Chapter 2: It Could Be Worse

Neither of them had spoken a word for at least 5 minutes when Freddie perked up. "I've got it!" he shouted putting a finger in the air for dramatic effect. "All we have to do is call Carly and she will be able to find someone to help us!"

"Great idea." Sam responds with a smile. "Let me see your cell phone."

"It's at my house, just use yours."

"Well I would but it's lying on the kitchen counter! God Freddie you screw everything up!" Sam shouts again with an accusatory tone. Shouting at Freddie calmed her down slightly until another crash of thunder sent a chill down her spine. She wouldn't admit it to anyone, especially not Freddie, but she was very afraid of thunder.

Freddie didn't notice her jump slightly at the sound of the thunder however. He was more concerned at the fact that he was being accused, yet again. "Hey it's not my fault you left your stupid cell phone in the kitchen!"

"Not your fault?" By now she was standing hand on her hips still giving Freddie a dirty look. "You have got to be kidding me. Remember earlier when I threw you on the ground for being a nerd?"

"Um… yeah?" Freddie responds trying to think of how it was relevant.

"Well I didn't want to break my phone if you tripped me or something when I did. So I put the phone on the counter for good measures."

By now Freddie was at a loss for words. There was obviously no arguing with her. He would never win. So he just sat back down on the floor. She then sat down opposite of him again.

'This is worse than detention with Briggs!' Sam thought as she pulled her iPod from her pocket. At the very least she could listen to music to try and ignore the situation. Freddie on the other hand casually picked up his laptop and turned it on.

"It was very nice of Socko to let us borrow his truck on such short notice." Carly says as Spencer continued driving towards the store.

"Yea I know. He's a really good friend huh."

"Speaking of friends I wonder how Sam and Freddie are getting along. You think they've killed each other yet?"

Spencer begins to slow the truck down when he responds. "I'm sure there getting along just fine. Preparing for the show should keep them both occupied until you can get back and play referee." Spencer pauses for a moment then continues. "Although it may take us a little longer than expected."

"What do you mean?" she asks as she turns her attention from the right of the truck to the front. She then sees that traffic is backed up for what seems to be at least a mile, maybe more. "Oh my god. Do you think someone got hurt?"

"I'm not sure. But don't worry I think I know a short cut. We just need to turn off about a quarter mile up." Spencer then points towards a road a few blocks and holds down the brake. It would still be a little while before they could even get to the shortcut turnoff.

Freddie was typing up something on his laptop when he glanced up towards Sam. Her eyes were closed and he could hear the soft hum of music coming from her ear buds. He couldn't help but notice how calm and peaceful she looked. Until of course she stirred.

"Ahh." Sam groaned pulling the ear buds out. "How long have we been stuck in here?" Her tone was low as if she didn't want to hear the answer.

"Fifteen minutes." Freddie responded then looked back to his computer. The soft glow of the screen casting a light blue hue on his face.

"Man it seems like so much longer." Sam then looks over at Freddie and gets another grin across her face. She had another idea. "Why don't you just message someone on the internet? Then have one of them find someone to get us out of here!" She was clearly excited.

"Oh ok hold on a second." Freddie responds punching in a few more keys. He knew they didn't have internet. But he wanted to toy with her, and he felt it was ok since she had picked on him so much in the past. "Ok let's see here." He then plays a sound clip he had stored on his computer to give the appearance he was opening a messenger.

"Who's online?"

"Not too many people. Let's see. Jake, Jeremy, and Ms. Briggs."

"Ask Jake!" Sam exclaimed buying into the prank even more. "Wait a minute." She then gives a suspicious looks towards Freddie. "Why do you have Ms. Briggs on your messenger?"

"Oh my mom sometimes likes to talk to my teachers. Just to make sure I'm keeping up with my studies. Oh and look Ms. Briggs has a message for you." He then plays another sound effect and types something onto the screen. Then hands the laptop over to Sam.

She practically jerked it away from him. What in the world would Ms. Briggs have to say to her? Perhaps she was stuck in an elevator somewhere to. Then she looked at the screen. And anger started to boil in her stomach. The only thing on the screen was a word document opened up. And it read in bold letters "You've just been PUNKED!!!"

Freddie didn't expect what happened next though. He thought she would just call him a mean name. Or punch him in the arm. But no, he could see fire in her eyes. She dropped the laptop to the ground and lunged at him. He attempted to reach for the falling computer. But before he could even stick a hand out to catch it she had him pushed up against the wall.

"Did you find that funny?" She asked angrily pinning him against the wall.

"Well actually…" Freddie began, quickly debating on whether he should continue the sentence. "I found it hilarious. Kind of sucks when you're the one getting picked on doesn't it?"

By now there faces where inches of part. Fire still brewed in her eyes as she said "I have to give it to you Freddie. You've got guts." He could feel her grip begin to weaken. And as the fear of being pummeled through the wall decreased he noticed her hair had the beautiful smell of lavender.

Then another crackle of thunder came from outside and he felt her grip become shaky for a moment. Then she let go and backed back up to the wall. But even as she got farther away he couldn't help but think of how sweet her hair smelled.

"What in the world am I thinking?" He said aloud before he realized what he had said.

"I was thinking the same thing. It's about time you stood up to me." Sam responded not realizing that wasn't what he was talking about. But as Freddie picked up his laptop and sat back down, she couldn't help but feel happy. She really was glad he had stood up for himself finally.

