S U M M E R W I T H T H E S T A R S – C H A P T E R 2
Want Some Aloe For That Burn?
Synopsis: The two hottest shows at Condor Studios are required to go to a dance together. When all goes wrong, Mr. Condor himself sends them on a trip in the Bahamas. Sounds perfect, huh? Well when people plot, lies are told, and people get hurt, it might just be bitter sweet.
Rating: T for language and romance, but nothing you can't handle.
Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own anything.
previously:
Chad scoffed, "We were never friends, Sonny. We went from enemies to frenemies, to whatever you would call this. There's no in-between, there never was. It'll have to end here. Don't be sorry, Sonny. I'm sorry I wasn't worth enough to go through a little paparazzi scandal. I'm sorry I thought you weren't like all the others, who let those crazed photographers control their entire lives. I'm sorry."
"You don't have to be like this," she cried, trying to grip his hand as he attempted to tug it away.
Chad stood up, dejected. He offered his hand to her and pulled her up. She dusted off her teal cocktail dress awkwardly, keeping her gaze focused on the concrete.
"There's no other way. Apparently we can't be together. That's that."
serendipity_serendipity_serendipity_serendipity_serendipity_serendipity
Back in the tree room, the other stars sat in the midst of a long awkward silence, at a loss of words due to the missing cast leaders.
"Where the hell are they?" Portlyn screeched out, standing up angrily. She paced around the room, as if internally battling her next move before she took a single step.
The others shrugged, getting up with her as the group walked back to the dance floor. Various stars picked up their drinks, slid on their coats, and nudged a friend as Portlyn looked on in disgust at their unawareness of her crisis.
She scoffed, "well unlike you guys, I don't want my Chaddy to be with that skank so I'm gonna go look for them."
Portlyn turned on her heel, sauntering back into the venue animatedly as if simply falling into Chad's path was somewhat natural. Little did she know that his heart was slowly crumbling down like the London Bridge as his true love turned him down.
"Hold up," Nico said, tugging Portlyn's hand back to face her. "Sonny is no skank, let alone any other names you Falls people may call her. So don't get all up in our face just because your Chaddy doesn't want anything to do with you," he declared, receiving various 'whoot's, 'go Nico's, and high fives from the So Random! cast.
Portlyn froze in fear, looking to her other cast mates for some back up. Devon happily obliged, his crush on Portlyn obvious.
"If you got something to say to the Mac Falls cast, you can say it to me, pretty boy," Devon sneered, cracking his neck and his knuckles, smirking at his physical dominance over Nico.
Grady threw himself over Nico, slightly tripping over his feet in the process. "Not so fast, Devon. I suggest you end this before you exacerbate (A/N: hahahaha best. word. everrrrrrrr.) the problem."
Devon chuckled. "Then we fight," he mused, kneeing Grady in the crotch with ease, watching the chubby boy fall to the floor in pain. His smirk grew as Grady groaned in pain, his ego soaring with each cry.
"Big words probably never helped you so much, huh, funny boy?" He asked as he swung his foot against Grady's side quickly.
Grady slowly stood up, resting his arm against a table to gain back his breath. His eyes met Devon's, shoulders slumping in fear.
The muscular man across the room glared him down, "any last words, random?" Grady shuddered. "Didn't think so."
Grady ducked, avoiding Devon's fierce fist as it continually connected with the air beside him. One of his punches finally reached Grady's nose, causing him to spiral to the ground in pain once again, as he clutched his nose.
Blood began gushing from his face, most likely from a broken – or freakishly badly fractured – nose.
The door suddenly swung open, revealing the chaperones previously not present at the party. They looked around until their eyes fell upon Grady, as they rushed to his side after pulling Devon off of him.
"Is he breathing?" A strong voice roared, as one of the security men bent down to check Grady's pulse.
The man sighed out in relief, "we're good, Marsh. The kid's breathing. His pulse is normal, actually." He slowly eased up Grady's neck, waking the boy from the sudden motion.
At that time Sonny stormed back into the venue, anger raging through her blood from her encounter with Chad. She covered her mouth at the sight of Grady, sprinting over to Tawni to find out what happened to her fellow cast mate.
Tawni turned to see her shock, "Grady. Devon. Fight. Oh and where have you been girlllll?"
Grady then placed an arm around Marshall and Mr. Condor, walking outside to check his nose on a bench before calling in any medical assistance needed by the young boy.
"How is he? Did he break anything? Where are they taking Grady?!" Sonny screamed in Tawni's face, receiving a calm scoff from the blond.
"Oh, honey. He's fine, he probably just broke his nose. And he's outside talking to Condor. Yeah – he walked in right at the action. So what happened between you and Chad?"
Sonny covered her blushed face, biting her lip nervously.
"Nothing. Honestly, we got nowhere. Apparently the kiss meant nothing to him." Sonny admitted, looking at her feet sadly."
"He told you that? Ass," Tawni mused, leaning toward Sonny in excitement to get the whole story.
"No, he told me that after telling me that I meant everything to him and that he loved me – bipolar much? Now I'm left here feeling guilty because of my previous suggestion to just be friends. Gah, I'm so stupid," Sonny cried, though reveling on the inside by her friend's understanding.
