Chad

Okay, so maybe I wasn't exactly worried about the tunnel of love. I was…oh, I don't know…just screaming on the inside!

Yes, if there was a person I had to go in this tunnel of love thing with it was going to be Sonny, but I certainly wouldn't be going with her if we weren't in this situation right now. How had I gotten mixed into all of this? Oh yeah, that's right; I agreed to help Sonny because she'd almost gotten killed, and I felt bad about it.

I almost thought that I wished I'd never agreed to help her, but I quickly shook that thought. If I hadn't agreed, then Sonny would be dead now, and I would…well, I would feel horrible. Especially because I would be on the tour and probably wouldn't hear about it for a while.

Even thought Macy had said we were going to be first, there were still three couples in line from the last group ahead of us. So, I knew I had to try and bargain with Macy while we were in line so it would look like I didn't want to go on this ride with Sonny.

"Look, are you sure we should go first? Or even at all? I mean, we aren't really as excited about this as the rest of these people are. Why deny them their dreams?" I asked. I know that the end came out a little dramatic, but I was so used to acting like that that I couldn't help it.

Macy cocked her head to one side like a dog listening to the other side of a door. "I don't think they're that eager. Besides, everyone here saw just how much you too love each other. There was the fight earlier where she defended you, and then you defended her. After that, you two disappeared into the woods and weren't seen until we were back at the pond. Plus, we all saw the tabloids. Dancing in the rain, staring into each others' eyes…? All signs of love if you ask me."

Okay, so I meant to get out of this, not get a lecture that made me see all the things Sonny and I had done that only couples usually do. It was weird picturing us from another person's view. If I were…oh, what's her name? Um…Blondie…Tawni! That was it! If I were Tawni, then I would be freaking out at Sonny, asking her what was wrong with her for getting into a mud fight with Chad Dylan Cooper. But, I kind of liked that idea. Everyone looking at us…and they would probably be jealous.

"No, you see…we're here as-" Sonny suddenly stopped. Her eyes shifted over to the side where her mother stood. "The best couple in the world!"

I nudged her. She just got us in deeper. I'd been in too many situations like this to count. Okay, well not like this, but in situations where I had to lie, and to cover that lie I had to lie again. It would only catch up to us later, and when we finally admitted that we aren't together, there are going to be a lot of angry people. Mostly, our cast-mates would be mad because we lied to them.

"See? Your girlfriend agrees with me. Now, go on! There's only one couple in front of you now. It wont take long at all for ya'll to go." Macy said with a smile.

I looked back at the spot where the little swan boats were drifting along in the water. Of course, I could see the little belt the swan stayed on in order to keep going. It was all an illusion, and if I could remember that then I would be okay. As I thought about that, the couple in front of us got into there swan. It would be a good three minutes before we went in.

"Okay, so we just need to keep calm. How long are these rides again?" Sonny asked.

"Oh, sweetie, that's why the tickets cost so much. The ride is thirty minutes worth of love! How amazing is that?" Macy asked.

I swear I saw Sonny's face turn green for a second. She was just as scared as I was. The question in my mind was why is she as nervous as me? And why are we nervous in the first place? There was absolutely no reason to be nervous. I just…I didn't want to be in a place where I didn't know where the emergency exits were when I had such bad luck.

"Wait." I said when I thought that. Sonny looked at me with a puzzled expression. I dropped my voice to a whisper. "Sonny, with our bad luck, are we sure we want to go in some place with no exits except the two on the ends? What if something goes wrong and we can't get out?"

She thought for a second, and then her eyebrow went up. "You just said that you had bad luck, too. I'm the one trying to find my path, remember? Why would you have bad luck?" she asked.

"Sonny, if you haven't noticed by now, I've been having bad luck, too. Also, they said I was your partner, right? That probably has something to do with it. I'm probably your partner because we both have to find our paths. Two birds, one stone." I smiled.

