Sorry about the extended hiatus guys. I've had a lot of things going on. But, I'm back with another one shot in my narrative. I hope you enjoy it and please review. Also, I know I jump around my timeline a lot and unless you've read the other stories it can be a bit confusing. Bear with me. I like telling stories that way because instead of simply wondering how it ends it begs questions about how it got to that end. When I'm done the timeline will be completely filled out. Until then please read the other stories. They are all connected.
iSuppose One More Couldn't Hurt
I could hear sirens in the distance. I was out of breath and my legs were on fire. I had been running for so long I almost forgot what I was running from. Just a little further, I thought to myself. I approached an alley way and ducked in. I hugged the wall as I tried to take more air into my lungs. The cold night air made my throat sting and my chest ache. Even though every part of me needed more rest I started to run again. I approached the exit of the alley on the opposite side.
"Good, no cops." I said aloud.
I slowed my jog to a walk and pulled the hood of my sweatshirt unto my head. I could feel the cold breeze dry the sweat on my body and it gave me goose bumps. It was a relatively still night and the Seattle streets looked like a photograph. I wondered to myself, if someone was to take a picture of this snapshot in time, what would be there interpretation of my presence. Would they ask what an eighteen year old girl was doing on the streets on that cold winter night or would they look upon me with indifference? I walked past a bank and the time on the scrolling billboard read 1:42. Wow it's late, I thought. I needed to get home, but the cops were between me and anyplace safe. I decided that the best thing to do was to find 24 hour diner and lay low until the heat was off. I made a right turn on the next block bound for Beth's Café, but even the best laid plans go wrong.
"FREEZE! Up against the wall."
"Shit!" Is all I could say as I began to hyper-ventilate.
I was no stranger law enforcement, but I knew this was really bad. This wasn't supposed to go down this way. It was just supposed to be one last time. Just one final score before graduation. Although my intentions were illegal, my actions were not. I showed up late and the alarm was already going off. The smart thing to do would have been to keep walking but I lingered far too long. For once in my life I was innocent. As I was being handcuffed, I wondered how I would prove it. I thought about Carly. I thought about our show. But most of all, my thoughts were on Freddie. What would he think of this? I knew I had let him down.
It wasn't a particularly special day at school. In fact the only thing worth reporting was the cold temperatures. It was roughly three weeks until graduation and a week before prom. As most mornings, Freddie gave me a ride. We arrived and walked through the double doors. We greeted a few people and stopped to loiter a bit. Carly approached with a big smile on her face.
"Sam, please tell me that you have picked out a dress."
"Yeah I picked one."
"Which one? No. Don't tell me. You want it to be a surprise for Freddie. Right?"
"Sure I guess, but doesn't he need to know the color so we can match?"
"Yeah, but you can tell him later"
"I love how you guys talk about things as if I'm not here." Freddie said jokingly.
Freddie leaned in and kissed me and headed off to class. Carly headed the other direction to her first period class. I suppose it's time for me to do the same, I thought. Just as I was about to walk off Wendy approached.
"What's up Sam?"
"Oh nothing much. I just gotta get to class. See ya."
"Wait, I have a proposition for you."
"That's ok. You can tell me later. I need to go."
"You could make at least a thousand bucks."
"I'm listening." I said as I quickly turned around.
I knew that I needed to pay for my prom dress and money wasn't exactly laying around for me at that time. Anything that could help me was welcome. Almost anything.
"Well, my cousin works at the Pear Store and he told me that they have some extra PearPhones."
"Ok, so what? They have extra phones. How does that make me a thousand dollars?" I said confused.
"If we liberate those phones from the Pear Store, we can resale them and get 100% profit."
"Are you freakin' crazy? If we get caught, were going to be in serious trouble. I'm not talking about juvie; I'm talking about real jail."
"Aw Sam, you're being overdramatic. It's not like we're even breaking the law that much. The phones are going to written off of their ledger as lost anyway."
"Not breaking any laws? In order to get to the phones we would have break an entering. No, there is no way I'm going to help you do this."
