A/N: Yes, I know there's only one chapter of All's Fair left and I should be writing it. But as I've said many times, when inspiration hits, I gotta go with it.
Not much to say about this one except that I hope it doesn't feel to rushed or anything. The idea came to mind and it sort of took on a life of it's own.
Please enjoy and PLEASE REVIEW :) It gives me incentive to churn this stuff out faster.
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Sonny kept an optimistic smile on her face as she walked down the hall of Condor Studios towards her dressing room.
Though truthfully, Sonny felt anything but perky this afternoon. It had been an extremely rough morning, from start to finish. Tawni was in a particularly crabby mood, more so than usual, she ended up having to work through her lunch break, and worst of all, Chad had stopped by her dressing room that morning to do nothing more than make fun of her favorite outfit that she was wearing today.
She scrunched her nose in thought. Why had she labeled that the worst part of the day?
She couldn't, wouldn't, admit that she was disappointed. She'd convinced herself she didn't care what he thought. She didn't pick her outfit this morning in hopes that he would think she was exceedingly pretty today. Her heart didn't skip a beat when he stopped by her door. She didn't feel like crying when he told her that her yellow shirt made her look like a disfigured lemon.
No, she definitely didn't care. Even if her repeating it to herself over and over again made it seem like she did care, she definitely did not.
...Right?
Sonny shook her thoughts off as she entered her dressing room. She was relieved to find that Tawni wasn't there at the moment. She really needed a few minutes of alone time to sort out her thoughts. She plopped herself down at her vanity table, hoping to quickly get herself out of the funk she was in. She was Sonny Munroe, darnit, and Sonny Munroe always bounced back from things.
Sighing, she reached across the table to grab her hairbrush. She paused when she realized it wasn't there. A quick glance around revealed that it had been moved to the other side of the table. Sonny bit her lower lip as it became apparent: someone had been here.
She opened the drawers and glanced across the table, searching to see if anything was missing or had changed.
Her eyes came to rest on a note.
That definitely had not been there before. She picked it up, weighing it in her palm. She looked it over; it was rather plain, a simple sheet of printer paper, no envelope, and no name anywhere to be found.
She scrunched her mouth to the side, contemplating whether she should open it or not.
'Well,' she deduced, 'It was on my vanity. Whoever left it here obviously wanted it to go to me.'
Satisfied with this conclusion, Sonny carefully unfolded the note. She sat back in her chair and read it over.
"I know I've been a real jerk to you lately. But this has been driving me crazy and I need to tell you the truth. The reason I pick on you so much is because I love you.
I know it sounds stupid and crazy and you probably don't believe it. But, I dunno, I'm scared, I guess. So the only thing I can think to do around you is lash out. I hope we can put that behind us and move forward. If you like me back, that is.
All my love."
Sonny's jaw dropped more the farther down she read. She scanned the letter front and back searching for a name, but found none.
"Unsigned. Of course," she muttered to herself. She sighed in annoyance, reading over the letter again. Her annoyed sighs soon turned into contented sighs.
Someone was in love with her and was too shy to say so. How romantic!
Deciding to take control of the situation, she reached over the table and grabbed a pen and paper. She wrote down the names of everyone at the studio that it could possibly be.
'Nico.' It was a little farfetched, and he hadn't been a jerk to her recently, but he was the first person that came to mind.
'Grady.' Again, very unlikely. But she couldn't rule him out just yet.
'Josh.' He was always really nice to her. It wasn't unreasonable to think the studio's mail delivery boy might have a secret crush on her.
'James.' That would make sense. He'd definitely been a jerk to her recently. He wasn't going to be around their studio much longer, maybe he'd taken the opportunity to apologize because he knew he was leaving soon.
Sonny stopped writing, tapping the end of the pen on her chin as she thought. There weren't really any other options. She didn't see the guys from the other shows enough to really have any semblance of a relationship with them, and she was certain it wasn't any of the Mackenzie Falls boys.
That's when the thought stuck her.
No, no way. She wasn't going to write his name down. The very idea was ridiculous.
...Wasn't it?
