So I am updating tonight for two main reasons. The first is, of course, because I start classes again at college on Monday and I would like to finish up this story for you all before then. The second is that – aside from the fact that I love writing this story – I got inspired by finishing reading "Jane Eyre" tonight. It is such a good, classic book, and I recommend you all to read it at some point if you haven't already. And without further ado, I should introduce you to the second-to-last chapter of this story of mine! Please enjoy and be so kind as to let me know what you thought!
Disclaimer: I'm a poor college student, so don't sue me. I own nothing.
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 6: Your Friends? They're Jerks.
Zora Lancaster was minding her own eleven-year-old business, when a low-fat cranberry muffin landed with a small thud on the back of her head. As the little girl turned slowly around, she glared menacingly at the giggling table of airheads who were dressed in identical blue plaid skirts with tacky striped ties.
She turned her back momentarily on the pack of actresses before whipping her head around once more. Upon seeing the intense smolder of her eyes, the gaggle of girls hushed their giggles. Zora's mouth tugged upward in a sinister smile. "Oh, you all will be sorry," she vowed, pointing a finger at each of them, "very, very sorry."
Simultaneously, the four girls seated around the Mackenzie Falls table gulped and avoided eye contact with the threatening little star. Zora slowly walked toward the exit of the commissary and after rounding a corner, laughed as she recalled the look of terror plastered across their perfect faces.
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"They threw a what at you now?"
Sonny's hands settled on her hips as she and Tawni stared at Zora who had just completed her story. The latter lifted her tiny shoulder in a shrug.
"A muffin," she replied nonchalantly. "It's no big deal," the girl added, as she saw Sonny and Tawni share a perturbed glance. "They don't know what's coming to them," she finished with a cackle.
Sonny pretended to ignore Zora's threat and instead steered the girl toward the couch, and the pair sat. "Zora, have those girls been picking on you a lot recently?"
Zora waved her hand dismissively. "I don't care, Sonny."
"They've picked on all of us since we got here," Tawni added from where she was currently admiring herself in the mirror. "They're all just a bunch of stuck-up snobs who think they're prettier than everyone else. And I mean, clearly I am the prettiest one here."
"…right," Sonny said slowly as Tawni flipped her hair over her shoulder and giggled excitedly at her reflection. Zora merely rolled her eyes.
"Sonny," she emphasized, placing a hand on her shoulder, "we've been telling you since day one that all of the Mackenzie Falls…"
"…you mean Mackenzie Fails," Tawni corrected, laughing too loudly at her own joke. Zora, once again, rolled her eyes at her roommate.
"Seriously, I don't know how she makes it through the day sometimes," the girl mumbled to herself before continuing her discussion with Sonny. "Back to what I was saying: the Mackenzie Falls…" Zora paused as Tawni giggled softly to herself, "…cast are nothing but a bunch of rich, stuck-up, barely talented teenagers who have nothing better to waste their time on than picking on shows they feel are threats."
Wheels turned in Sonny's head as she replayed event after event that had occurred during the past month and a half. There was potentially one person who could stop the unnecessary taunting between the cast members.
"What if we didn't have to get stuff thrown at us whenever we walked into the commissary? What if we could walk down these very halls with our heads held high in pride and no one around to demean us?"
Tawni and Zora contemplated before the blonde spoke. "I don't think I like where this is headed. The last time you tried out one of your peace parties, you ended up with potato salad in your face, and we ended up glued to chairs. And let me tell you," she continued, jabbing her lipstick case in Sonny's direction, "I had to throw out a perfectly good pair of pants because glue stains are impossible to get out!"
Zora remained silent as Sonny pleaded. "Look, guys, I know I can reason with them. It doesn't have to be like this, you know?"
The eleven-year-old groaned as she realized what Sonny's intentions were. "You're not seriously going to crawl over to Chad Dylan Cooper and ask him to help us, are you?"
"I really think he will this time, guys," the brunette replied, amidst groans and rolled eyes from her two roommates. "I'm serious! He's different now, and I think if I go over there and talk to him, then we can really try and resolve these differences once and for all."
"I say we let her go," Zora announced as Tawni opened her mouth to speak. With a sharp glare from the little girl, Tawni snapped her mouth shut and nodded mutely in agreement. Sonny beamed and rose from the couch.
"Good. I'll go over there now and talk to Chad and then we can put this all behind us."
As soon as the dressing room door clicked shut, Tawni turned to face Zora, her eyebrows knit angrily. "What did you glare at me for?" she demanded.
Zora reclined in the couch and smirked. "Because I'm just dying to know how this all turns out."
