Choreography

Summary: Andre enlists the help of an unlikely person to help him with a project. What's the worst that could happen? Trandre.

AN: Trandre, because there are a severe lack of stories with this pairing and unlikely pairings are my favorite stories to write. The title isn't the best, I know, but I wrote most of this story with just 'Trande' as the working title.

Chapter 1

Singing Tori's signature song (that was originally supposed to be hers) under her breath, Trina made her way to her bedroom after a long shower. "You don't have to be afraid to put your dreams in action, something, something, something, be the main attraction..." Frowning, she realized that she'd already forgotten a lot of the lyrics. Which should have been impossible considering how many times Tori had sang it since she'd gotten into Hollywood Arts.

She wrapped her shoulder length hair up in a towel and plopped down on her bed, still humming the tune as she scrolled through her texts. It didn't take very long since her only texts were from Tori, her mom, her science partner, and her dance teacher, and she briefly wondered why she even had a phone if no one was even going to try to communicate with her. She used it more as an expensive mp3 player than anything, and since the PearPhone XT had cost her a good four hundred dollars, it was massively overpriced. The stupid thing could only hold seventy gigabytes of data, and that was with the largest memory card she could afford. The doorbell caught her attention and she sighed.

"Mom! Get the door!" Silence met her scream, so she yelled out for the only other person in the house. "Tori! Door!" She waited a few seconds to listen for some kind of movement, and realizing that no one was home, she pushed herself to her feet and stomped down the stairs (Which didn't sound all that impressive since she was in a pair of pink bunny slippers).

She glanced through the peephole-you can never be too safe even if your dad's a cop-and frowned, instantly recognizing the boy on the other side of the door. Sighing loudly, she unlocked the door and flung it open.

"Tori's not here," she deadpanned, glaring up at him before he could say anything. She started to close the door in his face, but Andre quickly pushed his hand out and stopped her.

"I'm not here to see Tori."

Trina raised her eyebrows. "Then who do you want? I'm the only one home right now."

Andre winced slightly, almost as if what he was about to say next physically pained him. "I'm here for you."

"You want to see me? Why?"

"Can I come in?" he asked, looking around like he didn't want to be seen speaking with her.

She glanced down at herself and shrugged. Sure, she was in nothing more than a bathrobe and slippers, but Andre was one of the few guys she knew she could trust. Beck and Robbie were also fairly trustworthy, but Sinjin...she felt a brief shudder go through her as she thought of him. Stepping back, she opened the door just wide enough for him to slip inside.

"So?" she asked, crossing her arms impatiently.

Andre chewed the inside of his lip and grimaced. "I need your help."

Suddenly understanding what this was about, she deepened her frown and crossed her arms a little tighter. "Of course. Well, if you want information on Tori, you've come to the wrong pers-"

"It's not about Tori, alright? Would you just listen?" he seethed.

She was a little taken aback by the forcefulness of his tone, and she had to admit that she was a lot more interested in what he had to say if it didn't involve Tori for once. Still, she rolled her eyes and flicked her hand at him in a gesture for him to continue.

Nodding to himself, he rubbed his hands together and paced the area in front of the door with an uneasy frown on his face. "I'm working on a song, and like I said, I need your help."

"You need my help?With a song?" she asked, not even bothering to hide the surprise in her voice. It wasn't that she didn't think she was talented, but there was an ugly rumor going around that she couldn't sing. For some reason, everyone believed it.

"Just with the choreography," Andre explained, quickly moving to squash any misunderstandings. "You can't sing worth a damn, but you've got moves."

She didn't know whether to be insulted or flattered, so she decided to settle on curious. "Why should I help?"

"Why? Well, I mean, it's experience. And we're friends. Right?"

Her lips twitched upwards at being referred to as his friend, but she quickly squashed it down into a frown. She didn't need fake friends who only came around when they needed something from her, even if it did sound like a pretty interesting project. "Bye."

Andre sighed loudly and rolled his eyes. She'd find out eventually anyway, so it was better if he was upfront with her from the beginning. "Okay, okay, it's a music video we're putting together to show Kojeezy."

