"Stupid lock-in. Why did you have to volunteer us to come to this thing?" grumbled Sam as she was tugged along the corridor by Carly.
"Come on. Its gonna be fun!" replied the brunette.
"Fun? You call being locked in a school overnight fun? Fredcheese is really rubbing off on you!" Sam looked at her friend in disbelief.
"Fredcheese?" Freddie had approached the pair unnoticed. He seemed impressed by Sam's talent of producing an unrelenting amount of original nicknames for him.
Carly ignored Freddie's arrival and continued talking to the blonde, "Look, it is actually one of the high points of the year. Everyone is out to pull some sort of prank and the teachers are usually rather lenient."
"Soooo, we're allowed to prank?" An evil smile appeared on Sam's face.
"Yeah, within reason," replied Carly.
Sam turned to Freddie, "You better look out dork cause I'm gonna get you. Maybe not in the hallway, maybe not in the cafeteria, but I'm gonna get you."
Freddie gulped. "Carly, some help please?" At the same time he felt the sense of déjà vu. For some reason those words sounded familiar and brought back memories.
Carly looked at the tech producer, "Sorry Freddie but you're fair game." She then turned to Sam and gave her instructions, "Please don't kill Freddie." With that, Carly left her two friends in her wake as she walked down the hallway.
"Can't gurantee anything Carls. See you later," Sam called after her. Freddie hastily left to seek refuge.
...
Principal Franklin sat in his office contented with the way the lock-in had gone so far. Yes, the staff usually let the students get away with the occasional prank, but most of them knew there were limitations. He remembered the first time the annual Ridgeway Lock-In started. He was a student. The then principal opened it only to juniors to volunteer to remain in the school overnight to help prepare the gymnasium for Founders Day, the day the school was opened. It quickly turned into a prank-fest for the students. He was glad the tradition carried out till today. The pranking had been harmless so far. One boy now has blue hair while another had his locker superglued shut.
He was disturbed from his thoughts by Miss Briggs rushing into his office closely followed by Mr. Howard. "Principal Franklin, come quick, someone choked up the teachers toilet. Now there's water everywhere."
"This pranking has gone too far! Tell the janitor to sort the mess and get everyone in the auditorium."
"No need. This has Puckett written all over it," stated Mr. Howard.
"Now let's not jump to conclusions. Everyone is innocent until found guilty. Just gather everyone and I'll handle it from there."
"Fine," grumbled Miss Briggs, as she followed Principal Franklin out the door.
...
Ten minutes later, the handful of students that volunteered for the lock-in had gathered in the auditorium. The principal stood on stage and addressed them, "Now kids, by now most of you have probably heard of what has happened to the teacher's lounge…"
He was cut off by loud cheering.
"Now quiet down!" he ordered. The students immediately complied. Principal Franklin continued, "Thank you. Now I know that the tradition for the lock-in is for the students to pull the occasional prank but this is taking it a little too far. Would the person responsible please meet me in the office afterwards. I promise you, who ever it is, that I would be lenient if you own up now. That is all. You can go back to what you were doing"
Everyone looked at Sam as they exited the auditorium.
Sam looked confused. "Why is everyone looking at me? I didn't do nuthin."
"Uh, Sam, that prank screams you!" Freddie told her.
"But I didn't do it!"
Freddie elbowed her gently. "Whatever. Just confess and get it over with."
"I'm telling you nub, it wasn't me!" Sam insisted. She punched him in the shoulder for good effect.
Freddie looked her in the eye and studied her for a second. For some odd reason he believed her. "Well then go tell Principal Franklin it wasn't you. I'm sure you're at the top of the list anyways." He then eyed her skeptically, "Where were you by the way?"
Sam smirked. "That's for me to know and you not to! Later Fredamamme." She walked off to somewhere not in the direction of the principal's office.
"Later, Puckett."
...
The iCarly co-hosts stood by their lockers chatting when Carly noticed Freddie talking with their new intern. "Hey, look, it's Brad!"
Sam looked in the same direction. "Oh yeah, it's Fudgeboy!"
Carly looked at her blonde friend and shook her head, "Sam, be nice. It's not nice to call people names especially our new intern."
Sam continued looking at the two males. "Fine. But the boy does make a mean fudge and he's not to shabby either. Why is he talking to Nub-face?"
