iHeart Socks
iHeart Socks
1.1 Flight to Seattle
Two months had passed since a tragic car crash in which Chase Matthews had been killed.
Chase had been the fiance of Zoey Brooks, a girl from Louisiana which had been learning at a Californian boarding school since the age of 13. Now she had fallen into a deep depressions. Her room-mate Quinn Pensky had suggested her to move to Seattle which was Quinn's home town. A new environment should help her over the crisis. At her old boarding school, everything made her think of Chase. This was not bearable.
Zoey's parents lived in London. Also Chase had been in London for a while, thus the British capital was not an alternative, for the memory of Chase would have haunted her until dystopia. Quinn's uncle, a lawyer, was a brother-in-law of Mrs. Benson, the mother of Fredward. He agreed with Zoey's parents on taking responsibility for Zoey and her younger brother Dustin.
Zoey and Dustin were destined for Ridgeway School. They entered the large hall. It wasn't half as nice as their luxury boarding school, but they could bear it.
Dustin was quite short, but a very caring brother.
Zoey always had to double over when she needed to cry at Dustin's shoulder, something that happened frequently since Chase had passed away.
Fredward was aware of the tragic background of Zoey's and Dustin's transfer to Ridgeway, he begged Carly not to rub any salt into their wounds. Freddie wrongly thought Sam insensitive, but she cared as well.
"Hi, my name is Carly Shay," Carly approached Zoey.
"Zoey Brooks. This dwarf is my brother Dustin," Zoey announced.
Sam introduced herself to Zoey and Dustin.
Freddie had already seen them briefly - just a few days ago.
Alas, Sam's face appeared somewhat familiar to Dustin and Zoey.
Zoey was at the start of her senior year, whereas Dustin was a sophomore, just like Carly, Freddie, and Sam.
1.2 Romeo and Juliet
Their first class of the day was creartive writing with Mrs. Briggs.
Dustin sat down next to Freddie, while Sam and Carly took the seats right behind these boys.
"Good morning, boys and girls," Mrs. Briggs boomed sadistically. "As today's youth has become oblivious to the fine arts, your first class project of the year will be rewriting some classic work in a modern setting. You will do this in groups of four," she announced.
"I want to be in Sam's group!" Gibby announced.
Sam shot an evil glance back at Gibby. Too bad eyes can't kill, she thought to herself.
Freddie suggested to include Dustin. Sam and Carly agreed.
Another group included Gibby, Reuben, Jonah, and Valerie. A third group consisted of Tareen, Tasha, Wesley, and Jeremy. Now the groups needed to choose their topic
Carly, Freddie, Sam, and Dustin sat together. They decided on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
Mrs. Briggs granted this, as no other group had yet come up with a decision. Mrs. Briggs played the bagpipes while the other groups were still undecided.
Freddie leaned back, shut his eyes, and dreamt of himself as Romeo, , of Carly as Juliet, of Jake Crandall as Count Paris, of Sam as Nurse Angelica, of Dustin as Benvolio, of Spencer as Tybalt, ...
1.3 Jake and James
Zoey's first class was in Modern History with Mr. Stern. She saw Jake Crandall. His face appeared familiar unto her.
"Hi, doll!" the blond rake said, "are you new here? My name is Jake Crandall."
"Zoey Brooks ... sorry, you remind me of someone ..." Zoey said, her voice trembling.
"No way, I'm unique!" Jake boasted.
"You look a lot like ..." Zoey stammered "James Garrett, an ex-lover of mine."
"James!" Jake was shocked. "Garrett is my mother's maiden name. James is my twin brother. Our parents divorced eight years ago. So I take it you have been to California?"
Zoey nodded.
Zoey was very insecure about Jake. He was all charming and suggestive, but he looked like his twin brother James. Zoey and James had come together while Chase had been in London. When Chase returned, Zoey had trashed James without remorse. This still gave Zoey a creepy feeling.
1.4 First Impressions
After school, Zoey lay down in her bed, wrapped in her blanket.
Dustin found his sister more depressed than usual. "Zoey! We're invited for dinner over at Carly's!" He sat down by Zoey's bed, stroking her back in comfort. He couldn't bear his sister suffering like that. "Come on! Freddie is bearable, Carly is very nice, and Sam ... you just have to learn to get along with her."
"OK, I'm coming," Zoey replied, not sure whether leaving her bed for the rest of the day would be a good idea or not.
1.5 Dinner Conversations
Carly made spaghetti with meatballs and a large bowl of salad.
Her elder brother Spencer was already at home, and so were Fredward and Samantha.
"Yummy!" Dustin explained when diving into his plate full of pasta and meat.
"Dustin, you should eat some salad as well," Carly suggested, seeing that Dustin was not much of a grass eater. "for boys eating a lot of green lettuce are the better kissers," she added, smiling nicely.
Dustin stuffed a bunch of green leaves into his mouth - in almost no time.
Freddie stuck his fork into the salad bowl as well.
"Give it up, Dorkward! Whatever you eat, no girl will ever want to be kissed by you!" Samantha remarked sarcastically.
"No boy would ever want to kiss you!" Fredward taunted Samantha back.
"Are they always like this?" Dustin asked Carly.
Carly nodded and gave Dustin a spraying bottle full of water. "If they go too far, spray them with water!"
"OK," Dustin replied, smiling like a sun. Then he sprayed at Freddie and Sam who calmed down immediately.
"I've never been able to get Dustin to eat more vegetables," Zoey complained unto Spencer.
"Little siblings are sometimes uncontrollable," Spencer admitted, speaking from his own experience.
Zoey couldn't help agreeing. "But I still love Dustin above all, as you probably do with Carly," Zoey suggested.
Spencer nodded solemnly. "Since mom died and dad is stationed in the Mediterranean Sea, I've been responsible for Carly, that's for over four years. It wasn't easy. Our grandpa wanted to take over, but we refused. Carly wouldn't be happy anywhere else."
Zoey sighed. "Dustin had been at boys' boarding school for a few years. When the school opened up to girls, I moved there, just because I couldn't stand Dustin suffering alone."
Dustin and Zoey had to go.
Spencer assured that they would be welcome any time.
On the way out, Zoey noticed something strange about Spencer's socks. They were all flashy and multi-coloured. "Wow," she noted to herself, "where are these socks from? I will have to investigate." Zoey had been interested in fashion design since middle school. She had been designing all sorts of fashions: clothes, jewelry, backpacks, ... whoever made those socks must have been an example for Zoey to live up to.
