AN: Hello everyone and welcome, finally, to the latest chapter of this story.
Firstly, some housekeeping and a quick note for the eagle-eyed among you; it was pointed out to me after the last chapter that somewhere along the way my dates and days have become misaligned. I'm not sure where or how but hopefully from now on I will have them right. The Saturday of the performance should actually have been May 7 instead of May 9 so this chapter begins on May 9, only it's a Monday. Hopefully that hasn't confused too many people.
Now for reviews and once again my thanks to everybody who provided one; your feedback is always gratefully received and very much appreciated.
Challenge King – thanks, I'm glad you liked it and that the subject matter wasn't too dark; it IS a serious topic and I hope that it was portrayed reasonably sensitively and believably.
Martial Arts Student – glad you liked it. The iCarly episode should have been filmed from Freddie's house, as that's where they were on the Friday evening.
Darck Ben – thanks, glad you liked it.
Guest – thanks.
Pbow – yes, it's something that could happen to Jade (though as someone pointed out it's possibly a little clichéd that she would be the one to do it) and Freddie would do his best to make things better.
Agent-M – I agree with your views on self-harming and on the reaction from Freddie, Cat and Marissa; I'm glad that you thought I handled it well.
Fanfic-Reader – Jade is getting the help she needs but it's a long road and certain… obstacles may prove challenging for her. Trina shouldn't have been able to use it against Tori but for whatever reason the younger sister allowed her to. As for Frina I'll leave that pairing in your capable hands.
FloatingOtter – I'm glad you liked it. As for an outtakes chapter, for now all I can say is that I'll decide on that when this story ends (which may be the end of this school year with a 3rd part featuring their senior year, or I may carry on with it; as of now I don't know).
The No-Name Guy – I'm glad you liked it. It's probably too late now for Jade to make Lindsey pay, given that Sam already did quite a while ago but she may get angry next time she encounters the blonde. Or maybe Lindsey could turn out to be a key pawn or piece in the game of Fix Freddie…
Ok, that's everyone so on with the story.
Chapter 38: Tori Gets Stuck.
Hollywood Arts High School,
Los Angeles, CA
Monday, 9th May 2011.
"Hey Jade," Freddie sidled up to the girl by her locker. "How are you?" he asked her; he hadn't seen her since Saturday's gig, having been busy with Cat, Carly and Sam the previous day, so he wanted to make sure that she was alright.
"I'm fine," she slammed it shut, causing him to jump a little. "Sorry, it was one of the things the counsellor suggested – 'finding a different outlet for my annoyances'," she air-quoted in mild irritation at what she thought was a rather woolly-headed approach to her troubles, "so I take it on my locker door with the theory being that I won't do it on my arms – and hopefully eventually they go completely."
"Well it's better that way I guess," he agreed, "so do you still feel the urge to..." he trailed off awkwardly.
"Sometimes, yes," she sighed miserably before brightening, "but I'm learning to suppress it and the urges aren't there as often as they were. I haven't actually gone through with it since you found out."
"That's good," he smiled in relief before something struck him. "But how are you going to deal over the summer? I mean, it's heating up out there as it is," he gestured to the outside of the school where another glorious Los Angeles late Spring day was developing. "How much longer can you wear long sleeves?"
She looked around stealthily and took his sleeve, beginning to steer him towards the janitor's closet. The pair spotted Cat bouncing through the hallway as they walked and the gothic teen motioned for her best friend to follow them, which she did.
"Yay, closet party!" the ebullient redhead exclaimed in delight as she closed the door behind them.
Jade tentatively rolled up her sleeve; the scars were no longer fresh but were still ugly, red and visible, though to Freddie's eye they seemed rather less so than he'd have expected.
"You want more make-up?" Cat enquired, raising an eyebrow to her friend and assuming that that was the reason for her invitation and the impromptu gathering.
"Since we're here, why not?" she answered, before turning to Freddie. "This is how we started to cover it up at one of our 'slumber parties'," the words almost stuck in her throat, Cat's giggles as she fished for a bottle in her bag didn't help, nor did Freddie's amused smile, "it's not all that effective but it does fade them a little." She shivered a little as Cat caught her arm and began to apply the cold liquid to it, rubbing it gently over her forearm and further reducing the visibility of the scars.
"They're never going to completely fade though, are they?" Freddie asked thoughtfully, knowing from his mother's medical background that serious scarring tended to be permanent.
"Not on their own," she agreed, "but one of the things the counsellor also suggested was that maybe one day, when I can afford it, I look into getting some sort of a procedure done where they can maybe cover it up with some sort of skin graft or something. Between that and the make-up I should be able to make them almost completely invisible in time."
"That would be good," he nodded, as did Cat.
"And in the meantime," she concluded, "the make-up hides them a little. I can load up with it so that, at-a-glance, they don't appear to be there; you have to really look for them when I'm fully made up – and Cat's talented enough that it looks natural rather than fake or overdone." The cupcake lover giggled again in mild embarrassment at the praise she was receiving.
The bell distracted the three of them from their conversation and their thoughts; Jade hurriedly pulled down her sleeves, trying her best not to smudge the make-up job and they exited together, which drew a few surprised looks from the teens walking through the area, but they ignored them and just headed for their first classes.
Sikowitz's classroom,
Tuesday 10th May 2011.
Due to the increasing number of rehearsals ahead of opening night of his play, Beck was absent from class. Freddie had expressed a slight concern to Cat that this may actually make Jade's mood a little worse (as his absence would serve as a reminder of why he wasn't there, the strings that had been pulled on his behalf to land the role and who had pulled them) but she seemed reasonably at peace, though the boy recalled the fact that he had been unable to detect her issues when they first arose and how good she had been at acting as if nothing was wrong, so he continued to watch her sharply. As well as the trio, Tori, Robbie, Eli, Sinjin and André were also present in class.
"Let's... discuss..." the teacher prompted, setting his ever-present coconut down on the shelving by the stage, "acting..."
Seconds passed in silence; the class began by looking at him expectantly, though their expressions morphed into impatience and swiftly frustration at the lack of further discourse.
"What about acting?" André finally prompted.
"Oh, yes. Any questions?" Sikowitz seemed to have forgotten what he was actually talking about.
The students looked around at one another in confusion.
"I have a question," a smirking Freddie raised his hand; Jade grinned, suspecting that things were about to get entertaining. "Are you actually going to teach anything today? Class is almost over and we've just been listening to your usual inane nonsense for the past hour or so, and now you finally want to do your job for the last minute or so of the lesson."
Sensing her teacher's growing annoyance at the challenge, Cat elected to change the subject. "One time," she began, "my brother painted part of his body purple."
It certainly had the desired effect of causing a distraction as, again, a wave of confusion lapped the room.
"Well, why did your brother paint part of his body purple?" Robbie wondered aloud.
"I remember," Freddie turned to his girl. "He said he had a job interview, didn't he?"
"Yeah," the redhead smiled fondly at the memory of when her older brother lived with them; she missed him being around and was able to overlook all the problems, issues and weirdness with him in that moment. "He didn't get it."
The bell sounded and the students started to get to their feet, ready to leave.
"And another wasted lesson," Freddie complained; amid the hubbub only Cat could hear him. "The sooner the year is over and I can get a new teacher the better."
"Wait, wait, wait," the balding teacher implored them; they turned to face him. "Would anyone be interested in seeing the cast list for our little play called Steamboat Suzy?" He smiled and brandished a cast list.
A general murmur of agreement reverberated. "Yeah." "You know it."
"I got the lead, right?" Jade challenged forcefully.
