Chapter Text
Date: January 4th, 2010
“I can’t believe it,” Tori gushed as her sister Trina pulled her car into the Hollywood Arts parking lot. Students were milling about, talking, socialising and laughing before the day began, while others went into the main building to finish up homework last-minute. Tori practically leapt out of the car the second it was unlocked.
“Calm down, it’s really not that big a deal,” Trina said, putting on some last-minute lip gloss as she stared into the rear-view mirror. “You’re lucky I even had that reaction in the first place, so really, you should be thanking me that you’re even gonna go to school here.”
Tori assessed that what Trina said was, in some ways, true. The last few weeks before winter break had been frantic, as Trina and a student Tori’s age named André worked together on a song to perform in the annual Hollywood Arts Showcase. This show was held right before said break, and was supposed to be a way to show both parents and local talent agents what the students could do, but Trina had dragged Tori into helping despite her not attending the school. On the actual day of the showcase, some home remedy supposedly designed to make your voice sound better had caused Trina’s tongue to swell up, meaning Tori had to perform vocals in her place. She was hesitant, naturally, never having had interest in such things, but quickly found herself falling into the rhythm of performing, belting out the song like she was meant to perform it. After the stellar performance, the principal himself had stepped in to offer her a place at the school, and after a bit of convincing from the crowd, Tori had agreed to transfer from her old school into Hollywood Arts.
Over the break period, everything for her to transfer to Hollywood Arts was dealt with, and now Tori was ready to start her first day the same day that the new semester started. Trina attempted to enter the school, saying something about a play she wanted to sign up for, but Tori stopped her. She wasn’t going into that building without taking in the outside atmosphere first. Plus, there was a chance she’d run into André and have someone reliable to show her the ropes. The two had become good friends already, and as much as Tori loved her sister, she wasn’t exactly one to go for when you needed help.
“This is so incredible! I’m really going to be going to Hollywood Arts!” Tori took in a deep breath.
“Well, yeah, clearly Eichner saw something good in you,” Trina responded absently. “You didn’t do too bad in the showcase, I guess. But I promise you, it’s just a high school. It’s not gonna be that different from Sherwood.”
“Just- just shh for a second! You can’t convince me that this is a normal high school!” Tori looked around so many times she felt her head would unscrew. Even outside in the parking lot there was so much to see. The tables were populated with students having breakfast, the food truck was beginning preparations for lunch in a few hours, and… a strangely-dressed, half-bald man sat at the foot of a pillar, feet bare, mouth on a straw connected to a coconut.
“Oh my god, that’s so sad! Do homeless people hang out here a lot?” Tori asked Trina sympathetically.
“Huh? Homeless people?” Trina responded, glued to her phone.
“Well, might as well start my day with a good deed!” Tori strode up to the man and pulled out a couple of dollar bills. “Here you are sir, have a good day!”
The man looked from Tori’s eager face to the money in her hand with confusion before taking it. “Oh… well, thank you kindly, madam! But I think you misunderstand-“
Before he had a chance to say anything else, Tori had turned around and rejoined Trina. “Okay. Good deed done, day started right, I’m ready to head in now!”
In they went, the hall filled to the brim with students, colourfully customised lockers lining the walls. Tori was a little overwhelmed, especially when her sister left her alone, a perky girl named Cat with artificially-red hair went through the entire spectrum of emotions in a few seconds, and a mop-headed nerd directed her to her first class with a Mr Sikowitz using his ventriloquist dummy.
Dazed, Tori walked into the classroom, tentatively hanging out at the back. As ridiculously cool as this place was, joining a school halfway through the year was a huge risk. Sure, she knew her sister, but she was a grade ahead, and Tori only knew one other person - and there he was! Relieved to see André, she exited her little nook at the back, right as the door swung open to let in another student.
-
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Jade exclaimed as an unfamiliar girl slammed into her, wincing as the lid flew off her half-finished coffee cup, letting most of the remaining warm liquid splash out onto her. “You made me spill my coffee!”
“Oh- oh my god, I am so sorry! Let me help you!” The girl bunched up her sleeves and attempted to absorb some of the liquid. It was difficult to see against Jade’s black top, so her efforts were futile.
Jade tensed at the sensation of this new girl’s hands on her. “Do not touch me. Just- just go away!” she snapped, loving the fear she put into the eyes of the new girl as she tore her hands away. This must have been the ‘Tori’ so many people were talking about.
