Summary: A ChAnNyObSeSsEd and alexatheknight collab. Sonny moves to Cali, but she soon learns she HAS to adjust. She signs up to help tutor, but when she gets paired with a potentially dangerous biker, her life turns chaotic and dangerous.

Chapter 10: Changed Minds

"Connie, I just love your earrings today," Mrs. Taylor grinned, following her newest coworker to the elevator of the large skyscraper. The dark-haired woman turned around to her new friend, grinning bashfully.

"Well, thank you, Rosie," she shrugged, fingering the small blue stones. "They're nothing special."

The two women's heels clicked and clacked against the shimmering tile of the lobby. It buzzed with life, many women in business suits and men in classy ties walking around. Rosie Taylor smiled genuinely, replacing a hair pin in her red locks that had come undone. A small curl framed the right side of her face, giving her a child-like appearance and quality about her.

"Please, tell me where you got them," she begged, smiling. The golden elevator doors slid closed, the small space jolting as it began it's ascent upwards.

"It was at the cutest little store in Middleton," Ms. Munroe gushed, seeming to shoo away an invisible fly.

"Was it just a local store?" Mrs. Taylor asked, frowning.

"Yes, it was. Sorry!"

"Oh, just my luck," she snapped, stomping her heeled foot. "But California is filled with little stores and major names, is it not? Hopefully I'll be able to find something."

"I'm sure you would," Connie nodded encouragingly. "I'm sure with your figure it's pretty easy to find clothes, hmm?"

"It's not difficult," she said dismissively, quickly shrugging it off. "But, Connie, I simply demand that you allow me to take you shopping this weekend."

"I don't know…" Ms. Munroe shrugged, biting her lip. "This is the first weekend that my daughter and I are both free since we moved here. We were actually planning on -"

"Oh, please, Connie, please!" she asked desperately, clasping her hands together, begging. "There will be plenty of more weekends for you and Sonny to go out and have fun! Many of the stores are having sales this weekend and giving free perfume samples!"

"I don't know if I could do that, Rosie. We've been - did you say free samples?" she asked suddenly, her brows raising in enthusiasm out of nowhere.

"Yes. Yes, I did," she grinned persuasively. "You know you want to, Connie."

"It sounds great, but -"

"No, no buts! Come on!"

Ms. Munroe bit her lip and glanced back and forth between Mrs. Taylor and the floor. She heaved a long sigh.

"…Fine," she finally muttered. "But Sonny will be so disappointed…"

"Oh, she'll be fine," Rosie grinned, playfully hitting her new friend's shoulder. "I'm sure that -"

"Hello, ladies."

A drawling voice met their ears, bringing instant scowls to their faces. They put on superficial grins as a tall, thin, blonde woman stepped through the slowly opening doors.

"Hey, Leanne," they said at the same time, their voices drawling as well. But of course she didn't notice.

"How are you two?" she asked, not making eye contact at all, pushing one of the light-up buttons on the wall.

"Great."

"Fine."

They muttered their responses, sharing exasperated rolls of their eyes. Leanne was the one woman in the office that had to ruin their quiet tranquility of the ideal work area. She never really looked at anyone's face, only spoke to most people when it seemed unavoidable, and talked about others behind their backs. The mean girl of the hard life of The Office, one could suppose.

To all of their relief, the doors slid open to their floor. They all rushed out, Ms. Munroe and Miss Taylor turning right and Leanne turning left. All three of them breathed a sigh of relief at the escape.

"Are you inviting her to that cocktail party you're having soon?" Rosie asked, wincing. Her red lips pulled down in a scowl.

"I have to," Connie tried to explain as Mrs. Taylor rolled her eyes and groaned as loudly as she could without receiving odd looks from other workers. To Rosie's aggravation, one of the office's phones began to ring it's dull tone and she hissed. Ms. Munroe sighed. "I'm inviting everyone from the office. It can't invite everyone except her. That wouldn't be fair and it's completely immature."

"We all need to become more in touch with our childlike side once in a while," she grinned largely.

