AN: Hello everyone; I hope you are all well. Thank you for once again clicking on this story and reading my latest chapter.
As ever a huge thank you to the people who read the last chapter, and especially those who reviewed.
Challenge King – thanks. Beck did have to face a few things this time as certain people wouldn't let him just put all the blame on Jade, nor would she suddenly make ridiculous claims just so he could ignore his part in it all. Cat's insight is quite an important thing for the story and something that Freddie probably will need to do at some stage. As for Freddie's talk with Trina – I think that because of when he left Seattle (c. end of iCarly series 1) Freddie didn't really suffer at Sam's hand the way he did later on in the show so he just went along with the others when they dismissed Trina as something of a joke. Actually seeing another side of her has affected him a bit. The question is whether she heeds his advice.
Fanfic-Reader-88 – Jade was very upset with Beck but they'd been together for quite a long time so it was still a tough decision for her to make. Him getting with Alyssa so soon – well you can draw your own conclusions on that one. As for Trina as a comedienne – maybe, again though she needs to be willing to do that.
Darck Ben – thanks.
Guest – Thank you.
KoiChoco – thanks. Freddie is protective of his girls because that's who he is. Cat's suggestion, as I said earlier, will be addressed as things progress and his talk with Trina – again, has been discussed above.
Martial arts student – it was intentional that they were still apart at the end of the chapter.
Pbow – some very interesting things to think about as always, particularly about Beck being one half of a celebrity couple and what it could mean for his career and recognition. As for Trina, there's nothing wrong with being the funny one, unless she feels it's beneath someone of her perceived talent.
Agent-M – thanks; I hope the next part lives up to your expectations.
Ok, that's everyone so on with the story. This next episode will be split into two parts for length. I hope to get the second part up before too long.
Chapter 34: Locked Up Part 1
Hollywood Arts High School,
Los Angeles, CA
Tuesday, 29th March 2011.
"Jade?" Freddie was a little surprised by his friend's new look when he encountered her by the lockers between first and second period. "Nice, it suits you," he praised her freshly dyed, jet-black hair, complete with dark blue extensions.
"Thanks," she smiled, "I just wanted a change you know, a new start I guess after Beck and everything and the changes to the image is a part of that." She frowned a little and wrinkled her nose. "Have you heard much from him lately?"
"Yeah," Freddie sighed a little and gave the girl a consoling look. "He told me in class earlier today that Alyssa is going with his family to Cancun next week."
Jade began to subconsciously squeeze her books a little harder. "Jade…" the boy's tone was worried as he saw her whitening knuckles; she looked down at her hand and slackened her grip as her self-control began to re-establish itself.
"I'm ok. I guess it was just another slap in the face that he's replaced me so soon and already going away with her."
"Well I think, from what he's said, that she's something of a daddy's girl – so completely unlike you," he grinned; in spite of herself Jade smirked a little as she had to agree with that particular assessment. "So anyway, he must have mentioned the trip while they were talking and, again this is from what he's told me, if Beck's aunt had said that she wasn't going with them then her daddy was going to fly the two of them to Cancun on his private jet and put them up in his own holiday mansion there."
"Sounds like he approves of them," Jade noted with a hint of sadness in her voice.
"More like he's wrapped around his daughter's little finger."
The mean girl nodded. "So, what are you doing for Spring Break? Heading up to Seattle?"
"We were going to," he disclosed, "but mom can't get the time off work right now as they're short-staffed already – clearing house a little after the investigations following…" he trailed off awkwardly.
"What?" Jade asked, a little confused.
"Following what happened to Cat," he elaborated.
"Oh," his friend appreciated why he had been reluctant to bring it up, since it had been something of a source of conflict between them for a few days.
"Yeah, so anyway it looks like I'll be staying here. Sam's disappointed but she's going to try and talk Carly into flying the two of them down here instead."
"I just wish we had something fun to do," Jade pondered aloud, partly out of a desire to change the subject. "The beach is cool – and it should be just about warm enough for us to head there now – and there are malls and stuff but we always do that; it's why I was looking forward to Cancun – the chance to get away and do something a bit different."
Freddie nodded, biting his tongue; he didn't think she needed to know that Beck's family had uninvited her even before the break-up.
Asphalt Café,
Wednesday, 30th March 2011.
The kids' lunch break had arrived; having been in class together beforehand, André and Tori were walking together towards the Grub Truck.
"I thought it was toe fingers," the brunette laughed, referring to her mishearing of a line of a song for their class; the musician joined in with the laughter.
"Toe fingers," he repeated with a grin. "So, whatcha want for lunch?" he asked.
"I'm not sure," she commented thoughtfully. "Hey, Festus," she called as they arrived at the vehicle.
The Yerbanian leaned against the hatch. "Hello, buddy; welcome to lunch," he greeted them.
"What you got today?" the songsmith asked.
"Let's see, I have the spaghetti..." he began.
"Oh," Tori was considering the option.
"... the ravioli," he continued.
"I love ravioli," the half-Latina noted.
"You let me finish!" he snapped abruptly.
"Okay, sorry," she conceded. "Go ahead. Finish."
"That's all we got, the spaghetti and the ravioli."
"I'll have the ravioli," the singer decided.
"Me too," André agreed.
"I will get your foods."
"Hi. What's for lunch?" Cat greeted them brightly as she and Freddie joined the duo.
In a (pretty bad) impersonation of Festus, Tori replied, "Oh, he's got the spaghetti, the ravioli."
"Ravioli?" the red-head asked.
André pointed his finger at her at her and mock-snapped, as the Yerbanian had done, "You let her finish!"
Cat gasped and looked away in affront; Freddie frowned at his friend but the dread-locked teen hurriedly added, "Sorry; Tori interrupted Festus earlier and that was how he reacted."
Freddie shrugged. "Ok," and turned to his girlfriend to see that she was smiling again. "Oh, hey, Jade," he called as the black-haired girl arrived. "Are you ok?"
"No; I'm still annoyed because of this," she thrust her phone at him; the Buzzfinger homepage had a new picture of Beck and Alyssa Vaughn together. "Somehow they've got the news that she is going away to Cancun with Beck's family for semester break and to make it worse we still have nothing fun to do."
"So you got nothing to do for semester break?" the Grub Truck owner asked.
"No," Tori admitted.
"Come to the back of my truck," he invited; Tori pointed to herself in questioning surprise.
"He wants you to go behind his truck," Cat noted.
"I know."
Freddie didn't particularly like the idea. "I'll stand a few feet away and keep an eye on things," he told his girl and followed the brunette, stopping a short distance away from her.
