Sonny with a Chance Read online

  Sonny

  with a Chance

  By: JJ Ross

  Copyright

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or deceased is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Copyright © 2016 Sandra Ramona Smith

  Cover design by Melody Simmons

  Dedication

  This book is dedicated to my sweet friend Crystal.

  I’m sorry about the guy...I had to do it.

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Thank you…

  Prologue

  I watched as my beautiful child played by the clover patch I had been running my hands across. He looked up at me, smiled his perfect smile, and then he rushed to me and plopped his head on my lap. He looked up at me with his gorgeous hazel eyes, with their beautiful little flecks of gold.

  To me, he was perfect in every way. I smiled at him and I pulled him into my arms, holding him lovingly as I watched the water on the lake seem to stand still like a mirror. He pulled his chubby hand to his mouth and began to suck his thumb in exhaustion.

  “I guess it’s nap time for somebody,” I said looking up at my handsome husband. He smiled, the corners of his crystal blue eyes crinkling. He began to gather the remnants of our picnic as he caught my eye and winked flirtatiously, letting me know he was always thinking of me. A smile spread across my face.

  “I love you,” he whispered, letting little Andy fall asleep in my arms. He gently kissed his forehead and then mine.

  “Are you ready to get going?” he asked quietly.

  “Yes,” I said as I slowly stood up, holding our son. Our son. I stood there looking at his beautiful face with unconditional love.

  Chance pulled his arm around my shoulders, “He looks just like his father,” he managed to whisper, his voice full of emotion.

  “Yes...yes he does,” I smiled, thinking of Drew.

  Chapter 1

  Four years earlier…

  The first memory I have of Chance being the boy that I liked was when I was about five. He had picked me a flower after I fell off my bike and scraped my knee. He’s always been sweet like that.

  The first time that I thought he was the “cutest boy ever,” I was about eleven and we were having our pictures taken by our parents as we got ready for our first day of middle school. He smiled on cue, and I finally understood why all the girls in school wanted to be my friend and hang out with Chance when they came over for sleepovers.

  The first time I thought a guy was hot, was the day his older brother Drew got in trouble for fighting. I was about fourteen and we were freshmen in high school. Chance and I had just gotten to his house and were about to start our homework when we heard the arguing from downstairs. Drew was raising his voice with his parents and claimed the other guy deserved what he got.

  I lied and told Chance that I needed a bathroom break and I had eased out into the hallway to peek, just in time to hear Drew bounding up the stairs toward his room. We locked eyes and I knew if I ever had the chance to act on the electricity that flowed through the air in that moment, I was in big trouble. He grinned knowingly at me, accenting his dimples, and then went to his room.

  That was it. Just like that. If I didn’t talk about how fast my heart was beating and my head was spinning, you would never understand how it felt to have him look at me like that. There was almost a hunger in his eyes. My heart was beating fast enough to make me light headed and I grabbed the doorframe for stability.

  Drew was everything I could never have. He was bad and older, and he was Chance’s brother. Oh dear Lord, was he sexy. And because he was older, and although they shared the same genes and similar good looks, Drew had filled out more. He had the broader shoulders and the bigger arms. He was trouble for any girl’s heart. I kept our little exchange to myself, vowing never to tell anyone.

  Thankfully, God had a better plan than to let me be distracted by both Mitchell boys at the same time. Drew ended up moving away to college. To be exact, he moved about four hours away, with minimal weekend and holiday visits. That was his choice. He was getting into being a frat guy, I guess. His absence left me to drool over his little brother and my childhood best friend.

  Chance was a whole other problem, in a good way, because he helped me forget the way Drew had always made feel.

  Consumed.

  **********

  I was deep in thought as I watched him walk toward my lunch table. It was like in a movie when everything around you freezes and it’s just you and him. That’s how he made me feel…as if time stopped when he was around.

  Chance had a reputation for being a ladies’ man, but I didn’t care. I still let him flatter me and I still let him unload his life and problems on me. Having Chance divulge his conquests to me hurt, because it wasn’t me, but it meant that I had his attention. Any attention was better than no attention, right?

  Of course, he had to stop and talk to at least ten other people and high-five some jocks from the football team, as he made his way across the high school cafeteria.

  He was the all-American guy. He was my crush, not to mention, next-door neighbor, childhood playmate, and best guy friend. Yeah, that’s Chance Tyler Mitchell in a nutshell. Well, something like that.

  “Hey Sonny!” he said as he plopped himself into the seat next to me. Sigh. Sonny is my inescapable nickname. I don’t blame anyone. My name is Sonnenschein Maria Schneider. Who wants to pronounce that mouthful?

  Anyhow, my name means Sunshine, so, Sonny it is. He lightly squeezed my shoulders as he looked down at the papers in front of me.

  “Hey Chance,” I smiled as I turned to face him. “Shouldn’t you be with your jock friends or something?” I teased.

