Pretending
"So you two are just done?" Carly frowned. "You're over? Finished?"
"That's kind of the definition of broken up," Freddie nodded.
"I-I can't believe this," Carly said, shaking her head. "Sam and you aren't a couple anymore?"
"You don't need to act so shocked, Carls, it's not like we'd been together for years," Freddie said. "It was just a month. Most teen relationships don't make it longer than that."
"Yeah, but, I-I never thought you guys had just some typical teen relationship," Carly said.
"Well…it is what is," Freddie said heavily. "I guess we just weren't meant to be."
"Are-Are you okay?" Carly asked softly.
"What? Oh yeah, of course I am," Freddie said a bit too quickly. "Like I said, it's not like we had been going out for a really long time or anything."
"Well what about Sam? Is she okay?" Carly asked. "I can't believe she didn't tell me this…when did you guys break up again?"
"Last night," Freddie replied. "Around…Around midnight…technically."
"Technically?" Carly repeated. "What do you mean-"
"So, you have anything for breakfast? I'm starving," Freddie said, cutting her off as he headed into the kitchen.
"Wait, we were talking!" Carly said, hurrying after him.
"What else is there left to talk about?" Freddie sighed. "I just came over to tell you so that you would know about the situation when we had iCarly rehearsal later. I really don't want to get into anymore."
"But-But I need more details," Carly said. "I mean are you and Sam still on talking terms at least?"
"Yes, we didn't have a huge fight or anything like that," Freddie said. "For once…We just realized we weren't exactly compatible together. We're still friends."
"Okay, that's good," Carly nodded. "And um, who-who broke with whom?"
Freddie hesitated for a minute.
"Sam-Sam is the one who brought it up," he said slowly. "So I guess…I guess she's the one who dumped me."
"Ah," Carly said gently. She cleared her throat. "Well, um, I-I'm really sorry, Freddie. I wish things would've worked out between you two."
"Me too," Freddie said softly. He turned away from Carly. "So, um…back-back to this whole breakfast situation."
"We have donuts," Carly said quickly. "And orange juice…and that cereal that you like."
"I'll just have some juice," Freddie mumbled.
Carly poured him a glass and handed it over to him.
"Thanks," Freddie said, sitting down at the kitchen table.
"No problem," Carly said, sitting down across from him.
The two were silent for a moment.
"Well, um, I-I think I'm going to go take a shower," Carly finally said. "You can just finish up your breakfast and-"
"I wish we didn't break up," Freddie said, causing Carly to stop in her tracks.
"What?"
"I know I said our relationship wasn't really serious, and we had only been dating for a month, but, I-I really liked dating Sam," Freddie mumbled, his face bright red. "Even though she was a little insane. I-I'm really going to miss her."
Carly sat back down. "Oh Freddie…"
"You know, we-we actually broke up a little earlier than midnight," Freddie admitted. "But we decided we'd postpone it until midnight so we could, well…enjoy the relationship perks one last time."
"You postponed breaking up so you two could go make out?" Carly said. She could help but smile. Only Sam and Freddie…
"Yeah," Freddie chuckled. "You, um, you think that maybe means she was bummed out by us breaking up too?"
"It sounds like it," Carly nodded. "You usually don't go kissing a guy after you break up if you were happy to be getting rid of him."
Freddie nodded. "Well that's…something."
Carly reached over and patted his shoulder. "Look, who knows, maybe-maybe things will work out for you two. Couples break up and get back together all the time."
"Maybe," Freddie said.
Carly could see that his eyes looked red. Sam's looked the same way when she would try to hold back tears. Carly pretended to look down at her phone so Freddie could wipe his eyes with a napkin.
"It was for the best," Freddie said shakily. "You saw how much we were fighting. But we-we also had some pretty good times…"
"I know you did," Carly said. She leaned over and hugged him. "Listen, if you want to sort of just take today to, you know, recoup, we can always postpone rehearsal until tomorrow."
