Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize. Only the plot is mine.
Tawni sat in the driver's seat pouting because Nico and Grady wouldn't let her drive her pink convertible. They said it was too showy and Sonny would know right away who was visiting, and most likely why they were there. No, they wanted to drive Nico's small sensible Saturn in a drab beige color. It was hot and stuffy in the Saturn and Grady had ordered baked beans for lunch. Even with the windows open, she couldn't get away from the stench. The faster this was over with the better.
"OK, so review. You two go in, ring the doorbell and talk to her. Try to find out why she left and convince her to come back," Tawni said with a flip of her hair and a put-upon sigh. Their cast-mate Sonny Munroe had been gone from the set of So Random for nearly a week and none of them could figure out why.
"Wait, what are you going to do?" Nico said.
"I'm going to sit here in the car, make sure we don't get a ticket and look pretty."
"Aw, why can't I have that job?" Grady whined.
"Because you can't use the law of pretty to get us out of a ticket if some cute cop comes by. Now go on. It's not that hard to ring a doorbell." Tawni rolled her eyes as Nico and Grady both got out of the car. If they didn't blow it in the first ten minutes then she'd actually admit that Sonny wasn't half bad and that she was sorry Sonny had left. Nico and Grady tiptoed along, ducking behind bushes and trees. Tawni rolled her eyes again watching them pretend to be spy heroes, then lost interest and turned to admiring herself in the rearview mirror.
Nico and Grady, on the other hand, were very much enjoying the chance to be secret agents.
"Wait a minute," said Grady, "Why are we sneaking around? Sonny's going to know we're here anyways." Nico thought a minute and then shrugged.
"Cause it's fun?" he finally came up with.
"Fair enough," Grady shrugged.
A few minutes later they had entered the apartment building and stood in front of Sonny's door.
"Wait, what are we supposed to say?" Grady asked.
"I don't know, uh… You remember that sketch… no, that one didn't turn out so good. Uh… how about that one where we…Yeah we'd better make it up as we go along. Go on ring the bell."
"Why do I have to ring the bell?"
"Because it's your job."
"But-"
"Just ring the damn bell!" Grady, startled, punched the doorbell a little too hard.
"Now look what you made me do!" They stood in silence for a few seconds, fidgeting nervously.
"Nico?" Grady finally broke the silence.
"What now?" Nico sounded thoroughly exasperated.
"I'm not so good at the whole… improv thing."
"You're on a show that does improv sketches!" The door swung open behind them but they were too busy arguing to notice.
"Yeah, but the sketches are always written down and then I get to memorize it from a book first."
"Guys! GUYS!" Sonny yelled at them.
"Oh hi, Sonny. Can you hold on a sec?" Nico said. He turned to berate Grady further before realizing what he'd just said.
"Sonny!" he and Grady said in unison. Their voices were just a little too bright and loud.
"Not that I mind seeing you, but what are you doing here?" Sonny asked, ignoring the fact that the two boys standing in the hall looked like sheepish children caught with their hands in the cookie jar.
"Uh… We uh… We were in the neighborhood and we thought we'd drop by." Nico stuttered. Sonny raised her eyebrows but let the obvious lie pass.
"Why don't you come in?" she said with a sigh. She stepped back, allowing them to go around her into the apartment she shared with her mom. Though they had never been in Sonny's apartment, they could tell that it was pretty empty. In fact, other than the furniture there were only a suitcase sitting by the door.
"Woah, woah, wait," exclaimed Nico, "You're moving?"
"Yeah. We leave tonight. Mom's just out getting something for dinner, then we'll be off to the airport." Sonny walked over to the couch and sat down. "I'd offer you something to drink, but we've cleaned out the fridge." She waited in silence for a few minutes to see if either of them would say something, but neither of them seemed to want to speak.
"So. You never answered my question," she finally said, "What are you doing here?"
"We want you to come back," Grady burst out suddenly
"Aw man! You ruined it!" Nico shouted at him.
"I told you I'm no good without a script!" Grady said, spreading his hands wide and trying to look like the picture of innocence.
"Guys!" Sonny broke in, "It doesn't matter. I'm not coming back."
"Aw come on Sonny," Grady pleaded, "We need you. We miss you."
"I'm sorry. But I just can't come back."