  “I’m gonna ignore your sassy mouth and forgive you, but only if you help me with something,” he smiled that gorgeous Mitchell smile. I melted. I was at his mercy. He could have asked me to set the school on fire at that moment and I probably would have.

  “What do you want?”

  “So, Drew is supposed to be coming home for the weekend and I was hoping you could help with a little get together for him. He hasn’t been home in a long time and I wanted to surprise him with a party. You’re really good at planning and stuff like that, so, I figured you were the best one to help me. Anyhow, I was thinking we could have it at Chris’ place since his parents would be out of town.”

  “I’m good at planning. So, that’s like a compliment then?” I laughed lightly, referencing his comment.

  “Yes, of course, Sonny. Why wouldn’t I compliment you? You’re amazing,” he shook his head and looked away as if embarrassed to say something sweet. My stomach tied in knots hoping there was more to his compliment.

  “I’ll help. No
problem. So what all do you need me to do?”

  “I was thinking, since you and Drew are pretty good friends, maybe you can find a reason to drive him around until everyone shows up and then I can just text you and you two can show up to a crazy busy party,” he looked to me hopeful, seeking approval, that his idea would work. I shrugged. I’m sure I could hang out with a hot guy for an hour or so while they got everything ready. No harm in that, right?

  “So, you’ll do it?” He asked hopeful.

  “Of course, Chance. Anything for you guys.”

  He grinned big and hugged me, wrapping me in his spiced cologne. I sighed to myself.

  “Thank you so much, Sonny! You’re the best friend anyone could ever have.”

  “That’s me, best friend,” I said, forcing a smile.

  “I knew I could count on you,” he smiled as he stood up. He planted a quick friendly kiss on my forehead and jogged toward his group of friends. I sighed as I shook my head and turned my attention back to my apple and math book.

  Finals were coming up and I had a lot of work to do. I had to work a little harder if I wanted to ensure my spot as Valedictorian and secure scholarships, to ease the financial burden on my parents. We weren’t struggling by any means. We lived in a beautiful suburb and had the manicured lawns with picket fences throughout the neighborhood, but if I could use my academic achievements to cover parts of my college education, then why not help my parents out?

  “Why do you torture yourself like that?”

  Snapping from my thoughts of Chance and scholarships, I turned to my best friend Maggie, who had sat down while I was lost in my thoughts.

  “What?”

  “Oh please Sonny, I have been your best friend since the 6th grade. I have no idea why you do that to yourself. Just tell him how you feel about him. You might be surprised. Maybe he feels the same way and just hasn’t told you either.”

  “I can’t do that. He is way too good for me and besides, you see the kinds of girls he goes after,” I said as I nodded toward the table of blonde cheerleaders, “I am just another plain girl, lost in a sea of normal. Brown hair and brown eyes. Booooorrrring.”

  “He is far from being too good for you. I don’t think you are boring at all. I think you are gorgeous. Also, I think that you have amazing hair, regardless of the color. As a matter of fact… I’m jealous of your hair and mad at myself for cutting mine off. I love the way your curls just kind of bounce all over your back. As for your plain eyes, they are far from plain. I wish I had brown eyes. You can wear any eye shadow you want and you have lashes that never end. With my green eyes, when I wear purple eye shadow, I look like I have a black eye!” She laughed, “Sonny, you are the one that is too good for him. I hope one day you can see that.”

  I smiled at her, “You have got to be the best friend anyone could ever have.” I playfully nudged her with my shoulder.

  “I am, and that is why I gotta get going, so you can finish that math and then work on whatever you need to get those scholarships you’re always talking about,” she smiled and stood up to leave, but then turned, “As for Chance, if he doesn’t get it, he doesn’t deserve you. Cliché, I know, but true. Have a good weekend.”

  “Thanks Maggie,” I said as I bit into my apple and worked on a math problem that probably wouldn’t even matter in the real world.

  Chance and I carpooled, so I was usually stuck waiting for him to finish football practice after school. I was sitting on the bleachers, facing the football field, tapping away on my laptop. That day, I was finishing some college applications while I waited on Chance.

  I took a break to look up and glanced up just in time to see Chance pull the bottom of his shirt up to wipe the sweat from his eyes, exposing his perfect set of abs. The older he got, the more he resembled Drew, filling out in all the right places. I felt a slight blush as I quickly looked back down to my computer screen. I had to quit thinking about him. Both of them. It was becoming distracting.

  Oh…but what a distraction, I smiled to myself.

  “So, Sonny, do you have a minute?” I looked up. Her perfect blonde hair and piercing blue eyes were practically in my face. She looked like a Greek goddess and there I sat looking like a Greek tragedy. I fidgeted with my sloppy ponytail as I smiled to her.

  I gently shut my laptop and gave her my full attention, attempting to wipe the expression from my face, giving her a clean slate, “Sure, what’s up Ashley?”

