Disclaimer: I do not know Zac Efron, nor will I ever. I'm sure his personality is not like this. I am simply using creative license. This goes for all other actors/singers that exist in real life that I might mention in this story.

Author's Note: I never thought I could write something funny, but your responses have proven me wrong! Thanks so much for the following people who reviewed: creativelyyourz, Feebeauty, have-a-cookie, dppokegirl23, DrowningxInxSapphire, CrescentDreamer, o-Vii-o, ChannyandSterlinglover1123, Maiqu, tangledshadows, sonnycentral, and xxHeadInTheStarsxx.

The Standing Chronicles
By PiperPaigePhoebe01

Chapter Three

Sonny

Monday
August 10, 2009
Apartment Bedroom
9:35 PM

Mood: annoyed

I blame my current mood on Chad Dylan Cooper, resident jerkthrob extraordinaire.

I was in a perfectly good mood several hours ago, when I was anxiously awaiting the call that would tell me who my co-star is going to be. I was heading down to the cafeteria to get something to eat, when I ran into—who else—Chad Dylan Cooper. We had our typical conversation, him baiting me, me baiting him, and then he told me that Zac Efron was going to be my co-star.

I couldn't believe it.

I still can't believe it actually.

I am going to be co-starring with Zac Efron. And I'm going to meet him tomorrow.

We're going out for coffee at this cute little café just down the block from our studios, and I can't wait. Regardless of what a certain three-named jerk said, Zac and I are going to have "appropriate chemistry." We've had a couple conversations, just a few moments, when I ran across him in the streets of Hollywood, and it seems like he's nice and cute and we're probably going to get along really well.

So because of tomorrow, I should be in a good mood, but I am not. And this is because of Chad Dylan Cooper.

He just… argh. He frustrates me.

There have been hardly any moments where we haven't been bickering and/or arguing in some way, or plotting against each other. There was the prom, I suppose, but I can't think of any other situations.

I guess that is our thing, though. We bicker and get back at each other and occasionally have those moments where we actually get along. We could be friends, but there's that whole Falls/Random rivalry going on. Not to mention our own personal rivalry. We just love to get under each other's skin.

I'm just glad I will be away from him for a month. I don't think I could stand much more of his not-so-subtle hints that he would be better at being Jonathan than Zac would.

I can't help wondering why it seems to matter to him so much. He obviously thinks that he should have gotten the role instead, but that's just what Chad does. He just seems like he wants this one more than usual—which doesn't make sense, because if he does get the role, he'll have to act with a Random. And not only that, but he'll have to kiss me too.

Now that I know he doesn't want to do. It must just be the fact that a member of So Random! got a role, and he didn't.

Yeah, that's it.

Tuesday
August 11, 2009
Apartment Kitchen
7:39 PM

Mood: hungry

Zora is evil, I tell you.

Apparently she thought it was funny to sneak into my apartment (why I gave her a key, I'm not sure) and put a spider right next to my pillow, so that when I woke up, guess what I was staring at? A tarantula.

Now I'm not normally afraid of spiders—I find some of them cute, actually—but when the first thing I saw when I woke up was their beady little eyes staring at me, it's understandable that I screamed.

Needless to say, my mother freaked out and ran into my room. It took me half an hour to calm her down, but even now, as she is cooking us both breakfast, she seems slightly nervous, like something is going to jump out and attack us.

It's slightly hilarious, I have to say. It's also calming my nerves. In less than twelve hours, I'm going to meet Zac Efron.

I'm so excited, I doubt I'll be able to eat. My mother knows this, though, and she's going to make me eat.

Bacon and eggs, here I come. Let's hope I don't get acquainted with them more than once in a day.

Same Day
Dressing Room
11:15 PM

Mood: apprehensive

I'm going to throw up.

I'm serious.

I'm going to throw up right on Tawni's pretty red dress she's lending me for the "date" (her word, not mine) in less than four hours. My stomach is all in knots, I feel as though I am going to faint, and yet, I feel nauseous, like I'm about to become re-acquainted with my breakfast this morning. Not a good combination.

The horrible part is, there's no reason for me to be so nervous. I was nervous this morning, but it went away after I ate something, but of course, as soon as I pulled up to the studio, I ran into Chad.

He was leaning against the wall next to the door leading inside, arms crossed, looking smug as usual. He greeted me with the customary "Sonny" and I sighed, joining in with the usual "Chad."

"Munroe," he continued.

"Cooper." I tried to go by him, but he shuffled to the left, blocking the door. I crossed my arms over my own chest. "What do you want?"

