Disclaimer: I own nothing, as ever.
A/N: I had to miss 'Poll'd Apart' because I seriously could not think of anything for it.
So this is going to be based upon the episode 'Fast Friends'
~ Chapter Nine ~
Chad grinned at his cast members and friends as he strolled into the studio, "Hey guys." He waved a little, nodding at all of them, grimacing a little when they stuffed some meatball sandwiches in their mouth, "Want one?"
"I would love to, but I can't." He tapped Skyler on the shoulder, winking at Portlyn a little before sitting down, "I have an interview – alone." He flashed his perfect teeth at them, sighing a little when he realized that he was a little more excited about his first ever interview, than everyone else was.
"With Tween Weekly." He added quickly, hoping that would make them a little interested, biting down a little on his lip when he realized that they had all probably been there before,
"So this is one of those follow the new kid around things?" Skyler rolled his eyes, sitting back a little before wiping sauce on the arm of the sofa,
"I guess.." Chad shrugged, not really understanding where the group was going with this as they all looked at him,
"Look Chad, watch what you say because there is no way you can afford to look bad on camera." Portlyn put her hand on his shoulder, frowning as she thought about him messing up his one big chance to show the real him.
"Just be careful Chad." Chastity added, shaking her head at everyone else as they heaved a deep sigh, although none of them would openly admit it, they all cared about each other – and that included Chad messing up his big chance.
- - - - - - - - - -
"So, who exactly is Chad Dylan Cooper? Is he really that bad boy you see displayed on your television screens every night? Or is he actually the good boy that everyone in Hollywood seems to think he is?" Chad smiled widely at the presenter, chuckling a little as he thought about MacKenzie – he could never be that way even if he tried, his mother would kill him before he got the chance.
Sonny looked on from the other side of the cafeteria, rolling her eyes before turning to Tawni and heaving a huge sigh, "There's that creep from Tween Weekly – you know, the one who did that story on me a few months ago that made me look like a complete bitch." She paused for a second to collect her thoughts, trying her best not to look over at the boy she had been trying her best to keep away from since her birthday party, "I mean, sure I may have shoved a dog once but that wasn't even my fault; I was wearing this amazing dress and this stupid dog came out of nowhere and started drooling on me, so I may have shoved it a little. And now, because of that one thing, I am America's most hated puppy shover." She looked back over at Chad, the way he was laughing with the presenter – she almost felt jealous.
"I have to figure out a way to make people think I am so much nicer than I am, but how?" She frowned a little, looking over and then back at Tawni, gasping a little as she thought about it, "This is going to be perfect." She muttered, pulling down on her skirt a little before walking over to Chad.
"I could never have asked to work with better people, it's so amazing just being in Hollywood at last. I know everyone seems to think that this place is going to change me, but I don't think it will – in fact, I think I have managed to change a few people, take Son-"
"Hey Chad," Sonny shook her head, moving over to him to grip the table as she spoke, smiling her best at him as he smiled back at her.
"I just thought you looked a little thirsty," She beamed at him, pretending not to notice the camera as she put the drink in front of him,
"Wow, that's nice of you." Chad frowned, shaking his head a little before taking a sip and then looking back at her, trying not to laugh when she finally turned towards the camera, already knowing that she was just pretending.
"Oh, I am so sorry – are you doing an interview?"
"What was your first clue Sonny?" Chad murmured, looking at the girl as she sat down next to him, ignoring the sparks he felt when her arm brushed up against his, the way her hair blew a little in the wind from the open window next to them.
"So let me get this right, the new good boy from Wisconsin, is friends with the Hollywood bad girl?"Santiago looked at the camera for a second, trying to get his head around this before turning back to the two teenagers as Sonny nodded,
"Chad's like my best friend." She said sweetly, looking at Chad for a moment before turning back to the camera, wishing she was hating every moment of this, but loving being next to the boy.
"Actually, we hate each other." Chad turned to face her, confused as she grinned widely at him, her hand on his as she tried to avoid all eye contact with him.
"Oh Chad," She playfully hit him on the shoulder, turning back to Santiago, "This is just some of the fun we have every single day since Chad has come here."
"Which is starting today I presume..."
"Isn't he just..." She struggled finding a word for a minute, thinking of so many that would give her feelings away, "Amazing, you see.. Chad is my favourite member of MacKenzie Falls."
