Sam's POV

"Freddie?" I tried to confirm if my eyesight was failing me. Freddie looked at me and then at Carly, then back at me. He seemed happy that we came, but disappointed at the same time. I wonder what he was thinking about.

"Carly! Sam!" he responded. "How did you guys get here?"

"We were having our morning walk," Carly replied. "Then we saw your fabulous store and we decided to take a look around here."

"Erm, Carly?" Freddie asked. "Can I have a word with you?"

"Sure," she agreed. They both walked to a corner of the room and started talking about something that seemed rather important.

"Really?" Carly confirmed loudly.

"Shh…" Freddie got Carly to calm down. It seems that no one wants me to learn of this little secret. As I approached the pair, the last sentence I heard was, "Don't tell Sam about this." Sheesh, I guess I'm really not invited.

"Er, since I'm not invited here, I think I should just go home," I said sadly. "Bye Freddie, see you later Carl's."

"Wait!" Freddie yelled. "There's something I need to tell you."

"Sure," I turned back to face him.

"I er… I…" for once, I have never seen him so tongue-tied before. What is wrong with this boy? "I…"

"Get on with it already!" I yelled. "Sorry, I was just being impatient."

"I… I… I like…" I gestured for Freddie to continue, but he just keeps stammering. "I like… the dress you wore yesterday, yeah."

"Erm, thanks," boys are so weird sometimes.

"Sam," Carly calls. "I think we have to go now, it's getting really late."

"Bye Freddie," Carly greeted.

"Bye," I said. "See you around."

"Yeah, see you," Freddie replied. He seemed to be disappointed and confused. Boys, they're always so hard to understand.

When Carly and I reached home, mom and Melanie just woke up, so we had to enter the house separately to prevent suspicion. Since Carly is more important in terms of utility to my mom and Melanie, I decided to let her enter the house first.

About fifteen minutes after she entered the house, it was my turn.

"Sam," mom called for me. "Where did you go this morning?" She was sitting on the couch with her right leg upon her left, looking as though she was the queen of the land.

"I went to Ridgeway High School to meet up with my friends and have a little chat," I lied. "You know, it's been such a long time since we met each other. I thought that a little meet-up session wouldn't hurt."

"Was Rebecca Berkowitz there?" she was suspecting me. I knew some things about psychology from the school counselor, so I decided to try it.

"Of course not," I replied. "I didn't even invite her. If she knew that I was the one organizing this session, she may just take the chance to have her revenge on me for making her scapegoat."

"Well," mom seemed convinced. "I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, but if I catch you with more evidence next time, you will be in for punishments. You can go back now."

I raced back into my room as fast as I could before she calls me back for anything more.

A week as passed since the incident. My mom now wants me to attend some kind of blind date session since she feels that I am unattractive and uncouth. Yes, it's true. I don't really care about it anyway; I mean, no one would ever fall for such a person like me, right? And if fate wants me to be with someone, I'll end up with him no matter what. So, what for waste so much time in such dates?

Mom first brought me to 'Groovy Smoothie' for the date. That place looked pretty cool, but too bad the only good stuff there was the smoothies. Don't even think about trying the food on sticks. Seriously, don't.

"Remember, no spitting, no eating loudly, no flossing, no pinching food and last but not least, no fighting," mom warned me. She's such a nag.

"Okay, okay," I assured her. "Who is he and what is his name anyway?"

Mom seemed suspicious when she was about to mention him. "He doesn't really like people mentioning his name, but I heard that he owns a huge company and he knows the prince. His name is Pete."

The prince… Sigh, I guess all these talk about the prince has relived memories about the ball as my soul drifted away into the time of the ball, where beautiful girls and handsome boys were dancing on the dance floor, where I was strolling with Freddie in search of the prince, and where Carly and the prince were having the time of their lives romantically.

"Sam," mom cried. "He's here, he's here!"

"Good afternoon, ma'am," the boy greeted. "Good afternoon, Sam."

"What's up, Pete?" I greeted. Mom stared at me, giving me a rather displeased look.

"Good afternoon," my mom greeted. "Take a seat, Pete." My mom gestured to the seat beside me and Pete took the chance to get closer to me. I didn't really feel comfortable with him at first and tried to test his patience by doing all the things that my mother forbade me to do.

"Sam," mom stepped on my toes. "Behave…"

"Fine," I gave in while Pete just laughed. "What are you laughing at?"

"Sam," he called me. "You're hilarious."

I blushed. "Really? No one has ever said that before."

"How can that be possible for such a beautiful girl like you," he complimented. "You should be receiving compliments every day."

My mom saw what was happening and decided to step aside and return home, so as to not play 'gooseberry'. Throughout the date, the only thing I did was blush and blush and blush. I didn't even have the chance to ask about his personal background. I guess he is the first guy who has ever made my heart beat so fast…