123AN: Welcome all to a little bonus for the story; it's something of a homage to the out-take chapter One Horse Shay did for his excellent Jade Likes Nice Guys story – if you haven't checked it out you really should do, of course you'll need to read the equally entertaining iActually Like Mean Girls first. My thanks go to Challenge King, Agent-M and Guest for their reviews of the last chapter and I hope you all like this little chance for some fun and for a bit of insight into what was going through my mind while I was putting the story together.
"Hey Ari!" Nathan Kress greeted his co-star; she turned to him with an expression that suggested he'd caught her with her hand in the cookie jar. "Uh, what have you got there?" he pointed to a package in her hand.
"Oh," she gestured towards him with the article, "it's the blooper clips from the show; I snuck them out of Dan's office." She giggled before asking, "Want to watch them with me?"
"Sounds like fun."
The pair made their way to the dressing rooms and Ariana Grande smuggled Nathan into the one she and Elizabeth Gillies shared. She skipped over to her bag and retrieved her laptop from it before walking over to the make-up table and setting it down on a clean part of the surface. She and Nathan pulled up chairs while it booted up and she slid the DVD into its drive.
"Hmm, let's see…" the brown-haired boy began, "maybe that one to start with?" he suggested, pointing to a clip named Freddie and Spencer. Ariana grinned and clicked on the file, bringing up a backdrop of a down-town Seattle street.
"Freddie!" came the call from across the street; the boy was walking back towards his aunt's place, not far from Bushwell Plaza.
"Spencer? Hey dude, how are you?" A surprised Freddie asked before he crossed the deserted street to meet Carly's brother.
"Great thanks, how are you?" the elder Shay then frowned. "Carly's pretty upset you know; you haven't responded to her texts or her e-mails or spoken to her since…"
"Since she wrecked my relationship," the former iCarly member interrupted tersely.
"Look I don't know what went on between you two, but my sister's upset and I'd be remiss if I didn't point that out" the artist told him.
"Well you have done, but don't expect me to see or talk to her."
"Oh ok," Spencer was disappointed but covered it with a shrug. "Oh hey, you want a coffee? Or better, a Gallinipie!" The tall actor garbled the last couple of words.
"Gallinipi?" Nathan asked, amused.
"Gallini's… pie. STOP IT!" Jerry shouted as Nathan began to laugh.
"Oh Jerry," Ariana laughed as the clip ended.
"You can always rely on him to entertain. Oh, try that one now," Nathan pointed to a file labelled Cat, Freddie, Marissa scene. The brunette, as she was again having washed the red dye from her hair, gave him a conspiratorial grin as she loaded up the clip. The pair watched as the Benson house's living room appeared on the screen.
Freddie slipped his arm around Cat's shoulders and pulled the red-head closer to him on the couch. He looked towards her and smiled as she relaxed next to him. She turned towards him and he matched her move. The brown-haired boy leaned towards her and their lips met, gently at first but both were happy to slowly explore the sensation as they varied the pressure of the contact. Cat closed her eyes and allowed Freddie to take charge of the soft kisses, though she kept her mouth closed for now.
The teens' activities were to be interrupted as Mrs Benson arrived home and walked into the living room, her eyes immediately falling on the pair kissing on her couch. The Benson matriarch let out a shriek. Ariana grinned visibly against the brown-haired boy's mouth as she moved her hands quickly to the back of his head to hold him in place and continue the kiss. Nathan had tried to pull away, as the script demanded, but mentally shrugged as his co-star "restrained" him and he relaxed back into the kiss himself.
"Cut!" yelled the director behind the camera. "You were supposed to pull apart at the shriek."
Ariana pulled just far enough from Nathan to turn her head without bumping her nose into his. "But it's more fun this way," she complained in her best 'Cat' voice, causing Nathan to burst out laughing with the older actress following suit while shaking her head at the teenagers.
Take 2: Marissa shrieked and grabbed a towel from the radiator as she spied the couple.
"Uh," Ariana began as she pulled away from Nathan, "you're not supposed to have the towel just yet."
