Sam was angry - that much was clear. But she was also tired and conflicted. For her, Carly was the best friend she'd ever known, and also her moral compass. Sam knew that Carly wouldn't want her getting into any trouble that could jeopardize the trip. That meant no violence - at least not in school.

But she hated that Carly was hurt, and she hated that she couldn't beat this witch chick into a new millennium. She paced the fluorescent school halls like a caged tiger, growling to herself.

Everything about this school was strange to her. There were kids dancing around, skipping with joy, as if they actually wanted to be here. The lockers practically radiated individuality. There was a fat guy playing a flute. It was like Bizarro School, like…

...Sam stopped pacing. The lockers. The most devious cogs in her mind clicked into action.

She saw the gawky-looking kid from earlier and beckoned him over with a "Hey! Uh...you!"

"Sinjin," Sinjin explained as he walked over to her, still kind of in awe of her.

"Don't care," she responded. "So you guys each have your own lockers here? No sharing or anything?"

"Uh huh," Sinjin nodded, gesturing to his own locker. "That one's mine. It's covered in food that I-"

"-Yeah great, which one's Jade's?" she asked, her patience fading rapidly.

"Jade West's? It's the one over there, the one covered in scissors. Jade likes scissors," he said dreamily. "Do you like scissors?"

"I'm pretty ambivalent."

"Oh."

Sinjin wavered there for a moment, an awkward smile plastered on his face, until Sam barked "Leave!" and he scuttled off.

/

Freddie passed Cat on his way back to the lunch table, where he sat with Andre, Robbie, Beck and Jade. He wasn't really sure how he was supposed to react, but his main instinct was to defend Carly.

"What was that for?" he asked Jade, hurt and confusion on his face.

"Relax," Jade smiled, "it was all part of a Hollywood Arts initiation. She passed!" she lied, like it was second nature.

Freddie furrowed his eyebrows, skeptical. "Initiation?"

"Sure," Jade explained, now dealing with Beck, Robbie and Andre's suspicious stares as well. "It's like an ice-breaker. If we feel a newbie needs toughening up a bit before she has to deal with being in stage in front of an audience, we humiliate her in front of a crowd. It's like saying 'hey, this is the worst thing that could possibly happen'. It helps take the fear away."

She smiled sweetly before drinking her coffee.

"I guess that makes sense," Freddie decided.

Beck and Andre exchanged glances, still not entirely convinced, but accepting it simply to keep the peace.

"Wait..." Robbie frowned, "...is that why you guys pulled my pants down in the middle of my solo in 'Annie'?"

"No, that was just for fun," Jade grinned as Freddie tried not to laugh.

"And because you were singing the solo in 'Annie'," Beck added, while Andre bumped his fist in agreement.

Robbie sulked and stabbed a fork into his salad.

/

Carly had managed to calm down after the initial shock of the situation, and had managed to get composed again.

Tori remained a little concerned about her. She was also furious with Jade for being even more of a gank than usual, and for upsetting a sweet girl who's only crime was taking part in an exchange trip.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, helping Carly to dab away the last of the food from her face.

"Better," the girl cracked a smile. "Less like I just face-planted mushed slime."

Tori giggled, then sighed. "I cannot believe Jade did that. Well, actually I can, I mean...she's Jade. But it was still super mean, even for her."

"I've barely even spoken to her," Carly began to make her case, but Tori waved her down.

"I know. On my first day here she poured coffee on my head in front of the whole class. And that was after she made me a dog in our play."

"So it's not just me she hates, then?" Carly laughed.

"I think basically if you're any girl except Cat and you breath the same air as Beck, she automatically wants to make your life miserable."

"Good to know."

They laughed while Cat entered the bathroom, looking even more excited than usual.

"Hi! I brought you some clothes. Y'know...'cause yours got all gross," she beamed at Carly and presented her with a clean blouse and a pair of jeans. "They're from the costume department. I don't think anyone was using them."

"Aw great idea, Cat!" Tori said as Carly inspected the clothes with sounds of approval.

