Twist
"Oh good, the two teens who don't live here but still never seem to leave are over," Spencer said, coming out of his bedroom and spotting Sam and Freddie sitting in the living room. "That's a change of pace."
"You're out of root beer," Sam said simply, sipping her beverage. "And salsa."
"What? That was for my date tonight!" Spencer moaned.
"You were gonna serve your date root beer and salsa?" Freddie smirked. "Er, maybe you should be thanking us for finishing those. They aren't exactly ingredients for the best date."
"Oh what do you know about 'best dates'," Sam scoffed. "When we were together you only had weird organic snacks at your place. Root beer and salsa would've been a treat."
"Only a complete slob would want to eat that stuff on a date," Freddie said, rolling his eyes. "Oh wait…"
"Hey! You want to be wearing this salsa?" Sam snapped, jumping to her feet. "Because I can make that happen you-"
"What's going on down here?" Carly asked, coming downstairs. "What's with the yelling?"
"I dunno!" Spencer said. "One second they were sitting and watching T.V., the next minute Sam's threatening to throw salsa on Freddie."
"Well…what else is new," Carly said, shaking her head. "Sam, don't throw salsa at Freddie."
"He called me a slob!" Sam defended.
"Freddie, don't call Sam names," Carly sighed tiredly.
"She started it," Freddie mumbled.
"Now, if you two are done acting like children, I have an announcement," Carly said excitedly. "Everyone's free tomorrow, right?"
"Well I'm sure Fredbutt is," Sam said. "He'll just have reschedule his tick bath with his mommy."
"Won't you have to reschedule your meeting with your parole officer?" Freddie retorted.
"You guys!" Carly said loudly before Sam could reply. "Enough with the fighting! Jeez, you two are worse than you were before you started dating. Anyway, like I was saying, tomorrow a friend of my dad's told me that he'll be in town, and he's willing to take us all on his big, fancy boat to go snorkeling out by the coral reefs!"
"Whoa, for real?" Sam grinned. "We get to go out in the ocean?"
"Uh-huh," Carly nodded. "Isn't that going to be fun?"
"Shoosh yeah it will be!" Spencer nodded. "I love snorkeling!"
"I can't wait to lay out on the deck and work on my tan," Carly said.
"Carls, we've been over this," Sam laughed. "You can't tan! You have only two shades; pale white or bright red."
"Well I got this new tanning oil," Carly said. "Maybe it will help."
"Sure, keep telling yourself that, kid," Sam smirked.
"Aren't you excited Freddie?" Carly asked, turning towards her friend, who had been silent throughout all this.
"Um, we-we're gonna go snorkeling?" Freddie said slowly. "Like in the water?"
"Well we can't exactly snorkel on land," Carly chuckled. "Oh, but if you don't know how to snorkel, don't worry. It's easy."
"Yeah, it's just like breathing through a straw," Spencer said.
"I-Yeah, I-I bet," Freddie said lamely. "But…shoot! I just remembered, I am busy tomorrow. Yeah, um, I-I forgot that I promised my mom I'd help her…sew new drapes!"
"Aw, can't you just do that some other time?" Carly frowned. "My dad's friend can only take us out tomorrow."
"I'm sorry, but I've already bailed on my mom so many times," Freddie said. "And if I do it again I'll never hear the end of it. Looks like you'll just have to go without me…"
"Sorry about that, man," Spencer said. "You sure you don't mind?"
"Nah, don't worry about it," Freddie said. "You all go and have a good time."
"We'll take plenty of pictures for you," Carly promised.
"Thanks," Freddie said, giving her a small smile. "Well, um, I actually have to get going now, so, um, I'll see you all later."
And with that Freddie turned and hurried out of the apartment and across the hall to his own home where, thankfully, nobody else was home.
"Great," Freddie muttered to himself as he slumped down on the plastic-covered couch. He was so glum because he knew it was only a matter of time before everybody knew the real reason he wouldn't be going on the snorkeling trip. Right now, only Sam knew the truth, and, well, he could only imagine the thrill she would get from humiliating him yet again.
"I just had to tell her," Freddie sighed, thinking back to the night he had let the secret slip. The two had been dating, and Freddie had let his feelings get the best of him and he let his guard down; for once not thinking about the consequences of his actions.
…
Three months earlier
"Hey, hey," Sam said as Freddie let her into his apartment.
He wasted no time in greeting her with a long kiss. "Perfect timing," he said when they pulled apart. "My mom just left for work. We've got the next six hours to ourselves."
"Nice," Sam grinned, giving him another quick kiss as she stepped inside.