2 Perfect Sister-in-Law
2.1 Zoey and Carly
Zoey was glad that Carly had made Dustin eat some healthy stuff, but she wondered whether Carly had just tried to seduce him. She couldn't help interrogating Carly. "Hi Carly, may I ask you something? It has to do with Dustin ..."
"Sure!" Carly replied.
"I wondered whether you tried to get Dustin to kiss you when ..." Zoey asked cautiously.
"You really care about Dustin. Siblings should care more about and be there for each other, it's OK for you to be worried," Carly started.
Zoey nodded solemnly.
"See, after some failed crush on Jake Crandall, I decided to wait on a new boyfriend until much later, there are better ways to have fun, and school is more important for now," Carly continued. She noticed Zoey agreeing. "Dustin is certainly very likable, but I won't try to rush anything. Freddie has been obsessed with me since ages, and I have always had to turn him down. I don't want to lose him as a friend, either. This is a pain, but I can't help it."
Zoey had an eerie feeling when Carly mentioned Jake, but she couldn't yet talk to her about him. "That's OK. I wouldn't mind you hanging out more with Dustin," Zoey concluded. The two girls high-fived and waved at each other. Zoey deemed Carly as a good girl, like, the perfect future sister-in-law. If Dustin had had to go for a girl, it should have been someone like Carly, rather than that Patricia Kirby who had been the Dustin's first crush - a really bad girl. What, Samantha Puckett looked a lot like Patricia Kirby? Random, destiny, or some hostile plot? Zoey shrugged. But she had to investigate.
2.2 Socks
Spencer opened the door.
"Hi Spencer!" Socko greeted him. "I do have some new gadgets for you."
"Hi Socko, I've been waiting since ..." Spencer replied.
"OK, my upstream partner was abroad, and the substitute was ..." Socko tried to excuse himself.
"No problem, now let me see the new socks!" Spencer ordered.
Socko showed him a chest full of new socks, all of them being flashy and multi-coloured. "That's the new fall collection. Golf socks with 18 holes, Soccer socks, TCP/IP socks, ..."
Spencer's eyes almost bugged out when he overlooked the collection. "Thanks very much! Will you stay for a root beer or two?"
2.3 Freddie's Worries
In the afternoon, Zoey heard someone knocking at her door. "Come in!"
Fredward Benson entered. "Hi Zoey!"
"Fredward!" Zoey smiled. "What's up?"
"Sam always insists that no girl would ever like me, do you think she's right?" Fredward asked, quite worried.
"I've heard about that. I certainly like you, but in a familiar- not in a romantic - manner. You probably want to know about the latter, don't you?" Zoey wondered.
Fredward nodded affirmatively.
"I don't think that Sam means what she says, the two of you have very much in common," Zoey stated.
Fredward shrugged, not understanding the gist of it all.
"Look, Carly is a really popular girl. Both Samantha and you, you use Carly as a window to popularity. The window is narrow, thus you struggle for the best place. You often push and shove each other aside," Zoey explained, "in the end, neither you nor Sam will get anywhere," Zoey concluded, sighing deeply.
"That bad?" Freddie uttered in dismay, "so we should rather try to get along instead of keeping on bickering forever?"
"That would seem to me like a good start, maybe you will even do better," Zoey suggested.
Freddie didn't read much sense into the last remark, but he was satisfied, at least for the time being. "Thanks, Zoey!"
"You're always welcome!" Zoey said when Freddie left through the door.
2.4 Carly's Promise
Zoey finally entered Carly's apartment.
Only Carly was there. "Freddie and Sam show Dustin our attic. We're running a webshow from there," Carly explained.
"Cool, he has a lot of fun with you and your friends." Zoey replied.
Carly nodded. "Doing class projects together - that's a lot of fun for us."
Usually, girls had distracted Dustin from schoolworks. Thus there was yet another reason for Zoey believing in Carly having a good influence on Dustin. "Zoey smiled brightly."
"You're not trting to push us, are you?" Carly remarked, smiling playfully.
Zoey sighed. "Well, I've tried to sort out too many things for Dustin, when we stayed together in California. Bullies, girls, teachers, clothes, you name it."
"That's because you're a really loving and caring big sister," Carly commented.
Zoey nodded: "I try to be, as much as I can. But ..." Zoey sobbed, "boys don't seem to appreciate this. Chase taught me to act in a more subtle manner," Zoey continued, sobbing when she mentioned Chase.
"Sorry, it's still hard for you to talk about Chase," Carly noted, holding Zoey in her arms, allowing her to weep at her shoulders. "Have you been boyfriend and girlfriend for that many years?"
Zoey sighed. "We felt a lot for each other since I arrived in California. But," Zoey almost shifted to stammering while she felt Carly's compassion, "we refused to admit it. This had been our situation for three years and a half. Then I was about moving to London. By accident, I got to know what Chase had been feeling for me. I skipped back to California, just to see that Chase was gone for London, looking for me," Zoey let it out.
"Oh good grief, that must have hurt bitterly," Carly comforted Zoey as much as she could.
Zoey nodded. "Then, when he was gone, I committed the biggest stupidity in my life and fell for another guy, James Garrett, the twin brother of Jake,"
Carly almost cramped in pity.
"When Chase came back from England, I repented that treason and accepted Chase back. But, a few weeks later ..." Zoey was obviously at the end of her story.
Carly anticipated Zoey's next step, and she tightened her grip on her friend, offering her all the sympathy she could give. Zoey had stopped talking coherently, she was just stammering and weeping. Carly conjectured that Zoey felt guilty, by connecting Chase's deadly accident with her previous illoyality.
Spencer, arriving in his apartment, wondered about the girls who were still sitting in a tight embrace.
"It's not what you think. Zoey has gone through some ugly stuff, and she needed my sympathy, really bad," Carly explained.
"So, if you ever should feel for Dustin the way I had felt for Chase, be honest about it - from the very start - before ..." Zoey begged Carly.
"I understand, and I promise that I will."
Zoey stayed with Carly for a sleepover, as she was way too exhausted to go home. Carly did not yet disclose Zoey's words.
3 Sam and Trisha
3.1 Dustin and Carly
Dustin met Carly after their first period. "Hi Carly, thanks for helping Zoey."