"These are great, how did you know my size?"

"It's a gift," the redhead giggled, perching on one of the sinks. "I know everyone's exact measurements just by looking at them."

"How convenient," Carly laughed.

/

Sam Puckett was on a mission. She hadn't worked out all the finer details of her devilish scheme yet, but she'd found from past experience that it was much more fun to be spontaneous.

She noticed a gaggle of girls walking by, all yapping away inanely to each other, while struggling to carry a whole load of pillows. A smile glimmered on her face as she ran up to join them.

"Hey, what's with all this?" she asked, pretending to be interested.

"They're for a play," one of the bimbo's responded cheerfully. "It's one of Michael's. Do you know Michael? Well, anyway, he's totally directing this play about a princess who sleeps on tons of pillows but can't sleep because underneath all those pillows is a pea. It's so original!" she squeaked, and the other girls squealed their agreement.

Sam had to work very hard not to roll her eyes and yawn. "Sounds great, do you need any help?"

"That's so sweet!" the bimbo beamed. There's some more pillows stacked in the main auditorium, so you could get those if you like."

"Cool," Sam grinned, and even managed a completely exaggerated girly wave as the Barbies departed.

/

"Okay," Carly emerged from one of the stalls in her new outfit. "Let's go back to lunch."

"Yay you look awesome!" Cat clapped, hopping off the sink and giving her a hug.

"Are you sure you wanna go back?" Tori raised an eyebrow. "I mean, we can wait a while if you're not ready."

"No honestly, I'm fine," Carly smiled reassuringly. "I'm just gonna go back like nothing's even happened. And if someone mentions it, well then I'll just laugh about it. It's not like I've never been covered in food before. I mean, you've seen iCarly."

Tori grinned, instantly liking the new girl even more. She had a great sense of humor and was really down to earth, and Tori just somehow knew they'd get to be great friends.

As they left the bathroom, they almost bumped into Sikowitz.

"Uh hey," Tori said. "What are you up to?"

"Up to?" the teacher repeated with a nervous laugh, immediately concealing something under the huge jacket he was wearing. "Why, nothing!"

Cat frowned and cocked her head on one side. "Your jacket's moving."

Sikowitz froze, before blurting out, "...So is yours!" and hurrying out of sight.

Tori shook her head. "I swear that guy gets nuttier every week."

Cat looked down at herself. "...I'm not wearing a jacket."

"C'mon," Carly chuckled, "let's go get some food, I'm starving!"

/

Sikowitz hastily moved down the corridor, eyes to the ground so as not to attract attention. He was relieved that most of the students seemed to be outside enjoying the sun, however the sight of one student looking straight at him with wide eyes made him stop in his tracks.

Sam stood a few feet away, stock still as though she'd been caught in a searchlight.

"Sam…" Sikowitz gave her a nod of acknowledgement.

"Teach…" Sam returned the gesture.

They stood awkwardly for a moment. Sam noted the strange scuffling sound coming from the man's jacket, and his nervous demeanor. The teacher coughed as a raccoon momentarily appeared from his sleeve, before darting back in when he shifted uncomfortably.

Sikowitz had taught enough acting classes to know what a guilty expression looked like, and right now the blonde girl may as well be the prime example. He looked down at the large vat labeled 'honey' that she was carrying, which dripped slightly onto her sneakers.

They locked eyes again for a moment, before Sikowitz cleared his throat and suggested, "I didn't see anything if you didn't."

She raised her eyebrows slightly in surprise before she replied, "Deal."

Without another word, they both continued with their separate tasks.

/

"Hey, we're back!" Tori greeted as she, Carly and Cat pulled up chairs to join the others.

Jade prepared for a verbal assault from the new girl, but became slightly puzzled when it never came. Instead, Carly simply smiled widely as Andre motioned for her to sit next to him.

"You okay?" Freddie whispered, placing a protective hand on Carly's arm.

She nodded and mouthed a thank you.

