Hi and thank you for clicking! I'm a first-time Victorious fanfic writer and I've also never used this site before so this is a little nerve wracking! However, I read a lot and I enjoy writing so I thought I'd try my hand at putting out a few chapters. Bear with me if my formatting isn't great or I make some mistakes as I'm not very used to this platform. I hope you enjoy!

Hollywood Arts seemed so much bigger when Tori was preparing to step inside it. Of course, she had been there before to watch Trina's performances and drop her off at school, but now the fact that she was standing outside ready to attend the school made it feel all the more ominous and prestigious.

It was prestigious, mind. The school was one of the best performing arts schools in the state, let alone the county. It also commanded a significant fee, although many attendees like herself had this reduced through scholarships; some, she had heard, even earned themselves a free ride. Luckily for Tori, her parents were fairly wealthy and more than happy to contribute towards their daughter's education and supporting her dreams. She hadn't been unhappy at Sherwood, but there had always been something missing. Looking up at the sandy brick that loomed above her, she wondered if perhaps within these walls would be the sense of belonging that she had never quite managed to find at her old school.

"Tori, how long are you going to stare up at the sign for? I'm going to be late for class!"

This was Trina, supportive as ever, currently marching up the stairs towards the main doors in four-inch heels and a sparkly dress far more suited to a night out than a day at school.

"Okay, I'm coming!" Tori replied, scrambling after her sister in an attempt not to be late for her first lesson.

"What class do you have?" Trina asked once the pair were inside the building.

"Acting, with Sick-Syk-Sick-o-wits?" Tori spluttered out.

"Ohh, Sikowitz. Yeah, that'll be interesting." Trina snorted.

"What do you mean?" Tori asked, confused.

"You'll see Tori, you'll see." Trina laughed mysteriously, beginning to walk away from her sister.

"Wait, Trina, can you tell me who's who and where-" Tori began, before being cut off by an excited scream from her older sister.

"Oh. My. God. I heard Ryder Daniels had got a new haircut but I didn't think it would look that good! Ryder!" She cried, sprinting down the hallway as fast as her garish heels would allow.

And now, Tori was alone. In this new school where the only people she knew were her sister and one nice boy that she had played at the showcase with. Looking down at the crumpled orange paper in her hands, she traced the words until she found the room number for her first lesson.

21A.

Right, she thought, time to act.

Fortunately for Tori, room 21A was much easier to find than she had feared, and she turned up to the lesson no later than the rest of her classmates who were filing through the door. As she reached the doorway, her phone suddenly buzzed, and she pulled it out to see a text from her mom.

Hope you have a great day sweetie! So proud of you!

Tori smiled as she traversed forward.

Thanks mom, love you she typed, before a sudden block to her path and a sensation of liquid hitting her arms prevented her from hitting send.

"Woah!" Came a cry from in front of her and she looked up from her phone to see that the blockade was in fact a boy and that the liquid was his coffee, which was now painting Rorschach-style patterns down his formerly white T-shirt.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" She gasped, reaching out helplessly towards the boy's ruined T-shirt.

"It's okay, don't worry." Came the lighthearted response in a warm, compassionate voice.

Tori looked up to acknowledge the owner and felt like everything she had ever known about boys had suddenly been rewritten. Because this boy was nothing like those at Sherwood.

He was a boy she was going to dream about.

Their eyes locked and she found herself melting in the chocolate pools before her. This was it - her soulmate moment, her how-I-met-your-father moment, her dream boy was stood before her... covered in coffee.

"Coffee! Oh my god, on your shirt!" She gasped, beginning to rub the boy's chest with her arm in an attempt to get the stains out. Way to make an impression, Tori.

"It's fine, honestly. It's not the first time I've had coffee spilled on me." The boy replied, prying her arm from his chest with his own warm hands and blessing her with a wide smile.

Tori wondered silently what this dream boy was called. It would be something attractive, like Christian or Blake or Dante, or something warm like Noah or James or maybe-

"FIRE!"

Tori rapidly snapped out of her stupor and began to rush around like her fellow classmates, before being stopped by the cackle of the same voice that had initially shouted. Spinning round, she saw that the culprit was none other than the homeless man she had given a dollar to earlier. What the hell was this school?

