iTest Drive
Carly sat at her desk, driver's ed textbook opened in front of her as she studied for an upcoming quiz. On the second day of class she, Sam, and Freddie had all quickly realized how demanding the course would be, as there was homework every night and a quiz each day. She was already feeling a bit burnt-out, on top of their weekly iCarly duties. Mr. Calderon was a patient man, though, and he was very fair with the class. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to take driver's ed with a teacher like Ms. Briggs or Mr. Howard.
Shuddering at the thought, she glanced over her shoulder to her bed, where Sam lay splayed across it, engrossed in whatever she was penciling down on her notebook. Carly smiled at the sight and turned back to her own work. She was worried Sam would balk at the amount of work required from driver's ed and drop the course, but Sam had been surprisingly calm about it. Not once had she griped or complained about their increased workload.
Unlike Freddie, who had been grumbling about how his commitments to the AV Club, the Mathletes, The Junior Bow-and-Arrow Club, iCarly, and now driver's ed were taking up every bit of his free time. Carly was beginning to get sick of hearing it everyday. She wondered how Sam didn't bop him right in the mouth each time he started whining. For once, Carly almost wanted to request that Sam act violent towards Freddie.
She smiled at that mental image for a moment, then checked the time on her PearPhone and saw that her and Sam had been doing schoolwork for nearly an hour. Wanting to take a quick break, Carly stood up and began walking towards the door to go downstairs to get a drink, but then decided that she'd check Sam's progress on her own work first.
"Hey, how's the stud…" Carly began, stopping when her eyes fell onto the notebook paper Sam had in front of her. What she thought was her girlfriend dutifully working away at school was actually a very intricate sketch. Sam kept on drawing, like she hadn't even heard or seen Carly approach.
"You're not studying, you're drawing!"
"Mmm," Sam grunted, more focused on shading in her picture. She'd drawn a very elaborate scene of herself and Carly in some sort of sports car, Sam behind the wheel and Carly next to her, as they drove down a busy Seattle highway, the Space Needle in the background, while Freddie hung on to the back fender for dear life, a terrified look on his face. Sam sat back cooly in the driver's seat, one hand on the wheel, while Carly had wrapped her arms around Sam's free one, a look of loving adoration on her face as she gazed at her girlfriend.
Carly had to admit, it was really good. And super cute, too. But still, if Sam wanted that drawing to become a reality, she'd have to actually do their driver's ed work!
"Did you even study at all?" she asked.
"Uhhh…," Sam replied, still not looking up. She was adding in a seagull pooping on Freddie's head.
"Sam!" Carly admonished, sitting down on the bed next to where the other girl laid. She scooted over a bit, but still didn't really acknowledge her presence. Carly was getting annoyed.
"Mmm?"
"Wouldjya lookit me?"
Sam finally tore her eyes off the paper in front of her and rolled over onto her back, looking at Carly's face for the first time with a lazy smile.
"Hey, Carls. You sure look pretty."
Ignoring the compliment, Carly just glared down at Sam. "Have you done any homework since we've gotten home?"
"No," Sam replied.
"Have you studied at all for Monday's quiz?"
Sam just shook her head. Carly sighed. Sam sat up to address her.
"I dunno why you're upset about this. Well, more upset than usual. You know I almost never do homework at home. That's for during attendance."
The only time Sam did her homework was when she and Carly sat down right next to each other and worked on it together, or sometimes when her girlfriend requested that she do it on her own. She somehow always managed to skate by each year by putting in the bare minimum effort, which included a lot of copying other people's homework answers, cheating on tests, and relying on her natural smarts to get her by. She quite often acted dumb and incompetent, (which Carly hated for the following reason) but Sam was actually really intelligent. It was how she could whip out the answers to last night's homework in five minutes and still pass, or skip class all week, show up Friday, and ace the test. Carly and Freddie, who both got good grades, would never be able to do that.
"I'm upset because this isn't some class at school, Sam. This is driver's ed, which you signed up for and chose to take outside of school. Plus, you paid for it with your money that you earned from your job. Don't you want to put it to good use?"
Sam leaned in close and put her hand on Carly's shoulder before answering.
