Fever
"Alright, you two, if you could tear lips away from each others for two seconds, that would be fantastic!" Carly said loudly, slamming the door closed as she stormed into her apartment. "I have a real problem here!"
"We weren't even kissing," Freddie frowned, looking up from his Pearbook on the sofa while Sam was in the kitchen, making herself a snack.
"Sorry, force of habit," Carly said.
"What's your big problem, kid?" Sam asked.
"Well, I met a guy," Carly sighed.
"Tragic," Sam smirked, sitting down next to her boyfriend.
"I met him down at the Groovy Smoothie," Carly explained. "And he was so cute. So I 'accidently' dropped by book bag next to his table while I was walking by, and we actually got to talking. His name is Deke and he goes to Briarwood."
"Fancy," Freddie commented.
"I know," Carly said dreamily. "But he just kept going on and on about all these great accomplishments he has. He got a perfect score on his SAT's, he speaks three languages, he plays the trombone and clarinet, he's a male model and a competitive figure skater!"
"Nice," Sam said approvingly. "Way to go, Carly."
"No, not way to go Carly!" Carly snapped. "Because I blew any chance of a relationship with him!"
"How?" Freddie questioned.
"Well," Carly said heavily. "All this time when he was listing off everything he's ever done, I was just sitting there realizing how little I've done!"
"Um, I didn't realize staring in a web show that gets over a million views a week was nothing," Sam pointed out.
"Please, like Deke would've had time to have ever watched an episode of iCarly," Carly scoffed. "He's too busy for the Internet!"
"I still don't understand how you ruined your chance for a relationship with him," Freddie said.
"Well, see, I, um, may have told him something a little untrue about me to make me seem more…successful," Carly said.
"What'd you tell him?" Sam grinned.
Carly mumbled something under her breath.
"What?" Freddie said. "We didn't hear what you-"
"I told him I was a competitive figure skater too, okay?" Carly exclaimed.
Sam and Freddie both looked at each other and then burst out laughing.
"It's not funny!"
"Why would you tell this guy you are a competitive figure skater?" Freddie chuckled.
"I don't know, I freaked!" Carly defended. "He was just sitting there all beautiful and talented!"
"Okay, okay, so you made up some story about you being a figure skater," Sam said. "That's not the worst thing that could've happened. So long as he never actually sees you skate, there's no problem."
"Yeah…" Carly said lamely. "About that…The two of us sort of have a date this weekend at the ice rink."
Sam and Freddie burst out laughing again.
"Will you two stop doing that?"
"Well, I can't help you there, Carls," Sam said. "So should I get the cookie dough ready for our boy-hating party that's sure to be coming up soon?"
"Gee, thanks for the support," Carly said.
"Sorry," Freddie said, still smiling. "But I don't exactly know how to help you on this one either, Carls, other than to tell you to just tell the guy the truth about you lying and hope for the best."
"That chiz never works," Sam said, rolling her eyes.
"I was trying to be positive, Sam," Freddie sighed.
"She's right," Carly said.
"Ha!" Sam cheered triumphantly.
"Which is why-" Carly said.
"Oh-no," Freddie frowned.
"-The three of us are going to the ice rink tomorrow morning at six!"
"The ice rink?" Freddie repeated.
"Six in the morning?" Sam exclaimed.
"Well maybe I can learn a few tricks and jumps tomorrow so during my date, I don't look like a complete fool," Carly reasoned.
"Carly, you can't even take two steps on the ice without falling down," Sam said, shaking her head.
"Eh, I'll learn," Carly shrugged. "How hard can it be?"
…..
"Okay, this is hard," Carly cringed as she fell onto the ice for the tenth time the next morning.
"Are you okay?" Freddie yawned. Him and Sam hadn't even put their skates on yet; they were standing by the rink as they watched their best friend.
"Yeah," Carly said, wiping off the shades of ice from her jacket. "I can't believe all those skaters on T.V. make this look so easy. I'm never gonna get the hang of this."
"Well, um, I think you lasted ten seconds this time until you fell," Freddie offered helpfully. "Right, Sam? Sam?"
He gently elbowed his girlfriend in the ribs, waking her up as she began to doze off.
"What?" she moaned. "It's six in the morning…I didn't even know they had a six in the morning. I should still be in bed."
"Sam," Carly sighed. "I-I know you're really tired and everything, but…I need you! I've seen you skate, and you're so good! You know how to do all those jumps and twirls and everything!"
"I didn't know you could skate," Freddie commented.
"Only when I'm awake," Sam mumbled. "And Carly, no offense or anything, but you're very far away from being able to do any tricks out on the ice."
"Wait, how long have you been able to skate?" Freddie asked.
"Since you were four, right?" Carly replied.
"Yeah," Sam said, rubbing her eyes sleepily.
"You never told me that," Freddie said.
"Well I don't anymore," Sam explained. "Remember when I was twelve and I broke my ankle? I had to stop skating after that. But I was good…"
"You were awesome," Carly said. "And you still are! You totally remember how to do all your old moves and everything! You got first in almost every competition you skated in!"
"Why haven't I ever gotten to see you skate?" Freddie asked. "I'm the boyfriend!"
"And how many times have we invited you to come skating with us when Spencer takes us here?" Sam pointed out. "It's not my fault your mom thinks you'll get a rash from the rental skates."
