Chapter Five

So, there I was, outside my brand new dressing room, in Condor Studios, with Chad Dylan Cooper. And I had no idea what he was going to do to me. The day before yesterday I was just a normal girl, and now look at me. I could tell that my life on Mackenzie Falls was going to be eventful, at the very least.

"So? What do you want, Chad? If you are going to hurt me, I have to warn you I'm not going to stand here and let you. I will hit back."

"What? I'm not going to hit a girl. I just wanted to talk to you. You were one of the few girls that didn't run screaming at my name, and from the way you spoke to me, I'm willing to guess you aren't in love with me, unlike most normal girls on this planet."

"We're on Earth, Chad, not Mars."

"Well, erm, you must come from Mars if you, erm, don't like me."

"You totally just stole my insult."

"From what I heard earlier, you also did a little insult stealing yourself."

"Yeah but when I did it, it didn't sound pathetic."

"What? Chad Dylan Cooper isn't pathetic!"

"No, he's just cocky, arrogant, self-absorbed, dumb and, though he insists he is otherwise, is a pretty average actor and has pretty average hair." I really was on a roll with the insults.

"Yeah, well Sonny Munroe is just an overly-energetic, average-looking wannabe actress."

"If I really wanted to be an actress, I wouldn't have auditioned for a show with you in it. You just hog the spotlight with your huge ego and overly-dramatic acting."

"You take that back! I am the Greatest Actor of our Generation!"

"You're the Greatest something of our Generation, but I don't think its actor."

"You're just jealous because you don't have hundreds of obsessed fan-girls!"

"Why would I be jealous of you having fan-girls?"

"Well, you wouldn't. But you would be jealous that I have fans."

"Sure, whatever."

"So we're agreed?"

"On what?"

"I'm a good actor, you're not."

"Where did I ever agree to that?"

"Dunno."

"You're unbelievable! Can I please check out my dressing room now?"

"Fine."

"Fine."

"Good!" That was new.

"So are we good?"

"Oh we are so good!" I practically shouted, and he smirked. On his way past me, he stopped.

"Oh by the way Sonny," he said, and then leant down to whisper in my ear, "ignore Marta and the guys. You're not fat."

Then he walked off down the corridor. I stood, shocked. I could hardly bring myself to move. Not because his face was so close to mine, I did not feel all tingly inside. I was shocked that he said something so out of character. Just keep telling yourself that.

I opened the door to my dressing room, and I was shocked at how big it was. It was huge! The walls were white, and there were lots of canvas pictures of LA and New York and some other places I don't know. There was a light blue couch in the middle of the room, and there was a mini fridge, again blue, and a white TV. There were two doors, one leading to a medium-sized bathroom, with a toilet, sink and shower. That could come in handy! The other door led to a small changing room, with a clothes rack half-full of Mackenzie Falls uniform. Squealing, I grabbed the uniform and ran over to lay it on the couch.

I quickly pulled my shirt over my head, and grabbed the Falls shirt. That was when the door opened. I spun to see Chad stood in the doorway with a shocked expression on his face.

"Chad! Get out!" I yelled, holding up the top to hide my lacy pink bra.

"Sorry! You do realise that there is a changing room over there, you know to avoid situations like this."

"I know, but I didn't expect you to be back so soon. Now get out!"

"Okay, I'm going. By the way, I was right."

"Huh?"

"You're definitely not fat." He said, quickly closing the door and narrowly missing being hit by a cushion.

I slipped the top over my head then wriggled into the skimpy skirt and waistcoat. Then it came to the tie. Oh no. I'd never worn a tie before. Looping it around my neck, I tried various methods of tying, but none seemed to work.

"Stupid tie!" I yelled, exasperated.

"Sonny? Are you done? Can I come in?"

"Erm," I really didn't want him to know that I couldn't tie a tie, "No, I'm, erm, just, NO!"

"Tough luck, I'm coming in any way!" he said, walking in and closing the door behind him.

"Chad! What if I really hadn't been dressed?"

"Then you would have either run into the dressing room or locked the door. Or just stayed, you know, most girls would love for me to see them getting changed."

"You're so full of yourself."

"I know. So, what's the problem, why didn't you want me to come in?"

"Oh no reason." I blushed bright red.

"Okay…I see the Mack Falls uniform fits. Although you might need a longer skirt. You're shorter than we expected."

"Have you seen how short this skirt is?" I said, confused.

"Not very, you look like a prude. Well, for a Mackenzie Falls kid, you look like a prude."

"I'm not wearing a shorter skirt."

"Aw, c'mon, you want to fit in, right?"

I'm not wearing a shorter skirt!" I shouted. This guy really bugs me!

"Wow, chill. Diva much?"

"I am not a diva. You're the diva."

"Maybe, but I have a right to be a diva."

"Sure you do."

"You need to stop being so sarcastic. I hear it's bad for your complexion."

"How can sarcasm be bad for your complexion?" This guy is so strange!

"No idea, but do you really want to risk it?"

"No, you're right Chad; I'm going to stop talking sarcastically because I don't want spots. Thank you so much for saving my face from a pimply future! How can I ever repay you?"

"There you go with the sarcasm again. Unless you weren't being sarcastic, then I can think of a few ways you could repay me." He said, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

"Chad?"

"Yes, Sonny?"

"Get. Out. Before I do something I regret."

"Like what?"

"If you don't leave, I'll show you. But you won't like it, and it may involve losing some of that 'luscious' hair you care about so-" he was gone before I even finished talking. Sucker.

Heading back for my changing room, I fiddled with the hem of my skirt. Was it really too long? I knew that the other girls wore them shorter than this, but I wasn't really that type of girl, and I didn't want to be.

"Stupid Chad. Stupid skirt." I muttered.

I decided to check out the rest of the stuff on the rack, but it was all just different variations on the uniform, probably because they didn't want it to look like they-we- always wore the same things.

I sat on the couch, which was very comfortable, and thought. I had no friends here, none of the cast members liked me, and even though Paul was nice, I can't exactly hang out with the director. I just wished Annabeth was there. Then it hit me. Annabeth was working at the studios! I stood up quickly, and left my room to see if I could find her.

*HALF AN HOUR LATER*

I'd been looking for her for half an hour before I gave up and decided to ask Paul if he knew where she might be. He told me that she would probably be somewhere near Stage 1, the Teen Gladiators set. I really hate that show, but apparently a lot of people love it, so it's still on air.

Turning a corner in the corridor on the way to the set, I froze in shock. I'd found her. And she wasn't alone.

"Hey, Annabeth." I said, awkwardly.

She and Stan sprung apart, fixing their clothes and smiling guiltily.

"Hey, Sonny. What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Did you not know? I got the part."

"Seriously? No way! Congratulations! I'm so happy for you!" she squealed, running up to hug me.

"Erm, Anna, I'm gonna go, before they notice I'm not working." Said Stan quietly.

"Okay, see you later Stan!" she said, waving at him.

"Bye Stan!" I added, smirking slyly at him.

After he was gone, Anna dragged me off down the hall, bombarding me with questions.

"Hey!" I shouted, cutting her off.

"What?"

"Aren't you supposed to be working?"

"Yeah, but they wouldn't dare fire me. I'm Chad Dylan Cooper's cousin!"

"Oh. Okay then." I said, smiling.

"Where can we go to talk?"

"My dressing room. It's amazing, you have to see it!" Maybe life at Condor Studio's isn't going to be so bad after all…