A New Era
Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly
A/N: Yep, I'm trying my hand at writing some more Jalerie fanfiction. I figured it'd be nice to write some stories centering around them. I've actually been wanting to switch over to writing with them and perhaps keeping Freddie and Sam as their friends. So, here you go.
-DAWN OF A NEW DAY-
Jonah leaned against his school locker and glanced over at the girl who was currently one of his greatest friends. Her name was Valerie Williams. She was a great person, despite that she had made some mistakes in the past, but who hadn't? Jonah learned from his mistakes and she from hers. Though, she was a bit insecure at times, but that was fine.
He couldn't help but to stare at her sometimes. Sure, she was a close friend of his, but he wanted to be more than just a friend, he wanted to date her, to be a boyfriend. A good friend of theirs was Shannon Mitchell. She used to have a major crush on Freddie, but she changed her tune on that one. Jonah walked toward Valerie's locker and smiled when she turned to greet him. She looked beautiful today. She was wearing a blue shirt with short sleeves and a denim skirt that went down to her knees. She also had a headband on that was designed with flowers on it.
"Hey Jonah, I hate this headband," Valerie said with a soft sigh. Jonah chuckled as Valerie pushed a book into her locker and closed the door. Shannon had given her the item to wear, so she thought she'd be nice and wear it for her. "I just can't help but think it makes me look so girly!"
"I think you look fine," Jonah responded. She always looked beautiful to him; there was never anything that she could do to change his opinion on that. She smiled at Jonah and was tempted to kiss him on the cheek, but she withheld that. Sure, she liked him a lot, but she wasn't sure how interested he was in her.
"Thank you Jonah." The two looked over to see Shannon walking up to them, smiling brightly.
"Valerie, I saw this totally cute guy just now!" Shannon squealed with happiness. Valerie raised her eyebrow and turned toward her friend, interested in her tale. "You know the senior, Travis Parker, right? He was totally checking me out." Jonah laughed and the girls looked his way.
"You know, when a guy looks at you, it doesn't mean he's checking you out."
"Oh? Then what does it mean, smart guy?" Valerie smirked and raised her eyebrow, she was actually very interested to see where this would go.
"It could mean a number of things." Jonah rubbed his chin and looked at Shannon, she had a tiny piece of lettuce on her chin. He chuckled and pointed toward her. "It could also mean you had a sandwich for lunch." Valerie glanced over and placed her hand over her mouth.
"Ooh Shannon, you have something like…right there," Valerie stated while pulling out a small mirror and pointing it to Shannon's face. The girl looked at it and her eyes widened with embarrassment. How could she not know she had something on her face? This was one of the most embarrassing things she'd ever been through! She quickly wiped off her chin and moved to her locker beside Valerie.
"Gee, thanks for the warning," Shannon remarked. Valerie returned to her locker and closed the door, there wasn't anything more that she needed from there. Jonah leaned against the wall and crossed his arms, he was going to wait for the girls to finish whatever they were doing then head off to class. Valerie turned to Jonah and smiled lightly.
"Hey Jonah…I have a question."
"Sure, anything at all." Valerie was curious as to whether Jonah could help her out with something she had been wanting to do for some time. He knew a bit about technology, so there really wasn't much trouble.
"I've kind of been wanting to start up a webshow…" She didn't know how well that would work, considering her last one had been a failure. Of course, she didn't really want to go through such means that she did before, something like that was just wrong. Jonah raised his eyebrow and Shannon glanced over with ambivalence.
"Didn't you already try that once?" Shannon asked as she pulled a book from her locker and shut the door. Valerie sighed and shrugged her shoulders. It was a silly idea. "You need a tech producer and a co-host…" Jonah tapped his chin for a second as Valerie frowned. He then smirked and placed his arms around the girls' shoulders.
"I don't think it's a bad idea at all!" Jonah said with an enthusiastic voice. He patted both of their arms and lifted his hand up a bit in front of them. "I can see it now, actually. 'Val and Shannon' or 'iValerie' or whatever you prefer…" Valerie's eyes beamed for a moment and a small smile graced Shannon's face.
"Yeah, that doesn't sound too bad, but…I don't know the first thing about webshows…It's Valerie with the experience there." Valerie gave a nod and Jonah shifted his eyes around the school. He spotted Sam, Freddie and Carly at another side, talking beside the lockers. He smirked and pointed toward them.