I eyed the little tunnel again and believed that I could do this. It wouldn't be that hard at all. Sonny was a really cool girl that I was friends with. We would probably just have a water fight like we did with the mud. It would be fun; we'd find some way to make it that way.

At least, that's what I thought until I actually saw the swan that would be ours. I think Sonny and I gulped at the same time. We gave each other one quick glance, and started moving toward it. I stepped in first, but I noticed my legs were shaking. I tried hard to make that stop, and then I helped Sonny in. It was weird having everyone stare at us because we were famous while we were doing this.

The ride started going again, and I felt a little better. It wasn't bad at all now. All I had to do was keep conversation going with Sonny.

"So, do you like these kinds of things?" I asked.

"What do you mean? I've never been in one." she replied.

"Oh. Well, we're stuck here for thirty minutes. You wanna check this place out, or do you wanna talk or something?" I asked.

She thought for a minute and said, "Let's talk and go through it. Isn't that what couples do when they go through here? Not that we're a couple or anything."

"Oh, right, yeah, I know." I stopped and cleared my throat. We'd come to our first stop. This tunnel had little stops, where it didn't stop. It was like the tunnel expanded into a bubble for a minute and made the really cool scenery. Unfortunately, it was also very romantic.

"Oh. My. Gosh." Sonny said. The first room we'd come to had a fog machine running that gave the place fog. It was decorated in green vines and fake trees. They had a recording of the jungle playing and it was really relaxing. "Chad, this is amazing!"

"Yeah." was all I said. I just couldn't get the hang of this. I would just stay stiff until this was over. Hopefully, this would make things easier. It was easier, for about five seconds, because Sonny decided she wanted to snuggle close to me. "Uh…Sonny?"

"You don't mind, do you? It's kind of a small boat, and when I sit over there the side goes into my hip." she replied.

I just shrugged. Maybe she would just fall asleep again, and we could just skip over this entire thing without awkwardness. No such luck(ha!).

"So, what do you think they're doing on the tour right now?" Sonny asked.

"Well, I'm pretty sure they're meeting tons of fans that are worshiping their feet when the bus pulls up, but immediately jump up when they see that we aren't there." I said.

Sonny laughed and then she stopped short. "Wait a second…we?"

"Yes, we. I'm the best from Mackenzie Falls and you're the best from So Random!, duh." I replied.

"Well, thank you, Chad. But I'm pretty sure that the rest of my cast has fans. I mean, girls love Nico and Grady because they're so funny, and Zora has tons of fan mail. But if you count Zora's fan mail as a ton, then you have to count Tawni's as…a million tons!" she laughed at herself.

"I still stick by my first statement, though. I'm pretty sure people miss us, though. I know I miss some of my friends. I really wanted to go on that trip." I said. I wasn't thinking when I said that, and I regretted it afterward.

Sonny pulled away for just a second to look at me. She studied my face, and then she turned the other way. We came to another room at that moment, but I wasn't paying any attention to it. I was paying attention to Sonny, who was now shaking.

"Sonny, are you okay?" I asked.

"I…it's just that…" she stopped. I could tell she was crying now by the way she was talking. She turned around, looking at me with tears running down her face, and said, "I didn't mean to take you away from that tour. I knew you wanted to go, and I've felt bad about it ever since. Plus, all this trouble that I've gotten you into afterwards…I'm just horrible!"

I couldn't move. I was in shock. I hated to see her like this, but Sonny was always so perky and cute that I didn't know she could be like this. Also, I didn't know that she'd been blaming herself for everything that had happened. Before I could think about what I was doing, I pulled her into my chest.

"Sonny, be quiet. Sonny, it's okay, I promise. There's nothing you could have done about any of this and I don't blame you for it. I'm glad to be here by your side. Believe me, if I didn't want to help you, I wouldn't be here right now." I said.

"Oh, well that makes me feel so much better!" she exclaimed, crying harder now.

"I didn't mean it like that! Sonny, I'm here! Look at me." I put two fingers under her chin and brought her face to look at mine. We were just an inch apart. "I'm right here. Isn't that all that matters? If I wasn't here, would it matter if I had been here? No, it wouldn't. It goes both ways."

