Bone

"Hey, Spencer," Carly said as she came downstairs. "Do we have any more of that cereal with the berries and-what are you doing?"

"Oh, you know, just pounding rocks with a hammer," Spencer said as he swung his hammer down on a large rock that was sitting on the living room floor.

"Okay…why?"

"Because I need gravel for this sculpture I'm working on," Spencer replied. "And when I went to the hardware store to buy some, they wanted to charge me twenty bucks a bag! So I went to the park, found some nice rocks, and now I'm making my own gravel!"

"Alrighty then," Carly said, rolling her eyes.

"Hey, where's Sam?" Spencer asked. "She'd probably be a lot better at pounding a rock with a hammer than me. Did she spend the night here?"

"Nah, she's at her place," Carly told him, pouring herself a bowl of cereal. "I think she's really starting to miss Freddie."

"Oh right, he's still at that nerd camp," Spencer said.

"Yeah, for another week," Carly nodded. "Those two have never been apart for this long, even before they were dating, so I think it's kind of taking a toll on Sam."

"Aw, poor kid," Spencer said, swinging his hammer down on the rock again.

"I know," Carly said. "So I was gonna go over and cheer her up, maybe go to Build-A-Bra together."

"Alright, well, have fun," Spencer said.

"And you have fun with your gravel," Carly grinned as she grabbed her purse.

"I will!"

…..

"Yo, Puckett!" Carly called as she let herself into Sam's house.

"What?" Sam called back from her living room. She was sitting on the couch, her hair up and wearing sweats as she ate a plate of chicken wings.

"What are you doing?" Carly frowned.

"Eating," Sam replied simply as she slurped her chicken wing, leaving a bare bone.

"Yes…I can see that," Carly cringed as Sam wiped her hands on her pants. "Well, come on. We're gonna go to Build-A-Bra. They have new multi-colored hooks."

"Um, no, I think I'm gonna pass on that, Carls," Sam mumbled, taking another chicken wing. "You go ahead."

"No," Carly said. "We're gonna do something together today. I know you're starting to feel all bummed because your boyfriend's away at camp, but that's what you have a best friend for; to cheer you up!"

"I don't really feel like being cheered up, Carls," Sam sighed. She pushed her half-finished plate of chicken wings away. "You can have the rest of these if you want. I'm not really hungry."

"Wow, you must really miss Freddie," Carly said.

Sam shrugged.

"Oh, come on, Sam," Carly said, sitting down next to her best friend and giving her a hug. "I know you and Freddie really haven't spent too time apart as a couple, but you can get through this. He'll be back in a week and then you can be all coupley and kissy again. Besides, it's not like you haven't talked to him since he's been at camp; he calls you, right?"

Sam didn't reply.

"Wait…" Carly said slowly. "Freddie has called you, hasn't he?"

"No! Okay! He hasn't!" Sam exclaimed. "He hasn't called me once since he's been at that stupid camp!"

"Oh, Sam," Carly said. "I'm sure that's only because he's been really busy."

"No, it's not," Sam mumbled, laying back against the arm of the couch.

"Sure it is," Carly assured her. "He's probably just-"

"No, the reason he hasn't called, or texted, or emailed or anything," Sam said loudly. "Is because him and I got into a fight before he left for camp!"

Carly blinked. "Oh…You never told me that."

"Yeah, well sorry for not telling you all about my relationship problems," Sam snapped.

"Sam," Carly sighed, ignoring Sam's comment because she knew her friend was in a rough place. "You and Freddie fight all the time. It's never kept him from you before."

"Exactly, which means he must've finally come to his senses and realized what a terrible girlfriend I am," Sam mumbled.

"That's not true," Carly said firmly. "What did you two even fight about anyway?"

"Well, he sort of wanted me to try and 'improve my relationship' with his mother while he was gone," Sam said. "And-And I told him he was crazy if he thought I would spend two minutes alone with that woman, and he said it was really important to him, and-and I said I didn't care. Can you believe that? I actually said I didn't care! That was the last thing I told him before he left for two weeks! That's why he hasn't called me! I didn't tell I love him or to have a good time, no, I refused to do one thing for him!" At this point tears were falling from Sam's face, and Carly was staring at her, shocked. She had never seen Sam like this.

"And now he's probably at that lame camp meeting some nerdy girl who his mom would actually like and wouldn't be so terrible to him all the time!" Sam continued, still crying. "And you know what? It's all my fault!"

"Sam," Carly said gently, hugging her tightly. "Sam, stop. You're not a terrible girlfriend at all. Freddie loves you, and he still does love you. I mean…okay, maybe-maybe you could've been a little more…receptive about spending time with Mrs. Benson like Freddie wanted you to, but Freddie realizes what his mom's like. I'm sure he's cooled off about it by now. And he wouldn't want to date any nerdy girl he might meet at his computer camp because he has you waiting for him right here when he gets back and I'm serious Sam, he loves you."

"I dunno, Carly," Sam muttered, wiping her eyes. "I think I really screwed up with Freddie this time."

"Well then it's not too late to fix it," Carly told her.

"Aha! Finally!" Spencer said triumphantly the next day. "After 20 hours of pounding rocks I finally have one cup of gravel!"

