Hello, everyone! This is Umbra the Hedgehog signing in! After watching this show for a while, as well as reading a great story in this very archive, I've decided to give this section of the site a shot. With any luck, I'll manage to avoid botching it. I hope all of you will have fun reading this!

Description: There's more to Trina Vega than everyone realizes. More than anyone has ever cared to find out. But now, everyone's about to see her real face.

NOTE:

-I do not own anything presented in this story other than my own OCs.

-Credit to guy-sports for a joke used in this chapter.

You Haven't Seen the Best of Me

Los Angeles, California.

The setting: a nice-looking house located near James Street. The Vega residence. Home to David Vega, a local cop, along with his wife Holly and their two daughters, Tori and Trina. Many would like to point it out as your everyday quiet house.

But nope! That would be nothing but a bold-faced lie.

The thing is, Tori and Trina are students at Hollywood Arts High School, a place known for educating young people and helping them achieve their goal of becoming professional performers.

…But it's also known for taking in some really, really weird people. Over time, these girls have amassed a rather colorful circle of friends, and thanks to that, most every friendly visit or conversation ends up snowballing into some kind of loud, crazy series of events.

"No way! Nuh-uh! Absolutely not! Forget it, Tori!"

For those who are wondering? Yes, this is probably going to be one of those cases.

Both girls were standing right in front of the TV, caught in the middle of an argument.

"If you really think I'm doing it, think again, sister!" Trina couldn't believe what her younger sister was asking her to do.

And Tori just wouldn't budge. "Come on, Trina! It's not like I'm asking you to shave your head. It's just a small favor!"

"A small favor?!" Trina loudly countered. "The last time you said that, you fixed me up with a unibrowed, lobster-sucking loser—"

Before she could finish that, her cell phone started ringing. After checking the number, she shoved the phone right into Tori's face.

"—who still can't take a hint!" She took it back and pressed the answer key before shouting right at it. "I'm busy! Forever!"

As Trina threw the phone away in a huff, Tori decided to try something different.

"Okay, Trina, listen." Unlike her sister, she remained calm. "You're right. That was my fault. It's just that we really needed that doctor to make it look like Rex had died."

Trina scoffed at her. "Yeah, and then you guys chickened out, because he's still around, so you basically tricked me for nothing!" She crossed her arms and sat on the couch. "I still don't know why I haven't gotten you back for that."

"Well, now you've got a chance to do so."

Trina turned to her sister, confused by her comment. "What are you talking about?"

"I've already met him, okay?" Seeing an opening, Tori kept on going. "I know I said that other weirdo was a super-hot guitar player, but this is different." At the same time, she grabbed her PearPhone and searched for something on TheSlap Mobile. Once she found what she was looking for, she quickly turned it around so Trina could see it too. "Look! I got proof this time and everything!"

Taking the phone into her hands, Trina had herself a good look at the screen. Tori noticed how her sister's eyes widened right away, and after fighting back the urge to chuckle at that, she elaborated further.

"He's a nice guy, totally not creepy, and totally available." She took a seat next to Trina. "We'd been planning this hangout for a while, but then André called and said he needed help with a project, and you know I can't leave him hanging when he needs help. Not after the whole great-grandpa thing."

Trina nodded absentmindedly, not even forming a word as she did. She sounded like she wanted to, but had completely forgotten how one does that.

"So… yeah, think of it like this." Amused as she was, Tori kept on going. "Instead of moaning at my PearPhone like a zombie, you're having a date with a hot guy, while I'm totally gonna have to miss out on it after so much planning, all because of schoolwork."

That seemed to break Trina out of her stupor, and she immediately gave her younger sister a look.

"You do know that the last time I tried to say that to a guy, you tried to whack me with Dad's camera, right?"

Tori quickly came up with an answer. "Yeah, but that one was your fault."

Trina tried to come up with some sort of a counter to that, but she just couldn't do it. Her brain was likely still trying to piece itself back together after what she had seen.

…And it probably didn't help that Tori was completely right.

