the complete guide to sunny winslow

[merrymelody]

3. Dawn and the Impossible Three – The first mention of Sunny as Dawn’s ‘best friend’.

23. Dawn on the Coast – It’s mentioned Dawn and Sunny have been friends since second grade.
Sunny comes with Jeff, Carol and Jack to collect Dawn from the airport.
Sunny tells Dawn she has a surprise for Dawn, and Dawn notes how Sunny loves surprises.
The surprise is, inspired by Dawn’s ‘hundred’ letters about the BSC, Sunny, Maggie Blume and Jill Henderson have started a babysitting club of our own. Sunny is…practically exploding from the excitement of finally getting to tell her secret.
The We Love Kids club is more casually run, with no officers and lots of health food.
Sunny and Dawn share a liking for ghost stories, and Sunny has gotten Maggie into them also.
Sunny was piling up books in my arms to take back to Dad’s with me. “Vacation reading,” she said.
Dawn is thrilled when it turns out Vista is on spring break too.
Jeff and his friend are overwhelmed by the sight of Sunny, Jill and Maggie in their bikinis.
Sunny is potting a spider plant.
Sunny’s room has a green shag rug.
Dawn reflects that while the WLKC is less formal than the BSC, they’re able to share information just as simply.

“I think Clover’s going to be an actress,” said Sunny. “Or a writer or something like that.”
“And Daffodil is the real surprise,” I said. “You think because she’s quiet she’s going to be shy, but she has a real determination to her.”
“Did you notice how she’s suddenly all leg?” Sunny asked. “She’s like a colt or a baby deer….”

Sunny’s very close to her mother. When her mom jokes ‘Am I allowed in here?’ Sunny moans ‘Of course. What do you think?’
Sunny’s mom asks Dawn and the other girls to stay for dinner, as there won’t be many more chances to see her for her visit. She makes spinach lasagna, which appears to be a favourite of Dawn’s. Sunny pleads ‘Oh. Stay, stay, stay.’

Sunny stood up and dusted the potting soil off her hands.
“Ick! Wash your hands first,” Maggie teased.
Sunny wiggled her muddy fingers in Maggie’s face. “No way!” she laughed, then bounded down the stairs.

The WLKC are creating a file full of healthy recipes.
Dawn reflects on the ‘thousand’ times she’s eaten at Sunny’s house before, and how much she likes the Winslows.
Dawn considers moving back to California, permanently, and distractedly exits to think about the issue. She decides against discussing the issue with Sunny as ‘she’d just persuade me to stay’ but ultimately goes over to ‘talk with her about my dilemma’.
As expected, Sunny is excited, although Dawn is a little ‘defensive’, as she doesn’t feel her list really rates the pros and cons of Connecticut and California evenly.
Dawn loves how relaxed the WLKC is, but notes that while she can’t say it to Sunny’s face, it’s also ‘not as busy or as involved or active somehow as the BSC’.
She’s also not sure that she’s still as close to Sunny as she is now to Mary Anne, and she’s definitely closer with the BSC than Jill and Maggie.
Sunny says ‘A California girl belongs in California’, and Dawn shuts down the conversation, to Sunny’s ‘taken aback’ look.
Dawn ultimately decides to return to Connecticut, and Sunny and the other girls throw her a goodbye party, making food and giving her a book and a reciple file.

California Girls SS #5 – Sunny invites over the BSC to meet the WLKC: ‘a grinning girl ran out, and she and Dawn hugged and hugged.’
‘Sunny's house looked a lot like Dawn's — skylights in the roof, sprawling and modern. But it was a two-story house, and Dawn's is all one level.’
Kristy’s unimpressed with the organisation of the WLKC, and Sunny ‘sounded a little testy’ at her questions. Kristy offers to babysit for two siblings, but disregards the WLKC members advice.
All the clubs unite at their sleepover when Jeff makes them laugh.

66. Maid Mary Anne – Dawn begins to miss California. Here, Mary Anne talking about quilt designs with names like ‘Sunshine and Shadow’, which Dawn picks as a favourite; presumably thinking of her father’s nickname for her and her best friend’s full name.

Mystery 12. Dawn and the Surfer Ghost – Sunny is impatient to get to the beach for surfing lessons.
Dawn reflects on how Mary Ann is her best friend in the world, even though she hasn’t known Mary Anne nearly as long as she’s known Sunny, but that she and Sunny have a ‘special kind of bond’. She describes them as ‘soul sisters’ due to their shared name.
Sunny always seems to be in a good mood and loves to flirt. It’s frustrating for her that even a ‘pretty, smart girl’ as Dawn describes her, can’t always distract the surfer guys from the waves. She has a natural knack for surfing, despite not being as attentive in lessons as Dawn.
Sunny and Dawn are working at a children’s program at the beach.
Sunny thinks Thrash, a local surfer, likes Dawn. Dawn admires Thrash, but Sunny is concerned as she’s heard Thrash gets into fights a lot.
Dawn thinks that she’s on her own solving the mystery of Thrash’s disappearance, as Sunny, despite adoring ghost stories, doesn’t believe in real ghosts, and the WLKC are generally less interested in mysteries than the BSC.
Sunny decides Dawn had a crush on Thrash, and advises ‘You have to let him go. Get on with your life.’ She’s worried Dawn will be getting ‘mixed up with murderers’. She suggests Thrash faked his own death.
They spot what they call a ‘ghost surfer’ and Dawn thinks Sunny doesn’t want to admit to being spooked.
Sunny’s now convinced something strange is going on, and she promises to team up with Dawn and help her investigate.
Odd accidents occur, and the girls 'stick together like glue', until Sunny is injured surfing, leaving Dawn to continue her investigations alone.
Sunny decorates the sets for the kids play.
Sunny comes to watch Dawn in the contest with Dawn’s family. They’re even more nervous than Dawn is.
That night they celebrate Dawn’s yellow ribbon with dinner out.

72. Dawn and the we love kids club – Dawn reflects on how she finds the WLKC relaxed style refreshing.
Sunny gives Jill a surfing lesson on her bedroom carpet.
Dawn then thinks about how Sunny is her oldest friend, and how much they have in common: ‘we’re both outgoing, funloving and independent.’
It’s revealed Sunny’s mom is a potter, and that Sunny’s full name is Sunshine Daydream Winslow.
Sunny’s excited by Maggie’s proximity to celebrities, particularly Keanu Reeves.
Sunny’s embarrassed when a reporter calls the club, and she assumes it’s their practical joke loving friend Ellen.
Everyone is nervous at first to talk with the press, even Maggie, but Mrs Winslow puts them at ease.
Sunny’s described as “an aptly named fireball of boundless enthusiasm.”
The girls TV spot airs, and they’re overwhelmed with the new clients. Dawn insists it’s time for organisation.
Dawn decides to run away. She tells Sunny and Maggie she’s sick. Sunny offers to walk her home, but Dawn insists, feeling ‘awful lying to them’. She flies back to Connecticut, imagining her families worry. She thinks Sunny will ‘hardly be able to speak through her tears’.
Dawn’s mother insists she return to California. Maggie is irritated with Dawn’s lying about being sick, while Sunny and Jill are ‘sympathetic’ and ‘relieved’ but don’t quite understand. Dawn assists the WLKC in becoming more organised.

The Babysitters Club Secret Santa - Dawn writes a postcard from California and decides to wish that her BSC friends and her We Love Kids Club friends could be better friends. Kristy is Dawn's Secret Santa and worked with Dawn's friend Sunny Winslow to put together a scrap book of both the BSC and the We ♥️ Kids Club.

The Babysitters Remember SS #11 - Dawn mentions how as she and Sunny turn twelve, they’re offered more sitting jobs.
Sunny accompanies Dawn and the Austin girls to the playground.
Dawn doesn’t know why, but she’s embarrassed to tell Sunny about her parents divorce.
Dawn and Sunny never call each other before arriving at each other’s homes.
Dawn bursts into tears and Sunny sits next to her and hugs her. Dawn breaks the news, and she and Sunny cry, but also feel angry at Dawn’s parents.
Dawn escapes to Sunny’s house to avoid her parent’s rows.
Sunny announces that she’s going to throw Dawn a going away party. However, they and the other 6 guests spend the evening in tears.
Betsy Winslow drives Sunny, Dawn, Sharon and Jeff to the airport.

Jeff and I were so mad we could barely say good-bye to Dad. I did manage to say good-bye to Sunny, though. In the airport, we clung to each other and cried. Jeff watched us, horrified.

Dawn begs her mom to call Sunny after their flight, but Sharon refuses as the cost of the long distance call would be too high. Dawn ‘whines’ "Aren't Sunny and I ever going to be allowed to talk? You already took my father away from me. Are you going to take Sunny away, too?”
Dawn’s grandma hugs her and Dawn reflects “I think that's why I had wanted to call Sunny. I needed to cry with someone.”

77. Dawn and Whitney Friends Forever – Dawn mentions that she’s known Sunny longer than anybody else in her life outside of family.
Sunny and Dawn are very comfortable in each other’s houses – Mrs. Bruen is cooking Sunny’s favourite, which Sunny offers to help with, Sunny greets Jeff as ‘Jeff-man’, slinging her backpack into the ‘nearest corner’ and exclaiming ‘Dawn!’ ‘as if we hadn’t talked…only a couple of hours before.’
Sunny thinks Mr. Schafer’s film festival plans sound ‘cool’.
She and Dawn ‘informally’ babysit Jeff, playing goalies in pick-up soccer.
Sunny and Dawn can communicate wordlessly, and when Jeff goes to bed, Sunny guesses, correctly, that Dawn wants to call Connecticut.
Sunny asks Jack about his date. When he mentions the popcorn, she prompts him: ‘And?’
Jack and Dawn are amused at Sunny’s comment: “You have to kiss a lot of frogs before you can find a prince. Or a princess.”
Everyone is shocked by Dawn’s calling the WLKC meeting to ‘order’.
Dawn takes her ‘charge’, Whitney, to see Sunny, who’s babysitting the Austins. Sunny pauses slightly before taking Whitney’s hand and replying to her – presumably she hasn’t met anyone with Down’s Syndrome prior to this.
Whitney likes Sunny: ‘Sunny is nice. She’s a good babysitter.’
Dawn smiles at the memory of Sunny ‘in the sun’ replies: ‘And a good friend.’
Dawn surprises Sunny at a concert. Sunny is wearing a ‘radio headset’ in case she doesn’t like the music: ‘A good babysitter is always prepared.’
Sunny backs up Dawn when Dawn suggests Whitney as an Honorary Member of the WLKC, and they take the Austins and Whitney to the park.

17. Dawn and the Halloween mystery – Sunny calls Dawn’s house ‘Casa Schafer.’
She and the WLKC gossip about a student’s eyebrows, and Sunny’s new mountain bike.
Sunny’s described as a ‘strawberry blonde’ with ‘freckled cheeks’.
Sunny is described as secretive about her full name.
Maggie recalls having to stay home on Halloween one year:

“I watched all the other kids come to our door for treats, and I sobbed the whole night.”
“How tragic,” Sunny said, stifling a giggle.
“It was!” cried Maggie, bopping Sunny with a pillow. “It probably scarred me for life.”

Sunny’s favourite stuffed animal, a crocodile called ‘Captain’ is first mentioned.
Sunny agrees sarcastically to help: ‘The police probably won’t have the time, but I happen to have the afternoon free!’
Sunny raises her eyebrows in surprise when Dawn lies.
Sunny is confident when speaking to boys, and flashes a shop clerk ‘another one of those irrestistable smiles’

“I think he kind of liked you,” I said to Sunny, as soon as we were outside.
“Oh, don’t be silly,” she said, blushing. “He was cute, though, wasn’t he?”
“Cute, but a little old,” I said.
She gazed out onto the green field. “Wow!” she murmured. “Maggie and Jill made it sound like there were only two cute boys here, but I see at least a dozen.” Sunny can be just a little bit boy-crazy sometimes.
But you know what? She was right. “How about that guy with the black hair?” I said. “I love his ponytail.”
“I like the blond one better,” said Sunny.

Sunny and Dawn trail a suspect, but he’s comically saintly: Sunny sighed. “He’ll make some girl a fine husband one day,” she said, with a straight face.
Sunny dresses as Mrs Claus for Halloween:
Dawn makes it a habit to arrive earlier at Sunny’s as she’s rarely ready on time.
Sunny and Dawn are envious of a boy who attends school on a motorbike.
Sunny loves Halloween as you get to feel silly and act like a little kid again.

Here Come the Bridesmaids Super Special 12: Sunny howls at the description of a bridesmaid dress as ‘radiant and luminous’, as it reminds her of Charlotte’s Web. She’s disbelieving when Maggie says she hasn’t read it.
Sunny has made them stop for energy giving snacks, then a ninth grader flirts with Maggie while Jill, Sunny and Dawn try not to look too dorky.
The WLKC meet with the BSC. Kristy thinks the group are ‘great people’ and ‘really nice’ but struggles with their way of running a club. Sunny contrives to have a meeting. Kristy vows to be accepting, and Sunny shoots her a Look and formally announces a special meeting. Sunny reassures Kristy that they’ve been having regular meetings ‘…more or less’.
Sunny asks Dawn to fetch lots of food with a ‘little, high pitched laugh’ and a ‘wide, plastic grin’.
Kristy thinks Sunny’s health food diet has turned her ‘strange’.