"But…I know that if it weren't for me, then you would be on the tour where you belong." This girl was not going to listen to me, and it was starting to get on my nerves. I thought hard about what I was going to say next. It took me a minute, and Sonny put her head on my shoulder again, thinking that I wasn't going to say anything, I'm sure.

Then, in my softest voice, I said, "If you would've called me and told me that this was going on and that you needed me, I would've made them bring me back that instant."

Her shaking stopped for a minute. She sat up off of my shoulder again and looked at me. Her makeup wasn't ruined, but it wasn't perfect anymore, either. What I loved about Sonny was that when she cried, she could mask it. You wouldn't be able to tell a minute after she was done crying. I noticed that she was still just a beautiful when she was crying. Then, she threw herself into my arms, crying harder than ever.

"Sonny! What did I say? I…I'm sorry…I didn't mean to upset you." I said. Wow, this girl was confusing. I might as well not say anything at all to her when she cries.

"No, no. It's…just…that…no one has…ever said…something as…n-nice as…that t-to…me be-before." she replied. I was smiling on the inside. She was crying because she was happy. So happy that she couldn't keep it inside. She had to cry so that it wouldn't overwhelm her. I crushed her to me and kissed her hair until I felt high. She didn't stop me, which made me even more happy.

We sat like that for a long time. Sonny weeping while I held her and kissed the top of her head. She wasn't trembling anymore, and she was starting to calm down. I loved that about her. She looked at things rationally, until something was just too much for her to handle. After that, she needed someone to fall back on. Someone who was usually her mom, but was now a guy who had said something sweet to her.

Sonny had gone limp in my arms. She was worn out from crying, but I knew that she was happy to get all of those feelings out of her. She would be less stressed for a while. My aunt was a psychologist, and she taught me things like that. I'd started noticing things about people for a long time, that I didn't even know I was noticing. It helped me make judgments about people.

Since Sonny wasn't moving or anything I thought she was asleep. She looked and felt like she was asleep. So, it surprised me when she said, "Wow, Chad. This place is so pretty." I'd jumped when she said it, and she turned to me and added, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's fine. I just thought that you were asleep. To answer your question, yeah it is. You know, when I was six my cousin Greg told me about one of his relationships. I was little and didn't really understand it, but I remember it. He said that he had this extremely pretty girlfriend. They were always together, but they were never alone together. Mostly because his parents didn't want him alone with a girl, but he wanted to take her on a private date.

"So, he reads about the carnival coming into town, and decides he wants to take her there. Not exactly a private date, but this way he could have be with her by himself, and not go against his parents. It was good enough, until all of his friends ran into him and decided to tag along. His girlfriend didn't mind, she actually seemed kind of happy, but he did mind.

"He saw the tunnel of love and found his escape. He would take her in there and have his alone time with her. Plus, this would be a great way for her to see just how much he loved her. He'd never actually told her that he loved her before, so it was a big deal to him.

"He took her in the tunnel and everything was going well. They were holding hands and looking at the scenery, but he'd noticed that she wasn't saying anything. She'd occasionally say something about how beautiful it was, but nothing else. He thought that maybe if he told her right now that he loved her, then she would be so excited she wouldn't stop talking.

"He turned to her and said, 'Babe, there's something I have to tell you.' She let out a sigh and looked at him. She said, 'Yeah, I have something to tell you, too.' 'Me, first.' he said. She nodded, and he went to tell her, but they both spoke at the same time. He said, 'I love you!' when she said, 'I like your friend!'"

"Greg was crushed. He said that he had never been so sad in his life. They both came out of the tunnel not talking to the other. All his friends, except for his best friend, were shocked. They'd apparently been the perfect couple. Greg went off to get a coke, and saw a girl crying her eyes out next to the tunnel.

