AN: Hi everyone; this chapter's a lot later out than I expected it to be as I got to the point a couple of weeks ago where I just felt in need of a total break from my writing. I hope to be getting back on with it going forwards now.
As always my thanks to everyone who read and reviewed last time.
Fanfic-Reader-88 – yes, Sam's "happily" in a new school; we'll see in time whether she can keep her new, improved attitude together I guess. As for the leads, there are a few plays going on (as we saw in The Bird Scene they have a list of plays each semester) so our favourite couple scored the leads in this one but there are some others.
Challenge King – yes Marissa let Cat in; maybe a little bit surprising but when she found the hyperactive girl on her doorstep, perhaps she feared that she would rouse the entire neighbourhood and make her rather unpopular with them. Who knows what goes through her head?
Darck Ben – thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Agent-M – thank you for your kind words.
And to Guest (who reviewed chapter 12) I hope you stuck with it as I did eventually get them back together.
I hope you all enjoy this chapter.
Chapter 24: The Great Ping Pong Scam
Hollywood Arts High School, Los Angeles, CA
Monday, 27th September 2010.
"What's got you annoyed?" Freddie asked calmly and sympathetically as Jade slammed her locker; the pairs of scissors that the gothic girl had decorated it with wobbled threateningly but did not come loose. She turned to him with an annoyed glare but Freddie knew his friend and confidant far too well to worry that he was the cause of her ire. "Come on, talk to Freddie," he motioned to the main staircase and took a seat, turning expectantly to the blue-streak haired brunette.
Jade looked guardedly around the deserted hallway; the last period of the day had finished a few minutes ago and most of the kids had already left. Freddie was waiting for Cat as they wanted to do a little more rehearsing for their play before tomorrow's dress rehearsal; opening night was around a week away now. Beck was nowhere to be seen and the tech producer suspected that this was part of what was troubling his friend. She took a seat on the stairs next to him and sighed.
"Tori," she huffed; it would have been the brown-haired boy's second guess after she and Beck were cast opposite one another. "I just can't help it, I think she's enjoying being in a play with Beck way too much…"
"You really think she'd make a move on your guy?" Freddie asked, genuinely surprised that Jade might think the situation was that serious.
"No," she conceded reluctantly, "it doesn't mean that I have to like seeing them together like that though."
"Well," he shrugged, "get used to it; actors and actresses do a lot of stage kisses," then he smirked as he reminded her, "like us about a year ago."
Jade looked off into the distance, hiding her smile at the memory and instead opting to shrug in resignation; she had to concede his point but really didn't want to do so publically.
"Hi-iii," Cat bounced into view as she passed the lockers and spotted her best friend and boyfriend sat together. She scampered over and squeezed herself between them before giving her boy a quick kiss.
"That's my cue to leave," Jade announced, getting to her feet. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."
"Oh you don't have to…" Freddie began but the girl was already striding purposefully away from them; he turned to the redhead, shrugged and smiled as he stole another kiss from her lips before they started their rehearsal.
Asphalt café
Tuesday, 28th September 2010.
Freddie and Cat were playfully sharing their lunches; the giggly girl was laughing along with their antics while her boyfriend smiled. He slipped his left arm around her and she leaned her head against his chest as her right hand snatched another fry from his meal. She took another but, instead of eating it herself, lifted it above her head and pushed it backwards, trying to feed it to the brown-haired boy. Fortunately he closed his eyes before she could stab them with it.
"A little lower," he instructed teasingly after her first attempt, "a little more," as the fry poked his nose, "ah that's it," his last words were muffled by the morsel meeting its target.
"Hey, hey," Tori greeted them brightly as she, André and, to her annoyance, Trina joined them, sitting to Cat's left.
"Hello," Jade's tone was far flatter as she and Beck sat opposite the other couple.
"What's crawled up your butt?" Trina wondered aloud; Jade declined to answer and merely glared at her before stabbing her salad ever harder with her fork. The elder sister looked to Beck for an answer but he just shrugged.
"Are you alright Jade?" her red-headed best friend asked in timid concern; the black-clad teen looked up from her mutilated meal and nodded.
"I will be," she confirmed quietly before returning her gaze to her plate; Cat looked to her man, who gave her a supportive smile and squeezed her a little tighter, causing her to grin and crane her neck for a quick kiss.
The rest of the lunchtime passed peacefully, though Freddie kept a watchful eye on his confidant; her body language certainly hinted that all wasn't well with her. Next to her Beck was either oblivious or uncaring – and the boy was troubled to conclude that he couldn't decide for certain which one it was.
Fortunately, he and Jade were together in their Set Design class right after lunch, giving him an opportunity to talk to her during the general hubbub of the workshop-like environment that resulted as the class were turning their dreams and drawings into reality.