As Dawn went downstairs, Sunny ran to the door and closed it. "Did I sound too obvious?" she whispered. We looked at her with a group Duh.
"Guess what?" Sunny practically squealed. "I've planned a surprise going-away party for her on Sunday!"
"But she's not leaving until next week," I said.
"I know," Sunny replied. "And she'll be too crazy with last-minute stuff. Besides, you guys are leaving soon, right? And I want you to be there."
Upon questioning, Kristy realises Sunny hasn’t organised any actual plans.
"Oh." Sunny turned kind of pale. "Well, urn, I guess I haven't gotten to that."
"This is for Sunday, the day after tomorrow?" I asked.
Sunny nodded weakly. "What should I do?"

Kristy decides Sunny needs her help as there’s no way she can pull this off on her own.
Kristy describes the food at Sunny’s as not real food, to Dawn’s displeasure.
The WLKC and BSC hang out together at Carol and Jack’s wedding. Kristy is ‘ready to kill’ Sunny when she says to Dawn ‘See you at the party!’ However, Kristy's organisational assistance pays off and the party is a success.

87. Stacey and the bad girls – Sunny leaves a message for Dawn to call back. She sounds ‘gloomy’ and Dawn drops her bags and runs right to the phone. Sunny bursts into tears, saying her mother has lung cancer. She apologises, saying she had to call someone. Dawn reassures her ‘It’s okay. I’m glad it was me.’
When the call is over, Dawn cries herself, saying ‘I just have to go back there. I have to be there for her.’ The next, she can ‘hardly think of anything else.’

88. Farewell Dawn – Dawn talks about how she longs to be in Palo City, and how worried she is about Sunny and Mrs. Winslow since Betsy was diagnosed with lung cancer. She calls California, and Sunny answers: ‘For the daily surf report, press one…now!’
Dawn reflects that Sunny is always kidding around, and how she flirts a lot, but it’s so friendly that she makes it seem okay.
Sunny screams ‘Dawn!’ in recognition, and they both scream in unison before calming down.
Sunny’s worried because Dawn is calling in the day, but Dawn reassures her she was just missing Sunny and wondering about her mom.
Sunny is ‘thoughtful’, but also ‘quiet’ and ‘unsure’ when she talks about her mother’s condition.
Dawn wishes she could be with Sunny in person to put her arm around her.
Sunny ‘cheerfully’ changes the subject and ‘serious mood’. Dawn says she wishes she could be in two places, and Sunny says she wishes another her could be at the beach.
Sunny is hopeful that Dawn will come back. They discuss the WLKC, and Dawn realised she wants to move back to California permanently.
Jeff mentions he saw Sunny talking to a guy who was giving her a surfing lesson, and Dawn wonders who it was, and why Sunny didn’t mention him the other day.
Dawn decides to move back. She’s afraid to tell Mary Anne, worried that it will come out as Dawn saying she prefers her family and friends on the other side of the country. Mary Anne does seem to view California, and Dawn’s friendships there as meaning more to her:
“You couldn’t predict that we wouldn’t be cool enough for you after your fabulous time in California. Sorry we’re so boring now. Sorry I’m such a drag compared to everyone in California…Is it like I was fun for awhile but now you’ve moved onto the next thing?”
They row bitterly, but in the end are able to accept each other’s feelings: I hadn’t forgotten Sunny and my other friends and I didn’t intend to forget my friends in Stoneybrook, either.
The story resolves with a letter from Dawn: I saw Sunny today and she says hi to you and everybody else. I’m glad to be able to be here for her…I know it must be scary for Sunny…I’m headed over for a We ♥ Kids Club meeting right now. I wonder how much chaos has returned to the club since I left. Sunny says everything is going along fine, but you know Sunny’s idea of fine.
Mary Anne replies: I bet Sunny is very happy you’re there to help her get through this. It made me cry when I thought of what it must be like for her to be so worried about her mother.

Dawn’s Portrait - Sunny is excited to be walking to school with Dawn once more.
Dawn’s first memory is how she wants a best friend in her neighbourhood. A home is sold locally to a couple with a little girl, and Dawn skips all the way home; walking past the empty house four times a day, and locating Oregon on a map, imagining her new friend.
The girl I’d been waiting for — longing for — finally climbed out of the backseat.
To Dawn’s horror, the Winslows are ‘weird’. They exit their camper van in bare feet and wearing long dresses that look like nightgowns, and they dance – to Dawn’s horror, including Mr. Winslow – and hug, not noticing or caring that the moving men are laughing.
Dawn is stunned that the girl’s name is Sunshine, her dad’s nickname for her, and has a ‘spooky feeling’ as she approaches the family.
Dawn is scared of Betsy's spider plant at first. She’s also unnerved by the Winslows lack of a television, their diet of health food (at this point, she prefers ‘grilled cheese and tomato soup’) and that they ‘thank the earth and sea’ for their meal.
Dawn doesn’t think she can be friends with Sunny, and wonders what Sunny would think about her favourite show, Sesame Street. However, in the absence of a better option, she wanders over to Sunny’s house. The Winslows water bed, Sunny’s tie dyed bedspread, her decorations (a poster saying peace and a hand painted cardboard rainbow) and her all wooden toys further disturb Dawn, who pities Sunny for not having a barbie doll, and is disgusted by Sunny’s mangy-looking, ratty stuffed crocodile, Captain.

“We try not to buy plastic or other synthetics,” she said. “They’re not good for the environment.”
At that point I hadn’t thought much about saving the environment. And I certainly didn’t know what a “synthetic” was. To me it sounded like a disease.

Sunny ‘probably could tell’ Dawn is bored, and suggests she teach Dawn Morse code so they can have a secret language when school starts. Dawn isn’t interested, so they go to her house. Sunny’s equally underwhelmed with Dawn’s plastic toys, so they play outside. Sunny doesn’t like the 3 year old Jeff and his friend playing with swords as it ‘encourages violence’ and says ‘We have to stop them by suggesting a peaceful game.’
Dawn’s unimpressed, as she ends up playing with Sunny and the younger children.
Sunny gives Dawn her Morse Code chart, and suggests they play together tomorrow. The next morning, she asks Dawn to come over and tie dye. Sunny is excited to see her favourite colours: ‘I love it when we use purple’. Dawn’s excited, despite herself, but is embarrassed to see the Winslows are going to do this in the front yard, and that other neighbours are watching, and exits, to Sunny’s disappointment.
Dawn feels guilty, but decides that Sunny probably didn’t care. She tries to avoid Sunny, but her mom, offers to help Betsy and Sunny with a ride to the department store.
On the way, Sunny identifies clouds as ‘stratus’, explaining that means there’ll be a thunderstorm.
Dawn is humiliated by strangers staring at Betsy and Sunny’s ‘long hair and hippie clothes’, and tries to shake Sunny by looking at plastic toys. However, Sunny follows her, talking about plastic.
The storm causes the store lights to go out. Dawn is near tears, but Sunny calls out ‘Dawn, stay where you are. I’ll find you’, and uses a light up toy as a flashlight. Sunny takes her hand and suggests they find a clerk.
People nearby are impressed by the girls bravery and cleverness. The lights come back on, although Dawn nervously decides to stick close to Sunny. The clerk suggests checking the next floor in case Sharon and Betsy are there, and Sunny thinks they should tell another clerk in case their moms return. The clerk, is impressed by Sunny’s quick thinking.
Dawn is tearful, but Sunny remains calm. When she sees men in overalls, holding tool boxes, she asks who they are. The clerk explains they fix elevators, and Sunny thinks their mothers must be in a stuck elevator. Dawn worries about possible catastrophes.
Sunny pounds on the elevator door in Morse Code, and her mother responds, assisting the repairmen. More strangers admire Sunny, and Dawn notes that none of them are judging her for her strange clothes.

‘I was proud to know Sunny. And thanks to her I wasn’t frightened anymore…Finally I was calm enough to think of what I could do to help.’

When the elevator opens, Sharon says Betsy reassured her, staying calm and sensible in an emergency.
I realized that I didn’t care anymore what other people thought of the Winslows. I liked my new neighbors.
…I felt lucky that I had a good friend who lived on my block. In fact I was beginning to think that Sunshine Daydream Winslow was just about the most interesting, smart, resourceful girl I’d ever met. Maybe we would be best friends after all.

Dawn then reflects on fifth grade, and how the Winslows have acclimated somewhat to the more traditional aspects of their neighbour, but how the Schafers and they are very close.
Sunny and her parents know all the constellations.

“Did you ever wonder what’s pouring out of the Big Dipper?” Sunny asked me.
“I know,” Jeff said. “Green slime.”
Sunny and I ignored his answer. “Maybe meteors,” I said.
“I think it’s pouring out love,” Sunny said.

Dawn buys Sunny wooden rainbow bookends.
Dawn copes with a fire when babysitting, and Sunny proudly tells the teachers and their school friends.

They offer to read each other’s autobiographies. Dawn’s a little nervous for Sunny to find out mistakes she’s made.

Sunny said, “Dawn, when you read my autobiography you’re going to learn things about me that I’ve never told you.”
“So are you,” I said. “I wrote about something I did that I’m not proud of.”
“Me, too. I hope you’ll still like me after you read it.”
…I realized that what she read wouldn’t change her feelings toward me. And that nothing she wrote in her autobiography would make me change mine. In fact, I was pretty sure that we’d be better friends than ever…

93. Mary Anne and the memory garden – Dawn celebrates Christmas with Mary Anne, but New Year’s Eve with Sunny.
Sunny and Dawn resolve to clean up a dirty lot kids play at.
Sunny draws the final design for the garden they plan. Dawn and Sunny mislead their charges families about having contacted the owner, and when he confronts them angrily, Sunny tells Dawn she won't let her face 'that iceberg' alone.
Sunny jokes 'Winslows never beg. Plead, yes...'

98. Dawn and Too Many Sitters – Dawn writes a joke introduction to a school paper, amusing Sunny.
Jeff enters, pleading with Dawn and Sunny to know what the joke is, hoping it’s something he can include in the joke book he plans to write. Sunny refuses: “Jeff, nothing we think of could possibly be funny enough for your book.” She distracts him:

Sunny, as always, knew the perfect thing to say. I mouthed a “thank you” to (her).

Dawn doesn’t want to leave for Stoneybrook, as she’ll miss Sunny, her ‘number one friend of all time’.
She calls Sunny’s hair a ‘gorgeous strawberry blonde’.
Sunny ‘nearly had a heart attack’ when Maggie shared that Winona Ryder came to her house.

Sunny flopped down on my bed. Lying on her back, she covered her face with her math book. “This is not a nap,” she announced. “I am learning by osmosis.”

Sunny rides with the Schafers to the airport. She also throws Dawn a going away party. Dawn has doubts about leaving while Mrs. Winslow is sick, which Sunny notices, putting her arm around Dawn and reassuring her: “Don’t worry. We’ll be here when you come back.” Dawn says that 'optimists stick together'.
Carol, Sunny and Dawn are tearful and huggy. Sunny promises to call Dawn every day and helps her with her luggage.
Dawn tells her friends in Stoneybrook the news about Sunny’s mom.

Mystery 26. Dawn schafer: undercover babysitter – Dawn talks about California being where her roots are, and how Sunny’s like a sister to her, and needs her nearby now. She talks about how Sunny’s mom is doing well, which allows Sunny to put in some beach time.
Sunny braids Dawn a purple and green friendship anklet, which Dawn touches while she writes, ‘thinking of sun and sand and feeling close to Sunny’. Dawn talks about how when she left California after her parents divorce, she and Sunny took ‘memory pictures’, visiting the places and people they loved.

109. Mary Anne to the rescue– Kristy puts ‘so-called’ before the We Love Kids club’s name, or calls them We R Lazy.

124. Stacey McGill...Matchmaker? – Dawn and her friends have started a movie club.

BSC in the USA SS #14 – Dawn is writing a letter to Sunny at the beginning of this book. At the end, there’s a party to celebrate the BSC’s arrival, and Sunny dances with 7 year old David Michael. She also chats to Abby.

California Diaries

Dawn's Diary One - Dawn’s unsure about how Mrs. Winslow’s illness will affect things – she’s always walked to school with Sunny before, but should she give the family space rather than entering without knocking, now? Sunny is in a rush to leave, as her mom is having a ‘horrible morning’, sick from chemotherapy.
Dawn recalls when her parents divorced, and how she thought her heart would break saying goodbye to Sunny.
Maggie asks after Sunny’s mom. While Sunny doesn’t want to discuss it, she returns the favour, asking after Maggie and her beloved cat.

Maggie was waiting for Sunny and me on her corner. I thought she looked like she’d been crying. But all she said when she saw us was, “Hi, you guys. How’s your mother, Sunny?”
“Don’t ask.”
“Oh. Sorry.”
Sunny looked at Maggie. Then she looked at her a bit harder. “No, I’m sorry,” she said gently. “What’s wrong, Maggie?”
“Nothing.” But Maggie was definitely trying not to cry.
“Is it your mom again?” asked Sunny.
“Or your dad?” I suggested.
Sunny and I let the subject drop. “How’s Curtis?” Sunny finally asked. She was smiling.
The mention of Curtis made Maggie smile too. “Good!” she replied.

Dawn thinks Sunny seems impatient with her.
Sunny sneers quietly at Jill’s clothes. Dawn thinks she, Sunny and Maggie should be commended for ignoring Jill’s outfit, but Jill's face drops when Sunny suggests they go to class without mentioning her clothes.
Sunny and Dawn hold up their fists and shout ‘Rulers!’ at being the eldest of the middle school.
Sunny, Dawn and Maggie are embarrassed by another of Jill’s outfits. Jill giggles and comments on an older boy, but Sunny cuts her off with ‘Shut up. He’ll hear you.’
It’s announced the eighth grade will share their building with the upperclassmen.

We were quiet again. Then Sunny said, “Well, I’m excited. This is going to be cool. It’s the big time, you guys. We’ll get a whole extra year of parties, dates with older guys, all the good stuff. I feel like we’ve been in middle school forever.”

