Chapter Four: December
Carly
Christmas wasn't that eventful.
Becky had convinced Spencer to buy an actual tree. That made me happy.
Griffen and I exchanged gifts in the laundry room on Christmas Eve. He got me a PeeWee Baby. Gerry the Giraffe. It's so cute. I gave him a gift card to the PeeWee Baby store on the mall. A hundred dollars. He was very grateful.
Freddie bought three Cuttle Fish concert tickets. Two were his gifts to me and Sam.
I got Sam two hams. She was extremely happy. She gave me a fifty dollar gift card to Build-a-Bra. I knew Freddie gave her the money for it. Sam never has that much money.
I gave Freddie a new flash drive. Sam threw his in a toilet at school.
Once Christmas was over, I began to plan my New Year's Eve party.
I wasn't sure what I was going to do at midnight. Griffen was going to be there, but I was expected to kiss Freddie. And I knew Becky would be watching me the whole time.
It was going to be a stressful pain in the ass.
Sam
"Becky, is it bad luck to not kiss anyone at midnight?" I asked. Wendy had told me that earlier in the day when we were talking about Carly's party.
"Some people say you'll have an unlucky year involving love."
I groaned. "I don't have anyone to kiss at midnight!" I don't know why I became so obsessed with it.
"Have you ever?"
"No."
"Has your love life been unlucky?"
I glared at her. "The guy I love is dating my best friend. How lucky does that seem? And there are many other examples."
Becky thought for a minute. "Is that kid Griffen gonna be there?" she asked with a smirk. The same smirk I get when I'm planning something devious.
"Yeah. Why?"
"You could always kiss him. I mean, you find him attractive, right?"
"Duh. He's a hottie."
"Then kiss him at midnight."
"But he's Carly's ex."
"Well... Then ask her if it's OK."
I contemplated that for second. "You're right. Maybe Carly'll be fine with it."
Freddie
Sam and Becky walked into Carly's place.
Becky went to go see Spencer.
"Can I ask you something, Carly?" Sam said.
"Sure."
"Would it be cool with you if I kissed Griffen at midnight?"
My heart sank. Sam wanted Griffen? Was I just hallucinating Sam liking me?
I glanced at Carly. She looked sick. "Um... Why?" she finally said.
"I don't want to have bad luck for the year," she said while avoiding eye contact with us.
I snorted. "You actually believe that crap?"
"Yes! Listen, Carls. If you don't want me to, I'll find someone else. I just need to kiss someone."
Carly smiled sadly at Sam. "Sure, Sam. You can kiss him. It's not like I'm still dating him."
Sam let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks. I was afraid you'd say no. Then I'd have to kiss Ginny, or, like, Wendy."
Carly laughed. It sounded kind of fake to me. "I'm happy to be saving you from Gibby's lips."
"Kissing another girl would be kind of hot, though." Both girls gaped at me. "Did I just say that out loud?"
They both nodded at me.
"Carly, I think Frednub imagines us doing the nasty together when he has fun times with himself," Sam said.
This time Carly let out a real laugh. "Sorry, Freddie. That'll never happen. You'll just have to keep that in your imagination."
"You guys are so funny," I said.
"He's blushing!" Sam yelled.
I groaned and walked away from their hysterical laughter.
Carly
Midnight was getting closer. I had my eye on Griffen and Sam all night.
Griffen kept giving me looks of amusement, and Sam's looks were filled with excitement.
I noticed that Freddie was staring at them too. He looked really angry. I had no idea why. IIt bugged me that I couldn't figure it out. Freddie was usually easy to read. Maybe I was just in denial.
I saw Becky across the room. She and Spencer were no longer glued at the hip.
"I'll be back in a sec," I told Freddie, then stomped up to Becky. "Did you tell Sam to kiss Griffen at midnight?" I asked her.
"Yeah. So?"
"'So?' You know why!"
"Oh yeah. You're cheating on sweet little Freddie with that dude. Does it bother you?"
She was really pissing me off. "Yes, it bothers me! Why'd you tell her to kiss him?"
"I dunno."
"Yes you do! Pucketts always know why they do things! You have some devious plan, don't you?" I squinted at her.
"It's not devious," she said. "I'm just looking to bring out the truth. Or to at least get you to talk to me about your infidelity."
"I don't want to talk to you, Becky."
