I'm thinking I'll try and do chapters every Saturday. Sound good?

When I walk onto set, I check my watch. No one is around, not even Sonny, who wakes up earlier than the rooster himself, and the lights are dark. For once, I think, I'm on time and everyone else is late. What the crap is this nonsense? I fumble for a light switch in the dark, hoping that the knob will stick out, but all I feel is the concrete of the wall and some ropes for the curtains. I've never turned on the lights before, mostly because all the knobs and buttons are too much for me to process all at once. I bump in to a bucket that has been lying around set for about a year and a half now. My shoe loops between the buckets brim and the handle, and before I can brace myself on the wall or grab a rope, I hit the floor.

"It's going to be one of those days," I mumble, rubbing my head. My body struggles to pull my weight up, and I start detangling my foot. It's not an easy task, either, just so you know. Not when it's pitch black, your head is throbbing, and you have that tingling sensation in the back of your throat that someone is watching you, the kind of feeling you only get when it's so dark you can't see your own hand and you're just waiting for a murderer to jump out from behind something and hack your body into tiny little pieces. Maybe it's because of my over active imagination, or maybe because I'm just so paranoid that I'm delusional, but when the lights fling on and I hear twenty people screaming Happy Birthday, Alex, I nearly shit myself. My body flings itself so high in the air that when I hit back down, my foot which I had finally freed is back in the bucket. Heart racing, head spinning, I slowly am pulled up on my feet by Justin and Sonny.

"What the hell," I whisper to Sonny.

"Happy Birthday, Alex." She's whispers back into my ear. Even though I'm not looking at her, I can feel the smile on her face. Her hand snakes around my waist discreetly, so as not to call attention to our relationship, and presses her thumb into my side, trying to let me know that yes, it's okay to breathe now, because no, no one is going to murder me. Her hand leaves before I'm able to grab it, and it's back at her side. Justin puts his arm around my shoulder and drags me away from her and into the arms of my mother, and then my father, Harper and Max, and then to Grady, Nico, Marshall, Zora, and a few of the other friends I've made on set here at So Random. There is a huge cake on the snack table with purple icing, and possibly the biggest pizza I've ever seen at 9 o'clock in the morning. I spot my mom's famous taquitos. How did she manage to bring those? Everyone here must assume that my family flew in on an airplane, and not through magic. Maybe my friends are even denser than I originally thought.

I try and make my way back to Sonny but my mom drags me over to my dad again.

"Magic lessons this Saturday," he says quietly, peering around the room. As if anyone can hear him over the loud music blasting through the studio. I nod, but honestly, I'm so sick of magic lessons that I could care less. My eyes travel across to where Sonny is talking to Grady. She's laughing; I want to hear the joke too. Quickly, I squeeze through a hoard of people but Max stops me.

"Alex, I've got to show you something."

"Right now?" I say impatiently.

"Yes!" He tugs at my hand and drags me along. We're at the other side of the studio now where it's less crowded with people but more crowded with yesterdays costumes hanging on racks and the cameras that were shoved off to the side for the party. I grunt as I'm pulled down to the ground by Max and shoved into a darker corner. "Do you see her?" He points to the only other person who is in the same area as we are: Zora. I start laughing and Max hushes me. I lower my voice to a whisper.

"Well, yeah, I see her. She's not invisible, Maxy. That's Zora."

"You know her?"

"Max," I whine. "Do you not watch the show?"

"What show?"

"So Random…"

"What's that?"

"Oh my god," I smack my hand against my forehead. "I swear, Max."

"Don't let mom and dad hear you,"

"What?"

"Swear, don't let them hear you. You just said you swear."

"Ok, let's just focus on the issue at hand." I sigh. "Yes, Max. I know her. Her name is Zora. Why?"

"She's pretty."

"Uh, I guess." When did my little brother refer to girls as pretty?

"Can you introduce me?" There are only a few moments where Max and I truly have ever connected. We're brother and sister, yes, and we love each other, yes, but we're two completely different human beings. I'm not even sure if Max is of the same species as the rest of us, sometimes. But as I stare at him, at my not-so-little brother, all I can think of is the little boy he once was. He's still goofy and stupid, and he can be a pain in my ass, but he's all grown up. It makes me sad. He's smiling all giddy like, and it reminds me of the time where I was seven and he was five. The marker slipped off the paper and across the table. Max looked at me, and I looked at him, and we both looked at Justin's smug 'I'm telling mom' face. He took off and left Max and I alone, waiting for our mother to come and yell at Max for the marker. Max looked up at me, his eyes weak and innocent, and said just one word: help. I grabbed the marker and put the cap on, climbed as quickly as I could to the counter and grabbed a wet sponge. Max didn't help scrub, but he looked at me with the biggest brown eyes I'd ever seen. His hair was a mess, his face was dumbstruck, but there was something in his eyes that day that is similar to what's in his eyes now.

