C H A P T E R F O U R
Suicide and Manhunt
Sonny woke, and she yawned, stretched and sat up. She found the surroundings around her strange and wondered briefly why she was not in her room, why her mom wasn't coming up to wake her up instead of being naturally awake. If she naturally woke, she might be late for breakfast and might miss the chance to read the Sunday comics from Dad's newspaper…
The events of the night passed flowed into her head and started to replay like a broken film strip. She looked back on the bed next to hers and saw it neatly made. Oh… I'm in Chad's home. She sighed and looked at the mirror he obviously had hanging on the wall. Sonny went up to it, seeing that her hair was a bit messed up and that she just looked too beddy.
"Whatever," She said and the door opened. Sonny jumped back from the mirror out of shock and sighed in relief. "Oh, hey, Chad. Don't scare me, ok?"
"What? Oh, no. I'm not Chad." The stranger looked out of the room both ways and issued Chad inside. "This is Chad. I'm Skylar, his brother, not his twin, and I brought you your breakfast. Pancakes. I made them."
"Hah, funny," Chad said in his sarcastic tone. "You can't make cereal to save your life." He looked at Sonny. "I made them." He snatched the plate from his brother's hands and gave them to Sonny. "And… it'd be fantastic if you didn't leave this room, like, ever."
"Hum?" Sonny asked after a bite. "These are great, by the way."
"'Course they are," Chad said. "But yeah. Stay here, don't go anywhere. Call me if you need to go to the bathroom, ok?"
"That's weird, though…" Sonny scrunched up her eyebrows. "What's this about, anyways?" Chad and Skylar looked at each other, their worried expressions mirroring one another's and when Chad spoke, it was in a very low whisper.
"Sneaking you in the house was the most risky thing I've ever done. Skylar's done it a gazillion times so I had to ask for help. Just please don't ask why, it just is, alright? God." Sonny blinked and set the pancakes down, now already more than halfway done and tears started silently streaming down her cheeks again. Chad hugged her and Skylar sighed, walking out of the room and shutting the door.
It took a while of comforting words from Chad (which he found very difficult to issue out through his mouth) and many gulps of tea that he had to run down the get for Sonny to stop crying, though her eyes were red and puffy, her cheeks flushed and shiny. They sat in the corner, him looking straight out at nothing in particular, and her looking at her empty tea cup and she said, "Where am I going to live?"
Chad's eyes widened at this question. Her mother and father were most likely driving to collect her to go to Wisconsin, he supposed, but without them, she couldn't go home, pay all those bills and such… it was simply impossible… and obviously he couldn't stay in his house… it would be unhealthy for him.
"I don't know," He whispered, his voice husky and full of an upset and honest emotion he couldn't really get.
"Can't believe what happened…"
"I know…"
"Maybe Tawni would let me stay for a bit…" Sonny said, wiping her eyes again and pulling her phone out, but then just stared at it. "Wow, I am really tired…" She shut her eyes and yawned.
"You can sleep again, I guess."
"Ok…"
"Call me when you wake up."
"I still don't get why—"
"OH WILL YOU JUST CALL?" Chad yelled and Sonny cringed at his voice. "I AM TRYING TO TAKE CARE OF YOU AND YOU'RE STILL ASKING WHY YOU HAVE TO CALL ME WHEN YOU WAKE UP! IT'S SO I KNOW WHEN YOU WAKE AND I CAN BE IN THE SAME ROOM AS YOU. MY MOM AND DAD CAN'T KNOW YOU'RE HERE, GOT IT?"
Sonny stared at him. "Or I can just go and live on the streets. Won't be a big deal. Last night you were kinda nice but, hey, Chad Dylan Cooper isn't nice. You didn't have to yell, ok? I'll go." She fought tears again and stood up. "I'll just go… to Tawni's even though I didn't tell her. I know where she lives, anyway. Bye." She headed for the door and Chad quickly ran to beat her.
"Will you wait?" He opened the door a crack and nodded. "Ok, just wait…" he heard footsteps running up the stairs and Skylar came. Chad whispered "She wants to go!" at him and he nodded. Chad looked at Sonny. "Tiptoe and be quiet. You Randoms are never quiet so if you actually are, I'll be insanely impressed." Sonny kicked him in the shins and Chad bent down, resisting the urge to yell out but he stood again, and walked forward quietly. He beckoned Sonny over, and she went as quiet as he did. Skylar slid down the railings of the stairs without a sound, as did Chad and Sonny stared.
"I'm not doing that." Sonny said.
Chad and Skylar stared up at her.
"Did you say something, Skylar?" A woman's voice echoed from the kitchen. Chad glared at Sonny and looked down at the kitchen.
"I said I'm not playing…" he looked around and saw the guitar hero game near the living room TV. "guitar hero right now."
"Are you still going through puberty?" she asked.
"Mom, I'm twenty. You're kidding, right?"
