Thanks for the reviews, they make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Keep 'em coming, y'all! And in reply to xNomii about the video I was mentioned in – I follow Ariana Grande on Twitter, and she tweeted a picture of Big Ben with the caption "Where are you guys tweeting from? Im tweeting from handsome Mr. Ben! ;)". Obviously she got a lot of responses, because she then tweeted "This is amazing! I'm going to make an international shout out vid! So tell me... WHERE ARE YOU? :)". I'm from Barbados, and I figured that I would be the only one who replied from Barbados, so I tweeted back, and she mentioned me in her video :D. If you go onto YouTube and search "Ariana's Shoutouts" you'll find the video. I'm jennifermartin4 from Barbados ;)
Freddie's POV
What a great group of kids. I turned and saw that Sam was already a good fifteen feet ahead of me. I was breaking into a jog to catch up when I saw her sweatshirt on the grass. I grabbed it and ran up to Sam's side.
"Here" I said, shoving the sweatshirt at her. She looked at it, and then took it wordlessly.
"You're welcome" I said sarcastically.
"Don't start with me, Fredward" Sam warned me. I shook my head at her but said nothing, knowing that if I began fighting with Sam, I was definitely gonna lose. We walked side by side up the street. The streetlights had come on, bathing the street in orange light. We walked back to Bushwell, neither of us saying anything. Sam and I didn't talk much, but the silences weren't awkward. Neither of us felt the need to fill the silence with useless chitchat, so we didn't speak unless we had something to say. When we reached Bushwell, Sam stopped at the door of the lobby.
"See ya later, Fredward"
I stopped, having completely forgotten that Sam didn't live here.
"Do you want me to drive you home?" I offered. She shook her head.
"Nah, I already spent the whole day with you. I've reached my Fredward tolerance level"
As she spun on her heel and walked away, I realized that she was right. I had spent the whole day with Sam, and we had actually gotten along. Not only that, but I had fun. I shook my head in disbelief as I walked into the lobby and up to my apartment.
After that, Sam and I spent almost every day together. Some days we just hung out on the fire escape, some days we made videos for the iCarly website and some days Sam led us into some adventure that she thought up. Sam still tormented me, but we had definitely gotten closer, and I now found it surprisingly easy to talk to Sam. It now felt natural, like breathing. In, out, me, Sam. One day, about two weeks after Carly left, Sam and I were in the Groovy Smoothie. Sam was particularly grouchy, because we were supposed to do iCarly that day. Sam was growing accustomed to not having Carly around, but she still missed iCarly, and she was always unhappy on iCarly days.
"I'm bored" she grumbled, resting her cheek on her hand. Suddenly, she sat up straight in her chair, as though she had an epiphany.
"Let's go visit Carly at her smart people camp!" she said brightly.
"Visit her?" I said in disbelief. "You know the camp is at Brown, right?"
"So?"
"And Brown is in Rhode Island?"
"Your point?"
"And Rhode Island is on the other end of the country?"
"Oh"
"You really should start paying attention in geography"
"And you really should get a life" she snapped. "But that's never gonna happen either"
Suddenly, her face brightened again.
"Let's take a road trip!"
I looked at her like she was out of her mind.
"A road trip?" I asked in disbelief. "You want to take a road trip to the other side of the country?"
She nodded eagerly, her eyes sparkling.
"And you really think that my mother is going to let me drive across the country with you?" I asked, raising my eyebrows at her.
"Ugh!" Sam groaned loudly. "No offense, but your mom fails at life"
I was about to protest, thought about it, and then shrugged in agreement.
"I can ask her, but I doubt she'll agree" I said.
"So don't ask" Sam said, looking at me like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Yeah, that'll be a fun road trip" I said sarcastically. "You, me, and the squadron of cop cars that my mom will send to bring me home"
Sam was about to say something when I cut her off.
"I'll ask when I get home" I said firmly. She understood that this was the end of the discussion, and moodily sipped her smoothie.
Later, after I dropped Sam home, I let myself into the apartment.
"Mom?" I called. "You home?"
"In here" I heard her call from the kitchen. I walked in to find her stirring something on the stove. I sat at the kitchen table.
"Mom?" I began. "How strongly would you object to Sam and me taking a road trip to Rhode Island?"
She whipped around and stared at me in disbelief.
"Excuse me?"
"Sam and I want to go to Rhode Island to visit Carly"
"Absolutely not!" she screamed, turning off the stove and facing me with her hands on her hips.
