iGrow Up

XI

"Carly! Freddie's here!" Carly heard Spencer yell from downstairs.

"Be right down!" Carly yelled back, running the brush through her hair a few more times before grabbing her purse and backpack and exiting her bedroom. She put on a bright smile as she hopped down the stairs, seeing Freddie waiting for her at the bottom.

"Morning, Beautiful," he greeted her, causing her to blush. She wasn't used to that sort of attention, even though she was sure Freddie said something similar to that a million times over; she just never took the time out to notice or appreciate it.

"Morning," she responded, keeping eye contact with him as she reached the bottom of the stairs and even when walking around him. The smile of pure joy he was giving her seemed hypnotic and she couldn't bring herself to look away for a long moment.

Spencer raised an eyebrow when he saw this play out. Carly walked into the kitchen and his eyes averted to Freddie, who was still smiling away.

"Want an apple?" Carly asked, holding up a green apple.

"Sure, sounds good," Freddie said, holding out his hands when Carly tossed the apple to him, then grabbing one for herself.

They both took their first bite together, Carly walking back over to Freddie as they chewed. They both turned to Spencer, grinning and chewing at the same time.

Spencer now gave them an odd look, wondering why he thought he might be seeing double…and also why the scene seemed really weird. Spencer forced out a short laugh, hoping that they would also laugh along at their strangeness. When they didn't, he put on a serious face, tried the laugh again, then went back to serious.

"You guys are freaking me out," he finally said.

"Well, we have to go now to make sure we don't miss the bus," was Carly's only response as she walked toward the door, Freddie following.

"See you later, Spencer," Freddie called out, waving over his shoulder before closing the door behind him.

Spencer pulled his lips in, thinking hard about what he just saw. He wasn't quite sure…but his little sister and Freddie seemed really happy this morning…a bit…too…happy. He rubbed his chin suspiciously.

Outside, Carly and Freddie finally laughed, giving each other a high five. Though most of their "act" may have been real, they somehow secretly decided between themselves that they would throw Spencer through a little loop.

"That'll give his brain something to think about today," Carly said as they made their way to the elevator, pressing a finger on the down button.

Freddie nodded as the elevator doors opened and they stepped inside, then hitting the first floor button. They stayed silent for a moment as the doors closed and they were left alone as they traveled down. He glanced over at her, wondering where they stood from last night to this morning.

Carly herself was feeling slightly unsure of what to do at the moment. Now that the drama slowed down and they weren't just shouting or doing whatever was on their minds, going through the motions was hard to do. She still never gave him an answer to the question he asked her the night before.

They both stayed lost in each others thoughts too long apparently, for before they knew it, the elevator made a short dinging sound and the doors opened to reveal the lobby.

They both stood still for a second before Freddie waved his arm out to the side, indicating that she may exit the elevator first. The grin on his lips made her laugh, and she curtseyed before walking out of the elevator, "Why, thank you kind sir," she said with mock royalty in her tone.

"Anything for the pretty lady," Freddie responded as he followed behind her, cursing lowly under his breath when he didn't reach the front door in time to open it for her. Carly didn't seem to mind, however, as she pushed the door open with one hand. She stopped abruptly right outside the door, causing Freddie to run into her.

"What's the matter?" he asked, "Forget something?"

He watched her as she shook her head, seeing the surprised look on her face. He followed her eyes, his own going dull when he spotted Griffin. The good-looking guy in the tight jeans and leather jacket was leaning against a silver two-door mustang, smirking at the sight of Carly.

Carly finally found her bearing when she angrily walked toward him, "Griffin, what are you doing here? I said I was going to take the bus."

Griffin shrugged, "You accused me of being unreliable last night…couldn't let you keep that opinion, now could I?"

Freddie felt anger…no…he saw anger! Never before had he believed in the phrase "seeing red" but he was positive he saw it now. He wasn't sure if he was mad at the guy for what he did to Carly the night before, or for showing up even though it was clear that Carly told him not to, or for just being him. Freddie decided that it was all of the above.

Carly shook her head, "I told you I was going to take the bus," she repeated.

Pushing himself away from the car he somehow obtained, he walked toward Carly, "Aw, c'mon. Don't tell me I drove all the way over here for nothing." When she didn't say anything, he continued, "Look, I'm already here and willing to give you a ride. So how 'bout you just get in the car and appreciate my offer?"

"Don't talk to Carly like that!" Freddie jumped in, just then realizing it was the first time he actually ever talked to the guy. He had tried to avoid him at all costs, knowing that he would hate him just because he was dating Carly. And though Griffin was bigger than him, and looked like he had more muscles than him, Freddie sounded confident as he defended Carly.

Griffin didn't even make a response for Freddie, his eyes staying on Carly. Finally, Carly sighed, "Okay. But only if you agree to give Freddie a ride, too."

"What?!" Freddie yelled, not wanting to ride with that jerk in the least. He couldn't even believe that Carly was considering it. The bus would only be a few more minutes! Why couldn't she just wait?!

Griffin finally glanced over at the shorter boy, not looking a bit concerned over the angry look Freddie was throwing him, nor at how close he stood to Carly. He shrugged, seeming to be satisfied that Carly at least said yes, and turned around to walk back to the car, "Whatever."

Carly let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding in and looked over to Freddie.

"Are you crazy?" Freddie asked in a loud whisper, "Spencer said that he would ground you for three months if you saw Griffin again."

