A/N: I'm not having the best evening... But I read some reviews from today/yesterday. It cheered me up a little bit, so here's another chapter. Thanks for the kind comments!
A week had passed and so far, Hollywood Arts Summer Camp was going great. Tori walked in to the main hall for breakfast. She spotted Andre and after grabbing a breakfast burrito and a pint of orange juice, made her way over to his table.
"Morning, 'Dre."
"Hey Muchacha. How was your sleep?"
"It was actually pretty good, except I didn't sleep until almost midnight since Trina called me last night."
"Sounds fun," Andre chuckled.
"Whatcha working on?"
"Just a set list on some songs we sang. Maybe remix a few of them."
"Cool. Oh be sure to add Make it Shine."
"Of course! It' the first one on the list. I was thinking of recording it three times. One regular, the second like our remix for Helen's Audition, and then a third one in acoustic."
"Yeah, acoustic would be awesome," she agreed.
"So, I think we both have prep today and no workshops. You want to squeeze in some more practice time later?"
"Yeah I'm up for it!"
Saying that, Tory's phone beeped, signaling she received a message. She tapped on her pear phone and read something that got her thinking.
"Uh, on second thought, I think I might be slightly busy later. How's after prep work?"
"That's going to be late at night," Andre pointed.
"Y-yeah. But I uh, made a prior commitment that I almost forgot. I promise Andre, tonight it's you and me and music," Tori said as she got up.
"Ok, but where you going?"
"I uh, have to make a phone call. I'll be right back," she left all too soon.
As Tori stepped out, Cat and Jade stepped in. Jade grabbed a burrito while Cat grabbed a bowl of fruit and a muffin and the girls joined Andre.
"Good morning!" Cat cheerfully expressed.
"Morning Lil' Red. Morning Jade," Andre waved before jotting down some notes.
"Where's Beck?" Jade searched for her boyfriend.
"And Robbie?" Cat wondered as well.
"Oh they got stopped by a few students earlier. Helping them real quick, sharing some tips and stuff. They'll be here."
"Oh," Jade lost interest and took at bite of her breakfast burrito. If there was some thing that Jade actually liked, it was having her morning coffee and a hot breakfast.
"Where did Tori go?" the redhead asked before popping a few grapes in her mouth.
"She said she had to do something right after she got a message. No idea what it is," Andre shared.
"Ooh what if Tori is a spy and she got her first assignment?!" Cat guessed a little too farfetched. She had a rather unique way of thinking than the others.
"Tori a spy? She hid in a vending machine and we caught her," Jade pointed out from the time she discovered the fake Ping Pong team they created their freshman year.
"Yeah, and last time she had a master plan, we all got stuck at Wanko's! Almost got caught if it weren't for you crossing the lasers and Robbie making friends with the thieves," Andre noted.
"Tori is not a spy, Cat. She's not cut out for dirty work," Jade explained before sipping her coffee.
Cat suddenly gasped. "Does that mean you're a spy, Jadey?"
"Maybe," she messed with her friend's head and winked.
Cat's eyes grew with terror while Andre's rolled as he chuckled at the naïve girl.
Beck and Robbie had finally made it to the hall and stepped inside… with about four freshmen girls flocking Beck more than Robbie. The trio looked over to them and a certain person had flames in her eyes.
"Andre," Jade said through gritted teeth. "You never told me that Beck and Robbie were helping freshmen… girls," she said slowly.
Cat's brow furrowed in worry for what would come next, and in the pit of her stomach a coil of resentment from the girls surrounding Beck… and Robbie.
"Uh… y-you didn't ask?" he was so nervous for Jade harming him in the next three seconds.
"J-jade. Why does it matter? You're not jealous, right?" Cat reminded her.
Hearing Cat's reasoning, Jade recoiled any thought of harming the musician sitting next to her and vented her anger on something else.
"Of course not, Cat. And I'm not going to hurt you either, Andre," Jade merely stated.
As the boys were grabbing their breakfast of choice, Jade had absentmindedly harassed her breakfast burrito, the contents of the tortilla smothered all over her plate and hand.
