AN: Hello everyone and welcome to my latest chapter for this story; I hope that you all enjoy it. I had hoped that it would be up a little earlier but things never go quite the way you wanted, do they? I hope that you all feel that it was worth the wait.
As always at this point, my thanks go out to everyone who read and reviewed the last chapter.
Challenge King – for whatever reason Cat wasn't in The Wood (presumably Ariana was busy during filming) and it ties in quite nicely with this chapter, as you will see. Her present may have surprised some people but there had been a couple of hints in recent chapters that the idea was growing in her head; it certainly does show how her feelings for him have developed over the course of their relationship. And, yes, they have needed to have a talk about what happened after the Prom.
Fanfic-Reader-88 – Freddie wasn't the one to run off; Cat did after his reaction.
Darck Ben – you're welcome and thanks.
Agent-M – thanks; I hope you feel that I've managed to pull it off a little with this chapter. I, too, dislike the way Cat's IQ nose-dived over the course of the show and took the character with it.
DoubblySquared – thanks. I'm glad that you've been enjoying it.
Pbow – I'll defer to your knowledge on TV regulations.
KoiChoco – Yes, the talk is finally here. Beck being jealous? I'm not sure, maybe so given how close Freddie and Jade are, even platonically.
That's everyone, so here's the next chapter; I hope you all enjoy it.
Chapter 30: Robarazzi
Valentine Residence,
Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles
Saturday, 5th February 2011.
"Cat? Cat? Please open the door." The brown-haired teen was knocking softly on the door to his girlfriend's bathroom, where she was currently ensconced and, by the sound of it, in tears. "Ok then, I'll explain everything through the door if I have to," he continued glumly, really not wanting to have this conversation with a plank of wood. "I know how lame 'it's not you, it's me' sounds but, in this case, there's no other way to describe it."
"What do you mean?" the muffled call came through the door.
"To understand that, there's something you need to know and understand – something important," he sighed.
He heard a shuffling sound followed by the lock on the door clicking; it opened inwards to reveal the tear-stained and confused-looking face of Cat Valentine. His heart ached anew, knowing that he had caused this but he offered her his hand and, slightly to his surprise, she acquiesced; he led her back to her room and steered her into a seated position on her bed. He himself remained stood, albeit slightly hunched because he kept her hand in his own.
"Cat, Lindsey raped me," he stated flatly, feeling a weight leave his shoulders at the admission. While he could sigh with some relief the girl gasped and covered her mouth with her free hand; her boyfriend released her hand and turned his back on her, taking a few steps around the room before continuing, "It happened after the Prom a couple of years ago. We took the limo back to her place afterwards, she opened a bottle of wine, plenty of it found its way down my throat and she led me up to her room. The rest of that evening is blurry but the morning after isn't, when she did it again. My body betrayed me – I was a fifteen-year-old boy after all – and that's why I kinda spent the next few weeks trying to figure out what exactly had happened to me."
"I remember; you weren't Freddie anymore at that time."
"Yeah, that's why," he replied. "It took me a long time to work through it all and, just as I figured that I had, she dumped me and I was back to square one again."
Cat nodded but said nothing; her eyes urged him to continue, softening as she took in his features. The boy seemed embarrassed, ashamed she thought.
"I tried to put it all behind me at New Year, not this one, the one before," he clarified; Cat nodded, smiling as she thought back on the most recent New Year party the teens had thrown at André's home (his parents were spending New Year with his grandmother) where they'd all had a good time – and the two of them had snuck off for a few clandestine make-out sessions before sharing a very pleasant New Year kiss on the stroke of midnight. "But then remember the day I rushed up to Seattle?" She nodded again, recalling how his mood had collapsed in an instant after his ex-girlfriend called him. "I heard from Lindsey," he spat out the blonde's name, "and again all the hurt and pain started to churn up again. It wasn't until I talked to Spencer about it," Cat's eyes widened at this disclosure, "that I really felt that I could start to move on and move past it."
"So he's the only person you told before now?"
"No," he sighed, taking a seat next to her on the bed and holding her hand again; he turned to her and, slowly, deliberately, continued, "Jade knows." Cat gasped again, wondering how her best friend and her boyfriend had both kept this from her for so long. "She saw how I was that Monday and well… you know from when you told her about seeing Lane – she's good at getting people to admit things they'd rather not." In spite of her mood Cat giggled her acknowledgement of his point before turning uncharacteristically serious.
"Why did you sound so embarrassed about telling me what happened? None of this was your fault!" she insisted, squeezing his hand firmly.
"Yes, I know that now, but it's just… what happened, the circumstances, the aftermath. You can't understand how it feels, Cat, and I don't know how to put the feelings into words." He cupped her cheek gently with her free hand. "I'm going to do everything I can to make sure you never have to experience that." She nodded, albeit a little hesitantly. "I don't mean…" he tried to clarify before letting go of her cheek and looking away again, turning his gaze towards the door. "The rational part of my brain knows that people make love," he noted wearily, "but up here," he gestured to his head, "I can only associate sex with being violated right now," he turned back to her and concluded, "so I'm sorry Cat but until I can change that, I don't think we can be that intimate," he finished with a few tears slipping from his eyes.
His girlfriend reached up with her free hand and dabbed at the tears. "Why did you never tell me?" she asked softly. "You told Jade and you told Spencer, but not me. Who else knows? Your mom?"
"No, she doesn't know," he insisted. "Can you imagine how she'd react?" The couple both shuddered in unison at the thought. "I never told you because… how do I do that? We weren't together but we were still friends. It's not like in the aftermath I could just walk up to you and say, 'Hey Cat, guess what Lindsey and I did at the weekend' is it?" She gave an involuntary laugh. "And anyway, you know I was in no fit state to talk to anyone. When things went bad with Lindsey… again it was difficult to suddenly say, after all that time, what had happened and why I was worried. It was easier to tell Sam when she came for a surprise visit."
"Wait, Sam knew too?" The feeling of hurt welling up inside the girl raised another notch at the news that someone else also knew yet she didn't.
"Yeah, she was a lot more objective, she wasn't going to be around every day and she was someone I'd bonded with when I saw her in juvie those times. We really grew close, best friends, and she was someone I could voice my fears to."
"Fears?"
"I was scared. We were still together, Lindsey and me, we'd slept together but at the time I didn't think of it as rape, more as a seduction. I'd rationalised it and decided that it was a part of our relationship and if she'd wanted it to happen again – it never did by the way – then I'd have said yes because it had become a part of 'us'. Of course we broke up a day or two later so it was never an issue again."
"I wish you'd told me," she sighed again.
"I'm sorry, Cat, it sounds really lame now but… there was never a time or a place to do it – until now I guess," he finished sadly. "I know it's a lot to take in, and I'll understand if you're mad at me for keeping it from you."
When Cat didn't reply Freddie glanced at his watch. "2 a.m.," he observed, "I guess I should go home and let you get some sleep."
He was surprised when the girl caught his shirt and tugged him back onto the bed. "You could stay?" she suggested. "Not to do anything," she hurriedly insisted, "but if I can't slay that demon tonight then maybe there's one that can be put to rest." In reply to his still-confused look she whispered, "Waking up next to someone who cares about you and wants you to feel safe in their arms – and their bed."
Freddie's features morphed into a broad smile. "You are quite the feline," he marvelled at his girl's unusual demonstration of perception. She grinned back at him, happily.
The Pear Store employee shook off his red work shirt and removed his shoes, jeans and socks, slipping tentatively under the girl's bed's covers wearing only his boxer shorts. Cat, still clad in her lingerie, snuggled next to him, draping her right arm over him and smiling peacefully as she closed her eyes. Freddie took her right hand in his left and leaned over to plant a kiss on her lips. "Goodnight, Cat," he whispered, closing his eyes and letting sleep take him quickly. For his girlfriend, however, it would take a little longer to come as questions and feelings raced remorselessly around her brain.
The next thing Freddie knew was a warm, peaceful sensation, along with the feeling of still having an arm resting on his abdomen. He opened his eyes and was greeted by the soft brown eyes and gentle smile of his girlfriend.
"Hey," he smiled back. "How long have you been awake?"
"Oh not long," she replied, swooping in for a quick kiss.
"What time is it?" he wondered groggily.
"It is," Cat leaned back and recovered her phone, "7:30."
"7:30… my mom gets home a little after 8. We have a little bit of time then," he grinned, shuffling backwards into a half-sitting position and gently urging the girl into his arms. Cat went a little further and wriggled into his lap, where he encased her with his arms as hers slid behind his back.
The young couple kissed and cuddled peacefully for a little while before a beep came from the floor where Freddie had left his clothing the previous night. "That'll be mom," he informed his girlfriend, "she usually texts to let me know she's just left work. I guess I should go, otherwise she'll freak, race over here, kill us first and then start asking the questions."