"Pardon?" Sikowitz eyed her nervously.
"I'm playing Suzy, right?" she reiterated, fixing her unblinking gaze on him; Sikowitz hesitated before abandoning their brief stare-off and running from the room via the door by the stage. Jade picked up the discarded list that he had dropped and opened it.
Freddie shook his head. "So he's too gutless to even answer her question."
"Did you get the lead?" Cat asked her best friend hopefully. Jade glared at her for a moment before balling up the paper and flinging it to the floor; she then proceeded to kick over a chair and covered her face with her hand as her annoyance washed over her.
"Jade," the former Seattle native asked cautiously, desperately hoping that her anger wouldn't trigger a continuation of her harming.
"I don't think she got it," André observed; Tori reached down and picked up the balled paper.
"So who's playing Suzy?" the tech genius turned to the half-Latina; she looked up from it and faced him with a slightly surprised look on her face.
"Me," she answered simply.
"Yeah, her," Jade snapped. "She got the lead – again; just like Uptown Downtown and Moonlight Magic."
"Well, what part did you get?" her read haired best friend prompted.
"I got cheated and humiliated," she snarled back.
"You get used to it," Sinjin added unhelpfully.
Freddie grinned, hoping that he could reduce her tension a bit and get something of a smile from the girl. "You got two parts?" Jade just glared at him. "Too soon?"
"All right, now chill down," the dreadlocked musician urged. "Let's see. It says right here, 'Jade West, understudy for the role of Suzy.'"
"Oh, yee-hoo. Like it's my dream to be Tori's understudy," the gothic teen lamented.
"What's an understudy?" Tori asked Freddie; she was unfamiliar with the term.
"Oh, man," Jade's ire increased at the girl's lack of knowledge; she seized one of the ornaments from Sikowitz's shelves and flung it against the wall, smashing it.
"An understudy is like a back-up actor," he explained patiently. "So, let's say that you got sick or something, your understudy takes over for your part in the play." He turned to his girlfriend and smiled fondly. "Remember back in ninth grade when we were the understudies for that play?"
Cat giggled at the recollection. "Yeah." Then her face fell. "Things got awkward around then."
"Well, they're a lot better now," he noted; she grinned and gave him a quick kiss. He turned back to Tori. "They actually let Cat and I do one of the performances before it closed, so maybe Sikowitz will decide to give you a break from one of them and let Jade play the part."
"Maybe," Jade fired in annoyance. "Or if you did get sick…" she advanced on her fellow brunette with a predatory smile, "or went missing…" she turned on her heel, "or got hit by a bus!" With a final groan she stormed out of the same door Sikowitz had used, slamming it loudly behind her.
Tori sounded nervous. "Uh, she can't drive a bus, right?"
"Don't worry," Freddie rested a hand on her arm, "there's just... a lot going on for her right now; it's not personal."
"It feels it when she says stuff like that," the svelte girl complained. "I mean, I thought we really were friends now."
"You are," he insisted, "it's complicated. Look, none of this is your doing so just try not to let it get you down; Jade will come around."
While she was grateful for his encouragement, Tori was rather sceptical of his viewpoint.
"Come on," he tapped Cat's shoulder before sliding his hand down her arm to entwine it with hers, "I want to catch up with Jade and make sure she's ok."
The nodded redhead quickened her stride to match his pace as they left in pursuit of the girl.
Asphalt Café.
The couple tracked her down at their usual table; Freddie was a little surprised to see that she hadn't totally mutilated her lunch in her frustration. In fact, she seemed to be an awful lot calmer… a little too calm.
"Jade?" Cat asked cautiously.
"That's me," she confirmed idly, taking another bite from her sandwich as the newcomers sat down.
"Do you need a top-up to your make-up?" Freddie asked cautiously; the gothic teen cocked an eyebrow at him.
"No, Freddie, me getting passed over for the lead didn't make me cut myself again," she fired.
"I'm glad," he replied, relief evident in his voice and on his face.
"I was worried too," Cat added, "so it's good to know that you're ok."
Jade's anger and annoyance dropped a notch from their reactions. "I know that you guys care – and I'm glad about it – but don't worry; I'm good," she tried to reassure them.
"Jade, you and Sam are the closest thing I have to sisters," the brown-haired boy reminded her, "you may as well tell me not to worry about Cat; it's not going to happen." The red haired girl giggled again and leaned into him, pressing her side into his.
"But in this case you really don't need to worry about things; I have a plan," she wore a slightly devious grin.
"You're up to something," he challenged; Jade mock-gasped, feigning affront, but he persisted, "I'm not sure what but I know you're up to something."
"Aren't we going to ask what?" Cat asked him as he turned to his own meal.
"For now I think it's better to have plausible deniability," he told her; Jade smirked again.
"I don't know what that is," she huffed but, seeing as the other two students at the table were both engrossed in their lunches, she opted to make a start on her own rather than pursue the discussion.
"Ah, Freddie, Cat," Sikowitz caught up with the couple as they made their way towards their next class. "I meant to ask you both – could you please help me out behind the scenes with the play?"
"Uh... sure," the redhead shrugged; both teacher and student turned expectantly to the brown-haired seventeen-year-old.
"Freddie?" the bearded teacher asked, when he remained silent.
"I guess it would be another production for my resume," he shrugged, "I'd have preferred an acting part, I must admit..."
"Me too," Cat added; Sikowitz looked a little uncomfortable.
"Well, you know there are only so many parts to go around," he began awkwardly.
"Yes, but it has been a while since either of us were given a role... and you don't need reminding how Jade reacted to learning that she'd missed out again."
"I have to give Tori a chance to build up her resume," he countered, "she arrived a year late so I'm helping her to make up for lost time."
"And us?" Freddie persisted. "Neither of us were in the play you put on just before Spring Break either; you just had us do behind-the-scenes stuff on that one too. Will we get a chance to act again soon?"
Sikowitz cleared his throat. "Like I said, there are only so many parts and everyone needs a chance to audition for them."
"But you also just said you're giving some people more chances than others," Cat pointed out, not wishing to criticise Tori by mentioning her by name.
"Are you going to work behind the scenes or do I ask someone else?" their teacher snapped, not wanting to debate his position further; Cat looked at Freddie with almost pleading eyes as she didn't want to be alone with some of Sinjin's friends.
"Alright," he acquiesced, "but I won't be able to come along until I finish work on Friday."
"Thank you," the adult nodded and departed.
"Let's get to class," Freddie interlaced his fingers with Cat's and they headed for their next lesson.
Main Hallway,
Wednesday, 11th May 2011.
Lunchtime was just beginning; André, Robbie (with Rex) and Cat were sat on the staircase waiting for Tori and Freddie to arrive while Jade stood to the side.
The musician, not wanting to wait for the others to arrive before starting his lunch, sat eating an apple and enthused, "Mmm. I swear, I don't know why Granny Smith apples get a bad rap. This is one of the best apples I've ever eaten."
Jade snatched the green fruit from him and stamped on it; she handed it back to him as little more than mush.
"Looks like Granny Smith broke her hip," he observed.
"Why did you smush his apple?" Cat asked; last she had heard Jade wasn't overly upset or in too bad a mood considering everything.
"'Cause I felt like it," she answered brusquely.
"Ah," Rex taunted, "she's still all mad 'cause Tori got the lead in steamboat Suzy. Ha, ha, ha, ha. You wanna talk about it, baby?"
Jade turned away from the puppet with a look of disgust etched on her face.
"Hey boys and squirrels," Tori called as she and Freddie arrived; Cat laughed at the greeting.
