Chapter two. I do not own SWAC. Please read and review :)

The rest of the day was immediately taken over by the filming of So Random!'s latest skit. Soon enough it was six o'clock in the evening and time to leave.

"Tawni, can you help me out of this thing?" Sonny asked, referring to her ridiculously uncomfortable mermaid costume. the zipper kept catching on the nylon scales.

"Has someone been eating too many donuts for breakfast again?" Tawni asked with a smirk.

"Ha ha, very funny. It's this darn zipper, actually."

"You just keep thinking that," Tawni said airily before flouncing over to help.

Sonny rolled her eyes but didn't say anything. Getting out of that itchy costume was more important than a comeback at the moment.

An hour later, Sonny was standing outside the So Random! studio, dressed in regular clothes and waiting for her mom to pick her up. She'd been there for forty five minutes already and was starting to get a little worried. Connie Munroe was never late.

"Sonny with a frown on her face? Now that's an oxymoron."

Sonny sighed and turned to face Chad. "What's this, Chad? Fraternizing with the enemy in broad daylight, and in front of the So Random! studio no less? That's very brave of you."

"I'll take my chances." Chad smiled, and Sonny had to look away. Lately that smile had been giving her a strange fluttering feeling in her stomach, which was something she didn't entirely like considering who he was. "So what exactly are you doing standing out here anyway?"

"I'm waiting for my ride to get here. She's late."

"Well I could take you home, if you want," Chad offered.

Sonny looked at him in surprise. "Chad Dylan Cooper? Caring? I think you need to see a doctor and get this checked out, Chad."

"Hey, even Chad Dylan Cooper can be polite sometimes when he wants to be. But if you really want to stay here all night, that's fine with me." Chad began walking off in the opposite direction.

"Wait!"

That was exactly what he wanted to hear. He turned around, grinning, and said, "Yes?"

"I suppose you can take me home. Just this once though," Sonny told him. She figured she could send a text to her mom explaining the situation. Connie had failed to answer any of her calls after all.

"My car's this way," Chad said, placing a hand on Sonny's elbow and steering her towards the Mackenzie Falls parking lot. Even that slightest touch made him tingle, and he wished he could move his hand to her lower back, although that would be much too awkward at the moment. Maybe one day, when Sonny was on friendlier terms with him, but not yet.

They soon reached Chad's sparkling BMW convertible and got inside.

"Shouldn't you put the top up? You probably don't want people seeing us together," Sonny remarked as Chad turned the key in the ignition.

"Nah, it's too nice outside to have the roof up," Chad said. He didn't mind if people saw them and drew their own conclusions. Perhaps if they were seen as a couple, Sonny would consider them actually being one. Someday.

"Shocking, but okay." Sonny dug a pair of large sunglasses out of her purse and put them on.

"That's not the best disguise, you know."

"True, but it's the best I could do on such short notice."

Chad laughed and shifted the convertible into drive. In no time they were racing down the palm tree-lined California highway, following Sonny's directions to the apartment she shared with her mother. Once they reached the complex, Chad pulled around to the back and helped Sonny out of the car. For a couple seconds they stood there with their hands touching and their eyes locked, and something passed between them that made them both think, Maybe. But then Sonny stepped up onto the sidewalk, and the connection was broken.

"Well I guess I'll see you at the studio tomorrow, then," Sonny said awkwardly.

"Yeah, see you then," Chad replied, equally uncomfortable. For once in his life he couldn't think of anything witty to say. Being with Sonny dazed him a bit.

And then she was gone, the back door swinging shut behind her. Chad sighed, got back into his BMW, and drove off.

Connie Munroe never came home. Sonny waited for her at their apartment for hours, raiding the kitchen for leftover pizza in the meantime. When nine o' clock rolled around with still no sign of her, Sonny started getting panicky. She called and texted her mom's cell a million times with no reply and was about to take more drastic measures when the phone rang at nine twenty. Sonny breathed a sigh of relief and snatched it up. But it wasn't Connie on the other end.

It was the police station.

Now we're getting to the dramatic part. Fun. lol. Don't worry, I'll update soon.