's face; he suddenly snatched Jade's taco right out of her hands and pealed back the shell, revealing a similar yellowish-whiteish slimy foamy blob of goo.
Tori and Jade both freaked out, repulsed at what they'd just eaten. Andre and Robbie were both stunned, while Beck looked positively furious. Suddenly, the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch.
"Where's Jade?" asked Beck as Tori joined him in the Hollywood Arts parking lot by his car after school. "She's hanging with Sam. They're both going to Liviwasp's meet-and-greet" replied the brunette. Beck shot her a puzzled look.
"Why would Jade want to meet a gamer girl?" Beck wondered aloud.
"She doesn't," replied Tori, "she wants to watch nerds flirt with Liviwasp and get rejected."
"Now that makes sense" replied Beck with a chuckle.
"Yup," replied Tori, "classic Jade."
Tori and Beck's attention was suddenly grabbed by a motorcycle horn blaring behind them. The two teens turned around and saw Jade and Sam riding by on Sam's motorcycle. The two girls waved towards Tori and Beck as the motorcycle stopped at the parking lot exit before turning onto Sunset Boulevard.
"Why is Jade hanging onto Sam?" asked Tori, a small frown forming on her face. "So she doesn't fall off the motorcycle" replied Beck. Tori scowled. "Yeah, but why does she need to be holding Sam's waist?" she demanded. Beck chuckled. "Tori Vega, are you jealous?" he asked, sounding amused. "No!" insisted Tori, a little too quickly. Beck, however, was unconvinced.
"Sam and Jade are just friends, like how you and Andre are just friends" he reminded Tori, putting an arm around her shoulder in an affectionate squeeze, which made her smile and snuggle closer to him.
After a short drive down Sunset, Tori and Beck found themselves sitting together on the small couch in Beck's RV. The two teens were staring into each other's eyes, with Beck's arm lightly draped around Tori's shoulder.
There was a long, awkward silence. Both teens were thinking the same thing: the last time Tori and Beck had been sitting alone together like this was during the Platinum Music Awards when Tori had rejected Beck's attempts to kiss her because she didn't want to hurt Jade. After that, Tori and Beck's friendship had been slightly awkward for a while, at least until Beck and Jade got back together.
Beck decided to break the ice by lampshading the awkwardness. "So, can we kiss this time?" he asked.
"Well," replied Tori, smiling shyly at Beck, "since you're no longer Jade's ex-boyfriend, I don't see why not!" The two teens grinned at each other, and then moved closer until their lips locked.
Tori had kissed Beck numerous times, but never alone, and never like this. Tori had to admit, Beck was a really, REALLY good kisser. From the way he gently cupped her face with his hand to the slightest hint of cologne—nothing overpowering, mind you—Tori felt herself melt away. She stopped being aware of anything else around her as the heavenly experience of kissing Beck consumed every ounce of her attention. She ran her hand through his fluffy, voluminous hair as his tongue gently caressed the inside of her mouth. She felt his free hand find its way down to her lower back and pull her gently towards him.
The heavenly kiss was suddenly interrupted by Cat, who chose that moment to let herself in without knocking. "Ow!" cried Tori and Beck simultaneously as they bonked foreheads due to being startled.
The perky red head, in all her childish innocence, seemed completely and utterly clueless about what she just interrupted, and within moments was complaining to Beck and Tori about how Jade and Sam were hanging out together, and Sam had stolen Jade from her, or maybe Jade had stolen Sam from her. She seemed unsure about which it was.
"Well, Sam and Jade have a lot in common," said Tori, "it makes sense that they'd enjoy hanging out together."
"Yeah," added Beck, "sometimes people like to hang out with someone who has similar interests. For example, next week I'm going to a drag race with Sinjin. Doesn't mean I like him more than Tori and Jade" he said.
"Sinjin! Ew, gross!" chirped Cat in a hushed whisper. "Actually, Sinjin is surprisingly cool," replied Beck, "We really hit it off during Sikowitz's 'only say yes' challenge."
"Look," said Tori, "why don't you ask Jade and Sam to hang out after the meet-and-greet?" suggested Tori.
"Yeah," agreed Beck, "it's only supposed to last an hour or two. I'm sure Jade and Sam would be delighted to hang out with you later this afternoon."
"Kay kay! So what are we going to do until then?" chirped Cat, beaming happily at Beck and Tori.
