Robbie's first day

by ScottyBgood

It's Robbie Shapiro's first day in the Hollywood Arts Talent Development Program, the eighth grade extension for middle schoolers who get to start there early. See how our boy charms his way into what would one day be called the main people at Hollywood Arts. Charm, and a puppet named Rex, who's advise isn't always awful. Plus, what will he do when he meets Beck, Jade, and Cat'

Disclaimer: I don't own Victorious or any of it's characters. Nickelodeon and Schneider's Bakery do. I'm just borrowing them, and promise to wash and press them before I return them.

Warning, this happens before the gang was the gang.

:}

Robbie Shapiro felt even more out of place then usual as he walked through the building, backpack strap clutched in his hand as a form of comfort. Hidden inside was Rex, his puppet and, as much as he sometimes hated to admit it, his only real friend. The boy had brought the puppet along with him for this, his first day at the Hollywood Arts Talent Development Program, the program where he and a handful of other students would get to attend the Performing Arts High School in eighth grade, a year early. As much of an opportunity as this moment was for the nervous and often isolated young man, he couldn't face the risks, the inevitable humiliation and bullying that he''d come to expect in school expected, without his one true friend by his side, to comfort him when it was over. And sure, Rex could be as bad as the bullies, save for the fact that the manikin was often as picked on as he was, despite being much cooler. Also, Rex did sometimes look out for the awkward, nerdy boy.

The school was different. Colorful and active, always something happening. Dancers danced, wherever they could find enough space, and others were doing all kinds of artistic, creative things. Even the lockers were all painted, bright and happy and not the same dull gray that dominated the walls of most schools. Robbie felt even more out of place, walking along in this artistic environment, trying to take the whole thing in.

"OUT OF MY WAY!" Roared some girl, at least by the voice he'd heard. Rich and deep while still very feminine, despite the tone, some girl's scream had set him in motion. Robbie instinctively stepped aside, only to see he wasn't the one being ordered around. Across the entry hall, two other kids were trying to make their entrance, a handsome boy and a beautiful brown haired girl who had to be his girlfriend. From the people around them's reaction, she seemed to be the one who shouted.

"Watch this." Rex whispered in his ear. "Hot boy is gonna be asked by his dark and dangerous squeeze to enforce her orders."

Robbie focused on her, beautiful and dangerous looking, wearing a simple combination of leggings under a dark skirt, with a dark top. Given her pale skin, it gave a Wednesday Addams vibe to the girl that was, he would admit, just a touch intimidating, broken only by her lighter brown hair. Only, as the seconds passed, the boy she'd yelled at didn't move. Instead, this boy, a good foot taller then her, obviously wasn't impressed, smirking down at her boy, as if challenging him to enforce her will.

"Now Jade, we don't need trouble." Hot boy said. "Not on our first day. A little tact can go a lot further in getting us to our advisory class." He then turned, relaxed and almost unimpressed by the size and build of the boy challenging him. "Could you please tell us how to get to Mister Sikwoitz's advisory class?"

The larger boy reached out, snagging the handsome younger boys shirt, and heaving him against a locker, showing his strenght. "And why should IiiEEEEEE!" The bully found himself slammed against the next locker over, by a show of force unexpected from such a slight frame.

Dangerous eyes focused through him, leaving no doubt who was in trouble, even as a pair of scissors materialized from someplace and found their way towards his pants. "Do I have your attention?" The girl asked, now pointing the edge of her blades at his crotch. "Apologize to my boyfriend, and then tell us how the chiz to get to this psycho's class!" She breathed the last words, except the hall, every student, was silent, holding their collective breaths. The large, bullying boy, they knew him, understood what to expect from him. But this girl, she was something different, dangerous, and no one had a clue how to react, so they didn't.

"He's sorry." A girl said from the crowd. "His name is Donald, and he's so very sorry. Just, let him go, don't hurt him, and I promise you he'll never disrespect you or you boyfriend again, okay?"

Jade sneered, not taking her eyes off her prey. "I wanna hear him say it." She hissed.

"Let him go." The voice was calm, authoritarian, and even Jade seemed to know to respect it. Donny fell to the ground, his legs not ready to hold his weight, as the scissors seemed to just vanish, as if by magic. "Who are you?" The voice demanded, not raised, just leaving no room for argument.

"Sorry about her." Beck said. "We just got in, and she can be a little reactionary."

"Jade." The girl who'd begged for her boyfriend just moments earlier told the authority figure, too hapy to nark the pair out.

"Ah, miss West." The man said, seeming to recognize her by that one word alone. Now Robbie got a clear look at Principal Eikner, the man in charge of the school. "That would make you mister Oliver, right?"

