A few flashbacks in this chapter (the italicized parts).

CHAPTER 13 -DAY 5-
Trina's POV

I arrived back in Hollywood and had just received my luggage, not looking forward to seeing my father. As I walked around, he spotted me before I could get anywhere, and I don't think I've ever seen him any angrier.

The scariest part was that he didn't say anything but a quick hello, and took me outside to his car. That was where he exploded.

"Trina! What the heck were you thinking?" my dad yelled as I climbed into the back of the car, tossing my badly packed luggage beside me. "You spent over three thousand dollars? Do you know how long your mother and I had to work to make all of that?"

I cringed but said nothing. It would be better for him to let all of his feelings out before I said anything anyway.

"How do you expect to get to college if you're going to be spending all the money on hotel rooms and overpriced clothes?"

"Well, seeing as I'm going to become a very famous and rich actress one day, you don't need to worry too much about the costs," I said smoothly, leaning forward and putting my head in between the front seats.

His eyes twitched and there was a vein pulsing in his temple that I didn't even know existed. He took a deep breath and said, "You are going to be grounded for the next three months."

"What?" It was my turn to get upset. "But Dad, there's going to be a big dance competition next month, and I made it on the team and everything, and I've still got practices and stuff to go to—"

"Well maybe you should've thought about that before you decided to run off." My dad started the car and pulled away from the curb, turning us into the horde of taxis and vans heading towards the freeway.

I smacked the seat in front of me in frustration.

"Don't hit the car. It's not its fault."

I couldn't control myself and hit the seat again. My dad sighed, but said nothing more. I took my orange phone out of my pocket and turned it on.

"Oh, you'll also need to give me your phone."

"What?" My voice rose two octaves.

"You heard me. It was more of your mother's idea, though. It was just my idea to ground you for a long time, honestly. Oh, and she's going to chew you out too when we get home. So hand over your electronic device, please." He turned around and slung his hand over the seat, palm up.

Oh no you don't. You can ground me and keep me from going to competitions, but you are not taking my phone!

"Trina. Give it here."

"Aw, I don't want to."

"You have to. I am your father and you have listen to me."

"But…how am I going to get ahold of you when I'm at school? Or hanging out with friends?"

"Well for one, you will not be hanging out with your friends anytime afterschool or on the weekends, and two, you go to the same school as your sister. You can talk to her and borrow her phone if you need to."

"This is child abuse," I argued.

"I'm a police officer, and I can tell the difference between being strict and abuse. Seriously, Trina. No more games. I promise not to look through it or anything."

I didn't want to do it. But I know I had to.

Gingerly, I set my precious phone into the palm of my dad's hand, which closed immediately on touching it. I looked out the window for the rest of the ride home.

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It was Wednesday morning, and I was in the kitchen eating a burrito. I should be at school, but seeing as no one bothered to wake me up on time, I guess I was going to hang out here for the rest of the day. That was fine with me.

Yesterday after we got home, Dad continued to yell his pants off at me, although Mom handled the situation a little more calmly. She agreed that I was completely at fault for everything, which I guess was okay, but then she let Dad pick my punishment, which I was not okay with.

He changed my punishment and only grounded me for two months, which still extended into my summer vacation. And I would not be able to partake in any dance, singing, or acting competitions, and no longer had access to my phone.

I took another bite of burrito, listening to my parents talking loudly in the family room, which was connected right to the kitchen's back door.

"Well, I'm glad she's all right, at least. Did you know that Tori and her friends got ambushedat their studio?" I heard my mom's voice.

"What? Really?"

"Yeah. I was getting really worried since the police said something about dart guns, but I knew I couldn't do anything because we were waiting for Trina to arrive. I knew we couldn't just leave her to come back home by herself.

"But the kids are all right. A little bit shaken, I think, but everyone is fine."

My ears were listening closely.

Tori and her friends were in trouble? No wonder Mom seemed so agitated when we first got home (but she cooled off pretty quick). She must've been upset that Dad and her couldn't go and see if they were okay since they were waiting for me to come home and not cause any more damage to the family bank account.

I almost felt guilty for my actions.

Almost.

