Author's Note: So I wrote this for you're so katie's "Song Lyric Challenge". It took me a few days to figure out how I wanted to approach the song lyric I was given, but after watching "The Problem with Pauly" it hit me. This story contains small spoilers for that episode, but nothing huge. I thought I started writing Chad and Sonny little corny towards the middle (frankly, I'm not happy with the middle of this story), but I'll let you be the judge of that. They're a bit lovey-dovey, but I'm chalking that up to that I they've been dating a year in this story.
Anyway, I hope it's enjoyable. :D
Disclaimer: I do not own "Sonny with a Chance" or the song "Magnet to Misery" by Thee Armada.
P.S. I really need to review the stories I've been promising to review all summer. And I will or else let the beating with a fish commence.
"I wanna thank you for making me a magnet to misery."
"And if you believe, all your dreams can come true," the woman, outfitted in a whimsical fairy costume, on the screen declared as she twirled merrily about the stage, waving her wand at and around the props surrounding her.
A roar of cheers came from either side of the prancing woman as two small blond-haired children bounced joyfully around her. They followed the fairy imposter as she paraded between huge alphabet blocks, smiling, bright flowers, magical vines, teddy bears of enormous size, colorful and swirly lollipops, among other childish items arranged around the stage. The wonderland was also graced with the quiet humming of a mystical lullaby playing in the background.
The pixie-like woman stopped her dance after about thirty seconds and turned her attention back to the children following behind her. She gave them a warm and heartfelt smile before speaking to them in her high pitched squeak of a voice.
"Now, Woody and Talulah, you both have to work together and soon all your dreams will come true." She waved her magic wand over both of their heads and grinned kindly. "I bestow you both with the gift you both seek, but you must always remember that the real magic of the world comes from the heart." She gestured with her wand towards the children's hearts.
The kids began to giggle until they realized that their new fairy friend was gazing off into the distance. The boy and girl both looked to each other for the answer to the question they were both thinking, but neither had an answer.
"Oh, it's late," their magic friend said sadly. "I must be going. But, children, you must never forget –"
"You're watching this again!" Chad's voice interrupted the woman's on the screen, drowning her voice out with his own. "Really, Sonny, really?"
"But," Sonny began to defend herself, there was no way Chad was going to mock her for watching this show. "I've never seen this episode! Your mom only loaned me seasons one and two. This is the first episode of season three!"
Chad sighed and fell into a sitting position on the couch next to his girlfriend of one year. She cuddled closer to him, knowing she had won this argument and was going to be able continue watching The Goody Gang. He wrapped his arm around her and gazed towards the screen, watching a six-year-old version of himself run amuck.
He was first cast in The Goody Gang when he was just four-years-old and saw it through until its conclusion at the age of seven. Those were four years of his life he would always remember, though he would try to forget them. Those were the years he was vying for the attention of Miss. Tawni Hart. Whatever had possessed him back then to do everything in his power to make her his was beyond him.
If he had only known what was laying ahead for him, he would have never gone to such lengths for the self-centered starlet.
He pulled his girlfriend tighter to his chest, watching her intently as she rested her head upon his chest. Her eyes were focused on the screen, but his were focused on the top of his head. And though he could hear the faint noises of the children on the screen, the moment to him seemed silent and peaceful as he paid full attention to her.
"Did you know that this used to be filmed next door to Pauly and Pals?" Chad spoke up finally, breaking his imaginary silence. "I was such a big fan of Pauly, that one day I snuck out of my dressing room, hid from my mom when she came looking for me, and staked out Pauly's dressing room for nearly ten hours."
He started to laugh as he thought back on the situation years ago.
"My mom called the cops after two hours, thinking I'd been kidnapped or something. They put the studio under lockdown and searched the place like crazy." He smiled at the memory. "And there I was, sitting at Pauly's dressing room door with a bottle of apple juice and a bag of iced animal crackers. I always thought it was weird they didn't check there earlier, but it wasn't until later that I learned why they didn't.
"Apparently, Pauly wasn't filming for the next week, and that part of the studio was supposed to be locked for remodeling while everyone was off. I guess someone didn't get the memo…" He shrugged.
