A/N: ...The Lukan shippers are going to murder me. But, I have a Christmas/Hanukkah/[insert holiday here] present for you all tomorrow.
December 23rd
The next morning, New York City woke up to a fresh blanket of snow―nine inches and counting.
Yawning as she entered the living room, Sonny said, "G'morning―whoa! That's a lot of snow."
"It sure is," Chad agreed, rubbing his eyes and taking a sip of his nice warm coffee next to the burning fireplace.
"Looks like you're all stuck indoors for the day," Hannah remarked.
"Even if we wanted to go anywhere, we couldn't. Most roads have yet to be plowed," Zora nodded.
"Guess we'll just have to find things to do inside," Sonny smiled, sitting down at the table after compiling her breakfast.
It wasn't too difficult for everyone to entertain themselves. The older girls, excluding Sonny, took advantage of the home spa for a while before heading back to their room for a chick flick marathon. The troublemakers schemed in their room, going over what they had caught with their spy gear. Caleigh was wrapped up playing pretend in the Land of Sweets. Of course, Luke and Cassie hid out in the design studio for most of the morning while the So Random boys tried out another one of the many gaming systems. Chase decided to catch up on his reading as Skyler, Rider, Chad, and Logan watched the gamers play, occasionally alternating with them.
While everyone was occupied with their various tasks, Sonny slipped away and locked herself in the recording studio. Sitting at the piano with blank paper and a pencil, she began working on a new song. After the events that occurred the night before, she wanted to express her feelings without really having to speak. Luckily, no one disturbed her as she worked passionately on her song.
In the art studio, Cassie and Luke focused quietly and efficiently on their projects.
After a while, Cassie sighed to no one in particular, "Ugh. I don't have enough footage."
Curiously, Luke asked, "Footage for what?"
"I've been trying to make a music video to Sonny's cover of 'Wonderful Christmas Time' using footage I took myself, but I don't have enough. I wanted to finish it today, so I could post it online for people to see before Christmas."
"So? Just go film them some more."
"No one's doing anything interesting," she replied, leaning back in her chair.
"Oh, well I think Connie said she found decorations for the big tree in the living room. Get them to decorate it," he suggested.
"Oh, now there's an idea! Thanks, Luke!" she exclaimed, jumping off of her chair and grabbing her camcorder.
He chuckled softly to himself as he watched her race out of the room excitedly and then turned his attention back to his mysterious notebook.
Just as she reached the living room, Cassie nearly bumped into Connie.
"Oh, sorry!" she apologized.
"It's alright. What have you been up to?" the brunette woman smiled.
"It's a long story. Luke said you found decorations and ornaments for the tree?"
"Yep! In fact, I was just about to go get them now."
"Cool, should I go see who wants to help?" the blonde asked.
"Sure. I'll be back in a sec," Connie said, ducking into the hallway.
Cassie strode into the living room where the majority of the boys were.
"Hey, we're going to decorate the tree. Anyone want to help?" she asked.
Several heads turned towards here and nodded.
"Awesome."
Heading back down the hall, she stopped by the older girls' room and knocked.
"Who is it?" she heard Penelope asked.
"It's Cassie."
"Come in," Portlyn said.
Opening the door, she poked her head in and saw the three girls sitting on one bed, watching "The Notebook" on their TV.
"Hey, uh... I was just wondering if you guys would want to decorate the tree with us?" she said cautiously.
"Maybe," Tawni replied, dabbing her eyes with a tissue. "We'll be out a little later if we decide to."
Nodding, the younger blonde said, "Alright," and slipped out of the room.
Continuing down the hall, she stopped at the room she shared with Zora and Audrey.
She knocked lightly on the door and waited for an answer.
"Just a minute!" Audrey's voice called, followed by the sounds of slight scuffling.
"Okay, come in!" Zora shouted, her voice sounding a little muffled.
Pushing the door open, Cassie said, "Hey. What are you guys doing?"
"Oh, it's just you," Zora said, relief evident in her voice as she removed a pillow from on top of her laptop, opening it again.
Lying on her stomach with the laptop in front of her on the floor, Audrey beckoned the other blonde over, "Come take a look at this."
"What is it?" Cassie asked in a cautious tone, joining them on the floor.