They all laugh as a kid bumps into them as Maggie complains about the overflow.
Dawn speaks on the phone to Sunny, who’s upset as her mother is in hospital again, and that Betsy’s chemotherapy has made her sterile. She thinks that Sunny has changed:

Ever since Sunny’s mom got cancer, Sunny has seemed a little … wild or something. She takes risks. She’s daring. And she’s not so interested in the stuff we used to do together. She’s especially not interested in baby-sitting.

At the beginning of the first day of eighth grade in the high school, Sunny looks ‘nervous, but excited and even a little proud’, although she sarcastically describes their position in school: 'We’re subfreshmen. Sort of like bacteria.'
Maggie likes an older boy. Sunny tells her to ‘pick someone easier’ as he’s ‘already taken’ and ‘every girl in school has a crush on him,’ but she and Dawn ‘grin’ as Maggie just shrugs.
Sunny’s excited to receive an invitation to a party thrown by the upperclassmen, although Dawn is suspicious. Sunny thinks Jill may have been invited to the party because the older kids know that she’s friends with Sunny, Dawn and Maggie. Sunny is ‘stubborn’ about going to the party, and rolls her eyes at Jill’s declaring it an impossibility.
They decide to have a sleepover at Jill’s, and get provisions at the mall.
Sunny discusses getting more ear piercings, a navel ring, or piercing her eyebrow, to Dawn’s distaste.
Jill wants to look at kittens, to which Sunny rolls her eyes.
Dawn ticks her off, and asks if she’s upset about her mom. Sunny suggests they discuss it later. Dawn puts her arm around Sunny’s shoulder.
Sunny and Jill look at hamsters together and laugh.

…suddenly Sunny burst into tears.
…Maggie put her arm around Sunny. “What is it?” she asked.
Sunny tried to smile. “Oh, it’s so stupid. I was just, like, thinking about my mom? And I remembered the last time I visited her in the hospital. Thursday, I guess. And she had said she was actually hungry, that for once she was looking forward to her dinner; even if it was a hospital meal. And then her food came and she couldn’t eat it after all. She just looked at it. Then she said the smell was making her sick, so Dad took her tray out in the hall.” Sunny paused. “And here I am stuffing my face. It is so unfair. Mom weighs like a hundred pounds. She looks like a stupid skeleton.”

Sunny gets her navel pierced.
Dawn wishes she could talk to Sunny about Carol’s pregnancy, but she knows that Carol doesn’t want her to, and that Sunny has enough to deal with.
Sunny and Dawn bring gorp to the sleepover, and talk about how they used to pack candy and stuffed toys, and now they’re packing makeup and clothes like they’re planning a business trip. They feel old.
Sunny calls Jeff ‘weird’ after he quacks at the girls like a duck.
Dawn reminds Sunny to be nice to Jill, and feels sad that Sunny used to be so close to Jill, Maggie and her.
Sunny teases Maggie that she can change her name to Doctor Dolittle. Maggie smiles.
Sunny’s resistant to Jill’s plans for the sleepover, and suggests that while Jill’s mom and sister are out, they attend the ‘real party’.
Maggie and Dawn agree, but Jill refuses.
Sunny knows the way from bike rides with her parents, before her mom’s illness. Dawn and Maggie don’t know what to say.
Sunny wants to investigate and talk to people, but Dawn and Maggie are nervous.

Sunny made a beeline for…the punch. Maggie and I were at her heels. Sunny had just reached for a cup when a very cute guy stuck a pack of cigarettes under her nose. Sunny wanted to be cool. And she reached for the cigarette—but with just the slightest hesitation.
“Is something wrong?” asked the guy.
Sunny turned on an absolutely charming smile. But I knew she didn’t want the cigarette. I also knew why.
“Oh,” I said to the guy. “She doesn’t smoke. Her mother’s dying of lung cancer. Thanks anyway.”
I watched Sunny. I have never seen so many emotions on a person’s face at once. She was aghast at my rudeness. And she was in shock. Neither one of us has ever actually said that her mother is dying. But I could also see that she was trying not to laugh.

Sunny gets very drunk, and Dawn pats her back as she vomits, then has to lie down.
The police arrive, and the girls decide to walk back through the woods.
Sunny is frightened when she realises she’s lost her wallet, and that if the police find it, they’ll be able to identify her as at the party.
Ducky gives them a ride home, and Sunny has to sit up front as she’s still nauseous.
Ducky offers to collect the girls the next day to return to the party site and help Sunny find her wallet.
Sunny is sick again outside of Jill’s. Jill is disgusted, but seems touched when Sunny confesses ‘We appreciate (Jill covering for them) it. We really do.’
However, they bicker, with Sunny saying this is ‘about me. How did you manage to turn the conversation around to you?’ and Jill arguing that she was the one who was ditched.
Sunny passes out, and the girls take off her shoes and jeans and put her on her side.
The next morning, Sunny is hungover. Ducky collects her and Dawn, but the owner of the party’s site turns out to be Ms. Krueger, a teacher at Vista. Sunny’s scared, as all her mom needs is the news of what they did the previous night.
Dawn asks if Sunny wants to come with the mall with her and Jill, but Sunny’s still irritated with Jill, and she needs to visit her mom.
The next day, Dawn wants to walk into the school hanging her head, but Sunny won’t let her.
The girls are scared after Ms. Krueger arranges to see them. Sunny is defiant, but when Dawn reminds her they were breaking the law, Sunny mutters ‘I know, I know, I know.’
Dawn wants to hang out with her friends in the afternoon for moral support, but Sunny has to visit her mom again.
Ms Krueger gives them 'a private lecture'. Sunny blushes, and when Ms. Krueger mentions that alcohol poisoning can be fatal, ‘Sunny’s eyes widened and her chin trembled.’
Sunny argues that the upperclassmen were playing a trick on them, and that they didn’t know they were going to an empty house; but Ms. Krueger points out the upperclassmen weren’t responsible for her drinking or walking alone.
Sunny is suspicious when Ms. Krueger says they won’t be in trouble ‘this time’. Ms. Krueger explains she’ll be watching them.
After they exit, Sunny calls Ms. Krueger a dork. Dawn defends the teacher, and Sunny admits that Ms. Krueger ‘scar(ed) us’ with the lecture about safety, and she ‘feel(s) so stupid.’
It turns out the upperclassmen mistook Sunny’s wallet for Maggie’s and planted it on purpose.
Ducky, Amalia and Dawn link arms; as do Maggie and Sunny. ‘Our big adventure was over.’

Sunny's Diary One - Sunny confides to her diary how miserable she is. She’s suffering from insomnia; her mother refused to contact their doctor about a wheeze, meaning Betsy was then hospitalised, and treatments ceased until her recovery; and her father is obsessed with work.
She’s frustrated with her friends, especially Jill, and she’s desperately trying to appear confident and fun loving.
She visits her mom in her lunch hour, but is shaken by Betsy’s appearance and the oncologist’s announcement that Betsy has a new lump.
She’s self-loathing about her own attitude to her mother’s illness, and that when pressed by a teacher, that her response is ‘My mom’s dying’, which she feels is using her mom’s condition as an alibi and making herself look pitiful to the staff of Vista, who seem to be unaware of how far Betsy’s condition has progressed.
Her carefree attitude makes her feel guilty, but dwelling on worry exacerbates her insomnia.
Her teachers are irritated by her disinterest in school, the other students snicker at answers in class, and her attempts to forge out distractions from the everyday life of her mom’s condition are kiboshed by her father.
She develops a closer friendship with Ducky. Ducky offers that next time she goes to the beach, Sunny should call him for a ride, and they can go as a group.
Dawn recommends Sunny meditate, but it’s hard for her to focus with the reminders of her mother’s illness around her house.
Sunny relies on Dawn’s friendship, but is frustrated by what she sees as Dawn’s ‘distant’ attitude and inability to fully understand her situation. She fears burdening Dawn with complaints:
I actually thought about calling Dawn. For about a second. Like, she would really be thrilled to hear me at this hour, complaining about the same old stuff.

Her father scares her by leaving a message about bad news, which turns out to be that he needs to her to stock the fridge; and she forgets a visit to her mom, which makes her feel guilty.
She decides to miss school and go to the beach, where she falls in love with a blader called Carson.
Dawn and Maggie are unamused when Sunny jokes:

I ran right into Dawn and Maggie, who were talking to Ducky in the hallway.
“What were you doing in there?” Dawn asked.
“You didn’t hear? About Mr. Dean and me?” I said, raising an eyebrow. “It’s serious.”
Ducky burst out laughing. Dawn blushed.
Maggie, however, was staring at me. “How did your face get so burned?”
“He has a deck out behind his office,” I said, walking away. “We were sunbathing.”
Dumb questions, dumb answers. Well, Maggie did not speak to me the rest of the day. That girl cannot take a joke. Dawn kept giving me weird looks in the hallway.

Sunny feels as if she can’t talk to Dawn or Maggie as they’re being ‘distant’. She knows Dawn will disapprove of her missing class, and defiantly writes: ‘I do NOT feel guilty’, but also calls Dawn: I was really missing her.
She visits her mom in hospital afterwards, worried that something may have happened while she was out of touch, but to the contrast, her mom is surrounded by her support group.
Her father has her work in his shop, and her mother keeps leaving her heirlooms, which disturbs her greatly as it seems as if it’s in preparation for death.
Her mother is hospitalised with pneumonia, and she continues to visit Venice Beach to escape her problems and meet Carson.
They trade first names: ‘The bad thing about a name like Sunshine is that it has no mystery.’
Carson listens without lecturing Sunny. It seems clear that the lure for Sunny is Carter’s freedom from emotional ties.
Mrs. Krueger asks Sunny how she’s doing, mentioning the teachers have discussed her.

“I guess I must be pretty interesting and complex,” I said.
Ms. Krueger laughed. “Well, you’re human. And I figure it’s time the teachers stopped treating you like a fragile teacup. What’s up?”

Ms. Krueger also notes that Sunny’s absence note seems forged, but doesn’t pursue it further; instead telling Sunny that she can’t read her mind, but to attend school, and ‘use the school. Use your friends. Use me. I will sit and listen to anything you want to say. Anything. But I’m not going to beg you, and I’m not going to drag you. This is just an open invitation, no expiration date.”
Sunny’s not ready to talk yet, and is shocked when she leaves Ms. Krueger’s office. Dunny sees she looks upset, and tells him he’s here if she needs to talk. Sunny asks him about Carson. Ducky doesn’t like the sound of the relationship, but on pressing, agrees that Carson probably likes her. Sunny kisses Ducky on the cheek in thanks.
Sunny sees Carson and ‘breaks the ice’ as he was ‘waiting for (her) to make a move’.
Dawn tells off Sunny for being at the beach while her mom was in hospital. Sunny’s alarmed, as her mom was at home when she left that day.
Dawn is furious about having to cover for Sunny to Sunny’s father, and calls Sunny a liar.
Sunny points out she never lied to Dawn.
Dawn says she doesn’t even know Sunny anymore, and Sunny agrees, thinking that she’s worried about her mother, father and herself, and that Dawn is ‘way down’ on her priority list, and screaming at Sunny doesn’t help Dawn’s cause.
Dawn says if Sunny keeps secrets and turns her back on her friends, ‘just don’t expect us to hang around for long.’
Sunny says ‘this is not about you, Dawn! You know, I have a point of view too!’
Dawn asks her ‘Tell it to me someday!’ adding that Sunny should ‘think about your mom and dad. At least you can be loyal to them!’
Sunny, upset, says: “I am loyal! They’re the ones who don’t even know I’m alive!”
Dawn shakes her head in disbelief, saying: “How can you even say that?”
Sunny spots that Dawn is wearing earrings Betsy gave her, and Dawn says she was given them because Betsy’s ‘happy someone cares about her!’ and walks off.
Sunny feels jealous and as if she’s invisible to her family and ‘replaced’ by Dawn.
She plans to run away, but when she tells Carson her problems, he thinks her life is enviable as her parents are still married and care about her, and her friends 'get on (her) case' because they care. He compares his own life to her situation unfavourably, but refuses to share details and leaves her in a café with the bill.
Sunny alternates between feeling guilty, thinking that Carson must be troubled; and angry that he judged her problems and abandoned her.
Sunny begins to panic, with nowhere to go and no money, until Ducky finds her.
Ducky drives her home, and she heads to Dawn’s. Dawn is relieved and surprised, but displeased. However, she hugs Sunny and cries about how worried she was. They call Sunny’s parents, and Sunny feels horrible about letting down her mom.
Dawn asks why she ran away, and Sunny asks if they can talk about it tomorrow, and if she can sleep on Dawn’s couch. Dawn is angry, and tells Sunny she’s due an explanation.
In the morning, Sunny explains, and while Dawn isn’t ‘warm and cuddly’ or ‘full of forgiveness’, she seems concerned.
Dawn walks Sunny home, and Sunny tells her parents about Venice Beach and how she’s been feeling. Her dad is somewhat angry, but they both listen, and her mother comforts her, hopefully saying: ‘Things will be better as soon as I’m back to normal.’
The diary concludes with Ducky being the only friend still speaking to Sunny (Maggie refuses to, while Dawn ‘is…acting weird’) and Sunny still desperate to escape, and frightened about how normalcy may be a thing of the past.