Cat's brow knotted in confusion. "But how can she ask questions if... oh, I get it," she giggled.
The tech genius reluctantly eased himself out of her gentle embrace, and the bed, and began to dress again in his clothes from the previous day. He smiled as he did, realising something. "You were right about slaying a demon," he told her, "thank you."
Cat just giggled again. "Of course," she smiled, "oh and…" she padded around the bed to pull him into her arms, kissing him deeply, "Happy birthday."
"Right, I knew that," he muttered, a little embarrassed to have completely forgotten what day it was. "So you'll be over this afternoon for the party?"
"Of course," she confirmed happily, taking his hand and walking downstairs with him. Freddie felt in his pocket for his keys and nodded.
"Great and… I'm sorry again for last night," he told her sincerely.
"It's alright," she brushed him off, "I kinda sprung it on you. I just thought it would be a nice present."
"The thought was great – and if your boyfriend wasn't so messed up…" She cut him off by placing a finger on his lips; her eyes were fierce.
"That is not your fault," she insisted, "and don't you think you're messed up for one minute, Freddie Benson." She took her hand from his face and took both of his in her own. "However long it takes," she promised, "we will get through this together."
He smiled, his heart melting at the wonderful girl in front of him. He leaned in and kissed her again. "We will," he promised, "I'll see you later Cat."
"Bye," she grinned, waving as he walked to his car. She sighed deeply as she closed the door, running a hand through her hair in thought and frustration.
Benson Residence
Freddie just made it; he grinned with mild relief as he looked through the living room window, having just locked the front door, and spotted his mother's car turning into their street. The brown-eyed teen dashed upstairs to his bathroom and got into the shower, washing away the stresses and strains of the previous night, watching the water drain away with the bitterness of the discussion he and Cat had had. She had surprised him, he reflected, with how she had reacted. Unsurprisingly the conversation had been mostly about him, about what had happened to him and how it all affected him. He realised that they hadn't really discussed her reaction much, if at all. It was something, he decided, that would have to happen during his party later on when he got the chance.
The running water, and the thoughts pounding around the teenager's head, had masked another pounding; that of his mother on his bathroom door. The noise became fully audible when he switched off the tap and got out of the shower cubicle.
"Mom?" he called, feigning surprise.
"Of course it's me," Marissa replied, "are you alright? Where's my birthday boy?"
"Hold on, mom, I'll be out in a minute." Freddie grabbed a towel and wiped off the bulk of the water from his frame; he realised that, in his hurry, he hadn't taken any clean clothes into the room with him so he quickly stuffed his worn things into the laundry basket and wrapped the towel around his waist before unlocking the door and greeting his mother.
"Oh, here he is, my seventeen-year-old," the matriarch flung herself upon him, "look at you," she smiled, "my little man," and she kissed him tenderly.
"Thanks mom," he whispered, "I love you too," and he hugged her back.
Marissa tried to stifle a yawn. "You had a long shift," he put his hand on her shoulder, "and we have the party tonight so you should get some rest. I'll be here later," he finished with a smile.
"Alright Freddie," she conceded reluctantly and headed for her room; Freddie made his way to his own and pulled on a penny-T (grey with BIRTHDAY BOY emblazoned on it in yellow; it was his gift from Sam), a pair of boxer shorts, some medium-blue jeans and his favourite blue-and-white patterned shirt, which he wore unbuttoned. He sighed as he wondered about what to do with his morning; he would have to help his mother organise everything for the party since she would be sleeping until early afternoon. He thought of Cat; should he call her, try to talk to her again before everyone showed up, before his mom woke up, and make sure that everything was good with the girl?
The answer to part of his morning would soon be arriving; a text arrived at his phone, from Carly, wishing him a happy birthday and asking for a video chat "in an hour or so once Sam has woken up." He smiled at this part in particular, noting that the blonde was still a very heavy sleeper.
Freddie made his way downstairs to the kitchen, figuring that he may as well have some breakfast while he waited for the Seattle girls to be ready to talk to him. He chewed on the tasteless muesli Marissa still insisted on buying, wondering how his girl was right now.
Valentine Residence
Like her boyfriend, Cat was having breakfast, mulling over things. Like her boyfriend, she had received a text from her mother letting her know that they would be home soon. She had a little while longer but still decided it was prudent to shower and change into more normal clothing (for now she wore an old pair of faded jeans and her red-and-blue checked shirt; she planned to change later for the party). The girl had stowed the lingerie at the back of her chest of drawers, hoping that her mother wouldn't find it and start asking awkward questions about it; meanwhile she had plenty of time to reflect on how she felt about the events of the last twelve hours or so. Rival emotions battled for dominance over her mind and her feelings; abandoning her toast the redhead folded her arms, placed them on the table, rested her head on top of them and growled in frustration. She raised her head and thought about calling Freddie for a talk before deciding that it could wait until later. Meanwhile there was someone that she could talk to… Cat gathered up the remnants of her breakfast, quickly devoured it, picked up her keys from the table and dashed out of the house, pausing briefly to lock the door behind her.
West Residence
"Jadelyn, Caterina's here," Mrs West called as the short teen bounced into her home.
"In the den," her daughter hollered back simply; the West matriarch gestured towards the back of the house with her head, which Cat took as an invitation to go on through. She found her best friend reclining on the couch, passing the time in front of a game on her Pear Box console; she was lazily shooting some zombies and smiling with satisfaction as she spread their gory parts across the landscape.
Instead of announcing herself Cat hesitated on the threshold, a little unsure of what to say or do; she opted for silence and continued to observe. A few moments later the gothic teen's head snapped up.
"Oh you're here," she noted in mild surprise.
"Yeah," Cat padded across the room and took a seat in one of the armchairs that decorated it. This surprised Jade somewhat as the girl would usually slide onto the couch next to her, invading her personal space and giggling at the discomfort that it caused her.
"Is everything ok?" she asked cautiously. "I thought you'd be spending the day with Freddie."
"Well," she began hesitantly, not meeting the other's eyes, "um…"
"Come on Cat, out with it," Jade's impatience had returned; she set the gun controller down on the floor and turned to face her, resting both hands in her lap.
"Why did you never tell me about him and Lindsey?" the redhead shot out.
Jade cocked her head in confusion; of course Cat knew that he had dated Lindsey for months. They had been there and caught them kissing when they got together.
"I mean them sleeping together," the red velvet-haired girl clarified, "her raping him. You never told me that and you've known for two years," the hurt in her voice was rising with each word the girl annunciated.
Jade gaped. "He told you then? At last?"
"Yes. Why didn't you? You're supposed to be my best friend."
Jade shook her head. "Slow down and back up a minute. What happened? When did he tell you?"
"Last night. I uh…" she grinned sheepishly as her anger cooled, "I wanted to do something nice for him, for his birthday and after we'd been apart, so I bought some nice lingerie," Jade stifled a chuckle at Cat's phonetic pronunciation (ling-err-ee), "when I was in San Francisco last week. I was wearing it when he came over after work because I wanted us to… y'know," she prompted uncomfortably, "and he turned me down." The girl's eyes filled with tears. "It hurt so bad; he rejected me. But then he explained why, what happened with her, all of it. And you knew… and Sam knew… and even Spencer knew, but nobody thought to tell me so I wouldn't make a complete idiot of myself in front of him."
The girl took a couple of breaths; her anger had burnt out but was replaced by misery, embarrassment and humiliation. Cat began to sob as Jade looked on awkwardly. Reluctantly, the girl rose and squeezed into the armchair next to her, pulling her weeping best friend into a one-armed hug.
"Why didn't I tell you?" she asked in an uncharacteristically soft voice. Cat sniffled as she nodded. "Well for starters it wasn't my secret to tell; it's up to Freddie to decide who he told about this. I'm sure that it wasn't something he did lightly, and that it was something he thought was for the best."
"Why would he think that?"
"You'd have to ask him. But I know that he wouldn't do it to hurt you, Cat. In fact I'm pretty sure that would be why he wouldn't tell you, because he didn't want to hurt you."
"Well it did," she wailed morosely.
Jade's brain was reeling from information overload; the gothic girl tried to process what Cat had wanted to do, that she and Freddie had had that talk, all of it. Completely at a loss for something to say, she was grateful that her friend was still rather upset; it meant that she could just sit there with her and didn't have to try and say anything.
Benson Residence
"Hi girls," Freddie smiled as Carly and Sam filled his computer screen.
"Happy birthday!" they called in unison. "And tonight," Sam added alone, "we're going to do a special…"
"A spectacular," Carly added.
"Freddie's birthday edition of," Sam took up.
"iCarly," the two called together.
"Featuring all your favourite characters," Carly smiled.
