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Sam's POV

I looked in the mirror at myself, laughing at how ridiculous I looked. I was wearing the same outfit I had worn to try to impress Pete a year or two ago. A flowery pink blouse, a dark pink sweater, a pleated pink miniskirt, and pink heels. I can't believe Carly talked me into wearing something so pink. The thought of wearing an outfit so girly made me sick, but if it makes me stay in Seattle, I just have to suck it up. I just finished straightening my hair, with step-by-step directions from Carly over the phone. I pulled my hair into a ponytail, making sure it was as neat as possible. Dad and I were supposed to have a "bonding" lunch, which I wasn't looking forward to at all. I sighed and sat on my bed.

Yesterday Carly came with me back to my house, because I really wanted her support. My dad wasn't there, he was at his hotel, but Mom was. You should have seen the look on her face when I told her I'd go along with Dad's plan. She looked like she was going to burst a blood vessel. That look is priceless. Mom accused Carly of lying about my location, but I told her that I wasn't at Carly's, and I went to her house in the middle of the night, too afraid to go back home. I would never tell my mom where I really was, because that alley is my only escape. Funny, whenever I hear the word escape, I don't think of running away, I think of the fire escape outside of Freddie's room. That would have been a good place to hide. I haven't been there since that night. The best night of my life. Okay, forget I said that.

"Sam, you're dad's here!" Mom grunted from the living room. I swiped some lip gloss across my lips, ready to put my acting skills to the test. Seattle, here I stay!

I walked into the living room, trying not to laugh at my dad's face as he looked at the trash and dirty clothes that cluttered the room. He smiled when he saw me, but he didn't look impressed by my new look.

"Ready to go?" He asked.

"Ready, father." I said in the sweetest voice I could manage.

When we got outside, I almost fainted at the sight of his car. It was a sleek, silver Maserati, the nicest one I've ever seen.

"How did you afford this? I'm pretty sure the navy doesn't pay that well." I asked, entranced by the car's beauty.

He smiled slyly. "I inherited a good amount of money a few years ago when my father died. He had a rather large amount of cash."

Seriously? I thought. You have all this cash and you didn't spend a penny of it on us? I sourly stepped into the passenger seat, ignoring his polite open-the-door gesture.

As we drove away from the house, he struck up a simple conversation.

"You look different today. Did you change your look or something?"

"No, this is my normal look. I went through a tomboy/bad girl phase, but I'm over that now." I glanced at him to see if he was buying it. Thankfully, he had his eyes firmly on the road, and he was nodding.

"You're an interesting girl, Samantha. A lot like your sister." I gritted my teeth at that comment. Yeah, I was going for a Melanie look and attitude, but I've always hated being compared to her.

"Yep, she's my role model. You can call me Sam, if you want."

"Alright, Sam, where would you like to go for lunch?"

"You ever been to Inside-Out Burger?"

"Yes, I used to go there all the time."

"Well," I said, pointing, "You take that left over there, then follow that street down. It's on the right."

"Let's go there, then." he said, giving me a small smile. He turned into the parking lot, and we headed inside. He ordered a double bacon cheeseburger, my favorite item on the menu. It took all of my strength to get myself to order a chicken salad with ranch on the side. We got our drinks, a Dr. Fizz for him and a pink lemonade for me, then headed to a table. Our food was served shortly after. I watched him eat his burger, barbeque sauce dripping out, the cheese oozing. I smothered my salad in ranch, then stabbed the lettuce with my fork. I tried to take dainty bites, but it's harder than it sounds. I forgot how much work being girly is.

"So, Sam," Dad asked. "Tell me about yourself. What are your hobbies?"

Causing people pain, eating meat, smashing things. Those were my first thoughts, but that would give me a one way ticket to Florida if I told him that.

"I enjoy shopping, but not for expensive clothes, of course. I also like helping children and the elderly."

He rolled his eyes. "Yes, and I enjoy prancing through meadows and knitting. Seriously, Sam, what do you like to do?"

I stared at him, a tad bit angry. This guy was not making my girly act easy.

"Fine, I like eating and sleeping. Happy?"

