When I said I was going to finish this story, I meant it! The countdown to the end continues with a chapter that's mostly focused on Sam and Carly's friendship. Though this story has a lot of Seddie, it's still first and foremost a story about Sam, and especially as we near the end, I wanted to make sure her bond with Carly got some attention.
Thank you to everyone who keeps reading and reviewing My List of Firsts! I can't believe some of you are still around for this mid-2000s throwback, but I look forward to hearing your thoughts during these last several chapters.
Chapter 33: My First College Visit
I was buried deep enough under the blankets when my phone started ringing that I almost missed the call just trying to extract myself. Right before the last ring ended, I managed to sloppily press the button. After a pause, my sleepy brain remembered to make me say, "hey."
Though I hadn't looked at who was calling me at such an early hour, so few people ever did more than text that I at least had a pretty solid guess as to who was on the other end.
"Where are you?" Yep. Carly Shay.
"In my bed."
"But it's eleven o'clock!"
My response was a grumbling noise that I hope emphasized how sleepy I was.
"Sorry, I'm just used to you being here," she explained, even though after all these years she knew she didn't have to. "I know you still go back to your house to sleep and grab clothes sometimes, but I forgot you told me you weren't spending the night again, and then I woke up and my bed was Sam-less. Which, in case I wasn't being clear, is way less fun. Who else would accidentally smother me with their hair in the night?"
"Who says it's an accident?"
"Sam!"
I chuckled, slowly waking up. "You know it's an accident, Carls. These curls are impossible to deal with. And I may have forgotten to tell you I was coming back here," I offered, knowing Carly may be feeling bad about neglecting my schedule if I actually had filled her in earlier. "My mom went out of town. I don't know where, but before she left, she had like a three day thing with this guy who makes turkey sausages, and I've made it my duty to clean out the fridge so nothing spoils while she's away."
"You're such a martyr," she replied, and I could practically hear her giggling under her breath. "Well why don't you bring the turkey sausages over here? I can prepare them with some new seasoning I got the other day and we can catch up. I think you'll like the spices!"
Carly's enthusiasm about pantry ingredients couldn't fully mask the fact that she had mentioned catching up among everything else she was saying. The two of us already spent pretty much every day with each other and there wasn't a lot we didn't freely share, which meant only one thing: there was a topic she wanted to discuss, and she was going to ease me into it with food.
Guessing it couldn't have been anything too serious, because otherwise she would've gotten right to it since she's not good at letting important topics sit around for long, I mumbled some form of confirmation I would head over soon and then hung up the phone. Eventually, I found enough clothes to resemble an outfit, threw my pajamas on the floor, pulled on the other items, and then grabbed the packages of sausage on my way out the door.
Unsurprisingly, Carly's assessment was correct, and I totally loved the spices she got. They made the turkey way more delicious than my efforts to cook them without any added flavors.
It was hard to be on edge while enjoying something so wonderful, but the moment I was waiting for finally came when Carly stopped cleaning up and came to sit at the kitchen table with me. She seemed a little hesitant, but I did what I could to pretend I didn't notice. Having a chunk of turkey sausage in my mouth helped.
After I swallowed, she took her window of opportunity. "I think we should go on a road trip."
"Sure," I shrugged, interested to see where this was headed. "Where do you wanna go?"
"Pullman." Carly was trying really hard to sound casual, and it was both entertaining and worrying at the same time.
"Pullman? But that's practically in Idaho! Why would you wanna go all the way out there? What's so exciting about Pullman?
She shrugged, still trying to keep up the nonchalant thing. Ever since Carly explained what being nonchalant meant to me, I could more easily spot when she was trying and failing to live up to the description. "I don't know. I thought it could be nice to see the state on a longer drive. Plus, WSU's in Pullman." So that's what she was building up to with this.
"WSU?"
"Washington State University."
"Yeah, I know what it stands for, Shay. But why are we going there? Do you have college friends I don't know about? Are you graduating a year early and we're going to pick out your dorm room and sweet talk your teachers months ahead of time?" I started to panic a little. I don't know what I'd do without Carly for a whole year of my life.