"So pretty much you waited for ten hours for no reason?" Sonny chuckled, envisioning a smaller version of Chad waiting impatiently at the door of his hero.
"The waiting wasn't the worst part," Chad started to blush as he thought back on the other half of the story. "I drank an entire bottle of apple juice before leaving my dressing room. And since I was young, excited and –uh - nervous I – umm – wet myself." He hid his face away from her.
"Awe," Sonny gave him a comforting embrace as she giggled at the Pauly incident he had just described. "Pauly made you so excited that you were willing to sit outside his door with wet pants just to meet him? Awe, that's adorable." She ruffled his hair with a smile.
"Adorable or not, you are sworn to secrecy, okay?" He held his hand out for her, gesturing with his head for her to shake it. "It would be bad enough if people knew I still love Pauly and even worse if they knew I wet myself over him."
"Oh, but you were a little kid. There's a difference."
Chad raised an eyebrow at her, giving her a looking that said, "Shake my hand and swear to never speak of this again".
Sonny sighed, "Fine. I'll shake on it." She took his hand and gave it a firm shake.
"Better?" She laughed.
"Much." He relaxed back into the couch, noticing that the show had ended and the credits were rolling. "So how many more episodes are planning on watching?"
A sheepish grin crept onto Sonny's face as an innocent twinkle flickered in her eyes. It was becoming increasingly obvious that Sonny wasn't intending on giving up on her Goody Gang marathon anytime soon.
"Uh…I was going to watch all of them…" She grinned wider, blushing in slight embarrassment. "I have to see if Woody finds the Lost Teddy of Atlantis!"
"Well then," Chad smirked as he put his arm around his lady. "We're going to be here awhile."
Sonny peeked up at his face to see the same innocence, which twinkled in her eyes, was sparkling in his one sparkly eye. He kissed her hair gently before turning his attention back to the children on the screen.
One week later, Sonny sat in her dressing room flipping through pages of sketches yet to be performed on stage. There wasn't much going on, and so, Sonny had spent much of her day searching for something to do. With her boyfriend out filming on location nearly two hours away, she was left with barely anything to do.
Sonny was so indulged in her script flipping that she hardly noticed Tawni walking through the doorway, applying another thick coat of Coco Moco Coco lipstick. It wasn't long before the blonde girl's attention fell upon the occupied brunette. She watched her for a moment before clearing her throat as loudly as she could muster.
"Sonny?" Tawni strolled over to her "best friend". "Sonny? Hello? Tawni Hart has just entered the room, why aren't you paying attention?"
Sonny continued to fiddle with the pages of the sketches, doing her best to drown out Tawni's voice as she read. Usually Tawni's irratrion would cause her to do something drastic to grasp Sonny's attention. Sonny was actually impressed that Tawni hadn't tried anything crazy yet.
Tawni, not liking the lack of attention, bent down to her friend's ear and screeched at the top of her lungs.
"SONNY!"
"Ah!" Sonny yelped as she jumped out of her chair and toppled to the ground causing an avalanche of sketches to fall upon her.
And there went the impressed feeling Sonny was having.
"Good, I have your attention. " Tawni backed away from her friend, giving her back her personal space. "Now, why don't you explain to me what this is a picture of?" Tawni held up the latest issue of Tween Weekly opened to a picture of Sonny and Chad cuddling together on Sonny's couch in her apartment.
Sonny's eyes widened at the picture. It looked as if someone had snuck up into the window in her apartment and snapped the shot. Chad wasn't going to be too thrilled when he saw the image of her and him watching The Goody Gang together, but that was going to have to be dealt with later. She needed to brush it off right now.
"Tawni, I thought we got over the 'I'm dating Chad Dylan Cooper' thing months ago. It shouldn't be that much of a surprise that we were out on a date." Sonny waved her hand as if the picture was nothing.
"Ugh, you know what I mean." Tawni waved the magazine in Sonny's face once more."As much as your love little romance with Chad makes me sick, I kind of find it – find it -" Tawni was speechless for a second as she tried to figure out how to explain how she felt.
