Chad

"I…uh…what?" I asked. Sonny wasn't exactly smiling, but she looked happy. I'd been kind of rude to her lately. It wasn't that I wanted to stay out of whatever this thing was. It was just that, last night the dream that I had wasn't a dream. I'd remembered everything about the past few days, and I was worried about it.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Well, I was curious about what your bad luck was about. That's all." I looked away.

She ignored me after that and went to Gloria and Joseph. They were an Indian couple that ran the ice cream shop. I came in here for ice cream and I swear these people could just sense when someone is dealing with the supernatural. They put up a little sign and got everyone out as fast as they could. They took me back here and started talking to me, not long before Sonny got here.

"I'm his…um, partner." Sonny said.

I, myself, didn't like the fact that we were called "partners". It made us sound like we were together. Sonny went to shake Gloria's hand and when she did a piece of hair fell from behind her ear. It hung there delicately until she sat down. I hadn't even noticed when she introduced herself. I was too busy looking at that piece of hair and how much I wanted to put it back behind her ear.

"So, do you have a story to tell?" Sonny asked. She was excited to hear it. She was nearly bouncing in her seat.

Gloria smiled at her and said, "Of course. Why don't you two come over here." She patted another couch that was next to them. I started to shake my head, but Sonny was already moving over there. It was the least I could do, for them being so nice to us.

"Joseph will be telling the tale. I need to go back out there and serve. Pay attention." Gloria said and left the room.

"This tale is of one of my own. It was something that happened to me a long time ago. There is going to be a bit of explaining to tell, but I think you will catch on. They always do." Joseph said.

"They?" I asked. Who was they? Were there more people like us? And what was that thing about Janine earlier.

"Yes, they. There are more people like this. Gloria and I, for example. It's sort of fate's way of guiding us down the right path." he explained.

"Wow. I never thought anything like this would ever happen to me." Sonny said. She looked down for a second and then looked back at Joseph. "Please go on with your story."

I noticed that Sonny was always eager for stories. Once someone started a story, she had to hear the rest of it, or it would kill her. It was something I liked about her, but sometimes it could be annoying. I, actually, was excited to hear the tale. I'd had a weird dream like Sonny had and I wondered if it had something to do with this story.

"We come from here, but under secrecy. There are two different types of our groups. We came here from India a long time ago and the leaders who brought the first wave of people here became enemies. What I mean by that is that my great-grandfather, Idris, brought Indian immigrants here with his best friend, Gloria's great-grandfather, Imaran.

"Idris and Imaran had been best friends for as long as they could remember, but when they moved here they had different opinions on where in the city to settle. Idris wanted to stay next to the sea, and Imaran wanted to move towards the middle of the city they were in. It caused them to break up the group of immigrants into two.

"Idris' group was called the Kodas, and Imaran's group was called the Goshes. Their battles were fierce. They didn't want to share the land with each other. Soon, each group had the idea of training special men to fight. Young boys would be taught from birth to fight. The woman couldn't fight at first, but soon that changed. Everyone fought.

"I was part of the Kodas. I loved it. I would live my normal life in the day, and during the night I would defend my group. Most of the time I just kept stray Goshes away from my land. Occasionally, we would have big battles in prairies. One morning, I was informed that there would be a battle the following night.

"I left behind a lot of my day duties so that I could train to get ready. I'd never been in a really big battle like this, and I was excited. I was considered a prince since I was the great-grandson of Idris. That meant that I would lead the battle call. I wasn't the leader because the leader was the strongest in the group."

This whole time Sonny was looking at him with fascination. I wasn't paying much attention. I would see Sonny move and my eyes would go directly to her. One of the reasons why I'd been being so mean was because I didn't want anything to progress with us. I knew it was the fact that her luck was getting worse, and with that my crush was getting worse that made me want her.

"We were just about to set out for the prairie, when one of the members of the tribe stopped me. He told me that my job would be to take out the prince. It seemed simple enough. Their prince would be leading their battle, too.

"We could see the other tribe when we got to the prairie. There were a lot of them, but there were more of us. This was going to be easy. At least that's what I thought, until I noticed that there was a woman standing in front of all of them. They didn't have a prince. They had a princess. I knew that I couldn't let that stop me. Woman fought, too, and I couldn't go easy on her because if I did, she would advance me. I would lose if I did that.

"We neared the spot that we would stop and wait. I was close enough now that I could see her better. She was built like a warrior. She had strong muscles, and she knew how to use them, I could tell. I was a little afraid of going after her, but I knew I had to. It was my duty.

"She gave her call and her tribe ran forward. I gave mine right after and we ran to meet in the middle. When I got to her, I was drowning in her beauty. She may have looked like a warrior, but her eyes said that she was caring and amazing. I was so wrapped up in her eyes, that I hesitated and let her get the upper hand.

"She took a swipe, but I just barely dodged it. She was so quick that she rebounded and hit my face. It hurt, but I couldn't hit back. I wouldn't. This was something that I'd never felt before. I didn't want to hurt her. Ever. End of story.