Trina's mouth dropped open, and for the first time, her expression changed from something other than boredom. "Are you serious?!" she exclaimed, grabbing his arm and jumping up and down.

Unfortunately the simple action caused the top of her robe to come undone a little bit, and against his will, Andre's eyes glanced down at her chest before quickly shooting back up to her face. It was instinct; after all, most people tended to glance at something when it moved, and most guys tended to glance at the cleavage of a woman no matter how they felt about them. It didn't mean he found her attractive, but she did have D cups.

She finally calmed down after another minute of screaming and regarded him with a serious frown. "If I'm doing this, I get to be the star."

He almost laughed at her demand, but instead he shook his head and smirked. "Uh, I'm the star. It's my song."

"Fine, then I'm the co-star," she shrugged, waving off his comment.

Andre sighed, already regretting his decision. Sure, he thought Trina was one of the best dancers he'd ever seen, but was it really worth all the stress of dealing with Trina? It was no secret to anyone that she could be a huge diva when she wanted to be, and chances were, he'd be spending more time calming her down than actually working on the video. "Trina, it's a love song. You'd be playing the girl I'm in love with."

His statement gave her pause. Her being in love with him? Sure, he was talented and a little cute, but she couldn't even say she liked him let alone loved him. Not that it mattered. She was just doing this to get in front of Kojeezy, anyway. "So?"

He sighed again. "We have to pretend that we're in love. Us. I just don't think you could ever pull it off."

"Then no deal." She crossed her arms over her chest for emphasis, leveling him with a stern gaze.

Realizing that he didn't have much of a choice, he rushed to think of a plan. His eyes lit up a second later as he thought of a foolproof way to both get her help and weasel out of their arrangement if he had to. "How about this. If you can convince me before the shooting that you can pretend to be in love with me on camera, I'll let you do it."

Her face remaining unchanged, Trina tightened her arms. "How do I know you won't go back on your word even if I do a good job?"

"The gang will be our witnesses. You can trust Tori, Cat, Beck, and Robbie to be impartial, can't you?"

Trina tilted her head in thought. It certainly seemed fair, and if she needed to, she could easily bribe at least Cat and Robbie to vote yes. A wide smile breaking out on her face, she stuck her hand out for him to take. "Okay, deal." He barely had a chance to touch her hand before she was pacing around the room excitedly. "I can't wait! Do you think he'll listen to my demo tape? I hear he's the one who discovered Ginger Fox, so even if I can't sing," she snapped, shooting him a glare, "I can still become a superstar."

Andre stared at her, not quite sure what to say. He knew she could be a bit delusional and out there, but this was a little too ridiculous even for her. "Well, our first practice is after school tomorrow. If you could start putting moves together today, that'd be cool." He reached into his pocket and held out a flash drive. "I put both the full song and the instrumental on here. If you have any questions, give me a call. You got my number, right?"

Trina snatched the drive from his hand and jogged back up the stairs, leaving him standing dumbfounded in the middle of the living room without another word. Not only was it an incredibly rude exit, but she'd actually cut his thumb with her nails when she grabbed the drive. As much as he wanted to believe that she was just excited to start work on the video, he somehow felt like he'd just made a huge mistake.

"Andrew!" A loud voice called from behind him, surprising him and causing him to drop his books on the ground. Andre glanced over his shoulder to see Trina stomping towards him in ridiculously tall, bright red six-inch heels. He was so dumbfounded and frankly impressed by the ridiculousness of her shoes that he couldn't even think properly let alone speak.

"Andrew!" she yelled again, this time in his face.

He backed away from her, frowning. "What? and it's Andre."

Ignoring him, she took a step closer. "This song. There's no way Kojeezy won't love it. I have to be the lead."

He felt his lips curl upwards at the subtle compliment. "Then you'd better to a damn good job of convincing everyone you can be in love with me, cause if you can't sell it to the camera, you're out."

Trina's face soured. "Don't worry, I've got the choreography all worked out. We'll need three more back up dancers to do what I have in mind, but I'm still going to be the star."

"You mean, we'll be the stars."

