Scattering
"I can't believe this is happening to me! What have I done to deserve this?"
"Sam, calm down," Carly said, rolling her eyes as her best friend moaned on her couch. "It's not that big of a deal."
"It's a huge deal!"
"So the cable's out," Carly said, walking over and sitting down next to her. "Who cares?"
"The cable and the Wi-Fi," Sam said bitterly.
"Wait…the Wi-Fi's out too?" Carly frowned.
"Now it's a big deal, isn't it?" Sam smirked triumphantly as the front door of the Shay's apartment slammed open.
"The cable's gone!" Freddie announced as him and Gibby stormed in. "And the Wi-Fi!"
"I can't live like this!" Gibby said, his voice slightly panicked.
"See, that's how you're supposed to react in the middle of a tragedy, Carls," Sam said.
"Wait, your cable and Internet are out too?" Freddie asked.
"Yeah," Carly sighed. "It must be something going on throughout the whole building."
"Aw man," Freddie groaned. "What are we supposed to do now?"
"Yeah, all that's left to do is read a book or something," Gibby shuddered.
Sam threw a pillow at him. "Don't you dare say that!"
"Guys, relax, we're not pathetic losers totally dependent on technology to have fun," Carly said.
"Um…we kind of are," Freddie pointed out.
"Well then you know what?" Carly said. "We're gonna change that. Come on, we're four best friends-"
"Um…let's use that word less loosely," Sam said, looking from Gibby to Freddie.
Freddie rolled his eyes. "Yes, please."
"We are four best friends," Carly continued, giving Sam and Freddie warning glances. "And we have the apartment to ourselves. I say we order a pizza, change into our pajamas and sit around and enjoy each other's company."
"How are you supposed to order a pizza with no Internet?" Gibby asked.
"You can call, you know," Carly said, pulling out her Pearphone.
"What? No way, shut up!" Gibby grinned. "You mean I can actually talk to guys making my pizzas?"
"Yes…" Sam said, giving him a strange look.
"Alright, I have to experience this for myself," Gibby said, snatching Carly's phone from her. "I have a lot to say to these people…"
….
An hour later, the iCarly clan was happily sitting around the coffee table, enjoying their pizza.
"You know," Gibby said, taking a bite out of one of his slices. "I think I like eating my pizza a lot more when I personally know who made it. I just hope everything get's fixed with Mario's health insurance plan."
"See, this is why your cat ran away," Sam said, finishing off another box. "He wanted to get away from your rambling!"
Gibby gasped.
"Sam, be nice," Carly sighed.
"She doesn't know the meaning of the word," Freddie said, earning him a punch in the shoulder from Sam.
"Hey, I know what we can do," Carly said excitedly. "Let's play Truth or Dare!"
"Um…are we nine?" Sam frowned.
"Yeah, isn't that game for kids?" Freddie agreed.
"No!" Carly said indignantly. "It' will be fun."
"I'm a little unclear about the rules of Truth or Dare," Gibby said. "At what point do I win?"
"Nobody wins," Carly said. "It's just a game people play to pass the time and have a good time. Trust me, you guys will love it. I'll even go first."
"Fine," Sam sighed, knowing her best friend wouldn't be giving this up anytime soon. "Truth or Dare, Carly?"
"Hmmm…truth," Carly grinned.
"What was the real reason you broke up with Bobby Smathers?" Sam asked.
"That boy she dated last month?" Freddie questioned. "For, like, three hours?"
"Yup," Sam nodded. "You said that he had bad breath…but let's hear the actual thing."
"He-He did have bad breath," Carly said, blushing.
"Okay," Sam shrugged. "But I know you wouldn't break up with a guy after only three hours because of that. Besides, you probably smelt his breath before you asked him out."
"Fine," Carly conceded. "I broke up with Bobby because…because he was too dumb, okay! Him and I were talking after school that day, and in the same sentence, he said he thought buses were just giant sports cars and that milk could be used as a substitute for mouthwash!"
"I guess that would explain the bad breath," Freddie chuckled.
"You broke up with Bobby because he was dumb?" Sam smirked. "Why didn't you just tell us that?"
"Because I didn't want you all to think I was shallow," Carly explained.
