Chapter 3
Surprising Icing and Surprises From Nerds

Sam sighed loudly, glaring across the classroom at the scene of Carly and Gibby as partners. They were currently playing Rock, Paper, Scissors to find out who would go get the aprons and utensils. Carly was giggly as always, and Gibby was… well, Gibby.

Sam's partner was gone… again. The kid had been skipping school nearly every day for the past week. Summer being so close had given a lot of kids senioritis and drained their motivation. Sam understood this… but there were only so many days she could spend making cakes and doing dishes by herself.

When Mr. Buttburn walked by, Sam grabbed his arm and pulled him over to her, startling him.

"Yo, Buttburn," she demanded.

"Yes, Ms. Puckett?"

"I want a partner. I'm sick of working by myself in here every day," she complained.

The teacher sighed. "I'm sorry, but it's not my fault Jacob doesn't feel the need to come to school every day."

"Dude, c'mon! This isn't even fair," Sam protested, gesturing towards Gibby and Carly, who were currently splashing each other with water while washing their hands. "Look – my best friend is over there with a nerd having a grand ol' time. I didn't even want to take this class! I only agreed because Carly begged me to and bribed me with promises of all the delicious food we were gonna make. But ya know what's bullshit? We haven't made any delicious food. The soufflé I made collapsed, the cookies burned, the soup evaporated… What – when am I going to get to make amazing food like Gibby and Carly? Make him work alone for once! She's my best friend, and – "

Mr. Buttburn put his hands up to silence Sam's rant. "Okay, listen: I'm not going to split up Carly and Gibby. They work well together, and she somehow gets him to keep his shirt on through the entire class."

Sam rolled her eyes.

"But!" he added, signaling that there was a plus side. "Pete's partner is gone today, too, and he doesn't work very well by himself. So go ahead and join him at his station. But if you don't get your dessert finished by the end of class – and your dishes done and area cleaned – then I'm not going to do this for you again."

Sam shrugged. "Alright, cool. Deal."

She walked over to Pete's station, where he was making icing in two different colors. He looked up and smiled, brushing some blond hair away from his eye.

"Oh, hey, Sam. 'Sup?" he smiled at her, handing her the extra apron he had sitting on the counter.

She smiled back, feeling that fluttery feeling in her stomach as she took the apron from him and slipped it over her head. "Hey. I convinced Buttburn to give me a partner for once, since Jacob never feels like coming to school. So… here I am."

Pete chuckled. "Alright, cool! Let's do it then."

Sam glanced back at Carly and Gibby's station as she tied the apron around herself. Carly was watching her, and when their gazes met, the brunette raised her eyebrows in a suggestive manner. She knew about Sam's attraction to Pete since the blonde had seen him at the pool the summer before. Sam only grinned back, and discreetly gave a thumbs up, to which Carly giggled and turned back to help Gibby.

Sam turned back to Pete, who was reading the ingredients off of a piece of paper.

"Okay," he explained. "I'm making – we're making – some fancy vanilla cake thing. I just made the icing, so…"

The two teens proceeded to gather their ingredients and utensils and make their dessert. Sam kept giving Carly sly grins whenever the brunette glanced over, causing her to giggle every time, because she could only imagine what was going on in Sam's head…

When it came time to put the icing on the dessert, Sam volunteered. While Pete cleaned up the mixing bowl and spoons they'd used, Sam applied icing. As soon as Carly glanced over again, though, Sam held up the dessert in the pan to show her best friend what she'd created with the icing. Carly had to stifle a laugh and slap a hand over mouth to keep from bursting out laughing.

Sam had spelled out in icing on the dessert, "FUCK ME, PETE."

She lowered it back down and smoothed away the "FUCK ME" just as Pete turned around to check on her progress. Playing it off, she smiled at him playfully and gestured towards his name in icing.

"Look, I spelled your name with it," she chuckled nervously, hoping he hadn't seen what she'd just covered up.

Pete laughed. "Nice!"

When he turned back around, Sam glanced up at Carly once more to see her watching with wide eyes and laughing quietly to herself. The blonde mimicked wiping sweat from her forehead and mouthed a "WHEW!" Carly only continued laughing to herself, turning back to help a very confused Gibby.

"So," Pete started, turning back to help Sam by handing her the other icing and disposing of what she'd just used. "Any plans for this weekend?"

Sam shrugged, carefully smoothing across the other color of icing to blend in with what she'd already applied. "Oh, probably gonna party. Ya know, just another weekend…"

Pete smirked. "Oh, okay. Well, uh, I know Rona's having a party tonight, but… I was thinking about having my own. Like, I dunno… If I could bribe my big bro into buying me some alcohol, then I could just invite all the people that can't go to Rona's party."

"Why can't people go to Rona's party?" Sam asked, trying to act nonchalant about it, like she wasn't personally uninvited by Rona herself just that morning.

"Oh, she's being a real bitch about it, dude. You haven't heard? She's like, told a bunch of people they specifically can't come to her party just 'cause they're not cool enough or whatever. It's pretty jank," he explained. "She told a lot of my friends they couldn't come 'cause they're skater kids or something stupid like that. So fuck her. We'll throw our own party. I never liked rich kids' parties anyway."

Sam grinned, nodding. This made her feel way better. "Yeah, exactly. Sounds cool. I hate Rona, dude… she's way stuck up."

"Exactly," Pete agreed, chuckling.

While Pete finished topping the dessert, Sam slipped off to Carly and Gibby's station. Carly left Gibby to finish their dessert and turned around to see what Sam wanted.

"So… partners with Pete, huh?" she smiled.

Sam nodded, glancing back to check on the blond boy. "Yeah. Dude, he's so cute! And guess what…"

"What?"