"That's me and her," Sam interjected, earning an elbow to the ribs from the brunette.
"In one crazy half-hour," the other girl finished with a smile.
"That'll be great; I can't wait, girls. You know we're having a party here – it's a shame you two can't be here – but I'll make sure we're watching."
"And we'll be watching when your new show airs… The Wood?" Sam prompted, frowning a little.
"Don't hold your breath," he chuckled and explained about the show's woes and how it was unlikely that it would make it to air featuring the Hollywood Arts students. Carly looked horrified at Tori and Jade's mistake; Sam, of course, roared with laughter at the tale.
They chatted a little longer; Spencer came over to add his birthday wishes to the seventeen-year-old before they signed off with the girls promising to make the show their best ever. Freddie scratched his chin and cautiously opened his bedroom door, looking down the corridor and sneaking down to his mother's room. Her door was still shut so he crept back, closed his own bedroom door and slipped into the closet, pulling it to behind him and sitting as best as he could against the back of it. He thumbed through his phone's contacts and placed a call to Sam.
"Hey, did you forget something?" Her voice married surprise and confusion.
"Kinda," he began. "Look Sam, last night… Cat and I – we talked. I told her about… me and Lindsey."
"Really?" Sam looked around; she had given herself a few paces of room from the Shay siblings but they looked expectantly at her when she had suggested that she was talking to Freddie. The blonde dashed upstairs, much to Carly's surprise and slight hurt, closing her bedroom door behind her. "Ok, I'm alone. Talk. What happened?"
Freddie went over the events of the previous night and morning: what Cat had done, how he had reacted, their talk, all of it.
"So how was she?"
"She seemed ok when I left. I thought about calling her this morning to make sure but then I was talking to you guys. I'll be seeing her this afternoon at my party so I'm sure we'll get a chance for a little alone-time where we can talk."
"You should. She's probably freaked out by it all," the former trouble-maker reasoned.
"Yeah, I will do."
"How do you feel, now that she knows?"
"I'm ok. It helped a little, helped me to rationalise my feelings and work out what I think. I still have a long way to go," and he talked more about why he had reacted the way that he did. Sam nodded sympathetically.
"You need to finally put it behind you so you can really move on," she stated bluntly.
"The thing is – I don't know how to ever do that," he complained.
"Well, at least you know that your friends will help you any way we can," she encouraged.
"Thanks, Sam," he finished, and they rang off.
"Was that Freddie?" Carly demanded as Sam returned to the 8th floor living area of the Shay apartment.
"Yeah, there was something he wanted to talk to me about."
"And he couldn't have in front of me?" The brunette sounded hurt.
"Look, Carls," Sam began, "as much as things are good between us, and you and Freddie are good friends, we bonded in a special way while I was in juvie; he was there for me when nobody else was…"
"Including me," Carly bowed her head in shame. Sam chose to ignore the confession.
"He told me things that he knows he can trust me with. I won't betray that trust. If in time he shares them with you, that's his choice to make – not mine."
Carly nodded glumly. "I'm going upstairs to check on the studio," she muttered, sweeping past the other girl.
"Did it have anything to do with Lindsey?" Spencer asked cautiously in a low voice.
"What did he tell you?" The blonde was still unwilling to disclose anything.
"The Prom." Sam's face flickered and Spencer knew that they were both confidents of the Los Angeles-based boy. "After the Prom," he continued.
"Yes," Sam relented, "it was about that. But I'm still not going to tell anyone what he just told me; it's not my secret to tell."
Spencer nodded his understanding.
Marissa woke up around 1 p.m. Once downstairs she was greeted by the sight of Freddie lounging on the couch watching Celebrities Underwater. She was a little surprised to see that he was alone.
"Hi Freddie, I thought Cat might be with you," she observed.
"She'll be over for the party, with the rest of them, and I saw her last night after work. I knew that we needed to get everything ready this afternoon, though, and she might not really have helped us to do that," he concluded delicately.
His mother nodded, understanding his meaning that the girl could prove quite the distraction to him if she put her mind to it.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the girl in question was to be the first guest to arrive; she had changed into a medium blue dress that covered barely half of her thighs while standing, something that raised Marissa's eyebrows. Another thing that surprised her was the slightly more cordial greeting that the two shared; while they did hug and kiss Cat seemed a little less enthusiastic than usual to the reddish-brunette's eye.
The change wasn't lost on the birthday boy either; he didn't get a chance to discuss it immediately with her as the others began to arrive (first Tori and Trina, followed by Beck and Jade, then Eli and finally André, Robbie and, to Freddie's annoyance, Rex).
Trina soon began to dominate proceedings in the living area, much to the general irritation of the others; Freddie took advantage of this to ask Cat to 'help' him check on things in the kitchen. His mother, and everyone else, assumed that the couple simply wanted a little privacy so they watched them go and tried to focus on not killing the elder Vega while they were gone.
"Is everything ok?" he asked quietly.
"What do you mean?" the redhead opted to play dumb.
"Cat, I sprang a lot on you last night, along with…" he sighed and gave another shame-faced look, "with turning you down. You've had a lot to process and… and to think about and we never really talked about you; it was all about how it had affected me. So how are you with it all?"
The cupcake lover lowered her head. "You're right. I felt embarrassed and humiliated when you said no. I couldn't figure out why, which was why I ran and I was crying. Then you told me why and I felt bad for bringing that all up again for you but I also felt upset that you seemed to have told everyone else but not me."
"I'm sorry Cat," he rested a hand on her bare shoulder, "you shouldn't have had to feel any of that. I thought I was doing the right thing in not telling you but now…" He took his hand off her and turned away. She surprised him by wrapping her arms around his middle and resting her head against his back.
"It's ok. I don't blame you for it," she insisted, "I think it's just going to take a couple of days for it to all really sink in and for us to figure out how to get past it. In the meantime I got you another present," she raised up to her tiptoes and whispered wickedly into his ear, "since you didn't like the last one."
"It's not that I…" he insisted but she cut him off.
"I know, Freddie, I was kidding but I wanted to get you something. I just need to wait on it being delivered."
"Oh?" He was intrigued.
"Yeah, it's 'The World's Smallest Calculator.' I saw it in the Sky Store magazine on the flight back from San Francisco yesterday so I ordered it before I left to come here."
Freddie was glad that his back was still to his girl; he didn't think much of Sky Store, particularly in terms of the cost of the various things that they sold, but he didn't want to risk offending his girlfriend again. Instead he wriggled around in her embrace and smiled warmly as his eyes met hers.
"You didn't have to do that but thank you," and he kissed her. It was the sight that greeted Marissa when she joined them in the kitchen.
"When you two are done," she called, interrupting them; their lips separated and they turned to her, while remaining in their embrace, "can you help me to start bringing the food out?"
"Sure Mrs Freddie's mom," Cat's eyes flashed mischievously, "about five minutes?" she asked innocently.
Freddie grinned. "Better make it ten," he commented.
"Very funny," his mother grumbled. "Things are ready now."
The couple reluctantly separated and started to help with the meal.
"Hey," Jade finally cornered Freddie outside his bathroom; she had given him a 'head start' before heading upstairs in the hope of talking to him alone.
"Hi Jade," he smiled.
"I'm sorry." His eyes widened in surprised confusion. "I mean for what I said last week about Lindsey and corrupting you." When he seemed no less confused she elaborated further. "Cat came to see me this morning; she told me about last night."
"Oh," he remarked in a flat tone.
"Yeah, I just hope that what I said, teasing you about it, didn't cause you to… react how you did."
"It didn't," he assured her. "I just… it's what sex means to me right now. Something else that I need to fix in my head, something else that she screwed up for me," he complained.
"How are you going to fix it?"
"I really don't know," he admitted.
Hollywood Arts High School
Monday, 7th February 2011
"We'll see you out there?" Freddie asked. Jade nodded, having just confirmed that, as usual, the group would be meeting for lunch at their regular table by the parking lot.
"Hey, what was with Robbie all morning?" Cat asked as she reorganised her bag and her locker ahead of the afternoon; Freddie was doing likewise.
"He has to meet some of the kids who run The Slap; something about his blog."
"What about it?" the redhead asked curiously.
"I think they're going to tell him that it sucks."
"Oh. Poor Robbie."
"Delivery for Cat Valentine?" A uniformed guy had just entered the school; he held a large parcel.
"Me! Me! I'm Cat Valentine," she bounced over and accepted the goods, signing for them and thanking the man.
"Uh, what is that?" Freddie wondered.
"It's something I bought from Sky Store," she exclaimed happily; Freddie pulled a face as she turned her attention to opening the cardboard box. He remained concerned about the cost of the items but figured that she deserved a treat after the events of the weekend.