She sighed rolled her eyes. "Right, we." Holly wood arts' unique bell rang, and Trina turned on her heel to walk away. "Four o'clock in the third dance studio. Wear your sweats, we've got work to do."

Andre watched her go, once again put off by her personality. She'd switched from crazy to business in .2 seconds, and he could already tell that she was going to make him wonky in the head with her wishy washyness.

"What's up with her?" Tori asked, staring after her sister as she approached from his right. "What's she talking about about?"

Groaning, he realized that he hadn't actually told anyone besides Beck about his plan to recruit Trina. He was expecting to be ridiculed for choosing her of all people, but he wasn't planning on revealing it to anyone just yet. Still, there was no time like that present. "About that. Tori, we need to talk."

Sighing tiredly, Andre slipped into the dance studio. Thanks to Tori, all day people had been coming up to him and asking if he was crazy for choosing Trina to be his choreographer, and he was sick of it. As if he didn't already know that he was taking a huge risk by recruiting a girl who didn't have an official choreography credit to her name and was well known for being flamboyantly awful. Still, he had a small amount of faith in her, and the next hour would tell him if his gamble might pay off.

The first thing he saw was Trina bent over at the waist, stretching her hamstrings as she sat on the floor. He raised an appreciative eyebrow at how flexible she was, and suddenly he felt slightly better about picking her. If nothing else, she was limber.

As he took in her dance attire, he found that he liked her better like this-in grey sweat pants, a pink tank top, and black sneakers. She wore much less make up, and her hair was tied up in a sloppy ponytail. She looked almost...normal.

He cleared his throat so that she wouldn't be too freaked out when he spoke and stepped further into the room. "Alright, I'm here. What you got for me?"

Hopping to her feet, she motioned for him to stand in the middle of the floor. "I was thinking that for the slower parts of the song it'd just feature you and me acting out the main storyline of the video. For the chorus, we'd use back up dancers to break up the story and keep people from getting bored. Who's directing?"

"Beck is, but we're still in the early planning phase. Sinjin's working the lights and audio, and I've got Robbie filming."

Trina's nose crinkled at the mention of Sinjin, but she shrugged as if resigning herself to her fate. He was undoubtedly the best audio visual kid in the school, so of course they would ask him to help out.

"We'll have to talk this over with them later, then. Okay, from the top." She pushed a button on the stereo and quickly moved to stand next to him. As soon as the first beat started, she began to dance.

She wound herself around him skillfully, and he watched her in the mirror in front of them with his jaw agape. He knew she had moves, but fuck. Every pop, every slide, and every turn was executed flawlessly. It was a perfect mix of hip hop, Latin dancing, and even a little ballet that he'd never seen before. The things she usually did when performing looked like awkward swaying compared to what she was doing now.

During the choruses she'd simply pause and bob her head to the beat, every now and then trying out a move she thought might work. He correctly assumed that she hadn't quite worked those parts out yet, which was to be expected. It'd only been a day since he'd asked for her help, and he was amazed that she even had as much as she currently did.

The song ended with her face barely six inches away from his, and he could feel her breath on his face as she struggled to control it.

"So?" she asked after a few seconds, still panting slightly.

"That was...whoa. That was amazing." He took a step back and crossed his arms. "But what do I do?"

"Nothing. You just stand there and look pretty," she smiled, patting him lightly on the cheek.

The boy rolled his eyes, and all the illusions he'd had of her skill and professionalism instantly shattered. "The point was for us to dance together. Right now it's like you're some kinda creepy stalker trying to get my attention."

She let out an exaggerated sigh and let her head fall back so that she was looking at the ceiling. "Fine, I'll work on it. It's only been a day."

"Yeah, see that you do." They scowled at each other for another few seconds, neither wanting to back down first. Finally, Andre cracked a smirk. "It really was good, though. I don't know how you came up with those moves so fast."

Flattered, she smiled up at him. "Thanks, it was really easy with your song. I just saw how it was supposed to look, you know? I'm working on the choreography for the back up dancers, too, but we need to sit down with Beck and Sinjin to get a clear idea of what we're doing before I can really lock anything down." She glanced up to gauge his reaction only to notice that his eyebrows were furrowed. "What?" She asked, frowning at the way he was staring at her.

