AN- I know normally the college fics I write involve Sam and Freddie as a couple, but there are a few that don't. This would be one of the few. Sorry for the confusion, but I hope you enjoy it!
…..
Conditioning
"These dorms are so much nicer than the ones at MIT," Freddie commented, looking around Carly and Sam's shared room. "You know we don't even have air conditioning?"
"Seriously?" Carly frowned. "That's strange. You'd think such a high tech, fancy university would have that."
"You would," Freddie sighed. "But at least I have a single room there, so I don't have to deal with any roommate problems."
"Well, Sam and I have been doing great as roommates, so we haven't had any problems either," Carly said. "Right, Sam?"
"Eh," Sam shrugged, not looking up from her laptop, which she was typing away at furiously.
"Eh?" Carly repeated. "What do you mean 'eh'?"
"Relax, I was kidding," Sam smirked. "You're a real cool roommate. But I kind of have to finish this paper for my Russian lit class."
"When's it due?" Carly asked.
"Twenty minutes."
"I see someone's procrastination hasn't gotten any better at college," Freddie said, rolling his eyes.
"We're working on it," Carly said. "Anyway, it's so great that you're up here for the weekend; it will be so much fun to catch up. Once Sam's finished with her paper we can go get lunch and then we'll show you around the campus. And maybe tomorrow we can take a road trip back to Seattle to visit Spencer and then-"
Just then there was a knock at the door and a second later a tall, dirty-blonde walked into the room.
"Sam?" the girl said.
"Can't talk, gotta write," Sam said, still not looking up from her screen.
"You doing the paper for Russian lit?" the girl grinned.
"Uh-huh," Sam nodded. "I have half-a-page left and then-"
"Check your email," the girl said. "Dolton pushed back the due date. It's due on Monday now."
"Oh sweet cheese, thank God!" Sam exclaimed, slamming her laptop shut. "That man does have a soul."
"Figured you'd like to know," the girl laughed.
"You're a lifesaver, Paige," Sam said.
"I know," Paige nodded. "Anyway, now that you're not stressing about finishing that paper, want to go grab lunch?"
"Nah, I can't," Sam said. "Our dorky friend is visiting us from MIT and Carly is going to make me spend time with him."
"Oh," Paige said, turning around to look at Freddie. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt anything. I'm Paige."
She held her hand out to Freddie.
"Um, h-hi," Freddie stammered, shaking her hand. "Nice to meet you."
"Well, have fun," Paige said, turning back to Sam. "Text me when you want to get started on that project for psych."
"Yeah, totally," Sam said. "Thanks again for saving me from that paper."
"Anytime," Paige chuckled.
As soon as Paige left the room and closed the door behind her, Freddie spun around to Sam. "Who's she?"
"Paige?" Sam frowned. "Just a friend of mine. She's an English major like me so we have a lot of classes together. Plus she lives right down the hall."
"She hates me," Carly said.
"She does not hate you," Sam said, rolling her eyes.
"Uh, she always just ignores me when she comes in here," Carly said. "Even though you've introduced us a thousand times! And when I see her in the lounge or the bathroom she still doesn't acknowledge me."
"Eh, fine, maybe she's not crazy about you," Sam shrugged.
"She's crazy hot!" Freddie said.
"Oh God," Sam said, shaking her head. "Wanna wipe that drool from your face, nub?"
"I'm serious!" Freddie said. "Does she have a boyfriend?"
"No," Sam said.
"Alright!" Freddie cheered.
"Oh what, like you're gonna do anything about that," Sam scoffed.
"Uh, yes I am," Freddie retorted. "I'm gonna ask her out!"
"You are?" Carly frowned.
"Sure," Freddie nodded.
"Um, did you forget the fact that you don't even go to this school?" Carly pointed out. "Why would you ask out a girl who goes to a college across the country from you?"
"Because she's super hot!" Freddie said. "And plenty of people do distance. You know, these past few months at college, I've really gotten a lot of courage to put myself out there and take risks. I wouldn't have joined MIT's train enthusiast's club if I didn't decide to be a little more outgoing, after all."