Beck, who had sort of a big-brother relationship with Cat, looked like he was about to agree to her hanging out in his RV for the next couple hours. Tori, however, was far less patient. Having just fully experienced the heavenly joy of kissing Beck Oliver for the first time, she was eager for more and was in no mood to deal with Cat's ditzy shenanigans.
"Bye Cat!" she said sharply, motioning for the red head to leave. Cat pouted at Tori momentarily, but didn't otherwise put up a fuss as she headed out the door.
"That was a little harsh" commented Beck after Cat had left. Tori sighed. "I wanted to keep kissing you" she replied, pulling Beck towards herself and locking lips with him without waiting for his reply.
"Wow, it's so crazy that we're actually dating" said Tori, after she and Beck stopped kissing. "Yeah," agreed Beck, "what's even crazier is that Jade is okay with it."
The two teens sat silently for a few moments. "Is she really okay with it? She seems jealous of us sometimes" Tori wondered aloud.
Beck thought for a moment. "I think she does get jealous, but I'm honestly amazed at how much she's been able to keep her jealousy under control" he finally said.
"Oh, for sure," agreed Tori, "it's clear she really wants this relationship to work out, and she's willing to work really hard at it."
"I'm amazed at how much she's grown as a person" added Beck.
"Absolutely!" said Tori. "She's way more mature than she was when she dumped coffee on my head!"
"Alright! Time to laugh at some losers!" cried the greatly-matured Jade as she and Sam got off the latter's motorcycle in the parking lot of the Northridge Esports LAN Center. Jade smoothed her skirt and straightened her hair, which had blown all over the place during the ride.
"What's a 'LAN' center, anyway?" asked Sam. "Beats me. Sounds like a nerd term if you ask me" replied Jade. After paying the admission fee at the front desk and receiving ugly orange arm bracelets, the two girls entered the venue and looked around.
The walls, ceiling, and floor were black. There were purple light fixtures hanging from the ceiling, with green light columns spaced along the walls, which also had large flat-screens mounted every few feet.
In the middle of the room were rows upon rows of metal desks, each with a large high-def monitor, a fancy-looking black keyboard whose keys were lit up with flashing rainbow-colored lights, and a black-and-bright-blue high-tech-looking chair that included a headrest. Sam thought it looked like the type of place Freddie would enjoy hanging out at.
"Oh my god, the people here are insanely ugly!" cried Sam, looking around the room in disbelief. "I know!" agreed Jade, "They make Sinjin and Robbie look hot!" While cruel, Sam and Jade's assessment wasn't wrong.
Fashion sense seemed to be in short supply among the mostly-male patrons: there was no shortage of sweater vests, suspenders, and other styles that would give you a one-way ticket to the bottom of any school's social hierarchy. Furthermore, to say that some of the patrons were lacking in physical fitness would be a massive understatement.
One boy was over 400 pounds, and his chair looked like it was about to give out; the column attaching the chair to the wheel assembly swayed precariously every time he shifted in his seat. Another boy had not a double, not a triple, but a quintuple chin. Both boys were wearing glasses with the thickest lenses that Jade had ever seen.
"Wow, people are staring at us!" commented Sam.
"Yeah," replied Jade, "they've probably never been this close to girls before."
Suddenly, a shout rang out from across the room. Sam and Jade looked over and saw two boys standing up from their chairs and arguing with each other. To say that these two boys were nerdy would be an understatement.
One could best be described as a Caucasian version of Steve Urkel. He was tall, gangly, and was wearing a pair of large glasses that made his eyes look enormous. His shirt was tucked into his tighty-whities, which were sticking almost six inches above his pants despite the suspenders holding them up to his belly button. What's more, the waistband of said underpants was over two inches wide. Jade thought they looked like some of the novelty underpants in the Hollywood Arts prop department.
The other guy was almost the polar opposite: he was on the heavier side, and the armpits of his stained T-shirt were drenched with sweat. His face had a few smudges of barbeque sauce, and his saggy, baggy shorts were the most garish shade of orange, his belly hanging over the tightly-tied drawstring in a most unflattering muffin-top.
"HA HA, Hewitt! You just got PWND, scrub!" shouted Percy, the tall, gangly boy. Jade and Sam knew his name was Percy because it was written on the waistband of his underpants: not just on the back, but on the front, too!