"Okay, fine, I'll go!" The way she said that, she came off like a little kid who had lost an argument with her parents and didn't feel like using the "no, you!" comeback.

Having finally won, Tori couldn't help but hug her older sister.

"Alright! Thanks, Trina!" After letting go of her, she made a dash for the kitchen. "I'm gonna go make you some cream of wheat!"

Right as she was ready to say something else, Trina suddenly found herself defused by Tori's offer. She could only sigh as she thought something to herself.

…That better be the best cream of wheat ever made, or I swear I'm gonna have a cow.

Olive Grove.

It had been roughly an hour since Trina had agreed to show up there on Tori's behalf. She was sitting on a bench, all by herself, right outside the entrance. The bored expression on her face had to be seen to be believed.

"Of all the restaurants in L.A., it just had to be this one."

Usually a great place for most people to stop by, be it to have a quick bite or go on a date with someone, it wasn't exactly Trina's favorite restaurant. Sure, it had some neat dishes, including steaks, salads, their famed never-ending pasta bowl—it never ends!—and even a lunch menu eerily centered around breadsticks, which is admittedly pretty neat…

…but as far as she was concerned, all it did was bring back some unpleasant memories of a blind date she had with a guy named Kevin Richards.

Sure, she could just suck it up, press on and do what Tori had asked her to do, especially seeing how the guy from the photo on her sister's PearPhone was ridiculously hot, but even as she considered this, stuck on a bench and wearing her purple Fazzini Boots for the first time in forever, she couldn't help but wonder…

"What am I even doing here?"

She didn't get to dwell on that thought for long, though. As if in answer to her question, she heard some panting not too far from where she was sitting, and when she turned to the source, she saw someone running in her direction.

"Excuse me!"

It was a regular-looking guy, who looked like he was around her age. Probably somewhere around Tori's height, if she were to guess. He was wearing a blue pair of jeans, a red shirt with long sleeves, and a matching pair of sneakers. His hair was also standing up a little.

"Hang on a second…" After coming to a stop right in front of her, he went and leaned over the side of the bench. "Oh, dude… Lichter's and running? Worst… combo… ever!"

Trina did nothing but watch him, not a word out of her.

When he finally composed himself, he turned his attention over to her, confirming her suspicions. "Hey, uhh… can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, what?" She sounded about as bored as she looked. Maybe even more so.

While that made the boy wince a little, he still kept going.

"I, um…" His eyes widened, like he had realized he forgot something, and he brought out his cell phone so she could look at it. "…I'm looking for Tori Vega. You know where she is?"

Not even looking at the picture on the screen, Trina answered him. "Yeah, she's my sister. She couldn't be here, so she asked me to come in her place for this date that she had planned."

"Oh, really?" This surprised him.

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, she's got some school project or whatever that she's working on with this guy called Andrew Harris." Then she shrugged her shoulders. "No idea why she couldn't just call him or post something on TheSlap, but she didn't, so here I am."

"Right…" With that, he put away his phone. "Well, I guess you don't have to wait anymore."

This immediately got Trina's attention. "What do you mean?"

"Yeah, um… that guy you're probably waiting for?" He awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "That would be my cousin, Jeff. Turns out, he sent me here to tell your sister that something came up and he can't make it."

Trina's eyes widened at this.

"Seriously?"

Her tone of voice made him wince again. "Yeah… sorry."

"Well, that's just perfect!" In her disappointment, Trina immediately defaulted to whining about this. "My parents are at work, and now Tori's going to be busy at home. What am I supposed to do in the meantime?"

"Tell me about it." He began to voice a few complaints too, although he was not as loud about it. "My sister's out on a date, and my parents are doing some kind of huge baseball fan reunion thing, so I can't even go back home until later." As he said this, he took a seat next to Trina, who didn't even take notice. "I swear, I haven't been this disappointed since Deep Down."

The mention of that name, on the other hand, did catch her interest. "Wait, you watched Deep Down?"