"Come on, Mom" I pleaded. "I'll drive really carefully, I promise"
"I don't care!" she snapped. "I'm not letting you drive across the country with that delinquent!"
Suddenly, I had an idea.
"Mom" I began, sounding defeated. "We don't want to go visit Carly. The truth is… Sam wants to see her dad"
My mom's face softened and she sat down opposite me.
"Her dad?"
"Yeah" I said sadly. "She managed to find him. He's living in Rhode Island with his new wife, and she wants to go see him but her mom doesn't want anything to do with him. She won't drive her, and they can't afford a plane ticket"
I could see that my mom was seriously considering letting me go.
"I really want to do this for her, mom" I said. "I mean, she really wants to see him, even though he bailed when she was little. I get that" I said forlornly, looking down into my lap. That did it. I knew that bringing up my dad would make her crack.
"Okay" she said, sighing. "But I want you to text me every three hours and call me every night"
I leaped out of my seat and hugged my mom tightly.
"Thanks" I whispered in her ear.
Four days later, I was loading my last bag into my truck.
"Got all your stuff in?" I asked Sam. She nodded. I closed the door and walked over to my mom, who was standing next to the truck. I gave her a hug.
"Bye mom" I said. "Thanks again for letting me go"
She hugged me back and then walked over to Sam, putting her hand on her shoulder.
"Good luck" she said, smiling at her.
"Uh…thanks?" Sam said, looking confused. We got in the truck and I started it, waving out the window one more time before pulling out of the parking lot.
"Okay, first things first" Sam said, turning to me. "What up with your mom?"
"Oh" I said, realizing that I had forgotten to tell her why my mom was letting me go. "I told her that you found your dad, and you wanted to see him but your mom wouldn't take you"
"Nice!" Sam said approvingly. "Good work, Fredward"
"Why thank you" I said, smiling. Sam leaned back in her seat, propping her bare feet on the dashboard in front of her.
"Aw Sam!" I whined. "You're gonna make my car smell like feet"
Without looking at me, Sam moved her right foot and put it on the air conditioning vent. Almost instantly, the smell of feet began to permeate the small cab of the truck.
"Sam!" I groaned. She smirked at me, but moved her foot. We drove in silence for a little while, encountering little traffic on the highway. Sam was curled up on the seat, her head against the door, gazing out the window. Every so often I would sneak a peek at her, fascinated by how peaceful she looked. It was highly unusual to see Sam looking so calm and contemplative, and I couldn't take my eyes off her. Well, obviously I had to, since I was driving, but whenever I had the opportunity I would glance over at her. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw her sit straight up.
"I LOVE THIS SONG!" she hollered, turning the radio up as high as it would go. Sam began to dance in her seat, thrashing around, curls flying everywhere.
"SAM, TURN IT DOWN!" I bellowed, but she couldn't hear me over the deafening music.
"COME ON FREDDIE!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. "BELT IT!"
Sam's energy was infectious, and soon enough I found myself singing along at the top of my lungs. When the song was over, Sam turned the radio back down and collapsed back in her seat, laughing and out of breath. I turned the corner and came upon the longest line of traffic I had ever seen. Cars stretched along the road as far as the eye could see.
"Aw, man" I groaned. I sighed and slumped in my seat. After twenty solid minutes of not moving an inch, I turned off the car.
"Dude, what did you do that for?" Sam said, shoving me in the side. "Now it's gonna get all hot"
"So open the door" I retorted. "You aren't the one paying for gas"
She thumped my forehead, but said nothing. She opened the door and stretched her legs out. After five more minutes she got out of the car and hopped into the bed of the truck before climbing onto the roof.
"Sam!" I said, leaning out of the car. "Get down!"
"I'm trying to see what the deal is" she said, using her hand to shield her eyes against the sun. After a few minutes of scanning the road, she climbed back down.
"Nothing" she said with a sigh. She stood outside the truck, leaning against the side, before she wandered behind us. I whipped my head around, trying to see where she was going. I turned around just in time to see her rapping on the window of the car behind us. I got out of the car and hurried over to where Sam was standing.
"Sam, stop it" I said, pulling on her arm to try and get her to come back to the truck. Just then, the window rolled down to reveal a small old lady wearing an enormous pair of sunglasses.
"Yes?" she said suspiciously.
"Sorry to bother you, ma'am" I said quickly, still trying to pull Sam away. "We'll just-"
"I'm Sam" Sam cut me off.
