When the school bell sounded for the end of first period, Sikowitz stuck his head through the window and announced that the teenagers could take a 15-minute break. Carly was relieved because she really wanted a chance to catch up with Sam and Freddie. As they left the classroom she grabbed the two of them and rushed down the corridor.
Tori understood that the exchange students wanted to be alone for a while, so she led the others out to the Asphalt Cafe.
"Isn't this place cool?" Freddie enthused as he sat on the steps. "How's your guys' projects going? We're doing this horror thing where we-"
"-I'd be able to enjoy it a whole lot better if I didn't have that skunk-bag breathing down my neck every five seconds," Sam interrupted harshly.
Carly nodded in understanding. It hadn't been exactly difficult to pick up on the girl's hostility.
"Jade?" Freddie frowned slightly, oblivious to the problem. "I've worked with her all morning, she seems nice..." He shrunk back as his friends glared at him. "...or not. She's been alright with me. I mean sure, I guess she comes across as a little intimidating at first, but she's really good at thinking up creative stuff. Like for example she-"
"Oh shut up, Freddie!" Sam snapped, her tiredness and temper taking over. "Nobody cares what you think."
"Well Jade does!" Freddie snapped back, a little offended. "And Andre. You know, it really makes a difference feeling appreciated."
"We appreciate you and you know it!" Carly argued with a smile, ruffling his hair.
"YOU do..." Freddie mumbled.
"So does Cat," Carly said, smiling. "Y'know she's never stopped talking about you all morning."
Sam groaned and pretended to collapse on the railings.
Freddie ignored the blonde, and brightened up again. "Really?"
"Really."
"I think she needs a second opinion from her guide dog," Sam commented. "She better talk about something else if I'm going to be forced to stay with her for a whole month."
"Aw, Cat's really sweet," Carly reassured her, patting her back. "And I'm sure you'd rather stay with her than Jade, right?"
"I preferred it when it was just me and Beck," Sam replied flatly.
Carly gave her a sly look. "I bet you did!"
"Not like that!" Sam laughed, blushing a little. True, she definitely thought Beck was a looker, but right now she liked him as a friend. They'd been getting along really well when they first met at his R.V., before his girlfriend interrupted. Why did everything have to involve dating? Why couldn't guys and chicks just be friends sometimes?
"I know the real reason you don't like Jade," Freddie smiled in amusement, enjoying teasing the blonde.
She narrowed her eyes at him. "And why's that, Fredbrain?"
"Because she scares you," he replied smugly. "You just can't handle that you're not the one who strikes fear into the hearts of other students."
Sam advanced on him slowly, and his smile faded as he hurriedly got to his feet and backed up. She looked furious for a moment, fire dancing in her eyes, but then she developed that devilish grin Freddie had come to know so well. He gulped.
"We'll see who strikes fear into who," she said softly.
Carly tapped her harshly on the shoulder. "I thought we settled this back in Seattle. No terrorizing the other students!" Carly scolded, folding her arms.
"Yeah but that's back at Ridgeway," Sam reasoned. "These kids haven't learnt who's in charge when mama's in town."
As if to illustrate her point, Sam locked onto a target - a gawky looking kid with glasses and wild hair. "Hey you!" she yelled.
Sinjin looked behind him, before warily pointing to himself. "Me?" he squeaked.
"Yeah," Sam marched over to him and got right in his face (or as much as she could, seeing how tall he was).
Sinjin looked like a wild creature trapped in the glare of headlights, but felt just as excited as he was nervous. "'Sup," he said shakily.
"Do you know who I am?" she asked fiercely, maintaining steely eye contact.
Sinjin felt his mouth go dry, but responded regardless. "Um...a hot exchange student?" he tried.
Sam unexpectedly made a loud sound like that of a game show buzzer when the contestant has lost. The boy flinched, and Sam reveled in his fear for a moment. "I am Sam Puckett," she explained slowly, so he would remember her words. "And I'm in charge now."
Sinjin nodded vigorously, accepting the blonde's words with admiration as he tried not to wet his pants.
Carly and Freddie watched, appalled, and Carly brought her hands to her face with a sigh. "Oh dear..." she murmured, disappointed.
Sam and Sinjin remained still for a moment, before Sam screeched "GO!" and he skittered out of sight.
She strolled back to her friends, triumphantly.
Carly shook her head slowly, and only managed to simply ask, "Why do it?"
The look on Freddie's face conveyed the same opinion.
Sam rolled her eyes and explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Because now he's gonna run off and tell all his dorky little friends, and then eventually this whole school will get it into their heads that I don't like to be messed with. Like at Ridgeway."
The blonde's smile wavered as Carly looked at her with a hint of sadness. "So you want everybody to just want to leave you alone?" the brunette guessed, already knowing the answer.
"I like it that way," Sam defended.
"Well you're never going to make any friends acting like that!" Carly frowned, trying to re-establish herself as a motherly figure to the wayward teen.
