3

"How did it go, you two?" André asks, as we walk over to the lunch table, "Did they like you?"

"I dunno, man," Beck shrugs, "He said he'd seen a lot of good people, but we did our best. We'll just have to wait and see if we had what they were looking for. How are you guys though, how's your day been so far?"

"Awesome!" Cat claps her hands, "I had ice cream for breakfast!"

"Wow," I say, glaring at André, who holds his hands up in surrender.

"I couldn't stop her!" he protests, "Anyway, we got an A in song-writing."

"Yes!" I cheer, hi-fiving him, "That's…a third of our grade right?"

"Yep," he says, "And our next assignment isn't for a few weeks so we can chill a little bit."

"Awesome," I grin, "Cat, when do you go off to your movie?"

"Thursday," she says, "They bought me my very own ice cream bar!"

"Shut up!" Beck laughs, "That's amazing!"

"Yeah, it's got loads of toppings!" she babbles, "You should definitely come down and check it out one day!"

"Sounds good, Little Red," André says, "Oh, by the way, Tori, are you still good to come into the studio on Sunday?"

"Sure," I agree, "Is your grandma feeling better?"

"A little," he says, "She's still gonna be in hospital for a little while, but my mom said she'd sit with her on Sunday so I could work. I'll get you the sheet music as soon as possible so we can hopefully record it all in one session."

"Okay, cool," I nod, stealing a fry off Beck's plate. He nudges me in the ribs but otherwise doesn't comment, instead turning to André.

"What happened to your grandma?" he asks.

"She fell over," he shrugs, "and broke her ankle. She'll be fine soon; they're just keeping her in for observation."

For a second, nobody speaks and then Beck asks the question he's wanted to ask since we sat down. "Has anyone seen Jade?"

"No," Cat says, "We thought she'd gone to the audition with you two, you know, to cheer you on or whatever?"

"No," he sighs, "Jade and I broke up again last night."

"Again?!" André and Cat start speaking over each other, "Come on Beck, this has gotta-" Beck cuts them off with a disapproving glance and then he turns to me.

"I've gotta go find her, Tor," he says, "Will you help me look for her?"

"I will, but I'm probably the last person she wants to see," I shrug, "You might have more luck without me."

"Good point," Beck agrees, "I'm gonna go look for her. I'll try and be back in time for class, but if I'm not, can you cover for me?"

"Of course," I smile, "Good luck."

"Thanks," he says, dropping a kiss on the top of my head, "Well done at the audition, by the way. You were amazing."

"You too," I reply, "See you soon!"

"Morning!" I grin, leaning in between Beck and André, "Isn't everybody glad it's Friday?"

"Totally," André says, shooting me a hi-five, "I could do with a weekend!"

"Oh tell me about it," Beck says, "With everything that's been going on this week, I've hardly slept."

"Did you speak to Jade again last night?" I ask and he frowns, "You can pout at me all you want, Mr Oliver, but you know I'm gonna get it out of you so you might as well just tell me."

"Yeah, we talked for hours," he says, "We've decided to give things another go, but we had a really honest conversation so hopefully things will be different this time."

"And did she shout at you?" André asks.

"At first," he nods honestly, "And then she started to listen to me and I think we're good again now."

"Well, I am really happy for you," I smile, "Did you get the email from Sikowitz by the way?"

"Yeah, I was just waiting for you before I went up to his classroom," he says, "Do you think this is about the movie?"

"Almost certainly," I agree, "He's probably gonna tell us that we didn't get the roles, so just be prepared."

"Victoria, if you expect rejection, you're almost certainly going to be rejected," Beck insists, "Now, come. Let us go and find out the truth."

"Alright," I laugh, grabbing his hand and dragging him up to Sikowitz's classroom.

"Ah, Beck, Tori," Sikowitz says brightly, "Come in, I've got someone here who would like to talk to you." We walk hesitantly into the room and recognise one of the men who was at our audition.

"Hi there," he says warmly, sticking out his hand, "I'm Max Anderson, I'm directing Romeo and Juliet. I was very impressed with your audition and I wanted to come down here and meet you properly and see if you were the type of people I work well with."

"Awesome," Beck says, "We did it!" I hi five him without turning around and he punches me playfully on the arm.

"So what would you like to know?" I ask happily, "We'll tell you anything."

"So would it be okay if the three of us just sat down for half an hour and just had a chat?" Max asks, "If you could leave us, Sikowitz, we'll come find you when we're done here."

"Sure," Sikowitz says, squeezing my shoulder as he leaves the room.

"Please sit," he says, and I drop into a seat beside Beck, "Now, I want you both to be completely honest with me, and I must warn you some of these questions are going to be quite frank. I don't have a lot of time to cast this movie and I need to get a good gauge of your relationship quite quickly. Is that okay?"

"Yeah, that's fine," Beck says, but he edges slightly closer to me.

"Okay," he says, "Have you two ever kissed?"

