Serendipity (Book 1)

Ghost by Archilochus

FanFiction.net

Ghost by Archilochus

TV » iCarly
Rated: T
Language: English
Genre: Romance & Tragedy
Characters: Freddie B., Sam P.
Words: 4,282
Published: Nov 1, 2010

***

Freddie leaned over the side wall of the fire escape, his hair blowing gently in the warm night air. From his position, he had a clear shot of the city streets. The lights. Buildings. The cars running along the wet pavement, heading toward whatever destinations awaited them. It was a great spot to think. Perhaps not the most picturesque location in Seattle, but Freddie thought it suited his needs just fine.

He focused on a red sedan that came to a rolling stop in front of a traffic light. As he sometimes did, he wondered about the nature of the person who drove a random vehicle. Whoever was manning the wheel had lived a complete life up until now. They grew up, went through various stages of development. Made friends. Lost friends. Forgot friends. That person, whoever they were, had complete memories of entire periods in their life. He wondered what it would be like to know that person. To know their memories, their life.

It was the sort of thing that he wondered if other people thought about, although he'd never say so out of fear that it would come across as weird. Freddie simply watched as the traffic light switched to green, and the small sedan trundled away. For a brief moment, they had been connected, but now as the car continued on its journey, they would most likely never have contact again.

Ugh, Sam's right. I am a nub. Freddie rubbed his arms with his hands, feeling a sudden chill come over him. Some of that dampness must have still been clinging around; after all, it did storm earlier that evening.

"Cold?"

Startled, Freddie whipped around to find none other than Sam Puckett, reclining in the lawn chair he had set up, grinning at him. Freddie had to wait a moment to catch his breath.

"Jesus, Sam. Don't scare me like that." Still smiling, Sam hopped off her seat and closed the distance between them. When she came nearer, a lone ray of moonlight caught her face. A lump formed in Freddie's throat. He was struck very hard by how beautiful she was.

"Sorry, Freddie." Sam said. Freddie's heart stopped for a different reason. The use of his proper name, her sincere tone of voice, that honest-to-goodness genuine no-sarcasm smile she was wearing. Not normal Sam Puckett behavior. At all.

"Yeah..." Freddie answered, somewhat suspiciously. He rubbed his arms again.

"Here." Sam pulled off the hoodie she was wearing and handed it over to Freddie. "You look like you could use this." Freddie fingered the fabric tentatively.

"O-Okay." He hesitated. He held one sleeve of the hoodie with both hands.

"Something the matter?" Freddie peered at Sam. Her smile only deepened, yet every feature and characteristic of her right then reflected pure sincerity. Freddie's arms promptly fell.

"Yeah, something's the matter! The last time you spoke consecutive, unsarcastic sentences to me was in this exact same spot last year!" To Freddie's surprise, Sam laughed.

"Guess I'm in a good mood!" she exclaimed, chuckling girlishly. Her attention went to the hoodie in Freddie's hands. "Put it on Fredapus."

Freddie sighed. He still didn't understand what was going on here, but Sam's casual delivery of a taunting nickname soothed him a little. He stretched the hoodie by the bottom and slid it over his head. Somehow it actually fit him. This was surprising, considering that these days he was definitely bigger than Sam. Then again, perhaps she got it on the large side.