Chad had been a jerk to her recently. And, as the note suggested, it would certainly be a shock. Sonny sighed deeply as she added his name to the bottom of the list. She couldn't leave anyone out. At least this way she'd be able to cross his name out and put her mind at ease that she'd exhausted every possible option.
Smiling at the list she'd compiled, she stood up and left the room to begin her search, this time with a little spring in her step.
---
Sonny sighed, looking down at the first two names on her list. She bit down on her lower lip as she entered the prop room, approaching Nico and Grady, who were sitting on the couch, engrossed in whatever was on their laptop.
Sonny put on her best smile and sat down next to the pair. She coughed lightly to get their attention.
Nico momentarily looked up from the computer to smile at her. "Hey, Sonny!"
He sounded pretty excited to see her... Maybe it was Nico...
"Hey, you gotta see this!" Grady chimed in.
Well Grady seemed equally excited... That didn't help her much. Nico eagerly turned the computer to face Sonny.
"We're watching this kid on youtube freak out on his computer."
Sonny raised an eyebrow looking down at the screen. "It's all in german... You can't understand him."
"Yea, but it's still hilarious," Grady answered, pulling the screen back to face them. Sonny sighed, deciding to get to the point as quickly as possible. She had other potential candidates to talk to, after all.
"That's nice... So... How have you guys been? Got your eyes on any girls lately?"
That seemed to get their attention. Grady spoke up right away. "Yes, as a matter of fact. A cute brunette that works at the studio, actually."
Sonny felt a lump form in her throat, not sure why she was disappointed in discovering that the author of the note was Grady.
"She works backstage on the Hoosier Girl set."
Or not.
Nico sighed in what Sonny imagined was frustration. "Don't have my eye on anyone right now. If I had all the time in the world I'd be at the Disney studio picking up that Chelsea Staub girl. She's gorgeous."
Grady laughed. "In your dreams. Like Chelsea would ever go for you."
Sonny sighed, crossing the names off her list as the two boys continued to argue.
Next stop: the mail room.
---
Sonny popped her head into the small room, glancing around quickly. It was a wonder any mail ever got out at all, considering how disorganized the place was. Stacks of letters, with no clear distinction as to where they belonged, were piled in random spots across the desk in the corner, and the boxes on the side seemed stuffed to the point that the letters crammed inside threatened to fall out at any second.
No sign of Josh though. Sonny shrugged and turned around, only to be met with cold, hard metal crashing into her waist. Sonny winced and bent forward in pain as several letters Josh was pushing in his cart scattered around and fell to the ground. He quickly ran to the other side of the cart, helping Sonny stand up straight.
"Geez, are you okay, Sonny? I'm really sorry... I had no idea you were in there."
The soft and gentle touch he was using with her didn't go unnoticed.
"I'm fine, it was my fault for not watching where I was going," she assured him. She felt another wave of disappointment when he smiled sweetly at her. Why did she keep getting that feeling? Didn't she want to find out who sent the letter?
"That's gonna bruise," he told her. "I'm sorry again. Want me to get you some ice?"
Sonny waved off his question. "Um, listen... Have you been by my room yet? Erm, with the mail I mean."
Josh shook his head. "Not yet. I'm headed that way next."
"Oh... Um, well have you been there at all yet today?"
Josh raised an eyebrow. "Should... I... have been?", he asked slowly, clearly confused. Unfortunately, Sonny mistook this for nervousness.
"Oh, I don't mind if you're in there or anything... I was just... You know, reading some things on my vanity aaaand..." Sonny trailed off.
Josh continued staring at her, confused, before he spoke up. "I hate to cut our little chat short Sonny, but I kinda need to finish up here so I can get ready to go home... Got off early today; have to go meet the girlfriend's parents," he shuddered for emphasis.
Sonny's face fell. Well, that settled that.
"Alright... Good luck,"
"Thanks. I'm gonna need it."
Sonny looked down at her list, crossing off Josh's name as she left the room. She shuddered at the two remaining names on the list. She would have to take a trip to Stage 2 to have a little chat with perhaps one of her least favorite people on the planet...
James Conroy.
---
"Oh yes, you are looking particularly awesome today, James."
