Ch. 11: The Surprising Truth
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I have a feeling Pock didn't know how to get this shit out naturally, if it HAD to be in this story at all, so he/she had it info dumped in these chapters laced HEAVILY with author tract.
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Thursday & Friday were both a lot like Wednesday had been. Sam danced her little ass off while Freddie did homework on his couch in the room behind the stage. They both chuckled in the back row of Sex Ed while they listened about more relationship advice from their batty Sex Ed teacher. And Gym kept them active with kickball & dodge ball.
Spending the second half of his day with Sam was a lot of fun for Freddie. He liked to blow off some steam after cramming his homework assignments from four hard classes into one hour on the couch upstairs. Making jokes with Sam & then playing competitive sports with her & a bunch of weenies was a great way to blow off that steam.
The only part of his day that still made Freddie feel awkward was when it came time to shower after school. There was no way he was going to skip the shower and just wear sweaty clothes home, but he just wasn't quite comfortable being naked with Sam. The reason was not because he didn't like catching glimpses of her with, basically, nothing on. The problem was that Freddie got hard every time her saw her naked. It isn't easy to hide a boner with just a towel. He was sure she noticed & he didn't want Sam getting the wrong idea. He knew that they were friends & that, no matter what he might want, she would never think of him as more than that ever again.
Sam's favorite part of the day was definitely looking at the outline of Freddie's cock through a towel. She still behaved herself enough to not walk in on him naked, but she always watched as he went to & from the shower wearing just the towel. That boy was driving her crazy though & every day that went by was one day closer to her doing something she was sure she would regret.
'Just cuz he has a boner doesn't mean he wants me,' she kept telling herself. Whether he wanted her or not, Sam was satisfied with looking and imagining for now.
Luckily for Freddie, it was now the weekend, and he had a few days off school to get a little more comfortable with the whole idea of sharing the locker room with Sam. He was almost positive she didn't notice his erections anyways.
'She's one of my best friends,' he told himself. 'I should be comfortable around her.'
"Hey, shouldn't Carly be here by now?" Sam asked Freddie as they sat on the bench in the main hall after school.
"Yeah. I checked my phone, but she hasn't texted me," Freddie said. "Do you think I should call her?" He asked.
He was about to call when Carly came running down the hall towards them. She had dried clay on her hands, & a little on her shirt too.
"Where you been, kid?" Sam asked, standing up.
"Sorry I'm late, guys," Carly said. "I just got caught up making a vase in pottery. Spencer will be so excited when he sees how good I am at sculpting."
"No kidding, you're pretty good?" Freddie asked.
"Well, you can't be worse at making pots than you are at drawing bunnies," Sam said with a smirk.
"Saaam," Carly said, rolling her eyes as she opened her locker. "Yeah, I'm having so much fun in pottery. It turns out that on Fridays there is this art club thing & I ended up staying & listening to most of their meeting while I cleaned up."
"You, uh… did a great job cleaning up," Freddie said with a chuckle pointing out her muddy hands. Carly pretended not to hear him.
"Basically, anyone in an art class can be in the club," Carly explained. "You can stay after school & work on projects any day & on some Fridays. The group meets & either share their art, or listen to a guest speaker!"
"You sound really excited about this," Sam said as Carly zipped up her backpack. "Are you going to join art club?"
"I think so," Carly said. "I might just go on Fridays," she added.
"That's awesome, kid!" Sam said, patting Carly on the back. With that, the trio headed to Bushwell Plaza for iCarly.
Monday rolled around & Sam couldn't wait to get back to dance class. It was more than just a way to express herself. Sam used dance to organize her thoughts, feel comfortable with her body, and reduce stress.
By the time Sex Ed rolled around, Sam was ready to laugh, make jokes, & have fun with Freddie. Mondays were apparently discussion days because their teacher had them open up to the second chapter & share with their partner about the questions at the end of the chapter.
The text read:
Discussion Topic: Alternate Lifestyles
Share with your partner your experience with and knowledge of alternate lifestyles and family situations.
Cover the following points if applicable:
1) Give your opinion about homosexuality. Is homosexuality more acceptable between one gender or is it equally acceptable or unacceptable between both genders?
2) What are your parent's views towards homosexuality? Do you agree? Why or why not?
3) Give your opinion about marriage. In what type of family were you raised?
(Both parents, single parent, divorced, widowed, gay, straight)
4) In what type of relationships is sex acceptable? (marriage, engaged, dating, just friends/acquaintances)
"This book is all over the place," Freddie said skimming the questions. "Ok, discussion partner. What do you think about homosexuality?"
"We're friends, right Benson?" Sam replied.
"Of course!" Freddie said, thinking this question was a little off topic & out of the blue.
