A/N: I Do Not Own Victorious

Let me tell you what I know firsthand about love: it hurts. Now who am I, a sixteen-year-old girl, to say that that's exactly the true essence of love? Well, no one said love would be easy; they'd only say it would be worth it. But do we really want to go through all of that chizz for something as small as love?

Now I bet you're going to tell me that love isn't a small thing, it's a big thing. And boy do I know it. But what I meant was that love is too big of a risk. You're not just risking emotional pain, but also physical, psychological and spiritual pain. That's what heartbreak does to you. It just takes over your entire being and you feel like you'll never smile again. Why would you want to do that? Who would want to feel that way? I'll tell you: Fools. Only fools fall in love. And why? God only knows. There's that 1% chance that they'll have the love that's eternal. I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but even I wouldn't bet my odds on 1%. That's ridiculous. But who am I to say anything, right? I'm still young. Maybe when I turn my sister's age or even my parents' age I'll finally get this whole concept of 'love'. But for now - Nope.

So if you're looking for a fairytale love story, sorry to say that you should just turn around and find someone else to listen to. I'm sixteen. I'm too young for my happily ever after; if that even exists. But if you want a story about love, then I'll just tell you about my parents.

Jade West and Beck Oliver met in the 9th grade. They were reading Shakespeare in their English literature class and they were chosen to read the parts of Romeo and Juliet of course. I guess you can say the rest was history from there because they stayed together all throughout high school and college. Then they got married and had my sister and me shortly after. But I guess their love story really is like Romeo and Juliet because it's pretty much dead. Poisoned. Incurable. They had a falling out a year ago and six months ago separated. Right after Christmas, mom told us they were getting a divorce. Some New Year we had, huh?

Most days aren't so happy. Since they're separated, Dad lived downtown near my high school and mom kept the house in Mid-City. After my school, Hollywood Arts, was temporarily shut down due to flooding during winter break, I was transferred for one semester at my sister, Tori's high school, Sherwood. That was the first wrong move.

There's nothing bad with Sherwood, it's just not Hollywood Arts. I want to become a costume designer. Tori wants to study Biochemistry and Child Psychology. That's why she goes to a progressive school like Sherwood. And to think, the kid with a lot of talent sticks out like a sore thumb in an advanced studies school. That's my life for the next semester. Fun.

"Cat, sweetheart. Wake up. Time for school," my mom said at my door.

Five minutes later.

"Hey Cat, have you seen my maroon cardigan? Cat. Wake up!" Tori shook me violently.

"Ugh ok, I'm up. I'm up." Unwillingly, I pulled my upper body up and away from my oh so comfortable mattress and sat up at the edge of my bed.

"Do you really have to wake up this early for school?"

"Yes, Cat. We start at 7:30, not 8:00 like you did. This isn't Hollywood Arts. It's Sherwood. And it's an advanced studies school so we like to get started earlier in the day. It's a more efficient use of our time."

"Are you sure we're related, Tor?"

"Of course, silly," she smiled. "Now hurry up. Mom doesn't like to be late so we're leaving in 20 minutes whether you eat breakfast or not."

You ever have a sister that is just the complete opposite of you? And by opposite I mean perfect. If I could describe perfect in one word it'd be Tori. My sister's a senior in high school and she is well on her way to any college of her choice. She's not a total gank, which I'm so happy about, but she's just so goody-two shoes it amazes me that her head hasn't exploded for being so tuned in to society. But I'm not complaining. Tori takes care of me more than our mother because she works way too much.

20 minutes later.

"Caterina Oliver if you do not get your butt in my car in 15 seconds you are walking to school on your first day."

"I'm coming, mom!"

I rushed downstairs and grabbed a banana before shutting the door and rushing to an impatient mom and punctual sister.

"Finally. You don't want to start off your first day on the wrong foot now do you, Kitty-Cat?" my mom asked as she drove off.

"I'm only starting at a new school. I've been in high school for one and a half years. I think I can handle it."

"Yes but that was arts school. This is an advanced high school."

"Yeah and?"

"Don't worry, mom. I can watch over Cat for you if you're afraid of that."

I nonverbally thanked my sister in the rear view mirror.

"Ok fine, I won't do that first day pep-talk then."

That's my mom. Jade Oliver. Oh I'm sorry, in about 8 months it'll go back to Jade West. Ever since she and dad separated, my mom has been breathing down Tori and my backs. She figured if she didn't have our dad to cater to, might as well smother your daughters with excessive love and attention. I guess it's a good thing some times, but mom just needs to chill. I'm sixteen and Tori's eighteen. We're big girls. We can handle ourselves.

When we got to school, Tori showed me to my locker and helped me find my first class. She was a good sister in the sense that she looked out for me this way. That is until Andre comes into the picture.

"Hey babe!"

"Andre! Hi!"

Tori kissed and hugged her boyfriend right in front of me.

"Ugh" I shuddered. I guess they heard and pulled away.

"Sorry, Cat," Tori giggled.

"Whoa, Cat? What you do with your hair?" Andre noticed. I dyed it six months ago. And he just noticed now? Oi vey.

