Winning
"I've got coffee!" Freddie happily announced as he let himself into the Shays' apartment.
"Good, I'm exhausted," Sam yawned from the couch.
"Thanks for stopping at Moonbucks, Freddie," Carly smiled.
"No problem," Freddie replied. "I have your light vanilla latte."
"Yum," Carly grinned, taking the cup from Freddie.
"And I have your triple-shot with extra, extra whip, caramel-mocha swirl with a hazelnut drizzle," Freddie said, handing Sam the second coffee cup. "The barista looked at me like I was crazy when I gave that order, by the way."
"Well she must not have good taste," Sam simply shrugged as she sipped her drink.
"Here's your money," Carly chuckled as she handed Freddie a few bills.
"Thanks," Freddie said.
"And I'm dating your nubby butt, so I don't have to pay," Sam grinned.
"Cute," Freddie smirked, rolling his eyes.
"I don't know why Spencer's art show has to be at ten in the morning," Sam yawned as she stood up. "Who's awake at this hour anyway?"
"Um, lots of people, actually," Freddie replied.
"This explains why you never made your nine o'clock class last semester, doesn't it?" Carly chuckled.
"Well who can function that early?" Sam snapped as her phone buzzed in her pocket.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm just glad that you're signed up for afternoon classes next semester," Carly said. "Anyway, we need to get going. Spencer's already down at the museum, and we-"
"Holy chiz!" Sam exclaimed, looking down at her phone. "I won! I'm the winner!"
"What'd you win?" Freddie asked, confused.
"Up at college, I entered into a stupid raffle my favorite steakhouse was hosting," Sam explained. "And I put a ticket into the drawing for an all-expense-paid trip for two to Hawaii…and I won!"
"No way!" Carly gasped. "I remember that raffle; that was months ago!"
"Yeah, I know, that's why I forgot all about it," Sam beamed.
"Sam, this is great!" Freddie said, throwing his arms around her.
"Yeah, I mean a trip to Hawaii?" Carly nodded. "Think about it; tropical beaches, hot sand, adorable towel boys…I can't believe we're going to Hawaii!"
"Um…sorry what?" Freddie asked, chuckling awkwardly. "Did-Did you just say you're going to Hawaii? As in you and Sam are going?"
"Uh-huh," Carly said, confused. "Why?"
"Nothing, it's just, I don't know, Sam may want to go to Hawaii with her boyfriend," Freddie said. "And that just so happens to be, oh, me!"
"Freddie," Carly said, shaking her head. "Freddie, Freddie, Freddie…You know Sam and I have been talking about a best friend trip to Hawaii for years. It's on our BFF Bucket List."
"Well Sam and I have been talking about taking a romantic couples trip for a long time too," Freddie pointed out.
"Well Sam and I-"
"Um, guys?" Sam cut in. "Do I get a say in who I bring to Hawaii?"
"Of course you do, baby!" Freddie said, hurrying over to her and putting an arm around her. "And have I told you how beautiful you look this morning?"
"Oh don't butter her up!" Carly snapped. "By the way, Sam, those new boots that I bought that you like…why don't you just take them?"
"Who's buttering her up now?" Freddie scoffed.
"Guys come on, we're going to be late for the art show," Sam said. "Can't we deal with this later."
"Whatever you want, Princess," Freddie said.
"Yeah, let's go to the art show now, and afterwards we can stop and get wings, my treat!" Carly nodded.
"And then after that we can go out for ice cream," Freddie said, glaring at Carly. "My treat."
"Huh…this may be fun," Sam said thoughtfully. "Mama's always up for bribery."
…
"I should get to go!"
"No, I should get to go!"
"Me!"
"Me!"
"Ugh, now this is getting old," Sam groaned later that evening as Freddie and Carly continued to argue about who should get to accompany Sam to Hawaii, as they had been for the past ten hours.
"Sam, can you please just tell Freddie that we're going to go to Hawaii?" Carly said.
"No, tell Carly that you and I are going to go!" Freddie said.
"Come on, I-I can't choose between my best friend and my boyfriend," Sam sighed.
"But Sam, you have to choose someone to go," Carly told her.
"She's right, you only have two tickets," Freddie nodded.
"I know," Sam said. "But-"
"Well just think about who you'd have more fun with in Hawaii," Carly said. "That can help you decided. Is it going to be me, your best friend since the third grade, your college roommate, your almost-sister who has been through so much with you?"
"Or me, your boyfriend who loves you more than anything in the whole wide world?" Freddie said.
"I-I don't know," Sam said. "I-I'd probably have fun with both of you."
"But who would you have the most fun with?" Carly grinned. "If we go we can go to all the fancy spas and get mud bathes. And I'd be willing to go snorkeling with you in the ocean. We all know Freddie is too afraid to do that. And we can hula dance and work on our tans and drink pineapple smoothies-"
"Well if we go, we won't even have to leave our fancy hotel room to have a good time," Freddie grinned.
"Oh do not try to bribe her with your sex," Carly scoffed, disgusted. "She won't be persuaded by that; she's too evolved!"
"Shows how well you know her," Freddie smirked.
"Okay, I'm going home," Sam said, getting to her feet. "You two are getting pathetic."
"Wait, who's going to Hawaii with you?" Freddie asked.
"I don't know, I-I'll sleep on it and maybe I'll have an easier time making a decision in the morning," Sam said. "Maybe…"
….
"I have bacon!" Carly said the next morning the second Sam walked back into the Shays' apartment. "A whole plateful; and it's all for you!"
