❝𝙻𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚜, 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚜,
𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚒𝚗' 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚢 𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚜.
 𝙻𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚜, 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚎𝚜,
𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚗𝚘 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚎.
𝙻𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚜, 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚜,
𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍.❞
 𝙳𝚎𝚏 𝙻𝚎𝚙𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚍 — 𝙻𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝙱𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚜

Peyton Ellis stood in Sikowitz's class, texting his girlfriend, Jade. He had gotten her coffee because it's what she demanded from him. Beck and Jade had lagged behind a little so it left him to go to Sikowitz's class alone.

He had started dating both Jade and Beck during freshman year. Jade and Beck had been dating in the eighth grade (apparently Hollywood Arts accepted eighth graders.)

Peyton and his fraternal twin brother, Damian, had been new last year when they moved a few months into the school year from Mammoth Lakes that wasin the mountains, to live with their dad and their step-mom when they were twelve. Their dad had decided to transfer the two boys to Hollywood Arts a few months into their freshman year.

André had been Peyton's first friend and he had been the one who had introduced Peyton to Beck.

For whatever reason, Jade and Beck had seemed to be flirting with him. Peyton thought it was a joke, so he laughed it off for two months because they had to be joking right? Jade was possessive and jealous when it came to Beck 'flirting' with other girls or had other girls flirt with Beck. So, Jade had to bluntly tell him that they wanted to be their third in their relationship.

So, Peyton agreed.

Now here was holding a stupid cup of coffee and texting Jade.

Then the new girl turned around and walked straight into him, knocking the coffee all over him and staining his white ringer shirt.

"Oh, my gosh," the new girl gasped.

"It's just a shirt," Peyton told her. He recognized her from her performance at The Big Showcase.

The new girl started to rub at the coffee on his chest and stomach.

"That's highly unnecessary," Peyton told her, a little uncomfortable.

"No, here – I think it's coming out," the girl told him.

"I'm sure you're making it worse," Peyton told her, trying to remove her hand from him.

The girl looked at him, "You have pretty eyes."

Peyton had no clue how to respond to that. The door to the classroom opened.

"Dude!" yelled Jade. "Why are you rubbing our boyfriend?"

Tori started "I just – I spilled coffee on—"

"Get away from him," Jade ordered, motioning with her hand for the new girl to move.

"Its fine," Peyton told her as he walked over to her. He kissed her on the cheek for reassurance.

He knew how possessive and jealous Jade got. Before they were started dating, some girl made the mistake of flirting with Peyton in Jade's presence. That girl never looked at Peyton again.

Beck, on the other hand, was a little more understanding and trusting of Jade (although most guys had found Jade terrifying).

Beck also said that he loved it when Jade got possessive and jealous, because it made him feel wanted.

Peyton trusted Beck and Jade with others.

They went to sit down, but before they could, Sikowitz ran in through the other door, yelling, "Oh my god, there's a huge fire!"

Peyton grabbed Jade's and Beck's arms to pull them to the door as everyone rushed to it.

"Kidding, kidding," Sikowitz shouted. "I just wanted to get your blood pumping, which I did. Ha!" He slammed the door, "All right." He moved to the small stage and whiteboard, "Now let's get started. Rumps in chairs."

They went to sit down. It was just their luck; the new girl was in front of them.

"He's our teacher?" the girl asked André.

André nodded.

"Okay, first, I'd like to introduce our new student, Tori," Sikowitz said.

A few people gave a bored sounding round of applause.

"And I'd like to thank Tori for her generous of two dollars which she handed me outside this morning. Not necessary but much appreciated," Sikowitz said, showing off the money he had received.

Andre asked the new girl, "Why'd you give him two dollars?"

"I thought he was homeless," Tori defended herself.

"Now today, we're going to continue our study in group improv," Sikowitz said. "Tori, I assume you're family with improv?"

Tori shook her head.

Peyton disliked improv, because one of the rules of improve was to always agree and say 'yes'. It was like refusing to take no for an answer. It was very reminiscent of his mother, who refused to take 'no' for an answer and pleading for her to stop hitting him only made her smirk and hit even harder just to hear them scream in pain. 

Peyton never really told them about the thirteen years he and Damian endured with their mother, because it was painful to remember all the punishments. The worst was standing outside naked for hours in the snow.

