"I've never been so hot in my life... god, what's the temperature?" Tori moaned, fanning herself with the plastic lid from her burger.

"According to my PearPad," Robbie began, receiving groans from the rest of the table. "it's 101 degrees."

Tori groaned again. "That's too hot for human existence, surely."

"It's too hot to be at school anyway." Andre complained. "How am I supposed to do multiplication when Niagara Falls is coming down my forehead?"

The other three at the table grunted in agreement.

"What's the weather like this weekend, Rob?" Beck asked.

"Err, here in Hollywood it is... 103 degrees." Robbie replied and the table almost sunk in disappointment.

"That's so hot, we'll melt." Tori complained, lying her head on the cool table. Beside her, Beck had shifted up the table in order to let in Jade and Cat, who'd just arrived.

"Hey guys! Tori, why are you so sad?" Cat asked, cheerfully.

"How are you not?" Tori asked, lifting her head up.

"It's really sunny and bright and colourful today so I'm in a good mood." Cat chirped towards a dumbfounded Tori.

"Are you not hot?" Tori asked, and Cat shrugged.

"Yeah, but why would I be sad about that? It's so sunny and happy." She giggled.

"Yeah, but-" Tori began before being interrupted by Jade's loud groan.

"Oh my god, would you stop asking her questions. She's happy, end of story." The darker girl snapped.

Tori didn't reply but retreated back in her seat.

"Hey Robbie, what's Venice beach like this weekend?" Beck called towards his friend.

"In Venice it is... only 91 degrees." Robbie replied, cheerfully."

"You wanna go with Toby?" Beck asked, nudging Jade, but before she had a chance to reply Tori had caught the table's attention.

"Guys we have to go to Venice this weekend! It's too hot to stay in Hollywood." She cried, and was met with numerous affirmative responses. "Beck, do you think you could take us in your truck?"

Beck opened his mouth to explain his idea of taking Jade and Toby, alone, but as he looked to his girlfriend for support, he saw that she'd already turned to the side, resigned to Tori's takeover of the plans.

"Um, I guess so." He replied, a little reserved.

A complete juxtaposition to this, Tori clapped her hands together in excitement at the formation of the plans.

"Hey, do you guys think Beck and Jade are only still together because of the baby?"

Tori wasn't sure how Trina had managed to wrangle her way onto the trip. Tori herself had only just managed to infiltrate her new friendship group, despite the animosity radiated towards her by Jade, and it's safe to say she was a hell of a lot more popular than Trina.

"No." Andre spat, shaking his head.

"Are you sure?" Trina asked, with an air of righteousness. "Because I get the feeling that he could do better."

Me too, Tori thought, before banishing the intrusive idea back into the depths of her mind. It wasn't that Jade wasn't pretty enough for Beck - she was beautiful, even Tori couldn't deny that - it was that she seemed too emotionally closed-off for someone in a long-term relationship. Tori couldn't quite comprehend the dynamics of a relationship between someone ostensibly so loving and another so distant. But then maybe what was apparent to her was only the surface of their relationship.

"Let me guess - he could do better by being with you?" Andre replied, sarcastically.

"Well, I wasn't gonna say that but if you insist, that's obviously a good example." Trina responded, arrogantly. Tori rolled her eyes.

"Beck doesn't think he could do better." Andre replied and Tori looked up.

"I don't think he could." Cat added, cheerfully. "Jade is really pretty and funny and cool."

"Did she pay you to say that, Cat?" Tori joked. "You sound like a walking Jade advertisement."

Cat simply furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "Jade hasn't paid me to say anything. I just think she's really nice."

"Nice?" Tori asked, raising her eyebrows. "I wouldn't have used that word to describe her."

"Jade is nice." Cat replied, absentmindedly. "She helps me out a lot. Or she did, before Toby."

Tori wasn't sure what side of Jade Cat could be referring to. Maybe it was another one of her dreams formed from the figments of her imagination that seemed to be mutated into ridiculousnesses. A 'nice' Jade would have to be some kind of mutation, surely.