"Well, as friends, I don't see any reason to not be completely honest," Sam said. "I totally get it. I like dudes, & I totally respect anyone else who likes dudes too, even if that person is another dude. I get it, dudes are hot." Freddie chuckled. "And," Sam added. "Chicks are hot too. Most of us are a lot hotter than dudes. I can respect anyone liking chicks too, even if that person is another chick."
"Well, that makes sense," Freddie said, following her argument logically. "Personally, I don't understand gay guys. I haven't exactly given it a great deal of thought, I just know that I like girls," Freddie said.
"You sure about that, Benson?" Sam teased. Freddie rolled his eyes.
"To be honest," Freddie continued. "As a guy, the idea of two girls together is super hot. So yeah. I don't have a problem with gay people either. It's just definitely not my style."
"So do you think it's more ok for girls to date than for guys to date?" Sam asked, looking at the second part of the first question.
"Well, kinda," Freddie said. "But that just my personal preference, I guess."
"Wow, Benson, we are so perverted," Sam said, giggling.
"Um… what do you mean?" Freddie asked, a little confused.
"Well, you think two chicks together is pretty hot, & I think two dudes together would be pretty hot…" Sam stopped mid-sentence blushing, imagining two hot guys sucking each other off.
Freddie was oblivious & figured she was just spacing out.
"Ok," he said, moving on the question two. "What does your mom think about homosexuality, Sam?"
"Well, it's not exactly the kind of thing I talk about with my mom," Sam said, laughing. "But I happen to know that my mom dated three different women in community college."
"Really?" Freddie said, not surprised at all.
"Yeah, but she's pretty stuck on men now," Sam said, having no idea how many men her mother has been with. The thought sickened her. Sam wanted to have passionate, crazy sex as much as the next girl, but the thought of having multiple partners really sickened her.
"My mom thinks gay people are disgusting," Freddie said.
"No surprise there," Sam replied. "Your mom's a psycho conservative."
"Anyways, I don't agree with my mom," Freddie said.
"Oh," Sam said. "Well, I guess I agree with my mom. I mean, hey, if a girl liked me like that, I'd at least think about it…"
"Really?" Freddie said, this time quite surprised.
"Like I said, Benson, chicks are hot. If we loved each other, I think it could work just as well as with some dude," she replied.
Sam was actually specifically thinking of Carly, though she knew Carly would never see her that way. It was because of this that Sam never truly considered being a lesbian. No girl could be better than Carly so she'd have to stick to guys…
Freddie just smiled. Thinking about Sam with some girl got him excited.
"Question 3," Freddie said, not exactly sure how to respond to the knowledge that Sam would go bi for the right girl.
"I think marriage can be awesome if both people are actually committed," Sam said, sounding a little bitter.
"You sound kind of upset," Freddie said a little concerned.
"Yeah. One day, Freddie, I'm gonna find the right guy," Sam said. "I'm gonna find someone who cares enough about me to stay with me even if he's mad at me. He won't leave if I do something stupid or I piss him off. And I'm gonna work my ass off to keep him happy & always be faithful. Always!" Sam was clearly passionate about the sanctity of marriage.
"You're talking about your parents aren't you?" Freddie said, crossing a line he'd never crossed with Sam.
"I don't wanna talk about it!" Sam snapped.
"Okay, sorry," Freddie replied, backing off. "Look, Sam, I'm your friend, okay. If you want to talk about anything, you know you can trust me. I won't judge you, Sam. If there's something on your chest, I can listen."
Something he said must have torn down Sam's defensive wall because even though she was clearly fuming at the thought of her parent, she was smiling at Freddie.
"Freddie… my dad was a drunk. He hit my mom & didn't pay any attention to her. So she slept around with other guys. When he found out, he left. My parents never cared about each other, ever. Yeah, I care about marriage. I want to have the best marriage ever & show my mom & dad that I'm never going to be like them." Sam was trying to hide tears, but doing a bad job at it. Freddie had never seen her this emotional before.
"And you will, Sam," Freddie encouraged. "You are a fiercely loyal friend & you know when a guy is up to no good. You'll find the right guy, I just know it. And he'll be a lucky guy too, because his wife will be amazing." Sam's frown turned back into a smile.
"Thanks, Benson. That actually means a lot coming from you… Remind me to give you a hug later," she said looking around the room at nosy 9th graders.
"Actually, I think that's at least two hugs you own me now," Freddie joked. Sam rolled her eyes. She had pretty much regained her composure.
"What about you?" Sam asked. "I've never heard what happened to your dad."
"Oh," Freddie said. It was his turn to tear up. "Well… my mom's obsessive behaviors didn't used to be so bad until my dad died."
"I didn't know he died," Sam said. "I'm so sorry. I guess I figured he left your mom like my dad left mine."