"He and Freddie are in the AV club together." Carly noticed her friend staring at the boys, "Oh my gosh, you're like totally checking him out!"
"Who?"
"Brad!"
Sam looked at her friend as if she were a crazy person. "No I'm not. Just stating the obvious."
"Well you haven't looked away since we noticed him and your cheeks are all red," Carly countered. Sam's cheeks grew even redder.
Sam became defensive, "Can it Shay! You do not know what you're talking about." They stared at each other when suddenly Carly started looking a little too happy. "What's with the weird look?" Sam asked.
"I know you love Brad!"
"No!"
"Admit you love him," Carly persisted.
"No!" insisted Sam.
"Why not?"
"Because I don't!"
Carly refused to accept that answer because she knew her friend better than anyone. "I know you do! Go talk to him!" she ordered.
"You go talk to him… I have better things to do."
"Like what?"
"Sleep. Later Shay!" Sam made her escape from her insane friend.
Carly looked at Sam as she walked off. She decided that if her bone-head of a friend wasn't going to do anything, she would have to do it for her. She needed some more info. "Hey guys!" she called as she walked over to Freddie and Brad.
Freddie looked at her. "Hey Carls,"
"Hey, what's up?" said Brad.
Carly ignored Freddie and faced the intern, "Nuthin. Um, Brad, is Sam treating you okay?"
"Yeah, totally. She's pretty cool even though she's always hitting me up for fudge. Where is she at?" He looked about the hallway for Sam.
Carly waved her hand in the general direction where she last saw her friend, "Around somewhere. Let me ask you something, do you have a girlfriend?"
Brad frowned, "No why?"
"Just wanted to know. Are you interested in anyone currently?"
Brad's frown deepened, "No why?"
"No reason. Blondes or brunettes?"
Now he just looked confused. "Uh?" He was definitely confused.
"Blondes or brunettes?"
"Blondes?" He didn't understand the question and didn't even want to know. Carly looked as if she wanted an answer, no matter what.
Carly smiled, satisfied with the answer. "Good to know."
Brad decided that it was high time he got out of there before things got weirder. "Okay then… anyways I got to go… Fred, I'll check you later."
"Cool man," Freddie called out to the retreating intern. He turned to face Carly, "Okay Carly, what is with the weird questions?"
"Sam is in love with Brad!" she stated excitedly.
"WHAT!" Freddie exclaimed. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"You heard me! Now I need your help."
"Doing what?"
"Getting them together," stated Carly as if it was so obvious.
"But I don't wanna!" pouted Freddie.
"You're doing it and that's that!" Carly ordered before walking off.
...
Freddie walked along the corridor thing back to what had just happened. Sam is in love with Brad. HIS Sam is in love with Brad. He could not believe it, no matter how many times he said it to himself. Now Carly want help to set up HIS Sam with their new intern! He felt a twisting in his stomach and wanted to throw up. He felt sick. He looked up and saw his Principal walking towards him and decided to talk to him about what Brad and himself came up with. "Principal Franklin, can I speak to you for a moment?"
He smiled at his student. "Sure Freddie, how can I help?"
"Actually, it's how I can help you!"
Principal Franklin suddenly became serious. "Do you know who pulled the prank?"
"No, but I think I have a way to find out how."
The principal frowned. "How?"
"Well I have this new app on my Pearphone called 'Love Monkey' that checks a person pulse rate when asked a question about love and it tells you if that person is in love or not," began Freddie.
"Why do we want to find out if students are in love?" asked Principal Franklin, not knowing where this was going.
"Well it works in the same principle as a lie detector test by measuring how the subject's pulse responds to questions. I could adapt it to find out who did the prank," explained Freddie.
"Sounds far fetched, but at this point I'll try anything. How long to you need?"
"I just have to sync my phone to the laptop and we'll be ready. Say about 10 minutes."
Principal Franklin nodded. "Fine. You get ready and I'll assemble everyone."
...
The students proceeded to classroom 13 as directed by Principal Franklin where a 'plan underway to catch the perpetrator' was to be under taken. They all were confused as to what lay waiting for them.
Carly spotted a familiar figure in the mix. "There you are. I've been looking all over for you!"
"And I've been hiding from you!" Sam retorted.