"R-Really?" Chad turned to face her once more, completely confused now,
"Yes really," She shook her head, "You're so lucky to get this interview, Chad is going places, this is not going to be the last you hear of Chad Dylan Cooper." She snatched her hand away from Chad's when she finally realized what she had been doing, looking at her watch as a bead of sweat formed on her forehead,
"Oh got to go." She waved at them before getting up as fast as she possibly could,
"Let me guess... you have some dogs to shove?" Santiago winked at the camera, turning back to face Sonny when she turned around,
"Yes.. shoving them towards plates of food that I lovingly prepared for them and do you know why? I love dogs, all dogs, so many dogs..." She beamed at him, loving the way his face dropped from the smirk he seemed to permanently wear on his face.
"Wow, are you sure you're feeling okay today Sonny?" Chad laughed a little,
"Oh Chad, Chad.. it's not about me – it's about the dogs. It's just one of those many things I like to do which lets the world know that I – Sonny Munroe – care." She looked down at Chad for a second, their eyes meeting before a small blush crept up on her cheeks, pulling away from him quickly and then walking out.
"Well that's something I have never seen before." Chad muttered, turning back to face the camera and laugh nervously, running his fingers through his hair,
"And you will probably never see it again." Santiago shook his head, standing up to walk next to Sonny and smile at the camera,
"Oh I don't know about that, when Sonny wants to she can be a really nice person... when she wants to be."
"Well this is interesting," Santiago shook his head, putting his hand on Chad's shoulder, "The good boy takes the bait from Hollywood's very own puppy shover, what will the world come to next?"
- - - - - - – - - -
Chad looked around his dressing room, sitting down as Santiago did the same, not really feeling the same about the whole thing since the Sonny incident.
"Can you believe this whole thing Chad? Just a few months ago you were a nobody in Wisconsin." Chad nodded, laughing a little before looking around once more,
"It doesn't seem like that long ago that I had my audition, and I couldn't believe that I got it – out of all the people that auditioned, even big names like Sterling Knight, Zac Efron – they picked me! It still seems like a dream sometimes."
"Hey, guess who?" Sonny looked down at the puppy in her arms, having changed out of her designer clothes just in case it decided to drool on her, smiling at Chad as she walked in.
"What are you doing here?" Chad rolled his eyes, getting up off the seat and walking over to her, taking a moment to realize what she had in her arms.
"I just thought I would drop by." She shrugged, looking at him and then down at the dog,
Chad stared for a second, grinning when he noticed the dog in her arms – he had always had a soft spot for dogs, "Okay – and who's this?"
"Cupcake, one of the many hungry dogs I feed and help, oh look the cameras are here I have done it again, sorry Chad." She waved at the camera man and Santiago, scratching the dogs head a little before quickly passing him to Chad when he asked, "Can I hold him?"
"Of course you can." She placed him carefully in his arms, knowing that dropping the dog would only make her Hollywood's puppy dropper instead,
"I have to admit Sonny, I love the new you." Chad winked at her a little, glad for the small confidence boost after seeing her blush earlier that day, his smile growing even bigger by the second as she started to blush again.
"It's not new Chad, everyone just thinks they know me but nobody really does – not the real me anyway." Sonny took a step back a little, realizing that what she was saying was right, but she could never admit it – not even to Chad, it would never be the same again.
Santiago frowned when the camera started to beep, shaking his head and leading the camera guy out quickly before he could miss anything, "Guys there is a problem with the camera, we will be right back."
Sonny gulped a little, grabbing the puppy out of his arms before stepping back again, not willing to let him get to her as she tried to get out of there quickly, "Well I got to go."
"Wait, why? You just got here?" Chad sighed, running his fingers through his hair once more as he looked her up and down, not noticing the fear in her eyes as she shook her head,
"Yeah well now I have to go, so bye!" He grabbed her arm before she could leave, not being able to wipe the hurt off his face as she turned to face him,
"Are you leaving 'cause the camera broke?" He said it slowly, trying to comprehend the words himself,
Sonny shrugged, laughing it off, "That's not the only reason."
"So, you have just been using me all day? Just to make yourself look so much better? I am so stupid!" He took a few steps back, dropping her arm as he turned around,
"No, you're not that stupid, I mean it didn't take you that long to figure that out." She moved over to him, playfully tapping his back and trying to laugh the whole thing off, hoping it wouldn't ruin whatever messed up friendship they had.
"You're unbelievable, and I'm not even surprised."
"Oh, and why's that?" She regretted asking it as soon as he answered, the words cutting through her like a knife as she stared into his eyes, knowing that he meant it as his blue eyes burned with anger – and not for the first time, Sonny hated herself.
