Chapter 12

Freddie was out of breath when he got to his locker on Monday morning, but luckily he wasn't late for history.

The beautiful day they had had on Sunday, turned into an ugly evening as a thunderstorm rumbled through the area overnight. It had caused the electricity to temporarily go out, and thus it shut down Freddie's alarm clock. He was such a heavy sleeper, that he slept through the storm, but he had no alarm to wake him up. It took his mom nearly throwing him out of bed to get him up this morning.

He hurried to get dressed; grabbed a bite to eat; then he ran down the damp Seattle streets on this overcast morning to get to school on time.

After he grabbed his history homework, he slipped into the classroom with a few minutes to spare before the bell. He saw Carly and Sam talking with one another. He took his seat unnoticed by the girls.

"So you guys actually were holding hands on the first date," Carly said excitedly, "Did you guys kiss too?"

"Nothing real passionate," Sam smiled, blushing a bit, "but, yeah."

Carly giggled, "So are you going to see him again?"

"Next weekend," Sam sighed happily, "Carls, thank you so much for setting me up with him. I guess I'm gonna have to owe you one."

"Aw, you don't owe me anything," Carly said her smile widening, "I'm just glad that you're happy, and that we can actually start doing stuff on the weekends again."

Freddie was stunned. He had been sitting quietly listening to his friends talk about the previous day. He couldn't believe that Sam was no longer available to date. I waited too long, he thought, I should have told her how I felt; now it might be too late.

"Yeah, that will be fun," Sam said, "It'll be nice to make plans to do stuff with the boys."

"See, I told you on the phone yesterday morning that there would be nothing to get nervous about." Carly stated.

"Uh-huh," Sam returned with a little giggle, "but you wore my battery on my phone down so much with your calling that I had to leave it home yesterday to charge it."

That explains why she didn't pick up her phone yesterday, Freddie thought. He couldn't help but eavesdrop on their conversation. Of course, they were talking so loud that most of the class heard them.

Finally, the bell rang and class began. Mrs. Wood asked for everyone to turn in their homework for the weekend.

Sam finally finished her conversation with Carly, and reached into her history book for her homework. To her disbelief, it wasn't completed. How did I not get this done this weekend? She thought. Then she remembered.

"Freddie," she whispered, "I forgot we had a study date yesterday."

Freddie turned around and looked at her, "Yes, I know you did," he answered annoyed.

"Did you come by my house yesterday?" She inquired.

"Yeah, around noon," he continued answering her questions annoyingly, "Your mom answered the door, said she didn't know where you were, didn't even know you were gone, and slammed the door in my face."

"Yeah," Sam smiled, "that's my mom. Now you know where I get that." She gave Freddie her homework to give to the teacher.

Freddie was not amused. He took her paper, added his to the pile, and sent them forward. He faced the front shaking his head slightly.

"What's bothering you?" Sam asked rather curtly, as she observed Freddie was acting a little different around her.

He only turned his head to the side, and answered, "I'll talk to you about it later."

I have a feeling that this going to be one of them long days my mother told me about, he thought as he began taking notes from the teacher on the next lesson.

XxXxXxXxXx

The bell rang, and history class came to an end. Freddie quickly grabbed his books and bolted out of the room.

Carly saw Freddie zoom out of the class. She turned to Sam, "What's wrong with Freddie today?" She asked as she grabbed her history books.

Sam had her homework and was ready to head out of the classroom, "What isn't wrong with Freddie, have you looked at him?" She snarled.

"No, seriously Sam," Carly inputted.

Sam sighed, "I forgot that he and I had a study date yesterday. He came over to my place and everything, and he had to deal with my mom."

"Oh," Carly said with her eyes wide.

"However," Sam continued, "I think that there's something else on his dweebish little mind. I see him next period, and I'm gonna find out what his problem is."

She and Carly went into the hallway and headed for their lockers. They got ready for their next classes, and bid each other farewell; they would see each other again in fourth period English class.

Sam entered the algebra classroom, and saw Freddie seated looking through his answers. She made her way to her seat, grabbed Freddie's pencil out of his hand, and tossed it to the back of the room.

Freddie looked at her with a little disgust, but he reached into his folder, grabbed another pencil, and continued going through his homework.

Sam shook her head and sat down. She got her homework out and scanned through it quickly to make sure that she did get this homework done. She turned to Freddie and grabbed his pencil out of his hand and pointed at him with it. "All right Freddo, spill it. What's your prob?" She asked annoyed.

Freddie snatched his pencil back from her, and set it down. "I thought you and I were friends, why didn't you tell me you had a date yesterday?" He asked indifferently.

"Who-oa, 'Friend'," Sam growled, "I didn't know that I had an obligation to tell 'you' about everything that goes on in my personal life."

"That's not what I asked," he howled back, and pointed his finger at her, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"If you must know," Sam answered, pushing his hand out of her way, "this was all set up by Carly at the last minute. I wasn't even really going to go, but I saw how cute the guy was, and I thought I'd at least meet him and see how things went. Besides, I'm getting tired of being a third wheel to Carly and Danny." She looked away from him and stared up front.

"So, do you like this guy, if you don't mind me asking?" He asked softening his tone a bit.

Sam continued to stare forward, "I really had a fun day yesterday," she said calmly, "David was really nice, and he seemed to really get me." She slumped in her chair a bit.

"So, I guess this means that you don't want to hang with me anymore, huh?" Freddie said glumly.

"Is that what's the matter with you?" Sam smirked, "David lives in Olympia, so I'm only going to be able to see him on the weekend. Were you afraid I was going to replace my favorite dork?" Her smile broadened.

Freddie shook his head and rubbed his face. Then he shrugged.

"Don't worry, Freddork," she continued to smile, "you're not getting replaced. We can still study and stuff. You are coming to my place after school today, aren't you?"

"You gonna be there today?" He shot back.

Sam gave him a look, and answered, "Yes, I'll be there today…unless my man is in town." She laughed at this; then she faced the front as the bell rang and class began.

Author's Note: Freddie is a little jealous here, huh? As much as he's kicking himself right now for waiting too long to tell Sam his feelings, he's about to enter a more important role in her life soon: The good friend. Sometimes that job is not always easy. Thanks to all who continue to post your thoughts and comments, please continue to do so.