Sonny rolled her eyes as she stood in the doorway, staring ahead at the boy talking to himself in the mirror. Him and Chad drove her up the wall with their narcissistic behavior.
Her heart skipped a beat when James noticed her in the mirror. He quickly turned to face her, a smirk playing his lips.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't Sonny Munroe."
She hated the way her name sounded coming from him. She curled her lip in disgust before taking a step into the room. "James.", she greeted shortly. She jumped slightly when he approached her, closing the door behind them.
"So what brings a Hollywood Hottie like you here?"
"Subtle," she commented. "Real subtle. I just wanted to know if you're the one who sent the note I found in my dressing room."
"Depends," he answered. "What did it say?"
Sonny rolled her eyes. "There was only one note in there. Did you leave one or not? It's a simple question." Sonny shrunk slightly, extremely unnerved by the way he was looking at her.
"If that'll make you happy, sure."
She sighed in exasperation. Clearly, he hadn't written the note.
"That's all I needed to hear. See ya."
Sonny turned to leave, gasping when a hand caught her wrist.
"You just got here, Sonny. Come on..."
Sonny glared at him, offering no response, almost as if daring him to keep his hold on her wrist.
"Come on Sonny," he persisted, "I don't want that stupid mistake at the arcade to keep us from working something out."
Sonny shivered uncomfortably when tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "I don't wanna talk to you," She did her best to sound confident, but it came out as a bit of a whimper anyway. "Leave me alone..." Her eyes widened when he took her shoulder and pinned her against the wall, leaning forward, clearly going in for a kiss.
"Leave her alone, James."
Sonny was relieved to hear a voice from the doorway. James looked up, clearly irritated. "Don't you have somewhere to be, Chad?"
Sonny's heart raced at the sound of Chad's name. She turned her head to the side, looking up into his eyes, silently pleading him to get James to let go of her shoulder.
"Actually, you have somewhere to be," Chad answered, stepping into the room and swatting James' hand off Sonny's shoulder. "The director's been looking for you for the last fifteen minutes." Sonny sighed in relief, stepping behind Chad and the castmate he'd entered with. James threw one last scowl at Chad before heading out the door.
"Thanks for ruining things again, Blondie," he muttered.
"My pleasure," Chad called after him, turning to face Sonny. "Don't be so stupid, Sonny. What are you doing here anyway?" Sonny frowned at him.
"How was I being stupid? Am I not allowed to come over here anymore, Hot-shot?"
Chad's friend laughed. "He was worried about you," he said in a sing-song tone. His laughter was quickly cut off by an elbow to the ribs. Sonny only smirked at Chad.
"... Yea okay, so what? I was worried about you. I'm not heartless, you know. This isn't exactly Random territory. Back to your set with you," he ordered, waving his hand.
Sonny crossed her arms and scowled, watching as Chad left with his castmate. She leaned down to pick up the notepad that she'd previously dropped, scanning down the list in frustration. She furiously scribbled out James' name and sighed.
Her heart nearly stopped when she saw the last name on the list... The one she'd very nearly forgotten all about.
Chad Dylan Cooper.
Not uh, no way. Chad was in no way, shape, or form, in love with her. It simply wasn't possible.
But she had to admit, he was the first potential candidate that didn't make disappointment well up in her stomach. She couldn't possibly like him, could she?
She sat down, holding her head in her hands as she attempted to collect her thoughts. It all seemed to make sense. Chad had been a complete jerk to her this week. From his snide remarks, to his rudely pushing her out of the way in the hall. She thought it was crazy and would never believe it if he told her. And the tone of the note was just... so... Chad.
Sonny bit her lip in concentration as a thousand thoughts swirled in her head. Should she talk to him about it? Would that be admitting she loved him? Sonny rubbed her temples as she thought. He was cute, and when he wanted to, he could be really sweet... But he would only be sweet to her for some reason. Even if he had been a jerk to her lately, she found herself strangely attracted to the Mackenzie Falls star. She glanced down at the note, smiling at the apologetic tone of the words. It all suddenly fit perfectly... The author of the note was Chad Dylan Cooper.
Sonny surprised even herself by becoming extremely excited by this news. She vaguely registered that she was beaming and that a blush was creeping on her face as she read over the note again.
