Chapter 5

Carly is my best friend and I love her dearly, but sometimes I just want to hate her. Sam thought as she took her seat in algebra class. Am I just that ugly, and she's that much prettier than me that I can't have a cute guy notice me? She was sick with anger in her stomach, and her face was red hot with embarrassment. She was so lost in self pity, that she didn't even notice that Freddie had come in and took his seat at the desk to her left.

Freddie looked at Sam when he and Jeremy entered the classroom just seconds before the bell ring. He saw how upset she looked as she was just kind of staring into space. He quickly told Jeremy he'd see him after class; then they made their way to their seats. Jeremy occupied the front left desk in the room, while Freddie was near the back right portion of the classroom, taking his seat to the left of Sam.

He put his books down on the desk, and quickly sat down as the bell had rung. He looked over to Sam, who was still staring straight ahead of her. As much as I really don't need her wrath right now, he thought, I need to know if she's okay. "Sam," he whispered, "are you alright?"

That seemed to snap Sam out of her stare. "No you dork!" she hissed, not looking at him, "I'm not okay, just leave me alone!" Her voice was loud enough to get the teacher's attention.

"Samantha Puckett, is there anything you want to share with the class?" Mr. Perry asked her.

Sam looked up to the teacher frowning, "No sir," she replied simply.

"Good," he said, "Then I'll give you all fifteen minutes to review your homework before I ask you to turn it in." With that, Mr. Perry sat back down at his desk and proceeded to grade papers from the previous class.

Sam glared at Freddie for a few seconds, then turned back to face the front.

Freddie knew that the glare Sam gave him was because she just got embarrassed from getting unwanted attention. He figured he'd make it up to her by letting her copy his homework. Algebra came easy to Freddie, and he had that homework done long before he went to Carly's last night.

He made sure Mr. Perry wasn't looking; then slid his homework over in Sam's direction.

Sam looked down to see Freddie handing her his homework for her to copy. She sighed, then grabbed it from Freddie and proceeded to copy it quickly.

While she was busy coping his homework, Freddie grabbed a blank sheet of paper from his note book, and began to write Sam a note that he would give to her after the teacher grabbed all of their homework assignments. I saw what happened with you and Carly and that new guy. He wrote on the paper.

Sam had just finished her copying of the homework when Mr. Perry asked for them to pass their homework forward. She couldn't just hand Freddie his paper back without the teacher questioning why she had his paper in the first place, so she decided to knock his and her paper off her desk in Freddie's direction, then he could scoop them up and hand Sam back hers. That way Freddie could lay both of their papers on the desk, then hand Sam her homework, while his stayed hidden on his books. It would appear in the teacher's eyes that she knocked over her paper, and Freddie would pick it up for her, and hand it back to her. (This isn't the first time they've done this little stunt; the idea is all Sam's doing.)

As he and Sam handed up their papers to the front, Freddie passed the note he wrote over to Sam.

She grabbed his note and read it. Her face got a little pale, but she grabbed her pen and wrote Freddie a note back on the same paper. What did you think you saw, Fredboy? She passed it back to Freddie.

He read the note; then he sighed. He wrote a response. I saw this new guy flirting with you at your locker until Carly got off the phone, then he turned his attention to her and he ignored you. He reread the note he just written. Boy, I hope she don't punch me for this, he thought. Then, seeing that Sam anxiously wanted to see what he wrote, handed the note back to her.

Sam was distraught when she realized that Freddie had seen everything that had happened. It got her upset again too, and she just sat there for a few minutes thinking. Her face got all red again, and it looked as though she might have wanted to cry. But she took some deep breaths and calmed herself quietly. She stared at the note for a second. Finally, she slowly wrote a note back to him. Is it that impossible that a cute guy might like me at all? Why can't I be as lucky as Carly is? And why do all of you guys want her so much?! She wrote the last question out of frustration, and even scribbled it on the paper harder. She then handed the note back to Freddie.

Freddie grabbed the paper from Sam and began to read the note. When he read the first two questions, his face was full of sorrow. Then he read the last question, and got a blank look on his face. If Sam would have asked me that question before last night, the answer would have been simple, he thought, but now, I don't have an answer for that.

Mr. Perry had just given the class an assignment that they were to do for tonight, but Freddie and Sam, because of their note passing, didn't even know what it was. Freddie wasn't concerned about it at the present time; he could always ask Jeremy at the end of class what it was. Mr. Perry then went back to his desk. This made it easier for him and Sam to pass notes to each other.