She shook her head and gave me what I think was meant to be a comforting smile. She probably would've patted my hand if the closest one wasn't busy forking sausages.
"No, I'm not leaving early. I mean, I have enough credits, but I just don't think I'd enjoy college if I was so young, because no one would take me seriously." Despite how pretty and bubbly she was, Carly was crazy smart and super accomplished, and she always wanted to make sure that wasn't overlooked by older people. "I was thinking maybe we could visit for… you…" she trailed off, eyeing me a bit nervously.
Even if that shouldn't have surprised me, it still did.
"Me? But there's still time left in high school!"
"You don't need to apply right now, Sam," she reasoned. "I just… every time the topic of college comes up between us or with Freddie or at school, you start to get… evasive." Carly waved her hand, as if demonstrating my evasiveness. "And yes, there's still time, but I want you to have options."
I shrugged, but inside, I was starting to panic again. Thinking about the future was not something I liked to do. I was so used to having Carly and now Freddie around that the thought of us splitting up and going separate ways seemed terrible. Plus, I had no idea how I'd make it through college without them reminding me I was not actually a failure.
"Maybe WSU won't be a good fit for me," was all I said. But based on Carly's expression, I knew she understood what I was trying to say. What if I can't get in? What if I can get in but then you still won't be there with me?
"You won't know that unless you visit." She was really staying firm on this one. "That's why I vote we head over there, make a fun excursion of it, go on the tour, explore the area and all that. If you really truly do not like WSU, then we can cross it off the list. But at least, this way, you'll have an idea of what you like and what you don't about a college, which will help you explore more options."
I sighed and shoved another huge bite of turkey sausage into my mouth. "I don't like that you won't be there and classes will be hard." Even though I hadn't finished chewing yet, she somehow understood me. I think it was a skill she honed over the years.
"You don't know that. For either thing. We may end up together and you may really enjoy your classes."
I let out some kind of snort upon swallowing. "Come on, Carls, we both know you're going off to UPenn or Cornell or probably even Yale. And liking a class doesn't mean it's easy."
"Not necessarily. First I'd have to get accepted to those schools and then I'd have to see what kind of scholarships I could get. I may try to go to University of Washington," she said, her voice getting a little higher, giving away the fact that this was something she'd been thinking about for a long time and wasn't just throwing out there on the spot. "And I am not about to argue with you about class difficulty versus enjoyment. That one you can just experience for yourself."
"University of Washington? But you've always dreamed of heading out to the East Coast to do nerdy scientific research over in their lab thingies."
"Yeah, I know," she looked down at her hands, rubbing one of her nails, even though that didn't do anything. "But UW's in-state, and since it's right in Seattle, I'd be able to check up on Spencer more easily. Plus, then maybe we'd be close to each other…"
I love Carly a lot. I love how giving she is and how she's always way too ready to make sacrifices for people, even when we definitely don't deserve it. That was part of why I was trying to encourage her to become a little tougher. But hearing her consider staying at home just to look after her friends and family when schools would probably be lining up for miles to offer her scholarships to other places made me suddenly feel some of the importance of the college topic.
That was what led me to offer her a compromise. "I will go on this road trip with you to WSU and look at the school and sit through the dumb information session thing where they tell you how their school is the best school. But, I will only do this if you promise me you'll apply to UW as a backup option and still keep your East Coast dreams your number one plan. Deal?"
Personally, I was not a huge fan of this deal. It meant Carly was going to head across the country while I would be stuck staring across the border at Idaho's many potato fields or whatever they have over there - or potentially just working somewhere, depending on whether or not I could get into this place. I hated the thought of being apart from Carly more than pretty much everything else in the world. Even more than smoothies that try to trick you by putting vegetables in them. But if anyone deserved to follow her dreams and finally do what she wanted instead of what everyone else wanted, it was my best friend. So if it took some slight bribing to make it happen, so be it. Momma has never been above a good bribe.
This compromise caught Carly off guard, and I could see on her face as she processed all of the possible things thing could mean. At last, despite the conflict in her eyes, she sat up straight again and nodded, offering her hand to me. "Deal."
We shook on it. Then she started laying out her pre-formed road trip plans.
