Serendipity (Book 1)

iDefine Love by xxkissfromarosex

Chapter 5: T-Bo

In his opinion, T-Bo had the best job in the world. Everyday, he was surrounded by smoothies and people and various skewered delights. It may not sound like the most exciting way to earn money, but he loved it.

His obsession with impaling food had begun when he was three years old. He would be in the kitchen all day, fascinated with the appliances much to his mother's annoyance. He'd push the oven knobs, stick his head in the fridge and whirr the blender until his mom had couldn't take it anymore. She'd handed him a stick and had told him to play with it, and had left him to it.

She came back five minutes later to see that he'd speared his ham sandwich, his apple and his candy bar onto the stick. He gave it to her with a huge toothy grin.

Throughout his high school, his mom would sit at home; waiting in dread for the day when her son's school would phone up saying he'd stabbed a pupil who he'd mistaken for a watermelon. Luckily, T-Bo managed to keep his spiking to food only.

After graduation, T-Bo had been walking around the streets one day, a stick with large shrimps pierced through it in his hand. A man had stopped in front of him and had asked him where he'd got that shrimp stick.

"I made it," T-Bo replied proudly. Turns out, the man was the manager of the 'Groovy Smoothie', and he'd been looking for a new employee to spice things up a bit. T-Bo took up his offer of the spot, and ran home to tell his mom. She was delighted that her son's ability to impale anything had actually got him somewhere.

Since then, T-Bo had been working at 'Groovy Smoothie' for nearly seven years now, and he enjoyed every minute of it. The place was usually visited by the iCarly team too, local teenage celebrities that made a web show every week. T-Bo was an avid fan, and he would boast to everyone that he knew exactly which smoothies Carly, Freddie and Sam ordered. They came in almost everyday, although Sam never paid, if he recalled correctly. He remembered one time Freddie had complained to the blonde that this would be the last time he'd pay for her drinks, but she didn't take it seriously. In fact, no-one did. Sam had smirked and patted his shoulder playfully.

"Whatever you say, Freddo."

But it was this one particular visit from them that had stuck in his mind the most. The iCarly kids had come to the manager and had asked if they could hire the cafe out for the night, in order to hold a speed dating contest or something, T-Bo wasn't sure of the details. An influx of guys had poured through the door, all wanting to date the lovely Carly Shay. T-Bo had remembered seeing the irritation on Freddie's face and had chuckled to himself; envy wasn't pretty. He had to hand it to the guy, he never gave up.

Then came the actual date night. It had ended in disaster, and Carly had been very upset that she hadn't found anyone.

Freddie took this opportunity, and had asked her to dance.

T-Bo had been cleaning quietly in the corner, the mop circling in the same spot for ten minutes. He was trying to cover up the fact that he was listening, because he knew it wasn't his place to. Freddie had nodded over at him, a cue for him to turn on the music. He did so, and he watched Carly's arms wrap around the boy's neck. T-Bo smiled, happy that the guy had finally prevailed.

They swayed gently in time to the music; Carly's head resting in the crook of Freddie's shoulder. It was sweet and tender, if a little awkward.

The door opened, and a tired Sam Puckett had strolled in. She looked very pretty that night; obviously making an effort due to Carly's forcefulness. Her eyes soon latched onto the dancing couple, and she froze. T-Bo watched her face flash with many emotions. First, surprise. Then bewilderment. She averted her gaze away from them, filling with an ache that T-Bo could feel from where he was standing.

He thought she'd interrupt. He thought she'd push her arms between them and separate them, just as he'd expect her to.

But she turned and walked back out the door. She'd given them another look as she passed the glass door, until she couldn't take it anymore. T-Bo waited for her to come back; waited for her to change her mind. But she didn't.

Carly's head retracted from his shoulder as the song finished. She untangled her arms from his neck and looked towards the door. "Did someone come in?"

Freddie, still dazed from the dance, simply shrugged. "I don't know. I didn't notice anyone else."

One thought had screamed through T-Bo's head when Freddie had said that. That's right, Freddie. You never do.

The next time they'd visited, Freddie was in crutches. T-Bo, concerned, had asked Sam what happened when she was ordering the drinks.

"He was run over by a taco truck," She responded absently, handing over the money. Now he knew something was up. Sam was paying? T-Bo checked the dollar warily, before walking over to the blender. He poured the fruits into the appliance.

"When did it happen?"

"I dunno. A week ago? He broke a leg and an arm, I think. He's fine," Sam said, toying with a sugar packet between her fingers. T-Bo handed over three smoothies and produced a rod from beneath the counter. It had five fried chicken wings spiked through it; an emergency 'Sam Stick' he'd introduced since the dance incident. He was fond of the blonde, and he guessed she hadn't had anyone give her a delicious stick of fried chicken since Freddie's accident. Girl was looking peaky. He saw a droplet of drool form in the corner of Sam's mouth. "How much?"

"Five bucks for the whole stick."

Sam hesitated, before smoothing the note on the desk and snatching the pole from his hands. Her teeth sunk into the meat, ripping it straight from the bone. "Worth it," She announced, making him smile. She was looking better already. She gathered the smoothies up in the crook of her arm and manoeuvred herself over to her table. The chicken firmly between her teeth, she plopped the cups down.

"Where'd you get the chicken from?" Freddie piped up, sipping on his drink. Sam's thumb jerked T-Bo's way, too absorbed in her snack. Freddie nodded in comprehension. "Oh. Shoulda guessed from the stick."

"How's the arm? And the leg?" Carly said anxiously. Freddie laughed.

"They're fine, I'm fine, you're fine, it's OK."

Carly's lips pursed, but she didn't pursue the argument. Her hand slipped into his, and T-Bo nearly dropped the strawberries he was about to blend. He knew he should be focusing on his job, but the iCarly kids were too distracting. Sam noticed their tiny embrace, the chicken suddenly souring in her mouth. She set the stick down and looked away.

T-Bo's eyes locked with hers for a second, and he was whisked back to the night of Carly and Freddie's dance. Sam wore the same hurt expression.

No matter how hard she tried, it wouldn't get better.

T-Bo didn't know if even fried chicken could help take the ache away.