AN-Takes place throughout the episode iTwins
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"We still have about fifteen more minutes before the previews start," Carly said as her, Sam and Melanie walked through the lobby of the theatre.
"Which is why I said we didn't have to leave so soon," Sam said, rolling her eyes.
"Well, it's always good to be a little early," Melanie said cheerfully.
Sam gave her sister a disgusted look. "How can we have the same DNA?"
"Hey, since we have some time before the movie starts, you guys want to grab some snacks from the concession stand?" Carly asked.
"No thanks, I had a really big salad for lunch," Melanie declined politely.
"I'll take an extra large popcorn, a Dr. Fizz, and a bag of those gummy snakes," Sam said.
"Do you have money?" Carly asked.
"Um…I'll pay you back tomorrow," Sam said, flashing her a begging smile.
"Yeah, sure you will," Carly chuckled knowingly. "Alright, well I'll be back in a sec with everything."
"I'm so excited to be back in Seattle," Melanie said to Sam as Carly hurried off towards the snack stand. "I've missed it here!"
"Yeah, I'm sure," Sam mumbled, rolling her eyes.
"I see Carly hasn't changed a bit," Melanie continued. "And Spencer seems like he's doing really great too."
"Yup…" Sam nodded.
"And it's going to be so much fun catching up with you too!" Melanie said happily. "We can do some real sister bonding this week! Oh, tonight we should stay up and do each other's nails and gossip! How cool would that be?"
"So cool," Sam said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Oh, and you know who I ran into at Carly's when we were waiting for you earlier," Melanie said. "Freddie!"
"Oh, right, he mentioned that," Sam nodded.
"He's way cuter in person than he is on the computer," Melanie giggled.
"Gross," Sam cringed. "See, this is why I tried to convince you that you were adopted."
"But it was really strange, though," Melanie went on, ignoring her twins' comment. "For some reason, Freddie seemed so convinced that I was you. He thought you were just trying to pull a prank on him or something by making him believe you had a twin sister."
"Ha! That's right," Sam smirked. "The nub's all paranoid about me messing with him now after I got Carly to help me convince him it was clown day at school last week. It was hilarious, Mel. Fredbutt came in the stupidest get-up you've ever seen. And we got the whole thing on video and showed it to the entire Internet!"
"Wasn't that kind of mean, though?" Melanie frowned.
"Ugh! Man, when are you going to loosen up a little?" Sam groaned. "It's fun to prank the doof! I've been telling you that for years!"
"I know," Melanie said. "But I just thought that you might've lightened up a little bit on the pranking since you two did have that first kiss together a few months ago."
"Shhh!" Sam hissed, quickly looking over her shoulder to make sure Carly was still out earshot back at the snack stand. "Quiet about that! Carly doesn't know about it!"
"You never told her?" Melanie frowned.
"No, Frednub and I swore we wouldn't tell anybody," Sam said firmly. "I only told you because I had to tell someone, and you just happened to call the next day."
"So you-you guys are just pretending like it didn't even happen?"
"That's right," Sam nodded.
"Isn't that kind of hard?" Melanie asked.
"No," Sam said, a little too quickly. "Why would it be hard? It was just a kiss to get it all over with. It didn't mean anything?"
"Really?" Melanie said, giving her twin a knowing smile. "Because you sounded pretty happy about it when you were telling me."
"That-That's because I was watching a wrestling match!" Sam snapped.
"Are you sure?" Melanie asked. "You're sure it's not-"
"Alright, here's your movie snacks, Sam," Carly announced, returning to the two blondes. "Should I even bother telling you how much you owe me, or is it stupid of me to even assume I'll be seeing this money again?"
"I'll buy you your smoothie tomorrow after school," Sam compromised, accepting her popcorn while giving Melanie a warning glare. "Alright, well, let-let's go see those previews!"
…..
The next day, Sam dragged her feet into her home, having just gotten back from detention.
"Hey, kid," Pam said, looking up from the magazine she was flipping through on the couch. "Melanie and I missed you at the clinic."
"Why were you at the clinic?" Sam asked. "I thought you got special ointment for that thing between your toes."
