I got Demi Lovato's new CD! :'D It's absolutely amazing. Like, I seriously can't quit listening to it. I love all the songs, especially Unbroken, Fix A Heart, and In Real Life. But they're all really good. C:

Anyway, here's the next chapter! Enjoy!


"Guys, I swear, I'm perfectly fine!" I said for about the billionth time, shooting an exasperated look at each of my castmates.

I was curled up on the couch in the Prop House, with Tawni, Nico, Grady, and Zora surrounding me on all sides. For the last few minutes they'd been group rumbling about my health and if I felt dizzy or if I needed anything at all, completely ignoring my constant protests that there was nothing wrong with me.

It's like they thought because I'd fainted I was suddenly fragile and helpless or something. Psh. Well, I guess I couldn't blame them, in a way. When I'd woken up on the floor, I'd been pretty disoriented and had absolutely no idea where I was. Apparently I sort of had a mini-freakout and started to hyperventilate and babble crazy stuff no one could understand (that's what Tawni told me had happened, anyway). I'm guessing that's when everyone figured I needed some special attention. But other than the fact that my head hurt pretty badly, I felt fine. Externally, anyway.

Now while I was ok on the outside, I didn't feel so hot inside. I was still panicking about the whole death threat thing, especially since when Tawni and Marshall had finally managed to wake me up, the letter I'd received had somehow vanished from the spot where I'd dropped it. And the reporter and his cameraguy had also disappeared amidst all the chaos brought on by my little fainting spell.

Coincidence? Hmm...

Anyway, I was pretty positive of one thing: I was now going to stay as far away from fan mail as possible.

"Are you sure?" Grady piped up. "I can go make you a turkey."

"We can put on a puppet show!" Nico added helpfully.

"I can put an order for all your favorite cheeses!" Zora said, holding up her cell phone and looking uncharacteristically worried.

Before I could say anything, Tawni snapped, "Guys, give her some space. Do you want to make her pass out again?" Out of all my fellow castmates, Tawni was the one who was being the most understanding about my situation (shocking, I know), and the one who was sort of shielding me from the others. It was a pretty weird to have Tawni take on the role of concerned best friend/big sister figure, since she never acts that way. It was good to know she cared, of course, but at the time I was so stunned by what she'd said that for a second all I could do was gape at her.

Nico, Grady, and Zora immediately backed off, looking as surprised as I felt. "So no turkey?" Grady asked, looking dejected.

Tawni ignored him and turned to me, real concern in her gaze. "Are you sure you're ok?"

I nodded wordlessly.

Tawni studied me for a moment, then averted her attention to the compact mirror she was holding and stretched luxuriously. "Ugh, all this caring for other people is exhausting. Maybe that's why you really fainted, Sonny, because of that fat heart you've got," she said distractedly, flipping her hair over her shoulder and blowing a kiss at her reflection.

"Wait, why'd you faint in the first place?" Nico asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

"She got a death threat from Penelope," Tawni informed him before I could answer.

"Penelope?" Nico asked, his eyes widening. "But she's in prison."

Zora whacked Nico over the head. "Don't you watch the news, you doofus?"

"The news is for old people," Nico and Grady scoffed at the same time.

Zora rolled her eyes. "She broke out of jail."

Nico perked up. "Really? Think maybe she'd go out with me now?" This earned him two more whacks over the head, one from Zora and one from Tawni.

I couldn't help but smile at Nico, but I shook my head. "You probably shouldn't get your hopes up, Nico. She's supposed to be more insane now."

"Then maybe she'll be crazy enough to go on a date with me!" Nico exclaimed, beaming. I laughed. "You keep telling yourself that, Nico."

The fact that I was laughing again caused relieved looks to appear on my friends' faces. I hadn't even realized how worried my friends had been about me until then. Jeez, I was such a terrible person for fainting and making them fret needlessly over me. Guilt gnawed at my stomach, making the turmoil inside me feel even worse.

"I'm sorry," I said miserably.

They all stared at me like I was stupid. Maybe I was. "For what?" Tawni asked, delicately raising an eyebrow.