"Are you really ok?" he asked in a soft, low voice; she looked up, glanced around to ensure that they wouldn't be overheard, picked up her things and moved around to his side of the table, setting them down next to his.
"I'm alright," she insisted, "it's just… I don't know," she shrugged. "I try talking to Beck about stuff and he just seems to dismiss my feelings. I admit that I have to trust him but he doesn't make it easy when he has girls hanging around him, he's in this play with Tori… I know, I know," she raised her hands in partial surrender as Freddie turned to her; she didn't need him to plead the half-Latina's case again.
"So you talk to him, he knows it bothers you but he lets things carry on?" Freddie sought to clarify; Jade nodded sadly.
"I don't know, Jade, I don't know what to suggest except that you keep showing that you care about him and look for him to show that he cares as much about you; let his actions speak for him if he won't say what you want him to."
She nodded. "I'll give it a try."
Wednesday, 29th September 2010.
The first warning bell of the day was just beginning to sound as Tori made her way inside the main building of the school, intending to make a quick stop at her locker before heading to first period. She spotted Robbie, André, Cat and Freddie chatting by one of the vending machines next to the janitor's closet and turned to walk towards them. "Oh, hey," she greeted them.
"Oh, hey Tori," Cat smiled.
"How's it going?" Freddie enquired.
"What's up?" André added.
"Hey cheekbones!" Rex called; Tori pulled a face at the puppet.
"Well," she began, "after school I was thinking we should all go hang out at The Grove. You wanna-wanna?" she asked enthusiastically.
She didn't get the eager response that she was anticipating; on the contrary the quartet looked rather uncomfortable.
"Uhh," the songsmith floundered.
"Oooh," the puppeteer muttered.
"We really can't," Cat apologised.
"How come?" the brunette demanded.
"Well, uh, we have ping pong practice," Robbie explained.
"Uh-huh," the musician confirmed.
"Yeah, then I have work straight after practice," Freddie added.
"Shut up," Tori chided them playfully.
"It's true," André insisted.
"We're all on the ping pong team," the tech producer remarked.
"Me, André, Robbie, Freddie, Beck and jade," Cat clarified.
"There's no ping pong team at Hollywood arts," Tori countered; Freddie stepped over to her and took her arm gently.
"Listen, Tori, you're still kinda new here and there's some things that you haven't come across."
"Look, if you guys don't wanna hang out with me then just say so. Why make up a lie that you're all on some ping pong team?" she snapped.
"Hey, Tori," Cat repeated her earlier greeting.
"How's it going?" Robbie asked weakly.
"What's up?" André enthused.
Freddie, on the other hand, was annoyed with her allegation. "You REALLY think I'd lie to you like that - or not want to hang?" he demanded; Tori gave him an awkward, apologetic look.
"Okay, so there really IS a ping pong team?" she sought confirmation.
"Yeah, go to the rec room; you can see all the trophies we've won," he pointed out.
Cat nodded to back up her boy. "First place."
"Really?" Their prowess surprised the singer.
"Yeah," the red velvet-haired girl insisted.
"In fact, we have the big tournament this Friday; I've swapped my shift at work to make sure I can go," Freddie shot a conspiratorial look at Cat, who smiled back.
"Okay. Then I wanna try out for the team," Tori enthused.
"Sure, if you want to try out for the ping pong team then you just have to talk to the team captain," the former Seattleite explained.
"Fine. Who's the team captain?"
"I am!" Jade, with Beck on her arm, had just joined the gathering. Without waiting for another word from the newest student she called "Later guys," waved and the couple headed towards their first class.
"Or you can join my team. I call it Rex's all hot chick volleyball squad," the puppet offered unhelpfully.
Tori withdrew the gum she was chewing from her mouth and stuck it to Rex's forehead. "Yeah. No," she declined and set off in pursuit of Beck and Jade as the others grimaced a little at the sight.
"Tori!" Robbie called after her in annoyance.
"Just get it off my nose. Snatch it off," Rex urged him; his handler obeyed, only to find that it didn't all come off. "Aw, man, it's the stretchy kind," the puppet complained. Cat giggled at them as she took Freddie's hand and they set off for their own first period.
"Jade, Jade, Jade," Tori was giving chase; the other girl was deliberately ignoring her, much to her boyfriend's curiosity. "I'm not going away," she caught up to the couple. "And you can't just say no."
Jade stopped in her tracks and turned to the other girl. In a variety of voices and pitches she replied, "No. No. No. No. No. No," and finished, in a firm, harsh voice, "No."
Beck raised eyebrows at her insistent intransigence. "Why not?" he mouthed; Jade ignored him and turned back to the half-Latina.