"Tawni, are you jealous?" Sonny asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Never!" Tawni gasped, smacking Sonny with the magazine. "Tawni Hart isn't jealous of anyone; especially someone that is dating a drama nerd. No, I was just going to say that you two are kind of…cute. Sort of. In a weird, strange way…" Tawni began to make a face as she said the words. She wasn't too keen on admitting something such as that.
"Awe, Tawni." Sonny stood up to hug her. "Thank you. That's probably the nicest thing you've ever said to me." She bounced with glee as she wrapped her arms around Tawni.
Tawni stiffen immediately at the human contact.
"Get. Off. Now." Tawni said menacingly. "Or else next week Chad is going to be alone on that couch."
Sonny swiftly let go and took a fleeting step backward with her hands up in the air.
"Sorry, sorry."
"Now that we've gotten that out of the way, how about you spill the details on this picture?"
"Well, I guess it won't hurt…" Sonny took the magazine out of Tawni's hands to get a better look at the picture. "Chad was hanging out at my apartment with me after work last week. He started telling me a story about how he caused a huge incident back when he was on The Goody Gang because he staked out Pauly's door."
"Hey, I remember that!" Tawni chimed in cheerfully before suddenly becoming bitter. "No one was paying attention to me all day. All I heard wherever I went was, "Chad, Chad, Chad.". It was awful. I have a quota of attention I need every day, and I was seriously in an attention danger zone that day."
"If it's any consolation, Chad thought that day was awful too." Sonny smiled with a shrug. "Apparently, he was so excited to meet Pauly that he wet himself." She chuckled to herself. "Actually, he's still in love with Pauly –"
Sonny's hand flew to her mouth while her eyes bulged from their sockets.
Chad was going to kill her.
Tawni smiled wickedly, laughing.
"He's still in love with that polar bear?" Tawni snorted a laugh. "Seriously? I can see you loving Pauly, but Chad. That's hilarious! He calls us lame and he's the one in love with a guy in a bear costume!"
"No, no, no!" Sonny quickly spat out her words. "I didn't say that. I said—uh—"
She lost her words as soon as she realized that she couldn't think of a disguise for her slip-up.
Tawni stopped laughing and turned to face her dressing room roommate. She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at the girl, daring her with her eyes to try and cover up what she had just said.
Sonny sighed, meeting Tawni's gaze. "Tawni, you have to promise to not tell anyone. I promised Chad I wouldn't tell anyone. So, please, for me?" Sonny folded her hands and prepared herself to beg for Tawni to keep her lips sealed.
Tawni thought about the proposal, pursing her lips as she thought.
"Pay up," Tawni held out her hand.
"What?" Sonny wrinkled her forehead in confusion.
"I'll make this simple for you." Tawni gestured toward her open palm. "Put some money some in my hand and suddenly, everything will be forgotten. It's as easy as that."
Sonny rolled her eyes. She reached in her pocket and pulled out a twenty and placed it in her hand. Tawni looked at the twenty, and wiggled her fingers, motioning for more. Twenty bucks wasn't going to make her forget something of this magnitude.
"Come on, Sonny," Tawni gestured with her free hand. "This isn't a twenty dollar secret."
Sonny reached into her pocket and pulled out another twenty. If this was the only way to keep Tawni from snitching then forty dollars was well worth it.
"Now that's more like it." Tawni folded the money up and placed it in her pocket. "What were we talking about?"
"I remember!"
A voice came from behind Sonny and Tawni, startling them both.
Ryan Loughlin appeared from behind the curtain in Tawni's closet, holding a video camera, and grinning like a hyena. He had heard everything as he hid out in the starlet's closet.
Sonny and Tawni both screamed at the same time.
"What are you doing in here!" Sonny yelled, grabbing onto Tawni.
"Ooo! There are reporters hiding out in my closet again!" Tawni bounced with joy. This was a scenario that she had been missing ever since Sonny had had a run of hate food, hate letters, and all around hate in general.
"I'm merely finding some dirt on Hollywood's hottest couple." Ryan held up the camera with the red record button shining in Sonny's eyes. "And apparently, I picked the right hiding spot. Chad Dylan Cooper loves Pauly and Pals. Now that's priceless."
