SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG! I had to work on my culture project. And I'll be damned if I don't get an A.

The following portion of this author's note contains nothing pertaining to SwaC:
Joker236 - EEW not Farid. :P he reminds me of Justin Beiber: sounds a LOT younger than he is. Dustfinger forever! Haha, you're funny...I laugh every time I read your reviews.


Sonny

"Hey, Tawni! We're rehearsing in five. Ooh, cute color!"

"Thanks!" she squeaked, admiring her cherry red toenails adoringly. Then she looked up at me and awkwardly looked at the sofa. "Oh! What is that?" she exaggerated, pointing to a black leather bracelet on the couch.

I growl/exhaled and picked up Chad's bracelet. "It's Chad's. Now why would Chad's bracelet be in here?"

"Oh! I do not know. By the way, that reminds me: Chad texted me and said you left something at his apartment and that you should go pick it up."

"That sleazy prick…"

"Hey, watch your language!" Tawni shouted. I shot her a hard glare and she backed down.

"Well it's true! And I don't think I'm gonna bother. I mean, this thing cost what, six dollars? He bought me an extremely expensive necklace before we were even close." My hand went to my upper chest, and my brow furrowed as my fingers only touched skin. I patted frantically around my neck in vain for the cord, scowling when I realized there was no necklace around my collar, dropping my hand as I discovered the dreadful truth.

"He…has my necklace. That's what's at his place, isn't it?" I asked rhetorically. I crossed my arms over my chest, forcing my smile to be pleasant. "Well, it's from him, and he hurt me, and I don't want it back," I lied. Of course I wanted it back—it was beautiful.

Tawni's face contorted into a look that said she felt compelled to do something she really didn't want to, and rolled her eyes, taking a cleansing breath before saying, "Just go over there and get the stupid necklace."

"Tawni, who's side are you on?" I demanded, throwing my hands down and hearing the bracelet connect with the carpet.

"I'm on my side, which means I do things spontaneously for both sides of a situation I really could care less about just for my own entertainment. Besides, I wanted to borrow that necklace…"

"Then you get it!"

"JUST—go get the necklace!"

---

I didn't want the necklace. It wasn't that beautiful. And if I showed up at his door, I'd just be giving Chad what he wanted. Hadn't I been working long and hard to prove that Chad Dylan Cooper didn't get everything he wanted?

It was six. I thought all this in the parking lot of his apartment complex. Obviously, I had issues if I had driven all the way here with his bracelet on my wrist, without turning back even now.

One thing I had thought on the way here was that this could be a good time to show Chad I was completely over it, three days later, hit him where it hurts. But let's face it—I'm not exactly the best at acting when my feelings insisted on being so vivid. That, and I am the most terrible liar. I could just see it now: me walking up to and rapping on his door, trying to be strong but melting as our eyes connected, a cocky smirk on his face as he took advantage once again of how naïve I was.

Determined now to prove to myself such would not happen, I released my seatbelt with unnecessary force, causing me to fumble clumsily, which only frustrated me more. I yanked the door open, or tried to, realizing I hadn't used enough power to open it in my first tug, and marched up the steps (a bit more slowly than I might have liked, lest I should fall), followed by another flight, and yet another. I was panting by the time I reached Chad's floor, stopping to catch my breath before marching up to the door and knocking with wild abandon.

My stomach flipped and I knew immediately this was a mistake. I was going to fall right into his cheating arms.

But I wasn't the one that melted when the door swung open. To my great shock, Chad's face displayed an intense amalgamation of deep pain and relief, and I could see a tear glint on one of his cheeks just before he wiped it away. "You…you came."

I hardened my face, resolving not to completely dissolve. "You have something of mine. And this is yours," I put simply, holding out the bracelet for him."

He smiled, obviously attempting to charm me. "Won't you come in?"

I nodded and held my head high as I entered the room. He seemed sincere…but he also had when he used to hold me. Wow…"used to" seems like a world away, I thought.

He walked into his room and came out a moment later with the necklace. Instead of handing it to me, he unclasped the back, looking down at it and turning his eyes up at me pleadingly. I couldn't resist, pulling my hair aside with my hand acting as a scrunch, and he fastened the band behind my neck.

It took effort to make my face straight again, but I succeeded before turning around to look at him again. "Thank you. Now I'm going to head home, before I get in more trouble on account of you."

His face fell. Well, come on—he deserved this! I shouldn't be feeling sorry for him like I did right then!

---

This is not my day, I thought as I lay facedown on my bed. Well, this was a rotten New Years Eve. I couldn't even celebrate it now because my mom had basically blown up at me because she evidently had had a tip-off from Tawni where I was.

Should've Said No by Taylor Swift was about to end, as I could hear through my iHome. Then I heard a scuffling sound, and supported myself on my hands to look around the darkened room.

Thinking it was nothing, I scurried to hit the "skip" button as Mr. Brightside came on, switching it to Whatcha Say by Jason Derulo.

Then something completely unexpected but still somehow expected came through my window: an egocentric jerk-throb with a twig in his hair and an unsteady grin on his face.