"Fine Sam. Suit yourself but don't tell anybody."
"Of course. I would never snitch."
As I walked to class, I thought about how I had spent most of my life in trouble and I knew how the system viewed burglary. I also knew I wanted no part in this little adventure. It had been several years since the last time I was arrested. I credited Freddie and Carly with helping me finally change. My grades where a lot higher than before and in certain classes they were even higher than theirs. In shocking turn of events, I got into college. We all were accepted to the University of Washington. I was certain iCarly had something to do with it, but I was happy regardless.
The school day ended and I was off to meet Carly at the dress shop, so we could view our dresses. Carly beat me there and was overjoyed when I walked in.
"Sam, you have to show me your dress right now." She said with eager anticipation.
"Ok, Its right back here."
We walked towards the back of the store where the reserved dresses were. The saleslady disappeared into a door briefly, and then returned with my selection. It was a purple form-fitting dress and I was actually excited about wearing it.
"It's beautiful Sam." Carly said with a gasp.
"Thanks, Carls"
The woman retrieved Carly's dress moments later and we went to try them on. For the last several days I was wondering why Carly was acting even more excited about life than normal. It was pleasant but a little strange. I wondered if there was a special reason for it and decided to ask while we were changing.
"Hey Carly, what's up with the super sunny you lately?"
"I thought you would never ask. I was going to tell you and Freddie after graduation but I just can't keep it in anymore."
"Well go ahead and spill it kiddo."
"Ok, here it goes…. I got a job on a pilot and we start filming in July. I'm leaving for L.A. in June right after graduation." Carly said with an effervescent tone.
I stood there shocked by what I just heard. Carly and I had been friends for as long as I could remember. We did everything together. Our friendship had survived everything including a near death experience and love triangle. Immediately I began to wonder if it could survive long distance. An ache developed in the pit of my stomach, but I knew that the right thing to do was be supportive. She had always been supportive of me. Well, almost always.
"That's great Carly. How did this happen and what are you going to do about school?"
"Thanks Sam. Do you remember years ago when we got that offer to do iCarly as an actual television show?"
"Yes, that ended in disaster. Don't tell me you're gonna work with them again."
"Well, that studio was bought out by another studio and all of those people are gone. They have made a lot of changes to their TV lineup and they want me for a new show."
As Carly finished telling me about her new endeavor the saleswoman checked our dresses for flaws and rang us up. I pulled out my debit card to pay and handed it to the clerk to swipe. I was still listening to Carly going on about her new show when the sales woman leaned over the counter and whispered.
"Ms. Puckett, there seems to be a problem with your card."
"What?" I said confused and a little embarrassed.
"It was declined. I ran it three times."
"Ok thank you. Can you give me a second to check my balance?"
The saleswoman nodded and I stepped away from the counter and Carly, to check my account balance on my phone. I had been saving for months for this dress and knew I had well over one thousand dollars in the bank. I logged in to the website and immediately a wave of anger and despair swept over me. The balance read 200.64 cents. I thought to myself that it must have been a mistake, so I re-logged in and it had the same balance listed. Angry, I called the bank to ask what was going on. The phone teller proceeded to tell me that recently 900.00 had been withdrawn. I asked him who withdrew the money even though I already knew who it was. He confirmed that my mother had withdrawn it and I was so angry I wanted to take a baseball bat and everything in sight. But, I quickly found that I was not as angry at mom for stealing my money as I was at the idea of not being able to by my dress. It just wasn't fair. I felt like it didn't matter if I did the right thing or not I was always going to eventually lose. Soon my anger gave way to sadness and felt myself began to cry, so I quickly said my goodbyes to Carly and made my way out of the shop. My thoughts were a jumbled mess and for the first time in a long time I found myself tempted to do something that I knew I shouldn't. "Wendy said I could make over one thousand dollars if I helped her." I said out loud. I pulled my cell phone out and stared at it intently. As I cycled through the numbers I thought about how no one could help me in this situation. I couldn't burden Freddie with asking to help me pay and honestly I was a little mad at Carly. She was leaving and wasn't going to even tell me until after we graduated. It was time me to take care of business like I used to. I arrowed down to Wendy's number and paused for a moment and said "I guess one more couldn't hurt." Then I pressed the call button with confidence. Wendy answered with a simple.
