A/N:
Hi everyone!
Dwyn Arthur here. This story, whose title is in fact "Summer of Love," is co-authored with TheWrtrInMe. The story appears in its entirety under her account. We've placed all of our co-authored stories in her account, so they are easier to find, favorite, place alerts on, and so on.
So go over there and read on. What, you need more convincing? Okay, then, here's the opening to the first chapter, "Until Then." When you're done, I know you'll be headed right over to TheWrtrInMe to read the remainder.
And while you're at it, follow us on Twitter, where we discuss our stories and other Seddie-related news: (at) DwynArhur.
Dwyn Arthur and TheWrtInMe
Disclaimer: iCarly and its characters are trademarks of Schneider's Bakery and Viacom. We don't own them, but then again, we don't have to worry about deadlines or censors! (But we … occasionally … write as though we did.)
Chapter 1: Until Then
Pandemonium. That was the only way to describe it.
The halls of Ridgeway High School were echoing with the ecstatic cries of several hundred students, celebrating their release to three months of freedom as the final bell of the year rang out. The floors were littered with the contents of their lockers as they rushed to clean them, anxious to exit the school doors and begin their summer.
All around, groups of kids huddled together, swapping gossip, making plans, and reminiscing over the school year's highlights. And two people in particular were cause for conversation.
Sam Puckett and Freddie Benson.
They'd all watched with thinly veiled amusement for three years as Sam and Freddie took every opportunity to torment each other. Then they'd all watched with open suspicion as things between the two of them began to change. But no one had been prepared for what they'd witnessed at prom last month. Sam Puckett – in a dress no less, had taken the stage and wowed them all with her rendition of Adele's 'Make You Feel My Love'. It was impressive, to put it lightly, but the fact that she'd actually dedicated it to Freddie and then kissed him – right in front of everyone, well that elevated the incident to historic levels. Yep, that was one prom no one was going to forget anytime soon.
Since then the students had watched, most with disbelief, some with curiosity and a few with outright jealousy, as Sam and Freddie became a real, live couple – complete with public displays of affection. Rip-off Rodney had organized a school wide bet on how long it would last. Most had put their money on days, a few were a bit more optimistic and put the expiration date at weeks. But no one had expected it to last this long; over a month and, from the looks of it, not likely to end anytime soon.
Sam had never been happier to be rid of a place. This school year had been exhausting, full of the kind of drama that, she hoped, only happened in high school. She'd begun the year a single girl with a wicked appetite, a penchant for violence, a beautiful best friend who she loved like a sister and a nerdy nemesis who she barely tolerated. She still had the appetite, the violent streak and the best friend, but now she was decidedly un-single and she and her nerdy nemesis spent much more time kissing than fighting. In short, Samantha Puckett was in love, with Freddie Benson no less – a fact that no one in this academic prison could seem to quit talking about.
Just as she had feared when she and Freddie were taking their first tentative steps toward being together, the students at Ridgeway had taken their new status as a couple as an invitation to make their private lives very public property. It was partly her fault, since she had publicly declared her love for the nub at the most important high school social event of the year. And she had, in a jealous rage, attempted to claw the face off of the most popular (and gossip worthy) girl in the school. And she was the co-star of a pretty popular web show, which in itself left her open to public opinion and scrutiny. But she had hoped that after a few weeks the public interest would die down. Oh how wrong she had been.
Even now, standing at her locker attempting, half-heartedly, to clean it out while Freddie (who had, of course, already finished cleaning his) stood by fiddling with his pearPhone, she could hear people making comments as they walked past.
"Aww! You guys are so totally cute together!"
She didn't even bother to turn around and see who the compliment had come from. She rolled her eyes and tossed an empty FatCake wrapper over her shoulder – hoping it hit whoever was talking squarely in the face.
"Sam…"
She glanced over at Freddie and tried to turn her face into a mask of innocence.
"What?"
"You did that on purpose."
Sam turned in time to see a girl, whose face she didn't recognize, glaring at her, one hand covering her eye as her friends, who were also glaring, helped her walk away.
"Mhyeh…she was bugging me!"
Freddie laughed and walked over to where Sam stood, hands on her hips in defiance. Say what you wanted about Sam Puckett, but life with her was never dull.
"What… you don't think we're like 'so totally cute together'?" Freddie laughed, wrapping his arms around her waist.
"Freddie" she warned, attempting in vain to pull away as he leaned in toward her lips, "people are going to think we're putting on a show"
"Let 'em watch" he said, pulling her back to him. She smiled against his lips. She wasn't the only one who had changed. Fredward Benson, he of the overprotective mother, tick baths and unfailing good manners, had developed a bit of a bad ass streak lately. Here they were, making out in plain sight, in direct violation of the school handbook, and she was the one trying to stop.
She'd never get used to this. The way it felt to have his arms around her. The way his lips felt against hers. The way he could reduce her to fits of seriously embarrassing girlishness. The way being with him, close to him like this, made her feel…things; things that were wonderful and terrifying all at once. It was like being on a roller coaster that never ended. His body was pressed flush against hers as she leaned against her locker. His right arm looped around her waist, and she was grateful for the support; after a kiss like this, her knees were more than a little weak.
The sounds of laughter and conversation around them brought her, reluctantly, back to reality. This slightly confusing tug-of-war was getting irritating. She was really trying, for Freddie's sake, not to be so weird about being together in front of these Ridgeway weirdos, but she couldn't help it. Sure, most people were pretty supportive, they oo'ed and ahh'ed and told her how lucky she was to be with Freddie who had admittedly turned into something of a hottie in the last year. But some of the comments were flat out rude. She'd heard that Rip-Off Rodney was even taking bets on how long they'd make it. At that revelation she'd been immediately wished she still had the butter sock. But Freddie hated the butter sock. And as good as things were between them right now, she didn't want to push her luck by beating the snot out of someone right in front of him. He preferred Mama's softer side…a side he was enjoying a bit too much at the moment.
Freddie's lips moved from hers and began to trace light kisses up her neck to the spot behind her ear. The spot he knew made her weak, and generally agreeable to extending the kissing indefinitely – no matter who was watching.
"Seriously you guys…are you ever going to give it a rest?"
A/N 2: Remember, you can read the continuation of this chapter, and the rest of "Summer of Love," in my co-author's account: TheWrtrInMe.