"Sam and Freddie do."
"Freddie talked to you? About what?"
"That's between me and Freddie."
"But-"
"Oh. There's Spencer. Now leave. I have to prep for when I make out with him at midnight."
I stared at her with shock.
"Hey, Carly," Spencer said, and put his arm around Becky.
"Hi. Um. I'm going to leave now." I practically ran away from them.
I needed to share what I just heard with Sam. In private.
An idea snuck into my head. A way to keep Sam from kissing Griffen at midnight, and be able to talk to her after.
It was kind of mean and selfish, but I really didn't want her to kiss Griffen.
Sam
Carly ran up to me. "I need to talk to you. Somewhere quiet."
"But we only have a few minutes until midnight," I said with a pout. I was really looking forward to kissing Griffen so that I could avoid back luck in love for the year.
"It's very important."
The look of fear in her eyes told me it was important. "OK. Where do you wanna talk?"
"The studio. But take the elevator. I locked the door to the studio so no one could go in. Wait for me in there. I'm gonna get Freddie. He'll wanna hear this too."
"Sure." I got into the elevator, and before the doors could close, Freddie flew in.
"Carly's looking for you," I told him.
"Griffen told me. He said he'd tell Carly I went up with you."
"Oh."
We reached the studio. Freddie turned on the lights, ad I turned on the TV so I could keep watch for midnight.
"What'd she want to talk about?" he asked.
"No clue. But Carly looked freaked."
We waited in an awkward silence for several minutes. No Carly.
"It's two minutes to midnight! Where is she!" I pushed the button for the elevator so I could go find her. Nothing happened. "What the chiz?"
"The elevator won't work?" Freddie asked.
"Nope," I said sadly. "And we can't get out through the door. It's locked." I punched the wall.
"Is some superstition really that important to you?" Freddie asked me.
"I really don't want to have any more bad luck with love. Now that'll never happen."
"That night not be true."
"Huh?"
"We could kiss."
My heart jumped. "Are you crazy? You'd seriously kiss me? Someone who's not your girlfriend?"
"Think of it as a favor. Carly'll understand. Plus, if you don't kiss someone, you'll probably murder the first person you see. Which will be me."
I laughed. It seemed like he truly wanted to kiss me. Not just as a way to keep me from killing someone.
"So?" he asked.
"If there's no other option, I'll kiss you." I hoped there would be no other option.
Carly
Two minutes to midnight, and I hadn't found Freddie.
I went up to Becky after Spencer walked away from her to go to the kitchen. "Have you seen Freddie?"
"He went upstairs with Sam."
"What?!"
"Why are you freaking out? You asked them to meet you up there. At least that's what Griffen said when I asked him where Sam was."
"Oh no!" I violently ran my hands through my hair.
"What'd you do, Carly?"
I sighed. "I did want to talk to them up there. I planned on locking Sam up there alone until after midnight. I even rigged the elevator."
"So she wouldn't be able to kiss Griffen," Becky added.
"Yeah. And now Freddie's there too."
Becky started to laugh. "You did all that to keep Sam from kissing your lover, but ended up locking her up alone with your boyfriend."
I realized at that moment that Sam and Freddie would kiss at midnight. Sam would've been willing to kiss anyone-even me-to not have back luck in love for the year. Plus, Freddie's the guy she loves. She'd want to kiss him. And Freddie would offer to kiss her. Because he was Freddie. And even though he pretended he didn't, he had a soft spot for Sam.
I was having mixed emotions. I wasn't jealous of the fact that they would kiss. I just didn't want Freddie kissing someone else before I dumped him.
"And you thought I was the one with a devious plan," Becky said.
"Yeah. I'm going to go get them."
As I ran off, I heard becky yell, "Less than a minute to midnight!" I knew she did that just to piss me off.
Freddie
I couldn't believe I was going to be kissing Sam. And I was excited. Hell, Carly didn't even exist in my mind as Sam and I looked at each other in anticipation.
I hoped that kissing her would prove that she liked me. And that I would be less confused about my feelings after.
"You ready?" she asked me as the countdown began. She was nervous. But I could see that she was excited as well. I could see it in her beautiful eyes.
We heard the party count, "Five, four, three, two..."
OH! Cliff hanger. What's going to happen next? I guess you'll have to read the next chapter to find out.
And feel free to review.