"Alright, well, you can," she conceded before she spotted Lane coming down the corridor towards them. "Lane, can you come here please?" she called. "Don't move," she warned the team captain.
Jade smiled at her boyfriend, "I'm staying here because I want to stay here." He gave her a quick kiss before heading for his class.
"What's up?" the Guidance Counsellor asked.
"Jade is the captain of the ping pong team and I wanna try out; and she says I can't," Tori explained.
"Yup, that's what I says," Jade retorted calmly as she joined the pair.
"Oh, come on," the adult complained. "Why do you all have to drag me into your problems?"
"Uh, you're the Guidance Counsellor here," Tori reminded him. "Can we have some guidance?"
"Alright," he surrendered; Tori turned to her phone to bring up the school website; while she was looking away he drew a bottle from his pocket and began to apply lotion to his hands.
"Alright, I've already got it loaded in here," she turned back, giving him a curious look as she spotted his antics; it was a look matched by the one Jade wore.
"Okay, what?" he snapped in exasperation.
"See, look what it says on the official Hollywood Arts website," the lighter brunette showed him the display on her phone.
"My life is slipping away!" Jade complained.
"Read it," Tori demanded.
"All students are encouraged to participate in school sanctioned events, clubs and sports teams," the counsellor quoted.
"And how can I participate in ping pong if the team captain here refuses to even let me try out?" the singer asked.
"You gotta let her try out," Lane told Jade.
"Yeah, read the phone Jade, read the phone," Tori waved it in her sometimes-friend's face.
"Sure, you can try out," the black-clad teen relented with a smirk, "I just wanted to see you grovel and squirm for a bit first." She turned and headed for class, grin still in place, leaving an annoyed and stuttering Tori in her wake. "Rec room, right after school," she called as a parting shot.
Asphalt café
"André," Freddie sought to attract the songsmith's attention as he and Cat joined him at their usual table.
"Oh hey man, how's it going?"
"Good but… I was just wondering how the music for the play we're in," he gestured to himself and his girlfriend, "is coming along? Obviously formal rehearsals are starting and we're going to need to get the songs done as well."
"Uh we're just about ready," he informed them. "The guys in the band have just about got it down so we'll be at your next rehearsal and you guys can get on with learning them. You got the lyrics right?"
"Yeah but no tune for them," Cat piped up.
"I'll fix that," he promised.
"Yay," she clapped happily.
Rec Room
To Jade's surprise, and annoyance, Tori actually turned out to be a very good player when she joined their practice (and made it into a proper practice rather than an excuse to play retro party games); to André and Robbie's annoyance she beat both boys (and Rex) before quickly beating Cat; the redhead seemed terrified of the power that the singer could put into her serve. She struggled a little against Beck and Jade but defeated both before meeting her match in Freddie; the fencer's speed and footwork proved too much for her to contend with and she set down her bat, exhausted from her efforts.
"Good game," Freddie complimented and she smiled at her opponent before turning to the team captain, who had risen to her feet.
"Well?" Tori demanded confidently.
"You didn't make the team," the gothic girl stated bluntly.
"What? I beat almost everybody," she argued.
"I don't care. Read the school website," the blue-streak haired girl urged, proffering her phone.
"When a student tries out for a sports team for which there is no coach," Tori quoted, "the team Captain shall decide if the student is granted or denied acceptance to the team."
"Captain says denied," Jade smiled.
"But why? You can't just –" the other girl stammered; Jade took a leaf from her book and waved her pear phone in the lighter brunette's face.
"Read the phone, Tori," she mocked. "Read the phone."
"Don't you steal my phone-in-face bit," Tori whispered threateningly before storming out of the rec room.
"What was that all about?" Beck asked his girl.
"It's safer this way," Jade explained. "I'm not saying she'd snitch on us but the fewer people who know about... all of this, the better."
Freddie looked a little sceptical but nodded his agreement with the sentiment.
Thursday, 30th September 2010.
Rather than ping pong, the kids were playing twister. Beck was spinning for them while Jade, Cat, Freddie, André and Robbie were at close quarters on the mat; the redhead in particular was enjoying this as they pressed herself as close to her boyfriend as she could, loving the fact that she was making him squirm a little.
"Here we go," Beck called as he spun the dial again.
"Yeah," Robbie smiled.
"Oh, my God," André wailed.
"Man, this is the best ping pong practice ever," Freddie enthused, nudging the ventriloquist a little.
"I love this game!" Cat cried.
"Wait. Wait, wait," Robbie urged as he felt the tech producer pushing him. "Don't lean on me," he complained before overbalancing, bringing the other teens down on top of him. "Oh. That was a foul!"
"You're foul," the songsmith joked.
