A/N: Hey everybody, sorry this is late, had a lot going on this past week, but I've still been writing - it's just taken me a long time to upload! Thanks for your patience, let me know if it was worth it! I love your reviews. :)

The teenagers gathered back in class and Sikowitz just had time to tell them to continue with their projects, before rushing down the hall, muttering about forgetting his grandmother at the store.

Tori and Robbie took their seats. Tori watched the boy as he began to fidget, chewing his nails and tapping his foot while she pulled their script out of her backpack.

"What's up with you?" she asked, and he flinched at her voice.

"Aren't you kind of...concerned about Sam?" he said warily, watching the door in anticipation of the blonde's arrival.

Tori laughed. "No, why should I be? She's been with us all morning and we haven't seen her be remotely violent or threatening. I think Sinjin just has his underpants on too tight or something."

"But she's not been at full capacity all morning," Robbie pressed. "I mean, she was all sleepy, and hungry, and-"

"Are you gonna name all of the seven dwarves?"

He made a face at her comment. "I just mean...not just anyone beats up the school bully. And do you know what happens to the kid who defeats the school bully?" he got closer to Tori's face than she was comfortable with as he quizzed her.

"Uh...they get a parade?" she guessed, still amused at his irrational behavior, and blowing a shot of air at his face so he would back off again.

"No, Tori," he said seriously. "They BECOME the school bully."

"Hey guys," Sam greeted, making her two partners jump.

"Hi Sam!" Robbie squeaked. Rex shook his head, embarrassed.

"Hey, we didn't get to see you at the Asphalt Cafe," said Tori as the girl sat down. "I hope you didn't get lost. I know this place can be a bit of a maze when you're not used to it."

"Naah, it was all good. I just wanted to scope out where all the best snack machines were." Sam swung her feet up onto another chair and placed her hands behind her head.

She frowned, picking up on the nervous tension from the other two, as neither met her eyes.

"Well," Tori said eventually, "I guess we better start rehearsing the scene right? How about we start with-"

"-Aw I can't take this, why don't we just cut the chizz?" Rex barked, his head swiveling to face the new girl. "Did you take out Big Bad Randy Bronson?"

Robbie opened his mouth to chastise the puppet, but found himself waiting for Sam's response. Tori just looked awkward.

"You heard about that, huh?" Sam was surprised at how fast news traveled in this school.

"It's true?" Tori blurted out, before covering her mouth. "Sorry, it's just...wow."

"Nice job!" Rex guffawed.

Robbie looked at him. "So you're okay with this?"

"Didn't Bronson give you a nuclear wedgie in the locker room last week?" the puppet pointed out, making his guardian blush.

Sam's interest perked up. "What's a 'nuclear' wedgie?"

"Painful..." Robbie shuddered at the memory.

"Did he threaten you?" Tori grew concerned, placing a hand on the girl's arm. "He didn't hurt you, did he?"

Sam grinned at her. "Nope. I think I scared him off."

"Heh heh, nice." Rex approved. "I like a girl who can take charge."

Sam raised an eyebrow at Robbie. "Seriously, dude. What up with the puppet?"

/

"What's that on your arm?" Jade asked Freddie, grabbing his shoulder before he could sit down to inspect the angry-looking bruise just below his t-shirt sleeve. She'd always been fascinated by pain.

Freddie cleared his throat and did his best to ignore the fact that Jade's hair was brushing against his skin. "It's a bruise."

The girl shot him a deadpan expression. "It is?" she said, coating her tone with sarcasm and a southern accent, before snapping back to Jade mode. "How did you get it?"

Andre shook his head at her in disbelief. "Y'know, there are some days where you're just straight up creepy, do you know that?"

She returned a look to her friend, a glance that conveyed not only "of course I know", but also "you've no idea just HOW creepy". Andre kept his mouth shut.

"Sam did it," Freddie confessed reluctantly. "I tricked her and Carly into coming with me to a film about cybernetics."

"So she punched you?" Jade released him, and looked amused.

"Yep," he sighed, sitting next to Andre. "Right after she called me a 'dork weasel'. Honestly I think she just spends all her free time thinking of ways to torture me."

"Perhaps someone needs to torture HER..." Jade said thoughtfully.