"Do you think they knew the first thing about having a webshow when they started?" The girls shook their heads and Jonah moved in front of them. He closed his eyes and smiled confidently. "I do know some tech stuff, so I say if you want to start a webshow, then go ahead, I'm behind you all the way." Valerie nodded her head and glanced toward the iCarly group, she would have liked to ask them some questions but she knew they wouldn't exactly help her. A sigh left her lips as she remembered how she'd acted toward the group, she hated what she had done and felt there was no forgiveness for her. She shook her head slowly and turned to face Jonah, she had forgotten the news she had for her friends.
"Jonah, there was this guy that Shannon tried to get me with, I took her advice and now I have a boyfriend!" Jonah's eyebrow rose and he remained with no expression, he was sure he heard incorrectly, he feared his heart might sink if what he'd heard was true.
"Wait, you actually went out with Rodney?!" Shannon asked excitedly, proud and hopeful that she got her best friend to start dating again. Jonah's eyes widened for a brief second before narrowing, he hoped it wasn't the Rodney he was thinking of.
"What's she talking about?" Jonah asked in a quiet voice while turning to his locker, he didn't want the girls to see how serious he looked. Shannon turned happily toward Jonah and clapped her hands once.
"Rodney the Rip-off, surely you know him! He's so hot!" Jonah clenched his teeth together and slowly closed his eyes, he knew who the guy was all too well. He'd once been mixed up with the guy, been a part of his criminal like activity. He wasn't proud of it and he hadn't dealt with the man in years, especially considering how violent he was.
"I see…and are you happy with that, Valerie?" Jonah turned and faced his friend, smiling slightly as he leaned against the locker. Valerie tapped her chin lightly and nodded her head, she wasn't sure if she was ready to date someone else or not, but at the same time, she wanted to know that someone actually would care about her and that she wasn't cursed because of what she did to Freddie.
"I guess," she replied while shrugging her shoulders. "He doesn't seem so bad, I mean he isn't an asshole…"
"If only you knew." He knew well that he'd have to make sure Rodney wouldn't hurt Valerie, if the guy could be trusted with her at all. "I hope you and Rodney have a good time together." Jonah smiled kindly, knowing that he could at least be happy that Valerie felt good enough to start dating again, he was definitely proud of her in that department.
"Thank you Jonah." Valerie yelped as someone placed their hand on her lower back, she quickly turned and saw Rodney smiling at her through his glasses. "Rodney, don't sneak up on me like that." She smiled at him as he gave her a nod, Jonah merely stared at him with an annoyed appearance.
"You look absolutely stunning today," Rodney said in a smooth voice. He sounded remarkably charming but cheesy at the same time. Shannon crooned while Jonah merely rolled his eyes, he felt disgusted by this display and couldn't figure out why Shannon was sighing.
"Then again, she sighs at every guy she sees," Jonah thought while lifting his eyes skyward.
"Valerie, come with me, I want to show you something!" Valerie nodded as she said her goodbye to her friends and left with Rodney. Jonah raised his eyebrow and watched as the two left, his stomach clenching tightly as his body seemed to grow numb with jealousy. Shannon looked at him and smirked, knowing all too well how he was feeling.
"Are you jealous, Jonah?!" Shannon asked slyly. Jonah's eyes narrowed to slits and his gaze shifted over to Shannon.
"No I'm not, I don't get jealous." That was always how it was, he never got jealous, at least he didn't remember a time when he ever was jealous. "I just don't know why you'd hook her up with Rodney."
"Come on, he's totally hot and Valerie is totally into him!"
"Right, whatever you say…I just don't see it." Jonah breathed in and began walking away, he needed to get to class. He shifted his eyes to the side as he walked up the stairs, Freddie was making his way over to him.
"Hey Jonah, how's it going?" Freddie asked as he placed his hand on Jonah's shoulder. He shrugged in response and continued walking, Freddie following after.
"Valerie's dating someone…" Freddie raised his eyebrow and frowned, he knew Jonah cared about her more than anyone could care about another person. It was love, everyone who saw the two knew it and nobody denied it except for Jonah and perhaps Valerie. Only one person had ever been told by Jonah that he liked Valerie, and that was Freddie.
"Who is it?" Freddie and Jonah were close friends, they'd been close friends for as long as they could remember, but it was the rest of their individual circles of friends that didn't realize it.
