Cherry Cola

A Riverdale Fanfiction

Cheryl went to her bedroom immediately after she came back from Pop's Chok'lit Shoppe where she and Toni Topaz, the new Serpent girl with the pink hair, had spent the last 2 hours. Cheryl met her at the movie theater, where she wanted to see the newest movie about a boy struggling with his Coming Out. Originally, she had planed to just go out to watch the movie alone because everyone else kept talking about it and she desperately searched for a place to go, as far as possible from her home, Thistlehouse, where her mother was having another "meeting" with her "clients" which was something Cheryl could definitely not bear at this moment. But then, while she was waiting for the movie to start, with a Cherry Cola in hand, Toni came over to her and started a conversation which ended with them sitting next to each other during the film and Cheryl confessing to Toni that she actually felt really not okay. Something she had never really confessed to anyone, because no one really seemed to care.

Now, Cheryl sat on her bed, wondering what it was about Toni, that had caused her to trust her and open up to her about her feelings. She wasn't really sure. Maybe it was because Toni had tried multiple times, even after Cheryl had rejected her offer at first. She knew that, at the beginning she had not been the nicest to the new Serpents when they arrived at Riverdale High School, but still Toni had tried to be nice to her these last weeks. Maybe this meant that Toni had not yet started to have something against her. Why else could it be that she acted so nicely to her?

Cheryl lay down and closed her eyes. She felt exhausted. During the last year, her life had become utterly miserable. First, there had been Jason's escape from their family where she had helped him to flee, because he could not stand their parents anymore, especially their father who wanted Jason to take over the family business, which was, in fact, not with Maple Syrup, but with illegal transportation of heroin. Jason did not want to take over and decided to run away with his fiancée Polly Cooper. Cheryl had helped him, but when she found out Jason was dead she had started to regret it ever since. She felt guilty, even though she was not his murderer, but if she had not helped him run away, would he had ever left and be killed? This question was torturing Cheryl every night, when she tried to fall asleep and hunted her in her dreams.

The second thing that had made her life horrible was her mother. Her mother had never been kind or caring to Cheryl. Jason had always been her favorite, without a doubt. After Jason's death her mother had started to blame her for it, even though her husband, Clifford Blossom, had murdered their son. Her mother had become even more cold-hearted towards her and treated her terribly. Almost every day, Cheryl suffered from her emotional and verbal abuse, even more than before and Cheryl hated her mother for it. But sadly there was nothing she could do. She couldn't just move out. The only thing she could do was to avoid her mother - and also her "clients".

Cheryl opened her eyes again and saw her phone screen lighting up. She sat up and grabbed her phone. On her screen she saw a text message from an unknown number. "Hey, Bombshell. I just wanted to let you know, that I enjoyed spending the evening with you. I know you are having a hard time and I know it must have been difficult for you to talk about it, especially talking to me because we don't really know each other but I am glad you did and if you feel the need to talk to someone again, I will listen" Cheryl stared at the screen, not knowing what to do now. After a few secs, another message appeared on her screen: "Oh, and in case you were wondering who this is and how I got your number: This is Toni and I asked Jugehad to give me your number". Cheryl unlocked her phone and opened the messenger, ready to type an answer, but she did not know what to write… Could she actually trust Toni or was she playing with her like so many other people in her life had. She decided that she could not know this yet and just typed: "Thx, Cha Cha. But don't think we are friends now, just because we went to the movies once and I told you some personal stuff. Just forget about that." She looked at her answer for a few seconds, unsure if she should hit send or not but eventually she did.

