Okay, I know it's been forever since my last chapter, and I'm very very very sorry! For those of you that are actually reading this chapter because for some reason you are still checking for my new story after waiting a super long time, THANK YOU SO MUCH! Again, I'm sorry, and I'll try to never let this happen again, I am just super busy. But, the story will continue. :)

Anyway, this chapter is not one of my favorites (but don't let that stop you from reading it, I still like it!). So, I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 12: My First Mall Fight

Over the years, Carly has dragged me to the mall many times. I do enjoy going to the mall for several reasons: Build-a-Bra, and the food court. Mostly the food court. Their ribs are delicious.

Most of our mall trips consisted of Carly leading me into many stores in search of certain items of clothing or accessories, all of which looked a lot like the rest of the clothes and accessories she already owned, though she would deny it every time I whined my way through a store.

There were also the occasional times when I argued with salespeople who rushed Carly, or who could not get me my ribs fast enough, but aside from that, and the boringness of the whole thing, our trips were relatively fine.

That is, until a little while ago. It all started in Groovy Lady, or as I like to call it, 'the short flowery top and long tie die skirt store.' Carly was on the hunt to find some shirt that was yellow with pale purple flowers and cut at a weird angle so that she could show off her belt. I don't know. What I do know is that as she was looking for it, a saleslady came over, and started getting all up in our business.

"What are you girlies looking for?" She was no older than forty but acted like an eighty-five-year old.

"Just a yellow top," Carly said casually, implying that she could handle her own search.

"Which one?" She hovered over Carly, practically breathing down her neck. "I can go check for it in the back if you want."

What I want is for you to go away. Waiting for the saleslady to leave was more tiring than trying to find the shirt. I felt like lying and telling the lady that Carly wasn't sure exactly what shirt she wanted, but I knew that Carly would have to take extra time to apologize and explain, which wouldn't be worth it.

"I don't exactly know what it's called. It has small purple flowers on it." Carly stared. The lady started moving rapidly, the two of us in tow. The pulled out shirts, and when they weren't the right one, she'd throw them out of the way with a look of disgust.

I rolled my eyes at Carly who responded with a slightly smaller eye roll. The lady didn't notice anything, and she continued with her shirt-throwing spree, barely paying any attention to Carly other than to see her shake her head at each shirt.

Bored, I made my way over to the seating area. On the way there, I passed a rack, on which there was a shirt very similar to the one Carly had showed me. I picked it up and held it above my head, "Hey Carls, is this the one?"

Before Carly could come over and give her response, the saleslady rushed over, ripping the shirt from my hands. "Is this the shirt you wanted?" She pushed her face very close to Carly's, her neck craned and her arm stretched out holding the shirt.

Carly stood there motionless, very confused by the whole situation. I decided it wouldn't be that bad if I was slightly tough. I walked around the lady, reached out for the shirt, and yanked it out of her hands.

"Hey!" The lady jumped away from Carly in surprise. "What do you think you're doing?" She reached for the shirt, but I stepped farther away.

"Better question is, Lady, what do you think you're doing?"

She glared at me, again trying to reach the shirt. I didn't know what Carly was thinking because annoying Mrs. Saleslady blocked her from my view.

"I found this shirt, not you. You have no right to take it from me with your slimy hands. You don't own this store." Please don't own this store, please don't own this store.

"I work here, which is more than you do, you insolent brat."

"Excuse me? What ever happened to 'the customer's always right'?" I stepped closer, posed aggressively.

"You're not right, is the thing. I found this shirt." What? What the heck is going on here?

"Um, I don't know what kind of wackjob asylum you ran away from, but they want you back. I don't know why, seeing as you're very annoying, but I guess it's better that they have to deal with you than we do."

"You can say whatever you want, but you're still wrong. I found the shirt, and you stole it from me."

"You keep believing that, Lady." Gosh, this lady's got serious issues.

"Don't talk back to me!" She walked around me, her eyes glowing with frustration.

"Or what? You'll steal the shirt back? I'm not even the one who wants to buy it!" She lunged at me, making me turn to the side. I could see my best friend standing there. She was silent, and her mouth was hanging open in shock. Carly clearly had not come back to her wits yet.

"Maybe. I. Will." The emphasis doesn't make you any more intimidating. She lunged again. I don't think she realized whom she was messing with.

