The Leah Encounter

SUMMARY: A week after graduation, the gang begins hanging out at a local mall in hopes of being hired for summer jobs. Meanwhile, Tori befriends a lesbian during a movie theater festival and strikes up a fast friendship with her. But certain one-sided feelings make things go in the wrong direction.

Set in June & July 2014

CHAPTER 1:

At a mall in downtown Los Angeles five days after the gang graduated, Tori and her sister arrived at the food court. .

"What's up, graduates?!" she asked as they joined the rest of the gang at a table.

"I like the vibe here," Jade said. "This is definitely different from the Asphalt Cafe."

"Well, we can't go to the Asphalt Cafe anymore because we graduated," Robbie pointed out.

"So, now that we're graduates, how are we going to spend our summer?" Cat asked.

"I've already turned in my resume at a few places here at the mall. I'm trying to get a job and save up for college," Andre said.

"I should do one too. Andre and I will need to make enough this summer to afford apartment rent," Tori added.

"I didn't make a resume," Jade said. "I doubt any employer would ever hire me."

"Do you ever not feel sorry for yourself?" Trina asked, annoyed to which Jade growled at the question, but Beck calmed her down.

"It's not like that at all," Beck defended gently. "Jade tried to get summer work last year, but no luck."

"How many places did you try?" Cat asked.

"Five," Jade answered.

"Darn. Well, maybe you could babysit with me and Sam," Cat suggested.

"Like I'd know the first thing about taking care of kids," Jade scoffed, chuckling. "The only thing I find amusing is when they cry. Come on, even Sam agrees." She looked at Cat.

"You could learn," Cat suggested simply.

"It'd be good for you, Jade," Beck said. "Just think, if we get married and have children, you'll need to know what to do."

Jade sighed. "All right, fine. What do I have to lose?"

Just then, Andre's phone pinged with a reminder. "Well, looks like my interview's in an hour."

"You've got a job interview?" Tori asked him, surprised. "Where?"

"Movie theater. If I work there, I can get free movies," Andre said.

"Free movies? Cool," Tori responded, impressed. "How did you land that interview?"

"Oh, that reminds me;" Trina cut in. "The summer film festival starts today. Let's figure out what movies we'll be seeing."

"You figure that out, I'm going to my interview," Andre said.

"Good luck, babe," Tori said as Andre kissed her.

"Yeah good luck!" everyone else chimed in.

"Thanks. I'll see you afterwards," Andre said as he left.

"Do you think we'd ever get, like, real jobs?" Cat asked. When everyone looked at her, she went on. "Well, we graduated from Hollywood Arts a while back. But do you think we'll ever get a job for what we have been trained to do?"

"I don't see why not," Beck said.

"Yeah, it'll just take us time," Tori agreed. "We just need to get out there and seek those kinds of jobs."

"I just hope it won't take real long," Cat sighed.

Two hours later, Andre returned from his interview and rejoined the gang. They took a moment to discuss the film festival, deciding which films they wanted to see on day one.

Tori updated her status on TheSlap which read: "Mall food is actually not that bad - MOOD = Curious".