Mask
Sam was used to having to put on a mask for people. She always had to be the strong, tough girl who could handle anything that was thrown at her. She wasn't allowed to show fear or sadness or any other crippling emotion. She was Sam Puckett, and that's how everyone saw her.
Except for one person.
Freddie was the only one who saw Sam without that mask.
He was the only one who knew slept with a night light until she was fifteen because she was afraid of the dark, while everyone else believed Sam was fearless.
He was the only one who knew the true reason she used to pageants. Most people thought it was because her mom made her, which was partly true, as she was the one who signed her up for her first pageant, but only Freddie knew she continued with them willingly because she like feeling important in front of so many people; something she never felt at her own home.
Whenever someone would ask Sam about her dad, she would gruffly say that he left, but she told Freddie the details; how he looked Sam in the eye before he left and said he'd be back in a few hours to play with her like he'd promised her for days, and how she cried for weeks after he never came back.
Freddie was the only person who could say he truly knew Sam Puckett. Others knew the girl who put on a mask to appear like a strong, confident girl that wasn't to be messed with. She was strong and confident, but Freddie knew that beneath that scowl were the emotions and feelings she tried so hard to hide.
