After The Never-Ending Pre-Game Shows
by John O'Connor
Disclaimer: "Victorious" and its characters are the property of Schneider's Bakery and
Nickelodeon. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money exchanged hands. No
copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property
of the author. No profit is intended or wanted for this story.
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Tori and Jade convinced the Vegas to allow their friends to come by and watch the Super Bowl.
As there was already plans in motion for a party, David and Holly agreed, but with stipulations.
"But no booze or dope…" David warned.
"Da-ad! We don't do that."
"You're teenagers…"
"Yeah, teens who don't do drugs!" Tori defended herself and her friends.
And so they quickly invited their friends from school. And any significant other any of them
might have. Also invited were Jade's mother and brother.
"This is gonna be great!" Tori enthused.
"Calm down, Vega. It's just a party," Jade stated. "With football."
"And Beyonce," Tori added brightly. Jade just rolled her eyes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Everyone arrived shortly after lunch time, each party bringing something to the shindig the
Vegas had set up. David and a few of his buddies planted themselves outside to watch the
game on the patio with some beers while cooking burgers, brats and hot dogs.
Inside, there was a party sub sandwich, space for a couple of pizzas that would soon be
delivered, bowls of popcorn, chips, dips and salsas. And a large cooler full of various sodas and
juices.
Beck drove Cat over. He came in with a large order of buffalo nuggets and bleu cheese dip. Cat
brought a red velvet cake, giggling as she handed it to Holly, "Red velvet? Get it?"
"Yes, dear," Holly said with a grin.
More chips and soda courtesy of Andre and his latest flame. And Robbie brought some 'special'
off-brand soda that he found in a small shop in La Cienega.
"One time, my brother had 'special' soda," Cat started, using her fingers for quotes. "He got
pulled over for driving erratically."
Jade and Tori greeted their friends as they arrived, and Jade grabbed Robbie's free arm. "That
puppet better not make me angry, Shapiro."
"Uh, yes ma'am."
As they wandered out of range of Jade's hearing, Rex said, "Huh, must be that time of month."
"Rex!" Robbie hissed.
At the same moment, Jade shouted, "I heard that!"
"Eep!" Robbie ducked behind Cat who just giggled.
"So Robbie, I didn't know you were into football," Beck said, hoping to change the subject away
from Jade's wrath.
"Well, I don't have a favorite team or anything and I don't watch games non-stop but I do enjoy
the manly interaction on the field."
"Manly interaction… No wonder you don't have a girlfriend!"
"Rex!" Robbie said to the puppet. Jade snorted loudly.
Then, as if to defend his honor, Robbie went on, "I do have a lock on the game. Put all your
money on Harbaugh's team to win."
Beck and Andre both stared at their friend with a touch of awe while Tori and Cat looked more
puzzled. Jade said, "Very good, Robbie. That was actually rather clever."
Robbie smiled and Cat asked, "What? I don't get it."
"Y'see Cat, Jim Harbaugh is the coach of the 49ers. His brother, John Harbaugh, is the coach of
the Ravens," Beck explained.
"Oh, I see. No, wait, I don't see," Cat pouted.
Andre took his turn, "See, Lil' Red, the 49ers and the Ravens are playing today. So it's Jim
Harbaugh's team against John Harbaugh's team."
"Oh! Heh-heh-heh! I get it. You're really funny, Robbie!"
Robbie stood by the snacks with a big grin on his face. Rex nodded and said, "Yeah, bask in the
glow of your temporary coolness…"
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Jade's mother and brother arrived shortly after that. "Hi Jadey!"
Cat got excited and hugged both the newly arrived Wests. "Hi Mrs. West! Hi Short-stuff!"
Tori saw how the boy's eyes widened and he followed Cat around. Although, to his credit he
showed more coolness than most boys his age.
As the pre-game shows slowly wound down, Jade turned to Tori, "You're rooting for the Ravens,
right?"
"No, I kinda want to see San Francisco win," Tori replied.
"But you're my girlfriend and should support me in this," Jade argued.
"Nooo… It doesn't work that way. Just 'cuz you want the Goth team to win…"
"Goth team?" Andre asked.
"Yeah, Jade likes the Ravens because they're from Baltimore and are named for the old Poe
poem."
"Heh-heh, Poe poem," Cat giggled.
