Twelve Days of Christmas-
Chapter Four: The Fourth Day of Christmas
It was the day before winter break, and the school was bustling with activity. Students were ready to forget about the teachers, and teachers, the students. Everyone was happy that over a week off from school was so close at hand.
Carly hummed to herself, as she walked down the hallway. She was especially excited, due to the fact that she was doing her webshow that night. She made her way to her locker, books clutched to her chest. She opened her locker, placing her books into it. It was lunch time, and she was hungry, maybe for some pasta. She shut her locker, revealing a long-haired blonde standing next to it. Carly smiled.
"Hey, Sam."
"Yo," The blonde nodded towards her. "Where's Fredweird?"
"I haven't seen him." Carly shook her head.
"Good, I need to talk to you." Sam looked down at her feet. "Something important."
Carly raised an eyebrow. "Important?"
"Yeah," Sam looked at her. "really important."
"Okay, let's talk at lunch." She waved Sam along. "Come on."
"Sure thing, Carls." She followed Carly to the cafeteria.
They picked up lunch. Carly picked up some macaroni and cheese, while Sam chose some of the various ham selections available. They sat down at a table by the wall, just the two of them. They soon saw Freddie, crossing the room with Gibby. Apparently, they were having lunch together before the break, possibly discussing the show later. Carly sat there, taking a bite of her macaroni. She leant back in her chair, staring at Sam.
"What?" Sam took a bite of a slice of ham.
"You wanted to tell me something?" Carly looked down, as she stirred her macaroni and cheese.
"Not while Momma's eating." She took another bite.
"Sam," Carly looked up. "you wanted to tell me, right?"
"Yeah, but—"
"Then, tell me, Sam." Carly looked at her sternly. There was something that told Sam that she was ready for the worst.
Sam took a deep breath. "Okay..." She pursed her lips.
"Sam?"
"I'm getting to it."
"Sam!"
"Okay! I'll tell you. Just don't make a big deal about it, okay?" She stabbed her ham.
"What is it?" Carly was afraid of the answer.
"I... like... someone."
"Who is it?"
"It's someone that you know."
"Is it Adam?" Carly hoped.
"No..."
Carly's eyebrow rose. "Is it Gibby?"
Sam looked disgusted. "Ew, no! Gibblets and gravy? No way!"
"Then..."
Sam slammed her head down on the table. That caused some of the other students to stare at them strangely. Carly just smiled. "Nothing to see here, folks, please, go about your lunches."
She watched as Sam grabbed her hair, violently messing it up. "Furtty."
Carly leant closer. "What?"
Sam's head popped up. "Freddie, okay?"
"Freddie?" Carly gripped her spork tightly.
"Yeah." Sam had a look that seemed apologetic.
"Are you sure?" Carly's voice had an edge to it that told she didn't want to believe it.
"I'm so sorry, Carly." She looked down at her unfinished ham. She had lost her appetite during the conversation.
"Do you..."
"Yeah, I think that I love the weenie." It was as close to an 'I love Freddie' that she was ever going to give.
"Sam..."
"I love Freddie." All right, possibly that was as close as it was ever going to get.
Carly swallowed hard. "How?"
"I don't know. I just pick on the nub all the time, I don't know how it could happen like this."
Carly's Macaroni was left untouched in its cheese. She, too, had lost her appetite. "Maybe, you pick on him, because you like him."
Sam looked her dead in the eyes. "Why do you like him?"
"Me?"
Sam nodded.
"Well, he's always been there for me. He's sweet, caring, cute, and he loves me. I had just never wanted to 'settle' for him. Then, I realised, I'm not settling for him. He's the guy I've always wanted." Carly sighed. "I don't know, I just... love him."
"Yeah," Sam agreed, a smiled on her lips. If only things were that simple. "He is pretty cute, in a nubbish kind of way."
They both laughed, nervously.
"We promised that we wouldn't fight over a guy, again." Carly crossed her arms.
"Yeah." Sam leant back. "What are we gonna do about the dork?"
"I don't know."
Sam's eyebrows creased. "I was going to tell you, you know, but then you told me that you love him. I didn't know what to do, because, I..."
"Love him, too."
They both took a deep breath, exhaling.
"I'm so sorry, Carly."
She looked at Sam, a sad smile on her face. "Don't be. You can't help how you feel."
"But, Carls, we can't both have him, right."
Carly cuckled. "I'm sure any guy would like having two girls."