"Yeah, I did," Pam nodded. "But this was for that sore on my hip. It started festering today, wanna see?"
"No!" Sam said quickly. "No, keep your sore away."
"Prude," Pam scoffed.
"Where's Melanie?" Sam asked, tossing her bag onto the floor.
"Upstairs, vacuuming my bedroom," Pam said. "Isn't she sweet? I don't see you offering to clean my room."
"Yeah, like that will happen," Sam scoffed, rolling her eyes as she headed upstairs.
She ran into her twin just as she was coming out of their mom's room with the vacuum in hand.
"Oh, hi!" Melanie said brightly. "I was just doing some cleaning in there, but there's this weird, orange stain on mom's floor that I just can't seem to get up…Anyway, Carly told me you had to run back to detention while I was in the bathroom at the Groovy Smoothie."
"Yeah, my teacher came back earlier than I thought," Sam nodded. "Apparently Mr. Howard bit her tongue while they were making out and it killed the mood. Hey, while you're cleaning, you should get my room."
"Okay, no problem," Melanie smiled happily. "It did used to our room, after all."
"Yeah, I try not to think about those times," Sam said as her and Melanie stepped into her room.
"So," Melanie said, beginning to make Sam's bed. "I ran into Freddie again today. He-He still thinks I don't exist and I'm just you trying to mess with him."
"I know, he came in just before I had to run back to school," Sam said. "You see how much of a loser he is? I told you I wasn't exaggerating all those times I told you about him."
"He-He's really determined to try and prove that this is all just some hoax," Melanie continued.
"Yeah, well, it's not like he has a life or anything to focus on," Sam said, flopping down in her chair, picking up her laptop. "Trying to get me to admit to messing with him is probably the most entertaining thing on his schedule all month. It's pathetic, really. Although, I guess I can't completely blame him for being so paranoid…I guess I have messed with him a lot in the past. Hey, did I ever tell you about the time-"
"He asked me out, you know," Melanie cut her off.
Sam frowned. "Um…what?"
"Yeah, he-he asked me out," Melanie repeated.
"Okay…what's happening right now?"
"It-It was totally just a stunt to try and get me to admit I was you!" Melanie said quickly. "He thought you would be so repulsed by him asking that you'd drop the whole act. I mean you should've seen his face when I said yes."
"You said yes?" Sam exclaimed, jumping to her feet. "How could you?"
"Ah-ha!" Melanie cried triumphantly. "I knew it!"
"Knew what?" Sam spat.
"Sam, don't you see?" Melanie said. "You wouldn't have gotten so mad just now if there wasn't something between you and Freddie! I mean, why else would you care about me going on a date with him?"
"I-It's just weird, okay?" Sam snapped. "It-It has nothing to do with that! I-Come on, it's Freddie! He's my friend…kind of."
"Well Carly didn't seem too weirded out by it," Melanie pointed out. "And Freddie's her friend too."
"Yeah, but-but you're not her sister!" Sam sputtered. "Her identical twin! You going out with Freddie is-is like me going out with Freddie! Only-Only I'm not, but-but ah! You see? This whole thing is already messing with my mind!"
She stomped over to her bed and threw herself down on the freshly made sheets.
"Sam?" Melanie said softly. "I-I know we're not the type of sisters that are super close and everything, but-but I just really feel that there's more than you and Freddie than you're willing to admit. Even to yourself. And I think the idea of me going on a date with bothers him for more reasons than it just being weird."
Sam didn't reply.
"I'm right, aren't I?" Melanie said. "You know, I'm pretty good at reading people. I got an A in advanced psychology last year."
"I-Okay, look," Sam said heavily. "You-You may be a little right. Maybe…I guess it's possible that ever since Freddie and I kissed a few months back that things have been kind of different between us."
"You mean its been more romantic?" Melanie asked.
