iGet a Neighbor
"Here, pass the ball!" Carly yelled and Freddie threw the meatball right in Carly's baseball glove, almost making a nasty stain at the wall of the corridor. Sam caught up with her friends and signed she wanted the ball. Carly threw an almost perfect ball to her other friend who threw the ball with relative ease. Sam took the ball out of her glove and took a bite out of it.
"Sam!" Freddie and Carly yelled in disbelief.
"What?" Sam answered "You never learned it is bad to play with food?" taking another bite out of the meatball.
"Game crusher!" Freddie replied and he sat down looking right between the doors of his own apartment and the one of the Shay's. The irritation soon vanished from his face as it got replaced by a more wondering face. "Hey Carly, you ever wondered who lived over there?" pointing at the door next to Carly's.
"Ehm… Nobody lived there for ages," Carly told his boy-next-door. "Why?"
"I don't know," Freddie said standing up already, "just wondering."
"Guess we should start over again," Sam interrupted revealing that she totally ate their meatbaseball. Luckily for them she had one reserve in her pocket. "Hey, Fredweird!" she said, quickly throwing the new meatball right in his face. From his face the meatball bounced against the wall making it a bit little dirty.
"I've never been such a good pitcher," Sam said almost apologizing.
"I hope you're a good cleaner," a low voice went around the corner. It was Lewbert. He showed the trio a couple of buckets and sponges.
"Three buckets and sponges?" Sam asked.
"No for all one hundred seventy six stains you made all over the flat," Lewbert said.
"Oh!" the trio moaned, while taking one bucket and sponge from Lewbert each.
"Why isn't Freddie back yet?" Sam asked while rubbing over a stain in the corner.
"You threw his bucket filled with soap and water over his head," Carly remembered her, while rubbing a blot next to the one Sam was trying to remove.
"Oh yeah," Sam chuckled while continuing the rubbing.
"Natalie wait!" a male voice was heard in the hallway. Suddenly a girl of Carly's age ran around the corner at high speed.
"Oh no," Sam said calmly. The girl ran into Carly, who accidently lost grip of her bucket. The bucket made a loop in the air, throwing all three girls a little wet. Carly bumped into Sam making them both fall.
"Oh, I'm so sorry," the girl apologized. Carly studied the girl. She had black hair to her neck. She was wearing a sweater and skinny jeans.
"No prob." Carly replied.
"Speak for your self," Sam said
Two people came around the corner. They were clearly the girl's parents.
"Natalie, I told you not to run through the halls!" her mother said.
"We should have taken the elevator," her father complained.
The three left arguing.
"I'm back!" Freddie yelled at the two girls, before noticing they were both wet. "What happened to you?" he asked concerned.
"Long story," Carly said.
"Not worth telling," Sam added.
"I guess I'm gonna refill my bucket." Carly said awkwardly before taking her empty bucket and walking to the elevator.
Carly, Sam and Freddie entered the Shay-apartment. They were finally ready brushing the meat stains from the walls.
"Hello!" Carly said to Spencer.
"Hey kiddo!" Spencer replied, walking some drinks from the kitchen table to the main table. The trio noticed that Mrs. Benson was there too, sitting on the couch. Next to her sat a man and a woman, who looked very familiar to Carly and Sam. In the chair sat the girl who overran Carly. Carly, Sam and the familiar family looked up when they met each other.
"Hey, weren't you…" Carly started.
"You were the one who got overrun by our daughter," the mother said as she stood up.
"These are our new neighbors," Spencer said, introducing the family to Carly, Sam and Freddie.
"I am Ted," the father introduced himself followed by his wife Marian.
"You were Natalie, right?" Carly asked politely to the black-haired girl.
"That's right," Natalie answered, obvious still embarrassed what happened.
"I'm Carly," Carly said.
"And I'm Sam," Sam said while she shook Natalie's hand. She was obviously not really angered anymore about the accident in the hallway.
"And I'm Freddie," Freddie shook Natalie's hand, not really noticing that Natalie blushed a little.
"Hi, I'm Natalie," Natalie said in a little quieter voice. "Hey, aren't you the guys who make that iCarly web-show? I'm a big fan of the show." she asked just to change subject.
"Yep, that's us," Sam said.
"Oh that's so awesome. I always wanted to have famous friends, but this is so awesome," Natalie rattled. "Can I see the studio?" she asked eagerly, before she exclaimed a little yelp. Carly looked a moment from Sam to Freddie. Both didn't seem to have anything against it.
"Sure," Carly said, pushing the button on the elevator. The elevator appeared and the four entered it. In no-time the gang was in the studio.
"Ohhh!" Natalie screamed in excitement. "This is really it," she began dancing around in the studio.
"Watch out!" Freddie warned, but it was too late, she accidentally hit the tech cart making it fall down. Freddie quickly ran to the cart and raised it. Some cables fell off and the laptop too. "I'll fix it," he glared a moment at Natalie, who was startled by Freddie irritated face.