Maggie's Diary One – Maggie reflects that Sunny is a high maintenance friend: ‘these days, you give her a lot more than you get.’
She dislikes Sunny’s ‘rebel phase’ and reflects that while she too had ‘weird hair’, she never had piercings or cut school or shut herself off from her friends. She thinks Sunny is ‘off in another world,’ and that while Maggie could tolerate Sunny’s starry-eyed attitude towards celebrity when Sunny was ‘fun to be with’, now that Sunny’s ‘Punk Dropout of the Year’, Maggie has less patience.
Sunny suggests Justin, the older student Maggie has a crush on, should be in Mr Blume’s movie. Maggie is embarrassed that her calling Justin good-looking is seen by Sunny as a ‘declaration of love,’ but secretly agrees he’d be right for the part.
Sunny says that he’s a junior and has a car, and that Maggie shouldn’t blow the opportunity, or make it easy for him, suggesting ‘Let him twist in the wind…Seduce him. Then call me right away with the details.’
Sunny mistakes the Glass Menagerie for the Glass Monastery.
Sunny mentions how Maggie has the ‘perfect opening line’: “‘Wanna come home and meet my dad, the famous movie producer?’ I wish it were that easy for me. Not in this life. I mean, ‘Wanna meet my dad, the bookstore owner, and my mom, who’s dying of cancer?’ just doesn’t have that same ring.”
Maggie feels guilty, but also angry at Sunny for ‘throw(ing)…problems in (her) face’.
Maggie decides Sunny might like Justin, and is using Maggie to get his attention.
Sunny looks ‘very distracted and very tan’. She suggest Maggie join chorus. Maggie claims to have a bad voice. Sunny shrugs ‘So? The guys in the bass section are cute. That’s all that really matters.”
Sunny does make serious suggestions, such as playing piano in the school musical, but after Dawn and Maggie shut down her ideas, she mocks Maggie.

Telling me I should take up surfing. Intermediate coed lip wrestling. Typical juvenile sense of humor. When I asked her to be serious, she called me a nerd. I almost lost my temper. But I didn’t want to cause a scene so I just stayed silent.

Maggie is enraged when Sunny tells her she’s so ‘straight’ and ‘needs to loosen up’. Maggie wants to ‘smack’ Sunny, and decides that Sunny wants Maggie to sing in a band so Sunny can live through her and make Maggie more like herself. Maggie’s disgusted that Sunny suggested she ‘talk a walk on the wild side’, and thinks that Sunny can ‘drop out and run away’ but she has other plans.
Sunny keeps talking about On the Road.
Sunny begins singing an Aretha Franklin song, knowing Maggie loves Aretha. Dawn joins in, and although Maggie’s embarrassed, she does too.
Amelia is impressed by Maggie’s singing, as are Dawn and Sunny; and they are impatient with Maggie when she waffles.
Sunny assumes Maggie is worried about studying, and suggests she get ‘James’ to help her as he’s ‘pretty cute’.
Maggie thinks Sunny is ‘getting a reputation’.
Maggie admits however, that when Cece asks her to rehearsal, she isn’t annoyed as she would be if Sunny had.
Maggie’s embarrassed when Dawn asks her about grades in front of everyone. Sunny and the others tease her about her high average.
Maggie finds Sunny and Dawn sat alone, and Sunny looks tearful. When she asks Dawn about it, Dawn tells her that Sunny feels trapped by all the ‘painful happenings in her life’ and that she’s staying at the Schafers a lot.
Maggie asks if Sunny likes Justin, but Dawn reminds her Sunny’s sworn off boys after Carson. Maggie feels guilty, and apologises for being ‘so cold and judgemental’ by writing Sunny a poem.

For Sunny
We held hands at the Hollywood Bowl
As the summer sun set
I was afraid I’d be lost
If I let go.
We were two, we were three,
We were thirteen.
And still the sun sets
But my fingers grip air
And I feel lost.
Have I let go
Or have you?
Rise, my friend,
Blaze, my friend.
Use your light
And find me, my friend.

Sunny looks tearful reading it, but covers it with giggles, and compliments the poem.
Sunny encourages Maggie to enter the Battle of the Bands, telling her ‘You are the smartest and most talented person I know – even though I hate your wardrobe – and you should explore those talents.’
Sunny ‘stares’ at James ‘as if he were an Elvis sighting.’
Maggie asks her friends for fashion advice. Sunny advises ‘white, spiky hair’ and ‘green makeup.’
When Maggie trims her own hair, she calls her friends over, and Sunny trims it, doing ‘a great job.’
Sunny writes YO/ VANISHH RULEZ!!!!!!! In Maggie’s journal. She and Ducky sing along to Vanish’s songs.
Maggie’s diary ends as she vows to stick with her friends – Sunny, Amalia, Dawn and Ducky – who’ve seen the real her.

Amalia's Diary One – Amalia attends dinner at the Blumes with Dawn and Sunny.
She shops for Christmas presents, and is unsure whether or not she’s close enough to Dawn and Sunny to buy them gifts.
Amalia thinks Sunny is cool in both her appearance (midriff top, piercings) but also demeanor:

Well, she starts talking. And talking. And talking. About the movie, her Christmas gifts, her mom’s cancer, her dad’s bookstore, all in a big tumble of words. She leaves out a few key details, so you have to listen, just to understand what she means.
No one minds the blabbering. Even though some of her news is so sad, her delivery is hilarious. We’re all laughing.
I wish I could talk like that. She expresses more in two minutes than I do in two hours.

James makes a reference to Ducky not being Sunny’s type. Amalia thinks they would like each other, as they’re both cool, funny and outgoing.
Later, she spends time with the group and calls them ‘my favourite people’, talking about how she has ‘the best time getting to know Dawn and Sunny a little more.’
When James is rude, Dawn and Maggie initially tiptoe around whether or not he’ll return and how he’s a big part of the band, while Amalia defends him. Sunny says ‘Who cares?’ (whether or not he’ll return.)
When James approaches, Sunny begins ‘gabbing, raising her voice as if she hasn’t heard James at all.’
Sunny’s in tears over rumours James spreads about Amalia.

Ducky's Diary One – Ducky gives all the girls carnations. Sunny kisses him and threads the carnation through her navel ring. Ducky and Sunny are very physically close – Jay, Ducky’s friend, thinks they’re a couple, and Sunny often hugs Ducky and takes his arm.
Ducky and Sunny both ‘want to be someone else’ although Ducky feels as if his problem is internal, whereas Sunny’s is situational.
Ducky compares Sunny to Dawn because they know who they are.
Sunny demands Ducky take her, Maggie and Dawn to the beach. They write in his journal.
Sunny’s law of gender conduct is referred to, Sunny thinks Ducky should call the male friend he’s fighting with, and that guys talk to each other after fights, and ‘argue and explode and say things girls would never think of saying to each other, and then it all blows over and they play basketball.’
Ducky says he’ll think about it, but Sunny threatens to call back in a half hour to check he has.
Ducky reflects that when Sunny demands rides, he doesn’t feel taken for granted, like he does with Jay, as he can recognise that behind the attitude, Sunny’s nervous and upset about her mom.
Sunny complains about details in the hospital room, like her mom’s linens and the visiting hours, and Ducky recognises she ‘needed a lot of yeses and that’s-okays.’
Outside, he puts his arm around her, and she laughs. He asks what’s funny, and she replies ‘I never cry’ and bursts into tears.
Ducky wonders if Sunny and Alex could help each other, as she’s ‘loud and miserable’ and Alex is ‘quiet and miserable’.
Dawn, Sunny, Jay and Ducky share a meal. Jay irritates Dawn with his attitude to eating meat, and Sunny plays the rare role of peacemaker and gets the group talking about movies.
Sunny mentions her mom’s cancer, and Jay ‘stopped his doofus act’ and listens. He mentions that Alex’s aunt had lung cancer. Later, he tells Ducky that Sunny and Alex would be ‘perfect’. Ducky agrees that Sunny is the only person who would understand Alex’s depression, and that Alex might be able to reach Sunny in her ‘dark, angry moods’. He invites Alex and Sunny to the beach, and while neither are thrilled about meeting the other, Ducky ‘twist(s) their arms’ by telling them it’s important to him.
On the date, Sunny is in a great mood, but Alex is lethargic. Sunny takes the lead and begins talking to Alex, and they seem to be ‘connecting, but then Alex mentions that his aunt died recently, and after having similar treatments to Mrs Winslow.
This kills the mood, and Sunny and Alex separate during blading.
Ducky rushes to apologise later, but Sunny thanks him, saying that while the solution wasn’t perfect, she was moved by the gesture and how like her mother is supported by her group, Ducky tried to find her a supportive friend.
Alex hurts Ducky’s feelings, and Sunny notices, asking Ducky what’s wrong. However, Ducky doesn’t want to burden her, so just say he’s worried about schoolwork. This amuses Sunny, as she thinks Ducky sounds like her.
Ducky supports Sunny at the hospital, but on the way back, she complains about her life. Ducky is distracted by his own issues, and retorts ‘At least your mom is around’, but regrets this, as Sunny is his best friend and he’s scared he’s damaged their friendship. Sunny says the situations aren’t comparable, and Ducky feels guilty, but eventually explodes ‘BE QUIET!’ and vents about his own issues.
Sunny quietly listens, and invites Ducky in. He stays for dinner.

114. The Secret Life of Mary Anne Spier – Dawn buys gifts for her friends in California. She buys Sunny a Mexican style sun plaque.

Dawn's Diary Two - Dawn feels ‘lonely, tense and sad’ because she and Sunny aren’t speaking, and Sunny has ‘turned into an entirely different person’.
She thinks the only time she felt this badly was when her parents divorced, and that she hated leaving Sunny, missed her the whole time, and that Sunny was the main reason she moved back to California.
She reminisces:

We used to do absolutely everything together. We could finish each other’s sentences. The phone would ring, and I would know it was Sunny before I picked up the receiver. I could walk into her house anytime and feel like a member of the family.

However, now she thinks Sunny is sneaky and inconsiderate and untrustworthy:

It’s like she doesn’t care about anyone but herself. She skips school, hangs out with older guys, is dressing in a different way that’s very … adult. It’s like she doesn’t care what people think about her.

Dawn thinks Sunny doesn’t visit her mother in hospital enough, and that she spends too much time helping Carol, who’s now on permanent bedrest.
Sunny peeks out from behind her blinds as they rehospitalise her mother, and Dawn says that she would accompany her own mother in that situation. Carol suggests that may not be what Mrs. Winslow wants.
Dawn reminisces how, two months ago, Sunny left a pot of stew on the stove, which set off the fire alarm and endangering Carol and her baby.
Dawn says this was ‘Sunny’s fault. Plain and simple’ as she ‘put two…lives in danger because of a ‘cute guy’.
Sunny was sleeping over at Dawn’s at that time, and Dawn puts all her clothes in garbage bags and folds up her cot. When Sunny asks where her stuff is, Dawn tells her she figured Sunny would ‘run away’ like she’s ‘always doing’ and refers to this as ‘trying to help her face the fact that she’s letting down her mother, her father, her friends, and herself.’
They argue. Sunny accuses Dawn of not caring about Carol, and Dawn accuses Sunny of not visiting her mother enough, telling Sunny that she has a mother and that she should ‘count her blessings’. She hopes that this will help her and Sunny make up and enlighten Sunny into how ‘terrible she’d been acting’, however, Sunny exits.
Dawn reminds herself that she should be patient, and leaves Sunny a message asking her to call. Sunny doesn’t reply.
Maggie thinks the argument will pass, and Dawn begs her to tell Sunny ‘I want to talk to her.’

I still can’t believe what Sunny said when Maggie told her I wanted to talk. “If Dawn wants to be friends, all it takes is an apology, a large diamond necklace, a new navel ring, and three years of personal servitude.” Seven years of friendship ending in a lame joke.

Dawn continues to watch Sunny, as she exits her house on rollerblades:

‘...wearing tight short shorts and a halter top that shows her navel ring… Then she gives the driver a big kiss and he peels away from the curb. This is what my former best friend is doing less than half an hour after her terminally ill mother went to the hospital in an ambulance.’

Dawn reflects she hates being mad at Sunny, but ‘really it’s all her fault’.
Dawn and Maggie discuss Sunny. Maggie seems unbothered, but Dawn reflects that her and Sunny’s relationship was deeper than that of Dawn and Maggie’s or Sunny and Maggie’s.
She’s relieved to no longer share her room with Sunny, her stuff and ‘her complaints’.
She notes that Sunny cut math, and she thinks one day Sunny will run away and not come back.
She wonders why Sunny won’t let anyone help her.
Dawn thinks Ducky is a good friend to Sunny, but that Sunny takes advantage of him.
Ducky tells Dawn that Sunny needs him.
Dawn says she tried, but Sunny didn’t return her messages and made jokes about them not being friends. She also reports that Sunny doesn’t care about things she used to such as Dawn, her parents, school, ‘her reputation’, and the future.
Ducky patiently says sometimes you have to stick with your friends even when they aren’t so nice to you; and Dawn makes another resolution to try again.
Mrs. Winslow’s room has a photo of Sunny and her dad with their arms around each other, and a framed finger painting Sunny did as a child.
Mrs. Winslow knows Sunny and Dawn aren’t speaking, and Dawn hopes Sunny hasn’t burdened her parents with their fight, and wonders what Sunny ‘said about’ her.
Mrs. Winslow says 'it always works out with you two', and Dawn doesn’t think so, but doesn’t want to say so.
Betsy says she’s glad Sunny has Dawn, as ‘no matter what happens she can count on you.’
Dawn thinks Mrs. Winslow thinks of everybody but herself, and that it’s too bad Sunny can’t be more like her mother.
Dawn reports that Sunny helps her father’s store but ‘always complains’ and that she got Ducky a job to ‘keep her chauffeur close by’.
She sees Sunny ‘hanging over some guy’s shoulder’:

I thought, Sunny, if you have time to ride around with some guy you hardly know, you have plenty of time to visit your mother. Then I remembered my resolution to…hang in there for my friend.
I decided that if Sunny made a gesture of friendship to me, even a little smile, I would talk to her. I’d say that I knew this was a hard time for her. Maybe I could tell her that her mother needed her.
The guy left. Sunny smiled to herself. Then I saw the corners of her mouth go down and an incredibly sad look come over her face. She looked sad and very lonely, like when we first found out that her mother had cancer. This is the moment, I thought, this is the moment to make up with her.
I was just about to say her name when she turned and saw me. Her sad expression turned to anger. “What are you doing?” she hissed. “Spying on me? Just mind your own business, okay? And leave me alone.”
In a heartbeat I felt my sympathy turn to anger. “I was not …” I started to say. But Sunny had already turned her back on me and headed toward the rear exit. The end.