"Oh my god!" Trina cried from one corner of the RV, and the others turned to face her. "Beck's shirts!" She followed up, gleefully, holding up one of his infamous plaid shirts. "It even smells like him!" She continued, enveloping her face in the material.

Tori outwardly cringed. "Trina, get out of his clothes!"

Trina simply ignored Tori and continued to rifle through Beck's drawers with no regards for his privacy. Tori, conversely, simply looked around the RV, taking in the surroundings properly for the first time. She still couldn't believe that Beck lived in an RV or, more importantly, how he could enjoy that. Perhaps Tori had an acquired taste, but she couldn't imagine living in such a small, confined space all the time. Her own, large, comfortable room seemed much more pleasurable.

Suddenly, Trina gasped, and Tori looked towards her older sister to see a mischievous smile plastered across her face.

"Guys, look what I found." Trina smirked, pulling something blue from Beck's bottom drawer. Peering over, Tori realised with a start that it was condoms.

"Jesus, Trina, put them away." Tori scolded, blushing red.

Trina smirked. "I guess they didn't use these then."

Andre shook his head at Trina's invasion of privacy but couldn't help but chuckle. Robbie had blushed the same shade of red as Tori and had turned away, whilst Cat seemed to barely have registered what was occurring. Tori decided to follow Robbie's lead; the less she knew about Beck and Jade's sex life, the better.

"Or maybe Beck uses them with his other girlfriends." Trina said, testingly.

"Beck doesn't have any other girlfriends." Cat responded, confused, as Tori rolled her eyes.

"That you know of." Trina shrugged.

"I would know if he did. Jade would tell me." Cat replied.

Trina rolled her eyes. "Jade wouldn't know."

"Jade knows everything about Beck."

"She wouldn't know if he had a secret girlfriend - he wouldn't tell her."

"But he doesn't." Cat said, matter-of-factly. "He's dating Jade."

Trina groaned. "If you say so, Cat. But who still uses condoms two years into a relationship?"

This seemed to make Cat uncomfortable and so the conversation ended, with Trina returning to her snooping and Cat beginning to play with her hair. Tori got up and moved towards Andre, beginning a conversation about the hottest places they'd ever been. Robbie and Cat joined in, and soon even Trina had stopped invading Beck's privacy and joined in with the stories.

"Are we nearly there yet? I really need to pee." Cat said midway through the conversation.

Tori looked around. "Isn't there a bathroom in this thing?"

Cat shook her head. "No, it's just one big bedroom."

Tori quirked an eyebrow. "How does Beck pee then?"

"He has this really fancy toilet in his backyard." Cat nodded.

"His parents had an outdoor bathroom built." Andre explained. "It has a toilet and shower and everything, so no need for one in here."

"Ah..." Tori nodded. "He's really big on that 'not wanting to live under his parents' rules thing."

Andre nodded.

"Hey, why is that?" Tori asked, but before anyone could answer, the door to the RV swung open. Tori hadn't even realised they'd come to a stop.

Cat gasped as Beck and Jade came into view and immediately jumped out, screaming how she had to pee.

"Cat, wait!" Jade called after her. "I'll come with you, Toby needs a change."

Tori looked through the door to see the couple on the asphalt outside, opposite Cat. In Jade's arms was the four-month-old baby in question, who Tori hadn't quite yet gotten used to seeing, given that he was around so infrequently. She also wasn't quite accustomed to seeing Jade looking so... motherly, or her and Beck seeming so much like a family, for that matter.

Beck handed Jade a large shoulder bag and, with that, she and Cat went bounding off towards the toilets. Well, Cat went bounding off; Jade's strides remained long and firm as though she didn't want her walking style to give her any minuscule air of joy. With the girls behind him gone, Beck stepped into the RV and closed the door behind him, grinning at its inhabitants.

"Ride not too bumpy for you?" He asked, scanning the heads in front of him.

"No, it was fine." Tori responded.

