Hello, here is the second part to My First Doubt/My First Time Thinking That Maybe Carly Does Like Freddie!

Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed. One important point: Thanks to the people who pointed out that Carly would know about the kiss because iSD is after iTTK. I actually did realize this, but unless I mention a part of an episode in My List of Firsts, it probably didn't happen (in my story). Not every chapter is based on an episode, so almost everything that isn't mentioned in my story, didn't happen for the sake of My List of Firsts. This means that Carly doesn't know Sam and Freddie kissed. I hope that makes sense.

On to the chapter!

Chapter 11: My First Time Thinking That Maybe Carly Does Like Freddie (Part II)

As I wait in anticipation for someone to answer the door, I start to doubt my actions. Now I realize that I don't know what to expect, I don't know what I want to happen. I'm not sure how this will go. When she opens the door am I just going to say, "Hey Carls, are you in love with Freddie?" Or am I going to wait until later on? Am I even going to ask her? Maybe she'll tell me if I hint to it. Probably not. Now that I think about it, I don't even want anyone to answer the door. I don't want to face this; I don't want to know the truth. But again, if I don't find out now, I'm always going to want to know.

The sound of footsteps breaks up my thoughts. My worries mount but I push them aside, realizing that I have no choice now, and I might as well appear calm.

It feels like I'm standing outside the door for an eternity as I wait for the steps to approach the door. Then, I wait another millennia as the doorknob is slowly turned. Its slow squeak is putting me on edge, and I have the mounting feeling to just push the door open and get it over with, but at the same time, I want to run away.

Finally, the door creaks open. Every so slowly it reaches its destination. The face of my best friend stares back at me. I look emptily at the doorway, but upon seeing me, her face breaks into a small grin.

"Hi, Sam," she welcomes me, moving aside to let me enter her apartment.

"Hey, Carls." I try to act as if there's nothing on my mind and plunk down onto the couch, sighing passively.

"What's up?"

"Not much. I was in the area, thought I'd stop by and visit an old friend."

Her smile grows a bit. "Of course you were."

"So, what are you up to today?"

"I don't know yet. I kind of wanted to go to the mall and find some new clothes."

"But you already have so many."

"I don't have as many as you're implying. Plus," she quietly turned her head to the side, "I want new ones." Carly doesn't always like confessing that she just wants something because she wants it, oftentimes she has to come up with some practical reason. This is one of those times.

"Okay." I stare blankly around the room, my mind spinning too much to allow me to hold a full conversation.

"Do you want something to eat?"

"Is that even a question?"

Carly smiles again as she leads the way to the kitchen.

Setting my sandwich down next to my lemonade, I sit back on the couch, trying to gather my thoughts.

I know I have to do something soon. It's now or never. Maybe I should just hint to it. Unfortunately, I'm so busy trying to figure things out that my brain isn't able to process a sneaky plan.

"How was the dance?"

"It was okay."

"Just okay?"

"Yeah," Carly's voice softens. "I- My date was really annoying."

"Austin?"

"He never shut up. He just kept talking and talking and talking," Carly's voice rises and she uses hand gestures to explain in her new frustration. "I just couldn't take it anymore!"

"Ugh. Did you teach that boy a lesson?"

"What did you mean did I-" Carly actually had to think this one through, which is sad. "No! I did not beat up Austin!" Her eyes widen in disbelief and her voice becomes very high pitched in shock.

"Sorry that it's the most logical response."

"It is not! Sam, we've gone over this: violence is not the answer."

"Sure, Carls."

She shakes her head before turning back to me.

"So, uh, what'd you do after the dance? I waited here for you for a little bit, but it got kinda late and I went back to my house. I figured you must have stayed with Austin."

"Yeah." Carly lets out a little sigh before continuing. "We went to the Groovy Smoothie with Freddie and Malika."

"Really?"

"Yep."

"Was it fun?"

"Nothing special." Are you sure about that? Do you have something you want to tell me? Maybe like the fact that you're IN LOVE WITH FREDDIE?

"I mean, Malika did a couple of magic tricks. But as both of us know, they're more weird than entertaining."

"I see. It's good to hear that the rest of your night went well."

I take another bite of my sandwich.

As if he wanted to ruin everything, Freddie walked in at that very moment. Here goes the rest of my plan.

"What goes on?" Freddie questions. Then he stops in his tracks, noticing the awkward silence. I eye Carly and him carefully, trying to analyze what's going on between them. I still can't believe Carly didn't tell me she liked Freddie.

My insides churn in pain again at the memory. Do I feel betrayed by Carly? Not really. I feel more disappointed that she would keep something like this from me. I'm confused why she won't just tell me. It's not like his love for her is a secret. So why can't she admit to it too?

"Hey," she responds. She looks at him for a brief second, flashing a smile of acknowledgment that he's in the room, but then returns to look at me.

"Want more lemonade?" Carly asked, picking up my empty glass.

"Sure."

She goes to the fridge, pours me some lemonade, and returns with a freshly filled glass.

