YO this is KL21. good news I got no school today so I was able to post the next chapter a lil earlier than I expected to. Someone requested Freddie's view on the situation so here it is. I must give you a fair warning this chapter may move a lil too slow for its length but future chapters will get better.
Now that I've gotten that outta the way I present you with chapter four of Dangerous game Please read, enjoy, and review thank you.
Rules of Engagement
Freddie's POV
Ok Freddie it's time to start the first day of this mess. Maybe it's better if I don't count the days. There isn't any set time limit. As a matter of fact, this thing between us could go on forever.
No Freddie, don't think like that. In any case I gotta get to school.
I have two computer classes with Sam and that's gonna be weird for me. It was already weird enough that she was in the computer class in the first place. I distinctly remember her saying that she would never take another computer class as long as she lived. She decided to take a computer class as one of her electives and the teacher asked me to come in and do a lecture on hard drives and the difference between hardware and software. Sam had to be woken up twice, although, I'm pretty sure she was faking it just to throw me off.
Well here goes nothing.
Alright Freddie… here we go. I came here a little early so that I could get to my locker without running into Sam. No use in making this harder for myself. Thank God I finished most of my classes. That means a lot of light lifting for me. Ok that's the last book and I'm off to class. Just in time too, there starting to get here.
"Why are you here so early?"
Oh my God. I failed? Already? It's just the beginning and I'm already compromised. Compromised by this kind, gentle, sweet… Wait. Kind? Sweet? Gentle? Phew, its only Carly. But Sam might be here too.
"Sorry Carly, I'll have to talk to you later, I'm running late." Hopefully that'll confuse her enough or me to make my escape.
"Late for what?" Crap, "It's 7:45 in the morning."
"Well…" what to say…what to say… "… You can never be too early for learning." Hopefully she'll buy that.
"Sam's not here yet." Oh at least it's safe.
"I'm here to avoid Sam, as you've already figured out, you see, Sam and I had a…"
"I know about your argument already."
"Sam told you already, huh?"
"Yeah." Uh-Oh. She's thinking about something, "Don't you think you may be overreacting just a little?"
"No Carly, I have to do this."
"Why Freddie? You know she's isn't going to apologize for anything."
"That may be, but I have to take a stand. It's been long overdue." I hate to make Carly upset. She may not be a crush anymore but she's still my friend, "Besides, there is still a chance that this will work."
"What are you trying to prove Freddie?" I can't answer that, "You'll just end up losing a friend."
"What kind of friend does the things she does to friends?" Finally, the bell is ringing. "I gotta go to class."
"We both know that's not true Freddie. You have absences to burn. Please stay and talk to me." God help me, I can't stand to see her upset.
"Look Carly, I know the risks all to well but I can't take much more of it. You can't understand because she doesn't do horrible things to you. She's never licked your phone, or tried to break your arm."
"Freddie… I…" She has nothing else to say. Sam is inexcusable. "Freddie, you and I are really good friends but, Sam is my best friend. You know that if this ends badly I'll have to…"
Rule number one: Make sure you know ALL of the risks
"I know…" She's right, Sam can't be trusted to be by herself and it wouldn't be right to force her to choose between the two of us. "Like I said before, I know the risk I'm taking and the reward is far better than any other outcome."
"Hold on a minute… You're willing to let me go for a chance to have a better friendship with Sam?" She's smiling? I've seen that smile before, but I can't remember where.
"Yeah I…" What's with that smile on her face? It's like she has this big secret and doesn't want to tell me. Oh… I know what that smile is. She thinks… well I gotta put a stop to that… even if it may be true. If Carly thinks that, then it's only a matter of time before she starts to meddle, and I don't know if there's any force more unstoppable than a meddling Carly Shay. "I know what you're thinking Carly, and trust me, it's not like that." I know it really is, but she doesn't have to know that. "I just need a change." That smile is still there, I don't like the look of it. "What's so amusing?"
