Of course Freddie found it strange that Sam had called him over to her apartment. She spent the majority of time over at Carly's and the Groovy Smoothie. He would have demanded a good answer as to why he should high-tail it over to her place when he was in the middle of his shift at McDonald's. He would have, but he noticed something that made him stop in his tracks.
After Sam's command that he meet her at her apartment within the next ten minutes or else, he heard something. It was a faint, soft... sob. There was no other way to say it. He hadn't been able to hear from her voice, which was harsh and forceful as per usual. Sam didn't cry. Well, hardly that was. When she did, it was something serious like a near-death experience.
So, Freddie cast off his black uniform apron and begged Rob, his best friend at work, to cover for him with some excuse, any excuse. Then, he left the fast food joint and hopped into his car.
About fifteen minutes later, Freddie was parallel-parking his blue, used car in front of Sam's apartment. He knew that she'd said ten minutes, but there really was no conceivable way that he could travel that far in that amount of time without breaking multiple traffic laws and putting his life in danger. But he'd came, hadn't he? It wasn't like Sam would ever do the same for him, show up on a moment's notice. There friendship had always had an odd dynamic, and he seemed to always put more work into it.
Freddie pulled open the front door and walked past her doorman, who was fast asleep and drooling a little. Her apartment building was very large, but not nearly as nice as Carly's and his. Even the strangeness of Lewbert couldn't hide the fact that Sam's place was just kind of... sad. It was constantly empty feeling and quiet, except for when Sam was fighting with her mom or screaming at the guy down the hall for some reason.
He stepped into the elevator quietly so as to not wake the doorman, and pressed the 4th floor button, which lit up red. With a small jolt and a creak, the elevator began its journey up the shaft. When it arrived at the correct floor, the doors didn't open for a long time, and Freddie panicked a little that he'd be stuck. However, they finally opened a few seconds later, and he sighed with relief. Hurrying out of the tiny space, Freddie found her apartment.
"Sam?" Freddie asked, knocking at her door lightly with his knuckles.
It took her a few moments, but she did answer. Sure enough, his instincts had been right. She'd attempted to hide it, but Sam had definitely been crying. Her blue eyes were tinted red and her mascara had smudged around them in an entirely unintentional way. On top of that, her blond hair poofed around her head as if it hadn't been brushed all day, and her clothes were wrinkled and clashed terribly even to Freddie's eye, which wasn't exactly trained in the art of fashion.
"Hey, Nub," she said. Her voice quivered slightly, but she waved him inside.
"Sam, what's wrong?" he asked while the door fell shut behind him. Sam had already taken a seat on her couch, forearms propped on her thighs, head low. Oh no, he couldn't do this. He wasn't good with crying. Especially not crying girls. He messed it up every time he tried to console one, not that he had much experience.
She shook her head silently, and he saw fresh tears leak out and drip down her cheeks. Taking a deep breath, Freddie sat down next to her. He didn't say anything. He didn't want her to lash out, and he definitely didn't want to make things worse. At this point, he was clueless as to what was wrong, but he would wait. Until she was ready. So he just sat beside her in silence occassionally broken by quiet sniffles from Sam.
It was a long time later, or maybe a short time. He wasn't sure. But Sam started talking, "You know, my Aunt Louisa?"
Freddie nodded, "I met her the one time. She called me Frednerd. I guess you told her to."
"She's dead," Sam stated, simply.
"Oh," Freddie said. Aunt Louisa had seemed to be the only relative Sam didn't hate, or at least didn't seem criminal or insane. Well, she had seemed a little insane, but in a good-natured way. Every summer, Sam spent a week or two with her aunt and always came back with a few stories to tell.
"She was too young. Thirty-five," said Sam.
He didn't want to be rude, but the silence that followed was too awkward to leave as is. "...How?" he asked.
"She was sick. The last few times I saw her, we weren't able to do so much." She paused, bit her lip. "A lot of the last few stories I told... LA, Las Vegas... They were lies. You probably knew that already though." After a moment, she added, "If you hadn't actually met her, you'd probably think she was a lie too. I mean, everyone in my family sucks. But she isn't a lie. She's real. She was real."
"I'm sorry," he whispered. Freddie didn't know what else to say. He'd never lost anyone very close to him, if you didn't count his father when he was barely three which he didn't recall at all. After listening to a few more sniffles, he asked, "Why did you call me?"
"Because crying alone makes you feel pretty shitty."
"What about Carly?"
"Carly's not good with crying. Usually she starts crying too, and then I feel really terrible because I've made someone else feel depressed too. You may be a wimp, but I knew you wouldn't cry. If only because you don't really care at all."
"What? Sam, I care."
She said something that sounded distorted through the sudden burst of tears. Freddie felt himself growing more and more uncomfortable with the amount of crying going on. He fidgeted in his seat.
"My mom's picking up her ashes and whatever else she left us in the will," Sam said.
"Are you going to scatter them?" asked Freddie.
"Yeah. I want to do it right, but my mom just wants to dump the ashes in the local park. Aunt Louisa was never her favorite sister."
"Well, you should do it how you want to. You really loved her. You knew her," said Freddie. "Do what she'd want."
All of a sudden, Sam's mood changed entirely. With one last wipe at her wet eyes, she stood up and forced a smile. "You know what? You're right. I should do it my way." She paused in thought, then continued, "Here's the plan. In the middle of the night, I'll steal the ashes and take the car—"
"Woah, Sam, that seems a little extreme. Why don't you just ask your mom? You know, like a normal person."
"Because, Fredward, do you know how much better an adventure is when it's secret and dangerous and you're on the run? No, of course the mama's boy doesn't know." Then another idea popped into her head. "You should come with me."
"What?" Freddie balked, staring at Sam like she was completely crazy. Which she kind of was, at the moment.
"You know I can't read a map to save my life. Plus, we can cover more area if we drive in shifts. Anyway, I don't think I have enough money for gas and food by myself. I need your cash."
"I haven't agreed to anything yet," Freddie said, defensively. He'd spent ages compiling his money, and now Sam was likely to blow it all away in one summer.
"But you will come. It's our last summer before we're seniors. And god knows you need to rebel from your mother at some point. That moving-out-for-two-days thing totally doesn't count."
"It was three days!"
"Whatever. Come on, let's do it. We can go everywhere. That giant rock with the presidents on it. Los Angeles. Disney World. Whatever they have in Texas. The Statue of Liberty. It'll be an adventure."
"An adventure that requires a heck of a lot of driving. You just name-checked every corner of the United States. It'll take weeks to drive all those places. Months."
"Hmm... Do you think we should include Canada? Mexico?"
"Sam!"
"Okay, we'll play it by ear. First stop... California."
Freddie sighed loudly. He was playing it like he wasn't looking forward to Sam's 'adventure,' but he was actually cautiously excited about it. After all, another summer under his mother's roof was a pretty bleak prospect. Besides that, he'd never seen much of the great American sights and attractions. But he wasn't ready to let Sam know that he was actually interested yet.
"Maybe," he said. "Maybe. We'll see."
"You're going to do it," Sam insisted. "I know you are."
Freddie rolled his eyes, and sighed in frustration. "We'll see. Call me when the ashes arrive, and then I'll decide."
"All right. Pack your bags in the meantime, Benson. Make sure you bring enough anti-bacterial underwear. It's gonna be a long journey."
Thanks for reading, and I hoped you liked it. After I finish Don't You Remember, I think I'll update this a lot. Probably each chapter will take Sam and Freddie to a new location. My other story, For the World to See, is really not going is well, so if you like that please tell me or it may continue un-updated. Any and all comments are appreciated.