Okay, so this is a rewrite of my story "Between You and Me, and Sonny?" I started this one a few years ago, but kind of lost my plan for it and thought of a better way to go about the story. I can safely say it will be about 10-11 chapters (because I already wrote out the chapter plans) and well, yeah. I'm excited to be writing for this fandom again and I hope there are some other hardcore SWAC fans who are ready to read!
I just bought the entire series on iTunes, which is what sparked my interest in writing for SWAC again. I already have another story idea that I'm planning out as I write this one.
Character Ages (even though I'm not sure if I'll include all of The Falls cast):
Chad, Sonny, Tawni, Nico, Ferguson, Portlyn: 20
Grady, Chastity, Skylar: 19
Zora: 16
And now... onto the story!
Chapter 1:
Grady slipped the envelope underneath the door to the girls' dressing room, being sure to check and make sure no one was around to see him do so. With a smile on his face, he stood and walked away from the door to join Nico in the cafeteria to get some froyo. He picked up his pace so that his friend wouldn't question why it took him so long, and nearly ran into Sonny and Tawni.
"Sonny, Tawni! Wh-what are you doing here?" Grady said. "I mean, aren't you supposed to be in a wardrobe fitting?"
"Oh, we're done with that already," Sonny said with a wave of her hand. "We didn't have too many new outfits for this week."
Tawni, noting Grady's odd behavior, narrowed her eyes. "Why? Is there a reason you don't want us out of there so soon?"
"What? Psh, no," Grady scoffed. He rubbed his neck. "I just wanted to make sure I didn't take too long in the bathroom. Nico and I want to get some froyo before we're due back on set. That's all."
Sonny crossed her arms. "Are you two going to eat it straight from the machine again?" Grady shrugged. "You know you're going to get banned from the cafeteria again. Zora can only bail you guys out so many times."
"Nah, we won't get banned," Grady said. "We have a system now. Anyway, I gotta go before Murphy starts lurking around there. See ya!"
Sonny sighed as she and Tawni continued down the hall. "You'd think they'd learn after five years to not eat froyo straight from the machine…"
"And you'll never learn to notice when you're being lied to," Tawni said. "Wake up Sonny! He was totally covering for something else!"
"Like what?"
"Like a prank!" Tawni said. "I swear, if he and Nico messed up our room they'll pay!"
"Tawni, they wouldn't mess up our room," Sonny said, amused by her best friend.
"And how do you know?"
"Because Zora's supposed to be in there doing homework. Do you really think they'd set up a prank while she's in there?"
"Unless she's in on it too!" Tawni said, picking up her pace to see what had been done to their dressing room.
"Really, Tawni?" Sonny nearly jogged to keep up with the blonde's quick pace. She caught up just as Tawni opened the door with force, though not entering in anticipation of something falling on her if she did. Sonny crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.
"See Tawni? No pranks." She gestured to the corner desk where Zora sat, fully engaged in her homework and oblivious to the older girls entering the room.
"Fine. But that doesn't mean that Grady wasn't – hey, what's this?" Tawni knelt down and picked up the envelope she had stepped on.
"Why's there an envelope on the floor of the dressing room?"
Tawni flipped the envelope over. "It's for Zora!" she said, showing Sonny the front of the envelope.
Both girls looked to their younger companion in the room, who still had yet to notice them. Sonny had no idea how the girl could stay focused on schoolwork for so long, but she couldn't help but be proud of her pseudo-sister for continuing her education. Tawni picked up one of her backup lipsticks and threw it at the 16-year old, hitting her directly in the back of the head.
"Ow! What was that for?" Zora said turning away from her computer and pulling out her earbuds. She saw the older girls looking at her, smirks on their faces. "What?"
Tawni held up the envelope and waved it. "Someone sent you something, and we know it's not fan-mail because the mail already came." She looked at the envelope once more as Zora crossed the room to retrieve it. "And there's a heart next to your name."
"Is there something you're not telling us Zora?" Sonny asked grinning.
"Like a secret boyfriend?" Tawni asked holding the envelope out of Zora's reach.
"Do you honestly think I could pull off having a boyfriend and you two not knowing about it?" Zora replied, crossing her arms.
"What about that kid Holloway?" Sonny asked.
"That was five years ago and not even a real relationship."
"Oh, right."
"Besides, you were the ones who figured out I had a crush on Wesley without me telling you," Zora added to make her point. She held her hand out while Sonny and Tawni shared a look.
"Ugh, fine," Tawni said.
Sonny's face lit up as the envelope was handed to its rightful owner. "Hey! I bet one of those actors over at that new karate show has a crush on you, Zora!"
Zora shrugged, going back over to her desk. "Maybe. I guess I'll find out when I read it later."
"What? You're not going to read it now?" Tawni asked.
"And risk the two of you reading over my shoulder? Yeah right," Zora said. "Now if you don't mind, I've got an assignment to finish."