"So what should we do today?" Freddie asked. "We can make out on the couch, we can make out on the fire escape, we can make out in my room, we can-"
"That's all you wanna do today?" Sam laughed.
"Well it's rather enjoyable," Freddie pointed out. "Why? Did you want to do something else?"
"Actually, I passed the pool on my way up from the parking lot, and it's completely empty for once," Sam said. "Why don't we go down and swim for a little bit."
"Oh," Freddie said slowly. "I-I don't know…"
"Relax, nub, we won't be down there all day," Sam said, rolling her eyes. "We'll have plenty of time left to make out all you want before your mom comes back. But it's so nice outside and I haven't been swimming in ages!"
"Yeah, but, um…you-you don't have a swimsuit!" Freddie said quickly.
"So, I can just run across the hall and borrow one from Carly," Sam shrugged.
"Oh, um, yeah, I-I guess you can," Freddie said lamely.
"What's the matter? You don't want to swim?" Sam frowned.
"No, I-Well how about I go down there and I just watch you swim?" Freddie suggested.
"Well how's that any fun for you?" Sam chuckled.
"I get to see you in a bikini," Freddie replied.
"Dude," Sam said, swatting his shoulder. "Seriously, what's up? Why you acting all weird?"
"I-I'm not," Freddie mumbled.
"Baby…come on, tell me," Sam said. "What's the problem here?"
"I-Okay, I-I'll tell you," Freddie conceded. "But you have to swear you won't ever repeat it. I've never told this to anybody; you'll be the first."
"What is it?" Sam asked.
Freddie looked at his feet and muttered something incoherent.
"What?" Sam frowned.
"I-I can't swim, okay?" Freddie said louder. "I-I don't know how."
"Really?"
"Yeah, that's right," Freddie nodded bitterly. "I'm a seventeen-year old guy who doesn't even know how to float in the water. Just one more thing to add to list of reasons why I'm a total loser, right?"
"Aw, Fredwad, you're not a loser," Sam said, putting her arms around him. "A nub, sure, but not a loser."
"Sam, I can't swim," Freddie said. "How much more pathetic can I get? Toddlers know how to swim!"
"Well, you-you can learn!" Sam said. "I can teach you."
"Yeah…I don't think so," Freddie said firmly. "I'm not getting anywhere near the water."
"Are you afraid or something?" Sam asked slowly.
"I-Yes!" Freddie said. "Yes, I-I'm afraid of swimming and the water and-and all of it! I-I just don't like it! It's weird and unnatural and-"
"Okay, okay," Sam cut in. "I get it…You really don't like the water."
"I'm sorry," Freddie mumbled, ashamed.
"For what?" Sam laughed.
"For being a lame boyfriend."
"Oh come on, you think because you're afraid of the water, that suddenly makes you a bad boyfriend?" Sam scoffed. "Baby, you're a great boyfriend! Being scared of something doesn't change that."
"So you don't care that I don't want to go swimming with you?" Freddie asked.
Sam shook her head. "No. We'll just…we'll find something else to do, okay? I was kind of liking the making-out on the fire escape idea you were talking about earlier."
"You-You mean it?" Freddie said softly. "You don't think any of less of me now that you know-"
"No," Sam said firmly. "And don't worry…your secret is safe with me."
…
"She's gonna tell everybody," Freddie groaned. Now that they were broken up, there was nothing to keep Sam from letting that secret slip, especially with the way they had been fighting lately. "She's gonna tell everybody, and then they'll all laugh at me. Oh man…what if she goes even further? Oh…I never thought of that! What if she announces this live on iCarly? She's done it before! Aw man…this is not good. She's gonna ruin me."
….
The next evening, Freddie stood in front of the Shay's door, taking a deep breath before slowly opening it up and stepping inside.
The group had just gotten back from their snorkeling outing an hour ago. Freddie would've avoided the apartment all together, in order to prolong the humiliation that was sure to come now that Sam had told everybody about his fear of the water, but they had to rehearse for iCarly.
"Oh, hey Freddie!" Spencer said, looking up from the bucket of seashells he was going through. "Come look at these shells I got while we were in the ocean today. I'm gonna use them for a sculpture!"
"Oh ha, ha, very funny!" Freddie snapped reflexively.
"What?" Spencer frowned.
"Oh, um, never mind," Freddie said quickly. "I thought…never mind. Look, I would just appreciate it if you could just forget what Sam told you about me today and-"
"Hey, you know we saw like, thirty different species of fish," Spencer said, cutting him off. "Too bad you had to sew with your mom all day, because you would've really liked it. There was a book on the boat that you could use to identify all the fish you saw. Well…there was until Sam threw it overboard."
