I'm ba-ack with another chapter!

I didn't much enjoy last chapter, and it didn't get too many reviews, but I wanted to get writing on this chapter, and I quite enjoyed it in the end, so... here it is! :D

Well, I go back to school tomorrow (I know... sad), so I may not be updating as frequently. Especially since I am starting my GCSEs, which may take a lot of work. Hopefully though, I'll still be able to talk to you guys and update, because you're all so awesome and I love talking to and writing for y'all! :D

Okay, I don't own SWAC, so let's get on with it! :D

Chapter 11 - Suspicions and Friendships

Sonny's POV

I'm stood, frozen at the door, for what feels like forever. Uh-oh. Chad sent me that fruit basket as a peace offering. And now, Chastity, my cast mate and Chad's enemy, has that peace offering in her hands. If she's found out about my 'friendship' with Chad… I'm doomed.

Chastity looks up at me and smiles a little. "Hey, Son!" She says, "Seems you've got a little secret admirer… I wonder who it is…"

My heart rate slows down and I inwardly sigh with relief as I realise she hasn't actually noticed the card with Chad's name on yet. Good, this means mine and Chad's friendship is still under wraps. Then I feel sick as I see Chastity begin to root through the basket.

Now, the girl in me that Chad has brought out wants to tell Chastity to not be so rude and stop rooting through my stuff. The bad girl in me is fuming though, and wants to pretty much beat her up. Unfortunately, the bad girl side of me is larger the nice girl.

"Gimme that, Chas!" I scream, running towards her and grabbing the basket, trying to snatch it off her. But Chastity is strong, for an average-looking girl, and she fights back.

"Why should I?" She asks.

"Coz it's mine!" I yell, "Give it!"

The two of us pull and pull until the force gets too much, and my grip slips. I tumble down off my feet and onto the couch behind me. The fruit tumbles out of the basket, along with the card, and Chastity reaches down for it. Crap.

I remember my past as a kid, in parks (yes, Sonny Munroe went to parks as a kid. I had a life before it was stolen away by my teen years), hoping it has helped prepare me for this moment. At this point, in an attempt to take back the card, I take a run-up, before diving into Chastity in a take-down style. She falls to the floor, groaning in pain, and I tumble to her side, with the note in my hands.

"What the heck, Sonny?" She yells, "What was that for?"

"This is mine." I say to her, shooting her a menacing glare that usually scares my cast-mates. Well, the male cast-mates. It just warns the female cast-mates and reminds them that I am the Alpha girl in this show, and can have them kicked out in a blink of an eye. "You don't touch it."

"Oh yeah," She gets up, smirking a little, and I suddenly feel kinda frightened. "Because your little friend Chad gave it to you. I saw his name is Chad, whoever he is."

I tense up a little. Crap, she knows it's Chad. Well, actually, she knows his name is Chad. Hopefully she hasn't guessed that it is specifically the Random Chad. My Chad, in other words.

"So, c'mon," Chastity coos, eager eyes nagging at me, "Who is he? Where'd you meet him? What does he mean by 'good friend'? He's your boyfriend really, right?"

I freaking wish. "No." I say, "He's just some fan I met in the cafeteria." That's not entirely a lie. Of what I know, Chad is a fan of me, and I met him in the cafeteria. So no morality problems there. Not that there would be any anyway – I'd be happy to lie to Chastity. Sure, she's done me no harm, but she can be annoying. You know, quirky-annoying. If she found out Chad and I were friends, she wouldn't be mad, like the rest of my cast, but I'd still never hear the end of it.

"Alright…" She says, studying me carefully in case I crack. "So why does it mention him being a 'Random'?"

Oh, crap. She read the Random bit.

"Chas, you don't understand…" I protest.

"Oh, I understand completely…" She says, smirking, "You and the newbie Random have been hanging out, haven't you? Haha, I knew you liked him – I just knew it!"

"Shut up, Chas!" I protest, "I don't like Chad, okay? In fact, I hate him! He's a stinking Random! Maybe you read it wrong."

