Gear
"Well, I got dumped," Spencer said, hanging up his phone.
"By Cila?" Freddie frowned from the couch.
"Yup," Spencer said. "Man, she smelled like tacos…I liked that."
"Sorry, man," Freddie sad.
"Eh, it's fine," Spencer shrugged. "She was getting kind of clingy anyway. Hey, wasn't Carly here?"
"Nah, she drove over to the store to buy some props for tonight's iCarly," Freddie said.
"Oh. Well, I'm going to go hang out with Socko. You alright here?"
"Yeah, see you later," Freddie said.
Spencer had been gone no more than five minutes when Sam came bursting into the apartment.
"Guess what!" she exclaimed happily.
"What? You finally found that bacon flavored mouthwash?"
"No," she said. "But I'm not giving up hope on that…I got a car!"
"Really?" Freddie said. "That's great! How'd you get it, though. Wait…Sam, you didn't steal one, did you?"
"Relax," she said. "I haven't hotwired a car in almost a year. Anyway, you know how my mom's been dating that new guy?"
"The one with six fingers?"
"No, she broke up with him two weeks ago. The one with the handlebar mustache."
"Oh yeah."
"Well, it turns out he owns a used car shop right here in Seattle!" she said. "He just gave me a car for free!"
"Seriously? That's so cool. So can I see it? Did you drive it over here?"
"Um, you can see it," Sam said. "But I didn't drive it over here. I had my mom's boyfriend drop it off in the parking lot. The thing is…I need you to teach me to drive it."
"What do you mean?" Freddie asked. "You passed your driving test just fine. Well, other than calling your tester a sweaty little man."
"He called me 'Samantha'," Sam defended. "And anyway, that's not the problem. The car's a stick shift. I only know how to drive automatic. But I know you know how to drive both."
"So you need my help," Freddie grinned.
"Are you going to teach me or not?" Sam said, rolling her eyes.
"Probably. I just want you to beg."
"I don't beg," Sam said firmly. "I blackmail. Either you help me, Benson, or I'm never wearing that lip gloss you like so much again."
"Fine," Freddie said. "Let's go."
Sam led Freddie down to the parking lot where her car was parked.
"Alright," Freddie said. "The first thing you need to do it put it in first gear; that's going to give you the slowest speed, which is good for driving around a parking lot."
"Which one is first gear?" Sam frowned, looking at the gearshift.
"Maybe the one with the one on it?"
"Don't get snappy, Fredish," she said, stepping down on the clutch. The car began moving five miles an hour.
"This is too slow," Sam said. "Let's see what second gear can do."
"Sam, no!" Freddie yelled. "You have to step down on the clutch again or-"
But it was too late. The car had stalled out.
"Dude, what happened?"
"You have to step down on the clutch to change gears or the car will stall," Freddie explained.
"Why didn't you tell me that? You're a terrible teacher!"
"I did tell you, Sam," he said, trying to keep his blood pressure at a safe level. "Okay, let's try again."
"Can't I just go right to fifth gear?"
"You know Sam," Freddie said. "You're lucky that apple pie lip gloss of yours tastes so darn good or I would not be doing this."
"Yeah you would," Sam said. "Because you love me."
"Yeah, yeah," Freddie said, smiling a little. "That's true…Wait, no, Sam! That's the reverse!"
