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Switching Again

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Freddie was about getting his schoolbag organised for the day that was in front of him. He was excited because it was the first day where they had woodshop classes, the teacher being no other than Spencer Shay, his best adult friend.

All of a sudden, the door went flung open.

Freddie thought that it was Gibby who had forgotten his shirt. "Keep better care of your clothes!"

Alas, it wasn't Gibby, but ... "Hey Freddie! It's me!" Dustin squealed.

"Dustin!" Freddie turned around and screamed ecstatically. Then he hugged the hell out of his friend. "You're back? Or is it just a visit as you've got three days off school?"

"I'm back!" Dustin beamed. "Zoey told me that I should talk to Carly about my feelings."

Freddie went pale. "Er ... concerning Carly ..."

"I'm going to visit her right now!" Dustin beamed. And off he was.

"Oh no!!!" Freddie slammed his fists against the desk, almost smashing it into half. He had to do something. If Dustin figured that Carly had gone to England, he was going to die. Freddie took his cellular phone and pushed the buttons. "Sam? Damn Sam, pick it up ... thanks goodness, she's there ... Sam! You won't believe it ... Dustin Brooks! He's back from England ... and there's the problem: He's going straight to your dorm in order to see Carly! But when he realises that she's gone to England ... Do what you want, but don't hurt his feelings! ... Please!" He banged his head against the wall. How could this have happened?

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"Red alert! Dustin is back!" Sam screamed unto Megan. "Can't you dress as Carly and ..." she suggested sarcastically.

Megan stared grimly at Sam. "I like Dustin, but I can't replace Carly for him. And sooner or later, he'll figure the deceit." In addition, she was proud of having become distinguishable from Carly for almost everyone. She wanted to be unique, not somebody's lookalike. "And Nevel will curse a lot of people until the days of dystopia if ..."

Sam sighed deeply. "I guess asking Paige won't help, either ... even if Dorkinald Bristow doesn't cast curses like nobody's business." She despaired. "Dern! Dustin may be here any moment!"

"See you for lunch!" Megan rushed out on the floor, leaving Sam alone.

And there was the moment of which Megan had just been speaking.

Dustin thundered into the room. "Carly?"

"She ain't here!" Sam boomed.

"Where is she?" Dustin inquired nervously.

Sam choked and coughed. "Oh, she will see you ... until ... the latter days!" She grabbed Dustin's shoulders and pushed him into the closet. Then she paced out of the dorm.

"Are you insane, Sam Puckett?" Dustin thundered when he crawled out of the closet. He adjusted his scrambled clothes carefully. He wanted to face Carly in his best shirt and pants, not looking like a hobo!

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Spencer was nervous when he taught his first lesson as a teacher for the woodshop elective. "OK, my friends. Today, we are building a bird house."

Stacey Dillsen raised her finger. "I've already built one ... exclusively using cotton swabs and white glue!"

Spencer chuckled. "OK, that sounds quite interesting, you are?"

"I'm Stacey Dillsen, and I come from Massachusetts. But I also like Mississippi. My favourite drink is sassafras tea ..." Down to her lispy voice, she wasn't easy to understand.

Spencer smiled. "That's interesting, but we better talk about all that in the cafeteria after school. I'll dish out a smoothie for everyone!"

The pupils cheered.

Spencer made the other pupils introduce themselves. "Some of you I know already, but maybe your fellow pupils don't know you yet, as this is a class for pupils of a wide range of grades."

Freddie and Sam nodded.

After all that, Spencer looked at a list. "OK, you will work in groups of two pupils." He read from the list. "Stacey Dillsen and Jenifer Mosely ... and finally ... Fredward Benson and Samantha Puckett!" Of course he didn't use to call his friends by their full names, thus it sounded totally funny. "Oh, and there's one pupil that has just been registered telegraphically ... he should be here by now ..."

The door went open, and Dustin Brooks stumbled into the class. "Hi ... I'm Dustin Brooks ..."

Spencer remembered having seen Dustin when he had delivered Carly, Freddie, and Sam into the dean's office. And of course he knew that Dustin was the reason for which Carly had fled to England. "Dustin Brooks!" He was flabbergasted.

Dustin remembered that Spencer was a relative of Carly. "Where is Carly?" He sobbed and screamed piteously. "Where is she?"

Spencer sighed deeply. "OK, kids, I have to talk to Dustin. Jenifer, you look very responsible. Would you please function as an overseer?" He asked. "And nobody touch the chainsaw or any other machine ..."

Moze nodded solemnly.

Spencer took Dustin for a Walk outside the class room.

Sam snuck up to some buckets of colour that were stacked in the corner. "Splatterdork time!" She yelled, opening a bucket, diving her hands into it, and splattering Freddie with paint. "That's fun!"

