AN: Hello everyone and welcome to the latest chapter. I had hoped to post it last week in the usual slot but I was unable to do so. Hopefully it is better late than never.
My thanks as always at this time go out to those of you who read and, especially, reviewed Chapter 12.
Guest – again some great points about the Cat/Freddie relationship but while she's with Danny nothing can really happen with Freddie, no matter how much she may want it to.
Fanfic-Reader-88 – some nice scenes you've conjured up there. Sikowitz may just get what's coming to him, verbally if nothing else, one of these days.
Pbow – good points on teen romances. Bear in mind though that Jade doesn't know that Cat is dating Danny at the moment, hence still wanting to engineer things with her and Freddie.
Challenge King – thank you; a little more honesty here and there may indeed help them along. Freddie being a nice, helpful guy? Imagine that!
Guest – you may be right but fifteen-year-olds aren't always blessed with great decision making skills.
Agent-M – correct, Jade may now feel she has two reasons to dislike Tori. Maybe her fears will get explored someday soon…
Ok, that's everyone. Please enjoy the next chapter.
Chapter 13: Stage Fighting
Valentine Residence, Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, California
Saturday, 27th February 2010.
Cat's face lit up as she walked through the front door; she was home. "It's great to be back!" the teen cried before turning to her grandmother who was a couple of steps behind her, "Not that it wasn't great staying with you, Nona," she added quickly, for fear of upsetting the elder lady.
"It was good having you stay, Caterina," she said warmly, "but you need to be back in your own home now that your parents have returned," she added without any trace of malice or hurt.
The Valentine parents had returned home late the previous evening, around midnight; they had called their daughter around an hour before they arrived, letting her know that they were almost back and that they would see her in the morning. As a result the always-excited girl had been even moreso overnight and had slept even more intermittently than she usually did on Christmas Eve. She was in high spirits, however, and they elevated further when she saw her mother leaning casually against the kitchen counter and smiling at her.
"Mom!" Cat cried and flung herself on the woman; she eagerly returned the hug and held her daughter close while informing her of just how good it was to see her again. Cat then turned to her father and greeted him in similar fashion while the two adult females talked.
"Thank you so much for looking after her, mom," Mrs Valentine told her mother. "It really did help while we were up in Idaho, knowing that our little girl was safe, well and being taken care of."
"It was my pleasure," Nona replied sincerely, "now how was your trip?"
Over coffee they talked about all that had gone on, how the institution was taking care of their son and some of the other things that they had done while up in the north of the country.
After a while the two parents looked at one another with small grins. "I'll take you home when you're ready, mom," Mrs Valentine informed Nona once the latter had set down her now empty cup and plate; they had enjoyed a second cup over a light lunch.
"Yes, I really should be getting back," she took the subtle hint. "It's good to see you both again and it was lovely having you stay with me for a while, Caterina," she told the family and began to gather her belongings.
"Why don't you make a start on unpacking your things," Cat's father suggested to her when the two had been left alone by the departure of mother and daughter. "I'm sure you want to say hello to your room again," he added with a smile.
"'Kay 'kay, daddy," she matched his facial expression, gathered her bags from the hallway and flew upstairs to her room, almost squealing with delight as she walked around it, reminding herself of the little personal effects that she had left behind during her stay with her grandmother.
The parents' plan worked and the teenager was still engrossed in her room and her things when Mrs Valentine returned; she wasn't alone, however, as a yapping sound filled the house, distracting the red velvet-haired girl from her tasks. She quickly rose and dashed out of her room and back downstairs to investigate the commotion.
"What do you think?" her dad asked, holding a yellow Labrador puppy in his hands and waving one of its paws at his daughter.
"Oh I love it!" she squealed eagerly and rushed to his side to begin making a fuss of the dog.
"Well we thought that now things in the house would be… more settled," Mrs Valentine began delicately, "that we could get a dog."
The girl nodded; pets and her brother had threatened to be a bad combination in the past.
Hollywood Arts High School.
Monday, 1st March 2010.
Freddie and Cat were making their way down the stairs towards the lockers when they heard the bell calling the students to first class.
"So, I'm smiling like this right?" the little red-head explained, continuing her chatter about her weekend (the girl had told him about celebrating her parents' return home and her move back into their own home but for some reason had neglected to mention the new dog) as they happened upon Tori; the brunette was struggling to force a French Horn into her locker.
It had been an otherwise good last few days for the school's newest student; she was rapidly settling into life at the Performing Arts High School and seemed to have integrated well with the small group of sophomores who had made her welcome (apart from Jade). She was particularly interested in striking up a "close" friendship with the muscular ex-Seattleite, having taken quite a shine to Freddie and felt that she had bonded a little with him over the whole 'Bird Scene' incident. She was also working hard alongside André on an evening; having won the lead in Moonlight Magic she was now trying to learn her lines and the songs ahead of opening night the following Monday.