  “Look, I know that you and the Mitchell brothers are, like, best friends. I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind, maybe, well uh, hinting to Chance that I would be interested in going out with his best friend Chris sometime to like a movie or something? Or maybe, that I would like him to ask me out to do anything, really…” she waited, absentmindedly playing with her pom-poms, running her fingers through them as if they were hair. I tried not to roll my eyes at her as I took a deep breath.

  It was difficult to not like Ashley. What was not to like? She was gorgeous, funny, and popular. I mean, cheerleaders had a reputation, but who knows how much of those rumors were true. Besides, most of all, she was a genuinely good person. If a student needed help with a problem in class, she was the first to help and if someone was walking down the hallway and dropped a book, she was the first one to rush over and scurry to help them pick things up.

  “I will talk to Chance on the way home, but I’m sure Chris likes you. He’d be blind not to,” I saw her face light up like a Christmas tree. “Oh! Wow Sonny! Really?” I could practically see her planning their wedding in her head. I nodded to reassure her. She glanced over her shoulder to see Chance walking toward us.

  “Thank you,” she whispered as she walked away quickly to join her friends. I guess it was like a fairy tale. Guy likes girl, girl likes guy, guy and girl get together. I groaned at how whimsical it all seemed.

  “So, what was that all about?” he smiled, leaning on the side of the bleachers, as he watched her walk away. I felt a tinge of jealousy watching him check her out.

  “I’ll tell you on the way home,” I smiled, half-heartedly, gathering my things and shoving them into my backpack with a huff.

  “Let’s go. I have a lot of homework to do,” I began to walk toward his Jeep, slinging my backpack over my shoulder.

  Brilliant oranges, reds, and a tinge of purple painted across the sky as the sun was beginning to set. The whole irony of my heart breaking and the sun setting was almost too much. I took a deep breath as I willed the tears away. Why didn’t he look at me the way he had, checking out Ashley?

  With a blink, one made its way down my cheek and I quickly wiped it away. I hopped into my seat in the Jeep and waited for him to get in.

  He started the Jeep and pulled out of the parking lot slowly. We drove in silence for a few minutes until the quiet in the cab of his Jeep was growing more uncomfortable with each passing second. He didn’t want to initiate conversation and I knew what he wanted to know, so I decided to stop prolonging the inevitable. Reluctantly, I briefed him about my conversation.

  “Ashley really wants to go out with Chris and she was hoping that maybe you could talk to him,” I said out loud, staring out the window, into the early evening. I tried my hardest to hide the sadness from my voice and thankfully, he was too excited to notice.

  “Yeah, sure, whatever,” he laughed, “anyways, so back to the Drew party. Chris is going to check with his parents and then we should be set. If not, I have a backup plan to ask Shayne,” He was quiet for a moment as he tapped the steering wheel and glanced at me quickly.

  “What’s wrong Sonny, are you okay?” I guess my emotions were all over my face.

  I turned toward him, trying my best at convincing him I was fine, “Nothing. I am just a little stressed trying to get everything done. I just wish this year was over so I could move away from here.”

  “Awe come on Sunshine, it’s not that bad here, is it?”

  “No, not really. I just need a change. I need to get away from small town life,
that’s all. Sometimes suburbia and her perfections are too much for me. I want more,” I said. Really, though, I needed new, not more. I needed a change of scenery. Some place that didn’t involve being near either of the Mitchell brothers.

  “I know what you mean. Just a few months left of football. I only get a few more looks from scouts and then we see what happens with college,” he smiled. Of course he was great at everything he did. He was an amazing football player and he was good at baseball, too. His options were endless.

  He leaned forward to turn up the radio and started to sing loudly. Badly, at that. I smiled to myself. Okay, maybe he wasn’t good at everything.

  Chapter 2

  I had come to terms with never having my chance with Drew and I would do the same with his brother.

  Honestly though, could he really not see how I felt about him? After all these years, could he really not feel the tension between us? I guess he thought it was just a close friendship.

  Would it even make a difference either way? I didn’t know how he felt and he never gave any indication that we were more than just friends. I guess the feelings I had were not even close to how he saw me.

  Oh well, at least I still had Maggie. She was my best friend, who looked like a glamorous movie star from the ‘20s. She had short, wavy, jet-black hair and stunning green eyes. As we sat there, she nudged me to get my attention and pulled me away from my trance.

  “I can’t feel sorry for you if you won’t even tell him,” she said as she chewed on her sandwich. I sighed. She could see it all over my face and she was right. I hated to admit it, but she was absolutely right.

  “UGH! I am being so stupid. I should just tell him and see what happens. I feel like I missed the perfect chance when I didn’t tell Drew before he left for college. Now, there are probably all kinds of college girls throwing themselves at him. I missed my chance and now I’m doing it again. Everything could be so perfect, but I’m too chicken to speak up,” I sighed.