"Listen, Carly, I appreciate your concern for me," she began. "But I promise you, me studying for Monday's quiz is totally unnecessary, alright? I mean, have you seen me prepare for a single quiz we've had at all this week?"
That was a good point. Today was Friday, and they'd had quizzes Wednesday and Thursday, too. Sam hadn't really done anything to get ready for those, either.
"When we get all this week's quizzes back, I'll show you the grades. When you see that I am most definitely passing and in no danger of wasting my hard-earned Chili My Bowl money, then will you lay off?"
Carly thought about then sighed before conceding with an, "o-kay."
"Thanks, Carls."
"But that's just for driver's ed! Don't start thinking that I'm gonna let you slide on doing your regular homework!"
"I can't believe I'm dating such a nag," Sam said, she was smiling, and it was said in a light tone.
Taking it as a joke, Carly smiled back, then looked down at Sam's drawing. It looked finished; everything she'd just added were details to enrich the image.
"So, about your drawing…" she began. Sam's eyes flicked over the picture she made, then back at the bashful look on Carly's face, and she grinned her toothy Puckett smile.
"What about it?" she pressed on.
"It's just…really nice. One of your best works."
Sam nodded. "Thank you, Cupcake. I think so, too."
"Yeah," Carly nodded back. "I was just, um, wondering…"
"Yes?" Sam encouraged.
"Well, you know…were you thinking of keeping that drawing? For, um, yourself?"
Sam looked back down at it. "Ah, I dunno…I was actually thinkin' of trashing it." With that, she grabbed her notebook and got up off the bed, assumedly to throw it away, but Carly couldn't handle the thought of that.
"No!" she cried, jumping off the bed and grabbing Sam's wrists. Sam just smiled back at her in amusement.
"Yes?" she asked.
"Don't throw it away!"
"Why?"
"Because…," she started shyly, "it's really good, like I said. And…I'd like to keep it, if you'd let me."
Sam smiled and pulled away from Carly's grasp, set the notebook back down on the bed, then knelt down in front of it and grabbed her pencil, adding in the finishing touches. She then carefully ripped the page out and presented it to her girlfriend, the only changes made being the date and her signature (a scribbly 'S' and 'P') in the bottom-right corner. Carly smiled at her, gingerly taking the drawing.
"You better be careful with that, it's a Sam Puckett original," Sam said, standing up. "That's gonna be worth a lotta money someday."
"It's already worth a lot, to me," Carly said, looking between the picture and Sam. "And money has nothing to do with it."
She was pleased when she saw a red flush spread over Sam's face. Her girlfriend wasn't one to get easily flustered, so whenever she caused it to happen, Carly considered it an accomplishment.
Taking advantage of the moment, she threw the paper aside and stepped forward, put her arms around Sam's neck, and pulled them flushly against each other as she initiated a searing kiss, which Sam gladly accepted, eagerly kissing back as she placed her hands on the small of Carly's back.
As the kiss got more intense, Carly and Sam had to pull away for air, gasping for breath as they did. Carly didn't wait too long though, as she quickly pushed Sam onto the bed and then followed suit, straddling her girlfriend as she situated herself over her waist before leaning down to resume kissing.
They were just little closed-mouth kisses at first, where they were basically just moving their lips against each other. Sam was in awe of how good a kisser Carly was. Way better than her, that was for sure. She reasoned it was because Carly had dated, and therefore kissed, a lot more people than her. And while that did make her feel a pang of sadness, it honestly didn't really matter. They were together now, and that's what was important. Plus, she got to benefit a lot from all that kissing experience. It was pretty awesome.
Sam liked to think she'd gotten pretty good, too, though. Based on how much time her and Carly spent kissing. Plus, the fact that Carly was currently shoving her tongue in her mouth had to mean she possessed some skill in that area.
They began full-on making out now, and Carly had her hands at Sam's sides, caressing her arms. In turn, she brought her own hands up to Carly's hair, letting her fingers slip into her wavy brown locks as she felt her girlfriend's tongue exploring her mouth. It was one of the most amazing sensations she'd ever felt in her life.
The only thing that could possibly top it was when she felt Carly's hand slip under her shirt and start moving upwards, when they were—of course—interrupted.
"Carly! Sam!" Spencer yelled up to them, his voice so loud they could hear him all the way downstairs with the door closed. "Freddie's here for a sound check!"