Sure he had stood up to her before. But for some reason she felt this was different. Before Carly was around to save him. Before he could have ran away when she came after him. But no this time he knew there would be no hiding. But yet he did it anyway. Sam couldn't help but look back over at him and smile. It was like seeing him in a whole new light.

But once again her thoughts where interrupted by a loud thunderous crackle as lightning struck nearby. This made her tremble slightly as she put her back against the wall and slid to the floor.

"God!" Freddie yelled as he tapped at the laptop keys. "Why did you drop it?"

"Huh?" Sam asks not hearing him over the thunder.

"Why did you have to drop my laptop? You almost cracked the screen!"

"Almost? Then I didn't so what are you worried about?"

"It did however restart the whole thing and I lost my whole entry I was writing for my journal!" Freddie then frowned and turned the computer around for her to see. It was indeed restarting and although Sam didn't really understand what it was doing, she did know what the reboot screen looked like.

"Oh no!" Sam responds flinging her hands slightly in the air. "Here let me help you. I can recap the whole entry for you I bet."

"I doubt that." Freddie replies as his computer makes another sound, indicating he had successfully logged in.

"Well let's see…" Sam begins with a smile. "Dear Diary."

"It's not a diary! It's a journal!" Freddie protests but Sam ignores him and continues.

"Today I went over to Carly's. Oh how I love Carly. Carly, Carly, Carly! The End."

By now Freddie was giving her an annoyed look. For once she was wrong, that wasn't what he had been writing. "Actually you're wrong."

"Oh really?" Sam asks curiously. "Then what were you writing."

"I… I…" Freddie begins to stammer. "I was writing about how I got stuck in an elevator with a crazy girl."

"Crazy? Oh Freddie don't flatter me." Sam says taking it as if it was a compliment.

"That wasn't supposed to be a compliment." He continues and taps at the computer for another second. "Well at least I was able to use data recovery on the partition and get part of my entry back."

Sam didn't understand half of what he had just said. But as far as she could guess Freddie had gotten back his 'diary' entry. "You and your tech diary…" She began to say when the thunder clapped so loud it shook the building slightly. She let out a small yelp and jumped slightly.

This confused Freddie for a moment. He never knew of anything to actually scare Sam. 'But everyone has fears I guess' he thinks as he realizes that he to has a fear – Server Lag. It was a tech producer's worse nightmare. He then smirks at Sam and asks "What's wrong? You seem a little jumpy."

"Oh nothing!" She responds quickly. But judging from Freddie's facial expression he wasn't buying it. "What?" She quickly asks.

"Ya know it's ok to be scared. Everyone is afraid of something."

"The only thing I'm afraid of is being stuck in an elevator with a nerd." She then looks around the small space for dramatic effect then looks back at him. "Oh wait. That's happening right now!"

"Seriously though, there is no way thunder can hurt you in here."

"Who said I was afraid of thunder?" she disputes trying to play it cool. Although she knew there was pretty much no way of getting out of this one.

Before Freddie could respond to her question though another clap of thunder sounded. And once again it shook the building slightly making Sam jump again. All Freddie had to do was raise his eyebrows and look at her. She finally caved in.

"Ok! So I'm scared of thunder." She said embarrassed before balling her hand into a fist. Then threatened "But if you tell anyone, I swear I will beat you up so bad your momma won't even notice you!"

"Whoa Sam! No need to go on the defensive." The two of them may fight a lot but Freddie knew that some secrets where meant to be kept. And she was his friend no matter how much they may deny it at times. And friends don't tell secrets like this on each other. "I'm not going to tell anyone, ok?"

"Well you better not." She responded and sat down opposite of him again.

"Plus look at it this way. It could be worse." He responds shrugging.

A few moments went by then he heard a small sizzling sounds. And the lights began to grow dimmer. "Uh oh." He commented as the whole room went dark. Leaving him in the soft glow of his laptop screen.

"I hate you. You just had to say something!" Sam shouts as thunder sounded again outside. By now she could hear the rain practically trying to beat through the wall.

"Hey it isn't my fault! The backup generators can only last so long."

"How long have we been in here?" Sam asks again annoyed.

"Twenty five minutes." He responds after glancing at his watch.

"Wow those must be some crappy generators." Sam jokes before coming to her senses and realizing that the lights weren't going to come back on. "Did I mention I hate you?"

"Yea actually you did. And did I mention it wasn't my fault?"

"Haven't you seen movies?" She exclaims throwing her hands into the air, although there was no way for Freddie to see. "You never say 'It could be worse'! Because it always does get worse!"

"Umm sorry?" He responds trying to be nice. "But look at the bright side. It could be..." But his voice became muffled as a soft hand began to cover his mouth.

"Don't you even dare say it!" Sam commands as she continues to hold her hand over his mouth. A muffled murmur could be heard but she continued to hold her hand there for a few more seconds before finally releasing.

"Ok ok! No reason to get all physical." Freddie's responds as the two of them become quiet once more. Freddie began quietly tapping at his keyboard again. And Sam put her ear buds back in and cranked the volume of her iPod up high, trying her best to muffle the sound of the thunder out.

A/N: Well looks like they are getting along well. Doesn't look like Carly and Spencer are going to be able to save them any time soon either. So how will Sam cope with the thunder and darkness? Will the two actually get along for more than five minutes?

Thanks everyone for your excellent reviews. They all inspired me to update quickly. So please review and let me know what you think of the story so far.