"Why not?" That was Nico again. He sounded more angry than concerned, but Sonny didn't care. She took a deep breath before saying, "I'd rather not talk about it."
"Oh, I get it," Nico said, drawing out the vowels in his best dramatic voice, "This wouldn't have anything to do with Chip DramaPants, now would it?"
"Pfft, no!" Sonny said, a little too quickly. Nico and Grady nodded at each other. They were getting closer.
"What did he say?" Nico asked.
"Nothing, I told you, this isn't about him," Sonny exclaimed, though she wouldn't quite meet their eyes as she said it.
"Don't lie to us, Sonny. You're an awful liar." Sonny rolled her eyes and sighed. Nico was relentless!
"Fine. But it's not all Chad's fault. It's just… ever since I joined the cast, all I've gotten was abuse, from Tawni, from Chad," she trailed off, realizing that she couldn't just implicate them, when they had never really done or said anything insulting, "And you guys and Zora, you just let it happen. Anyways, I'm sick of it. That's why I left and why I am not coming back." Just as she finished this tirade they heard the sound of a key in the door.
"I'm home," Connie, Sonny's mom, yelled.
"Right here, Mom," Sonny said, holding back the tears that threatened to fill her eyes, "Just saying goodbye to a couple of cast-mates. They were just on their way out." She looked pointedly at Nico and Grady. They weren't too happy about it but they took the hint.
"Have a nice trip, Mrs. Munroe," Grady said on his way out, tipping an imaginary hat as he pulled the door closed behind him.
"What was that all about?" Connie asked.
"Oh nothing," Sonny said brightly, "Like I said, just saying goodbye. So what's for dinner?"
***
Chad Dylan Cooper was sitting in his makeup chair getting some finishing touches done before he had to go on when Tawni stormed up behind him.
"This is all your fault!" she practically screamed at him.
"Thank you," he said, standing up slowly so he wouldn't wrinkle up his specially pressed uniform, "Now, what exactly is my fault?"
"Sonny! She's leaving and it's ALL YOUR FAULT!" These last few words she accompanied by punches to the shoulder. Chad just blinked at her blankly.
"Sonny? You know, brunette, awful clothes, walks around with a big dumb smile on her face all the time?" Tawni elaborated.
"I know who you mean," Chad said making a face at her, "So… Sonny's leaving. How is this my fault?" Not that he wasn't glad she was leaving, he was. In fact, he was glad for more reasons than just the obvious.
"Oh, I think you know why, you snobbish jerkface. You're the one that seems to devote at least half his time to annoying and insulting her!" Tawni yelled. Chad rolled his eyes.
"And you don't? I've seen the way you treat her! Like that time you stole her fan mail and then tried to say her first fan wasn't real? It could have just as easily been you who drove her away," he returned.
"Wait, how do you know about that? You don't watch So Random. Or do you?" she asked.
"Yeah right like I'd watch Chuckle City. Uh," he paused trying to think up a plausible excuse for how he knew about Eric without telling Tawni that he'd been Eric, "Sonny told me. Anyways, what do you want me to do about it?"
"Apologize! Tell her you're sorry for whatever it is you said, and get her to come back!"
"As if! Chad Dylan Cooper does not apologize. Besides, why do you care? Without Sonny, the show's all yours."
"Maybe, but without Sonny the ratings have plunged so far that they're talking about pulling the plug." Tawni obviously didn't like the idea, but there was no way around it. Chad looked thoughtful for a moment.
"Yeah, don't care. Run along back to Chuckle City now. Enjoy it while you can." With that he smiled his signature brilliant but fake smile and carefully sat back in the makeup chair. Carefully not watching Tawni in the mirror, he made sure she was out of earshot before he breathed a sigh of relief. Sonny was leaving! Not only would Mackenzie Falls almost automatically become the number one teen show in America, he wouldn't have to worry about starting to care for anything but himself. Today is a good day, he thought to himself.
A/N: So, how was it? Obviously it's not done, but I'll be working on future chapters and I hope to update soon. Please review, but please be nice. I love constructive criticism but I would prefer no flames. As a side note, it's somewhat likely that if you review something of mine, I'll end up reviewing something of yours. I'm a very curious person, so I usually go check out what the people reviewing my stuff have been writing, and I try very hard to leave reviews for everything I read.
Anyways, thanks for reading, have a wonderful day, and don't forget to review on your way out =)
~Laure