For those of you who have me on author alert: I know what you're thinking. What? She's starting ANOTHER fanfic, even though she still has two she hasn't completed?

. . . That's right. :D

Just letting you know, Mr. Condor will be a tad OOC, because I really don't think realistically, someone like that would have anyone working for him. So he's a bit nicer in this story :)

xXx

"Cause it's my wall—and I like saying I ban Zac Efron. There will come a day when Zac Efron comes knocking on that door and he's like; "Hey, can I come in?" And I'll be like, "Oh no . . . you're banned."

-- Sterling Knight as Chad Dylan Cooper

xXx

The audience burst into laughter when Grady's head poked out from under the bed. He looked around, and jumped when he saw me and Tawni next to him. Tawni and I went into jazz hands, smiling the brightest we could.

The audience started clapping and cheering when the big red APPLAUSE sign went off, the camera zoomed off slowly and curved out. Just when I thought I couldn't hold my smile any longer, Marshall yelled "Cut!" from near the right-stage camera. I sagged into relief.

I took a look at Nico, in bunny pajamas and relaxing after a good five minutes of faking fear. Zora tapped him on the back, alerting him to get up. Tawni was finger-combing her hair, looking like there was somewhere she needed to be. Then I looked at Grady, with his lips tugged into a little smile as he came up from under the makeshift bed.

I captured everyone's expression, memorizing them the best I could. I still couldn't get over the fact that I wouldn't be seeing them for the next three months. That was one-fourth of a year. So Random! Had become a big part of my life now, and it would take a lot to take me away from it; Such as a required summer hiatus from the show.

"And that's a wrap; for the whole season." Marshall announced. At the mention of that, the entire audience burst into cheers. They clapped and clapped and clapped, until I thought they could clap no more. It was crazy.

Marshall came up to me when the audience eventually filed out. "Hey, Sonny," he said, "Did you finally take up that film offer Mr. Condor wants you to be in? It would really give So Random! a better budget if you star in this movie."

I sighed. A little while back, Mr. Condor had approached me with an action movie offer. At first I had gotten all excited, because it would be my first break on the big screen. But, then I learned that filming was in the summer.

"I know, Marshall. But I promised people back home in Wisconsin that I'd be there for the summer, and I think that getting away from Hollywood would be good for me after all of this hype of being a celebrity. You understand, don't you?" I said.

Marshall looked exasperated. "Look, Sonny. How's this for an explanation? This summer, you take the female lead in this film. After all of the publicity you'll get, you become more famous. The more famous you are, the more people want to watch our show since you're in it. The more people watch our show, the more money comes in. The more money comes in, the happier Mr. Condor is. The happier he is, the bigger our budget. The bigger the budget, the higher the salary, and the higher the salary, the more you're respected. You'll get better food in the commissary, guaranteed."

I heard a gasp coming from across the room. I turned around, and realized it came from Grady. He was still lingering behind at the doors, about to leave, but it seemed he had caught a few words. "Better food in the commissary? You mean, like the food for the Falls?"

Marshall smiled. "Exactly Grady, maybe even better food than Mackenzie Falls, we just need to be the studio's favorite."

"So to get food like the Falls, you're saying we need to make better sketches?" It seemed like Grady had only caught the food portion of the conversation. I rolled my eyes; it was so typical.

"No, no, Grady; though that's a big part of it. What we need to do is get you guys into the press more. Take Sonny, for example…"

"Oh, no." I muttered.

"…She has a big movie offer from Condor himself, and if she finally decides on taking it, he's promising us a bigger budget. But I can't be sure if he's still considering her now, because she hasn't made up her mind yet." He winked at me innocently at the end of his sentence. I pouted; he just sold me out! That was totally unfair. Now Grady would tell the rest of the cast, and I wouldn't be able to rest in peace without taking the offer. A movie role didn't swing by that often, and hiding this from them would be considered a big deal.

"W-what? Sonny, do you know what this means? For the next year, we won't be eating uncooked meat lump every day! How can you even hesitate about something like this?!" Grady said.

"Well," I said. "I kind of wanted to get away from Hollywood this summer. You know, just to get a bit more down to earth, I don't want to end up like Chad Dylan Cooper." I explained. I spat the last phrase in disgust. Chad was exactly what I was afraid of turning into because of my new-found fame. Cocky . . . self centered . . .

