"I think it's a good idea!"
"I don't."
"Well, I do!"
"Well, I don't!" Sam threw her hands up in exasperation and threw the skirt she was holding onto the ground.
"Hey!" Cat exclaimed as she bent down to pick up the dropped article. She hung it back on the shelf safely with the others and said, "That skirt never did anything to you."
Sam crossed her arms over her chest. "I kind of feel like it did. It's just hanging there with all the others…taunting me."
"Sam…" Cat put both of her hands on Sam's shoulders and lightly shook, "you have to wear something nice for your interview. And skinny jeans and leather jackets just ain't gonna cut it!"
Sam shook Cat's arms off of her and turned back to the clothes rack. "Yeah, yeah. I know."
Cat turned and started looking through the clothes with Sam. "Anyway, I told you, you could wear some of my things."
Sam laughed. "Yeah, let's not even pretend I can fit into any of your clothes, and everything you own is…pink. And frilly."
Cat threw an elbow towards Sam's side. "Don't disrespect the pink!"
"Ow! I wasn't, it's just…not for me."
They continued to walk around Always 20, a store Sam chose because it looked the closest to her style.
"Hey, how about this?"
Sam turned around to see Cat holding up a dark charcoal faux leather dress. It looked skin tight at the top with three-quarter length sleeves, but flared out at the bottom. Not something Sam would ever wear regularly, but her skin itched with a little excitement to try it on.
"Paired with the right tights and jewelry this could make a tasteful-," Cat pouted her lips, "-yet sexy office look."
She laughed and ran over to Sam, lifting the dress to her body. "And we'll have to get some shoes, too! You have such great legs, about time you showed them off!"
Sam looked down at the dress and sighed. "Okay, okay. I'll try it."
Cat squealed with delight. "Yay! This is so exciting! It's like you're my little doll!"
Sam shot her a glare.
"I don't mean it like that!" Cat amended. "I'm just saying, you can still look tough and be sexy and girly. My best friend Jade has completely mastered the femme fatale look, and I think you could, too!"
"I don't know, Cat…" Sam started as they walked towards a dressing room. "I've never been the girly type."
"Because you don't want to, or you don't know how?"
Sam stopped and looked at her, and then frowned when she noticed the pile of clothes Cat was now holding. She must have been grabbing things as we walked over here.
"All'z I'm tryin' to say is," Cat smiled at her, "you don't have to change who you are, but maybe you could use a little upgrade? I upgrade myself all the time. Keeps everyone on their toes."
Sam smirked and shook her head. "We'll see."
"Yay! Now try these on!" Cat shoved the clothes she was holding into Sam's hands, and then pushed her into a dressing room.
"I don't even know why I'm doing this," Sam grumbled as she started the process of squeezing into a dress.
"Because you have to have community service/work experience and home-run babysitting doesn't count for your online high school program. I don't know why you are complaining, interning at the Shwartz Theater sounds like it would be so cool!"
Sam sighed. "I guess, but 'business formal attire' everyday? Seriously? This isn't the 50's."
"Well, Sam what I gave you to try on isn't exactly 50's working woman wear," Cat giggled.
Sam groaned and looked into the mirror. She turned sideways and sucked in her stomach, and the pushed it out as far as it could go, making herself look pregnant. She tried tugging on the end of the hem, but try as she might she couldn't make the dress any longer. Then she put her hands on her breasts and tried to flatten them.
"Cat, I don't think I can breath in this thing."
"Would you stop whining, and open the door so I can see?"
Sam groaned indignantly and then opened the door. She walked out and stood in front of Cat with her arms swinging by her sides. She blinked a couple times waiting for Cat's criticism but looked up to see that she was staring at her with her jaw popped open. Sam immediately became self-conscious and wrapped her arms around her stomach.
"See, I knew it would look stupid, I'm taking this piece of-,"
"No!" Cat interrupted. She grabbed Sam's arms and pulled her to the three-paneled mirror in the hallway of the dressing rooms. "Sam, you look amazing!"
Sam looked at herself in the mirror. "I do?"
"Yes!" Cat laughed. "Now here," Cat slipped off the nude heels she was wearing and nudged Sam to step in them.
Sam did and the shoes elevated her height, making the dress slightly shorter, but not uncomfortably so, and made her calf muscles more defined. Then Cat reached up and pulled some of the pieces of Sam's hair in the front, back to make a messy half-up do.