"But you liked Court even though he was a moron," Sam reminded her. "A very hot moron, but-"
"Exactly, court's hotness outweighed his stupidity…at the beginning," Carly said. "Bobby was cute, but not cute enough for me to have to put up with that. Shallow, right?"
"Ummmm…" Sam said playfully.
"You're not shallow, Carls," Freddie said.
"Thank you," Carly said.
"I mean," Freddie continued. "Sometimes it's hard to date someone who thinks that The Declaration of Independence was written by George W. Bush." He turned to stare at Sam.
"What's that supposed mean?" Sam snapped.
"Nothing," Freddie said. "Except maybe it would've been nice to have gone out on a date while we were still together and have been able to carry on a conversation that didn't involve you thinking dinosaurs went extinct during the American Revolution!"
Sam narrowed her eyes at him, but didn't say anything.
"Well it wound up working out for Bobby," Carly said. "He's dating that new girl now. You know, the one who tried to eat her Fat Cake with the wrapper still on."
"Hey, sometimes you just forget about the wrapper, okay!" Gibby defended.
"Sure," Carly chuckled. "Alright, Gib, it's your turn. Truth or Dare?"
"Truth," Gibby said.
"Ugh, this is why this game is never any fun," Sam said. "Everyone always picks 'truth' and I never get to dare anyone to stick their hand in a-"
"Can we try and keep this game at a family-friendly level, please?" Carly cut her off. She turned back to Gibby. "So while we're on the subject of relationships…What's the grossest thing Tasha has ever done while you two have been together?"
"Are you even still dating Tasha?" Freddie asked.
"Of course," Gibby nodded. "We have Fondue Falafel nights every Wednesday."
"Just answer the question so we can get this game over with," Sam said.
"Hmmm, the grossest thing?" Gibby said thoughtfully. "Oh, I got it! Last week when we went to the movies, Tasha ordered popcorn with the low-sodium butter."
The three teens stared back at him.
"-And?" Carly finally said.
"Oh, that's it," Gibby said. "Pretty gross, right?"
"What's so bad about that?" Sam asked.
"Have you ever tried the low-sodium butter?" Gibby cringed. "It's disgusting! Plus it made her hands all oily. Do you have any idea what it's like to try and hold hands with a chick who has oily hands? I had just gotten a manicure!"
"No," Freddie chuckled. "But I do know what it's like to try and hold hands with a girl who has bacon grease all over her hands because she couldn't eat the bacon politely like a person."
Sam said nothing back, but gave him a dark glare.
"Okay, it's Freddie's turn next," Carly said, moving the game along. "Gibby, ask him the question."
"Truth or Dare?"
"Well I don't want to have to put my hand in anything, so I'm gonna stick with truth," Freddie said.
"What is your favorite type of duck marinade?"
"What?" Freddie frowned.
"Dude, what kind of 'truth' is that?" Carly asked.
"Well I'm curious," Gibby said. "See, I like a nice tangy marinade for my duck, but sometimes I get a little adventurous and try an orange one or maybe one with some ginger and-"
"You're supposed to ask him something like 'what's the most embarrassing that's ever happened to you' or 'what's your biggest secret'," Carly said. "Things like that."
"Fine," Gibby said. "What's your most embarrassing moment?"
"Easy," Freddie laughed. "It was six months ago, back when Sam and I were still dating. I had taken her to a nice restaurant, and we were waiting for our salads to come, but I guess Sam couldn't be patient enough, so when she saw our waiter walking around without our food, she reached across the table, picked up a roll, and pegged it at the poor guy. The waiter wound up falling back into the fountain, which caused this huge splash and five of the tables wound up soaking wet! It was humiliating!"
"Um…well okay then," Carly said. "Sam, it's your turn. Freddie, ask her-"
"I don't want to play anymore," Sam said, getting to her feet.
"What? Why?" Carly asked.
"Because it's a stupid game, and I don't want to sit around here and bore my brains out with it!" Sam snapped. She turned to head upstairs. "Call me when the T.V. comes back!"
"Wow, what's with her?" Gibby asked as Sam stormed upstairs, scattering the empty pizza boxes as she left.
"Who knows?" Freddie shrugged.
"Who knows?" Carly frowned, turning towards Freddie. "You should know!"
"Excuse me?"
