Yay, Chapter 3! And just so you know, most of this is written from Tori's POV...only because it was easiest.

CHAPTER 3
Tori's POV

I could not believe that Jade had managed to get my luggage on a different flight. What had I done to her to make her hate me so much? Sikowitz yelled at her for her actions, which lifted my spirits slightly, but then Rex interrupted, asking where Cat and André went.

"Um, I don't know," I said. "I was too busy watching you guys check in the luggage too notice them leave." I tried to recall if André might have gotten my attention at some point, but the only thing I could remember was Sikowitz asking me if I wanted one of his coconut candies, which I accepted. It was actually pretty good.

"Well, I'm sure they'll come back soon. Maybe Cat had to go to the bathroom or something," Beck reasoned. Everyone agreed that the red head might have simply wanted to use the restroom and André had probably gone with her, so we stood there and waited for them to return.

Of course, I still was furious with Jade and couldn't stand looking at her at the moment, so I stood next to Robbie.

Ten minutes passed, then fifteen.

"Okay, where are Cat and André?" Robbie asked.

"Maybe they got lost," I said. "This is a pretty big airport and everything looks the same."

"I'll call Cat," Jade said, taking out her phone and dialing her friend.

"I'll call André," Beck added.

We waited as they called our missing friends. There was a sudden buzzing noise coming out of André's bag, and when we looked inside it we found that he had left his green PearPhone in it.

"You have got to be kidding," Beck groaned, hanging up.

"Is Cat picking up?" Robbie asked Jade, a little shyly.

Rex chuckled and said, "Why you care so much about Cat, Rob?"

Robbie turned red but didn't say anything.

"No, she's not picking up," Jade announced, slipping her phone back into her pocket. "So what do we do now?"

"Why don't we just head towards security check right now? It's probably going to take a long time with so many of us," I said.

"Yeah, okay, let's go," Sikowitz agreed, directing us to one direction.

There were several people in uniforms pointing us to a line that zigzagged all over the place.

"Is that seriously the security line?" Robbie asked in disbelief.

"Dang, do you people not know it's not okay to smuggle stuff to foreign countries?" Rex shook his head amusedly.

I saw Jade roll her eyes and couldn't help but agree with her.

And so we waited. My arms were starting to get sore from holding Cat's bag as well as my own, and it didn't help that the line moved as slow as a caterpillar. I kept trying to get call Cat, because I had nothing better to do, but it kept going to voicemail. Beck held Jade and they were talking quietly, Robbie looked like he had fallen asleep with his eyes open, and Sikowitz fiddled with the straps of his shoulder bag.

Well, wherever Cat and André are, I thought, I hope they're okay.

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André's POV

"Cat, are you sure you know where we're going?" I asked my friend, a little worried. We had spent the last ten minutes walking around, and Cat kept saying, "It's over here. No wait, I think it's this way. Oh, we're close. Wait, I lied; it's still pretty far."

"Yes, I'm sure," Cat said, but I didn't really believe her.

"Well, how much longer do you think we're going to be—?"

Cat squealed loudly and I stopped. "Look, André, look!" She ran up to a normally painted white wall and pointed at it wildly.

"Um, cool?" I said unsurely. I honestly could not see what was so exciting or special about the wall. All of the walls in the airport looked exactly the same: white with picture frames hanging on them, or colorful designs painted on. But Cat obviously thought it was the coolest thing ever and went through the process of pointing out every little picture on the wall, launching into a full-blown story of what used to be there.

"Isn't that exciting?" Cat asked me when she was finally done. "My brother actually helped them make it look all nicer than it used to be!"

"Um, yeah, it was great Li'l Red. Now can we please go back? We've been gone a while now," I said. I reached into my pocket, trying to take out my PearPhone, but I realized that I had left it in my backpack with the rest of the group. Shoot, I thought.

"I need to use the bathroom first," she replied, jumping up and down like she had to go really bad even though she was perfectly fine seconds ago.

"Okay."

We walked over to the nearest bathroom and Cat went in while I waited outside. I looked at one of the clocks on the wall, seeing that it was almost 2:40. Hurry up, Cat, I thought.

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Tori's POV

Finally, finally, finally we had reached the front of the line. A man wearing sunglasses and a badge passed out plastic bins to place our stuff in. Sikowitz was first up, and he took off his shoes and bag and put them in the bins, rolling them into the little x-ray machine.

Beck and Jade were next, putting their things and André's bag on the short conveyor thing and then stepping through the metal detector. It was an awkward moment when Jade's bag went through the x-ray machine and the woman watching the screen stopped the conveyor, saying, "Hold on, let me put this back through."

Sikowitz, who was standing at the other side, waiting for us, shot his eyebrows up suspiciously.

The lady stared hard at the screen. "Oh, never mind," she said apologetically, turning a little red, "You can take your stuff."

Jade snatched her bag up, glaring angrily at the woman, while Beck looked like he was trying to keep from laughing. They put their shoes back on and went to stand by Sikowitz. Sikowitz said something to Jade and Beck laughed, while she looked like she was going to smack someone.

