Disclaimer: I do not own SWAC, Disney, or anything else copyrighted.
A/N: Thank you all for the reviews, faves, alerts, etc! It means a lot to me :) Also, I should've mentioned this in the last chapter, but Chad is going to be a bit OOC / AU in this story, due to the circumstances. I'm not sure how I feel about this... consider this a bit more of an introduction to what's going to happen in future chapters.
Getting used to waking up after partying all night was still something Chad was getting used to. These "parties" were different from the other types of parties Chad attended. When in Hollywood, when at Hollywood's parties, he would stand around, chat with some girls, have a few drinks... whatever. Unless he was with some girl, he would only stay at the party for a few hours. When he was his friends, they would drink, use drugs... just hang around one their places for hours and hours on.
This morning, Chad felt a little more worse than usual. Nothing a few Advil can't take care of, he thought to himself as he rolled out of bed and walked into his kitchen. He grabbed a water bottle and two Advil before swallowing them. He rested against the counter, suddenly feeling dizzy. That new stuff was crazy...
He looked over at the clock and checked the time. It was 8:38AM. He was to be at the studio by 9:30AM. He walked into his bathroom and took a shower. As he took his shower, he noticed a few needle marks in his arms. He frowned at the sight and sighed. He was grateful for wearing long-sleeved shirts and jackets on the show. He finished his shower and changed before walking out of the apartment.
It only took him about 20 minutes to drive to Condor Studios. He easily found a parking spot before walking inside. He walked through Studio 2 first, hoping to catch a glimpse of his favorite Random. Surely enough, as he passed through the hallway, he found Sonny turned around, leaning against the wall, looking on her phone. "Munroe," he casually said.
She quickly jumped and turned around, her eyes wide. "Oh. Cooper."
"Why so jumpy?" he asked, standing across from her, also leaning against the wall.
"Well, I have been the only one in this hallway for a few minutes now, and to hear somebody coming out of nowhere definitely scared me," Sonny murmured, looking back at her phone.
"Mm." Chad nodded.
"Oh, I've got a confession for you, Chad," Sonny said, turning to him, smirking.
Chad raised an eyebrow, also smirking. "Oh, do tell."
Sonny walked over to him and leaned close. "Well..."
"Well...?"
"I watched MacKenzie Falls last night."
Chad mock gasped. "You didn't!"
Sonny innocently nodded. "I did..."
"And how was it?"
Sonny shrugged. "Dramatic."
"Tell me something I don't know, sunshine."
"Interesting."
"That's all? One-worded responses?"
"Well, you did do a good job..."
Chad had to think about the episode from last night. He was high while watching it, but he didn't quite remember what it was about... oh. Yeah. MacKenzie got hooked on drugs after trying them at one of Devon's parties. "Oh, really?"
Sonny nodded. "Mmhmm. It was almost like you've done drugs before..."
Chad smiled slightly. Was he really that good? He shook those thoughts out of his head. Of course he was that good! He IS Chad Dylan Cooper, after all. He is one of the greatest teen actors of all time. He suddenly laughed. "Whatever, Sonny. Chad Dylan Cooper is too good for drugs."
Sonny rolled her eyes. "I figured. Wouldn't want some drugs ruining CDC's already perfect life..."
"You think my life's perfect, Sonny?" Chad suddenly snapped.
Sonny stared at him, frowning slightly. "Well..."
"'Well' what? You think my life is perfect, huh? Well, you're wrong, Sonny," Chad continued to snap, glaring at her.
Sonny looked down and mumbled, "I'll talk to you later, Chad," before walking off.
Chad stared at the retreating girl, now feeling terribly guilty. He didn't mean to snap at her, not at all. Something inside of him just ticked at her statement. He got out his phone and texted his friend, Trey.
You busy around 5?
---
Chad, Max, Trey, and Jason were sitting on the couches in Trey's living room, laughing at a commercial on the TV. Trey turned the channel, and a "Girl's Gone Wild" commercial popped up. All the guys cheered at the commercial.
"Those girls are BANGIN'!" Trey exclaimed.
"Man, I'd like to bang one of them right now," Jason said. The other three guys nodded in agreement.
"I'd like to bang that Portlyn girl you work with," Max told Chad.
Chad rolled his eyes. "Whatever, man, she's not all THAT special."
Max scoffed at him. "'Not all that special'? I know you're on something, but DAMN!"
Chad was about to make a remark when his phone started vibrating. He took his phone out of his pocket and saw that Sonny was calling. He grinned slightly and got up, walking into Trey's kitchen. "Can I get a heeyyy?" he asked as he picked up the phone.
"Chad."
"Sonny..." he whined. "You gotta say heeeyyyy..."
"Whatever, Chad. Look, about earlier..."
"Aww, is Sonny apologizing to me?"