Mary palmed her face and walked out of the door, shaking her head as she did while the director called "Back to one."
"Now, where were we?" Nathan asked with a laugh, drawing a giggle from his co-star.
Take 3: Mary walked into the house to be greeted by the kissing teens. "I forgot to put the towel back!" she laughed as she realised she was still holding the offending item. The teens giggled, still sat in one another's arms.
"Thanks Mary!" Nathan called as his on-screen mother put the towel back in its place and walked out again. "Keep blowing the scene; I could do this all day." Ariana burst out laughing and swatted his chest playfully.
"That was a fun scene," Ariana reminisced, "I did enjoy doing the Freddie/Cat scenes with you."
"Me too, it's a shame the writers broke them up so quickly."
"You've had the Freddie/Lindsey scenes to do though – and some of them have been pretty intense," she reminded him.
"I know; it's hard to believe that the original script that we read through had them breaking up before Spring Break, having started to cool between them about the time Cat's relationship with Eli ended."
"I wonder why they changed it," she mused.
"I think they wanted a prom scene for some jibe that Rex is going to make to Cat in the next season," he explained, "plus it gives Freddie a chance to experience such an intense event in his life and explore how he responds to it. It was certainly a controversial turn of events – and more than a little uncomfortable to film – but I think the writers wanted to use the incident to bring in a few little Freddie/Jade bonding moments and I've been told there'll be at least one more, along with a bit more Freddie/Sam bonding early in the new season." Then he changed the subject. "Oh, try that one," he pointed to another file. Ariana loaded it up to reveal the Hollywood Arts music room.
Lindsey made a show of having to take a long time packing up at the end of the lesson as the rest of the students left, followed by the teacher.
"Are you alright there Lindsey?" Anthony asked her as he stood in the doorway, one hand propping the classroom door open.
"Oh yeah, I'm good," she assured him with as innocent a smile as she could muster. He bought the act, nodded and left her alone in the room. She grinned at his departure, finished packing up and waited impatiently until a smiling brown-haired boy peered appeared at the window to the room.
Nathan seized the handle and turned it; as he opened the door the handle came away in his hand.
"Whoa," he exclaimed, holding the offending article towards the camera while the blonde stifled a laugh behind her hand. "Uh, can someone fix this?" he called to the staff behind the scenes. "We don't want to get stuck in here all day."
"Hey, speak for yourself," the actress laughed as she grinned at him.
The door to the dressing room burst open and Liz strolled confidently in. She stopped at the sight of the two as they turned to face her.
"Oh hey Liz," Ariana greeted her.
"Hey. What are you two up to?"
"Oh just watching some bloopers from the show," Nathan told her. "Care to join us?"
"Sure."
Ever the gentleman Nathan stood to offer the girl his chair; she accepted with mild surprise.
"You were saying there was going to be a Freddie/Jade moment coming soon," Ariana reminded him.
"Yes, I heard that too," Liz confirmed, "but I doubt it will be a romantic one – not now that she and Beck are exclusive."
"Not to mention the fact that she's Cat's best friend," Nathan added. "There's no way she'd make a play for Freddie knowing how Cat still feels about him."
"It's a shame really, I'd like a little more Freddie/Jade action," Liz shot a wink at the boy and he grinned back at her.
"More?" Ariana was surprised. "I'm confused," she admitted.
"Here," Liz seized the mouse and loaded another clip; this time it was set just outside the music room and the door handle was very much intact.
"Benson," The gothic girl snarled at her quarry, cornering him outside the music room.
"Jade?" He was surprised at her tone; it was unusual for her to use it with him. André looked from one to the other before deciding that he should have no part of the conversation. He mumbled an excuse and went inside the classroom, leaving the pair alone.
"So… you and Lindsey…" she prompted, stalking him like a cat and edging ever closer to him. "You kissing her," she prompted in response to his silence.
"Who told you that?" Freddie asked in surprise. Jade just stared at him and he sighed. "First of all, she kissed me. And what's it to you anyway?"