"You only won because you play as the wizards!" shouted the short, fat boy, whose name was apparently Hewitt.
"Aww, are you going to cry about balance like a wittle baby?" taunted Percy, taking several steps towards Hewitt.
"You're the little baby, playing the bullchizz, overpowered race!"
"My race isn't overpowered! You baby muggle players just need to learn to play!"
At this point, both nerds were standing inches away from each other and were practically screaming in each other's faces. Sam and Jade watched the rapidly-escalating argument unfolding before them.
"Wow," said Sam, "who knew nerds could be so entertaining?"
"I know," replied Jade, "I don't even know what they're saying, and I still can't look away!"
"We've got to get this on video!" cried Sam. "I'm way ahead of you" replied Jade as she took a camcorder out of her Gears of War bag and began filming.
"Learn to play my ass! How am I supposed to stop your bullchizz Underage Apparition rush that can't be scouted due to magic detection being late game tech?"
"You muggle players need to learn to stop playing so damn greedy! Then maybe you won't lose to a cheesy all-in!"
"If we don't play greedy, then we lose to your overpowered late game Departments of Mysteries bullchizz, you moron-grunch-scrub-noob-incel-simp!" yelled Hewitt.
Percy did not take kindly to being called a moron-grunch-scrub-noob-incel-simp, and within seconds, he'd lunged at Hewitt, repeatedly striking him with all the force of a ball of wet paper towels being tossed gently into the trash.
"Oww!" yelled Hewitt, screaming louder than a soccer player trying to fake a red-card-worthy injury. "I'll get you for this!" he shouted, smacking Percy with the all the force of a wet noodle.
"Oh. My. God. I can't believe what I'm seeing right now!" cried Sam. "I know, right? This can't possibly get any better!" replied Jade gleefully as she continued to film the scuffle.
It turned out, however, that Jade was very wrong. For moments later, two LAN staff members came over.
"Alright! That's enough! Both of you need to pack up and leave!" said one of the staff members.
"What? No! You can't kick me out! He's the one that started this!" yelled Hewitt in a whiney voice.
"Don't listen to him! He started this!" whined Percy.
"Enough!" said the staff member in a stern voice. "Both of you were fighting, which is strictly prohibited here, so I'm going to have to ask both of you to leave!"
Percy looked like he'd been struck by lightning. "No! Please don't make me leave!" he begged, "Liviwasp is doing a meet-and-greet here! I have to meet her! We're soulmates!" he sobbed, tears pouring out of his vastly magnified eyes.
Within seconds, both nerds broke down crying like babies, begging to be allowed to stay, but the staff members refused to budge. Within minutes, the staff members had lost patience with the nerds' refusal to leave and ended up carrying both nerds out over their shoulders, kicking and screaming all the way.
"And CUT!" cried Jade as the staff members exited the building, still carrying the crying nerds over their shoulders. "Did you get it?" asked Sam eagerly. "Yup! Got all of it!" replied Jade with a grin.
"I wonder where Liviwasp is?" asked Sam. "According to her twitter, she's supposed to arrive at 4pm, which is now" replied Jade, checking the time on her Pearphone. The two girls looked around and spotted a crowd of people standing towards the front of the LAN center.
"Think she's in the middle of that crowd?" asked Jade. "Probably" replied Sam.
"Is it just me, or does it smell like an abandoned gas station men's room?" asked Jade, wrinkling up her nose as she and Sam approached the outer edges of the crowd. "We're surrounded by sweaty nerds who probably never shower. Or change their underpants" said Sam, looking around in disgust at all the unhygienic people around her.
Jade held her camcorder above her head and turned the flip-out LCD screen downwards to try and get a good view, but it was no use. Some members of the crowd were just too tall. "Here, want me to give you a boost?" offered Sam. Jade hesitated; she wasn't a fan of people touching her, after all. After a few moments, however, she gave Sam the go-ahead, and the iCarly star grasped her around the waist and lifted her several feet off the ground, allowing her to see over the crowd.
Sam and Jade both stared at the camcorder's LCD screen. Towards the center of the crowd, they could see a very attractive half-Asian girl wearing a black-and-yellow-striped leotard with cyan tights and what appeared to be a set of bee wings on her back. Her hair was dyed in all the colors of the rainbow, and she was holding a small megaphone.
