Sonny With a Chance

After You, M'Lady

Chapter 2

Author's Note: A big thank you to all of my reviewers for Chapter 1! I was blown away by how quickly everyone responded with their comments. You guys are the best.


After You, M'Lady – Chapter 2

"ZORA!"

The furious scream reverberated down the studio hall from two outraged voices. From the ceiling above, the audible thumps of the culprit could be heard echoing through the vents as she made her escape from the crime scene. Once again, Zora Lancaster, mastermind-prankster, had outdone herself by making her victims – Sonny and Chad – miserable.

They'd found out her plan quite by accident, due to a certain blundering pair of friends – Nico and Grady. Whilst searching the prop house for a secret door, they'd come across a small niche where their youngest castmate had stashed blackmailing material that was just a day away from being sent off to the eager Tween Weekly press.

One of the findings was a picture of Chad sucking his thumb in his sleep. The shot was directed from above the sleeping young man, so it was apparent that Zora had lucked out during one of her excursions through the studio vents near his dressing room. The other finding was a photo of Sonny with her arms thrown around the huge Tridark poster of Jackson Tyler, with her lips planted firmly overtop of his fanged smile.

In and of themselves, these two pieces of incrimination could be humiliating, to say the least. But Zora hadn't stopped there. What Nico and Grady found next had almost given them a heart attack until they wizened up: they'd discovered a picture of Chad and Sonny kissing. In the picture, his eyes were closed, and he was lying underneath of Sonny, whose mouth was covering his almost completely. The only problem was that the photo of their make-out scene was a complete set-up.

After examining the three separate pictures side-by-side for close to an hour, the light bulb finally went off for Nico and Grady, and they realized that all Zora had done was carefully photo-shop both teens' photos into one. As if that were not enough, attached to the photo was Tween Weekly's "Daily Sleaze" email address as well as a write-up captioning the picture: "Mackenzie Falls Gets Down and Dirty… With So Random!"

Like the good friends they were, Nico and Grady had gone immediately to tell Sonny.

Like the small-brained simpletons they were, Nico and Grady had also left the pictures behind in the prop house.

Sonny had screamed and dashed off towards the prop house with the two pals, dialing Chad's phone and breathlessly commanding him to meet her there as well. They'd all arrived just in time to see Zora rigging a thirty-gallon bucket of paint over the half-closed door before disappearing into the vents with a triumphant cackle. She had also laid a mat of bubble wrap across the entire prop house to further prevent them from entering.

Granted, she had given them a tiny bit of leeway to rescue the pictures. They were lying on a table in the middle of the room, silently daring the four onlookers to endure the gauntlet to retrieve them.

Nico and Grady had sympathetically patted Sonny on the shoulder, taunted Chad to go get the pictures, and then fled the scene, leaving the other two teens at the present moment.


"I can't believe she'd frame us like that!" Sonny yelled, turning suddenly towards her livid companion.

"I know! I mean, it was bad enough that she dragged both of us into this, but to drag Mackenzie Falls into it too?" Chad flared his nose in anger and clenched his lips firmly together, speaking through his teeth, "That's totally uncalled for!"

"Ugh, Chad – you're such an idiot – I meant framing us kissing, not framing our shows," she muttered disdainfully.

"Oh… yeah, well that too," he replied indifferently, as if that side of the issue had never crossed his mind. "But anyways, nobody would ever believe that I would kiss you!"

Sonny tried not to look offended. "Why, thanks. You know just the way to put my self-esteem first." She spat sarcastically.

"Speaking of putting you first…" Chad sneered, gesturing with an outstretched arm for her to cross the fated doorway first.

"After you, m'lady."

Sonny raised her eyebrows defiantly and mocked his stance. "No thank you," she faked politeness. "After you, my good man."

Chad rolled his eyes. "Look, Sonny – one of us has to go in there, and it's not going to be me."

"Well, I'm not going in either, so unless you want the world to see the great Chad Dylan Cooper kissing his number one rival…"

Sonny was interrupted. "Oh, for God's sake, Munroe – just suck it up and go through the stupid door!" he shouted, irritated that she wasn't taking orders from him.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but you know how this works – guys are supposed to be the chivalrous ones," she said firmly, crossing her arms and waiting for him to make the first move.

"Please," he waved her comment off. "That was back in the days of the Titanic. Nowadays, it's survival of the fittest. I'm obviously more important – and morefit, by the way – than you, so you'll have to take one for the team."

"Not happening," Sonny sang under her breath, until it was taken away by the fact that a seething Chad Dylan Cooper had moved to where he was inches away from her face.

"Listen here, Munroe – this is all your fault. If you hadn't been pathetically making out with a picture of a guy who's way out of your league, none of this would have happened!"

"Ooooh… it sounds like somebody's jealous that he's not getting any of my attention!" she confronted him bluntly.