"Um, right…" Freddie said, wondering why Spencer was making no comment about his fear of the water. He quickly decided not to question it. Maybe Spencer simply forgot about it; he didn't have the best track record when it came to remembering things, after all. "Well, I'm gonna head up to the studio. The girls up there?"
"Carly is," Spencer nodded. "Sam ran home to change out of her swimsuit, but she should be back soon."
"Ah, well, okay," Freddie said. "I-I guess I'll go up."
He quickly jolted towards the stairs before Spencer could have a chance to say anything else. Maybe if he got to Carly now he could figure out a way to put a better twist on what Sam had told her.
When he got up to the studio, Carly was sitting on one of the beanbag chairs. Right away, Freddie could tell that she was badly sunburned.
"Um, hi Carls," Freddie said.
"Oh, hey," Carly said, looking up. "How was your day with your mom?"
"Er, fine," Freddie said dismissively. "Um…okay, listen, I'll just come out and say it. I know Sam told you. Now, if you could just please-"
"What did Sam tell me?" Carly asked, wincing as she continued to rub lotion onto her sunburn.
"Please don't make me say it," Freddie sighed. "It's embarrassing enough. Look, I'd just appreciate if-"
"Dude, I seriously have no clue what you're talking about," Carly said. She looked down at the bottle of lotion. "How long do you think I have to wait before this stuff starts to work?"
"Um, I don't know," Freddie said. "But wait…how can you not know what I'm talking about? I know Sam said-"
"Freddie, Sam didn't even mention your name today," Carly said.
Freddie blinked. "She-She didn't?"
"No," Carly said. "Well…wait, yes she did. She said this piece of coral looked like your head, but that's about it."
"Oh my God…" Freddie said softly, not believing what he was hearing.
"Eh, it wasn't a big deal," Carly said. "And I told her it wasn't nice to compare your head to-"
"No, not that," Freddie said. "I just…I don't understand."
"Understand what?"
"Why she wouldn't…never mind," Freddie said, shaking his head. Had Sam really not mentioned his secret to Carly and Spencer?
Just then the studio door opened and Sam herself stepped in.
"No luck with that sunburn yet, Carly?" she grinned.
"No," Carly moaned. "And soon I'm going to be peeling, which is even worse than the sunburn itself! Hold on while I go see if we have anything else I can use, and then we can start rehearsing."
"Whatever," Sam said as Carly headed out of the studio. She plopped down on one of the beanbag chairs. "So nub, you have an exciting day of helping mommy sew?"
"You know that was just an excuse I gave…don't you?" Freddie said slowly.
"Course I do," Sam said simply. "And I've got to say, you need to work on your lying skills. You're just lucky Carly and Spencer are both really gullible."
"You-You do know why I didn't go…right?" Freddie frowned.
"Because you're afraid of the water," Sam said casually. "I remember."
"Okay…" Freddie said. "I'm confused. You didn't say anything to Carly or Spencer?"
"I thought you didn't want people to know," Sam shrugged. "I assumed you were still all embarrassed about it, aren't you?"
"Well, yeah," Freddie said. "I just didn't think you'd care about that."
"Why wouldn't I care?" Sam frowned. "I told you I'd keep it a secret, didn't I?"
"I know, but that was back when we were, you know, an item," Freddie said.
"But that doesn't mean it still isn't a secret anymore," Sam pointed out.
"Um, right, but-"
"Hang on," Sam said. "You-You really thought I'd tell everybody your secret? Just like that? You honestly thought I'd do that to you?"
"Yes," Freddie said at once. "You're Sam."
Sam looked down at her lap, and at once, Freddie felt a surge of guilt.
"Well I wouldn't," she said softly. "I'm not like that."
Freddie sighed. "I-I know that."
"Really?" Sam said coolly. "Because you seemed pretty sure that I would."
"I-I was just being paranoid," Freddie said lamely.
Sam didn't respond.
Freddie sat down next to her, and for a moment, the two simply sat in silence.
"Well…thanks," Freddie finally said. "For-For not saying anything. And I'm sorry I doubted you. I-I do know that I can trust you."
Sam looked up and gave him a small smile. "Right back at you…nub."
"Alright, looks like I'm just going to have to deal with this sunburn," Carly said as she walked back into the studio. She caught sight of her best friends, who were still smiling at one another, and gave them a strange look. "Everything okay here?"
Freddie quickly diverted his gaze and cleared his throat. "Er, yeah. Yeah, everything is fine."
"Yup," Sam echoed. "Real fine…"