"What's it to me?" Jade's tone was one of amazement at his question. "Cat is in the bathroom sobbing her eyes out."
"She broke up with me," he reminded her.
"Yeah, because of your crazy friend and psychotic mother."
"Yes, because of other people," he countered. "Not because of me. So am I supposed to be single forever?"
"No but you're not supposed to make out with tenth graders like two days later! I liked you," she told him, stepping towards him, trying her best to intimidate. "I thought you were a good guy, that you'd make Cat happy – looks like I was way off."
"I'm not the bad guy here!" he insisted, refusing to be cowed by her. "She broke up with me," he repeated. "If it was up to me I'd still be dating her! If she wanted us to get back together tomorrow I would – and very happily. Look," he sighed, "Lindsey was upset; she'd been dumped by Ryder and he was dating someone else already. She wanted to move on as well and she kissed me. Did I like it? Yes! Did I go looking for it? No!"
"So you two aren't dating?"
"No we're not; we're just friends" he insisted.
"Just friends?" Jade was incredulous. "Do you usually make out with your friends?"
"Is that an offer?" he shot back with a smirk.
Liz closed the last foot or so between herself and Nathan, seized the boy and crashed her lips against his, much to her co-star's amazement. He stood frozen for a moment before starting to kiss her back, wrapping his arms around her and enjoying the chance for a little stage kiss with his attractive cast mate.
"Cut!" called the director. "Liz, you're supposed to say 'Don't push me' not kiss him!"
"What?" the brunette turned to the director with an innocent expression on her face. "Ari said he was a good kisser; I wanted to see for myself." She turned to Nathan and whispered conspiratorially, "She was right!"
"That was a fun blooper to do," Liz grinned as the clip ended.
"You could have warned me," Nathan complained.
"What, and take all the fun out of it?" she laughed.
"I do hope we get another on-screen romance soon," Ariana piped up, talking to Nathan as she did, "I miss those scenes."
"They were good to do," he agreed.
"Better than your first audition," Liz smirked, loading up a clip labelled Ariana auditions. Her dressing room-mate groaned at the memory as the Black Box theatre appeared on the screen.
Cat stood in front of a row of desks, behind which sat what she assumed was the judging panel, a balding teacher on its left, a gap in the centre that Mr Eikner was to fill and a darker-skinned, younger man on the right.
"Caterina," Mr Eikner began, "this is our acting teacher, Erwin Sikowitz," he gestured to the balding teacher on his right (her left) "and our school Guidance Counsellor Lane Alexander," he gestured to the others. Cat smiled weakly at the trio. "Don't be nervous; we want you to do well," the Principal continued as he smiled at the teenage girl. She nodded and tried to smile herself; her nerves, though, were still evident. "Now, what are you going to show us?" he asked, settling back in his chair.
"I'm going to sing and also do a little acting," she told them, noticing Sikowitz sit up a little at the mention of acting.
"Ok, in your own time," Mr Eikner invited her to begin.
"It's an all-night party that we're getting into…" the girl began before stopping and covering her mouth with her hand. "I'm sorry, that was the wrong song."
"You failed your audition!" Dan called from off-camera. "Cancel the show everyone, one of the main characters isn't going to be in it."
"Way to go, Ari, you nearly got us all fired before we even started."
"I'm sorry," she retorted in her best 'Cat' voice, "but it's not like you're perfect either," she shot at her and grabbed the mouse, clicking on a clip labelled Liz Screw-up.
"Do NOT load that clip!" Liz warned as Nathan laughed behind them.
"Why were you late?" Jade asked Cat after the bell had drawn an end to their own lesson; the girls, along with Beck and Robbie, were also making their way to the rec room. The red-haired girl explained about the play and how Sikowitz had wanted to talk to them about the situation and whether it would affect them. She expressed her sadness at the coolness of Freddie's attitude towards her and how much she regretted that it had come to this between them.
"So how are you getting on with your lines?" Beck asked her.
"I've got most of them," she told him, "but I could do with rehearsing the scenes with someone to get them all down, along with my timings."