Immediately Carly pulled back and looked down at Sam for just a second before rolling over and off her girlfriend, laying flat on her back as the two of them lay panting there, each catching their breath. They'd both gotten extremely caught up in the moment and forgotten tonight was an iCarly night.
"C'mon," Carly said, getting off the bed and turning to Sam. "We gotta get ready for the show tonight." She put her hand out to Sam, who grabbed it and let Carly pull her off the bed.
They walked downstairs hand-in-hand, greeted by the sight of Freddie and Spencer talking in the living room. Freddie stopped their conversation and looked up at Carly and Sam as they entered the room.
"Hey, did you guys finish studying for Monday's quiz?" he asked. They both automatically knew he meant for driver's ed.
"No," Carly replied, shaking her head. "I got about halfway through before being…sidetracked," she said, giving a pointed look to Sam.
"I didn't study at all. And don't plan to, either," Sam said almost proudly. Freddie smirked.
"Guess I'll get to watch you wash my car every week," he said smugly. Sam rolled her eyes.
"Right, like I'll be anywhere near your mommy's Prius, seeing as you don't even have your own car," she replied.
"You say that like you also don't own a vehicle!" Freddie shot back.
"Not yet, but you can be sure I will. Just so I can watch you hosin' it down for a year."
"Freddie, didn't you have to do a soundcheck?" Carly cut in. He glared at Sam once more before the three of them took the stairs up to the studio and began prepping for that night's show. Getting sets ready, making sure props were in place, and last-minute line run-throughs occupied their time for the next hour or so, then it was time for the show.
The webcast was great, as usual. Freddie counted down from five omitting the one, the girls introduced themselves, and they launched right into it. All of their bits were funny and the jokes well-received. Just as they were about to end, though, Sam decided to add something last-minute.
"Well, that's it for this iCarly…" Carly started.
"Um, not yet," Sam said, ignoring the confused look Carly was giving her. "Y'see, iCarly fans, Carly, Freddie, and I have recently started taking driver's ed. And none of us can seem to agree on who will get their license first."
Freddie turned the camera around so he could speak directly to the audience, an annoyed look on his face as he said, "Sam seems to think she'll pass while Carly and I fail."
"They even made a bet on it!" Carly chimed in, causing Freddie to point the camera back on them. "Which I am not a part of, because I do not condone betting!"
"Speaking of which, the bet is that the loser has to wash the winner's car every week for a year! So, iCarly fans, who do you think's gonna pass their road test; me, Carly, or Fredpus?"
"That's not my name!"
"Freddie's gonna put up a poll after the livestream's done and I want each and everyone of you to vote. Till next time!"
"I'm Carly!"
"And I'm Sam!"
"And this has been…"
"iCarly!" the girls shouted together in unison.
"...and we're clear," Freddie said, tapping a few buttons on his laptop.
"Alright, Benson, let's get that poll up. Mama wants to see some results here real soon," she said, walking over to Freddie's tech cart. Carly followed and went to stand beside her girlfriend, who automatically hooked her arm around her waist.
"Y'know, a please wouldn't kill you," he said grouchily, clicking and typing a few things.
"Fine…please?"
As soon as the words left her mouth, she swayed twice and then collapsed into Carly, who instinctively grabbed Sam and propped her up, as she closed her eyes and let her tongue loll out of her mouth, miming being dead.
"If only we should be so lucky…" Freddie muttered, not taking his eyes off his computer screen as he continued typing away. Sam stood up fully and closed her mouth, opening her eyes so she could glare at him.
"Can you believe this dude?" she asked, gaze softening as she turned to look at Carly. "I die and he doesn't even care!"
Carly nodded sympathetically and put her arm over Sam's shoulders, drawing the other girl in close to her as she put her lips to her girlfriend's ear.
"I'd be pretty sad," she murmured, softly biting Sam's earlobe. It made her eyes roll to the back of her head and she almost groaned, but then Carly was pulling away and standing straight up, throwing a glance at Freddie to check if he'd seen, which he hadn't as he was too engrossed in his PearBook.