"Pat" the lady said, still suspicious.
"Hey, Pat, how goes it?"
"I'm fine thank you. How are you?" said the lady, still visibly confused.
"I'm bored. Can you do anything weird?"
The lady looked taken aback. I gave Sam a sharp poke in the side before tugging on her arm.
"Well…" said the lady. "I used to be able to put my fist in my mouth, but I haven't tried in years"
"Do it!" Sam said excitedly. To my astonishment, the lady balled her tiny hand into a fist and proceeded to stick it in her mouth. She got about three-quarters of the way there before pulling it out again.
"Hold on" she said. Then, without hesitation, she pulled out her dentures and put them on the seat next to her. She then formed a fist again and shoved the whole thing in her mouth. Sam began to clap and cheer.
"That was AWESOME!" she said enthusiastically. "Wait here"
With that she spun on her heel and ran back to the truck, opening the back door and sticking her torso in. She soon surfaced holding something in her hand. As she got closer, I saw that it was my handheld video camera. She opened it and pointed it at herself.
"So Freddie and I are on a road trip across the country to see Carly at her smart people camp" she told the camera. "And we are stuck in traffic and I got bored, so I asked this old lady to entertain us"
"Do it again" she said, pointing the camera at the lady. The lady once more shoved her fist in her mouth. After a few seconds she took it out again.
"WOO!" Sam cheered, pointing the camera at herself again. "Give it up for Pat!"
The lady smiled a toothless smile and waved at the camera before popping her dentures back in.
"Let's go see what other weirdoes we can find" said Sam, pointing the camera at herself again. "Later, Pat!"
Sam then proceeded to go from car to car, asking the occupants to do something weird. A lot of people ignored us, but quite a few also happily performed for us, especially the ones who recognized us. We managed to find a girl who could pull her lower lip down over her chin, a man who was an insane whistler and a gymnast who I swear had no bones because she was so flexible, among other people. People also began getting out of their cars when they saw Sam and I outside, milling around and chatting with each other. Sam had managed to turn a traffic jam into a block party. We knocked on the window of a small red Volvo, and the window was rolled down to reveal a guy of about twenty. I could see a guitar case wedged in the backseat of his small car. Apparently, so could Sam.
"You play guitar?" she asked. "Awesome, play a song for us!"
The guy grabbed the case out of the backseat and opened it to reveal an acoustic guitar. He put the strap over his shoulder and leaned against his car, looking thoughtful.
"Ah" he said suddenly. "I know what I'll play"
Sam trained the camera on him as he began to strum. I recognized the opening strains instantly. Summer of 69. One of Sam's favourite songs. As soon as I heard the first chords, I looked at Sam, whose face had lit up. The guy began to sing in a clear voice. He was amazing. One of the ladies a few feet away heard and walked over to listen.
"I love this song!" she said, singing along. More people heard and wandered over, singing along. Soon enough, there were at least a hundred people all over the road all singing along. Sam once again hopped onto the roof of my truck and filmed the whole thing, singing along under her breath the whole time. The guy finished and everybody clapped and cheered for him.
"Traffic's moving!" I heard someone shout. Everyone began to disperse, returning to their cars. I walked back to the truck and got in, still amazed at what had just happened. Sam had taken a traffic jam and turned it into one of the most incredible things I had ever witnessed, just because she was bored. Sam jumped into the car and slammed the door.
"Fire it up, Fredward"
I started the car and began to inch forward. We drove for a little bit when Sam announced that she was hungry. Shocker, that. We pulled into an Inside Out Burger and I parked. We got out and Sam all but ran into the restaurant. We sat down and ate lunch, Sam eating approximately a whole cow's worth of burgers. Once we were finished, we paid and left, getting back in the car. Almost as soon as we began to drive Sam fell asleep curled up on her seat. A blonde curl had fallen over her face and fluttered with each breath. Once more, I would glance at her every so often, sleeping peacefully, curled up like a cat. We hit more traffic, and I was able to get a good look at her. I noticed that when Sam is asleep, with her face relaxed and all traces of anger and sarcasm gone, she looks almost like a child. Before I could stop myself, I reached over and gently moved the curl off her face. As I was lifting it up Sam twitched and I froze, terrified of the prospect of Sam waking up to find me holding her hair, but she simply gave a little sigh and shifted her head slightly. I relaxed and carefully finished moving the curl off her face, then sat back in my seat, looking at Sam. Then, traffic began moving again and I returned my attention to the road.