"Oh, that tickles Freddie!" Cat giggled as his breath blew against her neck; he swooped to steal another kiss, intensifying her giggles.
"Okay, let's start over," Jade had extricated herself from the pile.
"Alright," her boyfriend agreed, offering the spinner to someone else.
"Okay, okay," Freddie accepted it.
"Wait. Let me get a drink first," André requested.
"Yeah, me too," Cat agreed, standing behind the dreadlocked teen and waiting for her turn.
"Ah," Robbie groaned as he stood up.
"What's wrong?" the redhead looked over.
"I think I pulled a muscle."
"You can't pull what you don't have," Jade pointed out.
Beck fed a bill into the vending machine; nothing happened. "What up with this machine? It ate my dollar."
"Alright, let the doctor handle this," the musician strode over and punched the machine.
"Go doc," Beck urged.
"Guys, guys, try rocking it," Jade suggested; the three of them began to rock the machine back and forth; suddenly it overbalanced.
"Whoa," Beck leapt back to avoid it landing on him; as it fell over, a high-pitched shriek could be heard by them all.
"Did that machine just scream like a teenage girl?" André asked in confusion.
The teens watched in surprise as the back of the 'machine' (which was now facing the ceiling) buckled as it was pounded upon from within; their surprise multiplied ten-fold as Tori forced her way through it. "Alright," she demanded, "who put me in the soda machine?"
After the initial shock subsided, Beck and Freddie made their way over to her and proceeded to lift the girl out. As the boys righted her on the floor she began to swat them away, "I got it. I got it. Buzz off!" she complained.
"Why were you hiding in there spying on us?" Robbie asked in annoyance.
"And how did you get in there anyway?" Freddie wondered.
"Oh I had Sinjin make a fake prop for me," she snapped.
"Why?"
"'cause I had a feeling you guys' ping pong team was just a big fake and I was right. You weren't practicing ping pong, you were playing retro party games. So what is up?"
The other teenagers all remained silent, looking innocently around for a few seconds before André caved.
"Let's just tell her," he whined.
"No," Jade snapped.
"Yes," her boyfriend contradicted; Freddie raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"I think we should tell her," Cat backed them up; the tech producer shrugged.
"We can trust her, I'm sure," he conceded.
"Why don't we just drive her out to the desert and drop her off?" Rex suggested.
"Rex!" Robbie was scandalised at the suggestion.
"She knows too much!" the puppet claimed.
Outnumbered, Jade huffed out in a resigned voice, "tell her."
"There's no real ping pong team," Freddie admitted.
Tori pointed in his direction and uttered a triumphant "HA!" before adding, in a confused voice, "then what's this all about?"
"Well," André took up, "it all started two years ago when the school put that ping pong table in this room."
"Just after Freddie and I first kissed," Cat chimed in amid copious giggles.
Tori looked towards Freddie; he smiled awkwardly and shrugged.
"We just walked in, and there it was," Jade explained. "Then Robbie suggested that we form an official ping pong team here at Hollywood arts to compete against other schools... so I slapped him hard on top of his head."
"It really hurt," the puppeteer complained; Tori looked at him in disdain. "It really hurt!" he repeated.
"I heard that," the brunette pointed out. "So?"
"So about the same time," Freddie continued, "Cat was all pumped up about some fancy restaurant that her parents had taken her to one weekend."
"They had amazing steaks and crab cakes and lobster mashed potatoes and classy live music, and the most insane desserts I had ever tasted," Cat had said.
"Which all sounded pretty good to us," her tech producer boyfriend noted.
"So I said, 'well, we gotta go there,'" Robbie reminisced.
"And I told Robbie there was no way we could go there 'cause it's really expensive," the redhead interjected sadly.
"Where is this story going?" Tori complained.
"It actually gets weirder," Beck noted.
"You see, when Cat told us that the restaurant was too expensive..." Freddie took up before Jade interrupted.
"…I remembered something Beck had told me about all the sports teams at Hollywood arts getting a minimum of $1,500 to pay for travel and equipment. And that's when I got the idea. I said, 'maybe we should form a fake ping pong team, take the 1,500 bucks and use the money for all of us to have a fancy dinner at the restaurant Cat told us about.'"
"At first, we thought Jade's idea was crazy," André added. "But after we exchanged some looks..."
"We started to think it might be a pretty cool idea," Cat smiled.
"Apart from me," Freddie clarified, "I really wasn't too comfortable with the whole thing."
"But then Robbie said, 'wait' and reminded everyone that all sports teams are required to have at least one faculty advisor," the long-haired actor commented.
"So we went to the only teacher we could trust; Sikowitz", the dread-locked songsmith told her.
Cat was the next to speak; "But he told us our plan was way too devious – and illegal."