"It's your brother and Sonny," Zora said, playing a video clip on screen.
"Good…"
"Good."
"Fine."
"Fine."
As silence fell, Cassie watched Sonny look up above Chad's head.
"Wait for it…" the younger blonde whispered, her eyes fixated on the screen.
"3… 2…" the brunette with reddish streaks in her hair counted down.
Then, Cassie saw her brother lean forward and give the girl a gentle kiss on the cheek before entering his room.
"Oh my gosh!" she shrieked, instinctively covering her mouth with her hand.
"I just knew he liked her," Audrey gushed softly.
"How did you guys get that video?" the cheerleader asked after she finally composed herself again.
"Well…" Zora began, glancing around her suspiciously.
"Tell me!" she begged.
"Alright. We have these mini spy cameras hidden all over the hallways and common rooms," the other girl said with a mischievous smile.
"Really? What else have you caught?"
"Nothing really interesting," Audrey shrugged.
"Wait… What about this one?" Zora suggested, pulling up another clip, showing a darkened silhouette pausing in the hallway.
Slowly, the girl crept into the kitchen and appeared to be listening to something in the next room over.
"Is that Penelope?" Cassie asked in a surprised tone.
Nodding, Zora said, "I think we caught a bit of whatever she was trying to hear, but the audio's a little blurry."
Boosting the sound, she replayed the clip.
"I'm sorry if I said something that offended you or whatever. I just don't want this awkward vow of silence to continue…" a male's voice garbled through the speakers.
"Oh, that's Dylan. He must have been talking to Sonny," Cassie whispered.
"Dylan?" Audrey repeated, then realized who she meant. "Oh, you mean Chad."
As the other girl nodded, Zora said, "Shh! I can't hear!"
"Alright," a higher pitched voice replied, sounding just as fuzzy as the male's.
The girls watched as Penelope grimaced at the sound of her voice. She waited in her hiding spot until she was sure the pair was gone. After a few moments of eerie silence, she stood up and walked back to the room she and the other girls shared, as if nothing had happened.
A minute or so after she entered the room, Tawni's voice was heard saying, "Ooh! Who are you texting?"
"Just an old friend," Penelope replied as the lights went off.
Only silence followed those last few words. Stopping the video, Cassie pondered, "Huh. I wonder what that was all about."
"Isn't it obvious? She suspects there's something going on between them too!" Zora stated. "But I don't know why she would care…"
"Yeah, and what was with that weird face she made?" Audrey pointed out. "It looked like she was disgusted by something."
"…Or someone!" Cassie whispered excitedly, putting the pieces together. "Two someone's in this case. She doesn't want my brother to be with Sonny!"
Half an hour later, the girls had gathered everyone who wanted to help decorate the tree. Soon, almost everyone was up and moving around, adorning the evergreen.
Logan and Skyler strung lights around the top as Luke held the excess of the strand for them. Once the lights were done, Sonny, Chad, Cassie, Caleigh, Zora, and Audrey began placing ornaments on the tree, switching off with Rider, Penelope, Portlyn, Matthew, and Damien. In no time, the large plant was covered in bright, twinkling lights and shining, sparkling ornaments.
Admiring their work, the group stepped back trying to decide if anything needed fixing.
"Hmm… There's something missing," Sonny said, running a hand through her hair.
"I know! Something needs to go on the top!" Caleigh pointed to the bare spot on the very tip of the evergreen.
"How about a star?" Logan smiled, holding out the topper towards her.
"Yeah!" she grinned as she took it from his hand.
"Do you want to put it on top?"
She nodded rapidly causing laughter to ripple throughout the room. Cassie grabbed her camcorder and began recording as Logan gently lifted Caleigh up, allowing her to put the finishing touch on the tree. Everyone clapped and cheered as she placed the shining star on the very top, making her squeal with joy.
As they all returned to their previous activities, Sonny asked, "Would anyone be interested in helping me bake more cookies?" Looking pointedly towards the boys, she continued, "We mysteriously ran out."
Zora glanced at her friend and said, "We'll help."
"Me too!" Caleigh shouted.
"Alright," the older girl smiled at her volunteers, leading them to the kitchen to get started.
"Mind if I help?" another voice said from behind them.
Turning around to face the voice, Sonny saw Chad standing there with a small smile.