"Squirrels does sound like girls," she observed.
"Hey, after school, you guys wanna go get some Sushi at Nozu?" Freddie asked; he and Cat were planning on trying the newly opened place out before he went to work.
"Sounds good," André agreed.
"Not with her," Jade looked directly at Tori; the brunette's concerns over their friendship ratcheted up yet further.
"You know, actually my tummy has been feeling kind of weird these past couple of days," Robbie changed his mind given Jade's penetrating glare.
"Ah, it's always something," Rex complained.
Tori received a distraction from her concerns as her phone's ring tone began to play. "Who's this?" she wondered aloud as she checked the unrecognised number on her caller ID. She answered, not seeing Jade's confident smile as she did. "Hello? Yeah, this is Tori. You... wait, how did you get my number?"
"Who is it?" Freddie asked curiously.
"Some guy who works for Lady Gaga," she whispered, struggling to keep her excitement in check.
Cat gasped and the other teens were equally surprised and impressed by the news.
"Whoa," André called.
"Sshh," Tori implored, walking past them to secure a modicum of privacy by the lockers.
"Sshh," the others echoed, perhaps slightly mockingly.
"Hi, sorry. She is? Really?" the brunette continued her conversation.
"What's he saying?" Freddie asked.
"They're doing a new music video on Friday and they're looking for dancers and back-up singers."
"Wait, but aren't you doing steamboat Suzy on Friday?" Robbie reminded her.
"Yeah," the half-Latina's face fell; she pressed her phone to her face again. "Look, I'm starring in a play that night so I..."
"Oh my God," Jade interrupted. "You're gonna turn down a job in a real music video just to be in some little play here at school?"
"Well, I guess I could blow off the play," she reasoned.
"Oh, yeah," Cat spoke up, "and then Jade will get to play your part." The black-dyed haired girl shrugged at the logical conclusion of events.
"Yeah, I..." Tori suddenly paused as she began to contemplate what was happening, "yeah. She would, wouldn't she? Hello, sir." The girl drew a whistle from her bag; it was one that her father had given her in case she was ever attacked in the street. "Yeah. I was wondering..." she held the speaker of her phone to the whistle and blew it.
From the other side of the lockers, hidden from view, Sinjin suddenly screamed; Tori chased after him as he began to flee.
"Sinjin," the brunette called angrily; she quickly caught him and dragged him back towards where the group were stationed. Jade had walked over to them while Freddie and Cat stood a few paces behind them with the others still sat on the staircase.
"Jade made me do it," the dirty-blond confessed, "she promised me thirty dollars and a complete makeover."
"Well, you failed so now you don't get thirty bucks and you get to keep looking like that," the mean girl snapped.
Tori rounded on her furiously. "You made Sinjin try to trick me into missing the play so you could steal my part?"
"Okay, I am not gonna just stand here and listen to you accuse me of things I clearly did," Jade fired back before storming off.
"You have anything to say to me?" Tori challenged Sinjin.
"Teach me to dance?" he begged.
"No," she turned her back on him and walked angrily away. As she passed Freddie she spared him a glance. "You were saying about us being friends?"
Freddie sighed. "I'll talk to her," he called after her. "It's just..."
"You know what? Don't bother. If she wants to act like that, that's her deal."
The boy slumped his shoulders; he felt a gentle tug on his left hand and turned to see Cat looking at him and wearing a concerned expression. He smiled gently at her. "It'll work out," he promised her, albeit with a confidence that he did not feel.
The Slap Mobile
ToriVega: Jade tried to steal my part in Steamboat Suzy.
P.S: I will not teach Sinjin to dance.
Feeling: Cranky.
Science lab.
"So that's why you were smiling at lunch yesterday," Freddie began as he took his seat in the lab; as usual Jade was to his left with Cat sliding into her seat between them, "you were setting your plan in motion."
"Yep, you know that I'm bitter about being overlooked again and I'm going to get my part back."
"Jade," he sighed, "you need to be careful here. You risk losing Tori as a friend for ever if you carry on with this."
"Oh boo hoo," she snapped.
"Look, I..." he glanced quickly at Cat, "we agree with you about this; for all the good it did we had words with Sikowitz about it yesterday. But if you have a problem and you think he isn't being fair then instead of blaming Tori and going after her you need to escalate things."
"Ok," she smiled malevolently, focussing on the last part of his statement, "I'll escalate things. I'll escalate things just fine."
"I don't like the sound of that," Cat whispered.
"I've warned her but I'm not going to intervene of take sides against her," Freddie replied to his girl. "I owe her too much for all she did for me over Lindsey and everything," Cat wrinkled her nose in a frown at the way he continued to spit out the blonde's name, "to do that. I'm just hoping that I can help them keep the peace."
Valentine residence, Hollywood Hills
With her parents working late, Cat had been eager to take advantage of having the house to herself and invited Freddie over after he finished work. Her boyfriend had eagerly agreed and, following a quick message to his mother, letting her know that he'd be late home, he had made the short trip over to see her.
After surviving enthusiastic greetings from both his girlfriend and the family's dog he had settled down on the couch. Cat bustled into the kitchen, having offered to make them both a snack, and he sat idly fussing over the Labrador that lay by his feet.
"It'll be ready in about five minutes," Cat announced as she took a seat next to him on the couch before wriggling into his lap; much to the dog's disappointment Freddie needed both hands to keep his girl steady (and she did a good job of drawing his full attention) and the young couple sat cuddling and trading kisses until the girl's pear phone beeped.
"Ooh, food's ready!" she announced excitedly, tugging the device, with difficulty, from the pocket of her tight jeans and switching off the alarm. She bounced to the floor, narrowly avoiding landing on her pet, and tugged at her boyfriend's hand to help him to his feet and lead him into the kitchen.
"Are you ok?" she asked a little later; they had eaten and were back in the living area watching a little TV, "you were quiet all the way through dinner and haven't said much since."
"Sorry," he apologised with a tired tone to his voice, "it's just all this stuff with Jade. I'm worried, Cat," he confessed, "worried that she'll totally alienate Tori for good, which will make things difficult for all of us since we hang out together all the time at school. And then of course, despite what she said at lunch yesterday, I'm really worried that this will make her start hurting herself again."
"I know," she whispered, "it worries me too but what can we do about it?"
"That's the problem; there really isn't much that we can do, except hope that Jade calms down enough to let Tori go through with the part."
"Are you fencing tomorrow?"
"I will be, yeah. Why?" Freddie was a little surprised at the sudden deviation in the conversation.
"Oh, just that Tori was asking earlier at school if I could help her with her lines and the songs tomorrow. I said I would so I was just making sure that you had plans too," she finished with a grin.
Vega residence,
Thursday, 12th May, 2011.
It had been a mercifully quiet day at school; Jade had continued to snipe at Tori from the sidelines but hadn't hatched any other schemes in an attempt to promote herself from the role of understudy, much to Freddie's relief.
True to her word, Cat had taken Tori home and the two were working through the script, scene by scene. The half-Latina was pretty sure that she had it down by now, which was good with opening night just a day away, and the two had begun goofing off, boisterously singing "A Captain is Me" and laughing along together.
"So are you good with the lines?" the redhead asked hopefully.
"Yeah, yeah I think so," Tori nodded. "Thanks, Cat, it's been good to work through them with you. I really think I'm ready for tomorrow night – so long as Jade doesn't try and screw it all up for me again."
"I hope not," the shorter teen muttered weakly.
"Do you know why she's so upset about it all?" The brunette was curious.