"Yeah… I thought it was gonna be cool with the whole premise they had, but then they went and played it less for drama and more like something out of Stripes." He crossed his arms as he leaned back against the back of the bench. "I mean, I love that movie, but the playwright promised a serious drama and all we got was everyone laughing like hyenas at the dentist's office!"

Trina followed up with the first thing that came to mind. "You know I tried out for that play?"

"You did?" He turned to her, surprised by that question.

She rolled her eyes with a shrug as she turned her head away. "Yeah, but I didn't get the role, and they didn't even tell me why."

"Well, it's not like you missed much anyway." Since she wasn't looking at him anymore, she didn't notice him straightening himself up and eyeing her thoughtfully. "…Maybe it's your looks."

Trina quickly turned to him again, seemingly offended by that. "What?"

"I-I mean…" His eyes began to dart around all over the place, intimidated by her sudden reaction, before he just turned his head away. "…y-you don't look like a seasoned military veteran who'd be assigned to a submarine."

Right out of nowhere, her entire expression changed. "Oh my God, I know, right?!" Then she pointed at her face. "Who'd want to leave this face stuck in a submarine?"

This made him sigh in relief as he leaned back again.

"Yeah, the girl who got the part definitely had the look down, and she came off like she'd give a great performance if the script were better." He looked at her once more. "Don't feel bad, though. You probably dodged a bullet, and you've got a really pretty face."

Much to his surprise, that seemed to give Trina some pause.

"…What was that?"

He blinked a couple times in confusion. "You probably dodged a—?"

"No, the other thing!"

Being caught off-guard by the loud interruption, it took him a second before he could speak again. "You've… got a really pretty face?"

Somehow, she came across like she didn't know how to answer him.

"What, has no one ever said that to you?"

Trina gave him no response, just leaning back on the bench instead. She looked lost in thought, as if he had just told her that his shoes tasted like chicken. He tried to say something to her, but every time he opened his mouth, words failed him.

Feeling awkward after several attempts, he just stood up and turned to her.

"Well, um… look, I don't want to hold you up or any of that chiz." He scratched the back of his head. "Sorry you had to come here for nothing, but hey, at least it's not just you, right? There's someone out there… er, here… that shares your pain."

That got her to look at him again, although she still said nothing. Her face didn't exactly scream of anger or disgust or anything like that, but it managed to make him feel weird anyway.

"…I-I'm gonna go now."

Even as he turned around and began to walk away, Trina noticed that he had brought a hand to his face. She had probably just made him uncomfortable, much like she was used to doing to… just about everyone she knew, actually.

Nothing special, right? Comes with the territory when you're a huge star. You're always going to end up with some haters. Besides, it's just some random guy…

…who's related to the one that was supposed to be here for Tori.

And he bothered to come and explain things instead of just sitting at home and letting his cousin blow her sister off.

And… he had just said something really sweet to her. She couldn't remember the last time she heard something like that without it being either laced with sarcasm or one of Rex's sucky attempts at flirting.

"Wait!"

This made the boy turn around. Surprisingly, he had only gotten a couple steps away from the bench before Trina stopped him.

"You don't… have to leave yet."

That visibly caught him off-guard again. "Really?"

"Listen…" As she began explaining, Trina stood up. "…both Tori and Jim—"

He immediately corrected her. "Jeff."

"Right, whatever." She kept on talking. "They were going to meet with each other here, but that's obviously not gonna happen anymore."

He tilted his head to the side. "Right…?"

"Think about it. They're busy, we're bored, and he probably has a reservation here that's going to go to waste." She wiggled her eyebrows. "How about we use it instead?"

Conversely, he just raised an eyebrow. "Wait, can we even do that?" Then he shook his head as a sudden realization hit him. "No, wait-wait-wait… you want me to hang out with you?"

"Sure, why not? I mean, look at me!" As if to bring the point home, Trina flipped her hair. "I'm the hottest girl at my school, and you've got me standing here, right in front of you, on a day where you're stuck out here and can't do anything." She then put her hands on her hips, a confident grin showing clearly on her face. "What better way to turn things around than to hang out with this sweet little piece of perfection?"