"For being so depressed all the time." I looked down at my hands, ashamed. "I bet it's awful to have to hang around me and deal with my moping. And I didn't mean to make you guys so worried, so I'm sorry about that, too. I swear, I'll try and - " I stopped when I realized they were all laughing at me. Yes, laughing. What the heck? I looked around indignantly. "What?"

"Why are you apologizing?" Tawni shook her head, an amused expression on her face. "You're such an idiot. If anyone deserves to be depressed, it's you. Especially since you're always way too happy." She made a face.

I frowned, confused, as she went on, "Besides, it's not your fault that your boyfriend cheated on you and Penelope still wants to kill you."

"I'd be frowny-faced all the time, too, if something like that happened to me," Grady added, smiling a goofy little smile. Nico and Zora nodded in agreement.

"The point is, we don't care," Tawni finished. "We're still here for you, and we always will be."

"Because we have a code!" Zora said seriously.

Some of the weight from my internal panic lessened, replaced by warmth and affection towards my friends. "Awww," I said, feeling a teeny bit choked up. Tawni suddenly looked horrified. "Oh, God, don't you dare start crying. If you cry I'm going to take back everything I just said."

A tiny giggle escaped from my mouth, and I shook my head and sniffled slightly before saying, "I love you guys." I opened my arms wide. "C'mere, I need to hug you."

"Whoo, group hug!" Grady explained. Tawni protested loudly about how she wasn't a hugger, but everyone ignored her, and pretty soon we were all squashed together in an enormous group hug. I beamed, feeling a lot better, and pulled away from them. Next to me, Tawni spat out some of her hair that had gotten stuck in her mouth. "No more group hugs, ok?"

I nodded and grinned at them all. "You know what? I think things might just be looking up. I mean, I'm feeling a ton better already."

Nico and Grady high-fived, while Zora made a derisive noise in the back of her throat. "Let's see Penelope try and blow you up with us watching over you."

I laughed again, though the mention of Penelope made the panic butterflies in my stomach start fluttering around anxiously. In an attempt to distract myself from the subject of the crazy girl, I turned to Tawni and asked, "Did the reporter from Tween Weekly get everything leave after I... you know?"

Tawni shrugged. "I guess. I was too busy slapping your face to try and wake you up to notice."

"Oh. Um. Ok, then."

I didn't have time to ponder over the whole slapping-my-face thing, because at that moment Marshall barged into the Prop House, looking even more harassed than usual. "Oh, good, Sonny, you're awake," he said distractedly. "Have you kids watched the Tween Weekly yet?"

We shook our heads. "Is anything wrong, Marshall?" I asked, tilting my head.

"Are they talking about me on TV?" Tawni chirped eagerly.

A pang of terror struck me. "Is there any more news about Penelope?" I questioned anxiously.

Marshall shook his head. "No, nothing like that. Look." He picked up a random remote off of the table and clicked a button. Somehow this caused a robotic arm on a nearby shelf to throw a large rubber ball at him, knocking Marshall down the ground.

I hopped up and bent down to help Marshall up. "Marshall, are you ok?"

"What was that?" Marshall spluttered, rubbing his forehead.

Zora grinned broadly. "Oh, that was mine. Sorry 'bout that, Marshall," she said, sounding more entertained than apologetic.

Marshall grumbled something under his breath, then picked up another remote control and pressed the 'on' button. The TV immediately switched on to Tween Weekly TV, where my least favorite reporter, Ryan Loughlin, was speaking in his usual snotty, I-know-something-you-don't-know voice. I frowned, sure that this wasn't going to be good.

"And now we return to the latest with Hollywood's nice girl, Sonny Munroe," Ryan was saying. "Just this morning, nice girl received a suspicious letter - "

Oh, no.

"-from an unnamed source, suspected to be former Mackenzie Falls star, Marta Balatico -"

Oh, no no no no.

A video appeared next to Ryan's head, showing a close-up of me opening the death threat letter. I watched, horrified, as the me on the TV paled, said something that could barely be heard, then suddenly dropped heavily onto the floor. On the video Tawni's voice gasped and yelled, "Oh my God, Sonny!"

