The day was just beginning at Hollywood Arts High School.
"Hey Robbie," Andre said as he approached his friend from behind.
A friendly greeting like that should not normally be met with a startled yelp of surprise, but that was the response Andre received. Indeed, Robbie let out an almost girlish shriek as he jumped and collided with his locker, dropping his phone in the process.
He did not however drop Rex, the ventriloquist dummy that he often carried around. As Robbie regained his composure, Rex spoke out with one of his usual insulting remarks.
"Geez, grow a spine Robbie. Could you be a bigger coward?"
Andre almost rolled his eyes. While he'd gotten used to Robbie's rude and abusive alter-ego over time, he was still of the opinion that there was something unhealthy about the puppet.
"Relax man," Andre said. "Why so jumpy?"
Robbie didn't respond immediately, being more concerned with retrieving his phone. Once he'd picked it up off the floor he finally turned his attention to Andre...which was when Andre first noticed the how red Robbie's face was. The gangly teen seemed quite embarrassed...and not just from being startled.
"You alright?" Andre asked, as Robbie fumbled awkwardly with his phone in an unsuccessful effort to put it in his pocket.
"Yes! Fine!" The nerdy boy's voice cracked as he answered a little too loudly. Andre had rarely seen his friend so nervous.
"Dude, what's up?"
This time it was Rex and not Robbie that responded. "Stop fumbling and just show him the chizz!"
Robbie looked unsure for a second as Andre's curiosity increased.
"Well, uh...I sort of stumbled across this...uh, by accident," Robbie said haltingly as he held out the phone to Andre, who immediately noticed the screen was displaying a porn site.
"By accident, right," Andre smirked...until he looked closer at the images on display.
"What the fu-"
Andre's exclamation was drowned out by the bell ringing for the first class of the day.
******'******
It was lunchtime and Beck was waiting outside for his girlfriend Jade. He looked over to the table where he and his friends always sat together and saw that Robbie and Andre were already there. He also noted that they were waving rather animatedly at him...urging him to join them at once. That was a bit out of the ordinary. And the looks on faces were...well, it was clear they had something on their minds.
Wondering what was up, the handsome young acting student gave up on his wait for Jade and approached the table alone.
"Hey guys" he said in greeting as he took a seat.
Andre thrust a phone towards him at once. "You won't believe this."
A puzzled Beck took the phone as he looked at the expression on Andre's face. He began to question his friend even as he glanced down...and noticed the adult website the phone was displaying.
"Why am I looking at this...WHAT?" He stared at the phone in stunned silences for a moment. "Is that-"
"It totally is," Robbie interrupted.
"I wondered if it might be a look alike," Andre added. "But no...that's her!"
Beck had a well deserved reputation at his school for maintaining a cool and laid back demeanor even under unusual circumstances. But these particular circumstances left him at a loss for words. Temporarily at least.
"Has anyone else seen this?"
"Who knows?" Robbie answered. "But Andre and I haven't told anyone about it."
Andre's expression grew more concerned. "How do we...I mean...what do we say to Tori?"
"About what?" Jade asked pointedly as she joined the boys. She wasn't alone, as Cat was at her side. The striking Goth beauty and her bubbly redhaired friend both sat down...as Beck quickly tried to conceal the phone. Unfortunately, his girlfriend was far too perceptive to miss this action.
"What were you looking at?" she asked.
"Was it a video about ponies?" Cat spoke up brightly. "I watched a video with ponies online where they sang and danced, and one rode a unicycle." She paused. "Oh they were cartoon ponies though. I don't want any of you to be confused about that. I don't think real ponies can ride unicycles."
Jade paid no attention to the other girl's ramblings, instead remaining focused on her boyfriend. Andre and Robbie looked on with trepidation. Jade was nothing if not intimidating, and though the boys were a little concerned about her learning about what they'd discovered online, neither wanted to incur her wrath.
Fortunately, Beck was the most qualified to deal with Jade. For one thing, he was probably the only student at Hollywood Arts that wasn't afraid of her. That lack of fear didn't solve the dilemma at hand though. For while Beck also had concerns about Jade seeing what was on the phone, he also knew lying to her was not an option. He valued her trust far too much to even consider that.
"Robbie and Andre found something online," he said directly. "I'll show you, but I want you to promise not to tell anyone about it."
"Anyone...including Tori," Jade said with a shrewd look on her face. Her curiosity was off the charts now.
"Jade...promise."
The Goth girl noticed the look in her boyfriend's eyes and her manner changed slightly. This was something serious, and it involved Tori. While this stoked the fires of her curiosity even more, it also caused a small spot of concern to form in her brain. While she'd likely never admit such a thing openly, Jade did care about Tori and consider her a true friend. A friend to be teased, insulted and occasionally tormented...but a friend nonetheless.
She met Beck's gaze and said nothing. She didn't need to. The expression on her face and the barely perceptible nod of her head communicated her promise sufficiently. He handed her the phone, and her eyebrows raised at once when she saw the explicit visuals...but her surprise was followed immediately by recognition. Her reaction was not silent.