Closing her eyes, Carly counted to three before opening them again, "Yeah, but he never said anything about not seeing him when someone else was around."

He watched her as she began walking toward the mustang, his shoulders slumping in defeat, "I'm sure that that also went with the deal…" he said to himself before reluctantly following. Normally he wouldn't have agreed to this, but he didn't want to leave Carly alone with Griffin and spend any time worrying about her.

Freddie stopped when he saw Carly pushing the front seat forward so she could make her way to the back seat before putting the passenger seat in its rightful position again.

"Yo, what are you doing sitting back there?" Griffin asked, looking at her in his rearview mirror like she was insane.

Carly shrugged, "I just felt like sitting back here."

Freddie sighed. Why was Carly doing this to him? Did he do something to tick her off that she was punishing him like this? He looked at her sitting in the backseat, accidentally meeting her eyes. Right away, he found the answer to his questions. She wasn't doing any of this to punish him; she was doing it to avoid confrontation. With her gaze, she told him that if she didn't take up his offer, he might have caused a scene and she didn't want to deal with it. Finally realizing that she actually didn't want to be near him, Freddie stopped stalling and slid himself into the passenger seat, slamming the door hard once he was in.

"Easy!" Griffin yelled, looking in a pissed off mood now. He turned on the car and pulled into the street without even looking, going from zero to forty in a matter of seconds.

"Griffin!" Carly yelled, grabbing her seatbelt as fast as she could, "Slow down, would you?"

"I don't get it, Carly! What's going on with you?" Griffin asked, his speed still accelerating, his eyes continuously averting from the road to his rearview mirror to look at her.

"With me?!" she exclaimed. "What's going on with you?! You're the one that's driving all crazy-like!"

"That has nothing to do with it!" He yelled back, banging his hands on the wheel, "I'm talking about you and how you always leave me in a mad rush every time something doesn't go your way!"

Her eyes widened in disbelief that he would even say such a thing, "Doesn't go my way!? Griffin…!" she stopped and looked in the passenger side mirror, seeing how uncomfortable Freddie was. She kept her back erect, but rested it against the seat, "I don't want to talk about this right now."

"You told me last night on the phone that you didn't want to talk to me then…and now you don't want to talk now? I thought that was your thing! Talking and all that nonsense…" Griffin took a sharp turn, taking the road that would inevitably lead to Carly and Freddie's school.

Carly rolled her eyes and looked out the window, "Yeah, nonsense is my thing…" she said sarcastically.

"So you're being a smartass now?" he asked harshly, his eyes narrowed.

Carly winced, not used to having cuss words thrown her way for any reason. It's not like she was a little kid and couldn't take hearing that kind of language, but she never saw the need to use it.

Freddie was now staring at Griffin like he belonged in an insane asylum. Was this guy really talking to her like that? There was no way…no way Freddie could just let that slide.

"I think you should apologize to Carly…now," Freddie said in a surprisingly calm, yet firm, voice. He locked his jaw, finding it hard to maintain any control and not just throw a blow at Griffin.

Griffin still hardly acknowledged him, "Kid, what I say to my girlfriend is none of your business."

"Kid…?"

"I'm not your girlfriend anymore," Carly piped in, narrowing her eyes to match his when he looked at her though the mirror, "I'm tired of trying to get through to you about how I feel and you not listening."

The car stopped with a sudden halt. Carly hit her nose on the front seat from the whiplash, holding her hands over her face, "Griffin!"

Without saying a word, he opened his door and stepped out of the car, not even bothering to close it behind him.

"Freddie, get out," she said in a rush, fear very apparent in her voice. She unbuckled herself and gripped the front seat hard, anxious to leave the vehicle as soon as possible.

Freddie opened the door quickly and stepped out, pushing the seat forward and grabbing Carly's hand to try to help her out as fast as he could. Before he had time to even realize that Griffin was beside them, he felt his back hit the pavement hard, thanking whatever sort of reaction he had that he kept his head up so it didn't hit also.

"Griffin!" Carly yelled, grunting when he grabbed her arm and pulled her the rest of the way out of the car, not even letting go once she was out.

"Carly, all I want to know is what's going on! You were so into my "bad boy" side when we first started dating…what happened? Huh? Too much for you?" He got close to her face as he asked this, watching as she closed her eyes and backed her face away from his.

He looked at her strangely now, "You don't think I would hit you, do you?" He sounded honestly in shock at the thought.

"Get off of her!" Freddie yelled once he made it to his feet again, shoving Griffin away from Carly. It didn't throw him far, but it did build a slight distance between him and Carly, allowing her to rub her arm where he held her.

Griffin was facing away from them when he started laughing, still doing so as he slowly turned around to face them again. He held his arms out to his sides, leaving himself wide open, "Carly…! Carly, Carly, Carly…you want to leave me for this guy?"

Carly crossed her arms, "I'm leaving you because you act like a child."

He pointed to himself, "Me? Acting like…" he started laughing again, "C'mon Carly…you're the one acting like a child. You don't even know the first thing to do in bed."

An angry and embarrassed blush spread across her face, her voice failing her momentarily from the surprise she felt upon him saying that.

Freddie wasn't seeing red anymore…it was black. He couldn't think straight; everything he did was nothing but a blur. But Carly saw it perfectly. She witnessed Freddie run toward Griffin then swing his fist back before throwing it forward to land right in the middle of Griffin's face.