Chapter 176
"Sam. You're out of juvy," Carly said, smiling as she pulled Sam into a tight hug.
"Juvy? What are you talking about?" Sam asked with a grin, clearly confused by the whole situation.
Carly turned around and faced Freddie.
"So, who's your girlfriend now?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
Freddie blinked, caught off guard. "What—why is that the first thing you ask me?" he replied strangely, then added, "It's still Cara..." like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Yeah," Sam echoed with the same weirded-out tone. "The one who needs to track names to not get them wrong is that one," she added, pointing straight at me.
"Heyy, I'm being insulted for free here," I said indignantly, making everyone laugh.
"Okay, what is going on here?" Freddie asked, still trying to understand the situation.
"If I didn't know Carly any better, I would say she was high," I added, shaking my head.
Carly shot me a glare, then suddenly her expression changed.
"Spencer!" she exclaimed, a smile lighting up her face as she turned and bolted from the room, shouting his name.
We followed her.
"Spencer," Carly repeated as she saw him.
"Hey, what's up, kid?" Spencer replied casually.
"Oh," Spencer breathed, as Carly almost tackled him with a hug.
"Hey, what's up with all the squeezin' and squishin'?" Spencer asked, half-laughing.
"I missed you," Carly said, holding on tightly.
She looked toward the living room. "Our house is back."
"Okay. I have no idea what you're—" Spencer began,
"Hey, Spencer, do you want us to help you take that tree down to the garbage?" Freddie offered.
"Yeah," Spencer nodded. "Just help me stuff it into—"
"No. No one touches this tree," Carly interrupted firmly.
"I thought you hated it," Spencer blinked.
"I do not," Carly replied quickly.
She looked at the gray metallic tree. "It's my favorite tree ever. Come on, let's put it back over there where it belongs."
"Okay. Right in the middle, all right?" we said in unison.
Spencer, Freddie, and I moved the tree back into place.
Just then, Paige stepped into the room, bundled in a stylish coat and holding a small gift bag.
"Hey, everyone," she greeted with a warm smile, waving at the group.
Everyone greeted her back, but her eyes landed on Carly, who still looked a bit teary-eyed from before. Paige tilted her head slightly, then turned to me.
"What did you do?" she asked.
Without saying a word, I reached out and stretched Paige's cheeks.
Then I turned to Carly and wrapped my arms around her in a warm hug. "Now you need to tell the whole story," I whispered.
Spencer checked his phone and gave a little groan. "I still have to go buy a few things," he said, already heading for the door. "Don't break anything while I'm gone!"
And just like that, he was off.
The five of us sat down together, settling into the living room.
Carly took a deep breath and began telling the story.
I couldn't help but laugh right at the beginning. "A semi-bald dwarf said he was a Christmas angel? Tell me about wild imagination."
The other three were trying hard to hold back their laughter too, their shoulders shaking as they exchanged amused glances.
Carly gave me a stare.
"You can go on," I said with a smirk.
She rolled her eyes and continued, "The angel said he came to make my Christmas wish come true. In the middle of all the anger about the tree catching fire, I wished Spencer had been born... normal."
She kept going, "I went downstairs and there he was—Spencer, wearing a suit and looking like a completely regular guy."
We all nodded, listening intently.
"Then Freddie's mom walked in, and the next thing I know, they kissed."
"Ewww," Sam groaned instantly.
"Hey, that's my mother," Freddie said.
"You want to see your mother kissing Spencer?" Sam turned to him, eyebrow raised.
Freddie thought for a moment, then repeated with the same expression, "No, ewww."
"Okay, how is it normal for Spencer to hook up with Freddie's mom?" I murmured.
Carly went on, "At school, Freddie was dating icky Ronah Burgger."
"Isn't that the one girl you three hate the most?" Paige asked, looking at Sam, Freddie, and Carly.
All three of them nodded in agreement.
Carly continued, "And I found out I was dating Nevel Papperman."
"Ewww," Sam said for the second time, her face scrunching up.
"He was a nerd and annoying," Carly added with a grimace.
"Like the real one." I added, "Another notable trait of Nevel was being incredibly "old-fashioned"—his sense of style, clothes, vocabulary, and mannerisms were ridiculously outdated. Basically a Sheldon, but with less intelligence and a tiny bit more social skills," I explained to Paige.
Paige understood.
Carly shifted her focus back to me. "Then I saw Jake at school," she said, pointing at me. "You were completely different."
"Different how?" I asked curiously.
"You were way shorter and chubbier. And honestly? Not the brightest," she said with a teasing scowl. "You kept cracking fart jokes nonstop, like a total dork. One of the senior students even stole your money, so I figured you weren't rich, as you asked me for money to buy sandwiches... Oh, and you didn't sing—there was no Marshmello in sight."
Now was the time for Paige to say, "Ewww," before pulling me into a hug.
"Jake got the worst end," Sam said, smirking at me.
"You didn't get any better either, Sam," Carly chimed in. "You were stuck in juvy and didn't even know me—let alone being my best friend."
"Ha-ha," I said, looking at Sam.
"Tell me about a bad dream," Freddie muttered, still astonished by the whole story.
"It felt so real," Carly murmured.
I walked over to her with a grin. "See? You got an incredible lesson."
"Like appreciating my brother more?" she said, smiling at me.
"No! What does Spencer have to do with any of these? I was talking about me! See how awesome I am—and how much you missed me?" I said, pointing at myself.
They all looked at me deadpan.
Then came the laughter.
Carly suddenly jumped up and hugged me tight. "Never change, Jake!"
"Why would I? I'm awesome," I replied joking.
She pinched me hard with both hands while still hugging me.
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