"What does he think will happen?" Cat asked Jade.
"He's making sure that nothing does," was all the other girl would say.
Cat suddenly giggled as she looked at the untouched meals Festus had left on the counter.
"Ravioli?" André wondered why anybody would find it funny.
"Like pasta pillows," she said happily.
Tori, meanwhile, had joined Festus behind the vehicle. "You got a nice truck," she began.
"Don't lie to me," he retorted.
"I'm sorry."
"Listen," he told her, "how would you and your friends like to take a trip to my home country, Yerba?"
"Yerba?"
"It's very exotic island."
"Like Hawaii?" Tori asked, her excitement growing at the prospect.
"Sure," Festus shrugged. "Yeah, like that. My brother, he's in charge of best hotel in Yerba. And my people, they love to see American-style entertainment... with the singing, the dancing." He took a sip from his drink. "So if you and your friends will sing and dance at the hotel, my brother will make your whole trip for free."
"That sounds amazing," the brunette exuded.
"So you take down my brother's phone number in Yerba."
"Okay," she pulled out her phone.
"You reach him by dialling... zero five…"
"Zero five," she repeated, beginning to tap the number into her device.
"Six three one," he continued.
"Six three one," she echoed.
"Seven one…"
"Seven one…"
"Eight one…"
"Eight one…"
"Three six five…"
"Three six five…"
"Seven five two…
"Seven five two…"
Festus took another drink; Tori, assuming he's finished, began to pocket her phone.
"Eight three six," he suddenly continued, forcing the girl to scramble for her phone again.
"Eight three six," she repeated, doing her best not to forget it.
"Six seven seven four three…"
Feeling aggrieved at the endless number, Tori threw up her hands. "Come on buddy!" she snapped in another impersonation of his accent. He quickly finished the number off and she thanked him before walking over to Freddie, who was tucking away his own phone.
"Everything ok?" he asked.
"Yeah," she shrugged and they began to walk back to the others, who were still waiting by the hatch of the truck. "I got the number; I'll call as soon as I can get home and see what I can fix up."
"Sounds great. Maybe we can fly there on Saturday and come back the following Sunday so that we get just over a week there."
"Yeah, that would be awesome. We should all meet at mine tonight and see if we can make some firm plans for this."
"Sure, I'll come over after work tonight. I guess I'd best call my mom now and see what I can sort out before then."
The former Seattle native withdrew his phone again from his pocket and headed off to find a secluded corner of the parking lot where he could make his call.
"Hey mom? Good, I caught you."
"Freddie? Is everything alright? Are you hurt?" He rolled his eyes slightly at the panic in the Head Nurse's voice.
"No mom, everything's fine," he insisted. "In fact it's better than fine… I think. A few of us have had an offer for a little holiday over Spring Break."
"Really? What and where?"
"The guy that runs the food truck here at school is from Yerba and he reckons he can get us an all-expenses paid trip, staying in their top hotel so long as we do a few performances for them while we're away."
"Yerba? Where's that?"
"I'm not exactly sure; I'll have to check it out and see what I can find out about it."
"I don't know, Freddie, I was looking forward to us having some time together that week."
"But mom, you're working all week so it would be no different to a normal week where we only see each other on a night. And if all the others go and I don't – then it'd be even worse as I'd be alone all week," he made his voice sound as pathetic as he could.
"Hmm," the matriarch was clearly mulling it over.
"Plus," he played his trump card, "if I don't go away, there's a good chance that Sam – and maybe Carly – could be coming down here instead." He grinned, knowing that his mother still wasn't too thrilled about giving house room to the blonde, despite her seemingly changed ways.
"Well, ok then Freddie, so long as you're sure it's a safe place to go."
"I'm sure it will be. Thanks mom; I'll see you tonight. Love you." He blew her a kiss down the phone and sped back to give his girl the good news.
Vega residence
Cat opened the door when Freddie knocked. She gave a small squeal before pulling him into a hug and a kiss. "Yay, the gang's all here," she cried excitedly as she led him by the hand towards the kitchen area where Tori stood with Robbie, Jade and André.
"Ok, are you ready for this?" the hostess began excitedly. "I called Festus's brother as soon as I got home, and it's true. They'll pay for our plane fares, our hotel rooms, our food. And all we have to do is one performance per night."
"That sounds so fun," the redhead enthused.
"And Yerba, it's a cool place?" André prompted; Tori had promised to look into it further before they got together.
"Yeah. Festus said it's kind of like Hawaii. Oh, and I went to the official Yerba website and look…" she showed off a picture of a very nice hotel on her computer.
"Oh. Look at that!" André gaped, admiring the hotel with its private pool, backing on to a pristine beach.
"Oh, white sand beach," Robbie added.
"Computer," Cat noted; Freddie gave her a curious look and she grinned back at him so he just shrugged.
"Okay. So if your parents say it's cool, do you guys wanna do it?" Tori asked.
"Absolutely," Jade agreed, thinking that it would be a great way to spend the week instead of brooding about Beck and Alyssa in Cancun together.
"Sure, my mom already agreed," Freddie reminded her. "I checked the government website earlier to reassure her – and there were no travel warnings in place for it or anything like that. The government is a little… autocratic but no worse than somewhere like Cuba and lots of tourists go to places like that."
"Awesome," the half-Latina smiled. "Here, check out some more pics of the resort."
"Alright, cool," Cat grinned as Jade took Tori's computer and set it down on the table; the gang gathered around it and explored some more of the site.
The Vegas' front door opened; Trina and the Vega matriarch entered, neither in a good mood.
"I'm never playing minigolf with you guys again," the diva snapped.
"Promise?" her mother pleaded.
"What happened?" the younger sister asked.
"Trina missed a putt, so she got upset and threw a golf club at her father," Mrs Vega explained.
"No," the elder girl corrected, "I threw my golf club, and dad just stood there and let it hit him."
The girls' father entered; he wore blood on his nose and his jersey. "Well, that was fun," he noted sarcastically.
"Aw, honey, it's throbbing," his wife gently touched his wounded nose. "Trina, get an ice pack."
"No," she snapped, "I have to go paint my nails," and the girl stormed upstairs.
"But..." Mrs Vega called after her; Tori walked over to take a look at her father's injury.
"Aw, it is throbbing," she noted.
"Yes. Yes. Thank you, baby," he replied; taking her drink from her and resting it against his nose. "Oh, that feels a bit better."
Freddie, meanwhile, had taken some ice from their freezer; he wrapped it in clean dish cloth and walks over. "Here Mr Vega," he handed the makeshift icepack to the family patriarch.
