"Sonny!" my mum's voice came through my bedroom door as she knocked to try and get my attention "Sonny, open the door, honey please, talk to me." I didn't open the door, I ignored her, I didn't want to talk to anyone right now and she wouldn't come in unless I wanted her to. I just couldn't believe it, they'd cancelled the show, they'd cancelled my show, they'd cancelled So Random. Of course we'd known for a while that it was going to be cancelled, we'd just finished the final episode though and the reality had only just hit me. No one knew, the cast and crew had been sworn to secrecy when we'd found out, we just had to announce it at the end of the show.
I heard our front door open and close and a familiar voice call "Sonny!"
A muffled conversation could be heard through the door and then my mum shouted "Sonny, honey, Chad is here, he's coming in."
With that, the door swung open and the familiar face of my long term boyfriend, Chad Dylan Cooper. Face creasing with sympathy, he shook his head "I just heard, oh god Sonny, I'm sorry." I didn't say anything, just leapt from my bed and flung my arms around his neck and sobbed into his shoulder. Holding me close he twisted his fingers through the ends of my hair, comfortingly
"Mum's shipping me out to Ohio, Chad," I whimpered "To stay with my uncles and get me away from the journalists and the spotlight and..."
"Me," he whispered, pulling away to look in me the eyes "We can do the long distance thing, I know we can, I can nip down to Ohio every so often. We live in a modern age, we have e-mail and skype and a million other ways to communicate."
Looking up at him through my tears, I asked hoarsely "You'd do that? For me?"
"Of course," he wiped away my tears, and half-smiled sadly "Why else would I put up with the randoms." I laughed then, despite myself, I laughed and tried to forget that I would be leaving on the plane tomorrow.
*3*CDC*3*SM*3*
Jumping out of the car, I forced a smile as Rachel rushed towards me and hugged me tight "Sonny! I can't believe you're here!" I know it sounds unlikely, but uncle Harry, uncle Adam and cousin Rachel didn't know I'd been on So Random, the show had never aired in Ohio (I don't know why, some technical thing) and Mum had always been determined to keep the whole thing out of the spotlight. Yeah, mum was all for keeping everything quiet so now I had to keep a whole part of my life secret from them, and that included Chad.
"Neither can I," I smiled, looking behind her at my uncles as they stood in the doorway of the house "Hi guys!"
Smiling Harry chuckled "That's uncle guys to you, we're responsible for you here so we're in charge, little lady, understand?"
"Yes sir," I nodded, mock-seriously.
Excitedly, Rachel jumped up and down "I've got a sister!"
"No kidding Rach," I chuckled, heaving my bag onto my shoulder as the taxi drove off.
So I settled myself in, I tried not to notice the huge Mackenzie Falls Poster in Rachel's room as I passed, my room was next door to hers so I imagined I'd rarely be free of my overexcited cousin. When I finally got a moment to myself, I used it to text Chad: Arrived in Lima, Miss u Already xxx
In no time at all, Chad's reply appeared in my in-box: Miss u more 3 xxxxx 3
God I loved this boy!
3*CDC*3*SM*3*
I trooped behind Rachel as she led me to homeroom, I was in all of her classes, so that she could look after me but, honestly, we liked similar subjects anyway. As we entered the Spanish classroom, a tall boy in a letterman jacket rushed up and pulled Rachel into a bear hug. Then he spotted me and set her down "Who's the new girl, Rachel?"
"Meet my cousin," Rachel linked her arm with mine "Sonny, this is my boyfriend, Finn."
Smiling, I offered Finn my free hand "You know she talks about you all the time, right?"
He just chuckled "I bet Kurt would say the same thing about me..."
"I heard my name," a tall thin boy, who was very clearly gay, strolled up to stand by a Finn "What were you saying about me."
With a smile still painted on my face I answered "Just talking about how these two talk about each other all the time."
"Tell me about it," he sighed dramatically "I get Rachel at school and Finn at home, I just can't win!"
Grinning, Finn chuckled "Sonny, meet my stepbrother, Kurt Hummel."
"Nice to meet you Sonny," Kurt winked "Are you Rachel's non-bitchy twin?"
Immediately knowing I was going to like this boy, I replied "No, cousin."
"Guys, you're blocking the doorway!" the homeroom teacher cried as he pushed past the four of us.
Finn steered us to our seats with the words "Sorry Mr Schu."
