Chemistry Outside the Classroom
Chapter One
Carly Shay walks into her apartment at Bushwell Plaza with her recently steady study partner, Wendy, trailing behind her.
"Spencer?" Carly calls out, checking if her brother is home.
When a few seconds of silence follow she concludes he must be out on errands and motions for her guest to take a seat on the couch. They both toss their book bags on the empty cushion carelessly and sit back in a relaxed fashion.
"I hate study guides," Wendy comments, referring to the assignment they are planning to work on together.
"Me too. They take forever and then half the stuff is never on the real test."
"So true," Wendy replies while nodding her head.
Carly looks over at the table where the remote to the television is currently placed.
"Would you like to watch TV or something? I don't really feel like doing homework when we've only been out of school for a half hour," Carly explains.
"Sure, but I'll have to text my mom if I'm not going to be home by dinner."
Carly giggles and Wendy raises an eyebrow.
"What's so funny?"
"Your mom sends and receives texts? That's so weird," Carly insists.
Wendy shrugs.
"I guess we can't all be blessed with parents who are ignorant to technology. She has a Splash Face account too."
"Whoa, now that's crazy. But wait a minute...are we even friends on Splash Face?" Carly ponders, realizing they have started to blur the line between study buddies and potential friends.
"Oh, no, I don't think so. If you let me borrow your computer I can hop online and fix that real quick."
"Sure, then maybe we can look up some funny videos. Ever since we started doing iCarly I've noticed that what people post online can be much more exciting than the TV."
The girls get up from the couch and take seats in front of the counter that the computer sits on. Carly enters the security password then slides the keyboard over to Wendy so she can go onto her Splash Face account. Once she has logged in, she enters Carly's name into search and finds her so she can send the friend request.
"There we go. Now all you've gotta do is log in to accept and our friendship will be official," Wendy teases, mocking the hype over judging the value of a relationship based on social networking.
"Cool, so do you want to text your mom real fast?" Carly asks, just before they are interrupted by a knock followed by somebody barging through the front door.
Carly sees Wendy take out her phone from the corner of her eye as she turns to acknowledge Sam, the culprit who has just arrived.
"Where were you after school? You had detention again, didn't you?" Carly points a finger accusingly.
"Yeah, but this time it really wasn't my fault. Rodney took back on a deal and needed to be taught a lesson," Sam defends.
"Why would you do business with somebody that everyone calls 'rip-off' in the first place," Wendy chimes in.
Sam turns her gaze to Wendy, having failed to pay attention to her presence previously.
"Sometimes it's just convenient. Besides, didn't I see you buy something from him last week?"
Wendy's expression clearly shows guilt.
"I had a test the next period and I really needed an eraser," she confesses.
Wendy's phone vibrates on the counter and she picks it up, knowing the text is a response from her mom. While she types a message into her phone, Sam squeezes into the space between the two girls and peeks at the comments Carly is reading for iCarly on the screen.
"I don't have to be home until eight," Wendy tells them, putting her phone back in her pocket.
"How about we go get smoothies?" Carly suggests, taking her attention away from the website.
"Mama sure could use some blended fruit," Sam declares.
"I'm in," Wendy agrees.
The trio heads out the door together, temporarily kicking homework to the back of their minds.