Carly didn't like them being super physical in front of Freddie. Or anyone, really. Hand holding, hugging, having their arms around each other's shoulder or waists, and the occasional tiny peck on the cheek or lips was about all she allowed in public. Which was fine with Sam. She did think it would be amazing to make-out in front of Freddie and get him super jealous, but Carly shot her down, saying she didn't see the appeal in that.
"Okay, there," Freddie said, stepping back from his laptop. "I set up a survey our viewers can take. It's open for twenty-four hours. So around…nine o'clock tomorrow, we'll know who everyone thinks will be getting their license first."
"And I'm sure the votes will reflect what we all already know," Sam replied.
"That the fans know about your irresponsible behavior and how that will translate terribly behind the wheel?" Freddie asked, crossing his arms.
"Whatever helps ya sleep at night, Fredweenie," Sam said with a shrug, taking Carly's hand and intertwining their fingers together. "C'mon, Carls, let's go see what Spencer made for dinner."
The three teens walked downstairs, at which point Freddie said goodbye and headed across the hall to eat his own gluten-free, plant-based (barf-inducing, in Sam's opinion) dinner. Spencer had prepared the three of them a late meal of homemade calzones, which they sat at the kitchen table eating.
"So, what's up in the lives of you teeners?" he asked, taking a drink of iced tea.
"Carly and I go out on the road for the first time tomorrow," Sam replied proudly, shoving about half her calzone in her mouth. Carly laughed at the sight before replying.
"Yep, our first time driving in driver's ed," she nodded, cutting a piece of her own 'zone off with a knife. It was way easier and less messy this way.
"Are you guys driving together?" Spencer questioned. Both girls shook their heads.
"We would, but they go by last names, and there's an 'R' in between us," Carly explained.
"Stupid 'R'," Sam said with a sneer, taking an angry gulp of root beer. It might just replace 'Q' as her most-hated letter.
"That's too bad," Spencer said. "But why are you guys driving first? You said they went by last name."
"I dunno, Mr. Calderon just told 'Z' through 'V' they were driving today, and then 'U' through 'O' is tomorrow. It's all staggered at different times, though. Like I'm driving at three tomorrow," Carly informed.
"And I've got noon," Sam chimed in.
"We're meeting at the McDougal's parking lot, so will you be able to bring me there tomorrow?" Carly asked, taking a bite of calzone.
"Of course," Spencer said. "How do you think you'll do?"
Carly just shrugged. "I'm not sure. I've been studying every night and doing well on all the quizzes, I think. I'll just do my best and try to keep a level-head."
Spencer nodded. "That's a good attitude, kiddo. And what about you, Sam?" he asked, turning to her.
"I know I'll do great tomorrow. It's just too bad Carly won't be in the car with me; I won't be able to impress her with my awesome driving skills," she said, waggling her eyebrows at her girlfriend. Carly smiled slightly and felt her cheeks heat up a bit. Sam's confidence was pretty attractive, she had to admit. Even if she was secretly kinda glad she wouldn't be in the car their first time driving for class; she didn't wanna see what an inexperienced Sam drove like.
"Well, good luck to you both," Spencer said, taking another bite of his food.
"Thanks, Spencer," Carly said.
"Yeah, thanks Spence," Sam replied. "Even if only one of us will need it," she said, grinning at Carly before going on to say, "but, seriously, Carls, if you're super worried about how you're gonna do tomorrow, maybe we should go for a test-drive."
"A test-drive?" Spencer asked curiously.
"How?" Carly questioned. After all, tomorrow was a sort of a test drive.
"Uh, wait one second. Spencer?" Sam asked, nodding her head towards the hallway as she stood up from her chair.
He slowly got up, following her across the room after shooting Carly an equally-confused glance and mouthing the words 'I don't know' while shaking his head as he walked over with Sam. Carly sat in puzzled silence by herself at the table for a minute or two, and then Sam and Spencer remerged, small smiles that they were desperately trying to hide decorating their faces.
"Okay, Carly, we're ready for the test drive," Sam announced, walking back into the kitchen, Spencer right behind her. Without warning, and before Carly could even protest, Sam grabbed the back of her girlfriend's chair and roughly pulled it out and away from the table, making it face the front door.
"Um, what's happening?" she asked, no clue as to what Sam was planning.