Chastity shakes her head, clicking her tongue, "Nope. I'm sure I read it right. You two are good friends! I knew it! And I bet by 'good friends', it means something a little more…"

I growl. Now she's crossed the line. 'Good friends' doesn't mean more, but I wish it did. Of course, Chastity can't know that. She can't even know we're friends. so that's what tempts me to say this…

"Chastity, just shut up. You're wrong, okay? I don't, and will never, like that naïve newbie Random. Get that into your think head."

Chastity winces jokingly, looking me up and down. I glare at her, staring her down, and she puts her hands up in surrender.

"Okay, okay, calm down, Son!" She says, "I was just thinking…"

"Well don't think." I say, going back into bitchy diva mode, "It'll use up the little brain power you have."

"Ouch, Munroe." She says, heading for the door with a frown. It isn't real though – she looks like she could burst out laughing any minute now. She'll probably go out there and tell everyone now, that Sonny Munroe likes, and is friends with, a Random. This isn't gonna be pretty…

"Chas?" I say, just as she opens the door, and I try to look confident. But my words come out shy.

"Yeah?"

"Don't tell anyone about this, please?" I say with a shy smile, before adding with a smirk, "Or Melody Falls with have one less Chloe."

"You got it, Son." She says, smiling, before leaving the room, and I relax. Chastity, though a Falls girl and a very gossip-loving person, would never tell people something if I didn't want her to. Beside Chad, she's possibly my best friend. Plus, she's kind, she's sweet… she's not like the other ego-maniacs in this show. In fact, she's probably the one who would fit in the best with the Randoms – she doesn't make as many crude remarks about them… once she even organised a 'Peace Picnic' to bond the two shows together, just like Chad's bowling game, but it didn't work, as you can probably guess. (Yes, Chastity is the Sonny-like girl in this story, I suppose…)

I sigh, collapsing into my couch and plugging my earphones in for a few minutes, before my name is called for rehearsals.

Chastity's POV (This is a first! :D)

I head out of Sonny's dressing room and towards the So Random stage with a slight smile.

I knew it. Ever since Sonny's plan to bring Chad over to the Falls, I always knew she liked him, and that maybe he liked her. It was only a matter of time before they became friends, or, if my hunch is correct, more than friends.

So here's my plan. Go talk to Chad, see what I can learn from him about him and Sonny, and then try my best to get them to admit that they like each other, to each other.

This is gonna be awesome! (Another hint that Chastity's like Sonny – meddling. Or Chas-ing it up. Na… it's not the same. Uh… ignore me…)

I arrive at the So Random stage, trying to avoid attention. Luckily, none of the Randoms are in the hallways, which makes my passage to Chad's dressing room easy. I arrive at his room and knock gently, praying he is in there, and indeed, the only person in there. After a few seconds, he opens the door, looking a little troubled. Whatever's troubling him, it doesn't clear up when he notices me.

"Chastity?" He whisper-yells, and I nod.

"I need to talk to you about something…" I say, before hearing a noise. I look behind me to check that no-one's in the halls, before turning back to Chad and lowering my voice a little, "…alone."

He wrinkles his brow, confused, before letting me in anyway, and he closes the door behind me before sitting on a beige couch in the middle of the room, ushering me to sit with him.

"So wassup?" He asks after I've taken the seat, "But make it quick. I've already been yelled at by my cast once today for spending time with one of you Falls kids."

My ears perk up at this. Could he mean Sonny?

"Oh, really?" I ask, an innocent tone in my voice, and I add the innocent smile. What? Can't I do a little act outside work? I'm sure good enough for it I mean, sure, I'm not as bigheaded as my cast members, but when you're hanging around egos, you start to, uh, appreciate your own. Maybe a little too much, in some cases (cough, Sonny Munroe, cough).

"Really." Chad says with a confused glare, "And I'm not gonna tell you who, if that's what you wanted…"

"Oh, that's a shame…" I pout, tugging a little at his collar. Okay, so I don't mean to be seductive, but it is kinda convincing. He pushes me off, like you would with an annoying puppy, before looking away. I feel him tense up a little, and I feel a little bad for obviously making him upset about something.

