TORI WOKE UP TO THE doorbell ringing. She decided it might be her order and grumpily got out of bed, Ares slithered up her arm as she walked downstairs, answering the door. She saw a man with a medium sized box and a tablet. "Victoria Vega?" The man asked and Tori nodded. "Sign here please." He asked, showing her the tablet and a pen.
She grabbed the pen and signed her signature and the man gave her the box. "Have a nice day." He said. "You too." She replied, shutting the door and walking up stairs. She set up the cage for about an hour and Ares happily slithered around in it as Tori checked the time. She quickly had a shower and dried her hair. She brushed her teeth before she walked into her room with a towel around herself.
She grabbed the clothes she was wearing last light and threw them on, tugging on her airforces. "Trina! Have you left yet?!" Tori shouted through the house. "No! Now hurry up!" Trina shouted back and Tori huffed, grabbing her shoulder bag before looking at Ares. "I'll see you after school." She muttered and he stuck his tongue out at her, making her snort and leave the room.
She slides down the banister of her stairs and hops down, passing the Piano and going to the kitchen and grabbing an apple and putting a bottle of water in her bag. "Let's go, I need a coffee." Trina said, grabbing Tori's arm and dragging her through the house and to the front door. Tori rolled her eyes with a smile.
They got in the car and drove to school. Tori grabbed all the things she needed from the backseat of Trina's car, which she left in there yesterday. Tori huffs as she gets out of the car, arriving at Hollywood arts. She grabs her books and sighs, annoyed. She walks with Trina until she trips on air.
She groaned and just stared at the sky with her books on the floor next to her as Trina laughed at her. She glared at her sister and picked up her books, following after her as Trina grabbed a coffee. Tori got into a conversation with a random kid and didn't notice Trina walking away, talking about someone.
Tori groaned and sped after her as she walked into the entrance of Hollywood arts. "So she says to me, 'So what, you think your better than everyone else.?' And I go. 'Well, pretty much yeah.' Which was just me being.." She heard Trina say before she stopped. "Tori, come on!" Trina voiced as Tori made it through the doors, practically falling through them.
"I know you saw me fall in the parking lot." Tori glared at Trina. "It was very funny." Trina said, pouting her bottom lip before smirking. "I wasn't trying to be—" Tori said, picking up a book that fell of her pile. Trina gasps, pointing at something. "The new play roster!" Trina smiled, placing her coffee on Tori's books. "I—" Tori groans, annoyed as Trina asserted her dominance on the crowd and shoved through them, grabbing a play roster sheet.
"Oh, oh! These are so good!" Trina said, excitedly before seeing Tori nearly spilling her coffee. "Don't spill that!" Trina pointed at her as Tori grunted. "What's so good?" Tori asked, looking at the play roster. "The list of plays for the new semester." Trina said, showing Tori. 'Oh my god, I am perfect for all of these!" Trina said, placing a hand on her chest.
Tori rolled her eyes. "Is 'Moonlight Magic' on there?" Tori asked. She got a text from Andre, asking her if she could play the main part. "Uh, yeah, number four. Why?" Trina asked, looking at Tori curiously. "Oh, Andre wrote the music for it. He wants me to try out for the lead." Tori smiled. "Y-You..? Why?" Trina asked like it was the most funniest thing on earth.
Tori deadpanned, picking up Trina's coffee and handing it to her. "Take your coffee, and go." Tori ordered as Trina scoffed, amused. She grabbed her coffee and gave Tori a pity face. "Oh, somebody fell down on the wrong side of the parking lot." She made a fake sad face, ruffling Tori's hair before walking away. Tori huffed, blowing a bit of hair out of her hair, annoyed.
"Need some help?" Jade asked, appearing from around the corner as Tori tried to make it to her new locker. "Yes." Tori breathed out, annoyed with her struggling school books. "Interesting." Jade smirked, raising a mocking eyebrow her way as she walks away. Tori huffs. She spots Andre and Robbie and sighed as she opened her locker.
"Hey!" She said, shoving her books in her locker, smiling at them. "You should probably get some shelves in there or something." Robbie noted as her books just piled at the bottom. She nodded as she placed her extra bag on top. "Alright, my locker is filled. I feel complete." Tori said, shutting her locker.
"Whoa, whoa, not yet." Andre said, denying it instantly. "What?" Tori asked, confused. "You gotta customise it." He said, like it was obvious. "Everyone at Hollywood Arts had to customise their locker." Robbie explained. Tori sighed. "Oh, well what did you do for yours?" Tori asked Robbie. "I made a mosaic using all of the baby bottle nipples from my childhood." He said, and Tori gave him a weird look. "It reminded me of a happier time!" Robbie said, seeing her look.