He blinked a couple times. Trina could see he was confused, and her face fell slightly.

Before she could say anything, however, he spoke up first.

"…Okay, that sounds cool." All of a sudden, the boy had a nice, big smile on display.

And this, in turn, got Trina to perk up again. "You have chosen wisely, little man."

"Uhh… I'm pretty sure I'm taller than you." He countered with a chuckle.

This got a laugh out of her, much to his surprise.

"So, even though you're obviously going to know who I am already, I'm going to say it anyway, just because it's so nice to say." She straightened her shirt up and cleared her throat, and then she spun in a circle before striking a dramatic pose. "I am Trina Vega! What's your name?"

Suddenly, his good humor seemed to vanish, and he turned his head away. "…You don't want to know."

"No, I'm pretty sure I do." She pointed at herself, as if trying to emphasize her words. "That's why I asked about it!"

He tried to argue further, but when he turned to her again, he just couldn't. Somehow, he could tell just from looking at her face that she wouldn't budge until she got her answer.

With a mighty sigh, he let his head drop down. "…Dodger Williams."

Once those words left his mouth, Trina found herself intrigued by his reactions. She could see him counting down from three with his fingers, then he pinched the bridge of his nose without even looking back up, and then he balled his other hand into a fist and pounded the back of his head.

"What are you doing?"

Suddenly, Dodger's arms dropped down to his sides, and when he finally raised his head back up, his shock and confusion were clear.

"…You're not laughing. Why aren't you laughing?"

Trina's expression quickly turned even more confused, if that was possible. "Why should I?"

"Everyone else I've ever met has." He began a short reenactment, complete with fake voices and gesturing. "It's always: hey, hello, what's up, what's your name, I'm Dodger, haha, and then zip." He put his hands inside his pockets. "I've only had about two or three real friends 'cause everyone else just finds it laughable."

Once he looked at her again, he noticed that Trina still looked as baffled as before.

"I don't get it."

In response, Dodger shook his head once again, slapped himself once, and then pinched himself in the arm before wincing from the pain. None of this made the girl's expression change in the slightest.

"…You're serious?"

She shook her head in response. "It's not as funny as you think, dude." Then she raised her hands in a confused gesture. "Is that a nickname or something?"

"No, it's what happens when your folks watch baseball religiously."

That made Trina's eyes widen. "Wow, that's… uhh…"

"Horrible? Yeah, I know, but what can you do?" Dodger shrugged. "I mean, I guess it could have been worse. They could have gone with 'Padre' or 'Marlin'. That'd just be insane."

Trina brought a hand up to her hip. "Besides, 'Dodger' has a nice ring to it. I could easily see it on the cast of a movie poster." She then used her other hand to point at herself. "If I hadn't been blessed with such a great name, I'd want something like that as my stage name."

"…You know something? I never thought of it like that." Dodger started smiling again. "I still think my sister lucked out, though."

Trina raised an eyebrow. "Why? What'd she get?"

"I dunno if my parents lost a bet or they just felt less nutty that day, but they chose to call her Miranda." He scratched the back of his head again. "She likes going by just Mira, but you get the idea."

"Yeah, that's a good name, I guess." After saying this, she pointed over her shoulder at something behind her. "So, are we going in or not?"

His eyes widened at that. "Oh, right, yeah! Let's get to that!"

"Someone's excited." Once again, Trina seemed to find his enthusiastic attitude fairly humorous.

Dodger pointed at her, mostly on impulse. "Aren't you?"

"Never said I wasn't."

He brought his hand back down. "What are we waiting for then? I don't know about you, but I'm up for a never-ending pasta bowl." Out of nowhere, he switched to a loud whisper. "It never ends!"

"No, it doesn't." She rolled her eyes in amusement before turning her head to the side. "But I'm gonna stick with soup and salad."

Because of this, she was not ready for when Dodger grabbed her hand.