Their mom had hoped for a girl because she wanted to name her daughter Peyton. However, she got two boys and just tacked the name Peyton onto one of them anyway and took her frustration out on both of them.

Beck reached over and grabbed his hand because Peyton was fidgeting a little too much. He kissed the back of Peyton's hand. Beck had one arm around the back of Jade's chair.

Sikowitz had finished explaining was impro was to Tori, before saying, "Jade, you will captain the first group of the day, choose your actors."

Jade got up and with a sigh, she said, "Cat, Peyton, Beck, and Tori."

Peyton and Beck got up to go to the stage with Cat.

Sikowitz said, "Okay, let's give them a place."

"Home," Robbie said.

"Home," Sikowitz repeated, writing it on the white board.

"Real creative," Rex stated.

"You be quiet," Robbie responded. He made the puppet 'slap' him in the face, "Ow."

Peyton didn't understand why Robbie made his puppet abuse him like that. Peyton guessed Robbie had a hatred against himself and Peyton considered telling Robbie to go see a therapist, because that wasn't normal.

"And now we need a situation," Sikowitz stated.

"Big news," André called out.

"André, nobody wants to see big nudes," Sikowitz told him, sounding a bit concerned.

"News," André clarified.

"Ah, well, that's different," Sikowitz said. "Big news!" He wrote it on the board and underlined it twice.

In a fake sweet voice, Jade said to Tori, "Why don't you go wait in the hall?"

"Um, okay?" replied Tori, leaving the room to go into the hall. Cat and Peyton went to the side of the stage and crouched down playing with imaginary toys.

"Okay, at home, big news," Sikowitz started, running to the back of the classroom. "And action!" He took a coconut from somewhere on his person, to drink.

"Hey, babe," Jade said to Beck. "How was work today?"

Beck said, "Uh, I got fired?"

Peyton asked, "Again?" He and Cat had gotten off the ground. To Cat, he said, "Our dad's a loser."

"The biggest," Cat agreed.

"Its okay," Jade said. "I have great news that will cheer up this whole family."

Peyton asked, "What is it?"

"Tell us," Cat added.

"I went to the animal shelter and got us a dog," Jade said, going to let Tori in from the hall.

"Uh, yep, I'm the new family dog. Woof," Tori said, confused.

Jade said, "Sikowitz, will you please tell this amateur that dogs can't talk. And they don't walk on two legs."

Peyton looked at to see that Sikowitz was drinking the milk out of a coconut while leaning against the wall. He claimed that coconut milk gave him 'visions'.

"Sikowitz!" yelled Jade.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I was sucking the milk out of this coconut. But Jade is right. If you're gonna play a dog, be a dog," Sikowitz said.

Tori seemed to roll her eyes and got down on her hands and knees before saying, "Woof!"

"And action!" yelled Sikowitz.

"Uh, I went to the animal shelter and got us a dog," Jade repeated, starting off from where she left off.

Peyton and Cat pretended to pet Tori's shoulder.

Jade took a lock of Tori's hair and said, "Uh-oh, looks like the dog has bugs in her fur."

Tori was confused, "Uh, woof?"

Cat and Peyton got off the floor and away from Tori, making sounds of disgust.

Jade was smirking, "Oh, it's fine. I read online that coffee is great for getting rid of fur bugs." She walked offstage and grabbed an iced coffee from a student. She walked towards the stage.

Beck started, "Maybe you shouldn't, um—"

"Jade," André warned.

Peyton started asking, "What are you doing with—?" Jade slowly poured the coffee over Tori's head, causing her mouth to open in shock. Jade dumped the rest on Tori's head. "Oh, that."

Tori got up to face Jade.

Jade was smirking, "What's the prob...dog?"

Tori ran out of the classroom.

Peyton Ellis
The bus driver asked me and Damian if anyone else lived in our apartment building,
because he never saw anyone leave or enter besides us.
Mood = Thoughtful 🤔

"I heard your girlfriend made the new girl cry and quit on her first day," Damian told Peyton.

They were sitting in the kitchen, eating homemade chicken noodle soup.

"Yeah, she did," Peyton replied.

Their dad, Ethan, and their step-mother, Marianne, were working late again.

Ethan had been a former rock star, but retired to get a bachelor's degree to become some corporate executive.

The two appeared in a few music videos when they were younger, portraying fans of the band, or if there was a school setting, or running through a meadow playing. Those were the few rare times that their mother allowed them to visit their dad.