"Rodney the rip off…" Freddie's jaw fell in shock, he just couldn't imagine Valerie dating Rodney, it was unheard of.
"I don't understand how that can happen."
"Shannon meddled." Freddie chuckled lightly and shook his head. It was not surprising to find that Shannon might try and get Valerie to date just anyone in the school, Carly did the same thing to Sam quite often.
"That is definitely a believable reason. Let's just hope his life of crime is over if he's going to date Valerie."
"I don't trust him." Jonah clenched his fist up as Freddie nodded his head, neither man could bring themselves to trust Rodney. "A man like him shouldn't be around a girl like Valerie. Just think about it, how would you feel if he came toward Sam?" Freddie thought for a second as the two entered a classroom. To him, if Rodney tried to date Sam, it would be devastating, almost impossible to think of.
"Yeah, if you're smart, you'll never say that again." Jonah chuckled and pat Freddie on the back, he had to love his friend's remarkable answers. "So, should we start talking about something worth talking about?"
"Yeah, Valerie's wanting to start up a webshow."
"So do it." Jonah raised his eyebrow as Freddie sat at his desk, next to Jonah's. "You have Valerie, Shannon would make a good co host for you guys, and you know a few things about technology. I think you would do a great job at making a webshow. Have you thought of a name?"
"Well, we could do Val and Shannon."
"Great, you've got a name, you can go through with it if you want." Jonah smiled and nodded his head. The two then turned to face the teacher and prepared for him to give the lesson.
-NEW SCENE-
A week later, Jonah was lying in his bed in unrest, he and Shannon hadn't really seen or heard from Valerie lately and it was bothering them. She would always hang out with Shannon or call up Jonah to talk and often they would visit her at her house, but whenever they visited, her sisters would say that she wasn't there. Her older sister, Vanessa, looked out for her all the time and often would give Jonah and Shannon a worrisome look, which worried them as well. No one would tell them what was going on with her.
Jonah laid his arm on his forehead and sighed, he didn't think Rodney would end up taking up Valerie's life the way he was. Then again, he took up Sam's life and kept her away from Freddie and Carly. "What is this? Payback? I already got that, thank you very much…" He remembered back to when he dated Sam, he'd done the heinous act of attempting to cheat on her with her best friend, Freddie had to put some sense into him after that. "Not fun having your best friend drop kick you and punch you," he muttered. Freddie hadn't wanted to hit his friend, but he did it in order for Jonah to grow some. Needless to say, Jonah would never do something so stupid again.
"Jonah, you have a visitor!" Jonah's mom, Denise, shouted out. He heard his little sister Olivia call out the same thing. "It's Veronica, Victoria and Vixen." Jonah raised his eyebrow and quickly got up from the bed. Veronica, Victoria and Vixen were Valerie's younger sisters. Veronica was 14, Victoria was 11, and Vixen was 9 years of age. They all liked Jonah pretty well, just as Vanessa did. These three just did not visit him very often, so it came as a surprise that they were there right now.
"I'll be right down!" He quickly left his room and headed downstairs, his younger sister enjoyed playing with Victoria, but it didn't sound like Olivia was playing with her at the moment. Once he reached the bottom of the stairs, he could see the three girls were a bit distressed. Vixen appeared in greater distress, but each of them were staring at him with extremely worried and fearful eyes. "Uh…hi?"
"I no like that man that sis is dating!" Vixen piped up in quick exclaim, taking Jonah by surprise. He jerked back as Vixen quickly grasped his shirt. "He scares me, big sissy won't even talk to me anymore!"
"W-What are you talking about?" Veronica sighed as she placed her hand on Vixen's shoulder, quieting the younger child. She met Jonah's eyes and crossed her arms.
"Valerie comes home and is quiet for the entire day, if she even comes home during the day."
"Okay…" He hadn't expected such a change in Valerie, but then she was an unpredictable type of girl, so she might have just been in a bad mood. "Maybe she's upset with someone."
"But we always talk about stuff that makes her upset," Victoria interjected in a quiet tone. "You know that…"
"So what else is going on?" He didn't want to hear what he was thinking. He was thinking Rodney probably started getting a bit violent, as he always ended up doing. If he was hurting Valerie, then he was going to run into some trouble with Jonah. "She's not being hurt, is she?"