"I can't just come by to say hello to my favorite Random?" Chad asked.

"No, because do you really expect me to believe you came here to not talk about yourself?" I asked.

Chad shrugged. "Not really."

"Then why are you here?" I asked. "And can you please let me by?"

"I wanted to wish you luck today," Chad said, not that I believed him. Really, I'm not stupid. "I mean, I know it won't work out the way you want to, but I just wanted to reassure you that there will be a perfectly good replacement when Zac backs out."

"Zac won't back out," I replied. "This is just an attempt to get me nervous enough that I'll do something stupid at the café today. Well, it's not going to work."

"I'm not trying to get you to do something stupid," Chad said.

"Then I don't see what you're up to," I said. "Why do you even want the part so much anymore? You do realize that if you do get the part, you'll have to kiss a Random?"

Chad looked lost for words for a moment, then a smug smile crossed his features as he leaned in… closer, closer, closer…

"See, I'm such a good actor," he said, so close that our lips were literally three inches apart, "that it doesn't matter who I'm kissing, I can make it look realistic. Zac, on the other hand, cannot. And for the record… when we look into each others' eyes before we kiss, you're so going to fall for me."

I blinked a few times. It's not that the closeness to Chad is making my head spin because, hello, it's so not. It's just because… um, I didn't get much sleep last night because I was too nervous about meeting Zac, so I was still tired then.

"Told you," Chad said, looking conceited and jerkish, as usual. He turned to leave, unbarring the door, but I suddenly come back to myself, coincidentally as soon as Chad leans back again and gets out of my personal bubble.

"Hey!" I yelled at him. "For your information, Chad, even if you did get the role, no power on Earth could make me fall for you."

"Really, Sonny, really?"

"Yes. Really."

Chad shrugged. "We'll see." He took a few steps, then turned around again and said: "Better hope you don't mess up, Sonny. Zac's very hard to please."

"And how would you know that?" I inquired.

"I'm Chad Dylan Cooper," Chad said as if that explained everything. He gave me a wink, then turned around and walked away, leaving me to contemplate exactly how he knew Zac was hard to please…

…and came to the conclusion that he had met him.

Either that or he was just bluffing.

I have a feeling he's just bluffing, but Chad succeeded in his goal, which was to get me nervous. His mind games are the reason I'm about to throw up and Tawni's looking at me disapprovingly because I'm writing in this and not getting ready for my date.

Not that Tawni helped much either.

As soon as I walked into the dressing room we shared, Tawni practically pounced on me, begging to hear about what I would do with Zac Efron as my co-star, wondering about the "date" we were going on, and just being incredibly excited. She made sure that I was wearing something fabulous, and begged me to give him her number (disregarding the fact that he was currently dating Vanessa Hudgens).

Of course, this is Tawni we're talking about, so she was supportive, but also incredibly jealous. She kept going on and on about how nervous she would probably be if she met Zac, how she would handle herself, how I would (obviously) not handle myself well, how embarrassing it might be for me, how I should have got a spray tan…

In short, she made me more nervous than Chad's "Zac's very hard to please" line did.

I know that I'm going to get through this. It's going to be so much fun, meeting a world-famous movie star. I know that I'll be nervous, but I have to keep looking on the sunny (Sonny) side of life.

After all, my name isn't Sonny Munroe for no reason.

See, now I'm no longer nervous.

I can't wait. It's going to be so much fun!

Time to go down and grab something to eat, then get ready. Tawni's going to help me with my hair and wardrobe, thankfully, but if I'm any later than one, she's going to go all Tawni crazy on me, and I don't want that.

Let me tell you, no one wants to see Tawni in one of her fashion-crazy moods. As it is, I don't know how I'm going to survive this.

Same Day
Car Backseat
2:55 PM

Mood: nervous

Oh God.

We're almost there.

Same Day
Prop House
4:30 PM

Mood: mortified

I don't have words for the atrocity that ensued at the café this afternoon. There are no words for what happened today.

I'll try to explain.

It all started well enough. Promptly at 2:50, I walked out and got into the car. I looked pretty perfect. I was wearing the dress Tawni lent me, a red dress that hit a few inches above my knees after flowing seamlessly down from the waist. I accented the silver straps with a small silver chain. I finished the look with some makeup, my hair flowing pin straight across my shoulders, and a small black purse. Maybe a little fancy, but it was more of a sun dress than anything.

