Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N:

Chapter 14 (True Friends)

The next day, the 29th of September, Carly made her way slowly through the halls of the school. She hadn't spoken to Sam and Freddie during the week, really, she'd been too upset. She was late, but it was understandable, she'd been awake all night unpacking and taking care of Blake. She debated not showing up to school at all, but she didn't want to skip. Even if she was later than Sam ever was, she still planned on showing up.

She felt the stares and gasps upon her, stinging her as she made her way to her locker. The kids that were usual skippers of class most likely mocked her in their heads. They didn't know, no one knew, but she didn't care. She knew how serious things could get out of hand if people discovered something here. Recalling how quickly people started teasing Freddie over his lack of a first kiss, it was easy to tell how much uproar would be made over her sudden poverty. Where was Sam when she needed her?

The locker felt cold and empty when she lifted her hand to open it. Stay strong, it was all she could think. She had to keep her head up, she couldn't let anyone see her shake. She'd been doing so well during the last week, or at least, that's what she wanted people to think. What they didn't know never hurt them. They didn't have to know that she cried herself to sleep, or that she felt like her father had just driven a ten inch blade into her heart. As long as she stayed above ground, they would never suspect anything was wrong. Even the change of scenery for iCarly would hopefully not be enough to make anyone wonder.

She froze while removing the book for her first class from her locker, her face twisted with anguish as she began to realize that she failed to complete her history project! Mrs. Briggs would kill her! She was the only teacher to not give her an extension on due dates, the others allowed it because of what was going on. Her heart clenched and her voice vanished from her throat. What was she to do now? Face the music. She brought the book to her chest and leaned back against the locker. After scanning the quiet hallway to make sure no one was around, she put her hand to her forehead and let out a sob. She slid against the lockers and sat on the ground, trying desperately to shake away the tears, but they continued to flow for what seemed an eternity.

"Carly?" She felt a hand on her shoulder and quickly looked up, Gibby was kneeling beside her with a great amount of concern on his face. What was he doing out of class? He had Mrs. Briggs first as well, she didn't usually let anyone leave."Are you all right?" She shrugged off his hand and moved to her feet, wiping her eyes dry.

"I'm fine. What are you doing out of class?" Her eyes shot to the nearby clock and her lips fell. First period was almost completely over. So it made sense, Mrs. Briggs usually stopped paying attention to the class or fell asleep in the last fifteen minutes. She took a deep breath and bowed her head. "I guess I'm just lucky we could talk the school into letting me continue my senior year here…" Gibby agreed and pat her back, pushing gently, guiding her down the hall.

"I had to go to the restroom first of all, did that, then saw you over here. Aside from that…what do you mean you had to convince them?"

"We moved to a neighborhood that is out of the school district for Ridgeway. Technically I shouldn't even be attending this school." She shuddered to think of what school she could have attended if not this one. The only high school she saw around the neighborhood she was at was a rundown looking building that could have served as a school for kids back in the 1950s. "We're in a pretty old part of Seattle." Gibby's mouth formed an oval and he pushed his hands into his pockets.

"I see. You know, Sam and Freddie have been worried about you. We all have. You've not said a word to them. I know you may be falling down into a less than luxurious lifestyle nowadays, but that doesn't mean our views about you are changing. You haven't even told us what this week's iCarly's going to be about." iCarly left a bitter taste in her mouth now, it was more of a burden to think of anything for the show than it was fun.

"I'm not even sure if we can do that anymore. I got rid of my laptop and Lewbert doesn't even want our 'destructive tendencies' in the building." She waved her fingers in the air, mocking Lewbert with air quotes. The man claimed the Shays were simply too destructive and might cause trouble in his lobby. "So apparently he doesn't trust me enough to let me in the building. How's that right? Not only that, but do you know what he called me?" Gibby's eyebrow rose when she grabbed his shirt collar. "He called me a menace! He said now that I was living on the streets, I was bringing filth into his complex…How is that fair!"

"It's not. I'm sorry about Lewbert, and I'm sorry about your dad disowning you guys, but don't disown your friends and hobbies just because of a few assholes. That's all I'm saying." Carly bowed her head and pressed her lips together. Was she doing that to them? She didn't want to.

"I'm sorry Gibby, I just…I didn't want anyone seeing me like this."

"Well for one thing, the problem isn't going to be fixed overnight, so…" Gibby stopped and leaned over a water fountain, taking a quick swig. Carly slid her thumbs into her jean belt and leaned forward, watching him closely. He leaned back and wiped his mouth with his forearm. "So whether you want us to see you in a sad shape or not, we're your closest friends, we're going to see you anyway. No one's perfect, Sam and Freddie understand that. You've seen them in their worst moments, you've helped them out during those times, so now it's on the other foot. Give them the same privilege?" It took a few seconds for his words to sink in, but when they did, she understood him loud and clear. Her heart lifted up and her lips curled into a smile as she stared at him with a strong respect.

"Yeah. You're right….I don't know what I was thinking."

"Everything's just getting to you, that's all. All this stress and pressure, it's understandable." She lifted her eyebrows and sighed. When had he become good with advice? Maybe he just genuinely cared, a trait that not a lot of people had anymore. "Come on, class is almost over and I'm pretty sure Sam and Freddie have gone batty." She raised an eyebrow as Gibby put his arm around her shoulder and started moving towards the class.

