Love, Overlooked
By, awesometastic9
Standard Disclaimer
Chapter One
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"Miss Munroe?" called a voice.
"Sonny?" it called again.
"Sonny!" it yelled, and a ruler was slapped on the edge of my desk, snapping me awake instantly. My head shot up from the crook in my arm and I looked around groggily - startled by the noise – only to see the beady little eyes of my bitter math teacher: Ms. Crenshaw.
"Sleeping in class again, are we, Sonny?" she tutted sourly. "Either go to bed earlier, or sleep in detention! Not my class!" she snapped, and then looked around the room; her eyes just daring somebody to say something in my defense. "Are we clear?" she asked, looking back down at me, glaring triumphantly.
"Yes," I said, too tired to care about her singling me out, when I knew without even looking that there were at least three other people asleep at this very moment; typical that she'd pick on moi.
"Good," she snapped and stomped back up to the whiteboard. "Now, Grady, continue solving the quadratic equation," she said, motioning for him to come back up to the board. "And I'll have Zora correct your mistakes at the end if there are any."
I propped my elbow on my desk and leaned my head on my hand, my eyes already drooping shut.
"Sonny!" hissed a voice, and Josie tapped me smartly on my head with her pencil. I turned around in my desk to look at her.
"What?" I hissed back.
"No sleeping! We have the film project to do after school, and she need to start right away! So, don't get a detention!" Josie hissed and turned me back around before Ms. Crenshaw noticed us talking. I yawned, covering my mouth with my hand, and she rapped me with her pencil again. I turned around to glare at her and she stuck out her tongue.
"Miss Munroe! Miss Smith!" cried Ms. Crenshaw, shrilly, "No talking, turn around and pay attention!"
I obliged, and picked up my pencil. I began to doodle on the edge of my notebook paper. I was even more tired than before, it seemed, and I couldn't concentrate any more than I could before. I felt my consciousness slipping away as my eyes drifted shut. I yawned, and suddenly the bell rang, jolting me from my stupor, and saving me from another possible detention.
I shoved my papers in my notebook and slid my books off my desk and into the crook of my arm, and followed Josie out of class.
"Honestly, Sonny! Why is it that you cannot seem to stay awake?" Josie snapped once in the hall. "If you get another detention, we'll be screwed! We have only two more weeks until the project is due!"
"Josie, chill," said Nico, appearing out of nowhere and walking along with us. "It's two weeks!"
"Yeah, a week for filming and a week for editing; if we mess up we're screwed!" she said again, and gritted her teeth. "And two weeks in not enough time! We should've started this a week ago! No – we should've started this the day Mr. Bane gave the assignment!" she ranted, becoming more and more cross. "I have no idea how -" but I cut her off midsentence.
"Josie, breathe!" I said, breathing deep to demonstrate. She just glared at me.
"You better stay awake in Crenshaw's class of she'll have your head! Or better yet: I will!" she shook a finger in my face, and I saw Nico roll his eyes, but so did Josie.
"Stop that!" she said, smacking him on the arm; his face contorted in fake pain. "We all need to be dedicated to this documentary! You hear me?"
"Alright, alright!" Nico said. "I'll pass the message onto everyone else. Cya, Josie, Sonny." And he veered off down the sophomore hallway. Josie turned to me and said,
"Two o'clock." And she turned left, down the hallway to her English class. I hurried up the stairs to the freshman hallway to Government. Mrs. Gris nodded to me as I entered and took my seat just as the bell rang. Mrs. Gris started the lesson and I opened my notebook as she pulled down the projector screen and began to take notes and she lectured.
Suddenly, a folded paper note fell into my open notebook. I set down my pencil and unfolded it, looking to my left at Lucy, who gave me a quick smile, before continuing with her note-taking. It said,
Did'yah hear? Nico's mom gave him the green light on the drive-in on Friday! I'm so excited. You're coming, right?
I scribbled back,
Yes, Luce. I'm driving, remember? And, yes, I'm excited too.
and passed it back to her. A minute later I got a reply.
Cool! I get shot-gun! Hah-hah! We're meeting at five at Josie's house, right?
Yeah, and then we're taking my car and Nico's to the drive-in.
How long's the movie? And – wait. What did we agree on?
We didn't. So, we're taking a vote today at lunch. It's either the newest super-hero type movie, or that new horror movie that just came out, or the chick-flick that got so many great reviews.
Oh, okay. We have the film project after school today, right? What did we pick again?
'One-Hundred Years of Broadway'.
ICK! I mean… yay!
Lucy… I know you don't like singing and acting as much as me, but you could be a bit more… fun to be around while we're doing this.
I'll try. It's not my fault I can't do either. Stupid genetics.
Yes, that's really the answer to every one of life's problems, Luce! Blame the 'rents.
Of course it is! They're to blame for making me like this!
Really? Are we really going back down this road, Lucy?
I passed this back to her – it was the end of the page – and she ripped out another piece of paper and replied.
Uhhh… no. I just remembered your Stare of Death. I'm really not in the mood today. So… but, uh… crap. I didn't think I'd have to be the one to tell you this…
Tell me what?
I passed it back just as the bell rang. Lucy pocketed the note and hurried out the door after me.
"What do you not want to tell me?" I demanded.
She mumbled something really fast and unintelligible.
"What was that? A little more in English please?"
"Chad is in our group now…" she said, still mumbling, but I got it.
"What!?" I screeched.
"Sonny, please calm down." Lucy sighed, looking around at the small group of people who stared at me for my sudden outburst. "I know you hate him; I know he's your brother's best friend; I know he's your freaking arch-enemy or whatever… but please can you get along for the next two weeks?"
I shook my head and sighed. "For you and everyone else, I'll try my hardest. But… if he so much as –"
"-starts ragging on you, does one prank, looks at you… or so even breathes – he's out. I know."
I grinned sheepishly. "Are we that bad?"
She just skillfully raised an eyebrow.
Then we reached the place where we split and Lucy waved.
"Cya at lunch!" she called.
"Cya!" I called back, and hurried up to Physics in the science hallway.
I hurried to take my seat as the bell rang and Mr. Birch started class.
"Open your textbooks to page 331," he said in his monotone, droning voice. "Read aloud the first three paragraphs, Mr. Anderson."
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Two classes later, right before lunch, I found myself staring off into space at my locker. Suddenly snapping back into reality, I realized that the hallway crowds were thinning out, so I quickly switched my books and shut my locker, grabbing my bag lunch. Then, hitching my bag higher on my shoulder, I power-walked down the stairs and navigated the halls to the lunchroom.
The bell rang as I walked through the cafeteria and through the back doors that led into the grassy, semi-vacant quad. I claimed the table Lucy, Nico, Grady, Josie and I normally sat at – the only one under the maple tree in the corner.
Sure, sometimes there was bird-poo on the table, but that was easily cleaned and dealt with; the shade and position of the table was ideal: you could people watch pretty easily, and you could see the first two rows of tables inside from here, too.
It wasn't long before Grady and Nico came and sat down – their trays piled with food (albeit disgusting mish-mash of) – and then soon after Josie and Lucy. Nico and Grady sat on one side (they were too big of pigs for a one of us girls to endure sitting next to them) and so, Lucy and Josie were with me on the other side.
We were all chatting happily – and thank goodness no one mentioned that three-named jerkthrob – until I heard her voice.
"Hey, Sonny!"
Except it wasn't said it a 'happy-to-see-you' voice. It was in a mocking, 'hey-look-at-me-I'm-so-pretty!' voice.
Tawni Hart. Reigning school Queen Bee and the girlfriend of Charlie Munroe: my brother. The traitor…
Slowly I looked up from my bologna sandwich and up at the doors of the cafeteria where she and Portlyn (her minion and the three-named jerkthrob's girlfriend) were standing.
"Yes?"
"Yes, Tawni!" she corrected, snidely.
I didn't repeat it and just stared at her, waiting for her to say whatever she was going to say.
She frowned, and flipped her hair, putting a hand on her hip.
"I heard you're trying out for the school's talent show! Good luck with that! You need all you can get. And let's just hope your act isn't your… uh, how shall I put this 'nicely'? Lack of talent." She then burst out in hyena-like laughter, with Portlyn joining in a split second too late and laughing a bit too long for Queen Tawni.
"Shut it Portlyn!" Tawni snapped, spun on her sparkly Jimmy Choos and disappeared back into the cafeteria.
I rolled my eyes and continued eating. She may think she bothers me, but she doesn't.
It was a few minutes before I realized that no one at the table was speaking.
"What?" I asked, looking up.
"You're trying out for the talent show?!" shrieked Josie and Lucy at the same time.
I turned beet read. "Uhhh... I was thinking about it…" I gulped nervously. "Why? Do you not want me to? I know we have to work on the film project, but –"
"No, no! Sonny!" squealed Lucy. "It's fine! What do you want to do?"
"I was uhhh…" I rubbed the back of my neck nervously, uncomfortably. "gonna play the piano and sing."
Everyone – including Nico and Grady – gasped. "But I thought… your stage fright!" Grady protested in disbelief.
"I've been practicing..." I admitted sheepishly.
"That's great, Sonny!" gushed Josie. "What are you going to sing?"
"Um, one of my own songs."
"Perfect! Can we hear you practice? I haven't heard you sing in forever!" Lucy said, almost begging.
"Maybe when it's done." I said.
"Oooh! You're writing a special song?"
"You could say that… it's just one I've been working on lately…"
Everyone grinned until Nico interrupted.
"Okay, since I'm now going to the movies with you guys, what are we seeing? Can we vote?"
"Sure, Nico. Sure."
"What are the choices?" Grady asked.
"Fashionista: Crimes of Fashion, Horror from the Grave, or the First Kiss." Said Lucy, ticking them off on her fingers.
"Okay, now we vote." I said.
In the end, we all agreed on Fashionista. And soon after, the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch.
We all got up and headed off to Communications – the class our film project was for – which we all shared.
Just as we sat down at our group table, I groaned and hid my head in my arms… for the three named jerkthrob had walked through the door.
Perfect.
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A/N: okay, so this was an AU experiment I started on to keep my mind off my sister. I think it came out pretty well… considering. So, it would be great if you guys would review, which would make things even better. And yes, before you ask: it's a CHANNY fic. Just, Alternate Universe-like. So, just push that lover-ly button right there --- and it'll make me… happy? Yeah, let's go with that.
-awetast9 .::. Linsi