Jade had skipped the showcase. Her dad had no interest in going, her mom was busy that day, and none of the scouts that were announced to be attending were any she’d be interested in. It would have just been a waste of time. Now, though, the school was buzzing about the newcomer who saved what would have been a disastrous performance by covering for Trina, and here she was in front of Jade, cowering in fear. She was pretty, too. Jade loved intimidating the pretty girls. Perhaps the spill was a good thing. No, scratch that. Jade would never tolerate wasted coffee.
“Hey, woah, what’s going on here?” a smooth voice sounded from behind Jade.
“The new girl made me spill my coffee because she wasn’t paying attention! Now I have nothing to drink, my clothes are wet and I’ll smell for the whole day!” Jade snarled.
“Yo, Tori, come sit next to me,” a somewhat frantic André directed the frightened girl to take a seat.
“I am so glad you’re here, Beck. Give.” She took the boy’s coffee right out of his hands.
“I don’t even get the same order as you, Jade. Don’t you hate what I get?” Beck asked, heading to his seat.
“Yeah, but any coffee is better than none.” She followed him and took a sip as she sat. “I can’t believe you can drink this. It barely counts as real coffee.”
-
“So… I see you’ve met Beck and Jade,” André said as Tori sat down.
Tori groaned. “I guess! Why did that have to be my first impression on people?”
André shrugged. “Jade’s like that most of the time, but she really doesn’t play about her coffee. Beck’s… uh, I guess he’s there to tone her down. He’s a good friend to me, though. Chill dude.”
“So, are they, like, dating, or what?” Tori asked. She couldn’t deny that Beck was nice to look at. His hair was marvellous, to say the least, but she wasn’t going to go after an already taken guy she didn’t know. Especially if his girlfriend was a hairstreak-wearing, coffee-obsessed grunch that no doubt hated her now.
André let out a chuckle. “You let them hear you say that, and they’d kill you.”
Before Tori had a chance to ask what that meant, the door on the other side of the classroom swung open.
“Oh my god, THERE’S A HUGE FIRE!” In stepped the man Tori had seen outside, up against a pillar, sipping on a coconut. He still had that coconut in hand, or perhaps it was a different one, but no one had time to think about that right now, as his booming voice had just announced that there was a crisis at hand. The fire alarm would surely go off any second, students around her were beginning to grab their things and get up out of their seats-
“Kidding, kidding. I just wanted to get your blood pumping, which I did, HAH! All right, now, let’s get started, rumps in chairs.” He strode up the stage and looked around at the students calming down from their moment of panic.
“He’s our teacher?” Tori whispered to André, hand on her heart as she took some deep breaths.
“Okay, first, I’d like to introduce our new student, Tori. And I’d like to thank Tori for her generous gift of two dollars, which she handed me outside this morning, not necessary but much appreciated!” He waved the dollar bills around proudly.
“Why’d you give him two dollars?” André asked, giving her a look.
“I thought he was homeless!” Tori confessed in a whisper.
Sikowitz went into explaining what they’d be doing today - group improv - and Jade was selected to pick the first group to perform a scene for the class. A devious smirk was tugging at her lips as she made her way up to the stage.
“Okay… Cat, Eli, Beck… and Tori.” Jade made intense eye contact with the latter girl. Tori had to stifle a gasp. Her gaze was piercing, unexpected, knowing. Her blue-green eyes saw right past Tori’s brown ones, gazing directly into her soul. At least, that’s what it felt like from there, Tori surmised. Jade’s intensely dark eyeshadow made her eyes seem all the more terrifying.
The puppet-wielding kid and André set up the scenario for them. The characters were at home and were going to receive some sort of big news. While apprehensive at being picked on her first day, especially by the girl she’d just got coffee all over, she did at least like her teacher, especially after he made a joke about ‘big news’ sounding like ‘big nudes’. That, combined with his reaction to her… donation, made it clear he had a good sense of humour. She couldn’t think about that for long, though, as the scene was about to start.
Jade sauntered up to Tori. “Why don’t you go wait in the hall?”
Not wanting to get on Jade’s bad side more than she already was, Tori agreed.
The scene started with Jade and Cat playing parents, and Beck and Eli as the children. Cat had been fired, and Jade had some sort of announcement to make that would cheer everyone up. Tori heard Jade’s voice get louder as she moved. This must be her cue.
“I went to the animal shelter, and got us… a dog!” Jade swung the door open and gripped Tori’s arm, dragging her to the stage.