But they could all take care of themselves, right? And they had Sikowitz, anyway. Well, the man could barely dress decently, come to think of it. Okay then…

"Trina, can you come here please?" my mom called suddenly.

"I'm eating."

"Bring your food."

I sighed, but having only used that fact as an excuse, got up from the table burrito-less and headed over to the family room. Dad stood with his arms crossed, frowning at Mom, who wore a friendlier expression.

"Okay, Trina. You're be excused from school today, but only because you'll be late, and anyway, I could use your help in the chores around here," my dad said, his mouth mashed into a hard line.

"Yessir," I mumbled looking at the floor.

"You'll be doing chores for a long time."

I continued staring at the wooden panels crisscrossing the ground.

"We'll get started after you're done eating."

I stumbled back into the kitchen, for the first time regretting going to Vegas in the first place.

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Jade's POV

I woke up in the hospital with a really bad headache. Everything was so white and clean it burned my eyes

"Hey, Jade," someone said softly as soon as I had adjusted to the lighting and colors.

"Whathappened?"

"You got hit with some tranquilizer darts," Beck whispered. I hadn't even realized he was holding my hand until I felt something squeeze it. I looked slowly to my left and saw my angel-like boyfriend sitting there, a sad smile on his face. "So, how are you feeling?"

"My head hurts." Beck reached over and gently kissed the top of my head.

"Anything else?"

"My lips."

He laughed. "Okay." He reached over and kissed me again. When we pulled apart, he was smiling, but looked really tired. "I hope you'll be feeling better soon," he whispered, "because we still have a show to do tomorrow."

"What?"

He nodded sadly. "Mr. Highes called his usual reporters and cast to come back, but they're all stuck in a snowstorm, and can't get back soon enough for tomorrow. Don't worry. It'll be over before you know it."

"Wait, so what time is it right now?"

"It's about five in the afternoon."

"Where did everybody else go? And where is Robbie? I remember seeing him, and then nothing."

"You and Sikowitz are the only ones who actually needed to stay here," my boyfriend informed me. "I got a couple of scratches, and so did Robbie and Cat, but it's not too bad. Nothing a little bit of makeup can fix." He smiled ruefully.

I looked closer at his face. He looked slightly dirty, and a few parts with streaks of red really stood out. "So what did Robbie do to me?"

"Well, apparently you saved him from being hit with the darts, but then he couldn't really wake you up so he had to drag you around to find the exit and get away from the bad guys." I felt my face gingerly. It hurt on the right side.

"That's what I get for saving his butt? Dragged around and possibly slapped?"

Beck gave me an awkward grin and I rolled my eyes.

"So I still have to the broadcast even though I'm clearly not in perfect shape to do so?"

"None of us really are."

"Why can't Tori and André just fill in for me? I filled in for them last time," I whined.

"Well, see, that's the thing. We need every worker possible because we won't be filming at the usual studio. We're going somewhere else, just for tomorrow, until the police can clean up the usual one. Apparently, a lot of it got ruined, so it's not safe to go there right away."

"What about the people like the cameramen and stuff? Mr. Highes said they could fill in for us too, right?"

Beck turned red. "Mr. Highes wants us to do it by ourselves."

"What? He's not doing anything special except yelling his head off at everyone."

"Sikowitz agrees with him. This is how real-life showbiz works, you know," he told me complacently.

"Life sucks," I mumbled, closing my eyes again. I would need to get as much rest as I could, then, if no one wanted to give a break.

"I'm here for you, baby. I'm here for you."

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Tori's POV

Yesterday had been way to torturous for me, and I didn't want to think about it anymore. I woke up at six and started to get ready. Cat no longer had her hyper mood, and was actually sulking while she put on some decent clothes and got washed up. We had to leave earlier than normal because the new studio was at a farther location.

Everyone looked like they had had a major headache or concussion last night. Jade looked the worst, a handprint across her face, and she leanedheavily on Beck, her eyes half-closed. Robbie was staying as far away as he could from her, an extremely guilty look plastered on his face.

We took taxis to the new location, which was just an empty warehouse in the middle of nowhere. The streetlights gave off a soft glow, revealing the unfortunate dinginess of the place.

Mr. Highes greeted us at the front in a crisp gray suit.