"And wouldn't that have been a shame," Sam sneered.
"For your information, the train club at MIT is a lot cooler than the Training Bros from Ridgeway," Freddie said. "We have hats, whistles, and sweatshirts."
"News flash, trains will never be cool," Sam said. "And you're not asking out my friend either!"
"What? Why not?" Freddie demanded.
"Because Paige hasn't done anything to deserve that kind of misery in her life!"
"You dated me," Freddie pointed out.
"Exactly, so I can personally attest to how horrible you are," Sam said.
"Carly, tell Sam she has to let me ask Paige out!" Freddie begged.
"Come on, Sam, what's the harm in at least letting him ask?" Carly said. "It's not like Paige would say yes."
"Thank you!" Freddie said. "Now where is-hey! What do you mean she wouldn't say yes?"
"Well, it's-it's just like I said, you two are going to be so far away," Carly reasoned. "And she barely knows you! Long distance relationships may work if the couple already has a strong foundation before they go off, but you don't even know her last name."
"Hey, you're right, there's no way Paige would say yes," Sam said thoughtfully.
"Seriously, who would go on a date with a guy who's just going to fly across the country in two days?" Carly chuckled.
"Especially when the guy's a total loser," Sam nodded.
"You two do realize I'm still here, right?" Freddie frowned.
"Okay, what the heck, watching you get your nubby butt dumped could be pretty entertaining," Sam said. "If you're delusional enough to ask Paige out, go for it. She's probably in the lounge."
"Perfect," Freddie said happily, heading towards the door. "I'll be back."
"Wow, college really has given him a lot of confidence," Carly said. "He would've never asked out a girl he just met back in high school."
"I know, it's gross," Sam cringed. "But whatever, once he gets dumped we can finally go grab some food; I'm starving. I think I'm in the mood for some Mexican…or maybe Chinese. Or we can-"
"Ha!" Freddie said triumphantly as he strolled back into the dorm room. "In both of your faces!"
"What?" Carly frowned, confused.
"I just asked Paige out," Freddie beamed. "And she said yes."
"No way!" Sam exclaimed. "You're lying!"
"She said yes?" Carly repeated.
"She sure did," Freddie said proudly. "I asked her if she wanted to get dinner with me tonight and she said she'd love to. So again…ha!"
"No way," Sam said again.
"Go ask her, if you don't believe me," Freddie smirked. "She's still in your lounge."
"Oh I will!" Sam snapped, jumping to her feet and heading out the door. She rushed into the floor lounge down the hall, where Paige was sitting on the couch, flipping through a textbook.
"Hey, Paige," Sam said.
"Oh, hey, Sam," Paige smiled.
"Listen, about my lame friend that just came in here," Sam said. "Um, what exactly did he say to you?"
"Freddie? He asked me if I wanted to get dinner with him tonight," Paige replied.
"Ugh, okay," Sam said. "Look, I'm sorry about him. He thinks he's some big shot now that he's in college at MIT and he's acting more like a nub than usual. But you don't have to worry about him bugging you anymore. I'll punch some sense into him and I'll-"
"But I didn't mind him asking me out," Paige said. "That's why I said yes."
"You-You mean you did say yes?" Sam sputtered, looking completely flabbergasted. "Why?"
"I dunno, he's cute," Paige grinned. "And he seemed sweet. I figured it couldn't hurt."
"But-You-Why would you-"
"You don't have a problem with that, do you?" Paige asked. "If you want I'll tell Freddie I changed my mind or-"
"No, I-I don't care," Sam said quickly. "It's just…you realize he's going back to MIT on Monday, right? He's just here visiting."
"So? That doesn't mean we can't have fun while he's around," Paige giggled.
"Um, I guess…" Sam said slowly.