Carly pulled her friend aside for some privacy. "So, are you going to talk to Brad?"
Sam folded her arms and stared at her friend. "No."
"Don't you want a nice boyfriend?"
Sam continued staring, hoping that Carly would back down. When she saw this wasn't going to happen, she let out a deep breath, "Yeah but-"
"No buts. Go for it. Make a move," encouraged Carly.
Sam rolled her eyes. "Whatever." She pulled the brunette to the classroom hoping to put an end to the conversation.
As they entered the classroom, Carly noticed two empty seats next to Brad. She sat in the one further from him and gestured for Sam to sit in the middle. Sam rolled her eyes and shook her head at her friend's not too subtle attempts to set her up. She sat between the two but was saved from starting any conversation with Brad when Principal Franklin entered the classroom.
"Okay. In order to try to get to the bottom of this situation, Mr. Benson has come up with an idea to find out who the perpetrator is-"
"Nub," muttered Sam.
"- and by popular demand by the faculty, we are going to start with Ms. Puckett," said the Principal.
Freddie looked at his friend as she got up then sat in the test chair. He took the Pearphone, activated the app and strapped it to Sam's wrist. "Okay Sam the first couple questions are to test the machine. I want you to tell the truth to one and lie for the other."
"Whatever dork," Sam deadpanned.
"Is you name Sam?"
She rolled her eyes once more, obviously bored. "Yes."
Freddie looked at the computer screen. Satisfied with the response he continued. "Are you blonde?"
Sam knew she had to lie now. "No."
"You're in love!" screamed the computer with a high-pitched female voice.
Sam jumped up. "What the hell was that?"
"Relax. That was you lying," Freddie reassured her.
"Well it's stupid! Let's get this thing over with."
Freddie proceeded with the questioning. "Did you pull the prank in the teacher's lounge?"
"No." No response from the computer.
"Do you know who did it?"
"No." Again, no response from the computer.
Freddie continued with the questioning. "Are you happy that the prank was done?"
"Hell yeah!" Sam exclaimed which was met with some chuckles from the classroom.
Freddie turned to face his Principal "Well that's about it. She's telling the truth Principal Franklin."
"Wait! I have one more question!" shouted Carly.
"What is it?" asked Sam and Freddie at the same time. Sam scowled at the boy who quickly looked down at his laptop.
Carly smirked then asked, "Are you in love with a certain someone from the AV club?"
Sam stared at the tech-producer with an expressionless face. "No."
"You're in love!" Freddie immediately looked up at Sam. Their eyes locked for a moment before she looked away.
"Stupid machine," she complained as she took of the strapping and threw the phone across the room. "I'm gone. See ya!"
Freddie felt gutted as he watched her exit. It was true. She was in love with Brad.
...
Carly entered the cafeteria, where Freddie was waiting for her. "Did you find her?" she asked.
He pointed over his shoulder. "Yeah, she's in the back alley."
"Good. You keep her there and I'll get Brad." She turned to leave.
Freddie looked at her, "Did I tell you how much I hate this plan?"
Carly spun around. "Yup." She frowned. "Don't you want to see Sam happy?"
Freddie looked down at his feet. "Yeah, but I kinda pictured it with someone else."
"Who?"
Freddie looked up at his neighbour. "It does not matter now. She's in love with Brad."
Carly looked puzzled as she walked away. "Uh… okay. Well go distract her. I'll be back."
Freddie exited the cafeteria into the alley. Sam turned and looked at him. She gave him half a smile. "Picked the lock?" he asked.
"Yup." The boy knew her so well. She tore her eyes away from him and looked up at the night sky.
Freddie stood there studying her. He wanted her so badly but he had to face the reality that she loved someone else. Bottomline, he just wanted her to be happy, even if it meant it was without him. "What are you doing out here all by yourself?"
"Hiding from that nutcase I call a best friend." She looked at him again.
Freddie chuckled. "Well that nutcase and I just want you to be happy." They gazed into each other's eyes, a rare silence developed between them. Freddie took a deep breath, "I know it's scary for you to put your feelings out there, because you never know if the person you like is going to like you back. But you never know what might happen."
"Like you did with Carly?"
Freddie shrugged his shoulders. "I admit I may have gone a little psycho chasing Carly but, you may not know this, I got over Carly a while now."
"Really?" said a surprised Sam.