"No, my parents were very much in love," Freddie said. "Dad was a contractor. He was in New York City when he died years ago. He was in the North tower of World Trade Center on September 11th."
"Oh, my God!" Sam said.
"He died saving people, Sam," Freddie said smiling with a tear in his eye. "My dad is my hero. Someday, I'm going to be as good a husband to my wife as he was to my mom."
"At first, I thought these questions were going to be whack," Sam admitted. "But to be honest Freddie, I'm really glad you're my discussion partner in this class.
"Me too, Sam," he said. "I feel like I'm getting to know you a lot more. And that's saying something cuz I feel like I already know you pretty well."
"There's one more question," Sam said, "but we only have, like, 5 minutes of class left.
"Well, let's get on with it then. When is sex ok? Well, having sex with your spouse is obviously ok," Freddie said.
"Be honest now, Freddie," Sam said. "If you had a fiancé, would you have sex with her, before you were married?"
Freddie blushed.
"Well, yeah, sure," he said. "You know, as long as it was ok with her.
"How about you, Sam?" Freddie asked. "Yeah, man! If I get engaged, its 'cause I've decided already that the guy is good enough for me. Why wait if I already know I want him?"
"What about just a boyfriend?" Freddie asked, moving on to the next part of the question.
"Well, like I said. If he's good enough for mama then yeah, why not? I would have to be pretty damn sure that our relationship is rock solid and that I can trust him. I am not a fan of one-night-stands."
"I am definitely with you there," Freddie said. "Sex is supposed to mean something. When Ackerman was talking about one-night-stands last week, I was pretty disgusted. If I had a girlfriend, I wouldn't want to have sex until I knew she really loved me and that I could trust her."
"What about someone who you're not dating?" Sam asked, moving on to the last part of the question.
"You want the truth?" he asked.
"Yeah, dude!" Sam said, actually getting pretty curious. "Would you under any circumstances have sex with a girl who you weren't dating?"
"I don't see it ever happening, but, if I ever did have a female friend, who I trust & who truly loves and respects me, & actually wanted to have casual sex with me, then yeah, I'd go for it!" Freddie was a little surprised that he didn't feel uncomfortable sharing this with Sam. She had, after all, just shared a lot with him as well. He figured he must trust her a lot to be able to share so much with her.
"What about you, Sam?" Sam was too busy thinking about what Freddie had just said. He would have sex with a female friend that he loves and trusts. Last she checked, she met that description pretty well. "Sam?"
"Huh, what?" Sam said, snapping back to reality.
"I said, what about you? Would you have sex with a guy friend if you trusted him?"
Just then the bell rang and everyone stood up to leave. Freddie stood up too, but kept his eyes on Sam.
"Well?"
Sam was too busy thinking about what Freddie had just said. He would have sex with a female friend that he loves and trusts. Last she checked, she met that description pretty well. She didn't know how to respond. She was still focusing on the idea of fucking Freddie instead of thinking about having sex with a generic, abstract male friend. All she could think to do was nod, so she did.
"Uh… yeah, I guess I would…" she stuttered. "You know, if he loved me & trusted me & he was g..g..good enough for me." She said, stuttering again.
Sam joined Freddie, standing, & they walked to the gym together.
"Wanna know something weird?" Freddie asked Sam as they walked beside each other. Sam nodded. "I sorta just realized this, but the whole friends-with-benefits thing really makes sense! If you could get past the awkwardness, that is…"
Sam almost fell over.
"I mean, you know, if both friends aren't dating anyone else, why not make each other feel good? It's still special if you're sharing it with someone you care about…" Freddie rationalized out loud, completely oblivious that Sam was freaking out. He did notice that she hadn't responded.
"Oh, sorry," Freddie said. "I'm being weird, aren't I? Well, see you in a few minutes." Freddie passed the gym door & headed to their locker room while Sam absentmindedly turned & entered the gym. She was already dressed because of dance class.
'This is crazy,' Sam thought. 'He must have been thinking about Carly when he said that…He would never want me. Of course he wants me; he's got a damn boner every fucking day in the shower! Do I want him? Of course I want him! He's so fucking hot & he really does care about me. He told me he loved me right after we broke up for crying out loud! You can't get a more caring friend than that… He's definitely good enough for mama. Freddie's not a player like all those other jerks. But how do I bring it up? 'Hey, Freddie, do you want me to suck your cock? You know, just as friends.' Oh, God, I'm a nutcase! I don't care if I'm crazy, I think about him every night! If there was anyone to trust with your virginity, it would be your best friend, right? Right! He said he'd do it; I just need to let him see that it's what I want too. But how do I—'
Sam's thoughts were cut off by the bell. She had been spacing out for a while, class was starting. Freddie & her other classmates were grouping up to play Ultimate Frisbee & Sam wanted to make sure to be on Freddie's team.
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PEACE
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