"Okay, we'll go work on our sketch ideas in the Prop House," Sonny said. Tawni made a motion to argue, but with a look from Sonny, she relented and followed the brunette out of the dressing room. Once the door was closed, Zora quickly made her way across the room to lock the door behind them, then moved to lock the door by Sonny's desk.
Sighing in relief, the teen sat back down in her chair and opened the envelope to read the note that waited for her. She smiled at the familiar handwriting as she read.
"Happy 1-month anniversary!
Can you believe we've been dating for an entire month already? I can't. I still wake up in the morning thinking that these past four weeks have all been a dream, but I've never been happier to be wrong.
Obviously we need to celebrate, so if it works out I can pick you up around 5 (and I promise I won't be late this time – Grant is away for the weekend!). And we shouldn't have to worry about anyone seeing us because I have a plan… a good one. It helps that Sonny, Chad, and Tawni are all going to be at that movie premiere tonight so we know the paparazzi will be busy enough with them, and Nico's sister is in town.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to our date tonight J
Still happy this isn't a dream!
Grady"
Zora carefully folded the note and placed it back in her back pocket so that Tawni wouldn't find it if she went snooping through Zora's things later; and Zora knew that's exactly what would happen. She closed up her laptop, saving her work from earlier, and unlocked both dressing room doors before head toward the cafeteria where she knew she'd find the writer of her letter.
She crossed paths with the Mackenzie Falls cast, who nodded slightly at her presence, but didn't engage in conversation as they were discussing their scripts for their next show. Zora returned the gesture and continued on her way, not even stopping to whisper 'evil' at Dakota Condor when she passed her. She walked into the cafeteria to find a few straggling actors getting ready to leave and over by the frozen yogurt machine, she saw Nico cheering on Grady as he enjoyed the frozen treat going directly into his mouth.
The mischievous teen couldn't resist sneaking up behind them and wait for the right moment to shout, "What do you think you're doing?"
"Aahhh!"
Zora laughed as the boys in front of her jumped in their spots resulting in Nico falling to the floor and Grady spilling vanilla froyo on his shirt.
"What'd you do that for?" Nico asked, getting up off the floor.
Zora crossed her arms. "Do you know how easily Murphy could've caught you while you were busy cheering Grady on?"
"Dude! You're supposed to have my back!" Grady said.
"Well, I mean, it's not like he's been around the cafeteria much lately," Nico started explaining.
"Well I don't want to get banned again!"
"Man, we won't!" Nico assured his best friend. Grady shrugged and tried to wipe off the mess on the floor and his shirt while Nico turned to Zora, "How much more time do we have before we have to be back on set?"
"Probably about fifteen minutes," Zora said, before a sly smile formed. "But hey, I passed the Mackenzie Falls cast on the way here, and Portlyn was saying how she was thinking she's ready to give you a chance."
"Really?"
"Really."
"Oh man!" Nico pumped his fists in excitement and ran out of the cafeteria. "I'm coming baby!"
Grady stood up and threw out the yogurt-drenched paper towels. "She didn't really say that, did she?" he asked with a knowing smile.
"Nope, I just had to get rid of him for a few minutes," Zora said returning his smile. She pulled the note from her back pocket, waving it slightly. "First of all, yes for tonight."
"Awesome!"
"And second, we're going to have to be a little more careful around here."
"What do you mean?"
Zora leaned against the wall, placing the note back in her pocket. "I mean, Sonny and Tawni found the note before I did and I'm sure they would've read it if I wasn't in the room. Well, Tawni would've."
Grady's eyes widened. "Oh."
"But it was sweet of you to leave the note," Zora said, failing to stop the blush from rising to her cheeks.
"Well, I knew you were doing homework and I didn't want to interrupt," Grady said. "But I guess I could've texted you and let you know it was there. I just know you like surprises."
"I'd hug you, but you're covered in froyo."
Grady glanced down at his shirt and smiled, holding out his arms. "Come on."
"Not happening."
"But it's our 1-month anniversary," Grady said stepping closer to Zora. She quickly side-stepped out of the way smirking, though Grady was quick to follow her sudden movement. Just before he could catch her in a messy hug, their cast-mates came into the room.
"There you two are!" Sonny said.
"Come on, we're going to be late for rehearsal," Tawni said going over to the two and ushering them out.
The three other Random stars didn't seem to question why Zora and Grady remained alone in the cafeteria and the couple was thankful for it, even as Sonny and Tawni literally pushed them to make them move toward Stage 3.
"And hey Z," Nico said as they walked out of the room, "Portlyn never said she was thinking about giving me a chance."
"Oh. It must've been Chastity then."
Whoo! That was a doozy of a first chapter! Four and a half pages in Word and 1788 words!
I just hope my end-of-the-term paper is this easy to write! (It has to be 1800-2000 words)
I know the pairing might be weird, but if you read R4chel-the-4-is-silent's series "The Sonny Diaries" then you'll understand how I became a fan of Zora/Grady being a couple. Of course, you'll also know that if you've read my story "Easier to Run". So yeah, weird pairing, but it kinda works.
Let me know what you think!