"Tori!" the tech producer called.
"What's up?" Cat asked; the girl was taking advantage of the milder weather by wearing a cute little dress that barely covered half of her thighs.
"I'm having a horn problem," the other girl answered. "Why do I have to play an instrument anyway?"
"Everyone at Hollywood Arts has to play an instrument," Cat explained.
"André taught me the basics of the keyboard," Freddie supplied. "Oh, speak of the devil… André!" he called and their dreadlocked friend joined the group.
"Hey guys and girls," the musician smiled.
"Well I sing," Tori moved the conversation back on track, "my throat is my instrument. I'm a throat player," she smiled.
"Doesn't count, sorry," the former Seattle native told her.
"And it sounds kind of gross," the cupcake loving teen added; André nodded along with her.
"Why did you pick the French horn?" the songsmith asked her.
"I don't know," Tori's tone was casual as she studied the instrument. "I like French Fries, French kissing," she threw a quick, telling glance in Freddie's direction, "French toast…"
Cat, who had forced herself to suppress a momentary pang of displeasure at the other girl's flirtatious look towards Freddie, gasped at the mention of the food. "One time, when I was eating French toast at a restaurant, I started laughing," she giggled before her face fell a bit, "and then I started choking so the lady who ran the restaurant made me leave." Her expression turned positively morose as she concluded, "Eli broke up with me not long afterwards." Freddie patted her arm gently and she flashed him a smile of her own.
"So let's hear your horn!" Freddie encouraged Tori.
"Yeah, play that funky music white girl," André echoed; Freddie frowned a little at his comment.
"You know I'm half Latina," she reminded them.
"Then hit it muchacha," he amended.
The brunette tried to play a few notes on the instrument, drawing the attention of a number of surrounding students with just how bad it sounded.
"Hmm, I think it's broken," she observed; Cat nodded her agreement.
"Here, let me fix it," André took it from her and began a jazz rendition of Make It Shine that a number of the other students gathered around him and danced along to.
"It's not broken!" Cat told Tori excitedly and joined the dancing; the girl gave Freddie a hopeless look and slumped back against her locker.
Black Box Theatre
After first period ended Tori made her way to the theatre for her next class; she arrived early and was shocked to see Beck in the middle of the auditorium trading blows with an adult that she didn't recognise. Without further surveying the scene she dashed to the Canadian teenager's aid, leaping onto the grown-up's back shouting "Get off of him! Leave him alone!"
Their teacher entered the room along with a number of other students, including her friendship group, and dashed over to break up the scene, finally hauling the girl off the unrecognised male.
"What are you doing?" the teacher demanded.
"That guy was beating up Beck!" she protested.
"Oh you poor thing," Jade told her in a condescending manner as she went to her boyfriend's side and took his hand.
"We were practicing," Beck explained to her.
"This is Russ," the teacher pointed to the guy.
"I'm Russ!" he echoed.
"He's a professional stuntman; I invited him here to teach the class about stage fighting," their long-haired teacher continued.
"And now Tori says, 'What's stage fighting?'" Jade mocked.
"I wasn't going to say that. You said something about it on my first day," she mentioned to Freddie, who nodded as she recalled the term, "When you didn't think I was me. Remind me what it is?" she urgently whispered the last part to him.
"Fake fighting that looks real, like for a play or a movie," he replied simply.
"Oh."
"I took a class with him last summer," Beck clarified.
"Well, it looked like he was hurting you," the girl protested.
"Why do you care?" Jade demanded suspiciously, bringing a grin from her fellow brunette.
"Because I figure he already suffers enough pain dating you."
"You want to see pain?" the pink-streak haired girl shrugged off Beck and took a threatening step towards the other girl; her boyfriend quickly caught her by the shoulders.
"Hey, why don't we go sit over there?" he suggested.
"Why does she hate me?" Tori asked André.
"Maybe she heard you play the French horn," André sniggered.
"Or maybe it was because you just insulted her," Freddie suggested, "you know, with what you said about her and Beck?"
Tori looked a little embarrassed to have been called out like that by her friend; he stood with arms folded and looked unapologetically at her for a few moments before she simply turned away and took a seat.
Eventually the class took theirs as well, allowing Russ to begin his demonstration; the stuntman called Cat to the stage.
"Now, if I throw a punch at Cat like this," the girl gasped and closed her eyes as he swung but he was clearly inches away from connecting; she smiled at him as she opened her eyes again. "It's easy to see that my fist didn't connect with her face."
"Thank you," she told him gratefully; he looked at her in confusion.
"But if we stage it from a different angle, then…" he turned the girl around slightly and stood with his back to the class. "Like I showed you." The redhead nodded slightly nervously. "Sound effect ready?" he asked the teacher, who confirmed it. "To the audience or camera, it'll look like this."