"Not at all," she replied, returning the smile.
After washing their hands and gathering all the ingredients, they split into two groups: Zora, Audrey, with Caleigh, and Sonny with Chad.
"Combine 2 & 1/4 cups of flour, a teaspoon baking soda, and a teaspoon of salt in small bowl," Sonny read.
"Sounds easy enough," Chad said transporting the bag of flour and dropping it on the counter, causing a puff of the white powder to escape.
Wrinkling his nose, he waved the flour away, handing Sonny a measuring cup as she laughed softly.
After measuring everything out, Sonny said, "Hmm… Needs a little more flour."
"How much?" Chad asked, pulling the bag across the countertop.
"Just a pinch," she said, looking over the recipe again.
"Someone's a perfectionist," he smirked, pouring in more flour.
As she turned towards him, she defiantly said, "I am not―Wait, that's too much!"
He stopped pouring and scooped out the excess, "Is this good?"
"Perfect," she nodded.
Before she could turn away, he lightly flicked the flour in her face. The surprised brunette sputtered as he outright laughed.
"Oh, it is so on!" she said with a devious smile cracking an egg over his head.
She grinned innocently as he blinked his eyes, bringing his hand to his hair where the egg began to run.
Within seconds, sugar, flour, and other various ingredients flew through the air, landing all over the floor. Joining in, Zora and Audrey laughed, chasing the pair around the kitchen.
As the four of them fought, Caleigh decided to take things into her own hands, and continued adding things to the bowl. Since she remembered what Sonny put in the first time they baked together and the ingredients were already measured out, it was a piece of cake.
Reaching the step where the electric mixer was needed, she stood as tall as she could on top of her stool, shouting, "Hey!"
The four froze and turned their heads towards her.
"I need help using that," she said, pointing to the electric mixer.
"Oh, alright," Audrey said, returning to their station, Zora following her.
Brushing herself off, Sonny laughed softly and said, "Okay, we'd better get back to work."
"Yeah. I'll start cleaning up the kitchen. Can you finish our batch of cookies?" Chad asked.
"Sure," she nodded.
Within the next half hour, the blond swept up the powder from the floor and wiped down the sides of the counters, freeing them of the dusty substances. During that time, the girls finished making the dough and began placing them on the trays.
"Can we eat a little of the cookie dough? Pretty please?" Caleigh asked with wide puppy dog eyes.
"Nope. Sorry, kiddo. You don't want to get sick," Sonny smiled apologetically.
"Why does Chaddy get to then?"
"He doesn't―Chad!" the brunette scolded, shoving him away from the trays.
Grinning innocently, he was banished to dish duty as the girls put the sheets of cookies into the oven. Within the next twenty minutes, the hungry actors and actresses began flooding the kitchen, eagerly waiting the coveted treats.
Taking them out of the oven, Sonny sternly said, "Only one per person for now."
Before the she even completed the sentence, each selected a warm cookie from the tray and happily devoured them.
Once the extra cookies were stored and everything was put away, everyone gathered in the living room, sprawling out all over the place.
"Hey, before everyone runs off to do other things, I want to show you guys what I've been working on for the last week," Cassie smiled.
Everyone quieted down as she hooked up her laptop to the TV, curious to see what she was so proud of. Pulling up her YouTube channel, she clicked on the video titled, "Wonderful Christmas Time – Sonny Munroe."
La la da da da
As Sonny's voice began vocalizing the introduction, the screen showed Cassie holding up a paper sign reading, "Christmas in NYC, 2011."
The mood is right, the spirit's up.
We're here tonight and that's enough.
The brand new footage Cassie took as they decorated the tree panned across the TV. All of the participants were enjoying themselves, dancing along to the music.
Simply having wonderful Christmas time!
Simply having wonderful Christmas time!
Soon, everyone on the screen was up and dancing goofily as they wrapped garlands and strings of lights around each other.
The party's on, the feeling's here,
That only comes this time of year.
The video transitioned to FAO Schwarz, where the epic Nerf battle had raged. She had shown clips of Zora, Audrey, and Skyler ambushing each other with amusement. At one point, Rider had Cassie cornered with a Cheshire grin on his face. When Cassie shot him on the forehead, the whole room erupted into laughter.
Simply having wonderful Christmas time!
