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"Man, these online hangman tournaments are really intense," Spencer said, sitting at the counter in front of the desktop computer. "How was I supposed to know the word was 'drawbridge' with only a 'g' to work with?"
"Is this really how you spend your days?" Freddie frowned, looking up from his textbook on the Shay's couch.
"Yesterday I won second place in a Tetris tournament, for your information!" Spencer snapped.
"Dude, you need to get out and do something," Carly said from the kitchen, where her and Sam were decorating a cake. "What are you going to do in a few months when we all go off to college?"
"I dunno, mope around," Spencer sighed. "Man…why'd you have to bring that up? You know how boring it's gonna be without you three around?"
"You can go across the hall and bond with Fregut's whackjob mother," Sam suggested. "She'll probably want the company after her precious Fredkins leaves her."
"Must you always insult my mother?" Freddie said, rolling his eyes.
"Well yeah, sometimes I do need a break from insulting your nerdy butt," Sam said.
"Aw, Spencer, you know we'll visit," Carly said, walking over to her brother and hugging him. "Sam and I will only be a few hours away, and Freddie's mom is going to require him to come home every break. You'll see, it won't be that bad. You'll just have to make some new friends."
"We've already established I can't do that!" Spencer said indignantly.
"Well…you'll have some real motivation this time," Carly said.
"Hey, I know what will cheer you up, Spence," Sam said. "We can have a movie night here; just like we used to! We'll watch a bunch of cheesy flicks in our pajamas, pig out on junk food and fall asleep in the living room."
"Yeah!" Carly said. "Good idea, Sam!"
"I'd be down," Freddie smiled.
"Oh…fine, I guess you can be invited," Sam said.
"Alright…enjoy getting your last digs on me these next few months, Puckett," Freddie said. "Man, I can't wait to be across the country and hundreds of miles away from your demonness."
"Guys, come on, can you not spend our last few months together here fighting?" Carly sighed. She turned back to Spencer. "So you like the movie idea?"
"Shoosh yeah I do!" he nodded. "We can do it tonight, in fact! I'll run to the store and pick up some popcorn and-"
"Oh, um, tonight we-we sort of have plans," Carly said slowly.
"Plans?" Spencer frowned. "Doing what?"
"We're going to Wendy's big graduation party," Sam said. "It's gonna be awesome! Her parents are out of town and her brother is coming in from college with all of his friends."
"Yeah, it's gonna be pretty fun," Freddie said.
"You're just lucky Wendy invited you by association of us," Sam said, nodding over at Carly.
"I'm friends with Wendy! She would've invited me even without your association!"
"Yeah right!"
"Hey! Do I need to break out the squirt bottle again?" Carly said loudly. "Cause I will!"
"Wait…so this is going to be a pretty crazy party, isn't it?" Spencer said.
"Well yeah, I guess," Carly nodded.
"Well…okay, just be careful," Spencer warned her. "I know how out of control these things can get."
"Don't worry," Carly told him. "We'll be fine."
"Just call me if you need anything, okay?" Spencer said. "I'm serious."
"Dude, relax, it's just a party," Freddie said.
"So you are going then," Carly said. "Your mom is letting you."
"I am eighteen; I am my own boss," Freddie smirked.
"She's gonna be working the graveyard shift, isn't she?" Sam said knowingly.
"Um…yes," Freddie mumbled.
"Well have a good time tonight," Spencer said. "You've all earned it; we can just watch the movie some other night. And remember, if you need me-"
"We got it," Sam said.
"You have fun here too tonight," Carly said. "Maybe you can have T-Bo or Socko come over and play one of your dumb videogames or something."
"Hey!" Spencer exclaimed. "Zombie Death Squad IV is not a dumb game! It's a battle between the living and the undead!"
"It's also what keeps you from having a girlfriend," Sam said. "I mean Benson over there has played it; it must be a pretty common side-effect."
"You've played that game too," Freddie pointed out. "Maybe it's why you don't have a boy-"
"Wanna finish that sentence?" Sam asked threateningly, holding up an orange from the fruit bowl.
"Um…not-not particularly," Freddie said quickly.
"Good boy," Sam smirked.
….
"I hope Wendy's not mad at us for being late," Carly said as the iCarly trio headed up Wendy's driveway towards her house. Loud music and flashing lights were already bursting from the place. "The party started at nine and it's almost nine forty-five!"
