Chapter 6
(Back to Sonny's POV)
--
I stared at Tawni incredulously. She had been eyeing me weirdly all day, and had saved this moment- I had been slipping on my coat to leave the Studio for the evening- to drop the bombshell!?
"Did I stutter?" Tawni quipped, pulling on her neon pink jacket. We walked out the big glass doors and sat on a bench outside the building. "Chad thinks you don't care about what happened in the park," Tawni explained slowly.
I twirled a lock of hair around my finger blankly. What happened in the park? I repeated to myself. I closed my eyes and let the memories flood in. Chad and I were standing in the park, and I had just videotaped him being an egotistical jerk. To my surprise, he hadn't gotten angry. He had looked at me softly, with new respect. "Well played, Monroe," he had said. "Props accepted," I had replied. "We should hang out sometime," Chad had looked at me curiously. "The cameras off, Chad," I teased him. "I know," He shrugged. I had smiled and left the park.
I thought that would have changed things, but the next day we were right back to being enemies. True, he had kissed me. But, he was still being rude and he was taking Cara to the dance!
I said these thoughts to Tawni. She groaned and rolled her eyes at me. "True. But, you were mean to him after he asked you out. And you're going with David to the dance!"
My jaw dropped. "You're on Chad's side now?" I yelled. I scooped up my bag and threw my scarf around my neck and ran off to catch the bus.
People are stupid.
--
The next day, Wednesday, (3 days until the dance,) seemed to drag on. Chad and I weren't speaking to each other, and Tawni was wary of me.
"We need to buy dresses," Tawni informed me after our live shooting for the day. We were dressed up as spoons, so we wobbled back to the dressing room. "Why, is it a fancy dance?" I asked curiously.
Tawni stared at me. "Of course! This is Hollywood! We don't need ballroom gowns, but a dress is a must! I could pull off a gown though," She added quietly to herself.
"Fine," I shrugged. "Let's buy dresses." We changed into sweat outfits and paraded down the hall. Niko and Grady were sitting on a crate, talking angrily.
"What's wrong?" Concern flushed into my voice. "Portlyn and Jeffrey got back together. My chance with her is over, dude!" Niko wailed.
Tawni gaped at him. "What?" She screamed. "He's my date!" Her eyebrows rose so high, I thought they'd disappear into her hairline.
Just then, Tawni's phone vibrated. She glared furiously at it and scanned the screen.
"Hey Tawni, I got the measles so I can't go to the dance with you," Tawni read in a monotone.
Grady doubled over laughing. "There is nothing better than watching you guy's love life's spiral down the toilet," He wiped a tear from his eye. Niko punched him and stalked off.
Grady blinked, then stood up and bowed to Tawni. "I'll take you to the dance," He said in a faux British accent.
"Sure, why not," Tawni groaned. "Make sure your tie is pink, I want a pink dress," She started moaning under her breath and yanked me down the hall.
"What are you gonna do with Jeffrey?" I asked her anxiously. I didn't want another James fiasco. "I'm going to buy a dress that will put Portlyn's to shame. And you are going to make up with Chad," She growled.
"Don't need to do that last one," I tried to make a joke. Sadly, no one was in a funny mood.
"After we buy dresses," Tawni reminded me.
--
Tawni took me to a glitzy boutique called Glitter. It wasn't really my style, but I went in for her sake. The whole store was decorated in glittery accessories and silver colors. It hurt my eyes.
"I love this!" Tawni gushed, selecting a pink dress off a rack. It was strapless, rosy pink, with a bow around the waist and tying on the back, with a full skirt that drooped around the floor.
"Try it on!" I said helpfully. "You find one too!" Tawni called over her shoulder as she disappeared into the dressing room.
"Do you need any help?" A bored looking woman at the register asked.
"Um, no thanks," I replied, my eyes drifting over the dresses. Only one caught my eye. It wasn't anything like Tawni's, it was a lot simpler. It was royal blue, and dropped down to the knee. It was made of slinky material, and it actually shimmered.
I eagerly yanked it off the hook and skipped to the dressing room. After I slipped it on- it fit perfectly!- I walked outside to the huge mirror. The dress cascaded over my frame perfectly, and made me look slimmer and accented my curves. I was beaming at my reflection when Tawni excited her dressing room.
"You look like a princess!" I squealed, clapping my hands. Tawni sighed happily. "Yeah, I know!" She threw up her hands obviously. "You look…nice," She sniffed.
"Thank you," I beamed again. I pictured me walking into the dance, and Chad seeing me in this dress, and he would-
Wait. No. He would be with Cara, and I'd be with David.
"Thinking about Chad?" Tawni said in amusement, watching my face go stricken.
I didn't bother covering it up. "Yeah," A gusty sigh flew out of my mouth. "I can't go with David. I'd be thinking of Chad the whole time," I said grouchily. Tawni looked at me with a hint of sympathy.
We changed into our regular clothes in silence, paid in silence, and left in silence.
It's been a long couple of days.
--
That night at dinner, tempers were flying between the two tables. Silent tempers, because no one was talking. But Tawni and Zora were exchanging urgent looks the whole time.
"Sonny, come help me with my meat catapult!" Zora said in her usual squeak. She leapt out of her chair and dragged me down the hallway. I followed her blankly, and she led me around the square corridor twice. "What is the point of this, Zora?" I asked helplessly.
"Shh!" Zora snapped, her braids whacking me in the face as we stopped in front of a hall closet.
Tawni was leaning against the wall, smirking. As usual.
"Lock her in!" Tawni ordered.
"What?" I gasped, but Zora pushed me into the closet. It was a pretty big closet, about six people could rest comfortably in it.
"What are you two doing?" I bellowed, pounding on the door.
"We'll be back in twenty minutes." Zora answered. I pouted and flicked on the lights. This made no sense. They thought I'd feel better being locked in a closet? Facing the door, I continued pounding on it.
"Can you stop?" Chad's annoyed voice came from below me. Shocked, I whirled around. To my right, he was sitting on the floor, arms crossed, head banging against the wall behind him.
"Chad?" I couldn't believe this. I gulped, and sat against the wall across from him. He looked annoyed and bored, absently twiddling his foot.
"Well, we got twenty minutes," Chad looked at me with his usual bored expression.
I sighed. It would be a long twenty minutes.