(A/N Each section of this chapter is dedicated to a different character. Please don't just ready your favourite character's part... cause they mostly all intertwine with each other. But I understand if you don't.)
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Also, I tried re-reading over it for errors... but I'm wayyyy too lazy for that. So sorry if you find any errors but hopefully you can read though them.
Hollywood Arts High School. This was the place where dancers, actors, musicians, singers, and all round performers were made; any teen luckily enough to get into this school was very talented and practically had their lives set for greatness. This didn't always necessarily mean that these teens were perfect though, everyone had a backstory, like the rest of the world does I guess. I think the point I'm trying to make here is that even though these kids might be talented, at the end of the day they were just kids.
There was this one group at the school, the popular gang. They may have only been Juniors, but even the Seniors knew who they were and admired them. It was a little strange really, the gang of misfits becoming popular, but in Hollywood Arts, no one really follows the societal norm, a ventriloquist could be one of the most popular boys in school if he wanted- oh yeah, he was.
Robbie
Robert Matthew Shapiro had a very normal backstory. Oh wait- no he didn't. He had a backstory filled with murder and grief. Not his own murder, obviously, and not murder at his own hand. The murder, or 'man slaughter' as the judge put it of one of his family members.
Robbie always had Rex by his side. Rex was pretty much his best friend, Rex was his brother. No, not the puppet he carried around, that was Rex Powers. Rex Shapiro was a living, breathing boy. Big emphasis there on was.
Rex Shapiro, or Reginald to his Mamaw, was Robbie's big brother. Growing up, the two were inseparable, not seeming to care about the 4 and a half year age gap between them. The two were attached at this hip, figuratively of course. That was until the murder, wait no 'manslaughter', sorry. To Robbie and his family, that man was a murderer. A murderer who drunk that night, who swerved that car into Rex's car. It was him that ended that 16 year old's life. That 16 year old who had only just gotten a licence, and was urging said license to go and surprise his North-Ridge girlfriend.
That night changed 12 year old Robbie's life. Forever.
Weeks after that night, his family was still grieving, and Robbie still waited at the door for his big brother to come home. And one day... he did. Well, no he didn't. A Rex came home, a puppet Rex which Robbie's father had seen on his way home from work. The puppet had the same scruffy black hair as Robbie's brother, and even the same ruggish styled clothing. To this day, Robbie doesn't know what store his dad was in to end up seeing this puppet, but in all honestly he doesn't care. All he knows is that his brother came home.
For years, Robbie practised copying his brother's voice and personality, even getting down his signature 'ha' rather a full blown laugh. The reincarnation of Rex was a blessing to the family, especially Robbie's grieving mother. At dinner time, his mother would forget of her son's passing and accident set 4 places at the table, rather than 3. On nights like this, Robbie would put his puppet in the place, to show his mother that Rex was still with them.
To everyone else though, the puppet was just strange, and it made Robbie strange. No one ever cared to ask why Robbie carried him around. So Robbie never told them.
Beck
"MY HOUSE! MY RULES!" Beckett Oliver's drunker father screamed at his teenage son, shoving him over backwards.
"Well maybe I don't want to live under your roof anymore!" Beck screamed back, jumping up and running away from his father, and out the door of his home.
And with that, begun the story of why Beck lived in an RV in his parent's driveway. To get away from this alcoholic man, who everyone else called his dad. Beck called him the sperm donor that conceived him. All he wanted in life was to become an actor, so he had enough money to take his Mom away from that man, and support her until her dying days. Until then, however, Beck just had to wait. His Mom refused to leave her husband, and Beck refused to move back into the house again. So he just spent his life waiting in his RV, listening for the yells, and then running into the house to protect his Mom from the violence. Almost every night would end the same. Beck's mother crying over her little boy, begging for him to stop protecting her, that she had it all sorted. And every night he'd tell her to leave her husband. And every night, she's tell him that she couldn't do that, that her vows were clear 'Through sickness and health, for ever and ever' and that she would never break him.
The only person who knew any of this, was his girlfriend Jade West. Jade was the love of his life. The lover who shared his messed up upbringing. An upbringing detoured by a drunken mess.
