THE AFTERMATH OF iCARLY
Freddie: that one clumsy and awkward night
They were breaking up from two weeks of what Freddie would have called 'ultimate happiness' and for what? Something they overheard their best friend say to her brother and his baby-sitter, Jenna. Something about forcing their friendship into something more like a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship. After the 'I love yous' were exchanged and a bit more kissing went on whilst the elevator took them to the iCarly studio. They sat down next to each other.
"Sam, have you ever..." he started to say but was cut off by her response.
"No, never." Sam replied, quickly.
"Would you consider us to-"
"I wouldn't say no."
Of course Samantha Puckett wouldn't refuse this... maybe because she thought he was setting up a dare or a challenge for her. The boy didn't know what to say after that. Neither one of them knew how to start, but somehow they managed just fine.
Freddie shook his head violently. The memory vanished. Angela stared at him whilst he did so.
The nerve of that blonde headed demon, he thought. Coming in where he was having dinner with another girl. He regained composure before sitting back down and continuing their conversation and his lasagne. He reached over for the parmesan cheese.
The moment she left the restaurant, Freddie apologised to Angela and they continued talking about their lives outside of internet stardom. He told her about his college plans up in New York City and it turned out that her plans were leading her to New York as well. She said that her father and step-mom lived somewhere there, so she'd be living with them for a while until she got herself sorted with a new job and an apartment.
"This has been very nice," she says.
"You're too polite," replies Freddie, with a frown. "Sam doesn't believe in boundaries."
"But Sam seems like a fun girl. You two dated for a while, right?"
Freddie looked at the glass of water in front of him, afraid of her reaction if he told her the truth about him and Sam, and Sam's undeniable feelings for him. Perhaps, he thought, I can tell her half the story. It's not like it will change anything... will it?
"Yes, we dated. But only for a short time!" It was blurted out so quickly.
Angela giggles.
She only looked at him whilst he sat there spilling his guts and then giggled straight after the confession. He must've looked puzzled because she explained her unusual reaction.
"She still has feelings for you."
"How do you-"
"I can just tell with these things. Freddie, she wanted to confess her undying love for you."
Confess? Undying love? That sounded nothing like the Samantha Puckett he has always known. But she did interrupt his date with Angela and she looked sad as he kicked her out of the restaurant. But he already knew she liked him.
Freddie laughs. He just sits there and laughs, because there's nothing really he can say in response. Again, Angela stares at him whilst he did so.
It was the end of their date and Angela thanked him again for the entertaining dinner. Usually, and he'd heard this from Carly many times, the boy would walk the girl to her door and kiss her goodnight. But he wasn't really in the mood for any of that. It was a shame though. She looked like she was a pretty good kisser.
They approached the door of the restaurant and Angela started leaning in but before her lips got any where near his, he stuck out his hand for her to shake.
"Goodnight Angela, it's been... well... interesting."
"Goodnight Freddie," she says, with her sweet smile. "Call me." And with that she pecks him on the cheek and quickly leaves.
He felt a bit guilty not asking if she needed to be walked home. First his bluntness with Sam and now his rudeness to his date. Some gentleman I'm turning out to be, he thought to himself, bitterly. His mother would definitely scold him if she knew about his current behaviour.
After paying for the dinner, Freddie shoved his hands in his pockets and headed back home, wondering if Sam Puckett was mad at him. Of course she would be mad at you, you idiot, he thought to himself. You were a bit harsh, don't you think? You may as well have slapped her in the face and it would have had the same effect. All Sam wanted was to tell you the truth about her feelings - but do you think you could care a minute or two? No!
Meanwhile, he walked back down the street, the way he and Angela walked earlier and continued arguing with himself. He was completely absorbed inside his own thoughts.
It's her fault for interrupting my date with Angela! As if she could expect me to abandon a pretty girl like that just so she can be happy... his thoughts trailed off.
Isn't that what he did? Except it was Sam he was abandoning, and not just some random pretty girl. A girl he'd known since the second grade, pretty much as long as he'd known Carly. The girl whom put him down, called him cute but annoying pet-names, gave him nasty wedgies - he winced at that memory. The girl he dated... the girl whom gave him pretty much everything on that night of the break-up.
"Since we're breaking up," she said. "And never speaking of it again... maybe...we could..."
"If you think it's right," he replied. He noticed the embarrassment crossing her face, and really he hadn't seen the girl so flustered.
"Of course it's just to get it over with." He almost laughed at the deja vu. Sam laughed with him.
That particular night with her burned inside his brain. Just thinking about it now, made him blush from the neck upwards. Anyone would think he had a fever. Ever since they had shared something so intimate and special - be it clumsy and awkward for a first (and only) time, he tried his hardest to push it away. It was a one time thing, she had said it herself. Neither of them had told Carly about it, for obvious reasons.
Finally he opened the door to his bedroom, surrounded by familiar things and didn't even bother to undress before laying down on his bed. But he couldn't sleep.
In fact, the night was long. He replayed the night's events over and over, but his mind was mixing it with older memories, particularly the one where they both were lying in his bed. He tossed and turned several times just trying to get comfortable and have pleasant dreams. But it was no good. He sat up and stared at the opposite side of his room in the darkness. He checked the time on his pear phone and groaned. It was only two-thirty in the morning. He wondered if Sam was still awake too.
He pressed her name and held the phone to his ear. It rang once... twice... three times... four... five...
"Hello?" the voice wasn't all that sleepy. Perhaps she wasn't getting much sleep either.
"Sam, it's me. Did I wake you?"
"Nah. I couldn't sleep. Some jerk blew me off at a restaurant earlier so he could eat dinner in peace." Her voice sounded angry. 'Jerk' was probably too kind of a word to use.
"I'm so sorry about that."
"No you're not," argued Sam. "I know you don't care about how I feel. And why would you?"
"And how do you feel?"
There was a long pause before she went into a whole speech of total and utter denial of her "undying" love for him. Freddie shook his head and lay back down, head on his pillow. He didn't say anything in response. What was there to say? He wasn't about to say that she's the one he thought about whilst out with Angela.
"Was the date fun?" It sounded like she really cared now.
"It was... it was alright." Not like when you and I were dating, was what he wanted to say, but didn't.
"Just alright," she repeated. Everything she said seemed to echo through his head.
A memory swarmed his thoughts just now. The one memory that he wanted to dearly forget but kind of treasured at the same time.
It was after everything had happened and just before the clock turned to midnight. The break-up hour. But there they were, laying together on his bed, like they belonged there. It was a shame that they'd ended things - and for what? Something that their best friend had said to her brother. But, that aside, he wanted to enjoy this rare moment with a girl he had feelings for.
"Hey, how was I?" His arm was wrapped around her waist. He was holding her close.
"Just alright," she replied, looking at him with a cheeky grin on her face. Some things never change.
"That's offensive!" He wasn't really offended, since he knew by now, she was joking. "But seriously...?"
"The best I've ever had." ...and she kissed him for one last time.
Freddie grinned at this particular memory. Although, realistically, what she should have said to him was "the only time I've ever experienced". He kicked that thought aside, because for once in his life he had received a pretty darn good compliment from the otherwise obnoxious Sam Puckett. And he was proud of it.