Chapter nine: Officially Over

*3 months later*

It was the day that Sam had been dreading the most, the day that mean't that summer was officially over and that it was the start of a brand new school year. Her summer had been pretty amazing and coming back to school was certainly going to bring her newly found happiness to an end. She had managed to avoid Freddie and everyone else for the whole three months, which she was proud of but being far away in New York probably had something to do with that. Once Sam had arrived at school that morning, she did the one thing that she always did and headed straight towards her locker. She didn't have to do anything else seems she had put in for her schedule to be sent to her online. As Sam turned the corner down the main school hallway though, she bumped into him straight away where he was standing right beside her locker.

"Go away" Sam demanded. "I can't be dealing with you already" she insisted.

"We really need to talk" Freddie tried to tell her.

"I don't want to talk" Sam told him.

"Well just listen then" Freddie shot at her. "I've been trying to contact you all summer but every time I came by your house your mom would say that you weren't home" he continued.

"That's because I've been away all summer" she informed him.

"Where have you been?" Freddie asked and she didn't reply. "Well, did you get any of my messages at least?" he questioned.

"Nope and it's not like I would have replied to them" Sam answered.

"I'm only trying to sort things out here. You scurried off on prom night and we didn't get to finish talking or our dance" Freddie started. "The cheerleaders have been looking for you all summer. You may hate me Sam, but you need me around to protect you from them now. I managed to keep them away from you until prom but now I can't guarantee it" he explained.

"I don't need you to protect me, I don't want you to protect me, I can protect myself" Sam insisted.

"Since when?" Freddie questioned.

"Since I realised how strong I used to be before you took everything away from me. The reason why I didn't stand up to you and your friends over the years is because I always hoped that me and you would be friends again" Sam told him. "I don't want to be your friend anymore though. You made me weak and I'm ready to be strong" she added.

"I want to be friends again now though. You need a friend" Freddie tried to reason with her.

"I have a friend. I met a girl who has just moved into town with her older brother" Sam told him. "I finally made a friend. Can you please now leave me alone?" she begged.

"Is that really what you want?" Freddie asked and she nodded. "I'm never going to give up on you Sam" he told her before walking away.

Sam sighed as she watched Freddie storm off and she immediately wished that summer wasn't over. She wanted to be back in New York because everything that she wanted was there, like people who cared about her and of course Juilliard. Had Freddie really been looking for her all summer though? That's dedication. Why didn't she get any of his messages? That was something she was going to have to take up with her mother and she certainly planned on it.

"So I've finally got my schedule" a brunette girl called, taking Sam out of her thoughts. "It was a really long line" she sighed.

"That's why I always get mine sent to me online" Sam replied.

"You" the head cheerleader Valerie shouted from across the hall. "We've been looking everywhere for you all summer" she told Sam as she and the other cheerleaders approached her at her locker.

"You clearly didn't look everywhere" Sam responded, taking them all by surprise.

"Are you trying to be funny?" Tasha questioned.

"Let me deal with her" Valerie ordered. "We left you alone like Freddie told us to but he didn't take any of us to prom. Now were extra ticked off" she snapped, placing her hands firmly on her hips. "You will be paying for this" she added.

"I don't think that will be necessary. What's next homecoming or the girls choice dance? Whatever it is, if you even look at me in the wrong way Freddie isn't going to want to go with you" Sam explained. "You know I'm right" she added.

"Look who's got smart all of a sudden" Valerie commented.

"I've always been smart" Sam smiled.

"You look new, what's your name?" Valerie questioned as she turned to the brunette girl.

"Carly Shay" she responded.

"Well it's your lucky day. It seems that you've chosen to hang around with the wrong type of person. You've got the look, us girls will happily take you on as part of the cheerleading squad" Valerie offered.

"No thanks, I like my choices" Carly replied as she and Sam walked off.

"Welcome to my life" Sam smiled.

Freddie, Brad and Wendy stood in shock as they watched the scene in front of them from across the hall. None of them knew that Sam had that in her but to Freddie that just made her even more interesting and as for Wendy she was curious in finding out exactly who that new pretty brunette girl was. The three of them stayed in their current spot watching the cheerleaders closely as they all looked extremely confused and annoyed with the event that had just happened. They now had two people that they hated, Sam Puckett and Carly Shay but Valerie was determined to get Carly Shay apart of the cheerleading squad.

"Who's the brunette?" Wendy questioned.

"I think that's her friend that she made over the summer" Freddie answered. "She's just moved into town apparently" he added.

"What! Are you being serious?" Wendy questioned. "I've always wanted to be her friend and despite everything I've done I've never been good enough!" she exclaimed.

"Wendy calm down-" Brad started.

"Don't tell me to calm down!" she warned him, cutting him off. "She won't let me be her friend but she'll just automatically make friends and trust some girl that comes into town and knows nothing about her. It sucks!" she exclaimed once more.

"Don't worry, I'll have a word with her" Freddie tried to assure her as he noticed that Wendy did actually have a point.

"Yes I'm sure that will help, Sam always loves to hear what you've got to say" Wendy shot at him sarcastically before storming off.

"Let her go" Freddie told Brad. "I think she needs time to calm down" he suggested.

A/N: Please review, thank you!