It turned out WSU was a pretty cool place. Or, at least, it wasn't as boring as I thought a college would be. Carly was fascinated by the fact that Abraham Lincoln had signed off on the land grant. I liked the place more and more as the number of food options grew during our tour.
Carly's excitement and pride were detectable from over a mile away, but I had to admit at least internally that it made me happy knowing she was happy and that she cared about my future enough to bring me here.
Maybe I was still dodging the finality of college, but it didn't seem nearly as big of a deal when Carly and I walked around the area together once the information dump was done.
Part of the road trip Carly had waited to surprise me with until I was sufficiently calmed after the guided tour was that we were staying the night. They had an option for potential applicants to stay overnight in a dorm room, which explained the duffle bag Carly had thrown into the car before we left.
The room they gave us was in the nicest dorm they had on campus, and even though I commented they were trying to trick you by only showing you the fanciest parts, Carly reminded me there was no reason I wouldn't necessarily end up in the fancy new area.
"On the bright side, no matter how gross a dorm gets, it'll probably still be a step up from where I live now." I was laying on one of the two beds in the room, my feet hanging off the end so my sneakers didn't dirty the sheets Carly had just made up.
Even though I knew she worried for my home situation this time, I could tell she understood I was saying it in a funny way at the moment, so she laughed along with me. When I turned my head to look at her, she was in the same position I was, but with her shoes neatly on the floor and her eyes turned up to stare at the ceiling.
"I wasn't just thinking of applying to UW for Spencer, you know."
My only reply was a humming noise, because I could tell she wanted to say more, and that she'd been sitting on it for a while.
"Of course I want to be able to check in on him and make sure everything's going well at the art gallery and he's eating enough and he hasn't hot glued his hand to the iron. But it was also for me. As much as I want to go to the East Coast and I've been dreaming of attending some of the colleges over there… it's just so different. Now that we're getting older and I actually have to think about college in real terms… I guess it just freaks me out a little. I mean, yeah, I've always had that dream of heading out there and earning acclaim in a fancy science department. But even if I did get a scholarship and the money factor was eliminated… it's still just so far away. Far away from you and Freddie and Spencer and Seattle and the studio."
She swallowed, and I watched as she made an effort to keep her emotions under control. It was hard to hear Carly concerned about anything, but it made me feel better about my own worries, just as it made me glad she was opening up to someone. Especially since that someone was me.
"There's no reason you can't apply to UW. But I still think it's worth you heading East where it's cold and everyone's miserable and uptight just to see if you like it. And can't you transfer or whatever? If you got in somewhere you really liked out there, you could always come back if it wasn't for you."
"That's… I hadn't thought about that. Thanks, Sam," she looked over to me and smiled, though my response was just to look surprised she hadn't considered the idea yet. I only knew about college transferring from her, in the first place.
I shrugged against the comforter. "You're not going to get stuck anywhere. And if they don't want you to leave, then I'll just head out there and bust you out. No problem."
Carly chuckled and I watched her grin widen for a second before it dropped. "But what if… what if my dad comes home and I'm not there?"
"Then we'll get you the soonest plane ticket and you can run into his arms at the airport gate." I said it as if it was just as simple as that, and in some ways, maybe it was. At least for the time being, Carly seemed to think that idea worked well enough.
About an hour later, we'd come back from the dining hall and we plopped down together on one of the beds. Remembering my phone had buzzed several times throughout the day, I finally fished it out of my pocket.
"Freddie says he wants to see a real, live dorm room," I told her, rolling my eyes. "What a nerd."
"It still surprises me sometimes that he texts you that sort of stuff now," she admitted, looking way too pleased about this arrangement.
I just shook my head, making a face at her. "Hey, if you want the nub to text you about all of the weirdo things that go through his head, then feel free to make a request." I held up my phone, trying to figure out the best thing to take a picture of in the room for him.
"What if I said we weren't in the room and instead I was at the police station because you went too wild at a college party that was happening in the mid-afternoon for some reason and now I need help bailing you out?"
"Sam!"
"Okay, you're right. He would never believe that."