"Nothin…" the smile stays for awhile but it slowly stars to fade. "Well, I understand how you feel so I'm not going to interfere. Just keep in mind what's at stake." It is a lot but I'm hoping that it'll be worth it. "You should get outta here before Sam shows up."
"Thanks Carly." That was pretty heavy. The hold she has on me isn't "love," at least, not anymore. Now it is this weird ability of hers to make someone feel guilty regardless of their convictions.
Rule number two: Limit contact with friends of the enemy.
First period goes well, mostly because Sam's not there and I need all the time I can get to prepare myself for this. Now were on to second period. I'm gonna have to switch seats with somebody because me and Sam sit next to each other. "Wendy, can I ask you a question?" She seems like my best bet. She seems to be able to tolerate Sam and I doubt that Sam would do anything… horrible to her.
"Sure Freddie what do you need?"
"Do you think that it would be possible if we could…" what's with the look on her face?
"I'm so sorry Freddie but I don't want to go out with you." Is she serious?
"No, no. Nothing like that."
"Oh."
"I was wondering if you would switch seats with me."
"Sure… but why?" I don't think there's any harm in telling her.
"Sam and I had a huge fight and we're not on speaking terms."
"Ok… well maybe if you tell me more about it I could maybe help you guys smooth things out."
"Uh… thanks but no thanks. I'm not giving in this time." I'm not. She has to change and any other outcome is unacceptable, because all other outcomes end up with me apologizing. That leads to things staying the way they were.
"But, communication and compromise is the foundation of any relationship." She has a point, "if you can't talk and reach some sort of agreement then the relationship won't last." Man, she sounds like she's coming straight out of one of those relationship books. She's right though. But what she didn't know was that Sam and I were long past the point of communicating. Any attempts at communication ended up in arguing which led to physical and emotional pain, mostly my physical and emotional pain. And Sam's version of compromise is that we do things her way or no way at all. I know she's just trying to help but she doesn't know enough about me or Sam.
Rule number three: Limit the advice you take to people who understand your situation. Unfortunately for me that leaves me with Carly and contact with her is in direct violation of rule number two.
"Ok thanks Wendy, but all the help I need right now is the switch in seats." I hope I didn't come off as rude.
"Ok, well if you ever wanna talk…"
"Thanks Wendy." Well I suppose it couldn't hurt to tell her, "Hey, umm, how about I tell you about it over lunch?" As convicted about this as I was it was still uncharted territory for me and I figure that it's better not to be alone.
Rule number four: establish new contacts if old ones are unavailable.
"Sure thing Freddie, meet me in the cafeteria."
Ok so far so good. I've made it half way through the class. It helps when you already know what the teacher is teaching. The annoying thing is I've been getting hit with paper balls and spit balls all day. There's no need to turn around. I already know the source. But I can't acknowledge it. If I turn around now I'll have lost a battle, make no mistake, this is a battle that Sam Puckett is waging and the moment she has my attention the argument will soon follow and that would only make things worse.
Rule number five: know your strengths and weaknesses.
So, second period is mercifully over. I don't expect it to get any easier but at least I know that I am able to go through with this. I don't know how long, but I can do it for the time being. I expect that third period will be much the same as the first was. But that's a good thing. I suppose that the fact that she is trying to get my attention means that she is feeling something at my absence. I'm not sure what that something is but I'm hoping it's a good something.
Well, there's the bell. Off to third period which I also share with Sam.
So here I am in third period and I can't focus anything the teacher is saying. I don't really need to, but anything is better than thinking about what this mission of mine to try to get Sam to change.
I mean was it really so bad? She did apologize once, although, that was probably because Carly made her feel bad about it. She certainly didn't change anything after that. I probably should've expected hat, since she basically told me that she wasn't going to change. To that effect, is any of this worth it then? Am I just wasting my time, and risking two friendships on it? Does it mean anything that she has been at least trying to get my attention? What did the teacher just say? Why should I care what he just said? I could probably teach this class if weren't for my blond tormentor sitting in the back of the class. I guess I'm left to my thoughts. I can't just completely ignore her. If I do that then she will give up and stop trying. Could she forget about me completely? Could I live with myself knowing that I threw everything? Maybe Carly was right, maybe I did act out of anger. Hey I've got an IM request from Sam. Accept.