"Uh, Jade."
"What?"
"You uh, you squeezed your burrito dry," Andre pointed at her plate.
Cat gasped, placing a hand over her mouth.
Instead of thinking of an excuse, Jade just got up and went towards the restroom.
"I'm going to clean the burrito guts off of my hand."
Andre and Cat looked at each other, confused, shrugged their shoulders and went back to eating and writing.
"Good morning boy and girl," Beck said sliding next to Andre.
"I'm the girl!" Cat raised her hand.
"Yes, yes you're the girl," Beck acknowledged.
"Hi Kitty-Cat," Robbie scooted next to her.
"Hi Robbie," she beamed.
"Where's my girlfriend?"
Andre and Cat looked at each other.
"She uh, went to the bathroom," Andre stated.
"Her burrito… exploded?" Cat tried to help.
"Exploded?" Robbie repeated.
"I didn't hear a boom?" Beck was puzzled.
"Last night, I had a dream that Mr. Fuzzy the unicorn brought me to a candy castle and I got to eat all the candy I wanted!" Cat randomly babbled.
Andre didn't know if she intentionally tried to change the subject, or if it was the crazy nature of his red headed friend. Either way, he was grateful. Jade may not be the nicest person in the world, but between the six friends and aside from the fact that Beck was her boyfriend, Jade liked Cat and Andre.
Beck bit into his red delicious apple, sending a delightful crunch across the table.
"How's that apple?" Andre kidded.
"Crunchy," Beck mustered from the mouthful of fruit.
"Crunchy, crunchy, crunchy," Cat repeated earning a smiled from Robbie.
"How's the music coming along, Andre?" Beck asked in return.
"It's coming along. We're planning on recording 365, Tell Me That You Love Me, and Make it Shine for now."
"Be sure to play Best Friend's Brother. That's a rad cool song," Robbie suggested.
"Cool, I'll add it to the list. Oh Cat, you played back up with me at the Prome. If you have time this month, you want to lend your voice to the song?"
"Lend my voice?" she grabbed her throat, "Then how will I be able to talk? I can't not talk for a long time! Almost as long as I can't have my cell phone!" She started hyperventilating.
Beck chuckled, Andre sat dumfounded, and Robbie calmed her down.
"No Cat, that was just a figure of speech. What Andre's meaning to ask is if you'd like to record the song with them like you guys sang at the Prome."
"Oh," her horrid expression instantly fell. "Sure, I love singing! I will 'lend you my voice'," she nudged Andre's elbow, "So long as I get it back right after," she said sternly. To her it was serious, but to everyone else it was comedic.
"Sure thing, Lil' Red. You'll uh, get your voice right after," Andre said.
"Yay we get to sing!" Cat cheered before popping the rest of her fruit in her mouth.
"I wonder how the Prome will be this year?" Robbie wondered aloud.
"It will be like every other year, at the Asphalt Café, Rob," Beck stated.
"I don't mean that. I mean, it's our last Prome at Hollywood Arts. We're seniors, remember?"
"Oh. Right," he said. "Seniors."
"And don't get me wrong, the other years were fun, but I really want to go with someone special this year," he hinted. Beck and Andre knew exactly whom Robbie was talking about. And the girl he was hinting to turned almost as red as Beck's apple.
"Everything is going to count so much more than it has in the other years," Andre added.
"But it's the same school?" Cat was confused.
"Yeah, but it will be our last year, Cat. Our last first day, our last year with Sikowitz, our last Prome. We gotta make it count more than ever," Andre explained.
"Well when you put it that way, you make me sad," she started pulling on her hair, tears forming, but she held them back.
"Great going, Andre. You made the girl cry," Robbie said before patting her shoulder.
"What? I'm sure all of you guys were thinking about this at one point or another," he defended.
"Yeah, but we could have waited to lay it all out at once. One at a time. Prome in one topic then maybe Sikowitz's class another day," Robbie retorted.