"You're welcome. You care a lot about your sister, don't you?" Carly asked.
"Yeah, especially since ..." Dustin wasn't up to mentioning Chase's death. Tears were running down his cheeks.
"I know what you want to say," Carly calmed Dustin, wrapping one arm around his shoulders. "One day, you will be a good hubby and dad."
"Oh, I will? How do you know?" Dustin wondered.
"Because you can be so loving and caring to those who are close to you when they really need it."
"Thanks," Dustin replied.
"Great. So I talked to Zoey. My guess is: she feels guilty because she supposes a connection between Chase's fatal accident and her cheating on him with James, that's the guy that looks like Jake, right?" Carly told Dustin.
"Oh my god, that's ..." Dustin was shocked. "she has never talked about it ..."
Carly nodded and held Dustin tight. "We know that it is not Zoey's fault, but I believe it hurts her that she cheated on him before the accident. I only tell you this because you are Zoey's loving and caring brother." Carly let Dustin sob at her shoulder.
"Thanks, Carly!" Dustin replied.
"Chase's death must have been a big loss for you, as well," Carly supposed.
"Yes, it was!"
"Your sister has high standards, for this reason, I may only suppose that Chase must have been great," she continued conjecturing.
Dustin affirmed Carly's words. "Too bad you didn't get to know him," Dustin moaned, "Zoey's standard is perfection."
Carly ruffled Dustin's hair playfully, making him smile a bit. "I would certainly have liked to know him. Have you had any girlfriends in California, or maybe you still have one?"
Dustin sighed. "My first girlfriend was Trish Kirby. She looked like Sam and was a very bad girl, playing around with ten boys at the same time. It didn't last for long."
Carly twitched a bit. "Looked like Sam? I know by chance that Sam does have an identical twin sister. Samantha doesn't know that I know, so ..."
"I'll keep it secret, honestly ," Dustin swore.
Carly nodded, adding: "See, many members in Samantha's family have problems with alcohol or even worse. Some of the kids had been taken out of the family by the office for childcare. Patricia was sent to some boarding school, hoping she would improve - I don't think she did. Sam hates talking about Patricia, please, don't get her started!"
Dustin promised to leave Sam in peace.
"Sam is around me basically because her mother believes that, otherwise, she would slip into a group of criminal youngsters and be sent into borstal," Carly added, making Dustin nod.
"My next girlfriend was Sandy Baldwin. She wasn't a bad girl, but somehow it didn't last long. We were just too young, I think," Dustin stated.
"That's OK, you will know when time has come. Just pick the right moment!" Carly suggested.
Dustin liked Carly's style, very much so.
3.2 Sam's Worries and Trisha
"Sam, may I talk to you?" Fredward Benson addressed Samantha Puckett.
"Do I really have to talk to you, Dorkward?" Sam replied in kind.
"Sam," Freddie begged her, "we can't keep on bickering like this. Sooner or later, Carly will be disappointed for both of us."
"Carly has been disappointed for you for over ten years, so ..." Sam thundered sarcastically.
"Please! Sam, Carly's patience may come to an end. Don't overuse it!" Freddie issued as a warning.
Sam started to get worried, thinking about her twin sister's destiny. Sam knew that Trish had been sent to marine camp after she had squandered her chance in California. "Freddie, I don't want to go to marine borstal." she stammered, cuddling Fredward in fear.
Freddie's eyes bugged out and his jaw dropped when he felt Sam rubbing her shoulders gently against his. He could help pulling Sam even closer, making it almost look romantic. "Sam, we won't let you go to marine borstal!" Fredward promised. He didn't know about Trisha.
3.3 Duston's Promise
Only two days were left until Zoey would turn eighteen.
"Zoey," Dustin approached his sister cautiously, "I know that Chase's death nags you badly, but Chase would not want you to be sad forever."
"I know, but it still is so unfair," Zoey replied, bursting into tears.
Dustin held Zoey tight and made her weep at his shoulders. She was very desperate. "Would you mind Carly and her friends giving a party for you? Nothing too big."
Zoey's tears watered Dustin's shirt, but she got herself to nod.
"I'll always be there for you," Dustin promised unto his elder sister.
"Thanks," Zoey replied, "Dustin, you know how you might make me happy?"
Dustin shrugged.
"You could find a good girl and confess your feelings for her as soon as possible, unlike Chase, ..." Zoey explained before weeping again. "I couldn't bear losing you as well."
"Do you feel Chase died because you didn't confess your feelings in time, or even because you dated James while he was in London?" Dustin asked, knowing it was a sensitive question, according to what Carly had conjectured. He held Zoey even tighter and stroked her hair softly.
Zoey weeped and nodded, hanging er head in shame.
"It's good, sis, I won't leave you alone with your pain. I don't think you're guilty, and Carly doesn't think so, either," Dustin stated with a soothing voice.
"Thanks, your sympathy means such a lot to me," Zoey replied, "and Carly's as well. She's such a good girl. If you should ever have feelings for her, as Chase had feelings for me, please confess right away!"
Dustin blushed. Yet, for the time being, Carly was just a very nice friend and comrade. But Dustin saw no reason why he should not develop feelings for her, feelings of the sort Chase had been struggling to confess for three years, until ... "I will do as you suggested when I'm at such a point," Dustin promised solemnly unto Zoey who gave him a sisterly kiss on the forehead.
4 Happy Birthday
4.1 Ready for the Party
Spencer and Carly prepared the party.
"I've heard that Zoey used to design backpacks, shirts, and stuff like that. Maybe you could get Socko to show her his latest collection? I hope this will cheer her up," Carly told Sopencer.
"Yeah, I'll send him an SMS, now!" Spencer replied enthusiasticically before picking his cellular phone.
Socko had no objection to Spencer's suggestion. After this, Spencer organised the snacks and the smoothies. Both Spencer and Carly loved Groovy Smoothies. They knew that Zoey loved Blix, but that sort of softdrink was only available in the greater LA area.
4.2 Party Surprises
Zoey entered Spencer's apartment.
Suddenly Carly, Dustin, Fredward, and Samantha popped up from nowhere.
Aw she's a jolly good fellow
She is a jolly good fellow
She is a jolly good fellow
Which nobody shall deny!
They stepped up to Zoey, shaking her hand.
Spencer came in from the toilets. "Happy birthday, Zoey! And as you've already wondered about my fancuful socks ... this is the guy who makes them ..."