HammySammy85: YO Fred-dork. Wat's the deal?
TechTouch35: Wat do u mean?
HammySammy85: Y hav u bn ignorin me
TechTouch35: I already told u.
HammySammy85: yea I 4got. Wat u tell me?
TechTouch35: I'm done. I was tryin 2 salvage wat I could
HammySammy85: ...
TechTouch35: now its clear that u don't care.
HammySammy85: wateva dork u still need me
TechTouch35: we'll c
HammySammy85: yea
HammySammy85: has signed off
Now I'm staring at the computer screen. I can't believe it. I read the message over and over again. Did she really just. I read it once again and again and again, hoping that the messages would change, that what their meaning changed… but no matter how many times I read those messages nothing changed. No matter how much I wanted the computer screen to bring my soul some sort of relief and tell me that I got the wrong messages the screen name kept reading 'HammySammy85'. Those messages weren't changing, they weren't going anywhere, and they were all screaming the same thing. Screaming louder than a sell out crowd: There's no turning back.
I'm not going to my fourth period. I need to clear my head. I wish I had enough time to get to the fire escape. On second thought, that might not be the best place to clear my head of Sam-related thoughts. I'll just drive around 'til lunch.
I can't believe it. Just like that I'm on my own. I never realized how interconnected all of my friends were. Because Sam was gone I couldn't talk to Carly because she would end up making me feel guilty about this whole thing with Sam. I can't talk to Spencer because he's connected to Carly. I can't talk to any one in the AV club about it because Sam knows that I talk to them, and in the event that she decides to care about it, she'll go and (Successfully) extort and/or extract the information out of them. I can't talk to any one at the school because today, for some reason, a lot of them have been giving me weird looks. Like I was a deer that had just come from behind the bushes and they were hunter with their scopes set right between my eyes. I'm hoping that my mind is playing tricks on me. But another part of me knows that something bad is going to happen.
But I've got bigger fish to fry. From the sound of mine and Sam's conversation, if you can call it that, it seems as if she's content to ride this whole thing out and wait for me to go crawlin back to her. So I've got to change the way I approach this.
Rule number six: always be able to adapt to any changes, foreseeable or otherwise.
Ok time to go get Wendy. I'm not altogether proud of what I'm going to ask her to do but if there is a chance that it will get to Sam then I'm willing to give it a shot. I just hope this doesn't blow up in my face.
"Hey Freddie I've been looking all over for you."
"Yeah, sorry, I had a lot on my mind and an absence to burn so I went for a ride to try to clear my head." I wonder how she'll take this. There's no need to jump in head first Freddie. Take your time. "So, where would you like to go for lunch?"
"Ummm… How 'bout Inside-Out Burger?"
"Ok, Burger joint it is."
We got there, ordered our food, and decided to sit in and eat. Ok Freddie eventually you're going to have say something. Ok I should start by explaining the situation. After all, I said that I would. "Ok… How was class?" It would be rude to start dumping my mess on her without asking about her first.
"It was ok. You know, with the year winding down nothing big happens… at least not until Sam pulls her annual-end-of-the-year prank." She chuckles but I totally forgot about that. Every Year Sam pulls a prank on some unsuspecting victim. Now I will have to be extra careful. Since we aren't speaking and Carly isn't interfering, that means that I'm just as likely to be a victim as anyone else at the school. "This one should be really big seeing that it's our senior year." Oh my God, "I would certainly hate to be on Sam's bad side during this time of year." This is going to get a whole lot worse before it gets better. She stopped talking. It looks like she is confused. "Speaking of Sam… don't you usually eat lunch with her?"
"Yeah, well we're fighting."