This time he swung and a sound of flesh hitting flesh could be heard as his fist reached Cat's face; the girl gasped and covered her face with her hands before dropping her hands revealing her unblemished features to the room.
"I'm ok everyone!" she cried happily as they applauded.
Their teacher took the stage. "Alright, I'm going to pair you guys up and each team will work with Russ this week to prepare a fight scene."
"I thought his name was Steve," André commented.
"He does look like a Steve," Tori agreed; the class seemed to concur given their murmurs.
"My name is Russ!" Russ complained.
"Okay, and on Friday, you will all perform your fight scenes here in front of the class. Now, the pairs will be: Beck and Cat, André and Freddie, Darren and Jess, Tori and Jade."
"Tori and who?" the new student asked in surprised horror as her fellow brunette grinned malevolently and raised her eyebrows slightly. "Uh wait," she approached the teacher, "I'm not comfortable with my partner."
"Just a sec," he muttered and returned his attention to his clipboard.
"Hey partner," Jade said, walking up behind her, "I can't wait for our fight." She turned away slightly before hesitating. "Scene," she added and walked off.
"Gulp," Tori declared nervously.
The Slap Mobile
Tori Vega: My life = in DANGER
Mood = Yikes
"Status report." Robbie was practicing his lines by Tori's locker. "Status report," he repeated. "Will you please read the next line?" he asked Rex.
"I don't want to help you rehearse," the puppet complained.
"I made you oatmeal this morning," his handler pointed out.
"I wanted a steak sandwich," Rex complained.
The casting teacher arrived in the hallway. "Okay," he informed them, "auditioning next are Trina Vega and Robbie Shapiro."
"Oh, no, no, no! The puppet guy?" the deluded diva was scandalised.
"Excuse me?" the curly-haired ventriloquist sought confirmation of her disgust.
"Could I please audition with someone else?" she requested.
"You know, you can whisper that," the affronted boy pointed out.
"But..." she frowned as the teacher walked away before outright glaring at her auditioning co-star. "Leave the puppet," she instructed him.
"It's cool; just make sure you don't set me down next to the evil blonde."
Lindsey heard the exchange and watched as Robbie placed Rex a few feet away from her; her revulsion with the teen was tempered by Rex's words. The evil blonde. Is that how they see me? she wondered sadly. Is that how Freddie sees me? Again she felt the all too familiar sensation of tears stinging her eyes as she reflected on the boy she dumped at the start of the school year.
Asphalt Café, Hollywood Arts High School.
Tuesday, 2nd March 2010.
The Slap Mobile
Tori Vega: Lunch time. Salad with big lettuce. Still worried.
Mood = Buggin'
Tori, Freddie, André and Cat were sat at the gang's usual table; Beck and Jade were lunching alone a couple of tables away from them. Tori cast a nervous glance past Freddie and towards the young couple.
"Look at her," the brunette told her friends.
"Who?" asked Freddie, who had his back to them.
"Jade, I guarantee you she's telling Beck all about how she's gonna punch me when we do our scene."
Freddie shook his head, dismissing the thought but he was spared having to voice his opinion by his ex-girlfriend's latest random outpouring.
"I wonder if mirrors work in outer space," the redhead commented as she studies her powder mirror.
"Uh they should do," the tech genius told her. "So long as there's a light source the presence or otherwise of air and gravity should be irrelevant. Telescopes like Hubble do, after all."
"Oh, 'kay 'kay," she smiled at him.
"I mean, what am I gonna do if she really hits me?" Tori tried to take the conversation back to her concerns.
"Bleed? Burst into tears?" André suggested.
"I'm serious," the half-Latina complained.
"It's stage fighting," the songsmith explained.
"Nobody really hits anyone," Freddie backed him up.
"Yeah but accidents happen and what if she makes an accident happen on purpose?" the girl persisted, fighting with the lettuce from her lunch.
"You know, the word mirror has only six letters and half of them are 'r's?" Cat piped up; the other three looked at her in confusion.
"Haven't you and Jaden been rehearsing?" Freddie asked curiously.
"Yeah, yesterday, after school in the Black Box theatre and again this morning, during study hall," the singer confirmed.
"And did she hit you for real?" he persisted.
"No, 'cause she probably wants to wait and do it in front of the whole class to humiliate me," the girl complained.
"I doubt that," the Seattle-born teen defended his friend.
"Well, if she does, she loses half a letter grade," André pointed out.
"Oh, great! So she gets an 'A minus' and I get a broken eye and a black nose." Tori complained.
"Don't you mean…" Freddie began before she cut him off.
"I know what I meant."
"My dog has a black nose. It's so cute. It's like a baby meatball," Cat piped up to Freddie's bewilderment.
"I didn't know you had a dog," he observed.