Sam laughed, as well. "Especially two hot momma's, such as ourselves."
The laughing eventually stopped, awkwardly.
"So, what are we going to do about the nub?" Sam asked.
"I don't know." Carly picked up her tray. "I guess, we'll just have to be adults about it. I'll see you later, okay?"
Sam watched as Carly walked away, dumping the uneaten food into the trash. She looked down at the cold ham.
"See you."
…
Both Carly and Sam had trouble concentrating on class for the rest of the day. Carly sat in history, while Mr. Devlin, the history teacher, prattled on and on. The only history that she was focused on was her history with Sam. Was she ready to put it all at risk, just for a boy? Though, he wasn't just any boy, he was Freddie.
The thoughts in her head were rushing faster than Mr. Devlin's words. Something about the American Revolution, or some such nonsense. Face cupped in her hands, she let the words flow past her, unheard. She wasn't even trying to pay attention to what was occurring around her. Her thoughts preoccupying her mind. What was she going to do about Sam? She liked Freddie as well. She was in a predicament, go after the guy she liked, and she could possibly lose her best friend. She shook her head, she couldn't let a guy, even Freddie, get between them. She looked down at her page, as blank and white as the winter snow.
Sam, meanwhile, was having no better of a time keeping her mind on class. She tapped her pencil on her desk, trying to drown out the droning of Mr. Howard, who was teaching maths at the time. She was missing the entire lecture, not that she cared at all about maths. Her mind was on lunch, in which she admitted to her best friend, that she was in love with her other best friend. Things were so confusing, that she no longer wanted to think about it. The only problem was, she couldn't for the life of her, concentrate on something else. She ran her fingers through her hair, getting caught in the long blonde locks.
She let out a small sigh, wondering what to do about Carly and Freddie. She remembered promising never to let a boy between her and Carly, but it was the nub. He was more than just another guy. There was nothing to do, she loved the nub. But she loved Carly, as well, and never wanted to hurt her. She grumbled, not finding a way around it.
…
Later that day, Freddie stood at his locker, awaiting both Carly and Sam. He was entirely clueless to everything that was happening with Carly and Sam. He shut his locker, leaning against it, humming to himself. He saw Sam coming down the stairs, and he waived to her.
"Hey, Sam."
"What up, nub?" she acknowledged him. She went over and opened her locker, placing books into it.
The day was finally over, and the students were rushing to get out of the school. The hallways were crowded, and the atmosphere was noisy. Many of the students were flowing out of the classrooms, moving like a river out the front doors. Freddie and Sam had to strain against the rush. Carly soon came down the stairs, being pulled along with the rest of the student body. Her petite form standing no chance at staying stationary, she let them push her over towards her locker. Almost being pulled out the front doors prematurely, she felt someone grab her sleeve. Throwing her hand out into the aether, she felt her hand being grabbed. She was pulled over to her cloister of lockers to find none other than Freddie holding her hand, pulling her into his arms. He, as per usual, was smiling.
"Hey, Carly. You okay?"
She smile up at him. "Yeah, I am, now."
The two did not see Sam, behind Freddie's back, with a slight scowl on her face.
"You can let me go, now, Freddie," Carly said, her cheeks pink.
"Oh, sorry." He reluctantly released her from his arms.
Carly opened up her locker, placing all her books into it. She didn't want to think about school for the rest of the holiday season. She had other things on her mind. She took out her red coat and hat. "Ready to make another webshow?"
Sam slammed her locker shut, plastering a smile on her face. She hoped it looked realistic. "Of course."
"Sure thing." Freddie gripped his bag's strap.
Bag empty, Carly shut her locker. "All right, then, let's get out of here!"
Carly leading the way, they forded the river of students, to make it out to the buses. Getting on the bus that would take them to Bushwell Plaza, they sat, Sam by the window, Carly by the aisle, Freddie, unfortunately for him, in the middle. The bus started up, a loud rumble shaking the chassis. It slowly moved out of the parking lot, snow falling gently from the sky.
The bus ride was quiet. Much too quiet for Freddie's taste. He felt that he had to say something.
"Are you guys okay?"
Carly looked at him. "Yeah, of course."
"It's just, that, you two seem pretty quiet, today."
Sam looked away from the window. "It's nothing, nub."
"Are you guys sure?" Freddie had a worried look on his face.
Sam leant forward, and looked at Carly, seemingly asking what they should do about him. Carly leant and stared back, across Freddie, wondering the same thing. Freddie, sat there, looking at one, then the other, fluctuating between them. Freddie was getting even more worried with all the silence.
"What's going on with you two?"
Sam sat up, tweaking his cheek. "Aw, is Freddie-weddie all worried about his girls?"
Freddie sat there, blushing.
"Oh, looks like you're getting all red again. Are you sick?" asked Carly, fanning him with her hands.
He swatted them away. "Stop it! Ah, forget it!" He crossed his arms, upset. "Girls are so weird."
The bus kept on going, down the road to Bushwell Plaza.
…
The Bus dropped the three off at the bus stop. They made their way to Bushwell, running into Lewbert in the lobby. In the midst of all his ranting, the teens got into the elevator, travelling up to Carly's apartment. As the lift went on its way up, the silence kept going. Anytime Freddie started to question the two, they poked fun at him, and he relented.
Freddie spent the time in the elevator thinking about the two girls next to him. Carly on his right, Sam on his left, they were both leaning against him. Which was odd for him, as there was plenty of space for them to spread out. He wouldn't admit it, but it was kind of nice. It was kind of nice having two beautiful girls right next to you. A small smile shown on his lips. He tried to hide it. There was still something going on between Carly and Sam, which disturbed him, and made him worry. They were his best friends, and he loved them. There was something that they weren't telling him, and it annoyed him. He was going to get to the bottom of it, but he had the webshow to take care of that day. Maybe it would wait for tomorrow.
The lift opened up to showcase Carly's living room. All in all, it seemed to be in order. They stepped out, looking around for the one thing that was missing.
Spencer leapt out on his room, gloves and muffler on, but no coat. "Hey, guys! Happy break! Happy break!"
"Hey, Spence," Sam answered.
"Afternoon, Spencer," Freddie said.
Carly asked, "Why do you have your gloves and scarf on, but no coat?"
Spencer looked solemn for a moment. He looked at them seriously. "I don't know."
The three teens nodded as if it all made sense. Though, if one knew Spencer, it would make sense.
"Are you going to go work on your snowman, again?" Sam flopped onto the couch.
"It's an ice sculpture, and yup! I'm gonna finish it, today."
"Hey," Carly took off her hat. "Can we put it on iCarly?"
"Sure!" Spencer threw his hands up in the air. "But, only when it's done."
Carly went into the kitchen, grabbing a Peppy Cola from the refrigerator. "When do you think it'll be done?"
"Probably, by the time you start the show." Spencer went to put his coat on.
"Okay, we'll see you then." Carly took a drink of her soda. She watched as Spencer left for the outside. "What do you guys want to do until the show?"
"Well," Freddie pointed towards the couch, where a certain blonde was snoozing. "Sam's already got a plan."
"I guess that we could watch some TV." Carly sat down in a free chair, Peppy Cola in hand.
"Sure. What's on?"
Carly turned on the television. "Celebrities Underwater."
"Oh, let's watch." Freddie sat down in the chair by the kitchen.
They watched the television, as celebrities did things underwater. Time passed, and the sun was beginning to go down. Carly, turned to Freddie. She noticed Freddie wasn't paying attention to the programme.
Freddie was watching Sam sleep, with a smile on his face. Not in a creepy way, it was just some furtive glances. Though it was obvious his attention was drawn. She was quite beautiful when she was sleeping, not making his life hell. He felt eyes placed upon him. He turned towards Carly to see her with a questioning look on her face. Freddie gave her a tentative smile.
"She seems really nice, when she's not punching me."
Carly looked down into her lap. "She's really nice, huh?"
"Yeah," Freddie said, then whispered, "So are you."
His words hung in the air. Feelings and passion in those three words. They were not the three word that she was hoping for.
"Freddie, what do you think of Sam and me?"
"What?"
She shook her head. "Nevermind, it's stupid."
They were unaware of Sam stirring on the couch.
Freddie simply smiled. He took his feet off of the coffee table. He got up, walking over to her, on the other side of the table. Sitting down on the end, he looked her in the eyes. "You guys are my best friends, I love you, two."
"Really?" Carly focused on the word 'love'.
Sam, eyes cracked open, focused on that word, as well.
"What's with all this talk about how I think?" He took her hands gently. "Is something going on, Carly?"
Sam and Carly both closed their eyes, nervously.
"No," Carly said. She gave a shrug and an encouraging smile. "I was just wondering, that's all. It's a girl thing."