Tawni held up her hand as a child wanting to answer a question would. "Actually, it's worth forty dollars."
"Well this forty dollar secret is about to become a million dollar secret when I sell it to ever tabloid in Los Angeles!" Ryan grinned from behind the camera. "Now smile ladies, this will be on the Tween Weekly blog by sundown."
Tawni gave her best smile as she waved and flirted with the camera. Sonny stood there with a blank expression on her face, unable to come up with anything to say. Tawni pushed Sonny out of the way of the camera and continued her flirting with the camera.
It was official.
By sundown, Sonny would be dead.
Sonny was curled up in a ball in her dressing room, waiting for her boyfriend to rush into the room enraged over his secret being leaked. She couldn't help feeling the guilt welling up inside her and flowing out. He wasn't going to be pleased with her little slip-up.
She heard the door creak, causing her entire body to cringe.
This was it.
"Sonny?" Chad's voice floated to her ears.
She bit her lip in anticipation for Chad's freak out. He was the kind of person that would not allow his treasured reputation to be tarnished, even if it was by his girlfriend. She could already feel his narrowing gaze on her; he was waiting for his time to pounce. She could just feel it.
"Hey, hey, hey," Chad said softly, kneeling down to her level. "What's the matter? Why are you crying? Are you okay?" He brushed his hand through her hair, trying his best to comfort her.
"You don't already know?" Sonny wiped her eyes. "I was sure you had already found out."
"What haven't I found out yet?" Chad put his arm around her.
She took a deep breath. Perhaps he hadn't heard yet. Ryan did say it would be up by sundown, and by her watch it wasn't going to be sundown for another hour or so. Maybe she had some time to come clean about her slip-up before Chad found out elsewhere.
"I told…" Sonny spoke quietly.
"You told what?" Chad was puzzled as he ran his fingers through his girlfriend's hair.
"I told Tawni your secret," Sonny stood up from the chair, brushing Chad off of her as she strolled to the opposite side of the room. "Well, it kind of spilled out and I didn't know that Ryan, for whatever reason, was hiding in the closet and he heard! And I knew you were going to be angry because I swore that I wouldn't tell anyone tha—"
Chad walked over to her and cut off her rant by placing his finger of her lips.
"You told." Chad let his arm fall to his side, staring at her.
"Yes," She nodded sadly. "And I'm terribly sorry, Chad. I really didn't mean it."
"I know," He sighed. "I just need time to think."
"I'm sorry." She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. They threatened to fall, but she held them back as best she could. It was slowly killing her that she hadn't just kept her mouth shut.
"I'll see you later, okay?" Chad walked past her towards the door, before turning back for one last glance before leaving the room. There wasn't much that could be said. Yes, he was a high maintenance guy, but she had promised.
Sonny listened to the door close as a single tear ran down her face.
Chad walked somberly down the hall, keeping his eyes focused on the floor and his hands pushed deep into his pockets. He wasn't really angry at Sonny, he could never be truly angry with her, but still the feeling of betrayal was consuming him.
He heard the distance sounds of laughter as he sauntered through the hallway. They were mocking him; mocking him because of her, but still he couldn't find the heart to hate her. She was just being Sonny. She hadn't intentionally brought his secret to surface. It was an accident. That was the message he read in her eyes.
Chad made his way outside to meet the taunting crowd.
"Hey, Chad Dylan Cooper, don't wet yourself, but it's Pauly!" A reporter shouted as Chad briskly strolled past him. The reporter laughed at the actor as he did.
"Hello, Chaddy, I'm Pauly the Polar Bear." Another reporter mocked in a voice likened to Pauly's. "Why don't we have some fun? We can play with my Pauly Pals!"
The crowd roared with laughter.
Chad kept his eyes on the ground, unable to meet their cruel gazes.
This was Sonny's fault, but he could never blame her. She didn't deserve to be blamed for his own childish behavior.
It amazed him that Sonny had a habit of making him miserable, but it was this misery that he couldn't live without. If anyone else had put him through all this pain and turmoil, he would have more than likely thrown a fit and fought back in revenge, but with her things were different. Their fights brought him joy in their own special way, a way he couldn't explain.
