Rating: T (for language, violence, etc.)
Pairings: Channy, and some OC fluffiness.
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from Sonny with a Chance. I do own my OC's, Brandon, Sophia, Nicole, Shawn, and Steven.
I'm really sorry guys. I've been wanting to get this out for a while. But I have been extremely, extremely sick for the past few weeks. The times I did feel better, I still didn't have the motivation to work on this. But don't worry, I WILL FINISH THIS STORY. It's just a matter of how long it'll take me. I have a week left of school and then finals, so I'll finally be free from that. I, unfortunately, still have a really busy summer.
Chapter Nine
Tawni practically begged me to let her come to school with me. She wanted to confront Dylan about who she thought he was. After her theory had sunk in last night, I decided the whole thing was ridiculous. So I refused to let her come. She would just scare him off anyway.
But despite what I told myself, I couldn't stop staring at him during lunch. His facial features looked really similar to Chad Dylan Cooper's, but that was where the similarities ended. Not to mention that Dylan didn't seem like the snobby type. Chad Dylan Cooper was Hollywood's bad boy. The guy who thought he was God's gift to women. The guy who threw his ego around. Dylan was absolutely nothing like that. He caught me staring after a while and I quickly dropped my eyes back down to my plate.
And another thing, why would Chad Dylan Cooper be going to our high school? As a different person…
Back at home, Brandon was waiting for me and my sisters at the front door. "Hey girls." He said, and his expression immediately put me on edge. "What's wrong?" Sophia apparently thought the same thing. He didn't say anything for a while, but finally he sighed. "Mom's here."
"Why?" Nicole snapped, crossing her arms. My anger at the mention of our mother immediately dissipated. Out of all of us, Nicole was effected the most when she left. She was too young for her mother to abandon her.
"She…" Brandon shifted his weight. "She wants you three to…" I narrowed my eyes. "Come live with her." Out of all the things he could have said, this was not what I expected. "You have got to be kidding me." Sophia sneered. "How can she expect us to... just forget everything that happened?" Brandon shrugged. "She says she's better…and she wants to start over."
Sophia pushed past him. "Not gonna happen." I heard her going up the stairs and I glanced back at Nicole. She looked unsure of what to do, like she couldn't decide to be happy or angry. Her blue eyes burned into mine and I gave her a small smile. She looked so much like our mother with her strawberry blonde hair. The rest of us looked like our dad.
Brandon turned and went inside; I followed him with Nicole right behind me. "She's in the kitchen. I'm gonna go check on Sophia." Brandon said, already halfway up the stairs. I stayed where I was. Did I wanna talk to her? Not really. I didn't want to be in the same room as her, much less live with her. The fact that she thinks she can just come back into our lives without a second thought made me sick.
Nicole went in first after a long look at me. I didn't go after her. I followed Sophia's lead and went to my room. I wasn't ready to see her.
Somebody knocked on my door a few minutes later. "Sonny?" I recognized my mother's voice. I didn't answer. Hearing the doorknob jiggle, I was glad I locked the door. "Sonny, sweetie," Don't call me that. "If you're in there, please open the door." I spun around in my desk chair, careful not to hit the table with my legs. "Sonny?" She tried again. I heard another voice, but it was muffled. Maybe Brandon telling her to leave me alone. I wondered if they ever got Sophia out of her room.
When my door creaked open, I jumped. Brandon stood in the doorway, a toothpick in his hand. "You're serious?" I asked, narrowing my eyes. He waved the little piece of wood at me and stepped aside. My mom was there. "Get out." I said without looking at her. "I just want to-" She started. "I don't want to talk to you. Get out of our house."
Brandon spared me one last glance before he turned and left. Some brother you are. "Sonny, I just want to talk." I glared at her as she took a few steps toward me. "Too bad. I don't want to listen." She sat on my bed. I considered leaving the room.
"Look, I know you're angry with me. I can't blame you. But I want you to know that I got help. I'm better now. I have a job and a house and I want us to be a family again." I opened my mouth but she beat me to it. "I know I messed up. And I know I can never take it back, no matter how much I want to. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry sweetheart." I continued to glare at her.
"You think we can just forget what you did? Just go back to the way it was. Like it never happened." I shook my head. "You're out of your mind." Her blue eyes stared at me with sympathy. They reminded me too much of Nicole. "We're happy here." She shook her head.
"I don't know how Sophia and Brandon are paying the bills, and taking care of you. I'm so proud of them for that. But you're still only children. You shouldn't have to worry about any of that stuff. I want to give Brandon the chance to go to college. And Sophia shouldn't have to juggle school and work. It's so unfair."
