Chad

I had no idea why I was so worried about Sonny. Maybe it was her fall yesterday. Yeah, that was it. I was still worried about her because she'd almost fallen three stories and I almost had to witness it. But there was something else screaming at me. Something telling me that that wasn't completely why I was worried.

I'd text messaged Sonny five times. She hadn't answered any of them. Another reason why I was worried was because Sonny was sick and I'd just recently got a sore throat. This wasn't going to be a good week for CDC. We were supposed to leave for the tour tomorrow, but Marshall was thinking about not letting Sonny go. She was sick and if she went she would get everyone else sick.

But the real problem was that I was starting to feel bad and if I was sick, just like Sonny, I wouldn't be able to go on the tour. If I wasn't going to be able to go on the tour then Sonny Munroe had better not be able to go either.

I'd just finished filming the last scene of our most recent episode of Mackenzie Falls. It focused on Mackenzie's long-lost sister, Dorothy, finally finding her way back to the Falls. But since Dorothy had been left by Portlyn's character, Dorothy was looking for revenge.

I was looking forward to getting home so I could take a long bath and try to reach Sonny again, but Blondie and the rest of the Randoms started running right towards me. They weren't running from anything. They were running at me. I knew that this was about Sonny's trip(haha), so I just let Blondie take my arm and lead me into her and Sonny's room.

"Listen here, Chad Dylan Cooper! We know you don't like Sonny, but that's no reason to try and throw her off the roof!" Blondie said.

"I was-"

"Yeah! Just because she chose your cousin over you, doesn't mean that you can try to kill her!" Shorty said.

"Wait, wha-"

"Chad you are in-"

"Serious trouble!" Tweedle-dum finished for Tweedle-dummer.

"Hold up!" I yelled. After they were all silent, I said, "I did not try to kill Sonny, for one. For two, Sonny didn't have a choice to pick my cousin over me because she can't pick me. So, if you will please excuse me, I am going to go home, where I can relax before our trip tomorrow."

I turned and left the room, along with the Randoms, and went to my dressing room. Portlyn was there. It looked like I wasn't going to get any peace today.

"Chad! Chad!" Portlyn practically screamed.

"Yes? What is it Portlyn?" I asked.

"You are never going to believe it!" she said.

"Believe what exactly, Portlyn?" I was getting tired of playing this game.

I sat in my makeup chair while Tammy, my personal assistant, got me a plate of appetizers. While I ate some cheese sticks, jalapeno pepper poppers, and potato skins, Portlyn explained what I was never going to believe.

"Well, you know how Sonny has that cold, right?" she said, tapping her foot.

"Of course. I know everything around here." I explained.

"Right. Well, Marshall threw a big fit about it and went to Mr. Condor!" she said.

"What!? Well, what happened?" I asked. I was interested now.

"Mr. Condor is getting a special doctor to come up here tomorrow morning before we leave. We all have to get checked out for illnesses and we have to get some shots so we don't catch anything in those other countries. If there is anything wrong with us, we can't go because that might cause some of the countries to catch something they don't have over there and can't cure." she informed me.

"Okay, Portlyn. You can go now." I said.

"Excuse me?" she said with an attitude.

"Oh. I mean, thank you? I will see you later?" I said, confused. She nodded and prodded away. I was guessing that she was so upset about this because she had to get shots. I've known Portlyn for a long time and the entire time I've known her, she has been afraid of needles. She always had to get a couple of nurses to hold her down and then she bawled like a baby.

But the main reason why I was worried was because I was feeling bad and I had to get checked out tomorrow. What if I was just getting whatever it was Sonny has and it just hadn't made its big appearance yet? What if Sonny got better by tomorrow and she got to go, but I didn't? This was not going to be a fun night.

I was on my way to the parking lot when Marshall called me into his office.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"Chad, I know that this is going to be a big favor to ask you, but I really do need someone to do this for me." Marshall said.

"What'cha need?" I asked with a smile. Turning on the charm always landed me on the good side of people.

"I'm just going to let you know that I've already asked Tawni, and she says that she's still packing and she'll probably be up all night trying to decide what outfits she's going to wear. No one else is free." he told me.

"Okay. So what am I doing?" I asked, just a little confused.

"I can't get a hold of Sonny. I'm kind of worried about it because she's not going to know anything about the doctor and what not. Would you head by her house on your way home?" Okay, this guy had to be crazy. Time to try and get out of this.

"Marshall, I would love to, you know that right? But I have no idea where Sonny lives." I said, taking a seat. This was going to take some work to get out of.

"You have a GPS, right? I can just give you her address, and it'll get you there. Unlike my stupid GPS." he replied.