"Thank you Freddie," he acknowledged gratefully, pressing it to his face.
"Oh. Hey, did you talk to your friends about Yerba?" Tori's mother asked her.
"Yeah. I think we're all going," the younger girl confirmed.
"Good," she smiled. "You're taking Trina."
"No," her daughter declined flatly.
"Yes," Mrs Vega contradicted.
"You are taking Trina," her husband agreed.
"Not happening," Tori was resolute.
"We'll buy you a car," her mother offered, almost pleading.
"Any car you want," Mr Vega added. "You don't even have to bring her back."
Freddie looked rather shocked at how little the parents seemed to think of their eldest daughter; he shook his head sadly.
Robbie approached Tori; he was holding his phone. "My mom says Rex and I can go to Yerba but there has to be an adult chaperone," he explained.
"I thought your mom moved out," the girl recalled.
"She's giving me one more chance," he insisted.
"Of course, you have to have an adult chaperone," Tori's mother interrupted.
"Why?" the girl complained. "I'm sixteen!"
"Adult chaperone or no trip," her father decided.
"Dad," she whined.
"Please don't argue with me while my nose is throbbing."
In a nervous voice, Robbie asked, "Could I feel your throbbing nose?"
"Walk away."
"Yes, sir."
Benson residence
"Hey mom," the brown-haired teen called as he entered his home.
"Freddie!" Marissa replied. "How was school?"
"School's fine; we're starting to wind down for Spring Break. I've just been at Tori's and we're all really looking forward to our trip," the enthusiasm was evident in his voice.
"And you're sure that this place is safe?"
"Mom, Yerba will be fine," he insisted, repeating to her the information he had found from the US government websites and describing the picture of the hotel they had seen on-line.
"That does sound good," his mother responded thoughtfully. "It's a shame I'm so busy or I'd be tempted to go along with you – I'm sure the school wouldn't complain about another adult coming along."
"Yes, it's a pity," he replied sympathetically, though privately he wasn't too upset that she wasn't going to be coming with them.
"Now – a couple of rules, young man." Marissa turned serious.
"I'll call you when we land and again from the hotel and every couple of days…" he began wearily.
"I don't mean that," she snapped, "well, not just that. You're going to be in a hotel – the same hotel as your girlfriend. I want you to promise me that there'll be no funny business between you two."
"Mom," he wailed in embarrassment before brightening. "I promise." He felt it would be the easiest promise he ever had to make to her, and one that he fully intended to keep.
"Alright then," she nodded.
"I need to talk to Carly and Sam and let them know; I think they were really hoping to come and visit me once they knew we weren't going up there."
"Ok then. Come back down afterwards though; it seems we don't spend that much time together and I want us to before you go away."
"Alright mom," he smiled again and headed for his room.
Freddie fired off a text to his blonde friend before logging on to his computer. A few moments later Carly's chat name appeared as on-line. His request for a chat was immediately accepted and the two Seattle-based girls appeared on screen.
"Hi girls, how's things? How's the old town?" he began.
"Hey Freddie. Seattle's fine," Sam began, "I still haven't been kicked out of school. It's going really well at the moment for me," she smiled. "iCarly is getting more and more popular – even more than it was before you left," she grinned slyly but didn't equate the facts.
"School's going well for me too," Carly confirmed, "though I am looking forward to Spring Break. Do you know what you're doing yet?" she added hopefully.
"Yep," his smile flickered momentarily, "I'm going to Yerba."
"Where?" Sam asked, looking to the brunette; to the blonde's surprise her friend looked equally confused.
"It's a Caribbean island," the brown-haired boy elaborated. To Sam he asked, "Do you remember the guy who runs the Grub Truck?"
"Oh yeah, that death pit." Sam turned to Carly. "It says everything you need to know that I thought twice about eating there." The brunette did a mocking double-take and the three friends laughed. "I remember 'borrowing' some butter when I…" she trailed off awkwardly and shot Freddie a guilty glance.
"When you showed the world that you have my back," he concluded with a warm smile.
"Yeah, whatever," she mumbled awkwardly.
"So you're going to be gone all Spring Break?" Carly looked to confirm; Freddie nodded.
"It's a real shame that I won't be able to see you guys but there's still that Summer in Film programme that our school is running. You could see about enrolling in that and coming down here for a couple of weeks."
Carly brightened immediately, as did Sam. "Sounds good," the girls agreed.
"And how's Cat?" Sam asked with a teasing grin, partially oblivious to the slight stiffening of the girl beside her at the question.
"She's great, really good," Freddie began, spending the next few minutes talking about his girl and some of their recent adventures.
Sikowitz's Classroom,
Thursday, 2nd April 2011.
Class had just finished and, on the sound of the bell, the other kids had left; Tori intentionally hung back and approached her teacher.
"Sikowitz, are you familiar with a place called Yerba?"
"Yerba?" he repeated.
"Yeah, it's a small island just off the coast of..."
"Oh, I know where it is," he interrupted. "I spent two weeks in Yerba when I was twenty-three."
"Cool. So what's it like?"
"I remember nothing of that trip," he admitted.
"Well, do you wanna be our chaperone?"
"To what?"
"Our trip to Yerba," she explained.
"Yerba?" he repeated. "I spent two weeks there when I was twenty-three."
"Will you just be our chaperone?" she sighed.
"Of course," he agreed.
"Yay!" she clapped.
"So who all's coming?" he asked.
"Okay," she rattled off the list. "It's gonna be me, André, Cat, Freddie, Jade and Robbie... oh," she remembered, pulling a face full of disgust, "and Trina has to come too."
"Alright. Let me know where I need to be and when and I shall be there," he promised.
"We fly Saturday morning so we need to be at LAX for around seven a.m."
Mission accomplished, she left his room in high spirits, running into Freddie and Cat by the lockers.
"Great news," she smiled enthusiastically, "Sikowitz is going to be our chaperone for the trip."
"You asked him? Seriously?" Freddie asked in disbelief.
Tori frowned. "Freddie, I know you don't get on with him but..."
He cut her off. "I thought we needed a responsible adult figure; he really doesn't fit the bill for that, does he?"
"Well..." she awkwardly conceded.
"I guess I need to tell my mom a partial truth then," he told Cat. "That one of our teachers will be going with us to 'supervise'… for all the use that he'll be."
Tori frowned again at the affront to her favourite teacher.
Swordplay Fencing Studio, 416 S Victory Blvd
Burbank, CA
Freddie and Beck sat together watching as André finished his lesson; the two were waiting for an available spot so that they could have their weekly assault after their own classes.