She rolled her eyes, turning to Andre. "Yours?" Tori asked. "Check it out." Andre waved her over and they walk slightly around the corner. "Follow those dreads." Rex said. Andre's locker was a piano, which worked. Andre played a quick tune as people started dancing in the hallway. Tori clicked her fingers to the beat, dancing slightly.
"Hey, Andre, Robbie!" The man, which she still didn't know the name off, walked over. Andre stopped playing his piano locker and they all turned to the man. "That squirrels back in my office again." He said. "I'll get the net." Andre said. "I'll get the nuts." Robbie said as both boys walk away.
Tori looked at her locker and sighed. "I don't know what to do with my locker.." she mumbled. "Want to see my locker?" She heard a voice from close behind her and restrained herself from spinning around and giving them a left hook to the face. She turned slowly, to see a fuzzy ginger nerd. "I guess.." she said, weirded out.
He gestures to the bottom left locker. "These are pieces of food that I chewed but never swallowed. I spit the, out, coating them with Polyurethane Resin, and stuck them on there with an industrial adhesive." He said as Tori gave him a blank stare before bolting it down the hallway. What a weird kid.
~~~Cue Victorious Intro~~~
"Betsy! Betsy! That animals delicious flesh can keep us all alive for another week." Jade said, on stage. A script laid in her hands as Cat next to her, held a giant stuffed pig. "I don't wanna be alive without Poncy. This pig is everything to me that my daddy never was. And I'll be doing danged—" Cat was cut off by a rubber, blue ball hitting her face. Tori blinked, what the hell just happened?
"Sikowitz!" Jade groaned. "What?" Sikowitz asked like he didn't just assault his student with a ball. Cat sprung up, holding her face. "You hit me in the face with a ball." Cat reminded him, annoyed. "Oh come on, a truly great actor can stay in the scene no matter what's happening around her." Sikowitz said, sipping his coconut milk.
"But it really hurt!" Cat emphasised, furrowing her eyebrows. The bell rings and Sikowitz sighed, placing his hands on his hips as everyone packs up. "Oh! Lunch! Yay!" Cat cheered, grabbing her bag while running off stage. "Learn your lines! I want everyone off book tomorrow!" Sikowitz raised his voice so the leaving students could hear.
"Hey, you wanna come to lunch with us?" Beck asked, inviting Tori to lunch. "Uh, sure just let me—" She said but was cut off, her senses warning her as she ducked down, the ball Sikowitz threw at Cat, hitting the wall above her where her head would have been. Tori shrieked. "What was that for!? I wasn't acting right now." Tori said, annoyed.
"We need to chat." Sikowitz said. Tori made a face. "And 'Tori can I see you?' Wouldn't have worked?" Tori asked, bewildered. "Have fun." Andre said. "Protect your face." Beck warned as they left. Tori ran a hand through her hair. "What's up.?" She asked Sikowitz. "I hear you signed up to audition for a play 'Moonlight Magic'?" Sikowitz asked.
"Uh-huh. Andre wrote the music for it, and he wants me to play the lead." Tori smiled, crossing her arms. "You should." Sikowitz nodded. "Yeah?" Tori smiled. "But you can't." Sikowitz said. "Huh?" Tori frowned. "Not until you pass 'The bird scene.'!" Sikowitz said, grabbing a small flyer. "The bird scene?" Tori asked.
"Here at Hollywood Arts, every student must successfully complete 'the bird scene.' before they can audition for any and all school productions." Sikowitz said, handing it to her. "Sikowitz, I forgot to ask you a question about the homework—" Cat started, appearing in the doorway. "AHH!" Sikowitz said, throwing a ball at Cat who screamed and ran away. Tori slowly turned to Sikowitz, giving him a look. "We'll never know her question." He smiled.
Tori sighed, walking out and saying a goodbye to Sikowitz, kicking the blue ball back into the classroom before walking down the hallway. She adjusted her jacket as she made it to Asphalt Cafe and decided to grab a turkey sandwich. She quickly paid the food truck guy, she forgot his name, and decided to sit in the car park, on the bonnet of Trina's car. She would probably kill Tori later, but it's fine.
Tori ate her sandwich and scrolled through TikTok. She knew beck invited her to sit with them, but she forgot until now, and now she cannot be bothered to move. She looked on The Slap and replied to some comments on her page from the photo last night. She got a text from Trina.
Get off my car!
It's comfy.
I don't care if it's comfy! You might dent it!
Are you calling me fat?🤨
No- you know damn well I didn't mean that.
