Chapter 5: School

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I woke up to a really annoying beeping sound. It sounded very similar to the one that I used to have when I lived with my mom. Therefore, forgetting that I was at Freddie's house, I reached out my hand; trying to find the alarm clock to press the button, "snooze". My eyes were still closed. I reached so far, unable to find the alarm clock that I fell off of the cot with a bang.

"Sam?" an alert Freddie called out. He jumped out of his bed and ran over to me, lying on the floor next to my cot. I was lying on my back face up. He hovered over me and looked at me. "You okay?"

I grinned, hesitating before answering when I noticed a cool pattern in Freddie's eyes. I wonder why I've never noticed how cool his eyes are before… I thought. And why are they starting to look worried? Oh. I better answer him. "I'm fine, Freddie," I laughed.

Freddie laughed too. He stood and took my hand to help me up. I don't know why, but that was sort of a nice feeling. Whatever. I then looked at the alarm clock, which was actually on the night table next to Freddie's bed. "Gross, Freddica, it's 6 AM. I'm going back to bed."

I started walking back to my cot but Freddie put his hand on my shoulder. "Sam, we have school today. Remember?"

I turned to him. "What are you saying?"

"What, you just want to miss the beginning of school?" Freddie asked as if I were crazy.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm tired."

Freddie chuckled. "Come on Sam. Get dressed."

"Fine," I groaned, looking through my drawers. I found an outfit and changed in Freddie's bathroom before him. I then walked out of his room while he was still changing in his bathroom. I saw Marissa. I put on a smile. "Morning, Marissa."

"Oh, good morning Sam!" Marissa said with a grin as she looked up from her newspaper. "Do you want me to make you breakfast?"

I thought of her green pancakes. So quickly, I said, "No."

"Really?" Marissa asked. "From what I heard from Freddie, I thought you were always hungry."

"Oh, well, I am," I explained, liking the fact that Freddie talks about me for some reason, "but you're being nice enough to me. The least I could do is make my own breakfast."

A smile spread across her face. "Okay, go right ahead!"

I opened the fridge, and saw ham. I took it out, and Marissa said, "Oh yes. Freddie told me to buy that. He said you love ham, and he wants you to feel at home."

I smiled. "That was nice of him." I then cooked myself some ham even though I felt too lazy and tired to do so. I just had to remind myself that I did not want Marissa's disgusting food.

Freddie walked out of his room, and he grinned. "You found the ham."

"Duh," I said. "Where there's ham, there's Sam."

Freddie laughed. He made himself some toast and we ate at the table silently. When we were done, Freddie said, "Let's go across the hall to Carly's apartment and walk with her to school Okay?"

I nodded, but for some reason disappointment filled my body. It was weird, considering I've always walked to school with Carly and Freddie. It was always a nice way to start out the day. But for whatever reason, I wanted to be alone with Freddie. At the same time, I wanted to talk to Carly because she was probably worried sick about me, since I still hadn't talked to her since her father didn't let me move in with them.

I also wanted to talk with her because I was confused, and she was my best friend. What was I confused about, you ask?

I was confused because I wanted to walk alone with Freddie. It's like a cycle. Also, that the thought of walking with both of them sickened me because Freddie was in love with Carly and he wouldn't pay any attention to me.

But then I looked at Freddie's smile as he asked, "You ready?" And I remembered how nice he was being to me. I realized that there was no way that he would ignore me, because he was nicer and more understanding to me than ever with my situation.

I smiled back and nodded. "Yeah." I stood up and walked next to him. We went across the hallway and Freddie was about to grab the doorknob when I said, "Wait."

"What?" Freddie asked.

"Carly's dad doesn't want me to be friends with Carly anymore…" I said. "He's not going to let me walk with her. And if he sees you with me, then he won't let her be friends with you anymore either."

Freddie smirked. "Well that's too bad for him. Carly's not going to stop being friends with us. And I'm not going to leave your side just because I don't want Carly's dad to see me with you."

I smiled, and felt blood flow to my face. Wait… was I blushing? Why was I blushing?! Stop it, Sam!

I hoped that Freddie didn't notice. I don't think he did. Instead of just barging in, Freddie knocked on the door. A lot of things would have to change now that Carly's dad moved in with her.

Luckily, Carly answered the door instead of her dad. She seemed to have a big smile when she saw us. "Oh my gosh, guys, I'm so happy to see you!" she exclaimed in a hushed tone.

