A/N: Here's the third chapter, everybody! Thank y'all for the reviews! :)
Also, don't you hate it when you update the chapter, only to see a few errors that you apparently missed, even if you proofread it prior to that, and have to re-edit and then replace the chapter again? Yeah, that happens to me every time I post a story or update it, lol.
Disclaimer: Victorious belongs to Dan Schneider.
Chapter Three: Getting Acquainted
By GallaudetLurker
Robbie goes down the stairs for what seems like the millionth time, and he wishes the elevator wasn't broken so he could ride down to the first floor in comforting relaxation. But alas, he doesn't get what he wants.
As he nears the front office, Robbie feels his guts begin to clench in nervous trepidation as the recent memories of meeting Jade surfaces in his tired mind. He doesn't know why he feels, for some reason, some relief course through his veins when he gives a passing glance into the office and Jade isn't in there anymore. Beck, who is still behind the desk, gives him a friendly wave.
The journey to the Grande auditorium is a short one, and he is able to locate the place by following the crowds of students - which he assumes are freshmen along with the other sophomores, juniors, and seniors, but he isn't too sure - that converges upon a particular place that has a large sign 'Grande Hall Auditorium' right next to it.
The auditorium is pretty packed, and noisy. Hundreds of students, male and female, are sitting in rows of folding chair that are neatly arrayed next to each other. He could make out what seems to be faculty members - professors, probably - sitting in the first few rows in the front. On a large stage, at least a dozen of men and women dressed up in suits are sitting near a podium where the President is scheduled to make his appearance.
Smattering of conversations from all over the place converge to create a deafening sensation that seems to overwhelms his senses. Robbie feels a bit disorientated as noise pervades his ears from all directions. But despite so he, with some difficulty, manages to find a vacant chair and moves toward to sit on it...
...only to be beaten to it by a muscled frat boy, who shoves his way into the chair and gives him a mocking sneer.
Robbie sighs dejectedly as he resumes the search for the seemingly-elusive vacant chair in the increasingly-crowded place. As he scans over the crowd, his eyes catches something, or rather, a certain brown-haired girl in the distance. He finds himself begin to smile a little as his heart begins to beat a bit faster as the memories surfaces in his mind.
Tori Vega.
She doesn't see him, instead chatting away with friends next to her, but Robbie definitely sees her. So distracted is Robbie that he missteps and stumbles, but manages to maintain his footing. He feels his cheeks begin to grow warm with embarrassment as he hastily resumes the search.
Finally, Robbie sees his coveted prize, an empty chair next to the aisle. He manages to reach there before anyone does, and lets out a relieved sigh as he settles down on the chair, feeling a relaxing sensation come over him.
"HI!" Robbie jumps a mile up into the air.
As his heart beats at a million miles per hour, Robbie looks to his right - and the surprise and shock quickly fades away as he is taken in by the beauty of the girl sitting next to him. Her curly brown hair seems to shine as it cascades down her shoulders. She is wearing a bright sundress that comfortably hugs her curvy figure and stops mid-thigh. He feels like he is in a trance as he peers into her warm brown eyes, which is enhanced by her mascara, feeling himself start to grin back at her dimpled grin.
"H-Hi." Robbie manages to say as he starts to get strange, fluttery feelings in his groin.
"What is your name? I'm Cat!" The girl, now known as Cat, inquires.
There are some times in Robbie's life where he says - more like blurts out - the wrong things at the wrong time, and it has hurt Robbie's chances with a girl too many times in the past. This is one of these times.
"Cat...like a cat, right?" Robbie comments as a humorous thought hits him. At a blink of an eye, Cat's facial expression morphs from an excited and bubbly one to an offended one at a frightening speed.
"What's that supposed to mean!" She yells, a flicker of anger in her eyes. Robbie stutters over his next words, feeling panic along with embarrassment course through him as he could see some people sitting around them look over at them.
"Um...uh...you see-I was saying-um, what I meant-um, I'm Robbie." He starts to get a sinking feeling in his chest, one that he has felt one too many times, as he thinks he has forever ruined his chances with this girl-
"Hi Robbie! Nice to meet you! I'm Cat!" Cat's expression instantly reverts to a bubbly one once again as she offers her hand. Robbie blinks in confusion.
Hasn't she already said her name? Robbie wonders to himself, but he chooses not to say that aloud, instead prompting to go with something else.
"N-Nice to meet you too, Cat." He says as he grasps her hand and gives it a shake. Cat's hand feels soft and warm, Robbie surmises, but there is no jolt like he has felt with Tori.
"Can you believe it? This is the first time I've been here! It's my first year here and I'm so excited!" Cat exclaims, and Robbie raises his eyebrows at the revelation. She's a freshman, like him.
"Really? It's my first time here too," Robbie smiles. "I registered my classes and just moved into my dorm."
"Oh my God, I did that too! It's like we're on the same wavelength!" Robbie has to admire the girl's positive and vibrant energy. "Which dorm do you live in?" Cat presses on as she turns slightly on her seat to face him.
"Schneider Dorm." Robbie replies. Cat gasps. "Really? I live there too! Which floor?"
"The fourth floor, on the west wing." Robbie replies.
"Oh. My. God." Cat enunciates each word, and this reminds Robbie of a female character named Janice on the TV show Friends. "I live there too, on the east wing! Wow, isn't that a coincidence? I guess we'll see a lot of each other." This time, the last part of Cat's words reminds Robbie of what Tori has told him earlier.
"I suppose so," Robbie says simply. At that instant, the air around him seems to drop in temperature. The hairs on the back of his neck begins to stand up as he feels a cold chill creep up his spine. His stomach inexplicably clenches as he begins to tense up.