"Aha! Acting lesson number one! Always be prepared! There is no fire, everybody sit down." The man ordered and, to Tori's surprise, the class obeyed. Hesitantly, she also sat down, but not before the man caught a glimpse of her.

"Ah, I see our new student is here. You must be Tori."

"Ah, yep, that's me." She replied nervously.

"I am your acting teacher, Mr Erwin Sikowitz, and I have to say you have already made a fantastic first impression with your lovely gift of a dollar before school today." The teacher, apparently, smiled.

"Why did you give him a dollar?" Whispered Andre, who had silently found the chair next to Tori's.

"I thought he was homeless." Tori admitted softly, shooting an apologetic look at her only friend in this new, unfamiliar place. Andre only chuckled in response.

"Now, to welcome our new student into the school, I thought we could start with a little improv. Tori, the stage is yours." Said Sikowitz, gesturing to the stage. "But not entirely," he continued. "because you will be joined by... Cat, Eli, Sophie and... Beck!" He finished, pointing at the attractive boy on the last name.

Beck, Tori thought, that's hot.

She was almost too preoccupied with thoughts of this boy to focus on the task at hand but somehow she found herself stood, well... knelt, on the stage playing the dog to Beck and a rather flirtatious blonde who she had learned was called Sophie.

"But baby, I thought we were going to renew our vows in Paris this summer. How are we going to afford that with this mutt to pay for?" Sophie cried, falling dramatically against Beck, irritating Tori in a way it really shouldn't have.

"But isn't this so much better?" Beck asked, gently pushing Sophie away from him and inadvertently making Tori smile in the process. "This is a whole new life, a new personality we can welcome into our home. I don't care about the renewal, I already love this dog and want to keep it."

Tori's smile grew greater and she thought she might explode from happiness at Beck's admittance of love. Sure, it was part of a scene and he had called her a dog in the same sentence, but the feelings had felt right, they really and truly had.

"But it's not even a nice dog, it has fleas." Sophie said, touching Tori's immaculately curled hair with disgust.

"Ewwww." Chorused Cat and Eli and they withdrew their hands from Tori's head.

"Woof, I have fleas, woof." Tori spoke, feeling as though she had to add something to the scene beyond her hair.

There was an audible huff beside her as Sophie opened her mouth to speak. "Sikowitz, since when does a dog speak?"

Tori felt like the ground could swallow her up. "Very true." Said Sikowitz, compounding the embarrassment. "Unless Tori is a talking dog perhaps?" He continued, raising an eyebrow.

"Uh, yeah, I am. I'm a talking dog." Tori said hesitantly.

"Oh wow!" Cried Cat. "That's the best thing ever!"

"Can we keep it, mom?" Eli asked Sophie.

"No, kids. Remember, it has fleas."

"But mommm," Eli whined. "it talks."

"But it's dirty." Sophie spat.

"Then we'll give it a bath." Beck smiled, solving the situation with ease. "I like having it around."

Tori beamed.

"Well, I don't." Sophie retorted. "I don't want a dirty dog in my house getting in between me and my husband." She continued, wrapping her arms around Beck's neck. "We don't get to see each other that much and I don't want our time to be interrupted by that thing." She said, shooting Tori a fiery look.

"It could be a good addition, though." Beck shrugged, pulling Sophie's arms from around his neck. "Maybe we were missing that extra life... another character to have around, to love unconditionally and to light up our lives." Beck was looking away from Sophie now and Tori couldn't help but think that his mind was on something else, something bigger than this scene. His dreaming face seemed to mirror her own; she only hoped that the subject matter would too.

"I'm not sure about that." Sophie spat. "Anyway, we can't keep a flea-infested dog around." Suddenly, there was a glint her eye. "Luckily, I saw a cure for fleas earlier." She then jumped down off the stage and grabbed a coffee cup that had been discarded by an empty chair. "Apparently, coffee is great for getting rid of fleas."

"Actually, I don't really like-" Tori began, before she was interrupted by a cold stream of liquid pouring onto her hair, a large chunk of ice following it. Gasping, she quickly got up from her position on the floor and spun around to see the culprit. Sophie smiled caustically at her, but there was a somewhat lack of conviction that only Tori in her state of shock managed to miss.