"I'm so sorry," Natalie said. Freddie removed his irritated face and traded it for a small smile. Somehow, he couldn't be mad at Natalie for too long, although he just met her. She was just too sympathetic.
"No worries, Natalie," Freddie comforted her, "but perhaps you… better leave, before you kill someone," he joked.
"I'm sorry," Natalie said, "but if I'll be very careful, can I stay a while, I promise I'll be careful."
"Eehm…" Carly said. "Sam and I were about to go shopping, so the only one who is available is Freddie. You can come with us if you want."
"If it's fine with Freddie, I'd like to stay here," Natalie said, hoping she wasn't revealing too much.
"That's fine with me," Freddie said kindly, "just take a seat," he said pointing to the heap of bean bags. "I'll be ready with this in no time."
Carly and Sam shrugged and left the studio. Freddie continued patching some cables and Natalie dropped herself in an orange bean bag. She took a good look around. In order to make Freddie work in peace, she tried to say as few as possible, causing a very silence. Her heart pounded faster when she realized that Freddie and she are alone in the studio. She tried to shake it off. She stood up again and walked across the studio, like it was a museum. Her gaze fell on a hammer which was stuck in the wall. She remembered the show where Spencer's hammer carousel almost got Carly killed. She took a step back at the thought.
"So," Freddie broke the silence. "That should be it. Hey, Natalie," He called her name?
"Yes," Natalie tried to keep her cool.
"Do you mind to help me test the camera?" Freddie asked.
"Yeah, sure," Natalie said, still trying to keep her cool. "That would be awesome."
"Okay, when I say two, you wait one second and then you begin, okay?"
"I'll be on iCarly?" Natalie almost jumped from excitement, but she remembered the first time she let herself go, so she tried to keep her cool again.
"Ready?" Freddie didn't really wait for answer. "In 5, 4, 3, 2."
Natalie waited a second and started.
"Hello there peeps!" Natalie greeted the camera. "Welcome to iCarly! I am Natalie Parker. Carly and Sam aren't here, but that doesn't mean we can't have fun. Let's start with the video where this guy eats a sandwich with a spoon!"
"And we're clear," Freddie said.
"What do you mean?" Natalie asked.
"Oh that means that the show ended," Freddie said. "I must say you're a talented host," he complimented and he awarded Natalie a smile. "Although, you don't know about technical terms like 'We're clear'" he pointed out. There was a brief silence, until Freddie got texted. It was Carly.
sam got herself kicked out of buildabra when she kicked the owner – no details - you mind coming to the grvsmt
"Hey, Natalie," Freddie called her name again. "You want to come along to the Groovy Smoothie,"
"You mean as…" Natalie answered, who didn't read Freddie's text.
"…as friends, yes." Freddie replied, not noticing Natalie's disappointed expression. "Sam and Carly would like that too."
Natalie recovered herself from being disappointed and went through the door Freddie already opened for her.
"What do you think?" Carly asked Sam. Freddie and Natalie didn't arrive yet.
"Of what?" Sam replied.
"You know," Carly answered, "Natalie and Freddie."
"What do you mean?" Sam asked.
"Isn't it obvious?" Carly answered again. "Natalie has a liking to Freddie,"
"Oh that," Sam said, "Well, somebody lacks taste."
The door of the Groovy Smoothie opened. Natalie and Freddie entered the Groovy Smoothie.
"Hey guys," Freddie said.
"Hello Freddie, Natalie," Carly said.
"Benson, Parker," Sam refered them to their last names.
"It's so nice you invited me along," Natalie said. "I can't believe it. First your house, then the studio, then hanging around with you guys, I'm so honored. I…"
Freddie interrupted her with calling her name in a rough way.
"We didn't invite…" Sam noted, but she got interrupted by Carly.
"Well, yeah…" Carly said. "We're neighbors after all,"
"Hey," Freddie tried to take the word, which surprisingly succeeded, "did you know Natalie is a very gifted host?"
"Really?" Carly looked interested, but Sam didn't seem to care. "How'd you know?"
"We tested the camera," Freddie explained, "I asked her to do something in front of her camera. I must say , I was impressed."
Sam gazed a moment to Carly. If she doesn't have the idea.
"Hey, why don't we try a web-cast with three hosts?" Carly suggested.
"No way!" Sam yelled as she stood up looking furiously. Carly, Natalie and Freddie looked up. "We don't know her a day, and you want her to join us?"
"We could try," Freddie suggested mostly to Sam.
"I don't believe you!" Sam yelled as she left the Groovy Smoothie.
Spencer was stirring his stuff. Gibby was looking at the rotating whisk.
"Whoa," Gibby commented. "That's gonna be awesome."
"Yep," Spencer replied, "This is gonna be a good stuff-cake."