"Yeah. I guess falling for the girl living next door was too cliché. I started getting over her and started falling for someone else. And did I fall hard!"
"Who is she?"
"Doesn't matter now."
Sam flicked him on the forehead. "So why don't you follow your own advice and tell this mystery girl how you feel."
"It's too late for me. I found out from Carly today that my dream girl loves someone else. I waited too long. Don't make the same mistake I did. Take a chance. Tell Brad how you feel."
Sam look confused. "Brad?"
"Yeah."
Sam grunted. "How many times to I have to tell you guys, I don't-"
Knock, knock. The door opened and Carly peeked outside. "Hey Sam, can I see you for a minute?"
"Damn it. She found me." Freddie laughed quietly at her statement. Sam left him outside and joined her friend in the cafeteria. She saw their intern standing quietly at the side. "What's Brad doing here?" she asked Carly.
"Just talk to him, tell him how you feel," encouraged the brunette.
"Carly!" Sam exclaimed. She could not believe that her friend would be so persistent in setting her up. Carly gently pushed the blonde towards Brad.
"Hey Sam, Carly told me you wanted to tell me something?"
Carly walked to the door, switched off the lights and told the couple in a suggestive tone, "I'm not coming back!"
Enough was enough. That was the last straw. Sam decided that it was time to set the record straight and put that loon named Carly in her place. "Hold it there Shay!" Carly stopped in her tracks and looked at her friend. Sam turned to Brad, "Look, Carly here thinks that I'm in love with you but I'm not. Sorry."
Brad shrugged his shoulders, "That's okay, I'm not interested anyway." Sam breathed a sigh of relief.
Carly was confused. "But… I thought… what's going on?"
Sam looked at her friend square in the eye. "Look. You're right. I do love someone. I don't know how he feels but I'm going to take a chance."
Freddie stood in the back alley beating himself up. He had his chance and he didn't take it. Now she was going to profess her love to Brad, they're going to date and get married and have kids and grow old together, while he would be left all alone. He heard the door creak open. Great! Here they come to announce themselves to the world, to tell all of their love for each other and blah blah blah. He kept his back to the door.
"Freddie?"
He turned around, dreading the inevitable. He saw her standing alone. "Sam! That was quick! How did it go with Brad?"
"I don't love Brad," she stated.
"But Carly said-"
She cut him off. "Carly was wrong about Brad and should mind her own business." She saw the surprise on Freddie's face and what else was that she saw? Was that relief? Was Freddie relieved that she doesn't love Brad? Was it even possible? Did she stand a chance? It was now or never. She took a deep breath and slowly approached him. "But she was right. I am in love."
"Really? Who?" asked Freddie nervously. There was a growing swelling in his throat as she approached. His heart raced and found it difficult to breathe. Was it even possible? Did he even stand a chance?
She was now mere inches away from him. The tension between them was thick as they studied each other. Without warning and with great speed, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips firmly on his. He was caught off guard initially but responded in same while gently resting his arms around her waist. The kiss deepened until she suddenly pushed him away. She took a couple of steps backwards, but refused to look at him. They stood in awkward silence.
"I guess you love me?" he asked eventually.
She looked up at him and glared. It took him long enough to figure it out. "Yes you idiot! Look I know that you said that you're in love with someone-"
"Sam." He tried to interrupt her. He stepped towards her but she backed off.
"- and I know you could never love me-" she continued.
"Sam." He tried again to get her attention, but failed.
"- but I just wanted to get it off my chest."
"SAM!" he shouted. She immediately stopped rambling.
"WHAT?" she demanded. How dare he interrupt her when she finally grew the courage to reveal her deepest of feelings.
"I love you too! Now just shut up a kiss me!" he ordered.
She looked at him unsure of what had just happened. "You love me?"
Freddie chuckled. "Yes. Now kiss me damn it!"
He walked up to her, put his hands on her cheeks and held her face just in front of his. "I love you," he whispered, before locking lips with her.
...
Carly stood at the window in the cafeteria looking on at all that had transpired. All she could have said was, "Oh my gosh!"
Thanks for reading. Please review. Can't wait for iOMG. Hope it's all that I hope it would be!
Will continue other stories once I complete my self imposed sabatical to finish some studies.
Peace, Love, Seddie.
From Turtle