"Yes sir." Beck replied. Not intimidated, just polite. "And again, we're really sorry this happened, but he put his hands on me first, and she was just reacting…."

"I've read her police record." The principal noted. "Mister Oliver, please go to class. Miss West and I will have a little talk, along with Mister Alexander, letting her know how we expect her to act while she's here. In short, Miss West, we don't wanna see you doing this kind of thing again, okay?"

"Whatever." Jade tried to bow him off.

"No, you've been given an opportunity, and I assured your probation officer that you'd thrive in this school." Eikner continued. "However, that assumes you learn to follow the rules. Am I clear?"

Her cold eyes met his, and for what had to be one of the few times in her life, the pale girl backed down. "Yes sir." She breathed out.

The man then turned to address the gathered students. "Okay, maybe she was less then polite, but these are new students here, and we don't treat them so poorly. Find better ways to correct their behaviors. Got that?"

The thong of students started to break up, now that the show was over. Jade followed the principal to his office, while some girl, younger then most, but still older then they were, told Beck how to find the classroom he needed.

Rex spoke to Robbie. "Follow him." The puppet urged. "Not only is he heading to where we need to go, but if we can somehow convince him to be our friend, then that psycho killer he's dating can maybe, possibly protect us. |If nothing else we'd be safe by association."

"Or, maybe I can steal her from him?" Rob thought out loud.

"Dream on." Rex said. "Just, you have no friends, so you're gonna have to find some way to impress this dude, let him know you'll make a decent gofer or something. And remember, your time here is gonna be much better if you can convince those two to let you in."

It was in advisory where Robbie would get his chance. The two had made it to class, where a petite girl with mouse brown hair showed up and spoke to the boy, smiling and offering her best smile until the pale girl arrived a very short time later, before the teacher bothered to arrive. Unafraid, this girl offered the taller goth a hug, something that didn't seem the taller girl liked. Rob noted that the shorter girl had a pixyish shape to her face, and a ready smile. "I saw this girl with ginormous bosoms." The short girl crooned at her friend.

"Gay much?" Jade teased.

"Jade." Beck warned.

"Beck, have I introduced you to my friend, Cat?" The blue eyed girl said.

"So you're Catarina." The boy noted, still polite, but showing an odd recogniton.

"Whats that supposed to mean?" Cat asked.

"Just your my friend." Jade said, seeming already done with the girls attitude.

"Then why won't you let me hug you?" Cat whined. "Oh, right, never mind."

"Wait, what?" Beck seemed confused.

"Quick, while the guys not thinking straight, make your move." Rex urged.

"And?" Rob questioned.

"Talk to them." The puppet pushed.

"There are two girls there." The nerdy boy objected.

"God help me…." Rex moaned, even as Robbie approached, hoping to find some common ground.

"Um, excuse me." Robbie started.

"Your mom had big bosoms." Cat noted to Jade.

"Hers aren't that big." Jade replied, ignoring Robbie. "Imagine me with huge titties. Be a real guy magnet, wouldn't I?"

"I just don't see it." Cat said, glancing down at her friends A cups.

"Please, tell me you wanna talk about anything that doesn't involve a bra?" Beck begged, having found a subject he wasn't that interested in covering. He did enjoy the conversations he used to have, but Jade wasn't a typical girl, and he liked that. In fact, the boy sometimes worried he might be gay, because so much of his current girlfriend was what he'd consider guyish, like her aggression, and that freakish strength that he rarely experienced, but was on full display just a little while earlier. "I had no idea her friend had gotten in, but given the stories I heard, bra talk was the last thing I expected." Beck offered, seeming happy to have a guy to speak with.

"One time, my brother…" Cat was starting. Beck nodded.

"THAT I was expecting." He flashed a smile at Rob. "So, what was it you wanted?"

"Maybe we should hear the story about her family." Robbie said.

"Her brothers cray cray, and she likes to talk about the things he did." Beck cut to the chase.

"… So he tried using peanut butter." Cat continued. "I kept telling him I didn't need the haircut, but he insisted, and now I have peanut butter all through my favorite wig."

"Anyways., I was wondering, do you game?" Rob pushed ahead. "If you do, maybe we could hook up…"

"Bad choice of words." Rex chimed in from the day pack.

"Er, do a few adventures together." Robbie amended.

"Nice save." Beck said. "Did your backpack just talk?"

"I keep Rex I my pack." He told the handsome boy. "I need his advice, far more often then I'd like to admit."

"Oh…. And Rex is?" Beck pushed.

