The Girl In the White Dress

Freddie

To Freddie:

I'm tired of pretending. I'm tired of waiting. And I'm ready to just...say it.

So meet me at the park after school. I'll be there, and if I were you, I'd show up.

Look for the girl in the white dress.

I looked everywhere on the paper. Who in the world would leave me a love note? Besides that Shannon girl...

Maybe it was Carly. Heh, heh...

White dress...

Just then, I saw Carly walk up. "Hey, what's that?" she asked. I showed her the folded peice of notebook paper.

It took Carly a moment to read it. "Oh my gosh! Freddie, someone's in love with you!" Yeah, like that wasn't obvious.

"Who do you think it is?" I asked.
"Hmm..." No smile, blush...Nothing. "I don't know. Was there not a name?" I shook my head. "No."

"Well, then...Whoever this is doesn't want you to know who she is until you actually see her...A mystery date."

I sighed. "Yeah, sounds like some cruel joke." Carly looked at me. "Don't be like that. Go there this evening. You never know."

I suppose she did have a point.

My mind flipped through all the possibilities...none of interest...It stopped abruptly on the image of Sam's smile. No...Of course not. She would never be so girly as to leave a love note in the first place.

Speaking of Sam..."Hey, have you seen Sam anywhere?" She'd usually be here by now. It's not like detention was this afternoon.

"No...She wasn't in our last period class, either. She was here this morning..." I blinked. Something was fishy about this whole thing...

"Well, come on," Carly said. "We need to go before your mom has a 'panic' attack." I nooded. "Yeah."

Carly pulled out her cell to call Sam, and we turned to walk out.

She was talking to Sam. I caught a couple of words towards the end.

"...a love note!"..."Sam!..."..."What do you have to take care of?"..."Why not?"..."Oh, ok."..."See you later."..."Bye."

"What's up?" I asked.
"I don't know," Carly replied. "She won't tell me."

Alright...Now I was a little scared.


Carly

Sam sure was being secretive. That was...quite unlike her. Usually she's all chatty and really doesn't mind telling me, or Freddie, things...I wondered why...

We rode home with Ms. Benson...Who was totally cooing over the fact that her son recieved a love note.

I smiled. This could be Freddie's big break.

Still...I'd wondered who'd left it. It certainly wasn't me. Heh, I was probably his first guess.

It was sweet, the whole thing...As long as it didn't turn out to be a joke, like he thinks it is.

But I don't think it is. He's more popular than he thinks he is. Sam just makes him believe otherwise.

When we arrived at my place, Freddie's mom pulled him in their own apartment across the hall. Probably to dress him up in the dorkiest outfit ever.

I walked in my own apartment, where Spencer was making some weird ceiling fan. He walked in, and I gestured up to it.

"Oh, this is my Fan of Lightbulbs!" I laughed. "See, you get twice the light, and all the air!"

"Well, hey," I said. "Did you know Freddie got a love note today?"
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah, but he is such a pessimist sometimes."
"Why?"
"Oh, he just thinks it's all a joke."
"Why?"
"I don't know. He just hasn't had the best love life. I kind of blame myself."
"Well don't. He can't make you love him, you know that right?"
"Yeah."

And then he noticed I walked in by myself. "Hey, where's Sam?"
"I don't really know...I talked to her, but she just...won't tell me anything."

Again...I wondered why.


Spencer

Hmph...Something wasn't right. Since when does Carly walk in from school...alone, anyway?...

And Sam had to take care of something?...Right after Freddie recieves a love note from a mystery girl?...I've seen something like this happen when I was in high school...

Just then Freddie walked in...wearing a vest and khacki pants...That looked a little too tight on him without the belt.

"I was able to grab a better outfit and sneak it over here. Can I change real quick?"

Carly nodded. "Uh, yeah, sure...You know where the bathroom is."

Freddie nodded. "Thanks." Then he went to go change.

I waited for him. When he walked out, he looked much better.

"So, I hear you got a love note."

Freddie nodded. "Yeah."

"You don't sound too optimistic."
"Well, it's just...I've never been the best with girls. I mean, the one time I actually thought I had a girlfriend, she turned out to be a complete jerk, the one girl who I do like doesn't like me back, and I mean...Just look at how Sam treats me!"
"Dude, you never know."
"I know, but..."
"You're nervous?"
"Yeah, and it didn't even say who it was from."
"Really?"
"No, it didn't." Freddie grabbed the note from his pocket and handed it to me.

I read it...And boy, is this starting to look more and more like Sam or what?...Except for the fact that she would leave a love note in the first place.

But, still, like I said. I've seen this before.

"Well, I have my theories," I told him. He went wide eyed. "Like who?!"

I smiled a sadistic smile. "I'm not telling you."
"Why not?!"
"Because if I told you, you wouldn't go."
"Please?!" He pleaded it.
"Nope."
"Aww...Spencer come on!"
"Nope."

He sighed. "Fine...But I've never been caught up in a situation quite like this before. Any advice?"

"Just, well, be yourself. Whoever this is obviously already knows you." I winked. He stared at me, puzzled.

"Well, I'd better get going. I don't want to be late."
"Sure."
"Tell Carly I said, 'Bye,' 'kay?"
"Sure."

He turned to leave, and left.


Sam

I walked in Carly's place without even knocking. Carly was there, of course.

"Has he left already?" I asked. She nodded. "Yeah."

I smiled. Good. "Hey, can I...change here?"

Carly got this weird look on her face. "Why do you--"

You should've seen the look on her face when I pulled the dress out of my backpack. Gold.

"Uh...uh...Y-yeah...Go ahead..."

I nodded, and went to the bathroom.

I must say...I actually looked kind of pretty, I think. I hoped. That was the whole point of the dress.

I grabbed my backpack and walked out. Spencer smiled. Carly went all wide--eyed and then managed to say, "Uh...Wow! You look...Great!"

I gestured to the door..."I should probably go ahead and go...He's gonna be there before me as it is."

Carly nodded. "Yeah...But before you go, let me just say...I never thought I'd live to see this day." I smiled at that.


Fortunately, I knew a shortcut. So I ended up there before him.

I decided to just sit and wait until he found me. I had to sit so uncomfortably though...This is why I never wear skirts.

Yeah, I like Freddie. I felt the whole thing when we kissed that night, but didn't say anything, because I was...Several things, actually. Scared, naive...Stupid. But now it's time I set things straight.

It wasn't long before I saw him. He looked good, actually. I was expecting a sweater vest.


Freddie

...I looked ahead...No one...Then I turned...And...My stomach did a perfect backflip.

Sam...I could not believe my eyes. In a white dress...? She looked so...different. Of all the times I've seen her, this is the first time I ever thought she actually looked beautiful. And she was.

And...When I looked in her eyes, with that wonderful smile, I saw everything I needed to. Truth, apologies. Beauty.

I walked over to her, and she stood up, smiling beautifully. I probably looked like a complete idiot next to Sam.

We held each other. There was nothing much to say. It was just the two of us, or it felt like it.

And then I asked a stupid question. "Why white?"

She smiled, and answered, "Because black would've been too obvious."