Jade
That's right, Jade's life wasn't perfect either. This story brings a lot of surprises like this unfortunately. However, Jade did manage to get rid of her drunken father, well she didn't. Her father did it to himself. One night he'd drunk way too much, got into his car, and crashed it into another. Apparently it was a 16 year old boy who he killed, resulting in a 10 year jail sentence for her father.
Growing up without a dad is tough, even harder when you find out he ended a life on the way out. Jade never found out who it was that her father killed, and she didn't want to know, it would only add to the guilt she felt. You see, Jade was convinced that she was the reason why her father drunk. She had to have been, her disrespectful and rude attitude must had pushed him towards it. Her mother tried to convince her otherwise, but the message never got through, Jade blames herself for what he did, and the life he ended because of it. She was a murderer, and no amount of therapy would solve that.
"Jade, darling." Her mother would tell her daughter. "Please don't keep shutting me out." Jade would always ignore her mother, shutting the door in her face, literally (and figuratively). "I love you baby girl." Her Mom would say though the closed door.
"I love you too." Jade would reply, this is how it had to be. Jade didn't want her mother to get too close to her and end up the same was as her father did. This is why Jade didn't want anyone near her in fact, hence the door. She didn't want them to be driven away by her too. Slouching back against her wall, Jade's mind suddenly flooded with a memory from her childhood, the same memory which corrupted her mind on a daily basis:
12 year old Jade was sat crying in her room, after running away from her drunken father. She could still hear the screams of her parents downstairs as her body wracked with each sob, praying for it to end soon. She grabbed her phone to play music to drown it out- it was around this time where Jade discovered the sadder and more 'emo'/'goth' songs that shaped her style and personality. Clicking one of the newer songs she discovered, Jade began to play it and sing along to the lyrics:
"Four years old
With my back to the door
All I could hear
Was the family war
Your selfish hands
Always expecting more
Am I your child?
Or jut a charity award?
You have a hollowed out heart but it's heavy in your chest
I tried so hard to fight it but it's hopeless
Hopeless
You're hopeless
Oh father, please father
I'd love to leave you alone but I can't let you go
Oh father, please father
Put the bottle down for the love of a daughter"
As the chorus came to an end, the fighting seemed to have stopped. Jade turned off the music and she heard the front door slam and her father scream at his wife as he drove away down the road. That was the last time Jade heard her her father's voice, and she wasn't sure if she was happy about it or not.
(A/N Song is Demi Lovato -For The Love Of A Daughter.)
The flashback finished replaying in Jade's mind, but the song was still playing in her head. Putting her headphones on, Jade clicked the song and scrolled along to the 2nd Verse, continuing from where the memory cut off. As the lyrics began, Jade started to sing alone, emotion dripping from each word, pouring from her mouth. Her matured vocals emphasised the passage of time from her younger years, perfectly fitting the first line:
"It's been five years
Since we've spoken last
And you can't take back
What we never had
Oh, I can be manipulated only so many times
Before even "I Love You"
Starts to sound like a lie
You have a hollowed out heart but it's heavy in your chest
I tried so hard to fight it but it's hopeless
Hopeless
You're hopeless
Oh father, please father
I'd love to leave you alone but I can't let you go
Oh father, please father
Put the bottle down for the love of a daughter
Don't you remember I'm your baby girl?
How could you push me our of your world?
Lied to your flesh and your blood
Put your hands on the ones that you swore you loved
Don't you remember I'm your baby girl?
How could you throw me right out of your world?
So young when the pain had begun
Now forever afraid of being loved
Oh father
Please father
I'd love to leave you alone but I can't let you go
Oh father
Please father
Oh father
Please father
Put the bottle down for the love of a daughter
For the love of a daughter"
Cat
'Finally,' I bet you're thinking 'a happy story'. Hahahahaha NOPE! The story of Caterina Valentine might just be the worst of the group. An orphaned girl raising her mentally impaired little brother, working 2 jobs while still at Highschool.
'Wait, since when was Cat an orphan?' Since she turned 14, during the summer before her attendance at Hollywood Arts. 'But... all those stories of her parents, and the trips-' All lies. Every single story about them. Everything about Cat Valentine was a lie. She was constantly fighting an internal struggle to keep a smile on her face. Oh how she wished they could see through the lies, through the facade of rainbows and cupcakes. To see the real Cat.
