Alright, so I started writing this story without any intention of sharing it and finally just decided what the heck? It's just for fun, but this is going to be a story with a bit of a twist…but we'll get to that in later chapters . I have to put this out there—if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all. I would like comments if you like the story, and if you don't like it, don't read it! Thanks!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own iCarly or its characters. I DO, however, own Elizabeth Davidson…and a few other random characters I throw in for effect.
It was a dreary, rainy Monday morning in Seattle. A yellow school bus trundled along the damp streets heading for Ridgeway High School. Carly Shay sat cross-legged on the torn seat, locked in a fierce thumb war with her friend, Freddie Benson, next to her. Freddie definitely had the upper hand in strength, but he wasn't trying to beat her—mainly because he liked her.
Carly finally maneuvered her thumb on top of his and pinned it down for five seconds. Freddie pretended to struggle but really could have easily beaten her in about half the time. "You let me win!" Carly scoffed, crossing her arms at him.
"I did not!" Freddie exclaimed, trying to act shocked. It didn't work very well and Carly just raised her eyebrows at him. "Okay, just a little bit," he confessed.
"Stop it! I hate when you let me win!" Carly complained. She held out her hand. "Rematch!" Freddie reached out compliantly, but at that moment, the bus screeched to a stop, making Carly topple forwards off of the seat. Freddie snickered as he held a hand out to help her up and they fought their way off the bus.
They ran inside quickly, huddled inside their rain jackets. Once in the hallway, Freddie followed Carly over to her locker where she took off her jacket and shoved it in her locker. "All of your stuff is going to get wet now," he commented.
"True, but I can't exactly carry it around all day," Carly countered. "I'd spend the whole day dripping wet. Who wants to do that?" Carly closed her locker just as her best friend, Sam Puckett walked in the front door, no rain jacket on and dripping wet. She walked over and Carly's face became shocked. "Sam!"
"What?" Sam asked, walking to her own locker, one over from Carly.
"Why aren't you wearing a rain jacket?" Carly questioned, eyeing Sam's soaked curls and the droplets on her black t-shirt. She'd obviously stood at the bus stop in the rain for awhile too.
"I lost it," Sam dismissed. "I think it's either at your apartment or I left it at juvie last time I was there."
"You're going to catch pneumonia," Freddie told her, removing his rain jacket and walking over to his locker to put it up. Sam closed her locker and followed him.
"Nooo," she disagreed. "You are!"
"Why would I-." He started to ask, but then Sam started to shake her long, wet hair, splattering him with a thousand water droplets. "Sam! Stop!" Sam stopped, laughing at him. "You're the worst, Sam."
"Aren't I though, Fredweird?" she snickered. Carly watched the two with a disappointed expression.
"Can't you guys make nice for once?" she asked, knowing it was hopeless. They probably wouldn't even be able to live without being able to tease each other. Carly actually thought that they enjoyed it by now.
Sam opened her mouth to answer, but just then the first bell rang. "Oh, let's get to class," Carly said, grabbing Sam's wrist.
"I don't want to get to class on time! Who does that?" Sam objected as Carly dragged her down the hall.
Freddie smiled as he heard them snipe at each other all the way down the hall. He turned and walked to his own homeroom, sighing as he got ready to face an ordinary, boring day of school. He slipped in the door just as the second bell rang and went to his seat in the back of the room.
Mrs. Pyperman, his homeroom teacher, stood at the front of the room trying to take attendance. "Everyone, sit down, please!" she exclaimed over the chatter of students. Kids sullenly went to their desks.
Suddenly the door opened and a girl Freddie had never seen before in his life walked in. Her brown hair was wet, not as much as Sam's had been, but it was obvious she hadn't been wearing a rain jacket. She walked up to the front of the room, handing a slip to Mrs. Pyperman.
Mrs. Pyperman read the slip quickly and then turned to talk to the class. "Class, this is Elizabeth Davidson. She's a new student here. I hope you'll make her feel welcome." Mrs. Pyperman looked around the room and said to Elizabeth, "There's an empty desk next to Freddie Benson. Freddie, wave to Elizabeth."
Freddie raised a hand and pointed to the seat next to him, which was in fact the only empty desk in the room. Elizabeth smiled and walked over, tripping over her own feet as she neared him. She grabbed the edge of his desk to catch herself. Freddie caught her arm at the same moment, totally by reflex.
Their faces were so close. He was staring right into her sparkly hazel eyes, framed with soft, smoky lashes…
She pulled away, straightening up. "Oh, geez, I'm sorry," she said, embarrassment showing on her face. "I'm such a klutz." She walked to her desk and sat, smiling at Freddie. He blinked, wondering what had happened. For a moment he had sort of…lost himself…in her eyes? No, that sounded corny. But what was up with that? He shook off the feeling.
"You're, um…" Freddie murmured. "You're Elizabeth?"
She nodded and then shrugged. "Elizabeth, Liz, Lizzie, Beth…I have a lot of nicknames." She looked thoughtful. "Or…you know, I did at my old school."
"Well…cool." Freddie smiled. "I'm Freddie…as you heard Mrs. Pyperman say."
"Yeah…" Liz flipped her hair over one shoulder and bit her lip apprehensively. "This is going to sound so weird but…are you Freddie Benson from iCarly? The web show?"
"Uh, yeah, I am," Freddie replied. "Why, have you seen it before?"
"Seen it? I love iCarly. My favorite web show out there. Actually," she admitted, leaning closer with a dramatic whisper. "It's the only web show I've ever seen."
That got a chuckle from Freddie. "Well that's great. I'm glad you like it."
"I kind of wanted to start my own web show once," Liz continued. "With my friends, Maddie and Christy. We even wrote out a script and named it and everything…but we never actually got the chance to film it." She shrugged. "We were just too busy, I guess."
"That's too bad," Freddie said, and he meant it. "You should sit with Carly, Sam, and me at lunch. I'm sure they'd love to meet you." Freddie looked thoughtful for a moment. "Um…well Carly might. I'm not entirely sure how Sam will act. She's…" How to put this nicely? "A bit unpredictable."
"Wow, that's…" Liz smiled and nodded. "That's really nice. Thank you!" She bit her lip and chuckled slightly. "I'm just not entirely sure when lunch is."
"Oh," Freddie laughed. "Here, get your schedule out and I'll show you."
As Liz reached into her bag to grab her schedule, Freddie found himself admiring the way her chestnut colored hair fell over her shoulders. He stopped himself abruptly.
What's going on? He asked himself. I like Carly…don't I? And yet…he found himself entranced by the smoky eyes and dazzling smile of the new girl. Could I have a crush…on someone other than Carly? But…I just met Liz—how could I have any feelings for her?
This was clearly not the ordinary day he had expected.