Socko walked in, dragging a whole collection of cute socks.
"Wow, these socks are ..." Zoey lacked the words to praise them. "Did you make them?"
"Designed, waved, spun, knitted, and ornated," Socko replied, "I didn't grow the wool on my skin, though."
Zoey fell anywhere laughing,she hadn't laughed that much since Chase's death.
Suddenly, the bell rang. Spencer opened. He was shocked when he saw Mandy Wallace, a girl that had been stalking Carly, Sam, and Freddie just a few years ago, being a fan of them notwithstanding.
"Mandy!" Spencer boomed in dismay.
"Hi Spencer!" Mandy stormed the apartment. "Look, I've got something special for you! First, a brownie for Zoey ..."
Spencer took the brownie out of Mandy's fingers, with the intention of rendering it unto Zoey.
"OK, and this was really hard to find. I needed to go to a speciality shop for Californian stuff ..." Mandy opened a bag. "Clear blix, yellow Blix, blue Blix, red Blix ..." She placed the softdrinks on top of the table which already held Zoey's birthday cake.
Zoey's jaw dropped. She had expected to never see again the famous blix drinks that had been popular at her Californian boarding school.
"You know what? The girl that sold me the blix looked exactly like Sam, just a bit more naughty," Mandy added.
Sam's eyes oozed out of her head. "Trisha?!" she screamed in dismay.
Mandy wasn't done yet. "She was flirting with some blond rake. She called him James, but he insisted that his name was Jake. Strange, isn't it?" Having said this, Mandy shrugged and disappeared, because she had to stalk some other victims, such as Harry Joyner.
Fredward wondered about Trisha, mentioned by Mandy. "Who is that Trisha girl?" he asked Samantha.
Samantha could have killed Mandy for mentioning that girl, and Freddie for asking. But she didn't want to go that far. She grabbed Freddie and pulled him into the toilet for a personal talk.
Zoey enjoyed the blix, and she had to chat with Socko about designing socks. She mentioned how she had designed backpacks. Socko couldn't help admiring and adoring her completely for her fabulous achievements.
Carly and Dustin had been feeling concerned as well when Mandy mentioned Trisha, but they had achieved remaining silent.
Seeing Zoey chatting happily with Socko, Dustin believed that time had come for him to confess something. "Carly, there's something I have to tell you." He blushed slightly.
"Whatever, I won't bite you!" Carly swore playfully.
"Zoey wants me to be honest from the very start when I have feelings for a good girl, instead of hiding them as Chase had done for over three years," Dustin continued, his face exhibiting a shade of dark pink.
"Zoey is probably right, I wouldn't want to go through the things Zoey went through, and I don't wish any boy to suffer as Chase did," Carly continued, watching Dustin's cheeks turning more and more red.
"What I want to say, Carly," Dustin tortured himself into uttering, "there is a girl that is all nice and pretty and smart and caring and ... more than any other girl could ever be ..."
"Cool, that's really great for you!" Carly smiled.
The colour of Dustin's cheeks was now about half way from purple to crimson. "I only know her since two weeks, but ..." Dustin couldn't help stammering.
Carly also had something to confess. Her cheeks changed shade quickly. "Dustin, I've been talking to Zoey as well. I've promised her to be honest about my feelings towards you." Carly grabbed Dustin's head, pulling it closer in a tender way, and whispered into his ears: "I love you, Dustin, very very much." Then she pressed her lips against Dustin's earlobe, suckling tenderly.
Dustin moaned in delight. He heard angels singing.
Zoey watched this, her eyes shimmering brightly. This was the best birthday present she had ever come to see. "Aw Dustin! Aw Carly! I'm so glad for you." she yelled while tears of joy ran down her cheeks.
For a moment Dustin and Carly pulled.
"This doesn't mean that we need to forget everything else about it. I still care a lot about my family, my friends, and school. But I know that you care about the same things. Even Mrs. Briggs had to give us an A_, for the first time inyears. That's why I love you even much more," Carly added.
Dustin nodded solemnly. "Let's take it slowly. Now that we know about each other's feelings, we'll have a lot of time left for us."
Zoey was infinitely happy that Dustin and Carly had been fessing up from the very start, thus would be saved from all the painful experiences she had made with Chase.
Fredward and Samantha returned from the dark room they had been hiding in for a few minutes. Somehow they didn't appear surprised when they heard about Carly's and Dustin's confessions. Even Freddie acknowledged that Dustin was much closer to Carly - both in heart and mind - than he could ever even dream to be.
"Sam, I don't care how many dark sheep there are in your family. I'm only caring about one Puckett, and that is ..." Fredward pulled Samantha close, brushing her forehead with his lips - slightly, but tenderly.
Samantha sighed in relief. She had never thought that Fredward migght act caring and compassionate. In response, she pressed her lips against his temples.
Dustin's , Zoey's, Spencer's, and Carly's jaws dropped. Was that the same Fredward Benson and the same Samantha Puckett that had kept on bickering and riping each other's throat, until a few days ago?
Alas, Zoey had seen this coming. She was just surprised because it went so fast. But some people learn from others' mistakes.
4.3 Conclusion
Saturday night, time for another webcast session.
Fredward counted the seconds " ...5 4 3 2 1 go!"
"Hi, I'm Sam, and I love Freddie." Sam triggers the artificial applause while she watches Fredward blush. He hadn't meant this to go public.
"Hi, I'm Carly, and I love Dustin," Carly continued, while Freddie inserted a picture of Dustin to the green-screen. "Tonight, we are going to show you the next sock collection. Welcome fashion designer Socko!" Socko didn't show up, thus Carly had to wonder. "Socko? Socko? Sooooockooooo!"
Sam pulled Carly's elbow, and thus she made her follow her to the hall outside the attic. They found Socko and Zoey leaning tenderly against each other, making out and purring softly.
Carly skipped back to the attic. "Oops, our fashion designer is caught in some private moment with his future assistant, it seems."
The viewers of the webcast didn't trust their ears. Freddie and Sam? No way, there must have been some transmission error. But Freddie and Sam didn't mind - as long as they were together.
The End
- Title: iHeart Socks
- Author: Klaus Schilling
- Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly or Zoey_101
- Genre: Romance, Family, Friendship
- Rating: Teenagers
- Fandom: iCarly, Zoey 101
- People: Sam, Freddie, Carly, Spencer, Socko, Zoey, Dustin, ...