Ducky is picking Sunny up from the beach and dropping her off at the hospital, and offers to take Dawn, but Dawn doesn’t want to be ‘verbally abused’ by Sunny, and even imagining the scene makes her angry at Sunny.
Ducky’s upset about ‘something’ Sunny did, and Dawn tells him he’s Sunny’s doormat, and that she’s not going to be.
Ducky’s hurt, and Dawn apologises. She confesses that she misses Sunny and their former closeness, and that she admires Ducky for his loyalty: ‘I just can’t be like that and it’s frustrating’.
Ducky notes that Dawn is angry at Sunny for not being there for Dawn. Dawn corrects him, saying she’s upset Sunny won’t let Dawn ‘help her’ as she’s ‘screwing up all over the place’.
Dawn’s hurt Maggie won’t open up to her, and that while she always liked Sunny better, she hoped that Maggie would want to become closer to her. She wishes she could talk to Sunny about Maggie, or anything.
Dawn misses studying with Sunny, and the old Sunny, and wishes she’d come back. She wonders what’s wrong with her for being so angry at Sunny.
Maggie and Dawn decide Sunny will fail math after all the classes she’s cut, and that this will ruin her and Dawn’s ‘shared dreams’ to graduate together, spend the summer in Europe, and be college roommates.
Sunny arrives for the maths exam, and they make eye contact. Dawn vows to smile at Sunny, however, she instead runs into Jill.
Jill is wearing a sweater Dawn and Sunny gave her for her eleventh birthday.
Jill appears pleased to hear that Sunny and Dawn are on the outs, as well as fascinated at Sunny’s dating.
Carol gives birth. Jack calling Dawn ‘Sunshine’ reminds her of Sunny, and she fights the urge to cry.
Mrs. Winslow, wearing a robe Sunny and Mr Winslow gave her, who confides that she always wanted more children, but had a miscarriage after Sunny, and that she was very blessed to have her.

I thought angrily that Sunny wasn’t much of a blessing to anyone these days. But I pushed the thought away.

Everyone gives Dawn gifts for the baby, apart from Sunny.

Sunny sauntered by, arm in arm with some hunk from the senior class. When they passed my locker she didn’t even look at me. I tried to forget about Sunny…but I couldn’t. Sunny had just passed up the perfect opportunity to mend our friendship. All she had to do was give me a friendly look. I wasn’t expecting presents, just a smile. I would have smiled back. It could have been the beginning of the end of our fight.

Dawn packs for California, and reflects on how she’ll miss Maggie, Sunny and her new sister.
Sunny drops round a bouquet of flowers from Mrs. Winslow’s garden, from ‘my mother and me’ for Carol.
Dawn invites her in nervously, and Sunny’s alarmed to hear Carol is in hospital an extra day. Dawn reassures her, and Sunny says to tell her ‘hi. And congratulations.’
Dawn thinks that she’d like to know what Sunny has to say to her, but they both avoid eye contact and act awkward.
Dawn tells Sunny she could come back tomorrow when Carol returns, or she could bring them to the hospital as Carol would love to see her.
Sunny agrees, and Dawn wants to reach out, but ‘didn’t have the courage.’ She doesn’t know what to say to Sunny anymore, and feels lost without her best friend.
The book concludes with her realising it’s the first time in her life she’s going away without saying goodbye to Sunny.

Sunny's Diary Two – Sunny returns from visiting her mother, who is beginning to degenerate. Sunny is staying at Dawn’s to escape. She struggles to sleep due to her insomnia and Dawn’s snoring, but reflects how grateful she is as she’d be a ‘nutcase’ if she had to be at home every day. She chatters with Carol, who also can’t sleep.
Sunny’s father ‘remind(s)’ her that she could sleep at home and implies that she’s taking advantage of the Schafers.
Sunny wonders if she should have run away when she had the opportunity.
She has a date with Chris, who ignores her in favour of a Lakers game, so she ‘livens things up’ by cheering on the other team. Chris is angry, but Sunny is unbothered, saying ‘Chris is history’.
Mrs. Winslow tries to reach Sunny at Dawn’s house, and Dawn pities her, and visits in Sunny’s place. Sunny recognises that Dawn meant well, but feels odd about what her mother must have thought.
Sunny reflects that Dawn seems irritated by her a lot, and walks away when Dawn begins to ‘scold’.
Dawn snarks ‘You’re welcome!’ and Sunny apologises and thanks her.
Sunny goes home, and her father passive-aggressively asks if she had ‘fun last night?’
She admits she forgot about her mother’s visit, and he tells her he reminded her a thousand times.
Sunny thinks that as her mother’s in pain and is tired by visitors, that Dawn’s visit could be more of a burden than a joy.
Her father disagrees, thinking that she’s irresponsible.
Ducky and Dawn go to the mall, where she asks out a boy called Brock.
Dawn leaves Sunny a message about an English exam. Sunny declines Dawn’s invitation to study, as she doesn’t plan to attend the exam.
Sunny sorts through old possessions, finding a photo of her mother and her as a baby, which makes her feel ‘knotted up inside’.
She gives Carol her mother’s pregnancy workout video. Carol hugs her.
Sunny sits Ducky down as he looks ‘sad’ but is exasperated when it turns out Ducky is worried about his friend Alex, who Sunny terms ‘a loser’. She cuts Ducky off, although she does admit: ‘I probably should have paid more attention.’
Sunny’s house is empty, so she visits Dawn after a depressing visit to her mom. She tries to act cheerful, but Carol immediately recognises something is wrong.
Sunny doesn’t really want to talk about it or ‘make a big deal’ but Dawn, Jack and Jeff enter. Jeff awkwardly tries to comfort her, which Sunny recognises as an honest attempt at being helpful.
Carol and Dawn tell Sunny she can cry, and how hard things have been for her; but Sunny hates feeling pitied.
Carol lets Sunny feel the baby kick. Carol tells her to sing, and Sunny sings her ‘absolute favourite Maggie Blume tune’.
She thinks Carol looks ‘cool’ as she has a pregnant woman glow, but Dawn thinks the glow is Carol’s oily skin. However, Dawn denies dislikes Carol and suggests Sunny is imagining things. Sunny tries to see things from Dawn’s POV, and wonders if her father will remarry after her mother passes away.
Dawn and Sunny visit Mrs. Winslow. Dawn takes the lead in conversation and helping Betsy, and Sunny feels as if she can’t assist her mom without Dawn ‘speak(ing) up first’.
She wishes Ducky were there as he calms her down. She also daydreams that she and Dawn could ‘switch’, but ‘wouldn’t wish that fate on Dawn’.
Sunny, Maggie, Amalia, Dawn and Ducky shop for clothes. Only Ducky finds an ensemble she likes, and she thinks that if Ducky were her ‘type. For a boyfriend’ and if it wouldn’t ruin the friendship, she’d go out with him.
Sunny goes on a date with Brock, and returns to find her possessions have been put in a pile at the foot of her bed at Dawn’s.
She ‘count(s) to 100’, and asks what happened. Dawn tells her she’s too messy.
Sunny ‘politely suggest(s)’ Dawn let her know rather than ‘throw(ing) her stuff around’, and Dawn snarks ‘I must be misunderstanding something. I didn’t realise I was the guest and you were the host’, and walks out.
Sunny goes to the beach, thinking that she may have been ‘harsh’ but ‘Dawn asks for it, though.’
Sunny’s father tells her the worse her mother gets, the worse she behaves, that she’s disrespectful, and that she means ‘the world’ to her mother, ‘even if you don’t care.’
Sunny considers running away, but runs into Carol. She makes Carol laugh, which she thinks ‘is kind of cool’, and how she’d miss her when she runs, and miss the birth. Carol looks happy, and Sunny wonders if she was always happy, even at 13: ‘or was she like me?’ Carol says her feet are swollen, and Sunny rubs them, but gets tearful, as she used to do the same for her mother before Betsy became so ill that massages hurt.
Sunny feels foolish, as she hates crying, and people who cry too much, and apologises to Carol. Carol tells her to talk to her, and Sunny replies: ‘You don’t want to hear’, but Carol offers: ‘I do, Sunny. I care about you. I know this is a rough time. Please. I’m in no hurry.’ Sunny confesses how upset she is over her mother, and how angry she is at her dad.
Carol agrees that Paul is being unfair, as he needs to think about his daughter, but tells Sunny that her dad’s reality is changing and his life is spinning out of control as well as Sunny’s, and that they’ll both have to redefine a new normal.
Sunny wonders how they’ll do that while her mother is sick and her father is at work, and she’s ‘freeloading’ off the Schafers.
Carol hugs her, telling her they love having her, and to give the situation time.
Sunny reflects that Dawn is lucky as ‘Carol is the coolest’, and wants to believe Carol, but can’t picture her father becoming more present even after her mother dies.
A boy called Pete asks out Sunny, and Dawn disapproves, vocally. Sunny reminds herself that Dawn is her best friend.
Ducky is upset, and Sunny wants to help him, as he’s ‘there for (her) so often’. She recognises that Ducky hides between helping other people with their problems as a way to avoid his own, and ‘drag(s)’ him to his car to talk. She’s once more exasperated that Ducky is upset over Alex, as she believes Alex takes advantage of Ducky. She recognises that Alex acts like her ‘cutting school…Acting hostile’, but Ducky explains that Sunny connects with him and doesn’t shut down.
Sunny’s touched at how selfless Ducky is, and wishes all her friends were.
She thinks on how she can help him, and realises Ducky needs a job, and her father needs a clerk at the bookstore.
Sunny misses a quiz. Dawn tells her that not knowing there was a quiz is ‘not a good excuse!’ and walks off.
Sunny walks home alone, and Carol invites her to go shopping.
Later, Sunny details from the hospital how Carol fainted at the mall. Sunny blames herself for being distracted by a boy and not hearing Carol’s fall. She yelled for help, found a clerk, and crawls under the door. Carol feels weak, and Sunny makes a cashier call 911 for her, telling the crowd to make room, and a clerk to fetch water. She reflects that it’s weird, but she wasn’t scared, but instead was mentally calculating what needed to be done.
She’s proud to be mistaken for Carol’s daughter.
Carol is brave about being placed on permanent bedrest, and Sunny thinks ‘God, I hope I’m like her when I grow up.’
Jack thanks Sunny for saving Carol and the baby’s life. Sunny hadn’t thought of it that way, and she feels proud, especially as she felt the ‘useless, ungrateful daughter’. She comforts Jeff and Dawn, before heading to visit her mom.
Sunny’s mom is ‘in her own dreamy world’, initially mistaking Sunny for her dead aunt. Mr Schafer, Dawn and Jeff join the Winslows. Dawn brings flowers, kisses Betsy and compliments her; which Sunny worries that she should have done. She sees Dawn as gushing, lying and blocking her from her mother, and feels that she can’t get a word in edgewise with Dawn around.
That night, Sunny can’t sleep, thinking about Carol. She thinks Dawn ‘obviously feels fine’ as she is ‘snoozing (contentedly).’
Sunny goes home to change clothes, and tells her father about Carol’s illness. He frustrates her by reading the paper while she talks, and commenting: ‘That’s tough.’ Sunny wonders if he was always so ‘unbearable’.
Sunny notes everyone but Dawn makes a fuss over her saving Carol. She thinks Dawn’s jealous.
Sunny and Dawn argue over who gets to cook for Carol.
Ducky takes Sunny out for dessert to celebrate his new job. Sunny’s envious of Ducky’s living situation, but when he gets tense, she backs off, not wanting to argue with him.
Sunny is irritated when the boys she dating act possessive of her.
She calms down Ducky, and visits him for his first day of work; but becomes angry with Dawn, who is visiting Mrs. Winslow on her own.
Sunny feels unwelcome at Dawn’s, as she believes Dawn doesn’t want her around. Her dad asks her what’s wrong, and she’s shocked enough to confide in him that she doesn’t think Dawn wants to be her friend. Paul responds that Sunny should stop treating Dawn’s bedroom like a hotel suite, and Sunny regrets talking to him. Paul asks her to recommend another high schooler to work in the bookshop.
Sunny resists telling Carol about her anger with Dawn, but does mention the store. Carol suggests Sunny get ‘one of your many boyfriends a job’.
Sunny thinks Carol is ‘brilliant.’ She tells Ducky he could hire Alex, as her ‘good deed for the day.’
Sunny plays an April Fool’s joke on Dawn by turning their clock forward. Dawn is angry at the idea of them oversleeping.
Sunny is angry at Dawn for taking an empty seat at the table where Maggie and Amalia are. She feels like ‘an idiot’ when Dawn brings her mother a begonia and a magazine.
Dawn goes shopping with Maggie without inviting Sunny, saying she ‘see(s) enough of (her).’ Sunny stays with Carol, and Mrs. Bruen asks her to watch a stew, however, Sunny’s date, Bo, honks and she goes outside to chatter to him, forgetting to return.
The smoke alarm goes off, and Carol is forced to get out of bed. Sunny automatically thinks of possible excuses, but can’t lie to Carol, and admits she was talking to Bo.
Carol calls her doctor, and Sunny stays until Mrs. Bruen and Jeff return and Carol’s doctor arrives.
Carol, Mrs. Bruen, Jeff and Carol’s doctor act angry, and Sunny leaves, telling them she’s not proud of herself or happy about what she did, and she knows she did the wrong thing, but they don’t have to keep yelling at her.
Ducky picks her up at the bus station.
She’s upset with herself, calling herself a ‘heartless, braindead, selfish loser.’
Ducky listens, and tells her that while she was wrong, she admitted it, and Carol and the baby are fine; and while everyone is mad at her, she didn’t lie and acted fast, turning off the stove in time to avoid a fire.
He also suggests that she did the right thing leaving, as it gave both the Schafers and Sunny time to cool off, and that she needs to calm and gently apologise.
Sunny apologises. Mr. Schafer, Mrs. Bruen and Carol share the blame, saying that Jack shouldn’t have asked Mrs. Bruen to come to his office. Sunny doesn’t want them to make excuses, and tells them she’s not a baby, and they should be able to trust her.
Carol says she has lost trust in Sunny, but it’s ‘renewable’.
Sunny tearfully tells Carol she wants to earn that trust, and Carol promises her she’ll get that chance, and insists she stay over.
Dawn ignores Sunny, and has lined up all her stuff by the door. She tells Sunny she’s ‘surprised they let you (stay)’ and that she put her stuff out of the way as she thought Sunny would ‘give up…run away…(like) you always do.’ They bicker, and Sunny says that Dawn is 'smarter' than her and 'better' than her in every way, asking if that makes her happy. Both girls think the other is ignoring them.
Dawn tells Sunny she’s angry because Sunny runs away from everything and doesn’t have the ‘guts’ to face her ‘problems.’ She says she’s bent over backwards for Sunny, but Sunny is 'selfish' and 'doesn’t care about anyone else'.
Sunny argues that she does care about Carol, but Dawn thinks Sunny only likes to interact with Carol when there’s ‘something in it for you.’
Sunny argues that Dawn was out shopping while the whole thing happened, and that Sunny is the one who takes Carol shopping, brings her meals and keeps her company.
Dawn says Sunny should visit her own mother, and that Dawn visits Betsy because she loves her, but also because she feels ‘bad for her…because her own daughter feels so sorry for herself.’
Sunny argues that she does visit her mom, but Dawn says she knows every time Sunny’s visited, as she complains every time.
Sunny says Dawn doesn’t know what it’s like as her family is ‘perfect’, but Dawn says her parents are divorced which isn’t ‘easy’.
She accuses Sunny of trying to take Carol as her mom, and says that Sunny should count her blessings she has a mom at all.
Sunny exits, rather than throwing something.
Dawn leaves messages for Sunny saying ‘Call me back.’ Sunny refuses to, saying she ‘(doesn’t) know her.’
Maggie asks Sunny what happened between her and Dawn, and Amalia tells Sunny Dawn has been ‘dissing (Sunny) in front of everyone’. Sunny laughs it off, saying she doesn’t care.
Privately she misses Carol, though.
Sunny visits her mother, who sometimes seems like her old self, and at other times seems to have degenerated. Betsy says she noticed tension between Dawn and Sunny, and reassures Sunny ‘You’ll weather this one.’
Sunny promises to visit her more, and is about to tell Betsy she loves her, when Betsy suddenly twinges in pain from a bedsore.
Sunny reflects that it’s all the more painful when she visits her mom and allows her hopes to rise, and that Dawn can’t see how Sunny thinks about her mother constantly, and is actively trying to prepare for her death by ‘forming a shell’ and withdrawing.
The book ends with Sunny saying she and Dawn don’t speak much, and that she thinks they both like it that way.