Reluctantly, Robbie pulled Rex from his place in the pack. "Rex, this is…"

"Beck." Beck said. "Beckett Oliver, but just call me Beck."

"Jade." The pale girl added. "Not Jadelyn, nor any variant, just chizzing Jade." She exhaled, not relaxing yet.

"West." Cat said. "Not that that's my name, cause hello, I'm Cat. But my bestest friend in the whole wide worlds last name is West, which is how we met, cause my last names Valentine."

"So you were next to each other in line?" Robbie guessed.

"Only when she made me let her cut." Cat said. "Then the teacher said she couldn't cut unless everyone gave her permission, so she learned her lesson."

"Please say she stopped cutting." Beck begged the petite girl.

"No, she convinced people to let her cut." Cat said, as if that was the obvious thing to say. "Jadey has such amazing social skills."

"Was what happened in the hall an example of those skills?" Robbie asked before Rex had the chance to stop him.

"Not gonna be able to be so direct." Jade noted. "Principals already on my case, gave me a warning. I suspect a warning won't be coming again, so gotta find me a new way of getting away with chiz."

"If you meant computer games, then sometimes." Beck tried to get back on track. It helped, giving the nervous boy something new to focus on.

"Have you tried Gears of War?" Robbie asked. "I was told it's better then Call of duty. Not sure if it could be, but I wanna try, and if you wanna try with me, maybe we could find out, together."

"Brilliant idea, rob." Rex chided. "Then he gets to see just how much you suck. Offer him something, like service, or I don't know what, so he'll AHHHH" Rex flew across the room, out the window, and into the bushes outside.

"Was that necessary?" Beck asked his girl.

"Schools a pecking order." Jade told the boy. "I was just letting puppet boy know who's on top."

"I think I'd like it if you were on top." Rob said, feeling oddly safer with Jade on his side, not that she was. Just introducing himself to her boyfriend wasn't gonna get him protection. Maybe he could interest her in the game. "Sorry, that came out far more sexual then I'd have liked." He amended, wanting to rush over and retrieve Rex, but well aware that the lethal lady next to him would probably do worse if he tried. "Maybe I can give YOU the spare copy of the gears of war program I got. Let you see how much fun organized gaming could be."

"Sounds lame." Jade blew him off. "Beck, if you two wanna play with imaginary guns, be my guest. Won't catch me wasting my time playing computer games."

Robbie wasn't listening, off to retrieve his puppet. "Don't let her aggression fool you." Cat said, letting Rob know she'd followed him. "Jadey can be, well, mean doesn't always cover it, but I've been her friend for a long time, ever since my brother used to baby sit her." She shrugged. "Her mother, not the best judge of character, but my brother did babysit before the law told him he couldn't. I mean, it's not like he lost that many children, and he eventually found them all. He just had to remember where he stored them while playing hide and seek."

"I just, I want friends." Robbie said, politely ignoring the obvious warning signs cat was offering..

"Then I'll be your friend." Cat told him, giving the boy a hug. Her not quite there yet breasts pushed into his flesh, the pressure he felt was more from his imagination then anything physical, but it did cause him to develop a boner.

"T-thanks." Rob said, finding his seat. 'Man, this is gonna be one wild friendship. Wonder, when she made those scissors disappear, was that slight of hand? Maybe she'll teach me, cause everyone loves a magician, right?'

"MY GOD, MY CLASS SHRUNK!" With that scream, Sikowitz introduced himself to his advisory class.

Robbie sat at his device, struggling against a seemingly endless stream of computer generated opponents. The mission wasn't going as planned, in no small part because Rob just wasn't that good at the game.

Beck had logged in, despite his girl hanging out with him, at his home, and seemed calm even in the center of the storm of enemies. His calm didn't make up for the poor choices of characters, with Robbie often exposing himself to enemy fire, and Beck not having the kind of aggression needed to cover for his new kinda friends recklessness.

"This is so lame" A female voice was heard in the background. "Plus, You're doing it wrong."

"Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt." Robbie said.

"Invite her to play." Rex advised.

"What if she's better then I am?" Rob asked.

"Highly likely." The puppet teased.

Meanwhile, Beck could be heard having a quick, quite conversation with his girl. "Ronald?"

"Robbie." The nerd corrected.

"Sorry, kinda hard to remember your name sometimes." Beck apologized, and he kinda meant it.

"Probably your screen name." Jade added, now apparently in the games chat. "You don't seem like a Captian-Kickbut. Try something less lame."

"But I thought that name would sound cool." Rob whined.

"Well, what name do you use on line, when your not gaming?" Beck wondered.