"Sounds like a plan!" By the time it sank in, he was already practically dragging her to the entrance. "Come on, let's go!"

Trina wasn't sure what to think. She immediately panicked, since she obviously didn't want her boots to get scuffed, and it's not like she had chosen to wear them because she was planning to run… this time, anyway. Even if she could walk in them gracefully despite them being way too high, she knew she should stop him.

…She should. So why wasn't she doing that?

"The punch line!"

Not too long after their meeting, Trina and Dodger were sitting at a table, both of them laughing it up at one of his jokes. Looking at their table, he was already on his second serving, while she hadn't even finished her soup-and-salad order yet.

"Okay, okay… here's the last one." He took a deep breath. "No martial arts this time."

Trina wiped some tears off her eyes. "Go ahead."

And with that, Dodger cleared his throat before getting started.

"Brenda and Terry are going out for the evening. The last thing they do is put their cat out. The taxi arrives, and as the couple walk out of the house, the cat scoots back in."

He made a pause, both to take a breather and to make sure Trina was getting it.

"Okay…" Lucky for him, she was.

He took another breath. "Terry returns inside to chase it out. Brenda, not wanting it known that the house would be empty, explains to the taxi driver, 'My husband is just going upstairs to say goodbye to my mother.'"

"Yeah…?" Trina was shaking a little as she waited for the punchline.

A snicker escaped him. "Several minutes later, an exhausted Terry arrives and climbs back into the taxi saying, 'Sorry I took so long, the stupid idiot was hiding under the bed and I had to poke her with a coat hanger several times before I could get her to come out!'"

With this, Dodger just couldn't hold his laughter in, and let it all out again. Trina followed suit soon after.

"Oh, man…" As they both stopped to catch their breath, she gave him a compliment. "That was a lot funnier than I thought it was gonna be."

Having gotten back to his food as she did, he swallowed before answering. "Thanks, Trina. Honestly, I was really worried you'd find it lame."

"Oh, come on." She reassured him. "It was hilarious."

Dodger scratched the back of his head again, chuckling a little.

"So, you said you go to Hollywood Arts?" Trina remembered something he shared with her before the jokes. "How come I never noticed you before?"

That gave him some pause, but he decided to answer her question anyway. "Well, for one, we're in different groups." He began to answer. "On top of that, I've… sorta kept as low a profile as I could for some time. It's almost like I don't exist at Hollywood Arts."

"But… why?" Trina asked him, surprising herself with how invested she sounded. "Why would you even do something like that? It's Hollywood Arts! We're all about standing out!"

Conversely, he shrugged nonchalantly before answering her. "Try explaining that one to my sense of self-worth."

"Oh…"

Going by Trina's restrained reaction, he could only presume that his response had genuinely surprised her.

"Yeah, I was just going to stick with that and be done… but then Jeff kept insisting that I should go see a shrink, and then Uncle Jack and Aunt Kelly agreed with him, and then Mom and Dad agreed with them, so… there you go."

She said nothing to this, but he could see that her face had fallen slightly.

"Anyway…" Suddenly feeling awkward again, he went for another mouthful before continuing. "It wasn't easy to adjust to. I had a lot of baggage to unpack, but it's gotten me to where I am right now, so it's all good, I guess."

This got a smile out of her, something that managed to shock him. "That's good to know."

"…Thanks." Dodger cleared his throat. "In our last session, he said I should be a bit more daring and do something outside of my comfort zone."

Having taken a bite out of a breadstick, Trina swallowed before pointing at herself again. "Does hanging out at a restaurant with the most amazing girl at Hollywood Arts count?"

"You know what?" For once, he responded quickly. "Even if this was just an accident… yeah, I think it's a good start."

Pleased with his answer, Trina decided to change the subject. "Anyway, what's your talent, Dodger?"

"Oh, well… I'm a dancer, mostly."

This grabbed her interest right away. "Really?"