I could've killed her. Right there. "It was you who put us in this situation!" I screamed. "It's all your fault! You abandoned us! I'm honestly surprised you haven't been put in jail for child neglect. And you think that we're going to come live with you!? Just so that you can leave again!" I moved toward her while I was talking, grabbing her arm and hauling her off my bed. "Get out of my room, stay away from me, and don't come back." The door slammed in her face.
I stood there glaring at it for a few minutes. My breathing went back to normal, but the burning in my throat stayed. It took me a while to notice the wetness on my cheeks. I rubbed them away roughly.
A shower might make me feel better, I thought after lying on my bed for a while. Right when I got up, Nicole opened the door. "Sonny." One look at her and I knew she was on mom's side. "I don't want to talk about it right now, Nicole." She sighed. "Look, I know you hate her. A part of me still does. But everything will be so much easier…" I waved her off. "I'm not talking about it right now." I shut the bathroom door behind me, but not all the way closed. I didn't want her to think I was angry at her, but I just couldn't deal with this right now.
Sophia was sitting on my bed when I got out. She gave me a fake smile. "Well, this was entertaining." I rolled my eyes and got a change of clothes. "Did she leave?" Sophia nodded. "She's not downstairs, so I guess so. Did you talk to her?" I struggled to pull my shirt over my head and glared at my sister when she laughed at me. "I didn't really have a choice. Brandon picked my lock." She snorted. "Jerk."
"Did you talk to her?" I asked my sister. "She talked to me through my door. I didn't say anything to her though." Sophia said, running a hand through her hair. "This is so stupid." I hummed in agreement. I had to agree that it would be easier living with her. Sophia wouldn't have to work, Brandon could go to college. I wouldn't have to feel guilty about not helping them.
But could I ever forgive my mom for abandoning me? Right now, I didn't think I could.
"So she wants you to come live with her?" Dylan clarified, leaning against my wall. I nodded. "She lives almost 2 hours away. So that means we'd have to change schools too." He shook his head. "Do you want to go with her?"
"No." I snapped, a little too quickly. "Alright, then don't go." I sighed and moved so my body was facing him. "It's not that easy. Nicole wants to go." He raised an eyebrow. "Why?" I shrugged. "I don't know. You would think she would be the most upset... but I guess she's still young enough to want her mom, no matter what she did."
"Well, if she wants to go, that's her choice I guess." This was so simple for him. But for me, I felt like I was being torn in two directions. "I don't want her to go with her." I said quietly. "I don't trust our mom to take care of her. She'll probably just end up leaving her again."
"She might not." Dylan said, sitting down beside me. "She hasn't given me a reason to believe otherwise." I told him, studying the pattern in my carpet. "Just do what you feel comfortable with."
"I don't feel comfortable with anything." I couldn't see his face, but I knew he was rolling his eyes. "Maybe you could talk to Nicole?" He suggested after a few minutes. "I've tried. She'll just try to get me to come with her."
"So, when is she leaving?" He asked and I shrugged. "She hasn't packed yet, so I don't know. I hope she doesn't." Even though I knew she wanted to. Sophia was no help. It was like she didn't care if Nicole went with mom or not. Brandon was on mom's side too. And so I felt like I was all alone in this.
"Sonny." Dylan's voice was strangely soft. "Don't worry about it too much. Everything will work out." I spared him a glance. "How do you know that?" He shook his head. "Sometimes you just have to believe it will." Something in his expression made me want to believe that. And so, for now, I did.
The twins were downstairs with Nicole. I stopped at the top of the stairs and Dylan ran into the back of me. "What are you doing?" He asked, humor evident in his voice. "Stalling." I sighed. "Come on." He took my hand and pulled me with him. I did my best to keep up.
"Hey, long time no see." Shawn beamed at me from the couch. Nicole glanced over and then quickly looked back at the TV. I hoped she knew I wasn't angry with her. I guess I did need to talk to her again. "I saw you this morning." I told him, sitting on the other couch next to Steven. "That's a long time."
I ignored how Shawn's arm was draped over the back of the couch behind my little sister. I knew he liked her, but with this whole mom thing, I didn't want anything else trying to take her away from me. Dylan sat on the arm of the couch. There was a basketball game on.
"Do you guys watch anything other than sports?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at the blonde twin beside me. "Not really." He answered, smirking at me. "TV nowadays sucks." Shawn added. I wondered if he had ever given Nicole those flowers, or if she knew how he felt. I shouldn't care this much, but it was bothering me.
"Where's Sophia?" Steven asked me quietly. "Work. She should be here in a few minutes actually." He nodded absently. Speaking of budding relationships...