Asphalt Café
Cat ran up to the group's table, where André, Tori, Beck and Jade were sitting and having their lunch, holding her unwrapped purchase; Freddie sauntered cautiously behind her. She excitedly set the machine down in the middle of the table. The kids looked from it to the couple and then return to their meals.
"Don't you guys wanna know what that is?" the redhead demanded offendedly.
"No and I'm sure I'm not going to care when you do tell me," Jade observed dryly.
"That's so hurtful," her best friend complained.
"Yeah, Jade, you hurt her feelings," Tori grinned.
"See Tori's interested in my device," the cupcake lover beamed.
"I'm really not," the half-Latina admitted weakly.
"Aw c'mon Little Red," André urged the sad girl, "tell us about your doohickey."
"Okay," she smiled, taking a seat, "it's called 'The Snowbee'. Watch."
Freddie made sure to cover his lunch with its case and his hands as Cat set it in motion; white powder spewed forth from it, covering them, their lunches and the table.
"It makes pretend snow!" she cried happily.
"I see that," the songsmith noted.
"It's all over my tostada," Beck complained.
"And my pizza," Tori added.
"Well do not eat it," Freddie warned; his own lunch had stayed mercifully clean as he had protected it.
"Why?" Jade asked suspiciously.
"'Cause it says the fake snow is toxic and can cause abdominal bleeding," Cat consulted the instructions.
As one the others pushed their now poisoned lunches to the centre of the table.
"So what made you buy a machine that poisons people's lunches?" Tori wondered aloud.
"This catalogue," the shorter girl smiled, brandishing the Sky Store document.
"Sky store?" Beck was surprised.
"Yeah," she continued gaily, "You all know I went to visit my uncle and uncle last week in San Francisco and they had these on the plane. It's like filled with all kinds of cool stuff you can buy," she thumbed through it. "Oh like this: A tree face." She showed it off happily. "You put it on your tree to give it a face."
"What if you don't have a tree?" the half-Latina thought she had spotted a fateful gap in the enthusiastic girl's logic.
"It also works on bushes," Cat explained.
"Unbelievable," Robbie snarled as he joined them and sat at the table. "You guys have no idea how upset I am about..." He paused as he saw the white dusting covering his friends. "It snowed? In Los Angeles?"
"I told you global warming was bogus," Rex contributed.
"Stop watching Fox News," his handler urged.
"No it's fair and balanced," the puppet countered.
"It's ok if you treat it as entertainment," Freddie smiled, brushing the powder off his lunch case, opening it and carrying on with his meal, much to the annoyance of the others, all of whom had had their lunch ruined by Cat's device. "And it's not real snow anyway."
"But you can eat it," Jade encouraged him.
"I don't wanna eat anything," the ventriloquist sighed.
"What are you all upset about?" André pried.
"This time?" interjected Beck.
"The seniors, the ones who run The Slap. They wanna cancel my blog."
"Why?" Jade asked then paused. "Oh, wait, I don't care."
"Why?" Tori asked.
"'Cause it's boring," Rex taunted.
"It is not bor..." he argued, much to Freddie's amusement, "Do you guys think that my blog on The Slap is boring?"
The teens looked awkwardly from one to the other. Freddie didn't want to upset his friend any further so he suddenly observed, "Hey look it's that guy over there."
"It is that guy," Cat agreed and the couple stood and beat a hasty retreat.
"Wait up guy," André added and followed them, as did Beck.
"There's no guy," Jade told the curly haired teen as she, too, departed.
"I'm sorry they wanna cancel your blog," Tori, who had been left behind, told him sympathetically.
"I just don't understand why," Robbie lamented.
"Well what kind of things do you report on?" she prompted.
"You know, school news. Like last week I did a report about the library being painted."
"Borrrr-Riiiing," Rex called.
"What else?" the girl pressed.
"I did a piece about Principal Eikner's new office makeover." Rex yawned theatrically. "Oh I did a three-part series on car-pooling."
"Which was three parts too many," his puppet mocked.
"Look if you wanna save your blog," the singer suggested, "why don't you just make it about the students here? You know like all the stuff that goes on in their lives."
"You think?" he brightened.
"Sure."
"Okay I could try that."
"Good," she got up to leave. "Oh and don't eat the snow unless you wanna bleed internally."
"Okay," he was confused. "She's so cute," he noted as he watched the girl go.
"Girl like that wants a man not a boy," Rex quipped.
"I'll get there," he shot back.
Valentine Residence
Cat had called Freddie during his shift; she had urged him to come over afterwards as she had an idea for a new video that she wanted him to film (the idea came to her while Robbie was discussing his woes with the web site).
"Hello Mrs Valentine," he greeted his girl's mother as she answered the door, "how was your trip?"
"It was ok, thank you Freddie," she answered. "It was good to see our son and he is making some progress. Not enough or fast enough but…" she forced a smile, "hopefully he's getting there."
"That's encouraging anyway," the boy replied evenly. "Hello sir," he nodded to Cat's father as he passed him.
"Hi Freddie, how was the party yesterday?"
"It was great, thanks, we had a good time."
"Did you get any nice gifts?"
"Uh, some of them were good. One or two were rather surprising, but they were good, yeah."
He escaped as soon as he could and headed for Cat's room; she was sat at her desk working but turned to face him as he greeted her.
"Hi," he called.
"Oh hey Freddie, come on in. I'll just set things up…"
Once they were ready, Freddie trained his camera on the girl and switched it on.
"Hi-iii, it's me, Cat. Look what I bought from Sky Store! It's a blue plush lobster," she giggled, "and it's also a neck massager," she laughed as she flicked a small switch and it began to vibrate as she pressed it to her jugular and laughed again.
"Cat," Freddie called from behind the camera, pausing the recording as he did, "are you sure everything's ok. You seem to be buying quite a bit from that place - and it's expensive!"
"I'm fine, don't worry. Now, can we get on with the video?"
"Sure," he surrendered - for now.
"Ok, I'm here, Freddie's behind the camera - say hi Freddie."
As he used to on iCarly, he turned the camera to himself and said a quick hello to the viewers.
"It's tweet time with me, Cat," she continued as he focused the camera on her again, "so here's how it works. Tweet me about any subject; seriously, anything you want me to talk about and then I'll give you my thoughts on that subject - but only for 10 seconds which I will time with my super-cute pear phone," she showed off the pink device to the camera. "Ok, ready?" She set her phone down and looked at her computer.
"Alright, the first tweet just came in and says... Cat, what do you think of vegetables? Ok," she started the timer, "One time I was having dinner at my house and my mom was all 'you gotta eat your vegetables if you want to have dessert' and I thought to myself 'wait, you spell dessert with two 's's - d-e-s-s-e-r-t but if you take away one of those 's's the word turns into desert which is just a hot place with a bunch or sand and cactuses. I mean think about that, one s and your cupcake turns into a hot place with just sand and cactuses and..." she was interrupted by the beep of her timer.
Behind the camera Freddie was amused by his girlfriend's distracted musings; he shook his head and smiled.
"What?" she asked with a grin before looking at the camera. "Sorry, my boyfriend's laughing at this."
"I just like how you can turn thoughts on vegetables into desert versus dessert," he clarified.
"Ok then," she reached over the computer towards the camera; he lowered it to allow her to kiss him quickly before settling back into shot.
"Alright then, next one is... Why is it bad luck to walk underneath a ladder? I have no idea but think about it; it's also bad luck to break a mirror, right? So, if you took a mirror and smashed it while you were walking under a ladder, would you have like the worst luck ever OR," she raised a finger thoughtfully, "would the two events cancel each other out and you'd have amazing luck and win a pony?"
"That's your idea of amazing luck?" Freddie chuckled.
"Why, what's yours?" she asked curiously.
"Dating an amazing red-headed girl," he smiled.
"Aww," she reached up and they kissed again as the timer called a halt to this reply.
"This person," she returned her attention to the task in hand, "wrote: 'Hey Cat, what's wrong with you?'"
"You don't need to dignify them with an answer," Freddie snapped.
"No, no, it's fine," she assured him with a grin, "There's nothing wrong with me, nothing at all. I just love the world and sunshine, puppies and all nice things. Do you have a problem with that?"
Freddie nodded approvingly and she waved to him before returning to the camera.
"Ok, I should go; time's up and I want to spend the evening with my man. Bye!" She blew a kiss to the camera and beckoned Freddie over; he steered next to her, keeping the camera steady so they were both in shot. The redhead threw her arms around him and planted a kiss on his cheek before he switched off the video.
Hollywood Arts High School,
Tuesday 8th February 2011.
"Do you know what the problem is?" Freddie asked; he and Jade were leaving class and a knot of angry seniors were making their displeasure known near the Principal's office.