Marianne had done some acting to put her through law school to become a lawyer. She worked her up and became a lawyer to help celebrities get out of situations.

So, they had a lot of money to show for it, but they lived in a nice high-rise apartment building – which apparently was empty, since it seemed like they were the only ones living in it.

Damian asked, "Why did Jade do that?"

"The new girl spilt coffee on me and was trying to wipe it off," Peyton replied.

Damian asked, "Are you eating that?" He took the bread roll from Peyton and took a bite before Peyton could answer that question.

Peyton Ellis
Saw some furniture outside an apartment down our hall, so we're getting new neighbors. Mood = Excited 😀

When the door to the classroom opened, Peyton turned to see that Tori walked in.

Jade sat up straighter in her seat because her plan didn't work.

"Tori," Sikowitz said, sounding surprised. "You're back. Have you ever thought about coming in through the window?"

One of Peyton's favorite book series was Skulduggery Pleasant. The series had the exact idea of going through windows, 'because doors are for people with no imagination'.

"No," Tori replied confused.

"Well, think about it," Sikowitz told her. "Now, sit, sit." He pointed at a chair. Once Tori was seated, Sikowitz explained, "Okay, today, we're going to do some alphabetical improv. 'What is alphabetical improv?' you ask. So, I answered. It's when we give a letter to the first actor who speaks in the scene. If we used the letter 'a' as an example, then the actor must make his first word start with the letter 'a', which might go something like..." He walked over to Beck and pointed,

"Apples are falling out of my butt," Beck said and gave a cheeky smile.

Peyton wanted to kiss him.

"Lovely," Sikowitz replied sarcastically. "Now the next actor who speaks must start his line with the next letter in the alphabet. In this case, 'b.' So, he might say..." He stood behind André, putting his hands on the teen's shoulders and rested his face on André's head.

"Bring those apples so we may all enjoy the fresh fruit from Beck's butt," André stated.

Peyton was impressed with the alliteration.

"Charming," Sikowitz deadpanned, looking slightly disappointed.

Peyton found that if Sikowitz finds it weird, it's weird. And if you creep Sikowitz out, you're a goddamn freak. Damian managed to freak Sikowitz out, which made Damian smile in victory, freaking Sikowitz out even more.

Sikowitz went to the stage and asked, "Now, who wants to lead the first group?"

"I do," Tori stated immediately, putting her hand in the air.

"All right, Tori, choose your actors," Sikowitz stated.

"Okay," Tori said, getting to the stage, "André, Cat, Peyton, Beck, and Jade."

Peyton felt uneasy because why did she pick him?

Jade arched an eyebrow at that.

"Yeah, you," Tori told her.

Jade got up, grabbed Beck, and kissed him very hard.

Then she also kissed Peyton, hard, most likely to prove a point.

"Jade, kiss your boyfriends on your own time," Sikowitz stated.

"Oh, I will," Jade said flirtatiously to the two teens.

Sikowitz said, "Okay, if you start the line on the wrong letter—" He made a buzzer sound, stomping his bare foot on a chair, "You're out. Robbie, give us a letter."

"P," Rex called out.

Robbie had a small spat with his puppet and Peyton wondered why everyone acted like it was normal, which it clearly wasn't.

"'P,'" Sikowitz said. "Okay, the scene can be anything you want, the first letter of the first line is P. Tori, action."

"Please go take a shower," Tori  told Jade.

"Quit telling me what to do," Jade replied.

"Relax, girls. Let's all try to get along," Beck chimed in.

"Totally!" agreed Cat.

Sikowitz made the buzzer sound, "Cat, your line had to start with an 'S."

Cat groaned, "My life's the worst."

"Here's a piece of candy," Sikowitz said, bored. He was used to Cat's mood swings.

"Yay, I love candy," Cat said, going to get a piece of candy.

"Okay, André, letter 's' to you," Sikowitz told him.

"Uh, something just bit my toe," André said.

"That was a turtle that bit you," Peyton jumped in, just to have something to say besides standing there.

"Unbelievable that you're even here," Jade told Tori.

"Very immature of you to say that," Beck said to Jade.

Peyton wondered why was Beck defending Tori?

"Come on, André, letter 'w'," Sikowitz encouraged.

André asked, "What if the turtle bite broke my toe bone?"