Tearfully, the new student rushed out of the room. That was it, she couldn't continue in this school any longer. She didn't understand how things worked or how to blend in and clearly complete strangers already hated her. The only silver lining to the day, meeting Beck, had been completely clouded over by the coffee which had not only soaked her hair but also her daydreams of the heavenly boy.

"Tori, wait!" Came a voice from behind her and she turned to see Andre and a red headed girl, who she had learned was named Cat, running after her.

"Where are you going?" Asked Andre.

"I'm going home. I'm not gonna stay here all covered in coffee and unwanted." She pouted.

"I want you here." Andre replied.

"Yeah, me too." Added Cat. "I really liked our scene before you ran away."

"I ran away because Sophie poured coffee on me. I don't want to go back there." Tori sighed.

"Don't worry about Sophie." Andre said. "She's only mean to you because she's in love with Beck and he wants nothing to do with her so she takes it out on every girl he's friendly with."

"Yeah, last year she called me Clifford the big red dog because I was cast as Beck's love interest instead of her." Cat added, nodding hastily.

"Well, I don't know if I want to be here with mean girls like that." Tori replied, feeling less and less connected to a school that seemed so harsh.

Andre shook his head. "Sophie isn't someone you need to worry about. She's mean but she doesn't like getting in trouble. She's probably already regretting that coffee incident and I'm sure Sikowitz has given her detention for it."

"Also, she's only brave right now because Ja-" Cat began.

"Guys! Sikowitz said you have to come back to class now!" Called a voice from down the corridor, and a slim boy with curly hair and glasses and- a puppet? - came into sight.

Andre turned to Tori. "Are you coming?"

Tori shook her head. "I just wanna go home." She said, moving towards the door.

Andre looked crestfallen. "Well come back tomorrow then, please?"

Tori shrugged noncommittally and went to leave, with the others regretfully heading back to class.

"You left because of Sophie Bunson?"

Tori's forehead wrinkled in a distinct lack of appreciation for the disbelief in Trina's tone.

"Yes, she was really mean to me."

"Sophie Bunson? She's such a wuss; I'm shocked she would risk a detention by doing that." Trina said, shaking her head.

"Well she did. And I don't want to be at a school with mean girls like her."

"Please," Trina retorted. "Sophie Bunson isn't even the meanest girl in her year. The one you really have to be worried about is-"

"Tori?" Came a voice from the door and the sisters peered over to see Holly, their mother, entering the house. "I heard you came home early from school today. What happened?"

"I got coffee poured on me." Tori replied, sadly.

"By who? Oh, I bet it was that Jade girl, my friend Jane's son still has a scar from when she-"

"It was Sophie Bunson, mom." Trina interrupted and Holly looked incredulous.

"I know." Trina continued. "As if that girl would actually do something that would get her a detention."

"I don't care if she's a wuss, I'm not going back there. I don't belong." Tori replied emphatically.

"Oh Tori, you will belong, I promise. You're so talented and hardworking. Things will fall into place, you'll see." Holly said, smiling at her younger daughter. "Also, I've already paid your tuition for this semester and it's non-refundable so it would be really great if you could go back."

Tori raised an eyebrow but sighed in defeat. "Okay, okay, I'll go back tomorrow. But if it's still awful then I'm going back to Sherwood."

"Okay, okay. But give it a chance. You'll love it, just like Trina does." Holly replied.

"Yeah, and if you work really hard you might one day be nearly as talented as me." Trina smiled, nodding at her sister.

Lucky me, thought Tori.

With these encouragements in her ear, Tori arrived at school the next day with an open mind, and a hope that the day ahead of her would be distinctly less characterised by coffee spillages and mean girls.

She managed to get through math and history, and found herself enjoying areas somewhat out of her comfort zone in singing, where she worked with Andre who was so excited to see her back. Fourth period, however, meant acting class with Sikowitz, and coming face-to-face with Sophie Bunson and the acting exercises which had scared her so much the previous day.

Walking into the classroom, she couldn't shake the feelings of dread that pulled her down. She wanted to fit in, she really did, but this class had made her feel like an alien the previous day and she really didn't want to repeat the experience.

