Conducting
"I don't know what they put in these Fat Shakes," Sam said as her and Carly climbed the bleachers of the community center's gym. "But it's the most magical thing I've ever tasted."
"Yes, but did you really have to shove that old man out of line?" Carly asked. "Haven't we had many discussions on conducting yourself nicely in public?"
"You know I don't listen to you when you're going on about all that garbage," Sam said, rolling her eyes. "Hey, do you see Freddie anywhere?"
"How am I supposed to see anyone?" Carly asked. "Everyone's wearing their fencing masks or whatever they're called. All the fencers down there look exactly the same."
"Hold on, there he is over there," Sam said nodding over to a fencer near the benches.
"How can you tell?" Carly asked, amused.
"I just can," Sam shrugged, sipping her Fat Shake.
"Must be a boyfriend-girlfriend thing then," Carly laughed.
"The first round of the Seattle Fencing Competition is about to begin," said the announcer over his microphone, and the crowd began to cheer.
"Yeah!" Sam yelled. "Go Freddie!"
"Ow, Sam, that was my ear drum," Carly cringed. "It's really cute that you're so excited for Freddie to fence, but can you please not cause me hearing loss at seventeen?"
"Oh come on, this is the closest I can get to dating an athlete," Sam said. "Let me have this."
"Alright," Carly sighed, still rubbing her ears. "But next fencing match, I'm bringing earplugs..."
The girls watched as Freddie, who would be fencing in the first round, and his competitor, walk out onto the mat. They took their masks off to shake hands.
"Sam!" Carly gasped as Freddie's competitor took off his mask. "Is that-?"
"Yup," Sam nodded, frowning. "That's Jonah."
...
Freddie felt his blood pumping in anticipation for his first fencing match. He hadn't been in an official match since Spencer had first introduced him to the sport when he was thirteen, and his mother had beaten up Doug Toader for him.
But now, four years later, he had put in a lot of practice, his mom was away visiting her sister, Susan, and best of all, he had his loud, aggressive blonde girlfriend cheering for him in the crowd.
As the announcer announced his fight, he picked up his sword and headed to the mat, taking a quick look at Sam in the stands. Him and his opponent took off their masks to shake hands. But when Freddie saw the other fencer remove his mask to reveal his face, Freddie couldn't help but let out a gasp.
It was Jonah!
Sam's Jonah! The boy who Sam had gone out with for about two weeks back in the eighth grade before he tried to make a move on Carly while he was still dating her!
"I-I-You-" Freddie stuttered as Jonah approached him, his hand outstretched. "You fence?"
"Yup, took it up after the eighth grade," Jonah replied smugly. "You know, after I had a lot of free time on my hand when you and those other two humiliated me on that little web show of yours."
"You deserved that," Freddie told him, reluctantly shaking hands with only because the announcer was giving them a dirty look. He took care to squeeze Jonah's hand harder than he usually would. "You tried to cheat on Sam with her best friend."
"Yeah, well, two hot girls, one pair of lips," Jonah shrugged. "What would any guy do? And from what I've been hearing, you and Sam have become...more than friends. For now."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Freddie snapped.
"Oh come on," Jonah grinned. "After I cream you in our little fencing match, who do you think Sam will want to be with? Some loser? Or me, the guy who just won?"
"You can't seriously be thinking about getting back with Sam," Freddie hissed. "She wouldn't leave me for you!"
"We'll just see about that," Jonah said.
"There's no way-"
"Gentlemen!" the announcer said loudly, getting the two boys' attentions. "This is not the time for chit-chat! We have several matches to get through!"
"Oh, er, right," Freddie said, giving Jonah one last dirty look before sliding his mask back on and heading to his side of the mat.
He felt anger of boiling inside of him. How dare Jonah suggest that Sam would leave him and go running back to her cheating ex-boyfriend! And while Freddie felt confident enough that Sam Puckett surely wouldn't do such a thing, no matter what the outcome of the fencing match, he couldn't ignore the heightened urge he now had to win.
"En Guarde!" the announcer said, and the match began.
Freddie hated to admit it, but Jonah was actually a pretty good fencer. He was blocking all of Freddie's hits and it was all Freddie could do to block his.