"You too!" I whispered. "Why are we whispering?"

"Hold on," Carly said quietly. She looked back. Spencer was on the couch, and I didn't know where her dad was. "Spence, Sam's okay!"

Spencer ran up. "Hey Sam!" he whispered. "I'd love to hear about what happened… but I guess Carly will tell me later. Sorry guys, normally I'd invite you inside but my dad… is, well, strict."

"We understand," Freddie said softly. "Carly, want to walk with us?"

Carly nodded. "Bye Spencer." She then walked out of the door and shut the door softly.

We started walking and talking. I was walking in the middle of Carly and Freddie. "You really have to live like that now, Carls?"

"Yeah," Carly groaned. "But anyway… more importantly… Sam, I'm so sorry for not letting you move in."

"It's not your fault!" I exclaimed as we got into the elevator down to the lobby of her building.

"My dad's just so mean," Carly said. The elevator stopped and we walked out. "I miss when it was just me and Spencer."

"Me too," I admitted as we walked out of her building.

Carly nodded sadly. "But anyway, what'd you do, Sam? Tell me everything!"

"After the whole thing with your dad," I explained. "I was crying and all, and well… it's a long story."

"Long story short," Freddie cut in. "Sam lives with… me."

We were on the sidewalk, and Carly stopped. Freddie and I then stopped too. Carly looked at us. She looked confused. "Is that even like… possible?"

"Is what possible?" Freddie asked.

"You two… living together?" Carly asked.

We started walking again. I chuckled. "It's totally possible."

"Yeah," Freddie agreed. "Carly, things are different now."

They sure are, I thought. "Totally," I said. "Carly, Freddie let me move in with him. You think I'd be mean to him?"

"Well, yes," Carly admitted.

I laughed. "Well I'm not."

"Well, in that case, I'm so happy for you!" Carly exclaimed. "Both of you. I always thought you guys would make good friends."

I didn't know what to say, but apparently Freddie did. "You were right," he said, which made me smile and—oh no, not again—blush.

"Sam, I'm so sorry about what happened to you, " Carly said. "I'll be there for you as much as I can… Unfortunately I can't that much."

"Thanks Carly," I said. "But you don't have to worry about me. Where I live right now, I'm just fine."

We got to school. When the bell rang, meaning we had to go to our first classes, Freddie walked over to me. He'd already gotten his books out of his locker and he was holding them. "I'll see you later, Sam," he said gently. He and I had most classes together, but not the first one.

"Bye," I said softly. I took books out of my locker and shut it. I watched Freddie walk away, and then I started to walk towards my class. Suddenly, after not moving too far in the hallway, I heard a mean voice behind me. "Sam?"

I turned around. It was Tasha. No, not Gibby's girlfriend Tasha. The Tasha that said iCarly was lame because it wasn't on Nevel's website. She looked the same as usual: Tall, tan, dark hair, and a mean look.

"What?" I snapped.

Walking closer to me with her group following her, she said, "Oh, I just wanted to say that I heard about your little 'situation'." She did air quotes when she said "situation".

I raised my eyebrows. "My little situation?"

"Yeah. And, I mean, I can't really blame your mom. You must be a lot to handle. I mean, look at you. You eat like a pig."

"Um, excuse me?" I asked. "You… you…" And I may have said a word or two that weren't so nice.

And apparently, Tasha wasn't too happy about this. "Sam, you're just a little reject. Stop feeling bad for yourself. Everyone has his or her little 'issues'. You're just a waste. A waste of money, and a big huge waste of space. So build a bridge and get over yourself."

I was stunned. Part of me wanted to just sit and cry, another wanted to go over and attack Tasha. But before I could do anything, I heard a deep voice behind me. "Leave her alone."

I turned around to see Freddie. He walked towards me and put his arm around me. He said, "Sam has to go through so much right now. The least you could do is give her sympathy. Maybe you could help her. Be nice to her. Ever think of that? But no. You're actually being mean to her. That just shows how heartless you really are."

Tasha rolled her eyes, not seeming to get anything from what Freddie had said. She then walked away with her group and I looked at Freddie.

"Thank you…" I said softly.

"I'll always be here for you," Freddie said. "I promise." He put his arms around and that's when I started crying. I was crying because of everything, and nothing. But the tears were partly of joy, because standing there in Freddie's arms was one of the best feelings I'd had in a while.

I think this was a particularly long chapter... well... I hope you enjoyed it anyway. Review!