To be honest, considering the circumstances, Cat and her brother were quite lucky. You see, after her parents had died Cat had gone straight out to look for work, knowing that the money she'd gotten for selling the house would only last for short amount of time. After about a week of sleeping in a motel, Cat had stumbled across this small Cafe with a 'Hiring' sign in the window. 14 year old Cat had walked right in and asked for the job. Originally, the two owners (an old couple by the names of Jane and Mark Cuire) were wary of employing the small teen, but once they heard Cat's story they hired her straight away. Actually, they did more than that.
Unfortunately, Mr and Mrs Cuire were not very rich and didn't have a big house, so they couldn't offer Cat and her brother a place in their home, however they did own the small apartment above the Cafe. Cat would work in the Cafe after school every weekday for a few hours to earn enough money for the owners to pay the bills for the apartment, sometimes her brother would help, but that was quite rare. Also, on Saturdays Cat would work in a local salon to get enough money for food, because they couldn't last on the left over cafe pastries.
"Kitty." Her 9 year old brother Sammy spoke up from his place on the carpet in the corner of the apartment where he was reading a very large book from the local library. Sammy was a very smart boy, set for Harvard one day his sister believed, but maybe too smart sometimes. Sammy was very capable of keeping himself entertained, but would very often forget about the world around him and end up getting into trouble because of it. This was all because of his Autism. Cat hated that label with a passion, sure Sammy may be a little different, but he would work it out it all in time, in his own way. They'd just take the scenic route to get there.
"Yeah?" Cat yawned as she cleaned up the kitchen after the meal she'd just prepared for her brother.
"You going to eat today?" He looked up at her, with the same big brown puppy eyes that Cat herself used on others.
"I had some stuff in the Cafe." Cat replied.
"Promise?" Sammy asked.
"I promise baby boy." Cat smiles, lifting her brother up from the floor and onto his chair.
"I know you're lying." Sammy whispered in his sister's ear before she placed him down.
"I-." Cat started, before shaking her head and walking away. Okay, he might have been right, but she just didn't have time to eat today, and it's not like they could afford the two meals. She had school till 3:30, then pick up Sammy from school and take him home, before starting her work at the Cafe until 6:30pm, where she went up to the apartment to cook Sammy his food and make sure everything went well in his day. Sammy didn't always like being on his own for those few hours after school but he understood why his sister couldn't be home, and that he needed to always be on his best behaviour when she wasn't there. He didn't mind the Saturdays morning when Cat worked in a local hair salon, because she was allowed to take him with her and let him sit in the staff room with a big book to read. The salon owner was nice like that, she also dyed Cat's hair for free every month or so. It was her way of giving Cat a moment of relaxation and a luxury she otherwise wouldn't be able to afford, it was a little random, but to Cat it meant the world.
"Love you Sammy." Cat kissed her brother on the forehead, stroking his dark brown hair.
"Love you too Catty." He said back, in between pasta slurps.
Andre
"Andre!" His grandma screamed at him. "It's raining in the bathroom!"
"You just turned on the shower!" Her grandson yelled back.
'...That was... weird.' You're probably thinking, well to everyone else it would be, but to Andre Harris this was a normal day in his world. A normal day off looking after his mentally ill grandma who seemed to have an irrational fear over everything. Rabbis, bikinis, breakfast foods, vacuum cleaners, the seven year old next door, car horns, clocks changing, mirrors, and web chats were just a few to name the least. 'Web chats?' Trust me, once she punched André's laptop twice, causing the camera to shatter, because she'd thought Beck was stuck in the laptop when the two boys were discussing the improv homework together.
The question should now be 'Why isn't she in a care home, and why is Andre living with her?' The simple answer there is guilt. Similarly to Jade, Andre is wracked by an irrational guilt over something he had no control over, you see Andre believed that he is the cause of his Grandma's fears, and that it is him who should be looking after her and facing the consequences.
'What did he do?' Could you stop mentally asking questions please, I'll get there eventually- oh you know what I've lost track now, well done. I'll just say it now then *sighs*.
Imagine an 8 year old Andre Harris in the garden of his grandmas house with his little sister Poppy, running around together and enjoying the innocents of childhoods:
"Andre!" Poppy screamed at her brother. "You stole my teddy!"
"Andre." His grandma yelled at him from her lawn chair. "Give your sister her teddy back!"
"No!" Andre replied stubbornly pulling the bear towards his chest.
