As Tori scrolled through her karaoke playlist, the familiar opening notes of Jaxson Bayer's hit 'Baby' started up, and she turned to the group with a big grin. "Alright, who's ready to channel their inner teen heartthrob?"

Cat laughed, shaking her head. "Oh, no way—you're bringing Jaxson into this?"

"Uh, yeah!" Tori replied, laughing. "It's a classic!" She held up the mic, clearly expecting one of them to grab it. "And he's kind of iconic."

Cat smirked but didn't say anything. Jade glanced sideways, already seeing where this was headed, but before either of them could deflect, Tori stopped, squinting at Cat. "I bet you're about to say you've met him or something."

Cat hesitated, but the tiniest smile slipped out. "Well... I actually did meet him."

"What?!" Tori screeched, dropping the mic in shock. "When? How did you not tell us this?!"

The whole group turned, leaning forward with eager expressions, and Cat tried not to laugh. "It was at a party. Just one of those weird music events…"

Andre leaned back with a dramatic sigh. "Man, people get record deals and suddenly they're meeting Jaxson Bayer at parties. And here we are doing karaoke in Tori's house."

Tori's eyes were practically sparkling. "You met Jaxson Bayer and didn't even tell us?"

Cat hesitated, shrugging, "It wasn't a huge deal, really. Just... a quick introduction."

Tori groaned. "No, no, no—don't give me the nonchalant celeb answer! I need details! Did he sing? Was he as cute in person? Were you just… hanging out with him like that?"

Jade jumped in, clearly trying to steer things back to normal. "He's just another guy Vega. Don't freak out."

"Another guy?!" Tori said with an exasperated laugh. "He's Jaxson Bayer! You've gotta give us something, Cat!"

Cat shared a quick glance with Jade, who gave her a subtle shake of the head. They both knew that night was a lot more complicated than 'just meeting Jaxson.' But there was no way they were getting into that now. So Cat shrugged casually, putting on her best nonchalant face. "He's cool. Just... very much the star you'd expect him to be."

Tori gave an exaggerated sigh, clearly unsatisfied but letting it go. "Fine, I'll stop hounding you. But if you get a call from him or something, you better not keep that a secret."

"Trust me, you'll be the first to know," Cat replied with a grin, relieved to see the conversation steer back to the karaoke.

Beck reached over, picking up the dropped mic. "Okay, enough about celebrities. Whose turn is it to absolutely destroy this JB classic?" he asked, winking at Cat as he playfully butchered the opening line of 'Baby'.

The group dissolved into laughter, and as Beck's slightly off-key voice filled the room, Cat leaned back beside Jade, grateful to be surrounded by friends who, in moments like this, could almost make her feel like life was normal. After Beck's attempt at singing, the girls and Andre took over the song- exchanging line for line in a pretty solid rendition of the 2010 hit. Then suddenly, when the rap came, Robbie and Beck instantly jumped back into the scene grabbing the microphones away.

The group dissolved into so much laughter at the commitment to the rap that they couldn't even finish the song off, just collectively loosing their minds at it all.

"I'm so putting that on my TheSlap page." Tori choked out between laughter, stopping the recording on her phone that had been set up in the corner to capture them having fun. She trimmed the video down to around 20 seconds of singing before the rap-overtake and then their group laughing fit; while Andre was behind her choosing a new song.

"Uh-oh," Jade muttered, giving Cat a sidelong glance. "This is going to be good. Andre's got that look."

Andre smirked and paused dramatically before selecting a song. He glanced over his shoulder, looking around at each of them with an exaggeratedly serious expression. "Ladies and gentlemen, get ready… for the most heartfelt rendition of…" he pointed at the screen as the opening beat began, "I Want It That Way by the Backstreet Boys."

The group burst into laughter again, and Cat held her hands up, already laughing. "Oh no, Andre! This is about to be way too much."

"Nonsense!" Andre said, pressing his hand over his heart. "This is a masterpiece. I'm doing it justice."

As he launched into the first verse, his voice surprisingly soulful yet tinged with humour, everyone started singing along. Tori finished the post, and along with and Beck grabbed the other mics and began performing backup, and Jade leaned into Cat, shaking her head as she chuckled. Andre's performance quickly became more dramatic, drawing the group into a ridiculous and over-the-top boy band moment. By the time he reached the chorus, everyone was standing up, singing, laughing, and giving exaggerated hand gestures like they were in a music video.

Andre hit the big, belting note, and Cat couldn't help but marvel at his range—he was hamming it up, sure, but he actually sounded amazing. And as the song hit its big finish, he dropped to one knee with an outstretched arm, serenading Tori as everyone clapped and cheered.

When the song ended, Andre stood up, catching his breath as they all broke into applause. "That's how you do Backstreet Boys, my friends," he said, taking a playful bow.

"Truly iconic," Cat said, laughing as she took the mic from him. "You might have just ruined boy bands for me forever."

"Oh please," Andre said, flopping back onto the couch. "You know that was perfection."

Beck slapped him on the shoulder. "That was top-tier, man. You missed your calling."

Tori grinned, queuing up another song, and the night kept rolling with more music, laughter, and memories as the group let loose in the carefree way they all needed.

"Holy CHIZ!" Tori shouted a few hours later, as they were all relaxed into the couches, waiting for their ordered pizzas to arrive. She held out her phone and the group all looked over as she showed them the video from earlier—now with thousands of views. The comments were pouring in, and Tori's eyes were wide with disbelief.

"Oh, wow," Beck said, peering over her shoulder. "How did that even happen?"

"I tagged Cat in it—forgetting she has like, I dunno, a hundred thousand followers now?" Tori explained, her face a mix of awe and horror. "Guess they all saw it."

Andre let out a low whistle, shaking his head. "Guess they did. Look at that."

They read through the comments together, most of them sweet and supportive:

"This group looks like so much fun!"

"Caterina seems so down to earth. Love her vibe!"

"Cat, you're amazing! Keep being yourself."

But as they scrolled down, Tori's face fell, coming across some less-than-friendly comments:

"She only got famous because of Myles. Total one-hit wonder."

"Her friends look so weird."

"LOL, see? She can't even sing live."

"Whoa," Tori muttered, scrolling back up as if to shake off the sting of the words.

Cat, who'd been quietly watching, put a hand on Tori's shoulder. "You okay?" she asked, her tone light but understanding.

Tori turned to Cat, her eyebrows knitted together. "I mean, yeah, but… that's just… wow. I didn't expect that. I mean, they don't even know us!"

Cat nodded, her face calm. "It's just how people can be. You post something, and it brings out… everything. The good and the bad." She shrugged, trying to reassure Tori. "I get comments like that all the time. Some people have nothing better to do than tear you down. I just ignore it."

"You just… ignore it?" Tori repeated, looking at Cat with admiration and a touch of disbelief. "Doesn't it get to you?"

Cat paused, then nodded slightly. "Sometimes. But, like, it's kind of a choice. Either I let every mean comment bother me, or I remember all the people who like what I'm doing. It's easier said than done, but… you get used to it."

Jade crossed her arms, her face stony. "I'll never get used to it. People can be such jerks."

Andre patted Tori on the back. "Don't worry about it, Tori. You didn't do anything wrong. If anything, you just gave people a window into what a great friend group looks like."

"Exactly," Cat agreed, reaching over to give Tori a quick side hug. "You're all stuck with me and my crazy follower count. Sorry, but no refunds."

"Ah I'm sure I have the receipt somewhere." Andre joked back, patting himself down.

"Eeee noo!" Cat squealed, running away in laughter as Andre chased her down.