iTake Care of a Friend

Chapter 2

Freddie was still standing, standing at Carly and Sam but slowly calming down. Carly and Sam were still speechless and almost scared to say anything. They stood there like that for about five minutes when Sam decided to break the ice.

"Fat Penguin." Carly looked at Sam with an unexplainable look on her face.

"Sam..." Carly exclaimed, while Freddie avoided eye contact. "What? Just trying to break the ice... but seriously, we should get out of the hallway." Sam said motioning to Carly's apartment door. Carly nodded slightly and turned to walk into her apartment. When she was inside, Sam looked at Freddie, who hasn't moved yet.

"Are you coming?... Or do you want to be left alone right now?" Sam asked him with a questioning look. Freddie looked up from the floor and made eye contact for the first time since walking out the door. He looked at her thinking, then spoke without answering her question.

"How much did you hear?" He asked, his eyes going back to his shoes. Sam sighed and answered, "Enough to know your dad is back." Freddie nodded slightly, eyes still down. Sam thought for a little bit and then said, "Secret Palace?".

At those words, Freddie's eyes shot up to meet Sam's. He cracked a small smile and nodded. Sam smiled back and turned around to Carly's apartment. She opened the door and saw that Carly was busy helping Spencer get detached from the couch. Sam thought about interrupting them but then figured it saved her an excuse, so she just backed away slowly and shut the door on her way out.

As the door clicked shut she turned around to face Freddie again, who was looking at the floor once again. He still seemed beyond furious about his dad being back. So she took a deep breath and said, "You ready?". He looked at her and after a sigh, said "yeah."

After they left, it was a silent five minute walk until they got to Sam's backyard. They both were looking at the sight in front of them. What laid ahead was a big forest and they both shared a glance and the words escaped their mouths at the same time, "Race ya." At that they ran through the forest, dodging and jumping over things until they reached a clearing in the middle of the forest. Sam and Freddie ran through the entrance, passing under the wooden sign hanging from the branches that they made when they were seven. The old, discolored wooden sign stated "Sam and Freddie's Secret Palace", a place that was and will be just theirs forever.