"Sounds to me like Sam likes you," Andre said with a smile, ignoring Jade.

"HA!" Freddie burst out, a little too loudly. He blushed when everyone in the room cast their eyes in him for a moment, before continuing their discussions.

Andre chuckled. "Of course, I could be wrong."

"What about your other friend? The sickeningly chirpy one?" Jade interrogated. "No behind-the-web-show romance with Seattle Barbie?"

"Nope," Freddie said blankly. The fact that Jade had just insulted his best friend made him uncomfortable, but it was slightly outweighed by his recollection of all the times he'd followed Carly around like a love-sick spaniel, only to be repeatedly rejected. Still, he thought glumly, that was in the past.

"I love iCarly by the way," Andre interrupted, dispelling the awkward. "Funny stuff, man."

"Thanks," Freddie smiled, his spirits lifting. "It's a lot of fun to do."

"You planning on filming any of it during your trip? I could totally write some music for you guys. You know...if you wanted."

"Sure, that would be awesome!" Freddie nodded.

"All right!" Andre grinned.

/

Beck was finally feeling brighter, although it had taken three cups of very black coffee to get him there.

"So," he smiled at his partners, "I guess we should carry on working on the dialogue."

Cat nodded vigorously before looking to Carly with her inquisitive eyes. "I bet you're great with dialogue, aren't you, Carly?"

The other girl looked flummoxed and smiled nervously. "Er, I can give it a shot."

"She's so modest!" Cat giggled to Beck, before grinning at the new girl. "We were watching iCarly in our break, you and Sam are hilarious!"

Cat launched into a series of impressions of various iCarly skits, apparently performing to herself.

Beck brushed his hair from his eyes and offered a lop-sided grin to Carly. "She's right y'know, you guys put on a great show."

"Thanks," Carly replied with a shy smile, still uncomfortable about being flattered by people she was sure were far more talented than her. "I'm not sure comedy lines are quite what we're looking for for our scene, though."

"Writing dramatic dialogue is pretty easy once you get into it," Beck reassured her, before nudging Cat. "Let's show her the ad lib thing."

"Kay kay!" Cat grinned, before unexpectedly frowning and screaming, "I thought you said the nuclear bomb was harmless!"

"It was," Beck sniveled in a nerdy voice, "we developed it to make fireworks look even more awesome. Is it our fault it got into the hands of warmongers?"

"YES!" Cat barked. "You've ruined world peace for everyone!"

"I'm so sorry sir...what can we do to rectify the situation?"

"Well clearly we're going to have to call Godzilla," Cat replied.

The two of them then returned to themselves and smiled at Carly, who applauded their performance.

"Wow," the brunette grinned, "you guys just made that up right now?"

"Sure did," Beck answered, leaning back into his chair. "Once you get going and get into character, the words just sort of...appear in your mind."

For the first time that morning, Beck was beginning to enjoy class again. Acting was his passion, and in sharing it with someone else it was like rediscovering it all over again.

/

As Andre and Freddie rehearsed their parts of their scene, Jade kept an eagle eye on Beck. She couldn't entirely make out everything he and Carly were saying, but the way he reached forward and took hold of the new girl's hand, looking into her eyes with his soulful expression, made Jade bristle with anger.

The logical part of her brain said 'they're just acting, idiot'. Beck was by far the best actor in Sikowitz's class and he could convincingly romance an old gym sock if the script asked for it. However, jealousy seeped across her judgment like spilt ink, and - in her mind - Carly seemed to be enjoying their little play a bit too much.

That was when she knew - she'd have to do something drastic to totally set it in stone for this new rival that Beck was forbidden territory.

/

Lunch time. Having pretty much finished writing their scenes, Sikowitz's group was on a high, and chattered away to each other as they waited in line at The Grub Truck.

Jade noticed Carly, Beck and Cat were at the very end of the queue, and mentally noted that the situation couldn't be more perfect.

Ignoring the fact that Tori was speaking to her, Jade totally blanked the brunette and strolled purposefully to the end of the line, flashing a feline smirk to Carly.

"Uh hey!" Carly responded cheerfully. Beck's girlfriend was still making her nervous but she decided to be cheerful regardless.