"Uh, not really. I think she just wanted the part and feels that she'd not getting a fair chance," Cat thought back on her friend's words from earlier in the week, along with a couple of the observations Freddie had made.
"Well it's not my fault if I audition and then win the part," Tori huffed. "She'll just have to deal."
Swordplay Fencing Studio, 416 S Victory Blvd, Burbank, CA
"Freddie?" Beck sat next to his friend as they took a break from their exertions.
"Yeah?" the other prompted.
"Is everything ok… with Jade?" he asked. "I know I've only been in a little bit this week, with the play and all, but she seems… angrier than normal."
"She is," the shorter-haired boy confirmed, "Tori won the lead in Steamboat Suzy and Jade's pissed about it."
"So what's she doing?" Trepidation was filling the taller teen's voice.
"She's… trying to find a way of getting the part for herself," Freddie explained hesitantly. "She tried to make Tori think she had something else to do tomorrow night – a dance video or something – earlier in the week."
"Do you want me to talk to her?" Beck offered.
"Honestly, with your… history," Freddie added delicately, "I think you'd do more harm than good right now."
Beck was disappointed but had to concede his friend's point.
Black Box theatre,
Friday, 13th May, 2011.
As soon as their final class ended, Freddie and Cat had rushed to the theatre to begin some of the preparations for the evening; the boy knew that he didn't have too long before he needed to be at work and wanted to get as much of it done before then as he could. Their job would become a little more difficult as the cast assembled shortly after they began working for the final dress rehearsal.
"Ok, the lights are all fixed up?" he called.
"Yeah, they're good to go," she hollered back; Freddie flicked the switch and the main lighting came to life.
"Excellent," Sikowitz enthused, "great to see that it's just about done. Now, the lightning?"
"Cat, switch on 15?" the ex-Seattle native called.
"Fifteen on," she declared and the desired effects appeared on cue at the back of the stage.
"Fantastic!" the bald teacher's eyes lit up. "Great work you two, thank you."
Freddie nodded but remained silent; Cat bounced back downstairs and pulled her man into a congratulatory hug.
"Now we can watch the rehearsal and put our effects in before you have to go," she observed.
"Yeah, I should see most of it," he agreed.
As it happened, the rehearsal would be beset by problems. It started well enough, with André, playing the captain of the boat,stood on the stage; Eli, who was playing one of the hands, rushed up to him.
"Captain," the sandy blond began, "Captain, the storm is getting worse."
"You think I can't see that?" He wrestled with the wheel. "Now get down below before anything else happens." Freddie set the required lighting and thunder clap effect going; it was the musician's cue to shudder and collapse.
"Oh, okay, oh... Captain, you've been hit by lightning," Eli observed weakly.
"I can't get up," he moaned. "You better dock the boat."
Tori rushed onto the stage. "We're not docking," she insisted. "I'll Captain this boat."
"You?" André scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous."
Tori gestured to her sister, who was playing a young girl and coughing, in a very over the top manner. "That little girl is sick."
"Help me. Please, help," Trina begged.
"We've got to get her to New Orleans by daybreak," the younger Vega insisted.
"You can't Captain a boat. You're just a woman," the dreadlocked teen dismissed her argument.
"I may be a woman," she agreed, "but that doesn't mean I'm not the best dang Steamboat Captain this here river's ever seen." And she broke into song.
"Now men will always tell you how they do it all,
while women do the work you never see.
But so as it would happen you're in great need of a Captain,
oh, a Captain and that Captain is me."
The remainder of the cast took up the refrain. "And so as it would happen we're in great need of a Captain,
well, a Captain, yes, a Captain is she."
The first interruption came from a delivery man arriving in the theatre, holding a bunch of orange flowers.
"Hold. Cut, cut, cut. Can I help you?" Sikowitz was aggrieved at the disturbance.
"Yeah. I got flowers for Tori Vega?" the deliverer explained.
"Me? Huh." Jade smirked and sipped her coffee as Tori approached the new arrival. "I wonder who would've sent me flowers..."
"Oh, Tori, those are bush daisies," Trina noted in a panicked voice; her little sister recoiled in horror as Freddie, stood in the wings next to Cat, stepped out on to the stage to investigate the commotion.
"Ahh!"
"What's up?" André asked her.
"I'm way allergic to bush daisies," she explained; the delivery man handed them to Sikowitz nervously. "Like if I get anywhere near them, my whole face starts swelling up, and I start sweating and shaking..."
"Well, who would've sent you bush daisies?" he wondered aloud.
"I don't know," she began before looking over at an innocent-looking Jade. "Or maybe I do." She strode purposefully over to her rival as Sikowitz set the plants down somewhere safely out of the way. "How did you know I was allergic to bush daisies?" she demanded.
"I do my research," the other shrugged; Freddie pinched his nose and let out a long breath while Cat's face fell at the worsening relations between the two girls, both of whom she considered to be close friends.
"You looked up my medical records?" Tori challenged.
"I'll answer that right after you stick your face in those bush daisies."
Tori had had enough. "Listen to me," she ordered, "I'm doing this play. I auditioned, I got the lead, and I'm doing it."
In a genuine, albeit mocking, impersonation of Tori (rather than her oft-used faux 1940's actress voice) Jade retorted, "I don't care what you do."
"All right," Sikowitz sought to restore calm now that the delivery man had left. "Pick it back up where we left off... Trina," he called to the senior.
"Yep?" she smiled.
"I wasn't believing your cough. You need to really sell the tuberculosis."
"Uh, like this?" The girl hacked as best as she could.
"Yeah, that's not good," the teacher told her.
Sadly for the teacher and would-be director, another diversion was just around the corner; Lane sprinted in.
"Hey, hey. Robbie's in the hospital."
A general surprised muttering of "What?" emanated from the teenagers; Freddie and Cat rushed over from backstage to join the gathering.
"What's wrong with him?" Sikowitz demanded.
"This time," muttered Freddie; only Cat heard him and, though she giggled, she also gave him a gentle, chiding swat on the chest. He caught her hand and lifted it to his mouth, kissing it gently and causing the girl to dissolve into somewhat inappropriate laughter.
"I don't know," Lane ignored the display of affection and answered his fellow staff member. "His stomach was hurting really bad, so an ambulance took him to the emergency room and they x-rayed him."
"And what did they find?" Tori pressed.
"Well, according to this text message from Rex," Freddie rolled his eyes and shook his head at the Guidance Counsellor's words, "it says, 'there's a car parked in Robbie's butt.'"
"Oh my God!" Cat gasped; all eyes turned to her and she sheepishly admitted, "I don't know what that means."
"Sweetie, who would where Robbie's concerned?" Freddie added; she chuckled again, simpering and leaning against his arm, hugging it with both her hands.
"Is Robbie gonna be okay?" André asked.
"I don't know," Lane admitted. "His parents are in Boca, so I'm gonna head over to the hospital."
"Well, can we come?" Tori asked.
"We wanna see Robbie," Cat agreed.
"Sikowitz?" Lane, mindful of the rapidly approaching opening night of the play, checked with his colleague.
"Yes, of course," he relented, "but the play starts at 8:30."
"We'll be back way before then," his leading lady assured him.
"Come on, I'll take a group in my car," Freddie felt in his pocket for his keys. "I'll call in on my way to work; mom will keep an eye on him, I'm sure." He withdrew his phone along with his keys and began texting the matriarch, alerting her to the group's impending arrival.
"Okay," Cat headed with him towards the door.
"Bye," André followed the couple.
"Whoa, wait, Jade," Tori called suspiciously.