"X-rays are the only way to find out," Tori cut in before Peyton could say something.

"You should shut up because that was Peyton's turn," Jade growled at Tori.

"Zap! I just healed your toe with my magic finger," Beck said, trying to bring the improv back onto the scene they were doing.

"Thanks," André said.

Sikowitz buzzed André out, "André, your line had to start with an 'a'. Sit down!"

"Aww, I just got my toe bone fixed," André complained, going to sit down.

"Peyton, letter 'a' to you," Sikowitz said, "Since no one will let you speak."

Peyton looked at Beck and asked, "Are you an alien, because those are the only people that can heal toes by finger zapping?"

"By the way," Jade blew a raspberry at Tori.

"Correct, I am an alien," Beck said to Peyton.

Tori gasped.

"Ooh, a twist," Sikowitz said, sounding excited at that.

"Don't hurt me, please," Tori replied, getting a little close to Beck.

Jade and Peyton looked at each other.

Peyton awkwardly scratched his right arm, which had a phoenix tattoo on it.

"Even though she's incredibly annoying," Jade told Beck.

"Fainting, 'cause I can't breathe your Earth's air," Beck stated. He fell to the ground, but Tori held his arm to soften the landing.

Peyton asked, "Why did you even come here if you can't breathe the air?"

Sikowitz made a buzzer sound, "Peyton—"

"I know," Peyton interrupted and went to sit down and crossed his arms. He did that on purpose because it was clear that he wasn't wanted anyway since everyone refused to let him speak.

"Tori, the next letter is 'g'," Sikowitz said.

"Gosh, it fainted," Tori stated.

"Excellent, Tori and Jade, keep going. The next letter is 'h'," Sikowitz clarified.

With false sweetness, Jade said, "Hey, why don't you go jump off the cliff over there?"

"I think you should," Tori responded with a fake smile.

Jade asked, "Just where did you come from?"

"Kangaroos," Tori stated.

"Lousy animals, kangaroos, they're awkward and dirty," Jade replied.

"Maybe they learned it from you," Tori countered.

"Ooh," some students said.

Why was Sikowitz letting this go on? They're just fighting and not doing the scene they played out? Although, some part of Peyton was curious to see who was going to win this improv battle. He hoped it was Jade.

Jade walked to the other side of the stage, "No one talks to me like that."

"Obviously someone should," replied Tori.

"Please run in front of a bus," Jade told her.

"Quite obnoxious of you to say," replied Tori.

Jade asked, "Really?"

"Sure was," responded Tori.

"Thanks," Jade replied dryly.

"Up your nose I see boogers," Tori said.

"Very clever," Jade stated.

"Wish you'd thought of it?" asked Tori.

"X marks the spot I'd like to punch," said Jade, pointing at Tori's face.

"Your finger smells weird," Tori said.

"Zero is what you are on a scale of one to ten," Jade told her.

Peyton can see that Jade was beginning to get flustered and irritated with Tori.

"As if I care what you think," Tori told her.

"Better watch yourself," Jade warned.

Tori asked, "Can't take it?"

"Don't push me," Jade warned again, clearly on the brink of losing it and yelling at her.

Peyton wanted to see Jade win this stupid game.

Tori yelled, "Eat your pants!"

"You eat your pants!" Jade yelled and held out her hand, "Wait!"

Sikowitz made a buzzer sound, "Sorry, Jade, the next letter was—"

"'F' I know," Jade yelled and gave Tori a dirty look before stomping off to sit next to Peyton.

Tori was looking far too smug in her ugly-ass sandals and Beck looked up to see if Jade was okay.

Jade grabbed Peyton's arm to put it around her shoulders and leaned into his side.

Sikowitz said, "Keep the scene going. Letter 'g'."

"Get up, alien," Tori said to Beck. She helped him up.

"Head...feels dizzy," Beck told her.

"I know what'll make you feel better," Tori told him.

Beck asked, "Jumping jacks?"

"Kiss me," Tori told him.

How does one think getting back at someone by kissing their boyfriend is revenge? It makes no sense. How does that prove a point?

Even if Beck didn't want to, he still had to say yes, because again, one of the main rules of improv was to agree to everything.

"Little weird, let's do it," Beck said.

Peyton rolled his eyes when the two kissed and the other students cheered for it, because of reasons that Peyton couldn't quite figure out.