Shortly after showering; Cat took her cue to go home. Normally they'd go a cafe or shopping on the day after a sleepover, but Jade was clearly not in the mood. In fact she kinda just ignored Cat until the she left, trying to pretend she wasn't there. Cat felt really bad about this, maybe she'd gone too far with the shower joke. Cat was a very flirty person at heart, even while she was only joking, maybe it was too much for Jade.
At school the next morning, the first thing Cat did was apologise and hand Jade a Monster Energy drink as a peace offering. Jade reassured her it was nothing she did, she just had something on her mind, accepted the drink and reminded Cat to not tell anyone.
"Not tell anyone what?" Tori pried as she joined them. "Really, an energy drink this early?"
"It's a Monday morning, why wouldn't I need energy Vega?" Jade snarled as she pulled the tab and took a sip, thankful for Cat's drink of choice for her. Cat really did know how to make her happy- "Oh not again. Stop it West." She thought to herself pushing all Cat-shaped thoughts from her brain.
"Did you scare anymore small children this year Jade?" Tori asked, noting the story Jade had told her last year about how much joy she had been brought by scaring the trick or treaters that came to her house. Of course that story was a huge lie as kids never came to the West front door at halloween because of the gated driveway.
"One or two." Jade smirked, taking another sip. "Let me guess, you spent the evening alone in your room?"
"Actually, I got invited to a College party." Tori blagged, a huge smile on her face. "I went to visit Trina at UCSB and-"
"Wait, Trina got invited to the College party?" Jade gaped. "I know it's UCSB but even they must have standards."
"I'm going to take that as you not being shocked that I got in." Tori smirked.
"Yeah because you're fresh meat to-"
"Hiiiii Robbie!" Cat announced suddenly, reminding the two that she was there, and choosing to stop Jade's sentence. Robbie wasn't even that close to them yet.
"Hiya Kitty Cat." Robbie called over, breaking into an awkward half-jog to reach them; happy to be noticed by the redhead. "How was everyone's Halloween?"
"I'm already sick of that question." Jade spat, shoving her way past the be speckled boy and out of the conversation. She was really not in a people mood today.
"Who shat in her coffee this morning?" Rex piped up, perched on Robbie's hand.
"Swearing!" Cat squeaked, covering her ears. The puppet had certainly become more rude recently. Or, to put it more aptly, Robbie had been pushing it more and more with what Rex verbalised.
"This isn't a kids show Cat." Rex added, if he could roll his eyes he would have been.
"Rex shush." Robbie whispered to, well, himself.
"How was your Halloween Tori?" He asked the half-Latina to his left.
"I went to a College party!" She started the story again, going into a lot more detail this time.
She talked about the beer pong, her first shot of vodka (she hated it), having to drag Trina away from a boy she had thrown herself over. Cat listened to very little of the story. She was off in a daze, staring across the hall at Jade who was leaning back against the opposite wall, scrolling on her phone in one hand and holding her Monster in the other. She was just far enough away to exit the conversation, but didn't want to head to her classroom to look eager to be there. Cat hadn't realised she was staring until Jade looked up and locked eyes with the redhead, causing the both of them to promptly look away. As Cat's cheeks started to flush red with embarrassment, Robbie was apparently asking her a question.
"What, cat got your tongue?" Rex quipped, followed by his signature HA, laughing at his own joke. Robbie's joke*. Robbie laughed at his joke through Rex*.
"Whattie?" She asked, looking up at the curly haired boy.
"I wanted to know if you could help me out in Theatre Tech Class later?" He asked. "I need help with-"
"Sure!" Cat cut him off, skipping away before he asked. She wouldn't be able to get out of it anyway so she'd rather not know, she had English class to get too first today before the attendance bell rang.
"Strange girl that." Rex noted as Robbie nodded.
"Coming from the puppet." Tori rolled her eyes as she also walked away.
Something had just changed recently within the group about Rex. Maybe it was because he was getting harsher or maybe it was because they were Seniors. Robbie couldn't go to College with a puppet on his arm, he just couldn't. They were just getting a little sick of it now. He was especially getting meaner towards Cat, Robbie's feelings for her finally bubbling over. He'd clearly been rejected one too many times. Her running way after the Cowboy-Lula kiss should've been the big neon sign pointing to 'no' for him. But her going with him in the first place, even if only as a friend, to him was a sign pointing to yes. But anyway, as boys did when they liked you, they often got meaner. That was half the reason Cat found herself being attracted to girls too, they were better at expressing themselves than boys. Most of the time.