Robbie and Rex were in front of me. Robbie put his bag in a bin, pushing it towards the machine. He took Rex's and his shoes off as well. The airport people were giving him weird looks as he walked through the metal detector with Rex on his arm, probably wondering why he just didn't put the puppet through the machine too.

BEEP BEEP BEEP!

"Hold on, son," a big man said, walking up to Robbie, causing the entire line to stop. "Do you have anything metal on you?"

Robbie thought for a brief moment, and then said, "No, I don't."

"Okay, walk through it again."

Robbie backed up and went walked through, his face blank.

BEEP BEEP BEEP!

"I swear I don't have anything metal on!" he said before the man could ask him again.

"Put the puppet into the x-ray machine," the man said, frowning.

"He's not a puppet!"

"Put him in the machine." The man's words were icy, his expression unreadable.

"Nah, it's cool, Rob," Rex said. "I've always wanted to see what the inside of the x-ray machine looks like."

Robbie hesitantly put Rex into one of the bins and the woman working the conveyor sent him in. She was staring at the screen intently, and I felt my palms go sweaty. I could not believe this was happening. It was so embarrassing. Even without turning around, I could feel the looks and stares directed towards Robbie for the hold-up.

"No, the puppet's clean," the lady reported, pushing a button and sending Rex out of the machine. Robbie picked him up and put him in his usual position on his arm.

"Ha ha, yeah I'm clean. But you wanna get dirty with me, go ahead," Rex said to the lady.

"Rex!" Robbie shouted.

I smacked my face with my palm. The other airport workers looked very suspiciously at Robbie. Beck looked shocked and Jade laughed behind her hand at the lady's face, and Sikowitz was gone. He was probably too embarrassed to hang around.

"Step through the machine," the big man said to Robbie one last time.

Robbie stepped through again, and the machine beeped.

"Okay, son," the man said, looking incredibly annoyed, "Come with me." He hauled Robbie and Rex away to an area blocked off by tall opaque screens. I could guess what was going on behind there, but I didn't want to say assume.

I went through both x-ray and metal detectors effortlessly. I took up Cat and Robbie's things, bringing them over to Beck and Jade.

"Well that was embarrassing," I commented as Beck helped me with Robbie's things.

"What could he possibly have on him to set those things off? Didn't he put his stuff in those bins or in his other luggage?" Jade asked, but she was more talking to Beck.

"They had to double-check your things," I replied smartly.

"So? At least I didn't get pulled aside." She snickered, pointing to the area Robbie had got pulled behind.

"I bet it had something to do with Rex," I said darkly as we made our way out of the packed security area and sat down on the nearest bench. "I wonder about that boy sometimes." I looked around, noticing something was out of place. "Hey, where did Sikowitz—"

"Shut up, Tori!" Jade yelled suddenly. I looked at her angrily but saw that she was talking on the phone, so I didn't say anything. "Hey, Cat? Where the heck are you?" She stood up. "Yes, we went through security already. What are you talking about? You'd better get here as soon as possible, okay?" Her tone got softer. "Yeah, we'll wait for you. Sure, whatever." She hung up. "They're coming now. Apparently Cat wanted to show André something…" She rolled her eyes and sat down on Beck's lap and he wrapped his arms around her.

"Oh, and in case you're wondering, Sikowitz said he had to use the bathroom," Beck told me just as our acting teacher appeared next to us.

"I'm going to wait for Robbie," Sikowitz said, disappearing back into the security check area.

I sighed, leaning my head on the wall and closing my eyes, wishing that this trip could've had a better start.

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I woke up suddenly, not realizing that I had fallen asleep. Cat stood next to me, an adorable grin on her face. André talked quietly to Beck, and Jade had her eyes closed, leaning back on him. Sikowitz was here too, standing next to Robbie, whose face was bright red.

"Come on, let's get to our gate," André said, smiling at me. "Now that we're all here."

"What time is it?" I rubbed my eyes.

"It's about 3:10," Cat informed me.

"All right, we're at gate A16," Sikowitz said, tapping on Jade to wake her up. "Let's go."

"So what happened to you?" I asked André as we started walking.

"Cat wanted me to see this area that go renovated because of her brother," he muttered. "Not exactly the most exciting thing ever."

I laughed. "Hey, Robbie, what happened with you earlier?"

"Rex hid a bunch of keys in my pants," Robbie replied angrily. "He sewed them into the material." He pointed to the bottom of his pants, which unrolled and had holes at random spots, probably to get the keys out. "They pat me down and did a strip search! And they used that wand thing!"

"Haha, yeah it was hi-larious," Rex commented.

I raised my eyebrows while André coughed to keep from laughing. Robbie was so weird sometimes.

We arrived at our gate, and there were a few open spots left to sit. Beck and Jade went to sit by themselves, and Sikowitz warned us all not to leave for any reason unless he talked to him first, so as to prevent another mishap like what happened earlier.