If anything your as healthy as a MMA fighter.🙄
Because I am a MMA fighter..?🙄😒
Whatever, if you dent my car I'll use
you as a punching bag for training.🤺
Sure.💀
Tori snorted, turning off her phone, watching some kids dance in the parking lot. "Highschool musical vibes.." Tori muttered, sipping some water. She noticed some random kid at the far end of the parking lot, on a skateboard and miserably failing at doing a kick flip.
She looked around before putting her rubbish in the bin, walking over and crossing her arms, raising an eyebrow. "You're doing it wrong." Tori mused as the person jumped, turning to face her. He had fluffy black hair and some piercings on their ear, he had mix between blue and green eyes.
He had a white shirt on with baggy jeans, a pair of black airforces. A speaker laid on the ground near them, playing Artic Monkeys. It wasn't too loud but it was noticeable. What she guessed, was his bag and other belongings laid next to it. He chuckled, sheepishly scratching the back of her head. "Yeah, I can't get it down." He replied, he had a slightly deep voice.
"I can show you." Tori replied and the guy raised an eyebrow, amused. He got off his board and presented it to her. "Alright, show me how it's done." He said, smirking. Tori placed her bag down next to his and got on the board. "You a beginner?" Tori asked and he nodded.
"Got it about 2 weeks ago." He said and she hummed, getting a boost before actually executing the kick flip. She landed and grinned at him as he whistled. "Who knew Miss Vega could actually ride a skateboard." He mused as she got off. She raised an eyebrow. "You know me?" She asked and he snorted.
"Who doesn't? You killed it in the showcase and theirs rumours that you pissed off Jade West survived." He said and Tori smiled. "What's your name?" She asked and he kicked up the skateboard. "I'm Josh. Josh Jones." He said, holding out a hand which she shook. "Nice to meet you Josh." She replied and decided for the rest of the break to help him learn this kick flip. They bonded over their favourite type of music and interests.
"What's your number.?" Tori asked and Josh raised an eyebrow. "Trying to take me on a date Vega?" He asked and Tori snorted, shaking her head. "Good. Im gay as shit." He said, bluntly and Tori choked. "Oh, that was sudden." She laughed. "What's your number?" She asked, again and he smiled as she held out her phone, grabbing it.
"Here ya go." He said, handing it to her. She smiled, seeing the contact name. JJ 👹. "What's with the demon face?" She asked and he shrugged. "I thought it was funny." He replied and Tori chuckled. "Thanks JJ." She said and he raised an eyebrow. "I should be thanking you." He said, gesturing to her helping him to learn to do a kick flip.
Tori input her number in his phone. "Ill see you soon V." He said and Tori raised an eyebrow. He smirked. "What, your names Victoria right? You told me earlier. It's a nickname." He said and Tori shook her head, amused. "See ya JJ!" She waved as she walked away.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tori walked into the classroom, raising an eyebrow as everyone was shouting and arguing with British accents. Sikowitz told them to shut up and sit down as Tori placed her bag down. "Now that we're all loosely and/or goosey, the time has come for our newest student, to tackle...—" He started, doing a drumroll which everyone followed. "The bird scene!" Sikowitz said as people clap. Tori walked up to the stage.
"Tori the stage is yours, thought you can't take it home." Sikowitz said and Tori looked at him, on the stage. "Can I ask you a quick question before I start?—" Tori began but was cut off by Jade's groan. She deadpanned at Jade who threw her head back over her chair, crossing her arms. "So—" Tori began but was cut off again, by Sikowitz.
"Just do your best, Action!" Sikowitz said. "Okay-!" Tori said, putting on a southern accent. "It was 1934 when my husband left me. Alone. Living on the prairie was a dreary existence. No telephone, no Radio, only a large majestic bird with whom I shared my feelings." Tori started.
"One day when I was feeling low, I said to him. 'Oh bird, you can fly! You can soar miles from this lonely place, yet you stay.. why?' And apparently, my question rang true for that afternoon the bird left, and so went my spirit." Tori finished, lowering her head as to finish. When it was quiet she looked up.
She didn't really care too much about the thoughts of the others. She's had experience with stuff like this, due to being a world famous CFC Champion. "Did you like it?" She asked Sikowitz who hummed. "It was good." He said. It was quiet for a second as they all just stared at her.
"Okay..?" She said, raising an eyebrow. "Did I do it right?" She asked and Sikowitz shot up, which she narrowed her eyes at. Only when she asked if she did it right, everyone had a reaction. Like she did something wrong. So she's guessing she shouldn't ask that next time. Sikowitz tells her she failed and told her to do it again, tomorrow.