"Yeah, come on little bro." I throw my arm across his shoulder.

"Now?"

"Well, when did you prefer? When you're ninety?"

"Well, I,"

"Now." I call over Zora. She looks up, sees me, and skeptically skips over. "Zora, this is my brother Max. Max, this is Zora. Zora, Max likes you." I take off, sprinting so quickly away from my little brother and Zora that I manage to trip over air. This time, though, I catch myself on a railing. I know Max is back there cursing my name in his head, but what are older sisters for, anyway? He just said introduce him.

Justin's voice carries over everyone's. He's chatting up Lynda, my twenty-six year old hair stylist. It makes me laugh. Did the Russo boys come not to wish their sister a happy birthday, but to hook up with California girls? She's standing awkwardly with a pepsi can in her hand, and nodding politely. My mom is with Sonny's mom, and that makes me nervous. Not because I don't want them to be friends, but because I know my mom and she has baby pictures in her purse and a collection of Alex stories. They're laughing and eating some of the taquito's my mom brought. I cringe and turn away. Max is still with Zora, and I can't believe I'm saying this, but they would be the perfect couple.

"Hey," Sonny speaks softly into my ear. I smile and turn around. I haven't seen her all morning, and she's the one that threw me the party. I want to hug her, kiss her, or even just hold her hand but I stop myself. She smiles back, a little glint in her eyes, and I nod towards the door. Everyone is too preoccupied to notice our leave, and once we're safely in the hallway, we duck into one of the spare dressing rooms. 'Hey," Sonny says again, a little more shyly. I hook my arm around her waist and drag her to the couch. Finally, I can't help but think. It's quiet.

"You didn't have to do all of this," I mumble through a smile. My elbow props up my head and I rest my back against the art rest. Sonny sits across from me, her legs against her chest, and her head resting on the top of her knees. Her arms wrap around her legs holding them as close to her body as possible. "I didn't even think you knew when my birthday was," She laughs and smiles at me.

"I talked to Justin," she replied, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "I knew it had to be coming up. Process of elimination, you know?"

"Thank you," I smile. My hand reaches out to hers.

"You're welcome," Her hand grabs mine and squeezes. We're rarely alone anymore. We have class and rehearsal, and I have wizard lessons, and Sonny has family here. It's nice being alone for once. Sonny looks around the room, her eyes looking from the floor to the wall to the ceiling and back to the door, but anywhere but mine. I suppose that after spending so much time together with other people, it's only bound to be awkward spending time together alone. I'm not going to lie, I feel awkward too. I'm not a shy person, but Sonny makes me feel anxious, as though at any moment, something about us could break. We're new, this is new, but I want her to look me in the eye and realize exactly what I'm feeling: happy. I'm happy. I could never have been this happy with Dean, and if I was, I don't remember it, and that just proves that it wasn't happy enough. The way Sonny makes everything in the world seem so innocent, it drives me crazy. She's possibly the only person in the world that can both infuriate me and make me smile at the same time. Today, she looks gorgeous, and I can tell that it was effortless to do so. She only has a dab of blush on her cheeks, because her cheeks are already so naturally rosy. Her brown hair is pulled up, (which is rare), and a few strands are hanging down. It's so simple and yet, to me, it's flawless. I envy her. It would take me hours to pull off that look.

"You look…" I stutter, feeling shyer than ever before. "Beautiful."

"Thank you." Her voice is just above a whisper. My thumb runs over the palm of her hand, and then I close my fingers between hers. We're both smiling. Our relationship, I'll admit it now, is complicated. We've kissed only twice; the first time we kissed, and once when I was in the hospital. Hey, stop judging. I told you, this is new. I try readjusting my body a little without too much effort, but I only situate myself uncomfortably on the couch, in one of those positions that bothers you so much you have to stand up and re-sit back down in order to regain any form of comfort. Sonny lets out a little laugh.

"What?" I say innocently, hoping that comfortableness will come with time. It doesn't.

"This is weird,"

"Yes." I breathe a sigh of relief.

"I'm not sure what to do," she admits. "We're never alone."

