Carly hadn't known it was going to be an odd day when her alarm clock had gone off that morning. She'd dragged herself out of bed, slumped into the shower, and started her day the same way she did everyday. Downstairs, Spencer had mixed her a nice bowl of Honeycombs and peanut butter.

She crunched into her breakfast. "You going to be home today?"

Spencer looked at her suspiciously. "Why?" He glanced around. "Who told you?"

She frowned at him. "Told me what?"

"Nothing, nothing. Why would anyone tell you anything?" He glanced around suspiciously. "I've got to go brush my feet."

"Brush your feet?" She questioned, but he was already sprinting across the loft to his bedroom.

That didn't even approach odd compared to the rest of her day.

She yanked on her coat, scarf, gloves, and backpack before heading out the door. Freddie poked his head out of his apartment.

"You want a ride to school today? My mom offered." He told her.

She shrugged. "Sure."

Mrs. Benson was surprisingly cold during the car ride. She didn't say more than two words to Carly besides a curt "hi" and "bye." Which was odd. Even if Mrs. Benson was never quite normal with her speech, she was always more friendly and welcoming. Particularly towards Carly because she hoped one day she would change her mind and wed her son.

The moment she walked into school, she noticed the change. She wasn't incredibly popular, but her part in iCarly had given her a certain amount of friend base. People usually said hi to her at least. Instead, everybody was just pointing and whispering, like she had come to school wearing a mustache or her grandfather's clothing.

In class, even, her teacher seemed to notice something about her that was disconcerting. Sure, she called Carly's name from the roll like usually, but she used to look over the edge of the paper and smile at her. Not today. Today she continued on as if Carly Shay was just another body in a seat.

Sam, sitting behind her in class, seemed to be getting an awful lot of attention. Notes were practically jumping into her clothes while the teacher's back was turned, as every one of her classmates seemed to want some kind of information. She glanced back at her best friend with one eyebrow up. Sam just smiled, checking out the contents of her latest crumpled bit of paper.

After first period, people seemed to think blatantly staring and talking about her wouldn't suffice. Instead, they began approaching.

"Hi." They'd begin.

"Hi," She'd respond.

"Well, I guess I should say congratulations." They'd mutter. Then smile and clap her on the shoulder. "Definitely, congratulations."

'"For what?"

"Carly, you don't have to be shy. I think it's very brave of you to open up your personal life like this. I can't say no one suspected, but its still brave." With that, they'd walk away, leaving her dumb struck.

Her math teacher had to really hit home the freakiness of the situation. When she entered class, at a run and several minutes before the bell to avoid anymore undeserved congrats, he looked up from his desk and smiled.

"Good morning, Ms. Shay." He greeted her.

"Morning, Mr. Mathews." She responded, dropping into her desk.

"You know, Carly, I was going to hold my tongue as I don't really like to be involved in gossip. I have to tell you, though, what you're doing is fantastic. Nothing teaches people like knowing someone going through it." He stood, strolling over to her. "I just wondered how your family's taking it? Have they been accepting of the situation?"

She frowned at him, not quite sure how to respond. He smiled in a creepy uncle kind of way from behind his glasses. "Accepting to what situation?" She finally asked.

He smiled lightly at her. "You don't have to feel self conscious, Ms. Shay. I quite understand. Sometimes things happen, things we don't mean to happen, but sometimes they turn out to be god things." People had begun to funnel into the room, taking seats around her.

"What good things?" She demanded of him, completely frustrated.

"The best of luck, Carly. Love is one of the few things truly worth fighting for." He walked back over to his desk to get the roll.

"What love?" She asked out loud.

"Are you talking to yourself again, Shay? Didn't we talk about that?" Sam sat down beside her, dropping her book bag. "You can talk to me instead."

She glanced over at Sam, watching her curl her blonde curls behind her ears. "People are acting strangely."

"What do you mean?" Sam asked, than grinned. "If you're talking about Freddie, he seems almost normal today."

"Not Freddie, everyone."

Sam frowned, looking around. "I think it's been a pretty normal day."