Jade watched them and sulked.

"Glad to have you back," Robbie said cheerfully.

"Nice to see you're not wearing your food now," Rex noted, and Jade smirked.

Carly giggled. "Uh yeah, not my best moment. But never mind, at least now I have some edible food to eat."

The others relaxed, glad the tension seemed to have dissipated.

"Hey, where's Sam?" Beck questioned. "I thought she went off with you guys."

"No," Carly frowned, "I haven't seen her."

"I hope she's not lost," he said with concern, ignoring his girlfriend's scowl.

"Uh, she said she needed to get some fresh air," Freddie spluttered, having never been the best liar.

"But...we're outside," Tori said, looking around.

"Oh I know..." Freddie struggled, "but see...when Sam says fresh air, she actually means fresh air that you get inside buildings." Everyone stared at him, and his face reddened. "Hey, I never understand what she's talking about!"

He looked to Carly for help and she immediately read his expression. "I'm sure she's fine, I'll send her a text. She's probably gone hunting for fried chicken or something."

"You have to hunt fried chicken?" Cat gasped. "I never knew that!"

Everyone rolled their eyes at her, but in a good-natured way. Freddie breathed a sigh of relief that the pressure was off, and exchanged a look of anxiety with Carly. Whatever Sam was up to, they were both certain it wasn't anything good.

"Well, since we're all done eating," said Jade, ignoring Tori and Carly's full trays, "I'm going for a walk around campus."

She stood up, expecting her loyal subjects to follow suit. Her pride took a hit when she waited for a few minutes and nobody acknowledged her, too busy chatting. She sighed in exasperation and strode away.

Andre noticed her departure out of the corner of his eye and then jogged after her. "Yo Jade, wait up!"

She covered up her sadness quickly and let him catch up.

"Hey," he grinned at her. "Haven't had much chance to chat to you today. I mean, about something other than the script."

"Missing the love?" she joked.

For a split second his heart twinged - she couldn't know about his past crush, could she? No. No, there was no way Tori would've said anything. It didn't matter, he was over it. Mostly. "Naah I just like to spread my Andre friendship evenly, you know."

"How considerate of you," she smirked.

"You know it!"

"So what did you wanna talk about?"

"Well," he scratched the back of his neck nervously, "how 'bout this. I kinda like Carly."

Jade made a gagging sound and then laughed when Andre elbowed her.

"Hey, I'm opening my feelings up, here!" he said in annoyance.

"Yes but I'm Jade West. You wanna talk sap, you need to find either a Vega or a Valentine. Or maybe a Shapiro."

"Well I just wanted to mention it to you, so maybe you wouldn't keep buggin' about Carly and Beck," he explained.

She narrowed her eyes at him, but he just smiled and raised an eyebrow at her.

"I don't know what you mean," she coughed.

"Oh sure, right. So like you haven't been on the warpath with her all morning. You know Beck would never cheat. He ain't like that. Heck, you should know that better than anyone."

She looked at her shoes as they continued to walk, and Andre placed a hand on her shoulder. "So...no more initiations with my future wife, alright?" he winked.

"We'll see," she managed a smile. It bugged her that he was completely right, but it didn't banish her insecurity. Still, it pleased her to know that Andre was interested in Carly. She figured her friend deserved a girlfriend who wasn't a total psychopath. And if he took Carly off the market, that was officially two birds with one stone.

The bell rang, and Andre rubbed his hands together. "Well, I guess it's performance time. Let's do this thang!"

"You go ahead, I just gotta get another pen from my locker."

"Jade, I can lend you a pen."

"I know, but it wouldn't be a pitch black pen with rubber spikes on it, would it?" she asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"No," he admitted.

"Okay then. See you in class."

A/N: Yikes guys, kind of a cliffhanger for you…because coming up very soon, you'll find out what Sam's been planning. And it ain't pretty. But reviews are, so write 'em and send 'em my way! Or just send me a pm/follow me on twitter (I'm fatcaketacos). I'll love you either way. :)