50. School
(Or: the hell-hole of our childhood)
School. Some love it. Whilst others absolutely hate it, to the point of no return. Literally. They drop out and go find a job someplace where nobody knows them from a bar of soap...
Carly Shay was a school-lover. Sam Puckett was a school-hater. Yet, they managed to stay best friends throughout the years. The day (the very first day) they started dating each other, they walked into the school hallways together and both thought nothing of it.
The other students, however, gave them both a hard time. The girls would ignore them, the boys would jeer at them... some boys would chat up Carly just to get up Sam's nose... for they knew she was the one in charge. Supposedly.
"Why don't you dump Sam, and come date me. You know. An actual man." or "Dump the chick, and I'll show you a good time. With my dick."
Seriously.
They were unforgivably crude. All of their raucous laughter made Sam's blood boil and Carly reconsider their dating option. The girls argued and argued, but remained more in love than ever and swore never to part with each other.
But... Kids can be cruel.
The Ridgeway High school kids were no exception to this rule. It had been two weeks.
"Dykes! Dykes! Dykes! Take a hike, hike, hike!" they would all chant through the corridor. Their artistic skills and efforts didn't go to waste as they pinned up posters - as in millions of printed photos and horrible, hurtful words that would otherwise be banned at such a school.
Carly takes one look at the letters "go die lesbo" painted all over it in red then bursts into tears and runs to the girls bathroom. She calls Sam from where she's crouched, and through her sobs, Sam can only make out the words 'not' and 'date' and 'anymore'. She says one thing.
"Okay."
Time passed.
Students forgot all about the Sam and Carly dating epidemic and moved on to a new victim. Carly never forgot about it though. Neither did Sam. How does one just simply forget being in love with their best friend? The two of them weren't speaking to one another.
"What's with you and Sam?" Freddie asked his friend, over lunch.
"Sam?" Carly asked.
"You know. Blonde hair. About five foot two. Likes ham..."
"Sam Puckett."
Freddie nodded and Carly turned away, trying to avoid the question.
"You're still in love with her, aren't you. It's okay. I won't tell anyone."
Famous last words.
The next day, the school was buzzing again about a possible rehashing of Carly and Sam coupling up. You could see the students sharpening their pencils ready for more poster-making and practicing their crude language to throw around the hallways once more.
"What the hell is going on?" Sam demanded, shaking Freddie around. "Why am I hearing 'Carly and Sam' being whispered everywhere?"
"She still loves you, Puckett." Freddie replied.
"What?"
"Wake up and smell the harsh school kids' un-deodorized arm-pits, Samantha! Carly is in love with you!"
The whole hall-way went silent. Carly, who was sitting on a bench by herself, suddenly stood up and looked across at Sam, who looked about ready to punch Freddie's head.
"You IDIOT!"
Sam lunged for Freddie's throat, but before he could be knocked to the ground, Carly ran over to her best friend and pulled her back.
"Sam! Stop it! Stop it, Sam!"
"No! He's a complete idiot! He deserves to-"
"I LOVE YOU! We swore we'd never part. Remember? Freddie... Freddie made me remember..."
By this time, all the students had gathered around in a circle, witnessing the happenings between the three friends. They were all amazed at such an emotional heartfelt display of affection between the girls.
Carly held Sam's hands tightly.
"Please date me again."
Gibby stepped forward and started whispering "date her, date her, date her"... then Freddie joined in... and before long the whole entire group were chanting.
Sam finally grabbed Carly's face and kissed her suddenly. ...And you can probably guess what happened after that...