André continued, "But then he said, 'hey, did you hear that Principal Eikner might get fired?'"
He left it there, causing Tor to turn to Freddie. "Help me," she urged.
"See, the principal's boss..." the former Seattleite started to explain.
"The superintendent," Rex clarified.
"...was mad 'cause Hollywood arts didn't have any winning sports teams," the brown-eyed boy continued as if the puppet hadn't interrupted.
"And he told Principal Eikner, 'at least one team better bring home a trophy this year or else you're fired,'" Beck informed the new student.
"Which I thought was, and still think is, ridiculous," Freddie complained. "We're a Performing Arts school so who cares if we suck at sports?"
Robbie interrupted to continue the tale, "So I said to Sikowitz, what if the six of us..."
"Seven," Rex corrected.
"Seven of us pretend to go to a ping pong tournament, take the 1,500 bucks the school gives us..."
"Use 400 of it to buy a nice trophy for the school..." André had suggested.
"Which would keep Principal Eikner from getting fired..." Cat had interjected.
Jade had flattered the balding teacher, "and then use the rest of the money to take our favourite teacher to the restaurant Cat told us about..."
"and have the most amazing dinner of our lives," Robbie's mouth had been watering.
"And then," Jade concluded, "Sikowitz was on board."
Tori looked from one to another as the pieces fell into place. "So you guys formed a fake ping pong team so you could get some money, buy a trophy for the school, save the Principal's job and take Sikowitz out for a big, fancy dinner?" she sought confirmation.
"Yeah, I guess we could have just told it that way," André conceded.
The brunette remembered Freddie's comments about his misgivings. "So what persuaded you?" she asked.
"Cat and I were dating, first time around," on cue the redhead began to giggle again, "at the time and Jade helpfully reminded me that my allowance would never stretch to taking her there." Jade smirked at him, recalling the pitiful allowance that Freddie once had to exist on, before turning seriously to Tori.
"So, are you gonna bust us now and ruin everything?" she challenged.
"No," the lighter brunette denied, before adding, "if..."
"If what?" the darker brunette asked in resignation.
Asphalt Café
Friday, 1st October 2010.
The 'team' was preparing to leave school, ostensively en route to their tournament; the kids and Sikowitz were dressed in their Hollywood Arts-branded track-suits, all wore black track-suit pants with the boys also in black tops; the girls' uniform was a light blue top instead. A moderately sized gathering of students had assembled to wish them well; some held banners and placards with slogans such as "Ping pong rules". A collection of cheerleaders stood at the front of the group of well-wishers.
"And I'm very proud," the eccentric teacher declared, "to announce the newest member of the Hollywood Arts ping pong team, Tori 'the paddlepus' Vega."
The brunette ran out in the same light blue top and black pants as Cat and Jade.
"Now," Sikowitz continued, "wish us all luck and hopefully we'll bring home yet another first place trophy for Hollywood Arts."
The students cheered. Some of the cheerleaders waved at Freddie and Beck, much to the annoyance of their respective girlfriends.
"All team members in my van," the teacher ordered; he took the crowd's adulation as he led them to the vehicle. "Thank you. Thank you."
"Hey, look at that; shag carpeting," Rex complimented as he and Robbie boarded.
Jade's mild annoyance with the new member of the 'team' had been a point of discussion throughout the previous day; she had confided in Freddie that she and Beck had argued about it a little on Wednesday evening, not least because Beck had been late home due to rehearsing the play he was in – with Tori. The long-haired actor had demanded to know what his girl's problem was with their classmate and actually accused her of not trusting him around her; it was a charge that had infuriated his gothic girlfriend and brought an early, and unsatisfactory, end to their planned evening together. It wasn't that she had a problem with Tori per se, she had insisted to the ex-Seattle resident, more that she had been effectively blackmailed into accepting her as a new member of the team.
The tech producer had offered to talk to Beck for her and took the opportunity during their fencing class that evening.
"Jade's not too happy," he began conversationally as the two watched André duelling; the Canadian-born actor had finished his own lesson and Freddie had concluded the one with the group he was leading.
"Well that makes two of us," Beck replied wearily, "I just don't get the problem that she has with Tori."
Freddie took a breath as he pondered his words; he wasn't too sure exactly what he should say to the other boy, feeling that Beck really should be understanding his girlfriend a lot more than he seemed to.
"Well," he commented, thankful that he could at least mention something a little more generic than discussing their relationship, "she doesn't like that Tori forced her hand with this whole ping pong thing; I think, like the try-out, she was just going to make her squirm for a bit and then invite her along, but she feels that she was brow-beaten into it. And you KNOW that Jade doesn't like being brow-beaten into anything."