"I mean he's obviously not looking for anything serious," Paige scoffed. "Like you said, we live across the country from each other. I figured we'd get dinner and go back to my room for…stuff. My roommate went home for the weekend so we'll have the whole place to myself. This is perfect, actually. I don't know if I told you, but I just broke it off with my boyfriend back home a few weeks ago, and this will really help me get my mind off of things."
Ha! Sam thought triumphantly to herself. I knew there was no way Paige would be attracted to Freddie. She's just using him to get over her ex-boyfriend! But…Freddie probably doesn't realize that. Aw chiz, he probably thinks this is an actual date.
"Okay, that's…nice," Sam said lamely. "But, um, the thing is, Freddie's not really the type of guy who'd be comfortable-"
"Do you think we should go to that sushi restaurant across from campus?" Paige asked. "Or is he more into seafood?"
Sam sighed. "He really likes lasagna," she said. "So, um, I guess he'd like that pasta place near the movie theatre."
"Awesome, I'll suggest that to him," Paige beamed.
"Cool, well…see you later, I guess," Sam mumbled, turning to head back to her dorm room.
"Well?" Freddie said the second she stepped back into the room. "She told you we have a date tonight, didn't she?"
"Yes, Frednub, somehow you managed to convince her you're not completely repulsive," Sam said, rolling her eyes.
"Told you!" Freddie cheered.
"But, um, quick question," Sam said. "Are you thinking this is like, I dunno, a real date? You know, one that could potentially lead to a relationship?"
"Well what other types of dates are there?" Freddie scoffed.
Well, good to see he's stayed just as naïve as he's always been, Sam thought to herself.
"I figure the two of us will get to know each other over dinner tonight," Freddie said. "And if it seems like we have a lot in common…who knows? I know it would be tough with me being at MIT, but if there's really something between us maybe I could fly back here more often to visit her, and there's the Internet, so we could web chat-"
"Oh, so you'll fly here all the time to visit your girlfriend, but for your two best friends it took months of convincing to get you out here," Carly scoffed. "Nice!"
"Well I-"
"Hey, dork, um, go get me a Fat Cake from the vending machine," Sam said quickly.
"Why do I have to get you a Fat Cake?" Freddie frowned.
"Because if it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have met Paige!" Sam snapped. "So you owe me!"
"Fine," Freddie conceded. "I'll be back in a second."
Sam waited until he had left the room before turning to her best friend. "We have a problem here, Carls."
"What?" Carly frowned.
"I just talked to Paige and…this isn't a real date," Sam said.
"What do you mean?" Carly asked.
"I mean, she did say she'd go out with Freddie," Sam said. "But she's not looking for anything romantic with him. She said she's using him as a way to distract herself from her ex! All she wants to do tonight is hook up with him! She doesn't want any long distance thing or to 'get to know him'!"
"Oh…" Carly said. "Now that makes more sense."
"Well what are we going to do?" Sam said. "We have to tell Freddie, don't we?"
"Why?" Carly asked.
"Because!" Sam said. "You know Freddie! He's a total romantic. He's not the kind of guy to just casually hook up with some girl he barely knows without wanting it to go further. He's going to get himself hurt!"
"But Sam, it-it's really not our business," Carly said.
"Oh since when has that ever stopped you from meddling!" Sam snapped.
"Sam, I'm serious," Carly said. "Freddie's an adult; we can't tell him what to do. Besides, you know perfectly well that if we try to tell Freddie that Paige is just using him as a rebound he won't believe us and we'll wind up getting into a huge fight."
"Yeah but-"
"Alright, here's your Fat Cake," Freddie said, returning to the room and tossing the snack to Sam. "So, back to my date with Paige…I'm thinking I should buy her flowers. Do you know what kind she likes? Actually, she seems like a rose kind of girl, I'll go with those. And do you think she'd want to go for a walk or something after dinner?"
"Or something," Carly grinned.
"Huh?"
"Nothing," Sam said quickly. "Um…listen, are you sure you want to do this?"
"Go on a date with a hot girl? Yes," Freddie chuckled. "I think I want to do this."
"But you came here to catch up with me and Carly!" Sam exclaimed. "You can't just ditch us!"