Simply having wonderful Christmas time!
As she ran away from her pursuers, the footage showed how she had run into the boy in the store, but soon faded to show the lines of people in Central Park.
The choir of children sing their song.
They practiced all year long.
Clips of the excited fans waiting outside at the meet and greet flashed on screen. They smiled, waving at Cassie as she passed them.
Ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong.
La la la la la...
She zoomed in on a group of little girls who seemed to be singing without a care in the world. They grinned happily when they noticed Cassie was watching them.
Simply having wonderful Christmas time!
Simply having wonderful Christmas time!
Shifting to Rockefeller Center, the video illustrated the brightly lit Christmas tree along with the ice skaters below.
The word is out about the town.
So lift your glass and don't look down.
Perfectly in time with the song, Sonny performed a perfect triple axel on the screen, receiving praise from her friends as they watched.
Simply having wonderful Christmas time!
Simply having wonderful Christmas time!
Swinging back to the meet and greet in Central Park, Cassie zoomed in on the actors and actresses of both shows, as they made the fans grin with delight.
Simply having wonderful Christmas time
Simply having wonderful Christmas time
As the song came to an end, the screen ended with the group walking away from the camera as Cassie shrugged and mouthed, "Merry Christmas!" to the viewers.
Everyone applauded as she closed the video. The Mackenzie Falls boys all dog-pile-hugged her, nearly causing her to fall over.
Laughing, she asked, "I take it you liked the video?"
"Yeah!" they all chorused, grinning.
"Oh, good," she sighed, looking pleased with her work.
Before anyone could say another word, Zora asked, "Hey, while we're all here, is anyone in the mood to have a live chat with fans?"
After an hour of setting up the proper equipment, eating more milk and cookies, and posting many, many tweets, they were finally ready to broadcast.
"Okay, is it on?" the thousands of fans heard Cassie's voice say.
"Yep. We're good," Zora nodded from her seat on the floor when she saw the red light.
From Cassie's place behind the camera, the people sitting left to right on the floor were Logan, Luke, Rider, Chase, Sonny, Chad, Skyler, Zora, and Audrey. Behind them on the couches were Damien, Shayne, Matthew, Tawni, Penelope, Portlyn, Nico, and Grady. As they were setting up the camera, Audrey noticed that Penelope pointedly made sure that she sat directly behind Sonny and Chad in order to keep a close eye on the two.
"Hey guys, how's everyone doing?" Matthew asked, waving to the camera.
"We decided to do this webcast because… Well. We're bored," Damien smiled.
"And as you can see, it's snowing," Sonny gestured to the large windows behind the couch.
"There was nine inches when we woke up. I suppose it's about ten and a half by now," Chase remarked, barely taking his eyes off of his book to look at the camera.
"Yeah, so obviously we couldn't go anywhere today. So I guess we're all just gonna chill here and ramble to you all as we answer questions and such," Chad nodded.
"Oh, I found an interesting get-to-know-you type questionnaire online," Sonny said, looking up from her phone. "Should we do it?"
When everyone nodded in agreement, she read the first item, "Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 56, and find line 7. What is it?"
Looking around, Rider snatched Chase's book from his hands and did as the question had asked.
As Chase glared at him, he read, "Carolina was a product of the restoration of the Stuarts to the English throne."
He looked directly at the camera and said, "And that was a moment from the nerd book of Chase Alteau," and in return, the younger boy smacked him with the book.
"Stuarts!" Sonny exclaimed glancing at Skyler, grinning at the reference.
"Yes! By the way, shout out to the Daltonites!" Skyler pointed to the camera. "You guys rock. Let us know when the next update is, please and thank you."
Rolling his eyes, Chad picked up Sonny's phone and read the next question.
"Did you dream last night? If so, do you remember what it was about?"
"I never remember my dreams!" Grady said exasperatedly, throwing his arms in the air.
"Me neither! It's so weird. Sometimes I know I had a dream, but I'll never remember what it was about," Nico agreed.
"Really? I can remember almost all of my dreams," Sonny commented.
"Oh, really? Then what did you dream about last night?" Zora asked skeptically.
"The question never said I had to explain," Sonny shrugged with an innocent smile.
"Moving on, who was the last person to text you?" Zora read from her friend's phone.