"I thought your sculpture needed like, ten cups of gravel," Carly frowned.

"It does," Spencer nodded, picking up his hammer again.

"Wouldn't it just be easier to go pay the twenty bucks for the gravel at the store?" Carly asked.

"Never! I will not be a slave to the cooperate world!" Spencer said firmly.

"Well then you're sculpture's not gonna be done for another six months," Carly laughed. She looked at her phone. "Spencer, I'm kind of worried about Sam. I haven't heard from her since I went to her place yesterday."

"Was she really that upset?" Spencer asked.

"Yes!" Carly nodded. "I told you, she thinks Freddie hates her because he hasn't called her or anything since he left for camp. She's really down about it! I've tried calling her and texting her but I can't get ahold of her. Oh man, she's probably still moping on her couch. I'm gonna go over and try to-"

But just then the computer on the kitchen counter began to beep, and a tiny window appeared.

"Hey! That's Freddie!" Carly exclaimed, reading his screen name on the video chat window. She ran over to the computer and clicked the accept button. "Freddie!"

"Hey, Carls," Freddie replied over the monitor.

"What the heck is going on here, Benson?" Carly snapped.

"What do you mean?" Freddie frowned.

"I mean why are you calling me when you should be calling your girlfriend, Sam!" Carly said.

"I did try and call her, like, ten minutes ago," Freddie defended. "I texted her, left her a message…That's why I called over here, actually. I figured she'd either be here or you'd know where she was."

"Well she's not here and I don't know where she is," Carly sighed. "She's kind of…upset. Why didn't you call her sooner? It's been a week!"

"I know," Freddie nodded. "The thing is, though, that here, since it's, you know, a tech based camp, they thought it would be cool to have us campers build and create a wireless network and we just got it up; so basically I haven't been able to get in contact with anyone until about half-an-hour ago."

"That's a little…crazy," Carly frowned.

"Yeah, but it was actually sort of fun to build," Freddie said. "Now what did you say about Sam? She's upset? What's wrong?"

"She thought you were mad at her because you never called!" Carly told him. "She thought it was because of some fight you two had before you left!"

"Fight?" Freddie said, confused. "What fight are you-Oh, wait. You mean about her spending time with my mom?"

"Yes!"

"I'm not mad at her over that," Freddie said, rolling his eyes.

"Well you better keep trying to get in contact with her then," Carly said. "Because she really-"

Just then the front door opened and Sam dragged her feet in. "Man!" she said, exhausted. "That was the worst five hours of my life!"

"What did you do?" Spencer asked.

"I spent the morning with Mrs. Benson," Sam replied. "It was totally-Wait. Freddie?"

"Hey, Sam," Freddie smiled from.

"Sam, Freddie hasn't been able to contact anyone because him and his nerd campers had to actually build a wireless network!" Carly grinned. "He's not mad at you."

"What?" Sam exclaimed, storming towards the monitor.

"Wait, you said spent the morning with my mom?" Freddie said.

"Yes!" Sam snapped. "I woke up at eight o'clock so her and I could go get breakfast at some tofu place, and then I spent forever with her in this store that sells drapes!"

"Whoa, you actually spent time with her?" Freddie exclaimed.

"I thought you really wanted me to!" Sam said.

"Well, yeah, but I never really thought you'd do it!" Freddie said. "It was just one of those things you say to someone that you want to happen but know never will. Like when Carly tells Spencer she wants him to start going to the gym."

"Hey!" Spencer said indignantly.

"Hold up, so I just threw away my entire morning for nothing?" Sam said loudly.

"Not for nothing," Freddie said quickly. "It really does mean a lot that you did that for me, Sam. Hey, so does my mom love you now?"

"Nah, I'm pretty sure she still hates me," Sam shrugged.

"Oh…well, at least you tried," Freddie sighed.

"Come on, Spence, let's give these two some private time," Carly smiled.

"But my gravel!" Spencer cried as Carly dragged him out of the apartment.

"You really thought I was mad at you?" Freddie asked as the two left.

"Well…sort of," Sam admitted. "I mean, how was I supposed to know you weren't calling me because you actually couldn't call. I thought you were peeved off at me for being a lousy girlfriend."

"Sam, you may be loud, pushy, and obnoxious at times, but you are definitely not a lousy girlfriend," Freddie said. "I mean, you just spent five hours with my mother. For me! I don't know any girl who would actually do that."

Sam smiled. "It was a pretty suckish morning…"

"I bet," Freddie laughed. "And I'm sorry you thought I was mad at you…You know I love you, though, right?"

"You better, after all those tofu sausage patties I had to eat with your mom," Sam mumbled.

"Those really don't taste half bad once you get used to them," Freddie told her.

"Yeah I doubt that," Sam scoffed.

"Well when I get back next week, I promise I'll take you out for some real breakfast," Freddie told her.

"Good, I look forward to it, Benson," Sam said.

"Hey, I need to go now," Freddie said. "A lecturer from the Pear Company's here to give this really cool presentation."

"Oh, wouldn't want to miss that," Sam teased, rolling her eyes.

"Ha, ha," Freddie said dryly. "Anyway, I'll call you tomorrow, baby. Love you."

"Love you too," Sam smiled.