I waited with André, Cat and Robbie, and we chatted until our plane got here.

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It was about 3:45 when we boarded the plane. Our seats were very close together, so Cat, Jade and Beck sat on one side, while I sat with André and Robbie. The plane was small and only six seats across, so Sikowitz sat in front of us with some strangers, but I don't think he was too worried about that.

We went through the boring routine of watching the safety video and ten minutes after that the plane started moving. I wanted to take a nap, but Beck and Jade who were sitting right across from me since I had the aisle seat, were talking really loud.

When we were finally in the air and were allowed to move in the cabins, Cat got up immediately, saying that she had to go to the bathroom. André rolled his eyes and put on his headphones, leaning back in his seat. I reached into my bag and pulled out a book to read.

I was so absorbed in the story I didn't realize that the flight attendants with the drinks was coming down the aisle. I put my book away and waited for them to come. Beck played with his PearPhone and Jade helped Cat color a picture of a unicorn.

"It's so pretty, Jade!" Cat exclaimed, giving her best friend a big hug.

"Yes, it is," Jade replied calmly when Cat let go of her, taking out a bright red crayon, an evil grin on her face. "Now let's make him prettier."

"Hahaha," Cat laughed loudly, clapping her hands together. "Jade's putting make-up on the pretty unicorn! Look Tori!" She snatched the coloring book out of Jade's hands and showed me across the aisle.

"Oh, that's, uh, very pretty, Jade," I said, trying to force down a grimace. Jade had colored red streaks coming out of the unicorn's eyes, making it look like it was crying tears of blood. Ew.

"I modeled it after you, Vega," Jade shouted back.

Suddenly, the drink cart came by us. I shook André awake and pointed to it.

"Um, can I get a Sprite?" I asked.

"Sure thing," the lady said, taking out a can of soda and cup and giving it to me. The other attendant was taking care of Beck's side; I could hear Jade yelling at Cat to 'Calm down, it's just apple juice!' "And what would you like, sir?" she asked André.

"One Pepsi, please."

The flight attendant got his order before looking over at Robbie, who was fast asleep by the window with Rex sitting in his lap. "Um…"

"Just get me a root beer," Rex said abruptly.

"Coming right up," she said, a little hesitantly, grabbing the root beer and cup and handing them to André, who put it on the tray in front of Robbie. The lady wheeled the cart forward, revealing Beck with a water, Jade with coffee, and Cat drank a can of apple juice.

I took a few sips of my soda, leaning back and admiring the nice interior of the plane. André had his headphones on again and was bobbing his head in time with the music, and Robbie had 'woken up' and sipped his root beer, complaining to Rex that he wanted lemonade instead.

"What do you mean?" I heard Sikowitz say suddenly from the seat in front of us.

"I'm sorry sir, but we don't have any coconut milk," the flight attendant calmly explained to our teacher. "We just have soda, water, and coffee."

"Oh really?" Sikowitz asked. "Well gee, what kind of stinkin' airline is this? First you don't let me bring any coconuts into the airport, and then you don't even serve any?" He crossed his arms over his chest and refused to say another word to the confused flight attendant. I muffled my laughter into my sleeve.

Another ten minutes passed, and I figured we were almost there. The flight was only an hour, but it was felt like forever. Cat kept getting up and going to the bathroom literally every five minutes and Jade was getting upset having to get out of the way, so at one point she didn't let Cat pass, but Cat apparently really had to go so she climbed over the seats to get out. And Rex starting making fun of the other passengers, especially telling the women, "Yeah, baby, you wanna hang with me in Vegas?" It was probably the longest ride of my life, and I could tell I was not the only one to be relieved when we landed.

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We got out of the plane soundly, but getting our luggage was a bit of a problem. Everyone found theirs except for André and me, but that's because mine was on a different flight, thanks to Jade. It turned out another man had accidently taken André's bag, but luckily Robbie spotted it and hunted him down before he could leave. After that, we decided to drive to the hotel and hang there until the next flight with my luggage came.

Three cabs came to pick us up from the airport. We split up and got into the cars. I was with André, Sikowitz went with Robbie, and Beck, Jade and Cat had their own. The drive to the hotel was rather slow—the traffic was horrible, as it was about 5:30, but I didn't mind so much, as the beautiful lights of the fancy buildings and casinos kept me distracted.

We arrived at the hotel at six, which was good because it would give us time to check in before going back. The plane with my luggage was delayed, so we wouldn't need to rush.

The cab drivers hauled our bags out of the trunks and gave them to the bellboys before driving off. The bellboys piled our things onto the carts, following close behind us. We gathered at the front entrance of the hotel, our mouths gaping in total awe at the heavily decorated and furnished place.

A smiley woman opened up the large glass doors, and I had to rub my eyes to make sure what I was seeing was real.

"Welcome to The Royale," she said, grinning at our reactions.

Once again, I realize this isn't really a cliffhanger, but I'm sure you all want to know what The Royale looks like, right? ;)

Anyway, hope you liked it. Review!