"I know that," Beck replied with a grin.
"And then there's you being in a play with her; she gets that it's acting, that it's not real but I think on some level it still troubles her."
"That's crazy!" the taller teen complained.
"Maybe, but it's how she feels; maybe she just needs a little more reassurance from you from time to time," he suggested; Beck squared his jaw and looked thoughtfully across at their friend continuing his bout.
Maestro's restaurant
"So you're definitely getting the trophy then," Freddie confirmed with Jade as they entered the fancy restaurant.
"Got it," she corrected with a smile. "Mom texted me a few minutes ago; a parcel from trophyocity dot com arrived today."
"Ok, that can come in on Monday and take pride of place in the trophy cabinet, along with our others," he grinned.
"Yep, first place, three years in a row; how do we manage it?"
"It's easier when we're not competing against anyone else," Beck pointed out.
"Oh yeah."
The group were shown to their table; Sikowitz was at the head with André next to him, followed by Beck, Jade, Robbie (and Rex), Tori, Cat and Freddie. After a quick stop en route the group, other than Tori, had changed into smarter clothes; the lighter brunette was still in her ping pong uniform.
As their meals were being served, Freddie made an observation. "They usually have live music here," he noted, "they have done on our other visits."
"Oh yeah, the girl who sang a few weeks ago was really good," Cat agreed.
"Wait, you came here recently?" Jade asked in surprise.
"Yeah, we brought Carly and Sam the day after the party before they headed back north," he disclosed.
"How are they?" Cat asked curiously; she hadn't been in a video chat with the girls for the last couple of weeks as her own workload began to pile up.
"They're fine, still working out how to live in the same apartment," Freddie grinned as he thought back on a couple of the stories the girls had told him, "Sam's doing well at her new school and Carly's really loving being back at Briarwood. As you know she's back on iCarly too; the last couple of shows have been pretty good."
Jade nodded; she hadn't seen any of their web shows, though Cat had watched them with her boyfriend and had also been enthusing about the recent efforts of the two. Any lingering annoyance that she may have felt about the other couple coming to the restaurant without her evaporated when she took the first bite of her meal.
"Oh, my God," the dark brunette moaned.
"Oh," André echoed.
"Oh my God, best food ever," Tori enthused, sampling her first taste of a Maestro's meal.
"Right?" Cat agreed.
"So good," Freddie savoured his steak.
Beck stood, raising his soda and toasting, "To ping pong."
"To ping pong," the group chorused.
"To the pong to the ping," Jade smiled.
Tori's unusual attire attracted the attention of a number of other patrons; a couple of older ladies, who stood by the door behind Sikowitz, were looking and pointing in the girl's direction.
"I can't believe what she's wearing," one observed, loud enough to be overheard by the brunette.
"Yes, I'm wearing a ping pong uniform," the irked girl snapped; the women fled from the restaurant in response to her shout.
"How could you not think to bring a fancy dress to this place?" Freddie asked with a smile and a shake of his head.
"I don't know. I just didn't, okay?" she snapped back in annoyance.
"You said you reminded everyone to bring nice clothes," Beck commented to his girlfriend.
"I did," she confirmed.
"You didn't remind me," Tori pointed out.
"Oh right, I meant to call you but then my mom reminded me that my favourite movie was about to start and I forgot," she ran a hand through her dark hair as she remembered why she hadn't called the other girl. "Sorry," she added in a genuine tone.
"How's everyone doing?" the smiling waitress enquired as she made her rounds of the restaurant; the teens groaned in appreciation of the quality of the food.
"Oh."
"It's so good."
"It's amazing."
"Good. Good, good." Satisfied, she made to leave the table to check on other patrons.
"Oh, wait, ma'am," Robbie called her back.
"Yes?" she prompted politely.
"What is this awesome dip?" he gestured to a tiny bowl in his hand.
"That's caviar."
"It's fantastic," the puppeteer enthused. "Can I get a big bowl of it?"
"A big bowl?" she asked, to confirm that she was hearing him correctly.
"Yeah, like a bowl for soup, but filled with this caviar stuff?"
"Ah, sure. I'll bring that right to your table."
"You're very kind," he told her; she gave him an odd look as she departed, only to be replaced by the duty manager.
"Is everyone happy tonight?" he asked them.
"Oh, it's wonderful," they chorused.
"How is your drink, sir?" he asked their teacher.
"Very moist. Thank you," Sikowitz replied.
A blonde member of staff interrupted them, informing him that "two more people are complaining there's no live music."
"So offer them a free dessert."
"I did. They're still upset."
"Excuse me," he apologised and left to deal with the dissatisfied customers.
"Here you are," the waitress had returned with Robbie's soup bowl full of caviar.