"See! And maybe that bracelet with the studs on it that you have, and some of your dark eyeshadow." Cat smiled. "And you don't look pink and frilly, you look killer."
Sam moved around some more, and started feeling her confidence pooling back in her. "You're right, I do look killer."
Cat squealed and threw her arms around her. Sam laughed and patted her head. "Okay, okay, let me go try on the other stuff."
Sam kicked off Cat's heels and walked back to the dressing room. When she got there, she heard a soft ping from her phone. She picked it up and saw a message from Carly.
From: Carly (4:15):
Hey. Can we talk?
Sam sighed. She felt really guilty and embarrassed because of their last phone call and had been obviously avoiding Carly. She supposed she needed to woman up and finally have this conversation.
To: Carly (4:17):
Sure. I'm not home right now, but I'll call you in like 30 mins?
Carly's reply came seconds later.
From: Carly (4:17):
Yeah, of course. Take your time
Sam sighed and then went back to trying on clothes.
"So…" Sam started.
"Yeah…" Carly also trailed off.
Sam was sitting cross-legged on her bed with bags of new clothes surrounding her with her phone to her cheek. She took a deep breath and prepared herself to be the bigger person.
"I'm sorry-,"
"I'm sorry!"
They both said at the same time. Then they both laughed at each other and Sam's nervousness started to melt away.
"I'll go first," Sam chuckled. "Listen, Carls. I didn't really mean what I said-,"
"No," Carly interrupted. "You did. I'm sorry that I was such a terrible friend to you."
"Carly!" Sam exclaimed. "You are so not a terrible friend!"
"No, hear me out," she pleaded. "I have to explain things to you."
Carly paused and Sam waited patiently for her to continue.
"I did kiss Freddie before I left for Italy."
It's funny how even after months hearing that can still tie up a knot in Sam's stomach.
"But did you hear what I said?" she asked. "I kissed him. It was me. I thought I was being nice and you know that's all he used to talk about when we were little kids and I thought what a sweet way to end things, to say goodbye. I didn't-," she struggled for the right words, "I didn't mean it the way you think I did. I don't have any feelings for Freddie, I swear. I don't know why I did it. Ugh, that was really stupid looking back on it."
Carly sighed. "But what I'm trying to say is if you have any resentment towards anyone, don't be mad at Freddie. He didn't do anything, it was me. I was being dramatic and silly, like always," she laughed at her own expense, "but please don't blame Freddie for something I did. I'm the bad guy here."
"Carly…" Sam started feeling too guilty about all of this, "you really don't have to apologize. I was the stupid one. I don't own Freddie, he can kiss who ever he wants to, especially you. We only dated for a few months anyway. I majorly overreacted."
"But, you're my best friend! And it's girl code! I broke it! And I mean I think I always kind of knew you still had feelings for him-," her voice started to crack.
Sam went rigid. "But I don't have feelings for him anymore."
"Wha-…? Wait, you don't?" she asked.
"No," Sam said immediately. Then she sighed. "Okay, well maybe still a little bit back then, but I swear to you I'm completely over that now."
"Oh…" Carly said slowly, "right."
Sam could tell Carly didn't believe her, but she didn't bother trying to argue.
"Listen, we both acted kind of dumb, can we just agree that boys are stupid and be best friends again?" Sam asked.
Carly laughed, "yes! Please!"
After a few moments of cordial silence Sam spoke up. "But…yeah, well. That was the reason I left. I know it was crazy, but…I never pretended to be sane. And I would be lying if I didn't regret it and realize how dumb I was being as soon as I hit the highway, but you know me. Sam Puckett isn't a quitter."
"No, you aren't" Carly agreed. "Well…are you happy there?"
Sam smiled as she listened to Cat attempt to chase a little girl around the living room while Dice kept tripping her.
"Yeah…I really am."
"Good," she could practically here Carly grinning over the phone. "Oh, and Sam?"
"Yeah?" Sam asked.
"I…I didn't tell, Freddie. I didn't tell him that you saw us, or why you left."
Sam let out a shaky breath and the growing anxiousness that was like rocks in her chest melted away. "Thank you," she mumbled gratefully.
Carly was such a good friend. And someone who knew her so well.