Freddie looked down at his lap. "Yeah, um, I think…I think that'd be a good idea. I-I have stuff to do back home anyway. Homework, you know."
"Okay," Carly nodded. "But if you want to talk some more…"
"Yup," Freddie said. "Er, thanks Carly."
He made to walk back across the apartment to the front door, but he stopped and turned back to Carly. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a thin, gold chain. "You-You think you can do me a favor?"
"Of course," Carly nodded. "Anything."
He handed her the necklace. And Carly looked down to see that it had a small charm of chicken leg on it.
"I got it for Sam," Freddie explained. "At this place in the mall that makes custom jewelry. It-It's not real gold or anything; I could afford that, but, I still thought she'd like it. I was going to give it to her this weekend for our six-week anniversary, but, well…guess we won't be celebrating that. But I still want Sam to have it, so, um, do you think you can just give it to her from you?"
"Are you sure?" Carly asked.
"I'm sure," Freddie said.
….
Later that afternoon, the door to the Shay's apartment opened up and Sam walked inside.
"Hey," Carly said, immediately turning off the T.V. "What are you doing here?"
"We have iCarly rehearsal, don't we?" Sam shrugged.
Carly instantly noticed that Sam was missing her usual spark and spunk.
"No, didn't you get my text?" Carly asked. "I canceled it."
"How come?" Sam frowned.
"Um, Spencer spilled chowder on some of the props," Carly lied lamely.
"Oh," Sam nodded. "Well…cool."
"We can still hang out if you want," Carly said.
"Um, sure, I guess," Sam sighed. "But, um, listen, before we do, there's something you should know. Last night…Last night Freddie and I-"
"I know," Carly said softly.
Sam blinked. "You-You-"
"I know you and Freddie broke up," Carly said.
"How?" Sam asked.
"Freddie came by this morning and told me," Carly explained gently.
"Ah," Sam nodded. "Well…great then. You're up to speed."
"How are you doing?" Carly asked.
Sam shrugged again. "Break-ups happen, don't they? Besides, me and Freddie as a couple was too weird of a concept anyway."
Carly didn't reply.
"But…it does feel kind of weird," Sam slowly admitted. "Like this morning when I woke up, I grabbed by phone to text him like I always do, but…then I remembered. And we were supposed to get lunch today, but, well…"
She quickly cleared her throat. "Anyway, it-it's not that big of a deal. And the whole the was mutual, so you don't have to worry about-"
"Mutual?" Carly repeated.
"Yeah?" Sam frowned. "What's the problem?"
"Nothing," Carly said. "It's just when Freddie was over here, he-he said that you dumped him."
To her surprise, Sam gave a small smile. "He did? Huh…he actually listened to that."
"So which was it?" Carly asked.
"It was mutual," Sam said heavily. "We-We both agreed that we just weren't right together."
She stepped into the fridge, trying to appear busy by looking through the fridge. "So, um…when Freddie was over here, did he seem…alright?"
"I guess so," Carly replied.
"Good…" Sam said softly. "But, was he, um…happy? Or-Or was he sad? Or was he-"
"I think he's in the same boat you are," Carly told her.
Sam closed the fridge without taking anything. "Oh."
"So, um, do you want to watch a movie or something?" Carly asked, sensing that Sam wanted to change the subject. "We can watch anything you like."
"Sure," Sam said.
"I'll just go grab some DVDs," Carly said. Before she went upstairs, though, she reached into her pocket and handed Sam the necklace that Freddie had given her that morning. "Here. This-This is for you."
"You got me a necklace?" Sam frowned.
"Er, that's right," Carly nodded.
"But why-"
"What? A girl can't buy her best friend a nice necklace every now and then?" Carly scoffed. "So…you pop some popcorn, and I'll go get those movies, alright? Great!"
As Carly ran upstairs, Sam examined the necklace. She smiled at the charm of a chicken leg, and turned it over in her palm. On the back of the charm, it read: To Sam. Love, Freddie.
Sam quickly latched the necklace around her neck.
"Love you too, Freddie," she whispered to herself.
