Hey, peoples, this idea has been in my head for a while now, so I decided to give it a shot.
Disclaimer: I don't own SWAC. Do we seriously have to write these every chapter? =P
~ A Summer to Remember - Chapter 1 ~
Summer was probably Sonny Munroe's favorite season. That's kind of a redundant statement, because Sonny doesn't really have a favorite season. She loves all the seasons, because that's just the kind of happy, optimistic person she is.
Another thing that Sonny Munroe loved very much was her show, So Random!, and her castmates. So when Marshall announced that Condor Studios would put all of its shows on hiatus for the summer to do renovations on the studio, Sonny was rather bummed. She happened to be just about the only one, however.
"Oh, goody!" Tawni had squealed. "Now I have more time to shop! And tan! And shop more! And tan more!" Tawni planned to spend the first half her summer doing nothing but tanning, and shopping for her trip to the Bahamas, which occurred during the second half of her summer.
"Sweet, dude!" Nico had told his best friend Grady. "This means we can go to the Hershey's Amusement Park!" Nico and Grady were renting an RV and taking a cross-country road trip, just the two of them. They planned to visit all of those weird tourist locations that no one usually pays attention to.
"This is perfect!" Zora had cackled. "Now I can spend more time up in the caves." Zora was going to a state-of-the-art science camp for extremely talented and curious young kids. They were going to Borneo to study the bats that live in the caves there. Zora was beyond excited.
It seemed to Sonny that she was the only one that didn't have lavish and extravagant plans for the summer. No, she didn't even get to go to Wisconsin to visit her family. Her mother was going, but the Munroes didn't have quite enough money for a plane ticket for Sonny as well.
Mrs. Munroe suggested that Sonny get a summer job, and Sonny thought that was a wonderful idea. So, they began looking for jobs, searching through the classifieds section of the newspaper, and asking around if anyone wanted a job. So far, they had gotten a few offers, but none of them really interested Sonny.
"Mom, I'm home!" Sonny called, opening the door to her apartment and dumping her messenger bag on the couch.
"Oh, hi honey!" Connie answered from the kitchen. "I'm just making some lemonade. How was your last day at work?"
"It was great, mom!" Sonny grinned, walking into the kitchen and grabbing a cup of cool lemonade. "Mr. Condor threw a huge last-day party. There were games, and food, and we even went swimming."
"Yes, that would explain why your hair is so wet," Connie replied, glancing at Sonny.
"Oh, no, actually, I didn't go swimming." Sonny told her. "I forgot my swimsuit. My hair is when because Chad decided it would be funny if he threw a water balloon at me." Sonny gritted her teeth as she spoke the heartthrob's name. Connie laughed knowingly.
"Oh, my," she smiled. "That boy is more infatuated with you than I thought." Sonny's mouth fell open and stared at her mother incredulously, a slow blush creeping over her cheeks.
"Mom!" she exclaimed, shocked. "What are you talking about?!"
"Oh, nothing" Connie smiled knowingly, winking at Sonny. "Anyway, I have great news for you Sonny!"
"What?" Sonny asked, her cheeks still burning from the assumption that her mother made about Chad liking her. She shuddered at the thought.
"Well, you remember my friend Christine, right?" Connie asked, while Sonny's eyebrows scrunched up in confusion. "Christine White?"
"Oh, isn't she the one that works at the Starlight Hotel?" Sonny asked. The Starlight Hotel was the biggest, most luxurious hotel in all of Los Angeles.
"Yes," Connie said, an excited smile spreading over her face. "Well, she told me that they have a bunch of summer job opportunities for teens this summer, and..."
"And?" Sonny asked, getting excited.
"I got you a job!" Connie squealed, and Sonny jumped up and down, squealing as well. "You'll be working at the in-hotel daycare center, where parents can drop off their kids while they go sightsee."
"Oh, that's great!" Sonny cried happily. "I love little kids!"
"I know you do," Connie smiled at Sonny. "And the best part is, we don't have to find somewhere for you to stay, because employees can stay in one of the hotel rooms." Sonny gasped. She would get to stay in one of the fabulous hotel rooms? For free?
"And, you have free access to the employee cafeteria, which is open 24/7," Connie continued. "It's not as great as the food the guests have, but I've heard it's still pretty amazing. Plus, your job only goes from 9 to 3:30, so afterwards, you get free reign of any of the hotel activities."
"Omigosh!" Sonny squealed. "That's so awesome!"
"I know, I'm so proud of you honey," Connie smiled, wrapping Sonny in a big hug.
"When do I start?" Sonny asked excitedly. Suddenly her summer was looking a whole lot better.
"Er, tomorrow." Connie replied nervously. Sonny's eyes widened.
"Tomorrow?!" she screeched.
"Well, your job doesn't actually start until Monday, but they want you there tomorrow so you can get setteled in over the weekend," Connie told her daughter. "Plus, they have some kind of orientation, I think."
"I've got to get packed, then!" Sonny exclaimed, rushing upstairs. She pulled out her cow print suitcase, and began to pack her clothes. Thankfully she had gone summer shopping with Tawni the weekend before. After she packed all her stuff, Connie came into the room.
"Do you want to do something tonight?" Connie asked. "You know, since it's your last night here." Sonny nodded enthusiastically. So the mother-daughter pair went off to see the newest chick flick, then had dinner at their favorite Italian restaurant. Soon, Sonny plopped into bed, exhausted but happy, and drifted off to sleep.
"Allison Munroe! Get out of bed this instant!"
Sonny groaned and rolled over, checking the time on her clock. 7:00 am. Sonny groaned again and dragged herself out of bed. She had to be at the hotel at 8:30, and it was only 15 minutes away.