"You're such a poser, you're the most shallow, self absorbed, conceited bitch that I have ever had the misfortune to meet. And you know what? This is my room, my interview and if you don't get out of here in the minute-"
"This is amazing." Santiago seemed to appear from nowhere, not catching the tear running down Sonny's face before she quickly wiped it away, trying to return to her normal self – all the things Chad had just called her as she turned around and tried to smile at the camera.
Chad gulped, "You filmed all of that?"
"Yes, yes we did," Santiago's eyes glittered with the storyline, he could almost see it right in front of him as he stared at the two teenagers.
"But I thought the camera broke." Chad offered weakly, his eyes on the camera as he bit down hard on his lower lip,
"This is a different camera." Santiago informed him, rolling his eyes at the boy before turning to Sonny,
She looked at Chad for a second, her shoulders tense as she tried her best to pretend like he hadn't just hurt her, "How much of that did you get?" She whispered,
"Just the part where Chad started bullying you."
She nodded, holding the dog close to her before walking out, crying out "It hurts so much, you're such a monster – I am so sorry that you had to see that Cupcake."
"But!" Chad shouted, sitting down and folding his arms as he glared at the wall in front of him when Santiago and the camera followed Sonny out of the room, "It was supposed to be my day." He whispered, looking around the room again as he sighed, closing his eyes, trying to think of a way out of the mess.
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
Chad sat down, his hands sweating a little as he looked around at his cast members, all waiting for Tween Weekly, gulping a little when it finally came on.
"So who is Chad Dylan Cooper – and is he as nice as everyone thinks he is?"
"You poser, you're the most shallow, conceited bitch that I have ever had the misfortune to meet-"
"An out of the control jerk, a broken girl and an innocent puppy caught in the middle. Where will this story lead?"Chad stood up, turning the television off, "An out of control jerk? I'm an out of control jerk? They didn't even show anything – how is this fair?"
"Wait, there is worse?" Skyler shook his head, standing up as he gasped dramatically,
"No, they only showed me kicking off at Sonny, they didn't even show why." Chad whined, sitting down and pouting a little before frowning, staring up at everyone else,
Portlyn smiled, trying to hold back laughter as she winked at everyone else, ready to wind him up, tapping his knee lightly as she sat next to him, "Well I for one am impressed, I had no idea you had so much rage within you."
"I don't have rage!" Chad shouted loudly, looking down at the floor as he glared at it,
"Whatever you say, just don't hurt us." Ferguson put his hands up, biting down on his lip to avoid laughing.
Portlyn sighed, patting his head a little and shaking her head, "I warned you to watch what you say or they could make you look bad."
"Whatever." Chad muttered, sighing a little before walking away from her.
Marta spoke up, walking over to join the group, "Look we just need some damage control, now that you're completely hated."
"Wow, you're loving this." Chad rolled his eyes at her, looking back down at the floor and keeping his eyes there.
Marta ignored him and then looked at Chastity, who carried on for her, "First you need to admit you have an anger problem,"
"But I don't.." Chad interrupted her, his voice high as he shook his head,
Portlyn sighed before adding in, "Okay, a denial problem as well then."
"I don't have either of those things – look, I will just go find Sonny and ask her to clear my name." He shook his head, walking out of there quickly, sure that this would work.
- - – - - - - - -
Sonny flopped down dramatically on the seat next to Tawni, "I am not going to lie to you Tawni, it really hurt when Chad did that, but what made it hurt so much more was that he did it in front of my puppy!" She bit down on her lip, looking down at her food as she tried to keep up the act of caring – but making it so everyone knew that she didn't really care.
It had hurt her what Chad said – but not because of what he said, but because everything he had said to her was true. And that hurt more than anything else, and the fact that it was coming from him.
Chad whispered to Portlyn as he pointed her out, walking into the cafeteria, "There she is." He sighed, walking over to her, all signs of the plan working slowly going away as he got closer.
Sonny smiled a little, putting her hand on Tawni's shoulder, "Don't leave me, I may need a witness."
"I won't yell or lose my temper." Her heart skipped a beat when he nervously ran his fingers through his hair, sighing a little before looking down at the floor,
"Fine, fine." She waved Tawni off, looking down at the table when Chad sat down next to her, already knowing what he was going to ask – and already knowing that as much as she wanted to, she couldn't.