Going down the line, Logan said, "Luke," without bothering to take out his phone.
Everyone else checked their phones and then proceeded to point to someone else in the room.
"My parents," Luke shrugged.
Chase glanced down at his phone and pointed to Rider, who said, "Lil' sis, Melody. She's staying with her best friend for Christmas."
"My best friend, Lucy," Sonny smiled.
Chad pointed to Skyler as he scrolled through his texts.
"A friend from the theatre program I help out at in LA," Skyler answered vaguely.
Zora pointed to Audrey as she stated, "My sister… Sonny, these questions are boring."
"Yeah," Zora nodded in agreement with the rest of the room.
"Well, who has a better idea?" she asked, slightly hurt.
After a few moments of silence, Matthew gasped loudly and said, "We should talk to Cleverbot."
Pulling out his phone, he opened the Cleverbot app.
"What should we ask it?"
"Ask if it knows who I am," Chad suggested.
"It said, 'Yes, I love him,'" Matthew grimaced.
Smirking, Chad leaned back with his hands behind his head.
"Okay, I'm restarting the conversation. Now let's ask something else…"
"Which came first: the phoenix or the flames?" Shayne suggested with a huge grin.
"Yeah, nice one!" Damien exclaimed, high-fiving his friend.
"It said, 'A circle has no beginning.'" Matthew laughed.
"Alright, enough with the nerd speak," Chad said, rolling his eyes. "Let's take some fan questions."
Since Cassie was controlling all of the electrical equipment, she scanned the laptop screen, skimming the questions.
"Uhh, what are your favorite books and what are they about?"
"Harry Potter," Matthew, Damien, Shayne, Chad, and Rider chorused.
"If you don't know what Harry Potter is about…Where have you been for your whole life?" Shayne asked.
"Oh, y'know. Probably living in a cupboard under some stairs," Skyler smirked.
Laughing at Skyler's StarKid reference, Sonny replied, "The Hunger Games."
"Me too!" Zora and Audrey grinned.
"If you haven't heard about The Hunger Games, it's a fairly new trilogy. Well, newer than Harry Potter. It's about this country named Panem. It's the only country left on Earth because of some catastrophic disaster. It takes place hundreds of years in the future and Panem is run by the Capitol. Each year, a boy and a girl are chosen from each district of Panem to compete in this thing called the Hunger Games where they fight until the death and only one is left," Sonny explained.
"The story revolves around a 16-year-old girl named Katniss Everdeen," Zora added.
"It's a really good story, despite the deaths," Audrey interjected. "I highly recommend it."
Nodding, Sonny commented, "Also, the first movie is being released next March. Just saying."
"…Do comics count?" Grady asked, to which Nico nodded.
Rolling his eyes, Chase said, "I don't have a favorite. I like most everything I read."
Luke looked around and shrugged, "I like some mangas I guess."
"Favorite TV show?" Cassie asked, reading another one of the fan's questions.
"Doctor Who," Shayne and Chase replied immediately.
"Ooh. This is a tough one. It's definitely between Doctor Who and Glee," Sonny contemplated.
"Glee, hands down," Skyler said firmly.
"Spongebob!" the So Random boys shouted.
"Modern Family," Audrey said, smiling at the camera.
"Same. Or one of the CSI shows," Zora added.
"I'll be right back," Skyler said, getting up from the couch and exiting the room, putting his phone to his ear.
Picking out another question, Cassie said, "Oh! This one says, 'Who's behind the camera reading the questions?'"
She turned the camera around on its tripod to face her and said, "Hi, I'm Cassie. One of Chad's younger sisters that he never talks about."
"Because I'm not ready to let Hollywood corrupt you yet," he yelled to the viewers, raising an eyebrow.
She shrugged and gave a small wave before turning the camera back around.
"Okay, if you could have any animal a pet, what would you want?"
"A penguin!" Grady grinned.
"Yeah!" his best friends agreed.
"Either that or an elephant," Shayne chuckled.
"Hedgehog," Sonny shrugged, smiling widely.
"An Aye-Aye!" Zora stated.
"What an Earth is an Aye-Aye?" Chad asked, looking at the brunette.
"It's a lemur from Madagascar," she shrugged.
"Aww! You mean the thing you showed me the other day?" Audrey asked.
