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.
A/N: Wow. Lots of reviews. Lots of smiles :)
Chapter 25: HE'S with HER?
Sonny covered her mouth with her hand, desperate to keep the giggles threatening to escape suppressed. She peered across the rows of desks full of students at the blonde clad in leather, winking at her. The unlucky people between her and Chad looked back and forth between them, at first shocked when they thought the boy was winking at them. Some of the girls had gotten an unexpected thrill, but Sonny tried her best to ignore the obvious looks of glee on their faces. Many of the classmates watched the exchange with pure surprise and shock. Who would have ever expected the goody-goody to end up with the school's worst bad boy, especially when she had refused offers from more gentleman-like guys?
Well, none were gentleman exactly, but any guy was a gentleman compared to Chad. Anyone with eyes could see that.
The teacher of English 12 seemed oblivious to the distraction going on behind her back as she rambled, scribbling on the dry-erase board with her back to the class. It wasn't long before every single pair of eyes (excluding the teacher's) were watching the flirting curiously. Even the 'geeks' were watching with astonished stares. Girls were whispering to each other, spreading words of disgust, surprise, amusement.
"Can you believe that?" a lanky brunette whispered to her friend across from her. "I mean, look at it!"
"I know!" her friend whispered back. "What the hell?"
"The sweet new girl... with him?" she hissed.
"I don't know what's going on," the other shrugged. She tucked her red hair behind her ear and leaned in closer to quietly gossip with her buddy. "How could Sonny be with Chad? She's so... not his type! And he's so... not her's! And she goes around refusing any guy trying to make a move on her, and she says yes to him?"
"I know, right?" the girl snickered. "She refused Toby the other day. Toby. She says no to that courteous hunk of Southern sweetness? And then she goes off flirting with Chad, who treats girls like they are a piece of trash?"
Her friend shrugged her shoulders again. "Beats me." The two watched him mouth something to Sonny and kiss the air, clearly directed at her. Their mouths dropped open simultaneously. They both thought the same thing at exactly the same time. "Do you think they've slept together?"
The brunette continued to subtly watch the exchange with calculating eyes. Her dark brown irises swept back and forth between the two, critical, with brows furrowed. Finally, she came to a conclusion. "Nope."
Her friend watched them too and turned back to the brown-head. "Why do you say that? Watch them!"
"I did. And it's obvious. They haven't had sex."
"How can you tell?"
"Well, for one, he's paying attention to her. That should tell you enough. He has a reputation for leaving and dumping the girl the second he's finished with her. I'd know that."
Her friend nodded solemnly. She watched them again. "Yeah, you're right. He's not pretending she doesn't exist, so he hasn't gotten what he's wanted yet. Chad's still reeling her in." A moment of silence passed as they watched Sonny's deep blush. "Do you think we should warn her?"
"What? Hell no! She's got to learn for herself to listen to the hype about people. I'm sure she's been warned plenty of times. Sonny's buddied up with Rachel, right? You know how paranoid she is. She's probably warned her a billion times!"
The brunette's friend whispered, "You're right. But, hey, if Toby has been turned down, which almost never happens, than I bet he's in the dumps. Which means you can get the rebound!"
The brunette grinned. "You know what? I like the new girl."
Chad's smile (which was a new sight to everyone in the class, not a smirk) grew as Sonny rolled her eyes at him and stuck out her tongue. He sent her a wink again, the kind he knew that made her turn red from head to toe. It worked, predictably. You know what? He wanted to see her again. Tonight. Maybe he could take her out. And not to a bar. Maybe a Wendy's or something. Sure, it wasn't classy, but he had practically no money. His dad's funds for him had disappeared the second Chad had from the house. It was the best he could do. Plus, Sonny wasn't the kind of person who would mind. The thought was all that counted for her. They could just go right after school, so her mother wouldn't be upset at the fact she'd be out during dark. He could just give her a ride on his bike!
He decided to try and communicate this to Sonny. Chad mimicked holding handlebars and steering, and pointed to her and then to himself. Then he mouthed the words 'after school'. Her brows furrowed in confusion.
'What?' she mouthed.
He tried again. Chad pointed to himself, then her.
'Ride' he mouthed, steering the imaginary handlebars again. Sonny still didn't understand, so as best he could, he whispered. "Do you—" he pointed to her "—want to ride—" Chad pointed to himself "—after school—" he pretended that he was scooping food into his mouth "—to eat somepl—"
"What's going on here?" came a sudden voice, interrupting their front-row conversation. It was the teacher. Her eyes shot back and forth from Sonny to Chad, the same expression in them as everyone else in the room, shocked and disbelieving. The two instantly jumped, sitting straighter in their desks, surprised by the sudden voice that wasn't one of their own. Her eyes finally settled on Sonny, waiting for an answer.