After a brief pause, he speaks again. "Please… don't, Chastity." He stammers, "I, um, I like someone else. I mean, you're a nice girl… but I kinda have a crush on someone that I'm dealing with right now."

"Oh, right…" I say, trying to hide a smile. "Wanna tell me who? I could help."

"Ah, yeah." He says with a smirk, "Sunshine told me about your little meddling habits."

I gasp, offended. Sunshine told him about my meddling habits? Who is this Sunshine? What made her think I have meddling… wait…

"Sonshine?" I repeat, a little giggle peering out with my words. Chad suddenly gets very tense, and he begins to stutter.

"Uh… y-yeah…" He says, "It's our nickname for Sonny, in So Random. Um, just a joke, you know?"

"I get it." I lie. I mean, sure, I get the whole "Sonshine" thing, but something tells me it isn't a secret nickname for Sonny from the Randoms. More a secret nickname for Sonny from her… "good friend". At that moment, the intercom informs all Melody Falls staff to head to rehearsals, and so I sigh. I guess my investigation will have to wait…

Rehearsals pass quick, and that's good. Honestly, they're getting more and more boring, and the plotlines are way too predictable. I think even Little Miss Sonshine is starting to agree. But something interesting does happen after rehearsals…

I see Sonny leave the stage, sneakily, making sure no-one's watching, and, being the curious person I am, I follow her, of course. And then, I see her go into So Random, towards Chad's dressing room, and I smile.

I knew it all along.

Sonny's POV

I spend the whole of today's rehearsals panicking about what happened with Chastity. Okay, so Chastity is trustworthy – I know she won't tell anyone about me and Chad, not that there is a me and Chad (apart from in the friendship side of things) – but what happens if someone else, who is slightly less trustworthy, finds out? Mine and Chad's reputations will be ruined, not to mention our friends would hate it, and us. I can't risk that, for either of us.

So that's when I come to the decision that I need to talk to Chad.

After rehearsals, I head to Stage 3, checking that no-one follows me. I try to avoid any of the Randoms noticing me, which means I have to take the "scenic" route (aka, behind the studio, past the yucky trash cans), to his dressing room, where I suspect he'll be. Either there, or the Prop House with the other Randoms, which is not what I want, at all.

I arrive at Chad's dressing room, knocking quietly, in case the other Randoms boys hear, because they're dressing room is opposite Chad's. After a few seconds, the door opens, and my face falls when I see Cloudy and Rainy stood there.

Oh… crap.

They both gasp when they see me, before their faces are set in firm scowls. It's then I realise I have to do some acting. I cross my arms and send them a scowl right back.

"What are you doing here, Munroe?" The taller guy says and I pretend like I didn't hear him. I push past to see Chad sat on the couch, scowling at me, and I feel upset, before I see the sparkle in his eye and realise he's acting too. Boy, he's good. He even had me fooled for a second!

"Hey!" Chad growls, "What makes you think you have the right to just waltz in here like you own the place? You're not welcome here, y'know."

I shrug, smirking cockily. "Like I could care less. It's like I wanna be here anyways, but I need to talk to Chad about last night."

The two boy's eyebrows raise in confusion. "What about last night?" The blonde one asks.

"Not that it's any of your business…" I growl at them, "But your little friend here called me last night pretending to be some guy with an undying love for me."

"Oh, really?" The blonde guy asks, as Chad gets up, smirking a little. He raises his hands in defeat.

"Well, obviously, Grady, a certain girl can't take a joke."

I scoff, "I can so take a joke. In fact, I adore jokes. That's why I don't watch your show."

Chad rolls his eyes, "Well, you've obviously never been pranked before, Sonshine." He says, adding the little nickname he gave me last night. Obviously, he doesn't mean it like a sweet little pet-name.

"I think we should leave you alone…" One of the guys says, backing out of the door with the other in tow, and we watch them, before bursting out laughing and collapsing on the couch. I then cover my mouth as a snort comes out, hoping the Randoms boys didn't hear. Chad walks over to the door to check, before coming back and giving me a thumbs up.