Maggie's Diary Two – Maggie and Amalia bump into Sunny and Ducky in the mall shopping for her mom.
Sunny likes Maggie’s new haircut, and asks her if she lost weight, saying ‘You look good.’
Maggie notes Sunny is ‘model thin’ and wonders if she diets or is lucky enough not to worry about what she eats. She checks Sunny for piercings, spotting what she hopes is a temporary tattoo of a rose around Sunny’s navel.

I wanted to ask Sunny how her mother was doing but decided to wait and ask Ducky when she was out of earshot. (Ducky told me Mrs. Winslow isn’t getting any better. I ache for Sunny.)

Sunny offers to help Maggie pick out an outfit for an event, and suggests something ‘retro’. Maggie dislikes Sunny’s style, but thinks at least she has one, while Maggie feels uncertain of her own tastes.

Amalia's Diary Two – Amalia is concerned about Maggie’s eating, and almost mentions how she should talk to Sunny, but then recalls that ‘she pushes everyone away…these days’.
Sunny flirts with Brendan when she’s in homeroom, which isn’t that often.

Ducky's Diary Two – Ducky says that Sunny’s boyfriends are a way of escaping reality, and that they are all the same - ‘Perfect Guys’ who turn out to be jerks.
He reflects that Sunny, Dawn, Maggie and Amalia are smart and funny and appreciate him.
He seeks out Sunny, who greets him with a scream of joy and a hug, and asks him what’s wrong, as ‘I know that look on your face’.
Ducky tells her he’s upset about Alex, and Sunny jokes about how she and Alex are lucky to be worried about and that Venice Beach will be a good depression cure.
Ducky feels better, thinking that while Sunny is depressed, her depression is situational and related to her mother’s illness; while Alex’s is more confusing as it doesn’t seem to have a cause.
Sunny demands a ride, which Ducky is amused by: “You’re giving me a ride.” Not a question. A command. (You have to love her. She is so cool.)
Ducky asks why she’s going to the bookstore, and Sunny talks about how she and her mom refer to her mom as Dorian Gray, as she’s aging in front of their eyes.
Ducky is partly horrified and partly admires how Sunny ‘keeps everyone off guard (and) breaks down…barriers, laugh(ing) in the face of (her) troubles.’
He’s also worried, as Sunny tends to go to the hospital alone, not with her father.
Sunny explains that her mom is much worse, and that she’s expected to pass in months, if not weeks. Ducky sees through her attempts to be cool, and recognises she’s terrified, and offers to go with her.
Sunny’s mom has deteriorated, and while Sunny isn’t giving any straight answers, she ‘looked worse… She was even more off-the-wall than usual—loud jokes, under-the-breath insults, sudden space-outs.’
Ducky asks Dawn what’s going on, and Dawn replies that Sunny doesn’t confide in her anymore. Ducky wishes they’d patch things up as Sunny, like all of them, desperately needs a best friend.

Dawn's Diary Three – Dawn misses Sunny, but is furious with her at the same time. She’s fixated with how rarely Sunny visits Mrs. Winslow, who feels bad that Dawn and Sunny aren’t speaking.
She’s also angry when Sunny visits Carol and Gracie, but disappears before Dawn arrives, and thinks Sunny should visit her mother, or Dawn herself.
Carol tells Dawn that Sunny is dealing with things in her own way, but Dawn remains resolute: ‘You mean she’s avoiding things in her own way.’
Carol gently tells Dawn that the situation is not the same for her as it is for Sunny, and that she doesn’t know how she would act if her own mother was sick. Dawn is angry, but Carol placates her, saying they will be friends again, if she gives Sunny time.
Ducky is glad Sunny can talk to Carol.
Ducky offers Dawn, Amalia and Sunny tickets to a concert, however, Dawn is reluctant to go with Sunny, and ‘obsesses’ about the dilemma. She hints to Ducky it will be ‘a problem’, hoping he’ll uninvite her, however, he tells her to talk to Sunny, and that Sunny needs her.
Dawn runs into Sunny at the hospital. She says she was visiting Mrs. Winslow.
Sunny gives her a ‘withering look’ and says ‘No kidding’.
Dawn tells her Mrs. Winslow likes the company, and regrets it instantly, as she inadvertently implied Sunny should visit more.
Sunny replies ‘I’m sure she does, Pollyanna’.
Dawn asks Carol about Sunny, and Carol explains that Sunny is pushing people away, so they can’t leave her like her mother is. Dawn says Sunny ‘needs a shrink’ and Carol agrees it might be helpful, but says that’s up to the Winslows.
Dawn asks Sunny if she can call her that night. Sunny awkwardly agrees.
However, that evening, Sunny is flat and non-committal, telling Dawn she’s ‘kind of busy…(doing) stuff.’
Dawn sighs, asking ‘don’t you think we should at least talk before (the concert)?’
Sunny disagrees.
Dawn suggests to Ducky he send Sunny in ‘a separate car’. He refuses. She calls him, asking a third time, to which he’s annoyed. When Dawn tells him she’s trying to reach out, but Sunny won’t let her, Ducky gently says he wants them to make up and for everyone to be happy.
Dawn asks a fourth time if Sunny can’t go with someone else, and Ducky laughs.
The Winslows tell Dawn that they’re terminating chemotherapy. Sunny sits on top of her stairs but refuses to talk about it.
On the way to the concert, Sunny smirks and asks Dawn if her dad had ‘a nice talk with Ducky?’ Ducky blares music, and Sunny sardonically warns him that Dawn’s father might ‘hear that and make her stay home.’
Ducky jokes and talks about how happy he is to be with him and ‘my girls’ and Sunny flashes him a ‘lovely smile’. Dawn realises the evening is as important to Sunny as it is to her, if for different reasons.
Sunny and Dawn don’t speak on the drive.
When Dawn asks Ducky if he has the tickets, Sunny states: ‘You think he has no brain, don’t you.’ Ducky gives Sunny a look.
Dawn is concerned, as Sunny talks about buying a bracelet off older concertgoers in order to buy liquor. Dawn exits to call her dad to let him now she’s arrived, and Sunny mock-solicitously asks if her daddy ‘decided’ she could stay.
Dawn ‘smiling sweetly’, says she’s ‘so sorry that (your father) is so wrapped up in your mother that he doesn’t care what you do.’ Sunny opens her mouth (whether to respond or out of shock isn’t clear), and Amalia and Ducky ‘just stare’ at Dawn.
A friend of Ducky’s brother, Rick, interrupts, offering to get them drinks. Dawn decides she ‘doesn’t have to worry about what Sunny and Amalia did’ as her father will only see Ducky and her at the end of the evening.
Sunny requests a rum and coke.
Ducky asks for a coke, but Rick tells him to live a little, and Sunny agrees ‘Friends don’t let friends drink alone.’
Dawn would like to join them, but knows if her dad found out, he’d be furious. She carefully eyes Ducky and Sunny, who sip their drinks, and then request tequila shots.
Dawn is concerned about Ducky, but also worried as he promised her father he wouldn’t drink, and is the only one who can drink them home. However, she doesn’t want to make a fuss in front of Amalia and Sunny, and she thinks Ducky ‘sounded…and looked fine’, so decides to ‘not let any of this ruin my evening…’
Ducky and Sunny have another shot.
Sunny dances with someone Dawn has never seen before.
Dawn asks him how much he’s had to drink, and Sunny sarcastically counts the glasses, saying she had three shots and Ducky two, and asking for a calculator.
However, when Dawn mutters ‘Oh, shut up, Sunny’, Sunny does.
Ducky jokes with Sunny, and Sunny copies Dawn as she reprimands him ‘This is serious!’ Amalia tells Dawn to take some time, and when they return, Dawn asks Ducky if he can drive. Ducky agrees he’s in no condition to.
Sunny says even she could drive, and she had more to drink than Ducky did.
When Sunny’s family aren’t home, she drives their car up the driveway.
Sunny is horrified at the idea of Mr. Schafer collecting them like ‘babies’, and tells Ducky to get up and that he can drive just fine.
Dawn and Sunny bicker:

“Dawn, quit telling me what to do!” she cried.
At first I couldn’t think what I had told her to do. Then I remembered telling her to keep her voice down.” I don’t tell you what to do,” I said.
“You’re always telling me what to do – how to dress, how to act, who to hang out with, to visit Mom more often, to be more responsible.” Sunny’s list went on and on.
It went on for so long that I lost interest and tried to get back to the matter at hand.

Dawn’s worried, knowing that Ducky probably would drive if Sunny begged him to, and takes Ducky’s keys. Sunny tries to pry them back, scaring Dawn, but gives up, saying she’ll take a bus home rather than be embarrassed by getting ‘lectured’.
Dawn tells Sunny and Amalia that Sunny can’t go home by herself, and Sunny tells Amalia and Ducky they can come with her and let Dawn go by herself.
Ducky refuses to leave Dawn alone to wait, and tells Sunny not to go, while Sunny insists nobody can tell her what to do.
Dawn asks if Sunny is somehow immune to danger and Sunny, self-destructively says ‘…That isn’t what I said. I said that nobody can tell me what to do.’
Ducky interjects that technically he can tell her to ‘walk home’, but she doesn’t have to listen, and fleetingly Sunny looks ‘hurt’ before scowling and insisting on the bus station.
Ducky refuses, and Dawn and Sunny bicker whether or not buses are even running.
The situation resolves with Sunny losing her temper with Ducky, telling him he’s ‘a wimp. You never stand up for yourself. You don’t do anything. No wonder your friends are a bunch of thirteen-year-old girls. Guys think you’re a dweeb, and girls your own age don’t even look twice at you.’
Sunny leaves, and Amalia follows her. Sunny calls to Ducky and Dawn that they are no longer friends.
Dawn catches up with Maggie, who tells her Sunny is mad at her.
Ducky says hi to Sunny, but she blanks him.
It’s revealed that Mrs. Winslow will be permanently at home, with nursing care until her death, which is imminent. Carol tells Dawn to call Sunny, as she’ll ‘talk now’ as ‘now it’s real.’
Dawn calls her friends and tells them about Sunny’s mother, and they vow to rally around her, no matter what.
Sunny is in school, including Ms. Krueger’s office, but not classes.
Dawn sees Sunny crying on her back stoop, and approaches her. Sunny sees Dawn, but doesn’t speak, or leave. Dawn puts her arm around Sunny, and after a while, Sunny stops crying and says ‘I guess you heard.’
Dawn doesn’t know what Sunny wants her to say, but she offers that she didn’t understand at first, but now she does, and she cried for a long time.
Sunny tells her they don’t know if Betsy will live weeks or months, but that there are nurses rotating shifts in their house.
Dawn says: ‘It must be horrible’, and Sunny agrees, and apologises.
Dawn says it’s okay, although she isn’t sure it is. She does think she ‘knew it would be okay. Eventually.’
Sunny says she knows she’s been… and Dawn suggests ‘Mean?’ thinking that she knew Sunny was hurting, but she wanted her to know she hurt Dawn badly, too, and that it wouldn’t have mattered so much if Sunny hadn’t been her best friend.
Sunny asks if she has been mean, and Dawn insists: ‘Sometimes’. Sunny apologises, saying she’s really missed Dawn.
Dawn says she missed Sunny too, but Sunny kept pushing her away. Sunny acknowledges that. Dawn thinks that it must mean something that Sunny is confiding in her now, and that Sunny missed her, and needs her now:

I decided I was willing to try on our friendship again. I’d been without it for so long that I’d forgotten just what it felt like, only that it used to be wonderful.