"I sat on your bed." Robbie replied exuberantly, being met with an awkward silence.

"Good for you." Beck smiled awkwardly. "So is everyone ready for the beach?" He asked, being met with a chorus of yeses.

"Hey Beck, have you applied your sunscreen yet?" Trina asked, flashing him a smile.

"Uh, no, not yet." He responded, and she almost buzzed with glee.

"Great! I am so good at applying sunscreen - I'll have to show you." She nodded, and Beck merely shot Tori a concerned look. So much for Trina's admission that Beck was "definitely not on the market".

"Hey, should we open a window before we leave?" Andre asked. "I don't know about you guys, but I don't want to be riding back home in a metal oven."

Beck shook his head. "The windows don't open, they're bulletproof."

"Bulletproof?" Tori gasped. "Why?"

"My dad bought it from a rapper - Fat Biscuit. I'm not sure what went on in here before he sold it but it was enough to turn him thin, I guess." Beck smirked.

"In which case the ride home won't be the first time it's gotten hot in here." Andre grinned crudely and the girls groaned. Andre and Beck simply smirked at one another as Robbie looked on dumbly.

"On that note, I think we should hit the beach!" Tori called out, shaking her head. She'd certainly heard more than enough about what had gone on in the RV over the years, and now the idea of filling her ears with so much saltwater that she couldn't hear any more didn't sound so unappealing. She followed Beck towards the door, the others trailing jubilantly behind. But, once reaching the exit, Beck didn't move.

"Hey, Beck, open the door." Tori, pressed against his back, awkwardly attempted a light joke.

"I can't." Beck replied, confused. "It won't open."

"So first the windows can't open and now the door? Come on man." Andre complained.

Beck shoved a shoulder against the door but it didn't budge. "It's not moving, I don't know why." He then moved from the door towards the window and groaned. "God, some idiot has parked a 7000-pound RV next to us."

"So go out the back door." Trina snapped, as though it was obvious.

"There is no back door." Beck retorted, impatiently.

"Well that's stupid." Trina replied, unhelpfully.

"Let me try." Andre said, moving towards the door.

"You can't push a whole RV out of the way, Andre." Beck snapped.

"Then I'll break the door down. Jade seems to do it all the time." Andre replied, and Beck rolled his eyes.

"It's reinforced now." He replied. "And anyway, you still wouldn't be able to get out. The RV would still be blocking you."

Andre shook his head and walked away from the door.

Tori looked around in panic. "What do we do? We can't get stuck in here - we'll melt."

"Relax." Beck replied, soothingly, and Tori already felt calmer. "Jade and Cat have only gone to the bathroom. They'll be back in a few minutes and Jade can pull the truck forwards and get us out."

"Does she have the keys?" Tori asked.

Beck smirked. "It's Jade, she doesn't need keys."

The tension had eased inside the metal container as Tori sank back down onto the couch alongside Andre.

"I hope they pee quick." She chuckled.

"Jesus, Cat, you pee so slowly." Jade groaned from outside the cubicle.

"I'm sorry, I get nervous!" Cat called from inside.

Jade rolled her eyes. "I've managed to pee and change a whole baby and you're still not done. Come on."

The cubicle lock clicked and Cat appeared in the doorway.

"Ugh, finally." Jade said as Cat walked over to the sinks. "We'll be lucky if the others haven't left without us at this rate."

Cat gasped. "They wouldn't leave without us. They're our friends."

"Tori's not my friend."

"She could be though. If you weren't so mean to her."

Jade shot a look at Cat. "I'm not mean to her, I'm just honest."

"Sometimes you're a little mean."

"Like when?"

"When you swapped out the glue for my make up project."

Jade's head snapped towards Cat. "What?"

"When you swapped the glue. I know it was you."

"What are you talking about, Cat?"

"Jadeeee." She groaned. "I know you swapped my make up glue with grizzly glue. Please don't lie to me."

Jade sighed and shrugged. "It doesn't matter though, does it? Sophia Michelle liked it."