"OH FU-"
A car backfiring in the nearby parking lot partially obscured the end of Jade's loud shout. Though Cat, being right next to her, heard the words clearly.
"Jadey," she said in an adorably scandalized tone. "That's a naughty word!"
"Yeah, well...it's appropriate," the taller girl replied flatly.
"What's on the phone?" the redhead asked as she leaned over and tried to look.
Jade hid the screen with her hand instinctively. All of Cat's friends felt protective urges when it came to the bubbly and sweet natured girl, and Jade wan no exception.
"Cat," Jade said seriously. "What's on the phone is...very naughty. I'll show you if you want, but think about if you actually want to see it first."
The petite redhead considered the matter carefully, but she just couldn't resist finding out what all her friends found so shocking. So she asked Jade to show her the phone...and her eyes grew wide.
"Oh! That girl is naked!" Cat gasped...as she then voiced aloud every thought that came to her mind. "She's pretty...she's...oh, I bet that feels good...she's...WAIT! That's T-"
"Hey guys," a female voice interrupted Cat's commentary. "What's up?"
"TORI!" everyone at the table shouted at once.
******'******
"Okay, what's going on?" Tori asked.
Ever since she'd sat down for lunch with her friends, she'd felt something strange was going on. Everyone seemed a bit off, as if they were uncomfortable for some reason.
"Nothing's going on," Andre said unconvincingly. "Nothing. Not a thing. Uh..." he trailed off for a moment and then turned his attention to his lunch, shoving a handful of chips into his mouth.
Jade had to make an effort not to sigh. All her friends had taken the same acting classes she had, so why couldn't they do a better job of hiding their feelings? Clearly she would have to take the lead in controlling this conversation.
"Seriously guys," said Tori. "I've been getting a weird vibe from the rest of you ever since I sat down."
Jade replied quickly, using the exaggerated 'Southern Belle' accent she regularly employed to mock Tori. "Oh no! Quick everyone...dear Tori Vega is feeling a weird vibe! Drop everything and comfort the poor delicate flower!"
"I don't talk like that!"
Jade smiled, satisfied that Tori had taken the bait. "Whatever, Vega."
The rest of the lunch period was dominated by bickering between Tori and Jade, successfully keeping the lovely half-Latina distracted from questioning the rest of her friends. By the time the warning bell rang for the next class, Tori had all but forgotten about the odd feeling she'd felt earlier.
As the group split up and headed towards their lockers, Beck walked besides his girlfriend and spoke to her quietly.
"Good job with Tori. But we should talk with her about what we saw before anyone else at school finds out."
"Yeah," Jade agreed. "But we need to think about how to approach this."
Beck smiled slightly. "Look at you being all considerate of someone's feelings."
The gorgeous Goth girl scoffed. "Maybe I want to figure out how to best humiliate Vega."
The handsome teen continued to smile. "We both know that's not true," he said before giving Jade a quick kiss. She couldn't help but smile back.
"We'll talk more in study hall," she replied before heading off to her next class.
******'******
However Jade and Beck were not the only ones considering how to talk to Tori about the surprising discovery they'd made that day. Andre shared a class with her that afternoon, and had the chance to speak with her when their teacher finished the day's lesson and let the class have free time to work on the assigned reading for the next day.
"So...anything new with you?" he asked quietly.
"Not really," she said. "You?
"Same old, same old," he replied.
Tori nodded. "I know what you mean."
"How about the family? Anything new with them?"
"Well, Dad's been working longer hours, his partner Gary has been off sick. Mom's barely been home lately, she's been visiting a sick friend." She paused a moment as a quizzical look came to her face, but whatever notion that had crossed her mind was quickly dismissed. "So it's been sort of lonely at the house. I actually miss Trina sometimes. Things sure are different since she moved out."
"How's Trina been doing?" Andre asked, making extra effort to sound nonchalant.
"Really great, apparently. She always tells me how happy she is when we talk on the phone. She loves her job. She loves her boyfriend. And things must be working out because she's kept both of them for months."
"What...kind of work does she do?"
"She works for a production company," Tori answered. "Some kind of office work I think. When she first told me about it, I thought it would be a recipe for disaster. I figured Trina would try and work her way into an on-camera role for whatever projects are done there. But it hasn't been a problem. Probably because her boyfriend works there."
"Yeah? What's her boyfriend like?"
"I don't really know. I still haven't met him. Mom and Dad had him over for dinner once with Trina...but I had to rehearse for a show that night. Trina told me we could get together some other time so she could introduce me...but every time I've asked about it since then there's been some sort of schedule conflict. Mom and Dad said he was a nice guy though. Just a little reserved."
"Reserved?" Andre's tone was slightly puzzled. "Trina's been going out for months with a guy who's reserved? Like...quiet or shy?"
Tori began to feel a bit puzzled as well. "I never really thought about that. Quiet and shy doesn't seem like Trina's type. But...maybe that's not what he's like. He might just have been nervous about meeting his girlfriend's parents for the first time."
