Hey! This is my first Fanfic so I would really appreciate reviews with constructive criticism! Oh, and I know this chapter's not very exciting, but trust me; this story is going to get very intense! Enjoy! :)

*Freddie's POV*

"Freddie, don't forget your rash ointment!", my neurotic mother called after me as I walked out my apartment door. I didn't even bother to point out that I am completely rash-free, because I was running late for my first day of my junior year at Ridgeway High School. I walked across the hall to my friend Carly's apartment. I was about to ring the doorbell when I was pelted in the head with a hard object.

"Ow!," I yelled, picking up the half-eaten apple that had hit me. I looked around, but there was nobody to be found. Just then, a familiar blonde jumped beside me, nearly giving me a heart attack.

"Sam!," I shouted, "wha'dya do that for?" But I knew that I wasn't going to get an answer. Sam swiped the apple from my hand, took a huge bite of it, and then proceeded to toss it down a nearby flight of stairs.

"So, Fredward, how was your summer?" asked Sam. This was the first summer that Carly, Sam, and I had spent apart. Carly had been visiting relatives in California, I went to a tech camp, and Sam stayed here.

To be honest, tech camp was pretty dull. Sure, I'd learned a lot of cool stuff to use for iCarly, and, yes, I got to avoid my hovering mother for the summer, but it wasn't all that exciting. However, for some reason I wanted to make it sound like I had a lot of fun.

"Oh, it was great! I learned awesome stuff! And I met so many awesome people. And there was this girl..." Pretty soon I found myself babbling on about how great my summer was. I really don't know why, but I wanted to impress Sam. I mean, my story wasn't a total lie. There really were girls. I just chose to leave out the fact that they all had glasses and/or braces, and the fact that most of our conversations consisted of "Where do I plug in the power generator?" or "How many megahertz are on this memory card?"

Sam just stood with her eyebrows raised as I told my story. After I finished she was silent. We stood awkwardly for a second, until Sam looked at her phone.

"Ugh, I guess we should start heading to school," said Sam, with an agonizing groan. School was her second least favorite thing in the world (after children). She reached under the doormat where the Shays hid their keys, and unlocked their apartment door.

"Carls, it's me and Freddork!," called Sam as she invited herself inside, followed by me.

"I'll be down in a second!" she shouted from upstairs. Knowing that Carly was likely doing her hair or choosing an outfit, we plopped onto the couch.

"Hey guys. I guess you're back to being permanently glued to my couch," said Carly's quirky older brother, Spencer, patting Sam on the shoulder and ruffling my hair, which had been neatly combed down, thanks to my mother. After their greetings, Spencer continued cooking the bacon and eggs taco that he had been working on, and Sam and I stared evenly at each other.

"So how was your summer, Puckett?" I asked.

"Oh it was great, " began Sam bitterly. "I worked for annoying, ungrateful people for minimum wage at The Groovy Smoothie, and stayed home watching my mom her new boyfriend makeout on our crappy couch, in our crappy apartment, in our crappy building."

I instantly felt bad about lying about my "fun time" at camp. I was about to try to comfort Sam when she immediately lightened her tone.

"I wasn't too bad though. I had a lot extra time since no one was in town..." Sam was trying to hide her feelings, but I wasn't convinced. I knew she would never admit how she felt though, so I kept the conversation light.

"And I'm assuming you used that extra time to do your summer homework, Ms. Puckett?," I asked jokingly, knowing fully that that would never happen. Sam snorted.

"I could never be that desperate!," she retorted laughing at the hilarity of my question. I noticed that as she laughed, she smiled very widely, showing off her straight white teeth. They made her whole face light up, and her blue eyes sparkle. They brought out the gold in her long curly hair. I subconsciously wondered why I was noticing this stuff about Sam. After a long time I decided that is was because of her teeth. Yes, that was it. Sam had very nice teeth. I was shaken from my thoughts when I heard a shrill scream.

"SAM!," Carly called as she tumbled down the stairs. Seconds later the pair hugged tightly. What happened next was a big blur.

"Omigosh your hair looks-"

"I know right! I thought it would make me look-"

"Oh, it totally does! How was-"

"California? It was awesome! How was your-"

"Suckish. My job was horrible. I really hate-"

"People? I know!"