"Hello, my childrens, I'm sorry for bringing you so far away from our usual site, but as I told you yesterday, we are not allowed to return until the police are done with their evidence-seeking." His voice was dull, just enough to match the morning moodiness. "Please come inside. I've got people getting everything ready."

Jade didn't have the strength to push me around, which was probably a very bad sign. André had the nerve to be at the lead, followed by Cat, Robbie, me, Beck, Jade and Sikowitz.

The warehouse looked like something you'd see in a movie. The walls were steel and the ceiling sloped upwards, forming a steeple-like shape. It smelled musty, and the ground was covered in black tarps. Cameras were already set up in front of a makeshift filming stage. There was a single monitor on one of the long walls, and lights hung from poles scattered around the place.

"Front and center everyone, front and center." Mr. Highes called, clapping his hands together, which echoed eerily. He took his left sleeve and started rolling it up. I caught a glance of his skinny wrist and arm, and the sight shocked me.

There were about six or seven thin cuts, red against his pale skin. They didn't look natural, and were evenly spread apart, meaning only one thing.

But before I could see anymore, Mr. Highes quickly lowered his sleeve again.

André glanced at me briefly, indicating that he had seen Mr. Highes's arm, and we exchanged worried looks. This man was hiding more than his ever-changing behavior.

"All right, staff, we'll be on air in less than an hour. We are not under the normal circumstances, either. So everyone needs to be on task more than usual. Am I understood?"

Everyone nodded meekly.

"All right, so here we go. André and Robbie will be the anchors. Cat will be the sports reporter, Beck will be the weather boy, and Tori and Jade will come with me to do an interview as the field reporters. How does that sound?"

"Okay, being a field reporter again is kind of depressing, but at the thought of having to do it with Vegas just makes me want to kill myself," Jade called out rudely. I take it back; she's got just enough energy to make fun of me.

"Everybody needs to get ready now," Mr. Highes said, his tone of voice getting deeper significantly. "Go, go, go! Stop standing around here like a bunch of idiots." We had only been frozen in motion for thirty seconds. Mr. Highes's face was suddenly bright red, and he looked mad.

"Uh oh, let's go," Sikowitz whispered behind us.

"Hold on, Mr. Sikowitz, I need to speak with you," a woman holding a makeup mirror called out, gesturing to our teacher to go over to her.

"Go on, you guys. I don't think you want to be yelled out any longer."

We all moved over to an area with a couple of dressing stalls set up. Jade and I got dressed first, because we would need to go outside to the van and visit our location of interviewing.

At about 7:45 we boarded our ride and rode out, leaving everyone behind in the studio. Luckily in the back of the van was a giant TV monitor, where we could watch the actual broadcast like it was on television and have an idea of what was going on.

Jade had her arms crossed the entire time and didn't smile once. I think she was still upset from yesterday. The makeup crew had put a load of makeup on the right side of her face were the handprint was, and it made it look lopsided, like half of her face was sticking out farther than the other part. I said nothing and continued to look at the floor.

We arrived at our location. Two large men with pure white suits on were waiting for us at the front of a restaurant. They both had shaven heads and curled mustaches, their hands folded in front of them. I wondered what we were going to be interviewing them about.

But then I later realized that our real interviewer was actually behind the two men, and they were just his bodyguards. He wasn't very good-looking and smelled like sweat and grease. So we would both have to interview him? Together? Oh boy. This couldn't end well.

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Oh my god.

Oh my god.

This broadcast was going horribly.

Jade and I watched in horror as the lights in the makeshift studio, apparently set at a brighter setting than normal, literally melted the makeup off of Beck's face, showing the cuts and marks he had received from yesterday's ambush. No doubt it would confuse the audience as to what happened to him.

I could picture Mr. Highes in the background, screaming his butt off for someone to, "Get some more freaking makeup on that boy!"

And when Cat reported on the stats for sports, she acted exactly like André's grandma, not to be rude or anything. Cat shook like crazy, maybe because she was afraid of another attack, or she was just cold. For an actress, her words were said either too fast or not clear enough. The only thing I managed to catch was, "Andthestatsfortodaywere prettybleguhhijansothat'swhyiarghsheme."