"Fine, go ahead." I greatly enjoy a good fight. Especially when I'm participating. She stretched her arm toward me, trying to snatch the shirt, but to no avail, I was prepared.

Carly stood quietly, but I could tell she was getting nervous with each step I took. She looked like she was about to snap when someone called out. "Hannah! What the heck do you think you're doing?"

An upset woman walked over to us, looking at the saleslady, fuming. "I know you like to be right and- no, don't interrupt me" the woman cut off Hannah's rebuttal.

"Just because you feel a need to be in control, doesn't mean you are. The customer is always right, and I am your boss. Do you hear me?"

"Yes Mrs. Perknis," Hannah said to the lady who was obviously her boss. "It'll never happen again," she added, looking shamefully around the room.

"It better not. If I ever catch you doing anything of this sort again, you must hand in your pin and not think about ever coming back. Disagreeing with a customer is bad enough, but fighting with them, now that's just downright inappropriate."

"Yes Mrs. Perkins." Hannah mumbled again. Mrs. Perkins pointed for her to leave, and Hannah walked toward the back room, gazing back to shoot Carly and me a malicious glare.

"Now, you two," Mrs. Perkins addressed us. "I'm very sorry for her behavior, she is still learning. May I help you with anything?" She smiled.

"No thanks," I said, Carly still silenced by her shock. "I think we've found what we wanted," I held up the shirt victoriously.

"Well then, have a nice day." With that she headed back to her job.

Finally able to close her mouth and figure out what was going on, Carly walked up next to me. "That was… interesting." She was still dazed.

"Yeah. I mean, I think it's the only time I've ever gotten in a fight and not been the one to get in trouble."

"Sam-"

"Don't ruin the moment, Carls." I nudged her playfully.

"I was just going to say thanks." Her head faced mine now. "That lady really was a piece of work. Plus, you found the shirt I wanted!"

A smile spread across my face and she enveloped me in a hug.

"Now let's just make sure you two didn't rip it during your dispute," Carly suddenly worried, inspecting every inch of her newfound garment.

I laughed. "C'mon, it's fine. Let's just buy it so we can go get me some ribs."

We wandered around the mall. "Freddie just texted me, he's on his way to the mall."

"Uhhhhhhh. Why does Frednub have to ruin our adventure?" I grumbled.

"He doesn't. If you don't fight with him, our adventure should be perfectly enjoyable." Carly knew this wasn't going to happen.

"Are you kidding? I can't not fight with someone like that. He's just such an easy target." Lately he had even been retorting more than whining, which made it more fun. The more he whined, the more annoying he became, but the more he fought, the more I wanted to fight back.

"Hey, Carly! Sam!" Oh my gosh, he's so embarrassing. Everyone in the entire mall must be staring at us right now. There was Freddie, entering the mall, waving his hands like a mad person.

"Hey Freddie," Carly said as we approached. "How was the bus ride?"

"Fine after I convinced my mother Spencer was driving me."

"What, your Mommy doesn't like public transportation?" I teased in a voice you use only with little children.

"No. She finds it gross and inhumane. She had more bus horror stories than everyone else's combined."

"I'm not surprised," I said quietly, but loud enough so that he heard me. Freddie made a face and began to respond, when Carly cut him off.

"Hey look, there's a 3 for 1 deal at the ribs place! If you buy one rack, you can get two free!"

"I don't know what you two are gonna eat, but I found my lunch!" I took off at a sprint for the rib stand, Carly and Freddie laughs echoing from behind.

"3 for 1 rib special, please," I say to the man behind the counter, making my sweetest face.

He chuckles, "cute, sweetheart. Now what would you really like?"

"The 3 for 1 special," I say, confused about what's so funny.

"That offers only during the week. Today's Saturday." He gave me a condescending smile and turned around to put an ear of corn on the grill.

"I would like the 3 for 1 special," I repeated, indignantly believing that he must be messing with me.

"Sweetheart, I told you, we don't do that on the weekends." He seemed to be getting a bit annoyed at my instance, but smiled nonetheless.

"What do you mean?" I snarl. Not only is this man not giving me something I want, but also he's not giving me meat, and he's calling me sweetheart. I know the difference between the week and the weekend, but that doesn't make me want my ribs any less.

"Listen here, I can't give you the special, and that's final." He stated in a firm tone.