- Pairings: Carly/Dustin, Freddie/Sam, Socko/Zoey, ...
- Summary: After a deadly accident, Dustin and Zoey flee to Seattle, meeting Carly and her friends.
1.1 Flight to Seattle
Two months had passed since a tragic car crash in which Chase Matthews had been killed.
Chase had been the fiance of Zoey Brooks, a girl from Louisiana which had been learning at a Californian boarding school since the age of 13. Now she had fallen into a deep depressions. Her room-mate Quinn Pensky had suggested her to move to Seattle which was Quinn's home town. A new environment should help her over the crisis. At her old boarding school, everything made her think of Chase. This was not bearable.
Zoey's parents lived in London. Also Chase had been in London for a while, thus the British capital was not an alternative, for the memory of Chase would have haunted her until dystopia. Quinn's uncle, a lawyer, was a brother-in-law of Mrs. Benson, the mother of Fredward. He agreed with Zoey's parents on taking responsibility for Zoey and her younger brother Dustin.
Zoey and Dustin were destined for Ridgeway School. They entered the large hall. It wasn't half as nice as their luxury boarding school, but they could bear it.
Dustin was quite short, but a very caring brother.
Zoey always had to double over when she needed to cry at Dustin's shoulder, something that happened frequently since Chase had passed away.
Fredward was aware of the tragic background of Zoey's and Dustin's transfer to Ridgeway, he begged Carly not to rub any salt into their wounds. Freddie wrongly thought Sam insensitive, but she cared as well.
"Hi, my name is Carly Shay," Carly approached Zoey.
"Zoey Brooks. This dwarf is my brother Dustin," Zoey announced.
Sam introduced herself to Zoey and Dustin.
Freddie had already seen them briefly - just a few days ago.
Alas, Sam's face appeared somewhat familiar to Dustin and Zoey.
Zoey was at the start of her senior year, whereas Dustin was a sophomore, just like Carly, Freddie, and Sam.
1.2 Romeo and Juliet
Their first class of the day was creartive writing with Mrs. Briggs.
Dustin sat down next to Freddie, while Sam and Carly took the seats right behind these boys.
"Good morning, boys and girls," Mrs. Briggs boomed sadistically. "As today's youth has become oblivious to the fine arts, your first class project of the year will be rewriting some classic work in a modern setting. You will do this in groups of four," she announced.
"I want to be in Sam's group!" Gibby announced.
Sam shot an evil glance back at Gibby. Too bad eyes can't kill, she thought to herself.
Freddie suggested to include Dustin. Sam and Carly agreed.
Another group included Gibby, Reuben, Jonah, and Valerie. A third group consisted of Tareen, Tasha, Wesley, and Jeremy. Now the groups needed to choose their topic
Carly, Freddie, Sam, and Dustin sat together. They decided on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
Mrs. Briggs granted this, as no other group had yet come up with a decision. Mrs. Briggs played the bagpipes while the other groups were still undecided.
Freddie leaned back, shut his eyes, and dreamt of himself as Romeo, , of Carly as Juliet, of Jake Crandall as Count Paris, of Sam as Nurse Angelica, of Dustin as Benvolio, of Spencer as Tybalt, ...
1.3 Jake and James
Zoey's first class was in Modern History with Mr. Stern. She saw Jake Crandall. His face appeared familiar unto her.
"Hi, doll!" the blond rake said, "are you new here? My name is Jake Crandall."
"Zoey Brooks ... sorry, you remind me of someone ..." Zoey said, her voice trembling.
"No way, I'm unique!" Jake boasted.
"You look a lot like ..." Zoey stammered "James Garrett, an ex-lover of mine."
"James!" Jake was shocked. "Garrett is my mother's maiden name. James is my twin brother. Our parents divorced eight years ago. So I take it you have been to California?"
Zoey nodded.
Zoey was very insecure about Jake. He was all charming and suggestive, but he looked like his twin brother James. Zoey and James had come together while Chase had been in London. When Chase returned, Zoey had trashed James without remorse. This still gave Zoey a creepy feeling.
1.4 First Impressions
After school, Zoey lay down in her bed, wrapped in her blanket.
Dustin found his sister more depressed than usual. "Zoey! We're invited for dinner over at Carly's!" He sat down by Zoey's bed, stroking her back in comfort. He couldn't bear his sister suffering like that. "Come on! Freddie is bearable, Carly is very nice, and Sam ... you just have to learn to get along with her."
"OK, I'm coming," Zoey replied, not sure whether leaving her bed for the rest of the day would be a good idea or not.
1.5 Dinner Conversations
Carly made spaghetti with meatballs and a large bowl of salad.
Her elder brother Spencer was already at home, and so were Fredward and Samantha.
"Yummy!" Dustin explained when diving into his plate full of pasta and meat.
"Dustin, you should eat some salad as well," Carly suggested, seeing that Dustin was not much of a grass eater. "for boys eating a lot of green lettuce are the better kissers," she added, smiling nicely.
Dustin stuffed a bunch of green leaves into his mouth - in almost no time.
Freddie stuck his fork into the salad bowl as well.
"Give it up, Dorkward! Whatever you eat, no girl will ever want to be kissed by you!" Samantha remarked sarcastically.
"No boy would ever want to kiss you!" Fredward taunted Samantha back.
"Are they always like this?" Dustin asked Carly.
Carly nodded and gave Dustin a spraying bottle full of water. "If they go too far, spray them with water!"
"OK," Dustin replied, smiling like a sun. Then he sprayed at Freddie and Sam who calmed down immediately.
"I've never been able to get Dustin to eat more vegetables," Zoey complained unto Spencer.
"Little siblings are sometimes uncontrollable," Spencer admitted, speaking from his own experience.
Zoey couldn't help agreeing. "But I still love Dustin above all, as you probably do with Carly," Zoey suggested.
Spencer nodded solemnly. "Since mom died and dad is stationed in the Mediterranean Sea, I've been responsible for Carly, that's for over four years. It wasn't easy. Our grandpa wanted to take over, but we refused. Carly wouldn't be happy anywhere else."
Zoey sighed. "Dustin had been at boys' boarding school for a few years. When the school opened up to girls, I moved there, just because I couldn't stand Dustin suffering alone."
Dustin and Zoey had to go.
Spencer assured that they would be welcome any time.