She offers to forget ‘the last few months’ and asks Sunny promise her something. Sunny warily asks ‘What?’ and Dawn replies that next time Sunny’s ‘sad or upset, instead of disappearing, call me. Or come over.’
The chapter concludes with Dawn and Sunny, arms around each other, going into Sunny’s house to see Mrs. Winslow.

Sunny's Diary Three - At school, Dawn makes Sunny eat. They see Ducky, who shies away from Sunny, and she regrets what she said, but doesn’t have the emotional energy to apologise.
Sunny recollects memories with her mom and her paternal grandparents, as well as with Dawn, Maggie and Jill.
Sunny’s mom tells her that she’s a strong person who can survive anything, even if she doesn’t feel that way. She tells her that she and her father will need each other.
Betsy also says that she’s look forwarded to Sunny’s wedding day and dreamed of Sunny wearing her own wedding dress all her life, despite knowing it’s ‘silly’ as Sunny may not ever even want to marry.
Dawn can’t sleep, and they meet in Sunny’s yard, as they used to as kids. Sunny says they used to talk when they were little about things that scared them. Dawn remembers she was afraid of foxes, and that Sunny had a dream about a bulldog.
Dawn asks Sunny if she’s slept, but Sunny hasn’t, as her mom is making noises from the pain.
They recollect breaking a lawnchair as a child, but when Dawn recalls a memory about Betsy, Sunny cuts her off.

For just a second Dawn looked wounded, but then her face changed. “All right,” she said.
I am so, so glad that Dawn and I are friends again. I have my best friend back, the person who always understands me. I can’t believe that I almost lost her.
Only your best friend could understand everything you mean when you say just two words, like “Not now.”

Ducky drives Dawn home, but is afraid to see Sunny.
Sunny apologises, saying she didn’t mean the things she said, but just wanted to hurt Ducky.
Ducky is angry, which is almost a relief to Sunny.
Sunny apologises once more, and Ducky asks her what’s going on.
Sunny smiles, noting that Ducky is one of the few people who can make her smile presently. She compares him to her journal mentally, as he doesn’t judge. She tells him, and apologises again.
Ducky cries and hugs her.
Sunny checks on her mom, who wants to know how she’s getting on with Dawn, and how Ducky is, and school. She tells her mom that she and Ducky had fought, but are now friends again. Her mom asks why they fought, but Sunny wants to talk about other things, as her mom generally doesn’t have the energy to talk for long.
Sunny hopes that her mom feels better, but at this stage of her illness, it’s actually because they’re giving Betsy stronger pain medications. Sunny’s disappointed once more.
She asks Betsy about her babyhood. Betsy says even if they hadn’t named her Sunshine, they would have nicknamed her Sunny, as she smiled all the time, and laughed at new experiences. They wanted more children because they enjoyed Sunny so much, but they weren’t able to.
Sunny’s mother says she was an adventurous toddler, and that her favourite toy was a dump truck.
Sunny asks her mom about what Betsy was like as a child, and Betsy says she was ‘totally different. Scared of everything.’
Sunny thinks her mom is twice as brave as her.
Sunny’s father reassures her that she doesn’t have to say goodbye to her mother, or see her, if she doesn’t want to.
Sunny thinks fractured thoughts about things like chores, and wanting to watch a movie with Dawn.
Her mom gives her her own diaries, knowing that she won’t be around to answer questions Sunny has.
Betsy dies at home, telling her family how much she loves them.
Sunny is angry with her father and with Dawn, who asks: ‘Why are you angry? I thought you’d be sad.’
Carol comforts her, and tells her not to be too hard on herself, or her family and friends.
Dawn is upset about Mrs Winslow’s death, and comes over to visit.
They invite Ducky over, and Maggie and Amalia come too.
Mr Winslow says Dawn can sit with Sunny during the funeral.
Sunny wants to beg Dawn to, but instead tells her it’s okay if she’d rather sit with her family.
Dawn says she’ll sit with Sunny.
Both girls are afraid of attending a funeral.
Sunny says she wants to talk about her mother now, as since Betsy passed, she’s already afraid she’ll forget her.
They recollect a time when Betsy took them out and left pennies on the sidewalks, as wishes for people.
At the funeral, Paul, Sunny, Dawn and Aunt Morgan hold hands.
Sunny returns to school, and struggles to concentrate. She wants to feel better, as she’s been grieving for months before her mother died, and she’s afraid she won’t be able to catch up with her work. She finishes her first piece of homework in a while.
She reads her mother’s journals and discovers that Betsy lost her parents in an accident, but that they were estranged prior to this, and that Betsy, like Sunny, was unable to share the most important occasions of her life with her mother.
Sunny sits with her friends, despite initially planning to sit alone. She cries four times in the bathroom, thinks of her mother constantly, and nearly ‘bite(s) Jill’s stupid head off’ after Jill asks if she misses her mother; but she makes her self eat, and do school work, and survives the day.
Dawn, Ducky and Sunny go to the mall, and Sunny feels guilty for ‘almost having a good time’.
Dawn reminds her that her mom would want her to feel better. Sunny agrees, but still feels guilty.
She says she’s never been through this before, and Ducky reminds her that neither have they.
Dawn agrees that Jill was thoughtless.
Dawn, Morgan, Paul and Sunny scatter Betsy’s ashes at the spot where Paul and she were engaged.
Dawn tells Sunny that her mom told Dawn to take care of you. Sunny says: “She told me to take care of you too.”
Sunny starts to catch up on her work, getting an A on an English test.

Maggie's Diary Three - Maggie reflects that Sunny has stopped running away from her problems, and Maggie is trying to do the same.
She thinks it does Sunny good to be around her father and Ducky.
Maggie is happy to see Sunny smile while they discuss actors, but irritated as she has unique insight into how ‘shallow movie stars can be.’
Sunny, Ducky and Dawn help Maggie plan what to wear for a party.
Maggie reflects that Ducky’s taste is ‘foxy high heels and a glittery shirt’ whereas Sunny’s is ‘short, tight skirts and halter tops’.
Sunny buys clothes for herself for the first time since her mother died, and tries on hats.
Ducky makes fun of a snobby sales clerk, making Sunny laugh.
Maggie spends the day at the beach with Ducky, Sunny, Dawn, Amalia and Brendan. She thinks it’s good to see Sunny surfing again.
Maggie invites her friends to be extras in a movie.

Sunny was wearing a tiny stretch top that showed off her belly button ring. She had her Rollerblades with her. I told her she was dressed perfectly for the scene.

Sunny and Ducky dance to a live band.
At a party, the group discuss their lives as a TV series. Sunny says if it isn’t a comedy, she doesn’t want her character in it:

“My mother would want it to be a happy series,” Sunny said softly. “She loved to laugh.”
Dawn reached out and gave Sunny’s hand a squeeze. “You’re right,” she said.

Amalia's Diary Three - Amalia talks about how she finds Sunny inspiring as she’s ‘pulling herself together’ after her mother’s death.
Sunny and Ducky plan a goodbye party for Dawn.
Sunny and her father argue. Sunny tells Amalia that Paul is angry at Betsy for being dead, for Sunny for not being her and being too young to help more in the bookstore, that he’s mad at his business and at the city for not reading more.
Amalia is attacked by a group of racists. Dawn is out, but Sunny, Ducky and Maggie comfort her with ice cream, a CD and flowers. Amalia reflects that Maggie and her other friends can’t understand what it is to endure racism and dreams that the racist girls are instead Maggie, Sunny, Dawn, Cece and Marina.
Sunny wants to change the bowling party, as she’s never bowled (Ducky says it’s because she’s worried about her nails.)
Ducky spends too long gossiping with Dawn and Sunny, and a Cro Mag knocks him down. Sunny and Dawn rush to help.
Sunny and Ducky confirm party plans, and Amalia reflects that they make such a cute couple, and are perfect together, as they’re both fun to be around, and are dealing with issues; and that Sunny’s tough, insecure and nice underneath it all.
The party ends up being at the beach. Sunny buys Dawn a bathing suit.

Welcome Home Mary Anne: Friends Forever #11 - Mary Anne is nervous about Sunny’s arrival. She likes Sunny, but she’s worried – that Sunny will be upset after her mother’s recent death; as well as that it will be hard to see Sunny and Dawn together, as they’re ‘closer than ever now.’ She also wonders if Sunny will be bored, as she has a feeling California is more exciting than Connecticut.
When Sunny arrives, Mary Anne thinks she’s ‘pretty’ and that she looked ‘the same, but different.’
Sunny is energetic, and Mary Anne describes her as ‘up for anything’, and Sunny announces she’s psyched to be there, and that she wants to see and do everything, as she’s never ‘been anywhere before.’
Mary Anne and Sharon show Dawn and Jeff the new house. Sunny is enthusiastic about it, causing Sharon and Mary Anne to smile and ‘even Dawn (to soften.)’ Sunny knows it’s ‘easy for me to say’ (that she likes the new house) as she never saw the old one, but she laughs ‘Can I stay forever?’
Sharon accidentally says that Sunny’s parents wouldn’t like that, before correcting herself to ‘your dad’.
Dawn takes Sunny’s hand for a moment, and their eyes meet. Sunny gives Dawn a tiny smile.
Sunny offers to help Dawn pick out room furnishings, and suggests places for her possessions, beating Mary Anne to it.
Mary Anne feels awkward as Dawn and Sunny unpack, and observing how they communicate without words (Sunny nods towards a bookshelf, asking permission to store her mom’s old journals.)
In the morning, Sunny tells Dawn and Mary Anne about a silly dream she had about marrying her teddy bear. They all crack up.
Sunny observes that Mary Anne doesn’t sound excited about swimming, and asks if she’s worried Logan will be there.
Mary Anne doesn’t like that Dawn told Sunny about her personal life, and is worried that Sunny will try to match-make her.
Mary Anne accidentally brings up Mrs. Winslow when she sarcastically asks Sunny if she’s heard of ‘skin cancer’.
Dawn catches her eye, nodding ‘as if to say, Sunny’s right. Don’t worry.’
Mary Anne reflects that her guilt is what pushes her to go along with Sunny flirting with a boy on her behalf. Dawn is impressed:

“Whoa,” I heard Dawn say under her breath. “Sunny’s good, isn’t she?”
She was so good it was scaring me. I could have spent every day for a month at the pool without a guy approaching me. But all Sunny had to do was smile and make eye contact. It was as if some force field were around her that drew guys in.