"Well that's because Sam was busy eating!" Freddie snapped.
"You guys, we're early," Sam said, rolling her eyes. "You never show up to a party when it's supposed to start. You show up fashionably late! If we had shown up at nine like you guys wanted, my cool status would've plummeted."
"Nobody does that fashionably late thing," Freddie said, rolling his eyes as they stepped up to the front door.
"Oh and how many parties have you been at to confirm that?" Sam snapped. "Look, I've been to Wendy's parties before-"
"Without us?" Carly frowned.
"Well…um, they-there were kind of just for the detention crew," Sam said. "But the point is I know how to handle myself at these things so just follow my lead."
"Okay," Carly said, reaching over to ring the doorbell, only to have her hand swatted away by Sam.
"What are you doing?" Carly frowned.
"Dude…you never ring the doorbell," Sam said, opening the door. "Just go in!"
The three stepped into the house, which was already packed with teenagers dancing and running around and having a good time.
"Whoa…there's a lot of people here," Freddie commented, looking around.
"Duh, it's the entire senior class!" Sam grinned. "Oh man, this is gonna be a good night."
"Well where's Wendy?" Carly asked. "I just want to thank her for inviting us and-hey!"
Her eyes widened as two boys ran past the trio, two beer bottles in each of their hands. "Hey, those guys had beer!" Carly said to Sam and Freddie. "We should tell Wendy so she can-"
"Carly, look, this isn't one of your little themed parties," Sam told her. "Not-Not that those aren't fun…they-they are! But, well, most-most other parties are like this. It's no big deal; people just want to have a good time."
"Well…I guess…are-are you sure?" Carly asked.
"Yeah, this is totally a normal party," Sam said. "Look, don't do anything you don't want to, but come on, Carls, we're just a few weeks away from graduating high school! It's time to let loose and have fun! You've earned it!"
"You know…you're right!" Carly said. "This is the last big thing we'll be doing in high school…I'm gonna make the most of it!"
"Alright, well, don't get too crazy, kid," Sam smirked.
"Oh look, there's Steven from gym class!" Carly, said, nodding over to a small group of kids by an overturned coffee table. "I'm gonna go say hi."
As Carly hurried over to Steven, Sam turned to Freddie.
"Well," she said. "What are you going to do while we're here?"
"What do you mean?" Freddie said. "I'm going to party just like every other person in here."
"Yeah, okay," Sam scoffed.
"What?"
"Dude…Carly might be a little new to the whole party scene, but she'll adapt," Sam said. "You on the other hand…there's no hope for you here."
"There is too!" Freddie said indignantly. "Look Sam, all that stuff you said to Carly about it being senior year and letting loose for once…it applies to me too! I've worked my butt off for four years to get into one of the best colleges in the country; I deserve to have some fun, and I'm going to."
"How? By standing in the corner texting your mom?"
"Yeah, okay, I'll show you," Freddie sneered, turning and walking off into the crowd.
"I give him five minutes before he runs back crying," Sam sighed.
…
A couple hours later the party was still going strong. Sam was standing with a group of her detention friends, watching a couple of the guys build a huge pyramid out of the red plastic cups.
Sam took a sip of her own drink; she was starting to feel a bit lightheaded, but she was nowhere near as bad as most of the other kids.
She turned and looked over her shoulder at Carly, who was still talking with Steven and a few other classmates. She did want to stay coherent enough to look after Carly; after all, this was the girl's first non-hobo themed party.
Alright, she seems fine, Sam said, turning back to the giant pyramid. Wonder where Fredwad is…I haven't seen him since he ran off. Maybe I should go look for him and make sure he isn't having a nerd attack somewhere.
"Hey, Sam!" Wendy suddenly said, approaching the blonde.
"Hey Wendy, awesome party," Sam grinned. "This is probably the best yet."
"I wanted to go out with a bang," Wendy laughed. "But what's up with you tonight? You're usually a party animal at these things."
"I know, but Carly's kind of new to all this and I just want to make sure she's okay," Sam shrugged.
"Well if you want, I can keep an eye on her while you go have some fun," Wendy said. "I can't drink that much anyway."
"How come?"