"She keeps saying that she fell or something," Veronica said while staring out the corner of her eyes. She knew her sister was lying about falling, Vanessa had been trying to single Valerie out for that, but she'd never admit to anything more. "Valerie says Rodney cares about her, she's afraid to leave him or something…"
"Is he…hitting her?" Jonah heard Vixen sob once and glanced over to see her wipe away snot from her nose. He took this as a sign that Valerie was going home with bruises.
"She won't leave him." Veronica huffed and watched as Jonah quickly grabbed his jacket from the couch, she didn't have to ask where he was going. He was going to pay Rodney a little visit. "Vanessa's at Rodney's, she's trying to convince Valerie to leave him. He makes her stay with him all the time, I know he hits her because she always has a bruise or a bloody nose. That guy needs to be careful though, Vanessa's going to beat the crap out of him if he's not careful."
"She won't have to…" Jonah quickly rushed out of his house and saw Freddie walking down the street. Freddie could tell he was in a rush, so he followed Jonah to his car and got in. "You're coming with?"
"You seem troubled, so I was wondering what I could do to help," Freddie asked as he leaned back in the chair. Not only did Jonah look troubled to Freddie, he looked pissed off.
"Rodney's abusing Valerie and she won't leave him."
"I see…then what are we waiting for?" Jonah nodded and started the engine, he quickly stepped on the gas and roared down the street. "Let's see if we can convince her to leave him, if he's such an asshole."
"You don't know him like I do, he's more than just an asshole, he's a controlling dickhead, a crackhead and a scamming piece of shit. He hit my best friend, he's crossed my path again, and as I promised if he ever crossed my path again, I would beat the shit out of him." Freddie chuckled lightly and nodded his head, he wouldn't argue there. Rather, he would help Jonah beat the crap out of Rodney if he needed.
"Well if we beat him up, what will Valerie think?"
"I don't know, but I have other things I want to kick his ass for anyway." Jonah clenched his teeth as he parked the car next to Rodney's home. The vengeance was already burning in his eyes, hatred and venom for his old foe ran deep and all who saw him would know it. Freddie stepped out of the car and breathed in deeply, he had a resentment toward Rodney as well for what he'd been doing, so now the bastard would be getting what he so richly deserved.
"What are you doing here?" Vanessa asked as Jonah and Freddie walked up to the door, she had been standing outside since Rodney had locked her out. "I've been banging on the door all this time, but it's been locked. I'm really getting pissed right now."
"I got an idea." Jonah pulled a screwdriver that he'd been using on a project from his pocket and spun it in his hand, tightening his fingers around the handle. "I'll just take the doorknob off…" He quickly began to unscrew the screws and pulled the doorknob out, then proceeded to lift his leg up. "And then kick the door in." He swiftly slammed his foot into the door and watched as it swung open and crashed into the wall. Standing in the living room was Rodney standing above a kneeling Valerie. Valerie was sobbing, her hair soaked and in front of her face. Jonah stared at the image with wide and angered eyes, his chest heaving and fists clenched.
"Valerie!" Vanessa ran over to her little sister and hugged her close, she couldn't believe that Valerie hadn't decided to pummel Rodney, but then again she did have a good heart.
"Well," Freddie started as he dusted off his shirt sleeve and crossed his arms. "Looks like shit just hit the fan." Rodney looked over at Jonah and met his piercing glare with an equal gaze.
"So, what brings you here?" Rodney asked while making a full turn to face Jonah.
"You know full well why I'm here, Asshole!" Jonah shouted as he rushed forward and slammed Rodney into the wall. He lifted a clenched fist and glared vehemently into his enemy's eyes. "It's payback time, Rodney. First of all, payback for trying to get me kicked out of school because I didn't want any part of your criminal activities and now because you're abusing the girl I care about!" Rodney chuckled slightly and rested his hand on Jonah's wrist, he didn't think he'd be reminded of such an old memory.
"All I did was ask you to try and sell something, that became a problem…"
"You know full well what happened!" Jonah crashed his fist into Rodney's face and growled angrily, he had so much rage and hatred inside for Rodney, this act was merely the breaking straw. "You're screwed, you should know better how to treat a woman!"
"Who are you to talk? You're the one who tried to cheat on Sam, surely that's just as bad." Jonah hesitated briefly before punching Rodney, but Freddie did not hesitate to fly in at the statement and kick Rodney in the face. "Damn it!"