For a second, neither of us reply, completely shocked and then I start to respond. "Yeah, I mean, we've done a couple of plays where we had to kiss and-"

"No, I'm sorry, that wasn't clear," he interrupts, "Have you two ever kissed off-stage?"

"Yes," Beck replies sharply.

"How far has your relationship gone?" he asks.

"Well, it's not…it's not a relationship, but we have had sex," I admit, searching for a reaction on his face, but he doesn't even twitch.

"But you're not a couple?" he comments, "May I ask why?"

"Because of his girlfriend mainly," I smirk, and now Max raises an eyebrow.

"So you two had sex while you were still with your girlfriend?" he asks Beck, and now Beck's on the defensive.

"No," Beck snaps, "What do you take me for?! Jade and I were broken up when I had sex with Tori."

"Interesting," he says neutrally, "And what's she like, this Jade?"

"She's beautiful," Beck begins, but again Max cuts him off.

"I was asking Tori," he says, gaze falling on me.

"She's…yeah, she's a very interesting girl," I say awkwardly, "I mean, Beck's right, she's beautiful, but she's terrifying and slightly insane. But he seems to like her so I guess that's good."

"Does Jade know you two slept together?" he asks sharply.

"No!" we reply in unison and then I continue, "No, no way, she'd kill me if she even thought…No."

"Interesting," he says again, "And Tori, no boyfriend for you?"

"No," I reply, "I've dated a couple of guys but they've never really worked out."

"Okay, what was your last boyfriend called?" he asks.

"God that must have been…Steven?" I glance at Beck. "Was Steven the last guy I dated?"

"Yeah, Steven," Beck says tightly, still watching Max cautiously.

"And Beck, did you like Steven?" he asks.

Beck hesitates, glaring at Max, and then he sighs, admitting, "No, I never liked Steven. He was so flaky, he ran out on her dates a bunch of times, and I knew there was something up with him. I wasn't surprised to find out that he was cheating on her, and I would have happily killed him."

"Beck," I say, shocked, "It's okay, it doesn't bother me anymore."

"I know, but it bothers me," he snaps, "You're my best friend, you're so beautiful and funny and kind and you deserved a million times better than that piece of dirt. How dare he treat you like that?"

"Shh," I murmur, linking my fingers through his, "It's okay, please don't let him upset you. He's not worth that, right?"

"Right," he says, shaking it off, "Sorry, Mr Anderson, please continue."

"I think I've heard everything I need to actually," Max smiles, "I just need you to do one more thing for me before I make my final decision."

"Sure," Beck says, "What do you need?"

"I need to see you two kiss," he says brashly, and Beck and I blink at him, "If you don't wanna do it, I'm sure there are thousands of other teens in Hollywood who would be up for it."

"No, no, it's fine," Beck insists, "Tori, look at me please."

I turn to him and he smiles fondly, bending down and placing his lips on mine. At first the kiss is chaste, gentle and close-mouthed, but as we get more into it, my lips part and our mouths mould together. It's only when I need to breathe that I finally pull away and we can only stare at each other for a moment.

"Nice," Max says, "Well, I think that's pretty much everything. You're both outstanding actors and you have enough natural chemistry to believably play these roles. I look forward to working with you."

"Wait," Beck says, turning to me, disbelief clear on his face, "Is he saying what I think he's saying?"

"We got the parts?!" I squeal and Max nods, "Oh my god!" I hug Beck tightly and then hug Max, bouncing on the spot I'm so excited.

"When do we start?" Beck asks, one arm still around my shoulders.

"Well, we need to draw up contracts, which your parents will need to sign as well," Max says, "Any pay negotiations too, although I'm sure we can come to a comfortable agreement. You'll have to work out tuition schedules with the school and then we can start work. If we work quickly, hopefully we can get started next week."

"Wow," I say, hugging Beck again, "I can't believe this is happening!"

"Congratulations, both of you," Max says, "I need to speak to Sikowitz, but can I take your phone numbers and addresses? I'll be in touch very soon."

"Tori?!" André shouts as Beck and I walk over to the lunch table in a daze, "Beck? What did Sikowitz want? You've been gone for hours!"

"We had a meeting with the director who oversaw our audition," Beck says, dropping into a seat next to Jade, who kisses him forcefully, "He wanted to get a feel for our personalities before he offered us anything."

"And?" Robbie leans forwards, "Did he like your personalities?"

"Of course he liked Beck!" Jade says defensively, "Did Tori let you down, babe?"

"No, actually," Beck says proudly, reaching out to squeeze my shoulder, "She was fantastic. And do you know what? So was I."

"So?" André pushes, "Did he offer you the parts or not?"

"Yeah, he offered us the parts," I say and everybody starts to cheer. André and Robbie hug me tightly as Jade kisses Beck, and then as Beck gets mobbed by the boys, she even offers me a hug, which I accept gladly.