I sat in-between Rachel and Kurt and was quickly introduced to the sassy Mercedes. Then just as Mr Schuster was starting the register, a boy with curly black hair walked through the door "Hi, er Mr Schuster? I'm Blaine Anderson, I'm new here."
"Blaine Warbler Anderson!" Kurt shouted, jumping to his feet.
The boy grinned "Hi Kurt, fancy seeing you here."
"I can't believe-" he scrambled over the desk and rushed towards him "-you didn't tell me you were transferring." Throwing his arms around the smaller boy, Kurt buried his head in Blaine's shoulder.
Smiling and holding Kurt closer, Blaine sighed "I wanted to surprise you."
"Well, it worked," Kurt pulled away to look into Blaine's eyes "I'm surprised."
From the back of the classroom, a voice called "You two, get a room!"
At this at lease ten people, me included, turned round to shout "Get lost Karofsky." Though, of course, I didn't know the idiot's name.
"Right now will everyone sit down!" cried Mr Schuster, trying to sound angry but ultimately failing due to the smile pulling at the corner of his mouth. As the register was being taken, I quickly realised that a lot of the kids in this class were Mr Schuster's kids, Rachel, Mercedes, Finn, Kurt, Noah (Puck) and Quinn were all favourites of the teacher and he even had a preference towards Blaine. It was odd. I made a mental note to ask Rachel about it later.
I walked with Rachel and Finn to English, texting Chad as we walked: School's ok, I like Rachel's friends, probably stick with them. Wish u were here xxx.
Just as I hit send I felt something freezing cold and wet hit me straight in the face. Spinning round, Rachel gasped "Sonny!"
"Hey Azimo! What the hell!" Finn shouted as the jock rushed away.
I heard him shout back "She's with you two! Must be a freak!"
"Finn, tell Miss Anderson we'll be a bit late okay," Rachel took my hand and pulled me towards the girls toilets, stopping to call to someone "Tina! A little help!" I dare not open my eyes for fear of whatever the searing cold liquid was that was on my face. Vaguely, I could hear Tina and Rachel chattering to ear other as they wiped the ice away. "Sonny, you can open your eyes now."
Opening my eyes I saw my face in the mirror, my hair soaked and remains of the blue ice encroaching on my skin. In my hand, my phone had managed to escape most of the liquid but I still wiped at the screen protectively as I spotted the reply from Chad: My cast-mates are gloating so I fired 2 of them, I think they forgot about u, glad u like school, I wish u were here 2. Love u xxx
"Azimo's a Neanderthal," Tina half-smiled apologetically as she began to remove the ice from my hair "Karofsky may be a jerk, but he has a heart, Azimo on the other hand..."
They used the hand-drier to dry out my hair and then we marched back to english. The teacher seemed to understand and we just sat down and sat through the lecture on classic literature.
The rest of the morning passed uneventfully and it was at lunch when I asked Rachel "So, where are we eating?"
"The choir room," she grinned as Kurt led the way to the wood floored room.
As the others sat down (minus Finn, Blaine and Mike) Rachel dragged me across the room to Mr Schuster "Mr Schu, my cousin would like to audition."
"Er sure, Rachel," Mr Schuster smiled "Blaine needs to audition too so you two can do a duet."
As if on queue, Blaine walked in flanked by Finn and Mike, Finn smiled apologetically "Sorry we're a bit late Mr Schu, Blaine got slushied on the way here."
"Those, ass-holes," Puck spat as Kurt rushed to throw his arms around Blaine.
Shrugging, Blaine sighed "No harm done, it was my favourite flavour."
"Blaine, can you do an audition duet with Sonny, for us?" Mr Schuster asked.
With a nod, Blaine winked at me "I know just the duet." He rushed over and whispered it in my ear, I giggled at him and nodded my assent before he hurried to give the sheet music to the pianist.
The introduction played out and I folded my arms to sing "Anything you can do,
I can do better.
I can do anything
Better than you."
"No, you can't," Blaine shook his head.
Cockily, I nodded my head "Yes, I can."
"No, you can't."
"Yes, I can."
"No, you can't."
"Yes, I can,
Yes, I can!" I cried wagging my finger at him,
Pointing arrogantly at himself, deliberately overplaying it, he declared "Anything you can be
I can be greater.
Sooner or later,
I'm greater than you."
"No, you're not!" I jumped up and down like a petulant child, matching his overacting
With a raise of one eyebrow he sighed "Yes, I am."
"No, you're not."
"Yes, I am."
This time I built it up louder "No, you're NOT!"
"Yes, I am.