"Drive-by acting exercise! You're all angry dolphins! Go!" Sikowitz said as Tori sat down, pondering. Maybe she could add some props for her next play to spice it up a bit. She thinks she knows what she did wrong. Maybe the point of this whole, bird scene, thing was to not ask others crap and do it your way. Or something like that.
Don't care about what other people think, if you know you did good. You did good. Tori hummed. She knows what to do now. This whole thing was to prepare them for the actual show business world. Everyone's going to have haters, you just have to ignore them. It was a bit like her MMA career, she ignored the haters.
She only asked Sikowitz if she did it right because she was new to this whole acting thing except having two different identities. She left the class as it finished and pondered for a bit. Tori leaned against her locker as Cat comforted her, the others — Minus Robbie and Andre — surrounded her. "How did you complete the bird scene?" She asked the others, curious on what they did. They all denied and didn't tell her.
Tori deadpanned. "I'm not your friend, so I'm not telling you." Jade said, giving her a fake smile before walking over to a vending machine, dragging beck with her and grabbing a Soda. "I was hoping we could be more than friends." Rex said to Tori, who rolled her eyes. Cat complains about Rex as Tori looked at her locker, wondering what design she should do.
She out a whiteboard on it, saying Tori's locker because she couldn't be bothered. She doodled on the whiteboard as beck tells her about the rules of the bird scene. No one's allowed to help you. "So this is what you did with your locker?" Jade questioned. "Yeah. It's a dry erase board with a bunch of colourful pens in a convenient cup. So whoever wants to write or draw whatever they want." Tori said.
"You"re supposed to decorate it yourself." Beck said as she placed the marker she was using back in the cup. "It's a Hollywood arts tradition." Cat reminded her. "Well— what's wrong with letting other people express on my locker?" Tori asked. Robbie winced. "Well for one thing they can do that." He said, pointing at her locker, seeing Jade putting a marker away after writing 'Stupid' in between Tori and Locker.
Tori, annoyed, swung around to face Jade who walked away. "Yeah? Yeah, well my lockers smarter than your locker!" Tori shouted after her. "How can a locker be—" Cat questioned and Tori threw her hands up. "I don't know!" She said, taking down the dry erase board. "See ya." Cat said, walking away. Tori groaned. "Time for our first Ballet class." Andre said as Robbie smiled. "Ooo, Ballet!" He said, walking away with Andre as Tori raised an eyebrow and rolled her eyes.
Someone walked up to her and she looked up, seeing Josh. He leaned against the locker next to her. "Hey JJ." Tori greeted as she looked at him. "Hey V." He replied with a smirk, watching students dance in the hallways. "What a colourful locker." He joked, gesturing to her locker. She groaned. "I don't know what to do with it!" Tori whined, annoyed. "What about that song you did? Make it shine or whatever?" He asked and Tori hummed.
"I could do that.." She thought, narrowing her eyes at her locker behind her. He snorted before looking over at Beck and Jade, who were standing by Jade's locker. JJ whistled. "Beck Oliver, a handsome dude." Josh said and Tori raised an eyebrow, turning to Josh. "You have a crush on him or something?" She asked, amused. Josh placed a hand on his heart. "Cant I just admire a very handsome guy with awesome hair?" He joked and Tori smiled.
She looked over and stared at Jade for a second before nodding in agreement. "Fair enough. Jade is a very pretty girl." Tori admitted as Josh laughed, ruffling her hair. "Are you a baby gay or something?" He asked and Tori snorted. "Nah, I'm pretty sure I'm straight." Tori hummed. Josh raised an eyebrow. "Not 100% huh?" He noted quietly as Tori shrugged, staring at the floor as she thought about her locker design,
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So, you ready?" Beck asked Tori and the girl nodded. "I got props and a backdrop and coconuts for Sikowitz." She said, holding up the coconuts. Beck tilted his head. "Those are good ones." He said, pointing to the coconuts. Tori had a weird look on her face as she shrugged, placing them down. "What's the deal with Sikowitz and Coconuts?" Robbie asked, bewildered. "He says the milk gives him visions." Jade said, raising her hands in defence and shrugging.
The bell rings as Sikowitz enters. "Alright every—" Sikowitz said before jumping all over the place. "We have much to do today!" He said, waving it off like nothing happened. "But first— Tori! The bird scene." Sikowitz said, throwing his had to the side. Tori stood up and smiled. "I'm ready, and before I begin, I'd like you to have these two large coconuts." Tori handed Sikowitz the coconuts.