"Well, yeah, but-"

"Great! Here's the address. I wrote it down on this paper for you." He handed me a piece of paper. "If she's feeling good, have her call me please. If she isn't, just talk to her and tell her everything she needs to know for tomorrow. If she feels like she isn't going to be able to go tomorrow, call me and let me know. Thanks, Chad. I owe you." he said, walking out of the room.

"Yeah, you do." I mumbled. I let out a deep sigh and went outside. Unfortunately for me, it was raining. "Aw, man! I knew I should've brought the Saleen instead of the Solstice!" My Saleen actually had a top. The Solstice didn't. I was going to be driving in the rain, with no top.

I got into my car and tried to see if maybe I could drive with one hand on the steering wheel and one hand holding a newspaper over my head. When that didn't work, I reached into my glove-box and grabbed a hat. It helped a little bit, but there was no way I was getting out of this without getting drenched.

My GPS was waterproof, so I entered Sonny's address into it. It immediately started telling me where to go. My day got even worse when I found out that her house was the opposite direction from mine. I had to go ten minutes East to get to her house and then I would have to drive another twenty minutes back West to get to my house. Who knew if Connie would even let me in, soaked like I was?

I turned on the radio, but it didn't help matters at all. The song that came on was just rubbing it in. Although it was reminding me what was going on, I decided to sing with it.

"There's something about the sunshine, baby.

I'm seeing you in a whole new light.

Out of this world for the first time, baby.

Oh, it's so right."

I had to admit that I screwed up a couple of the lines. But, my voice still sounded amazing even with the wrong words. Sometimes when I opened my mouth a couple of raindrops would fly in and I would find myself sputtering and spitting everywhere. It wasn't like my car wasn't wet already.

I made my way up the winding hill to where Sonny lived. The apartment complex she lived in was only a road away and I couldn't wait to get out of the rain. It was ruining my hair. I parked under a big tree that did a pretty good job of protecting Celine, my car.

I ran to the call box and found the button marked Munroe. I hit it and waited for an answer. It never came. I hit the button again, and then someone answered.

"I'm sorry for making you wait. Yes?" Connie said.

"Hi, Mrs. Munroe?" I asked.

"Yes? Who is this?" she replied.

"Chad Dylan Cooper." I smiled without realizing it. "I'm here to see Sonny."

"Oh. Chad? I'm sorry, but Sonny isn't feeling well." she told me.

"Well, Marshall sent me by. He wanted me to fill Sonny in with what's going on tomorrow. I…uh…I also wanted to check up on her."

"Well, okay. We're on the third story. Room 36B. Just knock when you get up here." she informed me and hung up. The door buzzed and I went in. It was nice to be out of the rain, but it was freezing inside. I couldn't find an elevator so I took the stairs. I kept following the way it said to go and found the third story easily. What was actually hard was finding Sonny's room.

The hallway split four directions. There was a crossing right in the middle of the floor. The rooms were so spread out that I had to go halfway down the hallway to see if I was going the right way. The second hallway I went down was the right one. Sonny's room was the last on the hallway.

I was suddenly very aware of my appearance. I looked around to see if anyone was there. I don't know why I did that, but when I did, I saw that I'd left a trail of water everywhere I went. My elbows and hair were dripping water. There really wasn't anything to do but just ring the doorbell and get it over with. I hit the button and waited for Connie.

She answered almost immediately. She was turned the other way when she answered so she didn't see me at first. When she turned, she saw me and her mouth dropped open. I gave her an apologetic smile.

"Oh my goodness! Look at you, sweetie. Get in here and I'll see if I can find something dry for you to wear." she told me.

"Oh, um, okay." I said. Wow, Sonny's mom was really nice.

"I have some old clothes in the closet. I'll go get them and we'll see what looks best. Sonny is on the couch in the living room." She went to turn around, but I guess she saw my confusion and said, "That way." She pointed to my right.

I started walking that way and went through a dining room. There were pictures all over the place of Sonny and her mom. There was a picture of baby Sonny looking cute. The bottom had her name, Allison, written in yellow on it. That suited Sonny.

What am I thinking!? Come on, Chad. Just go tell Sonny what Marshall said so you can get out of here and get back home. I thought.

Home. I hadn't really had a real home in a really long time. My parents were always gone somewhere. It was always me in my big, lonely house. Every now and then the maid or butler would come in and ask me a question, but that was all. Don't get me wrong, it's great having your own house to do whatever you want in. But sometimes it gets lonely, and you want someone with you.

I kept going and found the living room. Sonny was asleep on the couch. She did not look good at all. Her hair was all knotted up and her mouth was open. She was snoring, and it wasn't a very loud snore, but it let you know that she was sleeping well.

How cute. Stupid cute, I mean.