"Well we're about to go get lunch together," Freddie said. "And we have the rest of the afternoon to hang out. And tomorrow. And I'm sleeping on an air mattress on your floor!"
"Not if Paige has anything to say about it…" Carly smirked.
"What?"
"Nothing!" Sam said again, glaring at the brunette. "But still, you can't just-"
"Oh, I see what this is about," Freddie said, a wide grin appearing on his face. "You're jealous."
"Excuse me," Sam frowned, crossing her arms.
"Oh no," Carly sighed.
"I am not jealous!" Sam snapped.
"Then why don't you want me to go out with Paige?" Freddie asked.
"Because I don't want you to-You know what? Go out with her!" Sam said. "I don't care!"
….
"Stupid Paige," Sam mumbled later that evening as she paced back and forth in her and Carly's dorm. "Stupid, skunk-bag Paige…"
"You've been angrily pacing and mumbling for almost an hour now," Carly commented, looking up from her textbook.
"Well Paige is a stupid skunk-bag!" Sam snapped. "I thought she was my friend! Friends don't use friends' ex-boyfriends to get over their own!"
"Does Paige know Freddie is your ex?" Carly asked.
"Um…."
"Well if she didn't know Freddie and you used to date, then how can you hold that against her?" Carly pointed out.
"Why are you taking her side anyway?" Sam scoffed. "She doesn't like you; she says you're prissy and overbearing."
"I knew it!" Carly exclaimed. "But that doesn't matter. Look, nobody's doing anything wrong here. Who knows, maybe Freddie will be okay with what happens tonight."
"You know he's just going to get his nerdy little heart broken!" Sam said.
"Um, Sam?" Carly said carefully. "Is there maybe, um, you know, a chance that what Freddie said earlier about you being jealous-"
"I'm not jealous!" Sam yelled. "I just don't want somebody to use Freddie and make him all sad and depressed; that's my job! That doesn't make me jealous! If I were jealous I-I'd march down to the restaurant right now and make a huge scene! But I'm not, because I'm not jealous!"
"You're not going to the restaurant?" Carly repeated, raising an eyebrow. "Then how come you're putting on your jacket?"
Sam, who had one arm in her dark, leather jacket, paused. "Um…I'm just going to the library. To study!"
"On a Friday night?"
"You're always the one telling me to take my studies more seriously," Sam retorted.
"Okay," Carly simply nodded as Sam headed towards the door. "Bring me back some breadsticks!"
"Shut up, Shay!"
….
Sam stormed into the small restaurant and immediately started looking around for Freddie and Paige. She didn't care if either of them got mad at her; she wanted to stop their little 'date' as soon as possible.
She looked around at the tables, which were filled with students from the university, but she didn't see Freddie or Paige.
She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket, and when she pulled it out and looked at the screen, she saw Carly's name.
"Ugh, not now," Sam mumbled, shoving her phone away. She didn't need her best friend convincing her she was being crazy right now. She stepped over to the waiter at the front of the restaurant. "Hey…excuse me?"
"Hello, how many in your party?" the waiter asked politely.
"Um, no, I'm not eating," Sam said quickly. "But I'm looking for someone. Have you had any couples come in tonight?"
"Um, ma'am, it's a Friday night," the waiter frowned. "We've served nothing but couples."
"Okay, fine," Sam said, rolling her eyes. "Well I'm looking for a specific couple. Um, the girl is about five-six, long hair that's kind of blonde but also kind of brown, and the guy's a little taller, dark hair, probably wearing a hideous shirt…"
"Er, those descriptions aren't…the best," the waiter frowned. "Do you have a picture?"
"Oh, yeah, I have some of him…" Sam said, getting her phone back out and seeing she had an additional two missed calls from Carly. "Here!"
She showed the waiter a picture of Freddie taken from right before the trio had left for college.
"Oh…I remember that guy, actually," the waiter nodded. "Ordered the lasagna."
"Well where is he?" Sam demanded.