Mr. Mathews cleared his throat at the front of the class. "Parabolas." He stated as the topic of today's discussion.

Sam rolled her eyes. "Great day for a nap. Wake me up when its time to go." She laid her head on her arm and squeezed her eyes shut.

The girl who sat directly behind her tapped her shoulder midway into class while Mr. Mathews back was turned.

"Hey, Carly. I just wanted to say way to go. Really brave of you." She whispered.

Carly turned partway in her seat to stare at her completely nonplussed. "Why does everyone keep saying that to me?"

The girl frowned. "You're not the one whole told?"

"Told what?" Carly hissed.

"The one who told everyone about you and Sam."

Carly shook her head. "What about me and Sam?"

"That you're together."

Carly didn't wake Sam when the bell rang. She couldn't speak at all. She packed up her notes, and headed out of the classroom without looking back.

She couldn't believe her ears, couldn't believe this was happening. Who would have said they were together? Not Sam, Sam wouldn't spread such a rumor about them. Someone who hated her? But nobody hated her. Beside Neville. But he didn't attend their school. Maybe he posted on his website.

She ran to the Library during her lunch break and jammed her user name and password into the first computer she found. She typed the fastest she ever had to his website, scrolled down the page, and… nothing. Not a mention of her, let alone her dating Sam.

She closed the windows slowly, contemplating. Maybe Freddie told people that. Maybe someone had teased him about the fact she continued to deny him a date, so he had finally blown a fuse and told people she was with Sam. But Freddie wouldn't do that. He wasn't that cruel. And she wasn't conceited enough to think all his thoughts revolved around her. Who, then?

Fifth period came and went in a blur of reckless thought. She could ask someone who they heard it from, but that would just lead her through a trail as long as, well, a really long distance. It might be the only way to get rid of the rumor though. She was going to have to start contradicting whoever spread this ridiculous gossip. Her and Sam together, really. It could never happen. Why couldn't people see that?

Sixth period finally arrived. People had finally stopped congratulating her, but had started just smiling and waving. She didn't smile or wave back. All of her teachers had a different reaction to her. Most of them gave her some kind of encouragement, like a thumbs up, one other besides her math teacher told her love was worth fighting for, and a couple refused to look at her. Like if she really were with Sam, she was somehow unclean. The remnants were burning on her skin.

When the final bell rang, it was the best moment of her day. She met up with Sam at her locker and crammed all her books into her bag, even though she didn't really need to bring them all home. Sam didn't look at all bothered by the day's events. In fact, it seemed she had had a completely uninteresting day.

They walked home to catcalls, whistles, and several suggestions that they should kiss or at least hold hands. Sam didn't seem to hear them. She strolled along, babbling about her day and the classes she'd slept through. Instead of the oddness Carly had endured, she hadn't notice anything strange at school.

They got back to Carly's loft about fifteen minutes after school let out. Carly dug out her keys in the elevator and unlocked the door to an empty loft.

"Spencer?" She called, but there was no reply. This didn't seem to get to Sam, either, as she dropped her bag at the door and collapsed onto the couch,

"Have I told you how much I love your couch lately?"

"Yes, you have." Carly said, taking a seat on the couch. Maybe Sam wasn't even aware of the situation. Should she tell her?

"Well, just a reminder then." She grinned. "I love your couch."

"You didn't have a weird day at school?" She asked.

Sam shook her head. "No, why?"

"I had the weirdest day at school today." She told her, trying to show with her facial expression just how weird it had been.

"Oh yeah?" Sam said, unconcerned.

She was just going to have to say it. "Yeah, everyone seemed to think we are together." She paused, waiting for Sam to freak out. Waiting for her to jump to her feet, pissed off, ready to beat someone up.

She didn't. Instead, she said, "Imagine that."

"You're not surprised?" Carly almost yelled at her in her own shock.

"No?" Sam questioned a little nervously.

"Why not?" Carly jabbed a finger at her.

"Because I'm the one who told everyone that." She admitted with a shrug.

"Sam!"

"Was that wrong?"