Chapter 9
The evening before the big dance, the girls were setting up for the show and chatting while Freddie was preparing his equipment. "Hey, Sam. Did I tell you Elliott and his sister Ellen's parents rented a limo for the prom? I asked him if you guys could ride along with us."
"Cool." Sam replied. "I've always wanted to ride in a limo."
"There's just once catch. Apparently, his sister is a gigantic iCarly fan." Carly tried to explain with a slight hitch in her voice.
"Yeah. So? What does she want, to be on the show or something?" Sam said as she moved behind the tech cart to stand beside Freddie. "A little late for something like that, we start in a few minutes." She pointed to something on his screen.
"Um, not exactly. You remember that time at Web-i-con how all those people were wearing shirts with you guys' picture on inside of a heart and chanting for Seddie. I guess that's your couple nickname or something."
"Yeah. Bunch of nubs." Sam rolled her eyes while Freddie typed away at his station, setting up graphics.
"That's the thing. Ellen's a huge Seddie fan. And she all but wazzed herself when she heard you two were going to the dance together."
"Great!" Sam said sarcastically. "So when do I get to kick her butt?"
"Sam!" Freddie scolded. "She's Carly's boyfriend's twin sister. No butt kicking."
"Elliott isn't my boyfriend. We're just going as friends." Carly snipped. "Honestly, I think you two of all people would understand that."
Sam just shrugged and Freddie looked at her out of the corner of his eye as he worked. 'Now would be a great time to say something, Sam.' He thought to himself.
"So the only way she'd agree to let you two come along in the limo is if you guys kiss. Don't be mad. It wasn't my idea it was Ellen's." Carly winced away, figuring Sam would be mad.
"That's it?" Sam questioned, coolly. "She wants me to kiss Fredwad. I get to ride in a limo on prom night if I kiss the guy I'm going to the dance with?"
"It doesn't have to be some fancy, romantic kiss and I know it's going to be super awkward and all, but . . . " Carly was prepared to beg her friends to just agree to it and not either make a big deal out of it or hurt each other.
Freddie turned to Sam, her eyes told him all he needed to know. "Like this?" He leaned down and kissed Sam tenderly on the lips and she responded in kind, gently touching his forearm. "No problem." He said, upon breaking contact.
Carly gasped when she saw him do what he did. Normally this would have been a capital offense. "Freddie, I think you need to run!"
"Carls, we've kissed before." He tried to explain.
"More than once." Sam countered quietly, hoping Carly couldn't hear, before adding "And then some." even quieter, under her breath.
"You need to kiss on the show." Carly now added.
Sam was too busy wise cracking to hear her right. "Huh?"
"Ellen wants to see you guys kiss on the air." She explained. "During tonight's show."
"Oh for Crissake!" Sam threw her hands in the air just as Carly's phone rang.
"Sam." Freddie turned to her while their friend was talking to the caller. "This is our chance. We can tell Carly we're dating, appease this goofy fan girl, score ourselves a limo ride and come out to the world all in one evening. Think about it."
"I guess." She huffed, still mad at bring ransomed by this girl she never met. "I still think I should kick her butt. You know, just out of principle."
"Sam!"
"Alright. But we have to tell Carly first." She reasoned. "Before we go on the air."
"Agreed, but that's your department." He suggested. "You were supposed to break this news to her a couple of weeks ago and didn't."
"It's not like she gave me a chance, doofus."
Their friend's call lasted longer than expected and just as Sam was preparing to tell her their secret, it was time to begin the show.
"Carls. Hey, listen, before we go and make a big deal out of this kiss thing, Freddie and I have something we've been meaning to tell you . . . "
Freddie's computer made a sound and he picked up his camera. "Thirty seconds, girls."
Carly moved into position to start the show, dragging Sam with her. "Can't it wait? We're about to start the show."
Sam shook her head. "Well, no. I really need to tell you before we go live. Because of the thing Ellen wants us to do. Um, you see we've been . . ."
"Fifteen seconds." Freddie interrupted.
"Just tell me after the show, Sam. What are you afraid you're going to forget what you have to say?"
"No. Trust me, I'm not going to forget this. And neither are you." Sam sighed.
Freddie began to count. "In six, five . . . "
"FreddieandIhavebeendatingsincelastfall." Sam said quickly in one breath just before the camera came on and the show went live.
Carly's mouth was hanging open wide and her eyes were bugging out when Freddie said "Two!" and pointed to them.
Sam began the show first as planned. "I'M SAM!"
Seeing her co-host's vacant expression she added. "And this cute little brunette who seems to have forgotten how to talk is Carly. And this is iCarly!"
Visual effects and music played briefly, before Freddie cut the feed from the computer and switched back to the hand held camera.
Before long, Carly began to snap out of her trance and tried to got into the swing of things. It took a few minutes to process it all and her timing was definitely off clear up until the end of the first segment. As they were preparing for the cowboy and idiot farm girl sketch, Freddie cued up a clip of shirtless Gibby trying to give away hot dogs on a street corner.
Behind the dressing wall, Carly had slipped into her farm girl outfit and spoke as Sam was attaching her fake mustache in the mirror. "So, about what you said before, about you and Freddie being a couple? I know you were just messing with me. That was actually a pretty good joke. You really had me for a few minutes."
"Less than a minute girls!" Freddie called to them from the other side of the wall.
"No joke, Carls. We are." Sam replied. "Fredbag and I've been going out. It's not like it's some big deal. I just wanted you to know before we kiss online and everyone else finds out and starts being all weird around us. You're our best friend, you should know first."
