A.N. : Sorry about the delay and thanks for all the revues.

First Rehearsal

"Hey, Beck have you seen my pink pen?" The redheaded girl was rummaging thru her bag.

"No Cat, I haven't."

"Phooey, my brother won it for me at a fair. He had to hit bottles with a ball, but he couldn't so he got in a fight with the carny and..." Beck blocked Cat out. He loved the girl dearly, and her stories could be very entertaining at times, but at the moment his mind was preoccupied. It was lunch time and he couldn't delay meeting Tori anymore. He hadn't felt that anxious about meeting a girl since the time he was pursuing Jade and boy, was that a worrying comparison. He walked with Cat to the Asphalt Café and sat beside his girlfriend, opposite Tori.

"Beck, here are the lyrics of the song. First rehearsal is after lunch in the music classroom." Andre handed him a sheet of paper. Jade intercepted it and quickly read the text.

"Well, well a passionate love duet, isn't that convenient, Tori…" Jade said with a falsely sweet tone. Tori for her part rolled her eyes at the pale skinned brunette.

"Wait a minute, so Andre you were going to sing a passionate love duet with Tori?" Rex said in a very allusive manner. Robbie looked at Rex genuinely appalled at the suggestion, as a ventriloquist Robbie was disturbingly good.

"No, I was going to sing a passionate love duet with Erica Johnson," Andre has had his eye on the pretty blonde for a while, and had hoped that a little time together and a nice love song will help him get her. "But she got the flu and it was too late to back out from The Sing-Off, so I asked Tori to step in and help."

"How is the play going, Jade." Beck asked hoping to distract his girlfriend from continuing the bickering with Tori.

"Alright mostly, but the director is barely competent, too bad that we didn't get Sikowitz. He might be crazy, but he knows his work." The rest of the lunch continued uneventfully. Andre, Tori and Beck decided to meet in an hour to rehearse their song.

When Beck arrived in the music classroom, Andre and Tori where already there. Tori was leaning over the piano, no doubt discussing with Andre some changes in the song. Her pose and the short denim shorts she was wearing today showed her long, toned legs in a most enticing manner to a person just entering the room. Like Beck. The memory of tonight's dream rushed back, and he felt his face blushing.

"Hi guys, I'm ready for the rehearsal." He said in his usual laid back manner, covering his uneasiness. Part of him was impressed with his own acting abilities.

"Yeah, the batteries of my keyboard died, so I'm going to get new ones from across the street. You two rehearse the lyrics. Beck, Tori will show you, I'll be right back." With that Andre got out of the room. Beck turned to Tori.

"I don't really need to rehearse the lyrics. One of the tricks that help me as an actor is that I easily memorize texts." He smiled. "It also helps me keep my grades high."

"Okay, then you can tell me how the audition, you were so excited about last week, go." Tori perched herself on one of the desks and smiles excitedly. "I want to know everything." Beck couldn't help but smile, her enthusiasm was contagious.

"I got the part."

"Congratulations." Tori jumped and hugged him excitedly. He enjoyed her hugs, the way her slender body briefly touched his and the scent of spring flowers emanating from her hair. All too soon the hug was over and she nudged him for more details.

"Don't get too excited. It's a one episode role in a teen-soap on a cable channel." He tried to sound nonchalant.

"Oh, don't try to act all blasé about it." She smiled and mockingly waved her forefinger to him. "This is your first TV role, its huge. One day when you are a Hollywood star and promote your next blockbuster, the talk show hosts will dig up clips from this show and you will act all embarrassed about it. So spill, and don't leave any detail."

"Okay, the truth. I could barely sleep the night before. Then I had to wait three hours until my turn finally come." Little by little, prodded by her questions, Beck became more and more animated while telling the story. He began to act out the audition, the bored demeanor of the director, his flirty young assistant, the nervousness he felt while waiting the reaction of the director. He relished Tori's undivided attention, her sweet laughter at the funny parts of the story and especially the way her eyes sparkled at him.

Soon Andre came back and they began preparing the song. It was a great song, like most of Andre's songs. Beck didn't have many occasions to envy someone, bur his friend's ability to create wonderful music seemingly effortlessly was something beyond his comprehension. Right now he was grateful for it, because it gave him the opportunity to act out his not quite conscious feelings without feeling the guilt they caused. After all, it was just an act, wasn't it? All too soon the rehearsal was over. Beck had to hurry home and get ready for his date with Jade.