The day after Christmas was always a drag for Freddie. His mom would hold him hostage in the apartment, whisking him up in a tornado of neatly tucking away Christmas decorations and cleaning up the dishes from Christmas dinner.
This particular December 26th, Freddie (narrowly) escaped his usual torture and made his way across the hall. He held a small ornament in one hand, and a shiny wrapped gift in the other. He debated how to knock on the door before he decided to just use his elbow. However, the person who opened the door was not who he had hoped to see.
"What do you want?" Sam sneered, a half-eaten gingerbread man in her free hand.
"Just coming over to see Carly," Freddie answered, letting himself in. Although Sam tried to shut the door on him, he swiftly stepped past her, just making it inside.
"Hey, Freddo!" Spencer shouted from the kitchen. It looked as though he was dismantling his famous electro-magnetic tree to save for next year.
"Hey," Freddie replied, "Where's Carly?"
"Umm…" Spencer looked around, "I dunno…Sam, do you know where she is?"
"Nope, but I can find her," Sam announced.
"Cool," Spencer went back to work, and Freddie looked expectantly at Sam.
"CARLYYYYYYYY‼" Sam shouted. Freddie cringed and covered his ears, but could only hear ringing after.
"Um, OW!" he said in response as Sam smirked at his pain.
"WHAT?" Carly yelled from upstairs. Sam poised to shout again, and Freddie stopped her.
"Ugh, fine," Sam huffed, reaching for her phone. She typed a quick message and threw it down again. Freddie sighed in relief.
"CHECK YOUR PHONE!" Sam yelled, catching Freddie off guard.
"I'M IN THE SHOWER‼" Carly responded again. Luckily, Sam decided not to reply this time.
"She's in the shower, Spence," Sam said.
"Uh, yeah, I heard," Spencer replied, rubbing his ears as well.
Carly rushed out of the shower and threw on a carefully planned outfit. She used her trampoline to launch herself into her desk chair so she could dry her hair while doing her makeup. She had managed to read her phone in the midst of this whirlwind; the text Sam sent her read "dorkwad is looking for you…looks like he has a present for his wittle girlfriendddd" Carly rolled her eyes at Sam's remark, but felt her heart skip a beat when she saw that Freddie was waiting for her.
Carly eyed the small, shiny box sitting on her bed. It was wrapped neatly with a green bow on top, and even from far away she knew whose name was on the tag.
Although Carly normally didn't wear much makeup, she decided that a little mascara and lip gloss never hurt anybody. Also, her hair could use a few more curls and a touch of hairspray. Anyone else would think that Carly was going somewhere special, but only she knew that all she wanted was a positive reaction from Freddie.
Carly didn't understand this newfound crush for Freddie. She didn't even realize it was a crush. All she knew was that she became twice as excited to see him, and tried extra hard to impress him whenever they were together. It started with the little things; her heart fluttered when he accidentally brushed her arm, she got goosebumps when their gaze locked for just a second longer than normal.
She was in such a rush she forgot the gift waiting patiently on the edge of her bed. Carly rushed back to grab it, and practically ran down the stairs, barely remembering to pause and walk normally down the last flight.
"Hi, Freddie," she breathed, holding the gift behind her back.
"Hey," Freddie replied, hastily picking up his gift for Carly and shoved the ornament in his pocket.
"Merry Christmas," he said bashfully, sticking out his arm to offer her the gift. Her eyes lit up like stars as she thanked him graciously.
"I have something for you too," Carly handed Freddie the small box she had been saving for days.
They exchanged a nervous look before opening their gifts at the same time.
Freddie lifted the lid off of the relatively small box, wondering what could be inside. His eyes fell upon a handmade picture frame with a photo of himself and Carly inside it. He heard faint music.
"Does this have speakers?" Freddie asked in amazement.
"Yeah," Carly replied with a smile, "It's playing Stuck Like Glue. I know you don't really like country music, but I thought the song was…"
"Perfect," Freddie cut her off, smiling twice as wide.
Carly looked back at the box Freddie gave her. She had taken off the wrapping paper, but waited to open it. She removed the lid and pulled back the tissue paper carefully to reveal a silver locket.
It wasn't one of those huge gaudy ones; it was a petite, slim heart on a delicate chain.
"Open it," Freddie whispered. Carly obeyed, even though every time she touched the necklace she was afraid of breaking it. Inside was, ironically, the exact same picture she had put in Freddie's picture frame.
"Put it on," Freddie asked eagerly as Carly eyed the locket in wonder. She quietly held it out to Freddie, who hooked the locket around her neck. She got goosebumps when he lightly brushed her hair out of the way.
"It's so pretty," Carly's eyes never left the locket, even when she was wearing it.
"Just like you," Freddie replied, their eyes finally meeting.
"Ughh, bleck!" Sam complained behind them. Honestly, they had forgotten anyone else was there.
Suddenly, there was rapid knocking on the door. Carly strode angrily over to answer it after Sam non-verbally refused.
"Oh, hi, Mrs. Benson," Carly's face fell slightly, because she knew Freddie's mom was going to take him away for something stupid, like a tick bath.
"Freddie, it's time to go!" Mrs. Benson practically ran to her son, grabbing his hand, "We don't wanna miss our pottery class!"
"Aw, Mom!" Freddie complained, as Sam laughed uncontrollably. Spencer himself was smirking.
"Come on!" she urged, pulling his arm. He reluctantly followed, but stopped by the door, where Carly was still standing.
"I have one more thing for you," Freddie announced, taking the ornament out of his pocket. It was a mistletoe. He didn't hesitate to hold it over his and Carly's heads, and didn't wait for an answer before planting a kiss on her lips.
"Happy day-after-Christmas, Carly," he whispered when they broke apart. She just smiled back at him.
"Happy day-after-Christmas," she replied, kissing him one more time.