"Him and his date left about fifteen minutes ago," the waiter said.
"They left?" Sam frowned. "Well where did they go? What were they acting like? Did he seem upset-"
"Um, all I do here is wait tables," the waiter said, giving Sam a strange look.
"Ugh, whatever," Sam said, shaking her head. If they had already left the restaurant, then she was too late. Paige must've told Freddie already that she didn't want anything serious from him and crushed his little dorky heart.
Sam turned and slowly headed out of the restaurant, experience a strange mixture of feelings and emotions.
…..
"I don't want to hear it, Carls," Sam said the second she opened the girls' dorm room. "I'm not in the mood, so just please save it and-Freddie?"
"Hey," Freddie said, looking up from his laptop. He was sitting on the small air mattress set up in the middle of the room.
"What are you doing here?" Sam frowned. "I thought you had your date tonight."
"Turns out…it wasn't a date, really," Freddie sighed. "At least not for Paige, anyway. Apparently she was-"
"She was just using you as a quick hook-up to get over her ex," Sam nodded. "I know."
"You knew?" Freddie said, raising an eyebrow.
"Well would you have listened to me if I told you?" Sam asked.
Freddie gave a small smile. "Probably not."
"So you and Paige are done then?" Sam asked slowly. "You and her didn't…"
"Um, no," Freddie said, his face turning slightly red. "Um, after-after we got dinner I realized she wasn't looking for anything serious so her and I agreed to just go our separate ways. I hope this doesn't make things awkward for you guys, you know, since you're friends."
"No, Paige is cool, she won't be weird about it," Sam shrugged. "But um…you okay?"
"Huh?"
"Well you kind of got dumped," Sam pointed out.
"Eh, it's no big deal," Freddie said. "Honestly, I-I don't know why I even asked Paige out in the first place. She seems nice enough, I guess, but I don't think I could ever really be attracted to her."
"Well then why did you ask her out?" Sam asked.
"I dunno," Freddie sighed. "I guess I just…you're gonna laugh."
"Dude, tell me!" Sam said. "I won't laugh!"
"Oh, like I believe that!"
"Okay, for the next two minutes, I promise, I won't use anything you tell me against you as mocking material," Sam said. "I promise."
Freddie stared at her for a moment before taking a deep breath. "Fine. It's just, well, I haven't exactly had the best luck with this whole dating thing up at MIT. College is supposed to be a time where I really put myself out there, and I guess I have a little with my school work and extracurricular, but when it comes to well, my love life, I still feel like I'm some clueless kid. I mean my last relationship was with, well, you, and that was over a year ago. I guess I'm just feeling, well, lonely."
Sam sat down on her own bed. "The college dating scene hasn't exactly been real great for me either, you know."
"It hasn't?"
"No," Sam sighed. "All the guys here are either complete jerks or just plain weird. I guess some people are just better at this whole dating thing than others. Look at Carly! We've been at this school for like, two months, and she's probably already gone out on twenty dates while I haven't even been out on one. Heck, my last relationship was with you too."
"It was?" Freddie said, slightly surprised.
"Yeah, well, don't go spreading that around," Sam said, rolling her eyes. She leaned back against her pillows. "I dunno, maybe there's just something wrong with us and that's why we can't seem to find any luck with this whole dating thing. Maybe-"
"I don't think there's anything wrong with you," Freddie said.
"Huh? Of course you do," Sam smirked. "You say all the time that you can't believe you actually dated me."
"Eh…I may be…not so serious when I say that," Freddie said, grinning slightly. "We had fun together. So…don't worry, there's nothing wrong with you."
Sam smiled as she looked down at her lap. "You weren't exactly horrible yourself, you know," she said. "There's nothing wrong with you either…except for your natural nubishness, of course, but believe it or not, that grows on you after awhile."
Freddie couldn't help but laugh. "Alright, so there's nothing wrong with either of us. So why do you think we're having such trouble getting back into the dating scene?"
"Who knows?" Sam sighed. "Guess it's just one, big mystery."