"Nothing, Mrs. Robinson," she muttered, embarrassed that they had not only gotten caught, but that she herself was the cause of a disruption in class!
"No, no, it's something," she shook her head, hands on hips. Sonny was red from embarrassment. Chad, on the other hand, was cool and collected. Getting in trouble in the classroom was definitely not new to him. Mrs. Robinson glanced back and forth between them again, not believing her eyes, so instantly, an accusing glance shot towards Chad. "Miss Munroe, is he disturbing you?"
"No! No, ma'am," she said quickly, shaking her head, eyes finally raising from her desk. She looked back and forth between her English teacher and Chad worriedly.
"Yeah. Yeah, I was," he said suddenly, looking down at the ground, showing a sign of temporary grief. Everyone did a double-take. Did Chad Dylan Cooper just take the blame for someone? Let alone a girl? That almost never happened! He just back-talked the teacher and ended up with a detention that he never showed up to.
"What?" Sonny breathed, staring at Chad with confusion. They both knew it wasn't just his fault! "No, it's not," she told him pointedly.
"Yes, it is," he told her pointedly. He looked back to their teacher, nodding his head, indicating he was taking the blame. She looked torn, her head snapping between them. She eventually shrugged it off and appeared to swat an invisible fly.
"Whatever! I don't care who's fault it is, just don't do it again," she rolled her eyes. Her stare drifted to Chad. "Mr. Cooper, cut it out." Her eyes were peering over her glasses with brows raised. He gave her a small, dismissive nod. She turned back around and continued where she'd left off.
Everyone, some with mouths open, watched as he apologized to a mortified Sonny and turned back towards the board. Sonny mouthed a forgiveness and turned to the teacher as well. The incident was the talk of the school for the next few days.
Too bad that Sonny had neglected to remember that Rachel was in that class. Sitting in the back corner of the room, with perhaps the most surprised look on her face of anyone.
As Sonny left the room when the lunch bell rang, Chad caught up with her.
"I. Want you. To come. Eat with me. After school," he said slowly, as if he was talking to a three year-old.
She laughed. "Yeah, I caught it the last time."
"Hey, uh, sorry I might have embarrassed you back there."
"It's fine, Chad. Don't worry about it," Sonny grinned brilliantly. "It... it was actually... kind of fun!"
Chad nearly stumbled. "What?" Had he misheard her?
"It was kind of a rush, ya know, getting in trouble?" she laughed uneasily, but excitedly. Chad grabbed her elbow and stopped her from walking, an incredibly amused and happy smile on his face. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and they continued walking down the hallway full of spectators.
"You know what?" he asked her, looking down at her gleeful figure. "I think this is the start of a beautiful relationship."
Sonny's boisterous laugh echoed through the long hall.
Sonny didn't know what to think when she felt a furious tapping on her shoulder while she was at her locker, getting her books for the last class of the day. She whipped confusedly around to face the perpetrator, but to her surprise, it was just Rachel.
"Hey, girl!" she smiled kindly. Her grin slowly faded when her best friend didn't match it, but instead met it with a glare of betrayal. "What?"
"What in the hell was that?"
"What was what?" Sonny asked, genuinely lost.
"FOURTH PERIOD! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" she yelled. When Sonny's confused expression turned guilty, Rachel began nodding. "Uh huh! Exactly! You and Chad?"
"What—what about me and Chad?" she stuttered out, turning back to her locker for shelter against Rachel's radiating wavelengths of fury.
"Oh, don't even pretend like you don't know exactly what I'm talking about!" she shook with anger. "The way—Oh my God, you aren't gonna make me explain it! You know what happened in there!"
"Explain it to me," Sonny said weakly, keeping her face hidden.
"Alright," she launched off into a raging monologue, clearly upset beyond reason, "when I saw Chad flirting with you, I thought, 'No surprise there.' But then, what made my JAW TOUCH THE FLOOR was when you started flirting back! Have you completely forgotten everything I've told you about him? You're setting yourself up in a trap-full of hurt, Sonny! What the hell are you thinking? You know better than this! Tell me, what was going through your head? Huh?"