"Just, come down!" Chad whispered up at her.
"No!" She whispered back, but it was a loud whisper, and Chad threw his hands up in the air again.
"Chad's just being annoying mom…" Skylar walked forward into the kitchen. "Mmm… turkey? It's not Thanksgiving…"
Chad ran up the stairs as quickly as he could and took Sonny's hand. "Ok, when I step, you step at the exact same time as I do, so mom doesn't think there are two people coming down the stairs. Can you at least do that?"
"Yeah," Sonny said, and Chad lifted his foot up, and she did as well. Both feet stepped down at the same time. It took a bit to get down but it worked. "The floor…" They stepped together again and Chad motioned Sonny to the door quietly.
"I'm going out, mom. Portlyn and I are rehearsing for the next episode." Chad lied, and as he said this, the door kept opening, and Sonny ran out. "Bye, love you." He shut the door behind him and Chad sighed.
Sonny stopped once they reached the end of the block in a deathly silence. "Nice, Chad. How're you going to go back home?"
"Hah, oh, you thought you were going alone. No. Tawni's is close by, and I don't want you in danger…" His voice trailed off. "Yeah, that's it…"
They walked off again for two more streets and found Tawni's home, almost as big as Chad's with a nice pool. She was outside in it, tanning, and Sonny ran through the lawn to her backyard.
"Sonny?" Tawni asked, and took her sunglasses off. "Chad? What is this? Oh, eww! No, get out of my house, Chad!" Chad sneered at her and Sonny shook her head.
"Tawni, can I live here for a bit? Not him. He just rudely accompanied me."
"Oh, sure! I have a guest room and everything!" Tawni smiled, but it faded. "Why do you look sad?"
"Someone should read Tween Weekly…" Chad sang, turning around on his feet. Sonny looked at him, her face full of revulsion for him. He sighed and motioned Tawni over to him as he backed from Sonny. Sonny looked but didn't care. In fact, she didn't care for anything anymore. Her mom and dad were dead, she had no home and she was lucky for having a friend like Tawni.
I wonder if I drown myself here… would it be enough to kill me?
Sonny bit her lip and she looked at Chad and Tawni. Tawni looked really sad at every word coming from his mouth. Well, they'd be fine without her, right?
The brunette looked down at the pool and silently stepped in, careful to not make a sound, and went deep under water…
"and… yeah, I've never seen her so upset… eh… hah." Chad laughed but it was shaky and nervous. "Where'd Sonny go?" He looked around and Tawni did too. "SONNY!" Chad yelled.
"Look!" Tawni pointed at the water as two sandals floated up. "Those aren't mine!" Chad ran as fast as he could, and dived in, looking around for Sonny in the water. Wasn't it impossible to drown yourself? He shrugged the ugly thought out, and found her swimming around still until she covered her nose and her eyes looked panicky and bloodshot. It happened; Sonny had made the painful decision and breathed in once. Chad grabbed her as she did so and he brought her up, making sure her head was up the entire time.
"Tawni!" Cad yelled. "Grab a towel!" He yelled. Tawni fast-walked to her seat and crouched down on the first step of the shallow end and Chad took it after getting Sonny on one of the sun chairs. He covered her up with the towel and both of them looked at the unconscious Sonny.
"Please tell me you can do CPR because I can't." Tawni pleaded in a frantic tone.
Chad looked at her. "I was hoping you knew!"
"Oh!" Tawni looked around and screamed. "WELL DO SOMETHING!"
"I don't know what to do!" Chad yelled. He poked at Sonny's stomach. "Isn't it the same as choking?"
"You're an idiot!" She shook her head. "Zora… she'll know what to do!" She dialed quickly on her cell phone that was next to the sun chair and Zora answered.
"You have reached Zora; zombie and vampire slayer, lock and key master, and I come along with amazing ninja tricks. How may I help you, Tawni?"
"Sonny's unconscious. She went in the pool and well yeah…"
"Well, breathe into her mouth, I think. Then, there's the original 'Go to the doctor' thing… I'm hangin' with Nico and Grady. We'll go over there, ok?" Zora hung up and Tawni screamed again. Chad looked at her and stared.
"If you keep yelling that that, someone's guna think I did something bad to you." Chad muttered.
"SONNY'S MY BEST FRIEND! DO SOMETHING!" She had Chad by the collar of his shirt. "Or you're gunna pay."
Chad's eyes were wide with fright. "I did nothing!"
"Obviously you didn't help! WHICH IS WHY SHE TRIED TO KILL HERSELF!"
"I HELPED PLENTY!" He yelled, fuming with anger.
"OH PLEASE!" Tawni laughed. "YOU DIDN'T HELP SONNY! YOU COULD NEVER HELP SONNY! THE WAY YOU GUYS ARE? AND YOU HATE ME! SO OBVIOUSLY SHE'S IN A GREAT DEPRESSION, AND SHE DOESN'Y NEED ANY MORE CRAP FROM YOU!" Chad's face softened and he looked down at his shoes, then at Sonny.