"The battle was long. The entire time I just kept dodging her attempts to hit me and shaking it off when she did. When the battle was over, we won, but her tribe took me. They wanted Idris' great-grandson for their taking. I went willingly. I knew it would be a waste to fight all these people trying to take me away."

This was starting to sound more and more like my dream. I pretty much knew what was about to happen. Sonny didn't, though, and she was on the edge of her seat. That was like Sonny. Always anxious and perky. Except for in the hospital…I couldn't think about that. Not now.

"They put me in a cell and I waited there for three days. You don't even want to know what it was like. Finally, a guard came and got me. He took me to a room of luxury and then left. They locked me in after he left. Pretty soon, the princess came in. She analyzed me, and decided that she didn't want anything to do with me. She ordered them to take me back to my tribe.

"They did as she asked, and for weeks I thought about her. I didn't have this ice cream place back then. I actually worked in a grocery store. One day, a pretty young woman walked into the store. She was hiding her face. She politely asked me where the apples were. I pointed her to them and she looked up at me.

"It was the princess. She told me to come with her and I did. She said she wanted to meet me in an alley later to talk. I was happier than I'd been in ages. Before, all I did was fight and work. Fighting was the highlight of my life. But after she held me captive for a while, I was obsessed. I wanted to see her everyday. We met that night at midnight.

"She told me that she kept thinking of me. She also said that she wanted to kiss me and get it over with so that she could go back home. She gave me a kiss on the cheek and I grabbed her arm.

"'Let go of me!' she screamed. I did as she said, but she tried to walk away and I did it again. She went to yell at me again, but I put my arm around her and kissed her. She tensed up, but then she relaxed and started kissing me back. She finally realized what she was doing and stopped. She ran off and left me there in a daze.

"It was two days after that that she came back. She said she knew that it was wrong and that I we shouldn't be doing what we were because we were enemies. I knew she was right, but I couldn't help how I felt. She finally came up with a plan. We would sign a treaty.

"She told her people that they were making peace with the Kodas and I told my tribe that we were making peace with the Goshes. We signed the treaty, and everyone went to living their own lives without the constant fighting. Gloria and I have been happy here ever since." he finished.

That was the dream I had. I guess Sonny wasn't lying before when she said that she had a dream about the other story. What I couldn't figure out was how this stuff was going to help us fix Sonny's bad luck. Maybe she got on someone's bad side, and needed to fix it. I didn't know. But I was going to help her. She found out that I was, and I'm not going to deny it anymore.

"Thank you so much, and I'm sorry I have to leave, but my mom only gave me an hour to come down here. I have to get home. Thank you, again. Bye." Sonny said, and ran out the door.

"I'm-"

"I already know what you're doing. Go to her." Joseph told me. That was freaky.

I ran after Sonny and caught her outside. "Sonny, wait." I called.

"What, Chad?" she asked after turning around.

"Look, I'm sorry about before. I didn't mean-"

That's when I looked at her and saw that one piece of hair still dangling. It hypnotized me, and I couldn't even finish my sentence. She said something, but I didn't hear it. I started reaching out, and she was quiet, but I saw realization in her eyes. She knew what I was doing and she wasn't stopping me.

I slowly pushed that little piece back behind her ear. I saw her shiver. I hadn't realized it, but it started raining while this was happening. It was sprinkling earlier, so it didn't surprise me. "Are you cold?" I asked.

"Um…yeah, cold." Sonny replied.

"Here." I handed her my jacket.

"Chad, I can't take your jacket. It's freezing out here." she said.

"Just take it, Sonny. It's no big deal." I put it on her shoulders. She didn't resist once she felt the warmth. "Why don't I drive you home?"

"It's really not that far Chad. Besides, we don't want you falling in the pool again." She laughed. I missed that laugh. I laughed with her.

"No worries, I won't get out if you don't want me to." I replied.

"Well, what kind of courtesy would I have if I didn't invite you in?" she asked. Was Sonny Munroe flirting? It sure did seem like it.

"Come on." I told her. I led her to the car and let her in. This time I had a car with a top on it. I parked it under an old oak tree in the front of the complex. We got out and she led me upstairs. She knocked on the door. We waited, and I was looking at my feet. I had mud on my new shoes, this was great. I hated all this rain. I saw a piece of paper on the floor.

"Sonny?" I said.

"Yes?" she replied.

I picked up the paper and gave it to her. "I think it might've fallen off." I said. She took the note and read it. She read it again. And one more time. "What?"

"My mom had to bring my aunt to the airport, and she won't be back until late. She said they're going shopping until it's time for their flight, and then she's going to see them off. It will be around 1 when she gets home." she explained.

"What's wrong with that?" I asked.

"I didn't bring my key with me to the ice cream shop. I thought she would be here to let me in. Why did she tell me back in an hour, if she wasn't going to be here?" she asked.

"Well, you can always stay at my house for the night." I suggested.

"Are you sure?"