"They're upset because there hasn't been a Big Showcase yet this year," the gothic teen explained, "and there's been no hint of one being organised yet either. They're worried about missing out on a chance to display their skills to talent scouts and agents and the like."
"I can understand that," Freddie reasoned. "The principal really hasn't been too focussed lately has he? Not since he met that Tahitian lady over Christmas," he added thoughtfully.
"Well something needs to happen or these guys will be at a serious disadvantage." Jade failed to suppress a smile at the thought of a year group being so disadvantaged, something that would help her to get to the top with a little less competition. She tried to tell herself that it wasn't a nice thought but that part of her mind was struggling to win over the part that was so desperate to succeed in the business.
Freddie waved to Tori as he and his close friend headed for their next class; she didn't seem to notice them as she was scratching her face. A short distance away the brown-haired teen noticed Robbie interviewing Sinjin; he shook his head wondering what about that interview Robbie thought would make good blog material.
"How's Cat?" Jade asked cautiously.
"She's fine," he shrugged, "we recorded a new clip for her Slap page last night. It's all good."
"Dude," she began warningly, "you know that's not what I mean. How is she since she's had to deal with the whole… y'know, thing," she finished diplomatically, as a handful of students were walking the corridors with them.
"She seems ok about it all," he replied in a low voice. "We talked a little more at my party and she seems to understand why I did what I did – or didn't, whichever way you want to look at it, so yeah I think we're cool with it, though I doubt it will never come up again."
Jade nodded. "She's not normally good at keeping her cards close to her chest but… just make sure she really is ok."
"I will," he promised.
"And what about you and her?" she continues in a whisper. "Is she still talking about it?"
"Not since that night, no. I think she's leaving it up to me to raise again when I'm ready – which is really great of her. What about you?" he turned it around on her.
"Beck hasn't hinted anything recently. I really don't know what I'd do if he did," she admitted then snorted a laugh. "Panic, I guess, given how unsure I am."
"Well if you have any doubts, just say no," he insisted vehemently; she smiled but didn't reply as they had reached their next class.
Wednesday, 9th February 2011.
The bell for lunchtime had rung and Freddie was making his way down the main staircase; he had arranged to meet Cat by their lockers so they could go to lunch together, since they had been in different lessons beforehand. A number of kids were sitting on the stairs and laughing at whatever they were watching on their computers, which piqued his curiosity.
He stood over the shoulders of one group and, to his surprise, saw that they were laughing at Robbie's blog. "Okay," his voiceover explained, "now watch and you'll see Tori reach for her pimple. Wait for it and there it is… The squeezing. So gross."
The boy frowned, recognising the scene from yesterday; she must have been in the background of his interview with Sinjin. Unlike the other kids, he wasn't amused. "Really?" he challenged the group, "you're watching that? It's just him humiliating my friend!"
"Chill Freddie," one of the guys turned casually to face him, "it's funny."
"You'd be laughing too if she wasn't your friend," a pretty brunette sophomore he'd never encountered before argued.
The tech genius frowned; instead of answering he stormed downstairs, determining to speak to the guys in charge of The Slap about taking it down. He almost didn't see Cat coming in other direction; she raced over to him.
"Freddie, wait wait wait… Wait up!" the redhead tackled him into a hug.
"Oh okay all right," he smiled, "you caught me. What is it?"
"I wanna show you what I got."
The boy sighed at the thought that it was yet another Sky Store purchase. "Sure," he conceded.
"The world's brightest key chain," she shone it at him and he recoiled, trying to protect his eyes with his hand.
"Yeah okay! Alright that's bright. You can turn that off now."
"Too bright?" she asked.
"A little; you nearly blinded me," he observed, then sighed. "Listen, Cat, do you think maybe you're buying, you know, too many things from Sky Store?"
"No," she dismissed airily; she took his hand and they set off walking out to the Asphalt Café. "Oh hey... Can I borrow some money for lunch?"
"Of course I'll buy you lunch, how much?" He wasn't going to refuse his girl a meal.
"Forty-nine ninety-five plus shipping?"
"Cat…" he complained.
"Please..?" she begged; he stopped walking, pulling gently on their conjoined hands to get her to do likewise. He held her tenderly and looked into her welcoming brown eyes.
"I will buy you lunch but you can't keep buying stuff from there, you'll blow all your money."
She pouted but he was resolute. Swooping in, he planted a peck on her lips. "Now, let's go for lunch."
Just after they left, Robbie made his way back inside the school. "No I don't think it's going to rain," he told Rex.
"Hey Robbie!" the brunette who had challenged Freddie called.
"Oh hi!" he retorted.
"The Slap dot com," the boy with her smiled.
"That thing you did on Tori was hilarious," the girl continued.
"You liked my pimple piece?" he asked in surprise.
"Awesome," she enthused.
"Rocked," her boyfriend echoed.
"Thanks," he accepted their praise.
"Oh hey funny stuff on the slap," another kid praised him as they passed in the corridor.
"You liked it?"
"Loved."
The Slap's President, a dark haired guy, and two other committee members, a blonde girl and short, heavy-set dark haired guy, spied the curly-haired teen, "Hey Shapiro! Over here," the President urged.
"Please don't embarrass me," he begged his puppet.
"You're the embarrassment in our relationship," Rex countered.
"Hi you guys. Listen I put a new piece up on the slap last night..." he began nervously.
"Robbie," the senior began.
"We're not kicking you off The Slap," the blonde reassured him.
"You're not?" he asked in surprised relief.
"Dude that piece you posted about Tori's pimple..." the committee leader began.
"My pimple post?"
"Tons of views so far," the girl enthused.
"Tons?" he asked.
"It's trending," the heavy-set senior observed.
"For real?" He was amazed.
"Yeah," the teen reiterated. "You keep posting stuff like that you can be on The Slap as much as you want."
"And if you need any help," the blonde smiled, "we'll let you boss around the ninth graders."
"The Slap apprentices?"
"Slapprentices Benson wanted to call them," the President muttered.
"I liked that, I think it works," the blonde commented.
"Anyway, whatever you need."
"Great work Rob," the shorter senior complimented.
"Keep it hot," the girl encouraged.
"I'm a hit," Robbie exclaimed; just then an angry Tori stormed round the corner and spotted him.
"Robbie!" the furious half-Latina shouted and stormed towards him.
"You're about to get hit," Rex warned him; the ventriloquist turned and fled. Tori ran after him; she was faster, catching him just inside the school, grabbing him by the scruff of the neck and pulling him round to face her.
"Hey ya Tori," he began brightly and innocently. "How are things?"
"I see you're still rockin' that chin zit," the puppet added. As she pulled her fist back he added, "You hit me I'll sue."
"How could you post that video of me squeezing my pimple?" she demanded of the curly-haired teen.
"You told me to make my blog about the students, the stuff that goes on in their lives," he reminded her.
"Yeah not the stuff that grows on my face," she protested.
"But it's really popular," he countered.
"I told you to do stories about what's going on in students' lives not to embarrass and degrade people. I mean seriously, is being popular that important to you?"
Black Box Theatre.
School had just finished; Robbie's new blog was the talk of the entire student body so Freddie, Cat, Beck, André, Jade and Tori had gathered to see what he was reporting; they sat there watching his pear pad as the tech genius called it up, figuring he'd let some of the traffic dissipate before heading for work.
Their friend's visage filled the screen.
"Welcome to... Robarazzi; Starring Robbie Shapiro. Robarazzi your home for up to the minute tasty gossip about the students at Hollywood Arts... Robarazzi; Starring Robbie Shapiro."
"Oh my God!" Tori groaned.
"Coming up on Robarazzi… Tori Vega's pimple, shrinking or growing?"
Beck leaned in to poke the chin zit. "Don't touch it," the brunette snapped impatiently.
"Also does André Harris have a ketchup problem?" The assembled group looked at the songsmith; he was bewildered. "Does Sinjin van Cleef steal famous teeth?" André, Beck and Jade shrugged. "Probably."
Freddie paused the video. "Hang on," he told them. "The rest of this stuff is BS; you shouldn't make snap judgements about Sinjin... even if he is a little..."
"Weird?" Jade supplied.
Freddie shook his head and restarted the clip.
"Is it splitsville for Beck and Jade?" The couple turned to look at one another in surprise; the others turned to them.
"All this and tons more on... Robarazzi; Starring Robbie Shapiro."
"He's a dead man," Tori declared.
"Beck and I aren't splitting up," Jade argued.
"Well..." the long-haired actor began lightly.
"Dude..." she threatened.
"Kidding," he insisted; neither Freddie nor Jade were laughing.
"I use an appropriate amount of ketchup," the dreadlocked musician protested.
"Let's go fix this right now," the singer stood up and made for the door; the others followed with one exception.
"Cat, are you coming?" Freddie asked his girl.
