So I had to write this short one-shot because I had a dream last night very similar to this. (Yes, I actually had a Chad/Sonny dream!) I'm writing somewhat based on what happened in the dream, but also adding some things to make it a bit more coherent. I hope you all enjoy, and I thank you all so much for your comments and feedback on my last story. It was so wonderful to read all of the messages I got! Read and review is all I ask for this story. Oh, and ENJOY!
The Opposite of Jealous
Chad Dylan Cooper was not jealous.
In fact, Chad Dylan Cooper was so un-jealous that he was the opposite of jealous. Which, to most people, did not make any logical sense. But it made perfect sense to the blonde young man who was currently trotting the halls of Condor Studios looking for anyone from the cast of So Random!
If someone would have insisted that Chad was jealous, and he would have humored them for a millisecond, he would have to say that the reason for his so-called "jealousy" was simple – Sonny Monroe. But Since Chad was, in fact, quite determined to be "un-jealous" he had to merely classify his behavior on the sole fact that he was worried.
And worried, he knew, often resembled jealousy.
But he wasn't jealous.
Chad Dylan Cooper did not get jealous. Especially not over a Wisconsin girl from a cheesy comedy show. And certainly not over that Wisconsin girl being seen flirting with a lower-class, half-as-good-looking, Zac Efron wannabe.
The Mackenzie Falls heartthrob paused and realized that his heart was racing uncontrollably. Bringing his fingers to his wrist, he realized his pulse was thumping around wildly, as if a stampede of buffalo had just passed through. Calming his heart rate by drawing deep, cleansing breaths from the stale air around him, Chad closed his eyes and relaxed. He had to be relaxed in order to be level-headed. But the smirking face of Kevin Sloane wormed its way into Chad's mind, and the blonde's blood began to simmer.
But he was not jealous.
He just wanted to protect Sonny. That was all. When Portlyn had come rushing into the Falls lounge and announced that she had – in her words – just experienced Heaven on earth through a night with Kevin Sloane, Chad was barely listening. For the next few weeks, Kevin was seemingly the only topic on Portlyn's perfectly moisturized lips. It was Chastity who had captured Chad's attention. He walked onto set to find her and a brunette Falls extra whispering amongst themselves. As he passed by on his way to the table of donuts, he overheard the phrases "Portlyn's crushed" and "has his eye on Monroe" and "in her pants." The last two phrases were enough to make Chad stop in his tracks, turn around, and ask the pair exactly what they were talking about.
"Apparently he was two-timing Portlyn with some model on the East Coast. I think she was from New York or Boston or somewhere like that. He flew back here last week to shoot a movie in L.A., and I guess he came to the studio today to meet with Mr. Condor. On his way back from his meeting, he ran into Little Miss Son-shine from the Randoms and worked the charm. From what Olivia told me over at Meal or No Meal, she was sitting at the table nearest to where she could hear them, and he seemed to charm her so much that she agreed to a date to him."
Chad's eyes narrowed. That little…
"But," Chastity continued, "after their date this afternoon, he told her to meet him at like, 4:30 in the lot behind studio three so he could give her something special. I don't know exactly what he means, but I have a guess," the blonde finished with a wave of her hand. "And let me tell you something, he is not someone who you ever say no to."
Chad's fists clenched and he didn't care that Chastity was staring at him like he was a madman or that her friend was giggling. Glancing at the clock he realized he only had a half an hour to foil Kevin's rendezvous plans.
And that was why, at the current moment, Chad was hightailing it to the prop room of his least favorite sketch comedy show. When he arrived, he didn't bother knocking, but saw that knocking would have been futile anyway. The prop room was empty. 4:10 PM, and I have absolutely no idea what I am doing.
Plan B struck a chord in Chad's mind and before he knew it, his fist had connected with Tawni's dressing room door. He could hear pop music playing from the inside and breathed a sigh of relief. At least she was inside.
A mass of blonde waves greeted Chad at the door. Tawni's eyes scanned over the star and eyes narrowed.
"What do you want?"
Chad took the fact that she was holding the door open as an invitation and ducked under her arm and into the dressing room that she shared with Sonny. Looking around, he realized that the brunette was nowhere in sight.
"I, uh, need your help."
Tawni flopped herself onto her make-up chair and peered at Chad over her nails. She held them at arm's length and cocked her head to the side. "Do you think turquoise would look good on me?"
Chad's arms flew into the air. "Tawni, I don't care about your nails!"
Tawni pouted, but her face slowly relaxed into a smile. "Oh," she began with a growing grin. "this is about Sonny, isn't it? I think someone's a little jealous that she's on a date." She emphasized the word, drawing it out as if it were three syllables.