Suddenly the door slammed open and in a second it slammed shut again. Sam stormed to the counter, took the bowl Spencer was whisking stuff in and drunk it empty.
"Sam?" Spencer asked surprised, while sitting on a stool and rested on the bar. Gibby already ran away. He was easily to scare by a furious Sam. Sam took another stool and sat at the other side of the bar. "What's wrong?"
"Carly and Freddie want Natalie to join iCarly," Sam said.
"They want to trade you for Natalie," Spencer didn't understand.
"No, they want Natalie to co-host next to Carly and me," Sam explained.
"Why is that so bad?" Spencer asked.
"Because…" Sam tries to explain, but she took a while to get a good reason. "We had a bond, between the three of us."
"You mean like Freddie and you?" Spencer almost laughed.
"Nobody bullies Freddie without my permission," Sam explained. "That would be stealing MY job."
"I still don't get it," Spencer admitted.
"I don't things want to…" Sam stopped a while.
"Change?" Spencer added to Sam's line. "You're afraid of change? Well, that's something. I haven't seen you scared before. Even when you hang on that glass cleaner lift."
"You don't like Natalie?" Spencer asked.
"Not as much as Carly, I think." Sam said. Spencer said nothing, but his eyes asked an obvious question. "I already explained the case with Freddie, okay?"
"So why don't you give her a change?" Spencer asked, "Carly and Freddie seem to like her, so she'll be here pretty often anyway. Perhaps you'll know her better by doing the show."
Sam smiled a little.
"Thanks, Spence," Sam said.
"It's okay, kid," Spencer said.
"Do I smell something?" Sam asked, while sniffing extra carefully.
"Oh no!" Spencer exclaimed. "My stuff-cake!" he opened the oven and took out the stuff-cake. Sam grabbed a hand out of it and tried to eat it. Then she took a good bite out of it.
"Hmmm…" Sam liked the cake. "Delicious!" She grabbed the cake and took off to the studio.
Carly, Natalie and Freddie entered the studio. Carly and Freddie were shocked Sam was there already sitting in beanbag.
"Sam?" Freddie asked, "Is that you? You know you're on time."
"Keep it together, Frednerd," Sam answered. "I'm just faster, admit it."
"No!" Freddie said to Sam.
"Hey Sam," Carly said, "Will you join us?"
Sam looked from Carly to Natalie and back. She smiled a little.
"Fine," Sam smiled. "I'll try."
"Okay, in 5, 4, 3, 2,"
"Hello there!" Carly greeted the viewers. "I'm Carly!"
"I'm Sam!" Sam introduced herself for the millionth time or something.
"And this is our new co-host:" Carly pointed at Natalie.
"Natalie!"
"Yep, that's right, we're with three now," Sam said. Freddie cleared his throat to get attention. "Okay, three-and-a-half."
"So, to introduce her," Carly announced "we ask her a few questions in the:"
"THE GIRL OF MANY QUESTIONS!"
"Natalie has to answer as many questions as possible in a minute." Carly explains. "For every question she answers, she gets one paint balloon."
"Yeah," Sam added. "And she can throw all those paint balloons at our good friend Nevel." She revealed a cotton board with a photo of Nevel.
"Are you ready, Natalie?"
"Yes I am" Natalie said.
Five minutes later…
"This is the last one, Nat!" Carly exclaimed.
"But Nevel is already completely blue!" Natalie noted.
"Yeah, she's fast." Sam replied. "Well, throw it at Freddie!"
"No way!" Natalie answered and she threw the balloon at Sam. She dodged, making the balloon splat in Carly's face.
"And that's iCarly for today," Sam said. "I am Sam!"
"I am Natalie!" Natalie said.
"And I am Blue Carly!" Carly exclaimed with a blue face.
"And we're clear," Freddie said after pushing some buttons.
"Natalie," Sam said, "I like your attitude,"
Carly smelled a change for Natalie to admit her love to Freddie.
"Tell me, Natalie." Carly said mysteriously. "Why didn't you want to hit Freddie with the balloon?"
"Eehh…" Natalie stumbled. "Wait! Is that my dad."
"I don't hear anything," Freddie said.
"That's definitely my dad. I gotta go. I see ya later. Dad! Coming!"
She stormed out of the studio, but she accidentally bumped into the cart, making it fall again.
"I'm so sorry, Freddie," she said as she stood up. "I have to go!"
"Of course you have," Sam said.
Natalie fled out of the studio. Carly and Sam smiled widely, while Freddie tried to put all cables at their place.
Sorry to all Gibby-fans. Next chapter iAm a Virtuoso will make up for his very brief appearance here.
Next Chapter Summary: iAm a Virtuoso
Spencer has bought a piano to make it a subject for his next statue. Although, when Gibby tries to play it he revealed himself to be a real virtuoso. He playing have weird calming effects on Sam and Natalie, though.