Seattle WA

Ridgeway high

June 17, 2009

The iCarly trio had indeed fallen into the week's routine but one of them, their technical producer to be precise, wanted the school hours to end just so they could go and meet up with a certain golden blonde and hang out at their iCarly studio for it is today that they would be planning the web show due every Friday after classes.

Having different classes before lunch, Freddie walks towards the school's cafeteria while deliberating on whether to skip his afternoon classes and head to the gym or just wait it out until the school day ends. Come to think of it, the last time I didn't go to school was about one and half a month ago and besides we're nearing summer vacation anyways. Freddie decides on cutting class short for the day, he sends a message to his fencing partner John if he'd be at the gym after lunch.

Freddie almost thinks twice about cutting afternoon class when his partner replies that he can't today or on their regular weekend schedule since his family started summer vacation early. Sending out a reply to John to message him when he gets back, Freddie is pulled from his thoughts when he enters their cafeteria and proceeds to the line to buy his food.

Sitting at their table in the cafeteria, it wasn't long before he was joined by his two best friends, Carly headed for the line while Sam set down a steaming bowl of homemade but in this case locker made beef chili. Deciding to just go on with cutting classes after lunch and figure out what to do at the gym, if he's lucky Shelby might be at the gym since he was thinking of doing some more boxing since he'd tried it last Saturday.

"Sam? Can you cover for me after lunch today?" Freddie asks facing the blonde.

After swallowing a spoonful of her chili, "Not up to listening to more of our teachers' droning huh?" Sam pauses for a moment before deciding to tease her tech friend. "Or is it that you just can't wait to see Melanie until later that you wanna run around looking for her?" Sam teases with a sly grin.

"Hey, that's not a bad idea either." Freddie replies with the same grin, "Kidding! I was thinking of going to the gym, beats having to stay here all day doing nothing." Freddie shrugs.

"I've really rubbed some Puckett influence on you haven't I?" Sam chuckles.

Freddie laughs at how his blonde best friend puts it, "Indeed you have; so same deal?"

"Don't tell Carly for her absolute deniability, and a kilo of Ham when I get detention covering your ass?" Sam asked in a very businesslike manner.

Freddie answers with the same expression, "Deal." Freddie says mock spitting on his hand and holds it out as Sam did the same.

Just before Sam and Freddie finishes shaking on their deal Carly arrives at their table with her lunch. She sits on Freddie's side of the table and asks the two, "Hey, what are you spit shaking for?" She asks with innocence.

"Oh, Fredwardo here was just asking me if I would allow him to date Melanie." Sam flippantly said with a hint of teasing directed at the brunette.

Carly couldn't put up a decent smile as she looked at Freddie, this made her best male friend chuckle and amused at her expression, "Sam's joking Carls. It's nothing to worry about." Freddie said as he gave Carly a reassuring smile.

"Oh ok." Carly nodded. She proceeded to eating her lunch while they were joined by Gibby and not shortly after by Wendy on their lunch table, Wendy then started a conversation of what their latest iCarly episode would include and so they got to planning for the better half of their lunch hour.

After lunch, Freddie made a quick excuse for the bathroom and said that he'd see Carly and Sam later for last period. I'll apologize later Carls, school is just a bit tasteless at the moment. He passes a meaningful look towards Carly and Sam, Sam subtly nodded. He then made his way out of the school inconspicuously and headed straight to the gym.

When Freddie arrives at the gym, he proceeds to change in his spare workout attire he got from his gym locker and heads towards the weight room with the boxing ring where he is greeted by the brown haired young female fighter with a warm smile.

"Freddie! Hi, thought you only workout on the weekends and don't you have school?" Shelby greeted.

"Hey Shelby, I didn't feel like finishing school today, how about you? Don't you have school as well?" Freddie greeted with a warm smile as well.

"oooh, iCarly's technical producer the bad boy, never knew." Shelby teasingly smiled showing her prominent cheekbones. "CFC final matches are coming up; school exempted me from final terms so I could focus on training, but coach said we shouldn't over work it or I might burn out before even fighting in the ring so I get to relax here every day just doing normal work out."

"I see; then I guess it's my lucky day, because I humbly offer myself under your tutelage on mixed martial arts." Freddie bows and boyishly smiles at Shelby.

Shelby lets out a hearty laugh at Freddie's gesture. "Hmmm, I guess I accept you as a student, how about a warm up before we start? Tread mill?" Shelby leads the way towards the tread mills and turns on two for her and Freddie and they start off with a walk and gradually sped up to jog while keeping up some light conversation

After warming up and a quick stretching, Shelby proceeded to train Freddie on some basic boxing combinations, sampling some grapples she knows her fellow teenager can take and some kickboxing combinations on Freddie's current level; she leaves out Freddie's footwork since he really is a natural at being light on his feet but firm and steady at the same time. Even Shelby's coach would sometimes slip in some pointers for his student's 'apprentice' as he put it which made the duo stop and let out a laugh at the reference.

Ending their session around 2:30pm Freddie and Shelby goes off to cool down with a normal walk on the tread mill. "So, you had fun learning mixed martial arts?" Shelby asks.

"Yeah! Frankly, it's now my second favorite sport, although I'm not so sure yet since I haven't had a match yet but I know you'll go easy on me when you think I'm ready." Freddie enthusiastically states and chuckles at his latter statement.

"With how fast you're learning, I may not have to." She compliments.

"Thank you though, at least now I've got something more to look forward to every weekend."

"Awesome! It's been boring just training with coach since I started; most of the guys that come up for a match are a bit creepy." Shelby says with a mock shiver making them both laugh.

"I don't blame those guys with you looking incredibly pretty even on just gym attire." He lets out a confident smile.