"Do you think they bought it?" He asks, and I smirk.

"Hook, line, and sinker." I wink as he slumps back on the couch, grinning at me.

"So, why did you really come?" He asks, "Were you just looking for trouble?"

I tense up as I remember my real reasoning for coming. "Yeah… about that…" I say, "I just wondered… I've been having a little problem with Chastity."

Chad frowns, "What kind of problem?"

"Well… she found the fruit basket." I say, and he cringes.

"Oops."

"Oops indeed."

"Does she know about… you know… us?"

I tingle a little at that word. Us. I darn-right wish. "Well, I tried to convince her it was just from some random fan, but she didn't seem too persuaded…"

Chad sighs, slumping back in the couch and rubbing his forehead. "I'm having the same kinda problems." He groans, "You know last night, when I went home in the car with you?" I nod, "Well, my friends were really freaking out about it. I just said I needed a ride and they weren't around."

"Oh…" Is pretty much all I can muster up.

"And then," Chad continues, "Chastity came into my dressing room earlier… I mentioned you and said "Sonshine" and she almost exploded with knowingness."

I shrug, "I guess we should've known this friendship was gonna be dangerous."

"Yeah…" Chad sighs, looking at me with his sparkling blue orbs. "So, what are we gonna do?"

"I don't know…" I murmur. To be honest, I think we should just stop being friends. But… I can't stop being friends with Chad. The last few days where we've had a truce have been the best days of my life since before the Falls, and I don't want it to end now…

Too late. Chad's already considering it himself, by the looks of things. He's sat there, with a puzzled look on his face, before he looks up at me and frowns.

"Sonny…" He groans, "I guess we'll just have to go back to being enemies."

My heart drops from it's rightful place in my chest to my boots as I hear that word. Enemies. That is something I've never wanted to be with Chad, even when I first met him. Inside, I've always thought he was sweet, kind, good-looking… and I wanted to be his girlfriend. And okay, maybe that won't happen, but I still need him as a friend. I really need him…

"We can't!" I yell uncontrollably, and Chad frowns.

"Why not?"

"Because, I…" Because I need someone like you in my life. My life is a freaking hellhole and you keep me sane. I've wanted you from the minute I saw you, and you are possibly the best friend I've had in years. I've wanted us to be more than friends but obviously you don't feel the same way, so being just friends is really good enough for me. Just please… don't leave me.

I sigh. "Fine. I'll get out of here."

I get up and head to the door. Chad follows, slightly dazed, but looking slightly mad. Almost like we'd never been friends in the first place. .

"Fine." He says.

"Good."

"Good."

I give him one last glance at the door, before leaving, slamming it behind me.

I suffer through the rest of rehearsals. I wish I could say I love my job. Sure, it's okay – it's better than life at home – but everywhere I go, outside of home, I'm expected to be this polished, bigheaded show-off who only cares about herself. That's the stupid rep I've invented for myself. And guess what? It's all to keep me safe.

Before Chad and I decided to not be friends anymore, there were only two places I could really be myself. Around him, and at home. Now, I can only be myself at home. And that really isn't the safest place in the world… I hate it.

I get in my car after rehearsals, rain pouring, which is different. I guess it reflects my mood. Down, crappy… at least when it's raining, my tears are disguised. I don't cry often, because my rep doesn't allow it. And I know this is sounding stereotypical and putting a downer on everything… but trust me, I have my reasons.

I arrive home, parking the car, and I open the door to be greeted by the welcome party themselves – Mom and my step-dad, fighting as usual. In fact, they fight for so long, I'm pretty sure the first time my mother notices my presence is four hours later, when I head up to bed, hungry from the lack of dinner. I would cook it myself, if Mom and Johnny weren't screaming at each other in there. I walked in there earlier, and the place looked like a flipping war zone.

