Chapter Four

And thanks for the positive feed-back everybody. :P

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The next day, the whole cast of So Random! was finishing up a dress rehearsal for our Life at the Boston Tea Party sketch. I was decked out in my tea-pot costume, flashing a blinding grin to the ending music. Once Marshall yelled, "Cut! Great work everybody!" I wiped the smile off my face and walked quickly back to my dressing room.

"Aren't you a ray of sunshine!" Tawni exclaimed, following me into the room.

"Cara's going to win if I don't get a date," I groaned from inside the changing station. In a few seconds I re-appeared in brown fringed boots, a denim skirt, and a red sweater.

"Then don't let her win," Tawni said like that was the most obvious thing in the world.

"How?" I wondered, plopping down at my vanity.

"Well, who does Chad hate?" Tawni tilted her head to one side.

"Besides James? I don't know," I admitted.

A glint flashed in Tawni's eyes. "Hey, no way!" I said defensively. "I am not asking James. We dissed him, remember? And why do we need someone Chad hates anyway?"

"To make him jealous," Tawni explained. "You saw Chad- he's helpless around Cara. He wants good relations between the two shows, so he's not going to screw around. So we have to."

"I don't know…" I said slowly, my eyebrows scrunching together.

"Just do what I say," Tawni flicked her hand at me impatiently. "Now, Cara's co-star is David Burke. He's really cute too, and the rivalry between him and Chad is all over Tween Weekly," Tawni was pressing keys urgently on her cell phone. "I'll totally hook you up," She grinned.

"Sure, sure. Thanks Tawni!" I shrugged. How had this 'bring everyone together' dance turn into a big pot of jealousy?

--

Tawni worked fast. That night at the cafeteria, we were all getting platters of Meatball sandwiches- ("Gotta love Meatball Monday!" The boys cheered,) when a really good looking guy approached me and Tawni.

Chad was directly in eye contact, not hiding the fact that he was staring at us.

"Hey, I'm David Burke," The guy grinned at me. He was tall and tan, with straight brown hair that hung over his eyes and green eyes.

"Sonny," I said bashfully. Tawni watched the interaction like a proud mother.

"So, you wanna go to the dance on Saturday with me?" David asked.

I rose my eyebrows at Tawni, then looked at Chad. His eyes were drilled into mine. He looked really ticked off.

"Well, I don't have a date, so-" I started. "Great! We'll go together!" David said cheerfully. "See ya!" He grabbed a rack of lamb from the lunch lady (Can EVERY show get good food except us!?) and joined Rita's Creek's table.

Tawni started squealing, but I really couldn't get excited. I didn't like David. A hollow feeling in my stomach forced me to return my sandwich and go get a glass of water.

"Sonny, what was that?" Chad's voice rumbled close to my ear. He grabbed my elbow and whirled me around.

"What was what?" I asked sweetly.

Chad rose his eyebrows, and they disappeared under his mop of light blonde hair.

"You're going with David?" He asked dubiously.

"Yeah," I replied, sipping my water. Ugh, I seriously felt sick. The hollow feeling was turning into a churning feeling.

"Why? To annoy me?" Chad threw out his arms.

Stress burned at my mind. My eyelashes fluttered, and I felt kinda dizzy.

"No, he asked me. Didn't really give me a chance to say no," I said quietly.

Chad didn't notice how much the drama was effecting me. "Well, go tell him you don't wanna go with him!"

"I will when you tell Cara you can't go with her," I breathed.

Chad squinted at me. "You okay?"

I laughed lightly. "There wasn't all this drama back at Wisconsin."

Chad stuck his hands in his pockets. "Well, sorry I'm making you sick," He said bitterly. He walked back to the table.

I sighed, and gulped down some more water. It's kinda hard to know the name of the game around here. I should fall for David- life would work out more that way. But a part of me knew that deep down I liked Chad, and his mixed signals were pretty darn annoying.

I sighed, and turned back from the drink table. I felt a pang in my heart when I saw Cara slithering around Chad's table, flirting with Chad mercilessly. And Chad was soaking it up, laughing with his friends.

I put down my water glass and started walking dejectedly back to my room. I looked sadly over at Chad, who was having a ball. But a flash of panic passed through his eyes, but only for a second.