Disclaimer: I do not own iCarly or any other registered, trademarked, or copyrighted material found within this story.

i Lost

By: Tech-man

"Okay, this is completely unfair," I yelled at my wall. I was extremely fortunate in the fact that my crazy and over aggressive mother was not home to hear me throw what is going to amount to a tantrum. I had everything planned out perfectly. I was going to ask Sam to Prom; it was going to be simple, or as simple as anything with Sam ever is. I cannot believe that I was beat by some stupid text message.

I had a perfect plan. Tonight after iCarly, when the three of us made our way down to the Groovy Smoothie for an after the show snack I was going to ask Sam to Prom. Not some simple: Hey Sam, do you want to go to the Prom with me?. No, that would never work with a woman like Sam. Sam is sometimes too predictable. At least when it comes to food and money. She will let Carly go first and order her smoothie then jump in front of me. Order some monstrosity and then demand that I pay for it. Something, that I really don't mind doing and tonight I was going to use that to make my move. Instead of just paying and letting her walk away I was going to demand that in return for all the smoothies that I had bought her over the years she had to agree to go to the Prom with me. Granted, this was probably going to result in some physical pain, but I was sure that by the end she would agree.

Twenty minutes ago all of my careful planning went up in smoke. To make things worse, I don't think either of them noticed that I left the studio in the aftermath of the text message.

Twenty Minutes ago in the iCarly studio

"Well, this has been another revelation inducing iCarly," Carly said from the left side of the camera her smile lighting up the room.

"So you better watch next time," Sam threatened in that special way she has that both makes me want to run and smile like some love sick retard.

"We're clear," I announced to the room as a whole, lowering the camera from my shoulder and resting it on the cart. "Great show guys," I announced before casting a glance over in Sam's direction. I really do have a hard time keeping my eyes off of her. Part of me is glad that she still believes that I love Carly, but I think that is only the piece that is terrified of rejection.

Her posture is what alerted me that something was off. "HOLY CHIZ," she screamed loud enough that dust from the rafters fell. "Carly, I got a date to the Prom with Mike Watson. He just sent me a text message asking me to go with him," Sam almost sounded like a girl there for a moment as her excitement and Carly's joy seemed to drown out everything else in the studio.

Before they could look over in my direction I quickly ducked out the door and headed straight for my room.

Present

I stared at a picture of the three of us from earlier in the year. Sam actually had her arm on my shoulder as we all made goofy faces at the camera. It wasn't fair that I finally get up enough courage to ask the girl of my dreams on a date, and someone else beats me to it.

My thoughts were interrupted by someone knocking on the door. "Dork, it's time to go to Groovy Smoothie and you know that you can't get out of paying for Mama's smoothie by hiding," Sam's voice penetrated the door with surprising quality.

A smile broke out across my face before I had a chance to stop it. I may have lost this round, but I had a feeling that I would get several more chances to tell Sam how I felt. I ripped the door open giving her the dirtiest look I could muster. "Dammit Puckett, can't a guy grab his wallet without you throwing a fit? And what makes you think that I am going to by your smoothie? You know you still owe me for nearly every smoothie you have ever consumed," I walked past her and down the hall toward the elevator.

I could feel her hands before they even grabbed my shoulders spinning me into the wall. She let loose some verbal tirade. I really didn't pay attention, because I knew that so long as I could still get her going, I would have a chance to tell her that she replaced Carly in my life a long time ago.

A/N: I have been suffering from some major writer's block in relation to my current stories: i Just Don't Know and i Bet I also have another large story in the workings. One that will probably make everyone hate me by the time I am finished. I wrote this really short piece of work as a way of trying to move through some of my writer's block. This is by far the shortest story I have ever written, or at least I think that it is. I hope you all enjoyed it. Please feel free to criticize it to the point of insanity. Keep an eye out for the final chapter of i Just Don't Know. It should be coming up shortly.