A/N: Hello! Sorry I've been so MIA. I've been busy with homework and things. I've been doing NaNoWriMo for the past 20 days. I'm so behind. But don't worry, I WILL finish by November 30th. If you don't know what NaNoWriMo is, google it. It's an amazing program. I love it. Mine is a Channy fanfiction essentially. I'll be uploading the first chapter on December 7th, so look out for that. Anyways, this is a backstory-headcanon for Sonny that I have. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I own no one except the character Leo. The name "Soul M8s" are Lisi Harrison's property. Everything else belongs to Disney or the internet.
Sonny stared at the laptop screen. Specifically, the question sitting in her Formspring inbox. It wasn't one of those inappropriate, disgusting, or extremely personal questions. In fact, it was fair game.
The question read, "Have you ever done something really stupid that you are pretty sure you'll regret for the rest of your life?"
After reading it over again, she typed, "Yes," and then clicked on the answer button. Not wanting to dwell on her thoughts, she closed the window and shut down her laptop.
Within a few minutes, she was snuggled in bed with her two normally rambunctious puppies. But tonight, they seemed worried. They could sense that something was wrong. The darker puppy, Peeta, curled up near his owner's head while the lighter colored Bailey took her place by Sonny's side, burrowing under her hand.
Sonny smiled faintly, eyes still closed. She pet both of them and whispered her thanks.
The next morning went routinely. But as soon as Sonny reached the studios, she remembered that question. It haunted her all throughout Ms. Bitterman's lectures, lunch, and rehearsal.
When work was finally over for the day, she apologized to her castmates, "I'm sorry, guys. I wasn't much of a help today."
"It's alright, Sonny," Shayne said.
"Everyone has bad days," Damien agreed, smiling reassuringly.
"Speak for yourself!" Tawni said, checking her nails for the umpteenth time that day.
Sonny just rolled her eyes, "Thanks. I think I'm going to head home a little early."
"But we always stay after rehearsal!" Nico exclaimed.
"Yeah! Can't you stay a little longer?" Grady asked hopefully.
"Sorry, guys. I'm not feeling very well today," Sonny replied with an apologetic smile.
"Aww, feel better!" Matthew said as he walked in, giving her a hug.
She smiled to her friends as they all hugged her as well.
Suddenly, Zora stuck her head out from one of the vents.
"If you're going home early, does that mean we can prank you boyfriend and his friends?" Zora asked with a devious look on her face.
"No, Zora. Leave them alone, please," Sonny laughed.
"Aww! Zora and I had plans for an occasion like this," Audrey exclaimed exasperatedly from another vent.
"Sorry, kiddos," Sonny shrugged.
"Maybe we still can when she leaves," Audrey failed to whisper to Zora.
"I heard that, Audrey. Anyways, I'm going now. See you all tomorrow!" Sonny said, walking out of the room.
"Bye, Sonny!" they shouted as she left.
Sonny was almost out of the building when she realized that her laptop and keys were still in the dressing room she shared with Tawni. She turned around and briskly walked down the hall to retrieve them.
When she opened the door, her laptop was sitting on the table with the case and keys next to it.
"Hmm… Maybe I'll just check my Twitter and things before I go," Sonny thought to herself.
She flipped the laptop open and powered it on. Opening Google Chrome, the Twitter homepage appeared. She logged in and then scrolled through the main timeline, reading tweets from her friends.
Her eyes landed on a tweet from Tween Weekly, "Take a glance at SonnyIsSunny's Formspring. What do you think it could be that she's talking about?" and then linked to their official Tumblr blog.
She didn't even have to click the link to know what the post was about.
Sighing, she clicked the link anyways. After reading over the short article, she clicked the reblog button.
She stared at the empty space not knowing what to say about the article. Or did she?
It was a cloudy spring afternoon. The sky was blue, though darker clouds threaten to bring showers of rain.
Sonny was in the 8th grade. She and her friends were on their way to pick up some things from their lockers before heading home for the day.
In the hallway, they saw some of the jocks picking on a slightly smaller boy named Leo. He was new to the school that year, transferring from a private school where his scholarship ended. The public school kids didn't take newcomers from private schools well, regardless of if they're on scholarship or tuition.
The jocks of the school thought they were the best. Not all of them, only the group that called themselves the "Soul M8s" were arrogant football players and cheerleaders. The majority of their teammates were relatively compassionate in one way or another.