"So you guys are all going?" Beck sought confirmation, as the conversation had turned to the group's new Spring Break plans.
"Yep," Freddie nodded, "the whole gang – you excluded unfortunately."
"Maybe it's for the best," the long-haired actor mused, "Jade and I aren't exactly on the best terms right now. Not that I can blame her completely," he added hastily, "but it is a pity."
"Yeah," his friend agreed, "I think it really hurts her that you and Alyssa only just got together and she's already going to Cancun with your family. I told her what you said," he added hurriedly as Beck opened his mouth to protest, "well, except for the part about your aunt banning her from the trip anyway." Beck nodded, agreeing that some things were better left unsaid.
"So when do you guys go?"
"Saturday morning," Freddie informed him after taking a sip of his drink.
"Oh, so do we."
"Regular flight?" Freddie raised his eyebrows and his voice turned teasing, "Or is daddy getting you all there on his private jet."
"No," the taller boy sighed in mild exasperation at his friend's gentle goading, "we're going regular – although Alyssa did insist on upgrading us all to First Class. The private jet would have been to take us if we were going to her dad's place instead."
They turned to the mats in front of them and watched in silence until a spot became available. As they prepared to don their facemasks, Beck called out in a voice that held just a flicker of concern. "Freddie?"
"Yeah?"
"Look out for her while you're over there."
The shorter teen nodded. "She's like a sister to me; I'll always try and keep her safe," he promised.
Beck nodded with a smile and the two prepared for battle.
Flight AA510 LAX to Yerba.
Saturday, 4th April 2011.
Cat opened her eyes as her napping was disturbed by Freddie unbuckling his seatbelt in the seat next to hers. To her other side, by the window, Jade grinned at her seat-back video screen; she had found a number of horror movies to watch during the flight.
"Bathroom break," he muttered to the redhead as he stood up and made his way to the rear of the plane, passing the Vega sisters and Sikowitz in the three seats directly behind them and André and Robbie (with Rex in his lap) behind them.
A few moments after watching him go, Cat decided that a trip to the restroom was a good idea for her as well. She unclasped her own seatbelt and wriggled into the aisle.
"Don't join the Mile High Club while you're both gone," Jade called in a soft, teasing voice; her best friend looked back, a little confused, before shrugging and following her boyfriend down the plane.
Freddie returned a few minutes before Cat; she shuffled over his lap before squeezing back into her seat.
"Jade said something about some club when I went. I'm not really sure what she was talking about though," she admitted.
Freddie looked past his girl to their black-haired friend, today wearing her green extensions.
"I just wondered if you two might be joining the Mile High Club while you were both 'in the bathrooms'," she air-quoted before wearing an innocent expression.
Freddie shook his head in mild exasperation and rolled his eyes at the girl; Jade grinned mischievously back at him. He laid back in his seat, closed his eyes and began to hope for the lengthy flight to end, though once he felt his girl's head resting against his arm and her hand reach over to interlace with his own, he felt happier about the length of time that their journey would take.
'The Yerbanian' Hotel,
Yerba City, Yerba
Darkness had fallen over the island nation by the time the Hollywood Arts group cleared immigration. A pair of taxis were waiting for them and drove them to their hotel; from the outside it looked fairly impressive, appearing to be like an old castle and illuminated against the night.
"It doesn't look too much like the picture from this angle," Freddie commented; he was sharing a taxi with Cat, Jade and Tori, "but it still looks pretty cool. Though I think I'll explore the facilities tomorrow. For now I'm looking forward to just falling into bed and sleeping through to morning."
"Me too," Cat agreed, stifling a yawn against her hand; she was looking forward to being swallowed up by the soft, warm bed waiting for her in her room. "Do we have a room each or are we sharing?" she asked Tori.
"I'm not sure," the brunette admitted, "they never actually told me that but I imagine it will be a room each."
"If we are sharing then you get Trina," Freddie grinned; Tori looked horrified at the prospect. "I don't care who I room with so long as it's not Sikowitz."
"Hey, maybe you could get Trina then," the half-Latina smirked.
"I think she'd like that idea," he noted thoughtfully; his friend grinned in agreement.
"So I was dialing one of those things where..." Tori said to Trina as she opened the door to lead the group into the lobby; they looked around in uncomfortable surprise as they took in their surroundings.
André looked at the rather... basic look of it with, among other things, worn couches and minimal light. "This dump is our hotel?" he asked in surprise.
"Yeah," Tori confirmed weakly.
"Gross," Trina wailed.
"Now I'm kinda glad I don't remember this place," Sikowitz admitted.
"Hello. Hello to you, buddies. Which is Tori Vega?" the attendant at the lobby desk greeted them warmly.
"Oh, that's me," the singer waved. "Are you Festus's brother?"
"Yes, buddy. I am Sgrodis. It's happy to meet you," he took her wrist and held her hand to his face, sniffing it.
"Why?" she asked uncomfortable as he released her hand.
Cat, holding her pear pad and reading up on the country, explained, "It's a Yerbanian custom. See? It says, 'In Yerba, when people greet each other, they will often sniff each other's hands as a sign of friendship.'"
Robbie picked up Rex's hand and began to sniff it. "Oh," the puppet groaned.
"Oh, that's okay," Tori declined as Sgrodis offered her his hand.
"So how you all like the hotel?" the hotelier asked.
"Well, um, uh..." the teens looked from one to another; Jade then spoke up.
"It's disgusting!" the black-haired girl snapped.
"She said what?" Sgrodis asked Tori.
"Uh, this hotel," she began diplomatically, "it doesn't really look like the picture we saw online."
"Oh, the picture," he brightened. "Yes, there she is," and he pointed to the wall by his desk where the picture they had seen sat proudly. "It is beautiful, isn't it?"
"So where's that hotel?" André asked.
"I don't know, maybe Cancun?" he suggested with a shrug. "I will go get someone to help you with your bags."
"I don't like this place at all," Rex commented as the hotelier left.
Freddie walked over to the counter; he ran his hand over it, noticing that it was covered in dust and other things. "Festus said this hotel was nice?" he asked his friend.
"Yes," Tori confirmed. "Okay, this isn't my fault."
"Yeah, it is," Jade disagreed.
"How was I supposed to know?" she protested.
Sgrodis returned with a second Yerbanian in tow. "Hey, buddies, this is Kreploch. He will take your luggages."
"That's nice," Cat smiled.
"Hello. We're so happy to be in your country," Tori smiled warmly.
At that moment, whistles blew and the lobby door burst open. Guards rushed in; their chief pointed at Kreploch and the others rushed over, beginning to drag him away.