Chad scoffed and shook his head. "Come on, I do not care that Sonny's on a date. Pf, I mean she can date whoever she wants to and I don't care."
A shrug was Chad's response. "Fine," the actress sighed, "if you don't want my help…"
She's not going to make this easy, is she? "What do you want Tawni?"
Tawni flipped her hair over her shoulder and rose from where she was seated. Approaching Chad, she pointed a finger at him threateningly. "I want you to admit that you care about Sonny. Then I'll help you," she replied with a smile. She crossed her arms over her chest and waited.
"What? I don't…pft…I mean, I don't care about Sonny. Where would you get that idea?" he asked, voice rising slightly with each defense.
Tawni raised her eyebrows. "Alright then, I guess you don't need my help after all…" The actress trailed off her sentence and turned to walk back to her chair, waiting for the moment where the great Chad Dylan Cooper would crack.
4:17, you're losing valuable time, Cooper… "Fine!" he burst out as Tawni paused. "I care about Sonny, okay?"
Tawni's face was glowing with victory as she turned to face the drama star. "Oh, this is good."
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Tawni's shoes clicked as she cantered into the prop room with Chad on her heels. Nico and Grady were playing cards on the couch as the pair entered.
"Excuse me, boys, but we need to go find Sonny because Chad cares about her and wants to stop her from kissing a jerk actor," Tawni announced loudly.
"Really, Tawni? Did you really have to yell it to the world?"
Nico and Grady barely glanced up from their game. "Dude, we already knew," Nico said absentmindedly.
"Yeah, it's kinda obvious," Grady concluded, looking at Chad's bewildered expression.
"Was it really that obvious?" he asked with a tilt of his head.
The three in the room nodded and murmured their agreements. From the ventilation system, Zora could be heard echoing the phrase "Duh!"
Chad shook his blonde head before approaching the Randoms on the couch. "Look, guys, I need your help, okay? This guy is so not a good guy, and I'm going to need back-up going in there. He could hurt Sonny and I know we all don't want that to happen."
The pair looked up from their card game and then at each other before nodding. "I hate to say it, but I'm with Chad on this one," Nico replied, rising from the couch.
"And I could totally take on another drama dude if need be," Grady responded, attempting to appear buff by flexing his arms. Chad, Tawni, and Nico shared a glance.
"Yeah, about that…" Tawni began. Before she could finish her sentence, a shout from the air vents interrupted them.
"Hey planning party," Zora called, "I think I hear Sonny and Kevin. It sounds like they're making their way down the hall now. You could probably intercept them before they get outside of the studio."
The teens looked at one another and nodded before jogging out of the room together. From inside of the ventilation system, Zora shook her head. "Why am I the only smart one around here?"
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"Thanks for a wonderful date, Kevin," Sonny said, tilting her head to look up at him. He did have the most gorgeous Zac Efron-like blue eyes.
Kevin grinned and slung an arm around her shoulder. "Anything for a pretty lady," he responded with a wink in her direction. The brunette giggled and squinted as the studio door opened to reveal the back parking lot. It wasn't the most romantic spot in the world, but Sonny had ignored that fact, considering who she was with.
Kevin paused and turned to face Sonny. "So…" he began, looking down on her.
"So…" she echoed, staring down at her scuffed Converse. It looked like her first kiss was going to be a bit more awkward than anticipated. She had always envisioned that her first kiss would be reminiscent of the movies, where the guy would bring her flowers, take her dancing, and then – in the rain, preferably – he would profess how much he cared for her and pull her in, brushing the wet hair from her face. And then, he would kiss her right before the credits rolled.
Kevin, obviously, had no plans on fulfilling her movie ending kiss wish, and that is why she hesitated as he leaned in.
"Look, Kevin, you're a nice guy and all, it's just that…"
Kevin's eyes narrowed. "Just that, what? I thought we were having a good time here," he said, tugging slightly on Sonny's arm.
Sonny tugged her arm away. "I did have a great time today with you," she replied genuinely. "It's just that…I just met you, and I'm not ready to take any other steps right now."
Kevin seemed confused and slid his arm down to Sonny's waist. "Look, babe…"
Sonny wretched herself from his hand. "Hey, I'm not your babe," she corrected, voice growing a bit louder. Just as Kevin had taken another step toward her, the door to the studio swung open and the pair turned their heads to see four teenagers surging from its threshold.
And, in the pit of Sonny's stomach, she was more than relieved to see Chad among them. The blonde drew himself to full height and approached Kevin.