"Hey, I can be fun," she crossed her arms.
"Yeah, but fun and stupid aren't the same thing. Though I would obviously bail you out," I grinned.
"Noted and appreciated." Carly gave me a poke. "Why don't you just video call him on your PearPhone? That way we can both say hi and he can see the room better than whatever that picture was you just took."
"You're so smart," was my response, and I started the call without warning Freddie about it ahead of time.
A few seconds later, Freddie's face came into view and he smiled, giving a wave. "Hey, Sam! Are you in the room?"
I smiled back at him out of instinct and nodded. "Yep, here with Shay, trying to act as if we somehow blend in with all of these college people."
"By blending she means staying tucked away in this room aside from our trip to the dining hall," Carly clarified, and I tilted the phone so she was in the picture a bit more. "Hi, Freddie. How's it going back in Seattle?"
He shrugged, giving her a wave, as well. "Same old, same old. I've been working on some new special effects I think could be cool for iCarly. Other than that, not much. My mom's out tonight, so I threw the weird tofu thing into your garbage and went out and got a burger."
"Wow, don't get too wild," Carly said teasingly.
"Your mom's out in the evening? Does she have a hot date?" My face emphasized how not hot that sounded.
Yet, to Carly and my surprise, Freddie's reaction wasn't total dismissal. "Well, uh, I don't know if I'd say hot, but…"
"Hold up," Carly said, literally holding her hand up when she said it, like it may stop time and help everything make sense again. "Mrs. Benson is actually out on a date? Tell us everything!"
"I thought I was going to get to see the dorm room."
"You'll see the dorm room once you give us the details about this date!"
He groaned, but it did seem like he was glad to have someone to share in his misery. This truly was an unprecedented and horrifying situation.
As it turned out, Freddie's mom had met some guy at one of the cleaning conventions she attended several months ago, and they'd stayed in contact through cleaning forums, apparently flirting by discussing the merits spray bottles versus cans or something gross like that. Then, mystery cleaning guy (AKA Tim, according to Freddie) turned out to have a meeting nearby in Seattle for work, so he'd contacted Mrs. Benson somewhere other than the forums and they'd set a date.
An actual date.
Carly and I both had our mouths half-open by the time Freddie finished explaining, and I could tell the facts hadn't really sunk into his brain yet, either.
"How'd you find out all this?" Carly finally asked. "Your mom is so private that she wouldn't even tell me her birthday so I could bake her a cake when you guys moved in."
"She says birthdays are the first step to cracking someone's personal info," he said with a shrug, as if that was normal. I guess by now, it sort of was with her. "Anyway, I found out because I went onto our apartment computer to run some updates and she'd left the form open. It was some nasty chizz," he added, sticking out his tongue.
Since I was so used to my mom going on dates practically every day, I'd never really thought about how weird it would be to have a parent who suddenly started dating. That would be like if my mom decided she was going to give up on men and get a real job. Very alarming and very strange.
"So there really are more people like her in this world… I always wondered if the conventions were actually just her going places to admire cleaning solutions on her own," I told him, trying to lighten the mood a little. "Does he at least seem alright?"
While I doubted this guy was set to become Freddie's stepfather the next day, if Mrs. Benson liked him enough, there was a chance Freddie would have to meet the guy, and I figured that would be kind of a weird change of pace for him.
His response was a shrug. "I don't know. He's obviously kind of whacked, but amidst all of the confusing attempts to use cleaning metaphors, he seemed nice. Though I'm sure if he's not, my mom will smack him with her purse and all that, so I'm not too worried."
"Well, keep us updated," Carly said, and I nodded. While he rolled his eyes and relented, all three of us knew we were more curious about how Freddie was doing, even if the gossip was obviously hilarious.
We finally showed him the room, and Freddie's first comment was that it looked pretty normal, even if it was shinier than what you see of dorms in movies. "You two better not get so wrapped up in your girls trip or whatever this is that you forget to return to Seattle, because I can't pick up and move to Pullman. Also I don't think you're allowed to have an overnight that lasts more than one night."
I made a noise like I was brushing off his silly ideas. "Details, Benson. Details."
