:) Just read, coz i dont own SWAC :(

Chapter 13-Aftermath

Sonny's POV

"Well, that went well." Chad laughs as we sit outside Miss Turner's office, bored. Chad has a small bruise under his eye and a tiny cut on his lip, and he's not sure which to cover so he has his head in his hands. I think the bruises make him look cute. Aw, my hero. (See what I did there? Wow…I'm sounding like Marshall…)

Wait…did I just say all that?

"Is your eye OK?" I ask him, and he moves a hand to show me. The nurse comes along and hands him an ice pack, and he's split at which to put it on. Lip.

"I'm fine," He laughs, "Question is, are you?"

"I guess…" I say, and he sighs, putting a hand on my knee. I almost swoon.

"Sonny, I'm really, really sorry about Tawni. I seriously didn't think she could be that mean." He sighs, and I shrug.

"Now you do." I say.

"Yeah." He sighs again.

"So, what are you gonna do about her?" I ask, hoping the reply will be 'dump her'. I don't get my wanted reply.

"Talk to her." He says, "Get her to apologise to you. I can't let her do that to you anymore. I let the football team trample over me and that made me into a loser. I'm not letting that happen to you."

I smile, "Thank you, Chad."

"You're welcome."

"And…thanks for taking the hit from Kowalski," I say, cringing a little as he winces in pain as he touches under his left eye, "…You really didn't need to do that."

"I did," He smiles, "I didn't want him to damage your pretty face."

Considering my cheek is still a little pink and what Chad just said, my face right now is Pink-Blush Central. I smile at Chad, and he smiles back.

We end up getting detention. We explain that Tawni started it, but Miss Turner tells us we shouldn't have continued it, especially me. Miss Turner gets us to apologise to Tawni and the guy Chad beat up and them to apologise to us.

"What are we? In elementary school?" Chad whispers to me on the way, and I laugh. He has a point. Since when were teenagers forced to apologise to each other?

I get home from detention at 5:45, quickly disguising my little bruise with a bit of make-up. I don't want Mom worrying, or Zora. After she warned me this morning, she'll be pretty protective.

"Sonny?" Mom asks, and I sigh. Of course, I didn't tell her about everything…

"Yeah, Mom?"

"What happened?" She asks, "Why are you late?"

I sigh. Busted.

"I got a detention."

"A detention?" Mom yells, "What happened?"

I didn't want to tell her the whole story, "A girl was a little mean to me and we got in a fight…"

"A fight?" She yells, and I sigh.

"Verbal, Mom." I lie, just because I don't want Mom to worry, whether she's my real Mom or not. "She started it though, but she lied and told the teacher I started it. So I got the blame."

She sighs, "Oh, sweetie…that stupid school, I'm going to complain…"

"No, you're not Mom." I say, stopping her, "I can handle it."

She sighs again, "Fine. Just…be careful."

I smile, "I will, Mom." Same caring Mom.

Zora smiles at me, walking into my room.

"What?" I ask her scary smiling face.

"What really happened?" She asks, "Your left eyebrow was raised-something's up."

I sigh, "Well, I did get in a detention, but it wasn't a verbal fight…"

Zora gasps. "What happened?"

"Well, Tawni Hart, Chad's girlfriend, was mean to me, then I stood up for myself and she slapped me. I slapped her back. Chad saw, Tawni slapped him, some guy hit him in the face, I jumped on the guy's back and Chad knocked him out."

"Wow," She says, "Sorry I asked."

I smile a little, before sighing, "Chad got hurt…I sure hope he's OK."

She sighs, slumping down on my bed, before looking behind me and smiling.

"Why don't you ask him yourself?"

I shake my head at her, confused, before turning back and seeing Chad there, smiling.

I open the window, and sigh. "This becoming a habit, Mr Cooper?" I mock the receptionist from the day we were late, and he smiles.

"Indeed it is, ma'am."

Indeed? I didn't think there was a Chaz Milton Looper in this world, but I look into those eyes and decide it really is Chad. Ah, Chad…

He climbs in, smiling, and he smiles even wider when he sees Zora.

"And who's this young lady?"

"This is Zora," I say, "My…sister. Yeah, she was just leaving."

"What?" She whisper-yells, "But I wanna see your romantic moment!"

I start to wish Chad is slightly deaf when she says that. Smiling at him, I push her out the room, even while she protests.

"Sorry about that." I smile, "Zora's…well…she's Zora."

"Yeah," He says, "She seems…interesting…"

I the dark light of my room with just a reading light on, Chad bruises aren't as easy to see, but they're still there.

"I just wanted to thank you." He says, sitting next to me on the bed.

"For what?"

"Two things. He says, lifting two fingers, "For helping me stand up to those losers I call 'friends', or at least one of them. If I can hit Kowalski and knock him over, I can do the same to anyone."

I laugh, "Shaquille O'Neill?"

He winces, "OK, almost everyone."

I laugh. I remember seeing those two next to each other on the night of the Halloween So Random special. Yeah, that guy's huge. Chad wouldn't even bruise him lightly.

"And number two?" I ask.

"Two," He says, "For helping me realise that Tawni's nothing but a…"

"Uh, I have a little sister who's probably listening behind the door." I say, and he stops himself from swearing.

"…A female dog." He finishes, and I laugh, almost feeling bad that I'm laughing at my best California friend in the real world, but then remembering how bad this Tawni is and mentally slapping myself for my previous thoughts.

"I dumped her." Chad smiles, and I grin.

"Really?"

"Yeah," He says, "Tawni's pretty, sure, but…" He holds my hands, "He's not the girl I really like."

My heart just about flips over, until he lets go of my hands.

"Only…it's not that simple."

"Why not?" I ask, and he sighs.

"Because I can't ask that girl out right now."

"Why not?" I repeat, and he runs his hand through his hair in frustration.

"Don't you see, Sonny?" He says, "If Tawni sees us together tomorrow morning, she'll kill us both."

I frown, "We don't have to tell anyone."

He sighs, "I'm sorry, Sonny, I can't ask you out now. We don't know what she'd do."

He gets up, heading for the window, chickening out again, and I follow him.

"The Chad Dylan Cooper I know wouldn't be so afraid of his ex." I say. He stops in his tracks, before turning back, looking sad.

"You don't even know me." He says, in a shy voice, and I sigh.

"Oh, but I do." I say.

"It's been four days." He says, "How can you know me?"

I'd love to tell him, tell him about our past, the shows, the rivalry, our love, our break-up. But I can't.

"Chad, please, just don't be so afraid of her…"

"I'm not afraid." He says, "It's just…I don't want you to get hurt."

"Chad, I can take care of myself."

"That's what I thought too." He yells, "But I was wrong, OK? I let them push me and push me and now look at me. I'm a loser."

I sigh. I can think of a lot of words for Chad Dylan Cooper, but loser is not one of them.

"You're not a loser." I say shyly, softly, and he moans.

"I am." He says, "Face it-I'm scared of my friends, I'm scared of my ex…what kind of quarterback is like that?"

I sit on the bed with him, putting a hand on his knee, comforting him.

"Tell me more about your past." I say, and he chuckles.

"It's a long story."

"I have time."

He smiles a little, before getting into the story, sadly, and I wonder if it was right to ask him for this. But then…maybe I can help him? I listen to why Chad Dylan Cooper is so afraid.

And we'll hear little Chaddy's story next chapter, when A/N Chad will be back from somewhere! Whoo! :)