"Please! Help! Let go, let go, let go! Please, please..." he begged, holding on to anything and anyone in a vain attempt to stop them from kidnapping him.
The lobby was a mess after the troops had managed to fight their way out with him; the teens gasped and looked around in disbelief surveying the devastation.
"Is there another bellman that can help us?" Tori asked their host awkwardly.
It turned out that there wasn't; the Americans would have to take their own luggage to their rooms. Tori, in whose name the bookings had been made, was invited to the desk in order to check them in. She did so, albeit reluctantly given what they had seen so far.
"And here you go," the hotelier handed a couple of metallic objects to her.
"Well..." Jade prompted.
"Here are the keys to your rooms," the light brunette began to distribute them.
Freddie accepted his, immediately noticing something. "Tori, these are screwdrivers," he pointed out.
"I know," she agreed, "he said to stick it in the keyhole and jiggle it."
"Well, what did he say about the indoor swimming pool?" Cat asked uncertainly; Trina and Robbie had heard enough and, taking their room numbers from the younger Vega, headed up to investigate, screwdrivers in hand.
"Well, um, apparently, this country is sort of 'at war'," she began, "so the swimming pool here is currently filled with ammunition," she trailed off in an embarrassed voice.
"Well, what about the white sand beach?" the redhead asked hopefully.
"Yeah, where's the beach?" Sikowitz urged enthusiastically.
In an even more embarrassed voice Tori was forced to admit, "It's, uh, it's been taken over by rebels."
Jade sighed in disbelief at the mounting revelations about the reality of the country. "Okay. So before you booked our trip here, you forgot to find out that this is the worst country on earth?"
"Yeah," Tori confirmed in a small voice.
"Jade," Freddie spoke up softly, "it's not all on Tori; there was no mention of this, or rebels or anything when I looked on the government websites a couple of days ago."
"Yeah, the rebels must have just started fighting recently," Cat backed up her boy.
"If they'd known it was this bad then there'd have been a travel advisory warning Americans not to come to Yerba in the first place," he pointed out reasonably.
"I guess," Jade conceded, "but I still don't like it."
"I don't either," he agreed, "but let's get some rest and maybe things will look better in the morning."
"Ever the optimist," she teased with a grin.
The optimism would last precisely four seconds; Trina and Robbie rushed back into the lobby with facial expressions akin to abject horror. "Okay, Robbie and I just looked at our rooms and there's no way I'm staying here," the diva declared.
"Me neither," he supported her.
"What's so bad about your rooms?" Tori asked.
"Well," her sister snapped, "we can start with the foreign man I found in my closet."
"And there was a grenade in my toilet," Robbie complained. Tori palmed her forehead as the trip crumbled ever further into complete disaster.
"There's nicer hotels in Northridge," Rex argued.
André yelped and clutched at his neck, distracting the others from their troubles.
"What happened?" Cat asked, rushing over to him.
"Somethin' bit my neck!" the songsmith complained.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, it looked like a moth," Freddie noted as he spotted something flying away from them.
"Are you..." Cat began.
"A moth?" Jade asked, looking around for it.
"Moth," the musician confirmed.
"What happened?" Festus's brother asked, walking over to them.
"A moth bit our friend's neck," the cupcake-lover informed him.
"A moth? Was it about this big and black like the night?" Sgrodis held his index finger and thumb a couple of inches apart.
"Yeah," Freddie confirmed suspiciously.
"Ah," their host smiled, "that was a vampire moth."
"Well, is he gonna be okay?" Tori asked in concern.
"Of course," he retorted confidently. "Being bitten by a vampire moth is very good luck."
André sighed in relief, until Cat consulted her pear pad again.
"Wait, but it says here that a bite from a vampire moth could kill you," she pointed out.
"Yes," Sgrodis agreed before smiling, "but if you live, you are very lucky."
The travel party looked helplessly at one another while Freddie hurriedly turned up the collar of his shirt.
He spotted Jade's querying look and explained, "I'm allergic to bees; a moth bite might kill me on the spot. I don't know and I'd rather not take the chance." She nodded, glancing at Cat and noting the girl's look of fearful concern mirrored her own feelings.
The Slap Mobile
Tori Vega: Yerba is SUCKISH! André's neck is GROWING A LUMP and WE CAN'T SLEEP.
Feeling: Worried
Room 207
Far from having one room each like they had hoped, it turned out that just two rooms had been booked for the entire party – so the girls took one room, the boys the other.
The boys' room had two beds – a small, single bed that Sikowitz claimed and a larger bed that the teenagers would have to share. Freddie was almost comatose as soon as his head hit the pillow; André, meanwhile, tried to sleep but Robbie's continual yelps and squeals at the explosions and shellings outside the hotel disturbed him and thwarted his efforts.
"Robbie," he complained eventually, "if you're going to yelp all night, you gotta do it someplace else."
"Well, where?" the ventriloquist snapped.
"The bathtub?" the dreadlocked teen suggested; Robbie got out of bed and trudged to the bathroom; he took one look inside, shrieked again and ran from the room. André just shook his head and rolled over, hoping to get some sleep.
Room 211
Unlike the boys, the girls' room had just one bed so Jade, Trina, Cat and Tori lay side by side in it. Like the boys, the bombs and explosions could be heard raining outside, leaving the girls wide awake – all except for one.
"How can she sleep in the middle of a war?" Trina asked in annoyed astonishment as Jade slept soundly beside her.
"I don't like this hotel," Cat complained.
"Oh, come on, guys, they're just bombs," Tori attempted to reassure them. "You know, I'm sure that..." the three screamed at a particularly loud explosion and then again at a wriggling that they could see and feel in the bed between Trina and Cat; it turned out to be Robbie.
"Dude!" Tori complained.
"Robbie!" her sister added in annoyance.
"Hi," Cat welcomed him gently.
"Get out of our room," the elder Vega demanded.
"No," he countered, "I'm afraid to sleep alone."
"What about André and Freddie?" Tori asked.
"André made me sleep in the bathtub, and I saw a lizard in there," he explained sheepishly.
"A lizard?" Cat's horror grew.
"Oh my God, you guys are such babies," Tori had had enough of the negativity surrounding their trip. "Just because this place isn't quite as cushy as America, you make it seem like we're in the middle of..."
Her speech was curtailed by the reappearance of Kreploch, the bellman from earlier, as he leapt through their window; the four of them shriek again.
"Hide me, hide me!" he pleaded before two soldiers jumped through the window after him and seized him.
"Let go, let go, let go!" he begged as they prised him off the furniture he clung desperately to and hauled him back out of the window.