And Jade inwardly hated her for it. "Hi...Carly right?" she said in a saccharine voice, knowing perfectly well what her name was.

"Right, and you're Jade. Beck tells me you're a talented writer," Carly said with interest.

Jade shot a questioning glare at her boyfriend. "Just writer?"

"And actress and singer," Beck explained as though it was obvious.

"She also bakes great fairy cakes!" chirped Cat, before looking guilty when Jade gave her a horrified look. "...But we're not supposed to tell anyone," she added quietly, looking at her shoes.

Beck stifled a laugh and they all moved a few steps closer to buying lunch.

Eventually everyone except Carly and Jade had bought what they wanted and taken a seat on the packed-out quad.

Jade's plan was simple, as it had been for Tori - there was nothing better for putting someone else in their place than good old humiliation.

For girly-girls, this was simple. Girls like that were obsessed with how others perceived them. It didn't take much to mortify a priss. It hadn't entirely worked with Tori, who she had underestimated. She'd got over having coffee poured over her head pretty quickly - but at least she knew that Beck was taken.

She figured it would be easier to break Carly. Unlike Vega, this girl was in a totally new environment - Tori had grown up here in L.A., whereas this kid was from a whole other state. Carly also didn't have the bravado that came with stage performing. Sure, she hosted this iCarly thing, but she did it from the safety of her own little world.

Jade leaned forward and tapped the web host on the shoulder. "You should totally get the soup and mashed potato," she said with a smile.

Man, being nice was a lot of work.

"Really?" Carly replied, uncertain at such an odd combination.

"Totally! It's legendary at this school, trust me."

"Okay..." Carly moved forward and smiled at Festus, The Grub Truck operator.

"Whaddyou want?" he asked flatly.

"Um..." she looked back to Jade who gave her two thumbs up. "...I'll have the soup and mashed potato, please."

Festus looked at her like she was insane, but prepared the meal and took Carly's cash. "Okay, enjoy...I guess."

"Yo Carly!" Andre hollered across the quad. "Come sit over here!"

Carly flashed a smile, balanced her tray in her hands, and walked forwards.

Jade pretended to look at the sky as she stuck out one of her combat boots, and made Carly go flying.

Sam, Freddie, and pretty much everyone else on the quad watched in horror as Carly shrieked, fell forwards, and landed face-first into her lunch.

"Ohmygosh," Freddie jumped to his feet and ran to his friend, helping her to her feet with Sam.

"You forget how to walk, kiddo?" the blonde asked gently.

Carly was stunned, like she was living in slow motion.

Cat ran to them too, and looked concerned. "Carly..." she said sympathetically. "You're all...covered in green mush."

The others joined them, and Carly wondered if the blush burning into her cheeks was starting to melt the food on her face.

Tears beaded in the corners of her eyes, and Tori protectively put an arm around her and began to swiftly lead her away. "C'mon," she said reassuringly, "let's get you cleaned up."

"What happened?" Robbie asked, his view blocked by the others.

"Carly was just-"

"-Clumsy," Jade interrupted Cat as she slid into a chair with a wide smile, setting down her lunch on the table.

Cat, Andre and Robbie looked at each other, uncertain. They didn't actually SEE Jade trip Carly, but they knew Jade - and so they pretty much knew what she'd done.

Beck was under no illusions, and just stared at her before eventually muttering, "you're unbelievable."

"Thanks," she replied happily, ignoring his tone.

As the Hollywood Arts gang reluctantly joined her at the table, Freddie looked to Sam. "Uh, aren't you going with Tori to help Carly?" he asked, feeling useless since he couldn't follow into the girl's bathroom.

Sam stood there, her figure tense, her hands clenched, and Jade West in her crosshairs. "I'll help Carly alright," she replied through gritted teeth.

Worry spread across Freddie's face and he backed up a little, unsure whether the blonde would explode with anger at any time. "What are you gonna do?"

Sam didn't reply, or even look at him. She just disappeared into the school.

A/N: Do you wanna see Sam's revenge? Sure ya do! Make sure to tune in next time! If you want extra updates, follow my at my brand spanking new twitter account fatcaketacos. It's like danwarp, only less good. Laters!