A/N Italics  is either contact names or the flashback

~~~~~

"Jade! Jade! Jade! I'm not going away and you can't just say no!" Tori called across the hall, catching mine and Jade's, who just rolled her eyes, attention away from our conversation with two girls called Halley and Maisie who were in my ballet class.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no , no, no, no." Jade repeated, each time in a different voice or pitch. I said goodbye to the two girls next to me, who had to go to English.

"Alright, well, you can." Tori realizes in a defeated tone, looking at me for help but I just smirk even if I don't know what they're talking about. "Lane, can you come here please?" She asks the guidance counselor, he doesn't respond so she goes over to him, pointing her finger and Jade and I. "Don't move."

"I'm staying here because I want to stay here!" Jade shouts at her back, something she ignores.

"Obviously, nobody wants to go to class. Ever. Even if its Sikowitz. What does she want?" I whisper to Jade, taking a sip of my coffee Beck got me this morning. She rolls her eyes at my sister talking to Lane.

"To be on the ping-pong team." She replies, an annoyed tone laced in her voice. I immediately wake up, turning to her with wide eyes.

"No, no, no, no, no, no! That cannot happen! She's Tori! She'll spill everything to someone, or make us go over our money limit, or just be so annoying that we blab ourselves out so we don't have to hear her talk anymore!" I whisper to her, not wanting to risk anyone hearing me.

"Don't worry! Jeez, it's me you're talking to, not your oh-let's-be-nice-to-everybody boyfriend, or music man, or Cat. She's not getting into this club." She reassures me, as we lean against the lockers, smiling sweetly at Lane.

"What's up?" Lane asks Tori, already rubbing his hands with today's lotion, whatever scent today had on the lotion calendar. I'm not kidding, he actually has a lotion calendar, I went through it on one of my visits to his office, he seems to think that if I had a routine, like a certain lotion every day of the year, my 'behavioural problems' would get better.

"Jade is captain of the ping-pong team and I wanna try out, and she says I can't." Tori complains as we walk closer to her and Lane.

"Yup, that's what I says." Jade said, smirking.

"Oh, come on! Why do you all have to drag me into your problems?" He groans. He's the guidance counselor. That's what he signed up for when he applied for the job. And, unfortunately for him, he has to deal with our very problematic group of friends, if you don't count Tori because she's only half of the people's friends. That half doesn't include myself or Jade.

"Uh, you're the guidance counselor here." I point out, voicing my thoughts. God, I feel bad for him. He wouldn't be dealing with us if he hadn't filled in a piece of paper one day.

"Can we have some guidance?" Tori asks, making me roll my eyes. Doesn't he have better things to do than deal with Tori not having a lot of people like her? Like sorting out whatever is wrong with Robbie? Or Cat? Or even, Jade or I for that matter? Or, you know what, Tori could hang with him and he could help her sort out her loneliness issues because unfortunately, unless she finds a guy who is willing to stick with someone as desperate as that, she's gonna be alone forever.

"All right." Lane says, sighing defeatedly as he takes out his tube of lotion, squirting a lot, and I mean a lot, on his hand. "Well, have you talked to the vice-captain of the team? They might be able to talk to Jade and convince her to let you try out?" Lane says, not really caring.

"Hi!" I say in a fake peppy voice, the one I have to use in cheer, doing the Sharpay wave from High School Musical with the wiggly fingers.

"Yeah, that's not gonna work. Here, I've already got it loaded in here." Tori says, pulling out her phone and starting to open up an app, or that's what I guess she's doing from her finger moments on her screen.

"Okay, what?" He asks, starting to cover his hands with the lotion.

"See look what it says on the official Hollywood Arts website." Tori told Lane, shoving her phone in his face, making him slowly push it away a bit.

"My life is slipping away!" Jade groans.

"Every second is closer to my death! I want to spend said seconds not paying attention in class or snogging my boyfriend, not doing this!" I add.

"Read it." Tori orders Lane, his eyes scanning the phone screen.

"All students are encouraged to participate in school sanctioned events, clubs, and sport teams." He reads from the screen.

"And how can I participate in ping pong if the team captain here refuses to even let me try out?" Tori asks him. Will she stop being a brat about this? We don't want her on the team! Why can't she understand that? It's not even a real ping-pong team!

"You gotta let her try out." Lane told Jade, shrugging as if there was nothing he could do.

"We don't need more players." Jade defends.

"The maximum needed is 7." I tell them matter-of-factly.

"You only have six on the team!" Tori shouts, insisting it to me before clearly counting on her fingers to check if she was right.

"Rex counts." I say before walking off, leaving the three so I can go to voice class.