"I know," I pause. "Hold that thought." Our hands break apart and I stand up, smoothing out my shirt and sitting back down, this time closer to Sonny. "Ok, much better."

"Alex?" She takes my hand again. "Would it be okay…if…"

"Yeah?"

"If…I…kiss you?" She looks down to the ground.

"Yes," I say, too quickly than I would have liked. Her smile widens. "I mean… we're dating, right?"

"Yes."

"Yeah."

"Alright." Sonny moves a little bit closer, but stops, so I move the rest of the way. Her eyes are still looking down at the ground, and I can't help but look too, hoping that maybe there is something so interesting down there that it could explain the reason she won't look at me, but all I see is cheap grey carpet. My finger lightly grazes her cheek and she looks up, startled.

"We've done this before," I'm speaking quietly, despite there being no one around to hear our conversation. "In fact, I remember you sexually assaulting me in the prop room." Her cheeks turn a deep shade of red. "Sonny," My voice is a little bit harsher now. "I like you."

"I like you too."

"Kiss me, please." I know I'm begging. I probably sound like a fool. But, I've been wanting this to happen for weeks now. It took me two long weeks of recovery in a hospital, with Sonny at my side every minute of every day, but along with Sonny was my family. Then, we had to get right back to work. I want this.

Sonny doesn't hesitate, though. It's like all she needed to hear was me saying the words. My hand rests on her waist close to her hip, and the other one grazes her cheek. This kiss is different than the others we shared; the first kiss was spontaneous and random, and the next just the same. Now, this kiss, this is different. It's slow and graceful, but passionate, our lips two ballerinas sliding across a stage with fireworks and strobe lights behind us. Sonny moves closer to me and I lean back more so my back rests on the arm of the couch. She brings her hands into my hair, playing with the strands and twirling them with her fingers. I pull away and cup her face with my hands.

"I like you," I say again.

"I like you too," she repeats. We kiss once more, and she then rests her head on my shoulder. "This is different."

"What is?"

"Kissing a girl," she says slowly. "I've never-"

"Me either."

"I like it," She says, her head buried in my shoulder. I think she's trying to muffle her voice. I can hear her perfectly.

"I do too,"

"We should go back."

"We should."

"Do you want to?"

"Well, this couch is pretty comfortable. So not really."

"Your parents are out there. My mom is out there."

"Yeah," I sigh.

"Later?"

I take her hand and wrap it in my own, and then we walk to the door. With her only free hand, she tries to open the door, but I gently shove her sideways a little and block the handle. Sonny steps back, and I smile. "I forgot something." Her head tilts to the side, and then a small, toothy smile reflects back at me. I lean in and kiss her.

"We have two weeks, guys." Marshall bows his head and taps his foot. Grady, Nico, Zora, Sonny and I are all sitting in the prop room. It's a Saturday morning and way too early to be awake. Grady's eyes keep opening and shutting, and Nico sits next to him, his head slumping to the side every few minutes. Zora is asleep, her head leaned all the way back against the couchs back. Sonny is the only one out of all of us that is wide awake. She's got a small, half-smile on her face and her eyes have that 'I'm a really perky, morning person' twinkle. "Two weeks to pick up our ratings, or the show is canceled. It's as simple as that." Every single one of us bolts upright. Sonny's face drops. Zora's mouth hangs open. Nico and Grady, looking completely dumbfounded, stand upright. And me? I slip off my seat, the armrest of the chair.

"Sorry, what?" I say. Marshall pulls up a clipboard from the coffee table and tosses it to me.

"We're low, really low."

"How?" Sonny shrieks. "We're were just up! Up, really up!"

"Mackenzie Falls changed their time slot," he explains. "We're competing against each other now. And, if people have to choose, they're going to choose a crappy, teenage drama compared to a comedy sketch show. We're in 2010, guys. People want emotion, people want anger, people want ridiculous half-baked Twilight-esque romantic dramas. Mackenzie has all of that wrapped nicely with a Chad Dylan Cooper action figure. We've got to move it and find a way to get our ratings up or else So Random will be so done." Grady and Nico sit back down and put their heads in their hands. Zora, very unamused, seethes next to Sonny. Sonny stands up and begins pacing back and forth. Marshall takes that as his cue to leave. Everyone knows that once Sonny starts pacing, it means the wheels in her head are turning and something is about to churn out. What that something is, is the scary part.

"This isn't fair!" Sonny's voice goes up a few octaves. She throws her arms down and stares at me. "How do we get our ratings up?"

"How should I know?" I slip into Sonny's vacated seat and lean back.