But finally it was our turn to be on camera. We were inside the restaurant and each of us took a seat next to the owner. I'm not going to lie, the restaurant was extremely classy and upbeat, but the owner was just the opposite of that.

His name was Harry Piazinni, and he wore a white T-shirt, stained yellow and colors that probably came from cooking food. He smelled like a dumpster, and when he smiled, you could see the gaping holes where his teeth had rotted out.

I know he had probably asked to do interview on a short notice, but you'd think an owner of such a well-known restaurant would be dressed decently all the time.

Jade seemed to be getting the same idea. She was on his right, and I was on hi left. It was a little awkward for two of us to be interviewing one person, but according to Mr. Highes, this person was extremely famous in the restaurant business, and he didn't have enough time to find another willing interviewee.

The cameraman gave us the countdown.

"Hello, and welcome back," Jade said, a false smile on her face. "Jade West here."

"I'm Tori Ve—"

"I'm Harry Piazinni," the large man interrupted, his face hovering over my hand, which held the single microphone. I tried not to cringe at his smell or snap at him for interrupting me.

"Mr. Piazinni here is the owner of this four-star restaurant, Harry's Steak House," Jade continued, ignoring us. "And we've been given the wonderful opportunity to speak with Harry himself, who will be revealing to us a little bit of gossip on the latest news of what's been going on here."

"Well actually, for one, I'm not Harry. I'm his twin brother, Ron Piazinni." The man was practically drooling on me. "And two, no one said anything about giving away gossip."

"Wha-what? You're not Harry? Then why are you even here?" Jade turned redder by the second. And so was I. What in the world was going on? I looked desperately at the cameraman, whose mouth was hanging wide open.

"I heard there was a camera crew," Ron mumbled, wiping his mouth on his hand. "Hi, Mom!" He waved stupidly at the camera.

"Oh my god," I whispered. Mr. Highes didn't tell us what we were supposed to do in these situations. I guess, being an actress, Jade and I were going to have to improvise. But it seemed to me like Jade had a completely different idea on improvisation at the moment...

"Well that would explain your horrible fashion and smell. No four-star restaurant owner would ever go out in public looking like that," Jade insulted harshly.

"Hey! You're looks don't make up for your attitude, missy," Ron retorted.

"My what don't make up for my what?" Jade was aghast.

"You're looks don't make up for anything, honey," Ron said, practically grabbing the microphone out of my hand to make sure he was heard clearly.

"We'll at least I've got looks!"

Silence.

Ron lunged for Jade, and in that same moment, I shouted, "We'll go back to André and Robbie back at the main studio!"

"Cut!" the cameraman yelled.

Ron had Jade in an iron headlock, and she tried to bite his fingers off.

"Not so tough, now, huh dear?" Ron said, choking Jade at the same time.

With the help of the cameraman and the two security guards, we got Ron off of Jade and they took him away. Jade was sitting on the floor at that point, looking incredibly embarrassed and partially in pain.

I offered her my hand and pulled her up.

"You will tell no one about this," she snarled, her lip curling like a lion.

"Okay," I said, putting my hands up in surrender. Well, it doesn't really matter because all of Vegas already saw a man-bear tackle you, so…

But I kept to my word to her promise and didn't tell anyone anything more than they already saw.

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"I don't give a care. I don't want to do this anymore," Jade snapped at Sikowitz. We were outside in the parking lot, waiting for our taxis to arrive. Everyone was upset with how the broadcast had gone, and no one was happy, especially not Jade.

"You have to do it," Sikowitz repeated. "We have no replacements. The regular crew is not here yet. You can't just abandon your duties. You are perfectly fine."

"I got attacked by a fat, sweaty guy, Sikowitz. That is not my definition of fine," Jade said crossly.

"This is showbiz, Jade. Maybe next time you should keep your mouth closed more." I'd never seen this side of Sikowitz before. It actually kind of scared me.

Jade bit her lip. I thought she was going to explode. Cat looked terrified, holding tightly onto Robbie's shirt like her life depended on it. André was standing right next to me, frowning, and Beck's eyes were bigger than plates.

"Fine," she grumbled at last, "but if one more bad thing happens, someone's going to die."

Did you catch my Harry Potter reference? Hahaha.

Anyway, I hope you liked it!