"Hey Sam."
"I'm in." I said with tough girl bravado.
"Good I will email you the details."
"No, are you stupid?" I said. "You can't do anything like that; they will be able to track it. I will meet you a block away from the Pear Store at 12:30 a.m. If we do this we do it my way."
"Ok, ok Sam. You're the boss."
I hung up the phone and continued to walk back to my house. The sun was shining but it was windy and freezing. I reached into the pocket of my hoodie to get my sun glasses to block both the sun and wind. While I was rummaging through looking for them I found a piece of paper. I pulled it out and read it. Have a good day, Love Freddie was written in cursive on the little piece of paper. I cracked a smile and thought about how nice it was going to be next fall in college with him. I forgot momentarily that I was going to take part in a crime that night. I snapped back to reality and thought about the last time I was arrested. Freddie came to see me in jail. It was shortly after we began going out. He was disappointed and made it clear that he wanted me for me but if I continued my criminal activities he didn't think we could make it as a couple. Even without Freddie, I knew I was going to have to stop getting into trouble. He just gave me extra incentive to stop. But I was painted into corner by my circumstances and its proven that when you back a person into the corner they'll fight to get out. "I'm sorry Freddie, but I gotta do what I gotta do." I said as I made it home. I had homework, but I opted to take a nap before tonight's operation. I walked past my mother who was asleep on the couch and didn't say anything about her taking my money. I crashed onto my bed and put my phone on silent. As I drifted off to sleep the last thought I had was about how this was the last time was going to do anything like this.
I awoke to see ten missed calls on my phone. Two were from Freddie, two were from Carly and six were from Wendy. Wendy had also sent a text saying WE'RE GOING RIGHT NOW. I panicked. I needed that money so I jumped up stripped out of my school clothes and quickly pulled my black jeans, hoddie, boots and gloves on. I grabbed my cell phone and pocket knife on the way out of the house. My mother was awake and preparing to go on a date. She said something as I flew out the door, but I didn't hear her or care. I hit the sidewalk and was almost stopped in mid step by the arctic wind. "Holy chiz its cold!" I said as I jogged towards the bus stop. I boarded the bus and thought to myself that it shouldn't take any longer than seven or eight minutes to get there. It was 12:12 a.m. and seemed as if time was running away from me. For the first time in my life I wanted time to slow down. Better yet I needed it to slow down, because if I missed this opportunity I wouldn't be able to afford to go to prom. Why did things have to be this way? Why did Carly get a trust fund from her mother and mine steals from me? Why did doing the right thing never work out for me? Furthermore why couldn't I trust anybody to help me out when times got hard? My thoughts were all over the place and I needed to focus. The only way to get away with this was to be fast and focused. I just hoped it wasn't too late. The bus stopped a block away from my destination. It was now 12:21 a.m. I let an audible gasp in frustration at how long it took the bus to get to that stop. I shook it off and started jogging towards the Pear Store. In my haste I forgot to turn my cell phone off. "Damn, that's a rookie mistake." I said thinking about how my cousin got caught because the police matched the GPS in their phone to the crime scene. But I kept jogging. I rounded the corner and stopped in my tracks.
My plan was to go around to the back of the store and hide my face from the camera with the hood on my sweat shirt while I picked the lock. I was then going to go directly to the storage room and grab the phones and go, all while never looking up at the camera. The goal was to be long gone by the time the alarm sounded. That was the plan. Well, even the best laid plans go awry. I stood staring at the front of the store. Glass was everywhere and the alarm was deafening. I guess Wendy decided to go on without me. This was a sloppy smash and grab. I got a sinking feeling as my adrenaline started to kick in. I knew this was bad and I had to leave. I heard sirens closing in and I turned and ran back the way I came.