"What?" she asked.
"Is this just another trick to get me out of the play so you can steal my part?"
"No," she replied defensively.
"And what if you're lying?" the brunette challenged.
"Fine," she sighed. "I'll go to the hospital, you stay here."
"Okay," Tori agreed before suspicion struck her again. "Wait."
"What?" the black-haired girl snapped in annoyance.
"How do I know that you're not tricking me by having me stay here while you go to the hospital..."
Fed up of their bickering Sikowitz shouted, "Both of you go to the hospital."
"All right," Tori agreed meekly.
"We'll both go," Jade nodded and the two left to catch up with their friends.
Robbie Shapiro's hospital room,
Providence Saint Joseph Medical Centre,
501 S Buena Vista St, Burbank.
Robbie groaned as the pain from his injury continued to trouble him.
"So, how you feeling?" Rex enquired, a little too enthusiastically.
"Not good," the handler returned, "I have a sharp pain in my lower abdomen..."
"Rob, Rob, Rob, listen," the puppet whispered.
"What?"
"I don't care," he was told.
The other Hollywood Arts students had arrived; Tori, Jade, Freddie, Cat, Trina and Lane filed into the room. "Aw," Tori sympathised as she saw the boy lying there in pain.
"Hey, guys," he greeted them weakly.
"There's a car parked in Robbie's butt," Rex informed them gleefully.
"Quit saying that," he demanded.
"Robbie, you wanna explain?" Lane prompted.
"Well, when I was seven years old, I took my favourite little toy car to school, and a scary bully made me swallow it."
"Yeah, she was real scary," his puppet mocked. "Remember how she kept whupping you with her ponytail?"
"They were braids," he countered.
Freddie cocked his head in surprise. "So, wait, this little toy car, it's been inside of you for almost ten years?"
"Uh-huh."
"So why won't it just, you know, back out?"
"Well," the bespectacled teen explained, "the doctor says it's stuck in my small intestine. That's my X-ray right over there."
"Oh," the tech genius crossed the floor and began to study it.
"Oh, yeah," Cat followed her man over, "that's a car. Yep, that's... what kind of car is it?"
"Looks like a sports car," André mused.
"Yeah, it's a Pontiac," Robbie confirmed.
"Oh," the teens nodded.
"That's humiliating," Rex cackled.
Marissa joined the gathering at that moment. "Hi Freddie, Cat, Jade... all of you," she greeted them. "Excuse me but Robbie's parents are on the phone in reception."
"Oh, good," Lane smiled. "Robbie, I'll see you in a few."
"Thanks, Lane."
"That's my cue to leave as well then I guess. I need to get to work but just wanted to say hi," he told his mother. "I'll come back after work and pick up a couple of people if any of you are still here," he turned to the group. "It'll be close but we should make it in time for the start of the play. Try not to wander off this time," he urged his girl, before shooting a quick glance at Jade; the gothic girl nodded, non-verbally promising to keep a closer eye on her this time.
"Ok, bye," Cat kissed him, as did Marissa as he left the room; the Head Nurse promised to see him when he got home after the play.
"Hey, do you have any lotion?" Lane asked her suddenly.
"Lotion?" she repeated in confusion; the counsellor just shrugged and headed for reception.
"So, is there anything we can do to help?" Cat asked; Trina interrupted as she heard a distant coughing sound.
"Shhh. Listen. That is some juicy coughing and hacking."
"So?" the redhead asked.
"I'm playing the role of a little girl with tuberculosis and I want my coughing and hacking to sound realistic like his," the diva explained before raising her voice and calling, "Wait till I get there." She took Cat's hand. "Come with me," she demanded.
Mindful of her promise to Freddie, Cat looked unsure but, as Trina had already set off, and was still attached to her hand, she had little choice. "'Kay 'kay," she agreed.
"Mind where you're going this time. You don't want any more 'adventures'," Jade called after them.
"I will!" she promised; the pair passed the doctor on their way out of the door.
"Oh my goodness, Robbie," he began, "I didn't realise you were so popular." He turned to Jade. "Are you his girlfriend?"
The girl looked massively affronted at such an accusation. "No. Are you?" she retorted.
"Okay," Tori sought to calm things. "Why don't you go down the nursery and scare the newborn babies?" she suggested; Jade's eyes lit up.
"Oh. Where are the babies?" she pleaded; the doctor looked nervously at her.
"Uh... so, doc, what's the situation with Robbie?" André sought to steer things back towards the matter at hand.
"Well, do you see this tear in his small intestine?" he gestured to the X-ray.
"Yeah," the teenagers confirmed.
"Okay. Well, if that Pontiac moves, it could rip that kid's guts apart," he continued bluntly, eliciting a horrified squeal from the patient.
"So slice him open and yank it out," Jade suggested the simplest course of action.
"Well, we would, but Robbie has a rare blood type, O-negative."
"Oh," Tori nodded.
"Negative," André added.
"And we don't have enough here for the surgery," the doctor explained.
"So how do you plan to..." the musician began, before Jade interrupted as inspiration hit her.
"Whoa. Whoa. I know where he can get some O-negative blood."
"Where?" Tori asked; Jade replied by raising her arm.
"Right here."
"I'm O-negative? You did go through my medical records!" she challenged.
Now adopting her oft-used 1940s southern belle voice, Jade retorted, "Told you I do my research."
"Would you be willing to donate blood for Robbie's operation?" the doctor asked.
"Sure. Totally," she agreed, feeling that there was little else that she could say in response to that request.
"But the play starts in four hours," her dreadlocked friend reminded her.
"Oh, you're in a play?" the doctor raised his eyebrows.
"Yeah, at school. I'm the lead," she explained.
"Well, don't you have an understudy, someone that could take your place?"
Jade grinned. "Yeah, she does," she confirmed, smiling at her fellow brunette; Tori glared back.
The Slap Mobile
ToriVega: A lady is about to take my blood. I hope she's nice to it.
Feeling: Nervous.
Phlebotomy Lab
"Hi," Cat looked in just as Tori was being prepped.
"We're back," Trina grumbled, "we called in on Robbie but he said you were over here so here we are."
"How was the dude with tuberculosis?" Jade asked them.
"Oh, he just had stupid pneumonia," Trina complained again.
"Is this gonna hurt?" Tori asked the nurse; she had never donated blood before.
"Probably," the nurse shrugged indifferently; she was on her cellphone while prepping Tori (something Cat felt Marissa would not approve of if she saw it) and appeared to be addressing her son. "Marlon, put your teacher on the phone right now."
"How much blood are you gonna need?" Tori asked.
"Take a lot," Jade urged. "Whatever you don't use just put it in a jug. And send to my house."
"Get out!" the half-Latina demanded.
"No," the mean girl fired back; a second later she got bored. "I'm leaving." She caught Cat watching her and turned to the girl. "What?" she demanded before leaving the lab, not seeing her friend shake her head sadly as she did.
"Listen," Tori sought her attention. "I'm starring in a play tonight at 8:30. I'll be okay to do it, right?"
"Yeah," the nurse confirmed, "You're only giving one pint of blood. It'll take a few minutes. You'll be fine for your play." She then returned to her phone call. "Well, who gave him the mustard?" she demanded.
André had acquired a stethoscope and was using it to listen to his heart. "Hey, my heart's got a nice beat going," he noted approvingly before starting to beatbox along with it. "Go heartbeat. Yeah. Mmm-hmm."
An intrigued Cat took the metal end of the stethoscope, held it to her mouth and shouted, "Boo!"
"Ahh!" the songsmith jumped and floundered at her antics.
