Not in a Car

"Cheer up, Sonny," Chad's voice was loud and arrogant. "Just because your new car broke down doesn't mean you have to let it ruin the rest of your night."

"Chad, the party's over, and I have no way to get home," Sonny said coolly. Chad looked away from his pocket mirror, surprised.

"The party's over? Huh, I didn't notice," he said incredulously, turning back to his reflection. Sonny rolled her eyes.

"Anyway, I have no way to get home because my mom's in Berlin and I don't have a car. Chad, what do I do?"

"I'd say start walking," Chad said, flipping his hair. "Do you think I need to condition more?"

"What?" Sonny said. "No, your hair's perfect, okay? We were just discussing how to get me home!"

Chad smiled at her. "Really? Perfect, eh? Well, that, my funny little Sonny, deserves a ride home in my brand new prius!"

Sonny blinked. "I thought you had a Porsche." She said.

Chad shrugged. "It had really bad rear view mirrors. They made my nose look fat."

Sonny refrained from saying what she was about to say.

"Okay, well, let's go then," she said, unable to think of anything else to say. She walked over to the passenger side of the car, and as she pulled on the handle, a loud siren popped out of the hood of his car and began wailing loudly. Startled, she did a double-take and swiveled around to face a smirking Chad.

"Why does your car have an alarm?" She asked, irritated.

Chad shrugged. "All cars do," he said simply.

"Yeah, but not like this! Could you just take me home, Chad, please?"

There was a flash of light and a great whoop of delight. The two turned to see a nearby bush rustle, and then a man covered in leaves jumped out at them. In fright, they hugged each other and stepped back.

The man snapped his camera once again. "It's official!" he said with glee. "Chad Dylan Cooper of Mackenzie Falls and Sonny Monroe of So Random! are the new Romeo and Juliet of Hollywood! Tell me, Channy, how do you feel about your secret love affair being exposed?"

"ARRRGGGHHH!!" They shrieked, and in a hustle, Chad ushered Sonny into his car, then jumped in behind her, He didn't even bother with strapping in, he just slammed his key into the ignition then floored it, and they accelerated down the highway, with the paparazzi man running after them. Sonny, who was watching him in the rear-view mirror, saw him flag down a cab and speed right on after them.

"Chad, faster!" She cried. "He's coming!"

"I'm going, I'm going!" Chad shouted, pressing down harder on the gas pedal.

"Turn right, turn right, turn right!" Sonny said, making violent hand gestures towards said direction. Chad veered to the left, made a U-turn, and zoomed back up the street they had just come from. The yellow cab whizzed by and down the road, turning right and chasing after them on the other side of the street.

"Your other right," she groaned as she saw another flash of the camera. "Chad, I asked if you could take me home, not on a car chase that could get us on the FBI's most wanted list!"

"Well I'm sorry," Chad said sarcastically, "But in case you hadn't noticed he snapped a couple of pictures of us that make it look like we're together!"

"Well, that's no reason to run away from him," she said angrily. "Now you're gonna give him even more to report about. The press is gonna have a field day after this. I can see it now: Chad Dylan Cooper and Sonny Monroe Attempt a High-Speed Getaway To Escape From Photographer Who

Caught Them Together."

Chad glanced sideways at her. "You say that like it's a bad thing," he said.

Sonny realized what he meant, and suddenly the car seemed extremely hot and stuffy. "I – well – not bad, just – you know – it would never happen," she finished lamely.

Chad's brow furrowed. "Never? You'd never go out with me?"

"Well – well you'd never ask me!" Sonny retorted.

"But if I did ask you, would you go out with me then?" Chad asked. Sonny could feel her cheeks flaming, but she could see that his were a little pink too. Huh. Chad was blushing.

"I – well – only if you asked me," Sonny stuttered. Chad smiled.

"Cool," he said. Then there was silence.

"What just happened?" Sonny asked, raising her hands in question. "I'm really confused. Did we just-?"

"Yes, you just admitted that you like me and you want to date me." Chad smirked at her victoriously.

"Well – so did you!" Sonny said indignantly. She was not going down alone.

"Ha, see, you just admitted it again!" Chad laughed. Sonny scowled.

"Quit messing with me Chad. You know, this is just as awkward for me as it is for you."

"Me? Who said it was awkward for me?" Chad asked incredulously.

"Well, you were blushing, and you won't look me in the eye. That's a sure sign of awkwardness." Sonny said proudly.

"I am Chad Dylan Cooper, and I do not blush. And I won't look you in the eyes, because in case you haven't noticed, I'm driving a car!" His face was flaming red as he said it.

"You're blushing now, Chad, look in the mirror." Sonny pointed out. She was grinning very widely.

"I'm not blushing, it's just really hot in here," Chad answered heatedly. (I think that's called a Tom Swiftie) "Wow, it's really, really, hot, you mind if I crack a window open?"

"Admit you're blushing because you're embarrassed that you like me," Sonny said, her hand ready on the button.

"I'm not embarrassed that I like you," Chad yelled, switching the A/C on. He stopped when he realized what he said. "Oh, wait-"

"Ha! I knew it!" Sonny said joyfully. She began to dance in her seat. Chad looked at her, smiling bashfully. "You like me, you like me, Chad D. Cooper likes me!"

"Well you took that extremely well," Chad said, turning onto a small narrow street. Sonny recognized her neighborhood.

"So, that's it?" Sonny asked, slightly crestfallen. She'd expected something better. "You're not gonna ask me out or anything?"

Chad pulled into her driveway, and then put the gears into park. He took his foot off the pedals and turned to look at her.

"I was thinking I'd like to do something more along the lines of this, first," he said softly, and then he leaned forward and kissed her. Sonny's brown eyes widened, but then she fluttered them shut and replied with so much gusto that Chad's head ended up banging the window.

"Ow," he muttered, rubbing his head. Sonny smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry," she said ashamedly, looking down.

"Don't be," Chad said, sounding much more like his old, charming, devilish self. "I'll see you later."

"Yeah," Sonny replied, getting out of the car all red-faced.

He locked eyes with her through the windshield and smiled brightly, which she'd rarely ever seen before. She watched the shiny silver prius drive away, and when he was gone she squealed, jumping up and down in her driveway.

Well…there you go. I'm not so sure about this one, what did you think? Anyway, yeah. Next chapter will be called Not Near.