"That's not all," Jade interjected. "The 49ers had the audacity to beat Green Bay in the
playoffs…"
"Well, I don't have to root for your team, Jade," Tori said snidely.
"Yeah, you do. It's in the manual."
"What manual?"
"The girlfriend manual!" Jade replied.
"There's no such thing!" Tori exclaimed.
"Well, there should be," Jade said, dryly.
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The game started after Alicia Keys sang the National Anthem. Jade couldn't resist, "See, Vega?
That's now it's supposed to be sung - with no dog body-sledding…"
Tori hit her girlfriend with a cushion. Having to reach over Jade's brother (who settled between
the two girls when Cat sat on a chair) lessened the blow somewhat. The others laughed as they
found spaces on the couches or pulled chairs from the table and elsewhere to the living room.
The mothers settled onto a couple of cushions on the raised portion of the floor while they shared
part of a bottle of wine.
By the end of the first quarter, David came in with a platter of barbecued meat. "Burgers, brats
and dogs! Get 'em while they're hot!"
The hungry teens cleaned the platter leaving the mothers to go out to the patio for their share.
The first half was practically all Baltimore. The 49ers only scored a single field goal and were
down 14 to 3 at the half.
"How did these clowns beat the Packers?" Jade lamented.
While the CBS team did a general recap of the first half, the gang at the Vega party did their own
breakdown of the famed Super Bowl commercials. The general consensus was that they weren't
as good as a few years before.
"I liked the one with the animals!" Cat stated needlessly.
Jade got up and took Cat's hand, leading her to the kitchen and the small color TV on the
counter. Jade sat Cat down on one of the bar stools to watch the "Puppy Bowl" on Animal
Planet. The red head watched, clapped and laughed her loud Cat laugh as the puppies frolicked
in a small faux stadium.
Jade's brother went into the kitchen, pretending to be looking for something.
"Vega, I think I'll have to plant her in your room for Puppy Bowl. That laugh is interfering with my
game…"
"Ooo, shush Jade. Beyonce is starting her show!" Tori declared.
Jade narrowed her eyes at her girlfriend, her mouth was slightly puckered but then she sat next
to Tori and watched the entertainment, as enthralled by the singer as their fellow students. Cat
even temporarily abandoned the puppies to watch Beyonce. Everybody sat up when the rest of
Destiny's Child showed up to sing with Beyonce.
"God, they're hot," Andre moaned, getting a poke from his date..
"Yeah, they are," Jade agreed, earning an elbow from Tori.
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The second half started quickly with San Francisco kicking off to the Ravens. Jacoby Jones,
deep in the end zone, caught it and ran the length of the field to score a touchdown. He set a
Super Bowl record with a 109 yard return.
Jade was beside herself, dancing around behind the couch and ruffling Andre's dreads then
Robbie's mop. "Woo-hoo! San Francisco? Nevermore!"
"Jade, you know he broke Desmond Howard's old Super Bowl record. Remember, when the
Packers won Super Bowl 31 and Howard had that 99-yard return?" Beck asked.
"Damn it!" Jade replied. "Well, Reggie White still holds the record for the most sacks when he
got three in that game."
"Actually Jade, he shares that record with Dockett who got three in Super Bowl XLIII."
"Damn it!"
"And White lost a shot at a TV gig with CBS when he said homosexuality is a sin," Beck added,
one more teasing dig.
"Damn it!"
At that moment, just after Kaepernick, the 49ers quarterback got sacked, the lights in the Super
Dome went out.
Tori teased at her girlfriend, "Now you did it Jade!"
"What? How…?"
Tori snickered and said, "You damned the Super Bowl!"
"I did not! It was a coincidence! Right?"
Everyone muttered. "I don't know…" "Too much negativity…" "Jade's got spooky power…"
"Damn it! Stop it!"
Tori had to add one last, "WooOOOoooOOO…"
"Hah-hah-hah!" came from the kitchen. "It's the kitten half time show!" Cat yelled then laughed
again, louder than before.
Jade walked over, turned the TV off and pointed upstairs.
"Mean," Cat muttered.
"WHAT?!?"
"Nothing," the redhead screamed as she ran up the stairs.
The littlest West followed Cat. Tori smiled at that and said to Jade, "I think someone has a crush
on Cat…"
"Well, duh! It's kinda obvious Robbie's got a thing for her."