I was hand cuffed and placed in the back of the squad car. I was silent. I knew this drill well. I didn't even bother to issue a denial at the scene. I was innocent in action, but not in my intentions. In a strange way I felt like I deserve it. I deserved this for putting myself in this situation. The only thought on my mind while I rode to the precinct was how I disappointed Freddie. I entered a trance-like state and drifted to a different plane of consciousness. I knew that I wasn't getting out of this, especially with my reputation. The lights of the city created elongated trails across the night sky that reminded me of brush strokes on an indigo canvas. The city was still quiet and the only sound was the idling of the police car's engine. Before I knew it, we were walking into the police station. The officer guided me towards central booking. I had no ID on me so I answered all of their questions that inquired about my identity. After I was fingerprinted and photographed I was shown to the holding cell to await arraignment. I walked in and found a corner to curl up in, then sat down. It was a weekday so there weren't that many people there. It was late and I sat there and contemplated the next move. Maybe this was my destiny. Roughly an hour passed and it was time for my phone call. I approached the phone and picked it up. I dialed Freddie's number and waited for it to ring. All of my shame was beginning to weigh on me. Freddie groggily answered his phone and the sound of his voice and my shame combined to make me start to cry. All I could choke was, "I'm sorry", before breaking completely down in tears. I left the phone hanging and started to walk back to my spot in the cell. I could hear Freddie yelling my name through the phone as I walked away. I sat down and leaned my head against the wall and dozed off.
Through the haze of my slumber I heard my name being called. I opened my eyes and one of the officers was calling my name.
"What time is it? Is it time for my arraignment? I said as I wiped my hair from my face.
"It is currently 4:34 a.m. and nope you're not being arraigned. You, young lady you are outta here. "
"What? How? Nobody knows I'm here.
"Well apparently someone did." The officer said, clearly annoyed by my questions.
She walked me out to the lobby and leaning against the wall with his arms crossed was Freddie. I could see the fatigue in his body and the worry in his eyes. I walked up to him and jumped in his arms.
"I'm so sorry." I said staring into his eyes.
"It's okay Sam."
"No, Freddie. It's not ok. Why do I keep putting myself in bad positions and how did you know where I was?"
"Sam, listen. It is ok. Wendy saw you get arrested and she called me to tell me what happened. She told me that she didn't know what to do, but it was wrong for you to pay for her crime. So I thought of a plan and I came here as soon as I could. I told the police they had to release you because you didn't commit a crime and they had no proof to the contrary."
"So, they released me just like that? No questions?"
"Well there was a bit of static. I had to tell them I knew a great lawyer that had his own law firm and he was a personal friend of yours."
"Really? What law firm?" I asked confused.
"Spencer Shay and Associates."
"Of course." I nodded.
We walked out of the police station and got into his car. The drive was long and mostly silent. I expected him to ask me to fill in details, but instead he gently stroked my hair as I rested my head on his shoulder. These were the moments I loved. Instead of driving me home he took me back to his apartment in Bushwell Plaza. We moved quietly and quickly through his living room and into his room.
"My mom will be awake in about an hour so we have to be quiet until then." He whispered.
"That's fine. I'm tired anyway."
I took off my hoodie and climbed into his bed. He got in and laid there with his arm around me for hours. Every time I tried to explain my actions and why I was even there in the first place he would hold me tighter. He didn't want an explanation and I wondered why. That night I knew that he completely loved me for me. He didn't care about my faults. His love for me didn't require an explanation, nor mine for him. As the sun came through his blinds and illuminated the room, I could see that Freddie had drifted to sleep. I rolled over and looked his closet door. Hanging there was a clear plastic bag with the logo of the dress shop Carly and I picked our dresses from. Inside the bag was my purple dress. I smiled and whispered, "I love you", before burrowing into Freddie's arms again. He was always there for me and I wanted it to always be this way. I believed we would never part. The sun continued to rise and we decided to stay in bed and skip school. Throughout the years I had missed a lot of days of school, so I suppose one more couldn't hurt. We laid there in each other's arms for hours enjoying the intimacy it brought and all was right in our world. This was the way it was supposed to be… The way it should always be.
More to come soon...