"My parents come back tomorrow at noon, which means I've got to be able to rush and clean this place up when everybody leaves," Wendy said.
"Well…you sure you'll keep an eye on her?" Sam said. "She's really naïve and trusting."
"Yeah, no problem," Wendy promised. "Go and have a good time."
"I owe you one!" Sam smirked, quickly refilling her cup and gulping the substances down.
"Alright!" one of the guys building the pyramid cheered, glancing over at Sam. "Puckett's back!"
…
Later on, once she had several drinks in her, Sam was in her proper partying mood. She had been hanging out with her detention crew and was currently entertaining herself by winning ten straight games of bouncing a small ping pong ball into a cup.
"Yeah!" Sam yelled triumphantly as she made another successful shot. She grabbed her drink and chugged it down. "Mama's the king!"
"Okay, Puckett, rematch!" the girl she had been playing against said.
"Nah, I need stuff to make me stop being hungry," Sam laughed.
"There's food in the kitchen," the girl chuckled.
"Oh! I love food!" Sam exclaimed. "I'm gonna get me some of that!"
She headed happily off towards the kitchen, but on her way there, she passed another game taking place in the dining room.
"Whoa, Benson!" she heard someone cheer. "Who knew you were so good at this!"
"Pfft, I'm not good," she then heard Freddie's voice reply. "I just keep winning!"
"Hey, Freddie!" Sam said, pushing her way through the crowd to see Freddie successfully bounce the ping pong ball into the cup. "I found you! I thought you were lost! Hey…you're a dork!"
"Sam!" Freddie beamed happily, his voice slurred and his eyes glazed. "Hey, hey everybody! That's my Sam friend! Ha! I mean my friend Sam!"
"Hey, you're being cool," Sam said. "Whoa…that's so weird!"
"I told you I could be a fun guy!" Freddie said proudly. "Guess what, Sam? I drank punch that wasn't punch!"
"Dude! You're so gone right now!" Sam laughed.
"So are you!" Freddie laughed back.
"Hey, you know what?" Sam said. "They have stuff to make you not hungry in the kitchen!"
"No way!" Freddie grasped. "I'm hungry!"
"Then come with me!"
"Okay!"
Sam grabbed Freddie's wrist and the two stumbled into the kitchen and grabbed a half-finished box of pizza from the counter.
"Hey! Pizza!" Freddie chuckled. "We're not even in Italy!"
"Then how'd this get here?" Sam asked.
"I dunno!"
"Hey, there you guys are!" Carly said, walking into the kitchen, much more clearheaded than her two friends.
"Carly!" Freddie exclaimed happily.
"Carls!" Sam grinned.
"Wow…you two have been having fun," Carly chuckled. "How much have you guys had to drink?"
"I dunno…was I supposed to count?" Freddie said.
"Never mind," Carly smiled. "Anyway, Sam, you were totally right; this party is cool. It's been fun letting loose a little. Of course clearly you guys would know that…"
"Hey, you should tell Spencer to buy this pizza," Sam said, taking a bite of her slice. "It's Italian."
"Okay…" Carly said. "Well, I'm gonna go back and talk with Steven some more. He's really nice and he's going to Washington State in the Fall too."
"That's where I'm gonna go!" Sam gasped.
"Yes…" Carly said. "Well, um, maybe you two should take a breather for awhile. Maybe go sit over there on the couch…wait…why is there a couch in the-never mind."
"I like sitting!" Sam said brightly as Carly left the kitchen.
"No way! Me too!" Freddie exclaimed, taking her hand and pulling over to the couch.
The both fell back onto the seats. They were sitting so close together their legs were touching.
"I'm so happy!" Freddie said. "And I don't even know why! Hey! Hey, Sam…you were wrong! You thought I couldn't be fun!"
"What? I said that?" Sam scoffed. "No way! You're tons of fun!"
"I know!" Freddie said. "Hey, you're fun too!"
"Duh!" Sam laughed. "Hey…wanna know what would be more fun? Oh…never mind…"
"Huh? Sam, I told you, I am totally fun!" Freddie said. "What were you gonna say? Oh! I know! Do you want get more of the fancy Italian pizza?"
"No," Sam said. "I was gonna say since we're both so good at fun, we should do that fun thing we used to do! Where your lips are all on my lips and your tongue does stuff."