Carly and Freddie reached me. "Sam, want to split some ribs with us?" Carly asked innocently. I blocked the two of them out from my mind at the moment.

"Mama wants her ribs. And when Mama wants meat, she gets it." This man has a lot to learn. I reach forward and yanked the man toward me my his collar, the two of us separated only by the counter.

"Now I don't want there to be any trouble here –" The man started.

"Well I do. When Mama doesn't get what she wants, she gets angry." I tugged his shirt again.

"You can still have three ribs, just for the price of three instead of one."

"That's not going to work. I want the 3 for 1 special, and I'm going to get the 3 for 1 special."

The man pushed me off and I sunk back to the floor, glaring at him. In a fit of rage I circled around the counter and threw open the swinging half-door that kept customers out from behind the stand. Looks like it didn't do its job. Just like this guy.

"Miss, you're not allowed back here," he said cautiously.

"And you're not allowed to make me pay for three ribs when there's a 3 for 1 special, so it looks like we're both at fault here." I glared at him as he shrank back with every step I took. But he wasn't giving up yet.

"I'm just following rules, girl, I really can't give you the special. I'll get fired."

"Well then I'll be broke and hungry. I wouldn't want that." I don't know exactly why I was being so mean. But I guess that when I'm hungry, and denied food, I'm not in the happiest of moods.

I got really close to the man, who stood up straight, as if trying to intimidate me. "You best return to the other side of the counter. It would be best for everyone."

"Would it now?" I asked maliciously, savoring every bit of cruelty as it left my mouth.

This time, when he went to step back, I jumped at him. I grabbed his collar again, this time trying to drag him to the ground. I heard the shouts of my previous silent friends as they passed behind the counter, begging for me to stop.

I felt someone grab hold of my waist. I could tell it was Carly by her persistent yet weak grasp. "Freddie, help me!" Carly called desperately.

There was a pause and I could just envision Freddie's face as he hesitated to pull me out of a fight. What a nub. Finally, I felt a second set of arms around my waist, stronger than the first.

Together, Carly and Freddie yanked me away from the man, my arms still swinging and me screaming about wanting my ribs. They dragged me all the way through the food court and into the weird seated section of the mall surrounded by trees. There was relatively no one else there, and once they were sure I wasn't going to run, Carly and Freddie let go. I sat alone on the bench, being examined by two anxious sets of eyes.

It was Carly who spoke first. "Sam, what were you thinking?" Again with the lectures.

"I don't know, okay?"

"It's not like you to be that mean. I mean, I've seen you beat people up, but you were actually being mean back there."

"Well, you said I couldn't be mean to Freddie, and I had to take out my share of meanness for the day on someone." I tried to cover up a truth even I didn't understand.

"But that was the second fight of the day. You always get in some disagreement with mall employees. But two in a day? And both of them physical fights? Sam, what's gotten into you?"

"I really don't know, Carls, honest." I looked at the floor shamefully, but then looked up, remembering Carly's big on the whole eye-contact thing. She realized I was telling the truth but still looked at me curiously.

Freddie grunted. "What Benson?" I felt angry, but I made sure to keep myself seated.

"Nothing. I'm just surprised, I thought Sam Puckett had an answer for everything."

"You know what, Frednub?" In fact, even I didn't know where I was going with this. I guess there was just something bothering me that day. Though I'll never admit it, I am kind of grateful to Carly and Freddie for pulling me out of the fight, after all, there was no way it would end up well for me. I suppose I was just having a bad day.

July 23, 2009: My first mall fight(s) (saved by Carly and Freddie)

I turned in that night, slightly disappointed in myself, but thankful that my friends were there to help me. They always were, and hopefully, they always will be.

Another huge thank you to everyone who stuck with this story throughout an unfortunately long lack of updates!

For any Seddie fans worried about the lack of Seddie in this chapter, don't worry. This was just a random(ish) chapter to add to her list, but the Seddie plot will come into focus again very soon. Even if there are just small hints, it's still coming soon! :D

Please review! I would love to hear your thoughts on the chapter, your anger at me for not posting in a while (I'm upset with myself), what you think the next chapter could be (it's not that obvious), or just to say something along the lines of "Hi" or "I like your story." All comments cheer me up and make me want to write (except angry ones, but after the long lack of updating, I probably deserve some.

Thanks again!