Disclaimer: I own nothing. Ha, kidding, but that always cracks me up when I see it on disclaimers. Okay, I don't own iCarly or any of the other characters on it, but I own Jason, Jacob and Isabel.
"Oh." Freddie said simply when he saw the girl, and all I said was, "Oh man," when I felt bile rising out of my throat. He turned to me expectantly, probably thinking I had some sort of snappy insult about her outfit, but there I was, reeling in my spot instead. I made it look as casual as possible by heaving a loud cough when I was crouched down, as if that were typical.
Jacob and Carly watched me sympathetically, and then Freddie's mom wailed, "Oh, Samantha!" and I winced at the awful name. Jacob and Carly exchanged a glance and said, "Oh my god," as they shook their heads at the way things were unfolding.
"Guys, this is...Isabel," Freddie said, gesturing the girl who was standing, blushing, in the open doorway still. It was incredible to see how calmly he spoke, while my entire group was panicking. Anyways, she- Isabel- leaped forward, reaching her hand straight out to me with a giant grin on her face that was so innocent I couldn't hate it, no matter how much I wanted to.
"You're Sam Puckett! Freddie has a picture of you on his desk. You used to do iCarly with him, right? You were his best friend," she mused in such a fast voice I was still processing the Freddie has a picture of you on his desk. Or maybe I just wanted to take my time processing that tidbit.
Before I could answer, she took the hand I hadn't managed to hold out yet and shook it vigorously with both of her's, her face bright red. "I'm Freddie's girlfriend- you can call me Is, Isabel is so proper," the way she said it was so...reminiscent of me, but in such a kinder tone. When I told people I preferred Sam, it was either a smack upside the head, or with some sort of snappy insult.
Or at least, it used to be.
"Are you Samantha?" a teacher called out to Sam in her new junior class, raising his eyebrows a bit.
Sam looked up at him very slowly. Back in the day, it would've been deliberate. She would've done it slowly to show him that she hated the name Samantha, and there would've been a glare in her eyes.
Or maybe she would've said, "What's it to you, fatso?" or "I am the last kid left in the room, lame brain."
But the new Sam told herself, 'This is a professor, Samantha.' And that is what Sam called herself when she was disciplining herself: Samantha. It seemed to make more sense, since that was what Carly called her when she was reprimanding her, and Carly was the only one who ever reprimanded her- without getting punched in the face, at least.
So when Sam stared at her teacher, who would go on to kick her out of his class for 'just not getting it' when she didn't go for a week- Sam in an advanced world geography class wasn't meant to be, even if she was upset!- she told him, "Yes, I'm Samantha."
"Hey, Is," I said quietly, because that was all I could think to say. Her eyes roved over everyone else around us- Jacob, Ms. Benson, Carly- but she didn't seem to recognize them. How bizarre! Did she not look at any pictures besides me, or was she just more concerned with a picture that was probably hidden behind his Carly shrine?
The thought of a Carly shrine made me laugh when I was a kid, and supplied good jokes back then, but now it just made me sick. I had not prepared to feel the old jealousy I had felt all those years ago, watching Carly and Freddie interact. For some reason, that jealousy was the last thing on my mind.
"Come on in, guys," Freddie ushered Isabel inside as he grabbed onto my elbow, pulling me into the kitchen along with Carly. He gestured for his mother and Jacob to go ahead, and Carly and I exchanged a glance reminiscent of two children about to face up to coloring on the walls or something.
"I need to know...why you guys are here...how you guys got here!" Freddie said, but he said it all with a grin as he looked at me, expecting some sort of crazy story more than likely. All he knew was the old Sam.
Carly knew the new Sam, and she put her arm around my shoulder protectively as I looked up at her expectantly. Freddie watched this with confusion- it was never Carly comforting me, it was always me comforting Carly after a new break up, or an embarrassment, or a guy who didn't ask her out, or a guy she didn't like that asked her out, and occasionally it was something that had me crying along with her like when Spencer had to go to the hospital for invention gone wrong. But even then I comforted her the whole time. It was never the other way around.
Until he left, of course. I never needed real comfort before then. I had all I needed- I was like the dog Freddie and I had found. Even if Freddie was telling me my butt was shaped like a ham, he was talking to me. I must be some sort of masochist, though, because I enjoyed every minute of it.
"Can I talk to Sam for a moment? Just uhm...plug your ears!" Carly commanded in her freshly domineering voice. She had gotten very demanding lately- she was always a commanding person, but now she was a bit like a dictator. But, of course, I didn't mind. She never bossed me around. Even dictators draw their limits.
Freddie obediently plugged his ears, grinning. He was probably glad we were acting more normal- at least what he considered to be normal for us. He thought we were being quirky, funny. We both didn't want him to go to his girlfriend, though, and we both wanted to talk...it was more conventional than quirky.