"He totally just invited me to his party tonight. He knows about Rona and her party, and he said she's been telling a bunch of people they're not invited, so he's gonna throw his own party and invite everyone who can't go to Rona's. Isn't that awesome?" Sam explained, giddy at just the thought.

"Awesome! But am I invited, too?" Carly asked warily.

Sam rolled her eyes. "Duh! I don't go without you. I think everyone knows that already."

"Oh, cool! Well – "

Just then, the girls were interrupted by a black-haired head popping up behind Carly excitedly, grabbing their attention. They spun around to find Freddie Benson, Carly's neighbor, grinning at them, obviously eager to tell them something.

"Hey, Carly!" he greeted happily, but his voice soon lost its excitement when he turned to Sam. "And Sam."

Sam sighed and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Whaddyou want, Benson?"

Freddie narrowed his eyes and turned back to Carly. "Okay, so are you guys ready to party this weekend? 'Cause I'm getting… drumroll please…"

Sam slapped him on the arm, causing him to jump back a little. "Just say it! What're you getting, nerd?"

Freddie frowned, but then sighed and said in a less excited manner, "A fake ID."

Carly and Sam's eyes both went wide simultaneously. They looked at each other, then back at Freddie.

"Seriously? From who?" Carly questioned him first.

Freddie smirked in satisfaction. "Rodney. I'm gettin' it for two hundred."

Sam's face fell. "Dude, you're just gonna get gipped. You know Rodney's reputation, and anything fake he's ever made for anyone has always been caught."

"No, not this time," Freddie assured her. "He's getting it from some other guy. He's just my hook-up 'cause the guy doesn't trust anyone but Rodney."

"I dunno, that doesn't sound very safe," Carly spoke up, unsure and obviously afraid of getting caught.

Sam shifted her weight to one foot. "Yeah. How do we know it's even gonna be legit?"

Freddie shrugged. "Well, Rodney's not gonna take two hundred bucks from me and then give me a fake ID that doesn't work."

Carly quirked an eyebrow. "Did you forget the nickname he's had since grade school? Rip-Off Rodney?"

Freddie was looking a lot less confident now. He tried to shrug it off. "Don't worry. It'll work. Rodney showed me his that he got from the same guy and it looks totally real. He said he uses it all the time. Where do you think Rona gets all her alcohol for her parties? She sends Rodney to get it."

Sam narrowed her eyes. "So that's how that asshole gets into all her parties…"

Freddie nodded, then gestured towards the door. "Yeah. Anyway, I was walking here, and guess who I was walking behind? Valerie! She is so hot, you guys… She even – "

Sam reached across and put her hand over Freddie's mouth. "Sh sh… Shut up. We don't care. I have a question for you, dork."

Freddie glared at her, shoving her hand away, but proceeded to listen anyway, if not angrily. "What?"

The shorter of the two girls glanced at her best friend, then back to Freddie. "We just got invited to Pete's party tonight, and… we're tryin' to get laid. You think you could help us out by buying the alcohol for us?"

Carly gaped and quickly interjected. "No! What? I never said I'm trying to get laid. Sam is trying to get laid, she – "

Sam shushed the other girl. "Oh, shut up. You're inviting Jake, or I will. And we're both gonna get laid before the night's over… we have to."

Carly only sighed and slumped her shoulders over, deciding not to argue since she knew it was useless.

Freddie shrugged, looking over Sam's shoulder to see Pete working on finishing whatever was in the pan in front of him. He looked back at Sam skeptically. "No way. Why would I wanna help you? It's my ID."

Sam groaned. "C'mon, don't be an asshole! We'll give you the money for it and everything."

Freddie shook his head stubbornly. "Nope. I might buy something for Carly, but there's no way I'm buying shit for you just so you can try to have sex with some douche."

Sam nudged Carly, who sighed but gave in and asked Freddie herself. "Please, Freddie? If you're gonna do it for me, do it for Sam, too."

Freddie shook his head again, crossing his arms over his chest in defiance.

"For me?" Carly asked in her sweetest voice.

Freddie groaned and tried not to reply, but he knew he had to. Carly had a special way of working her girl magic on him, and it got him every time. "Oh, alright. But you guys owe me!"

Sam smirked. "Yeah, okay, whatever. When're you getting the ID?"

"I'm heading over to Rodney's to get it during lunch. Why?"

"Okay, well, meet us in the staff parking lot after lunch so we can see it. I wanna make sure it's legit, so if it isn't, I can find a back-up plan. I'm not gonna offer to buy the alcohol for Pete's party until after I've seen the ID," she explained.

Freddie shrugged. "Alright. I'll see you guys then."

Just as he was about to turn to leave, Mr. Buttburn came over to join the trio, pink apron in hand. "Freddie? You know the rules."

He pointed to a sign hanging next to the door that read, "IF YOU'RE GOING TO BE IN HERE, YOU HAVE TO WEAR AN APRON!"

Freddie, a sucker for rules and obeying teachers' orders, shook his head quickly and waved the teacher away. "Uh, I-I can't read."

He then rushed off, disappearing out the door and into the hallway, leaving Mr. Buttburn shaking his head and walking away, apron still in hand.

Once both males had left the vicinity, Sam and Carly turned to each other excitedly.

"This is gonna be so awesome! I can't wait to tell Pete. He's gonna be so psyched… He'll get drunk for sure, and then ya know what that means!"

Carly forced a smile. "Drunken, possibly regrettable, sex?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah! I'll talk to you later."

The blonde rushed back to her station with Pete, who was just starting the dishes. Carly helped Gibby finish the dishes as well. By the end of class, though, Sam joined Carly at the door, looking somber.

"What's wrong?" Carly wondered as they entered the hallway.

"I couldn't help it… I told Pete I'd get him the alcohol…"

to be continued…