Sorry, this one's a bit later than I meant it to be. Again, keep holding in there, I promise that the list will become more important soon, I just need the list to be a bit longer before that happens!

Chapter 3: My First Frenemy

I sat on the edge of my bed, aimlessly twirling a curl through my fingers. A cold draft blew through my room, and I pulled the blanket on my lap up even more, desperately searching for extra warmth. It sounded like rain beating against the house, but I knew if I turned around I would be faced with a sheet of white. I was never a big fan of winter, but this time, the cold just seemed like way too much.

Nothing was going on. My mom was long gone; she hadn't been at the house since yesterday morning. She claimed she was going to work, though I'm pretty sure she wasn't sitting at a desk, but instead trying to get a free one off some unsuspecting salesman. Melanie was off at boarding school, and had just returned after holiday. During break she only stopped over briefly, not that I blame her, since the house nor my mother are the most welcoming, but she made her best efforts to do something with me while she was here. She was unsuccessful.

I picked up my phone, scrolled down the list, and hit the Call button. It rang and rang and rang.

"Hello?" Finally.

"Hey. Are you at your house?"

"Yeah. C'mon over." This is why I love her so much. No questions, just an invitation.

"I'll be right there." I hung up, stuffing my phone in my pants pockets before throwing the blanket back on the bed, not rescuing it as it slowly slid closer to the floor.

"Hey Carls!" My face was flushed from the cold, and I could see she noticed by the way concern grew on her face before she quickly wrapped an arm around my shoulder and tugged me through the doorway.

"Does your mother even heat the house?" Her eyes were shining with pity as she fluffed some pillows around me.

"Yeah…" Carly let go of the pillows and gave me a questioning look.

"Okay, fine. She has insulation." I admitted.

"That's horrible! We need to do something about this." Uh-oh. When Carly gets an idea in her head, she doesn't like to let it go. This may not turn out so well…

"Carls, it's fine. She owns a heating unit, she just…" I searched for the right way to put this while Carly eyed me skeptically. "She just doesn't always use it."

"I'll let this go for now, but if you come over one more time-"

"It's fine, it really is. If you still feel the need to fawn over me, why don't you give me some food?" I knew this would change her pampering attitude. Carly went right over to the fridge and dug through it before purposely choosing some pasta and heating it up. No cold food for me today.

As she was setting down the steaming bowl in front of me, Freddie walked in.

"Hello people!" He glanced around to see me wrapped up in a blanket on the couch being served hot food by Carly. "What's going on here?"

"Sam's mother doesn't heat their house." Ugh, Carly will never give this up, will she?

"What!" Freddie's eyes flew open in shock. "That's horrible!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," I mumbled, digging into my snack.

Carly sat down beside me, placing her arm around my shoulders. "If you want, you can stay here for a while. I mean, maybe not all winter, but at least until the snow stops."

"Really, I'll be okay. It's not super cold in my house, it's just a bit chillier than in here." I ignored Carly's doubtful look. I know she wanted to help, and sure, my house was cold, but it wasn't as cold as Carly was making it out to be, and I didn't want to be treated like a charity case.

"Are you sure?" She was still worried.

"Yes, I'm positive."

I finished the pasta, and as the night wore on, the three of us talked, luckily avoiding the topic of my house's insufficient heating system. Carly got up to take a shower, and I said I would leave. After squeezing me tightly, she told me that if I wanted, I could stop by at any time that night if I felt too cold. Still feeling awkward about the constant fawning, I mumbled a thank you of sorts before she bounced upstairs.

I took the blanket off my lap, setting my empty bowl on the coffee table.

"Sam," Freddie was still there, perched anxiously near me, worry mixed throughout his voice.

"What do you want, Frednub?" Why is he still here?

"I… I was just wondering… if you wanted a temporary heating unit." He looked nervous, which he was right to be, talking to me without Carly there. One wrong word and he could have had his leg wrapped twice around his middle.

"What?"

"A temporary heating unit. My mom has some in the closet just in case, but the apartment's well heated, and I know your house isn't as warm, so I was wondering if you wanted it." He gazed at the floor shyly. Does he really care, or is he just using this as a way to get out of things in the future?

"Why would you give me such a thing? Wouldn't your mother notice right away? I always thought she was the type of person who kept a checklist of everything in the house."

"Well, she does." Wow that lady's a freak. "But I could just make something up."

"Why are you being so nice to me?" This is weird.

"I… Well, I know we're not really friends." You got that right. "But, we're both friends with Carly," Great, bring Carly into this. "and so I thought that maybe we could at least be friendly. For her sake." He added the last part quickly, as if in a rush to remind me how much I hated him, but how good of a friend Carly is.

"I'm all set." I quickly walked to the door, I didn't want to talk to the nub, much less accept things from him.

"But," I can't believe I'm doing this. "Thanks." This time, my words of thanks were articulated, I knew he could hear it clearly. Freddie's head bobbed up in surprise and I could see his eyes shining with some emotion I could not quite make out. Hatred? No. Happiness? Definitely not. Pity? It was possible. Before he had time to respond I ran out the door. Did I just thank that nub? What's wrong with me?

The journey to my house seemed extraordinarily long. I spent the entire time contemplating what had just happened. I had just thanked Freddie for something, and for some odd reason, I didn't hate myself for it. I thanked him! What came over me? Does he see me as weak now? Nonsense, he's much weaker than I am. If he tells anyone I will injure him. Ugh, he better not consider us friends now.

But, as much as I didn't want to acknowledge it, something had changed. When I got to my room, I stared at my list. Never in my lifetime did I imagine myself doing this, yet somehow I knew I should. Slowly, I raised my hand to the paper. When the deed was done I looked at the page, confused, yet sure that it was true.

January 7, 2008: My first frenemy (Freddie Benson)

As I waited for sleep to come, I questioned what had actually happened that night. I couldn't believe that I actually considered Freddie to be, more or less, like a friend. Of course he wasn't actually my friend, he was my frenemy, but the "fr" had to stand for something, and it definitely didn't stand for "French." I fell asleep, more clueless than ever before. It was a very long day.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed, I appreciate it, as your feedback makes me even more excited to continue writing. :) Please either vote in my poll or tell me in your review what you think of switching POV. I would only do it for one scene, and it would only be once. But, if the majority of you don't like it (I'm not a fan of reading stories like that myself) then I will work my way around it. Thanks again! :)