"Meatballs are brown," the musician pointed out to the girl; unfortunately this upset her to the point that she completely forgot Freddie's remark.
"You're so mean to me!" She got up, gathered her soda and left the table, and her lunch, behind.
"You want to share a sandwich?" Tori asked the boys. André accepted; Freddie, reluctantly, declined.
"I'd best go after her," he sighed in resignation and chased after the girl.
"Hi Freddie," Trina simpered as he passed her.
"Hey Trina," he smiled. "You'll have to excuse me," he told her as she tried to block his path. The girl was affronted and stared after him as he left in search of his red-haired friend.
"You're up to something," Beck accused his girlfriend teasingly.
"Who, me?" she asked innocently, trying to keep the smirk from her face and the gleam from her eye.
"I'm going to regret this," he sighed, "does it have something to do with the scene that you and Tori have to do?"
"Of course not, I don't know how you could think that." Jade sounded scandalised. "Do you really think I'd risk my grade and risk getting into trouble over her?"
"Just promise me that you won't really hit her," the Canadian actor urged.
"No problem, I promise," she shrugged.
Somewhat mollified, Beck returned his attention to his lunch.
"Hey Robbie," Freddie greeted the ventriloquist. Rex coughed meaningfully. "Hello Rex," he sighed wearily. "Have you seen Cat?" he asked the handler.
It was the puppet who was to answer. "Nah, he's not seen anything, not since his audition."
"Why, was it that bad?" the tech producer assumed the worst. Robbie looked furiously at him.
"No, for your information it was fantastic. Trina Vega has fallen in love with me!"
"What?"
"It's true; we kissed on stage and the heat was incredible," he declared.
"Were you not supposed to kiss during the scene then?" Freddie was confused.
"Yeah, and we did, and it was awesome!"
"It was probably a stage kiss then," he noted dismissively; Robbie disagreed.
"You don't just fake that kind of kiss; Trina loves me," he stated confidently and walked out to the Asphalt Café for the rest of the lunch period, and maybe to track down 'his girl'.
Freddie, meanwhile, headed in the opposite direction in an attempt to find Cat, finally succeeding by the lockers and vending machines where she was, unusually angrily, obtaining a soda.
"There you are," he noted calmly, smiling at the girl.
"Oh, hey Freddie," she settled in an instant and began smiling at him.
"Are you ok?" he asked in concern.
"Yeah," she took a sip of her freshly bought drink, "why wouldn't I be?"
"Because you stormed away from lunch after snapping at André?" he suggested. "You seemed upset when you left."
"He was mean to me, it upset me," she complained. "I'm better now," she smiled reassuringly.
"Ok, if you're sure," he opted not to challenge the girl on this occasion. "So, you've got a dog?" he prompted.
"Yes, you know how my parents came back this weekend?" He nodded. "Well, they bought a puppy, now that my brother's not around to scare it or accidentally hurt it or something," her face fell at the thought.
"I'll have to come over and say hello sometime," the Seattle-born commented.
"Oh, that'd be great," she enthused, following him to his locker as the bell rang.
Freddie retrieved some things, closed his locker and sighed. "I guess we need to get to class," he told the girl. "Are you and Beck ready for your scene."
"I think so," she confirmed. "How about you and André?"
"Yeah, we're good to go," he answered as they made their way to the Black Box theatre.
Black Box Theatre.
The Slap Mobile
Tori Vega: Time for stage fighting class. Should I ditch? I wish.
Mood = Freaked.
"I'm not in love with your mother" André insisted.
Thank God for that, Freddie thought privately as he continued to swing at his friend, occasionally "connecting" with an appropriate sound effect but mostly the African-American dodged as her backpedalled across the stage. Finally Freddie caught him and delivered mock blows to his face and midriff before throwing him (André helped by jumping, though with the work from his gym and fencing sessions paying off the tech producer really could have lifted his friend) through a break-away table; Tori looked on in concern as the boy landed in a heap on the floor.
"And scene!" Freddie called. Cat and Russ led the applause as the Seattleite helped his friend up and they took their bow.
"Alright, next up we have Tori and Jade," the teacher announced; the gothic girl smiled at her partner as they got up and made their way on stage; Freddie gave his old and new friends an encouraging smile as he passed them.
"Okay, for our scene," Tori introduced it for the class, "I'm going to be playing an old lady who's walking home from a bingo game."
"And I play a brutal mugger," Jade declared gleefully.
"Yes, a brutal mugger who mugs me without actually hurting me," the lighter brunette pointed out.
"Okay, as always, be careful, and if anything goes wrong, just yell the safe word, which is...butternut," Russ told them.
"Ok guys, ready?" the teacher started them off. "And…"
"Butternut!" Tori called in panic.
"What?" Jade threw her hands up in annoyance while the rest of the class traded looks of amusement and bemusement.