~~~~~

Somehow, my sister managed to weasel her way into getting to try out for the team. She beat all of us in ping-pong but come on, do you really expect us to play ping-pong when we can play Twister or Cluedo? Or just watch Dance Moms on Sikowitz's Lifetime account. Then I get to try and learn Maddie's solos, Jade can insult all the moms and Abby, Cat can giggle at whatever she's watching on her phone, and the boys can just sit and try to understand why we like the show.

"Well?" Tori asks Jade, smirking. She clearly thinks that just because she beat us at ping-pong, she immediately gets a spot on the team. It's like how she thought everyone would love her as soon as she kissed her sister's boyfriend, guess what? They don't.

"You didn't make the team." Jade says bluntly, both of us smiling as I take two dollars from Beck's wallet, which was on the couch arm, and we each buy a soda, sitting down on the couch with Beck stealing my can for a sip before giving it back.

"W-what? I beat everybody!" Tori stammers, confused. Ha! God, I really don't like her. And don't say she's my sister, I have to like her, because I'm pretty sure I'm adopted. I mean, how can I be related to someone so annoying?

"I don't care. Read the school website." Jade says, passing my sister her phone.

"When a student tries out for a sport team for which there is no coach, the team captain and co-captain shall decide if the student is granted or denied acceptance into the team." Tori read out, dejected and sad. Oh well.

"Captain says denied." Jade says.

"Co-captain says denied." I add, both of us smirking. I feel Beck nudge me in the side, me turning and giving him a 'what?' look. He then replies by getting his phone out and typing out a message. My phone pings, making me reach into my pocket to get the purple GX out of my pocket.

BabyBoy❤: I thought you said you would try and be nicer to your sister

Emmyboo: I was, but then she kissed you. And said that you're in pain dating me. Then didn't even thank me for swallowing my pride and sticking up to Trina for her when my older sister was being an ungrateful brat towards Tori. Then didn't congratulate me on the Superstore thing. And then got you fired from your job last week. So technically, if you look at Trina, Tori, and me, I'm the nicest sister.

BabyBoy❤: To be fair, she got my job back last week. And you have done much meaner things to her.

Emmyboo: Yeah, notice how I only take it out on her and not her non-existent boyfriend?