"It wasn't a nice thing to do though. To Tori or to me."

Jade looked over at her friend's sad face. "I-"

"You don't have to apologise. I know you won't mean it."

"I will mean it." Jade replied, defensively. "I'm sorry, Cat, I shouldn't have let you take the fall for that."

Cat shrugged. "It's okay. People believed it was my fault because I do silly things like that."

Jade's face fell. "Hey, don't say that. Who's saying things like that to you? Is it Vega because I'll slap that-"

"No, Jade, it's not Tori! No one's saying anything to me; they don't have to. I know I'm stupid."

Jade grabbed her friend's shoulder and spun her around. "Don't you dare say that in front of me again. You disrespect yourself like that and everyone else will follow suit. Come on, Cat, you said it yourself - it's bright and colourful today so you have to be in a good mood."

Cat smiled at that. "That's true, it is a lovely day." Her mood seemed to lift and Jade didn't dare interrupt that for their next few paces.

"I wonder if we'll see any turtles." Cat thought out loud, and Jade was content that her confidence was back.

"Hey, why didn't you tell anyone what I did?" Jade asked, a little nervously.

Cat looked over. "I didn't mind it."

"You just told me that it made you feel stupid. Cat-"

"No, I don't mean I didn't mind being blamed for it. I meant I didn't mind having to sort it out. Going to Bakersfield with you and Toby. I liked it actually. I don't get to spend time with you that much anymore." She replied, a little timidly.

Jade nodded, understanding. "I liked it too." She added, after a moment's pause.

Cat looked over, surprised, before breaking into a grin. Jade, surprising even herself, mirrored the expression.

"Hey, let's get back to the others." Jade said, looking away as though unable to let the sensitive moment penetrate her thick outer shell.

The pair began to head through the sandy path they had taken to get to the toilets, before a tall man clad in red and yellow stepped across them, blocking their paths.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Jade snapped, shooting the man daggers.

"Sorry ladies, you can't take this path right now." He shook his head, unfazed.

"Why the hell not?" Jade asked, angrily.

"The tide's at an unsafe level for crossing." The man explained. "It could catch you out whilst you're on the path, which would be very dangerous, especially for the little guy." With this last comment, he pointed at Toby, and Jade shifted the baby uncomfortably in her arms.

"But our friends are back that way." Cat complained.

The man shrugged. "Sorry, miss, but I can't let you through. It's not safe."

"But we just went through there." She continued.

"You must've got through just before it got too dangerous." The man explained.

"Listen here, mister, our whole group is back that way and they're expecting us. They'll get worried if we don't come back so you need to get out of the way and let us down that path, okay?" Jade spat, unwaveringly.

The man was completely unaffected by this. "If you want to get back to the parking lot, you can take that route over there." He said, gesturing to a winding path on the other side of the beach. "It's about a forty minute walk uphill. Alternatively, your friends could walk over the rocks over there." He said, pointing to a much nearer, craggy path. "That'll take them about 10 minutes. I would advise you against trying to get back that way if you're carrying a baby. It's quite slippy."

Jade was visibly enraged. "Don't tell me what to do."

"I'm a lifeguard, miss, it's my job. Take that path or call your friends, but you're not coming past here." The man shrugged.

Angrily, Jade spun on her heels and began to storm away from the man. Cat scurried after her, unsure of their next move.

"Where are we going Jade? Are we going to walk for 40 minutes? That's so long." Cat moaned.

"Of course not." Jade snapped. "Toby'll get sunstroke if we walk in the sun for that long. I'll call Beck - they can walk over the rocks. Can you take Toby for a second?"

Whilst Jade pulled out her pearphone and dialled her boyfriend's number, Cat found a secluded patch of sand and settled herself and Toby on a beach towel upon it. She could only thank Mother Nature for her need to bring her bag to the bathroom, and her consequent possession of all her beach supplies.

It didn't take long before Toby began to fuss, having already stayed quiet for both a car journey and a walk afterwards. A frustrated-looking Jade walked over as the baby began to cry and retrieved him from the sandy towel.