"Was that loud?" she asked; the Vega sisters could barely contain their laughter. Tori, though, quickly refocused on the matter in hand.
"Will you let me know when you're about to stick the needle in my..." she began before the nurse suddenly inserted the needle. "Oh and there's a needle in my arm," she yelped.
"Hey, hey," Trina approached her. "I need to learn the proper way to cough and hack. Are there any patients with tuberculosis in this hospital?"
"Yeah, the TB ward is seventh floor, north wing," the nurse shrugged.
"Thank you. Cat, come with me."
"No, I don't like to bother sick people," Cat had had enough of the older girl's adventures.
"Fine," she sighed theatrically. "Bye!"
Marissa called by to check on Tori as the teenager was finishing her donation; she took the blood, intending to deliver it personally, much to Jade's frustration as the black-haired girl hoped to steal it in her quest to sabotage Tori's chances. Unfortunately for the Head Nurse, a more pressing duty came along as she was paged, requesting her immediate assistance elsewhere in the hospital. She walked up to one of the nurses and placed the package, containing Tori's blood, next to him. "I need you to take this blood to the O.R. A boy named Robbie Shapiro needs it for surgery."
"No problem. I'll take it up as soon as I'm done filling this up," he confirmed.
Marissa thanked him and began walking towards her next appointment.
"Ooh, still warm," the male nurse observed as he moved the package away from his paperwork.
"Don't be creepy," Marissa ordered; the other returned to his work and Jade spotted her chance, edging closer to his station and hoping he would be suitably distracted for long enough.
A second Nurse, pushing a large food trolley, came by. "Watch your back; food coming through," she called as she navigated past her colleague; unseen by anyone, Jade took the package of Tori's blood and puts it on top of the trolley. When the nurse finished his paperwork he looked around for the blood, bewildered at his inability to find it.
The Slap Mobile
ToriVega: One pint of my blood - Gone. Does it miss me?
Soon I shall be Steamboat Suzy!
Feeling: Pumped.
"Ok, Cat, we need to go," Jade called in on Robbie's room and found her friend; Trina had also just arrived but had been told to wait outside as she had begun coughing after her visit to the seventh floor. "Trina, I'll take you as well," she added, not particularly wanting to do so, but the elder Vega was in the cast and, if Jade was to take the lead, she needed all the actors there to make the play as good as it could be.
"'kay 'kay," the redhead smiled at the bed-ridden teen and gently tugged at his toe under the sheets before laughing.
"Bye guys," Robbie's voice was getting a little weaker. "You'll do great," he told them.
Pear Store, 189 The Grove Drive, West Hollywood, Los Angeles
It had been a fairly busy shift so Freddie was unable to get his break; instead he was allowed to leave a little earlier. Before departing he found a quiet corner of the staff room and called his girlfriend.
"Hi-iii," she answered happily; next to her in the car Jade rolled her eyes.
"Hey sweetie, where are you all?"
"Well, me, Jade, André and Trina are heading back to school right now," she explained, "Tori's given her blood so Robbie will be having the surgery soon but she needed to wait where she was for a few minutes before they'd let her go." Jade grinned wickedly, knowing that it would be a little longer before the lead actress left the hospital.
"Ok, I'll pick her up on my way from work and get her to school in time," he nodded.
"Ok, see you there, bye-ee!"
Freddie's next call was to Tori; the brunette confirmed that everything had gone smoothly with the donation and that she was on her way to see Robbie and to give him the good news.
"Great," he smiled, "I'll swing by in a few minutes and take you back to school then," he reiterated.
"Awesome, see you soon Freddie," she smiled and rang off.
Robbie's room
The doctor had put the boy's feet in a harness and began to raise them, in response to his complaint about the pain in his intestine. Tori walked into the room, accompanied by Freddie, who had just arrived, and began watching as it happened.
"This should take the pressure off your lower abdomen," the doctor informed him. "Is that better?"
"Yeah. Thanks, doc," he enthused, before turning to his blood angel. "So you gave blood?"
"A whole pint. You are ready for surgification," she smiled.
"Who's sweet like Taffy?" he asked.
"I don't know," she teased.
"It's you," he informed her.
"You're silly," she laughed.
The teens' little interplay was interrupted by a call over the hospital tannoy. "Dr. Schneider, please call the nurses' station. Dr. Schneider, please call the nurses' station." A further, more dramatic interruption, came in the shape of their friend's mother storming into the room, followed by a cowering male nurse.
"You lost her blood?" Marissa charged.
"What?" the doctor asked.
"WHAT?" Tori snapped.
"WHAT?" Freddie turned to his mother; frowning with suspicion as a thought occurred to him.
"WHAT?" Robbie yelped.
"It wasn't my fault," the nurse protested; Marissa wasn't buying it.
"It was given to you to look after. It is your fault!"
The doctor noted a more immediate issue than playing the blame game. "But, we have to have type O-negative blood or we can't operate on this boy," he argued.
"I understand," Marissa nodded, "but nobody knows where it's gone. It could have been stolen; it might not even be in the hospital anymore! Though why someone would want to steal this girl's blood I do not know." Freddie wrinkled his nose, knowing full well that there was someone with a vested interest in waylaying Tori. His mother turned to his friend. "Tori, could you possibly give us another pint of blood?"
The girl was uncertain. "Another whole pint? Is that safe?"
"It's not ideal," the Head Nurse agreed, "but we really have no other options, not with his," she gestured to Robbie, "life potentially on the line." Freddie's frown darkened at this.
"Will she still make it back for her play on time?" Robbie asked. "It starts at 8:30."
"Yes, you're Steamboat Suzy, right?" Marissa glanced to her son, who nodded his confirmation of the girl's part. "It shouldn't be a problem finishing the donation in plenty of time but you will feel faint afterwards, having lost two whole pints."
"Well I don't really have a choice since Robbie needs the operation so urgently. Let's go," she agreed reluctantly; then spared Robbie a smile. "Don't worry, you'll be better soon."
"Thanks, Tori."
"Um, and, Robbie..." she eyed him.
"Yeah?"
"Spongebob underwear?" Both Freddie and Marissa turned in response; the curly-haired boy grabbed his pillow and tried to shield his underwear from view while the tech genius called his girlfriend again to let her know about the latest development.
Black Box theatre, Hollywood Arts High School
"All right. Double time, people," Sikowitz called. "This play starts in less than one of your earth hours."
"We're back," Cat panted as she and Trina raced into the theatre.
"Cat, hurry. Go help Sinjin with the lighting cues."
"Kay-kay."
"Where's Tori?" Sikowitz asked.
"Still at the hospital," the play's Captain replied.
"What?" The teacher was concerned by the news.
"They lost her blood, so they're takin' some more."
"Well, she better bleed fast," the director complained. "And where is Jade?"
The brunette strode confidently onto the stage, wearing Tori's 'Suzy' costume. "Somebody looking for the best dang steamboat Captain this here river's ever seen?"
"Why are you wearing Tori's dress?" the girl's sister demanded.
"'Cause she's playing hospital, so I'm playing Suzy."
"Tori's gonna be back in plenty of time," André insisted.
"Oh, then I'll just keep her dress warm," the gothic teen grinned.
Trina's cough returned and she began to hack.
"Ahh," Sikowitz smiled approvingly, "now that cough sounded nice and thick like cottage cheese. Very realistic."
"Yeah, 'cause a diseased man really gave me tuberculosis," she countered; Jade, Cat and André exchanged troubled glances; if the girl was truly infected then possibly they had been as well.