Mary Anne wants Sunny to be happy, but is exhausted. She asks Dawn if she can ‘make her stop’, but Dawn says ‘Once Sunny gets in this kind of mood, there’s no stopping her’ and shrugs: ‘What’s the old saying? If you can’t beat them, join them? I guess we might as well follow her example.’
When the girls practice diving, Sunny jokes that Mary Anne and Dawn are ‘babies’ for using the low and medium boards. Mary Anne thinks Sunny is a good diver, but isn’t tempted to join her on the high board.
Mary Anne confides in Dawn that she struggles to keep up with Sunny, and Dawn reflects that’s she ‘kind of used to it’ but can recognise that Mary Anne is tired out.
Mary Anne wonders if it’s a little ‘weird’ because of Sunny’s mom.
Dawn explains that it’s Sunny’s way of coping.
Mary Anne asks her if Sunny talks about her mom, but Dawn says that they talk about unserious topics like their friends at home, or boys at the pool; and that she doesn’t know whether Sunny is avoiding the subject or trying to move on.
Mary Anne and she agree to support Sunny, and Dawn suggests: ‘She’s kind of fun when she’s like this. Hanging out with Sunny can be like taking a ride on a roller-coaster.’
The girls help Sharon garden.
Sunny comes up with colours for Dawn and Mary Anne’s rooms, and Mary Anne notes that Betsy’s artistic style must have rubbed off on Sunny. Sunny recognises that she offended Mary Anne by saying her room ‘needed more personality’.
The girls go to the mall and do everything, from trying on bridal veils to petting puppies.
Sunny and Dawn attend a horror movie together, and Mary Anne feels a little left out.
Sunny helps Jeff plan his new room, including sketching him a Star Wars mural.
Mary Anne is nervous about the group date with Cole and his friends, but Sunny tells her she has ‘nada’ to be nervous about.
Dawn throws a t-shirt at Sunny, saying she’d almost calmed down Mary Anne, but Sunny grins and shrugs, saying ‘Calm is overrated.’
Mary Anne notes that Sunny’s energy distracts her from her nerves, but sees that Dawn is ‘losing patience’ as she’s worried that Sunny is only happy on the surface: ‘I know there’s a lot of pain underneath it all. When is that going to come out?’
Sunny is late, as usual, and wears a baby T and Mary Anne’s skirt to the cinema.
Mary Anne feels sorry for Jason, Sunny’s date, as he’s visibly blushing when he says hi to her. After the movie, Sunny flirts with him, encouraged by Dawn's disapproving nudges.
Sunny talks about how romantic she finds moonlight.
That evening, Sunny raves over Mary Anne’s date with Cole, and Mary Anne feels guilty over the effort Sunny has taken. However, in the morning, Sunny says she can tell now that Cole isn’t right for Mary Anne.
When she refers to the boys as ‘losers’ and makes fun of the zits on one of their faces, Dawn tells Sunny: ‘Don’t be mean. What would Ducky think if he heard you talking like that?’
Sunny quietly agrees, and Mary Anne is glad to see there’s someone Sunny cares about pleasing.
Mary Anne giggles at Sunny’s description of Alex, and Dawn says she doesn’t want to ‘have to tell Ducky (what you said)’.
Sunny rolls her eyes, telling Mary Anne she needs an older guy, and recounting her experience with Carson.
When she ‘dreamily’ recalls him, Dawn is incredulous, arguing ‘You’re not saying he would have made a good boyfriend for Mary Anne, are you?’
They gossip about Stacey’s boyfriend, Ethan, and Mary Anne tries to explain that she’s not looking for a boyfriend; but Sunny tells her it’s her ‘fondest wish, to see you with a terrific new boyfriend’.
Sunny and Mary Anne share a moment after a family dinner as Sharon, Richard, Jeff and Dawn reminisce about meals they’ve made, including a Mother’s Day cake.
After Sunny’s regular call to her dad, Mary Anne asks after him, and Sunny wonders if she should go back to be with him, as he’s all alone. Mary Anne tells her he understands she ‘want(s) to be here with Dawn’, and Sunny explains he’s so busy with work that she’d probably not see him frequently anyway.
Mary Anne awkwardly tries to let Sunny know she’s there to talk to, but Sunny ‘firmly’ says she doesn’t want to talk, and warns Mary Anne off being ‘goop(y)’.
Mary Anne realises she can’t force Sunny to open up, and that she has no right to push her into anything she wasn’t ready for, and while she understands not having a mother, she may not understands Sunny’s situation (e.g. Mary Anne’s mother died while Mary Anne was in early infancy.)
Sunny plans a trip to New York, alone, for the three of them. Dawn is ‘wary’, and Mary Anne points out that on previous trips, they had a ‘plan’ and ‘permission’.
Dawn tells Sunny to ‘stop pacing and listen to me’, and Sunny grins and obeys, answering: ‘Yes, ma’am.’
Dawn agrees she’d love to go to New York and ‘show you all the major landmarks’, but suggests they wait for the weekend and make it a family trip.
Sunny says ‘You know I adore your family. They’ve been wonderful to me. So don’t take this the wrong way. But that is so not what I’m talking about.’
Dawn folds her arms and asks that Sunny tell her what she’s talking about.
Sunny teases her ‘You don’t have to get all bent out of shape. Come on, this is about fun.’
Dawn uncrosses her arms, saying ‘I like fun. Go on.’
Sunny explains that she’d like to see the real New York. Sunny shows off the cool teenagers in her magazine, and Dawn admits they’re cool. Sunny explains that those kids live in the city, and know where the interesting places are, saying they don’t hang out an ‘any boring old mall.’
Sunny tells the girls she ‘really need(s) this’, and meeting Mary Anne’s eyes, tells her ‘I’m not going to beg, but it would mean a lot to me if you guys would agree to go.’
Dawn gives Mary Anne a tiny nod, and they agree.
Sunny thinks she could deceive Richard and Sharon, but Mary Anne and Dawn’s faces will give the game away.
On the train, Mary Anne is nervous, but Dawn’s ‘catching Sunny’s enthusiasm’ encourages her to relax.
She also feels better knowing Sunny is also afraid of things, as she notes Sunny’s fear of the subway.
Sunny says this is the place to find Mary Anne a ‘city boyfriend’, as she compliments a guy in shorts: ‘Nice tattoos.’
The girls get the giggles as they visit a restaurant wildly out of their price range.
Later that afternoon, Sunny suggests they attend a club that night. Dawn says they need to leave in order to get home on time. Sunny comes up with more diversions, and reminds Mary Anne that the pool, their alibi, doesn’t close until late. She says ‘If you guys want to spend your time worrying, that’s fine. I’m going to enjoy myself.’
Dawn turns red, and she calls Sunny by her full name in a ‘deathly quiet voice’.
Sunny teasingly answers ‘Yes, Dawn Schafer?’ and Mary Anne swiftly identifies that ‘a big scene was coming’.
Dawn orders Sunny to leave, and Sunny refuses, saying she’ll be ‘fine alone’.
Dawn goes redder, and refuses: ‘I’m not leaving you in this city on your own. We came together, and we’re leaving together.’
Sunny airily refuses.
Dawn loses it, calling Sunny the ‘most selfish person I’ve ever met’ and talking about how ‘my family and I have humoured you for the last two weeks’ and that they’re being ‘paid back’ by her dragging Dawn and Mary Anne into ‘doing something we know is wrong’.
Sunny points out that until now, Mary Anne and Dawn were ‘having a blast’, and Dawn says that Sunny’s been getting her own way since her mother died, ‘turning white’ as she does so.
Dawn tells Sunny she has no right to mistreat others, and that things can’t always go her way.
Sunny says in a ‘hard voice’ ‘You think things go my way?’ to which Dawn whispers ‘That’s not fair.’
They return home and both Dawn and Sunny stomp around, Dawn exiting to collect Jeff and Sunny to their room.
Mary Anne hears Sunny crying, and comforts her, reflecting that Sunny is crying about all of her life, her mother’s death, her father’s workaholism, and ‘what had happened between her and Dawn.’
Sunny apologises for taking advantage of Mary Anne’s desire to humour her by dragging her to New York; and Mary Anne points out she could have refused.
Dawn and Jeff return, and Mary Anne assumes Dawn is still angry.
Sunny decides she needs to return home, as she’s in a ‘holding pattern’ and needs to move forward, and that her dad needs her.
Sunny wonders how she’ll tell Dawn; but Dawn is at the doorway, and says ‘You don’t have to.’ She hugs Sunny.
Their fight was over. Neither of them had to say a word. It was just understood.
The Schafer-Spiers host a goodbye party/housewarming, and Mary Anne reflects that she doesn’t feel left out anymore, even when Sunny and Dawn discuss California, as she and Sunny have bonded themselves.
Mary Anne ‘teasingly’ asks Sunny if they should have invited Cole and his friends, and Sunny apologises, saying Mary Anne is doing just fine without a boyfriend: ‘Don’t rush into anything, okay?’
Stacey compliments Sunny’s new top, purchased in New York, and Sunny awkwardly lies about where it came from; as Sharon is nearby.
Abby tells Sunny how she wished she could have spent time with her, and gives her condolences regarding Mrs. Winslow. Sunny acknowledges this and thanks her, and Mary Anne feels ‘proud’ of Sunny facing her feelings.
She recognises Dawn and Sunny need ‘a little time alone to say goodbye’, and goes to bed.
Sunny goes to wish her goodnight, and thanks her for her help. They talk, and Mary Anne is unnerved at odd creaking noises. Sunny reassures her it’s the house ‘settling’ and that hers does the same.
In the morning, Dawn and Sunny chatter in the backseat about plans for their summer.

Ducky's Diary Three - Sunny and Ducky are very close, Ducky’s concerned overanalyzing a friendship, that Sunny may feel more.
Sunny likes impulse items such as tiny books and pens.
She and Ducky combine forces to stop a shoplifter.
Ducky thinks Sunny is smooth. The feeling is mutual. Sunny comments they’re a good team.
They go shopping. Sunny tries on wigs. Ducky feels foolish for commenting on an ‘Orphan Annie’ wig. Sunny replies swiftly: ‘Half (an orphan.)’
Ducky thinks she looks challenging or expectant, and likes that she’s unpredictable but also that he can let her know when ‘she’s pushing ‘tude’.
Sunny smiles ‘like you’ve passed a test.’ She asks if Ducky thinks she’s pretty.
Ducky stalls for time, realising that she is, but unsure why she’s asking. She looks pleased and laughs and flutters her eyelashes. She catches Ducky’s hand and swings it ‘gleefully’ suggesting ‘Next time we go out to play, you get to choose the game.’ She also says Ducky is not like other guys.
He asks if he’s pretty, and she laughs, offending him slightly.

You nod absently as Sunny finally stops laughing, sniffs, and pronounces the odor “mystery meat.”
“We’d have to give Dawn artificial resuscitation,” she remarks.
“It’s pretty rank,” you say. “A smell like that makes you understand Dawn’s ecovegetarian ways.”
“True,” Sunny agrees.

She also talks about how everyone they know is in couples, such as Amelia and Brendan; and how Tyler and Maggie are ‘acting…together.’ Ducky is happy for them, as is Sunny. Sunny pats the seat beside her, and stares at Ducky. He calls her name, but she apologises and said she was spacing.
Dawn returns and Sunny wants the group to meet.
Sunny offers Maggie a room, as she’s struggling with her mom.
Sunny leans against Ducky, saying ‘I bet you have a lot more hidden talents’. He says he speaks ‘ze language of luv’ and she just stares, not laughing like usual. He feels as if they’re not on the same page. Dawn and Brendan think there’s something between Sunny and Ducky. Ducky tries to converse normally, but feels like Sunny is smiling at everything he says. Brendan says ‘I’ve seen the way she looks at you.’
Ducky’s confused as to his feelings about Sunny. Sunny organises the breakroom at the bookshop and tries to trick her father into drinking decent coffee.
Ducky doesn’t know what to say, and isn’t sure if Sunny has noticed his change in mood. Sunny chatters about Maggie, Dawn wanting more piercings, and how she wants a retro bowling shirt.
Ducky still feels awkward, wondering if Sunny’s laughing too hard over his jokes, or whether he is over hers. Sunny wants to watch an ‘extremely bad action flick’, but shuts down Ducky’s suggestion to call the gang, then gets changed from her work clothes into a ‘flitty top thing’.
He compliments her look and suggests getting something to eat. He’s so nervous he doesn’t remember much of the ‘date’ but that Sunny takes his hand and doesn’t let go in a way that ‘feels different’.
At the end of the night, she kisses him. Ducky doesn’t think she’s noticed his lack of reaction. She smiles, saying softly: 'Night, Ducky'.
Ducky thinks he’d choose her ‘of all the girls’, desperately afraid of ‘ruin(ing) her life’ especially when she seems so happy to see him.
He babbles the next day and she reassures him ‘Relax. It was just a kiss. You were in the right place at the right time, that’s all. Nothing personal, okay?’ pats his arm, and winks at him.
Ducky tries to reassure her that she’s one of the most important people in his life.

Sunny laughs and it sort of scares you. But she says, “Silly boy, I better be. Now stop brooding. Or I’m not going to ask you out to play with me again.”
How could she be so… sophisticated?
“I don’t want to mess us up,” you blunder on.
“Keep talking like that, you will,” she shoots back. Light. Fast. A smile with glitter on it.
You get the hint. Sunny is smiling but that is not a happy smile. It’s a smile that says: Shut up, Ducky. You’ve hurt my feelings.

She calls in sick to work. Ducky sees Dawn, and thinks Sunny has talked about him to Dawn. He’s afraid to ask as Dawn is more Sunny’s friend than his.
The next day, Sunny and Maggie decorate a season window display. Ducky recalls how Sunny told him her mom loved to do this. Sunny tells her dad ‘Mom’s watching you shirk you work’, and Mr. W. smiles. Ducky thinks they seem closer than before.
Sunny is shying away from Ducky, but talking to Maggie: ‘I know mom can’t help it. I know that, Sunny….She’s got to stop….’ Sunny agrees softly, and comforts Maggie in the breakroom.
Sunny compliments Ducky on taking in Maggie and her brother.
Mr W invites Ducky to join him and Sunny for dinner, but Ducky refuses. Sunny is hurt.
Ducky looks for Sunny to apologise, but bumps into Dawn. Dawn asks if there’s any chance for him and Sunny.
Dawn says, “It’s too bad. But I do understand, Ducky, more than you think. And you know what? Sunny will too. Eventually.”
Sunny leads Ducky out by his hand, and tells him to drive to the beach. Sunny’s miserable that she kissed Ducky:

“I hate what’s happening. I hate the way you look scared whenever I talk to you. I hate the way you stand there but sort of back up, like with your eyes, you know? Detach. Distance yourself. I hate myself for kissing you, because I should have known something like this would happen. If I could unkiss you, I would. Totally. In a heartbeat.”

Ducky confides that his fear is not about Sunny, but his own reaction, and that he’s terrified of ruining their friendship, as what they have is ‘just as strong, maybe stronger’. They agree they’re best friends.

Sunny sighs and leans against you for a minute. You feel comfortable and happy and you put your arm around her and you sit there, pondering love and life and golden retrievers and Jack Russells. Then Sunny straightens. “Don’t get all mush-brained on me,” she says. “That’s probably why I kissed you in the first place—the mush factor of summer.”

That night they have a party. Sunny decides on an old gym shirt with an embroidered name on it; and takes charge of the kitchen.
Dawn’s glad to see Sunny and Ducky are still friends, and Sunny declares the party ‘Just what we needed’.