"I don't need any more friends," she stated simply. "I have you and the nub." She didn't stay for their reaction, her instincts picking up on the differing opinion of the others. She muttered something about finding a snack machine, and set off to scavenge.
"Can you believe her?" said Freddie when she was out of sight.
"What can I say?" Carly sighed. "She's not a people person."
/
The Hollywood Arts gang were sat at their usual table at the Asphalt Cafe, after they had all gotten coffees (two for Beck, who was still a little grouchy).
Robbie, Rex, Cat and Andre were huddled around Robbie's PearPad, letting out fits of laughter.
"What's so funny?" Tori asked, catching the giggles herself just watching them. She scurried up behind them to watch over their shoulders.
"We're watching iCarly," Robbie explained, tilting the screen so that Tori could watch Carly and Sam perform their "The Idiot Farm girl Who Thinks The Cowboy's Mustache Is A Squirrel" skit.
"Oh my God, they're hilarious!" she grinned.
"And famous," Andre pointed out. "Check out how many views this video has!"
"Wow, that's almost as many as the chimp who ate a top hat," Rex said, impressed.
"Let me watch," Beck leaned over, pulling away from Jade who had been resting on his shoulder. She glowered as her boyfriend joined the others' fun.
"Put the Twilight parody one on again!" Cat clapped excitedly.
"No, show Beck 'The Bra Who Tells Ghost Stories'!" Andre argued, chuckling again already.
"Don't you wanna watch, Jade?" Cat asked, concerned that her friend was missing out.
Jade just looked back at her, her mere expression telling the redhead 'this is Jade's GET LOST face'. Cat sighed, then went back to her giddy self, laughing with the others.
Jade blocked them out and began to contemplate the situation. When the others had signed up for the exchange, she couldn't have cared less. Not just because that was the image she preferred to put out there, but because she was expecting a bunch of foreignese nobodies that Beck and her friends wouldn't become remotely attached to.
Things had changed. She had barely even started on the road to accepting Tori into her close-knit social group, and even that had been difficult. Saying she had 'trust issues' was the equivalent of calling a fat man 'Tiny'. Cat, Robbie, Andre and Beck had been her comrades since elementary school, mostly due to being the only kids who came back after she pushed them away time and time again.
They were all people she admired - though she never told them so. Why let her guard down? Cat had an unwavering innocence through any adversity (and she'd been through a lot). Robbie was gentle, sensitive and funny (even if he didn't mean to be). Andre was loving, loyal, and scarily talented. Beck was...well, she could write a book about Beck and it wouldn't be enough to explain her feelings.
The simple fact was, Jade didn't like anybody messing with the bonds she'd been forging for years. She was teetering on the edge when it came to accepting Tori. She was a whole galaxy away from letting anyone else in.
"Aw, my battery's dying!" Robbie whined, just before the screen they were viewing went black.
"Well it serves you right for owning an outdated piece of equipment!" Rex chastised him, irritated. "Cavemen made that PearPad."
Jade continued to ignore them, pretending to look at her phone. Freddie wasn't a problem. She always seemed to get along with boys, especially the non-threatening ones. This new kid was harmless - heck, he liked toy trains and nerdy films. She could tolerate him.
She hadn't been able to fathom Sam out yet, which irritated her. On the occasions where she had let her known she was unwelcome, she'd noticed the blonde was holding back, like she wasn't being herself. Like a Jack Russell Terrier in a small cage. Still, she did have a few bits of valuable info about Sam courtesy of Freddie's speech. Maybe she could get more out of him later.
And then there was Carly. Tori Vega II: The Sequel. Although Jade didn't trust Sam's intentions, she was confident that the girl simply wasn't Beck's type. After all, she had many opposing features to Jade, simply by being blonde, small, and by wearing more layers than seemed necessary in California. Carly, however, was brunette, and wore clothes that hugged her feminine figure. She was clearly the bigger threat. And she was spending all morning with Beck.
"I wanted to watch the Twilight parody again," Cat sulked. "Freddie was cute in that."
"Ooh," Tori smiled, "does Cat have a crush?"
Beck, who had reached the end of his unusually short tether today when it came to Cat's infatuation, pulled some crayons and a coloring book out of Jade's bag and shoved it under the redhead's nose.
"Yay, coloring!" Cat clapped and opened the crayons.
Robbie mentally thanked Beck, finding himself fighting a sudden pang of jealousy. He wished Cat would light up like that when she spoke about him.
The boy's new train of thought derailed when Sinjin scuttled over and nudged him. "Hey Robbie, do you know where the nearest place that sells bacon is?" he asked as he fidgeted with his shirt.
"No, I don't really eat bacon. Why?"
"Because Sam needs to know," he said, his eyes already darting around for someone else to ask.
"Exchange student Sam?" Andre frowned. "iCarly Sam? She likes bacon?"