Shelby grins at Freddie's charming compliment. At that moment their cool down walk ends and they both step off their respective tread mills and heads towards their bags for some water. "So we pick this up on Saturday?" She asks

Freddie snorts out a laugh, "Sure, If Carly decides not to kill me later." They both laugh as he had told Shelby that the brunette web host didn't know he'd be ditching afternoon classes and he only had Sam to cover for him.

"See yah then." They both waved as they went off to the showers on their respective shower rooms.

Melanie looks at time on her pear phone. It's only half an hour until Sam, Carly and Freddie's off from school. She's glad that they had brought her on this coffee shop when they hung out yesterday, she loves the aroma of such café and Melanie finds it relaxing to just sit back sip some of her favorite hot caramel macchiato and just observe the passersby as she gets lost in her thoughts.

The main subject of such thoughts is Freddie Benson, friends to her twin sister and non-blood related sister whom of course is Carly. She had admired Freddie even before meeting him even if she had only the web show and what Sam and Carly had told about him on their e-mails even if those were just passing comments, probably more from Carly than her twin at the start. She's glad that whatever problem Sam had with Freddie when they first met seemed to have been worked out when Sam had e-mailed her once about the 'Nub' has finally had enough and hit her back, coincidentally causing Sam to finally respect Freddie and the two finally became good friends. Knowing him for only two days since she came to Seattle for her week long break, she couldn't deny that her attraction towards the web producer only grew with every bit of quality she had discovered he posses. An absolute gentleman without a doubt, thoughtful, caring and seems to project an aura of gentleness while at the same time feeling a sense of security when Melanie is around Freddie, and she could tell that even her twin sister Sam would agree if they soften her up with some real expensive foreign bacon.

Quite fond at her lingering thoughts; Melanie didn't notice the entrance of the boy, that at the moment occupied her thoughts, inside the coffee shop and buy himself a hot cappuccino(for a change). Melanie was pulled from her thoughts when she hears him asked her from behind where she is seated.

"Is this seat taken?" Freddie asks.

Surprised that she didn't notice him come in the shop, Melanie turns and replies with a bright smile, "Freddie! Hi, no go ahead." She gestures to the seat adjacent to her right. "You're early, where are Carly and Sam?"

Freddie guiltily avoids her gaze while he scratches the back of his head; nevertheless he meets her gaze once more to answer, "Yeeeaaahhh, about that. I uh skipped afternoon classes and had Sam cover for me if anybody asks, Carly doesn't know so she'll probably be furious when they get here."

Melanie snorts out a laugh, "Sam really rubbed off on you. I'm afraid to find out when she'd finally rub off on Carly." Melanie teases while still heartily laughing at Freddie's guilty expression.

Freddie joins in the laughter, "Oh, you'll find out when they get here. Those two text you yet?"

"Nope, but I texted them I'll be waiting here. So where'd you spend your afternoon?"

"Went to the gym, I would have fenced but my partner couldn't make it so I tried to do some mixed martial arts, had my friend Shelby teach me. I have to admit it is quite fun." Freddie casually summarized his afternoon at the Jungle gym.

"Oooh, you're mixed martial arts instructor is a girl? Is she by any chance your girlfriend?" Melanie teasingly asked.

Freddie playfully scowled and said. "Wha…! No, of course not; although I find her cheekbones really cute."

Melanie raised an eyebrow. "Hmmm, any chance I'm gonna have to worry about a competition?" she teasingly asked.

"Do you wanna find out? I'm kinda fresh out of fencing partner this Saturday, granted Carly lets me live that long, do you wanna be my partner on Saturday?" Freddie asked with his boyish grin.

"It's a date." Melanie says with finality and a hint of seductiveness.

Just as Melanie and Freddie were enjoying each other's company making light conversation about each other's day, Carly and Sam arrives at the coffee shop with the latter bounding in first with a huge grin on her face.

"Fredward dude! How'd you get so lucky!?" Sam said as she spotted Freddie seated with her twin.

"Uhhh, what do you mean?" Freddie asked in confusion.

Sam raised an eyebrow, followed by a teasing smirk. "Well, aside from the fact that you're here with Mels?" Freddie did a really good impression of a fish out of water upon hearing that while Melanie tried to suppress a blush slowly rising on her cheeks.

Satisfied at the intended effect of her question, Sam proceeded. "You're afternoon class absences went unnoticed by our droning teachers especially Ms. Briggs. Therefore I must commend you sir for your great sense of timing." Sam stated her last line with a bow which earned her a giggle coming from Melanie and Carly who seemed to have come from the counter with their order.

"But that doesn't mean you're off the hook Freddie." Carly cut in after they have seated with the two. "You could have been in real trouble, and you didn't ask me to come with." She crossed her arms and started with a reprimanding tone but pouted as she said her latter statement.

Freddie chuckled; glad that Carly wasn't mad at him since he wasn't caught. "Don't worry Carls, next time we'll cut class, the three of us." He teasingly smirked at Carly.

"That's not what I meant! But… okay." Carly said in a mock exasperated tone but timidly added the latter.

They spent a good hour at the coffee shop with Melanie recounting to her twin sister what their instructors at the studio they used to go to were asking about her and inquired if maybe she would think about going back for some lessons, since they put it that Sam had as much talent as Melanie granted that they favored different styles of dancing; Melanie with her grace in ballet and Samantha with her precision and stamina for tap dancing. Whilst Carly was sharing her notes with Freddie when he felt a little guilty for skipping afternoon classes and the latter thought that asking for her notes would at least relieve him of his guilt.

Sorry for the irregular updates. kinda working on something new, but still deliberating on whether to post it or not. :)