Thank you to all of you who are continuing to review and compliment this story! It really is a joy to read all of your reviews. I didn't even realize this, but I am jumping back and forth between Chad and Sonny as primary narrators in the chapters. This one will feature Sonny's thoughts, mainly. As always, thank you all for sending me such encouraging feedback, and enjoy this chapter of the story!

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Well, that's not entirely true – in this chapter, I do own Reagan and Ashlee.

Spoilers: None!

7 Things

"…but nothing's ever gonna change until you hear, my dear, the seven things I hate about you. The seven things I hate about you, oh, you…"

Chapter 4: You Love Me, You Like Her

Sonny Monroe was fuming.

And it wasn't due to the usual three-named reason. No, the brunette was currently alternating checking her watch and tapping her toes in aggravation because someone was holding up the line for food in the commissary. With Marshall's scheduled rehearsal for the cast's new sketch scheduled to begin in only fifteen minutes, Sonny would have nowhere near enough time to scarf down a plate of food.

The young woman heaved an angry sigh and jostled her way to the front of the line, ignoring the cries of indignation that erupted around her. What she discovered was a tan, lanky blonde teenager arguing with the lunch lady about the contents of her salad.

"Now, are you sure that this is baby arugula? I specifically asked for baby arugula."

The lunch lady rolled her eyes and pointed to the line that was slowly wrapping itself around the commissary. "Yes, now hun, I know you're Chad Dylan Cooper's girlfriend, but I gotta serve other people too."

Sonny's curiosity peaked and before her mental filter could sort through thoughts, words spilled out. "You're Chad's girlfriend?"

The blonde flicked a few locks of hair over her shoulder, a la Tawni, and narrowed hazel eyes scrutinized Sonny. "Yeah, and you must be one of the extras on Geeky Girl."

Sonny was about to open her mouth and counter with an emphatic and sarcastic reply, but the boy in line behind her gasped and spoke first. "Dude," he replied, placing a hand on Sonny's shoulder, "do you know who this girl is? She's Sonny Monroe, from So Random! It's like, one of the funniest shows on the air."

Sonny turned around and mouthed a thank you to her defender, then promptly faced the blonde. She was rolling her eyes in apparent disinterest.

"Yeah, whatever," she scoffed. Staring down Sonny coldly once more, the blonde picked up her tray and sauntered out of the commissary. A collective sigh of relief escaped the line, which had remained uncannily silent during her exchange with Sonny.

The brunette was still seething with anger as the she picked up her tray. The boy who had defended her chuckled slightly as he watched her attempt to fill her shaking cup with soda from the fountain. He offered to hold her cup while she pressed the button instead.

"That," he informed her as the pair meandered toward a table, "was Ashlee Adams. She's one of the most attractive teenagers in Hollywood these days…and one of the meanest."

"Gee, I wonder what would make people say that," the brunette dryly replied.

The boy, who Sonny learned was named Reagan, laughed and continued after taking a bite of his taco. "The word on the street is that Ashlee dates guys solely for the fame of it. And since she's such a talented actress, she boosts their publicity up too. The guys usually end up getting movie contracts within a month of starting a relationship with her." At this, Sonny's eyebrows raised and Reagan nodded. "Impressive, right?"

Sonny pondered for a moment. "So, what's the catch?"

"The catch is that after a little while, Ashlee gets bored with her men and ends up publicly humiliating them into oblivion in some way."

"Wait, how does she do that?" Sonny asked.

Reagan thoughtfully recalled. "The last guy she dated was a famous up-and-coming young designer named Oliver Manuel."

Sonny gasped. "Not the Oliver Manuel."

"The very same," the boy responded. "And what she did to him was just awful. She completely disgraced him at a party in Paris and left with another guy. The next morning, she had the gall to get on a local Parisian news station and tell everyone that he stole all of his designs from other famous designers."

"And that was the end of Oliver Manuel," the young woman concluded with realization.

Reagan nodded sadly. "No one has heard from him since, which can only make one wonder exactly what her devious plans are for Chad Dylan Cooper."

Sonny's stomach suddenly felt unbearably queasy, and, after thanking Reagan for lunch, the brunette trotted out into the hallway. Upon checking the clock, she realized that any conversation with Chad would have to wait until after rehearsal.

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"Cut!" Marshall called for the fourth time since Nico, Tawni, and Sonny had started their sketch. "Sonny, you seem very distracted today. Is everything alright?"

The actress nodded unconvincingly. Marshall sighed. "Let's just take a ten, everyone." Sonny pulled off her apron angrily. She had been replaying her conversation with Reagan over and over, trying to decipher exactly why Ashlee bothered her so much.

Apart from the evident fact that Ashlee was a heartless, soulless actress, the nagging question on Sonny's mind was simple: why would Chad date someone like that? Everyone thought Chad to be a jerk, and the majority of the time, they were right. Chad Dylan Cooper was vain, self-centered, and egotistical. But he was also sweet, caring, funny, and…

Wait, what am I thinking? Did I just describe Chad as being sweet? Sonny shook her head, trying to clear away the thoughts that had already settled there. She hated so much about Chad, but she couldn't truly bring herself to hate him. And he, just like everyone else, deserved only the best in a relationship.