"No, Rosie," she repeated for the umpteenth time. She sat down at her wooden desk, giving a sparing glance to her. "Everyone has some good in them somewhere deep down, and I am determined to find it in -" she whispered "- Leanne."

"And you said you wonder where Sonny got her giving nature from," Miss Taylor rolled her eyes. "Do you gotta?"

"Yes, I 'gotta'," she hissed under her breath. Now it was her turn to roll her eyes. "I am going to be an adult about this. I am not going to just gossip about someone behind their back like we are a couple of teenagers!"

"Oh, pffft," Rosie scoffed, shrugging. She turned and walked to her desk next door, waving at Connie through the glass. Giving a persevering smile, Ms. Munroe waved back. She loved her new office, she really did, but it was full of drama just like high school.

Sonny was sitting, breathless, on the living room couch, staring at the TV screen but not really seeing anything. Her mind was still processing what had just happened.

And she wasn't harmed!

It was a miracle. She supposed it was at times like these when one knows there really is a God. Sonny, without thinking, reached to her hair and smoothed out some fly away pieces, still not able to breath nor speak. She had just ridden a motorcycle. A motorcycle. On the back of one, no less! And the driver was some crazed, hormonal, dangerous, eighteen year-old male biker! Who was supposed to be practically stalking her! And, when he did see her, she wasn't meant to come away unscathed!

What in the world was going on?

Wasn't Chad supposed to harass her? Or ride her out to some abandoned place where no one could hear her cries for help? Or… or… something bad and scary? Weren't his eyes supposed to grow that shade of dark blue that made him look demonic the second she climbed on? Even when he swore he wouldn't try anything, it wasn't supposed to mean anything, was it? Wasn't it supposed to just be a well-disguised lie? Sonny was almost positive he had done his fair share of lying in his lifetime. Why was this any different?

Unless…

He wasn't quite as bad as everyone made him out to be…

But no, that couldn't be right. The way he shoved her against the lockers days before drilled that truth into her head. But why did he have a sudden change of heart? Why did he actually keep his promise? The only touching that took place was her against him, and it was just wrapping her arms around his torso (not comfortably, she might add) so she wouldn't go flying off the back. At first, she was unsettled and shaking, but one of the few times he spoke to her, it was to ask if she was alright. She used the excuse that the wind was cold, but she was sure he didn't buy it.

They were in California, after all. Not Wisconsin.

Chad tried no funny business, no pulling over, no rude or perverted comments. In fact, he didn't say much of anything at all. Even more of a shock. Sonny didn't know Chad well the smallest bit, but even she could tell that it was uncharacteristic of him. But, to both of their surprises it seemed, he did say one thing. And the pure shock of it almost did make her fall off of the back.

"Hey, uh, Sonny?" he asked as they neared a stoplight, the bike coming to a gentle stop. He was still enunciating her name with unnecessary vitality. It was the closest thing to flirting he had done the entire ride.

"Um, yeah?" she replied, quietly, barely audible over the roaring engine of the motorcycle. He ran a hand through his dirty-blonde hair, sighing heavily.

"I was thinking…" he trailed off, and her heart began to pump wildly. He wasn't about to try and ask her out, was he? He promised he wouldn't try anything! But what came out of his mouth bewildered her more than that question would have. "Maybe… maybe I could use a little tutoring," he muttered. She could almost picture him wincing. "I was thinking about it, and I can ride my bike anytime I want. I do anyways. It's not like Wednesday is any special time or anything. And… uh…" he formulated a story on the spot, but naïve Sonny had no clue, "… my parents are really getting on my case about it." Sonny let out a breath she was holding.

"Oh," was all she could say. All breath seemed to have left her lungs.

"And it's annoying me like crap," he threw in for good measure, revving the gas and making her tense in uneasiness.

A moment of silenced passed between them, awkward to Sonny but predictable for Chad. He hadn't expected anything different.

