Chapter four- Lunch Hours
It was appearing to Freddie that it was going to be much harder to earn Sam's forgiveness then he originally thought as he twisted his fork around his lunch tray in the school's cafeteria the following day. Freddie hadn't spoken to Sam since their little outburst at her locker yesterday and that was due to him not quite knowing what he should say to her next. He now knew that he had to choose his words more wisely when he spoke to her because it didn't take much for him to mess up even more and for Sam to explode with rage at him.
"How's your chicken?" Shane a friend of Freddie's asked.
"It's fine I guess" Freddie replied as he continued to twist his fork around the tray.
"You don't have the chicken. You chose the pasta" Shane told him.
"Oh" Freddie sighed as he finally awoke from his thoughts and looked up at his friends for the first time that lunch period.
"What's going on with you?" Brad questioned. "You've been off since yesterday when you told the girls to leave Sam alone, that's not like you. I thought you were just having an off day but your clearly not" he continued.
"I may have found out the truth" Freddie replied.
"What does that mean?" Shane asked.
"I found out that the person my father had an affair with wasn't Sam's mother. It wasn't Sam's fault that my family fell apart and I've spent all these years taking things out on her" Freddie explained. "I need to make it up to her but it's easier said then done. She doesn't forgive easily but I need her to forgive me so I can forgive myself" he told them.
"Even if it was Sam's mother it wouldn't have been Sam's fault anyway" Brad pointed out.
"That's exactly what Sam said when I told her why I hated her for all these years" Freddie replied.
"I don't think I would forgive you either after some of the stuff you've done" Brad commented.
"So why did you put up with me for all these years and go along with some of it?" Freddie questioned with a frown.
"I'm your friend Freddie and I realised quite recently that what we've all been doing all this time is wrong. I knew you wouldn't listen to me so I just hoped that you would soon realise to and it looks like you have" Brad explained. "Plus I've always kept out of your more extreme schemes to mess with Sam's life" he added.
"What do you suggest I do?" Freddie asked.
"Don't give up" Shane told him. "Also tell her about needing to forgive yourself if you haven't already. You've been through a lot of pain as well" he suggested.
"Are you two alright with being nice to Sam now?" Freddie questioned earning two nods from his two friends. "Great! Now I've just got to talk to Gibby and Wendy" he told them.
"Don't worry Gibby probably hasn't even acknowledged what we've been doing to Sam all these years and Wendy will understand she's cool" Brad replied.
Wendy was cool indeed and nobody knew just how cool she was. Wendy entered the schools cafeteria and before joining her group of friends she made her way to the back of the cafeteria where Sam's table was located. She sat down across from Sam taking her by surprise because their annual meetings don't usually occur this often. Perhaps today was the day that everyone found out just how cool Wendy was because the schools favourite red head was indeed a sneaky genius and had been for quite some time.
"What are you doing?" Sam questioned. "You don't usually come and find me in such a public place and plus we last spoke only a couple of days ago" she pointed out.
"Well I found out from some cheerleaders that I'm suddenly supposed to start being nice to you" Wendy smiled.
"If you stay sat here now people are going to figure everything out" Sam replied.
"I think it would be good for Freddie to find out that someone didn't listen to his demands all these years" Wendy replied. "We would have made great friends Sam, why didn't you let me be your friend when all this started? she asked.
"If I did then they would have just done all the things they've done to me to you as well" Sam told her. "This way you warned me when you could about all their schemes and I thank you for that. You saved me from a lot of pain and injuries" she explained. "And plus they truly are your friends, I didn't want to take you away from that" she added.
"Okay but I have always thought of you as my friend all these years. When your ready to accept me as yours you know where to find me" Wendy smiled once more as she got up from her seat more than ready to expose herself.
Wendy took a seat joining the three boys at their lunch table. She could hear the cheerleaders laughing and gossiping on the table located next to her, she had never been like them and it was clear that she was more like Sam. Wendy took a bite out of her sandwich and then it came, the question that she had been waiting for.
"Where have you been?" Shane asked. "I thought you were with Gibby" he added.
"No Gibby is off raiding the schools supply of liquid soap" Wendy replied. "And as for me I've been with Sam" she told them watching the shock appear on all of their faces.
"Are you talking about Sam Puckett?" Brad questioned and Wendy instantly nodded with a smile on her face.
"Please tell me you were nice to her" Freddie begged.
"I've always been nice to her" Wendy informed him and by the look of confusion on Freddie's face she knew that he needed more information. "I don't know if you've ever noticed but I've never gone along with your demands. When you had a bad scheme planned I've always told Sam and together we made sure she was no where near the scene and that's why they never worked out" she explained.
"Wendy thank you!" Freddie smiled. He never knew that it was possible to feel so happy that a friend had betrayed him all these years. "I need to talk to Sam. Do you know where I can find her?" he asked.
"She eats right at the back, furthest table to the left" Wendy told him before taking another bite of her sandwich and popping a grape into her mouth.
Freddie got up from the lunch table not quite knowing what he was going to say to Sam but with his newly learnt information he felt that now would be a good time to talk to her in hope that he would start to earn her forgiveness. He walked to the back of the schools cafeteria, a part of it that he had never entered before and that was when he saw Sam hidden away at the table in the corner.
"So this is where you eat" Freddie spoke as he stood next to Sam's table. "Can I sit?" he asked and surprisingly Sam nodded.
"I figured you would be bothering me again soon" Sam commented referring to the fact that they hadn't spoke since yesterday morning. "Have you spoken to Wendy?" she found herself asking.
"Yes and I felt many different emotions when I found out what she had been up to all these years" he replied.
"Do you want to hit me to make up for it?" she questioned sarcastically.
"No not at all" Freddie frowned. "They were all good emotions. I'm so pleased that someone was actually looking out for you through all of this. I just wish she didn't have to and that I didn't make my stupid decision to hate you" he explained.
"You can't change your past Freddie" Sam stated.
"Yes but I can use it to help me turn into a better person and hopefully you can forgive me and we can be friends" Freddie responded. "Do you think you could ever forgive me?" he asked.
"I don't know" Sam shrugged honestly. "You've put me through a lot Freddie. I wonder if it would be best that we just forget ever knowing each other. That way when high school is finally over I'll be able to move on and actually have a life" she suggested with a sigh of relief with the thought of how amazing having a fresh start would be.
"I'd love for you to have a life because you deserve it-" Freddie started. "But I can't forget about you, our friendship when we were little meant everything. We were such good friends Sam, we used to play together all the time, I used to come to all of your dance recitals feeling so proud of my little friend and afterwards we would always go to the duck pond to celebrate how well you did" he continued.
"Freddie-" Sam started as Freddie watched her current facial expression intently. She seemed shocked and confused by what he was telling her which only made him continue talking even more in hope that he was one step closer to her forgiving him.
"I know you've been hurt Sam but I've been through a lot of pain to and I took a lot of it out on you. What hurt me the most was when I found out about the affair and thought that the person I cared about the most caused it. You were the most important person to me when I was little and that's why I acted the way I did. I'm so sorry for it all and I can't forgive myself for it without your forgiveness" he explained. "I'm going to be at your dance recital tomorrow and I'm going to be even more proud of you then I've ever been before" he added.
A/N: I absolutely loved writing this chapter. What do you all think of Wendy? Do you think Freddie's any closer to being forgiven? Please let me know! Thank you for all your previous reviews, Nadene.