Sonny was at a loss for words. What could she say? She couldn't tell Rachel what was going on! She'd kill her! But of course, when you kiss someone, the first thing you wanna do is go tell your best friend, and it hurt her very much that she couldn't do that. There was another side to Chad that no one else knew about and no one else would believe. Even if they would believe it, she couldn't tell even if she wanted to! She'd made a promise to him.
"It's—it's not what you think, Rachel," Sonny stumbled over her words.
"That's total lies, Sonny! I know you. You stutter when you're either scared or you've been caught. And you sure as hell have been caught! Spill!"
Sonny couldn't take it anymore. She was being walked all over! She was sick of everyone saying bad things about him when most of the stuff that happened he couldn't control! With a speed that surprised both of them, she whirled on the fuming Rachel.
"You know what, Rachel? There is something going on!" At this, Rachel's eyes became even more accusing, as if saying, 'I knew it!' "I like him! And he likes me! And in more of a way than you'd think! There's—there's another side to him, Rachel! One that no one knows about or even takes the time to get to know! But... but he's opened up to me! He's not the person you think he is. You need to learn to accept the fact that my love life is my choice and... and I'm sorry, but it's not any of your business!"
Rachel was silent, trying to take in the fact that Sonny actually had said that to her. Her mouth formed words, but they didn't come out. Finally, she gathered herself.
"It is my business, Sonny! It's my business when the school's biggest player is trying to play my best friend, and I'm just trying to protect her! Do you have any idea of what he's capable of, Sonny? I've told you! I've warned you a million times! He isn't safe for you!"
"Since when is it your decision to decide who is safe enough for me and who isn't? I believe I can decide that much for myself, thank you very much. I DO have a brain of my own, believe it or not. But the Chad you see isn't the Chad I see, Rachel. Why can't you understand that?" Sonny demanded.
"Because the Chad you see isn't real!"
"Yes, he is! He cares about me, Rachel! I know he does! You weren't there!"
"I don't have to be there to know what he's thinking about, Sonny! And it's not the same thing you're looking for in a relationship! I can tell you that right now! Did you see the way he got you in trouble in class today? That'll keep happening, and it'll only get worse from here!"
Sonny shook her head. She couldn't believe Rachel was trying to use her love for school against her.
"Of course you only notice the bad things," she rolled her eyes exasperatedly. Sonny slammed her books back into her locker.
"I 'only notice the bad things'? REALLY? Well, where are the 'good things'? Yeah, that's right, there are none!"
"Yes, there are! You'd know that if you listened to me once in awhile instead of just doing what you want to do!" Sonny screamed. "Did... did you notice how he took the blame for me?"
Rachel was silent, lip bit in anger and eyes full of frustration. She knew Sonny had found a notch in her complaining. Finally, "Yeah. So?"
"Taking the blame for someone, let alone a girl, let alone a girl who is his tutor, doesn't exactly match up with your characterization of Chad, now does it?" Sonny asked, brows raised, daring Rachel to contradict. "I'm telling you, there is things, attitudes, sides of Chad that you could only dream about. He really isn't so horrible deep down."
"Oh, really?" Rachel hissed. "Well, then, let's hear some of these 'other sides' then?"
Silence.
"I...I can't tell you," Sonny looked to the ground. It was at times like this that it was hard to keep a secret.
"Oh. Really? You can't tell me? Interesting," she nodded curtly.
"They aren't my secrets to tell!"
"Yeah, yeah, I know," she rolled her eyes. "You 'said you would not tell'. How convenient that your only proof you can't tell."
"Well, that's the way it is."
"I'm sorry to burst your bubble, Sonny—" (though it was obvious she wasn't) "—but he doesn't care about you. Not the same way you care about him."
"Yes, he does!"
"Really? You don't seem too sure."
Sonny had felt the smallest itch of doubt, and apparently it had shown in her eyes. But she pushed it down. "I am sure. And I can tell you something else that I'm sure about. I'm sure that a best friend would be happy for me, and accept my decisions! I'm sure that a best friend would support me, no matter what I decide!" Rachel was quiet, refusing to meet Sonny's eyes. "So... I—I guess you aren't my best friend."
Sonny turned to walk away, but Rachel called after her. "Sonny! Sonny, come on, don't be like that! SONNY!"
She continued stomping quickly down the hallway towards her last class, pretending to hear nothing at all. Sonny wiped a single tear from her cheek as she approached her classroom.
So much for 'best friends'.
A/N: Are you awesome? Are you true fanfiction-ers? Are you a fan of this story? If you answered yes to any of these questions, review!