Up until this point, Beck was quiet… Again.
"Oh come on you guys, let's just worry about that when we have to," Beck took another bite of his apple, covering up his own concern for the subject. "Cat, nothing is going to change for now, so be a good girl, ok?" he told her. Beck and Jade would act like parents to Cat. Not that her parents never did, but they were barely around. And even though Jade and Beck fought a bit more than the average couple, Cat thought of them as her protectors.
"Kk," she smiled and instantly perked up again when she saw Jade return from the restroom and Tori walking in the hall.
Tori stepped inside with Kojak. Before dashing off to her friends and him sitting with the older staff, he wrapped up their conversation.
"So give it some more thought. No rush, but the spot is yours for the taking. Meet with me again some time this week. I will try to convince you somehow Ms. Vega."
"Alright Kojak, thanks. I'll see you later, then."
They shook hands and she scurried over to her friends.
Jade walked over and sat next to Beck.
"Hey Babe, where'd you go earlier?" he kissed her cheek.
"Oh well, my burrito got messed up so I cleaned off."
"See, it exploded! I told ya," Cat said as a matter of fact.
"Yes, yes you did," Beck acknowledged.
"Hey guys," Tori sat next to Cat.
"Hi Tori," she greeted.
"Is everything cool?" Andre referred to her sudden storm off.
"Yeah, just had an important thing to take care of. I'm good now," she lied to everyone. Moments later, their favorite teacher showed up, saving Tori from the torture of being interrogated some more.
"Good morning children!" He sipped on his morning coconut.
They all went around and greeted him.
"So, who would like to help dear old Sikowitz with something fun?"
"Uh…." Tori started.
"You know, every time you ask us it's always the same thing," Andre said.
"Yeah, we ask you for more details," Beck added.
"And you tell us something stupid, but Vega over her agrees for all of us and we're pulled into it anyways," Jade added, earning a glare from the Latina.
"Then we end up dressed as food, in candy jammies, riding a cupcake, going crazy with no cell phones, sleeping over at your house…"
"Hey the candy jammies were fun!" Cat defended.
"Yeah it kind of was," Robbie said giddily and the two giggled.
"Yes, you all have very good points there," Sikowitz sipped on his coconut, not affected whatsoever at their remarks.
"Ok, so… Our point is… how crazy is this proposition?" Tori finished.
"It's for the Final Curtain," Sikowitz simply stated.
The six of them looked at each other. They were all already somewhat busy with other commitments throughout the rest of the camp. Did they really have time to accept another task? But it was Sikowitz they were talking to. Their favorite teacher. They owed him that much.
"What is it?" Tori asked in routine.
"We need a grand finale and I recommended my favorite group to be in charge of that last number," he emphasized the word 'favorite'.
They all looked at each other. It was a great gig, but did they have time? But, like clockwork, Tori heavily sighed and stood up.
"Sure, anything for you, Sikowitz," she half smiled.
"Wonderful," he sipped the rest of his coconut. "And…"
"Wait, and?" Robbie stopped him.
"There is never an and!" Tori said.
"What are you playing at, Sikowitz?" Beck added.
"Oh come on, it's one last teensy weensy favor for dear old Sikowitz," their teacher said.
"Ughhhhh… Just tell us already," Jade said.
"Can you kids create a video for future freshmen? No one else really grasped the program like you kids, so I really only want to showcase you guys."
"A video?" Cat asked.
"Yes, like the funny things you kids do on the Slap. Just make it more informative. Give the students advice and everything. And you can take your sweet time on this video. Give it to me before the end of the year. I trust you so I won't ask for it until then."
"Sounds reasonable," Andre said.
"Tori?" Beck asked expecting her to answer for them, routine.
She sighed, "Sure Sikowitz. We'll do that too."
"Excellent," he smiled. "Well, I'm off to acting exercises. Cat, Jade, Beck; you're working with me today. Let's go!"
A/N: Song Title - Best Friend's Brother - Because they were talking about the Prome, and because I didn't have a song title for this chapter, but I like this song a lot.