"You'll see our lovely faces in person soon enough," Carly reassured him. "Just don't be too icky with each other because you've reunited after a whole two days apart." She looked between the phone and me warningly, and I held up my free hand in mock surrender.
Freddie didn't help our cause by saying, "no promises."
"Fredward! Come on, you have to work harder than that to make sure Carly actually goes back."
"Alright, alright," he laughed. "I promise to at least try."
In reality, neither of us were into PDA and Carly was too supportive of our relationship to be bothered by it, but the dramatics of the situation gave her something to tease us about, and she deserved the opportunity after so many years of being on the receiving end of my teasing, instead.
There was a faint knocking sound from the phone, and Freddie frowned, turning around as if he could see through his own front door. "Hang on." I could tell he put us on mute so I couldn't shout at whoever was in the hallway, but he carried his phone with him as he went.
It turned out to be Marvin and - once Marvin had hurried inside and made himself comfortable in the apartment - a tired-looking Spencer.
"What're you doing here? With Marvin?" Freddie's confusion was pretty understandable. "Also, he can't shed in here! My mom will freak out."
Before Spencer could answer, Freddie took off across the room, and Carly and I watched his free hand lay down a towel and try to coax the ostrich onto it.
"I opened the elevator to measure something and Marvin dashed in and pecked at the button before I could get to him, so I chased him around the building but forgot to grab my keys and I was wondering if you could pick the lock of our front door so we could get back in and I can give Marvin his toast with FatSpread. It always calms him down."
Carly started to say something about not picking the lock, but she only got partway through the sentence before remembering our side was muted so they couldn't hear her.
"You have FatSpread in your house and you never gave me any? That's like my number four favorite Fat Cake product!"
She looked confused rather than apologetic. "I had no idea! He must've been buying some for Marvin and stashing it in his room."
Before that part of the conversation could continue, Spencer noticed us on Freddie's phone. "Hey, are you talking to Carly and Sam? Hey, guys! Or… hey, girls! Ladies! Whatever you two want, really." He gestured to Marvin, who somehow did what Spencer wanted and poked his head into the frame.
Freddie unmuted his phone so we could reply, moving it out of the way just in time to avoid an aggressive beak pecking.
"Uh, maybe it'd be best if we let you two go so I can work on getting Spencer back into the apartment. Thanks for showing me the room! Try not to have too much fun without me," he grinned.
"Do not break our lock, Freddie Benson," Carly told him with her sternest face. It didn't last long since she wanted to make sure to get in a friendly smile as we waved until the call ended.
"That was…"
"Interesting," she supplied. "I can't believe Mrs. Benson's on a date."
"I wonder if they're just cleaning things together and arguing with store employees about product placement of different items."
Carly snorted in an uncharacteristic way. Then again, these were unprecedented circumstances. "Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised." Crossing her legs, she grabbed her knees and looked around the room for a minute.
"Do you want to go to the common area downstairs? It's a good opportunity to see more of the dorm, plus I think they have a TV and maybe we can even see what actual college students look like."
I nodded, seeing no reason to disagree, especially since I spotted a vending machine in the room when we had walked by it on our way to the elevators earlier.
When we arrived in the common area, it turned out they did have a TV, and it was streaming a rerun of Girly Cow.
"This is the one that aired right before our episode," Carly reminded me, and I smiled a bit, realizing she was right. I was also sort of relieved our episode wasn't on, because it may be weird if people were hearing our voices on screen and in the same room as them.
Carly sat on one of the couches, and I joined her shortly afterward with an array of snacks from the machine. Once we'd divided up the bags, we started debating whether pandas or koala bears were cuter. I liked the weird fluffy ears koalas had, but Carly was in favor of pandas, and wouldn't waver, even when I threw a chip in her face. She just picked it up and ate it, depriving me of a perfectly good chip and preventing me from winning this incredibly important debate.
Pretty rude of her, when you think about it.
When we finally agreed to disagree until one day reopening this discussion, Carly got up to grab some water, and I stretched out my legs to take up the whole sofa. It was comfy and a good way to make sure none of the students in the building swooped in and stole her seat.