Spencer and I exchanged a look, as the best friends caught up. To me it just sounded like sounded like a series of shrieks and "OMG!"'s. I sighed, knowing that I would never understand girls...

"Freddie!," Carly squealed, pulling me into a tight hug, "How was camp?" Sam looked at me with an expression that was almost challenging.

"Uh, we can talk about that later. We should probably leave for school, or we'll be late." Carly checked her watch and quickly grabbed her book bag.

"Oooh, you're right. Bye, Spencer!" The three of us walked out, and Carly and Sam began talking excitedly again. The girls hadn't changed much over the summer. Carly was still tall and lanky, but luckily shorter than me. Her wavy, blown-out brown hair was perfectly in place. She wore a denim skirt that showed of her long legs. Sam was pretty much the anti-Carly. Short and athletic, she was completely different from her best friend. Her curly hair was wild an untamed, yet it still suited her. Unlike Carly, Sam had not put much thought into her first day of school outfit, basic shorts and a tee shirt. Carly had a pink book bag full of patterned notebooks and color-coated folders, while Sam carried a few books, along with a can of spray cheese, in her hands.

When I was younger I had the hugest crush on Carly, but that was long gone. Or maybe I really never liked her to begin with. I couldn't really be sure, but all I knew is that Carly and I were just meant to be platonic friends.

When we arrived at school I could practically feel the excitement and jitters in the atmosphere. I easily spotted the incoming freshmen, as most of them were in a nervous frenzy. I just as quickly found the seniors, who were already taking advantage of their new-found power. Sam groaned, announcing for the hundredth time how much she hated people.

We all exchanged hugs and hellos with our friends and classmates. I could even tell Sam was enjoying seeing them again (although she'd never admit it.) I noticed that nearly every girl we talked to mention this "super-hot" new guy.

"Freddie! Sam! Carly! Hi!," called our jumpy friend, Jess. "Omigosh, you will not believe how hot this new junior is! He's so good looking and his hair is amazing and he's so tall and…" Most of what she said sounded like one huge run-on sentence and I began to tune her out, but I was getting interested in this. I mean, everyone was talking about him.

"Oh my God, here he comes now!," some girl called out. Within a split second of hearing this, nearly every girl in the hallway turned in that direction, with the exception of Sam who looked as though she couldn't care less if she tried. Then I heard a shriek from down the hall, and I knew the new guy had arrived.

I, along with most of the other guys in our school, hated to admit it, but this guy pretty much lived up to what every girl was saying about him.

"Carly, Sam, Freddie, hey!," he called- and that's when we all recognized him. The hot "new" guy that everyone was obsessing over was Gibby.

"Oh my gosh, that's Gibby!," Carly whispered to me. "But he's like…hot now!," she continued in surprise. We stood in shock over how much he changed in just one summer. He had grown at least half a foot and lost the last of his baby fat. He must've started working out, because he had become much broader and more intimidating. He also got a new haircut which, according to the girls, was "slightly tousled" and made his eyes pop.

"Hey Gibby," Carly answered in a not-so-subtle flirtatious tone, "How was your summer?" Sam and I exchanged a glance and rolled our eyes. We were interrupted by the bell before Gibby had a chance to answer, and Sam groaned- again. We parted for our homerooms and I walked away, still in shock. I mean, less than three months ago the guy was the weird chubby kid who had a strange penchant for taking off his shirt.

I was surprised once again that day, when I saw Sam as a walked in the door of my AP English class. Considering the fact that Sam was a self-proclaimed slacker, who hated any kind of work or thinking, I was definitely not expecting that.

"What are you doing here?," I asked Sam as I took a seat next to her, "You do realize that AP means extra work, right?"

"Yes, Benson I did realize that," she said sarcastically. "Trust me I thought it was a mistake too, but apparently they see 'untapped potential in me'," she continued smirking. Before I had time to further discuss this, class began. Our teacher Mrs. Rinske seemed really nice and interesting, but my attention was still on the feisty blonde sitting next to me drawing on her hand, who really stood out from the other students, who were already avidly taking notes.

It was only third period and already so much had changed. It made me wonder what was to come in my junior year…