The first time Cheryl really finds love, it's with a girl named Heather.
They would always sit next to each other at recess, Jason having wandered off with his own friends. She had the prettiest blue eyes, she could still recall distinctively. They would light up like a Christmas tree as they would chat about one thing or another, cementing Cheryl by her side with just a single look. She looked like a classic beauty even at her age, just like the movies with Grace Kelly she loved to watch at home.
She should have seen it coming really.
One day out of the blue she takes note of the butterfly-like sensation that appears whenever Heather is around, pressing lightly against her stomach as though urging her to finally make the discovery for herself. And it's terrifying. Absolutely unthinkable. She couldn't feel that way, not for someone like her, not a girl. Never a girl, what would her parents think? No, no. She would marry a suitable boy her parents would assign for her. That was the proper way after all.
But the more she tried to ignore it, the more her feelings continued, and the questions began to pile up. How were her feelings for her best friend wrong? She couldn't help it anymore than she could change her Blossom genes. And there was nothing wrong with Heather! Sure, her parents weren't rich, nor did they have a stake in a multi-million maple empire, but she was sweet, and kind, and always sat next to her when the other kids went off to play.
She tests her theory out one day as she and Heather sit by the tree outside, away from all of the other children. Thinking back, she couldn't remember much of what was said, just the overwhelming nerves threatening to drag her under before she could do anything. Heather had offered her one of her sandwiches, and the next thing she knew was Cheryl's lips on hers.
"I'm sorry." She had apologised, her heart fluttering with dread as the panic began to set in.
"Don't be." Heather had smiled reassuringly, leaning forward to meet Cheryl once more.
.
.
.
But then like many ugly things, her mother reared her head.
Cheryl had invited Heather over to a sleepover at Thornhill, and she had been so excited to show her her family home. The graveyard, the maple trees, her room, she had never had anyone to share this stuff with. Heather had loved everything in the tour, completely enraptured as Cheryl had boasted about her family home like it were a prized jewel.
They had been saying their goodbyes for the night, and as Heather slipped into her bed she was unable to help herself. She never would have done anything in her home, it had just been a light peck. A harmless goodnight kiss. But that had been the moment her mother had chosen to walk in, eyes falling on them just as they pulled apart. And then all hell had broken loose.
"Deviant."
"Embarrassing."
"What would the family think? This can't ever get out."
Heather's parents were called, and was dragged kicking and screaming as it was promised that the two of them would never see each other again. Jason had been there for her throughout it all, a hand on her shoulder as she'd cried at the loss of the one person she'd had outside her brother who truly cared. She could mark that day as the moment where in which the proverbial train wreck that was her life went dark, with nothing but the sticky unrelenting blackness ahead.
Jay-Jay, shot.
Her father, hanged.
Sweetwater River.
Thornhill.
But then somewhere along the way, she spots a flash of pink hair.
She'd heard the whispers of course, having a firm foot inside the rumour mill. "The Serpent chick with the dumb hair swings both ways." "I hear that Serpent skank plays for both teams." Crude and unkind talk seemed to follow Toni Topaz wherever she went, yet she brushed it off the same way she would the dust on her jacket. Sure they had almost come to verbal blows a few times, but she had never thought much of her. She was a Southside Serpent after all.
Then she had made that call to Jughead, hurt pulsating like a wound after being tossed aside once more. Before she knew what was happening, the pink-haired girl's hand was on her arm, eyes patient and understanding as she asked her to tell her what was wrong. No, why would she care? This was some sort of elaborate scheme cooked up for revenge against her for her campaign against the biker gang. Yes that was it.
She had pulled away, furious with herself as she felt a familiar feeling emerging from within her body.
Butterflies.
.
.
.
Cheryl had her mother to thank for it really.
If not for her newfound turn as a 'Woman of the Night', she never would have gone out to the movies that night. She never would have opened up to Toni, her heart pounding all the while as she waited for her to run away. Who would want to stay with her? But Toni remained by her side, listening as she recounted her past feelings for the girl she had vowed to herself that she had never loved.
Cheryl had been certain she would want to leave. But then Toni opened her mouth.
"You're not loveless, you're not deviant, you're sensational."
A soft hand slips into hers, silently assuring her she was not going to run the other way.
And for the first time in a long while, there was a light at the end of the tunnel.