To me, there were only two names worth remembering: Mackenzie, and Chad Dylan Cooper. I knew my cast mates' names only because I was around them and heard them talk to each other so much. I knew the character names in my show, but I didn't count those because they were just lines.
Other than that, I didn't care enough about anyone's names to remember them until…
Sonny.
Her name stuck the first time I heard it. Because I originally thought it was weird or because I thought it was Madge at first, I didn't know. Maybe I had started to like her already (I can admit that sort of thing now). I still don't know the reason to this day, but I did remember her name.
As time went by and I saw the girl behind the name, I found the name was important to me.
She was important to me…more so than I realized.
"Sonny…Cloudy, Rainy."
"We have names."
"But remembering them would take effort and interest, and…"
Sonny had impressed me. That's the only reason I still remembered her name the next day (I told myself). But I couldn't care less about the others.
The more I grew to care about Sonny, the more notice I began to take of the others (subconsciously). They made her smile (usually), and that made me happy (not that I would admit it at the time). So, by the transitive property, they made me happy (not that I even realized that was the reason then). But it still didn't make their names important enough for me to remember them.
Until the fake date incident.
I didn't like James (because of Sonny). I would have loved to tell him to get his butt away from (my) Sonny, but that would have been admitting I cared, and I hadn't even admitted that to myself yet.
So I wouldn't admit that it was pride I was feeling when I saw Sonny stand up to him. And I wasn't about to own up to feeling grateful for Sonny's friends, who intimidated James (though I didn't understand how). And I definitely would not confess (or act on) the fact that I really wanted to stand in front of them and glare for James to apologize to Sonny, or that I would, under no circumstances, back him up because he was the jerkiest jerk I had ever met (because of what he did to Sonny).
As Sonny's friends walked away, I spared a moment to appreciate the guys I usually ignored. They treated her almost like they were her brothers.
Nico and Grady.
I decided I would have to remember that.