She nodded and took out her phone, showing Chad the picture.
He grimaced at the picture and said, "You two are so weird."
The girls shrugged and motioned to Cassie for the next question.
"Have you or would you date anybody else in the room?" she read.
Looking around at each other, they chorused, "No."
"It would be too weird to even think about," Tawni said with a shrug.
"Yep," Sonny said softly, nodding.
"Be back in a sec," Rider said, walking towards the hall.
There, he bumped into Skyler who was on his way back.
"Oof, sorry man," Skyler apologized.
"No worries," he nodded.
Slowly, both looked up and saw the mistletoe above them.
Everyone in the living room laughed and egged them on as Cassie turned the camera to face them.
Shrugging, the boys took their roles and put on a spectacular show, locking lips for a few seconds. The reason they even bothered to fake it was for the fangirls who continually shipped their characters, Cyrus and Devon, in the fanfictions.
Their friends all doubled over in laughter as they watched.
Breaking apart, they both continued the act.
"Wow, that was extremely hetero of you, Cy," Skyler smirked.
"What was? I seem to have forgotten. Care to refresh my memory, Dev?" Rider smirked back.
"Sorry, but you're just not my type," he retorted, about to slip away.
Catching his arm, the younger boy pulled him back, in position to kiss him again, "Then what is your type?"
Seeing as their friends could barely breathe, they dropped the act.
Smiling, Skyler said, "Okay, to all those Devrus shippers out there, that was your Christmas slash Hanukkah slash Kwanzaa slash Ramadan slash whatever present."
"Merry Christhanukkahmas and happy Ramakwanzaadan!" Rider grinned, ducking down the hallway.
Once everyone finally caught their breath and Rider returned, Cassie scrolled through some more questions.
"I'm not a Devrus shipper, but I have to say, that was one hot kiss," she read as the two boys mock bowed. "Who was everyone's first kiss?"
"Girl I used to know in second grade. Her name was Cameron, I think," Logan said nonchalantly.
"Um… Pass?" Luke said hopefully, to which there were no objections.
"Can't remember," Rider shrugged.
"Irrelevant," Chase said, waving it off.
"Best friend's brother," Sonny smiled sheepishly.
Without showing any kind of reference to his true emotions, Chad replied, "It's kind of a long story…"
"It was me," Skyler piped up. "Like he said, long story. But that's not happening again. Sorry, Devkenzie shippers."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Who was yours? Wasn't it Chas?" Chad asked, beginning to get irritated.
"Ah yes, Chastity. The kiss that brought me to my senses. No offense to Chas. She's a great kisser and all, just not my type," he shrugged.
"Pass," Zora said, rolling her eyes.
"Hmm…" Audrey tried to remember.
As everyone shared, Chad's heart dropped a little. He was thinking about Sonny's answer. How she'd blushed ever so slightly at the memory. He had hoped to be her first kiss. A part of him had always known that he was too late. A girl like Sonny surely would have already had her first kiss. He was right.
"What about you, Cassie?" Zora asked, smiling innocently.
"Hah, right. I'll let you know when it actually happens," she scoffed, rolling her eyes.
She caught Luke's eye as he smiled softly at her, before returning to the laptop to find another question.
About an hour or so of laughter, everyone decided that it was time to end the live chat.
"This last question is specifically for Sonny and Chad," Cassie said, smirking a little.
She could've sworn she saw Penelope flash a glare in her direction as she read, "Have you ever thought about dating the other?"
Shooting Cassie a withering look, Chad replied, "I'm not answering that."
"That means yes!" Tawni concluded.
"It does not! It just means he doesn't want to answer it!" Sonny defended.
"Then you answer," she prompted.
"Uh, no thanks," she said, slouching slightly.
"You so have," Tawni smirked as Caleigh walked into the room and ran to her brother.
"Hey, kiddo," he smiled, picking her up. "You just saved Sonny and me from answering this question."
"What question?" she asked.
"Someone asked if they ever thought about dating each other," Cassie answered.
"You should!" she giggled, looking at Sonny.
"But that would just ruin everything," he said softly.
"What do you mean?" she asked curiously.
"Oh, nevermind. You'll understand when you're older."
"Okay, okay, can we answer one more question before we go that is not about us?" Sonny asked.