"Maybe," Andre commented, though he appeared to have some additional thoughts running through his mind that he wasn't going speak about at the moment.
Tori found this odd.
"Why are you so interested in Trina all of a sudden?" she asked.
"Uh...just making conversation," he replied.
Before the conversation could continue, the bell rang to signal the end of the class. Andre hurried out the door.
******'******
As the students at Hollywood Arts were working their way thru afternoon classes, Tori's sister was returning to her place of employment after a midday visit to the hair salon. Trina Vega had gone bleach blonde months ago, but today's appointment had been about more than just touching up her roots. She hoped that her boyfriend liked her new hairstyle as much as she did.
She walked into the offices of Gorman Productions and nearly collided with her boss, the company's owner and founder, Sid Gorman.
"Well hello Trina," he said as he removed the unlit cigar from his mouth. The man constantly had a cigar in either his mouth or his hand, yet was never seen to smoke. It was one of the numerous eccentricities that added to Sid's offbeat charm. "I see you've changed your look a bit. It looks mighty keen. Mighty keen indeed."
She smiled at the compliment. "Thank you. I hope Gil feels the same."
"Oh I wouldn't worry about that. We both know Bertie adores you. That's because good taste runs in my family."
Trina had to stifle a giggle. Her boyfriend of nearly seven months was known as Gil (short for Gilbert) to most everyone who knew him. It was only Sid who called him Bertie, but he could get away with it, seeing as how he was Gil's uncle.
"I really appreciate you letting me take some time to go to the salon," she said. "It's hard to get appointments outside of work hours."
"Now don't you even mention that Trina," Sid said with a smile. "We're not exactly slaves to the time clock here. Besides, you're practically family."
She beamed at him. "You're the best, Sid." Then she saw him waggle his finger at in admonishment. "I mean Uncle Sid."
"That's better," he said. "Now you go find Bertie and tell him the 3 o'clock shoot he's directing has been moved back to 4. Tanya's had a slight delay in getting a sitter for her little girl."
Trina promised to relay the information and then set off.
******'******
"Hey handsome," Trina said as she stepped into her boyfriend's office.
Gil looked up from typing at his computer. A surprised expression came to his face at once, as he saw the unmistakable change to his girlfriend's appearance. Her long wavy hair was a striking shade of golden blonde, except for a sizable section on the left side of her head which was her natural dark color...and was also buzzed down to nearly bare scalp.
"I thought I'd try a side shave," she explained. "You like it?"
Gil's response was to stand up and walk around his desk until he stood right in front of Trina.
"You are the most stunning woman who's ever walked the Earth," he said almost reverently before pulling her into a passionate kiss.
When their lips finally parted Trina felt sure her entire body was going to turn to jelly. But as she struggled to steady herself she suddenly had a new sensation to deal with, as Gil's hand began rubbing the buzzed portion of her head.
"Feels nice," he commented.
Trina gasped. "That tickles."
Gil's response was to kiss her again, but more gently this time. Thus she was more composed when this kiss ended. She even remembered to tell him about the shoot with Tanya being changed to 4 o'clock.
"That's cool," he said. "Gives me some extra time to write."
As Gil returned to his desk Trina noticed for the first time the words on the front of his shirt. Gil's everyday clothing almost always consisted of a comfortable pair of jeans, a t-shirt of either grey, navy blue or black and sneakers that matched the color of his shirt. The shirts, of which he apparently had an innumerable supply, would always have some strange saying on them, only a few of which Trina would know the origin of. His current shirt read "HERB WELCH LIVES!"
While the reference was lost on Trina, she did know this was a shirt Gil usually wore when he was in a good mood.
"What are you working on?"
"I'm putting some more polish on PLANETARY PRINCESS," he said. "I think we might be able to start working on that before we try BLOOD OBSESSION, though it's still going to be months before we can start serious pre-production."
"I can't wait," Trina enthused. "You're going to be the new Spielberg!"
Gil grinned at her. "I love your confidence."
"And I love you," she replied.
Gil glanced over to his computer, then back to Trina. "You know, maybe I could polish this script later. What's your schedule look like between now and 4 o'clock?"
The look in Trina's eyes was a mirror to the look in Gil's. Both were gleefully considering the same thing...but then Trina managed to put the brakes on.
"We shouldn't. We're at work."
"You're right," Gil agreed with a hint of reluctance. "Okay, let's do some reading. You can run lines from the additions I just made to the script. I can hear how it sounds and you can work on your acting technique."
"That sounds great," Trina said. Her words were quite sincere, for she knew that ever since she'd started working for the Gormans her acting had improved tremendously. Gil was so supportive and encouraging that he was able to give her constructive criticism in a way that Trina could really take to heart...something she'd had serious trouble with in the past with others.
Indeed the way both Gil and his Uncle Sid treated Trina had produced a profound change in the young woman.
For the first time since she was a very young girl, she felt that there were people besides herself...who believed in her.
To be continued...
author's note: Trina seems to have changed for the better. But what's this big secret that the gang wants to talk with Tori about? Please review.