"Not Robbie. Your brother."
"Oh. Oh? OH!" Jade's face reflected understanding, confusion then wariness in equal stages.
"That's not…"
"Oh, c'mon Jade. I think it's cute."
"Well, she better not MILF him or anything. If she hurts him…"
"God Jade, this is Cat!"
"Yeah, I guess you're right."
"Quiet you two, they're talking about the lights," Andre said, shushing the pair.
"Did he just shush us?" Jade asked. "Did you just shush us?!?"
"Yeah, I did. And now I missed what the guy said about the lights."
"He said the lights should be cycled up in about twenty minutes," Beck said.
After over a half-hour, third quarter play resumed and the 49ers dominated the rest of the quarter
but still didn't take the lead.
The fourth quarter was more of the same. Neither team scored a touchdown and Baltimore ran
down the game clock near the end of the game. They called a time out with 12 seconds left then
their punter, Sam Koch, fielded the ball snap in the end zone, scoring a safety.
But, even with the safety, the Ravens left San Francisco without enough time to get close
enough for a game-tying field goal. The Ravens won championship with a score of 34 to 31.
Jade pointed at the image on the TV of Jim Harbaugh walking across the field to congratulate his
brother and yelled, "Hah!"
Rex yelled, "Woohoo! I won the pool! Yeah, baby, that's right…"
"What pool?" Andre asked.
"The football pool at Northridge!"
"How much?" Beck asked.
"I had the 4 and 1 square on the pool and the final pays $500!" The puppet turned towards
Robbie, "C'mon feet, let's go collect!"
"But Rex, I wanna stay and…"
"I said, let's go!"
Robbie got up, waved meekly to his friends and said, "Um…see you guys tomorrow…"
Rex tossed out, "Later chumps!"
As the front door closed, Holly said, "That boy needs help."
"You have no idea…" "Yeah, professional help." "He should really see someone."
"It is a little creepy." The four remaining friends all spoke at the same time.
From upstairs came a loud laugh then some banging and more laughter.
"What the…" Jade charged upstairs, followed closely by Tori.
In Tori's room, they found the two 'children' in a tickle fight. They were thrashing around on the
floor as they both giggled loudly.
"Hey!" Jade yelled.
The two looked up, panting and red-faced. Cat giggled and said, "Oh hi Jade!"
"Cat, what's going on?"
"We got into an argument about who the teams were for the Puppy Bowl and we just started
poking each other and…"
"Leaving children unattended is never a good idea," Jade muttered as Tori pulled her back to the
post-game show downstairs.
The Vince Lombardi Trophy was presented and then various members of the Ravens staff and
team spoke briefly. Most of the attention seemed to be on Ray Lewis who played his entire
seventeen year career with Baltimore and had announced his retirement after the last game of
the season. At the time, no one expected that to be the Super Bowl.
The party went on for another hour or so. Andre was the first to leave, "Gotta drop my honey at
home then go see what crazy chiz Grandma has come up with."
Beck called upstairs and, soon, Cat came down with her junior paramour close behind.
"Hey! The puppies won! Hah-hah-hah!"
"Speaking of puppies," Tori whispered to Jade, indicating Jade's brother who only had eyes for
Cat.
"C'mon, Cat. Time to get you home," Beck said as he led the faux redhead out. "Bye guys!
Thanks for the great party!"
The Wests got ready to leave as well, mother kissing daughter goodbye and the littlest partier
scrambling around with hugs and kisses for everyone.
After their friends had left, Tori started to help clean up the living room. Jade sat with a pensive
look on her face. "Jade? A little help?"
Without even a glance, Jade said snidely, "Yes, very little."
"C'mon Jade…"
"Hush! I'm working on a way to make up some money next year. Our own pool but we don't pay
out everything - gotta save some for a handling charge… So…ten dollars a square with one
hundred squares… No, why not fifteen dollars?" Jade paused and a sour look passed over her
face, "I gotta talk to Robbie about the Northridge pool…"
Tori charged over, grabbed Jade's hand and pulled her up. "Help! Now!"
"Oooo, lil' Miss Toray's getting' all bossy…"
"I. Do. Not. Talk. Like. That!"
The End
(c) John O'Conner
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