"Just relax," Sam replied, moving towards where they kept their pizza pans, where she began making an awful racket, moving things around haphazardly. Carly glanced at Spencer, but he just quickly moved out of her sight. It seemed that she'd be getting no answers.
"Ah-ha!" she heard Sam cry, and a moment later she was right in front of her, holding a round pizza pan out.
"Take this," she said.
"For what?"
"C'mon, just grab it!" she insisted, waving it around in Carly's face. She snatched it, annoyed, and gave Sam a questioning look.
"Okay, perfect!" Sam said with a smile. "You ready, Spence?"
"Ready, Sam!"
"Will someone please tell me what's going on here?"
"You're driving a car," Sam explained. "That's the steering wheel. Use it to steer the car."
"What?! But that's ridi-"
"C'mon, steer the car!" Sam urged, cutting her off. Carly sighed in frustration but relented, holding the circular pizza pan up and moving it side to side.
"Uh, Carls…I'm pretty sure your hands are supposed to be at '10 and 2.' Your's are at '3 and 9,'" Sam pointed out.
"There!" Carly said, adjusting her hands. "Is that better?"
"Perfect!" Sam said, a massive grin on her face. She watched Carly 'steer the car' for a few moments before the other girl's frustrations grew.
"How does this help me with driving an actual car?!" she demanded in annoyance.
"Like so," Sam said, then waved Spencer over. From his back pocket, he produced one of those tiny, hand-held, battery operated fans that people used to keep cool on hot days. Turning it on full-blast, he began blowing it directly into Carly's face while she was 'driving.'
"Hey!" she yelled, taking a hand off the 'wheel' to fix her hair. "Cut that out!"
"He's being wind, Carly! This is to get you prepared for tomorrow! It is spring, the windiest season of the year, and you never know what conditions you'll encounter while driving."
"Is there any way to put the top up in this?" she asked, brushing hair out of her eyes.
"Ha-ha, now put both hands on the wheel! Your reaction time slows by forty-four percent when you only have one hand steering!"
"How did you-" Carly started questioningly, placing both hands on the 'wheel' while continuing to get blasted by air from Spencer.
"No time to talk!" Sam cut in, quickly moving to stand directly behind Carly, putting her hands on both sides of the back of the chair. "These are strong wings, and they're pushing your vehicle all around the road!" She began to move the chair side-to-side, scraping it loudly across the floor, while sometimes tilting it over, threatening to spill Carly out of the seat.
"Ah! Sam! Stop! What're you doing?!" Carly cried, overwhelmed both by her hair flying all over the place from the fan and Sam's jerky movements of her chair.
"You gotta steer your car through the wind! C'mon, steer!"
"How would that even work this way?!"
"Just figure it out! Quick, before your car gets blown off the road!"
"Fine! Look, I'm steering! Steering, steering, steering!"
Sam stopped her movements and looked down at her girlfriend, disappointed.
"You can't just say the word 'steering,'" she complained.
"Well, what else was I supposed to do?!" Carly replied, spitting some stray hair out of her mouth. Ew.
"Whatever, it doesn't matter. You already failed."
"Uh, wait, how did I-"
"We'll move on to the next part. You can turn off the fan, Spencer."
Spencer nodded, turning off the tiny fan and setting it on the counter. Carly forgot about her objection and took the moment to quickly rearrange her hair, though she was certain it probably looked like a squirrel had been running around in it.
"This next one, you have to have way better reaction time than you just did," Sam said, motioning Spencer over. She directed him to stand in front of the chair but a few feet ahead, putting a good amount of distance between the two Shay siblings.
"I did react; to your insaneness!"
"Yeah, well, my insaneness isn't gonna be in the car with you tomorrow. Now, look straight ahead of you, please."
Carly directed her attention where Sam had indicated. All she saw was Spencer, just standing there.
"Okay, and?"
"And, you'll notice, right in front of you, there happens to be a dog on the road."
At this, Spencer dropped to all-fours and began panting, waggling his butt around as if he were a dog with a tail. He was pretty good at it, too. Carly (and Sam, for that matter) didn't know whether to be impressed or concerned.
"This next scenario will test how you react to seeing a dog out on the road. Ready?"