We look up from our phones to see Tori gone. Oh well.

~~~~~

We're all playing Twister, and I, obviously, am winning. I'm flexible from all the acro I do in dance. It's not only ballet I do, I pretty much do all the styles except for musical theatre, jazz, and hip-hop, which I don't like.

All the others fall and I'm still in a backbend with one leg bent over me so I have my hands next to each other, with one foot in front of me, and the other foot behind me. I also decided that instead of just doing a wide step under me, that I would show off and do the over splits with my legs bent so the feet can touch the floor. I untwist myself, going to sit on the couch.

"That was a foul." Robbie says, pointing at me while I just stick my tongue out at him playfully.

"You're a foul." Andre jokes, tickling Robbie who lets out a high-pitched, girlish laugh as he clutches his sides.

"Ow! That tickles." Robbie says as everyone else gets off the ground. Ow? Oh well, he's weird.

"Okay! Let's start over." Jade says, clapping her hands and starting to straighten the matt.

"All right." Someone says, not sure who but probably Rex, he's been silent for too long. It's getting weird.

"Hey Robbie? Is Rex all right?" I ask him, swinging my legs onto Cat's lap, who just sat down next to me.

"Yeah, I think so. Why?" The curly-haired boy asks me, looking at the puppet sat on one of the plastic chairs, concerned.

"He's just been silent for too long. It's weird. Maybe he's plotting something." I guess, everyone else shrugging. It is very well possible with Rex being, well with Rex being Rex.

"You worried about me cupcake? Want me to be with you forevermore in case good hair boy turns out to be a dud?" The puppet says in his smug accent from whatever country it's supposed to be.

"Shut it puppet. Let's start." I snap, getting up again.

"Okay, okay. Let me get a drink first." Beck says, going towards the vending machine as I go back to my position on the couch.

"Grab me a soda." I tell him, watching as Andre joins him. I hear Robbie groan, my attention turning to him.

"What's wrong?" Cat asks. Sometimes it's sweet how caring she is, but I'm not really sure I want to know what caused that dreadful noise.

"I think I pulled a muscle." Robbie assumes. I bite on my fist, trying to hold in a laugh while I share a knowing look with Jade.

"You can't pull what you can't have." Jade tells him, voicing both of our thoughts. Robbie glares at her, and then me when I can't control my giggles any longer and it all comes out, lasting for about five minutes.

"Beck, I don't think she needs any more caffeine today." Jade jokes, smirking at me as I glare at her playfully.

"What's taking so long anyway?" I ask him, turning my head around to see him and Andre both looking at the machine, confused.

"It ate my dollar." My boyfriend says, his confused face matching his tone of voice as he tilts his head like a puppy who didn't understand what was going on.

"All right, let the doctor handle this." Andre said, referring to himself.

"Go ahead, doc." Beck tells Andre.

"Try rocking it back and forth." I suggest, watching as Jade goes over to help them and I go to stand up when it falls over, emitting a scream.

"Did that machine just scream like a teenage girl?" Andre asks the obvious, making me smirk evilly.

"Maybe it's a serial killer and we're all living in a horror movie." I say, the smirk still on my face as Robbie and Cat get scared looks on their faces. Then Tori pops out of the machine. Still a possibility.

"All right. Who put me in the soda machine?" Reason I could be adopted #324) I'm the only one in the family that can actually lie. Beck and Andre both force my sister out of the fake machine, revealing no sodas, and no dollar. "I got it, I got it. Buzz off!" She snaps at them, walking into the middle of the room sulkily.

"Why were you spying on us?" Andre asks, folding his arms while Beck walks over to me, slinging an arm over my shoulder.

"And why did you steal Beckett's dollar?" I add on, causing my boyfriend to turn to me, shocked.

"What?" He asks, his head turning from me to Tori to the vending machine to Tori again.

"Cause I had a feeling you guys' ping pong team was just a big fake and I was right. You weren't practicing ping ping. You were playing games and watching YouTube skateboard failure videos at the start before Robbie came in late. So what's up?" She asks accusingly, handing over the dollar reluctantly while Beck holds out his palm expectantly.

"Let's just tell her." Andre said to the rest of us.

"No!" Jade and I protest.

"Yes." Beck replies firmly.

"I think we should tell her." Cat tells us, agreeing with the two boys.

"Why don't we just drive her out to the desert and drop her off?" Rex suggests, making mine and Jade's heads perk up.

"I agree with the puppet. Jade can drive and I'll make sure she doesn't have any supplies to let her survive the night!" I say happily, Rex nodding at my statement with Jade starting to fish her keys out of her bag while Beck drags me over to couch, placing me on his lap with his arms around my waist.

"Rex. Emily. Jade." Robbie says, trying to sound firm like Beck did earlier but failing terribly.

"She knows too much." Rex reasons, me nodding.

"Tell her." Jade relents. I gasp, holding a hand to my heart.

"Jade! You can't go to the dark side." I tell her, my eyes wide.

"We're the dark side?" Beck asks me sarcastically, rolling his eyes when I nod matter-of-factly.

"There's no real ping pong team." Andre tells her, sighing as she shouts victoriously. Knew we shouldn't have told her. You know what they're going to do? They're going to get stuck in a situation where she can blackmail them into letting her join the team and then she'll blab to someone and get us cut from the budget or cause a problem where the team has to end.

"Then what's all this about?" My sister asks, gesturing to the ping pong table and the trophy case behind it, full of ping pong trophy cups and medals.

"Well, it all started about two years ago when the school got that ping pong table in this room. It seems like ages ago now, I mean Emily and Jade hadn't even tried to dye their hair yet and Beck and Em had just made it official." Andre starts, staring off into space.

~~~~~

"We just walked in, and there it was. Then Robbie suggested we form an official ping pong team here at Hollywood Arts. To compete against other schools." Andre continues telling Tori.

"So I slapped Robbie hard on top of his head." Jade says, making me remember that and laugh a little.

"And I pinched him to make sure it wasn't a nightmare where everyone would force Jade and I to do just that." I tell her, getting a weird look from Beck.

"That's not how it works." He says, making me nod and smile at him sweetly and innocently, I know right? So characteristically me.

"I know." I say with the same smile and matching tone.

"It really hurt." Robbie complains, getting a kick in the shin from me and me getting a light slap on the arm and reproachful look from Beck. "Ow!" Puppet boy shouts.

~~~~~

"So a few days later, me, Emily, Andre, Jade and Robbie were hanging out." Beck starts, looking at me to continue but I'm not taking any part in this self-destructing plan other than to talk about hurting Robbie, because that was fun.

"When Cat walked up." Jade says, once she's realized what I'm doing, or rather not doing.

"She was all pumped up about some fancy restaurant her parents had took her to the weekend before." Andre continues.

"They had amazing steaks and crab cakes, and lobster mashed potatoes, and classy live music, and the most insane desserts I had ever tasted. Oh! And I was on VideoChat to Emily, showing her around the restaurant when a waiter our age, he was the owner's son, came to tell me to turn it off and then he saw Emily and started flirting with her and asked me for her number when I hung up. He still has it too, it's how we always get the best table every year." Cat informs Tori.

"Which all sounded pretty good to us." Andre spoke.

"Except for the waiter flirting with Emily part, Beck didn't like that." Cat adds the obvious.

"So I said 'Well, we gotta go there'." Robbie says.

"And I told Robbie there was no way we could go there 'cause it's really expensive." Cat continues.

~~~~~

"Where is this story going?" Tori interrupts, a confused and weirded out look on her face.

"It actually gets weirder," Beck