"Why was everything that came out of your mouth during this whole game about her?" Carly demanded. "All I heard was 'Oh, Sam doesn't know who wrote the Declaration of Independence, 'Sam had bacon grease on her hands', 'Sam assaulted a waiter with bread!'"
"What's that have to do with anything?" Freddie asked.
"You were kind of a jerk, you know," Gibby said.
"Dude!"
"All you did was attack her!" Carly said. "And for once, she didn't even do anything to you! So you get upstairs and you apologize to her so that we can all get on with our game!"
"But I-"
"I said go, mister!" Carly said firmly, leaving no room for argument.
"Fine," Freddie sighed, getting up. "This is why we need technology…"
Freddie headed upstairs to the iCarly studio where, as he guessed, Sam was sitting on one of the beanbag chairs.
"Hey," he said, entering the studio. "You realize Carly's never gonna let you hear the end of it if you don't come down and finish her game."
"She'll get over it," Sam shrugged.
Suddenly, Freddie caught sight of her face.
She wasn't crying or anything, but it lacked it's usual spark.
And then it hit him. Gibby was right. He had been a jerk down there, and he hadn't even realized it.
"Um, listen," he started. "If anything I said down there made you upset or-"
"Truth or Dare?" Sam said, cutting him off.
"Uh, what?"
"Truth or Dare," she repeated.
"Truth," Freddie responded, slightly confused.
Sam took a deep breath. "Even though we broke up…do you regret that month we dated?"
"No, of-of course not," Freddie said at once. "Why would you think I would've regretted it?"
"Did you hear yourself down there?" Sam asked. "All you could talk about was how dumb I was, or how gross I was, or how embarrassing I was to be around."
Freddie sighed. "I didn't mean any of that, Sam."
"You wouldn't have said it if you didn't mean it," Sam said simply. "I'm not going to hurt you about it or anything. I just wanted to know."
"And I told you," Freddie said truthfully. "I don't regret dating you."
"Then why could you only say negative things about it tonight, huh?" Sam demanded.
Freddie looked down at his feet. "Because sometimes that's the only way that I can justify us breaking up."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean…if I only focus on all the good times we had dating, which were most of them…then I just wind up getting depressed," Freddie mumbled. "And I keep asking myself why I let that happen."
Sam didn't reply.
"It sometimes makes it easier to cope, you know," Freddie shrugged.
"Does it work?" Sam whispered.
"Sometimes," Freddie admitted. "But usually not. Because for every rough time we had dating, there were a dozen more great times that I just wind up thinking about."
Sam gave him a small smile. "Yeah…we had fun."
"Yeah," Freddie agreed. "We did…Look, um, I'm really sorry if I made you feel upset tonight. Even if you don't know who wrote the Declaration of Independence or you got bacon grease on your hands or you threw a roll at our waiter…you were the best girlfriend I ever had."
"You've only dated like, three girls in your nubby life," Sam smirked.
"Rub it in, will you?" Freddie chuckled.
"Yeah, well, it's not like I've had that many guys to compare you with," Sam said. "But out of my three…you were probably the best too."
Freddie grinned. "Well thanks."
"Don't let that go to your head though," Sam said.
The two were silent for a few moments.
"You remember what we said when we broke up?" Freddie said softly. "About giving us another try some day?"
"Yeah," Sam nodded. "I do."
"Do you think we'll ever get back together someday then?" Freddie asked.
Sam gave a small laugh. "Yeah…someday, I think we will. Do you?"
"I don't think it," Freddie said. "I know it."
"Well then what are we supposed to do in the meantime?" Sam asked.
Freddie scooted closer to her. "I think what hurt us the first time around was that we both tried to make our relationship something it could never be. I tried to make you more normal-"
"-And I tried to make you more abnormal," Sam said. "Yeah…that didn't work out too well."
"No, not really," Freddie said.
"We tried to mirror Carly's relationships," Sam commented. "Instead of creating our own. You and I weren't a normal couple. But we were a good one."
"Definitely."
"Maybe we should've just been more of ourselves," Sam said.
"Maybe," Freddie said sadly.
"Well," Sam said, looking at him. "Whenever we do decide to get back together…at least we'll know what to do different this time."
"Yeah," Freddie said. He looked down at his lap. "I still love you."
Sam looked into his eyes. "I still love you too."