"Are you sure, because—"
A loud yawn from the couch interrupted him. He turned to the source. Sam stretched on the couch, her shirt coming up to bear her midriff. Freddie lost his train of thought. Shaking his head, he turned back to Carly.
"What was I saying?"
"Ah," Carly said, looking at him in innocence. "I don't remember."
Sam knocked him on the back of the head. "Hey, we should get going for the show."
Freddie looked at his watch. "You're right. We'd better set up." He got up from the table, heading over to the lift. "I'm going to go get the camera set up, you girls go down stairs to set up for the show, okay?"
"Whoa," Sam exclaimed, "way to put yourself in charge, Fredward."
"Yeah, yeah," he responded as the elevator doors closed.
Sam turned towards Carly. "I heard."
"You heard?"
"Yeah." Sam nodded.
"How much?"
"I heard him say that he loved us."
"I don't think that he meant—"
"I know. Probably not."
"I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"I almost told him."
"It's fine." Sam stared at the floor. "We better get down there."
"Okay," She motioned out the door. "let's go."
They went down to the lobby using the main elevator. Lewbert took his time yelling at them. The two girls just ignored him. They went out into the lot, where they were filming and where Spencer was building his snowman. They set up by building small walls across the lot from one another, and they made snowballs. They packed the walls high enough that they would be able to hide behind them. Freddie came out soon after, camera in hand.
"You guys ready to film?" He propped the camera up. "We're losing daylight."
The girls stood in front of the camera, primping their hair. "We're ready," they said, in unison.
"Okay, in five, four, three, two." Freddie pointed with his index finger.
"Hey, I'm Carly," the brunette said.
"And I'm Sam!" the blonde one exclaimed.
"And this is iCarly!" they both shouted.
A loud cry came from the lobby. "Shuddap!"
"Wow," Sam scratched her head. "Lewbert's got ears like a bat."
"I'll say," Carly agreed. She turned back towards the camera. "Anyhoo, we've got another one of my brother Spencer's sculptures to show you."
"It's a snowman," Sam interjected.
"It's not a snowman!" Spencer cried from the background.
Carly stepped up to the camera, whispering, "It so is a snowman."
"It is," Sam agreed.
"Let's go take a look." Carly ran over to the sculpture, followed by Sam. "Here it is!"
Both Carly and Sam gestured to the large statue of snow before them.
"Spencer," Carly called, "would you like to tell us what this is a sculpture of?"
"Sure thing!" Spencer stepped in front of the camera. Showing off his large ice sculpture made of snow. "It's a sculpture, of a snowman, melting!"
"Isn't it great, folks?" Carly started clapping.
Sam joined in, saying, "It is, it is."
They both nodded approvingly.
The camera zoomed out, to take in the entire mass of the snowman.
"You get it all?" Sam asked. The camera view shook up and down in response.
"Anyway, let's get to the main event." Carly ran up to the camera. "It's time for the..."
Freddie pressed a button on his set up. An animation appeared on the screen, as the girls yelled out, "Snowball war!"
"Now, Sam and I both constructed forts for the snowball war. We'll hide behind them, and chuck snowballs at each other."
Sam came up close to the lens. "Fun for the whole family."
Freddie backed up, allowing them enough room to throw. The girls hid behind the snow walls, readying their supply of ammunition.
"Ready, set," Carly shouted, Spencer took cover behind his creation, "go!"
They began to throw snowballs at one another, mostly missing. Each of them ducked and threw, not landing one hit. At first, the fight was for fun, then, Sam and Carly started to become competitive. It had to do with Freddie, not that he would ever know. They were pelting snow at each other, getting nowhere. They were at war, and the prize was Freddie. They tossed snowballs until they began to run out. Freddie was laughing loudly.
"You girls are terrible! You couldn't get a hit, no matter how hard you tried!"
Looking over their walls of snow, Carly and Sam looked at each other. They both smiled. They alternated throwing snowballs at Freddie, pelting him with hard-packed snow.
"Ow, hey! That's not fair!"
He was hit in the stomach twice, as well as the head, then the camera took a hit, causing the eyepiece to hit his eye. He fell over, into the snow. The two girls had run out of snowballs. They both stood up, satisfied with their achievement. They looked at each other. Maybe a little fight over him was in order. The snowman that Carly had made was still there, watching over them, and everything that was happening.
By the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me,
four snowballs,
three smoothies,
two mismatched socks,
and a snowman shaped like Freddie.