"Yes. If you believe that, the audience will too," he smiled unconcernedly as the girl continued to splutter.
The Slap Mobile.
ToriVega: Giving another pint of blood now.
Then on my way to Steamboat Suzy!
Feeling: Relieved.
Phlebotomy Lab,
Providence Saint Joseph Medical Centre,
501 S Buena Vista St, Burbank.
"All done?" Marissa smiled as she weighed the package in her hand.
"All done," Tori confirmed a little wearily.
"Good," Freddie smiled.
"Wow, two pints of blood in one day," the brunette noted.
"Yes, as I said before it's not ideal but just drink your juice and have plenty more fluids over the rest of the evening. Keep up your blood sugars so you won't feel faint and you should be fine by morning. I'd tell you to avoid anything too strenuous but you're in a play." She wrinkled her nose disapprovingly.
"Yeah. I got the lead and I'm going to do it no matter what," the girl declared with determination in each syllable.
"Just drink your juice," the Head Nurse nodded; she and Freddie left the room to allow her to get ready.
Robbie, who was using a walker, entered the room. "Hey, there's my little blood angel," he smiled.
"Robbie, why are you out of bed?" she asked.
"I don't know," he shrugged. "I just felt kind of bad that you had to give more blood for me."
"No worries, already done. There she is," she showed him the package.
"Oh yeah. Let me see. Wow." He picked it up. "It's like I'm holding liquid you in my hands."
"Okay," Tori thought that sounded a little creepy really.
"Oh sweet," the ventriloquist held the package up to the light. Did you know if you hold blood up against the light you can totally see all the..." he was cut off as the package slipped from his hands and burst, sending blood everywhere; he looked horrified, Tori was merely furious.
"I, um..." he began contritely.
"Get Freddie's mom," the girl ordered.
"Will get Freddie's mom," he agreed, turning and leaving the lab.
"Faster," she yelled angrily; he picked up his pace a little.
"Freddie? Mrs Benson?" he called desperately.
"Yes, what is it?" Marissa asked. The pair hadn't gone too far from the lab in the time.
"And why are you covered in… oh no," Freddie groaned. "Robbie, tell me that isn't Tori's blood that she just donated?"
The Bensons looked at him, then to one another, shaking their heads in unison.
The Slap Mobile
ToriVega: Now I gotta give another pint of blood!
How will I be Steamboat Suzy?!
Feeling: Freaked Out.
"You can't be in that play young lady!" Marissa snapped as Tori struggled groggily to her feet. Having surrendered more than 30% of her blood in the last couple of hours it was no surprise that she was barely able to stand.
"I have to," she countered, raw determination and a desire not to give up her part to Jade were pushing her onwards. "You'll drive me, right?" she turned blearily to Freddie; he was also being stared at by his mother and suddenly felt in the middle of his very own Kobayahi Maru. He grinned slightly at the thought before, feeling that it may be construed as a rather inappropriate reaction, he turned serious.
"Tori, mom's right; you're in no fit state to perform tonight."
The brunette didn't like that. "You may want that…" she slurred, "that gank to win," she stumbled slightly as she headed for the door of the Phlebotomy lab; he winced at the description of his almost-sister and the hatred that was threatening to brew between her and his good friend, "but I'm playing Suzy tonight. I can do it and if…" she flopped against the frame of the door and lazily waved a finger in his direction, "if you won't drive me there then I'll walk it. Now," she turned and tried to focus on the signs outside in the corridor, "exit… exit."
"I've got to drive her, mom," he sighed in defeat. "She can, heck she has – pretty much – discharged herself, and she's headstrong enough to just start walking. She'd never forgive me if I just drove her home," he added, showing that that had occurred to him as well. "Hopefully Sikowitz will see her state and tell her she can't go."
"Alright Freddie," the nurse gave a matching sigh as she had to agree with his description of the strong-willed brunette's behaviour, "you do what you think is best. I'll see you at home."
"Bye mom," he kissed her and took Tori's arm. "Come on, we'll head to my car and get to school."
"Yay," she cried at the top of her lungs; the effort caused her legs to wobble and she found herself resting on her friend.
Eventually the brown-haired duo made it to his car; he opened the passenger door and the girl flopped into the seat. Freddie made his way around to the driver's side and buckled her in before handing her a bottle of water. "Drink that," he urged, "before we get to school. You need all the fluids you can get."
"You look after me Freddie," she muttered dreamily, "you'd be a great boyfriend," she patted his arm deliriously and smiled as she gazed absently out of the front windscreen.
"I hope Cat agrees," he muttered under his breath, casting his mind back to his birthday and thinking on how screwed up he still was over his rape some two years earlier.
Black Box theatre, Hollywood Arts High School
Freddie led the wobbly-legged leading lady through the school and down to the backstage entrance to the theatre; the audience for the performance was already building up and he felt they didn't need to see the star of the show staggering through the school.
"Ah Tori, you're here," Sikowitz smiled happily at her arrival, then he looked in horror as he took in her appearance. "Good Ghandi, what happened?"
Freddie explained about Robbie dropping the blood and the third donation.
"I can do it," she interrupted, "I can still be Suzy."
"She can't play the part like that," Jade snapped; she still wore the costume. "Sikowitz, you have to let me fill in."
"Jade, get the dress off. Tori is playing the lead," the teacher declared.
"WHAT?" she challenged; he folded his arms over his chest and stood resolute.
"You heard me," was all he'd say; the girl looked mutinous but bustled to the dressing room to change out of costume.
"We're not... We're not docking. I'll park the boaty," Tori gasped woozily as she took centre-stage.
"You..." André was trying to stay in character, and deliver his lines, despite the girl's problems.
"Yikes, Tori does not look good," Sikowitz muttered backstage, perhaps starting to regret the choice he made.
"Agreed," Jade grinned; suddenly her attitude caused the teacher's belief in his decision to be redoubled.
"It's not her fault," Freddie reminded them. "They took three pints of blood out of her."
"That little... that little girl is sick," the younger Vega gasped, gesturing to her sister; the audience, used to first class performances from the school and its students, were trading questioning looks by this stage.
"Help me. Please help me," Trina begged, hacking and coughing again.
"We got to get her to..." Tori froze.
"New Orleans," the musician whispered.
"New more beans," she tried to repeat, "by darg-bark," the half-Latina floundered.
"Help," her sister repeated.
"You can't Captain the boat. You're just a woman," the dreadlocked teen added.
"You... you made me a woman," she sighed, "but that doesn't mean I'm not the best ding-dang robot Captain that this River's ever... yeah," she finished, beginning to struggle with the battle to retain consciousness.
"Now, men will always la, la, la, la, la, la
while women all da, da, da, da, Dee
and so I'm not a Captain
I'm pretty little salmon
Ohh," she failed to finish the song, stumbling to the ground.
"Curtain, curtain," Sikowitz whispered to Cat; the little redhead hopped to the mechanism. He picked up his microphone and announced to the audience, "Um, we'll be taking a brief intermission."
"Poor Tori," Cat simpered as she returned to the group.
"Yeah," Freddie was rueing his decision to bring her to school, figuring that her being angry with him for not doing so would be preferable to the humiliation she would suffer as a result of this show.
"I'll go get her dress off," Jade offered.
"No," Sikowitz refused, turning all eyes to him.
"She can't play the role, and I'm the understudy," the gothic teen pointed out.
"I don't care. You've been acting like a gank all week. I'm not going to reward you by letting you play the lead."
"There is an audience out there though, Sikowitz. The show must go on," Freddie noted.