Cheryl stood up. She turned around, facing the big round window and stared into the dark forest behind their house. Originally she had thought that this view was peaceful, but after a few months living in this house and seeing this never ending line of trees every single day, she found them creepy. In the night, when they looked dark and rustled mysteriously, she got afraid of them. They reminded her too much of the forest at Sweetwater River where she had last seen Jason. She got out of her thought when her phone buzzed again. Another message from Toni. Cheryl was a little afraid to read what it said. What if she had made a mistake and now Toni threatened to tell everyone about what Cheryl had just confessed to her. That she had been in love with her best friend in Junior High, Heather. She did not want everyone to find out about that. Not yet. Also, it was nobody else's business who Cheryl loved or had loved, because everyone just thought she was the loveless and mean It-Girl from Riverdale High. Or at least that was what Cheryl thought. Suddenly, she felt a very uncomfortable feeling in her stomach. She started to regret her answer to Toni's previous message. Maybe she could have an actual chance to become friends with the Serpent girl, but now it was probably too late. She had become anxious and had taken out her anger on Toni… as she had always done when she felt bad. Take her feelings out on someone else. Maybe that was why she did not have friends…Cheryl decided that she would simply ignore the message. She could not take any more bad news right now. All she wanted to do at the moment was to lay down and sleep. This day had been emotionally difficult for her and she was tired. Cheryl took her phone and turned it off.

That night Cheryl had yet another nightmare, like almost every night. In her dream she was on the boat with Jason sitting across from her, rowing them across Sweetwater River. Everything looked peaceful. It was a sunny day, birds where chirping in the trees around the River and Jason smiled at Cheryl. Suddenly, there was a lightning in the distance and thunder followed soon after. Cheryl looked away from Jason, wondering what had caused the sudden weather change. Another lighting stroke, this time much closer and Cheryl started to panic. Being on a lake while there was a thunderstorm almost right above you was definitely not a great idea.

"Jason, I think we should turn around and go back to the shore…The thunderstorm is coming closer.", she said. Then she turned her head to Jason again and screamed. What she saw was not her smiling brother from just a few minutes ago, but instead was now a zombie version of Jason. He looked like the way he had when he was found dead in the water. He had a greenish blue skin, eyes staring at her without any sense of life in them and most shockingly he had a hole on his forehead with blood around it, right were their father had shot him.

Cheryl was shocked and the only way out for her seemed to jump out of the boat into Sweetwater River. When she landed in the water, she tried to orientate herself but she could barely see her own hands. She tried to move, but the water was so cold that her body already started to feel numb. Slowly she tried to swim towards the nearest shore but suddenly grabbed her ankle and pulled her down under the icy cold water. It was Jason. Dead Zombie Jason. He grabbed her and pulled her further under the surface. Cheryl's body needed air, now, or she would die. She tried to get free from her brothers cold and dead hands but his grip was tight. She wasn't strong enough. Her lungs screamed for air but there was nothing she could do to break free. Slowly, everything around her seemed to darken and her vision blurred. The last thing she saw was the face of her dead twin brother.

She woke up with her right hand clutched at her throat and struggling to breath. Sweat covered her forehead and panic controlled her thoughts. She looked at her alarm clock. It was 3:12 am. Cheryl tried to calm herself down and decided what to do next. She didn't really want to fall back asleep again. She was too afraid the dream she had would continue, but still she was tired. She decided that maybe simply lying down and trying to relax would be helpful. She lay back down and closed her eyes, desperately hoping that the nightmares would stay away at least for the rest of this night.

Cheryl woke up at again 6:30. Even though she had gone to bed pretty early last evening, she did not feel well-rested at all. Not after that nightmare. She wanted to stay in her comfy bed for the rest of the day and just skip school. But of course she couldn't. After another 30 minutes that she had stayed in bed, her mother banged against the dark wooden door and angrily yelled: "Cheryl Marjorie Blossom! Get out of your bed, NOW or you are grounded!" This was something Cheryl definitely did not want. It would be another nightmare to not be able to leave the house when her mother was with her clients in the room above. "I am coming, mother. No need to yell at me just now!" Cheryl got up and went to her bathroom that was connected to her room and to take a shower but when she looked at her cock she realized she had to hurry if she wanted to be in school in time and decided to skip showering and also breakfast.

When she arrived at school, it had already rang for the first time so Cheryl hurried up to her biology class. When she entered the room, nobody looked up. It was nothing new that she came late to her first class. The only one looking up and staring at Cheryl was Toni. She looked at Cheryl and gave her an inquiring look. Cheryl ignored her, strode past her and fell down in her seat. Even though she tried to focus on class, her thoughts always kept driving away and, most importantly, trying to avoid Toni after class because she was sure that Toni would try to talk to her. She decided, that hurrying out of the room as soon as the bell would ring would be the best idea and so she hurried out of class and hid in the River Vixens changing room throughout the whole break. Her tactic worked until lunch, when she had no other option than going to the cafeteria and sit there because spending a whole hour in the changing room was not an option. She was not that desperate.