"Yeah! I've always had a thing for Jig Jig Jitterbug, despite the weird name." He rested his head on his hand, staring at the ceiling as he reminisced. "Mira used to joke I was like John Travolta, except without the '70s hair."

That comment got a chuckle out of Trina.

"The guy's one of my favorite actors ever, so hey, I'm cool with that." Dodger brought his attention back to her. "Anyway, I figured I'd take it a step further after that. You know, for the audition?" Then he took a bite out of a breadstick, much like she had done. "That's when I started breakdancing."

Her interest was raised further, nodding at the mental image of her companion dancing. "Sounds like fun."

"Yeah, it's a lot of fun." He turned his eyes away, as if he was embarrassed by what would come next. "I've… also got a bit of voice acting with me."

Trina raised an eyebrow. "Really? I didn't notice." Her voice was dripping with sarcasm, but Dodger could tell she was just joking around.

"Hey, when your parents watch baseball all day long, you gotta have a pastime, Trina." He decided to play along.

With her interest having been piqued, she decided to ask him something. "Do you sing?"

"Nah, it's not really my thing." Dodger shook his head. "The last time I tried it, I… ended up with a salad bowl for a hat." He looked down for a moment. "Pretty embarrassing."

Trina quickly came up with a counter for that. "Not as much as the time I found out I sleep-sweat. It was totally messy."

"Yeah, well… someone poured a can of Mountain Fizz down my pants."

"I had a flier stuffed down my shirt."

"My folks wear baseball caps when they go to sleep."

"My sister got an actress shot through the hand."

"I once found a tarantula inside my favorite jacket."

"I saw my grandmother naked."

"I was born in a baseball stadium."

"I got in a fight with Perez Hilton once."

Awaiting the next embarrassing anecdote, she was surprised to see that Dodger's eyes had widened.

"Holy crab… you're the girl from that 'Hilton Plane Brawl' video on SplashFace!" He seemed genuinely astonished. "I knew she looked familiar somehow!"

Trina was similarly shocked by this. "Someone recorded that? And uploaded it to SplashFace? Why would they do that?!"

"Why wouldn't they do that? It's not every day that you see a pretty girl duking it out with a grade-A jerk." Dodger's excitement was clearly visible. "And making an even bigger fool outta Perez Hilton? Trina Vega, you are officially one of my personal heroes, right alongside the JabbaWockeeZ and Craig Mazin!"

She tilted her head to the side. "Who?"

"Craig Mazin?" Clearly, he didn't expect her to be so confused by that. "Wrote and directed Superhero Movie?"

That seemed to ring a bell with her. "Oh, yeah! I watched that movie with my friend Molly once! That weird superhero parody with the Naked Gun guy, right?"

"Yep, Leslie Nielsen. That's the one." He nodded at that.

With that out of the way, Trina decided to keep the conversation going. "Anyway, what's next?"

"Honestly? I got nothing." Out of nowhere, Dodger grabbed her hands. "Trina, you got to beat up on Perez Hilton. How the fizz am I supposed to top that?"

Upon hearing this, she was confused. "Is that a saying? Never heard it before."

"Nah, it's just something my mom made up." He shrugged again. "She's been using it since before I was even born, and I guess it just kinda stuck with me."

She could only blink a couple times, not sure how to respond to that.

"Riiiiiight… okay then." Eventually, she just decided to roll with it, although she soon had something else to talk about. "…Hey, Dodger?"

He nodded rapidly. "Yeah?"

"Can I, you know…" She used her head to gesture downwards. "…have my hands back?"

Once he saw what she meant, Dodger's eyes widened again, almost like he didn't even realize he had done that.

"Oh my God!" He chuckled nervously as he let go of Trina's hands. "I'm so sorry about that! I swear, that wasn't intentional. I-I just got so caught up on that conversation we were having and…" Then he cleared his throat before straightening himself up. "Sorry."

This time, it was Trina who shrugged nonchalantly. "Forget about it."

"I…" Once again, Dodger found that words were failing him. "…I-I'm gonna get back to my pasta bowl now."

