I was standing in the Condor Studios kitchen with none other than jerk-throb, Chad Dylan Cooper. We were working in the kitchen for the next week together because we got in trouble with Mr. Condor. We were in the hallway outside of the lunchroom, on our way to lunch. Chad had been making fun of So Random! as always, and I hadn't been having a very good day. I smacked him and at first he did nothing, too shocked that I'd actually hit him, but then he smacked me back.
It turned into a giant smacking fight and Mr. Condor just happened to walk by during it. At first we didn't notice him because he just stood there watching us. Eventually, he got mad and broke us up, telling us that we had to work in the kitchen for the next week. I couldn't be happier…not!
We were waiting for Bertha, the head "chef", to tell us what we were making. We hadn't seen her on our way over here, and she wasn't in the kitchen, so we were waiting for her to make her appearance. The weird thing was that I hadn't seen anyone in a while today. There was no one in the lunchroom and I hadn't seen anyone on my way over here. That wasn't normal for Condor Studios.
"Sonny, why don't you go get some potatoes?" Chad asked with a look of disgust on his face.
"Oh, so now you're suddenly a great chef? I don't think so, Cooper, do it yourself." I replied. He was not going to get me to do his work for him.
"I've always been a great chef. Just listen to me and get the potatoes." he said.
"We don't even know what we're making tonight. How do you know that we're even going to need potatoes?" I asked.
"Because every Wednesday night the cast of Mackenzie Falls has loaded baked potatoes. I think they are in that pantry over there. If you do this, I will make you a potato and not tell anyone about it, okay?" he bribed.
I was about to argue with him some more when the PA system came on. "We know you are in the building. Come out and we will not harm you." someone said. That was weird. Nico or Grady were probably pulling another prank.
"What was that about?" I asked Chad.
"Why should I know. Look, just go get the potatoes, please." he replied.
"Please? Wow, Chad Dylan Cooper is using manners. Who knew?" I giggled.
He just smirked and I went into the closet. The light in the closet was out so it was kind of hard to see. Once I got used to the dark I walked to the back of the closet. I didn't think I was going to be able to see the potatoes, so I took out my phone and looked around with it. I heard the door to the kitchen open and thought it might be Bertha, so I grabbed the potatoes and headed to the closet door.
I heard some sort of metal sound and peeked out of the door. There was a man in the kitchen with Chad. The man had apparently grabbed a knife off of a table. He was slowly getting closer to Chad, and Chad was backing up. I was about to go out, but it was too late. The man sprang forward and thrust the knife into Chad's stomach. He turned the knife once it was in and it made a horrible crunching sound.
The guy took the knife out and ran off. I stood there for a minute, thinking that I was imagining this, but then realized it was real and ran to him. He was on the floor now, barely breathing and staring at the wound in his stomach with the widest eyes I'd ever seen. Tears were already pouring out of my eyes.
"Chad!" I whispered, frantically.
"Sonny…" he whispered back. He was getting more and more tense.
"I…I should go get help. Wait here a minute. I'll be right back." I told him.
"It's…not like…I'm going…anywhere." Chad said. He smiled a little bit and then said seriously, "No, wait. There's something I…need to say."
"What is it, Chad?" I asked.
"I…care about…you a lot…Munroe."
He coughed up some blood. Suddenly his entire body went limp. He wasn't tense anymore, like he had been. His eyes went blank and he quit breathing.
"Chad!" I yelled. "No! Come back. Please…please don't leave me!" I was shaking him, gently at first, and then harder.
He was gone. I'd never felt more alone. I hadn't realized it until now, but I'd cared a lot for Chad, too. Cared. There's that past tense. There was no way he could be dead. No, this was my Chad. My entire world was spinning…everything was going black…
***
I woke up with tears flowing down my cheeks. I could feel them on my lips, and when I opened my mouth I could taste salt. Had I been dreaming this whole time? I hoped so. I looked around and remembered everything. I'd come in my dressing room after fighting with Chad. I told him that I wished he would just get lost and leave me alone for the rest of my life. Now, I just wished that he would never leave me again.
I got up and ran to the Mackenzie Falls set. I couldn't find him there, so I made my way to his dressing room. The door was open so I just went in. "Chad?" I said. There was no answer, and he wasn't in the room. Portlyn came up behind me.
"He's not here. He's going on vacation with his family for the next week. He's at home packing." she told me.
"I never thought I'd say this, but thank you, Portlyn!" I exclaimed and ran to the parking lot. It didn't take me too long to get to my car. I didn't know exactly how to get to Chad's, but I'd been there before and would know how to get there by my surroundings.
It took me a little over thirty minutes to figure out where I was and get to Chad's. I ran up to the front door and rang the doorbell. His mom answered.
"Yes?" she asked.
"Is Chad here?" I replied.
"He's in his room, packing. Do you need to see him?" she said.
"If you wouldn't mind." I replied with my sweetest smile.