He loved her.
He loved her.
He LOVED her!!
Sonny jumped from her chair, rushing out the door to catch up with him.
"Chad!!", she called ahead.
Chad stopped and turned to face her, raising an eyebrow. "What do you want?"
Sonny took in a deep breath. "L-Look, I just wanted to let you know that... That, um..." Sonny suddenly felt all the confidence drain from her body and collect in a little puddle at her feet. Why had she just ran up to him like that? Why didn't she practice what to say before stopping him? She sighed as she remembered an old phrase her mother used constantly: 'Think long, think wrong.' As in, if she thought about it too much, she would make the wrong decision, and she would most likely lose her nerve. No, this situation was a now-or-never kind of deal, and she was going to be brave and tackle it head on.
"I love you too, Chad," she said quickly. She inhaled deeply. "Y-You're cute a-and really sweet deep down, and... I-I can't explain it. I get butterflies every time I see you, a-and I've never really been able to explain what that feeling was until you sent me that note... So... Thank you." With that, Sonny dove forward, wrapping her arms securely around his waist and resting her head on his chest.
There was a slight pause. Sonny assumed he was reveling in the moment, but was quickly proven wrong when a shrill "What are you talking about?!" came from the boy she was hanging off of.
Sonny slowly looked up at him.
No... way...
"T-The note... Y-You sent that note, didn't you?"
Chad looked thoroughly confused at this. "What note?"
Sonny quickly reached into her jean pocket, producing the note in question. Chad unfolded it and read it over. When he reached the end, he snickered quietly before breaking out into full blown hearty laughter.
Sonny felt embarrassment well up inside of her, slowly realizing that she'd made a mistake.
"Sonny, no one wrote you this note. This is a prop for my show. It's supposed to be a note from Mackenzie to Chloe."
Sonny was sure the color drained out of her face at this. "P-Pardon me?" Realizing she was till clinging to his waist, she quickly let go and stood up straight.
"Sorry Sunshine, you don't have a secret admirer."
Sonny grimaced. "But... But if that's true, how did it get in my dressing room?"
Chad shrugged. "It probably fell out of my pocket when I was talking to you this morning. Tawni or someone must have seen it on the ground and put it on your desk."
Sonny could have kicked herself right there. How could she have been so stupid as to believe that Chad would actually have a secret crush on her? More importantly, how could she have been stupid enough to confess her love for him before being absolutely certain he was the one who'd written the note?
She could feel hot tears welling up in her eyes. She blinked them back and swallowed before speaking.
"L-Listen, Chad... W-What I said... I didn't mean... I mean..." Sonny stumbled over her words, not sure how to handle what was undoubtedly the most awkward moment of her life.
Chad chuckled slightly and put a finger to her lips to silence her. She felt lightheaded for a brief moment when he did so.
"Don't sweat it, Sunshine. You're not the first girl to fall hard for me." Sonny shook her head, not sure whether or not she should be amused or annoyed by that. "You're the first with potential, though," he continued more softly. Sonny's eyes widened and she felt those familiar butterflies in her stomach again. Did he seriously just say that?
Chad chuckled lightly again, resting a hand on her shoulder, leaning forward, and placing a soft kiss on her lips. Sonny was surprised she didn't faint right there. She'd read plenty of stories that tried to describe the electricity that surged through your body when you had your first kiss with the guy you loved, but she decided no amount of words could accurately describe the amazing feeling she had now. She felt like melting in her spot when he placed his hands on her back, pulling her closer to him and turning the soft kiss into a deeper, more passionate one. She stumbled slightly when he pulled away.
"S-So I'm guessing that means you like me back anyway?", she whispered.
Chad buried a hand in her hair, smirking at the obvious effect it had on her. "You could say that." He planted one last kiss on her cheek before turning on his heel and continuing his walk down the hall, leaving a dazed and lovestruck Sonny behind him.
Chad's castmate shook his head and spoke up when they were out of earshot.
"You're so full of crap, Chad. I saw you write that letter to her."
"Hey," Chad held his hands up defensively. "Chad Dylan Cooper makes the girl confess her love first."
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