"Is that more important than beating out the Falls? If we get better ratings, it'll wipe off that smirk on Chad's face." Grady rationalized.

I pursed my lips and thought for a minute. I really wanted to go back to Wisconsin this summer. But, not taking this movie would let Marshall down; not to mention the rest of the cast. We would have to suffer for every meal we filmed the next season. And I didn't care much for the salary, but finally beating out Chad Dylan Cooper . . .

I wondered if it was worth it after all.

I decided to bring up the topic with my mother during dinner. Whenever I felt confused about something, I would come to her for a second opinion. I didn't really understand how everyone else complained about their parents so much. My mom was literally like my best friend; I trusted her with everything. And she was such a better decision-maker than I was. She had already gone through most of my problems . . . just not in the same exact way.

"Mom?" I asked, while diving into some mashed potatoes. She gave me a questioning look. I chewed my food as fast as I could, and then I began to speak.

"Remember how I told you I wanted to spend the summer in Wisconsin?" I began. She nodded at me. "Well . . . now I'm not so sure. I want to see my friends, but around a month ago Mr. Condor spoke to me about another project he was having. He's making some kind of action movie, and he wants me to be one of the main characters. Marshall said if I get this role, it would be a major step in my career, plus, my publicity will go up, and it would be great for the show. He said we could even top Mackenzie Falls, but I don't want to just leave everyone back home forgotten. I'm not sure what to do Mom."

She sighed at me and smiled. If only I could guess what was going on through her head at that moment. I picked at my mashed potatoes uncomfortably, awaiting her answer.

"Sonny, I know this has to be a hard choice to make. I understand you want to see your friends at home, but you also have a certain duty to make to Mr. Condor. He's never asked you to do anything before, and I think this role is more like a huge gift than an obligation. What I think we should do, is once the filming for his movie wraps up in mid-august, we can go to Wisconsin and spend two weeks there before you start filming another season of So Random! in September. That way, you won't be making anyone unhappy. Does that sound good?"

I felt a sudden mix of relief and happiness rush through me. "Oh my God, Mom," I squealed. "You're a genius!"

I got up from the table and hugged her. I mean, come on, I couldn't resist. Not only did she just take a whole load off my shoulders, but now I could actually enjoy the summer. She laughed and hugged me back, and we just stayed there for a few moments. I felt like jumping up and down.

Then I suddenly remembered something. "Mom, how did you know filming ends mid-August?"

She beamed. "Let's just say a little bird told me."

During the span of a week, I had gone back and informed Mr. Condor about my decision. I cut it extremely close; he said if I had waited three more hours, he would have had the contract signed by my replacement. He had given me my script, handed me a plane ticket, and now I was about to be whisked off into New York City to film. I don't know how I managed to squeeze in some time to run down my lines, but I did. Now as I was sitting down at a window seat in first class, I whipped out my yellow manila folder once more, and took out the script.

I played Laura Fealton, one of two under aged, undercover, bodyguards of a billionaire's daughter. The other was Jake Andrews—the main character. The daughter gets kidnapped and they're assigned to get her back. Long story short, they end up falling in love, and they rescue the daughter before the billionaire coughs up thirty million in blackmail. The bad guys go to jail, and the movie ends.

It was amazing how even in a gory action-film where half of the characters died, everyone who managed to live, got a happily ever after. It showed me how much hope there really was in the world.

Then again, bloody or not, it was still a movie.

"Please take your seats and get ready for flight." the attendant said for the third time. We were being delayed because some guy had an issue with his luggage and had to go resolve it. So we were finally taking off, 20 minutes later. I think everyone on the plane was majorly hating on "the guy" now, including me.

I was looking out the window watching a plane in the distance descend, when someone tapped me on the shoulder.

"Excuse me, but is this seat 15A?" an eerily familiar voice asked in monotone. I turned around and felt a shock run through me when I was caught straight into a pair of sapphire-blue eyes.

"Chad?"

Dun Dun Dun! Haha. Don't you just love cliffies?

So, this is my first SWAC fanfic. What do you think? I don't really want to write something that people don't want to read, so I'd really appreciate your feedback. Sorry if I forgot any little details, because I've only watched around four episodes. But I'm getting there. :)

Review!