"I dyed it."

"Looks cool," he held out his fist. I merely complied and fist pumped him anyways.

"Well you've got Mr. Brooks. I had him too. He's awesome. We'll see you, Cat. Let me know if you need anything ok?" Tori said as she wrapped her arm around Andre's waist.

"Have a nice first day, little Red!"

Well, here goes nothing. First class: Algebra 2.

"Good morning, class. Welcome to second semester. We have a new student joining us today since the Hollywood Arts School is temporarily closed. Please say hello to Cat Oliver. Oh sweetheart, are you related to Tori Oliver?"

"Yeah, she's my older sister."

"Well you Oliver's are bright ladies. Welcome to Sherwood."

"Thanks?"

I walked over to the last row and sat at the corner. There was a cheerleader who sat in front of me and a nerd who sat to the left of me. The cheerleader turned around for a second.

"Don't mind Mr. Brooks. Your sister was his favorite student so you're automatically on his good side."

"Lucky me," I replied sarcastically.

"I'm Trina Vega."

"My sister's talked about you before."

"She has?" Trina seemed excited.

"Yeah, you two did a biology project last year. Said you were pretty smart."

"Really? Wow!" Trina plastered a ridiculous grin on her face and turned around. Finally, no more distractions. But then I noticed the nerd was looking at me. So I turned to him.

"Can I help you?" I annoyingly asked. He shook his head and turned back to his notes. Probably scared the poor guy, but oh well. Didn't his mom ever tell him it was rude to stare?

Finally, I decided to actually pay attention to Mr. Brooks. Math wasn't my best subject so I should have probably paid attention. Except I realized I couldn't pick up my textbooks until lunch so now I was completely lost with the lesson. I buried my face in my hands and was ready to have an anxiety attack when suddenly I heard a soft thump on my desk. I put my hands down and saw a text book opened to the lesson, with a sheet of notes that followed Mr. Brooks' notes on the whiteboard. I wondered where it came from. Until I turned to the nerdy kid and saw that he was crossing his arms and keenly paying attention to everything the teacher was saying.

"But what about you?" I whispered.

He simply pointed to his ear and gestured that he'd listen the rest of the class.

I didn't want to argue because Mr. Brooks was talking about synthetic division and I sure as heck had no idea what that was. The only synthetic I knew was my head of red hair. I dyed it six months ago when our parents told us they were separating. Call it a rebellious act, but I'm not a bad kid. I just felt like since things were going to change, I wanted to change something about me. And my hair took one for the team. Anyway, back to math class.

Once the bell rang, everyone, including that nerd kid, disappeared. Well great. Now I got to carry an extra textbook with me all day because I don't even know who the guy was. I even tried finding him at lunch. He was seriously nowhere to be found. By seventh period, I was ready to call it a day. Thank goodness I had study hall. Sherwood wasn't so bad, but it wasn't so good either. Only 89 more days until the semester's over.

"So how was your first day?" mom asked at dinnertime.

"It was alright."

"Make any new friends?"

"Not really. But you know I'm just going for a semester. Then I'll be back at HA."

"Yes, but don't you think you should take this time to focus on your studies? Maybe really think about what you want to do?"

"I do know what I want to do and I want to do costume design."

"Honey that's not a viable career."

"But it's ambitious," Tori tried to help me out.

"Ambitious won't get you anywhere," mom retorted.

"And how do you know that? Just because you didn't follow your dreams and dad followed his, you try to shoot mine to hell?"

"Caterina don't use that tone with me."

"I'm sorry. But mom, you got to give me a break. This is all new to me and I just have no friends. I only see Tori in the morning then after that we have different classes and she's with her friends or tutoring at lunch."

"Why don't you follow your sister and take up an after school activity or join a club?"

"Mom," Tori tried to reason.

I sighed. My mother really didn't understand. But I guess she was at least able to read my expression.

"Maybe just try to make friends. That's a start. Right?" she patted my elbow. For once, she actually got me.

The following morning I got to math class pretty early. When the nerdy kid came inside, he was surprised to see his textbook on the table.

"Hey dude. Thanks for letting me borrow your textbook."

"It's nothing," he spoke.

"So he does have a voice!" I threw my hands in victory. "How'd you end up doing your homework?"

"Didn't you check my notes? I already did it. I'd assume you would copy so you wouldn't have to do it."

"Are you pegging me as someone stupid and can't do things for herself?"

"N-no I didn't mean-"

"Because I am a very independent woman and I am certainly capable to do things by myself."

"All right everyone, pop quiz!"

30 minutes later.

"So what'd you get?" the nerdy kid asked.

I flashed the top of my paper. It said 60%.

He formed an 'O' with his lips, not knowing how to react.

"Let me guess, you got a 100% huh?" I played.

"Well it's only you're second day here. It's understandable."

Shortly after, the bell rang.

"Do you want to borrow my notes again? I don't mind." He proceeded to take his notebook out of his backpack and handed it to me.

"But then how will you do your work. Don't tell me you do your homework in class everyday."

