"You're smart, you're pretty, you could so get into Princeton!"

Carly shook her head and laughed demurely. She was a bit embarrassed by the intensity of Sam. This conversation had come out of nowhere. What had started as an afternoon hanging out at the Groovie Smoothie and talking about ideas for the next iCarly had somehow turned into what they were going to do after high school and where they would be in twenty years. Carly felt even more disconcerted since this current topic was brought up by a suddenly contemplative blonde.

"Sam, don't be silly," Carly rolled her eyes. "I'm not going to Princeton University. Besides, what can I learn there that I can't get on this coast?"

Sam watched Carly as she slurped on her smoothie, as if preparing an argument. She took a moment for a breath, then spoke: "An amazing education at an amazing school so you can do amazing things. Just, promise me you'll never dye your hair red."

Scrunching her face, Carly eyed the blond. "Why not? I think I'd look good with red hair..."

"You'd look good bald and covered in thick body hair," Sam responded with absolute certainty and a touch of sarcasm. It was true, though. To Sam, Carly was an image of perfection and grace. There really was never a time that Sam had ever thought that the brunette was not hot. Even that night that she had spent holding Carly's hair while she power-puked some bad chicken into the porcelain, Sam found her totally doable...er, stunning. Yeah. Stunning.

Carly smiled. The blond was looking at her as if she was a piece of ham roasting on a BBQ spit. Hey, this was Sam. That required a whole different set of metaphors. "Sam, ew! Never tell me about your hairy-bald fantasies again."

"¡Hola, hermosa señora y el demonio!" Freddy grinned, grabbing a seat between Carly and Sam with a large smoothie in his hand. "What's up?"

Carly smiled: "Hey, Freddy."

Sam glowered: "Freddork." She caught the reference.

"Sam was being contemplative," Carly started.

"Hey!" Sam warned. "No big words."

Carly and Freddy both rolled their eyes at the brooding blonde. "I meant, you were thinking about our futures." She looked at Freddy: "We were discussing what we were going to do after high school."

Freddy chuckled and gave Sam a wry grin: "One word, Sam: paper or plastic?"

"That's two words, dweeb," Sam shot back.

"Ok, then, how about...," Freddy made a patronizing face and waggled his head, "...would you like fries with that?"

Sam raised a fist above the table, pointed in the direction of her source of annoyance. "How about a five-knuckle sandwich," she gave back, with a side of attitude.

"Can you up-size that?" Freddy laughed, taking a swig from his smoothie.

Carly put a hand on Sam's fist, guiding it back to the table, laughing at her two best friends. "The two of you should seriously consider getting a room..."

Sam shot a look at her girlfriend with a twinkle of humor. "Yeah, but where would I hide the body?"

"You should be so lucky, Puckett," Freddy chuckled. "So, what did you guys come up with? Obviously, Carly goes to a top university..."

"Like Princeton," Sam interjected, raising an eyebrow at Carly.

Freddy nodded: "Absolutely, Princeton. I could see that. I'm thinking Harvard. That would be great!"

Carly frowned at Freddy's exuberance. Sure, great for them, but what about Sam? Freddy and she would be among the brains of higher learning while Sam would be stuck back in Seattle doing God only knows what trouble the blond firebrand would get into without Carly around to temper her. No, she would never allow that to happen. Even if it meant passing on Princeton for state university.

"Freddy," Carly said low, a bit reproachful.

Freddy looked confused. "What's wrong with that? We'd all be together, th-- OW!" He gave Sam an angry glare and reached down to rub his right shin, the one the demon just kicked with way too much force. He'd be limping for the rest of the day. "What –?"

"Shh," Sam shushed, so quick that Carly had missed it, since she was so focused on Freddy's discomfort for a moment before giving Sam a withering look.

"Sam!" Carly admonished. "Behave." Then, to Freddy: "I want to stay with Sam. I'm going to register at U-Dub. Besides, I'd need a scholarship to afford Princeton. That's if I even met the admission requirements."

Freddy frowned at Carly, then swung a look at Sam who just glared at him in such a way that seemed to say that if he spoke, she would rip out his voice box. After a momentary stare-down, which Freddy always lost, by the way, since not even a corpse could out stare Sam, he just sadly shook his head.

"Count me in, then..." Freddy conceded. "I guess. U-Dub all around..."

Carly studied Freddy for a long time. "You'd give up Harvard for Sam and me?"

Freddy gave a wry smile. "Sure, why not." Then, he gave Sam a curious look. She gave the same cautious look of warning. He shook his head and focused on his smoothie.

"I need another smoothie, guys," Carly announced. "I'll be right back."

Sam and Freddy watched Carly get up and walk out of earshot. Then, Sam turned on Freddy, giving him a solid whack in the arm.

"Ow!" Freddy hissed. "Sam, what the hell?"

"Way to almost spill it, dork," Sam growled.

"I thought you told her by now," Freddy explained, rubbing his right arm. Great, now a limp and a gimpy arm. "Remember? No more secrets?"

"You were never supposed to find out," Sam mumbled. "How did you find out?"

Freddy looked confused. "Um...you...told...me," he answered slowly, carefully, uncertainly.

"No...I...didn't," Sam growled back.

Freddy rolled his eyes and used his fingers for quote marks, "Oh, yeah...'Melanie' told me..." He shook his head. "Sam, I'm beginning to think you have a split personality. You even showed me the letter..."

"Shut it, Fredifer," Sam snarled, looking up as Carly retook her seat and eyed the both of them.

"I can't leave the two of you alone for a minute, can I," Carly laughed, shaking her head. "What was it this time?"

"Sam?" Freddy asked, innocently, staring at the blond.

Sam saw Carly was also looking expectantly at her. "Freddy's got a thing for my sister," she answered, coolly.

Freddy groaned and banged his head on the table.