Dog? She was supposed to play a dog? On her first day, when she had zero acting experience? What else was there for her to do but try to get out of it? “Um… yep! I’m the new family dog! Woof…” She couldn’t even pretend to muster enthusiasm for this.
Jade scoffed. “Sikowitz! Will you please tell this amateur that dogs don’t talk, and that they don’t walk on two legs?”
Tori tensed up.
“It’s true, Tori, if you’re gonna play a dog, be a dog,” Sikowitz affirmed.
Begrudgingly, Tori got down on her hands and knees and barked as best as she could.
Jade ran a few strands of Tori’s hair through her fingers, making the girl shiver. “Uh oh. Looks like this dog has bugs in her fur!” Jade said with venom in her voice as she circled Tori, causing the kids of the scene to exclaim in disgust. “But, it’s okay, I read on the internet that coffee works great for getting rid of fur bugs!” she continued, now with a leftover cup of coffee in hand.
“Jade, stop,” Beck broke character for a quick second to send her a warning. André leaned forward in his chair, opening his mouth to say something. Sikowitz’s expression turned worried and he began to make strides towards the stage, but all of it was in vain.
Jade dumped the entire cup of coffee onto Tori.
She stood back for a second, admiring her work. “What’s the prob…” Jade stepped closer once again, leaning in to be on Tori’s eye level, “…dog?”
Tori got up and stormed out of the room. Jade stared after her.
-
“What the hell was up with that back there?” Beck asked Jade as they sat together at lunch. “That was too far, even for you. What if that coffee was hot?”
“Oh, relax, it was cold on my hand. And Tori deserved it. She wasn’t looking where she was going and slammed into me. Now I smell like coffee, and I hate that, because I can smell it on my clothes and it’s driving me insane because there’s nothing in front of me to drink! It’s her fault!” Jade said with rage. “I was already having a bad day because my dad tried to call me, and this- this new girl just made it so much worse!”
“She would have been nervous. Swapping schools is scary, especially when you don’t know anyone. It’s not fair for you to be hard on her because your day wasn’t great.”
“She seemed to know André just fine!” Jade argued. “And I hate you trying to give me fatherly advice. I hate my dad and I don’t want my best friend to try and fill that void in my life, because it doesn’t need filling!”
“You’re in a bad mood, Jade. You’ve gotta cool off.” Beck was as cool and collected as ever. As much as she appreciated him and his company, sometimes his nonchalance and attempts to mediate drove Jade mad. He liked to repress emotions, while Jade let them consume her. She supposed that’s just one of the reasons they’d been friends for so long. They balanced each other out, and that was often enough to get Jade out of one of her… angrier states.
“Whatever,” she grumbled, wanting this conversation to be over. “I got back at her. Still doesn’t mean I like her.”
“No one said anything about liking her. You don’t even know her. I don’t even know her. Just… maybe try again tomorrow, fresh start?”
“If she even comes back for another day,” Jade said with a slight smile. If she never had to see that girl and her pretty face and soft hair again, she’d be okay with that.
-
It had taken a lot of convincing from Trina and André, but Tori decided she wasn’t going to quit on her first day, as much as she wanted to. She’d only just met this Jade, and now she was out to get her. Why, just because of spilled coffee? Tori wasn’t going to let her win. If she quit, Jade would win. Perhaps going back out of spite wasn’t the best idea. Whatever the case, though, when she walked back into Sikowitz’s classroom, everyone except her new rival seemed pleased that she was there once again.
That day’s workshop was again, improv, but this time, the start of each actor’s lines had to go in alphabetical order. Tori saw her chance, and she was going to take it, volunteering to lead the first group and selecting her actors as André, Cat, Beck, and Jade, who seemed shocked that she’d been chosen.
Sikowitz prompted the puppet-wielder to give them a letter to start with - P - and Tori finally learned that his name was Robbie. The teacher also explained that this was a test of endurance. If one of the students didn’t follow the alphabetical sequence, they’d be out. Last actor standing wins.
Tori was determined to beat Jade no matter what. Luckily for her, she was starting the scene.
“Please go take a shower,” Tori began.
“Quit telling me what to do!” Jade growled, tensing up.
“Relax, girls, lets all try to get along,” Beck said, putting one arm around each of them. Jade shook out of his grip.
“Totally!” Cat chimed in, before being buzzed out by Sikowitz who quickly cheered the now upset girl up with some candy.
