I'm planning on this chapter to be the second-to-last chapter. Yes, I am planning to do a sequel, but I'm not going to start it until all my other stories are complete! Maybe everyone will stop threatening to kill me, then.
Enjoy this one.
Disclaimer: Don't own SWAC…again.
Here we gggggooooo................
Tawni's POV
"Hey, Tawni!" Someone calls. I hear them running down the hall behind the doors to the cafeteria, screaming my name. A lot of others grunt in annoyance at this person, and I blush out of embarrassment.
"Tawni! Tawni!" The doors burst open to reveal a flushed looking Sonny. "Tawni! There you are!"
"Here I am," I say obviously, flipping my hair over my shoulder. Seeing Sonny reminded me of the fact I hadn't thought of a brilliant plan to get her and Chad back together. It was starting to really scare me now, she acted completely fine. But, she hasn't even made any contact with Chad for the past two weeks- they've never even been in the same room together. I guess that the break between one another was helping out her side of the war, and that's not good. I kept my thoughts secluded and listened to what she was so excited about.
"Remember Collin? The one who gave me the record deal?" She says, but doesn't give me time to answer with my nodding. "He just called me!"
"And?" I made a gesture for her to continue, and sipped some of my Sprite.
"And," She mocks me. "Collin and Mr. Condor had a talk. Guess what they're thinking about?"
I sigh, "What were they thinking, Sonny?"
Just then, the doors swing open for me to see the Mack Falls cast coming in the room. I stay very still, trying to make my body language seem normal so Sonny wouldn't notice the cast and flee the room.
"They were thinking…" She stops for dramatic effect, then stands up and puts her hands in the air like she's stopping traffic. "They were thinking about making an entirely new show for musicians like me!"
Sonny. On a new show? Oh my goodness, WHAT?!
"Wait, what?" I ask. "Are you leaving So Random!?"
Sonny's shoulders slump. When I said that, Chad looks over, his eyes alarmed at the possibility of having to forget our plans for Channy. Under the table, I make a signal with my hands for him not to worry. He looks away.
"I don't know, yet, Tawni. But if I did, it would be just for the next season."
I bit my lip. I didn't like the sound of that. We would lose a lot of ratings if Sonny left, I have to admit it. Ugh.
Sonny continues.
"The show is going to be a competition apparently. All contestants have to be, of course, musical, and all songs played have to be originals except when told not to be. Collin wants to see who can e their songs from the heart the best and the audience will vote or something. He's not entirely sure…but I think it's a great idea!"
Hmm…it didn't sound that bad. Sort of like American Idol.
"Would people get voted off and stuff like that?" I ask, honestly curious. Sonny notices and smiles.
"Yes, and whoever's the last standing when's the Heartfelt Award." She giggles. "That's what Collin and Condor called it. We're the only ones who know, so keep it on the DL."
I know now that Chad is musical. This could be to our advantage…and there's the light bulb. Brilliant idea! I could get the whole world to vote for Chad and Sonny in the end, and when they realize they both love each other still, they'll feel ignorant for winning and they'll get back together and Tawni will win once again! Yes!!!
"You know what, Sonny?" I say excitedly, and she catches onto my mood quickly. "That's a great idea! I'd love to see you on that show!"
"You know what, Tawni? I think I want you to be on the show!"
"No, no…" I disagree quickly. "I'm your manager, remember? Even Collin said I was pretty smart."
"Ooh, right…" She trails off suggestively. "Well, then. I guess we'll have enough people trying out anyway." She shrugs.
"That's the spirit!" I exclaim with too much enthusiasm. How is she this peppy all the time? I'm getting dizzy! "Now go tell the world!"
"Okay!" She yells, and bounces off.
I sit back down with wide eyes, rubbing my forehead as a headache comes on because of my acting like Sonny, and with a great plan forming in my head. Slowly I sink down and my bottom reaches the chair. Then, another visitor.
"I'm thinking you've got a plan."
Chad.
"Me, too…" I nod. "You're musical, Chad.
"And I think we're on the same page…" He says, smirking.
And at the same time:
"Get back together on the show? Yeah!"
I say, then, "Yes!"
"It's foolproof."
"Also." I lean forward so no one will hear. "I think we- you, you. I think you should start over."
His brow furrows. "What do you mean?"
"During the show, I want you to play hard to get. Girls always want what they can't have." I shrug. It's obvious. Anyone would have known that's what to do.
He still looks confused.
I sigh, and explain.
"Sonny fell for you once. Then, you were Chad Dylan Cooper. The bad boy, the boy who was extremely hard to get. If you play the same you did then, the same thing will happen. You'll both fall again. Hard."
Chad's eyes narrow. "That's perfect." He mumbles with a small but thoughtful smile.
"I know." Again with the hair flipping.
"Hey, Tawni?"
"Yes?" I look at him.
"I…" He sighs. "I just want to thank you for helping me. I have no idea why you are in the first place, but…you know. Just, thanks."
"You're welcome. Besides, at first, I was doing it for Sonny. She's so bright and happy. Or, was. And I don't like it when she mopes and stuff…it's just, so…un-Sonny."
He nods understandingly. "True."
"But I'm also doing it for you. When you're not a jerk, you're not half bad, I guess."
"Cool." He smiles, and I get up to get a froyo.
Before I leave, though, I turn back to him.
"Do you seriously think the plan is good?" I ask.
"Of course!" He says it like I'm crazy.
"Okay, well, then…" I look at him like he's supposed to know what to do next.
He watches me strangely. "What?"