On the way out, Zoey noticed something strange about Spencer's socks. They were all flashy and multi-coloured. "Wow," she noted to herself, "where are these socks from? I will have to investigate." Zoey had been interested in fashion design since middle school. She had been designing all sorts of fashions: clothes, jewelry, backpacks, ... whoever made those socks must have been an example for Zoey to live up to.
2 Perfect Sister-in-Law
2.1 Zoey and Carly
Zoey was glad that Carly had made Dustin eat some healthy stuff, but she wondered whether Carly had just tried to seduce him. She couldn't help interrogating Carly. "Hi Carly, may I ask you something? It has to do with Dustin ..."
"Sure!" Carly replied.
"I wondered whether you tried to get Dustin to kiss you when ..." Zoey asked cautiously.
"You really care about Dustin. Siblings should care more about and be there for each other, it's OK for you to be worried," Carly started.
Zoey nodded solemnly.
"See, after some failed crush on Jake Crandall, I decided to wait on a new boyfriend until much later, there are better ways to have fun, and school is more important for now," Carly continued. She noticed Zoey agreeing. "Dustin is certainly very likable, but I won't try to rush anything. Freddie has been obsessed with me since ages, and I have always had to turn him down. I don't want to lose him as a friend, either. This is a pain, but I can't help it."
Zoey had an eerie feeling when Carly mentioned Jake, but she couldn't yet talk to her about him. "That's OK. I wouldn't mind you hanging out more with Dustin," Zoey concluded. The two girls high-fived and waved at each other. Zoey deemed Carly as a good girl, like, the perfect future sister-in-law. If Dustin had had to go for a girl, it should have been someone like Carly, rather than that Patricia Kirby who had been the Dustin's first crush - a really bad girl. What, Samantha Puckett looked a lot like Patricia Kirby? Random, destiny, or some hostile plot? Zoey shrugged. But she had to investigate.
2.2 Socks
Spencer opened the door.
"Hi Spencer!" Socko greeted him. "I do have some new gadgets for you."
"Hi Socko, I've been waiting since ..." Spencer replied.
"OK, my upstream partner was abroad, and the substitute was ..." Socko tried to excuse himself.
"No problem, now let me see the new socks!" Spencer ordered.
Socko showed him a chest full of new socks, all of them being flashy and multi-coloured. "That's the new fall collection. Golf socks with 18 holes, Soccer socks, TCP/IP socks, ..."
Spencer's eyes almost bugged out when he overlooked the collection. "Thanks very much! Will you stay for a root beer or two?"
2.3 Freddie's Worries
In the afternoon, Zoey heard someone knocking at her door. "Come in!"
Fredward Benson entered. "Hi Zoey!"
"Fredward!" Zoey smiled. "What's up?"
"Sam always insists that no girl would ever like me, do you think she's right?" Fredward asked, quite worried.
"I've heard about that. I certainly like you, but in a familiar- not in a romantic - manner. You probably want to know about the latter, don't you?" Zoey wondered.
Fredward nodded affirmatively.
"I don't think that Sam means what she says, the two of you have very much in common," Zoey stated.
Fredward shrugged, not understanding the gist of it all.
"Look, Carly is a really popular girl. Both Samantha and you, you use Carly as a window to popularity. The window is narrow, thus you struggle for the best place. You often push and shove each other aside," Zoey explained, "in the end, neither you nor Sam will get anywhere," Zoey concluded, sighing deeply.
"That bad?" Freddie uttered in dismay, "so we should rather try to get along instead of keeping on bickering forever?"
"That would seem to me like a good start, maybe you will even do better," Zoey suggested.
Freddie didn't read much sense into the last remark, but he was satisfied, at least for the time being. "Thanks, Zoey!"
"You're always welcome!" Zoey said when Freddie left through the door.
2.4 Carly's Promise
Zoey finally entered Carly's apartment.
Only Carly was there. "Freddie and Sam show Dustin our attic. We're running a webshow from there," Carly explained.
"Cool, he has a lot of fun with you and your friends." Zoey replied.
Carly nodded. "Doing class projects together - that's a lot of fun for us."
Usually, girls had distracted Dustin from schoolworks. Thus there was yet another reason for Zoey believing in Carly having a good influence on Dustin. "Zoey smiled brightly."
"You're not trting to push us, are you?" Carly remarked, smiling playfully.
Zoey sighed. "Well, I've tried to sort out too many things for Dustin, when we stayed together in California. Bullies, girls, teachers, clothes, you name it."
"That's because you're a really loving and caring big sister," Carly commented.
Zoey nodded: "I try to be, as much as I can. But ..." Zoey sobbed, "boys don't seem to appreciate this. Chase taught me to act in a more subtle manner," Zoey continued, sobbing when she mentioned Chase.
"Sorry, it's still hard for you to talk about Chase," Carly noted, holding Zoey in her arms, allowing her to weep at her shoulders. "Have you been boyfriend and girlfriend for that many years?"
Zoey sighed. "We felt a lot for each other since I arrived in California. But," Zoey almost shifted to stammering while she felt Carly's compassion, "we refused to admit it. This had been our situation for three years and a half. Then I was about moving to London. By accident, I got to know what Chase had been feeling for me. I skipped back to California, just to see that Chase was gone for London, looking for me," Zoey let it out.
"Oh good grief, that must have hurt bitterly," Carly comforted Zoey as much as she could.
Zoey nodded. "Then, when he was gone, I committed the biggest stupidity in my life and fell for another guy, James Garrett, the twin brother of Jake,"
Carly almost cramped in pity.
"When Chase came back from England, I repented that treason and accepted Chase back. But, a few weeks later ..." Zoey was obviously at the end of her story.
Carly anticipated Zoey's next step, and she tightened her grip on her friend, offering her all the sympathy she could give. Zoey had stopped talking coherently, she was just stammering and weeping. Carly conjectured that Zoey felt guilty, by connecting Chase's deadly accident with her previous illoyality.
Spencer, arriving in his apartment, wondered about the girls who were still sitting in a tight embrace.
"It's not what you think. Zoey has gone through some ugly stuff, and she needed my sympathy, really bad," Carly explained.
"So, if you ever should feel for Dustin the way I had felt for Chase, be honest about it - from the very start - before ..." Zoey begged Carly.
"I understand, and I promise that I will."