"Tell me if she ends up living. And if she does, tell her I wanted to stay." He took off and rounded the corner, stopping there as he saw three people he knew very well; one was skipping, one was running, and one was just walking in the strange way he always did. Chad sighed and walked forward and Zora looked up at him.
"MOVE!" She yelled. "WE'RE ON A RESCUE MISSION!"
"Yeah, Chad Dylan Pooper." Chad's eyes narrowed at Grady.
"No, you know, I think you already said that one."
"Move it, will ya?" Nico said.
"I'm just taking a walk. I didn't start this convo. Sonny's dying and waitin' for you so… I'd hurry up if I were you." The three ran past him and Chad darted down the streets as fast as he could and ran to his backyard and sat down on the hammock, for the first time, he felt like crying.
"OK!" Zora said. "I have my bag right here." A small, red purse hung from her shoulder. "Don't worry, I don't need any plugs. It's battery operated." Zora pulled out what was used for Sonny's mom and dad just before they died, and she pulled out a stethoscope. She listened and sighed. "Good, she's alive… but it's very watery, if that makes any sense."
"Do you know how to work this thing?" Nico asked.
"SONNY! DON'T DIE!" Grady yelled. "OH NO! OH NO! OH NO!!!!"
"Get up, dude!" Nico yelled. He looked up at Tawni, who was pacing back and forth, biting her nails.
"Naw, this is my first time using… whatever these things are called. I know you have to click the button and say 'CLEAR!' but that's it… I guess. Who knows." Zora pressed the button and she rubbed the two together and yelled "CLEAR, BABY!" Sonny's chest rose up and she coughed a lot. Water spilled out of her mouth.
"Am I dead?" Sonny asked and she coughed again.
"No, you're safe. You're welcome, too." Zora smiled, and looked at Tawni. "You'll be getting a bill for my services." Tawni raised one blonde eyebrow at her. "Or not… I was kidding."
"I don't wanna call Chad…" Tawni muttered.
"Why would you?" Nico and Grady said at the same time.
"He told me to tell him if you ended up living… and… he said—"
"He said he hated your guts!" Zora said, jumping up and down.
"No, Zora," Tawni blinked. "He said he wanted to stay… I think I drove him off. I said really mean things to him."
Sonny looked at her. "Why did you do that?"
"Because I hate him. And he probably didn't help much."
"Help with what?" Zora, Nico and Grady stared at them both. Tawni sighed and closed her eyes. She wasn't going to go through it again. It was way too much for two days.
"Shh…" The phone was ringing…
"Yes?" Chad's voice said. It sounded dry and shaky.
"She's alive. Don't worry."
He hung up.
"THAT WAS RUDE!" She yelled and hung up too. "Hung up on me."
"I need a nap…" Sonny whispered.
Tawni nodded and hugged Sonny quickly before getting a pillow from one of the other chairs and putting it behind her head. She motioned the others inside the house and they sat in the living room. They looked at Tawni, waiting to hear what Sonny needed help with, but Tawni held out her index finger and ran outside quickly to get the mail, then ran inside again.
She sighed. It was on the cover of the magazine. She handed it to them and there was a deathly silence throughout the room.
Zora ripped the magazine from their hands and flipped through to the article, a picture of Sonny and Chad were there, and she was crying. The headline Not So Random Death was in huge, red letters. Zora read out loud the first paragraph:
"'A drunken driver ran through a red light and crashed into an SUV, killing the couple inside it; the mother and father of Sonny Munroe, and to make it worse, Sonny Munroe was in the car behind them with Chad Dylan Cooper, coming from what looked like a concert.' HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN? I'M GUNNA KILL THAT DRUNK DRIVER IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO!"
"What concert…?" Grady asked.
"No clue," Zora said. "I hate this. Poor Sonny… I feel bad."
"How…" Nico began.
"WE LEFT SONNY OUTSIDE!" Tawni yelled.
"Yes…" Nico said, making it sound like a question.
"NO! I MEAN… SHE COULD KILL HERSELF AGAIN!" The four ran outside and they ran to the backyard, and Tawni's fears rose even higher since Sonny wasn't in the chair. Nico jumped into thepool and came out quickly.
"She's not in there!" Tawni said when he came out.
"Then where?" Grady looked around and picked up a rock. "She's not under here."
"Oh, man! Of course she's not!" Nico sighed.
"Oh, great! She left her phone here!" Tawni said, picking it up. She took hers and called Chad again, but he didn't answer this time.
"I CALL GOING IN TO THE FOREST!" Zora yelled, running off into it. Nico and Grady followed, but Tawni looked down at herself and sighed. "Eww!" She sang, but ran in after them anyway.