Sonny was having an internal battle within herself. What was she to do? She couldn't refuse an opportunity like this; when someone like him wanted help! But at the same time, she knew accepting would be terribly unwise on her part, for her safety. But she couldn't just abandon him! He was like a short-tempered fighting dog who was being taken in by a shelter and given to a loving owner to change it's life. And she was that caring owner. Changing other people's lives for the better was what she did, but… was she willing to take the risks that came along with helping this dangerous ticking time bomb? Rachel certainly wouldn't approve, and she's known Chad for much longer than Sonny had. She'd watched the puppy make the transformation from innocent puppy to rabid pit-bull. But this was Sonny's opportunity to change that.

Deciding to suck it up, Sonny inhaled shakily and uttered the fateful words.

"Alright. I'll help."

But, for her own sanity and fear she was about to over-analyze, she decided to ignore the smirk in his voice when he grinned, "Fantastic."

Did she make the right choice? She certainly hoped so. Because he was coming over next Wednesday night for their first little… session. What would her mother think when she saw him? What would she think when she saw what transportation he used to arrive? The motorcycle. What would Ms. Munroe say when she saw his rough leather jacket, his signature smirk, the flash in his eyes? The thought of the look on her face was enough to make Sonny gulp.

Her life was so dramatic at the moment, Sonny was halfway expecting for a long-lost half sister to come bursting through the door, telling her that her mother ran away to be with some one-legged tennis player. And then her unknown uncle, a tried felon, came running in telling her that Rachel, who was really a vampire, had gotten burned at the stake by Chad and his buddies. Insane, huh?

Taking a deep, stress-filled sigh, Sonny turned on the television for a distraction.

What had she gotten herself into?

"Chad!" Lawson roared over his cellphone. "You're an idiot!"

Chad looked at his phone in disbelief, his blue eyes dark with disappointment. "How? I took her for a ride on the bike, which she completely agreed to! Which means she trusts me, at least a little! And she was okay with me doing tutoring with her! It was like she didn't know who I was!"

"Well, that's all fine and dandy, Chad," Lawson rolled his eyes. "But did she seem interested in you, at all?" He sounded torn over the phone.

Chad thought about how Sonny acted the other day on the motorcycle. He had seen fear in her eyes, which had transformed into expectancy, to curiosity, and finally to wonder. What did that mean?

"Well..." Chad replied. "Not...exactly. But I'm gonna get there, man."

"You gotta step up your game, bro! Don't act like big and bad Chad, a'ight?" Lawson demanded.

"But I wasn't!" Chad contradicted.

"Well, you gotta act like something, man! C'mon, you gotta be able to tell what kind of guy Miss Goody Goody would like!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" he demanded, gripping his phone a little tighter. Chad crossed his arms, unhappy, as he leaned against his bike that was parked on the side of the road. "Are you telling me that I'm gonna have to go through a freaking 'makeover', man?"

"No, not completely," his leader responded, sounding nonchalant. "I'm not gonna make you put on a dorky sweatervest or anything like that. Chill."

"Good," Chad snarled, "because I'm not changing into Urkle!"

"Act like those... those weird butt-kissers over at SDA."

"What? No, I am not -"

"Do you wanna be one of us or not?" Lawson growled, cutting him off in a final tone.

Chad crinkled his nose in disgust. "But they're so..." he searched for a word to describe them, "decent."

"Well, don't you think she'll like that?" he suggested.

"Do I have to act like those nerds over at the private school? Can't I just settle for not making hot jokes every five seconds? And I'll try not to eye her. Isn't that good enough?"

"Fine," Lawson sighed. "But at least try to be as good, as smart, as clean, as decent as those Preppies to her, a'ight?"

Chad snorted, and his friend did on the other side of line as well.

"Yeah, right."

"I know it won't be easy, dude. But either try to get on her good side, or you'll have to make her like you," he said quietly, a little suspiciously. But Chad didn't allow it to phase him. He wasn't going down that road.

"Gotcha, man."

"What?" Rachel sputtered out in disbelief.

"Chad took me home on his motorcycle," Sonny repeated, still trying to believe it herself.

"Chad...took you home...on his motorcycle?"

Sonny was beginning to feel more and more stupid. Maybe it wasn't the best choice.

Push the beautiful little button! Or Chad will come find you!

OMG, that was sooo creeper-ish. Sorry. Well, if that made you laugh at all, review! Heehee... please?