A/N - Chapter 2! Lock and Load! Review please!
"Sam set off a cherry bomb at the dance last night." Carly announced at breakfast the next morning. The only two people to hear her proclamation was Spencer and I, but I still glared at her as I stabbed my eggs with my fork.
"Really?" Spencer asked, turning to look at me curiously. "I heard about that on the news." He looked at me with that look in his eyes as if he were about to act all motherly. And Spencer seemed to becoming more and more of a woman lately. Not only have I caught him wearing hair curlers and a large, pink bathrobe once in a while but occasionally I would see him watching soap operas and crying hysterically. Ms. Benson wouldn't have anything on that boy soon.
"Don't even think about lecturing me, Spence." I told him sternly, and he nodded at me curtly. He knew I wouldn't hear it. I did what I did and that wasn't going to change. And I rather him look at me with disappointment because of my prank instead of disgust at what I did later on that evening.
I didn't even tell Carly.
My dreams were full of what happened as if on replay. And through going over it again and again, I noticed little things that I subconsciously realized but never fully acknowledged. Like the way he rubbed the outsides of my thighs more than he caressed my chest as if admiring all of me and not just what every guy wanted. I noticed how his lips lingered on my shoulders and my neck, and how he knew just how much pressure to bite with.
"—last night?"
"Hmm?" I asked, hearing the tail end of Carly's question.
"Why did you get home so late last night?" Carly asked again, looking confused, and I caught Spencer looking interested as well. Why was he even here? Shouldn't he be off doing something weird and whacky?
"After I set off my… little prank. I ran through the school to avoid getting caught. And well, I got stuck there a bit because they searched the school for more cherry bombs. Finally I left because I was hungry—"
At this point they both just nodded. It was basic understanding that I would do anything for food or to satiate my hunger. To be honest, last night when I got back to the apartment, I went straight to sleep. I didn't grab a snack or anything. It was a strange night, all in all.
After that, the questions stopped coming, Spencer and Carly choosing to believe that my hunger postponed me. And they had no reason to believe otherwise. In their minds, they had no clue of my encounter.
Then Benson showed.
I felt like I was glowing, positively radiant, and then he came and stunk up the room with his very presence. When the door swung open, I was sitting on the couch eating my third plate of eggs and toast. He shot me a disgusted look as egg yolk dribbled down my chin and headed to his laptop for maintenance.
"How was the dance last night, ladies?" Fredloser asked, sitting down at the counter and watching his beloved Carly in the kitchen wiping down the dishes with a paper towel. Even though it was early morning, she had pulled her hair up into a messy, yet strangely attractive bun and wore a flowy nightgown made of satin as if expecting company. All she needed were some chopsticks stuck through her hair and she could go as a japanese empress for Halloween.
"You weren't there?" I sneered from the couch. Of course, I knew the boy didn't go. He made up some lame excuse about needing to catch up on homework but I know for a fact that he stayed home to watch a Galaxy War marathon and crochet with his mother. It was all to do with his crazy mother's alone time with him. And Crazy herself told me and Carly about it on our way out the other day. She actually invited us to join. Lame.
"I told you I wasn't going." He snapped, sounding angrier than usual. Maybe he pricked his finger while spending time with his mommy. Those crochet needles are sharp. "You didn't even notice that I wasn't there?"
"Why would I care?" I asked. I mean, I had a long, hot night while poor widdle baby Fredward stayed home to get a tick bath…again. "I don't keep tabs on nerds like you. Plus, I was kind of focused on my date."
Heat rose in my cheeks at that point but I wasn't think about the guy I took, but the one I met. Frednub was looking at me curiously and I hid my face carefully with my hair before Carly could notice too. When I was embarrassed, which wasn't often, I could get red as a beet. I was so pale, it was really obvious.
"Pete?" Freddie asked with clear distain. He hated Pete and called him a pompous ass. He had tried to kiss Carly against her will, and ever since Freddie had a one-man vendetta against the boy. Don't get me wrong, I hated him too but he paid for that a long time ago. Let's just say that he will never get the smell out of his room. He didn't know it was me though.
"For your information, I met another guy." I told him matter-of-factly. I felt my cheeks flare at the thought of my little excursion.
"Oh, a threesome? Wow, Sam I didn't know you had it in you." He said smarmily. Then he added, "Oh wait… in that case, you did."
Slap!
He rubbed his cheek and pouted his lip at me. "Watch your tongue, boy."
"Hey, I'm not the one who should be watching her tongue." He said, completely oblivious to the fact that he just called himself a girl. "I heard that some couple got it on in the janitor's closet."