"Oh, thank you, dear," he said gratefully and began to enjoy it.
Tori, meanwhile, was taking her turn in fending off Cat's theory about one of the menu items.
"Are you sure?" the redhead asked.
"Yes. They can't grow lobster-flavoured potatoes," she insisted.
"I've had this conversation with her for the last two years," Freddie told the brunette sympathetically, while placing a placating hand on his girl's arm.
"Uh," André groaned over his dessert. "Uhhh- Uh, it's so good, but I'm so full."
"Come on, man up," Beck urged him. "Here we go." The long-haired teen filled a fork with his friend's dessert and began to feed it to him. "Oh, there it is. There it is. That's nice, isn't it? Just..."
"Thank you," the songsmith breathed.
"Breathe through it," the actor urged.
"You're a good friend," the musician complemented him.
Cat, wielding strawberry on her fork, was still espousing her theories to the brunette singer. "Okay. What if, like, a farmer planted a lobster and a potato in the same hole? Maybe it would grow a lobtato." She giggled at the idea and the term.
Freddie gave his friend a meaningful look; Tori sighed in resignation.
"Yes, Cat, a lobtato would grow. I'll tell the farmers."
Feeling vindicated, Cat nodded happily and returned to her dessert.
One of the waiters, meanwhile, visited Sikowitz; "Here's your check," he told the teacher.
"Thank you," he accepted it before taking the last mouthful of his own dessert; the eccentric acting teacher looked at the check and spat out his last morsel out again. "What the hair bones?" he yelped.
"What?" Jade asked curiously, confused by his reaction.
"It's $1,300!"
"What?" Freddie was stunned by the cost.
"It's never been over 700," Cat pointed out.
"Way to go, Tori," Jade snapped.
"I ordered the same thing you did," the lighter brunette pointed out to her rival.
"Wait, wait, I see the problem. They mistakenly charged us an extra $600 for caviar," Sikowitz observed.
Robbie looked somewhere between sheepish and horrified. "Oh," he whispered as his friends relaxed, knowing that the 'problem' was soon to be solved.
"Excuse me, sir?" the balding adult called.
"Hi. Is anything wrong?" the manager from earlier came over.
"Yes. We were mistakenly charged for $600 worth of caviar."
"Oh, that's not a mistake," the waitress from earlier interrupted. "That awkward young man ordered a large bowl of caviar." All eyes turned accusingly to Robbie.
"Man, what were you thinking?" he demanded of Rex.
"I didn't order any caviar," the puppet defended.
"Robbie!" Cat complained.
"I didn't know it was that expensive," he argued.
"What are you talking about?" André demanded as the others began to squabble among themselves.
Sikowitz called over them, "Alright, alright, alright! Hush. Robbie can't help what he is. Nevertheless," he told the restaurant staff nervously, "we don't have enough money to pay the check."
"Well, sir, I'm sorry, but payment is required, or I'm going to have to call the police," the manager replied.
"The police?" he gasped amid renewed bickering from his charges.
"Oh, no," Jade muttered.
"I'm sorry," Robbie shouted.
"Jail?" Cat wailed.
"I am not going to jail," André declared matter-of-factly.
Amid the confusion Sikowitz quietly got up from the table and ran off, leaving the restaurant by the door behind him.
"Hey!" Freddie shouted after the teacher but the balding man refused to stop.
"Claude. Claude," the restaurant's owner strode over to the manager; he wasn't happy.
"Yes, Mr. Conrad?" Claude turned to his boss.
"Where is the live music?" he demanded.
"Well..."
"I thought Perry and Jordan were performing."
"There was a golfing accident," Claude explained. "Perry took a ball to the head."
"And you didn't book another music act?" the owner was fuming.
"I didn't find out until 4:30," the manager defended himself.
"People come here for classy, live music. Do you know how many customers are complaining?"
"Sir, I didn't have the time—" Claude began.
"Uh, guys, guys," Tori interrupted them, "I think I may be able to fix both our problems here." She turned to Jade and whispered, "Give me your dress."
Jade, who was still finishing her dessert, turned to the other girl as if she was crazy. Through a mouthful of food she asked, "what?"
"Give me your dress," the lighter-haired girl repeated.
Still eating, the gothic teen gestured to her outfit, "this one?"
"Why can't Jade just sing?" Freddie asked casually, while scanning the back of the property for any sign of the runaway teacher.
Tori floundered a little at the question but replied, "Well, it's a song that André wrote and I've practiced with him. I'm not sure Jade knows it…"
Jade swallowed her morsel then added, in a bored voice, "hey if she wants to sing for our supper, I'm game." The two girls rose from the table and headed for the ladies' room.
The Slap Mobile
Tori Vega: Jade's dress feels warm.