I glanced at Tawni, only to find her looking back at me with her eyebrows raised. I quickly forced myself to return my attention to the television, even though that was the absolute last thing I wanted to do.

The video image of my passed out self had disappeared, and now Ryan was holding up a sheet of paper. The death threat. So my hunch had been right, the reporter had taken it. Figures. Ryan read the letter aloud and then made a joke about how I must've really ticked Marta off to receive a death threat, which was so not funny.

Then Ryan finally said, "Well, it seems like Sonny Munroe's Hollywood life isn't so sunny now." Then the Tween Weekly logo appeared, and it went to commercial.

...I honestly don't understand why he always has to make some kind of crack at my name. It's getting really old.

Marshall switched off the TV, then stood there wringing his hands. "This is not good."

Zora was glaring at the blank television screen. "Those knuckleheads! Why'd they take the letter? We could've handed it over to the police to check for fingerprints!"

"Like that would've made much difference, Z," Nico scoffed. "It's pretty obvious who it came from."

I finally regained my ability to speak. "Marshall, what's wrong? It's not really that big a deal." I mean, it actually was a big deal, for me. I'd been hoping to keep the whole fainting thing hushed up, not advertised all over the celebrity gossip channel. I really didn't want my fans seeing me like that. And then this new occurrence was probably going to earn me more late night visits from obnoxious reporters, another thing I didn't need.

But I had no clue why it was a bad thing for Marshall, of all people.

"Bad press. Lower ratings," Marshall muttered, nervously scratching his head. Then he faced me. "Look, kiddo, I know none of that was your fault, but this is a bit of a blow to the studio. We're going to have to do some major damage control, otherwise..." He trailed off and grimaced.

"Otherwise what?" I asked tentatively.

"No, don't worry about it," he said quickly, shaking his head. "I'm going to call the press and tell them you just passed out from exhaustion from... from..." He snapped his fingers.

"Partying," Tawni offered with a flip of her hair.

"Running from a crazed psychopath with glowing red eyes!" was Zora's eager offer.

Marshall frowned at Zora. "We'll go with Tawni's idea. All right, gotta call the press. No, wait, I should probably call my mother first..." With that parting note, he rushed out of the room.

I stared after him, not entirely sure how I was supposed to react to all this. "What happens if Marshall can't pass along a cover story?" I asked, turning to my friends, who just shrugged in response. I rested my chin in my hands as Grady and Nico abruptly changed the subject and wondered what Marshall had been going to say. Otherwise what?

At first I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. But then a deep male voice from the hallway said, "Hey, Sonny."

My friends quit talking about time machines and stiffened, staring at something over my shoulder. Or someone. To be honest with you, I thought it was Chad at first. I whirled around, all set to yell at him to go away, but the words died on my mouth.

Because it was Patrick. My cheating boyfriend.

Yay.

"Hi," I said weakly, taking in my boyfriend's appearance. He looked as cute as usual, with his wavy black hair and his bright hazel eyes, and that boyish smile that was what made me notice him in the first place. He was wearing a gray T-shirt (which totally reflected my mood) and old, tattered blue jeans. I couldn't help but think what a sharp contrast that was to the suits that my ex-boyfriend usually wore, but then I pushed the thought out of my mind. No need to think about Chad and get even more upset. The sight of Patrick was already making me feel slightly queasy.

Tawni, Nico, Grady, and Zora automatically stood up and formed a protective barrier in front of me, glaring at Patrick as though he were the one who'd sent me the death threat. Patrick took a step back, looking startled, and against my better judgement I felt sorry for him. "Guys, it's ok."

"You sure?" Nico asked, frowning at Patrick.

"I can destroy him right now, if you'd like," Zora said, looking extremely hopeful.

I shook my head. "Go. I can handle this on my own." I gave them each a reassuring smile. I hated lying to my friends, but I didn't want them there when I dealt with Patrick. If I even worked up the nerve to deal with him.