"Look, if I wanted attention from you, all I'd have to do is—"

"Have a bucket of paint fall on your head!" Sonny squealed while pushing him through the door with all of her strength. She watched the movement trigger a reaction as the bucket of paint tilted in slow motion, but to her horror, she found both her wrists being jerked firmly over the threshold of the prop house door. Chad Dylan Cooper wasn't stupid enough to go down alone, so he had roughly pulled her into the war zone as well.


They both slipped on the bubble wrap, causing bone-chilling popping sounds to erupt as they fell towards the floor. Raising their heads for a brief second, they were soon forced to close their eyes as wave after wave of neon-pink paint sloshed over both screaming teens. After the torrent of color had subsided, they both opened their now-sticky eyelids slowly to survey the damage.

Coughing and spluttering, both Chad and Sonny sat up simultaneously. Sonny suddenly realized that she'd been clutching onto Chad, so she quickly let go of her vice-like grip on his tense arm. Gritting her teeth in frustration, she turned to face Chad with a frown. "This is absolutely disgust—" A bubbly laugh burst out as she noticed for the first time that his hair was now splattered with brilliant pink highlights.

"What?" he questioned irritably, glaring daggers at her. Her intuition warned her not to ostracize an already angry Chad Dylan Cooper.

Sobered by his mood, Sonny answered, "Um… oh, nothing. I just – I mean, I just… am so glad that we can rescue that dumb picture now!" She fibbed with a fake enthusiastic grin, climbing awkwardly to her feet in her now-soggy clothes.

She meandered her way forward to the table in the middle of the prop house and snatched up the photo, studying it closely for a few moments. I still can't believe that Zora was about to go through with this, she thought, frowning. Then a brilliant idea lit upon her. Why not use the photo for her advantage? Maybe just post a few copies around the Mackenzie Falls studio area to embarrass Chad, or…

"WHAT?" Chad shouted, scrambling up quickly.

"Um – I didn't say that aloud, did I?" she laughed nervously, backing away. His steely glare gave her the unfortunate answer.

"Sonny Munroe," Chad said warningly, "Hand over that picture now."

"Why should I?" she bluffed, trying to gain time while she inched towards the doorway.

In turn, he began slowly walking towards her, taking his cell phone out of his pocket. "If you don't, I'm gonna kiss you good and hard right now and send the real picture on to Tween Weekly. And the new caption will be: 'Sonny Munroe Simply Can't Keep Her Lips off of the Greatest Actor of His Generation.' " Chad waved his hand and stared off into the middle distance dramatically before snapping back to the present.

"You wouldn't," she breathed, her eyes widening in horror. The things people would say… no, the things her own mother would say if that was printed!

"Oh, but I would," he responded with a determined gleam in his eyes, stepping forward to tower over her.

"F-fine," Sonny stuttered under the pressure of the moment. "Take your stupid picture," she spat, handing it over to him.

Chad swiftly grabbed Sonny's outstretched wrist and slid the printout from between her fingers. Still holding onto her with one hand, he drew her towards him in a fluid motion. Sonny stiffened immediately, not accustomed to being inches away from the great Chad Dylan Cooper's chest.

"What's going on here, Chad?" she asked him suspiciously as he leaned down towards her. Gasping suddenly as a new realization hit her, Sonny shouted, "Are you trying to KISS m—" He placed a hand over her mouth to silence her momentarily.

"Do you seriously think that I would kiss you, Munroe?" he smirked, repeating the same line he'd used not fifteen minutes ago. "Of course not!" he bragged with a self-righteous look. "I just needed to do…." He took a deep breath and leaned forward. "…this."

And with that, Chad shook his paint-laden hair furiously like a wet dog, slinging it all over the squealing Sonny who was currently crushed against him in a tight embrace. Chad laughed as she tried to wriggle out of his grasp, her smooth skin now dotted all over with what looked like pink freckles. After a few more moments of rubbing his revenge in – literally, that is – he released her. Sonny stumbled away from him, her eyes blazing.

"Chad… Dylan… COOPER!" she seethed, wiping one of her eyes with an already paint-covered hand. "You are SOdead." Sonny spun on her heel, strutting angrily away from the prop house with her shoes squeaking noisily, much to the afore-mentioned heartthrob's amusement.

He sighed contentedly with a triumphant smirk on his face. Not only had he achieved the retaliation of a lifetime, but he'd gotten a hug from Sonny – provided that you overlook the fact that it was a stolen hug. Walking over to exit the prop house as well, he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror….

A few doors down the hall in her dressing room, Sonny Munroe was painstakingly washing the miniscule paint dots from off of her face and clothes. Suddenly, a particularly girlish and familiar scream penetrated Stage 3. She turned off the faucet to be able to analyze the source of the screaming but soon turned the water back on with a grin. Chad Dylan Cooper must have just caught a glimpse of the real damage that had been done to his hair.

Oh well… if anybody could make pink look good, he'd be the one, Sonny thought, smiling ruefully.


Author's Note:

This was pointless, I know. But my original idea just kept blossoming into a bunch of different twists, so que serra, serra.

What did you guys think? Did you like it? Please review and let me know.

Victoria L.