Not waiting for an answer, Sam gripped the back of the chair and began quickly pushing it towards Spencer/the dog, scraping the chair legs loudly against the floor.
"Huh, what?! Carly asked, barely registering Sam's words. "Um, brake! Brake, brake, brake, brake, BRAKE!" she screamed, the panic gradually creeping up in her voice as she desperately thrust her 'steering wheel' to the side, hoping that Sam would move the chair in that direction as they moved in closer and closer to Spencer at rapid speed.
Just as it seemed Sam would ram the chair right into Spencer's side, she quickly maneuvered it to the left at the last second, making Carly sigh in relief while sparing the dog's life.
"Good job, Carls. You didn't squash Fido," Sam praised, patting her lovingly on the shoulder. She then turned to Spencer.
"Get home, Sparky," she sneered down at him.
Spencer panted, waggled his butt a bit, and yipped once and then crawled away before standing on two legs again. Carly and Sam grimaced in disgust, slowly turning to face each other before looking back at Spencer and shuddering.
"Please never do that again," Carly requested.
"And I thought my family was embarrassing," Sam quipped.
Spencer made a pouting face at both of them, crossing his arms in frustration.
"Hey, I was in the zone!"
"Then never go anywhere near that zone again," Sam said. "Anyway, it's time for the next scenario." With that, she began pulling Carly's chair back into the kitchen.
Dear God, what could she possibly have in store next?! Carly thought nervously to herself the whole time her chair was being dragged over the floor. When she was finally stationary, she felt Sam move away, towards the back of the kitchen. Spencer moved out of her line of sight once again, knowing he cracked easily under pressure. Which was too bad, she was going to give him 'The Look,' whose powers no one was immune to.
But then she was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of…
"Sam? Are you running water?"
No answer. The tap turned off and Sam returned, standing in front of her with a glass of water in hand. Carly eyed her warily.
"Alright, start 'er up and keep driving," Sam encouraged. Carly just stared at her.
"Why do you have that water?" she asked suspiciously.
"Oh, this?" Sam asked, as if she was also wondering why held the glass in her hand. "I got thirsty. Now c'mon, put it in drive and let's get on the road!"
Carly looked at Sam a moment longer, wondering what she was up to, before going along with what her girlfriend wanted as she resumed 'steering the car.' She felt a little bit like an idiot doing it, but at least they weren't doing this on iCarly, where anyone could tune in and watch. Just Sam and Spencer were there with her, making her feel a little bit at ease.
"So, what scenario are you putting me through this time?" Carly asked, leaning back in her seat a bit and relaxing.
"Weather," Sam replied, stepping a bit closer.
"We already did weather. Earlier, with the wind," Carly pointed out.
"Yeah, but this is a different kind of weather. One you'll get all the time here in Seattle."
What? What is she…oh, no.
"Sam," she glared, her hands now stationary, just holding the makeshift steering wheel/pizza pan up in the air. "If you're about to do what I think, then-"
"Rain stimulator!" Sam cried, before taking a massive gulp of water and carefully, oh-so-steadily, doing a perfect impression of a fountain, she began shooting said water straight onto Carly, not missing a single shot.
"Sam! Hey, stop! This isn't funny!" Carly shouted in between blasts, holding up the pan for defense. It didn't seem to matter though, as Sam expertely aimed around it, hitting Carly squarely in the face and dampening her hair and shirt.
Off to the side and away from the action, Spencer just stood there with an expression of amusement and shock on his face, clueless as to whether or not he should intervene. An angry Carly was a force to be reckoned with, for sure, but an angry Sam? That was a whole other level.
"It's a torrential downpour!" Sam shouted gleefully, mouth now empty of water. Not for long, though, as she emptied the last of the glass and set it on the counter before once again firing away at a now soaked and angry Carly, who kept screaming her protests after each hit, trying with futility to block them with the pan, as it was no match for Sam and her impeccable aim.
"That's it!" Carly yelled, throwing the pan to the side, making it hit the floor with a loud clunk! "We're done with our 'test drive!'"
"Wait, there's one more thing you need to be prepared for!" Sam cut in, a mischievous smile on her face.
