So I didn't get a whole lot of feedback on the last chapter but that's okay. I think you guys will like this one. It's more Sam and Melanie but Freddie is their topic of of conversation so that's fun. Hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Sam's Session

Chapter Three: Melanie and Sam

Sam was lying across her bed on her stomach sorting out the colored note cards with iCarly ideas written across them. Two piles: definitely yes and the ones that were Freddork's ideas. She heard the front door open and close but no stomping followed so she was sure it was her sister home from her date with Freddie and not her mom home from her own date. She glanced at the clock that sat lopsided on a pile of papers on her desk. It was still early; Freddie must have been too boring even for her patient, well-mannered sister to stand.

A minute later Melanie showed up in her doorway, long blonde ponytail hanging over her shoulder and an amused smile on her face. She knocked on the doorframe even though they had already made eye contact. Sam rolled her eyes but Melanie bounced into the room anyways and plopped down on the bed next to her. Sam hoped she didn't want to talk endlessly about her date. Carly often made her do that and apparently it was a sisterly thing to do.

"That boy is silly."

"I prefer the term nerdy, it's a better fit."

"Why is he so convinced that I don't exist?"

Sam glanced up at her from the corner of her eye. She couldn't hide her smirk. "I tried to tell him but I guess he has reasons to be suspicious."

"Like the clown day prank?"

"You saw that one?" Sam sat up. She didn't think Melanie had time to watch the show.

"I watch all of them, I get my friends at school to watch them too, we usually get together in the parlor and hook my laptop to the TV so we can watch it on the big screen." So maybe her sister wasn't always irritating, Sam thought, but she still annoyed her ninety five percent of the time.

She turned her attention back to the cards in front of her. She didn't want to talk with her sister anymore but couldn't help but ask, "so you're back early, did you finally see what a nub Fredison is?"

Melanie giggled. "No, I still think he's adorable and he's such a gentleman I don't understand why you pick at him so much, he's sweet and smart, I'm glad he's a friend of yours."

Sam looked at her questioningly. "Why does it matter to you who I'm friends with?"

Melanie had her turn at rolling her eyes. "Because I'm your sister and believe it or not I want what's best for you."

"How is being Freddie's friend what's best for me?" She returned skeptically. "And don't tell me he's a good influence, I think I hear that enough as it is."

"He balances you out, kind of like Carly does but differently, he's very technical and you're artistic and creative, he's gentle and you're brash, but you're both incredibly stubborn so when forced to work together it evens out." Sam stared at her still trying to understand. "With Carly as a mediator I'm sure." Melanie added and Sam nodded thinking she understood. "You're good for him too, maybe not all the time but if what you've told me about him is true and what I learned tonight then you are, you make him more confident you give him some one to stand up to."

"Most people think I do more harm than good to his self-esteem."

"Well you might not be very nice to him and you may exaggerate a bit but you don't lie, from the sounds of it he gets plenty of praise from his family and teachers so when you're a little more realistic and straightforward it doesn't affect him as much as it would others; at least I don't think it does."

"When did you think about all this?" She asked, astounded that Melanie had analyzed her entire relationship with Freddie after knowing him only a few days.

"On the way home."

It was quiet for a minute. Melanie sat humming, completely unaware that she was making Sam's brain work much harder than it usually did all because she was now contemplating her relationship with Freddie.

Sam finally decided there was no relationship to contemplate. They were friends, kinda, frenemies might be a better term. Either way she was changing the subject, "if you like him so much, what are you doing back already?"

"Well I was having a lot of fun at first but it got kind of awkward after I kissed him and he ran away from me."

"Ew, you kissed him?"

"Tried to, he freaked out though and I ended up chasing him through the crowd." Sam snickered and fell back on the bed. "He said something kind of funny though when I did kiss him."

Sam paused in the recollection of her and Melanie's conversation. Melanie cornered her into an interrogation about Freddie's "we swore we'd never do that again," comment. She had brushed it off with Melanie and though she may eventually have to tell Dr. Bliss about that monumental shift in her and Freddie's friendship she didn't think now was the moment.

So she skimmed over that part and picked up where the conversation was in safe territory again.

"I don't care what you say Sam I know you like having him as a friend, he's just the type of guy you'd keep around, you said so yourself."

Sam couldn't recall ever saying that she'd pick a guy like Freddie to be around, nerds and mama's boys weren't exactly her first choice of company and she told Melanie so. She laughed and Sam assumed it was a boarding school thing and she just wasn't going to get it.

"Are you sure your sister wasn't referring to something you'd said?"

"I don't know I guess she might have taken something I said the wrong way."

"Well its sounds like you don't talk much to her, so narrow it down to all the times you guys talked about boys." Sam leaned back against the couch and tilted her head back. She was right. They didn't talk much so perhaps if she only considered the conversations about boys, but she still can't imagine telling her she'd prefer the company of nubs. "Keep in mind that Melanie doesn't think of Freddie the same way you do." Sam stared at the ceiling hoping an answer would appear. How did Melanie see Freddie? She called him a gentleman.

"Oh."

Sam and Melanie sat on the living room couch, Sam staring past her mother to the cartoons on the TV and Melanie patiently listening to her mother with her book closed in her lap. Their mother was going on and on about not using the stove and microwave while she was gone and not to open the door. Pam Puckett was off on another date leaving her two daughters, almost six years old now, home. She felt that responsible Melanie would keep herself and her sister out of trouble no doubt.

On occasion she got them a babysitter but as of late it happened far less.

The doorbell rang and Sam was given a clear view of the TV while her mother went to answer it. A man roughly her mother's age entered. It was the same man that she had gone on her past three dates with. Mel smiled politely and Sam gave some grunt of acknowledgment when he said hello. So far she didn't have any particular reason to dislike the guy but as a general rule her mom had bad taste in men. Even at five years old she was aware of this.