"We are getting out of this country!" Tori declared; Cat, Trina and Robbie whole-heartedly agreed and the four got out of the bed, heading for the lobby. Jade, meanwhile, slept on.
Lobby,
Sunday, 5th April 2011.
Sgrodis was still on duty as the Vega sisters and Cat approached angrily; Robbie had gone to wake the other guys.
"Hey," Tori snapped a 'greeting'.
"Hello, buddies," he smiled, "who wants mushroom?"
"No one!" she shot back.
"I love mushrooms," Cat called happily.
"Cat!" Tori complained.
"I hate mushrooms?" she suggested in an uncertain tone.
"We are leaving this..." Trina began, before yet another loud explosion interrupted her. "We are leaving this country," she declared forcefully.
"Right now," Tori agreed.
"Oh, buddies," their host laughed.
"There they are," Robbie noted as he arrived with André, Freddie and Sikowitz; the tech producer looked particularly dazed as he had been roused from his slumbers.
"Okay, what's all the fissy fuss?" the teacher asked.
"We wanna go ho-o-oh my God, look at Andre!" Tori gasped.
"What's on his neck?" Trina asked in wonderment.
"It's from his moth bite; it won't stop growing," Freddie told them.
"Umm. No, no. Ooohh-eee-aaahh," the musician babbled.
"Oh, what's he saying?" the half-Latina singer asked in concern.
"I think it was ooohh-eee-aaahh," Freddie repeated.
Cat consulted her trusty pear pad again. "Here. It says, 'a person who has been bitten by a vampire moth will often experience hallucinations or bizarre speech patterns.'"
"Ooohh-eee-aaahh," the songsmith garbled as Jade sleepily joined them in the lobby.
"Okay," she noted, "I just woke up and found this sitting on my chest." She dropped the offending creature on the counter.
"Ewww," Tori wrinkled her nose in disgust.
"A dead lizard?" Cat asked in surprise.
"It's dead now," the mean girl shrugged before coyly licking her thumb; she turned to the guys. "Whoa, André, who's your friend?"
Tori turned to Sgrodis. "Give us our plane tickets home right now!" she demanded.
"Why you want to leave Yerba?" he asked in genuine confusion.
"We hate it here," she replied.
"Our friend is hallucinating!" Freddie added.
"An escaped prisoner crashed through our window and was dragged out by Yerbanian soldiers!" Tori told him.
"And our bed is lumpy," Cat complained.
"Okay," he smiled. "I'm very sorry about the troubles. Here. Everyone, please enjoy a free can of Yerbanian gravy."
"Yerbanian gravy?" Rex repeated.
"Made in prison?" Freddie read the label.
"We don't want to eat your prison gravy. We wanna go home!" the brunette told the hotelier again.
"Wait," Sikowitz urged. "Shouldn't we at least try the gravy?"
"We are leaving this country now!" Trina insisted.
"You kids promised to make sing-song here for seven nights," Sgrodis pointed out in annoyance.
"Well, I'm afraid that's a promise they're going to have to break," Sikowitz attempted to take charge of the situation.
"Are they?" the Yerbanian sneered; he pulled on a rope above him, triggering an alarm which caused more soldiers to enter the lobby and stare menacingly at their 'guests'.
Tori looked around weakly before slumping her shoulders in defeat. "So what song should we do tomorrow night?" she asked.
The Slap Mobile
Tori Vega: Looks like we're staying in Yerba. Andre's neck lump is large and squishy. Eww
Feeling: HOMESICK.
With the performance not due to start until the evening, Freddie and Cat had decided to go for a walk around the local area and do a little sight-seeing after they woke up in the morning; the group shared a barely palatable and cold breakfast in the hotel's restaurant before discussing their plans.
"What do you want to see? Bombs going off everywhere?" Trina asked in astonishment.
"Trina, do you hear that?" Freddie asked; the older sister paused and cocked her head.
"Hear what?"
"Precisely. No bombs going off right now."
"So the war's over?" Cat asked hopefully.
"Probably not," her boyfriend replied, "but the worst of the fighting probably takes place after dark. I should think we'd be ok out there during the day – the other option is just sitting in this 'hotel' all day, and all week really," he finished in a frustrated tone.
Their meal consumed, the teens headed back to their rooms to get ready. Just as the young couple were preparing to leave, Jade called from behind them.
"Hey, you two going now?"
"Yeah, we're just going for a look around," Cat explained.
"Sounds good. Mind if I tag along?" she asked hopefully; the others exchanged a momentary glance before agreeing readily.
The trio didn't get too far; they managed a short walk into the local town and to Cat's dismay the vast majority of places were shuttered – or vandalised.
"Almost everywhere's closed or looted," Jade observed in surprise.
"It's horrible," her best friend agreed before shrieking at the sound of gunfire close by; even Jade jumped a little, though she would swear that she jumped at Cat's yelp rather than the sound of firing weapons.
"Get down!" Freddie hissed; they spotted a dumpster on the sidewalk and raced for cover behind it. The shooting continued for a few seconds before, after a couple of anguished screams, there was silence.
Freddie chanced a look; he stood up and scanned the street, spotting a knot of soldiers in the area. A couple of them shouted and raised their weapons; he threw his hands up.
"Don't shoot!" he pleaded; Cat began to stand but Jade tugged at her hand to keep her out of sight.
"American?" the lead soldier asked; he confirmed it. "Where you stay?"
Freddie named the hotel and gestured towards it.
"Come," the soldier ordered. "Streets not safe for you. Stay in hotel."
To his surprise the two girls also emerged from behind the dumpster as Freddie walked towards the group; the trio were escorted back to the hotel and told not to leave it again without armed guards.
"We may as well be in prison," Jade complained sullenly as she flopped down on the battered couch in the lobby area.
Hotel function room
Shortly after a rather pitiful lunch, the group had their first rehearsal for the evening's performance. There was a little concern over the short timeframe to get everything ready but the teens were confident that they had the talent to put on a good show, even at such short notice. The main issue would be choreographing their moves rather than any concerns over singing, since the girls all knew the song that they were planning to sing, so they would be focussing primarily on the dancing during the first couple of run-throughs, something that they had been busily discussing over lunch.
Freddie stood to the side of the stage; he was operating the equipment that would be providing the music for the performance. He set the music going and glanced over, smiling at the sight of Cat, Tori and Jade on stage; the girls were limbering up with a few stretches and dance moves while he played the song's introduction. Robbie emerged from behind the curtains and onto the stage.
"Hey, you know what, Yerbanian gravy, not so bad," he mentioned conversationally, walking over to join the tech genius.