Zoey stayed with Carly for a sleepover, as she was way too exhausted to go home. Carly did not yet disclose Zoey's words.
3 Sam and Trisha
3.1 Dustin and Carly
Dustin met Carly after their first period. "Hi Carly, thanks for helping Zoey."
"You're welcome. You care a lot about your sister, don't you?" Carly asked.
"Yeah, especially since ..." Dustin wasn't up to mentioning Chase's death. Tears were running down his cheeks.
"I know what you want to say," Carly calmed Dustin, wrapping one arm around his shoulders. "One day, you will be a good hubby and dad."
"Oh, I will? How do you know?" Dustin wondered.
"Because you can be so loving and caring to those who are close to you when they really need it."
"Thanks," Dustin replied.
"Great. So I talked to Zoey. My guess is: she feels guilty because she supposes a connection between Chase's fatal accident and her cheating on him with James, that's the guy that looks like Jake, right?" Carly told Dustin.
"Oh my god, that's ..." Dustin was shocked. "she has never talked about it ..."
Carly nodded and held Dustin tight. "We know that it is not Zoey's fault, but I believe it hurts her that she cheated on him before the accident. I only tell you this because you are Zoey's loving and caring brother." Carly let Dustin sob at her shoulder.
"Thanks, Carly!" Dustin replied.
"Chase's death must have been a big loss for you, as well," Carly supposed.
"Yes, it was!"
"Your sister has high standards, for this reason, I may only suppose that Chase must have been great," she continued conjecturing.
Dustin affirmed Carly's words. "Too bad you didn't get to know him," Dustin moaned, "Zoey's standard is perfection."
Carly ruffled Dustin's hair playfully, making him smile a bit. "I would certainly have liked to know him. Have you had any girlfriends in California, or maybe you still have one?"
Dustin sighed. "My first girlfriend was Trish Kirby. She looked like Sam and was a very bad girl, playing around with ten boys at the same time. It didn't last for long."
Carly twitched a bit. "Looked like Sam? I know by chance that Sam does have an identical twin sister. Samantha doesn't know that I know, so ..."
"I'll keep it secret, honestly ," Dustin swore.
Carly nodded, adding: "See, many members in Samantha's family have problems with alcohol or even worse. Some of the kids had been taken out of the family by the office for childcare. Patricia was sent to some boarding school, hoping she would improve - I don't think she did. Sam hates talking about Patricia, please, don't get her started!"
Dustin promised to leave Sam in peace.
"Sam is around me basically because her mother believes that, otherwise, she would slip into a group of criminal youngsters and be sent into borstal," Carly added, making Dustin nod.
"My next girlfriend was Sandy Baldwin. She wasn't a bad girl, but somehow it didn't last long. We were just too young, I think," Dustin stated.
"That's OK, you will know when time has come. Just pick the right moment!" Carly suggested.
Dustin liked Carly's style, very much so.
3.2 Sam's Worries and Trisha
"Sam, may I talk to you?" Fredward Benson addressed Samantha Puckett.
"Do I really have to talk to you, Dorkward?" Sam replied in kind.
"Sam," Freddie begged her, "we can't keep on bickering like this. Sooner or later, Carly will be disappointed for both of us."
"Carly has been disappointed for you for over ten years, so ..." Sam thundered sarcastically.
"Please! Sam, Carly's patience may come to an end. Don't overuse it!" Freddie issued as a warning.
Sam started to get worried, thinking about her twin sister's destiny. Sam knew that Trish had been sent to marine camp after she had squandered her chance in California. "Freddie, I don't want to go to marine borstal." she stammered, cuddling Fredward in fear.
Freddie's eyes bugged out and his jaw dropped when he felt Sam rubbing her shoulders gently against his. He could help pulling Sam even closer, making it almost look romantic. "Sam, we won't let you go to marine borstal!" Fredward promised. He didn't know about Trisha.
3.3 Duston's Promise
Only two days were left until Zoey would turn eighteen.
"Zoey," Dustin approached his sister cautiously, "I know that Chase's death nags you badly, but Chase would not want you to be sad forever."
"I know, but it still is so unfair," Zoey replied, bursting into tears.
Dustin held Zoey tight and made her weep at his shoulders. She was very desperate. "Would you mind Carly and her friends giving a party for you? Nothing too big."
Zoey's tears watered Dustin's shirt, but she got herself to nod.
"I'll always be there for you," Dustin promised unto his elder sister.
"Thanks," Zoey replied, "Dustin, you know how you might make me happy?"
Dustin shrugged.
"You could find a good girl and confess your feelings for her as soon as possible, unlike Chase, ..." Zoey explained before weeping again. "I couldn't bear losing you as well."
"Do you feel Chase died because you didn't confess your feelings in time, or even because you dated James while he was in London?" Dustin asked, knowing it was a sensitive question, according to what Carly had conjectured. He held Zoey even tighter and stroked her hair softly.
Zoey weeped and nodded, hanging er head in shame.
"It's good, sis, I won't leave you alone with your pain. I don't think you're guilty, and Carly doesn't think so, either," Dustin stated with a soothing voice.
"Thanks, your sympathy means such a lot to me," Zoey replied, "and Carly's as well. She's such a good girl. If you should ever have feelings for her, as Chase had feelings for me, please confess right away!"
Dustin blushed. Yet, for the time being, Carly was just a very nice friend and comrade. But Dustin saw no reason why he should not develop feelings for her, feelings of the sort Chase had been struggling to confess for three years, until ... "I will do as you suggested when I'm at such a point," Dustin promised solemnly unto Zoey who gave him a sisterly kiss on the forehead.
4 Happy Birthday
4.1 Ready for the Party
Spencer and Carly prepared the party.
"I've heard that Zoey used to design backpacks, shirts, and stuff like that. Maybe you could get Socko to show her his latest collection? I hope this will cheer her up," Carly told Sopencer.
"Yeah, I'll send him an SMS, now!" Spencer replied enthusiasticically before picking his cellular phone.
Socko had no objection to Spencer's suggestion. After this, Spencer organised the snacks and the smoothies. Both Spencer and Carly loved Groovy Smoothies. They knew that Zoey loved Blix, but that sort of softdrink was only available in the greater LA area.
4.2 Party Surprises
Zoey entered Spencer's apartment.
Suddenly Carly, Dustin, Fredward, and Samantha popped up from nowhere.