Though when enough time had passed that she should have returned already, I straightened up and looked around, ready to shout over to her to stop ogling all of the club flyers.
It turned out Carly was not ogling posters about nerdy gatherings, but was instead ogling a boy. A college boy.
As much as I wanted to get up and go over and embarrass her, because that's what best friends are for, they looked so enthralled with each other that I just opened a bag of cookies and let the entertainment continue.
The thing about Carly is that, while she's pretty and sweet and says all the right things, meaning guys and even some girls seem to be ready to flirt with her at any moment, when she actually likes someone, she freezes up more than usual.
Over time, it's become easy to distinguish between the guys Carly sort of likes and the guys she has real interest in, because the ones she sort of likes make her giggly, but the other ones make her way more like the open, awkward person she is with me. Not totally, but at least more than she is with most people.
And the longer she and College Guy talked, the more she toned down her usual, over-the-top levels of excitement. She started rubbing one of her arms with the other and glancing at the floor every so often. Her smile was still huge, but it seemed like they had started discussing something she considered important and not just trivial.
Since it felt a little weird to keep staring at them, I turned back around, sank into the couch, and pulled out my phone to text Freddie.
Sam: Carly's flirting with a college boy!
Sam: Think she realized there's more to college than studying!
Sam: What do I do if she decides she wants to stay here w/smart dude forever?
Freddie: ?
Freddie: Is she actually flirting or just being nice and kind of sweet?
Sam: No, Benson! Actual flirting! Like I think I hear wedding bells in the distance!
Freddie: NO WEDDINGS YET
Freddie: WE'RE ALL TOO YOUNG
Sam: Ha sorry… Too soon after Vegas?
Freddie: You could say that.
Freddie: So what's this guy like?
Sam: I don't know. He's like the exact type of guy Carly would want?
Sam: He's tall and seems nice
Sam: He even had a book with him A BOOK maybe it's a science book and there was just a light flashing over his head telling Carly to talk to him
Freddie: Do you have any other deets?
Sam: Not yet but obviously I'll give you all the deets when I have them
Sam: She's getting a full interrogation after this
Sam: Unless they ride off into the sunset before I get the chance
Freddie: You can just ride after them to ask.
Sam: Not a bad plan
Freddie: I'm trying to be useful
Sam: You are :)
After I typed one more smiley face than I would've used a few months prior, Carly came over and sat on the couch by my feet. I locked my phone so the screen would go dark before she could have a chance to see we were texting about her.
"Long water break," I said, nudging her leg with my toe. She was smiling more than usual, so she had no escape.
Carly cleared her throat in an amazingly ladlylike manner that seemed impossible, before pushing her hair behind her shoulder and half-shrugging at me. "I started talking to a college student on my way back. I was curious about how much time people tend to spend in the common area."
"And you discussed this piece of data for that long?" My skeptical look make it clear I at least had real suspicions, and she caved pretty easily.
"No. I mean, sort of. That talk just sort of carried over into discussing other parts of college. It was neat to hear about it from someone who's actually living it. And James said he's really enjoying WSU, but that he may transfer after his second year if he can get into the right program. Everything he said just made college feel so much less scary, and it was super interesting."
"So James is super interesting?" I was full on smirking at her by that point.
"Oh, shut up," she swatted my leg, but Carly's smile didn't deny any part of it. "He was… nice."
"Uh huh. And interesting."
"And interesting. And… smart and he just seemed… really nice."
"You already said nice."
Her response was to turn bright red and hide her face in her hands.
"Well? Did you get his number?"
Carly peeked out from behind her fingers. "No, why would I do that?"
"Um, because he's a cute boy and you like him."
"Yeah, but he's in college and I'll probably never see him again."
I sighed. "He's in college under five hours away from where you live, he's only a year older than you by the sound of it, he's smart and nice and I cannot believe I am helping your love life right now. You're always the expert here. And in, you know, really every area of life."
"You do have a boyfriend," she pointed out, and it took me a moment to realize that actually did set us apart and that I did have an actual boyfriend.
"Fair point. Anyway," I slid off the couch and popped up once to shake out the laziness. "I'll be back."