I felt quite confident as I walked into the café. Zac was already there, and waved me over after realizing I was there. I shot him my patented bright smile and headed over to him, after inclining my head at the producers of Stand, who had a covert table in the corner near the window, next to a table empty but for one guy, his head down, covered by a dark hat and equally dark sunglasses. A bit of blond hair stuck out from under the cap as he turned his head toward the window.

I mentally shook myself as the guy turned his head back from the window. Sliding into a seat in front of Zac, I greeted him cheerily.

"Hey, I'm Sonny Munroe!" I said, extending my hand.

"Hey, Sonny," Zac responded, shaking hands. "I'm Zac Efron."

"I know," I said, laughing a bit. "How are you?"

"I'm really great," Zac said. "I'm really looking forward to working with you on this movie. It seems like it will be so much fun, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, it does," I agreed. Ha, Chad, there goes your thought that Zac would back out. "I'm looking forward to it too. At first, I wasn't sure if I should audition, but the fact that it was a comedy won me over."

"Sure, sure," Zac said. "I figured it might. Your show's awesome, by the way."

My smile grew. "Thanks. I loved your movies. 17 Again is my favorite."

Zac nodded. "That was fun."

I nodded and paused, trying to think of something else to say. I was just about to say something about So Random! or Stand, to try and get a conversation going, when a waitress came up to us, brandishing a notepad and a pen.

"Hello, dears," she said. "What can I do for you?"

She seemed accustomed to serving celebrities—as she should be, because this place was a common hole-in-the-wall spot for celebs to hang out if they didn't want to be spotted. Some locals came, but they weren't the crazy fangirls (and boys) that would scream and mob them. They respected their need for space every once in a while.

"I'd like a coffee," Zac said. "Two sugars, no cream."

"Me too," I added. "Except I'd like three sugars and cream. Lots of cream, please."

The waitress wrote it down. "Anything else?"

I glanced down at the menu in front of me. "Um, how about a double chocolate chunk cookie."

"Same," Zac said.

"All right," the waitress said. "Shouldn't be but a moment." She finished writing the order down, stuck the notepad and pen in the front pocket of her apron, and turned away. She took a couple steps, then suddenly faced us again. "Excuse me, I don't mean to be rude, but is it true you two are starring in a movie together?"

"Yeah, it's true," I said.

"Wonderful," the waitress said. She smiled, then left us alone.

Just then, things went wrong.

The guy I had seen on my way in walked by us. His hat was still on, as were his shades, so he couldn't see where he was going. He stumbled by the tables, seemingly all right, but still, I stood up. Who knew if he needed help?

Apparently he didn't.

He caught his leg on the chair's, tripping forward and knocking me back into the seat. I too tipped forward and in trying to catch my balance knocked over a vase full of fresh flowers. Of course, the water landed in Zac's lap. He burst up out of his chair, letting loose a swear.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the guy said. His voice was strangely deep. "Can I help you?"

"No, no, it's fine," Zac said hastily, grabbing a napkin and dabbing at the wet spot on his pants. "Just… just take off the shades and watch where you're going."

"All right," the guy responded. He took off the shades, hurrying away from us. I watched him for a moment, then jumped up.

"Zac, I'm so sorry," I said. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, it's just a bit of water," Zac said. "That guy should have been watching where he was going."

I agreed, sitting back down. There was silence for a few minutes. Zac no longer seemed interested in a conversation, glancing disinterestedly around the café, and as it was, I was too embarrassed. I was such a klutz sometimes.

The conversation—what conversation there had been, at least—died.

What was it Chad had said?

"Well, when I end up getting the role, don't drop out on my account."

And he seemed skeptical of the chances of us having "appropriate chemistry"… did he know something I didn't?

I shook those thoughts out of my head. I was putting too much stock in what Chad Dylan Cooper, of all possible people, had to say. Zac and I hadn't even had a real conversation yet. Maybe when we talked more, the chemistry would grow.

"So," I began. "How did you get into acting?"

Zac looked back at me. He didn't look interested in our conversation, just willing to answer. He took a sip of the coffee the waitress had just set before us, then smiled.

"Well, my father wanted me to get into acting, so I did," Zac said. "I started small, with theater productions and stuff at my high school. I took singing lessons and worked in a theater. After a couple years, I was recommended to an agent in Los Angeles by my drama teacher, Mrs. Metchik, and was signed to the Creative Artists Agency."

I frowned. He didn't seem like he much enjoyed acting.

"Do you… enjoy it?" I asked.

"Of course," Zac said. "It's… always been my dream."