Aw she's a jolly good fellow
She is a jolly good fellow
She is a jolly good fellow
Which nobody shall deny!
They stepped up to Zoey, shaking her hand.
Spencer came in from the toilets. "Happy birthday, Zoey! And as you've already wondered about my fancuful socks ... this is the guy who makes them ..."
Socko walked in, dragging a whole collection of cute socks.
"Wow, these socks are ..." Zoey lacked the words to praise them. "Did you make them?"
"Designed, waved, spun, knitted, and ornated," Socko replied, "I didn't grow the wool on my skin, though."
Zoey fell anywhere laughing,she hadn't laughed that much since Chase's death.
Suddenly, the bell rang. Spencer opened. He was shocked when he saw Mandy Wallace, a girl that had been stalking Carly, Sam, and Freddie just a few years ago, being a fan of them notwithstanding.
"Mandy!" Spencer boomed in dismay.
"Hi Spencer!" Mandy stormed the apartment. "Look, I've got something special for you! First, a brownie for Zoey ..."
Spencer took the brownie out of Mandy's fingers, with the intention of rendering it unto Zoey.
"OK, and this was really hard to find. I needed to go to a speciality shop for Californian stuff ..." Mandy opened a bag. "Clear blix, yellow Blix, blue Blix, red Blix ..." She placed the softdrinks on top of the table which already held Zoey's birthday cake.
Zoey's jaw dropped. She had expected to never see again the famous blix drinks that had been popular at her Californian boarding school.
"You know what? The girl that sold me the blix looked exactly like Sam, just a bit more naughty," Mandy added.
Sam's eyes oozed out of her head. "Trisha?!" she screamed in dismay.
Mandy wasn't done yet. "She was flirting with some blond rake. She called him James, but he insisted that his name was Jake. Strange, isn't it?" Having said this, Mandy shrugged and disappeared, because she had to stalk some other victims, such as Harry Joyner.
Fredward wondered about Trisha, mentioned by Mandy. "Who is that Trisha girl?" he asked Samantha.
Samantha could have killed Mandy for mentioning that girl, and Freddie for asking. But she didn't want to go that far. She grabbed Freddie and pulled him into the toilet for a personal talk.
Zoey enjoyed the blix, and she had to chat with Socko about designing socks. She mentioned how she had designed backpacks. Socko couldn't help admiring and adoring her completely for her fabulous achievements.
Carly and Dustin had been feeling concerned as well when Mandy mentioned Trisha, but they had achieved remaining silent.
Seeing Zoey chatting happily with Socko, Dustin believed that time had come for him to confess something. "Carly, there's something I have to tell you." He blushed slightly.
"Whatever, I won't bite you!" Carly swore playfully.
"Zoey wants me to be honest from the very start when I have feelings for a good girl, instead of hiding them as Chase had done for over three years," Dustin continued, his face exhibiting a shade of dark pink.
"Zoey is probably right, I wouldn't want to go through the things Zoey went through, and I don't wish any boy to suffer as Chase did," Carly continued, watching Dustin's cheeks turning more and more red.
"What I want to say, Carly," Dustin tortured himself into uttering, "there is a girl that is all nice and pretty and smart and caring and ... more than any other girl could ever be ..."
"Cool, that's really great for you!" Carly smiled.
The colour of Dustin's cheeks was now about half way from purple to crimson. "I only know her since two weeks, but ..." Dustin couldn't help stammering.
Carly also had something to confess. Her cheeks changed shade quickly. "Dustin, I've been talking to Zoey as well. I've promised her to be honest about my feelings towards you." Carly grabbed Dustin's head, pulling it closer in a tender way, and whispered into his ears: "I love you, Dustin, very very much." Then she pressed her lips against Dustin's earlobe, suckling tenderly.
Dustin moaned in delight. He heard angels singing.
Zoey watched this, her eyes shimmering brightly. This was the best birthday present she had ever come to see. "Aw Dustin! Aw Carly! I'm so glad for you." she yelled while tears of joy ran down her cheeks.
For a moment Dustin and Carly pulled.
"This doesn't mean that we need to forget everything else about it. I still care a lot about my family, my friends, and school. But I know that you care about the same things. Even Mrs. Briggs had to give us an A_, for the first time inyears. That's why I love you even much more," Carly added.
Dustin nodded solemnly. "Let's take it slowly. Now that we know about each other's feelings, we'll have a lot of time left for us."
Zoey was infinitely happy that Dustin and Carly had been fessing up from the very start, thus would be saved from all the painful experiences she had made with Chase.
Fredward and Samantha returned from the dark room they had been hiding in for a few minutes. Somehow they didn't appear surprised when they heard about Carly's and Dustin's confessions. Even Freddie acknowledged that Dustin was much closer to Carly - both in heart and mind - than he could ever even dream to be.
"Sam, I don't care how many dark sheep there are in your family. I'm only caring about one Puckett, and that is ..." Fredward pulled Samantha close, brushing her forehead with his lips - slightly, but tenderly.
Samantha sighed in relief. She had never thought that Fredward migght act caring and compassionate. In response, she pressed her lips against his temples.
Dustin's , Zoey's, Spencer's, and Carly's jaws dropped. Was that the same Fredward Benson and the same Samantha Puckett that had kept on bickering and riping each other's throat, until a few days ago?
Alas, Zoey had seen this coming. She was just surprised because it went so fast. But some people learn from others' mistakes.
4.3 Conclusion
Saturday night, time for another webcast session.
Fredward counted the seconds " ...5 4 3 2 1 go!"
"Hi, I'm Sam, and I love Freddie." Sam triggers the artificial applause while she watches Fredward blush. He hadn't meant this to go public.
"Hi, I'm Carly, and I love Dustin," Carly continued, while Freddie inserted a picture of Dustin to the green-screen. "Tonight, we are going to show you the next sock collection. Welcome fashion designer Socko!" Socko didn't show up, thus Carly had to wonder. "Socko? Socko? Sooooockooooo!"
Sam pulled Carly's elbow, and thus she made her follow her to the hall outside the attic. They found Socko and Zoey leaning tenderly against each other, making out and purring softly.
Carly skipped back to the attic. "Oops, our fashion designer is caught in some private moment with his future assistant, it seems."
The viewers of the webcast didn't trust their ears. Freddie and Sam? No way, there must have been some transmission error. But Freddie and Sam didn't mind - as long as they were together.
The End