"Tell Marshall I will be right back," Sonny instructed Nico. Before her cast mate had the chance to utter any form of reply, the brunette had taken off at a canter in the direction of Studio 2.

Heart pounding rapidly inside of her chest, Sonny approached Chad's dressing room door and knocked lightly. She could hear the faint sound of footsteps and sighed with relief as her blonde rival opened the door.

"Good, you're here," she said. "I wanted to talk to you about…"

"Chaddy, who's at the door?" a shrill voice asked.

Chad looked over his shoulder then back toward Sonny before replying. "It's one of the Randoms. This won't take long," he assured her, stepping out into the hallway and shutting the dressing room door behind him with a click. "What's up Monroe?"

Sonny's scoff indicated that he should clearly know why she was standing in front of him. When Chad looked searchingly at her, Sonny sighed. "It's about your jerk of a girlfriend in there."

Chad's eyebrows arched and he smirked. "Jealous?"

"Are you kidding me?" the brunette asked incredulously. "That girl in there is more of a jerk than you are on your bad days, and you think that I am actually jealous of her?"

"Well," Chad remarked, popping his suit collar slightly, "who wouldn't be jealous to be going out with moi?"

Sonny ignored his statement and instead pulled him down the hall, away from earshot of Ashlee. "Look, Chad, you don't know what I do about her. She's not good news. She could totally destroy you and your career at any moment. And I know how in love you are with both of those."

The actor ran a hand through his perfectly styled hair and placed a hand on Sonny's forearm. She was slightly startled at his sensitivity, but didn't have enough time to decipher what his intentions were. "Look, Sonny, I think it's sweet that you care about me, but I can handle myself."

Sonny arched her eyebrows. "Oh really?" she asked sarcastically. "So you're going to date her even though she has destroyed people's lives in the past? You actually would do something stupid like that? Chad, I know I don't give you much credit but I thought you were smarter than –"

Chad had removed his hand from Sonny's arm and clamped it over her mouth mid-sentence. "Let me talk," he said in an even tone. Sonny nodded and Chad removed his hand. "I don't care about Ashlee. I don't like her, I don't get those cheesy little butterflies when I see her. I hate how she calls me Chaddy, and I don't look forward to seeing her."

"Then why are you –"

Chad held up a hand and Sonny's mouth closed. "I'm dating her because I want her reign of destroying people to end with me. I want her to get caught in her own trap, and I want her to feel what it was like to hurt those guys."

Sonny's eyebrows furrowed in thought before she chuckled. "Chad Dylan Cooper is vindictive?"

Chad shook his head. "I want justice."

"So you'd never date a girl like that?" she asked, trying to ignore the wave of relief that had wafted over her entire body.

A perfect smile and a shake of a head was Sonny's response. For what seemed like the umpteenth time that month, Sonny apologized. "I'm sorry I doubted you and your judgment Chad. I should know that even you have better taste than to seriously date someone like Ashlee."

"I mean, don't get me wrong," Chad began, "she is gorgeous. Totally my type. Yeah, if she wasn't such a terrible human being, I'd date her."

Sonny rolled her eyes and smacked Chad's shoulder. The brunette checked her watch. "I should probably head back to rehearsal before Marshall fires me or something."

As she turned to leave, she felt Chad's hand grab her wrist and her heart leapt into her throat. Sonny turned to face the blonde, whose face had softened into a genuine smile. Still holding her wrist, he asked: "You were worried about me, weren't you?"

Denial was Sonny's first reaction in that moment. "Pf, I mean, I was worried about you losing your, uh, job. Yeah, I was worried that you'd lose your job."

Chad smirked and slid his hand into hers. The pair's fingers interlocked automatically and they broke eye contact with one another long enough to examine their intertwined hands. A blush crept onto Sonny's cheeks and Chad squeezed her hand quickly. "I think it's cute how worried you were," he replied.

Sonny's mind and heart were somersaulting, doing back handsprings and every other gymnastic move. Smiling was her only reflex. "You do?" she asked, hoping to not appear too eager.

"Yeah," he replied, letting go of her hand, much to the dismay of both actors. "I think it's so cute how much you like me, but won't admit it," Chad finished with a wink.

Sonny's eyes narrowed and she shook her head. "Chad, it's called acting. Clearly, I'm so good at it that I just convinced you that I liked holding hands with you."

With a roll of his blue eyes, the blonde laughed dryly. "Whatever you say, Monroe. Shouldn't you be getting back to your little comedy show?"

Angrily huffing, the brunette glared. "Isn't there a mirror somewhere getting lonely without you?"

Chad shook his head and glared back. "At least I have talent."

"At least I have a sense of humor."

"At least people watch my show."

"At least I don't push puppies."

"Fine."

"Fine."

"Good."

"Good!"

"Good."

"Good!" Sonny huffed before adding: "…bye," and storming back toward her set. And she mentally cursed herself because for the rest of the week, she couldn't think of Chad without remembering what his hand felt like holding hers.

Curse that Chad Dylan Cooper.

Well, I hope you all enjoyed! Please review and tell me what you liked and didn't like – constructive feedback is always welcome.