"I don't know," Sam said honestly. "I-I just know that I-I've liked being around him more than I ever have. And-And that the two of us have kind of been getting closer. Before we kissed, we-we hardly ever did anything together, just the two of us. We really only hung out when we were both doing stuff with Carly. But lately we-we've been having these really fun text conversations and we make up all these stupid games together that Carly just can't get into and we hang out at the Groovy Smoothie alone sometimes. Once he even spent the entire day here with me when I was sick and mom and Carly were both out of town."
"So you're super good friends," Melanie nodded. "And-And maybe something more?"
Sam shrugged. "I-I don't know," she said again. "I've never been good at figuring out these sorts of things."
"Well…it is okay if you do like him you know."
"Hey!" Sam cringed. "Don't say it! Jeez, you trying to make me puke? That will just be more for you to clean up."
"Listen," Melanie said, sitting down next to her. "If you don't want me to go one this date, I won't go. It's not like I'm actually into Freddie or anything. I just wanted a chance to wear this adorable new pear necklace I got. Plus he does seem nice."
Sam sighed. "Well…if-if you cancel on him, he's going to just think he was right about you being me, and I really don't want to deal with that right now. So-So I guess you should go. Besides, Carly will ask questions if you don't go, and-and I'd rather keep her out of this whole thing. Especially until I figure it all out."
"Well…" Melanie said thoughtfully. "I-I do have an idea that might work."
"What?" Sam asked.
"Freddie already thinks I'm you, right?" Melanie said. "So-So what if, just for tomorrow night, that were to be true."
"Huh?" Sam frowned. "I don't get it."
"You go on the date tomorrow," Melanie said. "Dressed up as me. Freddie will think you're just still trying to mess with him, and Carly will think it's me on the date."
"Hmm," Sam said thoughtfully, taking this plan all in. "I-I guess maybe that could work…It would be pretty fun to actually mess with Freddie the way he thinks I already am."
"Plus maybe being on this fake date thing will help you figure out your feelings for him," Melanie added. "So? You wanna do it?"
"Yeah…okay," Sam grinned. "Let's do it!"
"Awesome!" Melanei said excitedly. "Oh, let's go find you something to wear! And you have to let me know how it goes, okay?"
"Sure, whatever," Sam said. "But nothing to girly, okay?"
"But you're pretending to be me," Melanie reminded her. "I know! I have this adorable red dress you could wear! It's the cutest thing ever!"
"Fantastic," Sam sighed.
….
Two days later, the morning after Freddie and 'Melanie's' date, Sam was absentmindedly hitting a balloon back and forth with Carly, chattering on about their hatred for the letter 'Q'. Inside her head, though, she was silently recounting the events from the previous night. She had to admit, it had been super fun watching Freddie get more and more frustrated as he kept failing in proving that she had made up Melanie as a way to mess with him. Really, she didn't know why she hadn't come up with a way to use this as way to prank him before; she could've done some serious damage!
But what was weighing on her more, though, was that strange feeling she felt running down her spine for those few seconds Freddie had held her hand last night and when he had put his arms around her to dance. She didn't quite know how to place it…
As Carly suddenly got up to answer the door, she couldn't suppress a small smile that snuck onto her face as she thought about that feeling. And then of course, there was that kiss…She didn't know what she had been expecting, but she was somewhat surprised when she found that that kiss left her feeling almost the exact way as it did the first time. Back then, she had chalked the sparks she had experienced to it simply being her first kiss, but she couldn't say that anymore, so what other explanation did that give her…?
As Carly closed the apartment door and yelled at Spencer to shave his toes, Sam quickly tried to shake those thoughts out of her head.
"So where were we?" Carly said happily, returning to her seat.
"Just hating on Q," Sam replied, pleased to have a distraction from Freddie.
But, as luck would have it, not even five seconds later the Shay's door opened again and Freddie himself walked in.
"Hey, here's you-Oh…" he frowned, spotting Sam. "You're here."
"Yeah, like seeing your face freshens up my day," Sam retorted, trying to act as naturally as possible.
"You sure seemed to like my face last night when you had your lips all over it!" Freddie said.
Yeah, well…you sure took a long time to pull away from that kiss, Benson, Sam thought triumphantly.
"That wasn't me, dipthong," she said aloud.
