The irony was not lost on him.
He had spent the entirety of his day avoiding her. He ignored her calls, didn't answer the door when she knocked, and denied her video chat requests. The effort that all this required was taxing. He could set up a new server and defragment a hard drive without breaking a sweat, but avoiding Carly Shay? Absolutely tiresome. He needed to take a breather. Without a second thought, he made his way one of his favorite places to collect himself, other than the iCarly studio: the roof.
Where's the irony, you ask?
The same brunette he had spent his day avoiding was the same brunette who needed a bit of fresh air herself. There she stood, in her strapless fuchsia pink floor-length gown, hair cascading down her back in thick waves, and just a hint of make-up to accentuate her natural beauty. His attempt to back away from the roof's entrance undetected was apparently a failure, because he heard his name just as turned around.
"Freddie, there you are!"
The boy turned around, silently wishing for the power of invisibility. He took a few begrudged steps forward.
"Hey, Carly. Heading to prom soon?"
"Yeah, I'm just waiting for Andre to pick me up. What is your problem today?" she asked without missing a beat. He somehow missed the look of unmitigated irritation in her expression the first time he saw her, but it was clear a crystal now. It was obvious that she was aware of his day-long disappearing act.
"Carly, I just needed some space, that's all."
"SPACE?" Carly yelled, "Freddie, what did I do? Seriously, tell me, because I've been trying to figure it out all day!"
Freddie instantly felt exasperated. Any fight he may have had in him died the day she told him that Andre had invited her to his Senior prom, excitement evident in her voice. Right now, he felt an odd mixture of defiance and defeat: willing to admit he was beaten, but not feeling as if he owed her any sort of explanation for his absence.
"Look," he sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose, "just…don't worry about it. Have a great time tonight, alright?"
He wondered briefly if his voice sounded as malicious to her as it did to him in that moment. It was a thought that stemmed from curiosity, though, not guilt.
With a deflated look of defeat, she removed her phone from her clutch and glanced at the screen.
"It looks like Andre's here," she said, waving the screen in Freddie's direction as if to prove her claim. He didn't respond. She walked past him and was just out the door when she turned around, or at least he thinks she did. He refused to face her.
"Whatever it is," Carly said, just above a whisper, "just tell me what I have to do to fix it."
He hesitated just before he turned around, only to see her vanish in a flurry of pink. What he missed was her final look of desperation just before she walked away.
He exhaled and numbly walked towards to the ledge, looking over the city. Then he said, to nobody in particular, "You can start by not leaving on another man's arm."
A/N: Thanks for the your time and thanks in advance for your reviews! If you all could do me a favor and let me know how I can get my stories posted in the Creddie communities, I would greatly appreciate. I would really love for others to read my writing and I get a suspicious feeling that only a handful of people are reading my stuff, based on my reviews (although I do love the core group of readers dearly! Seriously, you guys are amazing and incredibly supportive!). Thank you all for everything!
Hollaatchyagirl,
Phunky