Chapter 1: Dance, Dance

"I mean, I just don't understand why he still tries to defy me. Clearly I'm much stronger than him."

Carly Shay sat in the Groovy Smoothie and fidgeted with a strand of her brown hair while her best friend Sam complained for the millionth time about their friend and tech producer Freddie. Lately, Sam had been whining about him more than usual, and though Carly loved her best friend, she was getting sick of the constant nagging.

"Sam, cut him some slack. He just likes messing with you. And don't pretend like you don't like it too."

Carly watched as Sam's face turned red. "EXCUSE ME?" Carly shrugged. "I'm just saying. If you don't want Freddie to keep bugging you then tell him to stop. It's not that hard." Sam shook her head and took a sip of her Strawberry Blitz. "Can we change the conversation please?" Carly rolled her eyes and smiled at Sam. "Sure. Would you like to talk about the fact that the school dance is coming up and you still need to find a date?"

"NO." Sam shouted at her best friend. "I would rather live with vegetarians for the rest of my life." "Come on Sam!" Carly sighed. "There are plenty of boys who would be perfect for you." Sam raised one eyebrow, giving Carly a look that said oh yeah? "Okay. Name one."

"Uhh…umm…" Carly stuttered. "How about Jake Torres? That guy you sat behind in English last year?" Sam pulled a disgusted face. "Gross no. I haven't talked to Jake since he tried to jack my ham at lunch." Carly laughed. "Oh yeah I remember that! And then you slapped him with the ham and got detention for two weeks." Sam leaned back in her chair and looked into the distance, admiring the memory. "Nobody tries to take mama's ham and gets away with it."

"Anyways back on topic! Sam you need to find a date to the dance!" "Why!" Sam shouted. "Just because you're going does not mean I have to." Carly groaned. "Come on Sam. When was the last time you went to a school dance with me?" Sam opened her mouth to speak, but Carly interrupted. "Never. You have never once come to a Ridgeway dance with me. Please try and come. Just this once."

"Fine." Sam sighed. "But you're finding me a date."

"Yay!" Carly jumped up and ran to the other side of the table to hug Sam. "I love you!"

Sam giggled and pushed Carly off of her. "Don't get too excited. There are no guys that would want to go with me."

Carly gave Sam a sly look. "Oh, there is Sam. There's one boy who would be perfect for you."

"Alright, in 3,2,1!" "I'm Carly!" "And I'm Sam!" "And this is ICARLY!"

Freddie hit pause on the show and turned to look at his two best friends, who were sitting in the studio bean bag chairs eating pickles. "Alright, so do you see how the lighting here is too bright? I need to fix the brightness and contrast before the next show…" Freddie was interrupted by a pickle hitting him in the side of the face. "Shut up Benson. We don't care about your brightness adjustments. The new movie starring Ginger Fox is on soon!" Freddie rolled his eyes. "Fine. Look like Jersey Shore cast members on your next episode. I don't care."

"YAY!" Carly and Sam shouted in unison and immediately changed the input to the tv. The Ginger Fox movie, titled "Love Me, Hate Me" was just rolling the opening credits. Freddie took a seat in the bean bag next to Sam as Carly gave the plot summary.

"So basically, the movie is about these two people who completely despise each other but end up falling hopelessly in love. It's going to be amazing."

Sam and Freddie glanced at each other, and then quickly looked away. "Sounds like a crappy movie to me." Sam retorted. "Agreed." Freddie looked at Sam again. "Well you never know. Maybe we can all take something from this movie. Something we can apply to our own lives if you catch my drift." Carly elbowed Sam and nodded at Freddie. "No actually, I don't exactly catch your "drift." Sam laughed. "Fine." Carly moped. "Just watch the stupid movie!"

The beginning of the film was uneventful, and both Sam and Freddie were growing restless. Freddie leaned over to whisper in Sam's ear, and as their arms touched, a shock wave jolted through both of them. "What?" Sam hissed. "Wanna go get a fat cake or something? This movie's boring and I don't want to disturb the princess." He motioned to Carly, who had fallen asleep. Sam slowly nodded, hoping she didn't seem eager. "Sure. Let's go."