"You and Melanie kissed?" Carly exclaimed.
Yeah…Melanie.
"Man!" Freddie said loudly. "How long are guys going to try and trick me with the whole Melanie thing?"
Wow…he's really not letting up on this, Sam realized, somewhat amused. Poor nub…I almost feel kind of bad for him. Eh…you know what? I've pranked him successfully hundreds of times so far…what-what's one little freebie here and there?
"I'm not that gullible!" Freddie continued. "I know there's no Melanie!"
"Yes, there-" Carly started.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Sam said quickly, cutting her off. "Let's just stop. It didn't work."
"It didn't?" Carly frowned, confused. Sam would figure out some excuse to give her late.
"Okay," she said, stepping over to Freddie. "You won. We tried to trick you, but we couldn't pull it off."
"Ha!" Freddie said, satisfied. "Then admit there's no Melanie, and that I'm not gullible, and that I'm too smart for you."
Oh…this guy is really milking this, Sam thought. Actually, that's kind of…cool. Who knew the dork had it in him?
"Fine," Sam agreed, swallowing her pride. "There's no Melanie. You're not gullible, and you're too smart for me."
"That's right!" Freddie grinned victoriously. "In your face, Puckett! Bye, ladies."
Sam rolled her eyes as she watched him strut off back across the hall.
As he closed the door behind him, Carly turned to her. "He just loves to be right."
"All boys do," Sam shrugged nonchalantly, happily surprised to find her best friend wasn't hounding her for an explanation as to what she had just done.
Just then, the elevator door began to slide up and Melanie herself stepped out.
For the first time in a long time, Sam was actually pleased to see her sister. It had been pretty cool of her to let her switch places on that date last night. Maybe she should give her more credit.
"Hey," Melanie said brightly. "We going to the mall?"
"Let's hit it," Sam nodded as her and Carly grabbed their coats and joined her in the elevator.
When Sam had returned home the previous night, Melanie had already been asleep, and had left before Sam had woken to take their mom to get one of her bunions removed.
She supposed that she did owe her twin some sort of a recount of last night's events. She just had to make sure to make sure Carly didn't catch on…
As Sam stepped next to her sister, she could see Melanie sneaking her a questioning glance, eager for details, just as she had suspected.
"How could you make out with Freddie?" Sam said, hoping Melanie would follow her lead and not react surprised.
"Um, he's adorable," Melanie replied without missing a beat.
Sam smirked, rolling her eyes. She knew the second the two were alone she'd get hounded for more details.
"I can't believe you too are sisters," Carly chuckled.
"Me neither," Sam and Melanie agreed simultaneously.
As the elevator began to descend, Melanie snuck Sam another glance.
At least I'll have a few hours at the mall where she can't ask me anything, Sam thought to herself. I'll just have to stick by Carly and-
"Aw shoot!" Carly said, looking through her purse just as the elevator reached the lobby. "I left my wallet upstairs! Hang on, I'll go back up and grab it."
"Oh, um, I'll go with you," Sam said quickly.
"Oh, but I have a cab waiting for us out front," Melanie said sweetly. "I got it for us so we wouldn't have to walk. Why don't the two of us go wait for Carly out in it?"
"Yeah, I'll just meet you out there," Carly said.
"But-But-" Sam stammered lamely. But Carly had already turned and headed back into the elevator.
"You kissed?" Melanie whispered excitedly the second Carly was gone. "Again?"
"Shhh! Yes, okay, we kissed!" Sam snapped. "But-But I just wanted really mess with his head. I mean it was so great seeing him all frustrated and confused!"
"Well did you figure out your feelings for him?" Melanie asked. "Do you like him? You know, as more than your friend?"
"I don't know," Sam said simply, turning to start outside.
"But how could you-"
"Mel," Sam sighed. "Whatever Freddie and I have…it's fine for right now. If-If there's something between us then-then it will happen when the time comes, okay?"
"I-But-Fine," she conceded. "But…if-if you do figure out that there's something there…promise you'll let me know?"
"I promise," Sam nodded, giving her a small smile. "You'll be the first to know."