"Wonderful." He said, inspecting the coconuts in his hands. "You know their milk gives me visions?" He asked Tori. "I've heard." She nodded. "Very good, everyone, pay attention.!" Sikowitz commanded, walking to the back of the room. "Tori?" He asked if she was ready. "One sec." She said, bringing down the backdrop. "Oooh! A backdrop." Sikowitz said, interested. Tori put on a pair of glasses, not her home ones, and smiled. "And.. I'm ready!" She said.
"Delightful! Action." Sikowitz said, sipping the coconut milk. Tori put on a accent once more. "It was 1934 when my husband left me. Alone. Living in the prairie was a dreary existence. No telephone, no radio. Only—" Tori started, before using a weird level thing to bring down a toy bird on a string. "—a large majestic bird with whom I shared my feelings." She continued, smiling. She saw Jade roll her eyes but ignored it.
"One day when I was feeling low, I said to him. 'Oh bird, you can fly! You can sour miles from this lonely place yet you stay, why?' My question rang true, for that afternoon, the bird left." She said, cutting the wire with scissors and throwing the bird out the window. Jade silently snorted, rolling her eyes as Tori chuckled the scissors on the floor. "And so went my spirit." Tori finished, lowering her head, finishing her act.
"So, was that good?" Tori asked, in her regular voice. "Exactly what are you asking me?" Sikowitz asked. "You know, did you like what I did with the scene?" Tori asked. "Sure." Sikowitz nodded. "Cool." Tori replied and they just stared at her, once again in silence. Tori shrugged, taking off her glasses. "Hey! Watch where you throw your props!" A man, who looked like the gardener, shouted from the window, holding the bird she threw into the bushes.
He threw it at Tori who ducked and sighed. "What is it with people throwing stuff at me.?" Tori groaned, picking up the bird and looking at it. Everyone broke into applause as Sikowitz stood up. "You just passed, the bird scene!" Sikowitz shouted. Tori sighed in relief, happy her thought process was right.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tori stood in front of her open looker, looking excitedly at her friends. "You guys ready?" She asked, a grin on her face. "Uh-huh!" Cat said. "Ready..!" Trina said. "Whatever." Jade rolled her eyes. She closed her locker, and it showed 'Make It Shine' in the night sky with a bunch of black stars and a black city structures underneath it. She smiled as she presented it. "Make what shine?" Trina asked.
"It's the title of the song I sang in the big showcase." Tori explained, raising an eyebrow. "Oh!" "Right!" "Okay.!" "Whatever." Was the responses she got. "Cause you know that's what got me here in the first place." Tori said and Jade threw her hands up slightly.
"I don't like it." She said, taking a sip of her coffee. "Maybe the words should be bigger." Cat said and Tori raised an eyebrow. "Yes!" Trina agreed and they all started talking over eachother. "Ah-Ah-Ah-Ah-Ah!" Tori stopped them. "I believe in my own choice, I don't need approval from others." Tori said and Beck smirked. "The young female has learned the ways of the bird scene." He said.
"I still think it's dull." Jade said and Tori raised a teasing eyebrow. "Yeah?" She asked, looking at Jade. "We'll them maybe I should, make it shine." She smirked, pressing a red button, making it light up. "Oh!" Trina gasped, a smile on her face.
"Very nice." Beck complimented. "Okay, are we going to eat or what?" Jade asked, annoyed. "Oh, yay food." Cat said, walking away with Jade and Trina. "You coming with?" Beck asked. Tori nodded. "Sure." She said, walking with them. She walked outside with them and got a portion of fries, sitting at the table with the others.
Tori sat down as Trina stole a fry from her plate. Tori glared at her as Trina gave her a sweet smile, eating the French fry. Jade stole one too and Tori groaned. "This is not steal Tori's food day!" Tori said, throwing her hands up and swatting away Jade's hand with a look when she tried to have another one. Jade rolled her eyes and took one anyway. Tori rolled her eyes and continued eating her fries.
Tori got a text and Trina raised an eyebrow. "Who's texting you?" She asked, curious. Tori waved her off, typing away on her phone as Beck tilted his head. "maybe she has a secret boyfriend." Cat said as Tori texted JJ. Trina tried to peak but Tori twisted slightly, blocking her view,
You're with that hot dude, beck?!
Yeah.
Lucky! 😭
What are you doing?
Stalking you from across the car park.
Tori looked up as and smiled slightly seeing Josh waving at her. She sent a slight wave back and started eating her fries. "Who's that?" Beck asked, raising an eyebrow and looking at Josh. Josh widened his eyes and hid behind the car, making Tori snort. "Just a friend." Tori replied.
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Tori has a new friend 🫶