"Good afternoon, everyone!" she said, speaking into her megaphone with a thick Australian accent. "I'm so happy y'all could make it…" she started to say, but was quickly interrupted by a huge sweaty young man with a poorly-maintained beard.
"Liviwasp," he said, sounding out of breath, "I'm ElmoShirtGuy, one of your subscribers!" he said.
"Hello, ElmoShirtGuy! So glad you could make it!" Liviwasp greeted him warmly.
"Listen, I was wondering, do you want to go on a date with me sometime?" he asked breathlessly.
"Well," said Liviwasp, smiling sweetly at him, "you seem like a nice guy, but how old are you?" she asked. The man responded that he was 28.
"Oh," replied Liviwasp, "I'm only 16, so…"
The crowd tittered with laughter. There were multiple cries for ElmoShirtGuy to "have a seat right over there."
"Oh. My. GOD!" cried Sam. "You were right. Coming here was the best idea EVER!"
"I know, right?" replied Jade. "We HAVE to go to the tournament thing tomorrow!"
"Absolutely," agreed Sam, "with that many losers in one location, there's bound to be some delicious cringe for us to laugh at!"
"Tori, can I ask you something?" asked Beck. "Sure" replied Tori dreamily. The two teens were sitting comfortably on the couch in Beck's RV watching Celebrities Underwater. Well, Beck was sitting on the couch. Tori was sitting in Beck's lap, her head resting cozily on his chest with his arms draped around her.
"How did you and Jade come to realize that you have feelings for each other?" asked Beck, doing his best to sound casual.
"Huh? What do you mean?" asked Tori, caught off-guard by the question.
Beck paused for a moment before responding, choosing his words carefully. He'd been curious about what exactly happened at Tori's party that led her and Jade to end up half-naked on the kitchen counter at Bots, but had felt that bringing it up wouldn't be such a great idea. He certainly wasn't going to bring it up in front of Jade; he'd been dating her long enough to know that such a question would likely send her into a defensive rage.
However, now that he was alone with Tori, he felt that now was the time to ask. "I'm just wondering what exactly happened between you and Jade at your party?" he finally asked.
At the mention of her party, Tori immediately blushed and looked down, not wanting to look Beck in the eye. The incident was a sore spot for her; she still hadn't fully forgiven herself for straight up making out with Beck's girlfriend. Not to mention that the incident did not paint a flattering picture when combined with the hot-cheese incident with Cat and Daniel.
"I'm not mad," Beck quickly added, seeing Tori's embarrassment and discomfort, "I'm just curious how you and Jade went from frenemies to lovers in less than 20 minutes" he said, giving Tori a gentle kiss on the cheek while stroking her hair.
The kiss from Beck caused Tori's discomfort to melt away. "Well," she said, and proceeded to tell Beck how she had decided to allow Jade to give her a spanking, provided the thespian promised not to overdo it. "I felt bad that the two of you weren't dancing and having fun like everyone else at my party" she explained.
"That was really nice of you," said Beck, "Jade and I are both fortunate to have a friend, and now girlfriend, like you" he said, smiling at Tori while stroking the palm of her hand with his fingers.
"Aw, thanks" cooed the half-Latina, smiling shyly at Beck. "So, what happened next?" asked Beck, and Tori proceeded to describe everything that happened: how Tandy, the red robot, had allowed her and Jade to use the kitchen so they could have some privacy. How she'd felt embarrassed and a little excited when Jade lifted her dress, despite having undressed in front of Jade numerous times beforehand. How she got these crazy stomach butterflies while lying over Jade's lap. How the butterflies had fluttered around like crazy while Jade spanked her, and especially while Jade rubbed her bottom between volleys.
"… and then, there I was, staring deeply into her sharp green eyes, and I had this feeling that I'd never had with a girl before, and before I knew it, we kissed" said Tori.
The half-Latina anxiously stared at Beck, hoping against hope that he wasn't angry or jealous after hearing the details about what she'd done with Jade on that fateful afternoon.
Beck smiled, and then said, "you know, I always knew you and Jade had the potential to be good friends."
"Really?" replied Tori.
"Absolutely," he said, "I used to constantly tell Jade to be nicer to you because of that."
Tori chuckled. "That explains why she always seemed to be nicer to me when you were around" she said.
There were a few moments of silence. "You sure you aren't mad?" asked Tori, staring pleadingly into Beck's eyes.