"You know," Freddie dropped his voice and wore an annoyed tone, "we still need to talk about you getting into bed with my girlfriend – and the others – last night."
"What was I supposed to do?" the ventriloquist protested. "André kicked me out of our bed and I wasn't sleeping in the bathtub with a lizard!"
"You could have woken me up for us to talk about it," the brown-haired teen suggested.
"The bombs didn't wake you up," the curly-haired boy retorted. "How did you sleep through that?"
"I sleep through my mother's craziness," he smirked, "a few bombs are nothing."
Trina was the next to come through the curtain; the diva was dancing badly and singing, out of tune, "Let's watch the sun come up…"
"Nyaaaaaa!" Jade groaned at the caterwaul. She turned to Tori. "You're really gonna let your screech-box of a sister sing with us?"
"The guys are gonna keep her mic turned off," the light brunette assured her.
In an impersonation of the other girl, the black-haired teen observed, "Oh, that's swell news."
"Is that supposed to be me? Because I don't talk like that," the half-Latina argued.
"Whatever," the gothic girl smirked and walked off to get some water.
"I don't talk like that," Tori told herself; in mock of Jade's impersonation she asked, "Do I talk like that?" then, in her normal voice, she snapped, "No, I don't talk like that."
She spotted their chaperone walking by and hailed him.
"Hey. Hey, Sikowitz."
"Hey, Vega," he replied brightly.
"How are we gonna do this performance if André's sick?"
"Relax," the balding teacher smiled, "he's with a Yerbanian doctor right behind that… stained sheet. Come, let's check on him."
The two walked behind the sheet, where they saw a young boy stood watching André; the musician was lying on a counter.
"Hello," Tori greeted the boy warily; he took her hand and sniffed it. To his surprise she hurriedly pulled it away. "I don't like that!" she snapped; to Sikowitz she asked, "Okay, where is the doctor?"
"That's him there," the acting teacher gestured to the boy.
"What... the boy?" she was amazed at the revelation. "He's like eleven."
"Almost twelve," the Yerbanian supplied.
"How is he, doc?" Sgrodis asked as he walked up to them; the 'doctor' shrugged non-commitally.
"Eh," he told them.
"That boy is not a doctor," Tori insisted.
"No, but he is the doctor's son," Sikowitz explained.
"Where is the doctor?" the girl demanded.
"His boy is the best we could find," Sgrodis informed them.
"Is André going to be okay?" Sikowitz asked of the boy.
"Maybe. I gave him shot. Now I give him lu-lu pop." The pre-teen put a lolly in the dreadlocked teen's mouth and packed up his doctor's bag. "Vetch-goof oz," he addressed Sgrodis as he turned to leave.
"Vetch-goof oz," the hotelier repeated.
"André?" Tori asked nervously. "You think you can perform tonight?"
"Yeah, I think so," he told her as he removed the lolly from his mouth. "I had a dream that a little foreign boy gave me a shot."
"Yeah, well..." the girl began before being interrupted; Trina and Cat raced behind the sheet to join them.
"Tori. Tori. Tori. Tori. Tori," her sister gasped. "Guess what. The chancellor of Yerba is coming to see us perform tonight."
"Good Gandhi!" Sikowitz exclaimed.
"Who is the chancellor of Yerba?" the younger sister asked their host.
"Yes, who is that?" Sikowitz concurred.
"Our chancellor... he like your president," Sgrodis explained.
"And look, he only has one eye," Cat showed them a photograph on her pearpad.
"What happened to his other eye?" Tori pressed.
"It stopped working after he was bitten by vampire moth," the Yerbanian explained.
In a horrified voice, André demanded, "what?"
"Nothing, buddy," Sgrodis chuckled. "Forget about that. Eat your lu-lu pop."
Restaurant
Again, dinner was a basic meal, though not horrendous. Freddie had suggested to Cat that they make sure they were the first two there and the couple were able to acquire a small booth for two before anybody else arrived. Jade looked a little disappointed that she wouldn't be able to sit with them, though she did recognise that they wanted to have a little 'alone time' given that it was going to be very difficult to get too much of it during this trip, as it wasn't turning out the way that they had hoped it would. She cast a slightly envious eye over them as they sat, talking, laughing and smiling together before taking a seat next to Tori at the end of a large table which housed the other members of the touring party.
Cat giggled as she cuddled closer to Freddie, stealing a bite from his fork as she did. He 'retaliated' with a taste of her meal, though he frowned a little as he savoured the rather bland taste of it.
"I know, it's not very good, is it?" she asked softly.
"The whole trip hasn't been what we wanted really," he replied sadly, "oh well, we'll have a few stories to tell when we get back to school I guess."
Cat giggled then turned uncharacteristically serious. "Freddie, have you heard anything about this year's Big Showcase?" she asked.
"No, there hasn't been anything at all said about it yet."
"Will there even be one? I heard some of the seniors talking; they're worried that it might not be happening. Principal Eikner still hasn't said anything about one, has he?"
"Not yet," her boyfriend replied. "I know that he's got this new girlfriend, from Tahiti I think he said," the boy frowned, "he mentioned it when I went to see him just after Christmas about dropping Sikowitz's class."
"Are you still going to?" she interrupted; he frowned again as he pondered his options.
"I don't know," he admitted. "I don't like the guy, I don't trust him – despite his appearance here – so we'll see. Mr Eikner was right about one thing; there are no better acting teachers here. For a Performing Arts High School, that's a pretty damning thing to say," he noted in disgust.
"Let me know what you decide," she pleaded. "If you're changing class then I think I will too; I like starring alongside you in plays," she fluttered her eyelashes flirtatiously at him and he chuckled.
"I love acting with you as well," he told her, pulling her into a cuddle.
"Ok people," Sikowitz called when the Americans had finished their meals and the last plates had been cleared away. "It's time to get ready to put on a show."
The teens rose from their seats and filed out of the room, heading for their rooms to change for the evening's performance.
Function room
Freddie and Robbie stood on the stage; the room was filled with locals; the chancellor sat, surrounded by army officials and other lackeys at a table close to the stage.
"Good evening," Freddie began. "We're from Hollywood Arts High School in Los Angeles, America." Sikowitz began to applaud loudly; the locals were less enthused and he soon stopped.
"We'd like to welcome a most special guest, the chancellor of this fine country," Robbie nodded towards the table of honour; the chancellor waved as the locals provided a more enthusiastic response for this announcement.
"And now we present," Freddie continued, "Trina Vega."
"André Harris," Robbie announced.
"Jade West," the tech genius continued.
"Cat Valentine," the ventriloquist introduced the redhead.