"You should be nicer Sam, I think mom really likes him." Melanie said. She picked up her worn out copy of Cinderella and stood from the couch. "Wouldn't it just be so romantic if they got married?"

Sam sighed at her naïve twin. "Mom's not going to get married anytime soon and this guy is probably no better than the rest; her last boyfriend ate all our food and the one before that just slept on our couch." Remembering that detail Sam stood from the couch too. "He didn't shower enough either." She followed Melanie to the kitchen and pulled open the fridge only to find it mostly empty.

"Well maybe John will be different."

"Or he'll be just as mean, rude and smelly." Sam crossed her arms and looked up at the out of reach cabinets. "You think it matters to any of them that their dates keep Mom from being around to make my dinner."

Melanie opened one of the lower cabinets. She pulled out a box of cereal and moved to the dishwasher. Thankfully the dishes were clean today and she was able to split the remaining cereal between them. She added milk and also took the apple sauce from the refrigerator. They sat at the kitchen table, pushed aside the junk that was piled on it and ate there makeshift dinner.

"What type of boy do you want to marry Sammy?"

"Huh?"

"My guy will have to be romantic and heroic and handsome." Melanie said dreamily. Sam slurped the milk from her cereal. Listening to her starry-eyed sister go on and on about who could only be prince charming himself was sort of pathetic.

"I don't think about that sort of stuff," Sam replied.

"Well think about it now, please," Melanie pulled the puppy dog face that only ever worked when she used it. Despite the fact that they were identical it never had the same affect when she tried. But Sam wasn't one to fall for the sad eyes and Melanie knew that. So she bribed her instead. "I'll climb up on counter and get the peanut butter if you tell me." She knew how much her sister craved protein.

"Fine." Sam thought about the question. She could probably have made something up that satisfied her sister but part of her she had no control over made her really think about it. She didn't like anybody her mother brought home, she never wanted to date anyone like them.

"A guy who isn't mean and ignores me." She said but her sister clearly expected more. "Someone who buys me food instead of takes it from me, and someone who doesn't smell gross, and they can't be ugly."

"Sam! That's not nice."

"You said handsome, it means the same thing!"

"Fine, but just so you know it sounds like you want a gentleman."

"Gentleman sounds boring," Sam considered this and added, "I have to marry someone I can have fun with."

"Mom seems to have a lot of fun with this guy, maybe she will marry him." Melanie's optimism was good for her but Sam was much more realistic. That's why it didn't surprise her when later that night, possibly even early the next morning Melanie was shaking her awake and asking if she could sleep with her.

"What's wrong with your bed?" Sam mumbled into her pillow.

"I'm scared, I hope you're right, I don't want mommy to marry that guy." Sam could hear the shouting in the living room now. It must have woken Mel but she was such a heavy sleeper she hadn't noticed. She asked Melanie if the bedroom door was locked and then scooted over so she could climb in next to her.

Melanie buried her face between the pillow and Sam's shoulder. Sam tried to fall back to sleep and ignore the yelling in the living room. She drifted off quickly enough but not before thinking that any guy she married would have to be a nice guy.

"None of your mother's boyfriends ever tried to hurt you or your sister did they?"

"No, she may be a really bad mom with awful taste in men but she never kept anyone around too long, especially anyone who was a threat; she wouldn't hesitate to kick them right out of the house and she physically could by the way."

"Well that's good to know." Dr. Bliss said. "Do you think you know now why your sister thought Freddie was good for you to have around?"

Sam felt her cheeks go a little pink. It was embarrassing to her to think that Freddie actually met the standards her six year old self set for marrying material. Why had she not ruled out dorks at the time? "Melanie was always the smarter sister; I shouldn't be surprised she figured this out before me, that's why she's at the boarding school and I'm at Ridgeway."

There was a long pause between them. Sam yawned. She hadn't slept much last night. Maybe three hours. After her escape from school a little after midnight and not being able to fall asleep for a few hours after returning home her phone alarm woke her in time to catch the bus to Trouble Waters at six thirty in the morning. She looked over at Dr. Bliss who was rereading her notes. Finally she looked up.

"Sam just out of curiosity did your sister apply to go away to boarding school?"

"Yes." She didn't know why that mattered.

"Did you apply to go to the boarding school too?" Sam was starting to understand just how Dr. Bliss received all the awards that were framed and sitting on the bookshelf.

"So what if I did?"

"Why didn't you go?"

"I didn't pass the entrance exam, I was three points short of the required score."

"You remember how many points you got?"

"Well considering all the fuss everyone made of it, yeah, the school even made me go in for an interview because they thought maybe they'd still want me, unfortunately I don't come off well to people so rather than reconsidering accepting me they seemed quite pleased that I didn't pass their little test."

"Did you want to go to the boarding school?'

"Yes, no, I don't know, my mom wanted us to go, probably so she wouldn't have to take care of us all the time but you know too bad for her, both of her daughters couldn't be perfect so she got stuck with me." Sam crossed her arms and stood from the couch. She really hated talking about the fact that her sister was just an all-around better person than her. "Can we please change the subject?"

"We don't have to talk about your sister anymore," Dr. Bliss said calmly and hoped she hadn't lost her chance to keep Sam talking. "I'd like to know a little more about your mother though, she seems intriguing."

"That's not the word most people use."

"What word would you use?" Sam thought about this carefully. Just one word to describe her mother; lazy, gullible, rude were words that all came to mind but Sam didn't settle on any of them.

"Failure."

So in the next couple of chapters will be moving from Sam's relationship with Melanie to her relationship with her mom. One of the flashbacks takes place while Sam is participating in pageants and the other is a cutesier one. I think they're both pretty good

Let me know what you thought of this chapter. Did you like it?