"Allie?" Mom says as I trudge up the stairs at 10pm, and I groan, pausing half way. I'm pretty sure my family are the only people who call me "Allie" nowadays. My Mom hates the Sonny Munroe persona I've made for myself, but hey, that persona is slightly her fault. If she hadn't been so hard on my Dad, maybe he'd have stayed…

"Yes?" I grumble.

"When did you arrive home?"

I sigh, "About four hours ago, mother. Thanks for dinner, by the way."

Before she can complain at me about anything else, I run upstairs and lock the door to my room behind me. To be honest, I'd rather just stay here for the rest of my life. I sigh, before looking down to my wrist and cringing. Stretching across the wrist is a scar, a scar that was made to take away any pain I've ever felt. I've stopped cutting now – ever since I've been getting close to Chad, I realised it was a stupid thing to do to myself, but the scar is still there. And that scar, along with the pain of what I've been through, will never go away.

I suddenly hear my phone ring in my jeans pocket. I take it out, to see the caller ID is Chad Dylan Cooper. I feel my thumb reach for the call button, but I pull it back in the last second and hit the reject call button. I can't talk to him right now… it would be too painful. I've already suffered through enough pain to last me fifty lifetimes, thank you very much.

I take a deep breath in, and then out, trying to calm myself as I hear the screams from my so-called "parents" downstairs. I haven't thrown away the knife yet – I completely forgot to do so – but I don't want to start cutting again. It was a nasty habit. So I start to breathe, blocking out the rest of the world – Chad, my Mom, Johnny, Melody Falls, the Randoms… and soon enough, I'm in deep sleep.

Chad's POV

I've felt awful ever since I rejected Sonny earlier. I told her that maybe it would be best if we weren't friends anymore; because of the dangers it put to each of us. For me – because if my friends found out I was cool with their worse enemy, they'd hate me, and for Sonny – because if her cast found out about us, it would put an end to her bad girl rep. Sonny isn't all bad girl, but I know without the rep, she'd suffer.

And yet, though you'd think Sonny would agree with me on this, she didn't seem to like it. I saw the look in her eyes when I told her we should be enemies again – she was crushed. I've been thinking it over, trying to decide whether she was really upset or not, and I've hit a dead end. So, I decide to call Sonny, to talk to her, to see if she's mad at me and see if I can apologise if she is. Sure, maybe we won't become friends again because of the whole enemies thing, but I just hope we can sort this out. I just wanna know where I stand, I suppose.

I call her number, waiting a few seconds, before the call goes to voice mail.

"Hi there! You've reached TV's Sonny Munroe! I'm busy right now, so please leave a message after the tone."

I sigh, "Hey, Sonny, it's Chad. Uh, I just wanted to talk to you about being enemies again. Look, I know, I don't want it to be this way either, but please, just try to hear me out. Sorry again. Okay, I'll go now. Bye."

I hang up, silently worrying to myself about if she's okay. I sure hope she is – Sonny's a tough cookie – but after everything that's been going on, I can't be too sure.

I decide in the end just to get to sleep. Only time will tell, I suppose.

I'm in half-sleep mode, and I swear I would've gone off, if my phone hadn't rung at that moment. I pick it up and answer with a groggy "hello?", unsure of the person I'm talking to.

"Hello there, Chad." The voice replies, "This is Tween Weekly's Santiago Heraldo. I know it's short notice, but the show's producers would love to have you on this week's show."

I have to re-run his words in my head to make sure I heard them right.

"That – that would be great!" I reply.

"Okay!" Santiago says cheerfully, "I'll be down at So Random tomorrow afternoon. See you then!"

"Can't wait!" I reply, hanging up and hoping I didn't sound too desperate for attention on that last bit, before drifting back into sleep.

Heehee :) So you can probably guess, that chapter was based on nothing, but I just wanted to put it in there. Next chapter will be based on Fast Friends, so that one should be fun.

Oh, and sorry for the whole 'Sonny cutting' thing. Bit of angst there. But it's sweet that Chad made her stop, right?

Anyways... review? That would be lovely of you guys. I want more reviews than last time... yeah! ;)

~Amy x