The teen shook his head, fake dreads swinging around his face. "It's just weird seeing you so...competent. You actually sound like you know what you're doing."

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?"

Andre laughed and shook his head again. "Kind of. Come on, let's get out of here."

Smiling slightly, Trina shouldered her bag and followed him out of the dance studio, turning off the lights as she left.

A full week passed. True to her word, Trina had worked out choreography for the both of them, and he was just starting to learn the steps. They'd sat down with Beck, Robbie, Sinjin, and Tori (Who had, like usual, decided that she wanted to be in on it too) and planned out the music

Beck, Robbie, and Sinjin had all been excited about the ideas Trina brought to the table and had planned the majority of the video around her choreography. What surprised Andre the most was that she wasn't really being a diva about the whole thing. She still got loud and annoying whenever he messed up a move, but at least she had a reason to be obnoxious. Luckily she'd had to yell less and less as the week wore on, and today, she hadn't yelled at all.

The only thing that was still a little awkward was that a few of the moves she'd put together required some grinding, and despite his best efforts, he couldn't quite keep his erection under control. He knew she'd felt it at least twice, but if she wasn't going to say anything about it, then neither was he.

The music ended with them nearly flush against each other, faces six inches apart just like she'd choreographed. A few times they'd nearly bumped heads (or worse, kissed), so he was relieved that it'd gone off without a hitch. Simultaneously they fell to the floor in a heap. "That...that was the best one yet," Trina panted, a light sheen of sweat on her forehead.

Andre nodded, also trying to catch his breath. "Yeah, a couple more days of practice and I'll be able to do it in my sleep."

They were quiet for a few minutes, just allowing themselves to relax in the quiet of the dance studio. They'd been dancing for the better part of two hours, so the long break was well deserved.

Trina unscrewed the cap on her water bottle and took a long swig. "Andre?" she asked, sounding more unsure than he'd ever heard her.

He turned his head to look at her, snatching the bottle from her hand and taking a drink for himself. "Yeah?"

"Okay, I know I'm amazing and all, but why did you ask me to choreograph your video? We're not exactly friends."

He was silent for a minute, almost as if gathering his thoughts. He stared at her blankly, and just as she was starting to get nervous, he finally opened his mouth to answer. "It was that trip to Yerba. Trina, you put together and taught two dance sequences in a couple of days. The second time, you taught a bunch of prisoners who'd probably never danced before in their lives some of Michael Jackson's moves. How could I not ask you? You throw yourself into everything you do, even if it's usually too much." When she smiled, he returned it and moved to speak again. "And I don't know about you, but I consider you my friend. Even if you're a crazy diva most times."

Trina's smile widened, and not wanting him to get a good look at her face and make fun of her, she shoved his shoulder so that he nearly fell over. What she didn't expect was for him to shove her back with just enough strength so that she almost lost her balance, too. She attempted to push him again, but he caught her wrist in his much larger hand to stop her. She'd forgotten how strong he was, which should've been impossible considering how easily he lifted her up when they danced.

Annoyed, she tried to use her other hand to push him-only to end up losing her balance and knocking them both over. They both broke down into laughter a second later, neither of them noticing Tori walk into the room.

"You guys done yet?" she asked, texting on her phone. Her eyes widened slightly when she finally looked up at them. "What are you doing?"

Still laughing, Trina pushed herself back up into a sitting position. "Andre was being a dork, so I beat him up."

"Is that what happened? Your fists must be made of marshmallows, since I didn't feel a thing," he retorted, also sitting up.

Tori slid her gaze between Trina and Andre, disbelief still stretched across her face. Neither of them seemed to have noticed the position they'd been found in, so she decided to just let it go for the time being. She could always grill them later when she wasn't exhausted. "Well, I need to get home. Can you give me a ride now?"

Trina groaned. "Now? But I still have to get my stuff from my locker, turn off all the lights and equipment in the studio..."

"I can give you a ride home. It's not that far outta my way," Andre offered.