"Tori, what's the problem?" the teacher asked.
"I was testing the safe word; it works," she declared happily; Jade rolled her eyes and sighed in frustration. "Ok, I'm ready," she conceded.
"And...action."
Tori donned a grey haired wig and began walking using a walking stick, imitating an old lady. "Oh, I certainly did enjoy the bingo, although I do miss Bob Hope," she said in a quivering voice. The audience sniggered appreciatively before Jade dashed forward from the back of the stage wearing a black knit cap.
"Give me your money," she demanded.
"What?!"
"I ain't playing? Give me your money, and your watch."
"Oh, wouldn't you rather have… this?" Tori turned and swung with her cane; the audience heard a satisfying 'thunk' as Jade spun on her way to the floor, groaning in pain.
"Butternut! Butternut!" she yelled, blood already visible under her left eye as Tori looked on in confusion.
"She's bleeding!" Cat yelled as the others rushed to the girl's side; Beck, Russ and the teacher gathered around Jade to check on her.
"Are you ok?" her boyfriend asked in concern.
"No, Tori hit me in the face for real!" she complained.
"No I didn't," the lighter brunette insisted.
"Tell that to my bloody eye!" she groaned again.
"Alright, you'd better sit down," Freddie encouraged.
"Someone get her a chair," their teacher called; Tori spied a wooden one at the back of the stage and brought it to her. Jade sat on it, only, to Tori's immense horror, to fall through it and on to the floor.
"That was a breakaway chair!" Russ berated her.
"Aww, butternut!" the new student exclaimed as Jade looked accusingly at her from the ground.
Cat had fetched her best friend an ice pack; the stuntman applied it to the pink-streak haired girl's eye as she sat on an altogether more solid chair with a slew of her classmates still surrounding her and looking on in concern.
"Why did you hit Jade in the face with a cane?" the little red-head demanded.
"I didn't!" her friend snapped.
"Ok, I believe you, don't hit me!" the shorter teen begged; Tori sighed in response.
"Will you back me up here?" she asked André, who was stood by her.
"Okay, look, I'm sure Tori didn't mean to whack Jade in the face with the cane," the songsmith began.
"Oh, why does everyone think I hit her?" she lamented.
"Well, we were watching you guys do a scene. You hit her across the face with your cane, she fell down and now, her eye's all bloody."
"Well, that doesn't mean I hit her," she insisted.
"I kind of think it does," he contradicted after trading an incredulous look with Cat.
She groaned and headed for her fellow brunette, who had just stood up. "Jade, you know I didn't hit you. I swung, but I missed," she argued.
"Look Tori," the mean girl began weakly; her legs gave way a moment later and those stood around her rushed to keep her upright.
"Hey, we've got to get her to the nurse," the teacher observed.
"But I didn't hit her," Tori insisted again.
"Can someone call my mom?" Jade asked pathetically.
"I'll call your mom," Beck confirmed.
"She doesn't need her mom. Don't bother her mom!"
"I've got to call her mom," he argued.
"And I thought we were just starting to be friends," was Jade's parting shot as she left the theatre.
"But I didn't..." the girl turned to the surprisingly silent Freddie for support; he was wearing a frown on his otherwise unreadable face. "You too?" she accused before trudging out without waiting for an answer from the boy.
Green Meadow Mall
6801 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles
Cat had taken a seat by her favourite smoothie place; she was waiting for Danny to show up so that they could catch a movie (Jade wasn't going to be able to hang with her after the events of today and she knew that Freddie was at the gym with André – or possibly they were fencing; the redhead often struggled to keep track of her friends' movements).
"Hello," she heard a voice from behind her; somehow her date had snuck past her, bought her a smoothie and arrived at the table, all without her noticing. She wondered briefly how she had been so unobservant before casting it to one side and greeting him happily and accepting a kiss from him; the couple were exploring things slowly in their relationship but both felt that things were heading in the right direction. A part of Cat still wished for another boy but she was certainly enjoying spending time with, and dating, the one who was with her right now. She retook her seat and he eased into one next to her, taking her free hand with his as she returned her attention to her treat. He began to suck on his as well in between their talks about how their respective days had been (for Cat this included a blow-by-blow account of the Stage Fighting class).
Smoothies consumed, the teenage couple headed for the movie theatre at the mall; although it was Danny's turn to pick he deliberately chose something that he knew the girl would like, and she was grateful for his consideration. She snuggled close to him and stole the occasional peck as they sat through the chick flick.
Asphalt Café.
Wednesday, 3rd March 2010.
Jade was sat alone at a table, picking moodily through her lunch. Her left eye was appeared discoloured and bruised.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" Beck asked jovially as he approached the table; the couple had been in different classes immediately before lunch.
"My eye hurts," she noted.