"How about Robbie?" Jade suggested coyly.
"That's a GREAT idea!" Matt piped up as Liz palmed her forehead. "But you were supposed to suggest Freddie."
"I know!" she snapped back, causing general merriment to the rest of the group.
"How about we laugh at Leon for a bit?" Nathan hoped to relieve the little bit of tension that was threatening to bubble up between the two girls; he pointed to a file labelled André fencing and Liz loaded it up.
Freddie, Beck and André were stood in the fencing studio, dressed in their gear (hired in the case of the two Angelinos; it was their first time trying to fence after all). Freddie held his epee and began talking them through the correct stance, where to grip the sword and the basic rules.
"Think you've got it?" he asked the songsmith.
"I think so, let's have a go," he replied and pulled on his face guard; Freddie did likewise.
Leon attempted to bring his blade up to complete his stance but it slipped out of his hand and clattered to the ground.
"Sorry, my bad," he announced as Avan chuckled at the side.
"Keep going," the director called so the dreadlocked teen bent down and picked up the weapon, only for his mask to slip a little as he did. He righted himself to find the mask at an angle so he slid it back into place.
"Ok, I'm ready now," he called, trying to control his laughter. Nathan lazily brought his own sword round in an arc and, owing to Leon's sloppy grip, the latter's sword again found itself on the floor. This time Avan had to hop backwards to avoid it landing on his foot.
"Dude! Careful!" he called as Nathan burst out laughing. The other two joined in a moment later.
"Take five," Dan called in resigned defeat.
"Poor Leon," Nathan remarked with a chuckle, "It took him ages to figure out his grip and stance and everything. In the end Dan gave up on the scene and just cut it altogether."
The two girls giggled along with him. Liz recovered her poise and scanned the list as she decided which clip to watch next.
"This one looks good," she commented idly as she clicked on it, bringing up the Asphalt Café.
"Where is Robbie?" Cat asked her friends as she popped another piece of candy into her mouth.
"There he is," Eli noted, pointing across the café to the far side. The others followed his finger and watched as the puppet-master ran across his line of sight; a group of older kids were in hot pursuit.
"Uh, why are they all chasing him?" Freddie asked with a laugh.
"He wrote a bad review of a play for the school paper," Jade informed him.
"Artists are a temperamental bunch," Beck commented philosophically.
"You'd think they'd have learned something from the Bird Scene," Freddie said thoughtfully.
"Is that Trina Vega at the front?" Lindsey spoke up as she took a good look at the chasing group as they raced across the café again. "Oh my God, she does bite; no wonder the play sucked if they cast her in it!"
"Should we help him?" wondered André.
"No," Jade's answer was simple but her tone forceful as she returned to her burrito.
Eventually Robbie managed to extricate himself from the incensed older students and struggled over to his friends; he was aggrieved to see the amusement on their faces, which tempered any sympathy they may have felt for him.
"It's not funny!" he protested. "I wrote a review last week that someone hated; they kidnapped me!"
The other cast members stared at Matt in bewilderment. "No they didn't, they kidnapped Rex. Sorry," he grinned and shook his head, walking off as the director called, "From the top!"
Take 2: Eventually Robbie managed to extricate himself from the incensed older students and struggled over to his friends; he was aggrieved to see the amusement on their faces, which tempered any sympathy they may have felt for him.
"It's not funny!" he protested. Any further lines were rendered obsolete as Ariana burst out laughing and the other teenagers at the table joined her a moment later, followed by Matt himself.
Take 3: "It's not…" Matt began before dissolving into laughter. "Stop that," he gasped through it, directing his comment at his co-workers who had sat grinning at him as he came over.
Take 4: Eventually Robbie managed to extricate himself from the incensed older students and struggled over to his friends; he was aggrieved to see the amusement on their faces, which tempered any sympathy they may have felt for him.