"I'm getting ready, Mom!" Sonny called down to her mom drowsily. She dragged herself into the shower and sighed as the warm water woke her up fully. She quickly changed and did her hair, then bounded downstairs where her mother had prepared her favorite breakfast, banana pancakes.
"Aw, thanks Mom!" Sonny exclaimed happily, piling three pancakes onto her plate.
"Eat quickly, darling, you should leave in about 15 minutes," Connie said, checking the clock. Sonny nodded and began quickly shoveling pancakes into her mouth. Connie chuckled. "When I said eat quickly, I didn't mean don't swallow." Sonny rolled her eyes and put her plate in the sink.
"Bye, Mom," Sonny hugged her mother goodbye at the doorstep.
"Bye, sweetheart," Connie hugged her back. "Have fun, okay. And be careful!"
"I will Mom." Sonny smiled before getting into her car. "Love you!"
"Love you too!" Connie called as Sonny drove away. About 15 minutes later, Sonny parked in the special employee parking and headed towards the main entrance, a huge Sonny smile on her face. Her eyes widened with awe as she took in the spectacular scene in front of her. The fountain in front of the hotel was gorgeous and huge, spraying water in hundreds of sparkling arches. Sonny walked into the lobby.
"Whoa," Sonny breathed, taking in the beauty. The lobby was huge, elegant yet modern, classy yet sophisticated. It was simply amazing. After gazing around for a few moments, Sonny walked up to the front desk, where a slim girl with straight blonde hair was standing.
"Hello, welcome to the Starlight Hotel, how may I help you?" the girl said perkily. Sonny smiled tentatively at her.
"Hi, my name is Sonny, I'm going to be an employee this summer..." Sonny replied, unsure. The girl's smile dropped as a scowl replaced it.
"Oh, well go that way," the girl said rudely, pointing to her left. "Next!" Sonny looked around, bewildered.
"Um, where do I...?" she began again, but was interrupted.
"Next!" the blonde girl scowled at her. Taken aback, Sonny was about to leave when an older girl with red hair appeared next to the blonde girl.
"Kris, you have got to be nicer!" the redheaded girl scolded the blonde one, before turning to Sonny. "Sorry about Kristina, she's just a little crabby. I'm Lillian, I'm the head teen employee."
"Oh, hi, I'm Sonny," Sonny smiled, thankful that there was someone nice to help her out.
"Hey, you're on So Random!, aren't you?" Lillian asked, and Sonny nodded. "Awesome! So, you can just come right over here, Mr. Brown will be here in a few minutes," Lillian led Sonny down the hall to a big open room where a bunch of other teens were waiting. Some were chatting with others, some were texting, and some were eating the little snacks that had been set up a corner.
"Here's your name tag," Lillian told Sonny, handing her a name tag which said 'Sonny Munroe, Daycare Employee'. "You can put your luggage over there," she said, pointing to a pile of luggage. "Now, I have to go before Kris blows up at any other new employees. Bye!" Sonny smiled weakly as Lillian ran back out into the main hall.
Sonny looked around the room at all the teens who were mingling happily. She was about to go put her suitcase with the others when she heard a voice behind her.
"Hey, I love your suitcase!" Sonny turned to see a short girl with shoulder-length light brown hair and soft, hazel eyes. She was wearing a purple t-shirt with a cute pattern on it and dark skinny jeans. She had really cute purse with her too.
"Oh, thank you," Sonny smiled at the girl. She held her hand out to the girl. "I'm Sonny Munroe,"
"May White," the girl said, shaking Sonny's hand. "Hey, I know you! You're Sonny Munroe from So Random!" Sonny nodded, and May squealed excitedly. "I love So Random!"
"Thanks," Sonny grinned at her. "I'm just here for a summer job."
"Oh, my mom works here, so I have to work here every summer," May replied, making a face, causing Sonny to laugh.
"You're mom is Christine White, isn't she?" Sonny asked, and May nodded. "Yeah, my mom is really good friends with her."
"Oh, you're Connie's daughter!" May exclaimed. "Well, it's great to meet you Sonny!" Sonny grinned at May again, happy that she had already made one friend.
"Can I have your attention up here please?" Sonny turned around to see a middle-aged man standing up on the stage in the center of the room. Lillian was standing next to him.
"That's Mr. Brown," May whispered to Sonny. "He's usually pretty nice, but don't get on his bad side." Sonny nodded.
"Welcome to another summer of fun at the Starlight Hotel!" Mr. Brown said jovially, and the teens mumbled in response. "I know you're all excited to be working here again, but let's go over some ground rules first."
Sonny listened as Mr. Brown explained his rules: The guests always come first, we had free reign of the hotel as long as we were responsible, no slacking off on the job, all those basic rules.
"Now, there are different stations around the room depending on your job," Mr. Brown said. "Please go to those stations so you can meet your co-workers."
"I'm working as a lifeguard," May told Sonny. "What about you?"
"I'm at the daycare center," Sonny said.
"Ooh, good luck with that," May said sympathetically. "It all depends whether the kids you get are nice or bratty. And who you're working with." Sonny thanked May and walked over to the sign that said "Daycare Center: 2 employees"
Two employees? That meant there had to be one more person working with her. Sonny hoped he or she was nice. Like May said, it depended on who she was working with. Sonny glanced around the room, looking for who could be her co-worker.
"Sonny?" she heard a familiar voice say. Sonny whirled around and her mouth dropped open. Her eyes widened as she saw who was standing in front of her, but what made her jaw drop was the name tag this person was wearing.
Chad Dylan Cooper: Daycare employee
Ooh, suspense!! Why is Chad working at a hotel? Will Sonny be able to survive her summer with Chad?
Review please! The faster you review, the faster I'll update! =D