I put my hands on the table and crinkle my eyebrows, leaning forward. "If you want to win that Heartfelt award, you better go write some heartfelt songs."
"Oh, right!" He jumps up, and exits the room.
When I get up and grab a cup for my yogurt, I think of Nico. We haven't gone out in a while…in fact, I haven't even seen him in a while. I wonder what he's up to?
"Hey. Tawn!" Is that him?
I turn to face Nico, currently entering through the doors and walking toward me with slight swagger. His walk was not trying to impress me, for I know this because I've seen his walk before. The way he moves was obviously habitual. I smiled at him politely but still with a little pretty Tawni in the lip curve. It's been the perfect boy-catcher since, like, forever.
"Hey, girl. Haven't seen you in a while. What's goin' on?" He asks, wrapping an arm around my waist as he pulls the lever for my froyo for me.
"Nothing much," I say, and I could feel the heat come to my cheeks. "Just…life."
"And has life been good?"
I smile thoughtfully, and decide, "Actually, yes. Life has been great. But I was just thinking about you, what's up?"
He smiles at me. "Aw, mot much. I've been hanging with G-man for a while because you've been so busy. But, I missed him, too. We hadn't really even hung out for a while there. I feel…" He trails off suggestively.
"You feel…what, Nico?" I urge him to continue.
"…I feel…I feel like our cast has been slowly growing apart." He says quietly.
Right when he says that, denial shoots through my mind. Sonny and I have been closer than ever, and she's been making me think about world peace and niceness. I was actually…dare I say it…liking the new me. But, then again, I was just thinking about how I hadn't seen Nico, and for this matter, Grady, too. Zora…oh jeez! She's the other one on our show, isn't she? I haven't even spoken to her in forever. I sort of feel bad now, had I been ignoring them?
No, I haven't been purposely ignoring them, because I've just been so busy with trying to help Sonny and Chad. Maybe I can throw a party or something later.
"You're right…" I say slowly.
"But-" He smiles at me flirtatiously and I flip my hair over my shoulder. We're still in the same position with his arm around me and everything. "I came here to ask you something."
"Yes?" I'm eager to hear.
"I was just wondering…" He shrugs, and I feel his shoulder against mine. Tingles…lots of them. "if you wanted to go out again sometime this week?"
…EEEEEEEEEEP!!
"That sounds great!" I say enthusiastically, and grin at him.
"Cool." He looks at me and smiles
When he looks at me, I wait for him to look away, wanting to get as much of those deep green eyes as I can before he turns. But, he doesn't. My heart begins to race, ten times faster and harder than it had with Hayden. Hayden was nothing compared to what I was feeling now. The green was taking over my vision, and I didn't move. My teeth moved to my lip, and I sigh dreamily. Nico started to move in, and…
Something freezing started to drip on my hands and up my arms, and I jumped back.
"Eep!" I squeal, and I'm away from Nico. The dreamy feeling edges into fright, and I realize I had completely forgotten about the froyo machine.
Nico is silent for a second, and I look over at him, my mouth agape. He starts to chuckle, and I just start to laugh. The situation was something you would get from a romantic comedy movie or something, except it was happening to me. But, that's pretty much what my life is- romance and comedy.
"Oh my gosh, I wasn't even paying attention!" He laughs, and grabs some napkins. I look away and catch Chad's eye, and he's shaking with uncontrollable laughter. I glare, and he shrugs, looking away.
"Nico?" I say.
"Yes?"
"Um," I blush furiously once again. "this is the most embarrassing thing I've ever done. Spare me and just walk away?"
He laughs loudly and my heart melts, but then he purses his lips and I can still detect a small smile.
He sighs, "Okay."
I watch him as he walks away out of the cafeteria, chocolate foryo dripping down my arms and onto the floor.
"Wow, Tawni!" Sonny says sarcastically. "And you thought I had it bad!"
She laughs once and grabs some napkins to help me. I use her words to my advantage.
"Oh, please, you still do have it bad!"
Her body tenses up, but she doesn't stop moving.
"Listen ,Tawni." She says quietly, and I see Chad's listening. He gets up to 'throw something out'. "I'm just trying to help. Can we just drop the whole Chad-" her voice breaks as she says his name-"thing? I'm just trying to help."
"Okay," I say quietly. "I will. Sorry."
"What?" She asks, her eyes wide.
I look at her like she's crazy because of her sudden outburst. "What?" I'm confused.
"Did you say sorry?" She says, disbelief coloring her tone.
I said sorry? Oh my gosh, I said sorry!...that's a good thing. Right? But hadn't I been getting nicer? Maybe I just hadn't had to say it earlier.
"Yeah, I shouldn't have brought it up. I'm sorry." I smile.
"Oh," she says, a little disgruntled. "Um, it's totally fine. I'm just…a little surprised. I thought Tawni Hart doesn't say sorry?"
"Sonny, that's Chad. I guess you've changed more than one person, huh?"
Sonny looks at my arm with her brow slightly crumpled. It's still all sticky, but all the yogurt is off. She busies herself by getting another bowl.
"I don't know what you mean." She states matter-of-factly.
I sigh. This girl knows exactly what I mean. She hands me a new yogurt. I nod gratefully and continue.
"Say and think what you want, Sonny." I tell her honestly, and begin to walk out of the room. Over my shoulder: "You and Chad might be good at playing characters, but you're horrible at playing yourself."
And with that quote (thanks Selena!) , I walk out, leaving a satisfied Chad and a disgruntled Sonny.