"Nah, of course not," reassured Beck, "in fact, I'm glad you and Jade ended up together. You two are a cute couple!" he said, smiling at Tori and stroking her knee.
"Aww! Thanks!" cooed Tori, "But I think you two are even cuter" she said, lightly tickling his stomach.
"Careful, Jade showed me where all your tickle spots are!" teased Beck as he lightly ran his fingertips over Tori's ribs, eliciting several high-pitched giggles from the brunette.
Tori gently held Beck's chin in her fingers before leaning in and giving him a quick peck on the lips before relaxing into his arms, closing her eyes as Beck draped his arms around her shoulders and gently clutched her hands in his own.
"I hope Jade didn't spank you too hard" he said, tracing circles in the palms of her hands with his fingers.
"Oh no, she wasn't too rough," assured Tori, "though she did seem to really get into it" she added.
"Yup! That's classic Jade right there" said Beck, chuckling. "Oh? Does she spank you sometimes?" asked Tori.
"No, she's never spanked me, but she does like to play rough" replied Beck, pulling down his shirt collar to reveal two hickies with teeth marks on his chest.
"Yep, that looks about right," replied Tori, examining the hickies on her boyfriend's chest. "She gave me this one earlier today in the girls' room" she added, pushing aside her hair to reveal a similar hickey on the back of her neck.
Beck and Tori both chuckled at the matching hickies they'd received from Jade.
"I'm glad that Jade wasn't too rough with you, at least not on the second spanking" said Beck. "Yeah, same," replied Tori, "in fact, in a weird way, the spanking was kind of nice. I mean, obviously it was fairly stingy, but you have to admit, the standard spanking position is very close and intimate. Overall, it was a steamy experience."
The commercial break ended, and Celebrities Underwater resumed.
"Identical twins Dylan and Cole Sprouse from the Dingo Channel have been underwater for over two minutes! Which one of them will cave first?"
As the two teens watched the acting twins struggle to hold their breaths, Beck surprised Tori. "Do you want one?" he suddenly asked.
"One what?" asked Tori, confused by Beck's out-of-the-blue question.
"A spanking" he replied. "You said they're 'kind of nice'."
Tori thought for a moment. "Okay" she finally said, smiling shyly as she got up from Beck's lap. Beck readjusted himself so he was sitting in the middle of the couch, and then Tori crawled over his lap, snuggling up close to him as he placed a hand on her shoulder, running it down the length of her spine until it came to rest on her lower back where he proceeded to gently rub it in circles.
Beck then rested his other hand on her bottom. After giving her a few love pats, admiring the feel of her bottom whose shapeliness was accentuated by her tight denim shorts, Beck began spanking.
Pat! Pat! Pat!
Well, "spanking" might be too strong a word. He seemed unsure about how hard he should spank her, and the spanks were closer to being love taps. In fact, they weren't much harder than the spanks he gave her on her birthday, and those had been over her panties! Needless to say, she wasn't feeling much of anything through her shorts.
After a couple minutes, Tori finally spoke up. "Dude, those spanks are barely feelable through these shorts."
"Feelable?" asked Beck. "Yes! Feelable!" insisted Tori as Beck began spanking harder.
Spank! Spank! Spank!
Beck's hands were a lot heavier than Jade's. Even through her shorts, he was able to produce a noticeable sting.
"You know, this is really fun!" said Beck as he began tapping out the rhythm to Make It Shine on Tori's butt with both hands as if he were playing a set of bongo drums. "I wish I could have done this instead of having Andre teach me to play the recorder for my instrument requirement" he lamented.
"I don't think my butt is on the Hollywood Arts approved instrument list" said Tori, giggling.
"Well, they need to add it" replied Beck as he continued spanking Make It Shine.
"I don't think Helen would approve of you playing my butt at school performances" said Tori.
As Beck finished up the first verse, he and Tori started singing the chorus together while Beck spanked out the rhythm.
"That was really good!" exclaimed Tori as she and Beck finished their duet. "Your singing was amazing" said Beck.
"Aw" cooed Tori, picking herself up from Beck's lap so she was kneeling on all fours. As she did so, her shorts were pulled tight against her butt, revealing the outline of her panties.
"You know," said Beck, eyeing Tori's visible panty line, "a wise friend of mine once said that you can't give a proper spanking over shorts" he said, giving Tori's butt a couple love taps.
"Oh? Who might that be?" said Tori playfully, kneeling on the couch and clutching Beck's hands.
"I forget her name," replied Beck, "but I remember that she was really good at singing."
"Was she?" asked Tori.
"Yep, and acting" replied Beck.
"What else do you remember about her?" asked Tori, smiling playfully while enjoying the incoming complements.
"Well," said Beck, playing along, "she's a loyal friend who's amazing at saving relationships."
"Aww, really?" cooed Tori.
"Absolutely. And, I've also heard that she's a wonderful girlfriend" said Beck, gently cupping Tori's chin with his hand as he leaned in and kissed her.
Tori blushed at the compliments and smiled shyly at Beck. Finally, after a moment of hesitation, she undid her shorts and slid them down to mid-thigh.
As a swarm of butterflies fluttered around in her stomach, she reflected on how Beck had literally just talked her out of her pants. And he'd done it so smoothly, too! Tori doubted Beck had ever heard the word "no" other than when she'd rejected his kiss during the platinum music awards. She found herself wondering how often he'd used these skills during his extended breakup with Jade.
Beck couldn't help but stare at Tori's Victoria's Secrets bikini panties. They were bubblegum-pink, and they had blue, purple, and yellow flowers printed all over them. Beck reflected how feminine and sexy they looked on her; Jade would never be caught dead in anything pink or yellow; or anything with flowers, for that matter.
As Tori crawled over Beck's lap, her butt pointed skywards, the ever-so-slight bend in her hips made it look like her cheeks were about to pop out of her panties. The cut wasn't quite high enough for them to be riding up, however they did leave her sit-spots partially exposed, hugging her bottom tightly and accentuating her thigh-creases, which, of course, made her bottom look extra spankable.
Beck, though no stranger to exposed female posteriors, was quite taken aback at the sight before his eyes. He placed a hand on Tori's lower back and gave her butt a few love taps before winding up and delivering the first swat to her exposed sit-spots with a bit too much enthusiasm.
Spank!
"Ow! Too hard!" cried Tori, tensing up as Beck landed the first stinging spank to her now-unprotected posterior.
"Sorry about that" apologized Beck, and he dialed back the intensity considerably. A bit too much, actually.
Pat!
"Too soft!"
Spank!
"A little too hard!"
This went back and forth for a while, with Beck seemingly unable to hit the sweet spot. The problem was that Beck's spanks had more thud than sting, which meant that if they were hard enough for the sting to be appreciable, there would be too much thud. Tori wished that Jade was around so she could coach Beck on the intricacies of giving a stinging spanking, but since she wasn't, Tori would have to do it herself.
"You're putting too much thud in them" said Tori after Beck's tenth failed attempt at hitting the sweet spot.
"Thud?" asked Beck.
"Yeah, you're putting too much arm swing into them. Try just flicking your wrist" directed Tori, demonstrating the flippy wrist-action with her own hand.
"Like this?" asked Beck, flicking his wrist and giving Tori a moderate spank to her sit-spots.
Spank!
"Ooo! Yeah perfect!" cried Tori, relaxing as Beck began peppering her bottom with stinging spanks.
Spank! Spank! Spank!
Beck's hands were significantly larger than Jade's and were easily able to cover both cheeks at once, leading to a sensation that was more intense than the more-localized sting that Jade's spankings produced.
"Try doing a few fast ones" encouraged Tori. Beck was more than happy to oblige and delivered a series of five stingers in quick succession.
Spank! Spank! Spank! Spank! Spank!
"EEK! That stings!" squealed Tori, doing her signature wiggle.
"That wiggle you do is really cute" commented Beck, pausing to give Tori's bottom a few love-taps.
"Jade said the same thing on our tridate" replied Tori.
"Ah ha! So THAT's what you two were doing in the tall grass! That explains why your butt was red when I found you two" replied Beck, giving Tori another fast series of spanks to the middle of her bottom, making sure to spread them out so she wouldn't know exactly where each spank would land.
Spank! SPANK! Spank! Spank! Spank! Spank! Spank!
The randomness of the spanks caused Tori to squeal and wiggle with each swat. By the end of the barrage, she was squirming quite a bit.
"Okay, NOW I'm really enjoying myself!" said Beck as Tori squirmed in a most delightful manner while he spanked.
"I can tell!" said Tori, shooting him a mischievous grin over her shoulder.
"Being cheeky, are we?" scolded Beck in a mock-stern tone as he began to bombard Tori's sit-spots with a rapid-fire barrage.
Spank! Spank! Spank! Spank! Spank! Spank! Spank!
The sudden onslaught caught Tori off-guard, and within seconds she tapped out.
"AAIEEE BUTTERNUT!" cried Tori, and Beck stopped spanking immediately. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to overdo it" apologized Beck, sounding concerned.
"No, you're good. I just need a moment to catch my breath" replied Tori. The brunette lay over Beck's lap. She was breathing hard, her chest expanding and contracting with each breath. Beck rubbed her back and brushed some hair out of her face.
"Is my butt red?" she asked, looking over her shoulder at Beck. "Hold on, let me check" replied Beck, pulling back the edges of her panties to expose her butt.
"Holy chiz, you really do have a butt-mole that's shaped like a fish!" he said. And he was right, for towards the middle of her left butt-cheek was a small mole that was, in fact, shaped like a fish. Beck chuckled. "I thought you and Jade made that whole thing up" he said, shaking his head with amusement.
"We made up the part about Trina posting a picture of it on The Slap" replied Tori, her face flushed with embarrassment.
"Aw, don't be embarrassed. It's cute; looks kind of like Nemo" replied Beck. "Don't name it!" groaned Tori, reaching back to cover it as her face flushed deeper, much to Beck's amusement.
After Tori had straightened her panties, Beck resumed spanking her at a more leisurely cadence.
Spank! Spank! Spank!
"You know, your butt sounds a thousand times better as an instrument when uncovered" said Beck as he began spanking out the rhythm for Beggin' On Your Knees.
Tori giggled. "Helen definitely wouldn't approve of my uncovered butt being used as an instrument for school performances!" she said.
"That's too bad," lamented Beck, "it has such a nice, sharp, ring to it. And the visuals are great for spectators!"
"Yeah, male spectators!" said Tori.
"And lesbians. And bisexual girls" added Beck.
The two teens started singing along to the beat, but halfway through the song, the sting had built to an intense burn that was too much for Tori to handle.
"I'll have you beggin' on your — AAAH BUTTERNUT!" cried the half-Latina, half-squealing, half-laughing.
Beck stopped spanking once again. "Wow, that was intense" said Tori, breathing hard. "Your singing was incredible, even while you were getting spanked" said Beck.
It took Tori a moment to realize that Beck was rubbing her bottom. His hands, which were larger than Jade's, felt comforting, soothing, almost cooling. After rubbing for a bit, Beck began tracing the edges of her panties with his finger, occasionally sliding it slightly under one of the leg holes and letting them snap against her legs.
As it would so happen, Jade had been dropped off at her mother's house mere minutes earlier by Sam. Now, the thespian pulled into Beck's driveway, driving her mother's old car. After parking the car at the end of the driveway, Jade approached the RV so she could hang out with Beck and Tori, just as she usually did after school.
However, as she approached the door to Beck's RV, she heard Beck and Tori talking inside, their voices muffled by the walls of the RV.
"Wow, you really seem to like my panties" she heard Tori say, quickly followed by Beck replying "Yeah, they're very sexy, very feminine", followed by the sound of panty-elastic being snapped against supple flesh. Jade winced. She hated the word "panties" with a burning passion, yes, but to hear Tori say the dreaded word, while alone with Beck, mind you, made Jade's stomach turn.
Jade unlocked the door to the RV with the key Beck had given her (so she wouldn't feel compelled to kick in his door) and stood in the doorway, staring at the sight before her eyes.
There, in front of her, sat Beck, with Tori draped over his lap, her denim shorts pulled down to mid-thigh. It was obvious that he'd just been spanking her, for her butt bore that tell-tale pink blush. Neither teen noticed Jade at first, both were too preoccupied watching Celebrities Under Water, which was playing on the TV.
As Jade stared at her two romantic partners, something violent, fiery, and snake-like welled up inside her without warning. Within moments, she felt like her head was going to explode; she felt like her entire body was going to explode. This, this thing, whatever it was, infected every cell of her body, and within moments, she found herself drenched with hatred.