Freddie turned back to the note. He decided to answer all 3 questions at once. He turned the paper over to the other side (the front side was full), and responded. 1. Sam, hang in there, you'll get a cute guy in your life; you're a very charming person. They just need to get to know you. 2. your luck will change soon, again just hang in there. 3. before last night I could've answered this question, now it's hard. He then passed the paper over to her.

Sam looked at the note. Wow, she thought, my little nerdy friend is actually complementing me. Her attitude brightened a bit as read his note, until she came across the response for her third question. She frowned at his answer, and although she knew what happened last night, she decided to find out what he was really thinking about Carly. So what did happen between you and Carly last night? She then sent the note back to Freddie.

He read the note; then he groaned. He started massaging his forehead with his left hand for a few seconds. Why did I have a feeling she wasn't gonna let this go? Freddie thought. But then he realized that Sam also got hurt today from a guy because of Carly. Sam might be mean to me at times, but she is my friend. I guess we should sort of be there for each other. So he wrote her a note telling her about everything that transpired at Carly's apartment. He then handed the note back to Sam.

Sam grabbed the note, and her eyes widened when she saw how long the note was. But she read every word of it; then looked at Freddie when she was done. She looked at him sadly for a moment then turned her attention back to the note. I'm sorry Freddie, as much as I want to tell you that I told you so about Carly, I can see how miserable your night was. I guess I got a little payback dealt to me with what happened to me at my locker earlier, huh? Sam then slid the note back to Freddie.

Anytime Freddie didn't have the paper that he and Sam were passing around to each other, he was busy in his algebra book. Now Freddie had the note again, so he looked up from his book and read Sam's response. He smiled during the first part of the note, although he still didn't like Sam being right about the Carly thing. Then he looked a little shocked when he read the end of the note. He reached in his notebook for a new piece of paper and started a new page. Sam, you didn't deserve what happened to you at the lockers, okay? And you were right about Carly; I should have listened to you. YOU WERE RIGHT, I WAS WRONG, there; I'll admit it this time. He smiled as he wrote, then he continued writing his thought. But hey, there's gonna be better guys out there for you, who would want to be with you. Freddie wanted to conclude the note passing soon, so he figured he would pass words of encouragement to Sam.

Sam grabbed the new paper that Freddie had started and began to read. She opened her mouth in shocked disbelief when she read that Freddie had admitted that she was right. She looked to the front at the teacher to make sure he was still busy, then looked over to Freddie and whispered, "I'm keeping this paper." Freddie rolled his eyes, but had a faint smile on his face.

Sam looked at the last statement Freddie wrote, and the smile slid off her face. She wrote back on the paper. Yeah right, the only other guy I dated, Jonah, didn't want me, he really wanted Carly. She then quietly handed him the note back.

Freddie again took the paper and read. He thought about what she said for a few seconds; then wrote a response back to her. Jonah was a real jerk, and I'm sorry that happened. But hey, the only girl I dated didn't want me; she only wanted to use me to crush iCarly. He passed the note back to her.

Sam was looking at the clock when Freddie pushed the note at her. She took it quickly and read it. Valerie, she thought, that did sort of hurt him when he had to break up with her. She noticed that the bell was going to ring soon. She put her book up close to her; then wrote a final response to Freddie. Yeah, she used you, but she didn't try to cheat on you at least. Freddie, what happened at the lockers hurt me. Carly is everybody's dream girl that guys want to marry someday and I always get to be the bridesmaid. I don't want to be somebody's second choice. With that, she put her pen in her pocket, and handed the note to Freddie.

Freddie was also getting his notebook and textbook together when Sam handed him the final note. As he stared at the last sentence she wrote, the bell rang, and everybody was getting up from their seats. Sam was about to the front of the classroom when Freddie called out to her, "Sam!"

She turned around to face him with a sad expression. He gave her that same expression back. They looked at each other for a few seconds as the rest of the students were filing out of the classroom.

"What is it, Freddie?" Sam asked quietly.

Freddie grabbed her left hand with his right hand, held it for a second and said very softly, "You don't ever deserve to be anyone's second choice." He gave her hand a little squeeze, then laid it back down and let go of it. Then he walked out of the classroom to catch up with Jeremy.

Sam felt it was the nicest thing anybody had ever said to her. She knew in heart that she and Freddie were gonna be friends forever, even if he was a big dork. Finally feeling a sense of peace, she strolled out of the classroom.

Author's Note: Awww! I love this chapter! It's where I got my title. I'm seeing more and more reviews, and I appreciate all of them. A confrontation in the next chapter. Thanks again to all who've reviewed.