When she sat down at an empty table in the cafeteria and renewed her red lipstick, she realized someone sat down across from her. Toni. Great. Cheryl thought. I hurried out of the room an almost broke off my heel for nothing. Cheryl looked up and saw Toni staring at her, waiting for her to say something.

"What do you want?" Cheryl asked.

"Nothing in particular. I just wanted to give you company because eating lunch all alone would be pathetic, don't you think?"

"So why did you choose me to be your company? Couldn't you just have gone to Jughead or someone so you wouldn't be alone?" It was a desperate try to get Toni to leave by insulting her but obviously it did not work. Toni wasn't even slightly impressed by Cheryl's words.

"Why are you trying to push me away Cheryl? What did I do to you? I tried to be nice to you because I think you are actually an amazing girl but you make it really difficult for me" Cheryl hesitated before she answered. She did not really have an answer to that question.

" I don't know. Maybe I am just not used to this. Someone being nice to me, you know" She wasn't sure why she had just admitted that last part. There was just something about Toni that wanted Cheryl to be honest to her.

"And you really think that insulting me is the right reaction to that?", Toni asked, raising her eyebrow inquiringly.

"Probably not.", Cheryl had to admit and stared down at her hands. Toni was not satisfied with that answer.

"So then why are you doing it?"

"I already said I don't know. I guess it is just kind of a reflex."

"You should try to work on that. I don't want to be rude to you"

Cheryl didn't know what to say to that. She was a little shocked that Toni still tried to be nice to her. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and tried to keep avoiding Toni's stare but now more out of embarrassment for her previous behavior.

"I am sorry. For being mean to you. I just did not know what to do. I felt overwhelmed" she finally managed to say.

"It's fine. I've been talked to in a worse way."

"When?"

"Nothing important. Just… some Serpent thing, you know", Toni responed, not wanting to talk about that any further. Silence rose between them once again. Suddenly, Cheryl's stomach grumbled.

"Haven't you eaten yet?" Toni asked.

"No, I didn't have time for that this morning and I forgot my purse at home so I can't not buy anything here.", Cheryl confessed.

"Okay. Waite a minute. I'll get you something."

Before Cheryl could argue, Toni was already on her feet and on her way to the counter and Cheryl sat at the table, embarrassed that she could not afford food for herself. Cheryl watched her, trying to keep her view on the green Serpent symbol on the back of Toni's leather jacket but she Toni got out of sight when a group of football players crossed the cafeteria. It felt weird and embarrassing that Toni was buying her food, but still…somehow she liked it, kind of. At least, it meant that Toni cared about her to some extent. Toni came back faster than Cheryl had expected.

"Here, a blueberry muffin and a Cherry Cola." She sat the two items down on the table in front of Cheryl. Cheryl didn't reach out for them but instead simply stared for a moment.

"You like blueberries right? Because if not then…"

"No, no. Blueberries are just fine. Thank you" Cheryl started to unwrap her muffin and started eating. Toni stared at her yet again. And Cheryl tried to ignore that, yet again. She did not like being watched while she was eating.

"Why are you always staring at me? Do I have lipstick on my teeth or what?", she finally demanded to know and rolled her eyes, trying to hide how uneasy it made her. Toni chuckled.

"No. I just like making you uncomfortable. You always act so though but just looking at you for more than 5 seconds makes you feel insecure. Fascinating"

Cheryl rolled her eyes once more, but could not hold back a little grin. "I hate you."

"No, you don't. You love me." was Toni's only response. Before Cheryl could say anything else Sweet Pea came over to their table.

"Hey, Toni. Do you have a sec? Fangs and I could need your help."

Toni looked at Cheryl, not sure if she should go and let Cheryl sit there on her all alone or not. Sweet Pea looked at her, waiting and expecting Toni to answer.

"Uhm… Sure. Excuse me Cheryl."

And with that Toni left and Cheryl sat there, alone and already missing the company of Toni Topaz.