Yes, I am!" he grinned "I can shoot a partridge
With a single cartridge."
I just beamed back at him irritably "I can get a sparrow
With a bow and arrow."
"I can live on bread and cheese!" he retorted.
Sweetly, I batted my eyelashes at him "And only on that?"
"Yes," he nodded confidently.
Snorting, I turned away from him "So can a rat!"
"Any note you can reach
I can go higher," he took my arm and spun me round.
Cheekily I shook my head as the notes went higher "I can sing anything
Higher than you."
"No, you can't," he straightened up to try and get a better note.
"Yes, I can."
"No, you can't."
"Yes, I can."
"No, you can't."
"Yes, I can."
"No, you can't."
"Yes, I can."
"No, you can't," he lifted me in the air as if to punctuate the point.
Bracing myself on his shoulders, I leant closer to him so my face was only inches from his "Yes, I CAN!"
"How do you sing that high?" he asked, dropping me back down, lightly.
Irritably I snapped back "I'm a girl!" Then I began to sing "Anything you can buy
I can buy cheaper.
I can buy anything
Cheaper than you."
"Fifty cents?" he asked.
I grinned triumphantly "Forty cents!"
"Thirty cents?" he turned to me defiantly
Putting my hands on my hips I exclaimed "Twenty cents!"
"No, you can't!"
With a nod, I smirked "Yes, I can,
Yes, I can!"
"Anything you can say
I can say softer," Blaine pulled me into some sort of waltz and we danced about the room for the next verse.
I sniffed "I can say anything
Softer than you."
"No, you can't," leaning closer to me, he sung softly.
Once again, batting my eyelashes at him, I sung breathlessly "Yes, I can."
"No, you can't," he retorted softer still.
So quietly it was almost inaudible, I practically swooned in his arms "Yes, I can."
"No, you can't."
"Yes, I can," I answered, leaning in close as if to kiss him and then shouting "YES, I CAN!"
Chucking me out of his arms as if in shock, Blaine straightened his clothes and sung proudly "I can drink my liquor
Faster than a flicker."
"I can drink it quicker
And get even sicker!" I followed him and matched his proud stance.
Turning to wag his finger at me, he told me "I can open any safe."
"Without bein' caught?" I put my finger to my cheek innocently.
He shrugged "Sure."
"That's what I thought," I snorted "You crook!"
With both hands on my shoulders, Blaine sang confidently "Any note you can hold
I can hold longer."
"I can hold any note
Longer than you," I stuck out my chin in defiance.
"No, you can't."
"Yes, I can." The notes got longer each time, building and building, beat by beat.
"No, you can't."
"Yes, I can."
"No, you can't."
"Yes, I can."
"Yes, I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I," I built up the momentum.
He was still trying to sound confident even though he knew what was coming "No, you C-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-N'T-"
"CA-A-A-A-N!" I coughed out the last bit.
Eyes wide, he flung an arm around my shoulders and through his other arm wide "Yes, you ca-a-a-an!" Scratching his head he asked "Where do you hole all that air?"
"In my chest cavity," I replied."Anything you can wear
I can wear better.
In what you wear
I'd look better than you," I jabbed his chest to punctuate the point.
"In my coat?" he asked.
"In your vest!"
"In my shoes?"
"In your hat!"
"No, you can't!"
"Yes, I can
Yes, I CAN!"
"Anything you say
I can say faster," he replied irritably.
Shaking my head I retorted "I can say anything
Faster than you." Our speech was then babbled out so fast even we could have no sense of it.
He sighed "I can jump a hurdle."
"I can wear a girdle," I bowed into a low curtsey at our crowd.
Pulling at his jumper, he sung "I can knit a sweater."
"I can fill it better!" I stuck my tongue out at him.
As he puffed out his chest, Blaine pointed at himself "I can do most anything!"
"Can you bake a pie?" I tapped him on the shoulder.
He admitted "No."
"Neither can I," I stormed off at the realisation.
Pacing after me, he sung "Anything you can sing
I can sing sweeter."
"I can sing anything
Sweeter than you," I folded my arms and tapped my foot.
"No, you can't."
"Yes, I can."
"No, you can't."
"Yes, I can."
"No, you can't."
"Yes, I can."
"No, you can't, can't, can't!"
"Yes, I can, can, can!"
Finally, we harmonised "Yes, I can!"
"No, you can't!"
We finished back to back with each other as the rest of the show choir applauded. Mr Schuster laughed "Well, needless to say, you're both in."