"Dude, back off Sonny," he said scathingly. His arm automatically gravitated toward the small of her back and Sonny briefly turned to smile at him, however Chad's blue eyes were coldly fixated on Kevin's and the two faced off.
"Look, Mr. Drama," Kevin replied, taking a step toward Chad, "I have just as much right to be here as you do."
Nico and Grady immediately flanked Chad as Tawni tried her best to look threatening from over Sonny's shoulder. Chad retorted by taking a step toward Kevin. "No, you don't," he informed the star. "Because you, unlike the rest of us here, don't care about Sonny. So if you know what's good for you, back off."
Kevin rolled his eyes in disgust and shook his head. "Whatever. This isn't even worth it." With a final shake of his head, the actor turned his back and walked toward his sports car. The group heard the engine roar to life before a flash of red took off from the parking lot and veered into the Los Angeles streets.
Chad popped his collar and smirked. "And that's how it's done."
Nico and Grady congratulated him with high-fives and the Mackenzie Falls star genuinely smiled and high-fived them back, commending them for appearing so tough and threatening. Tawni patted Sonny's back in an attempt to be comforting.
"Now if you'll excuse me," the bubbly actress responded, "it's Fajita Friday and I don't want to miss out!"
"Oh, Tawni, wait for us!" Nico cried as he and Grady rushed to catch up with the blonde.
Sonny scuffed the soles of her shoes against the gravel and Chad looked awkwardly at a flock of birds passing by overhead.
"So…" she began, not daring to meet his eyes for fear of what emotion she would discover.
"So…" he breathed with a slight nod of his head.
Sonny's chocolate eyebrows furrowed in deep concentration. "Why did you come here? I mean, I know I should ask how you knew I would be here, but that's an easier question to figure out, I guess."
Chad's eyes met hers and he shrugged. "I figured you'd need help."
Sonny sighed. "And you were right. You tend to be right a lot sometimes."
Another shrug was the reply from Chad. "Not all the time," he added as an afterthought.
The Wisconsin native looked up from the gravel and studied the blonde before her lips tugged into a smile. "You said you cared about me. When you were being all threatening toward Kevin, you said that you cared."
Chad scoffed. "Pft, well, that was because…"
"And," Sonny continued, her hand settling on her hips, "you admitted that you cared when you pretended to be my fan. Could Chad Dylan Cooper possibly care about someone other than himself?" she asked daringly.
Blue eyes narrowed and he stared at her. "Oh, funny little Sonny, you actually thought that I really cared that much? It's called acting."
Sonny's eyes narrowed as well. "Just admit it," she said, taking a step toward him. "You care about me. Chad Dylan Cooper cares about Sonny Monroe."
"I do not care. I just didn't want to see you get hurt," he countered.
"Because you were jealous?" she asked with a tantalizing raise of her eyebrows.
"Yes…no! I mean, no, I was not jealous of that jerk-faced wannabe Zac Efron," Chad growled.
Sonny giggled. "Oh come on Chad, it's a safe place here. You can admit that you care about me." The brunette was beginning to wonder exactly when she would get that information out of him. He could be so confusing, one moment insulting her, and the next doing something unbelievably sweet. Chad Dylan Cooper was complex, but not complex enough to fool Sonny. She knew he cared. And the way that he smiled at her or defended her or even the way that he teased her caused little butterflies to erupt in the pit of her stomach. Stupid cute.
"I do not care," he lied. The truth is, I care too much. Chad Dylan Cooper would never be able to accept a boyfriend of Sonny's. Ever. No one could possibly be good enough to deserve the sweet, pretty, talented girl who stood in front of him. No one. "I just want you to end up with someone who deserves you," he insisted.
Sonny's arms folded across her chest and she heaved a sigh. "I'm so tired of arguing with you, Chad. So, you win. You really don't care."
"Fine," Chad replied.
Sonny's eyes narrowed. "Fine."
"Fine."
"Good."
"Good."
"So we're good then?" Sonny asked, staring down Chad and waiting for his famous final line. Instead, the blonde seemed to be deliberating.
"No, we're not good."
Sonny frowned in confusion, but Chad merely smirked as he tugged Sonny's hands toward his. She beamed and giggled as he brushed a strand of loose hair away from her face. Their noses touched and she could hear his steady breathing, calming and pacifying her rapidly beating heart. Eyelashes fluttered as his lips brushed over hers. She was still smiling as he pulled away and fixed the same loose strand of hair that had draped over her forehead.
"Now we're good," Chad replied with a smile.
So I hope that you guys enjoyed it. I'm sorry if there are any glaring errors in this piece – I didn't have that much time to edit it, but I wanted to write it out before I forgot about the idea, haha. Just let me know what your thoughts were, good or bad!