I blanched at him. Did the guy brag? Was it all just a joke? Would everyone on Monday know that I screwed some complete and udder stranger? My blood ran cold. And I hoped if he did know that I was in that couple, he could keep his stupid mouth shut.
"How'd you hear that?" Carly asked, coming and joining me on the couch. She seemed really intrigued and I remembered that my best friend was rather attuned to rumors far and wide. She wasn't as spread out as resident queen of gossip, Wendy. Carly must have been kicking herself from having to hear about this from Fredlumps of all people. I was kicking myself for just having to hear him talking at all.
"Rumors, you know." He shrugged. "Gibby told me that Wendy heard them in there."
"Any ideas of who it was?" Carly asked. I could have kissed her because I could never have asked that pivotal question.
"Most people say it was some guy from West Borough, and... Sam Puckett." He said, turning back to the computer. I felt my blood stop in its veins. My reputation as a bad girl wouldn't be affected but now I would be the slutty, bad girl and Carly would hate me. Then Freddie started laughing. "Oh gosh… your faces. We all know it wasn't you Sam. In fact, everyone seems to think that it was Wendy and Pete. They were seen going off together."
I knew Pete was a scumbag. I mean, it may not have been him and Wendy in that closet but he still went off with another girl. He had gone to the dance with me. And yes, I'm a major hypocrite.
"But why would she spread a rumor about herself?" Carly asked, and Freddie shrugged absently. Then she pulled out her phone. "I've got to go and call her. I'll be upstairs."
With that, Carly headed up the stairs, two at a time while furiously dialing a number. That left Freddie and I alone. He even moved next to me on the couch, and I wondered if he was going to tease me some more. He may not have known how freaked out his joke made me but my heart had yet to go back to a regular pace.
"You okay?"
"No, Benson… you're here." I snapped. Then we sat in silence for a few moments. I reached over and turned on the television. It was another episode of Celebrities Underwater. I swear the show was created to cull the stupid celebrities from all the others. It was a rerun though with Drake Bell and Halle Berry fighting it out. I had turned in on at the same moment Drake lost conciousness. Ugh... that was disappointing. I hate Halle Berry.
"Aww… you know like me." He smirked, scooting closer until our knees touched. I scooted away again. He got closer still. Grabbing his hair, I pushed him away from me. And his hair was so soft. Then I wondered if my hands still smelled like cinnamon and vanilla—they did.
Fregbag noticed and raised an eyebrow.
"Buzz off, Fredalupe." I told him. He kept looking at me. "What?"
He was staring at me funny, as if trying to tell something. Finally he spoke, "It was you."
"What was?" I asked, my voice stuttering.
Was there really something different about me now? One hand went to my throat and the other touched my lips. Was there a hickey, or a swelling that suggested something more than harmless kissing. Unreasonable panic bubbled up in my chest and I felt my stomach lurch. I might vomit all over the boy if he did know it was me for a fact.
"The one who set off the cherry bomb… duh." He laughed. "Who else would of?" He took in my expression. "Yes, Gibby told me about the ipecac and the bomb. You sure make a dance interesting, Princess Puckett."
"Oh…" I said with relief, not even bothering to reprimand him for the lame nickname.
Benson shot me a curious look.
"You'll need an alibi." Freddie said knowingly. I shot him a sidelong glance. Something about his tone made me nervous.
"Like?"
"You were with me last night." He said finally. "We went to the Groovy Smoothie, and T-bo saw us."
"Huh?" I said. "I wasn't at the Gro—"
Freddie brandished a twenty-dollar bill. "For this much, T-bo will tell the president you were there last night."
Wait…
"Why are you helping me?" I asked suddenly.
"Because, Sam, that's what friends do." He said with a slight smile.
Friends?
I'm not friends with Benson. He was a loser, and I was cool. He ate health foods all the time. I ate meat and fat cakes. He loved technology and Galaxy Wars, and I loved MMA. We were like day and night, night and day. They say opposites attract...but that's absolute bullshit.
"You're not my friend, Benson." I told him angrily. I even leaned over and flicked his nose with my thumb and pointer. He crinkled his nose and moved away from me. Then he rose, standing over me.
"Friends cover for other friends, Sam." He leaned in close, so that his lips brushed my ear as he said, "Because if I weren't your friend, I would have told Carly that it was you in that closet last night."
Then he was gone, leaving me there.
A/N - Okay, information time! I have another story in the works. This one will wrap up in a few more chapters (maybe in 5 or 6), and then I'll start posting the other one. There are just some kinks that need to be worked out.
And I will try to post the next chapter A.S.A.P but Hurricane Irene may conspire against me. If I lose my power, I can't tell you how long it will be be before I can get up the next chapter. So bare with me, guys. :)