Unfortunately, it seemed as if the anger that Jonah had ignited in Freddie was distracting him. Freddie could tell he was fencing far worse than he had been in practice lately, and after nearly a minute, Jonah got his first hit on Freddie.
Freddie stifled a moan, and resisted the urge to look up into the stands at Sam as the two returned to their starting positions.
Perhaps that was just the wake-up call he needed, for Freddie quickly tied the match up by getting a hit on Jonah just seconds after the match had resumed.
Jerk thinks he can get Sam back, Freddie thought to himself as him and Jonah's match continued. She wouldn't leave me and go back to him...would she? No! No, of course, not! She loves me! We've been dating for months now, and he's not just going to waltz in and-"
But then he felt Jonah's sword collide with his chest, giving Jonah a one point lead. He only needed one more hit and he would win the match.
Freddie was beginning to sweat through his mask. He couldn't let Jonah win. That guy was a complete scumbag, and he didn't deserve the glory of winning even one match. Freddie prepared himself for a hit as the Jonah began coming back towards Freddie.
Come on, Benson, Freddie thought to himself as he successfully blocked a hit attempt by Jonah. Don't let this guy get you. He hurt, Sam, remember; your Sam! He made her feel second-best and-
But then Freddie felt his sword slip in his hand, and he couldn't block Jonah's sword in time as jabbed it into his chest.
He had won.
"Yeah!" Jonah cheered, pulling of his mask and pumping his fist in the air. "Whoo!"
Freddie dragged his feet to the benches, Jonah behind him, still cheering obnoxiously. He looked up at the stands, hoping to see Sam, but he couldn't spot her.
"You just got destroyed, Benson!" Jonah jeered. "Destroyed!"
Freddie didn't reply, he just threw his sword into his bag and began taking off the rest of his gear.
"Hey."
He turned around and saw Sam. She must've headed down the second the match ended.
"Hey," he replied glumly.
"Baby, you did...okay, I think this is one of those times where I'm supposed to lie to protect your feelings, right?" she asked.
"I know I sucked, Sam," Freddie sighed. "I was so much worse than I was in practice. I guess I just let Jonah psyche me out."
"What was he even saying to you before the match?" Sam frowned. "You know, when you two were just standing there in the middle of the mats for like, five minutes?"
"He was telling me that he was going to win, and make you go running back to him," Freddie told her.
"What?" Sam exclaimed. "That's crazy! How stupid can he-"
"Well hello, Samantha," Jonah said, walking over to the couple. "Long time no see. Impressed by what you saw out there?"
"By you? Not a chance," Sam snapped.
"Well either way," Jonah shrugged. "I just beat the snot out of your boyfriend, didn't I? Why don't you dump the loser and come back to a winner?"
"Hey, you're the loser here, dipthong!" Sam said harshly. "Freddie's more of a winner than you'll ever be."
Freddie smiled as Sam defended him. True, as his girlfriend, Sam wasn't exactly as violent towards him as she had been in their previous years, but that didn't mean that she went handing out compliments to him on a daily basis, so this was a rather refreshing change of events.
"Whatever," Jonah sneered. "I can get hotter chicks. Didn't you just see me out there? I'm a star!"
"Well too bad for you, Jonah," Freddie said, stepping towards him. "Because my girlfriend is the hottest girl around here."
"And you're not a star, you stubrag," Sam told him, blushing slightly as Freddie's last comment. "You got through the first round of the competition. I'd bet a years worth of ham you go home after the second round. No girl's going to be impressed by that. Especially once you lift up your mask and she sees that thing you call a face. Now get out of here before I reintroduce you to your good friend the wedgie bounce!"
The mention of the wedgie bounce seemed to strike fear into Jonah, and with one last glare at Sam and Freddie, he hurried away.
"Wow," Freddie said, putting an arm around Sam. "Look at you sticking up for me. Who would've ever thought that would happen?"
"Yeah, well, he's a jerk," Sam shrugged. She looked up at her boyfriend. "Um, you really think I'm the hottest girl around here?"
"You're the hottest girl anywhere, Sam," Freddie chuckled, leaning down to kiss her.