"So what? Aren't you guys always fighting?"
I went on to explain the whole thing to her. Reliving those moments was rough. It was that much harder since it just happened yesterday. Whatever I feel for Sam and what she feels for me may be up in the air. But one thing was certain, she was my friend and losing a friend is always painful no matter what they did to you. Of course I don't think I've lost her yet, otherwise I wouldn't be going through all of this nonsense to win her back.
"Wow, Freddie, that's pretty heavy." This is kind of an awkward silence, as she starts to write something down on a napkin, "Well I'm going to assume hat you haven't told many people about it." I haven't besides Carly and that doesn't even count because she already knew. "Well if you need any one to talk to just give me a call or shoot me a text." She hands me the napkin that she was writing on. It has her number on it. I put it in my pocket. I decide not to tell her what I wanted her to do. It would just be me using her and she doesn't need to be dragged into this. Besides she has already extended her friendship, or at least a shoulder to lean on. God only knows how deep into this thing she has already put herself in. Who's that?
Wat up my man
I'm at my house waiting for you
guys to set up.
c u n a lil bit.
$$DoinMyThang$$
Whoa, I almost forgot about the party. That would've been very unprofessional. "OK Wendy I got to go and help Gibby with something. Do you need a ride to the school?"
"No." good because I don't really have time to go back to the school and then make it to Gibby's house, "But do you think you give me a ride home?"
"Sure" I'm going to be late. "And… thank you for listening." She really didn't have to, but like I said earlier, it's nice to have someone.
"Any time Freddie." She places a hand on my shoulder and looks at me with this overly sweet face. It gives me a warm feeling. I've never really paid attention to it before but Wendy is pretty cute. I've gotta send Shane and Gibby a text telling hem I'm going to be late.
Hey
I'm gonna b a lil late
gotta drop a friend off
then I'll be there
#TechMasterFreddie#
"Ok are you ready to…" I turn my head to the door and I see the absolute last thing I want to see… Sam… in all her wonderful and fear inducing glory. She looks at me and we share a look of confusion. I see her gaze shift from me to Wendy and back to me and her confusion turns into one of disbelief. Her disbelief evolves into anger. It may not be apparent to any one working in the place, or even to Wendy, but I know this girl standing across the restaurant. I can see through her well rehearsed poker face and that nonchalant expression. I can see past the boredom in her eyes. I look over to Wendy and by the look on her face it looks like she knows that something is awry. I can feel it too. I've stopped focusing on the situation and observed my surroundings. It feels as if there is a heavy force just pressing down all of your insides without crushing your body allowing you to suffer through whatever it is you suffering through.
It's hard for me to feel it because Sam has been giving me this feeling since we've met. I'm almost immune to the feeling. I really felt sorry for Wendy. I doubt she's ever felt something like this before, and even if she has, it's even more unlikely that what she felt was this heavy. Think of it as if you were standing in the middle of a pride of hungry lions that were just walking around you in circles. That's what it feels like. You know the surroundings and you know the situation. You know the eventual outcome but something's off. That tiny bit of uncertainty is what's going to cost you your life. It'll cause you to make a wrong move and before you know it a wild Sam has pounced on op of you and is now sinking her teeth into your jugular and you're slowly dying as she begins to devour you. I'm used to this but I feel sorry for Wendy. I have to do something or she'll be devoured.
Rule number seven: Do not confront the enemy until you are completely sure you're ready. Any rushed confrontations will result in certain death.
"What are you doing here Puckett?" I'm a dead man.
Well there you have it. I hope that wasn't too slow for you guys I'll try to pick it up in the future chapters. The line breaks (I belive the document manager refers to it as a horizontal ruler) in the story indicate a time jump. In this particular case they represent A change in the class. I can't really think of anything else that needs to be said. If you have any questions then you can leave me a review or a message.
That being said, thank you guys for taking the time to read my story. Review if you like (I hope you do). I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Until next update Deuces.
KL21