"Oh yeah, which one?" he asked playfully, taking a seat next to his girlfriend, setting his food and soda down on the table.
She spared him a mirthless smile. "Cute. I want coffee."
"What's the magic word?" he teased, as if talking to a young child.
"Get me some coffee," she suggested before relenting, "please."
"Actually the magic word was 'lotion', but I'll accept your 'please' because you've got a boo-boo eye."
He stood up and headed for the coffee stand.
"Two sugars," she called after him.
"I know what to do," he informed her.
The girl was only alone for a few moments before the Seattle-born tech producer arrived at the table. He set his food and soda down opposite her and took a seat with a brief, "Hey Jade."
"Hey," she returned then, seeing him continue to stare at her, "What?" she snapped belligerently; he smiled over top of his drink as he eyed the girl.
"Did you forget that my mom's a nurse?" he asked casually; she eyed him curiously. "Jade, I know a fake black eye when I see one. Tori never hit you, did she?" he challenged.
The gothic girl sighed; she knew that denial was hopeless and that the game was up. "So are you going to tell on me?" she asked in resignation.
"After all we've been through? And everything that you've done for me, how much you've been there for me over the whole Lindsey thing? Of course not," he actually sounded offended that she would suggest that; the dark brunette looked at him in mild shock.
"So what's this about then?"
"I'm not going to tell anyone – but you are going to have to decide what you want to do about Tori. Either you cut her some slack or you carry on this feud of yours for the next two and a half years. Personally I think she's a nice girl and I think that she'd be a good friend to you if you wanted her to be." Then he shrugged. "Also you're the one that has to be comfortable with what you see when you look at yourself in the mirror."
He returned to his drink and the table lapsed into silence as the mean girl pondered his words.
A couple of tables away Robbie had been shot down by Trina.
"Trina! Wait, baby!" the ventriloquist called.
"What's the matter?" Cat asked as she replaced the diva at the table; the warmer weather had led the girl to wear a white, flowery top that barely covered her very short jean shorts. The girl was still in her customary high spirits after her enjoyable date the previous night.
"Trina's in denial," he complained.
"Ah, you're still on that?"
"Trina loves me."
"It was a stage kiss," the red velvet-haired teen insisted. "She was acting."
"You didn't feel the kiss. A girl can't fake that kind of heat. I don't care if she tells me a thousand times that it didn't mean anything..." Cat cut him off by kissing him. Across the Asphalt Café Jade and Freddie watched the kiss in surprise before trading amazed looks with one another.
"I don't know what is going on there," Jade commented.
"See," Cat waved a hand and returned to her lunch.
"Ah, she faked it," the gothic teen smiled knowingly. "Must be that chizz going down between him and Trina that she's trying to snap him out of. You've still got a shot with her," she grinned at the boy opposite her.
"Only if she's still interested," he let slip without thinking.
"Oh, so you are interested?" the girl pressed with a teasing smirk.
Freddie sighed. "Things are getting better for me," he conceded. "Since I went to Seattle and talked stuff through with Spencer – I really think I'm getting there; I've kept on talking to him now and again and I'm starting to think that putting my heart out there again with the right girl could be worth doing."
"It's about time," Jade grinned. "Not a word to Beck about," she cautioned, motioning briefly to her eye as she watched her boy returning with two steaming cups of coffee.
Meanwhile… "I want you to meet my parents," Robbie told his classmate; she almost choked on her food before rolling her eyes in resignation.
The Slap Mobile
Tori Vega: OMG – I just got called to the GUIDANCE COUNSELOR'S OFFICE. Whyyyyy?!
Mood= Frustrated.
The brunette was alone and in tears in the library when a concerned Freddie happened upon her; having no dance class he was taking advantage of a free period to get his homework done as he had to work at the Pear Store tonight.
"Tori?" he whispered as he approached the distraught girl; he had been troubled ever since he saw her Slap update about being summoned to Lane's office.
"Lane," she responded to his querying look before her tears intensified; he took the seat next to her and wrapped his arms gently around her as she began to weep against his chest. Finally she composed sufficiently to, albeit through renewed sobs, disclose her woes to him.
"He started out all nice and calm, telling me that I wasn't in any trouble – even though Derek, you know: the security guard?" Freddie nodded his confirmation, "was there with him. He said it was to help deal with my 'violence issues'," she air-quoted, "and then, still being nice and friendly, he suggested that it happened on adrenaline; that I swung and maybe accidentally hit her. I just wanted to get out of there as soon as I could so I agreed it was a possibility and then," she burst into a fresh torrent of tears so the boy pulled her back into his arms until they subsided, "he said as punishment I have two weeks detention, a lower grade, Friday night cleaning up the Black Box theatre after a Middle School play that ends in a food fight and I can't appear in Moonlight Magic," she wailed the final part as the brown-haired boy's frown intensified; Freddie was absolutely furious by the time she finished talking. "It was supposed to be my first play, my first chance to show what I can do and gain extra credit for my performances and now it's been taken away from me," she sobbed. "It's all just so unfair when I didn't even hit her and nobody believes me. I don't know how she got the black eye but I swear I never touched her; you have to believe me," she begged him.