Dad smirked. "I know what you're doing, Sam, but I'm not changing my mind. You can't pretend you're like your sister just to get out of going to Miami."

I made a growling sound. I had to admit, my dad was good. Well, maybe I'll have to take a different approach.

"Whatever. So, what do you have to say about yourself? A couple of days ago, I didn't even know your name."

The rest of our conversation was boring, all that cheesy parental stuff. He told me he wanted to contact me, but was too busy, and how he dreamed of meeting his little girls. Then he went on and on with lame navy stories that nobody cares about. Thinking about it, he's a pretty sincere guy, but I still wasn't ready to forgive him for abandoning me. We didn't talk much on the ride home, until I asked him if he could take me to Bushwell.

"Why do you want to go there?" he asked.

"My friend Carly lives there, okay?"

Dad nodded, then drove off in the direction I told him to go.

Freddie's POV

I sat at Carly's computer, editing iCarly's site. I always hang out at Carly's on Sunday, Saturday, and weekdays after school. Yeah, I go over there a lot. There's always something interesting happening at Carly's. Gibby was over too, watching Girly Cow with Carly. I never liked that show, too immature for me. I halfheartedly edited my blog, talking about my new editing software. I couldn't concentrate. I was crazy worried about Sam. I hoped things were working out with her dad. It would ruin me if she moved to Florida. She makes everything fun.

Gibby laughed so hard at Girly cow that potato juice flew out of his nose. Carly laughed so hard I thought her diet root beer would come out of her ears.

"Freddie," she giggled. "Can you please get us some paper towels?" I stalked over, grabbed the towels and handed them to her. While her and Gibby cleaned up their mess, I turned back to the computer. I heard the door swing open behind me, followed by the sound of heels click clacking on the floor. I whipped around, and let out a sigh of relief in spite of myself when I saw Sam. She plopped herself down on the couch, sighing.

"How was your day with your dad?" Carly asked.

"Okay, I guess. He didn't buy your plan, Carls."

I laughed, causing everyone to stare at me.

"What's so funny, Frednub?" Sam asked, giving me a death stare.

"I knew you wouldn't last that long." I teased. I braced myself for a punch, but she just smiled weakly.

"You know me too well, Fredly."

"So, what are you gonna do now?" Gibby asked her.

"I'm gonna keep trying to convince him I've changed. I'm not moving to Florida."

"Good." I muttered, too quiet for her to hear. I really wanted to know more about how she planned to prevent herself from leaving, but Carly started to go on about some cute guy she saw in the lobby yesterday, so I went back to my blog. I got really bored after a while, until Sam's phone went ping!.

"Who texted you?" Gibby asked.

"My Dad. Apparently I'm staying overnight in his hotel room." She grumbled. I sighed, hoping that her and her dad's bonding time didn't affect her decision about moving. If he changed her mind, we'd have a serious problem.

Sam's POV

Dad slipped the key card into the slot, ready to show me his room. When he opened the door, my mouth fell open. His suite was, well, sweet. It had a full kitchen area, a living room area with a flat screen, a bathroom with a gold accented sink and toilet, two bedrooms, and a Jacuzzi .

"This room is yours." he said, pointing to the smaller of the two rooms.

"Grandpa really must have had a lot of moolah." I said, taken aback at his awesome living accommodations.

It was only 10:00, but Dad said I needed to go to sleep early to get rested up for school. I obliged, but I wasn't happy. I have trouble sleeping. Napping, I can do. But whenever I sleep, I have nightmares about bad things happening, like fires, deaths, pain. Worse, I dream about Freddie. Sometimes they're good dreams, sometimes they're bad. It varies.

I got into my pajamas, brushed my teeth, then slid into the bed. The covers were cold, just the way I liked it. I curled up, nervous as to where my thoughts would take me.

"Goodnight, Sam." I heard Dad call from the other room.

"Goodnight, Dad." I whispered, slowly drifting into sleep.

I made the relationship between Sam and her dad pretty awkward in this chapter, but don't worry, it gets better! Chapter 4 will be up soon.

$Pepper1622$