"Rex thought RoickRobster was nice." The boy tried to defend the name.

"Oh, an homage to the song." Beck said. "Yea, use that name."

"Lot less lame then the other one." Jade added. Robbie noted that she'd logged in as SissorLuv. "Okay, I'm gonna take charge, cause I wanna make movies one day, so telling people what to do is in my nature. Robster, you take up position to the right, and watch that side!" Her voice grew dangerous as she spoke.

"But what if we're attacked from the other side?" He asked. "Shouldn't we be keeping our eyes peeled in all directions."

"Then you're less focused." Jade told him. "No, trust your teammate to do their job, and it's Becks job to watch that side. Me, I'll be keeping an eye behind us, while we'll all be watching the front. That way, we're more focused, and can hopefully not be ambushed so often. Got it?"

"You've done this before, haven't you?" Beck asked, now curious about this facet of his fairly new girlfriend.

"No, just was a part of a very militant branch of the Sunshine girls." Jade told them, and Rob was left to wonder, was it her quirky sense of humor, or did she learn small unit tactics while trying to sell Fudge Balls. Part of him was afraid to ask.

"Okay, now what?" Beck asked.

"We have a mission, right?" Jade asked back. "Lets get to it."

Robbie had never made it that far in a mission before, let alone with people he hadn't gamed with before. Moreover, Jade was, by her own admission, still learning the in's and outs of the game, as exemplified by the stream of foul language that came across the chat every time she hit the wrong key while playing. However, the tactics she knew, they helped, and the trio managed an impressive kill rate before they had to call it a night. "I have my bedtime." Robbie lamented.

"Probably shouldn't play this too often anyways." Beck added. "I've heard this new school, it's programs can be a killer."

"True that." Jade said. "My dad only reluctantly agreed to let me attend, forking up the moolah to cover tuition, when he checked it as an academic institution, and found he couldn't compete, not at that price."

"Well, thanks for playing with me." Robbie said.

"Don't sound so much like you're thanking the breaker for abusing you." Jade chided.

"He should thank people for hanging out." Beck warned. "It's only polite."

"Fine, then he should thank them for hanging, never just 'Playing with me.' Makes him sound like a fudging toy." Jade exclaimed.

"Wow, such language." Beck teased.

"But she didn't swear." Rob pointed out. "Unlike earlier, when that language, it was…"

"My Sunshine Den Leader was ex military." Jade insisted. "The language comes with the job."

"So she taught you to swear?" Beck pushed.

"He taught us to swear correctly." Jade told her man, with an odd level of pride.

"Wait, your den leader was a guy?" Rob asked. "I was under the impression that, for delicate reasons we don't like to talk about…"

"Apparently, back in the old days, they asked, he told." Jade cut off the question. "Not sure what that meant, but den leader was the butchest drag queen we'd ever met, and no, not gonna explain that."

"Gonna get my parents to take Jade home." Beck excused himself from the chat.

"Okay, then I'm going to bed." Robbie said.

"Wait up a moment." Jade said, stopping the boy. "You there?"

"Um, yea?" Wild thoughts filled his head, one of Jade as something he should have known was never gonna happened.

"I understand what your doing." Jade told him. "I used to feel the way you did, before Sunshine Girls helped make a warrior out of me. You should ask Cat, we were in the same den."

"She seems a little ditsy to me." The nerdy boy noted.

"Shouldn't discount your options." Rex told him. "Girl is probably already out of your league. Maybe I should find me some real women, and you can scrape by with my cast offs."

"Maybe." Robbie agreed.

"Look, Cat's my friend, and I've been looking out for her for a couple of years now." Jade told him. "I was just gonna say, you want me looking out for you, understand that it's tough love all the way. I don't really understand this coddling chiz, so I can be more then a little toxic to be around. But I'm a friend who will help you, and more often then not, you'll never notice what I do." A moment passed. "Okay, his mom is gonna drive me home. Like really drive me! Thought I was gonna have to tell them my mom would pick me up, then hitch it home."

"Good night." Robbie said, hanging up the chat. Moments passed, with even Rex offering the boy that silence to process what just happened. "Wow, I have friends." His face broke into a huge grin, and even Rex's increasingly cruel put downs weren't enough to drive the good feeling away from the boy. 'Even if I have to hang around with that annoying Cat person.' He thought.

The next day, Robbie was almost floating as he made his way to school. His mother dropped him off with a quick "Don't rush home."