"Those two have always been a bit crazy. When did you start giving out advice?" Gibby chuckled and moved his hand to the door. Carly swallowed hard and closed her eyes as he led her into the room. Within seconds, she felt someone run up to her and hug her. She opened her eyes and smiled at Sam. Freddie was standing behind her with his arms crossed. "Hey guys…I'm sorry I haven't been around, things are going horribly right now…"

"We understand," Sam responded. Her voice was soft and filled with love. Freddie's expression was relatively similar. It made her feel horrible for avoiding them the past week. She moved her gaze to Ms. Briggs and sighed, the woman was asleep at her desk. The entire class was watching her, it felt awkward to be the one who was late this time. Sam looked at the class and growled. "Hey! What are you looking at? Take a picture, it'll last longer." The class moved their attention back to whatever they had been doing before. Carly laughed nervously and tapped her textbook with nervous hands.

"Did I miss anything?"

"Not really, but we thought you weren't going to show up."

"I didn't want to skip school today. I never finished my project for history…" She heard a nearby student gasp in shock and shout out to the class.

"Carly didn't finish her project, everyone!" She flinched and her friends slowly turned their glare upon the kid that spoke. It was the short, freckled kid of the class, Ted. Ted looked to her and stood from his desk. "What's been going on with you? You've been so messed up, it's amusing." She stepped back and waited for Sam to pop the kid. Instead she felt Gibby brush past them and grab Ted's shirt collar. "Whoa hey, what are you doing?" She looked up and saw him pulling Ted close, glaring into his eyes ferociously.

"Is there a reason you find my friend's pain amusing? If you don't know what's going on, it's better to keep your big mouth shut." Ted began shaking as Gibby's grip loosened a bit and his face relaxed. "People naturally find other's pain to be funny. I'm sure you've seen videos of people face-planting the ground or getting hit in the nuts, and I'm sure you've laughed. Why did you laugh? You were able to because it was their pain, not yours. Humanity is greedy that way, and the students at this school are the same way, if it isn't their problem, then they don't care and they can laugh. Similar to how you did Freddie over the whole 'first kiss' thing so long ago, similar to how you did Sam when Briggs made her scrub the classroom with a toothbrush a few weeks ago, but if it was you, I bet you wouldn't like people laughing at you." Ted swallowed as Gibby pushed him into his seat. Gibby cracked his neck and cleared his throat. "Now if you don't mind turning away from my friend during her time of struggle, I would appreciate that. If not, I'm sure I can find some treatment to give you that would turn most of the school's attention to you."

"W-What would you do?"'

"When was the last time a nerd's underwear was flown on the flagpole?" Ted paled and the class started snickering, as expected. Carly released the breath she'd been holding and turned her eyes to Gibby, she'd never seen that side of him before, it was impressive. Then again, she never really took the time to notice the caring side, rather the whacky and zany side. Gibby crossed his arms and gestured towards Carly. "Now, do you have something you want to say?"

"Sure…" Carly lifted her eyebrows as Ted faced her and smiled fearfully. "I'm sorry, shouldn't have said anything. I hope you're doing okay." She closed her eyes and chuckled as Ted turned back to Gibby. "Am I good now?"

"Sure, but I'll be watching you." He back to the group and pat Carly's shoulder. She was speechless, and a bit stunned, but happy that her friends would have her back. Gibby was right, her true friends would never change their thoughts on her just because of her sudden poverty. "Well Carly, you haven't missed much. Briggs didn't go over a lot today."

"Yeah, I still wish I wasn't late." She walked to her desk, followed by Sam, Freddie, and Gibby. Their desks were next to hers. Sam's was behind hers, Freddie's was to the right of Sam's, and Gibby's was directly in front of her own. She waited as the others sat down. "What are we going to do about iCarly? I mean…"

"We could try to do it," Freddie replied. He leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head. "Either Sam's house or yours." She flinched at his suggestion and averted her eyes from his. He leaned forward and put his arms to his desk, hanging his hands over the front edge. "What's the problem?"

"I don't know, my house…it doesn't look too good."

"So?"

"I'm not sure I want you to see it…" Their eyebrows rose and Sam quickly dismissed Carly's statement.

"It really doesn't matter what your house looks like. I know you don't want us to think of you as poor or anything, but look at it this way: It's a new chapter. Right? Things may be difficult, but no one said things got easier before getting difficult, right? I know what it's like, I'm not going to judge you, and neither is Freddie."

"I know. I'm not sure what I'm afraid of, really. Everything's happening too fast. I don't even know how to do iCarly in that house right now…"

"Simple, get a computer, a camera, and a techie that just so happens to be my boyfriend." Sam smirked and crossed her arms. "Combine those three things and you get a surefire way to continue iCarly. We're not going to let Nevel win, are we?"

"No. But he got what he wanted…we've lost everything-"

"But each other, Carly." She lifted her eyes and smiled as Sam cupped her hand over hers. "Isn't that the phrase? Lost everything but each other…you may have lost your house and everything, but we're still here. You can never really lose your friends. So, no more avoiding us, you got that?"

"Okay…" She leaned back in her seat. She felt like crying for joy, but held back on her tears. She should have known better than to avoid them, she knew that, but at least they were forgiving of it. "Spencer's working on the house, so maybe we could do iCarly at your place, Sam. I don't want to get in Spencer's way."

"Sounds fair enough." Hopefully they'd manage to do it without any surprise visits from unwanted people, such as Nevel. Now the only question was, what could they do on the upcoming iCarly? There really was nothing, but perhaps, they could think of something.

When Briggs woke from her nap, the entire class faced her. Carly couldn't help but to stare at her friends with pride, though, she was glad they all had her back.

So what did you think of Carly's friends sticking up for her, Gibby gives good advice doesn't he? A good chapter and letting her know they'll be there for her no matter what. It's important to have friends like those, especially in such rough, harrowing times.