She hated that Beck and Tori had spent time alone together watching a show that she herself hated. She hated that Tori had used the word "panties" in front of Beck (or at all). She hated Tori's innocent-looking girly-pink panties with cute flowers on them. Flowers! In fact, she hated how Tori was your stereotypical super-sweet-and-innocent girly-girl in absolutely every facet of her existence! From the aforementioned pink panties to her cute, girly short-shorts to her purple tank-top with spaghetti straps that showed off her girly pink bra!
And she really, really, REALLY hated how Beck was practically drooling over Tori's over-the-top, sugary-sweet, pink-coated girly-girlness! He kept rubbing her bottom and tracing her panties as if he'd never seen a pair of girls' underwear before. Just watching it made Jade want to vomit.
After a few seconds, Tori and Beck both noticed Jade, but did not immediately realize that she was angry. "Hi Jade" greeted Tori casually, quickly followed by an equally nonchalant "hey babe" from Beck. "Did you have fun with Sam?" asked Tori cheerfully.
Beck, having known Jade the longest, was the first to notice that something was wrong. He signaled for Tori to get up with two quick pats on the back while starting to stand himself. Tori got the hint, and quickly got up from his lap, her shorts still sitting at mid-thigh as she stood. "Babe…" said Beck, standing next to Tori and extending his arms in an offer to hug. "Come sit with us, Jade" said Tori, quickly picking up on Jade's demeanor.
Jade stood stock still, staring at Tori and Beck, her head swirling with emotions.
Go hang out with them. It will be fun. Spend the afternoon with them. You have the privacy of Beck's RV.
Jade wanted to listen to her inner voice. An afternoon with Tori and Beck alone in Beck's RV sounded wonderful. However, as Beck took a couple steps towards her, her anger surged violently, and she wanted nothing more than to stab both him and Tori with her special scissors.
Woah.
The sudden surge of anger startled the thespian. As Beck approached, arms still extended with the intent to hug her, Jade turned around and stormed out, slamming the RV door behind her. "Jade!" called Beck and Tori simultaneously as they hurried after her.
"Jade! Come hang out with us!" pleaded Tori as she got outside, forgetting that her shorts were still down. "No! I hate Celebrities Under Water!" shouted Jade, looking over her shoulder without stopping as she stalked angrily towards her car. "We can watch something else" said Beck, sounding hopeful, though he'd known Jade long enough to know that she wasn't upset about the show they were watching: that was just a scapegoat; the real issue was something deeper.
Jade furiously started her car, and, after a hasty turn-around that left tire tracks on Beck's lawn, she floored it. Her tires spun out, squealing furiously as she fish-tailed down the road, leaving billows of white smoke in her wake.
The sound of a screen door slamming shut grabbed Tori and Beck's attention. The two teens spun around to see Beck's parents standing on the front porch, having come outside to see what all the commotion was about. As the Olivers glared at her, Tori suddenly realized that her shorts were still sitting just above her knees. With a flush of embarrassment, she hastily pulled them up.
"We'd better go find her" sighed Beck. Tori nodded in agreement. As they climbed into Beck's car, ignoring the disapproving glares from his parents, they both exchanged knowing looks: they both knew what Jade's anger was really about.
Ever since they had become a triangle, Jade's jealousy had been hanging over the Trio like the sword of Damocles. They all knew that sooner or later it would rear its ugly head. After all, ever since Tori had arrived at Hollywood Arts, Jade had been paranoid that she was going to steal Beck from her. All three of them knew that there was no way she was completely over that paranoia. The question now, was, would they be able to overcome it?
To Be Continued…
A/N: Huge shout-out to modestguy80. We had a long conversation about the importance of giving the female characters in a spanking story cute panties to get spanked over. The discussion made me realize that I need to step up my game when it comes to the spanking scenes. Writing good spanking scenes is challenging for me (ironic, isn't it?), and I'll be the first to admit I've often rushed through them more quickly than I should have. I really like how the spanking scene in this chapter turned out. I'll use it as a gold standard going forward. I'll also eventually go back and redo some of the spanking scenes in previous chapters to make them less rushed, though I want to focus on getting out new chapters at the moment because I have a lot of upcoming plot advancements that I'm really excited about.
Thank you, modestguy80, for all the great feedback! And don't worry, in an upcoming chapter, Sam (and eventually Cat) will be getting spanked. It won't be the next chapter, though, which was originally supposed to be the second half of this chapter. I had to split it because it was looking to be almost 20k words, which is way too long for one chapter. Takes almost 2 hours to read.