"Oh my God!" she studied her catalogue. "Underwear that floats."
Her boyfriend walked over to her and tried to gently take catalogue from her.
"I'm coming," she told him in a defeated tone.
Slap HQ
Robbie stood at the front of the room; he was brainstorming, talking to 9th graders, while Sinjin and Burf filmed them.
"Okay what do we got? What do we got?" the overnight sensation prompted his workers.
A blond, long-haired, guy spoke up. "I got Cat receiving another order from that Sky Store catalogue thing."
"Whoa," Robbie replied, "isn't that like her fifth delivery this week?"
"Yeah," the boy confirmed, "chick's outta control."
"No doubt," a girl agreed.
He put his footage up on the room's main screen; Cat was stood by the school's front door talking to a delivery guy. "No," she argued, "there were supposed to be two packages."
"I only got one," he told her.
"It was supposed to get here on..." she turned to the camera. "Hey why are you shooting this? Who are you with?"
"Robarazzi," the boy, who was operating the camera, told her.
Back in the on-line paper's HQ, Robbie observed, "Girl's got a problem."
"No doubt," the blond cameraman agreed.
"And I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that's probably not her natural hair colour," the ventriloquist joked.
"Funny stuff Rob," the Slap president noted; everyone laughed sycophantically.
"Okay what else we got?" he asked, only to be disturbed as the door burst open and Tori, André, Freddie, Cat, Beck and Jade stormed in; Sinjin still operating camera; turns it on them.
"HEY! Robbie!" Tori yelled.
"I don't use any more ketchup than the next guy," André claimed.
"Whoa whoa whoa whoa. Come on you guys; we're in the middle of taping my show," Robbie complained.
"Beck and I are not 'splitsville,'" Jade told him.
"Well..." Beck added.
Jade rounded angrily on her boyfriend. "Is there something you wanna talk about?"
"Kidding," he said again; Freddie shook his head behind him.
"Are you guys getting this 'cause this is really great stuff," Robbie asked the cameramen.
"Robbie," Tori tried a different tack. "You're not gonna have any friends left if you keep exploiting us for your dumb blog."
Ignoring her, the teen began writing on the marker board. "Okay we have Tori freaking out."
"Is he serious?" Tori turned to Freddie, who shrugged.
"Really?" André added.
"This is ridiculous," the singer argued as she and some of the others approached Robbie; the cameras trained on them as they all began arguing at once.
"Stop!" Tori yelled after a few moments, silencing the room. "This is your last chance. Are you gonna stop this Robarazzi thing or not?"
Vega Residence
After receiving a text from Tori, Freddie called over after work; the brunette had asked to see him, she had a video to show him.
"Coming up on Robarazzi; Tori, André, Beck, Jade all caught on a psychotic rampage."The screen was filled with slowed-down footage of quartet confronting Robbie. "Is anyone safe?" he asked.
"Can you put a stop to this?" she pleaded with the boy. "I know you had something to do with them starting The Slap, so is there anyone you can talk to?"
"I know the leaders," he sighed. "I'll talk to them. And hey, if all else fails, there's always the nuclear option."
"Huh?" she was confused.
"I coded most of the site. I can easily bring it down," he smiled conspiratorially. "Oh," he reached in his pocket and handed something to her, "my mom said to give this to you."
Asphalt Cafe,
Thursday, 10th February 2011.
The Slap
Tori Vega: Dear fellow students: PLEASE STOP LOOKING AT MY PIMPLE!
Mood = Embarrassed
FreddieB: Did that cream my mom sent over help?
It was lunchtime and Tori, Cat, Freddie, Beck, Jade and André were at their table.
"I am so mad at Robbie," the half-Latina complained. "I feel like everyone's staring at my pimple."
"Everyone is," Jade grinned.
"How do you think I feel?" their songsmith friend added. "Five people today have asked me about my 'ketchup addiction'. One kid called me 'Mister ketchup.'"
"It's all Tori's fault," the gothic teen observed.
"Really?" the singer snapped disbelievingly.
"They were about to kick Robbie off the slap. You were the one who told him to start reporting on our personal lives, then you gave him ideas by letting him shoot video of you playing with your pimple."
"Jade," Freddie spoke up. "It's not Tori's fault that he's acting like this."
His friend shrugged. "Gimme the salt," she demanded of her boyfriend, who complied.
"Did you speak to the people behind the site yet?" the lighter brunette asked.
"Yes, and they love what Robbie's doing because it's generating more traffic for the site. I haven't threatened to take it down yet – if I do take that step I don't want to give them any warning," he grinned.
One of the students approached their table. "Hey André," he set a giant, industrial-size container of ketchup before him, "we thought you might need this." The kid's friends laughed sycophantically. "Save some for dinner," he goaded.
André stood up, holding the bottle. "I do not have a ketchup problem," he insisted. Unfortunately he left himself open to the rest of the set-up; a handful of ninth graders, armed with cameras, rushed towards the group
"André, André, right here."
"GET OUT OF HERE!" Freddie yelled threateningly at them; they looked at the angry tech producer and fled.
"Who were they?" the musician wondered aloud.
"Robarazzis," Beck explained. "Robbie's little 9th grade photographers."
"Slap apprentices?" Jade asked.
"I wanted to call them Slapprentices," Freddie muttered.
Cat giggled. "Slapprentice. That's funny," she giggled again.
"Aw man! Now Robbie's got pics of me with this industrial-size ketchup. We gotta do something."
"Clearly," Jade agreed.
"I think we just have to show Robbie that we're not gonna be his friends until he stops embarrassing everybody," Tori suggested simply.
"I'll do more than that," Freddie muttered darkly, subconsciously clenching his fist.
Cat giggled again as she put another new device on the table.
"That's from Sky Store?" Beck asked her; Freddie palmed his forehead.
"Uh huh," the redhead confirmed.
"What is it?" André asked curiously.
"It's the world's most powerful portable juicer. For juicing on the go," she repeated the tag line.
"You're so screwed up," Jade chastised. Freddie bit his tongue; he couldn't really argue with the sentiment.
"No it's really cool," the cupcake lover insisted. "Look it..." she took Beck's pizza from his hand and ran it through the machine. "See?" she handed him the glass receptacle.
"You juiced my pizza," he observed calmly.
"Why chew what you can drink?" the short girl asked as if it was the most obvious question in the world.
Robbie chose this moment to try and join them at the table. "What's up m'peeps?" he asked pleasantly. When the entire group chose to ignore him he persisted, "How's everyone doin' this fine day?" Seeing the giant container in front of André he asked, "Do you really need that much ketchup?"
The musical genius picked up the ventriloquist's bag and flung it across the parking lot. Robbie was surprised at the act and it increased as Jade picked up his lunch, which he had just set down on their table.
"Wait Jade what are you doing?" he asked as she threw it in the opposite direction to his bag, spreading his food across the floor a few feet away. "Jade… What's wrong with you guys?"
"Stop embarrassing us on your dumb Robarazzi blog," Tori ordered.
"Seriously Rob, It's not funny anymore okay," André agreed.
As the others joined the protest, Robbie shouted over them, "You guys embarrass yourselves. I just get it on tape and show the world."
"Well we don't wanna be your friends till you stop," André issued the ultimatum.
"Fine. Lots of other people wanna be my friends. Smart and attractive people." He got up to leave them. "See ya on the web," was his parting shot.
Tori rested her head on her hands. "Do you want me to juice your bagel?" Cat asked softly.
"I really don't," she declined.
Slap HQ
Robbie was in high spirits when he left the room, having just filmed the latest episode of his show. The other kids had gone and he had just finished tidying up the room. Smiling, he locked the door behind him and turned to leave the school.
"Shapiro!" He looked up nervously at Freddie's shout. "So… this is the thanks I get is it?" The muscular teen was leaning against the wall eyeing his quarry with deep disgust.
"Freddie? Wh… what do you mean?"
"Remember last week when I fixed your Astrocraft for you? I thought that might have meant something to you so you'd have done better than to mock and insult your friends." He took a step forward as a flicker of shame briefly crossed the other boy's features.
"How about this then," he continued, "why don't you think back on what I told you when you used your puppet to insult Cat. I told you then that you would never insult her again and I'm telling you now – she is off-limits. If you ever use this crappy little show as a way of making fun of her again I will beat you to a bloody pulp and then kick the remains down the sewer. Do you understand?"
Robbie swallowed nervously and nodded meekly. Freddie gave him one last look of loathing and stormed off.
West Residence
Having finished his fencing class, Freddie called in on Jade for a brief visit.
"She's in the den; I think she's cutting stuff up with her scissors," Mrs West noted.
"Well it has been a stressful last couple of days."
"Has it? She won't talk to me about it," her mother complained.