At first, he is confused of why he is feeling like this, but once he turns his head to look over his shoulder, he understands why.
Jade West is walking down the aisle. Robbie instinctively gulps and moves to avert his gaze but he is far too late. His eyes locks into Jade's blue orbs for the second time today, and it brings back the same sensations that he has felt back in Beck's office - only this time, instead of being drenched by ice-cold water, he feels like he is plunged head-first into a pool of freezing water.
Like watching a train wreck and being unable to look away, however as much as he would like to, Robbie's gaze remains anchored to Jade's for a few more seconds as she passes by him. Once the ice spell has been broken, Robbie feels like he is trembling all over.
"That's Jade," Cat chirps in, apparently unaware of the sensations that Robbie is experiencing. "She helped me with the registration process today. She's very nice."
Robbie resists the urge to snort in disbelief but then he mentally shakes his head. He doesn't know Jade apart from her name, so he really can't say anything like that about her. But still...he couldn't help but get the vibe that she wasn't really nice, at least not to him, judging from the way she had looked - more like glared - and spoke to him so far.
"You ok? You look like something's bothering you." Cat looks concerned as she places her hand on Robbie's shoulder.
Robbie blinks with a jolt at both Cat's question and the warm sensation of her hand on his shoulder. He looks at her and shakes his head. "Oh, just r-remembered something...but, um, I'm ok. Thanks for asking, though."
"Oh, I feel that way sometimes," Cat states and Robbie furrows his eyebrows in confusion. "Sometimes I feel like I've dropped my keys or accidentally swallowed it or misplaced my phone or something, but then I remember I have them with me!" She says with a grin, her dimples prominent, as she removes her hand from his shoulder.
Robbie stares at Cat. Did she essentially say she...swallowed a key on accident?
"Um..." He begins to say, but Cat continues on: "But my brother, he once accidentally dropped his key when he was on the fourth floor of the dorm he was living in. It fell to the first floor, so he jumped over the railing all the way down there to retrieve it."
Robbie's eyes widens in surprise and disbelief. "No way...seriously?"
Cat giggles. "Oh, don't worry! He's fine, he've had worse falls than that in the past, and he've come out fine. The resident advisor on duty chewed him out though...or so as he tells me."
"Oh my Gammit." Robbie mutters to himself.
Cat looks like she is about to continue on, but a new voice booms throughout the mostly-silent auditorium. Robbie could see a figure dressed up in a dark suit standing in front of the podium that has been vacant a few moments before. He is a tall but slightly pudgy figure with a bowl-like haircut.
"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen!" The man's voice reverberates once again, amplified by the loudspeakers that are placed throughout the auditorium. "Most of you already know me, but some of you do not. Let me introduce myself. My name is James Schneider, and I am the President of California State University, Hollywood. It is with the highest honor that I introduce the members of the Class of 2016, and warmly welcome back the Classes of 2013, 2014, and 2015 to our institution of higher learning, where all of you now begin a journey that would ultimately prepare you for success in the world!"
The speech lasts for approximately thirty minutes, but Robbie is impressed by the eloquence of the speech. In addition to elaborating about the great expectations placed on the university and its students, the President welcomes new faculty members - the men and women who are sitting near the podium - and discusses a wide array of fields that is taught at the University, from Information Technology to History to Engineering to Theater and Performance Studies. He expresses his great optimism about the future, even going as far as to discuss the evolution of technology and technological innovations from the 1500s to the present and its significance to the future.
"You are undertaking your journey in a time where access to information - which is one of the cornerstones that this University is built upon - is readily available, at the click of a mouse or at a press of a button or at a tap of a screen, and would profoundly empower you all in the time that is to come." The President would say, and this greatly resonates with Robbie. "I look forward to getting to know each and every of you, and I will strive to do my best, as humanly, possible to ensure that you all succeed in your studies, and to help you prepare for the future. Welcome to California State University, Hollywood!" With this, the President concludes his speech to thunderous applause.
As students begin to get up from their chairs, Cat places her hand on Robbie's arm. "Wow, that was a great speech!" She says breathlessly.
Robbie nods in agreement. "Yes, I agree. He makes you feel like you can do anything."
Cat giggles as she agrees.
Robbie gets up from his chair, stretching a bit. The tiredness from earlier still weighs upon him, but not as much as it had been before the speech. "Uh, um, what are you gonna do now?" He asks Cat as he goes into the aisle.
Cat trails after him. "Good question. Now that I've done everything that I'm supposed to do, I'm not sure what to do now." She thinks over it for a moment. "Maybe I might go to the cafeteria. OH! Maybe they have red velvet cakes there!"
"Red velvet cakes?"
Cat nods, her brown hair swaying with the motion. "Yes, I love them. They're my favorite. Have you tried one?"
Robbie shakes his head. "No, I haven't tried one...in fact, I never had one before."
Cat gasps. "No way! You've got to try one. You should come to the cafe with me and try one if they have it there!"
It crosses Robbie's mind that this is the first time a girl - and a beautiful one at that - has insisted, of her own volition, that he come with her to someplace. On this particular day, Robbie has talked to more girls - three, if one counted Jade - than he had in a year.
Okay, maybe the last part is an exaggeration, but one gets the idea.
"S-sure, I guess..." Robbie says as he weaves his way through the crowd of students toward the exit. As he nears it, he feels a tap on his shoulder and turns his head to see who tapped him.
He finds himself looking into a pair of warm chocolate eyes, and his heart begins to lurch in his chest.
"Hi Robbie." Tori says with a smile.
A/N: So concludes Chapter Three. Hope you liked.
Yeah, Cat is a brunette in this one. That might change, though. Or not. ;)