"Yes. Yes, it must. And must it shall. Cat, you'll play the lead. You know the lines, right?"
The others turned their attention to the girl; she giggled nervously at the request.
"You helped Tori rehearse, did you not?" the teacher prompted.
"Uh, sure. I helped Tori rehearse a bit," she confirmed, then pondered the last few days; having complained about not being selected for a part she could hardly turn down the offer, particularly as the director was clearly in no mood to let Jade play the part. "I can do it," she nodded.
"This is ridiculous," Jade argued furiously, but the decision had been made. She glared from Sikowitz to Cat to Freddie, as neither one of the couple had spoken up in her defence, before turning on her heel and storming from the theatre and going home.
"You can't Captain a boat. You're just a woman," André argued.
"I may be a woman, but that doesn't mean I'm not the best dang Steamboat Captain this here river's ever seen," the redhead cried ebulliently.
"Now men will always tell you how they do it all,
and women do the work you never see.
So as it would happen you're in great need of a Captain,
oh, a Captain and that Captain is me!"
The cast took up the refrain. "And so as it would happen we're in great need of a Captain ♪
well, a Captain, yes a Captain is she."
Tori, having roused herself again, staggered up to Freddie from behind, draped her arms around his neck and asked, in a weak voice, "Did they get the Pontiac out of Robbie?"
"They sure did, Tori," he confirmed with a smile, thinking back on his mother's text message.
"Yay," she declared before suddenly her arms slackened and she slipped down his back to land on the floor.
"Yes a Captain is she," the cast finished as Cat sang, "Me!"
"Tori?" Freddie asked in concern as he turned to his friend's prostrate form. "Tori?" he crouched down and gently tapped at her cheek.
"What's happened?" Sikowitz asked.
"She's collapsed; she's unconscious," he noted, placing two fingers to her neck. "Her pulse is weak. I got to get her to the hospital."
"I'll come too," the teacher offered; Freddie shook his head as he cradled the girl in his arms, supporting her neck and knees.
"No, tell Cat and the others what has happened so they're not just guessing or wondering where we are," he instructed.
"Alright," the adult nodded and the teenager sped off; Lane spotted him leave and rushed after him, holding doors and helping him to his car. The boy fired off a quick text to his mother, "T collapsed, taking her to hospital, will be home later." He then drove, quickly but carefully, to the hospital.
Providence Saint Joseph Medical Centre,
501 S Buena Vista St, Burbank.
Upon arrival at the hospital Tori was taken straight into the Emergency Room. Freddie briefly but succinctly explained what had happened and the girl was placed on an intravenous drip to rehydrate her.
"She should be fine by morning," he was told, "we'll keep her here under observation but she'll be fine in time; she just needs to rehydrate and to replace all the blood she lost. She should never have left after giving so much," the doctor added disapprovingly.
"She discharged herself," he shrugged, "the best I could do was keep an eye on her."
"Freddie!" he heard Trina's shout; she was still in costume and had Cat and André chasing her into the area. "What happened? Is she ok?"
The doctor, assisted by Freddie, explained what had happened and repeated the girl's condition. Marissa then called, wanting to talk to her son.
"You need to come home, Freddie," she argued, "you've got her there, she's in good hands; there's nothing you can do for her right now and you have work tomorrow – you need to rest."
"She's right, Freddie," Cat added softly. "You need to work. Who's going to buy my cupcakes if you don't?" she added with a grin; he laughed. "I can stay here if you want," she offered.
"Trina? I assume you're going to stay?" The diva nodded. "Ok, then we should go," he took Cat's hand.
"Why both of us?" she asked.
"Because someone needs to see how Jade is after it all."
"She won't want to talk to me," his girlfriend argued.
"No, but we need to be sure she hasn't… lapsed," he added delicately.
"Right," she nodded in determination, "I'll go and see Jade."
West residence, Hollywood Hills,
Saturday, 14th May 2011.
As Cat had predicted, Jade had refused to see her, leading to Mrs West driving her home after Freddie had dropped her off at her friend's house. Freddie himself made the trip over there after work, hoping to talk to the girl.
Still furious, Jade did agree to see him; however she unleashed a verbal volley as soon as he was in her presence.
"First Tori steals my role and then Cat does afterwards – and you just stand there rather than speaking up for me!"
"What did you expect me to do?" he asked quietly. "Cat's my girlfriend, I'm not going to argue that she shouldn't get an opportunity."
"But it was my opportunity," the other countered.
"You think you'd have got it last night?" he retorted. "Jade, the mood Sikowitz was in, you're the last person who would be playing Suzy. Hell, he'd cast himself or even me ahead of you, given how things were going."
"But…" she tried to argue, Freddie pressed on.
"And let's be honest, you haven't been acting so good this week. Stealing Tori's blood." She narrowed her eyes and scowled. "I know that was you," he added calmly.
"So?" she shrugged.
"So?" he asked. "Robbie could have died if the car had moved in his intestine. What if they'd said it wasn't safe for T to donate again? What if, in the time it had taken for her to donate again, his intestine had ruptured. You gambled with his life - and for what? To get a part in a play? And Tori could have died too; she collapsed last night and spent the night in hospital!"
"Hey, you were the one who said to escalate things," she shot back, hoping to suppress the first pangs of guilt that were threatening to surface at his words and the potential consequences of her actions.
He palmed his forehead. "I meant to complain to him or to go and see Helen about it. Escalate it up the chain of command, not escalate your vendetta against our friend!"
"Ok, y'know, that would have made more sense," she admitted sheepishly; she bowed her head as the potential weight of her actions began to crush her ire and Freddie surprised her by gently taking her hand.
"Look Jade, I KNOW how much chizz is going on in your life right now but blaming Tori for it all?"
"I know," the girl muttered weakly. "I need to apologise to her, don't I?"
"I doubt she's in a mood to accept it right now," he cautioned, "she was pretty mad earlier in the week. She knew it was you behind her blood going missing so to find herself in hospital again? I think she'll be as pleased to see you as you were to see Cat yesterday," he finished.
"I need to apologise to her too," Jade observed. "I'm still wazzed off that she took my part though. Hey," she brightened, "who's playing Suzy tonight? Is Tori still in hospital?"
"I think they let her out a couple of hours ago," he noted, "so she's going to play it tonight. If she's out of there then she'll definitely try," he gave a humourless smile as he thought back on the debacle of the previous night. "HOPEFULLY she'll be ok, at least by Monday, but she was in a bad way last night, definitely. Oh, and they checked Trina out; she doesn't have tuberculosis so you don't need to worry about being infected," he finished with a positive.
Jade registered the smallest flicker of a smile at the news, though it did little to lift her mood.
"Are we good?" she asked fearfully.
"Jade, I've said before, you're like a sister to me," he argued. "I'm not always going to agree with what you do – and this is a big one – but I stand by what I said over the whole Stage Fighting chizz. If it comes to a choice between you and Tori, I'll stand by you. I just don't want you to make me make that choice. What about you?" he turned the tables. "Are you ok?"
Getting his meaning instantly, she rolled up her left sleeve, showing the slightly faded marks he had seen earlier in the week.
"See?" she managed a small smile. "I'm fine. I was unbelievably angry last night but I didn't take it out on myself." Her smile widened a little. "I cut up a few magazines and DVD boxes instead."
Freddie allowed himself a small sigh of relief. One of his fears had been unfounded, but he suspected that the burgeoning feud between Tori and Jade was far from over.
AN: That's it for this chapter. I hope that the next one will be done a lot sooner. Please feel free to let me know what you thought of this one. PD.