"Sam, you have to tell him right now!" Carly whisper-screamed at me. Even if Freddie had plugged his ears, Isabel or Ms. Benson or Jacob could be listening in right now.
"I can't Carly! You saw Isabel!" I murmured desperately, glancing over at Freddie, who was watching this with confusion. But, still the obedient boy I knew, he kept his hands firmly over his ears.
Carly rolled her eyes, gesturing towards the kitchen at where we both know the girl would be talking to Ms. Benson and Jacob warmly as could be. "Did you see what she was wearing? That is way too much pink! Besides, she's such a stalker! She knows your full name! And come on, Sam, you deserve happiness more than her!" Carly pleaded with me as quietly as she could keep her ranting down, and I shook my head and turned away.
I traced the squares on his apartment counter; amazed he had an apartment at all. I wondered how he got it when he was so young, what he had to do for it...but that was useless thinking right now. When I left here, I would think about it over and over and over again. I would have the rest of my life to think about it, because it didn't seem likely that I would be telling him anytime soon what I thought about him.
"Carly, I couldn't do that to someone. Put that much...hurt on a person. Affect her like that. Isabel seems nice," the way I stumbled over my words was pathetic, but Carly didn't sympathize with me now, and she definitely couldn't empathize with Isabel.
"Sam, don't take this wrong, but I could give a flying fladoodle about Isabel!" Carly almost shouted, throwing her arms into the air dramatically as Freddie watched me turn around to face her with giant eyes- we mirrored each other's expressions. I wondered what his face would look if he could hear this conversation, too.
"She's some random girl who is causing my best friend's heart to crumble and break, and frankly, I'm sick of this. I was fully ready to come and drag Freddie to you myself, if I had been forced to spend a few more days with the new Sam. The old Sam would've seen Isabel at the door, rolled her eyes and snapped, 'Who's the chick?' She would've threatened Isabel's life, and she would've told Freddie. You need to tell him! Sam, I'm scared! I'm scared for you!" the way her voice choked off and the desperate way she looked at me brought on the tears.
Freddie started to uncover his ears, but I held up my finger to signal a moment, trying to wipe my eyes. Tears! Sam Puckett never cried! I missed that about her most. I was so emotional! It wasn't like I was pregnant; I was a teenager with everything she'd ever wanted at her fingertips, and I was afraid to close my palm and take a chance with it.
"Carly, I'm sorry. I know...and you can't possibly imagine how much I hate the new Sam. I want to throw open doors and yell at random people. I want to slap our tech weenie in the face with a slice of ham!" the familiar way my lips formed these words made me smile through the tears, but I could not keep grinning as I whispered, "I couldn't put Isabel through what I went through."
Before Freddie uncovered his ears, Carly mumbled, "She wouldn't go through what you're going through, because there is no possible way for her to care about him the same way you do." And then Freddie was in front of me, his hands no longer at his ears, but at a tissue that he held out to me.
I felt my hopes sink, but what had I been expecting? Okay, I'll be honest (a trait of the new Sam's only): I had been expecting him to run to me and wipe my tears off with his thumb the way I had seen people on television, and the way guys comforted Carly. But his girlfriend was in the next room over- I shouldn't have been expecting a romance scene.
"Are you okay Sam? What's happening? I'm so confused!" he blurted all of his words out quickly, and I exchanged a look with Carly.
"In time, Freddie, in time," I joked as best as I could, but it wasn't a real joke. It was the closest step I had taken since being around Freddie, yes, but that was it. My voice was boring and dull, and I could tell that when Carly grinned it was for no reason but to encourage me. "Can we...can we stay here until we're all ready to talk? Unless Isabel is staying here of course...then we'll just go get a hotel..." my lips said the words for my brain, since it couldn't even wrap itself around the possibility that he and Isabel were that serious. It would rip my hopes to shreds.
Freddie shook his head quickly. "We're not that close, it's a pretty new thing- only a week long. She's not staying here, of course. This place is in...My dad's name," he made a slight face, and I remembered that he didn't use to care for his dad much at all.
And just like that, I went from longing to see Freddie, to staying in the same house as him- and still not being able to say anything at all.
Author's Note: Oh God, I must seem like such a liar. I'm sorry to always leave you guys hanging and not updating for forever, but I'm always so busy! I'll try to get up chapter ten as soon as possible, okay? Thanks to all the fans that kept reviewing and adding this story to favorites, alerts, etc. I truly do appreciate it. I'm not really sure how long this story is going to be, but I promise you that I will attempt (notice I'm not promising to just get it done; I don't want to break a promise again haha) to get the next chapter up soon!