The boy winced internally; he knew the truth yet what he had told Jade was true and came flooding back to him. He frowned as he tried to figure out how on earth he could solve this dilemma; staying loyal to Jade without Tori having to suffer as much as she was. He rested his chin on the top of her head and continued to hold her.
"Do you believe me?" she pressed urgently when he remained silent. He lifted his chin and pulled back a little to allow her to look at him.
"Jade's still telling everyone that you did while you're saying you didn't," he began slowly and deliberately. "She's walking around with a black eye so you have to see why other people are believing her," he concluded reasonably.
"So you think I hit her as well?" the hurt was unmistakable in her eyes that yet another person, particularly one she thought she could really trust, also thought that she was lying.
"You sound so sincere about it; I do believe you," he was grateful for the opportunity to answer in this way and not betray his confidant's trust, "but convincing other people could prove difficult." He sighed. "I'll take to Jade," he promised her, "and see if she can put in a good word with Principal Eikner about getting some or all of this punishment lifted."
"Thanks Freddie," she managed a watery smile at the boy. "I'm going home; today's just sucked," she declared. "I'll see you tomorrow." She got up and took a couple of steps away before pausing for a second, turning back towards her friend and giving him a quick peck on the cheek and a hug before leaving. Her actions surprised the teen and he turned and watched her go, smiling at her retreating rear before shaking his head and refocusing; he pulled his phone from his jeans pocket and fired off a text.
Benson residence, Hollywood Hills.
The doorbell rang shortly after Freddie arrived home after work; Jade was leaning casually against the side of the house as Freddie answered; her demeanour hid the apprehension that she felt.
"Hey Jade," he greeted the girl, happy that she had responded to his 'summons' by text from earlier in the day. "Come in," he moved to the side to grant her access to his home.
"Thanks. Is your mom home?" she asked as she walked past him into the living area.
"No, she's working nights this week." He closed the front door and followed her into the room.
"Good. I… uh, I got your text; I figure you wanted to talk about what happened during class."
"Or what didn't happen?" he suggested with a wry smile as he turned to face her. "Do you know what's happened to her?" he pressed. Jade shook her head nervously; she suspected that this was what he wanted to discuss with her. He rattled off the litany. "She's got two weeks of detention, she's got to clean up the Black Box theatre on Friday night and she's been banned from appearing in André's play. He's absolutely devastated about the last one and I can't say I blame her," in spite of who he was talking to he felt his anger increasing, "she's been waiting for this moment since she got to Hollywood Arts and now she's going to lose her chance to perform," he shook his head. "Imagine how you'd feel if you weren't allowed to perform in something you'd won a role in."
Jade slumped on the couch; her fear was growing by the second that she was going to lose his friendship over this. Ironically it was the very thing that she wanted to protect by planning to turn him against the new student; she shocked her host by beginning to dissolve into tears. Whatever reaction Freddie may have been expecting from her, this certainly wasn't it.
"Jade?" he asked cautiously, taking a seat next to her on the couch and slipping an arm around her; he was bewildered to find himself, for the second time that day, trying to console a sobbing girl. "Your make-up's a little…" he pointed under her eyes to where the (mostly black) eye-liner was running down her cheek, mingling a little with some of the purplish make-up she had used to portray a bruised eye. He pulled a tissue from a packet on the coffee table and began to tenderly wipe her face dry and remove the smeared make-up.
He sat in silence holding the gothic girl and gently rubbing her back as she continued to cry against him. It took around half-a-minute for her to compose herself; he gave her face another wipe with a fresh tissue as she faced him.
"Thanks," she choked through rasping breaths before hesitating.
"So what caused the melt-down?" His tone was curious at seeing such a non-Jade West moment from the ice queen.
"You were angry… with me," she admitted. "I just… I look at Tori, I see the way she is, the way she acts ever since she came to our school and…" she looked down, unable to meet his eyes as she concluded her confession, "I got scared," she whispered.
"Scared?" he repeated in surprise. "What of?"
"Of her; she's this perfect Mary-Sue, nice and sweet. She was rubbing Beck, she kissed you… and you liked it," she accused.
"It was a stage kiss," he fired back, "you should know about sharing those with me," he reminded her.
"I know but then she was all over you about figuring out The Bird Scene, she's still casting her eye at Beck – I'm sure of it – I was just scared that I was going to lose him, to lose you as a friend as well, to her."