And so he did. Trina simply decided to follow suit, getting back to her soup and salad without another word.

Eventually, the two teens left the place, not wasting any more time once they finally finished with their orders. Since it turned out that there was no reservation involved, Dodger insisted on paying for the meal; Trina didn't object to this. She was surprised, however, when he said he'd also be tipping them. She usually didn't do that for Italian restaurants; as far as she knew, you're not supposed to do that in Italy, so she just went for authenticity.

For whatever reason, they decided to head back to the bench where they had run into each other.

"Well, that was… fun." Dodger had his hands in his pockets again.

Trina flipped her hair like she had done before. "Of course it was. Why wouldn't it be?"

"Because I wasn't expecting you to make it out of this with your dignity intact." He answered very quickly. "I just took a walk on the wild side and we didn't burst into flames like those janky shoes that they plugged on iCarly once or twice."

She chuckled at that last part. "Man, I miss iCarly. Seriously, it was so much fun!"

"Think they'll come back from that break anytime soon?"

"I hope so. I want to see another art project from Spencer!"

He looked like he was going to say something else to her after she said that, but once she did, all he could do was look away from her, almost like he needed a moment to think it over.

"Hey… can I ask you something, Trina?"

She nonchalantly shrugged once more. "Sure, go ahead."

"When you said we should hang out, you came off really overconfident and acted like a bit of a showoff. You know, like the kind of person nobody likes?" Dodger cleared his throat. "Uhh, n-no offense."

She blinked her eyes in confusion. "…None taken?"

"Oh, good." Relieved, he continued. "But then we went in there and we started talking and eating and all that, and… you seemed so much nicer." His voice did a poor job of hiding how pleased he was. "You were all sweet and cool and funny and everything. What's up with that?"

It was then that the realization hit Trina, and for once, she was the one who couldn't articulate her thoughts.

She had not acted like she usually did.

Like he said, she had been laughing at his silly jokes. She had openly shown him sympathy when he revealed his issues to her. She blatantly displayed an interest in his talents as a Hollywood Arts student. She had even told him a number of embarrassing anecdotes without so much as a second thought. Sure, she had aggrandized herself as usual, but only whenever he doubted or put himself down.

And it wasn't even intentional. It just… happened.

"…Okay, too much, too soon. Got it." Dodger's voice took her away from her thoughts, and she could see that he was feeling uncomfortable again. "You don't have to answer me. I'm not the prying kind." Much like she had done earlier, he pointed behind himself from over his shoulder. "I'm gonna go now."

He barely got to turn around before something stopped him.

"If I told you… would you keep it between us?"

When he looked at her again, he was surprised by the expression on her face. It barely took him a second to realize that she was being completely serious with her question.

"Sure." Dodger nodded. "After what you just did for me tonight? Anything for you."

She lowered her head for a moment, took a very deep breath, and clenched her fists before looking at him again.

"…The girl you met before we went into the Olive Grove? The one who was sitting at this bench because her sister asked her to?" She pointed at it as she asked that. "She… she wasn't real."

Of course, Dodger was confused. "Come again?"

"It wasn't me. It's never been me." Trina found herself unconsciously sitting on the bench again. "I can tell you just deal with your issues by joking around, or you dodge them entirely, and you even make those comments that you keep on making." Suddenly, her voice started to turn much less calm. "You put yourself down before others have a chance to do so and you act like none of it bothers you, and I guess most people buy it, but you didn't fool your cousin, or your parents, and you sure as chiz don't fool me, Dodger. You know why?"

He was very surprised by her emotional outburst. So much, in fact, that he couldn't find a proper reply.

"Because… because I know what that feels like." She continued. "I know what it's like to just look everyone in the eye and pretend that everything's fine when it's obviously not. I know how it feels when no one likes you, but you desperately try to convince yourself that they do."

She stopped herself for a moment, trying her best to get a grip. By that point, Dodger had already taken a seat right next to her again.