"And Tori Vega," Freddie concluded.
The audience cheered the performers' names. "Whoo," Sikowitz hollered as the teens emerged from behind the curtain and onto the stage, waving to the patrons. Freddie and Robbie left the stage and the former Seattleite started the music; the others began their dance routine during the introduction.
"I feel delirious," Tori began, "come let's get outta here. We're so anonymous but,"
"It's all coming clear," the others joined in."We're heading for the sky,"
"And we'll get lost in it," Tori continued alone,"'cause all I want,"
"All I want," the others echoed.
"All I want is everything." Tori concluded the verse."And I will pose if I wanna, and I'm en vogue like Madonna."
"I might not dance like MJ R.I.P.," Cat, Jade, André and the silenced Trina took up.
"But I will give the best of me," the lead singer finished and the rest of the group joined her for the chorus.
"All I want is everything, yes everything. Too much is not enough.
I'm sick of settling for in between and I'm not giving up.
As long as it feels right at least we know that we're alive.
All I want is everything, yes, everything, yeah. Whoa oh oh."
"We don't ever stop," Tori began the second verse alone.
"Let's watch the sun come up," the others added.
"We'll sleep when we're dead 'cause," the brunette continued.
"Half-way kinda sucks," they sang.
"We're heading for the sky and we'll get lost in it 'cause all I want," the half-Latina continued.
"All I want," they echoed.
"All I want is everything. And I will pose if I wanna, and I'm en vogue like Madonna," the younger Vega sang.
"I might not dance like MJ R.I.P.," Cat, Jade and André joined her in singing.
"But I will give the best of me," she finished alone.
"All I want is everything," they began the chorus before disaster struck; as part of the dance routine Tori performed a kick. Her shoe flew off and sailed across the room; the heel hit the chancellor in his good eye.
"Aah!" he screamed.
"Shvog-ha-la! Shvog-ha-la!" the General, sat next to him yelled as pandemonium broke out in the room.
"Stop the music!" Sgrodis demanded.
Up on the stage, the teens were concerned. "Your shoe hit the chancellor," Cat wailed.
"In his last good eye," Robbie pointed out as he hopped on to the stage.
"I'm so sorry," she apologised desperately. "My shoe just flew off and..."
The general didn't want to hear excuses; he blew his whistle and pointed at Tori. A group of soldiers stormed into the room, onto the stage and grabbed her.
"What are they doing?" the brunette demanded.
"Let her go," Trina ordered, beginning to scuffle with them
"She's my big sister," Tori pointed out. Freddie joined them on stage and tried unsuccessfully to rescue the girl.
"Wait. Where are they taking her?" Sikowitz asked as the army personnel hauled Tori towards the rear of the room.
"To the prison," the general snapped.
"Prison?" Trina echoed in horror.
The soldiers succeeded in dragging her out of the room, leaving a stunned group of American kids stood stunned, A few moments later Tori rushed back into room with guards hot on her heels.
"I got away. I got away," she reached the foot of stage and held out her arms; Trina and Cat grabbed a hand apiece as the guards seized her body and legs again. "I got away… oh, they got me again. They got me again," she complained as she was wrested from the girls' grip and carried out again.
"Tori!" Freddie shouted, making to go after him; a couple of senior officers held him back. Jade hurriedly grabbed one of his arms and began to tug him back.
"Help me," she grunted to Cat; the redhead nodded and took Freddie's other arm. The two girls dragged him behind the curtain.
"What are you doing?" he asked them furiously, "they just dragged Tori off!"
Cat looked downcast at his ire; Jade stood her ground confidently. "I was making sure that you didn't get dragged off after her!" the black-dyed haired girl snapped. "Look, I know that you're worried about what will happen to Tori. We all are – even me," she smirked inappropriately, "but you can't take on the Yerbanian Army and expect to win. We will fix this and we will get her out of there," the girl promised, "but in the meantime there's no point in having you arrested too."
"Alright," he took a couple of calming, steadying breaths as he processed her words. "I guess you're right."
"I usually am," Jade's smirk widened immeasurably; Freddie even allowed himself a small grin at her cockiness.
"I'm sorry," he pulled Cat into a hug, "I shouldn't have snapped."
"It's ok. Like Jade says, we're all worried about her. Let's see what's happening," the redhead suggested.
Freddie nodded and the trio headed back through the curtains to see that most of the spectators and army personnel had left; only the General remained and he was talking to Sikowitz.
"What's happening?" Freddie demanded once the Yerbanian turned to leave.
"Tori will be in prison overnight and her trial will take place in the morning; that's when they'll deal with her."
"Where?" Trina asked worriedly.
"In the Chancellor's office."
"Well that doesn't sound good," Jade observed.
"Trina and I will go along and see what we can do," the teacher decided.
"I want to go too," Freddie insisted; the others also voiced their desire to attend.
"No," Sikowitz was firm. "Just me and Trina – and Sgrodis will be there with us as well since he knows all about Yerbanian law and customs. We'll see what we can do but too many of us could do her more harm than good." He saw Freddie's mutinous expression but continued, "I know you want to do something, Freddie. Whether you believe me or not, so do I but, for now, the best thing you can do is leave it to me."
He turned to Cat for support but Jade spoke up.
"He's right Freddie. For now, we should leave it to him. Maybe you can look into a couple of things on-line and try and help Tori that way."
"Alright," he agreed reluctantly.
"I think for now," Sikowitz decreed, "the best thing for us all is to get some rest and deal with this tomorrow; we can't do anything tonight. I know," he looked directly at Freddie again as the teen opened his mouth to argue, "that you don't want to, that you don't feel you'll sleep, that you want to do something now, but – until tomorrow – there's nothing you can do that won't make things worse for her."
The boy nodded; he turned on his heel and headed upstairs to his room with Cat hurrying after him and Jade just a further step behind. The girls were surprised when he picked up his laptop and left the room again.
"What are you doing?" his girlfriend asked.
"I'm taking this to the lobby. I won't be able to sleep after all this," he explained, "so I may as well start looking for stuff now."
"Wait a second," Cat rushed to the girls' room and re-emerged a few moments later with her pink pear pad. "Let's see what we can find," she told her man.
"I wish I'd brought mine," Jade grumbled. "I'll be down in a few hours and I'll take over so you two can sleep," she promised and headed for her room.
Freddie looked at his girlfriend. "Let's see what we can find," he told her.
She nodded determinedly and the two headed for the lobby.
AN: Thanks for reading; I hope you've enjoyed it so far. Hopefully part 2 will be done in a few days. Until then, please let me know what you thought. PD.