Mood= Tuneful
André sat behind the piano; Tori leaned over it as the musician began the introduction to the piece.
"Ah, ah, oh,"
Tori joined in and together they sang, "yeah, yeah,"
Tori continued alone, "the situation turned around," and as she sang she began to walk around the stage. "Enough to figure out that someone else has let you down,"
André made the next couple of lines a duet, "So many times, I don't know why," before Tori continued alone,
"But I know we can make it, as long as you say it, so tell me that you love me, yeah,"
The waiter who was standing nearby helped the girl onto a stool, from there she took a seat on top of the piano and continues, "and tell me that I take your breath away."
André joined in with, "And maybe if you take one more, then I would know for sure, there's nothing left to say,"
"Tell me that you love me anyway," Tori concluded the chorus.
Cat, sitting next to Freddie; her boyfriend's arm wrapped around her, gave an enthusiastic cheer, "Whoo!" at the performance.
"Owww!" Robbie joined in.
The waiter, meanwhile, helped Tori to climb back down from the piano. "So tell me that you love me anyway," the half-Latina sang.
"Whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh," she and her songsmith friend added; Tori began walking around the restaurant singing to and gently, slightly flirtatiously, interacting with the other diners.
"Waking up beside yourself," she continued, "and what you feel inside is being shared with someone else,"
"Nowhere to hide I don't know why," she and the pianist sang before she continued alone,
"But I know we can make it as long as you say it,"
André joined in as they began the chorus again, "So tell me that you love me, yeah, and tell me that I take your breath away, and maybe if you take one more then I would know for sure…"
Sikowitz, seeing things were somewhat calmer inside, sneaked back inside and rejoined the group's table; Freddie threw a filthy look in his direction as he spotted him.
"There's nothing left to say, tell me that you love me anyway," his friends continued oblivious to the teacher's reappearance.
Tori was helped back onto the piano and leaned towards André as she sang alone, "show me, look what we found,"
"It's turning around every day," he sang with her before she continued alone,
"I can hear what you say,"
"Now I know why, I know we can make it," they sang together before she offered her hand to the waiter and was helped down to the floor again. "If you tell me that you love me, yeah, and tell me that I take your breath away," she sang, gently pulling Cat's hand as she walked past the red-head, who grinned in delight. Tori then blew Freddie a kiss as she passed him; he smiled, Jade frowned.
"And maybe if you take one more," she touched the gothic teen's shoulder; Jade glared at her and she backs off quickly, "So tell me that you love me, yeah, and tell me that I take your breath away." She moved to stand behind André and they continues, "and maybe if you take one more then I would know for sure,"
"There's nothing left to say but tell me that you love me anyway," she concluded, heralding enthusiastic applause from the remainder of her group and all of the patrons.
"That was fantastic," Freddie complimented her as she sat down and she patted his arm gratefully.
"I like the dress," Jade goaded playfully; Tori threw her a sarcastic smile and turned to talk to the tech producer and his girlfriend.
Mr Conrad returned to their table, having finally found a new live music act to perform for the remainder of the evening. He spoke to Sikowitz and agreed to take the cash that the group still had and, along with Tori and André's performance, call it even. With some relief the group got up from the table and left the restaurant.
"What's up with you?" Jade asked, seeing the dark look on Freddie's face as they headed for their teacher's van.
"Sikowitz," he said simply, "did you see him run off after that Claude guy mentioned calling the police? He was going to just leave us there and save his own skin – some chaperone and responsible adult he is," the boy spat out in disgust. "If he wasn't our ride I'd have called him out here and now; I guess it can wait until class next week."
"I wonder what they'll do once we graduate and there are no more trophies won, probably new players wanting to join the 'team'; do you think the whole thing just unravels?" Jade commented thoughtfully.
"Maybe; if it does they'll probably blame Sikowitz," he brightened. "It's a shame we won't get to see that."
Jade and Cat exchanged looks; again this was a side of Freddie that they weren't used to seeing, one that had manifested ever since his 'issues' with Lindsey and a side that he was showing towards someone the girls considered to be their favourite teacher. While they (Jade especially) could agree with his main point, and his annoyance towards the guy, the underlying anger he was showing worried them. Happily for the dark-haired teen, she was to have a welcome distraction as Beck leaned over to her.
"Hey," he whispered, "want to come to the RV when we get back? Have a little you-and-me time after all of this?"
"Sure," she smiled, closing her eyes as he planted a soft kiss on her cheek. Just maybe, she thought, things aren't too bad for us after all. Cat, meanwhile, watched Freddie closely, wondering if, despite his relaxed posture, things still weren't quite right for him.
AN: Thanks for reading; I hope to see you all for the next chapter.