This small attempt at appeasement did not make Carly feel any better. This was not something she felt Sam should have kept from her. If it really had been months, this was a cold dagger to her heart.
"I see." Carly sounded down and Sam knew she was upset. "I understand you didn't want the whole world to know, but you never told me? Didn't you think you could trust me to keep it low key?"
"Never came up." Sam tried to play down the fact that she had been keeping a big secret from her best friend, even though it was an out and out lie.
"Yes it has!" Carly argued with a huff. "Lots of times. Probably about a hundred. There was that time we played truth or dare at Wendy's birthday party and you said there wasn't anyone you liked. I guess that wasn't really the truth. Unless you don't 'like' Freddie even though you're dating him."
"Carls." Sam tried to diffuse her friend, but she was having no luck, the brunette was on a roll.
Carly continued, getting more worked up by the second. "There was the class trip last winter when you two were all but inseparable, and I asked you twice if there was a reason and you just ignored me and didn't answer. And the Christmas party Spencer threw, when I was trying to get Freddie to kiss me under the mistletoe, the way he avoided kissing me, I thought I had bad breath or something."
"Well, I didn't smell your breath." Sam shrugged. "Maybe you did."
Carly just glared, getting madder. "Not to mention Valentines day when we hung out because we were both single, or so I thought. I guess that was a lie, too."
"Hey, I gave up V-day with my boyfriend to hang out with you because you were single." Sam tried to defend. "That should get me some points."
Freddie stuck his head around the corner to the dressing/makeup area. "Get out here you guys!"
"Go eat a banana, you chimp!" Sam hissed and threw a box of tissues at him. "Find something to air for a minute, we're talkin'."
He sighed as he saw the hurt on Carly's face and went back to his computer to quickly find a suitable clip.
"And how many times could you have told me when I was trying to help you find a prom date? I tried to fix you up with, what, at least four different guys?" Carly begged. "I seriously thought you were batting for the other team when you turned down Mason, he really liked you and he's adorable."
"Aw, Carly." Sam shook her head. "Please try to chill. This isn't a big deal."
"It is a big deal!" Carly wiped at a tear after stomping her foot. "I thought we told each other everything."
"Dammit, Carls, don't turn on the water works with me. That only works on boys." Sam huffed.
Carly was coming to the realization that her friends were much closer than she ever thought and more than anything it upset her that they were able to maintain a relationship that didn't involve her. For the first time in a long time, she felt like a third wheel.
"You know, I should have seen this. The way he slips off earlier than usual, then you leave right away. You're always standing beside him at his cart, I know you're not interested in the computers or the tech stuff. Then there's the glances I see you sneaking at him and he always sits beside you on the couch. Not to mention, you never cut Briggs' class anymore. Is that because you share a desk with him?"
Sam just shrugged with a cheesy grin. "Maybe. I do need to pass her class to graduate, you know."
Carly suddenly began to think of another aspect of their relationship. "Wait a minute, you guys have been together how long? Six, seven months? Have you done other things besides kiss? What about the thing with the bean bag chairs you were texting about? Have you two really . . . ? Gaaaah! You're gross!"
"Um, maybe." Sam said sheepishly, knowing her friend was upset. "Usually we just go to his place and . . . "
"Gaaaah!" Carly couldn't believe her ears. "I can't hear this."
Freddie switched to the stationary camera and stood in front of it as it came on. "Hi guys. Freddie Benson the tech producer here. Um, Sam and Carly are having a little hold up getting ready for the next sketch. For right now, here's a clip of Carly's brother Spencer eating cold oatmeal."
The camera went off and the saved video of a groggy Spencer spooning disgusting, lumpy cold breakfast cereal into his mouth ran online as the girls came back to the production floor.
"And back when I dated that Ricky guy, after he tried to get me to, um, well, you remember what I told you asked me to do with him, I was even considering asking Freddie out. You told me you didn't like him like that. Specifically. I even asked you. Were you guys even together way back then?"
"Well, actually that's right about when we started going out." Sam said with embarrassment.
"Seriously? After that whole speech about how dating Freddie was wrong and if it didn't work out it would be all weird and mess up the show? What happened to that theory? Or were you just trying to make me feel like a loser who wasn't good enough?"
"Carls, I truly meant it when I said you guys wouldn't work out and it would mess up the show. And you guys wouldn't make it together, we all know it. Him and I, we knew what we were getting into from the beginning. We'd liked each other for a while, we discussed it, we knew it wouldn't make things awkward."
"You've seen each other naked and done THAT for corn's sake! How is that not going to make things awkward if you two break up?" Carly was truly frustrated at Sam's attitude.
"Carls, I love Freddie! It's not like we're just playing mind games or interested in nothing but the sex. I've never had feelings for anyone like I do for him. I don't fall for a new guy every five days, like some people, he's my one and only. My first kiss, my first time. He's the reason I even applied to colleges, so I could go with him. Why the hell can't you just be happy for us?" Sam threw her hands in the air, frustrated herself.
"Guys, we're going live, the clip's almost over." Freddie warned.
"So why the fudge did you lie to my face and tell me you didn't like him?" Carly shrieked just as the camera went on again. "You know what, you two suck! I'm done! Finish the freakin' show yourself!" Carly walked off set leaving her two friends and everyone watching awestruck.
Well, she didn't exactly flip out at the dance, but Carly did flip out.