"You want to make out?"
"Yes!" Sam beamed. "That's the word! Come on, Benson Boy, my lips probably taste like Italy from that pizza stuff!"
"But are we allowed to make out?" Freddie asked. "We aren't a girlfriend boyfriend thingy anymore."
"So?" Sam smirked.
"Well…" Freddie said slowly. "In that case…Okey-Dokey!"
He launched forward and attacked her lips with his.
After a few moments, they pulled apart, gasping for breath.
"Hey, you were right!" Freddie grinned. "Making out is the most funnest thing to do at this party!"
"I know!" Sam agreed, wrapping her arms around his neck and bringing his lips back down to hers.
….
"Sam…Freddie…come on, wake up.'
"Mmmm," Freddie groaned as he slowly blinked his eyes open, only to be greeted by an intense panging feeling in his head. "Ah! Ow!"
"Hey there," Carly said, giving a small, chuckle. "You seem a bit more coherent now."
"What happened?" Freddie mumbled as the room around him spun. Next to him, Sam slowly sat up as well, also looking nauseous.
"You guys had a little too much fun here," Carly said, amused. "But we need to get home; Spencer's coming to pick us up. It's almost five in the morning."
"Five in the-Huh?" Freddie frowned.
"Yeah, well I've been trying to get you guys to move since two, but you were both too engrossed in your little activities," Carly said.
"Activities?" Sam moaned.
"Come on, don't hide it," Carly smirked. "I saw everything. You guys were sitting in the middle of the kitchen, after all."
"Hide what?" Freddie asked. "Oh! Oh my head feels like it's gonna explode."
"Mine too," Sam grumbled. "I always hate this part…"
"Wait, come on, seriously you guys, just admit it," Carly said. "It's no big deal; lots of people were doing it all over this place. Well, that and a whole lot more. I'm glad you guys just kept it to making out, at least."
"Making out?" Sam repeated. "Who'd I make out with?"
"I kissed a girl?" Freddie said, perking up slightly.
"Poor chick," Sam groaned, massaging her temples. "You better find her and tell her to get her lips sanitized."
"Um…okay, you-you really don't remember what happened…do you?" Carly frowned.
"Not really," Freddie said. "Last thing I remember was playing some game where you bounce a ball into a cup. It was kind of stupid, really. But for some reason I was really into it."
"Don't disrespect that game; I'm the reigning champ," Sam snapped. "Ow! Ugh, my head is on fire."
"Well…you guys, you-you didn't make out with two different people," Carly said slowly. "You made out with each other."
Sam and Freddie's eyes both widened in shock.
"No!" Sam gasped. "No, that-that's not-we did not!"
"Yeah, I would've remembered kissing a demon!" Freddie said.
"I'm telling you, you two spent most of the night there on the couch with your tongues down each other's throats," Carly said. "People were starting to make bets about when you'd finally come up for air."
Sam glanced over at Freddie, the event slowly coming back to her. "Oh my God…" she moaned.
"Aw!" Freddie groaned has his memory came back as well. "Why-Why'd we-How-Huh?"
"Guys, come on, don't overreact," Carly said. "You were both so gone you probably didn't know what you were doing. It's nothing to get freaked out over."
"But now my lips are gonna get warts or something!" Sam complained.
"You've kissed him before with no problem," Carly pointed out.
"God, I can't believe I spent my first party making out with Sam," Freddie mumbled.
"Hey! Watch it!" Sam said. "Or once I don't feel like I'm gonna hurl up my guts, I'm gonna give you a wedgie so painful you'll still feel it at MIT."
"Alright, alright, come on," Carly said, glancing at her phone. "Spencer's here. Try to act as put together as you can, will you?"
She headed out of the kitchen as her friends slowly pulled themselves up, both trying to keep their balance.
"This means nothing, you know," Sam mumbled, refusing to make eye contact with Freddie. "Just because we made out at a party doesn't mean we're like a thing again."
"Don't worry, I'm perfectly fine with that," Freddie retorted.
"Well good."
"Good!"
As Sam stormed out, Freddie trailed behind her. He couldn't help but notice that his lips still had that same tingling sense that he used to love that would come after a make-out session with Sam back when they were still dating.
"Yeah," he sighed to himself. "Good."