"It's not funny!" he protested. "I wrote a review last week that someone hated; they kidnapped Rex and wouldn't give him back until I wrote a good one." Hearing their laughter intensify he complained, "They started pinning body parts from him to my locker; a hand, a… no – DAMN IT!" The table instantly lapsed back into laughter. "I finally get through the start of it and screw it up later on," he lamented.
"So, what's in store for the new season?" Ariana asked as the clip ended.
"Well, we find out more about how Freddie feels about Lindsey seducing him," Nathan began, "and a little about his feelings on their relationship in general going forward. I also heard there's going to be a new character brought in at some point."
"Oh yeah, Victoria Justice is going to play her," Liz chimed in.
"She's hot," Nathan sighed without thinking.
"Hotter than me?" Ariana asked with a little smile, causing her co-star to look distinctly uncomfortable.
"Yeah Nathan, who's hotter; me, Ari or Victoria?" Liz challenged wickedly.
The boy looked from one to the other for a couple of seconds before he turned and ran from the room. Liz smirked after him.
"You want to watch some more bloopers?" she asked.
"'kay 'kay," Ariana agreed.
"Let's try… a couple of Nathan's," the taller girl smiled as she called them up. Again the setting was the Asphalt Café.
"Hey, we were all checking out the rec room just now; come and see what they've just added," Jade called to Cat and Freddie who were sat at a table.
The two teens followed their brunette friend as she led the way to the rec room.
"I wonder how they grow lobster potatoes" the red-head piped up suddenly, causing her two friends to look at her.
"They don't grow them Cat," Jade growled impatiently.
Freddie saw his new crush's face fall so he quickly suggested "Maybe they could genic… gener… hum huh flah!" Nathan babbled as he stumbled over his line. He laughed along with the two girls as they carried on walking.
Freddie and Cat made their way inside the school from the Asphalt Café. No sooner had they done so than Cat's eyes were drawn to a poster. She stopped abruptly and this caused Freddie to backtrack a couple of steps to see what had caught his friend's attention.
The two teens read through the poster for the forthcoming play.
"What do you think?" Cat asked Freddie as they read the poster together. "Wanna audition for it?"
"I would but… we're freshmen Cat; they're not going to cast me above one of the senior guys here for a major role."
"Ninth graders!" called Dan from somewhere behind the camera. Nathan palmed his forehead and uttered an apology.
Take 2: "What do you think?" Cat asked Freddie as they read the poster together. "Wanna audition for it?"
"I would but… we're freshmen Cat; they're …"
"Ninth graders!" Dan interrupted loudly.
"Gah! Again!" Nathan stood up and walked a short circle to clear his head.
Take 3: "What do you think?" Cat asked Freddie as they read the poster together. "Wanna audition for it?"
"I would but… we're freshmen… NINTH GRADERS!" he corrected himself loudly with a shake of his head.
Freddie was leaving the fencing studio, walking straight into the group's ambush as he did. Two of them seized his arms and slammed him roughly against the wall of the studio; he dropped his bags as they did.
"Ow, dude!" Nathan complained.
"Sorry man, are you ok?" the extra asked, he and the boy on Nathan's other side both released their captive and the two watched in slight concern as he rubbed his left shoulder.
"It's ok, I'm good," he reassured him.
A knock on the dressing room door brought the girls from their activity.
"Anyone in there?" Dan's voice called.
Liz walked to the door and opened it enough to look at the show's creator. "What's up?" she asked as Ariana appeared at her elbow.
"Have either of you girls seen the show's blooper reel? I can't find it in my office."
"Uh no," Ari denied.
"I think I saw Nathan with it," Liz noted slyly.
"That tears it, I'm gonna make him suffer next season!" Dan snarled as he turned and left the room. The two girls looked uncomfortably at one another before Liz shrugged.
"Let's watch a few more clips."
The girls took their chairs again and returned their attention to the laptop and blooper clips.
AN: That really is the end of iSwitch Schools. I hope you enjoyed a bit of light-hearted entertainment and a glimpse into some of the thought process and rewrites that went into the story. Stay tuned for A Place To Call Home, coming soon to the Victorious archive.