"Yeah, one of the kids at school has been talking on his blog and… well I'll talk to her about it," he smiled at the West matriarch and followed the familiar path to where his friend was currently sat on the floor, back to the door, cutting up magazines into ever-smaller pieces.
"You're going to struggle to make them any smaller," he called airily; Jade turned to face him.
"What do you want?" she asked harshly; Freddie ignored the tone, knowing that she was upset.
"I just figured you might want to talk," he shrugged. "Beck seemed surprised that you weren't seeing him tonight after our classes."
"Really?" she raised her eyebrows at the revelation.
"Yes, I wasn't – not that I told him that. I mean, if I was seeing someone and they were 'joking' that we were breaking up when it clearly annoyed me that they were doing it and they kept on doing it, I'd be pretty hacked off too," he noted reasonably.
"I just don't know what to do about it," she complained, throwing the shredded papers into a waste basket. "It just makes me so mad!"
"Call his bluff," Freddie shrugged again.
"What do you mean?"
"If he does it again, you say fine and you're dumping him. See if that finally gets the message through to him."
"But what if… y'know, he's ok with that?" she asked in an unusually fearful tone.
Freddie took a seat next to her on the floor. "For this to work, that has to be a risk you are willing to take." The girl's face fell. "Unless you can think of another way to get through to him?"
"I'll think about it," she promised, picking up another magazine and beginning to hack at it with her trusty blades.
Hollywood Arts High School
Friday, 11th February 2011.
"Freddie!" The boy turned in the direction of the call.
"Hello Lane," he answered guardedly, mindful of the issues between them in the past. "Any more of my friend you want to coerce into pushing people home in wheelbarrows?"
"Oh boy, we're starting with this are we?" the Guidance Counsellor sighed as he began. "Look, I did that to make sure Festus wouldn't press charges against them for trashing his car."
"It was an accident! They didn't know it was his car," the boy countered.
"Do you think that would hold up in court?"
"Do you think that he'd find a cop in LA who was willing to arrest Detective Vega's baby girl?" Freddie retorted; Lane shrugged his concession of the point.
"Listen, Freddie," he got to the point he wanted to make, "I've been hearing a few of the kids and teachers talking about Cat." When the teen didn't comment he elaborated, "about her buying too much stuff from Sky Store?"
"Really?" his tone remained cautious.
"Yes, and I know you two are dating," the man smiled approvingly, "and so I was wondering if you had spoken to her about it."
"I have – and I'll speak to her again about it."
"Well, you should," Lane warned, "because I've heard that she's been borrowing money from people. That can't continue indefinitely."
Freddie nodded; he still didn't trust Lane but couldn't argue his point. "Do you know where she is?" he asked. "She wasn't in Sikowitz's class just now."
"Someone heard giggling from the Black Box Theatre…"
"Thanks," the tech genius cut him off and headed in the direction of the theatre.
Black Box Theatre
"Cat..?" he called, entering the room and spying her stood near the stage; as usual she was giggling.
"Oh hey Freddie," she smiled, clapping excitedly as she took an apparently brand new tennis ball out of yet another machine that she had bought.
Freddie sighed deeply. "You know you just missed Sikowitz's class?"
"Oh sorry, I just got this new thing from Sky Store and..."
"Yeah. Lane spoke to me earlier." He walked over to her and took her hands in his, guiding her away from the device. "Some teachers and students have told him that they think you're buying too many things from Sky Store and… I have to say I agree with them. Especially when you were trying to borrow money from me for it, claiming it was for lunch?"
"Well that won't happen anymore," she smiled dismissively. "I started using my parents' credit card."
Freddie let her go and palmed his forehead. "Cat," he sighed wearily again, "that's not a solution. And now you're skipping class to play with these things?"
"Y'know what this is?" she changed the subject and gestured to her new purchase.
"No and we really need to get to class; we've got..."
"It's a ball freshener!"
"Cat, we really need to talk about this 'cause I can't stop wondering if it's related to ..."
The redhead interrupted him again. "See this filthy icky tennis ball?" and she brandished said object.
"Yeah," he groaned.
Cat ran it through the machine and showed the cleaned-up ball to him. "Look at it. Fresh as a daisy."
"Cat, you don't even play tennis!"
"No," she smiled cleverly, "but I'm gonna learn with the world's thinnest tennis racquet," and she showed that off too.
"Cat," he countered, "I've played tennis since I was a kid and I don't think a person really needs to have a tennis racquet that..." he took it from her and started in amazement. "Wow it's so light."
Cat giggled again and nodded her head. "Ok, I'll give you this one," he conceded, "but it needs to stop."
He steered her to the chairs in the auditorium and the couple sat down. "Look," he continued, "I don't know for sure about it but… does this, all this," he gestured to the machine and racquet, "have anything to do with… with Saturday night?"
"No," she sounded surprised, "why would it?"
"I just wondered. I know you said how I made you feel and I just wondered if you were buying this stuff for the endorphin rush from them to cheer you up."
Cat looked slightly perplexed at his wording but got the gist of it. "No," she insisted, "I just love buying stuff from them."
"Cat, you're addicted," he stated bluntly; she gasped at his words. "You have to put a stop to it. How much have you spent there this week?"
"I uh… I dunno," she admitted sheepishly. "A few hundred?"
"So all your Diddly-bops money and then some more?" She nodded. "Gone in less than a week?" She nodded again. "You see why this has to stop?"
"Help me?" she pleaded; he pulled her into a tight hug.
"Of course I will," he promised. "Now we start by heading to class."
Just as they were about to leave, he paused. "Is everything ok after the weekend?" It was his turn to have some nerves in his voice.
"Yes," she confirmed, "it's all good between us." And she sealed it with a kiss.
Valentine Residence
"Hello Freddie, are you seeing Cat tonight? She didn't say that you two had plans," Mrs Valentine welcomed her daughter's boyfriend.
"Well," he began, "our friend Tori called me at work and asked if the two of us wanted to come over after my shift. I told her I'd pick Cat up en route; I assumed she'd have called Cat both of us.
"She didn't say anything," the girl's father added, "I'll let her know that you're here."
"Actually…" the patriarch paused, "I wanted to have a quick word with you about something." In answer to their concerned and almost accusatory looks he hastened to add, "it's all this stuff she's bought from that Sky Store catalogue she brought back from San Francisco."
"Yes, it's been bothering me a bit," Mrs Valentine commented; her husband nodded.
"I know she's spent a lot of money there this last week," the girl's boyfriend continued, "we have talked about it but I thought I'd tell you because it worries me."
"She did borrow my credit card for one of them… that I know of," her mother noted. "Thank you Freddie, we had decided to take her credit and debit cards away from her – and stop her using ours. I'll keep your name out of it, though," she promised.
"Good," he smiled. "Thank you. I'll go and let her know that we do have plans now."
Vega Residence
"So what does she want to see us about?" Cat asked curiously as they left her home.
"I think she just wants to hang and do homework."
"Right, makes sense since you said I should bring my school bad," the red velvet-haired girl grinned.
Shortly after their arrival, and equipped with glasses of Tori's favoured pink lemonade, their work was interrupted by a call on Tori's cell phone. She dug in her bag for it, all the while amusing Freddie with her choice of ring tone, You're The Reason.
"Hey, even though we got screwed over it, I still loved doing the song," she protested before frowning at the display; she answered anyway. "Who are you and why is your number blocked?" She listened for a few moments. "Jade?" Her guests looked up interestedly. "Wait. Jade I didn't... Why are you screaming at me? How is it my fault that Robbie... Jade okay okay yes. I'll watch it right now."
"Problems?" Freddie asked casually.
"Jade is FURIOUS about Robbie's latest episode of Robarazzi."
"Well put it on!" Cat urged as Freddie's frown intensified. After what I said earlier…
"I'm about to!" the half-Latina insisted.
She loaded up The Slap and found the puppeteer's latest blog. "Welcome to Robarazzi starring Robbie Shapiro."
The backdrop began in the website's HQ. "Wait wait wait! You got what?" he asked.
The blond, long-haired boy, who had tormented Cat earlier in the week, commented, "I got Beck and Jade in the front seat of Beck's car and you need to see this."
The clip had clearly been filmed at night; the couple were sitting and talking in Beck's car.
"Come on let's just go. It'll be fun," the actor was urging.
"No!" Jade insisted.
"Why not?" he asked.
"'Cause I didn't shower this morning and I had tuna fish for lunch and…" the girl turned around, "there's a dude in the back seat," she cried.
Beck also turned to see who was there. "What the...hey man!"
"Get out!" Jade demanded.
"What are you doing? This is my car."
"Are you out of your mind?" Jade's tone turned threatening. "What's wrong with you? I'm gonna kill you."