Freddie sighed. "You know you're my go-to girl, the only person I can trust with whatever chizz is going on in my life. Do you really think I'd let someone replace you, just like that?" he asked in a calm voice.
"I guess," she conceded weakly before swallowing nervously. "So now what? You're going to tell now because of what's happened to her?"
"The answer's still no," he told her. She looked at him in amazement as he took her hands in his and continued, "I won't betray your trust, Jade, not for her, not for anyone. I just want to figure out some way of fixing this without you having to suffer."
"Any ideas?"
"Only one; you go to Mr Eikner, tell him what Lane has done, tell him that it was an accident and ask him to let her have her part in Moonlight Magic."
"And if I don't want to?" She needed to be sure.
"Then, as much as it will… disappoint me," he chose the wording carefully, "I'll have to tell Tori that I asked you but you said no and she will have to suffer."
"You'd really do that?" Jade asked softly, shocked that he would conspire with her if that was her choice.
"I'd really do that," he confirmed sincerely, though she could read the pain and disappointment on his face already at the thought of being left in such a position.
"I'll talk to him tomorrow," she promised; he nodded.
"You should think about what I said earlier; I think she would be a good friend to you if you let her and cut her a little slack. And meanwhile," he smiled as she got up; he followed her lead and they walked towards the front door, "I'll talk to Cat."
"What about?" she asked curiously.
Thursday, 4th March 2010.
"Freddie!" The Guidance Counsellor spotted him walking through the hallway by the lockers and strode purposefully over to him. "What did you say to Cat?" he demanded.
"That she shouldn't be talking to you in future," the tech producer replied caustically.
"Why not?"
"Because you can't be trusted – not after what you did to Tori."
"Excuse me?" Lane was bewildered.
"You manipulate her into thinking that she maybe accidentally hit Jade in class and then punish her?"
"Freddie, what she did –" he began but the teenager cut him off.
"What she did was part of a scene; it's not like she lay in wait for her after class or anything. They were acting and she certainly didn't mean to hit her. Do you usually punish people for accidents? What are you going to do with whatever Cat tells you?"
"Nothing," the man was irate at the suggestion.
"I don't believe you – and now neither does Cat. I'm due in class," he concluded as the bell rang, turning on his heel and walking briskly away from the stunned adult.
Black Box Theatre
Friday, 5th March 2010.
Tori's mood was at its lowest ebb as she scraped the wall of the theatre with her spatula. The brunette was taking out her frustrations on the food that was stubbornly stuck to the various surfaces of the theatre. The longer she stayed there the more and more convinced she was becoming that she should simply abandon the Hollywood Arts experiment and go back to Sherwood. What's the point? she asked herself bitterly. If I'm not going to be allowed to perform, if someone is going to screw it up for me every time. If all of my 'friends' are just going to abandon me and think the worst of me. She thought of Freddie and paused with a small but genuine smile; the brown-haired boy was the only one of the group who believed that she hadn't actually hit their classmate. He had done as he'd promised her and spoken to the gothic girl but it appeared that his entreaties had fallen on deaf ears given that she was still here on Friday night – and, crucially, still barred from appearing in Moonlight Magic. Mood quashed again she flung the rag from her shoulder onto the floor, picked up another bucket and a second cloth and made her way to the stage to begin cleaning it.
"Hey," a voice from behind surprised her. The half-Latina turned to see Jade stood just inside the theatre, eyeing her nervously. The next thing she noticed was that the girl's black eye had gone.
"Jade," she replied curtly. "Nice make-up job," she pointed to the pink streak-haired girl's eye.
"I spoke to Principle Eikner earlier," she took a seat in one of the few clean spots on the edge of the stage. "He'll speak to you on Monday but he says that he'll let you be in Moonlight Magic and this won't go on your record. Is there still time for you to get up to speed before opening night."
Tori nodded before letting out a relieved breath; suddenly the day was taking a huge turn for the better but she needed one answer.
"Why?"
"Because of the injustice of it – you losing your chance to perform. As Freddie said, it's why we're all here in the first place."
"No, I mean why fake it in the first place?" Tori persisted.
"It's… tough to explain," she sighed before trying to talk through what she had said to Freddie earlier.
"That's crazy!" Tori interrupted. "I'd never try to steal your friends; I just wanted to be one of them."
"I know and I get that now. I guess it was just a 'defence mechanism' or something. Anyway, I'll do this and you enjoy the rest of your Friday night – and I'll talk to Mr Eikner again on Monday; tell him the truth and get you out of the rest of your detentions." With that she picked up a second spatula, jumped from the stage and began to clean one of the pillars; Jade was surprised when Tori walked into her line of sight and began scraping at another of the walls.
"We'll get done twice as fast between us," she said with a smile.
AN: Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it. Whether you did or didn't, please feel free to drop me a review and I hope to have the next chapter up within the next week. PD.