"Andre." His grandma warned.
"You're no fun!" Andre yelled, throwing the bear upwards in a fit of anger, accidentally getting it caught in a branch in the tree above them.
"BEAR-BEAR NO!" Poppy cried, tears openly running down her face now.
"I-" Andre stuttered. "I'm sorry, I'll go and get it Poppy."
"You will keep two feet firmly on the ground." His grandma warned. "I'm going to go and get the ladder, then you will go straight to bed."
"But I-"
"On the ground." She repeated, standing from her chair and going into the house to get the step ladder.
"I'll get it Poppy." Andre tried to comfort his crying sister by rushing over to the large tree base and pushing his body up it.
"But Grandma said-"
"I need to show that I'm sorry." Andre said back, climbing his way up the trunk and slowly walking across one of the big branches.
"Andre Leon Harris!" His grandmother yelled once she returned with the step ladder, seeing her grandson tightrope walking along a branch.
"Ah!" Andre jumped in shock, falling straight off of the branch and onto his left arm.
"ANDRE!" His grandma screamed, rushing over to her grandson, and trying to help him off his sore arm.
"I think I broke it." Andre cried out, tears streaming down his face.
And so begun the irrational fears. It started with her thinking trees were a dangerous hazard. And then it spread to garden. Then the outside world. Then everyone in it. And it was all his fault.
By the time Andre turned 14, he'd begged his parents to let him live with his Grandma - to look after her. As the family couldn't afford a carer for her ever-growing problems, they reluctantly agreed. On the weekends the whole family would help him out, but apart from that it would just be Andre and his Grad, and that's the way it was.
Tori
'Dear Diary,' Tori Vega wrote down in her private purple notebook. 'It's been a year today, and I'd be lying if I said it was easy. Without Mom, everyday's been a struggle, well you know that, I've written it all down here. I miss her so much, but she left by choice, and I guess I'm meant to hate her for that. I do hate her but I'm scared because of her. Scared that I'll end up like her too, abandoning my future children, it's in my DNA right. I wrote another part of a song about her today, I know I shouldn't keep thinking about what she did, but music's my outlet. Who knows, one day I might be able to put all these bits together and make a full song. Here ya go:
'Hate to say hello 'cause I know that it means goodbye
Hate to ask but what's it like to leave me behind?
I won't be, no I won't be like you
Fighting back, I'm fighting back the truth
Eyes like yours can't look away
But you can't stop DNA
No, you can't stop DNA
Are the pieces of you
In the pieces of me?
I'm just so scared
You're who I'll be
When I erupt
Just like you do
They look at me
Like I look at you'
(A/N Originally from DNA by Lia Marie Johnson)
'While I was writing that all down, I heard Trina start yelling at dad.' Tori wrote down 'I think she just worked out what day it is. I better see what's going on.' She scribbled down before running down the stairs to her kitchen to stop whatever fight was brewing between her dad and sister.
"IT'S NOT MY FAULT SHE RAN OFF FOR MY WORK PARTNER TRINA!" Her dad screamed at her sister. "STOP BLAMING ME!"
"I'm not blaming you!" Trina yelled back. "I'm telling you to get help! Tori and I- we lost our mom, we can't loose you too Dad."
"You aren't going to loose me Katrina!" He yelled, using his daughter's full name. "I'm doing fine!"
"Dad." Tori cut in, making my presents known. "We both know you haven't slept in days."
"I don't need the two of you telling me what to do." Her dad snapped back, quickly grabbing his coat and keys. "I'm going to work."
"But its 6pm." Trina reasoned. "You need to stop burying yourself in work."
"I can do what I want." He shot back.
"But we need you Dad." Tori cried as her father stormed out of the house. "Dad!" She called out, collapsing to her knees.
"It'll be okay Tori." Trina comforted her sister, sitting beside her and pulling her into a hug. "It'll be okay. Remember, the best thing Mom ever taught us is what we learned when she left: you can only rely on yourself. And me."
And that's the motto we live by.
So now you know the stories of the popular gang of Hollywood Arts. And I'll tell you something else, none of the gang knows of each others secrets, excluding Beck and Jade who know snippets of how the other lives. To the others, the rest of the gang seem to have a perfect life, unbeknownst to the masks they hide behind. Something is coming to change that all though, and none of them are expecting it.