"Can you believe this?" her boyfriend sighed.
Tori slammed shut her PC. She, Freddie and Cat were all fuming at this latest intrusion.
"Hey Tor," the Vega sisters' mother arrived home.
"Hi mom," she greeted.
"Oh hey Freddie, Cat," the matriarch smiled. "Tori, take off your shirt."
"That's my cue to leave," Freddie announced hurriedly.
"I'll go as well. Bye Tori," Cat chases after her man, who was already almost at the door.
"Yeah, see you later," he called as he left.
Hollywood Arts High School,
Monday 14th February 2011.
Cat ambled into school looking as if the world was weighing down her shoulders; she strode morosely to her locker and began haphazardly rearranging it and her bag.
"Hey, why so sad on your little day?" a light voice penetrated her isolation; she turned to see her grinning boyfriend holding a single red rose, which he handed to her. "Happy Valentine's Day," he smiled.
She thanked him and accepted his kiss, but neither it nor the rose appeared to lighten her mood.
"What's the matter?" he tried again.
"My parents," she wailed, "they took away my cards so I can't buy anything and I need to get something from Sky Store!"
"What do you need?" he asked patiently.
"A litter box that plays classical music!"
"Cat, your family owns a dog; you're the only Cat in the Valentine household," he grinned. "Why do you need the litter box?"
"Because it's cool," she explained.
"Cat…" he began again before they were joined, and interrupted, by an irate youngest Vega sister.
"Have you guys seen this?" she fumed.
"Uh… without some specifics I can't answer that," the young man replied reasonably.
Tori threw him a look before opening up her pear top computer. "This," she repeated, "Robbie's latest blog."
She played the clip, featuring some slow motion picture and stills of her, arms raised and a depilatory cream smeared under her arm pits.
"That was what my mom wanted me to try on Friday," she explained, "and Robbie's little helpers were camped out waiting for me."
"So tell your dad," he shrugged. In reply to her confused look he elaborated, "they were trespassing, I assume anyway, and your dad's a cop. If you recognise any of them, get him to arrest them."
"Right," she muttered, the appeal of the idea growing by the minute. "In the meantime, what do we do about Robbie?"
"Well he hasn't bothered Cat since I had words with him," he muttered quietly; neither girl heard him, "maybe we need to show him what it's like to suffer like this on-line?"
"What are you thinking?" Cat asked.
"Well, we have gym before lunch. Can you girls be here at the start of lunch, cameras at the ready?"
"I guess," Tori confirmed.
"Cool. I'll talk to Beck and André and we'll meet you here at lunchtime."
He kissed Cat and they went their separate ways for first period.
The Slap Mobile
Tori Vega: GONNA GET YA Robbie Shapiro. LOOK OUT.
Mood = Mischievous.
As promised, Tori, Cat and Jade were waiting by the half-Latina's locker as lunch began.
"Where are they?" Tori demanded.
"Patience," Jade was atypically relaxed.
"But they finished gym 10 minutes ago," the singer complained.
"Well it takes time to get from the locker room all the way here," Cat reasoned.
"Hey did that pit cream work?" the darker brunette asked.
Tori growled threateningly at her. "Never speak of it."
Any planned retort from the mean girl was forgotten as Freddie, Beck and André rushed towards them.
"Ooh, turn it on turn it on," Jade urged the other girls.
"We got 'em," Freddie smiled, showing Robbie's clothes to the camera.
"He's right behind us," the songsmith added.
Wearing only a towel Robbie raced up to his classmates. "It's not funny. You guys better give me back my clothes or I swear I'm gonna tell..." he stopped as he spotted the girls armed with their cameras. "Ah turn off the camera," he demanded.
"Why?" Tori grinned. "You look so cute."
"Dance for us Robbie," Jade added acidically.
"Gimme back my clothes," he demanded again.
"Should we?" Tori asked the others.
"No!" they responded vehemently.
"Yeah I think we need to put this video online," Jade told them.
"What? No," he pleaded.
"Sorry," the gothic teen shrugged.
"The people wanna see what the people wanna see," Tori agreed.
"You cannot put this video online." Robbie was begging now.
"Okay," Tori relented.
"No problem," Beck confirmed.
"We'll kill the video," André offered.
"As long as you kill Robarazzi," Freddie finished.
"Wh...? No," he was desperate to keep his blog.
"Yes," Cat insisted.
"But my blog is a hit," he argued.
"Alright," Tori shrugged, "then I'm just gonna zoom in right here…"
"No, no, don't," he urged her.
"Are you gonna stop?" Jade asked.
"Well if I don't do Robarazzi what am I gonna do for my blog on The Slap?" he asked them.
School had just finished; Cat and Freddie were sitting on the stairs watching his pear pad. "Low fat recipes. Okay what do we got? What do we got?" Robbie prompted.
"I got a lasagne," a blonde girl offered, "with only 90 calories and 4 grams of fat."
"Oh lasagne. What else?" he asked.
Freddie logged off. "I like lasagne," he told his girl conversationally.
"Me too," she agreed.
"That's good… because we have a reservation at Vivoli's in an hour."
"Really?" The redhead's face lit up. "I thought you worked on Mondays."
"I do, usually, but I'm taking the day off to take my girl out for a Valentine's Day dinner," he smiled.
Cat's smile grew even broader. She slipped her arms around him and kissed him. As they pulled apart he saw a catalogue sticking out of the top of her bag.
"Come on, lemme have it," he gestured to the catalogue and held out his hand.
"But maybe I can talk my parents into giving me my credit card back," she protested.
"Cat... It's time to say goodbye to Sky Store. Don't you think that's the best thing to do?" He wrapped an arm gently around her. "Look I know it hurts now but you'll feel better soon."
"I know," she accepted.
"Come on; we'll need to make a move soon to get to the restaurant."
Cat smiled. "Kay kay." She handed him the catalogue and winced as he tore it in half; he then dropped it in the garbage as they left school hand-in-hand.
"Do I have time to call home and change before we go there?" she asked.
"You look perfect to me like that," he praised, eyeing her simple top and dark blue skinny jeans, "but sure. I'll pick you up in half an hour?"
"'kay 'kay," she grinned and they made their separate ways home.
Vivoli Café & Trattoria,
7994 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA
The young couple sat enjoying their Lasagne alla Bolognese and sipping on their sodas while talking quietly about recent events. Cat had changed into a pale pink dress, a similar length to the one she had worn for her boyfriend's birthday, while he now wore a white dress shirt, dark slacks and a dark jacket. He mused, ruefully, that white may not have been the best choice given the restaurant, though he had been careful enough that his attire remained mercifully clean thus far. Freddie glanced across the table and reached over to place his hand gently on the girl's arm.
"You'll be alright," he insisted, noting that her face had fallen a little over the last minute or so and correctly assuming that she was thinking back to the loss of her Sky Store catalogue – and having her 'funding' cut off by her parents.
"I know. I actually think about all that stuff and I can't believe I bought half of it," she admitted.
"Only half?" he teased; she grinned.
"Hey, the tennis racquets will come in useful, so will the ball freshener," the girl argued.
"They will. Maybe we could head down to the courts on Sunday? With work, gym, fencing and school I don't think I'll have time before then."
"Sounds great," she told him then, grinning again, she slid her foot surreptitiously up and down his leg; he glanced across the table and smiled his approval of her little gesture.
"We'll get through this," he promised, "all of it."
"I know," she agreed seriously. "And when we're ready, things will be even more wonderful for us."
He smiled again, a warm one that his girl returned.
"You want dessert?" he asked as they cleared their plates then, thinking back to earlier in the week, he added, "rather than a desert."
Cat laughed at his little joke and perused the dessert menu that had been left on their table. "Shall we share a Tiramisu?" she offered.
"Sounds good to me," he agreed.
Dessert consumed, Freddie paid the cheque and the couple left the restaurant; the short drive back to Hollywood Hills was mostly undertaken in silence with the two of them deep in their respective thoughts. Cat was taken a little by surprise, therefore, when the car suddenly pulled into her driveway.
"Ok then," he smiled.
"It looks dark in there," she commented, "mom and dad must still be out." The Valentine parents had their own plans for the evening.
"Do you want me to stay for a while?" he offered.
"No, you need to get home, don't you?" Marissa didn't want her son to be out too late on a school night.
"Yeah, that's true," he conceded. "See you tomorrow then," he smiled softly.
"Of course," she agreed and leaned across the car to kiss him. "Goodnight Freddie," she whispered as she got out of the car.
He smiled and gave one more wave before reversing down the drive and heading for home.
AN: And that's the end of this chapter. I really hope you enjoyed it and felt that the conversation between them at the start worked, given everything that had gone on before. Please don't be shy about letting me know what you thought and I hope to see you all soon for the next chapter. PD.