Author's Note:

CookieCrispEtc: ;P

Hope you like the chapter!

Chapter 5: Secrets

"Wait? Tawni? As in Tawni Hart?" I ask with disbelief.

"Yup," he says sheepishly. He rubs the back of his neck with embarrassment, looking kind of pink. "I just don't know how to tell it to her, and that's why I need your help."

"Wait, famous actor Aaron Cole needs help from a small Wisconsin girl?" I ask.

He nods. "I know right. You would think a big-time movie actor would have the guts to ask a girl out. But I don't know Tawni is just something different," he says.

"You got that right," I reply. Tawni is something different: she is hard and shiny on the outside, but in the inside she's soft and is vulnerable. She puts on her conceited mask because she doesn't want to get hurt. And that sounds exactly like Chad; my heart raced. "Definitely different," I say at last.

"So…can you help me?"

"Sure."

"Can we keep it in the down low, though?" he asks. "When I ask her out, I want it to be perfect and surprising."

"Cool," I say nodding my head. "Can we continue this tomorrow though? I think I should be going now," I say as I glance at the clock that said it was 2:30 pm.

"Sure, can you meet me here like after lunch again?" he asks, standing from his seat, leading me to the doorway.

"Okay," I say as he opens the door for me. "Well, see you tomorrow?"

"Bye, Sonny, see you tomorrow. And remember, keep it on the DL," he reminds me.

"Got it. Well bye Aaron!"

I leave his dressing room and head toward the Prop House. I walk right in and saw there was Tawni on her phone, sitting on the couch. Nico and Grady were playing Call of Duty the video game, and Zora was probably scrawled in the vents, eavesdropping in many conversations. Which makes me wonder: did she hear how Aaron confessed his crush to me? Remind me to ask Zora subtly.

Tawni looks up from her phone. "Where have you been Sonny? You're really spacing out nowadays."

"I was with Aaron. He said he needed help on some lines," I say. At least I'm not lying, I'm just not telling what else has happened.

Tawni stares hard at me, as if she was thinking about something, but then she says, "Okay!" and looks back down on her phone.

Tawni was texting away in her phone. Nico and Grady were jamming their thumbs and fingers onto their video game controllers, as well as making unnecessary noises. I see Zora somehow moved from the vents to somewhere near the alien statue; measuring its height. No one was talking, well other than Nico and Grady who were yelling each other in the height of the game.

"Guys," I begin, but no one looked up. "GUYS!" I say even louder, making all eight eyes look at me. "We all should go to the Patio. I bet Mel is missing us right now!"

"S-Sonny, I-I d-don't think that's a-a good i-idea," Grady stutters putting down his controllers, oddly fidgeting in his seat.

"Why not, Grady?" I ask curiously.

"Because Grady has this mad crush on that Mel girl," Nico replies for Grady as he put down the controller as well.

"Nico!" Grady whines.

"Hey, man, at least I didn't tell them about the Scottish accent you use when you're nervous around girls!" exclaims Nico, but then realizes what he said. "Oops."

"Nico, I'm go—"

I stop Grady before he could say anything else. "Grady no-worries. You don't need to be nervous about Mel, she's really cool! I have a feeling she likes you, too."

"Really?" Grady asks hopeful. "What makes you think so?"

"Dude, she dealt with your 'Mommy' pick-up line," Nico replies patting Grady's shoulder.

"Okay," Grady says. "Let's go to the Patio."

The guys got off from the couch and headed out the Prop House, leaving Tawni alone on the seat and Zora standing with crossed arms.

"Tawni. Zora. Let's go to the Patio," I say.

"Do we have too?" whines Tawni. "I'm so tired! And thirsty!" I mentally face-palm myself.

"That's why we're going to the Patio. It a good place to rest and they sell smoothies!"

"Really? Okay let's go then!" Tawni squeals picking up her purse and leaves out the door, acting as if she never been to the Patio before. Geeze, how can Aaron like Tawni? She's a piece of work…that reminds me: ask Zora subtly if she knows.

"Who's this Mel girl?" Zora asks with her arms still crossed; I guess she feels kind of replaced.

"She's this girl who just moved in the floor above me at my apartment, yesterday," I reply. I lightly smile because she was the one who helped me deal with one of the affects of having Chaditis/Chad Crazy: having him stuck on my mind, all day. "You don't really know her because yesterday you were at some radio station."

"Darn, the day I'm gone, I miss a totally good time to embarrass Grady," I hear Zora mutter.

I lightly smile because Zora became her normal weird self, but then I remember: ask Zora! "So, Zora," I say nonchalantly. "Do you know if a certain famous actor likes a certain blonde girl?"

"Sonny, are you saying Aaron Cole likes Tawni?" Zora ask with wide eyes. Darn, so much for being subtle.

"No!" I lie, but unfortunately my voice pitches.

"Lies!" Zora exclaims.

"Fine, but it's a secret. You can't tell anyone," I say eyes lock on her eyes.

"Sure, sure," she says, raising her hands in surrender. She left the Prop House following the rest of my cast mates to the Patio.

I really need to work on controlling my voice, especially when my voice pitches when I either lie or deny. I shake my head with a smile because I know; I know that I won't change. I'm still the same Wisconsin girl, it's just that I had a lot more experiences, and I'm much more mature.

I leave the Prop House, walking down the hallways of the Condor Studios. I walk pass the Teen Gladiator set. I walk pass the Meal or No Meal set. And finally, the Mackenzie Falls set.

I hear a guitar strumming from the Mack set and someone humming a tune. I'm not really sure who it is, but it was beautiful. I know that it couldn't be Chad, I mean have you heard him sing his "Chad" song for Dakota, it was catchy, but it was a totally different material from what I was hearing. I think it was Skyler or Ferguson instead. They seem musically incline, right? Maybe?

Author's Note: If you are "true" Channy fans, you should already know what's going to come up, but I don't know...I could change it...add a twist to it...MUAHAHA! :P I'm so evil. Anyways, please review. And thanks for reading! - Quite the Imagination