"Fine..." they each mumbled.

"And don't listen in," I added reprovingly.

Grady's face fell. "Darn it."

Tawni placed her hands on her hips and whisper yelled at me, "You better break up with him!"

"I will," I replied evenly. And I meant it, too. Sorta.

Tawni huffed, then whirled around and stalked out of the Prop House, glowering at Patrick as she left. The rest followed behind her, with Grady and Nico sticking out their tongues at Patrick and Zora waving her fist in the air threateningly.

And then they were gone, and it was just me and Patrick. Great.

"Your cast don't seem to like me too much," Patrick said, frowning.

I shook my head. "They're just worried about me." I had a sudden random urge to go hide underneath a table. But I needed to get this over with. Right now. A girl has to do what she has to do. So I took a deep breath, stood up, and looked Patrick in the eye. "I need to talk to you," I said seriously.

I was hoping my solemn, unfriendly tone would strike a nerve or something, or at least make him suspect that I knew his little secret. But my hopes were dashed when he just gave me a concerned look and said, "Yeah, I heard about what happened. Are you all right? Did someone really threaten you?"

He started to walk towards me, and I took an involuntary step back. That had to be the stupidest thing I could've ever done, because that caused me to fall backwards onto the sofa, and I knocked my head against the edge of the table. Ouch.

"Woah, Sonny, are you ok?" Patrick yelped, rushing over to help me up. I rubbed my head and winced. "Er, yeah, sure."

"So did someone really threaten you?" he asked again.

Ignoring his question, I closed my eyes and said, "Patrick, I really need to talk to you about something."

"Oh, ok." He sat down on the couch, pulling me beside him, and then put an arm around my shoulder. "What do you need to tell me?"

Well, for starters, I needed to tell him that I knew he was cheating on me with someone else, and that I knew he was messing with my feelings, and that I was breaking up with him whether he liked it or not. And then maybe I'd slap him.

That's what I intended to do and say, anyway. But when I started to speak, I made the mistake of looking directly at him, and suddenly I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I can't explain it. It wasn't because I had deep feelings for him or anything, not the way it had been with Chad, but... it was kind of like I just wanted to cling to one normal part of my life, at least for a little while. With the way things were going, I deserved that much, at least.

Of course, I knew I'd have to end it eventually. But I could always wait a bit, right?

Even though my gut told me I was a total idiot for not breaking up with him while I had the chance, the words tumbled out of my mouth anyway. "I just needed to tell you that... I think we should go to Aquaworld tomorrow." I mentally slapped myself. Dear God. Why did I say that?

"Tomorrow?" he repeated, something like uncertainty flashing in his eyes.

I nodded. "Yeah."

"Oh. Well, er, I've actually got plans tomorrow," he said hesitantly. I resisted the urge to narrow my eyes, because I had a pretty good feeling what his plans were. Gonna go make out with your other girlfriend some more, huh? But instead of saying that, I just smiled and nodded. "Oh, ok. That's fine. We can always go some other time."

He looked relieved. "Great. Anyway, I just dropped by to check and see how you were doing. You sure you're ok?"

I nodded again. "Yep. I'm just dandy."

He grinned and gave me a quick kiss, which just made me think about how Chad's kisses were a lot sweeter than this, and how when he kissed me I sort of got the shivers and right now I felt absolutely nothing. Then I mentally slapped myself for the second time. Sheesh, I was such a pathetic, sad excuse for a human being.

"I'll see you later then?" he said, winking at me. I smiled. "Sure."

And with that he was gone. I stared after him and wondered how such a nice guy could be such a big fat cheater.

Which made me think of Chad, for some reason. He was a big fat jerk, but I knew he would never dream of cheating on me.

...Life sucks.


Stupid cheater. :I

Mostly just a filler chapter, I didn't want anything too dramatic happening in this one. I felt like that might've been overdoing it. xD

I'm hoping to update My Secret Little Sunshine soon, so keep watch for it, anyone who reads it. c:

Well, hope you liked this! Thank you for reading, and please review and tell me what you think so far! :D

~Ginger