Jenifer Mosely intervened vigorously. "What's up with you, Sam? Go back to your work bench!"

"Hey! But where's the fun?" Sam begged.

Alas, Jenifer remained stubborn. "Freddie, go and wash your face in the toilets down the hall!"

Freddie shrugged. "Yes, mam!"

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Spencer sighed. "OK, Dustin, you better lean against the wall when we're talking ..."

Dustin did so.

"Carly ... when we've heard from your sister that you've missed Carly so much ..." Spencer explained "We've sent her straight to England! We had no time to inform you because of the time shift of eight hours."

Dustin was totally consternated and almost passed out.

Spencer caught him. "Listen, it is as much of a surprise for us as it is for you." He took Dustin into his arms, letting him weep softly.

"That's so not fair ..." Dustin moaned.

Spencer nodded. "The term in England will pass by, and then you will have much more fun seeing each other again."

"I do hope so!" Dustin declared, still with some tears seaming his cheeks.

Spencer sighed with relief. "And if your sister is still there, Carly will have some good company."

Dustin nodded. "That she will!"

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Carly knocked at Zoey's dorm door at Covington's.

Zoey opened. "Carly?"

Carly beamed. "Is Dustin here?"

Zoey's heart almost stood still. How was she going to explain it to the young girl? "Carly, there must have been some misunderstanding ... Dustin has just returned to PCA in order to be with you ..."

Carly was flabbergasted. "Oh no! That can't be ..." She started weeping piteously.

Zoey took her into her arms. "I know, it's very sad, deadlines and time shift and stuff like that ... and now we have to wait at least until summer."

Carly lay on Zoey's bed, shedding tears.

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After classes, Freddie, Sam, and Dustin skipped Spencer's social tea break. Sam and Freddie took Dustin straight to his dorm.

"And you really don't hate me because of my feelings for Carly?" Dustin asked Freddie.

Freddie shook his head. "I should hate myself for having been enough of a fool to believe that Carly would ever want me. She's much better off with you."

"Which girl would want a dorkward, anyways?" Sam remarked sarcastically.

Freddie coughed. "And I've been moving on, and I've found a girl that is much better for me." he added. It was a lie - a white lie which served in order to ease Dustin's possible remorses. He hadn't found any girl at all.

"Yeah?" Dustin smiled a bit. "That's cool! Who is it?"

Freddie was shocked. How could he have brought himself into such a sticky situation? He choked in a whooping manner. "Er ... it is ..."

Sam knew that Freddie had been talking humbug, just in order to dissuade Dustin from being even more sad. She stood up and wrapped an arm around Freddie. "Kiss me, you dork!" she ordered with a thundering voice, just in the likeness of Evelyn Kwong's. She threw her other arm around Freddie and pulled him closer.

Now Freddie was totally flabbergasted. He tried to flounder, but he was too much astounded to speak, and he was too weak to escape from Sam's firm grip on him.

Sam positioned her face in opposition to Freddie's, ready to receive a kiss.

Freddie gave in. He figured that his white lie was going to receive a lot of credibility this way, inspite of probably being hard for Dustin to believe. But better Sam than no girl at all .. He brushed Sam's lips with his own. Hey, that wasn't all that bad! He did it again, this time with a lot of feeling invested into the action.

Sam was a bit surprised now. She had expected Freddie to rush it and break it as soon as possible, but his lips felt like soft velvet. She couldn't help wishing for more.

Dustin choked. "Sam and Freddie?" Was that even believable? He guessed that he had to.

Only after two minutes did Freddie and Sam break their smoochie.

"Since when are you ..." Dustin asked.

"Time?" Sam wondered. "What is time?"

"Too true!" Dustin shrugged.

"OK, I've got an idea ..." Freddie announced. "I've installed a two-way video conference system on Carly's laptop, some time ago. If I do the same to Dustin's, you may videochat."

Dustin beamed.

Freddie started immediatedly installing the software. "Let's see ... damn, it doesn't work!"

Dustin moaned with despair.

"Press control-G!" Sam commanded Freddie.

"Erm ..." Freddie followed Sam's command. Was she really as much or even more knowledgeable in computer stuff than he was himself? He was surprised. "It works! And Carly is online!" Freddie hasd sent her a mail earlier that day announcing that they were going to try it, thus Carly had been staying awake until after midnight. This was not going to become a permanent solution, as Carly and her roomies needed their sleep.

Dustin cheered for Freddie and Sam. Then he accepted Carly's chat request.

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They knew that the time shift was going to restrict them to weekends and a few other occasions, but there was still the possibility of e-mails. They were secure in the knowledge that the separation was just going to make their love grow stronger. The wind extinguishes the little spark, but it spreads the wild fire. In addition, Dustin commanded Zoey to keep good care of Carly, while the latter obliged Freddie and Sam to do so for Dustin.