"Okay, I know I'm never going to learn how to do all those cool tricks you know how to do," Carly said to Sam. "But can't you at least please teach me to skate around for more than ten seconds without falling so I don't look like a complete idiot on my date?"
"You want me to move before the sun's even up?" Sam groaned.
"Please?" Carly said, giving her best friend a pleading look.
"Ugh! Fine!" Sam conceded. "I'll skate!"
"Yes!" Freddie cheered.
"Why are you so happy, nub?" Sam demanded.
"I'm already ahead of all those AV guys by just having a girlfriend," Freddie grinned, pulling out his phone and turning on the video camera. "Now I'm on a whole different level then him because you can also skate!"
"You videotape this and you'll wind up with a wedgie so painful you won't be able to even cry," Sam said, thumping the back of his head as she started to put her skates on.
"Okay, no camera," Freddie said quickly, putting his phone away.
"You're the best!" Carly said to Sam. "I swear, when me and Deke have our first child together, you're totally gonna be the godmother!"
"Let's just finish up so I can go back to bed," Sam said as the two girls stepped out onto the ice.
Freddie leaned against the wall of the rink, watching as his girlfriend took a few effortless glides on the ice as Carly tried to find her balance.
She really seemed at home on the ice, with her long, blonde hair flying behind her as she skated around. She did a small spin before skating back to Carly.
"Okay, let's see what you got," Sam said. "Just try and move your feet without worrying about falling down."
"Oh, is that all I have to do?" Carly snapped as she almost fell backwards.
"Don't shuffle your feet," Sam told her. "Move them out like this. It helps your balance."
"Okay…" Carly said slowly, correcting her feet. "Hey, that does help."
"Yeah, and don't look down at your feet," Sam told her. "Look up, or your gonna wind up crashing into people."
"Wow, I'm doing it!" Carly exclaimed, moving along slowly, yet steadily. "Holy chiz, I can skate! I can-whoa!"
She suddenly tripped and landed flat on the ice.
"You were saying?" Sam smirked, helping her friend up.
"Guess I got too carried away there, huh?"
"You did better," Sam reasoned. She turned to look back at her boyfriend. "Fredwad, how long did she stay up this time?"
"Huh? Oh, um…" Truthfully, he had not been watching Carly at all. His focus had been solely on Sam. "Probably about a minute."
"A minute?" Carly repeated excitedly.
"Nice," Sam said, high-fiving her. "You ready to try again?"
"Yeah, just give me a minute to go try and get the ice shavings out of my pants," Carly winced as she headed over to exit the rink.
As Carly went off towards the restrooms, Sam took the opportunity to skate around some more, making one impressive jump before skating back over to Freddie.
"Wow," Freddie said, astounded as Sam met him at the wall. "You are really good. You're-You're-"
"Thanks," Sam laughed, rolling her eyes.
"So you used to actually compete in skating?" Freddie asked. "Up until you were twelve? I knew you when you were twelve!"
"Yeah, and notice I didn't hang around Carly's apartment after school everyday like I do now," Sam pointed out. "After school I would come here and practice for a million hours a day."
"Did you like it?"
"Well yeah, I didn't have too much I was good at, so it was nice to be the star of something," Sam shrugged. "And I liked beating people and seeing them cry when I took first place away from them."
"Of course," Freddie chuckled.
"When I was little, I used to think I would go to the Olympics or something some day," Sam said. "But then I broke that ankle, and well…"
"You could've wound up in the Olympics, baby," Freddie said supportively.
Sam gave him a small smile. "Nah, I don't think I would've really liked it. Skating was fun and all, but I don't know if I was ever ready to give it that much dedication. Besides, if I had kept up with skating, I would've never had time for iCarly, and then we wouldn't have become frienimies, and then best friends, and then boyfriend and girlfriend."
"Well then I'm very happy you broke your ankle," Freddie said playfully, leaning over the wall to kiss her.
"Thanks," Sam blushed. She cleared her throat. "So nub…you gonna give the ice a chance?"
"You want me to skate?" Freddie scoffed. "Yeah, right."
"Come on, you can't be worse than Carly," Sam pointed out. "Because let's face it, she's better off calling that Deke guy and telling him she's sick with a fever or something this weekend."
"You realize if I come home covered in ice and bruises my mom's gonna hate you," Freddie said, though putting on his skates anyway.
"She already hates me," Sam shrugged. "So what harm can it do?"
"Good point," Freddie said, slowly stepping onto the ice. "Um…I've never done this before."
"Would you like me to hold you hand?" Sam grinned.
"Yes please."
"See, it's not that bad," Sam said as the couple skated around the rink. "You're not gonna get an ice rash or whatever it is your mom's worried about."
"Ha, ha," Freddie said dryly. He turned his head to look at Sam. "Hey, why don't you show me your favorite trick?"
"You really want to see that?" Sam asked.
"Of course."
"Okay," Sam shrugged. "I used to be really good at it, but I'm probably a little rusty. This jump used to always win me any competition I was in."
As she skated off, Freddie simply marveled at the sight of her.
This was one of the things he loved the most about her. She could be one of the loudest, most aggressive people he knew, but she was also the most graceful, artistic…perfect girl he knew too. And only he got to see this side of her.
She'd give any guy a double-fist dance straight to the face, but there were so few people who'd she skate around with holding hands, and he was one of them, and that was one of the best feelings he could fathom.