"How what all turns out? What's going on?"
Zora pondered for a moment before leaping up from the couch. "I bet I'd be able to hear better in the vents. I wonder if I can get to the Mackenzie Falls set from up there…"
"Hear what?" Tawni asked impatiently. "Hello? Zora, are you listening?" To demonstrate that she clearly was not listening, the latter walked out of the dressing room without so much as a goodbye. Crossing her arms in front of her chest, Tawni frowned. "I hate being the last to know everything."
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"Is barging into my set becoming a routine with you?" Chad asked with a raise of his eyebrow as he stared at the brunette standing in front of him.
"No, Chad, as much as you may think that I have nothing better to do with my day then spend it seeing you, I came over here because of Zora."
Chad appeared puzzled and Sonny continued. "You know," she remarked, holding her arm out just below her shoulder, "about this high, usually wearing pigtails."
Chad snapped his fingers. "Oh yeah, weird little girl."
Sonny rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well, weird little girl, as you may call her, is being picked on by your jerks of friends. She got a muffin thrown at her today while she was eating lunch."
"…and you want me to do what?" the blonde asked. He looked up from where he had been flicking dust from his blazer to meet Sonny's concerned chocolate eyes. His stomach turned and he knew that if he didn't look away he would get sucked into one of her schemes or worse – one of her peace picnics. Flickering his blue eyes to the floor, Chad listened to Sonny's exasperated sigh.
"Chad, I think of you as a…friend, and as my…friend I would be really happy if you could get those Mackenzie Falls girls to stop tormenting Zora, and the rest of our cast for that matter."
Sonny was on the verge of pleading with Chad, and he knew it, hence his adamant attempt to avoid eye contact. The brunette took a plunge and walked a few steps so that she was face-to-face with Chad, who was currently staring at her with utmost curiosity. Sonny placed her hand on Chad's elbow and both teenagers froze momentarily.
"Look, Chad, all I'm asking is for you to do me a favor. If we're friends at all, you'll do that for me."
"Of course we're friends," he responded, looking into her eyes sincerely. Sonny removed her hand from Chad's elbow, much to his inward dismay, and furrowed her eyebrows.
"Then why do you hang around with jerks?"
"I work with them, Sonny," Chad replied with a shrug. "I can't help it, and they can't help it either."
Sonny's eyebrows rose skeptically. "They can't help being jerks? Are you defending them, Chad? Really?"
Chad sighed. "I'm not saying that how they act is right, by any means, but they don't have it as easy as people think. Portlyn barely sees her parents, and it's been like that since she was born. Some of the girls just can't help being catty. It's not that they're hateful people, they just are the way they are."
Sonny's mass of brunette hair shook. "I'm not buying it."
"It's the truth," Chad insisted.
The pair stood in silence for a moment before Sonny boldly asked: "So if you're on a truth kick then, tell me something. How do you truly feel about me?"
Chad was nearly knocked off his feet by the abruptness of her question. He knew that at some point in time, they would have to discuss their relationship, but he didn't think it would be so soon. He knew how he felt, deep down, and the sentimental Chad within him that wanted nothing more than to sweep Sonny off her feet seemed to scream "I like you, Sonny Monroe!"
Logical Chad was a different story. Logical Chad knew that things were never going to be the same. If he spilled his heart out to her and she didn't return those sentiments, all hope was lost. Chad had never known heartbreak. He had always been the one to break hearts. He wasn't ready to face the reality of the painful experience of possibly losing the one person he truly cared for. He couldn't.
While Sonny waited, her heart seemed to slide into her throat, and her lungs seemed to be constricting. Why had she asked that? She was supposed to be talking about Zora, not about their relationship, or lack thereof. Chad ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath.
"I, uh, guess we're friends," he lied.
Sonny's heart sank and so did her face. "Oh, yeah, I knew that." The pair stared at the floor in awkwardly long silence until Portlyn burst in, announcing that Chad was needed on set.
"Yeah, I better…go," the actor responded. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something more, but shut it before striding across set.
Tears collected in the corner of Sonny's eyes and she wiped them away without a word as Portlyn watched. The two brunettes locked eyes for a moment before Sonny practically ran off set, toward her dressing room. With a compassionate sigh, the drama starlet watched the girl leave. Shaking her head, the girl contemplated running after the near-complete stranger, but decided against it and instead headed off to find Chad.
And from the ventilation system, Zora sighed sadly.
I know it's a sad ending, but don't worry – think of this chapter as like, a part 1 to the conclusion of the story!