"'You okay?' he asked. 'No. My boyfriend just dumped me. I don't want to stay here anymore, but my parents aren't going to be home for a little while to pick me up.' she replied. So, he offered to go on the tunnel with her, and by the time they came out, they couldn't keep their lips away from each other.

"That girl is my cousin's wife now. I just thought that it was amazing how someone could go into one of these things with someone else they barely knew, and wind up falling in love." I ended.

Sonny was silent. We'd entered a new room. This one had fog, just like the first one, but it was lit up by Christmas lights hanging everywhere. It looked like there were stars overhead, and they'd put some kind of tiling on the floor in there to make it look like it was the ocean. Sonny was entranced, but said, "That's wonderful. Just like this."

Out of nowhere, the lights started flickering. I knew this was a bad idea.

Please don't let the lights go out. Please don't let the lights go out. PLEASE DON'T LET THE LIGHTS GO OUT! I thought.

If the lights went out, that meant the ride would shut down and Sonny and I would be stuck here in the tunnel of love with no light. Yeah, that's not-so-romantic. I guess that I shouldn't of thought of that because the lights went out. Sonny clung to me, her breath quickening. I knew she was afraid of being alone, and sometimes when you're in the dark you feel like you're alone.

"Sonny, it's okay. I'm here with you. It's me, Chad."

Where was that coming from? You think I'm kidding; I didn't say that! At least, I didn't think I did. Was I speaking my thoughts out loud?

"Yeah, I know that you are, and thank you. You know, for comforting me." she replied. "Just, if we could keep talking, that would make it better."

"So…" I had no idea what to say when put on the spot. Why couldn't I have waited to tell that story? "How 'bout them Lakers?"

Sonny started laughing. "Chad, you suck at small talk." With that, the lights came back on. It felt like her laughter had brought the light back to my world. I laughed at myself.

My Sonshine… I thought.

The swan started to move again, but there was no more music. I could hear the rain falling on the roof, and sometimes the thunder would crash. There was another storm out there? It felt like the sun hadn't been out in weeks, even though I knew it hadn't been that long since it was.

I could hear people talking outside of the tunnel. I could tell that we were close to the exit, because the sound of rain was getting louder, as were the voices. Sonny was excited to get out of here, because she was scared the lights were going to go out again. She'd said it, but I wasn't fully listening. I was wondering how many people were out there because the voices were getting really loud.

I felt the first raindrop before I realized we were exiting. The exit wasn't the same as the exit, and there were so many people at the exit it wasn't funny. I think that most of them were paparazzi because they had cameras.

"Sonny! Sonny, can you tell us how you fell for the bad guy? Was it when he saved you from the killer?"

"Chad! Chad, we understand that you almost didn't get there in time to help Sonny. Is that true?"

"You know what you should do? You should kiss!" I knew who that came from. That was from that Macy girl. She was talking to me before Sonny and I went on our own walk and she told me that we should kiss in front of the cameras to let them know that it was official.

That was when everyone else joined in. "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!"

There were people on every side of the boat. We wouldn't be able to get out until we gave them what they wanted. Sonny turned toward me. "Chad, what are we going to do?"

"I don't know. Maybe we can fight them off." I said.

"But my mom is out there!" She pointed to her mom.

"Okay, then. I guess…we have to kiss."

Sonny then took my face in her hands, and instead of it being rough like I thought it would be, she gently kissed me on the lips. Suddenly, my veins were on fire. My entire body was floating, and I felt high again. There was an electric current going from my lips, to my shoulders, down through my arms, and made its way down to my feet.

The kiss being sweet, was now rugged as I ran my fingers through her hair and demanded that her lips stay on mine. She didn't move away, and she wasn't resisting in any way at all. In fact, she was pulling me closer to her. We both were liking this kiss. It was over too soon for me, but I was the one who broke it. I knew the paparazzi had gotten more than enough of what they wanted.

I looked at Sonny and saw that her eyes were the widest I'd ever seen them. I bet mine looked the same way. I knew what we were both thinking.

We can't do that ever again.