With Halloween now passed, a few of the classes' focus had shifted to the upcoming Christmas Play. It was the acting highlight of the Hollywood Arts year, with rehearsals already well underway for the cast involved; including Beck who had finally gotten a leading role. Being a Senior, he now got that priority privilege. Cat's Costume Design class would now spend the next few weeks sketching and making their costumes come to life; the Stage Design class would be busy on a similar path with props and sets; same with Makeup class and their speciality; and of course Theatre Tech would be making all the behinds the scenes magic come together.
Robbie, having plans to pursue Theatre Tech at College next year, got to be the main Lighting Operator. While Cat, who had only taken this class within this final year for the credit, was very happy just being a floor runner along with a handful of the underclassmen who were eager to get involved early. Hence why he'd asked for Cat's help with lighting design. Realistically he could have asked any one in their class, in fact he should have as Cat's theatre specialism was audio, not lighting. But Cat knew why he was really asking her.
"So, scene five." Robbie started, the two of them sat by the front of house lighting desk; while the rest of the class worked their way down the script themselves, picking out any bits that would need technical assistance with in them. "They've just gone back outside again so- what colour?" He asked Cat.
"Blue?" Cat replied slowly, as if it were obvious. It was obvious. Scene 2 was outside and he'd chosen blue to represent the sky then too.
"Good idea!" Robbie replied, scrolling with the board dial to find the pre-patched colour.
It was sweet really, how he was trying to include Cat, but at the same time she really was okay doing her own thing in this class. Robbie had just been so happy that she was joining his class and had seemingly told himself that it was because she wanted to spend more time with him. Cat did enjoy spending time with Robbie, especially without Rex, but things were weird between them now. They'd been great friends as Freshmen, but now, there was just this awkwardness with Robbie constantly pining for her. It wasn't a nice feeling for Cat to have to keep rejecting him, and it certainly wasn't anymore fun for Robbie having to be rejected. He was a good guy, just Cat liked someone with a little more, uh, commandingness to them, someone assertive and opinionated. Robbie was a little too malleable for her taste. I mean, here he was giving her a null and void task just so he could be sat next to her for a little bit- she wanted someone who'd cut to the chase and take her on a nighttime adventure or something, one-on-one time out alone somewhere cool, not the back of the Black Box Theatre. She wanted someone who was a little more mysterious, a little more fun. Robbie was to easy for her, there was no chase, no journey. All she had to do was say the word and he'd be hers. She didn't want the safe choice, she craved unpredictability, passion, and something more thrilling.
"Does this colour look good?" Robbie confirmed, nudging the girl with his elbow to snap her out of her trance.
"Uh, does it look like scene one?" She asked.
"Yeperoni!" He replied, flicking between the two cues and showing the similarity.
"Then looks good to me!" Cat smiled, trying to match his energy to keep herself looking interested.
"Not sure what I'd do without you." Robbie smiled back dorkly.
Her next class was Costume Design, a class she shared with Tori. Like it had been in Theatre Tech- those pursuing Costume Design at College got first dibs, so Cat was given the lead male's costume- Beck's costume. This year's play was a Christmas Carol, meaning she needed to make a variety of Victorian garbs, such as his nightgown, nightcap, suit and coat. Would be a nice mix of fun to do but not too complex. The aim of the class collaboration wasn't to take the limelight away from the acting, but simply to support them to bring the play to life.
"How on Earth am I meant to make this?" Tori thought allowed, chewing the end of her pen barrel while Cat was already happily sketching beside her. She'd been given 'The Ghost of Christmas Present' in which she needed to make a long flowing fur-lined green robe, with white & gold accents, and a wreath crown. At least that's what the character descripton said in the script, she was allowed to go off-piece, but.
"Oh there's so much you can do!" Cat started, her mind whirring with ideas instantly. If she hadn't gotten Scrooge she would have loved to have done The Ghost of Christmas Present. But her challenge was now more in providing Beck with robust costumes that would stay in one piece for the length of the play- rather than creating an eccentric wow piece. "For the robe you could use Velour to have a rich, luxurious look and feel, it looks like velvet but is way cheaper. Or Satin would work you want a light, glossier, more festive look. I would look very polished for green and gold-." She started to ramble. Costumes kind of just formed together behind her eyes, just like music did. She didn't need much to go off of and suddenly it was just all pieced together in her mind. "You could add the gold through embroidery or appliqué, or just a simple belt if you wanted - Oh OH!" She cut herself off, getting extra excited. "You could use gold satin for the inside lining of the sleeves, and make them a wide droop so when the ghost moves, the gold inlay will shimmer and flash!"
"Those were a lot of words." Tori replied, mouth a tad agape as she watched Cat's brain come up with idea after idea.
"Right sorry, less words." Cat nodded, bringing herself back with the phrase her Dad seemed to tell her 101 times a week.
"No, no I loved it!" Tori reassured, "But just say it all again slower so I can write it down."