The Soul M8s were constantly harassing everyone who wasn't in their clique. But for some reason, they were set on making Leo's life especially miserable. They relentlessly shoved him in the hallways, knocked books out of his hands, called him worthless, and just humiliating him.
Of course, Sonny didn't know any of this at the time. This was the first time she'd witnessed the Soul M8s bullying Leo. She knew they were arrogant jerks to everyone, but that's all she knew. She didn't know the extent of what they were doing.
As she and her friends passed the Soul M8s who were cornering Leo, she frowned.
"Sonny, don't do it. Just leave them alone. He'll be fine," one of her friends said, pushing her along gently.
Sonny glanced back over her shoulder and saw Leo about to make his escape.
"Yeah, you're right. He's fine," she nodded, following.
The next day was gloomy in terms of literal weather and figurative atmosphere. The rumors circulating around the school were confirmed and that's what shocked everyone.
Leo Ryland was dead. It had been confirmed at the end of the morning announcements by the principal. He had committed suicide due to bullying.
That day, classes all throughout the day were somber. No one really had anything to say. Only members of the Soul M8s spoke up, desperately trying to change the subject to take some of the spotlight away from themselves. All they got were bitter glares in return, though the teachers didn't notice. Or rather, chose not to notice.
At lunch, Leo was all they could talk about. Sonny stayed quiet and simply listened to what everyone knew. That's when she discovered the degree of the Soul M8s' harassment of Leo.
As soon as Sonny walked through her front door that afternoon, she broke down in hysterical cries. She told her mother everything she'd learned about Leo and the events leading to his death that day.
"This is all my fault! I could've helped him yesterday, but I didn't! I could've saved him! He could still be alive!" Sonny choked in between sobs.
"Sonny, listen to me. This isn't your fault. You didn't know—" her mother, Connie, began.
"But I should have! Everyone else knew what they were doing to him!" Sonny interjected.
The mother hugged her daughter continued, "But you didn't know. That's not your fault. You just didn't know. And you said yourself, he escaped yesterday."
"I could have set them straight after he left though, but I was too scared to!" she sobbed.
"I would've been scared too, sweetie," she said, stroking the upset girl's hair. "Most people would be. Most people wouldn't even think about helping him."
"But I did…" Sonny sniffled.
"Yes, you did. Now stop beating yourself up about it, alright?" Connie said, looking at her.
"Alright…" her daughter replied uncertainly.
For the next month or so, Sonny was in a depression. She'd been diagnosed with bipolar disorder earlier in the month, but outside of the family, only her best friend Lucy knew.
"Are you alright, Sonny? You seem a little down," they'd all ask.
She'd fake a smile and say, "Yeah, I'm fine."
Then Lucy would glance at her with a look that said, "They don't know?" and Sonny would give her the same look that said, "No. And they won't ever find out."
Eventually, Sonny's life returned to normal, only to be changed once again when she was asked to join So Random.
After recalling that memory, she began typing. She didn't stop until she was satisfied with what was on her screen.
She hovered the cursor above the "Reblog post" button. She clicked it just as she heard laughter and the door swinging open.
"That was hilarious—Oh, what are you still doing here, Sonny?" Tawni asked with a confused look on her face.
"I forgot my keys and laptop. I guess I got distracted," she answered.
"Are you still going home?" Grace said, as she stood in Tawni's doorway.
Sonny paused, then smiled, "Nah, I'm feeling better. I think I'll stay."
"Awesome! Wanna grab some fro-yo with the rest of us?" Zora said from the hallway.
"Sure, let's go!" Sonny grinned, shutting down her laptop, and grabbing her phone and wallet.
As soon as Sonny had submitted that post, millions of her fans simultaneously read what she had to say.
"Yes? That is actually a huge understatement. I regret it every time I hear something that remotely relates to what happened. Let me rephrase my answer.
'Have you ever done something really stupid that you are pretty sure you'll regret for the rest of your life?'
Yes. Or rather, what I didn'tdo.
Leo Ryland, I am terribly sorry I didn't stick up for you that day. Whether or not it would've made a difference, I'll never know. I can only regret that I didn't do anything. And I'm sosorry for it.
From now on, I'm doing the best that I can to never let that happen to anyone again."
A/N: Review please?