She sat down next to Andre, who had walked her in, offering her encouragement during the walk. He had also introduced her properly to Cat, the redhead from the previous day, and Robbie, the puppet-wielding nerd, who she had learned were both Andre's close friends.

There was no fire drill to accompany Sikowitz's arrival on this occasion, but he was wielding two large coconuts, and had seemingly managed to drain one with a straw by the lesson's halfway point.

"Now! I think it's time for some alphabet improv!" Sikowitz announced suddenly, a glint in his eye. "Tori, so good to see you again, please come up on the stage."

Tori bit her lip anxiously but complied with the teacher's request. Behind her, Andre, Cat, Robbie, Beck and... Sophie were called up onto the stage.

"Now, you must perform an improvised scene. The only rule is that your line must start with the next letter of the alphabet. Understand, Tori?"

"I think so." She nodded nervously.

"Unless your 'I' started with an A, you would be out! However, I will give you a chance. Do you understand now?"

"Aye aye, captain?" She replied uncertainly.

"Wonderful! You're catching on fast." Sikowitz exclaimed. "Sophie, you can start. Your letter is B, go!"

"Beck! It's so great that we just got married..."

Tori, surprisingly, actually did catch on quickly and soon the alphabet had been passed through several times over. Cat had become excited over the discussion of unicorns and had found herself out, whilst Robbie had begun to argue with his own puppet, losing himself but also managing to take out Andre in the confusion. So now it was just three left.

Her.

Beck.

And Sophie.

"Honey, I'm not sure you should be doing the gardening right now if you were just abducted by aliens!" Sophie exclaimed, touching Beck's arms.

"I wasn't abducted. I am an alien." Beck replied.

"Just now you're telling us this?" Tori cried.

"Keep out of this." Sophie spat at Tori.

"Ladies, please, don't fight. I come in peace."

"Maybe, or maybe you're lying to us."

"Nobody lies to me."

"Only true words exit my mouth."

"Please tell me why you said you loved her on your wedding day then." Tori said, a little menacingly. Sophie looked shocked in response.

"Quit it, he loves me." Sophie said, staring up at Beck.

"Really, I don't, sorry." Beck said solemnly, shaking his head.

"Sorry Sophie, he doesn't love you and he never will." Tori shrugged, gleefully.

"Shut up, new girl!" She cried.

"Ah! Sophie, your letter was T! You are out!" Sikowitz exclaimed.

Sophie glared at the teacher and Tori, before stomping off into the audience.

"To be honest, I didn't expect that from you." Beck said, grinning at Tori. She couldn't tell whether or not they were still acting.

"Understandable. But she needed to face the reality."

"Very true. It was hard being married to someone I didn't love." Beck said, reminding Tori that they were still in the scene.

"Well, you should marry someone you do love then." She smiled up at him, feeling a kind of warmth envelop her. Sure, she had received male attention at her old school but she had always been too shy to actually pursue anything. But this, this felt different... after her showcase performance, and after her showdown with Sophie, she felt a growing confidence that she had never felt before.

"X-actly." Beck laughed, glancing at Sikowitz out of the corner of his eye to see if the teacher let it pass.

"Ah! Creative attempt, Beck, but that word starts with an E! You are out!"

Beck only laughed and returned to his seat, leaving Tori as the solitary performer on the stage.

"Congratulations Tori, you are the winner of today's alphabet improv." Sikowitz bellowed.

"Yay!" Tori cried, as the class cheered for her, only interrupted by the toll of the bell to signal the end of the lesson.

As people began to exit their chairs and pick up their bags, Tori jumped down from the stage to join Andre and his friends.

"Congrats, girl, that was really good." He grinned at her, giving her a side hug.

"Yeah, that was really funny. Sophie won't ever try anything with you now!" Cat said, jumping up and down.

"We're going to lunch now, want to join us?" Asked Andre.

Tori looked around, at this group of four seeming misfits who each had their own quirks and characteristics, who didn't seem to fit with each other or in this school's cool image, and somehow she had never felt like she had belonged more.

"Yeah, I'd like that." She smiled. "Hey, I owe Beck a coffee anyway."

He chuckled and her heart warmed once again. Feeling a blush creep up on her cheeks, she followed the group of four outside for lunch, feeling like, just maybe, this was the place and the people, and the person, for her.