"Sure. Hmm… Who's the little girl that just ran in? She's so adorable," the blonde read.
"I'm Caleigh," she answered, grinning and waving.
"Yeah, this is my other little sister, Caleigh," Chad nodded.
"Hi hi!" she chirped.
"Well, we're just about to end the chat now," he said to her.
"Oh. Bye!" she said, jumping down from the couch and running back to her room, causing everyone to laugh.
"Alright, well it was great talking to everyone," Sonny smiled. "Oh, wait! Cassie, what's your YouTube username?"
"Same, as my Twitter. Why?" she asked with a confused look on her face.
"You should all go watch this incredible video Cassie made for my cover of 'Wonderful Christmas Time.' Go to YouTube and search CassieDemetria, no space in between. It's pretty awesome. Let us know what you think of it!" Sonny grinned.
"Anyways, it's time for us to go. We love you all!" Damien concluded.
"And we'll talk to you guys later," Logan smiled.
As everyone waved and blew kisses to their viewers, Cassie ended the chat. Within a half hour, they were all back to their original amusements.
Soon, only Chad and Sonny lingered in the living room.
"So…" Sonny said, clearing her throat.
"Hmm?" he looked at her curiously.
"…What did you mean by it would ruin everything?" she asked softly, afraid to hear the answer.
"I don't know… I just thought it sounded like a good answer," he shrugged.
"Oh… That's all?"
"Yeah, I guess."
"Oh, okay…" she said, walking quietly out of the room and ducking into the studio.
Twenty minutes late in the recording studio, Sonny stood at the large computer, loading the instrumental track that her friend Selena Gomez emailed her after she'd asked for it 15 minutes earlier. She timed the track to begin playing after she was set up at the microphone. A few moments after she put the headphones on, she began singing.
You make me so upset sometimes.
I feel like I could lose my mind.
Thinking of Chad, she remembered how he had refused to answer the question. Did that mean he had thought about dating her before? She had.
The conversation goes nowhere,
'Cause you're never gonna take me there.
She knew even if he did, neither would do anything about it. Neither knew what to do.
And I know what I know
And I know you're no good for me.
Did she really want to date him? She tried to convince herself it was only a silly daydream.
Yeah, I know what I know
And I know it's not meant to be.
In the back of her mind, she knew she was only trying to fool herself. It would never work between them, no matter how sweet and kind her could be.
Here's my dilemma:
One half of me wants ya
And the other half wants to forget.
During the trip, he'd been relatively nice to her. There were occasional slip ups, but he'd definitely shown her a different side of himself. But would that all be forgotten once they returned to California?
My, my, my dilemma from the moment I met ya:
I just can't get you outta my head.
The first time Sonny ever saw Chad on TV, she instantly crushed. When she first met him in person after joining So Random, the crush intensified. She couldn't get him out of her head.
And I tell myself to run from you,
But I find myself attracted
To my dilemma.
My dilemma,
It's you, it's you.
After finding out the feud between the two shows, she vowed she wouldn't fall any longer. She was only kidding herself.
Your eyes have told a thousand lies,
But I believe em' when they look in mine.
She knew how he could say anything he wanted to her and she would never care, at least while their gazes were locked.
I heard the rumors, but you won't come clean.
I guess I'm hoping it's because of me.
She had heard loads of rumors about him in the tabloids, but could never tell what was true and what wasn't. He always let his agent handle them, regardless if he really did or didn't do whatever they accused him of. She never fully understood why.
And I know what I know
And I know you're no good for me.
She knew that if they should ever date, the road would be rough.
Yeah, I know what I know
And I know it's not meant to be.
Half of her hoped they would be together someday, but the other half convinced her it would never happen.
Here's my dilemma:
One half of me wants ya
And the other half wants to forget.
She truly did want to forget. She just wanted to be friends. Nothing more. At least not yet.
My, my, my dilemma from the moment I met ya:
I just can't get you outta my head.
Her heart kept telling her otherwise.
And I tell myself to run from you,
But I find myself attracted
To my dilemma.
My dilemma,
It's you, it's you.
The more she thought about it, the more her head spun.
I could live without you,
Your smile, your eyes,
The way you make me feel inside.
Every single time he smiled or made eye contact with her, she melted inside. She had just gotten to the point where she could hide it very well.