"…It's just so easy to act like you're on top of the world… so easy to convince everyone that being told no one likes you doesn't hurt… to pretend that being told you're amazing, only for everyone to turn around and say you're the worst, is okay with you." Trina made a pause, hoping to catch her breath.

He just looked at her wordlessly. After all of that, he wanted so badly to say something to her, he found himself having to fight back the urge to facepalm at himself for not being able to find the right words.

"You just get so used to it that… you never want to stop." It took a moment, but she finally continued. "Or maybe… you just don't know how to stop."

Dodger tilted his head to the side. "But… you did today, didn't you?"

"…Yeah, I did." She finally turned her attention to him. "I just… I didn't think I would, but I had so much fun just now. You're the first person in a long time that's made me feel like I'm really as amazing as I want to be." Then she shrugged again. "I mean, yeah, okay, there's always Tori, and I guess Cat doesn't hate anyone, but even they jump on the 'Trina is the worst person in the world' bandwagon sometimes." She looked at him in silence for a moment. "It's… nice to run into someone who hasn't. I can't remember the last time I got to unwind and… and be real again."

He was about to say something, but before he could speak, she said one more thing.

"But don't tell anyone!" She pointed at him. "Ever! You can't, okay? This can never, ever leave this…" All of a sudden, she awkwardly realized where they were. "…bench?"

He nodded quickly, unfazed by the sudden shift. "Not a peep from me. Nope. Nada! Zilch! Secret like the recipe for Paradise Drinks!" The second these words left his mouth, he looked like he had only just realized that they did. "Wait, what? Why did—?"

And then, something happened. Something neither of them expected.

Before they could process what was going on, Trina suddenly found herself hugging Dodger, in much the same way Tori had done to her earlier.

"Thanks for a great time." She was smiling, although he couldn't see it. "And for listening, and… you know, everything."

Although he was taken by surprise, he managed to recover enough that he could return the gesture. "S-Sure… right back at you."

…And then, out of nowhere, the moment was interrupted by a random tune.

You know I flaunt ya
'Cause, girl, I really want ya
And you lookin' nice
Got me cooler than a bag of ice~

A familiar tune.

"Hey…" Taking a few steps back, she shot him a surprised look. "…is that your ringtone?"

He quickly reached for his pocket and brought his phone out. "Yeah, I really love that song."

"I know, right? It's a classic."

With that out of the way, he answered the call.

"Hello? Yeah?" Something seemed to really shock him. "What?! How did—?" He suddenly stopped; she could only assume he had been interrupted. "Yeah, but it— why would— oh, come on! Seriously?! Again?! I thought—" He recoiled in disgust. "No-no-no, I don't wanna know!" Then he sighed. "Alright, I'll be right there. Just gotta drop by the store for some paper towels."

Trina raised an eyebrow. "What's up?"

"That was Jeff's sister, Maddie." Dodger ended the call before answering her. "They've got this weird neighbor who keeps buying these funky bath salts. She said he's got an old Ginger Fox album blaring at full volume, he filled his bathtub with Dr. Gibs and Randy-Yo's before diving in, and he's been babbling some weird Galaxy Wars-y gibberish."

By the time he was done, Trina had a grimace stuck on her face.

"Yeah, I know." He facepalmed at this. "Jeff's still busy and they need help with the guy, so… gotta bolt." Then he put his phone away. "See you around?"

She nodded. "Be seeing you."

"Hey, from The Prisoner. Very nice." He gave her a small wave. "Until next time, Trina."

And with that, he turned around and began to leave, but not before checking his phone again for a sudden text message from Maddie.

"…Oh, come on! Why would a cat even want to eat at Krusty Kreme?!"

Trina chuckled as she waved back at him. He couldn't see it, but that wasn't about to stop her.

Just like with my second story, this is my first shot at writing a fic about these guys, so, once again, don't hesitate to tell me if I got something wrong. I just thought I'd write something about my favorite character from the show, since she's so underused.

I might make another chapter, but only if this one isn't a massive screw-up.

This is Umbra the Hedgehog signing off.