Disclaimer: Still no.
iJust Want an A
Transferring to Ridgeway wasn't as hard as I'd been afraid. The students (and teachers) are…well, they're pretty weird, but also super-friendly and so I felt like I fit in almost immediately.
And knowing that the iCarlies were there made it even better. Okay, so I hadn't been totally thrilled when they hired an intern that wasn't me, but that's life, so whatever, you know? Carly, Sam, and Freddie were still cool.
(At least, I thought so. Don't get me wrong, they're a lot of fun, but they are strange.)
I was looking forward to this lock-in thing ever since they all told me about it at Sam and Freddie's weekly arm wrestling battle. (Sam is so tiny and delicate-looking. I have no idea how she is so strong. Freddie got seriously pwned there.) Plus Cort didn't work out as their intern, so they hired me! I was really psyched about that. I mean, you know, too bad for Cort, but awesome for me.
Working on iCarly was going to be sweet, because interning with electronic stuff for an internationally recognized comedy webshow would be great for credentials and college apps.
(Well, okay, yeah, and the girls are pretty hot. But that's just a bonus.)
The MoodFace app Freddie and I were working on was sweet. And then when Sam wanted to help us out at the lock-in? Even better. Freddie and Carly got all weird when Sam asked to be part of our project. I don't know why. Well – I guess that's not quite true. She'd been hanging out with me and Freddie a lot, and when she wasn't and it was just me and Freddie, Freddie tended to complain about her a lot and how vicious and lazy she is. But I hadn't gotten that impression from her. I don't know what was going on. Freddie kept acting confused whenever she was around and being nice.
Honestly, Sam was seeming like the normal one and Freddie the strange one, tweaking out every time Sam did something nice. Or, you know…normal.
Things got weird at the lock-in. First, Freddie whacked a chip and guac out of my hand, then had some heated conversation with Sam, and then when we did the MoodFace test on Sam, he got all freaked-out looking and bolted off to ask Carly for tissues. Only he took the laptop with him, which doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
Sam didn't have any idea what his deal was, either. We figured we may as well put the project on pause, so she went and bought a sandwich while I took a bathroom break. Then we just snacked on tortilla chips (her homemade guacamole was excellent) and of course my fudge. (Also excellent.)
Later, Carly and Freddie emptied the library for a nonexistent two-headed frog and Carly turned out the lights on me and Sam. "I'm not comin' back," she said, a sly smile on her face as she shut the door behind her.
I took a step away from Sam and looked at her, feeling awkward. "Just a…one-headed frog?"
"Less impressive," she agreed.
"I'm confused," I admitted after another long awkward silence.
Sam glared at the door and sighed. "I'm not," she said, sounding annoyed. "I'll be back," she said as she marched across the room and turned on the lights. "Probably," she added, and then she was out the door.
She never came back. Well, I mean, I don't think she did. Not while I was there, anyway.
So after she left, I putzed around with the MoodFace equipment. Freddie still had the laptop, so there wasn't much I could do.
I waited awhile. I guess the other students were still out looking for the frog that didn't actually have two heads.
Then I got bored, and Freddie still wasn't back, so I left of the library and wandered around the halls to find him or Sam or at least see what people were up to.
I couldn't find Freddie anywhere, so I went over to the science room where Carly and that Gibby kid were doing their stimulation chamber experiment. Carly wasn't there, but Gibby was making notes and watching Carly's brother lie in the fetal position and twitch.
"Hey, Gibby," I said, walking over to him.
He looked over at me. "What up?"
I shrugged. "I think I lost my project partners. Have you seen Freddie or Sam?"
Gibby shook his head, still keeping an eye on Spencer. "Nah, man, but Sam was here a couple minutes ago and was talking about pie, and then she left, and then Carly left me alone to watch the subject." He tapped his clipboard. "Which is now crying and smelling like puke, and Carly is totally gonna make me clean it up again."
"Oh," I said. "Okay, thanks. I guess I'll head back to the library. Maybe they'll be there."
"Coolio," Gibby said absent-mindedly. "Hey," he turned to me as I was halfway out the door, "did Freddie tell you he and Sam were buying a horse?"
I paused, confused. "Um…no?"
"Huh," Gibby said. "Me neither. I've heard it around, though."
"O…kay," I muttered vaguely, and booked it out of there. Gibby's a nice kid, but he's pretty out there.
I went back upstairs and Carly almost smacked me in the face with the library door. "Oh, hey there, Brad," she said breathlessly, her eyes a little wild. "I wasn't spying."
"O…kay?" I said for the second time in five minutes. "I didn't – "
"I had no idea either!" she blurted out, talking almost too quickly for me to understand. "Oh my God, I can't believe I didn't see it. I can't believe she didn't tell - well, actually, I can. But oh my God."
"Uh…" I trailed off, pretty confused at what was going on. "Carly, I have no idea – "
"I don't either!" She cut me off again, now starting wild hand motions. "But then she – and he – and this whole time I thought – " Her eyes widened and she looked at me as if seeing me for the first time. "It was never you, Brad! Never! I'm so sorry. I just assumed…and you're so…" She stopped to breathe.
"It's okay?" I replied, still lost. "I think? Um…I'm gonna go in the library now."
"Right, totally," Carly agreed, sounding like she was wrapped up in whatever was happening in her brain and not actually paying attention to me at all.
"Okay…so…I'll…see you later, then," I said, and darted past her.
I was so confused.
Freddie was standing over by the equipment and staring off into space. "Hey, Freddie," I waved, walking over. "Where'd you go? Have you seen Sam?"
He whipped around to face me. "What? No. Why? I had no idea!" He sounded strangely defensive.
I was so confused. "Um…are you okay?"
"I'm fantastic. Nothing's wrong. What could be wrong? I'm fine. Is it hot in here? Everything's cool."
I was so confused. "Are you sure?"
"Totally sure, let's finish the project," Freddie nodded, looking like he thought he was being nonchalant. Which he wasn't.
I ended up doing most of the work on the MoodFace project that night. Whatever had happened from when Freddie helped Carly with the two-headed frog thing to when I found him in the library had shaken him up pretty badly.
Like, really badly. He couldn't focus on anything, and whenever I mentioned Sam, he got especially flustered and started talking quickly and disjointedly.
And he wouldn't tell me what was going on. Something must have happened between him and Sam, and it must have been big.
So for the rest of the night, I tried to keep the project going and tested other people and Freddie tweaked out.
Honestly, I was relieved to go home the next morning. I was tired from pulling an all-nighter, and Freddie acting all weird was seriously stressing me out, and Sam never came back, and Gibby kept coming over to ask me about horses, and I was starting to feel like interning at iCarly was a lot more than just webshow work.
Oh my God. I just wanted to do well on the project.
