I am exTREMELY sorry for being so late on this, and have no worthy excuse as to why I am not answering your reviews like I usually do. Thank you so much for the good reviews, by the way; they make me feel like I've just caught the Snitch in a match against Slytherin.

That sould give you a clue as to why I have been shirking my responsibilities to this story. You see, I got the entire 7-book-set of Harry Potter for Christmas, and recently have started re-reading them (and quoting and buying related sweatshirts). I've been so absorbed in them lately that I've read the first two-and-three-fourths of the series in two weeks. I am terribly sorry for the delay though I can't honestly promise it won't happen again.

I must also blame the unnecessarily extensive and boring tales of The Lord of the Rings movies, the third of which I watched today, and it still escapes me as to why the story needed to be drawn out to three and a half hours of my life that I'll never get back. But I had to watch it...because of Aragorn...Don't try to comprehend the way my mind works!

Sonny

I was going to stop her. I had no idea where she was headed, or where she was now, but I was going to stop that stupid emo chick from ruining my life any further. Having no idea how I got there, I was behind the wheel of my car and zooming around the parking lot. I ended up not needing to search long, because…

She was following me.

My foot slammed on the brake as I caught sight of a determined girl in zebra-striped skinny jeans jogging towards me in sparkling Converse with an iPhone in her hand, just outside of the parking lot. I rolled down the window as she approached, smirking.

I knew she was expecting anger, or even fear, so I was firm not to give her the satisfaction. Instead, I dredged up my feelings from the nights I had imagined him kissing her, holding her in his arms, running his hands through her hair, down her back—because I had cried uncontrollably those nights, and recalling those feelings put just the right amount of tears in my eyes for her smile to drop into a look of horror.

"Please…please don't send that picture, Vivi! Not to anyone!" I pleaded, water rolling down my cheeks. "I love Chad, and he loves me, and…we've gone through so much to be together, and already I've risked so much…"

A pained expression crossed her face and she looked down at her phone. "Why should I do anything for you? You took away from me any chance I had with him." Her voice came out slightly more feebly than she seemed to have intended.

"Because…because…" I faltered, thinking something of truth would be more effective here, or she would see right through me. My eyes grew wide with the real horror of the truth as I said, "because you're not famous. You don't have to dodge fans and sneak behind people's backs to date who people won't let you. You don't have to live in fear of being taken out of context, having your life slowly destroyed as a result. But I do, and Chad does, and you should be really, really grateful, because you can chose anyone you want. You're free to go off with your friends and do things in private, and hey, you can even cheat on someone and not become headline news."

My voice was cracking now, and my throat hurt. I began to regret my own life. "Please…my credibility is—quite literally—in your hands. If you send that picture…"

She closed her eyes in a grimace of remorse. That could only mean—"I…I already sent the picture, Sonny…I put it on my MySpace and sent it to Tawni…"

And soon there'd be a picture of me, on top of a shirtless Chad, on his bed. And I would look like a whore. And Tawni would never speak to me again, because I had lied to her yet again about Chad's and my relationship. And my mom would not welcome me back. How could she? I could just hear her now: "You're obviously well-off enough that you see fit to start a family. I don't see why you need me anymore."

"I'm sorry, Sonny…"

I put a hand up and looked down, closing my eyes, silently telling her that I wouldn't hear another word.

Just when I was about to plummet myself into a sea of anger, deeper into the nadir of rage, allowing hate to grab me by the heart and tug me into the depths, cold tears clashing with the searing heat of my face…I stopped. A new thought was breaking chains that had been strangling it for so long.

"I…I forgive you, Vivi…" I said to the shock of both of us. The thought was spreading, giving me a sense of epiphany. "What are we doing?"

I put my hand on the door handle, and the confused other girl stepped back apprehensively. "Do you see it? Can you see the future if we carry on like this? Constantly ripping on each other, only tearing down lives and doing nothing constructive for ourselves?"

She gave this a thought, her eyes as wide as her gaping mouth. "Imagine what Chain thinks of me!" she breathed.

I nodded and sighed. "What's he think of me? I completely walked out on him…" I looked back up at her sorrowfully. "We're terrible friends."

Her eyes narrowed and she opened the car door behind me, sliding over to the passenger's seat.

"We may be now, but not for long. We owe someone an apology."

I got in after a moment of confusion and started the engine. I could see her look over at me from the corner of my eye as I made a U and turned us around. "And I owe you one, Sonny…sorry again."

Not that it isn't fascinating writing and all, but...I'll pick it back up tomorrow. :)

And until further notice,

Mischief managed.