"Uh, no, there's not!" Carly said angrily, crossing her arms and shooting daggers up at Sam. Just about all of her hair was soaked, looking black instead of brown, and there were water droplets falling off her (cute, in Sam's opinion) nose and landing on the front of her shirt, which had also been completely. "You've put me through every stupid scenario imaginable! What else could be left?!" she demanded crossly.
"Being hit by an out-of-control driver!"
Before Carly even had time to react to that statement, Sam took off, getting a running start before tackling Carly out of the chair, causing her to yelp at the impact before they flew through the air and hit the floor. Of course, Sam positioned it so she'd be the one that actually took the force of the impact, landing on her back with a solid THUNK! as she held Carly on top of her.
If it hurt, she didn't show as she grinned up at her girlfriend, eyebrows raised in amusement.
"Well, then, what would you do if a crazy driver took you off the road?" she asked.
"This," Carly replied, then flicked Sam hard on the side of her head. It didn't seem to bother her, though, as she just gazed up at Carly with a confused look on her face.
"What was that for?"
"For everything! This whole crazy 'test drive!'"
"But, don't you feel more confident about actually driving now?"
"Hmm, let's see…for one, you messed up my hair pretty bad and almost made me fall out of my seat."
"Mhm."
"For two, I had to pretend to almost run over a dog, and if that wasn't traumatizing enough, Spencer pretending to be a dog was just…unsettling."
"That it was," Sam conceded with a nod.
"Hey!" Spencer protested. He was still standing there, just watching them.
"Uh, thanks for your help Spence, but you're dismissed," Sam said, waving her hand off at him.
"M'okay!" he said happily, walking over to the table to pick up his (surely cold by now) calzone and retreating to his bedroom with it.
"Then, you got me soaked!" Carly went on, still voicing her frustrations.
Sam bit back the 'so I made you…wet?' quip that was on the tip of her tongue.
"By spitting water on me!"
"Hey, we couldn't find the spray bottle you used to use with me and Freddie!"
"Not to mention the fact that you tackled me out of my seat and onto the floor! But…I do kinda feel better."
"Oh, yeah?" Sam asked smugly. "And why's that?"
"Because no matter what happens tomorrow, it can't possibly be worse than this!"
Both girls started laughing then, realizing the ridiculousness of the situation. Even though Carly was annoyed with Sam's antics, she had to admit, it had been kinda fun, and she wasn't so stressed now.
Gradually their laughter quieted before stopping altogether. Looking up, Sam noticed Carly was eyeing her in a…certain kind of way. She'd seen that look many times since they started dating, and even before, too, during their "The Cowboy and the Idiot Farmgirl" bits. She interpreted it correctly, too, as Carly soon started leaning down and began kissing her, despite the fact that she'd just been extremely annoyed with Sam a moment prior. Oh, well. She sure wasn't complaining.
Carly was feeling very grateful towards Sam; their little escapade had been an unexpected stress relief, and she wanted to show her gratitude in a way she knew Sam would approve of. Their lips melded softly together, and Carly placed a hand on Sam's cheek. Just as things were starting to get a little more intense, though, Sam went "mhph!" and pushed Carly away slightly.
"What's wrong?" she asked, pulling back and looking down at Sam, brushing her thumb over her cheek.
"Nothin'," Sam said. "I just want to finish dinner."
Before Carly could react, Sam rolled out from under her, got up, and went over to the kitchen table.
"Aw, they're cold. Hey, Carly, do you want me to heat up your calzone?" Sam asked.
"Um, sure," Carly replied absently, slowly getting up from off the floor.
"Cool," Sam said, picking up their plates.
Carly watched Sam take their food to warm it up. Well, it wasn't really fair to ask Sam to choose. Plus, she'd already willingly put dinner off earlier. She must be starving by now. Shaking her head slightly, Carly grabbed her chair from earlier and pushed it back to its place at the table, then took the discarded pizza pan and set it in the sink.
Glancing at it before returning to her seat to eat freshly warmed-up calzones, she hoped that the driving tomorrow would go much better.
Initially, the whole 'test drive' scene was not in this. I ended the chapter with Carly, Sam, and Spencer eating dinner. But a lot of other sitcoms will do a sort of a 'test drive' scene, and this being a driving-focused story, I couldn't let the opportunity pass. I hope you all enjoy.