He missed her when she was gone.
He missed her now.
She was (and would always be) more important than a stupid secret.
Sonny didn't know how long she was sulking in her dressing room, but it was long enough that the janitors had already turned off the lights for the night. Normally she would have been long gone by now, but she couldn't move. She felt horrible over hurting Chad like that. She knew the littlest things made him very touchy, so why did she go and tell Tawni?
She sighed and hid her face in hands.
There was a sharp knock at the door. She jumped in surprise to see a dark shadow slip in through the door. A glint of light fell upon the shadow as they held the door open for a second allowing Sonny to see a flash of blond hair.
Chad.
"Sonny," His voice was unusually timid. "I'm sorry. I know you didn't mean to let my secret slip, and I just came to apologize."
"Apologize for what?" Sonny stood up from her chair and stroll over to her boyfriend. "I'm supposed to be apologizing to you. You did nothing wrong. I'm the one who let the secret slip and embarrassed you. I'm so sorry, Chad."
"No," Chad ran his finger across her cheek. "I'm apologizing for doing something much worse."
Sonny looked at him in the dim lighting, meeting his eyes with her own.
"I made you cry." Chad said gently. "I hurt you. That secret was stupid anyway; you have nothing to be sorry for."
"But—"
"But nothing." Chad cut her off. "I learned something today. You wanna hear what I learned?"
"Okay," Sonny nodded, a bit confused.
"I want to thank you for putting me through so much misery." He took her hand and held it close to his heart.
"For putting you through misery?" Sonny raised an eyebrow. "How does me making you miserable make you happy?"
"Because without all the grief you put me through, I don't think I'd ever realize how much I love you. How much I appreciate you. You're the first girl I've ever meet who's not wooed automatically by my charm, and I love that about you." He kissed the back of her hand. "I love everything about you."
"Awe, Chad." Sonny wrapped her arms around him. "That's the sweetest thing I've ever heard. I want to thank you for all the misery you put me through." She laughed, kissing him tenderly on the cheek.
He smiled in his charming way. "You are very welcome. So, are you up for anything tonight?" He lowered his hands to encircle her waist.
"Well," She kept her arms around his neck, leaning back into his arms. "I was planning on sulking all night, but since you seemed to have changed my mood, I don't think I have any plans anymore." She giggled.
"Then shall we?" He unwrapped his arms from around her waist to use to escort her. She unwrapped her arms from around him and linked her arm in his. They shared a quick smile before proceeding out of the room.
"You really don't care that they can see us?" Sonny laughed, gazing over the edge of the building to see Ryan and the other reporters standing in a herd looking up at the twosome. From behind her she could hear the episode of Pauly and Pals blasting from the speakers surrounding them, the picture of Pauly was being cast upon a white billboard for all in Los Angeles to hear and see.
"I'm never going to hear the end of this anyway, so I might as well make the best of it." Chad took a bottle of water he had brought up on the roof and poured it on the crotch of his pants.
He stood and yelled to the reporters. "Yes, I, Chad Dylan Cooper, have wet myself while watching Pauly and Pals, and I'm proud of it!"
The cameras of the reporters flashed like a wild fire, capturing Chad Dylan Cooper in a moment of utter embarrassment for sure.
"Well," he turned to his girlfriend. "There goes my dignity."
Sonny kissed him on the cheek before grabbing a bottle of water lying next to her and pouring it on her skirt. She rushed over to the side of the building and shouted to the crowd.
"I, Sonny Munroe, have also wet myself watching Pauly and Pals, and I'm proud of it!" She stuck her tongue out at the crowd, mocking them with all she had.
She felt Chad's presence next to her as he put his arm around her, smirking out at the crowd.
"I love you." He whispered, while he pulled her attention away from the reporters and to him. "You know this will be all over the cover tomorrow."
She smiled, kissing his lips softly.
"You know what they say," she brought her face up to his. "The more misery the better."
Author's Note: Was it alright? Considering I wrote half of this fic after a run and I was all sweaty, I'm pretty happy with it. Thank you for reading! :D