"Congratulations, you two," André says proudly, "I'm very happy for both of you."

"When do you start?" Jade asks, leaning into Beck's side, "Soon?"

"We need to draw up contracts," Beck says, "My family are going over to Tori's tonight and we're all gonna sign on the dotted line then. We need to sort stuff out with the school about how many hours we're allowed to work, that sort of thing, and we need to get full scripts, costume fittings, all that jazz, and then we can start."

"It seems like we're coming in at the end of the preparation process," I explain, "The rest of the cast has been on board for weeks, the sets and costumes and props are all ready, the script is written, everything is ready to go. It's like they were just waiting for us."

"So how long are you gonna be off school?" Robbie says.

"The shoot's not gonna be any longer than 6 months," Beck says, "Because Max's signed onto another project. But we'll be pretty close to graduation by then anyway."

"Tori, Beck," Lane approaches, putting a hand on my shoulder, "Congratulations! We've got the education consultant on the film up in the main office; we need to put together a schedule for you. Will you go up? I just need to get the principal."

"Sure," I nod, "Come on, Beck."

Jade stands as he does and kisses him passionately. "Congratulations babe," she says, "I'll see you later."

We walk down the hallway in silence. For once, it's actually empty – everyone is outside, having lunch or just enjoying the good weather. "So," Beck says eventually, "That was some kiss."

"Yup," I agree, "That was some super good acting, buddy." I punch him playfully on the arm and he laughs.

"You too," he teases, nudging me in the ribs, "What did you think of the questions he was asking us?"

"Pretty intrusive," I shrug, "I don't know what I was expecting but I suppose he did warn us, I just didn't think it would go in that direction."

"I know," he agrees, "I honestly thought he'd just leave when you told him we'd had sex."

"God I know," I groan, rubbing my face with my hands, "Thank God it worked in our favour. Have you called your mom?"

"Yeah, just to invite her round to yours," he shrugs, "I did this all by myself, it's kind of irritating that they have to sign this contract. What about you, did you speak to your parents?"

"Yeah, they were so happy for me," I smile, "I swear to God, my mom burst into tears. She's so silly."

"She's just proud of you," he says, putting an arm round me, "As am I."

"Jade seems to be very happy for you," I say, "And she didn't even try and kill me or anything!"

"I know," he laughs, "She's in a very good mood after our chat yesterday."

"Might it also have something to do with the fact we didn't tell her that he made us make out in our meeting?" I tease, "That's another secret, Beck, it's becoming a habit."

"I know, I know," he says apologetically, "but my relationship is finally back on track and I don't want to ruin it now."

"Of course you don't," I murmur, "I'm not going to do anything to ruin it, Beck, I swear. I won't tell her about that night and I won't tell her about what happened today either."

"Thank you," he says, hugging me tightly, "I really appreciate it. Now come on, let's go and sort out our education programme."

"Come in," I say, welcoming Max and his team into my house, "Beck and his parents are already here so we're all ready to go when you are."

"Wonderful," Max says, hugging me, "Won't you introduce us, Tori?"

"Of course," I say, running over to my parents, "This is my dad, David, and my mom, Holly, and these are Beck's parents, Graham and Lucy."

"Nice to meet you," Max says, "So we've got these contracts here which you all need to read and then we can sign on the dotted line and start making this movie."

"Can I make a request?" Beck asks, and Max raises an eyebrow, "About the shoot itself?"

"Sure you can," Max says, "I mean, I might say no, but you can ask."

"Can we shoot the scene where we first see each other first?" he asks.

"Okay…" he frowns, "Why?" Beck leans in and whispers something in his ear and he laughs, but agrees, "Yeah, that's fine. Speaking of which, I'll get you your shooting schedule tomorrow. Now we've talked to your educators, we can get you into wardrobe tomorrow as well and then start filming on Monday."

"Awesome," I say, leaning into Beck's chest, and he hugs me close. I look up at him and murmur, "I can't believe this is happening."

"You deserve it," he whispers, "I'm proud of you."

"You too," I reply, "Mom, what do you think of the contract?"

"Is this…is this how much you're paying her?" Mom says breathlessly, "Tori, take a look at this."

"Mom," I laugh, bending over the contract, "Oh that actually is quite a lot."

"This is the big time now, baby," Beck says, pulling me close to him, "You deserve it."

"Thanks, dude," I grin, nudging him, "So when do we meet the rest of the cast?"

"They're all out of state at the moment," Max says, "but most are flying in this weekend so we can start on Monday. You'll have to wait til then to meet them."

"When do we get the script?" Beck asks, glancing at his parents, who are still reading.

"As soon as you sign on the dotted line," Max says, "What are you thinking, Graham?"

"I'm thinking I can't see anything wrong with it," Graham says, nodding curtly in Beck's direction, "Who's got a pen?"

"I can't believe this is happening," I laugh, sitting down with my parents, "Okay, where do I sign?"