“Something just bit my toe!” André exclaimed. Tori shot him a slight smile, grateful he’d changed the topic.
“Turtle! That turtle just bit his toe,” Tori continued.
“Unbelievable that you’re even here,” Jade said with a snarky tone, determined to keep the feud going.
Beck looked exasperated. “Very immature of you to say that!” he directed to Jade.
André hesitated, thrown off by the bickering, but quickly got back into it with some teacherly encouragement. “What if the turtle bite broke my toe bone?”
“X-rays are the only way to find out,” Tori suggested.
“You should shut up,” Jade said.
Holding back a sigh, Beck tried his best to get the scene back on track, again. “Zap! I just healed your toe with my magic finger.”
“Thanks!” André replied, on reflex, before a flash of realisation crossed his face. Sikowitz buzzed André out before he could backtrack, causing the boy to grumble about his toe-bone being fixed as he made his way back to his seat.
Now it was just Tori, her rival, and her rival’s… best friend? Boyfriend? Orbiter? Not important right now. Beating Jade is what mattered, and she was the one to start the scene up again as per the teacher’s instructions.
“Aliens are the only people who can heal toes by finger-zapping.”
“By the way-“ Jade blew a raspberry, and Tori rolled her eyes.
“Correct, I am an alien,” Beck affirmed.
“Ooh, a twist!” Sikowitz said with excitement, leaning forward.
“Don’t hurt me, please!” Tori begged.
“Even though she’s extremely annoying!” Jade added.
“Fainting… ‘cause I can’t breathe… your earth’s air…” Beck slowly sunk down to the floor.
“Gosh, it- it fainted!”
“Tori and Jade, keep going! The next letter’s ‘H’!” Sikowitz encouraged. With Beck out of the scene for now, the two traded insults back and forth, making it through the entire alphabet in what felt like seconds. They were amateurish, low-blows perhaps, but there was something intense and captivating about the way the girls barely faltered, line after line in perfect alphabetical order spilling from their mouths, not hesitating on even the most uncommon letters.
“Eat your pants!” Tori exclaimed. They were both beginning to run out of steam, and it was obvious, seeing as the pair of them were almost back where they started, trading verbal blows back and forth.
Jade looked as if she was wracking her brain for any sort of comeback. “You eat your pants! Wait!” she shrieked, immediately realising her mistake.
Sikowitz buzzed her out. “Sorry Jade, the next letter was-“
“F, I know!” She glared at Tori with her icy eyes as she stormed back to her chair.
Tori was satisfied. She’d beaten Jade at her own game. Time to finish the scene.
“Get up, alien,” Tori continued, helping Beck up.
“Head… feels dizzy…”
“I know what will make you feel better.”
“Jumping jacks?”
“Kiss me.”
The crowd of students let out murmurs. Tori swore she could hear some laughs.
“Let’s not, I’m gay,” Beck responded with a laugh.
“Oh my god, I had no idea-“
One more buzzer noise from Sikowitz. “Tori, you are OUT! That means Beck is our winner for this group! Score one for gay aliens!”
Class seemed to fly by as different groups took on the alphabetical challenge, and soon enough the distinctive Hollywood Arts bell sounded to indicate that the period was over. Tori wasted no time in approaching Beck.
“Hey, um, I am so sorry that I asked you to kiss me, it’s the only thing I could think of that began with a K, if I’d have known you were gay I wouldn’t have!” Tori gushed, barely leaving the boy any time to process what she said.
“Woah, hey, it’s all good,” he chuckled. “You’re new here, so I wouldn’t expect you to. I’m pretty open about it, though, so you would have found out eventually.”
“Beck, don’t waste your time talking to her. Let’s get out of here,” Jade appeared behind Beck and grabbed his arm, not leaving Tori a chance to respond.
“Okay, guess I’m leaving now. See you around, Tori!” Beck waved as he was dragged out of the door.
Tori was left thinking for a second as she waited for André to pack up and show her where her next class was. Jade really seemed to dislike her, but they did have some sort of stage chemistry, at the very least. The quick-fire insults combined with the pressure of improv was a thrill Tori had never felt before. She decided then and there that she’d see where this went. She liked Beck and wanted to hang out with him more. André and Beck were pretty close, according to the former. Beck and Jade were pretty close. It seemed inevitable that they’d cross paths more often than just in class. Even if she didn’t ever become friends with Jade… the rivalry was something exciting, something new.