This time, Tori felt her jaw drop open. "Are you sure, Andre? Do you really want Trina-my sister-riding in your car with you?"

The boy shrugged. "Yeah, it's no big deal. Long as Trina's okay with it, anyway."

Trina smiled and nodded. "Thanks, that'd be great!"

By now, the younger Vega was completely flabbergasted. Trina? Thanking someone? "Who are you and what have you done with my sister?"

"Oh, shut up. I'm not completely ungrateful." She stood to her feet and headed over to the stereo where her keys were before tossing them to Tori. "Now that you have your license, you can drive yourself home."

Tori caught them, though just barely. Her eyes were still staring at them like they were complete strangers. "Yeah, see you." She shot them one more confused glance and exited the studio, shaking her head the entire way.

After spending another half hour cleaning up and gathering their things, Trina and Andre headed to his car. She was a little nervous since it was her first time in it and she didn't know what to expect, but she was both pleased and unsurprised to see that he liked to keep it clean. Unlike her own, which probably had enough trash to fill two garbage bags.

"I'm hungry," Trina groaned after they'd been driving for a few minutes.

"You wanna stop and get something?" he asked, glancing over at her.

"I want a smoothie! Take me to get a smoothie!"

Andre rolled his eyes at the bratty tone in her voice but switched lanes anyway. "Yes, princess."

Trina hummed. "I like that."

"Like what?"

"Princess. It suits me, don't you think?"

Andre laughed slightly at her question. "I am not calling you Princess."

"Nobody asked you to," she frowned, the brattiness seeping into her voice again.

He blinked at the sudden change in her attitude and glanced in her direction. "Then why–you know what, never mind."

They pulled into the parking lot of Smoothie Kingdom a few minutes later and hopped out to get their drinks. She got the low-fat, high energy strawberry banana while he got the high protein and high energy blueberry kiwi. They grabbed a booth near the back of the restaurant and sipped their drinks in silence, neither all that interested in speaking after their little argument. They were both unfortunately just stubborn enough to ignore the other.

As he sipped at his drink, he couldn't help but notice how strange the situation was. He was having a smoothie with Trina Vega and she wasn't talking or being loud. The more he thought about it, the more alarming it became and he just had to know what was up. "You know, you haven't been, well, you lately."

She frowned at him from over her drink, lips a bright red from the smoothie. "What's me?"

Andre shrugged his shoulders. He'd been doing a lot of that lately when it came to her. "You know, loud. Obnoxious. A diva."

"Yeah,well, when your sister's practically perfect, you have to do something to-" her eyes widened mid sentence, and she quickly shut her mouth and took a large gulp of her drink.

Unfortunately for her, he wasn't planning on letting it go. "Wait, you mean the reason you act like that is to get attention?" He sat back in his seat and shook his head. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

Her eyes angrily snapped up to his. "What the hell do you know? You didn't have to grow up living in your little sister's shadow, always watching her get the best grades and the best presents and all of the love from Mom and Dad."

Andre leaned back and crossed his arms. "Your parents love you just as much as they love her."

"Do they?" she asked, mirroring his pose.

The question left him speechless, and he realized that he really couldn't say for sure since he didn't even live with them or see their day to day interactions. "Sorry. I just...I don't know. I like you better when you're like this. When you're real."

She scoffed and chewed on her straw. "No one notices me when I'm 'real'."

"I'm noticing you right now."

Surprised, Trina met his gaze. He was staring at her with an unreadable expression, eyes unwavering as they bore into hers. She didn't know what to think of his statement. It'd sounded innocent enough, but at the same time, she couldn't help but wonder if there was a deeper meaning to his words. She couldn't deny that he'd made her chest tighten, and the look on his face was so serious that she felt herself becoming embarrassed. Which was strange, since she'd all but squashed that emotion years ago.

She quickly drained her drink in an effort to stop herself from dwelling on his words, a move she immediately regretted a few seconds later. "Agh! Brain freeze!"

"That's what happens," he said smugly, doing the same exact thing she'd done only a minute before. "Ah! Brain freeze!"