I couldn't wake her. She was sick, and I knew how it felt to be woken up when you're sick. You hated whoever it was that woke you up because when you're asleep you can't feel anything. I turned around to go back to the door, but Connie was there. She was staring at me and smiling.

"What?" I asked, smiling back.

"Oh, nothing." she replied. She didn't say anything for a minute and then said, "I have some clothes for you."

"Oh, that's okay, I'm just gonna go. I don't really need to wake her up for something like this. Can you just tell her that she needs to call me or Marshall when she wakes up. It doesn't matter what time it is, with me." I informed her.

"Oh, I was going to ask you, why are you soaked?" she asked me.

"Well, my car has no top and it's raining like crazy out there. I guess I should pay more attention to the weather forecast." I laughed. She didn't. "Okay…I guess I'll just go now."

"Oh, no, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel like that wasn't funny, it's just that…you really shouldn't go out there if you aren't going to be able to shield yourself from the rain. You could get a cold. What would your parents think?" she asked.

"I wouldn't know. They're in Madrid right now." I replied.

"What!? They left you here by yourself?" she asked me.

"Well, yeah. It's no biggie. They've been doing this for years." I told her.

She thought about that for a minute. "Why don't you stay here tonight? I'll bring you by your house tomorrow morning before we head to the studio so you can get your things and get ready. You need to dry off and get warm. Plus, I don't think it's a good thing that you're all by yourself."

Was she actually offering me a place to stay? I guess it wouldn't be such a bad thing. I mean, at least I wouldn't be alone.

"When are your parents coming back home?" she interrupted my thoughts.

"They should be back after the tour. I called them and told them about it. They're planning to come home on the last day of the tour." I answered.

"Then you can stay here tonight so that you aren't alone, and then you'll be on the tour. There will be people with you until the tour is over and then you can go home to your parents. It's only one night. Please stay." Connie pleaded.

Well, it couldn't hurt. I'd have someone to talk to and wouldn't be alone. Plus, I don't have to go out in the rain and get soaked again.

"Okay. Sure." I said.

"Oh, thank goodness. Okay, why don't you go take a hot shower. That should warm you up quick. I'll make the couch up for you and get Sonny in her room. These clothes should work for tonight. I'll wash and dry the ones you're wearing now for you to wear in the morning." she told me.

I laughed. "Thank you. Bathroom?" I asked. She pointed the way and I found it easily. The shower was hot. At first it felt like there were little needles pricking me everywhere because I was so cold and now I was so hot. Once the needle pricking went away, it felt nice. I didn't know if Connie or Sonny needed to shower, so I got out before all the hot water was gone. I felt a little weird because I had to use Sonny's shampoo and conditioner.

I changed into the clothes Connie gave me. When I opened the door, Connie was standing there with a toothbrush and a hairdryer.

"Here are some things you may need. The couch is made up. I hope you don't mind staying in the same room with me and Sonny. She doesn't want to be alone so I told her that I would stay with her in the living room. We pulled the mattress on the floor for us to sleep on and you can sleep on the couch." she explained.

"Yeah, that sounds fine. Thank you, Mrs. Munroe." I told her. She was being so nice, I couldn't help but be nice back. I brushed my teeth and dried my hair. When I came into the living room Sonny was awake, but she still wasn't all there. "Hey, Sonny. How you feeling?"

She looked up at me and made a face. It was the same face she made when she was confused. "Oh, yeah, your mom invited me to stay tonight. It's a really long story. We can talk later if you want." She nodded. I went to lie down on the couch. I just got comfortable when Sonny turned around on the mattress. I was watching the TV and she got in the way, so I had to look at her.

"Am I dreaming?" she asked. Her throat must've hurt because she didn't sound like herself. Her voice was all cracked and hoarse.

"No, you aren't. I understand why you think you are. I mean, Chad Dylan Cooper is in your house, sleeping over. What girl hasn't had that dream?" I asked.

"Chad, you are such a jer-" She was interrupted by a coughing fit. I hopped up and pat her back. When she stopped coughing she laid down and closed her eyes.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yeah. I'm just gonna go to sleep. Goodnight, Chad." she said.

"Goodnight, Sonny." I replied.

"Oh, and Chad?" she asked. I looked at her. She was looking at me now. "Thanks."

"For what?" I was confused.

"For coming to check up on me. That was really sweet." she told me.

"I only came because Marshall wanted me to." I informed her.

"I saw how wet you were earlier." she told me, unaware of my last statement. "I hope…you don't get…sick." That was how Sonny drifted off to sleep.

I got back on my couch and started to watch TV. That night I didn't have a dream. I woke up at around 2 because I was aware of movement. I didn't stay up long enough to know what was going on, but I found out the next morning.