I nodded and smiled, sipping my coffee. We continued with the small talk. He told me about his early acting career, guest starring in shows like Firefly and ER, and how he got the role of Troy Bolton in the Disney movie High School Musical in 2006. And finally, he told me how he got together with Vanessa.

I could tell that Zac and Vanessa had something special. They had been together practically since the first High School Musical came out. After all, they had been together for two—maybe three—years.

"She sounds nice," I offered, leaning in a little closer, interested in what he had to say. "I want to meet her someday, you know."

"Maybe I can make that happen," Zac said, winking at me.

So everything seemed to be going really well.

Well, that's before the real disasters happened.

After a half hour of talking, Zac suddenly trailed off. For the second time, the conversation died away and this time, I didn't have any idea how to bring it back to life. I tried talking about So Random!, but Zac didn't seem too interested. It was still small talk, but stilted this time.

I didn't know what to say.

Talk about awkward situations.

"Well, this is more awkward than my last date," I offered. "At least this one is real."

Zac shot me a smile. "Date? I'm not sure I'd call it that."

"Me either," I allowed. "But this not-date is more of a date than my last date, which just happened to be fake."

"I'm not quite sure I caught all that."

I laughed. "Long story."

"We have time."

"Well, it all started with Chad Dylan Cooper."

"Did someone say my name?"

Yeah, that's right.

Chad Dylan Cooper interrupted my date.

Again.

"What are you doing here, Chad?"

Chad sat down in the chair next to me, putting his cup of coffee on the table. "Just getting some coffee," he said. He looked at Zac. "How're you doing, man?"

"Fine," Zac said.

"And you had to interrupt my date?"

"Oh, this was a date?" Chad asked. "Won't Vanessa have issues with that?"

I glared at him. He knew exactly what he meant, but he just wanted to push my buttons. And he did push them.

"Go away, Chad."

"No, I don't think I will," Chad said. "I want to hear more about this movie. Tell me, Zac, what do you have that Chad Dylan Cooper doesn't?"

"Let's see," I butted in, pretending to think. "Actual talent?"

Chad put a hand to his chest. "Ouch, Munroe, that hurt," he said.

"Oh, please, stop being dramatic," I said.

"I'm not being dramatic," Chad said. "I'm just proving to you that I have more acting skill than all of the Randoms put together."

I snorted.

"Yeah—right."

During this whole exchange, Zac was looking back and forth between us. Before Chad could retort, he quickly said:

"Seems you two have a history."

"Psh, no," I said hastily. "We have no history. None at all. Right, Chad?"

"Right."

"Right," Zac said, but he seemed skeptical. "How do you know each other then?"

"We met in the cafeteria."

"The Mackenzie Falls/So Random! cafeteria," Chad elaborated. "Sonny here was wearing a fat suit and practically fell over herself when she met me. Which is understandable, because I'm flawless."

"I did not," I protested.

"Really, Sonny, really?"

"Oh, not that again." I tried bringing the conversation back around to Zac. I had just opened my mouth to apologize when the producers of Stand came up to us. Liliana looked absolutely delighted, Harold Warner rather disbelieving.

"Well, well, well," he said. "Chad Dylan Cooper and Sonny Munroe."

"Yeah?" we both said at the same time.

"I must say, I'm surprised," he continued. "You have more chemistry that I thought you would on first glance. I was under the impression you couldn't stand each other."

"We can't," I quickly said.

Liliana and Harold exchanged a look and just then, I knew that something was about to go terribly, terribly wrong, and all because of a stupid, pigheaded actor who can't keep his pig head out of other peoples' not-dates. And knowing him, he had planned all this, to ruin my chances of getting to act with Zac.

Ugh, I can't believe him.

You know what he urged the two producers to do?

To have some sort of "call backs" for the people who want to play Jonathan. I'm going to meet all the actors who auditioned for Jonathan—including Zac Efron, Chad "Can't keep his head out of other peoples' business" Dylan Cooper, Robert Pattinson, and Drew Seely—and act out a scene with each of them. The same scene too, the kissing scene. And at the end, Liliana and Harold are going to pick the guy who seems to have the most chemistry with me.

I was perfectly happy—elated, actually—with Zac.

This is all Chad Dylan Cooper's fault.

I just can't STAND him.

And I am going to do everything possible in my power to make sure Zac gets the role and Chad does not. Ha, take that, Chad.

Author's Note: This chapter got a lot longer than I expected and it's not exactly what I was hoping for, but I'm fairly happy with it. I do think I like writing Chad better than Sonny, though, at the moment. Go ahead and review? Who do you think I write better: Chad or Sonny? Why?