"And I don't want to push you, but…you should talk to him again. Like I said, this all was on me."
"Yeah, I'll talk to him," Sam agreed. "I've been kind of immature about…well, everything haven't I?"
Carly laughed. "I don't know, that was a pretty mature thing to notice about yourself."
Sam chuckled. "Yeah, I guess so."
Carly sighed. "Ugh, I miss you so much. It makes me sad we have to have this talk over the phone. I wish I could be there with you. And I wish we could all be back in Seattle."
"Mmm," Sam neither agreeing or disagreeing. She did miss Carly and Spencer and Freddie, and even her mom and school friends more than she'd like to admit. But. She didn't think she would ever make it back to Seattle permanently. "I really miss you, too, Carls."
"I'll be back in the good ole' USA before ya know it! But, anyway I have to get off of here, I need to get ready for my date with Nico."
"You're still with Nico?" Sam asked.
"Sam! I told you about him like two weeks ago!"
"Well, you never know with you," Sam teased.
"Wow!" she exclaimed. "Glad to know that's what you think of me!"
Sam laughed. "I'm just kidding!"
"Uh huh, okay," Carly giggled. "Anyway, I'll talk to you later, okay? I love you."
"Love ya, too Carls."
Sam hung up the phone and flopped backwards onto her piles of pillows and clothes.
"Sam! Please help! You may want to get Dice before I-before I-…before I just shave off his magnificent curly hair and glue it to a dog!"
"Why would a dog need my hair?!"
"I don't know!" Cat yelled, sounding out of breath. "All I know is that you just wouldn't have it!"
Sam laughed. "I'm coming! I'm coming!"
Sam got up and made her way to the living room to do damage control. But not before she sent a text to Freddie.
Freddie received a text from Sam as he was scraping gum off of the bottom of the tables in the Groovy Smoothie.
From: Sam (5:54):
Hey, what's up?
Freddie stared at his phone for a second before he scowled and put it back in his pocket. He reached up to continue the gum scraping, but then grunted and whipped his phone back out, unable to resist.
To: Sam (5:56):
Oh, so we're talking again, are we?
He doesn't know who Sam thinks she is, just randomly contacting him once every often and then disappearing for days on end. Does she think he will just take that?
From: Sam (5:58):
Well, it looks like someone had a full serving of Bitch-Os this moning…
He barked out a sarcastic laugh and then typed back.
To: Sam (5:59):
Well, excuse me for being a little perturbed for you just deciding to communicate with me whenever is convenient for you. I'm a little tired of these disappearing acts.
That'll show her, he thought smugly. He went back to angrily chipping off chewed gum. Until he hit one too hard and it flew back at him and landed on his face.
"Oh, oh God," he said jumping up. Unfortunately, he hit his back and head trying to stand up on the table and ended up flipping the table over along with himself and the bucket of scraped off gum.
"Aw, come on!" He screamed causing the people around him to jump and look at him.
At some point in the commotion, T-Bo had walked over to Freddie.
"Hey, Fred-man, calm yourself," T-Bo reached down and grabbed one of Freddie's arms and easily pulled him to his feet.
"I'm trying," Freddie growled through gritted teeth. He tried picking the gum off of his clothes.
"I can see that you are in a bit of a sticky situation right now," he paused to laugh at his pun, "and you supposed to head out at 6:30 anyway, so why don't you head on outta here."
Freddie sighed and stopped picking at the gum. "Thanks, T-Bo."
Freddie started to walk back to the break room to clock out, and pulled off his Groovy Smoothie T-shirt to reveal an old grey Penny Tee underneath.
On his way out, T-Bo tried to get him to try his Crab cakes on a stick, but with a murderous glare from Freddie, T-Bo immediately backed off. Freddie made his way to the local park near their apartment complex where he usually goes to relax.
Once he was pacing underneath a small group of trees he decided to check his phone again.
Still no reply.
"Ugh!" he exclaimed to himself.
Alright, enough waiting around.
He clicked on her name and then put the phone to his ear.
Ring.
Ring.
Ring.
Ring.
Rin-
"….Hello?"
He breathed out.
"Sam."
A/N: Back so soon?
I couldn't resist updating the next chapter because it was shorter and a cliffhanger, so..
Here ya go :)
Please drop a review! It inspires me to write faster!
Lucy :)