Robbie let that moment of hurt pass, aware that his mother was so easily offended by the very children she helped create. 'Except for my sister. She likes Lynne. If it weren't for memaw, and how she wants the family name carried on, I sweat, sometimes it feels like they'd just abandon me someplace with five dollars and a handshake.' he pulled himself from the car, as well as his payback, with Rex hidden inside.

"He has Rex." Lynne said. "Gonna have to pick him up, or dad will get wazzed."

"Whatever." Robbie's mother sighed. "What I put up with for that trust fund….."

The Shapiro boy let that slide, heading off into the school. His excitement over having friends, people who would care if he made it back, felt better then he'd have believed. 'Okay, Lynne loves me, even if she can be a stone cold bitch. But SHE loves me, so she'll always argue in my favor. But I won't have to bug my mom so much, not after I get in better with Beck and his psychotic girlfriend."

The boys hopes shattered, a few moments later, as he saw the boy he'd hoped would be his new friend hanging out with an African American boy. 'It's okay, he has other friends. I-I'll just go and be introduced, have yet another friend….' Rob assured himself, even as memories of every time a moment like this had happened, how quickly he was replaced.

"Beck, hi." Rob went for that cool he'd seen so many times on sitcoms. It failed, making him somehow sound desperate, even in such a short statement. "Who's your new friend."

"Oh, Andre, this is Randal." beck gave a halfhearted introduction.

"It's Robbie." The nerdy boy corrected, but by then the two cooler boys were discussing some band the newcomer, Andre, had heard. Robbie sat and listened in, feeling more and more like an outsider every moment. Soon, the girls joined them,. With Beck flawlessly introducing each to Andre 'Not Andrew' to each.

"...And this is Catarina Valentine, but she goes by Cat." Beck finished the introductions.

"Pleasure." Andre replied, nodding at the girl.

Robbie felt that maybe he should just fade away, because they were treating him like a shadow anyways. "Rob, you finish the pre-reading?" Jade asked him. Then, to Andre, she added "You're also in my Music intro class, so have you done the reading?"

"Nahh, that chiz comes naturally to me." Dre said, showing an innate cool that rob could only hope to one day have.

"Dude, chill." The pale girl warned. "Seeing Beck here, so back the chiz off, or I may have to start plotting some kind of reminder that I don't cheat."

"Sorry, would never try and move in on a friends girlfriend." Andre assured her, seeming like a decent enough guy.

"I'm single." Cat said.

"You're six." Jade scoffed.

"I'm actually almost two months older then she is." the petite girl told Robbie, and by extension, the other boys. "Or at least I think I am. I base it on when our birthdays are, and when we supposedly were born. Only, I was kinda young when we started, so I have no way of being sure….. Maybe I should ask my mom, assuming that's who she really is…."

"And that's Cat." Beck told the new boy.

"So, Rob, you're in my introduction to music class?" Andre asked. "What instrument do you play?"

"Guitar." He told the dark skinned boy. "I know, we're supposed to learn an instrument here, buy my memaw had me taking lessons for a while now, cause she likes the idea that I play an instrument."

"Real smooth." Rex chided, letting the nerdy one know his other half was awake.

"What was that?" Andre asked.

"He has a puppet." Beck said.

"And a crazy grandmother." Jade added, a cruel thing to say about one of the few family members who actually liked him.

"I know how that goes." Andre commented. "My grandmother, I love her, but sometimes, it's like, she's starting to slip. Woman used to be sharp, like laser sharp, and now she's starting to act a little wonky."

Robbie almost fell over from the relief of once again being in the group. Jade, he noted, had been cruel, spilling peoples secrets, even though it was beck who'd informed the new boy about Rex. Yet, at the same time, what had happened was Andre was included in the group, filling out their membership, and not displacing or replacing Robbie. He was a part of a group with two, maybe three cool kids. 'Maybe my school life will stop sucking now?' he thought with hope, enjoying being a part of the group. And even though Jade would often scream at him, telling him to sit down or act his age, it was better, because the goth was keeping her word, helping h in.

'Yea, but she's like, really getting into Gears of War.' He thought as the day come to an end. 'Whatever, she'll probably get over it. I mean, she's a girl, right? They don't really play these kinds of games...'

:}

Okay, a few things. This is the first time they gathered together as a clique, so things won't be like they will years later. Robbie doesn't think much of eight grade cat, and since Jade joked she went from an A to a D in eight grade, I acted accordingly. Beck is cool, but not the guy he'll be in a few years, while Jade is protective, but needs a reason to let people in. I'm sure I changed a few other things to reflect they don't really know each other yet. Anyways, comments, there's a review button for that. Questions, we have a button for that. Board, we have a review button for that. Hypnotized, and totally under my control, we have a review button for that.