Tawni gasped, "What did you say when he said he loved you?!"
"I returned the feelings. I really do, Tawni, I love him so much. But the paparazzi...they would ruin everything, and I would want our relationship to mean more than just a cover story." Sonny said.
"Poor Chad… Those photographers really do hold a massive strain over his life. You should've seen the media wildfire when they caught on that his parents died last year. I felt really bad," Tawni explained, shaking her head in guilt.
Before further question from Sonny, Mr. Condor strutted back into the room angrily, his fist clenched as Grady joined the group weakly after.
"That's it – Marshall and I will do it. All of you guys are going to be going on a retreat. No, Portlyn, not a pleasant one. You will be traveling out of the country to bond. Out of the country in particular, because you will be experiencing new things together, and hopefully that will bring you closer. Are we clear?" Mr. Condor demanded, receiving an elongated 'yesssss' from the young stars.
Marshall smiled, "Great, then we're leaving the day after tomorrow! Get to packing!"
The lot quickly cleared out, leaving only the So Random! cast, for they were sharing their limo with Marshall, whom had a last minute meeting with Condor.
"But Marshall–" Tawni began, throwing her hands up in the air.
Marshall cut her off, "No buts, Tawni. I think you guys need this to finally get over the tension, if you know what I mean," he smirked, raising his eyebrows at Sonny.
"Marshall, I don't particularly think this is a good idea for us as an independent show." Sonny declared quickly, tensing up as he opened his mouth in protest.
"What's your logic behind that assumption, Sonny?" Marshall asked.
"Well… If we have no competition due to the loss of a rival, ratings will go down. And if they go down, so will our paychecks! Imagine that – all of us without jobs! Then the world will crash without comedy, and–"
Marshall chuckled, shaking his head with slight annoyance. "What's this really about, Sonny?"
"Chad and I kind of… y'know… It'll be uncomfortable," Sonny explained, her voice quivering with embarrassment.
"Are you two being safe, if you catch my drift?" He asked slowly, shock still settling in his features.
Sonny's eyes widened in realization, "No no no, oh god no, Marshall. We didn't…fornicate, we just kissed. I swear."
Tawni coughed, something along the lines of 'made out' flowing out of her mouth quickly.
"But it'll still be incredibly awkward between us. So please reconsider," she pleaded, opening her chocolate eyes wide for maximum effect.
Marshall tilted his head up in debate. "Well I suppose you could simply be exempted from the trip… but no. You and Chad need to settle this sexual tension, for lack of between words, that you guys are having."
Sonny sighed, her shoulders slumping. "Alright. Thanks for understanding, Marshall. Let's go guys, nothing left to see here. The limo is waiting outside." Sonny declared, leading the group out to the limo.
Nico clicked his tongue, "So you and Chip, eh? Don't worry, we all understand. Everyone saw it coming anyway."
"What do you mean? I don't like Chad and he certainly isn't happy with me right now," Sonny deadpanned.
Grady chuckled, "You guys are like an old married couple, always flirting and fighting with each other. You should see your faces while it happens – you can tell you guys are holding back from lunging at the other to make out for the rest of your day."
Sonny scoffed dramatically. "No way, no more-than-friendly exchanges go on between us." She persuaded, her voice raising several octaves in the process.
The three stars laughed at her comment, doubled over in pain.
"Think again, Sonny. I hate to be a buzz kill, but you told me yourself… Chad doesn't love you." Tawni said.
Sonny's face fell, regardless of the fact that the statement wasn't actually from Chad's own mouth.
"He's in love with you, honey. And you're in love with him too, I think." She smiled, happy for her friend's newfound love even if it wasn't clear to her.
"But it wouldn't work! I need someone sweet, and Chad's never sweet to me, and I–"
Marshall's mouth dropped. "He isn't sweet to you? Don't think I'm not hooked up to the gossip. I know for a fact how heels over head in love that boy is for you. I specifically remember that sketch he guest starred on. You should've seen his face when he realized he was kissing the pig… Poor kid."
The limo pulled up to Sonny's apartment, and the driver rolled down the passenger/driver separator to tell her this.
Sonny groaned, "Oh well. I didn't see his face. And I never will, because I'm not going to some foreign country with him!"
And with that dramatic sentence, she snatched her clutch and ran out of her limo to her apartment.
Ahhh I'm so sorry everyone! My life has been crazy. Like legit. All weekend I've had tons of visitors at my house, and that was total insanity. Then tomorrow I'm going out of town, so I've been packing and filling out paper work and all that good stuff.
Back to story stuff – I honestly can't say when I'll be able to update next. I don't want to be that person that updates only once or twice a month, but that's probably how it'll be for the next month or two. I'll be exhausted for my trip all week and then finals...oh gosh, don't even get me started. So I definitely need to focus on school and such.
I'm incredibly sorry from the bottom of my heart, and I'll make sure to write whenever I'm able to.
P.S. – I'm thinking of making Chad a little more sweet and innocent. I don't know why, but it kind of bugs me that in so many stories he's always the bad guy that plays every girl he dates. What do you think?
Review, please (:
