Hello everyone! Here is the next chapter of It's Always Sonny! This is a very special chapter, as it has the beginning of Chad's transformation from a Goldfarb to a Cooper. And, as a special Thanksgiving treat, I have included two letters from Chad to Sonny.
Just for clarification, Chad does not have Sonny's address, so she hasn't read any of the letters that he has written. He just writes them out and saves them.
Alright, as always, I do not own Sonny with a Chance.
Enjoy :D
Dear Sonny,
My parents are getting a divorce. Dad flew in from Illinois on Monday and they told me yesterday. I don't really know what to say. I guess I've kinda been expecting it for awhile. Dad never moved here from Illinois. Mom always said that he couldn't get a job, but he never visited either. I don't know what to do now. Before it was just Mom and me but now it seems real. Like Dad is never coming back. He said that I could go see him at Christmas but I don't want to. He doesn't love Mom anymore. That's what he told me. But he still loves me. Mom is great. I don't know how he couldn't love her. So I'm going to stay with Mom. I'm really angry at my dad. I think that I always was but now that he is really leaving us I know that I am. I hope that things are good for you in Kansas. Sorry that I haven't been on tv. No one will hire me. Mom's been working a lot because she has to pay the bills alone now.
Love, Chad
Eleven-year-old Chad read over the letter again. A few hot tears dropped from his chin onto the page. He angrily wiped them off of his cheeks and crumpled the paper in his hands.
"He's not worth crying over!" No one was around, but he felt better just yelling to the empty room. He glanced down at the crumpled paper in his hand and carefully smoothed it out on the desk. The folder where he kept the letters to Sonny was getting full, but he managed to cram the latest edition into the front of the pocket.
It had become a habit to write her a letter every time something bad or important happened in his life. Somehow, it made him feel as if he had someone else to deal with the problems with him. He had written her when his grandma had died and when he didn't get a role in a movie. And now, he was writing about his parents' divorce.
Chad glanced up at the drawing that Sonny had sent him. He had tacked it onto his bulletin board over the desk in his room. "I wonder if she'll ever get to read them or if I will ever get to meet Sonny," he wondered aloud. Chad often imagined meeting Sonny and telling her all about how she had written him his first fan letter and how he had written her letters as well.
His daydreaming was cut short by a knock on his door. Wendy Goldfarb opened the door and peered into the room,
"Chad, Libby called today. She wants to talk to us this afternoon. I thought that we could go out to lunch and then head over to her office. What do you think?" Libby Brewster was the agent who kept an eye out for jobs for Chad. She wasn't his official agent because he wasn't famous enough for one. But, they paid her each month and she let him know about jobs on occasion. It was usually a good thing when Libby wanted to talk.
"Oh goody! Do you think that she has a job for me?" Chad was still furious with his dad, but he wanted to get a job and help his mom out.
"I'm not sure, sweetie, but I'm sure she has something important to tell us." Chad wrinkled his nose at her,
"Mom! I'm eleven years old! You can't call me sweetie anymore. What will my fans say?" Wendy couldn't resist reaching out and ruffling her son's hair.
"They will think that you have a very sweet mother, I'm sure." He glared at her and reached up to fix his blonde hair.
"Mom, how am I ever going to get more fans with 'a sweet mother?' That isn't what people are looking for anymore. I'm eleven. I'm practically a man!"
"Alright, sweetie, I'll try to be a meaner mom." Chad sighed in frustration,
"That isn't what I meant!"
"I know, Chad. I'm sorry." Chad walked over to him mom and threw his arms around her. He was getting taller, and Wendy could rest her chin on the top of his head.
"It's ok, Mom. I don't mind you being nice. It's just that..." He paused, as if afraid to say what was on his mind, "I don't really have a dad anymore, and I don't want anyone to think I'm a sissy. I've got an image to keep up."
"Oh, Chad. I'm so sorry. About everything. I love you so much, and I hate to see you hurting. I'll try to treat you more like a young man after this." Wendy wrapped her arms around her son and tried not to cry. He was growing up so fast.
"I love you too, Mom. And I really don't mind you being nice when we're alone." He gave her one more squeeze, then backed away. "Well, I'm going to go change. You know how Libby is about how I look. She always wants me to look nice."
"Of course, dear. I'll just go freshen up a bit and meet you in the living room in fifteen minutes."
An hour and a half later, Wendy and Chad were sitting in Libby Brewster's office. She had decorated in tropical colors. When Chad was younger, he had loved to stare at the huge aquarium of tropical fish she had along one wall. Now, he sat fidgeting in the sand-colored chair. Libby always kept her office sparkling clean, and she expected anyone who walked through her door to be just as clean as her office. Mom thought Libby was a pain sometimes, but she did her job well. All of her full-time clients had well-paying jobs.
Chad just hoped that one day, he would be on of her clients with a well-paying job. He wanted to be able to support his mom. His eyes wandered around the room while he thought about buying his mom a house and having girls ask for his autograph. Maybe he would even be able to get Sonny to come and meet him. Libby interrupted his thoughts,
"I'm sure that you are wondering why I called you in today." Libby was a tall, blonde woman with painted red lips and a forced smile. Chad didn't like her very much, but he wanted her to like him so that she would help him get a job. She stared at the Goldfarbs, waiting for them to answer her. Wendy gave her a forced smile,
"Yes, I must say I was quite surprised to get a call from you. Have you found a job for Chad yet?" Libby sighed,
"No, I haven't. And this is hard to say, but I'm not sure that you want me to represent you anymore. It's not me. It's Chad. I think he peaked with The Goody Gang."
"He's eleven. And everyone loved him on The Goody Gang. How in the world can you say that he peaked?" Wendy was angry. She had moved across the country for her son to pursue an acting career and now, she was being confronted with the statement that he was done in the acting business. She glared across the desk at Libby.
"Look, Mrs. Goldfarb, Chad isn't cute anymore. He's not a little kid." Libby Brewster glanced sympathetically towards Chad and sighed, "The only way that I can see him doing well is if he got a complete makeover. A new name, a new style, a new everything. You'd have to transform him into a young man. He needs to be someone that the girls can swoon over."
"I can do that!" Chad wasn't about to lose a job or any of his fans. He had a mom to take care of. Libby gave him one of her forced smiles,
"Chad, this isn't going to be an easy thing. For starters, you need to ditch the name Goldfarb. It's not a showbiz name. You need something more sophisticated." Chad answered immediately,
"Cooper."
"Excuse me?" Two sets of eyes turned to look at him.
"I can use the name Cooper. Chad Dylan Cooper. CDC. I like that name." Libby's smile wasn't quite as forced as it had been,
"Wow, Chad. That name actually sounds good. Maybe this transformation won't be as difficult as I thought that it might be." She picked up a folder from her desk and handed it towards the Goldfarbs, "This is a list of everything that you need to do in order to help Chad transform from a child star into a young adult star. I believe in this method, but it is not always easy." Libby rose slowly from her chair. Wendy and Chad followed suit.
"Thank you, Libby. We will do everything that we can to make this transition. I really appreciate you helping my boy." Libby shook both Wendy and Chad's hands.
"I'll call in a week and see how things are going. Best of luck to you."
Chad sat at his desk later that evening and stared at the empty piece of paper in front of him. He was excited to write to her again, but he wanted to make sure that he said the right thing.
Dear Sonny,
I hope that you don't mind marrying a Cooper some day. I know you said you wanted to name a boy that, but now all your boys will be Coopers. Libby (she's my agent) said that Goldfarb isn't a good Hollywood name, so I have to change it. I decided to go by the last name Cooper now. I got the idea out of your letter. The very first one you wrote me. Maybe, after I get famous again you can write to me and I can write back. I am not so angry now as I was this morning. It helps knowing that I can help Mom out now. She's really nice to me even if Dad did leave. I want her to change her name to Cooper to. Then we can be different from Dad. I hope that everything in your life is happy.
Love, Chad (Dylan Cooper)
And there you have it :)
I hope that you enjoyed this chapter! I certainly enjoyed writing it :)
Please, please review. It will make my day!