"Wow, sweet!" Sam grinned. "Is it extra-crispy?"
"Uh, duh," Carly said. "Like I'd serve my best friend in the whole world bacon that wasn't extra-crispy. And hey…I was on the Internet this morning, just doing some causal searches on Hawaii, and did you know that they have a restaurant that has over six hundred different types of bacon?"
"No way! I didn't even know they had that many flavors!" Sam grinned.
"Uh-huh," Carly said. "You know, I'm really good at finding cool places like this on trips…Just thought you'd like to keep that in mind for-"
"I still don't know who I'm bringing to Hawaii, Carly," Sam said, rolling her eyes as she popped a piece of bacon into her mouth.
"Oh," Carly said lamely.
Just then the front door opened and Freddie hurried in.
"Hey, Sam!" he said brightly, stepping over to give his girlfriend a long kiss. "I was thinking, you know what we should do today? Throw mud at joggers at the park!"
"Easy there, big guy, she still hasn't decided," Carly said.
"Oh," Freddie sighed.
"Guys…it's just too hard to pick," Sam said. "I don't want either of you to be wazzed off."
"We won't be," Freddie said.
"Yeah, sure," Sam said. "Look, I was thinking…maybe I'll just give the tickets to my mom."
"What?" Carly and Freddie exclaimed simultaneously.
"Yeah, she can find a dude to go with her no problem," Sam shrugged. "And it will do her some good to get out of the house. She's been hanging around there way too much ever since she got that thigh master…doesn't work, by the way."
"But-But Sam this is Hawaii," Carly said, shaking her head.
"Seriously, baby, you're just going to give this trip away to your mom?" Freddie frowned. "Don't you want to go?"
"Eh, we have beaches and chiz here," Sam shrugged. "So it's all good."
…
"I can't believe this…my best friend wins a free trip to Hawaii and she gives it away to her mother," Carly sighed to herself as she paced back and forth in her room later that day. "That's just crazy! Like the woman needs an excuse to wear more bikinis."
She shook her head. "I need to figure out a way to talk her out of this…"
Just then she heard the front door open downstairs.
"Good, maybe that's Sam now," Carly said, heading out of her room and down the stairs. She was halfway down when she heard her best friend's voice from the living room.
"Will you stop bugging me about this? I made up my mind," Sam said firmly.
"Baby, this trip is incredible," Freddie's voice replied.
Aw man, I guess Freddie had the same idea as me, Carly thought to herself. She was about to hurry down to intervene, but stopped as Sam responded.
"You think I don't know that?" she snapped. "Of course I know it's like, the trip of a lifetime!"
"Well then go," Freddie said. "All you have to do is pick someone to go with! Obviously I'd want to go with you, but seriously, I'd rather you go with Carly than throw the trip away to your-"
"I'd rather you go with me too!" Sam hissed.
Carly's jaw dropped in offense, but she stayed rooted to her spot.
"Wait, really?" Freddie said. "Well great! So what's the problem?"
"Because, I still don't want to have to choose between you and Carly," Sam sighed heavily. "I really do want to go on this trip with you, baby. I've been on lots of 'best friend' trips with Carly, and we always have a good time. But we've never been on a trip together, you know, as a couple. The times we've gone places together were when we still 'hated' each other."
Carly frowned. She did have a point about that. Just this past year up at college the girls had gone on quite a few road trips, just the two of them.
"Plus," Sam continued. "We did just spend a whole year apart while I was at Washington State and you were at MIT…I missed you."
"I missed you too, Sam," Freddie said softly.
"Aw," Carly couldn't help but whisper.
"Hawaii would've been a great chance for us to catch up and stuff," Sam mumbled.
"Yeah…" Freddie said. "It would've. But…I-I understand where you're coming from. Choosing between your best friend and your boyfriend can't be an easy decision."
"I just don't want to hurt Carly's feelings," Sam said. "So giving the trip away solves that problem. It's the best solution. Maybe…Maybe we'll get to go to Hawaii together some other time."
"We will," Freddie said. "I promise."
Carly slowly turned and headed back up to her room, careful not to make any noise.
Well…Guess I should take back the new bikini I bought, Carly thought to herself.
…..
"Come on, Richard Simmons, didn't that aerobics junk give you better lung capacity?" Sam said later that day as she sat out on the Shays' couch, watching Celebrities Underwater. "You can outlast Robert Downy Jr!"
"Hey, Sam?" Carly said, coming into the room. "Can I talk to you?"
"If this is about Hawaii, I'm sticking with my decision," Sam said. "Once my mom gets home from the clinic, I'll go over and tell her she's going."
"No…don't do that," Carly said.
"Dude, I told you, I'm not choosing between you and-"
"I want you to take Freddie," Carly said.
Sam blinked. "You do?"
"Yeah, um, I-I think you and Freddie should go to Hawaii," Carly nodded. "Take him, not me."
"Carls, I thought you were all excited about going," Sam frowned.
"I-I was," Carly nodded. "But I was thinking and, well, the whole trip did kind of seem perfect for a couple. I-I think you and Freddie would have a really good time if you went together."
"Carly…are you serious?" Sam asked slowly. "You'd really be alright with me taking Freddie to Hawaii and not you?"
"You guys deserve a trip like this," Carly nodded. "So take it."
Sam smiled. "Wow, I-Freddie's going to be so excited when I tell him."
"I bet," Carly chuckled. "Well, um, just be sure to pack lots of sunscreen, take pictures and, have a good time, okay?"
"We will," Sam said. "And Carly?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you."
Carly grinned. "Any time."