"How dare you talk like that!" Freddie shouted as he brought his fist in a full downward arc against Rodney's throat. "You leave Sam out of this!" Valerie and Vanessa watched the two boys beat up Rodney with shocked faces, they didn't think this was right at all, but they were too scared to interject.
"How does it feel to be beaten and not be able to defend yourself? I bet it doesn't feel good!" Rodney lifted his head up and began to laugh, causing both his attackers to stop.
"You're just like me, I mean look at what you're doing!"
"I am nothing like you! You're nothing but scum!"
"Freddie, Jonah, stop it!" Valerie cried out. This caused both men to stop and look over at her. She was standing up, her chest was heaving and her fists were clenched. Jonah got a good look at her since they got there and saw that she was covered in bruises and blood was coming from her nose and mouth, he couldn't believe Rodney would do something like that to her. He couldn't fathom anything she did that would deserve something like this. "Let him go." Jonah nodded and released Rodney, causing the man to crash into the floor.
"Valerie, I…" Jonah glanced at Rodney and cringed, he wondered now if Rodney was right, if he truly was just like the guy. After all, he'd just beat someone up and not given them a chance to defend themselves. He closed his eyes and turned away, cringing still. "I'm sorry, I…I shouldn't have done that."
"It's…okay." Valerie moved over and hugged Jonah. She was mad that he chose that way of protecting her, but at the same time she was thankful that he cared enough to protect her. "Just don't do it again…"
"I won't. Are you all right, though?" Valerie gave a slight nod and buried her face in Jonah's shirt. "Why won't you leave him?"
"I'm no good…that's why." She didn't think she deserved to be with a guy, that no one would care about her, not after what she had done to Freddie. "I'm just a cold and vile bitch, I don't deserve to be with someone. Even if I did, no one would care enough about me…"
"That's not true, Val. There's plenty of guys that would care for you." Valerie sniffed as Vanessa started to pat her back. Everyone was there for her, that was the important thing. She needed to know that it was possible for people to care about her, she wasn't alone at all. Freddie walked over and placed his hand on Valerie's shoulder, smiling softly at her. She looked up at him and returned a small smile.
"What happened between me and you was just because you wanted to do something and you went about it the wrong way, that way caused you to be with someone you didn't want to be with, so you didn't care," Freddie said in a quiet tone of voice. He wanted to speak calmly because he wasn't sure how Valerie would react if he was rushed or boisterous in any way. "I don't blame you, I think you acted just as someone might have acted…you weren't being totally heartless, you just didn't care, does that make sense?"
"I think so…so you forgive me?"
"Yeah, and besides, you have a chance to make a webshow all on your own now."
"I do?"
"Yeah, you've got everything you need. In fact, you're standing in the arms of someone who can be a great asset!" Valerie blinked slightly and looked at Jonah, she saw him smiling at her and gazing warmly into her eyes. She couldn't help but to break out into a smile, she knew Jonah cared about her and she felt safe. Perhaps she would be okay, at least she felt that way with Jonah nearby. She tightened her hug and rested her head on Jonah's chest, she wasn't exactly ready to date again, but she knew that if Jonah cared about her like she thought he did, then he'd wait for her and be perfect for her. At least it was over between her and Rodney.
Two weeks later, Valerie, Shannon and Jonah all set up in Shannon's basement, creating their first webshow broadcast. It was shot on a day that would not clash with iCarly. The opening line of every segment was Shannon and Valerie introducing the show. "Hi, I'm Shannon!"
"And I'm Valerie! You're watching Val and Shannon, taped by our wonderful Camera Man, Jonah Brown!"
I think I'm going to stick with Jalerie as my main pairing. I was thinking of rewriting a lot of my stories in the form of Jalerie, what do you think? Oh, and I know I didn't get a lot of chance to write, damn, when you get married your life gets busier! Haha, but I love it! I love my beautiful wife. I try tro get as much chance to write as I can, but know I will never leave you behind like other fellow authors, however unfortunate their leave was. We all miss Colorsofthesky...she suffered a tragedy in her family nearly a year ago, still has yet to return...Go say hi to my wife, InTheDarknessIsTheLight! Go say hi to her and read her stories, encourage her to get them done too ;) haha.