She looked at me for a minute before saying, "It's upstairs. Go right. Third door, counting every door on that side. It's the one with the giant C on the door."
I ran upstairs, even though I was extremely confused as to what she was trying to tell me. I did catch the part about the C on the door, though, and found it easily. The door was closed, so I knocked.
"Yes?" Chad said.
I didn't know whether to open the door or just tell Chad it was me, but he answered for me by opening the door. This was when I thought about bailing. It was stupid to come all the way over here just because I had a bad dream that Chad died. I mean, yeah, I liked Chad, but it wasn't like I was in love with him. Or was I?
I was still thinking about leaving when the door came all the way open and I saw Chad standing there. He looked amazing. He was wearing a skin-tight black shirt, blue knee-length shorts, and sandals. I couldn't resist him any longer.
I threw myself into his arms, which I know sounds a little dramatic, but I was a little out of my mind at the moment. I didn't know what I was saying to him, only that it was along the lines of what happened in my dream and that I didn't want him to leave me alone for the rest of my life, I only said that because I was mad at him.
"Sonny, Sonny, shush. Calm down. Now, slowly, tell me what's wrong." Chad told me. He picked me up and sat me on his bed in front of him.
"I…I had this dream. We were in the kitchen working because we got in trouble and this man came in and he…he stabbed you and you…well, you died. It was horrible. And right before you died you told me that…" I trailed off. I couldn't tell him that he'd said he cared for me in my dream, or he would think that I was making it up because I like him.
"I told you what?" he prompted.
"That I was a pretty good actress, for a Random." I lied.
He smiled. "Sonny…why are you crying?" he asked, the smile vanishing.
"What?" I brought my hands to my face and felt the wetness on my cheeks. "Oh. It was just…you know how dreams are. They can feel so real. It was just…scary." I had a flashback of Chad lying in my arms, coughing up blood. More tears fell as I wrapped my arms around Chad. To my amazement, he wrapped his arms around me, too.
"Don't worry. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere." he said. This was the sweetest thing he had ever said to me, and the nicest he had ever been to me before. He laid back on his pillow and I laid my head on his shoulder. I closed my eyes. When I opened them, it was dark outside and Chad was sleeping.
I jerked up off of him. That woke Chad up, and he sat up, too. His hand went to my hair. "Are you okay, Sonny?"
"Chad, I'm so sorry. When were you going to leave for your vacation?" I asked.
"I told my mom that you needed me, and she said that I would just have to catch a plane to one of the cruise stops if I wanted to go. I don't have to go, though." he answered.
"Chad…thank you." I whispered. I was looking down on the bed.
"Sonny, you don't know how bad you scared me. Seeing you when I opened my door, with tears streaming down your face, and a frown so sad it could melt icebergs, I felt like dying. I wanted to do anything for you that would make you feel better. So…is there anything I can do for you?" he asked.
I don't know why I did what I did next. I reached out and let my finger glide down the side of his face. He closed his eyes when I did this and that made my heart skip a beat. I cupped the side of his face, and leaned in. He opened his eyes.
"Sonny, what are you doing?" he asked.
I sat back down on the bed. I noticed that as I'd been getting closer to him, I'd been getting up on my knees. "Oh, uh, I don't know." My face was getting hot and I knew it was turning pink.
Chad smiled, and then he took my hand. I looked at him. He closed the little distance between our lips so fast I barely knew what was going on. The next thing I knew we were kissing. It was gentle, but passionate. Like if I didn't kiss him, I would lose my ability to breathe. I was slowly sitting back to lay on the bed. Chad hovered over me, kissing my eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. He stopped and looked at me.
"It's hard to believe that a dream brought you to me." he said.
I thought about that for a minute. He didn't know why I really came to him. That last sentence he said just before he died had really gotten to me.
"Chad…you didn't really say that I was a good actress in the dream." I told him. He cocked his head to the side as if to say "what was it then?" "You said, 'I care about you a lot, Munroe."
His sweet smile appeared again and he said, "Sonny." He kissed my cheek and looked at me again. "If I knew that that was all it would've taken for you to tell me that you like me then I would've done that. I was so scared that you didn't like me."
Another tear escaped. Chad wiped it away and laid down next to me. I put my head on his shoulder and he stroked my hair. It felt like we stayed like that forever. Finally, he said, "Sonny?"
"Yeah?" I replied. I had a light, airy feeling running through me.
"I love you." Chad said. I thought I felt a tear, but Chad wiped my eyes before it could escape. "No tears, Sonny. I love you, and I'm here, and nothing is going to change that."
I smiled. "I love you, too." I let out a sigh. "You don't know how long I've been waiting to say that." He laughed and then I added, "I'm glad you're with me. Please don't let anything change it."
"I'm not going to. Well, except that I have to get you home before your mom freaks out." He smiled.
"Right." I laughed.
"Just promise me one thing."
"What's that?" I replied.
"No more tears." And with that, he gave me a kiss on each eye.