"I need you to clear my name, please." Chad whispered, putting his head on his hand as he looked at her, trying to appeal to her better nature as she shook her head. "Why do you even care?"
"I want people to know me for who I am." He explained, putting his hand on top of hers and sighing,
"And I want people to know me for who I'm not. Look, I like you Chad and I am so sorry that nobody else is going to know the real you." She really was sorry, she had never meant for him to look this bad, it wasn't supposed to work out this well for her.
"But it's all your fault." Chad whined, wincing a little at the sound of his own high pitched voice in that moment, and then shaking it off.
Sonny grinned, putting her hand on his shoulder, "Is it though? Is it really?"
"Yes, it is, really." He nodded quickly, his head bobbing up and down as he ran his fingers though his hair, annoyed at her once more.
Sonny sighed a little and then stood up, putting her hand on his shoulder before leaning down to talk into his ear, "Look, I got to go – I told Santiago I am going to be building dog houses in the morning."
"You build dog houses?" He tried his best to hide the shock in his voice as he spoke,
"No, but after years in Hollywood I know how to make myself look good in front of the camera." She rolled her eyes like it was obvious before walking away, the sound of her heels echoing through the cafeteria.
"What am I going to do?" He muttered to himself, watching her walk away as he thought to himself.
- - - - - - - - - - -
"So this is the park where I build dog houses every weekend for homeless, helpless dogs like Charlie here." Sonny grinned at the camera, patting the dog by her side on the head before gesturing towards the half built dog house behind her.
"That is so lovely, and so giving.." Santiago shook his head in surprise, a smile on his face, actually believing she had changed.
Chad beamed at her as he walked by with his own dog, smoothing him gently before looking at Sonny, trying not to laugh at her as she held the hammer in her hands and stared at him, "Oh hey Sonny, is this the house you have been building for homeless dogs? It's amazing."
"What are you doing here?" Sonny couldn't believe her eyes, taking a step towards him as he laughed, "Oh well, Spot and I stopped by to help you, it never hurts to be nice." Rolling her eyes when he put his thumbs up and then turned around, only to face the camera.
"Santiago, I didn't see you there – oh no, are you doing an interview – my bad." Chad waved at the man, and then at the camera, a large smile on his face before Sonny put her hand on his shoulder, her cool breath tickling his ear as she whispered, "I know what you're doing."
"Do you Sonny? Do you really?" He responded, turning around to face her before smiling once more, trying to act excited as he clapped his hands together and picked up his own hammer,
"Well let's start building."
Santiago stepped forward, staring at the camera before dramatically saying, "Can an out of control jerk be trusted with this hard task? Find out soon, this is Santiago with Tween Weekly."
- - - - - - - - - - - -
"I give up, this is ridiculous." Chad finally muttered, dropping the hammer to the floor before kicking it a little as Santiago and the cameraman walked off after saying something else about him that wasn't true.
"Look Chad, at least you tried – you tried to make me look bad and you couldn't. You're too nice, but I am just better at pretending to be nice." Sonny beamed at him, expecting that to make him feel better, shrugging when she realized it didn't.
"You know what Sonny? You're right - I thought I could do the same to you, but I can't play the game as well as you. I have to give you props." Chad slyly smiled at the girl, taking one step back and shaking his head in fake approval,
"Props accepted, the way I totally stole your press to make me look better – it was amazing. I am awesome." He rolled his eyes, resisting the urge to tell her that she was indeed amazing, regretting putting the camera in his hat for a second.
"Well you do do some of your best work on camera," He finally said, smirking at the look on her face,
"What?" She shook her head in confusion, trying to work it out, gasping a little when Chad took off his hat and pulled a small camera out, "You're on camera!"
"You didn't!"
"But I did... "He winked at her a little before turning the camera towards himself, "Bad boy revealed to be good, heart broken girl revealed to be bad girl." He didn't want to use the word bitch on her again, because he knew that deep down there was the real Sonny that he had seen about three times, he could only hope that there would be so many times he could see that side.
Sonny nodded in approval, moving towards him as she laughed, "Well played Cooper, we need to hang out sometime."
"Sonny, the camera is off, there is no need to pretend anymore." He frowned at her, smiling at the small blush on her cheeks when he brushed some hair out of her face – he loved the effect he had on her.
"I know." She nodded, winking before walking away, taking a deep breath to calm down her beating heart as she tried her best not to turn around to face the cause, laughing a little as she put her hand on her chest and bit down on her lip.
She just had to fall for Chad Dylan Cooper – didn't she?