There was a pause on her end. "Excuse me?"
"For thinking you know me. For calling my life 'perfect'."
"I... I should not have to apologize to you, Chad. You should be apologizing to ME."
"Why, Sonny? Why?"
"Because you snapped at me for no reason! At all!"
"Fine!"
She groaned. "Chad, we're not 'fine'!"
"Good!"
She let out a tiny scream. "What the hell is wrong with you?! Are you on crack or something?!"
"Maybe I am," he retorted.
"Whatever. We're not 'good' either."
"Well, fuck you then!"
She scoffed. "Excuse me?" She loudly sighed. "Look, Chad..."
"Don't 'look Chad' me-"
"SHUT UP!" she screeched. He stopped, blinking a couple of times. She continued, "Chad..." She paused for a moment. "I don't know what's going on with you today, and now I'm sorry that I called you." And with that, she hung up the phone.
He stared at the phone and shrugged, shutting it and putting it back in his pocket. "Whatever."
---
The worst part of Chad's crazy nights was that he often forgot what happened the night before.
He continued his usual morning routine - got up, got some food, showered, changed, and headed to work. Once he got to work, he headed back on into Studio 2. Once he woke up, he felt bad about what had happened between him and Sonny the previous morning, and he was going to apologize to her. He couldn't find her in any of the hallways or sets, so he went to her dressing room and knocked on the door.
"Sonny?"
He could hear a few rustling footsteps heading around the room. A few seconds later, he heard the door unlock and saw the door open just a crack.
"What?" No "Good Morning", no "Chad", no "Cooper", just that question. Her voice was full of anger, venom, confusion, and even a hint of sadness. He did not like this one bit at all.
"I just wanted to apologize-"
"Oh, wow, how freakin' nice of you," she spat, opening the door a bit more. Her glare was intense as she stared at him, her arms crossed.
He furrowed his eyebrows. "I just wanted to apologize for my actions yesterday morning," he slowly said.
Her facial expression softened for a second, but was soon replaced with total confusion. "What?"
He stared at her, a completely confused look on his face. "What?"
"Nothing about, 'Oh, I'm sorry for totally spazzing at you on the phone last night'-"
"I... we talked on the phone?"
Her eyebrows furrowed together, a still confused look on her face. "Yes... we had a rather interesting phone conversation..."
His mind was racing. He knew he was at Trey's last night, but a lot of their night was fuzzy in his mind. What could he have possibly said to Sonny?! "I... I really don't remember..." he stuttered quietly.
She stared at him, completely dumbfounded. "What's going on, Chad?" she quietly asked.
He just stared at her, his face completely emotionless. For the first time in a long time, he didn't know what to say. He always had a comeback, an excuse, a reason, something to say, but this time, he was at a loss for words. He couldn't quite explain it himself.
They continued to stand there for a moment, staring at each other. Finally, Sonny sighed and walked back into her dressing room.
Unfortunately, this was the first weird and confusing thing to happen to him that day.
A few of his cast mates acted a bit strange around him when he first arrived on set. He didn't notice it too much at first, for he was too wrapped up in his and Sonny's conversation. He could not figure out what went on the night before during their phone conversation, and he wished so much that he could. As the morning went on, he noticed their stares and whispers more. When lunch came around, they seemed to get over it, though. (Or they pretended really well.) They got their spectacular, delicious lunches and sat at their table. They sat there, talking amongst each other.
Chad briefly looked over at the So Random table. As soon as he looked over, he caught all them staring at him. They didn't look jealous, they didn't look mad, they didn't look happy... they looked curious, confused, like they were wondering something...
And, Sonny... how he could stare into her eyes all day long... He wasn't sure how he felt about the funny brunette. He knew he liked her, and that he desired more of a friendship with her, but something inside made him want more... how much, he wasn't sure. Was it lust, or something along the lines of love?
"Ew, what are they staring at?"
Portlyn's statement caused him to quickly jump out of his thoughts. He hadn't realized how much he had been staring in their direction. "I have no idea," he said, looking back at his castmates.
"They probably heard about your latest Tween Weekly article..." Portlyn said, shrugging.
"And what was that about? I haven't been able to read it yet," Chad quickly said. Normally, he read ALL the articles published about him, whether they were true or not, but he hadn't been so interested in them lately.
Portlyn went through her purse and handed Chad the latest issue. In the corner was Chad's picture and the words: "Chad's crazy night out - details on p.64!"
Chad quickly turned to page 64. His eyes widened. Apparently, him and his three friends were caught walking around town at 1AM. The article talked about how loud they were, how drunk and / or high they sounded, the things they said and did... He internally groaned. Nobody was supposed to know about these things, and he knew his friends wouldn't spill. Why did they go outside?!
He then expected a phone call from his parents tonight. He needed to come up with an excuse fast.