iStuck

Chapter 3: Really Talking

Sam's POV:

That was just about the best smoothie EVER! I can't believe I'd never thought of doing this before! Being near Freddie always made me a little more impulsive for some reason, I liked that.

By the time he finished his cup I had finished the blender. His eyes widened when he realized just how much smoothie I had drank down. He was impressed by me.

"Ooof, that was good, you're a genius Sam." His guard was down, this was my time.

"Aren't YOU supposed to be the smart one? Now all you have is your obsession with Carly." His satisfied face dropped, I had won again. At a game he wasn't playing right then, but as long as I brought him back into it… and as long as I won…

"I wouldn't say I'm obsessed." He wasn't playing, why wasn't he playing? This was our thing… now he was just… talking. This is uncomfortable territory.

"Not obsessed? Stalking her at school, waiting by your peep hole till she comes home, constantly hitting on her, that's not obsessed?" Usually the Carly-jab was the one that got to him, but that smoothie must have had something in it, 'cause he wasn't responded at ALL how I expected.

"I know, I know, but I'm not so bad anymore. You know what? I actually think I'm getting over her."

I scoffed at that. Freddie getting over Carly? That didn't compute.

"Hey! I am!" FINALLY he was getting worked up!

"Cha-right, and I'm getting over ham!" I sarcastically said.

"Seriously Sam, it's just not the same anymore." My eyebrows met in confusion, I had always seen Freddie as this love-sick puppy pining over my best friend. Now he was just, Freddie, Freddie with possibilities… wait, no, no, NO. I don't think of Freddie like, I mean, I don't ever think about Freddie, I mean… whatever.

"Sam? Sam! Are you even listening to me?" he was frustrated with me again.

"Huh? Oh, no, I said ham and… well… then I started thinking about ham… do you think there's any ham here?" It started out as an excuse, but now I was really hungry!

Freddie's POV:

Sam had just left to the kitchen in a ham-crazed frenzy. She was so funny, I couldn't help but laugh. And I never realized how fun she was to talk to, if I didn't get upset right away we could really get into a good conversation. I had been thinking less and less about Carly and my whole world has been changing without her as the center of it.

Maybe I would get the chance to get into another real conversation with Sam. I mean, we are going to be stuck here for a while. Mine-as-well use this time when Sam can't run away…

"WHAT?!? NO HAM!?!" Sam's angry outburst carried from the kitchen to the counter where I was standing. In a few seconds her shadowed form appeared in front of me, shaking with fury.

I took a risk, "Um, yeah, Sam. Why would there be HAM in a smoothie place?"

"Well… because it's HAM! HAM GOES WITH EVERYTHING!" She wasn't upset with me, just the store. Her anger was cuter when it wasn't directed at me… well sometimes when it was directed at me… but still.

"-even smoothies?" my face twisted in disgust.

"-especially smoothies! Come on, a Ham Smoothie! Who wouldn't buy that?"

"Well, now that I think about it…… nope, still gross." She laughed a little, what a beautiful sound.

We both paused for a second, there was nothing really to add. She couldn't stop thinking about her ham smoothie, and I couldn't stop thinking about her laugh.

"…well, it's getting late. Maybe we should just go to sleep and by the time we wake up, we'll probably be free" I got my real conversation with her, that's more progress than I thought we would get in this incident, and I figure I should leave it on a good note.

Sam's POV:

Freddie was really fun to be around, how come I never really noticed that before? He didn't agree with me, but he didn't judge me either. He didn't look at me like I was some hopeless teen bound for no life better than manual labor during Prison recess. The way he looked at me made me think… no, never mind. But if he didn't like Carly anymore… ugh, I need to think.

I hopped over the counter and sat on the ledge jutting out of the window. I pressed me hand up against the glass and removed it, feeling the cold spread and release. The rain was still coming down hard as ever. I loved to watch the rain. The whole world seemed to calm down when it rained. Big puddles were forming outside and the lightning was flashing by again and again. Suddenly the lights went out again, but didn't come back on this time. Another power outage.

I thought about going to try the door again, just in case the power going out did anything to unlock it, but I decided against it. It probably wouldn't be unlocked, and it was already pretty late, and… I just wanted to watch the rain right now.

I saw someone out the side of my vision sit down. I turned and found Freddie across from me, leaning against the window as well. He had his feet on the ground though, while mine were stretched out across the ledge, pretty close to him.

"What're you looking at?" he asked, he looked tired, but interested.

"Just the rain, I love the rain." I surprised myself; I had no desire to try to insult him. I wasn't tired but the rain was just so soothing. I stayed looking outside, it hadn't let up even a little bit.

"Me too." He responded, gazing out the glass as well. We didn't say anything for a long time, but there was no need to. There was no awkwardness in the air either; we were both just there, together.

"Hey, um, Sam?" Freddie said softly, turning to me. I looked up into his eyes. They were so innocent, not scared, just innocent. And deep, I never noticed how deep they were, I could get lost in those eyes.

"What is it?" I replied, also quietly. The calming moment wouldn't be ruined by a normal volume of voice.

"What am I? To you, I mean." My forehead creased, he wanted to know what he meant to me? Why would he care?

"Why do you care?" I asked, speaking my mind. This put him on the spot instead of me.

"Um… because…" he was having some sort of inward battle with himself. I gave him a little smile, just to let him know I wasn't going to hurt him or something, "because… I think I might…"

(MWA-HA-HA!! THAT'S RIGHT!! I'M STOPPING IT RIGHT THERE!! CLIFF-HANGER!! Sorry though, don't worry! I'll post the next chapter real soon. Tomorrow at the latest!)