I can live without you,
But I don't wanna, I don't wanna.
You make me so upset sometimes.
With the song, she was trying to get all of the emotions out of her system. She didn't want to feel for him anymore.
Here's my dilemma:
One half of me wants ya
And the other half wants to forget.
She had finally decided she wanted to be over him. She didn't want to hurt anymore.
My, my, my dilemma from the moment I met ya:
I just can't get you outta my head.
She was sick of their crazy games. She just wanted someone who would be straightforward with her.
And I tell myself to run from you,
But I find myself attracted
To my dilemma.
My dilemma,
It's you, it's you.
But would she find him? In the back of her mind, she knew who she really wanted.
It's you, it's you.
It's you, it's you.
It's you, it's you.
She wanted a certain three-name jerkthrob.
It's you, it's you.
It's you, it's you.
His name was Chad Dylan Cooper.
My, my, my dilemma.
"Oh, it's already midnight," Cassie said, looking up from her sketch book.
Checking the clock on the computer, Luke replied, "We'd better go to sleep so Mr. Condor doesn't kill us for being tired at his party."
He saved the word document he was working on and took his flash drive from the computer before shutting it down.
"I want to ask you something, but you don't have to answer if you don't want to," the girl said softly.
"Go ahead," he smiled, getting up from his chair.
"Why don't you talk to everyone? I noticed that you rarely talk around your friends," she said with a curious look.
Shrugging, he replied, "I guess I'm just quiet. I'm just one of those people who don't like to talk unless I've the person known for a long time."
"Oh, that makes sense… But you talk to me and Caleigh. We've barely known each other before this trip," she pointed out.
"You two are a special exception. I can't exactly explain why…"
"I understand… Also, why did you pass on the first kiss question? I'm just curious," she asked as they crept towards the door.
Pulling it open and stepping into the hall, he said, "I've never had mine…"
Trailing off, he looked above them at the tuft of green and red dangling from the ceiling.
"Was that always there?" he whispered.
"I'm not sure…" she answered, knowing exactly who had put it there. In fact, at that very moment, the culprits were lying on their bed staring intently at the video streaming live to their laptops.
Silently, he bowed his head slightly as she leaned up, their lips making contact only for a few moments.
When the broke apart, both blushed a bit, not saying a word.
"Um…" Cassie said, swallowing nervously.
"Good night, Cassie…" he said softly as he blushed intensely, heading into his room.
"'Night, Luke," she smiled, entering her room where two girls were gushing over the scene they just witnessed with another girl over Oovoo.
"Really, you guys?" Cassie asked, raising an eyebrow as she shut the door.
Grinning innocently, they turned the laptop to her, showing the other girl as she flailed.
"Oh my gosh, Cass!" the brunette squealed through the camera.
"Really, Selene? You too?" she asked, grabbing her pajamas and heading to the bathroom.
She grinned angelically and shrugged.
"It's not that big of a deal," Cassie yelled from behind the door. "He's just a friend."
"Not after tonight he isn't!" Audrey teased.
"Nothing is going to change. I don't want it to anyways," she confirmed, beginning to brush her teeth.
"Oh, really? Then why did you kiss him?" Zora provoked.
"Because…"
"Cassieeee," Selene said in an irritating tone that she hated.
"I wanted to get the first kiss thing over with," she said, walking out of the bathroom a few minutes later and flopping down on her bed.
The three girls stared at her disbelievingly, waiting for another answer.
Sitting up she said, "I like someone else. Okay?"
"Who?" they chorused.
"This guy I saw at FAO Schwarz. But I'll probably never see him again, so it's whatever," the blonde sighed, sinking into the bed and pulling the covers up.
"Fine," Selene sighed. "I gotta go. I can hear my mom coming to yell at me for being awake. 'Night, everyone!"
"Bye, Selene," Cassie said before rolling over and turning out her light.
Putting their things away, the two other girls turned off their light, letting the soft glow of the city lights put them to sleep.
Somewhere else in the city that never sleeps, a group of young adults began settling into their rooms in a large mansion that would be bustling with excitement in about eighteen hours.
In particular, a certain brunet boy was teeming with anticipation. So far, everything was going as planned. He just hoped it would stay on track.
A/N: Leave a review, pretty please with sunshine on top?