"Sam, where are you going?" there was a slight hint of warning in her voice, though she looked hopeful.
"To get you a boyfriend, Carly Shay. Or at least a boy who's a friend who you have a huge crush on."
"I do not-"
I shushed her by putting my hand over her mouth. "No time for lies now, kid. It's time to take action. Well, for me. Just stay here and I'll be right back."
Soon enough, I was entering the common area again, and a very anxious-looking Carly waved me over. I sort of picked up my pace for her.
"What did you do?"
"I got you his number," I told her, pulling out her phone and typing in her passcode so I could enter the number I'd put in my phone to remember it for when I got back to her.
For a moment, she just stared at me. Then she finally asked, "how?"
I shrugged. "He was waiting for the elevator, so I just went over, told him I was your friend and you'd been too nervous to ask. He laughed and gave me his number and told me to tell you that you should text him soon."
"This is so embarrassing!" Her face was back in her hands. "He must think I'm just such a geeky high schooler."
"Uh, Carls… he gave me his number for you and explicitly requested you text him soon. I think you're fine. Plus I made sure he knew you were getting older and heading to college before too long, yourself. It wasn't weird."
Slowly, her face lit up, and she looked down at her phone to gaze at his contact as if it was James, himself. "Thank you," she eventually murmured, before surprise attacking me with a super tight hug. I didn't mind.
When we entered the Shay apartment the next afternoon, it was empty, so sadly I was the only one there to witness Carly nearly faceplant after her legs smacked into the end table because she was so focused on her phone.
Seconds later, there was a knock and I opened the door for Freddie. He kissed me on the cheek and then went to give Carly a hug, only to send me a questioning look when he saw her smiling at her phone from the sofa.
"James," I said, and his expression turned knowing. I had filled him in somewhat about College Guy after breakfast before we hit the road.
"Did you two talk at all during the drive?"
"Yeah, the whole way. And we didn't even talk about him. But then he texted when we were on our way upstairs, and she nearly took a dive she was so distracted. I wish you were here to see it," I said, smiling as I thought back to it. "So un-Carly and so hilarious."
"I was very graceful, thank you very much," our best friend said, not looking up.
"She speaks!" Freddie and I said sort of in union, high fiving as Carly stuck her tongue out at us.
"We're not even being icky, as promised, so the sappy stuff is all on you, Shay," I told her, dropping into the chair nearby.
"I just… I don't know. I like him, okay?"
She finally turned her face away from her phone, and I grinned at her. When I looked over to Freddie, he was doing the same.
"And don't act like the minute I'm not in the same room you're not going to start kissing each other."
"I don't know what you're talking about." I gave Freddie a light punch in the shoulder, and he just rolled his eyes at me in amusement. My face of denial was not very convincing, apparently.
"Why don't you ask him to visit sometime? Then you can see each other. He probably would want to come to Seattle at some point, anyway." Freddie was full of good ideas, especially since this one meant we could both meet James in a way that didn't include asking for his phone number outside the elevator.
Carly started chewing on her lip nervously. "Isn't that… too forward?"
"Hey, don't look at me. All I know is forward," I said, which made her relax a little.
Freddie added, "you might as well ask. Make it clear he won't stay with you and that you just think it'd be fun to hang out in the city with him if he visits."
"When did you become such an expert on romance?" both of us looked at him in confusion, but he didn't seem to have an answer.
"He said he was planning to come to Seattle next weekend and it'd be fun to hang out!"
"So he wants to see you," I highlighted.
"Well, he's coming to Seattle and I live here so it's convenient…"
"Carls, I don't think he was already planning to come to Seattle."
Freddie shook his head, confirming that was probably the case and James had just made this plan based on Carly's invitation.
This made Carly blush. Deciding she didn't need to be tortured any further for the moment by our questions, I got up and looked around the room. "Where do you think Spencer keeps Marvin's FatSpread?"
Sam's getting a little more serious about the future, Carly's met a guy, and there were - as always - some ridiculous shenanigans.
I hope you liked this chapter! Please tell me your thoughts.
Next time: it's time for the Seddie monthaversary! Or, more accurately, avoiding the monthaversary.