Sinjin nodded.
"But she's so small!" Cat giggled, coloring a blue kangaroo.
"Are you guys gonna tell me where I can get some or not?"
Jade's attention snapped up from her phone screen. "Since when did you become this girl's slave? She's not gonna go out with you, you're far too...Sinjin."
"I know..." he sighed. "But I think it's best to do as she says."
"Why?"
"Because..." he lowered her voice and leaned in to Jade, "she kind of frightens me."
"But she's so small!" Cat repeated. "She's not scary."
"Yeah. I think you're just frightened of girls in general," Andre dismissed him.
"That may be slightly true," Sinjin noted, "but it's more than that. She has a certain...ferocity. Also, you know that guy, Randy Bronson?"
"'Big Bad Bronson?" Beck questioned. "I thought he got expelled."
"He did, but then he came back to school anyway and nobody dared to argue. Anyway, he accidentally bumped into Sam and told her to watch where she was going, and she...she...she..."
"Spit it out!" Jade flicked a crayon at him, to snap him out of repeat mode.
"She slammed him into the lockers and then threw him to the floor." The others looked at him in disbelief. "I know," he said, agreeing with their surprise. "She's like a blonde ninja."
"And Bronson didn't destroy her?" Jade asked, a trace of disappointment in her voice.
Sinjin shook his head. "He cried and ran away," he said simply.
He stood there for a while, until Jade told him to "Leave now!" and he obliged without hesitation.
The group remained in a state of silence, sipping their coffees, mulling over the information they had received. Jade decided it was her duty to break the peace, and poked Beck in the shoulder. "I knew there was something not right about that chick."
"Wait, what kind of new and fun conclusions are we wildly leaping for this time?"
She pouted at his sarcasm. "Well this Sam Puckett is clearly some kind of juvenile delinquent freak."
"Jade!" Tori scolded. "We've only just met her. And she's been nothing but nice with me and Robbie all morning."
"Although we did do most of the work while she ate a load of sugar and took a nap," Robbie pointed out.
"Well she's new and she had to get her first impressions from Jade," Tori defended, locking eyes with her frenemy. "I heard you didn't give her the warmest of welcomes. Something about watching her while she slept?"
"I watch everyone while they sleep," Jade retorted. "I like seeing people sleeping. It makes me think about what they would look like if they were dead."
Everyone stared at her.
"Yeah. SAM'S the freak," Tori rolled her eyes.
"Anyway," Andre interrupted the escalating verbal battle, "even if she did do what Sinjin said she did, what does that matter? I mean, isn't it a good thing that she took out the school bully and made him weep like a sissy?"
Rex let out his trademark cackle. "Yeah, I like blondie. What's wrong with a girl with an edge?"
"Hey guys!" Carly said cheerily as she and Freddie joined them.
"Of course," the puppet continued, "I also like perky brunettes with a sunny disposition."
Robbie looked embarrassed, and glanced apologetically at Carly. "I'm sorry, I really don't condone his behavior."
"That's because his ability to have fun was removed at birth," Rex guffawed.
Beck shoved a paper bag over the puppet's head. "So Carly, are you ready for another round of acting class?"
"Sure," she smiled. "I'm loving it so far."
Jade's hatred for her continued to rise.
"What kind of scene are you crazy kids working on?" asked Andre, smiling broadly at Carly as he shuffled closer to her.
"Um, I guess it's kind of a dramatic piece," Carly replied thoughtfully. "It's about this couple in wartime who have to deal with the fact that their child has-"
"-Couple?" Jade broke in. "As in…two people in love? As in, played by you and MY boyfriend?"
"…Yes?" Carly responded, carefully.
Beck groaned. "Would you chill, Jade?"
"Who came up with that idea?" she ignored him.
"We all did!" Cat said proudly. "See, Beck wanted it to be set in a different time, and-"
"-You don't need to tell her, Cat," said Beck, placing a hand on the redhead's shoulder.
"Kay kay," she replied, forgetting what she was saying anyway and instead focusing on catching Freddie's eye.
As they heard the bell ring, the gang were grateful – although all for different reasons. Carly was happy she wouldn't continue to be interrogated by Jade. Jade wanted time to plan her next move. Tori, Freddie, Andre and Cat wanted to carry on with their work, trying not to get involved in the others' problems. Beck needed to be away from Jade for a while. Robbie wanted Freddie away from Cat for a while.
Oh, and Sam wanted bacon, but she would have to wait. The bell didn't really solve her problem.
A/N: Thanks for all the awesome reviews and PMs, you guys seriously rock. If you want to tell me your views on this story but are too shy to review, send me a PM! I promise I won't bite. ;) Also, Randy Bronson isn't made up - if you check out one of the deleted scenes on The Slap website with Cat and Robbie breaking bad news by song, I'm sure you'll find him.
Anyway, tune in next time to see what Jade does to Carly for getting too close to Beck...