I nodded and we walked back down the stairs. She took my arm to go down because her heels were still wet and she would've fallen if it weren't for me. Once she slipped and I caught her right before she went head-first. That would've been nasty.

We made it outside and she said, "Be careful, Chad. You don't want to drown in a puddle." I fake laughed at that and picked her up.

"I think it's you that having to worry about puddles." I said, laughing. There was a perfect spot in the garden with mud and water.

"Chad Dylan Cooper, don't you dare!" Sonny screamed, but she was laughing.

"Oh, I think you need this." I replied. She was squirming and fighting hard to get out of my hands, but I had a good hold of her. She was laughing so hard I couldn't tell what she was saying. I made it to the puddle and said, "You know what to say."

"No!" she screamed, still laughing.

"Say it, Munroe." I replied, pretending to drop her. She screamed and clutched onto me. When she did that, it threw me off balance, and we went into the mud.

"Chad Dylan Cooper!" she screamed. "You are so in for it." She grabbed a big blob of mud and held it up like she was going to throw it.

"No no no no!" I said, but it was too late. She threw it and it landed right on my face. She started laughing hysterically.

"What does mulch taste like, Chad?" she asked. She was right, it went in my mouth. Yuck.

"It's not good, I'll tell you that." I replied.

"Doesn't taste like your normal slop?"

"Better than what you're about to taste!" I said, running over to her. I picker her up again and grabbed some mud. "Say ahhhhh, Munroe." She shook her head no. "You know there is one way to get out of this." She shook her head again. "I won't do it if you say it."

She rolled her eyes and said, "Chad Dylan Coo-" I shoved mud in her mouth. She spit it out and said, "Oh, you're in for it."

"That's why you're the one pinned to the ground." I replied. I was basically sitting on her torso. She was struggling to get up, but couldn't and eventually just laid there. She giggled again. "What's so funny?"

"You're feet are in an ant hill."

I jumped up and started swatting at my feet. "Hey, I don't see any-"

"Gotcha!" she said and tackled me. As little as Sonny was, she sure did a good job of tackling me. I hit the ground and mud splashed everywhere. It was all over us now. I grabbed her and rolled over, putting her in the mud. She did the same thing and we just kept rolling in the mud.

"Hey! You kids ruined my garden! You wait right there, I mean it!" an old lady yelled from the fourth floor.

"Run!" Sonny and I said together. I got up and grabbed her hand. We jumped in my car and drove off to my house. I didn't care if it got the seats muddy, they had covers on them. I could just wipe them off.

We were still laughing when we got to my house. It was only little chuckles every now and then, but it was still laughing. I parked the car and started going to the front door when I heard a loud "plop". I turned to see Sonny in the mud again.

"Look, mud angels!" Sonny screamed. I couldn't help but laugh. I picked up a petunia from the garden and took it over to her. She was having so much fun. "Make one with me!" She pulled me into the mud. I laughed and put the petunia down. I started making mud angels with her. It was actually kind of fun. She sat up. I followed her movement.

"You know what you need?" I asked.

"What?" Sonny said, still smiling.

"This." I took the petunia from on the ground and put it in her hair. She smiled and looked at the ground. She looked back up at me and we sat like that for a long time.

"Mr. Cooper!" my butler yelled.

"Yes?" I called back, eyes still on Sonny.

"You might want to come inside. There's a storm coming." he suggested.

"Coming?" I asked Sonny. I held my hand out to her and she took it. We started walking to the door.

"You know, I'm gonna need a shower." she said. "Do you have any clothes I can wear?"

I hadn't thought about that. "Are you comfortable in a big shirt and shorts?" I asked. She nodded and I told her that I did. We were about to walk in the door when water started shooting at us. Sonny screamed and put her hands out in front of her. I put my hands and one foot out in front of me and tried to say, "What is going on?" It came out sounding like gurgling.

When it was over, Sonny and I were gasping for air. We looked at my gardener who had sprayed us down. "You didn't think you could go in there covered in mud, did you?" he asked.

Sonny and I glared at him, then we looked at each other. We started laughing again. It was like a flu and we couldn't get rid of it. Sonny was about to fall over, and she grabbed onto me for support. I was too busy laughing to notice at first, but then she pulled closer, and we were practically hugging.

We stopped laughing, but were still hugging, and I quickly broke away from her. She blushed and I had a feeling I was, too. We went into the house and I could tell she was impressed. She took off her shoes and laid them next to the door.

"Where's the shower?" she asked.

"Go up the stairs and to the right. It's the third door." I told her.

"Good. Where can I find the clothes?" she asked.

"Oh, there will be a drawer in there of my things. You can just grab whatever." I replied.

"Ok. I'm gonna go take a shower."

"Yeah, me, too." I replied. She gave me a weird look. "No, not like that. I'm not gonna take a shower with you. We have another one." She nodded and went upstairs. I shook my hair a little bit and went up to take my shower. I wondered if Sonny was up for a movie.

Or maybe even dinner.