"Not every day, but I knew the lesson so I did the homework ahead of time."

"And today's lesson?"

"My grade won't suffer if I just missed one assignment."

"No, I won't let you do that. What's your last class?" I asked as we walked to lunch.

"Study Hall."

"Me too. Where do you usually go?"

"Outside. I don't really utilize the time if I already did all my work."

"Well how about I meet up with you and give you back your notes then. Deal?"

"Sure, I'll meet you in front of Mr. Brook's class."

"Great. So are you going to lunch?"

"Uh, no. I've got to see my English teacher about something. I'll just see you in 7th period."

"All right. See ya…" I waited. I realized I didn't know his name.

"Robbie. Robbie Shapiro."

I was putting away some stuff in my locker when Trina walked past me.

"Hey Cat, how are you enjoying Sherwood so far?"

"It's just another school to me."

"Well I hope you like your teachers and everything. Mr. Brooks is the best one for sure!"

"Yeah, Algebra 2 isn't so bad," I replied.

"Hey if you're not doing anything for study hall you can come hangout with the team," Trina offered.

Hang out with a bunch of cheerleaders fondling over the basketball team? I pass.

"No thanks. I'm actually meeting that kid Robbie from our math class. He let me borrow his notes to catch up with the rest of you guys.

"Robbie? The kid with the glasses?" Trina giggled.

"Yeah why? He's a nice kid right?" I speculated.

"No, he's nice. He's just, Robbie."

"And who am I?"

"You're Cat."

"And you're Trina."

"Ok," Trina lightly surrendered. "Whatever, but this high school. People have that status quo thing going and you and Robbie just don't belong in the same category."

"He's just a classmate, Trina."

"Right," Trina smiled. "Well, see ya!"

After that awkward encounter with the peppy cheerleader, I headed over to Mr. Brooks' classroom. Waiting for me, right on time, was Mr. Shapiro.

"Hey, Robbie."

"Hey, were you able to copy my notes?"

"Yeah. If you didn't mind, I copied a few notes from the previous week too. To get all caught up." I handed over his notebook.

"No problem. Well, ok se ya."

Robbie was in such a hurry to leave, I didn't know why.

"W-wait!"

He was just as surprised as I was when I blurted that. He stopped mid track and turned around.

"Yeah?"

"Why are you in such a rush to leave?" I said walking up to him.

"Oh uh. Well, I, uh…"

"Where you heading somewhere important?"

"Just outside."

"Can I join you?" I asked.

He looked at me as if I was joking with him. But when he saw I was serious, he was serious too.

"Sure, I guess."

"Hey dad."

"Hi daddy!"

"There's my girls!" dad gave Tori and I a hug when he came home for dinner. Tori and I would alternate homes from time to time so our parents can see us almost equally. Tonight, we were at our dad's house.

"What's for dinner?"

"Tori ordered a pizza," I said and handed him a slice.

It was much more chill at my dad's place. One being he was a guy, and two because he was a fun parent. We ate pizza at the couch, and turned on the TV. Back at our mom's we'd have to eat a 'well-balanced' meal at the dinner table.

"So, Kitty-Cat. How's your first week of school so far?" dad asked.

"I guess it was ok."

"Tori, you watching out for your little sister?"

"Of course I am, daddy."

"Good. Did you make any new friends, Cat?"

"I think so."

"You think so?" Tori giggled.

"Yeah. I mean I think we're friends. We haven't said anything otherwise."

"And who is this 'I think so' friend of yours called?"

"Robbie Shapiro."

"A boy?" our dad nearly choked on his pizza.

"Dad, trust me. Robbie's a nice guy. He's harmless," I assured him.

"Yeah dad, I've seen him around school. He's smart and not a player. Don't worry."

"Ok, but I've got my eye on this Robbie fella," he joked.

"You don't even know him," I laughed.

"We'll see about that."

A/N: New story! Yes, Cat is kind of angsty in this one, but it goes with my overall theme. Been having a rough time lately and the only real outlet I have is to turn it into writing so here it is. This story is loosely based on a movie called Little Manhattan (just like how the movie was formatted and because I was watching the movie right before I thought about writing) and loosely based on my real life. It's a story about first love. I don't know how much time I'll have but this is less than 10 chapters anyways. I finished writing it last night. Anyway. hope you guys liked the first chapter.

If I can't update every day, I suggest you read some fics from these awesome Victorious people:

sshaw101 - Storm Warning, Let Me Live, This Love is Ours, and Why Me (One-shot series)
Jmags-WriterofAwesomeness - Following the stars
Flamekat - Unfinished Painting (But you have to read The Girl With the Purple Giraffe and Is It Possible first bc it's a series)
Ariana4Ever - My LA Boy
morecupcakesplz - Alleyways Can Lead to Love
Sofia13 - When Forever Began
chuckyschmucky - Milestones
mermaidiagal204 - Best Days of Our Lives
Digidestend Angel - This is Your Life
DayDreaminAri - The Hardest Thing
Silent Hopes - A Place to Call Home