"Did Beck say they're coming?" Cat asked over the wailing sounds.

"He didn't pick up." Jade replied, irritated. "I texted him where we are so they better not be too long. Take him for a minute." She added, passing the still-crying baby back to her friend so she could take out a beach towel to place beside Cat's already on the floor. Once it was down, she regained possession of the child and sat down with him, using her body to shade him from the relentless sun.

"I'll call Tori. She's always on her phone." Cat offered. Jade gave no response, as if predicting the unanswered call that Cat subsequently made.

"That's weird." Cat commented. "She always picks up. I wonder what she could be doing."

"Making out with Beck, probably." Jade spat, but the comment lacked conviction.

Cat gasped. "Jade! You don't really believe that."

Jade paused for a moment. "How am I supposed to know what goes on when I'm not around?"

Cat shook her head frantically. "Beck wouldn't cheat on you. He doesn't like Tori like that."

"How would you know Cat? It's not like he would tell you."

"He wouldn't have to tell me. I can see it in his eyes that he loves you, that he loves Toby. He doesn't love Tori."

"But he could." Jade spoke almost accidentally.

Cat turned to look at her friend, almost feeling the wave of vulnerability that had rippled out of her. "What do you mean?"

"Nothing, Cat. You're right."

"Jade... you told me I wasn't stupid so you've gotta tell me."

Jade sighed. "It's nothing, okay? It's just... sometimes, maybe, I feel like I got lucky meeting Beck before anyone else could get him, and maybe he got unlucky. And how there could be someone waiting in the wings that would be better for him, and it's only a matter of time before something happens to me and that person gets their moment."

Cat paused for a moment in order to absorb this information. "But what if they're not better?"

"Huh?"

"When I was in that play last year and I worked really really hard to be the lead, do you think I was good?"

"Yeah." Jade replied, confused.

"Better than Meredith?"

Jade snorted. "My granddad's amputated nose would've been better than Meredith."

"So you think I deserved to be the lead instead of her?"

"Obviously."

"Well it's the same for you and Tori then. You're Beck's girlfriend because he loves you. If Tori was better for him then they'd be together but she isn't so they're not."

"I don't know, Cat." Jade sighed.

"It's true, I promise." Cat replied, excitedly. "I bet right now he's running over those big mossy rocks and slipping all over the place trying to get to you."

Jade let herself relax a little at the thought that this might be true.

"Fuck marry kill - Michelle Obama, Lady Gaga, Selena Gomez." Beck asked Andre.

Andre took a sharp intake of breath, indicating the difficulty of the question. "If I marry Michelle Obama, does that make me the president?"

"Good question." Beck added. "I'm gonna say no. She leaves Barack to be with you."

"Damn, I'll marry her then - she's a ride or die."

Beck laughed. "Who are you killing?"

"Ima say Lady Gaga, I've been around enough crazy women for a lifetime." He replied, shaking his head.

"So you're sleeping with Selena Gomez?"

"Aw yeah, she's hot."

"Hotter than this trailer?"

"Aw man, why'd you have to remind me of that? Get your girlfriend to come back and get us out of here." Andre groaned.

Beck grimaced. "I have no service. My texts aren't going through."

"Well, someone else try."

"Me neither." Tori complained, and Trina and Robbie both agreed.

"Man, I told y'all not to get F-Mobile." Andre complained.

"At least we have contacts." Tori retorted, and Andre was silent.

"Where are they? I am way too hot right now." Trina cried.

"I don't know." Beck shrugged.

"They can't still be peeing." Andre added. "They must barely weigh 100 pounds each. How much pee can they hold?"

"Unless something's happened to them." Trina suggested, almost nonchalantly. In response, Beck swung his head around.

"You don't think-" He began, making eye contact with Tori and Andre, the more rational members of the group.

"Nah, man, they'll be fine." Andre reassured him.

"Yeah," Tori added. "I'm sure they've just gone to get food or taken the longer route back or something. They'll be here in no time."