"Freddie, did you ever find out what happened to your date?"

"No," he looks passive. "But I don't really care. She was kind of creepy."

"Kind of?" I wasn't planning on joining their conversation, just on watching it, but I can't help butting in.

"Okay, fine. She was really creepy," Freddie agrees.

Freddie's eyes look to Carly, clouded with a faint sense of longing, but when she looks back at him, she looks at him just like she did any other day. The only real difference between her interactions with him now is that she isn't saying much.

Maybe Carly doesn't love Freddie. I start to get my hopes up that maybe my best friend is still sane.

"Why didn't you two just leave if your dates were so bad?"

"We tried, but it's hard to just ditch out on people. Plus it's rude." Carly explains as if it was obvious.

"Hmmm… Did you two at least leave early?"

"Nope, we couldn't do that either," Carly says.

"Well, have you seen your dates since?"

"I'm afraid to call Austin, I think he'd use up my entire phone bill with one call." Carly looks at the floor, ashamed, but confident in what she says.

"Yeah. Malika just poofed out of the Groovy Smoothie, and after you and I danced, I went h-" Freddie's eyes fly wide open in realization. He's too late.

Carly's eyes grow too, and she stares in horror at Freddie. Realizing I wasn't supposed to know about this, I adopt a look of surprise.

Carly looks from Freddie to me and back again, her head moving from side to side as if she is an animal caught in between a cage of mean zoo-goers.

No one says anything, so I try to break the silence myself. "You…" I pause in an effort to make my shock seem as real as possible. "You two danced? At the Groovy Smoothie?"

The silence grows more and more awkward.

Carly gives Freddie one last glance before speaking. "Yes, we danced."

I make sure to widen my eyes a bit more and open my mouth slightly. Carly's face is covered in bewilderment. I know that she feels bad for not telling me. But I don't want her apology right now; I'm here to find out if she likes Freddie.

There are a couple more minutes of silence before Carly breaks into a wave of explanation, color floating to her cheeks with each word. "No. Well, yes. We danced. But it wasn't for very long. I mean, it wasn't that short either. But it wasn't like we planned it or anything. And our dates were already gone. We were just there, alone. Well, together technically, but everyone besides T-Bo had already left. Both of us had been disappointed by our dates; so we decided maybe we should just have one dance we could actually enjoy. You know, since we're both friends." I look at Freddie after the last statement, and I see his eyes fill with a look of dismay, but he stays quiet and does not object. She continues, "I guess we should have told you, but I figured it wasn't that big of a deal so there was no reason you had to find out." She pauses.

Something inside of me relaxes; I realize that I had no reason to worry. Carly doesn't love Freddie. I can tell that everything she said is honest, because it was all part of one of her guilty rambles, during which she's incapable of fibbing. If they hadn't danced just as friends, she wouldn't have said so during her rush of words.

The pain lifts from inside of me. Carly didn't "forget" to tell me she loved Freddie, because she actually doesn't.

I know Freddie is let down by this, but I am jumping for joy. My best friend wasn't hiding her secret love for Freddie from me, nor did one even exist, so, she's still sane. Any disappointment I harbored about her lack of truth swept away, and all of my previous doubts were long forgotten.

"Okay."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I just didn't think it was a big deal," Carly continues her apology.

"It's fine. I was just surprised you'd want to dance with a nub like Freddie."

Everything returns to normal, and Freddie makes a face at me. I make a face back before looking at Carly again.

"Don't worry, Carls. If you wash your hands twice a day for the next two weeks, the germs should come off."

"Sam, don't be mean." Carly warns, but there's a faint look of amusement on her face.

"You're right, I should have given him more credit. Maybe only for the rest of this week."

Carly gives me another disapproving look, but she can't hide how the corners of her mouth are tugging upward. She turns around so that Freddie won't see her smile. Finally, she looks back at us.

Freddie and I stayed at Carly's house for the rest of the day. The conversation returned to the way it was before they danced together, and the only one who seemed to dwell on the dance was Freddie, who still looked slightly put down. But, after years of being refused by Carly, I don't think that one more rejection is really going to stop him from asking her on a date again.

Thanks again for reading! Please review, and if you have more favorite quotes/sentences/paragraphs/etc, please tell me, because I love reading what your favorite parts of my story are, it's very helpful for my writing process. :)

PS In my version of iSD, Sam is disappointed that Carly didn't tell her she loves Freddie (until she finds out the truth). Many people say that iSD is the moment that Sam fell in love with Freddie. In My List of Firsts, she is not suddenly in love with him, but depending on your interpretation of parts I and II, she may have feelings she doesn't recognize yet. I'm not going to say what my stance is, so stick to your opinion.

PPS I wrote this chapter before iLMM was announced, so the whole someone-going-insane-because-they-love-Freddie thing isn't based off the upcoming episode, I came up with it a while back. Plus it's not even the main plot of this chapter.

Thank you for reading and reviewing! :)