It was obvious Steven liked my older sister, but Sophia was... well, she was Sophia. It was cute, but I felt sort of bad for him. He'd have a tough time getting her to return his affections.
Dylan nudged my leg with his. "What're you thinking so hard about?" I felt a small smile form on my face. "Stuff." He hummed, unconvinced.
I felt more than saw Steven jump when the front door opened. Sophia stepped through, a tired expression on her face. "I hate my boss." She huffed, starting up the stairs. Steven waited a few minutes before he followed her. I couldn't help but giggle after he left. Dylan took Steven's spot, raising an eyebrow at me. "What kind of stuff?"
Sophia's Point of View
I threw my purse on my bed and collapsed next to it. I hated my job, I hated my boss, I hated school. I hated the situation mom had put us in, which made me hate her too. All in all, I was just done with life right now.
I didn't realize I had almost fallen asleep when someone knocked on my door. I jerked awake and almost fell off the bed. "What?" I snapped, pushing myself upright. Nobody answered so I stalked over to the door.
Steven stood there, looking for all the world like he wanted to turn and run. I raised an eyebrow at him. "Need something?" He shrugged. "You wanna talk?" My eyes narrowed. "Do I wanna talk?" I repeated, backing into my room. "Sure." I sighed and almost laughed at his surprised expression.
"Easier than you thought?" I asked him. He shook his head and sat on my bed. Ignoring my question, he looked around the room. Steven and I had developed an uneasy friendship since he had helped my sister. Despite my constant want to be alone, I found myself enjoying his company.
"So what's bugging you?" He asked, confidence restored. "Besides the usual." I rolled my eyes. "Mom." He smirked at me. "Well, I guessed that part." I shook my head and leaned against my dresser. "What did she do to you guys anyway?"
I felt an urge to snap back some sarcastic answer, but then I reminded myself that he didn't know and it wasn't his fault. "She left us. After dad divorced her, she went crazy with drugs and alcohol, and then finally just left. And now she wants to come back like nothing ever happened."
Steven gave me a look of sympathy. "That's rough." Then he dropped his head down and stared at his hands. "Yeah." I laughed humorlessly. "Me and Sonny don't want her here. Brandon doesn't care, and Nicole wants to go with her." I ran a hand through my hair. "It's just one huge mess."
"Why does Nicole want to go?" He asked. "I don't know. I know she still feels betrayed, but she's only 14. She needs her mom." I glared at the part of the wall I was staring at. "I don't know. Everything was fine before she showed up."
"I'm not gonna act like I know what all this feels like." Steven said, suddenly standing in front of me. "But I'm here if you ever want to talk about anything." I swallowed the strange choked feeling in my throat. "Thank you Steven." I said, giving him a small smile.
Nicole's Point of View
I watched my sister as she talked to Dylan. This was probably the first time I'd seen her smile all week. Somehow I felt that was my fault.
Something nudged my side. "What's wrong?" Shawn whispered. I rapidly shook my head. "Nothing." He raised an eyebrow, and I tried to ignore him.
Sonny's so pretty, I thought absentmindedly. With her dark hair and dark eyes. Sometimes I felt excluded. I was the only one of us who looked like mom.
My sister and Dylan eventually went back upstairs. I found myself wanting to follow them. I wanted to talk to her and make sure she didn't hate me. Sonny had been my support system when mom left. She was such a good listener. I couldn't lose her just because mom was back.
"Nicole." I raised my eyebrows to show I had heard him. "Seriously, what's wrong?" Shawn was my friend, but he didn't know much about the situation we were currently in. "Just stressed." I said, not knowing if he would understand. "About?" He pushed.
We sat in silence for a minute. "I feel like..." I started, taking a breath. "I feel like I'm losing my siblings." Shawn was quiet, so I continued. "It's like they all hate me now since I want to go live with mom."
"They don't hate you Nicole." I shook my head. "Sonny's never pushed me away before." I started picking at my nails, wanting something to do. "She's probably just as confused as you are." Shawn said. "Have you tried talking to her?" I nodded. "She won't let me.
And Sophia, I've never been extremely close with her. Brandon's always gone." I sighed. "I just feel alone, I guess."
"Why do you want to go with your mom?" I shrugged. "I miss her, and we're barely getting by living on our own. For this to help anything, we all need to go. But they don't want to, and I don't want to leave them but..."
I dropped my head into my hands. "I just don't know what to do." I felt his arm drape around my shoulders. A strange warmth budded in my chest. "Well, no matter what you decide to do, they're not gonna hate you. You're their little sister. You always will be." I leaned into him, surprisingly myself.
"I hope so."
Let me know what you thought of this chapter in a review. Your guys' feedback really does encourage me to want to work on this.