"Don't you care?"

"Of course I care, Sonny. I'm on the show too. But there isn't some magical way we're going to get more ratings in the next few days." I stop talking. Sonny looks at me curiously. The other three keep staring, puzzled, into the air, completely oblivious to the silent communication Sonny and I are exchanging. Something is telling me that this is a bad idea. Tell me something I don't know. "Want to go to my house for dinner tonight, Sonny?"

"We're about to lose the show and all you can think of is food?" Zora asks incredulously.

"I'm hungry," I say defensively.

"Yes," Sonny says quickly before Grady can interrupt.

"Can we come?" Nico asks. I hesitate, glance at Sonny, and then back at the other three. Uh, yeah, sure goes, hold on let me go get my wand and magically zap us to New York? Yeah, this is going to go over really well. I edge my way around the table and begin backing up towards the door. Sonny grabs my wrist and pulls me back. She's not going to let me run away.

"Well," I manage a few stutters and slurs of half-spoken words. "My brother is actually really sick. It would be a bad idea."

"But it's a good idea for Sonny to be there?"

"She's immune," I reply quickly. "Chicken pox. Sonny already had them."

"I got the vaccination," Grady says. Zora nods and so does Nico. They all got the damn vaccination.

"It's a rare chain of chicken pox." My eyes dart over to Sonny, who is standing with a bemused smirk on her face and her hands folded across her stomach. "Apparently, it's not really chicken pox, but they don't have a name for it yet, and it gives you the same symptoms as chicken pox. We've been calling it turkey pox, since he likes turkey. A lot. It's a east side of the United States thing. That's why Sonny has had it, because she's from Wisconson. That's on the east side of the country."

"Wisconson isn't near New York," Nico shakes his head, looking confused. "Is it?"

"No, pea brain. Wisconson is near Michigan and Minnesota. New York is by Vermont and Pennsylvania."

"They're close, though." My voice drops quieter as I reach the though in my sentence. "Wisconson and New York are actually really close in comparison to Wisconson and New York to California, so, it's really, it's just, it makes sense, okay?"

"Have any of you ever been to Alex's house?" Grady asks.

"Not me," Nico says.

"Definitely not." Zora pulls an apple from her pocket and takes a bite. "In fact," Chew, chomp, chew. Bite. "I don't even know where you live, Alex."

"Oh," Come on Sonny, a little help? She's still standing there with a stupid smile on her face. "I live around here."

"Where is here?"

"Here, like, around the studio… a neighborhood near here." Sonny lets out a laugh, covering not so smoothly with a rough cough. I see her eyes dart over to the sarcophagus, where we spend many evenings in my bedroom watching movies or running lines. Get your minds out of the gutter, you pervs.

"Sonny has been to your place tons of times I bet," Nico points his finger at Sonny, who holds her hands up, palms facing Nico, in a 'hey don't look at me' type of way. "Why don't you let us come over, huh? We're your cast members too,"

"It's complicated?" I take a look down at my wrist, hold it up to my face, and pretend to check a watch, which is conspicuously absent from my body. "Look at the time," I feign in a rush. "I really have to go. We'll figure out a way to get ratings up later!" Before Sonny can grab my hand again, I bolt. I hear the door shut behind me, open again, then shut, and then a burst of uncontrollable giggles. "You could have helped me out, you know!" I don't even look back. I know it's Sonny.

"You did fine," she lies.

"I told them my brother has the turkey pox."

"They bought it."

"That's not saying much for them," I point out. "Anyway, dinner tonight?"

"Yes," She's still trailing behind me, even with her long legs. "Hey, wait." I stop, and she pulls me back. "You're not mad at me, are you?" My expression softens, and I look down the corridor behind her for any strangling cast members or crew. My lips brush her cheek, leaving a patch of reddened skin from a creeping blush.

"I'm not mad,"

"Sorry I didn't help,"

"You can make it up to me," I smile coyly.

"Why Ms. Russo, I've no idea what you mean."

"Mind out of the gutter, Monroe. I was thinking you could hold the spell book while I look up a spell to get our ratings up and Mackenzie's down."

"This sounds like a bad idea,"

"If I listened to every person who told me that what I was about to do was a bad idea, I'd have a lot less groundings under my belt and Tokyo never would have had to deal with the giant monkey. How much fun would the world be then?"

"Godzilla was the monster in Tokyo…"

"That's what you think," I wink and run down the hall, Sonny chasing after me. For the first time in a long while, I can't wait to practice some magic.

Review please.