Cherry Cola

A Riverdale Fanfiction

Cheryl didn't see Toni again that day at school. After her training with the River Vixens she tried to loiter as much as possible, but eventually she had no other choice than to go home. When she came to their driveway, seeing a bright red car standing their with an unknown license plate Cheryl sighed and felt the nausea spread in her stomach. An unknown car in front of their house could only mean one thing: her mother had company. Cheryl slowly walked up to their front door, trying to prepare herself for what waited for her inside, which would be, of course, not very pleasant. When she entered the dark house, the first thing she heard was a squeaking. From the second floor. From a bed. Cheryl frowned and wanted to leave the house again, but where should she go? For lack of options, she went up to her room as quickly as possibly and searched for her headphones to block out the noise coming from the room above. When she had finally found them, she lay down on her bed again, and tried to hold back tears. She felt hopeless. She did not know what to do. How could she ever escape this nightmare at home? How could her life possibly become better? The only good thing of the day seemed to be her lunch with Toni. While she way laying down, motionless, her thoughts wandered to Toni. I wish she were here with me… Cheryl thought. The thought that Toni could be with Jughead and Betty or someone like that made her uneasy. Kind of jealous, even. She kind of missed Toni. Even though they had not spent that much time together yet, she already started to miss Toni's presence when she was not around her. Spending time with the Serpent girl had always been a nice distraction from all her problems, and additionally, Toni was kind of funny. She could make Cheryl laugh, something that did not happen very often lately. She was thankful for what Toni had done for her until now even though she would probably never admit that. Cheryl wondered if she should text Toni and ask her if she had time to meet up but she didn't. I don't want her to think I miss her or something. Overall, we still don't know each other very well. I don't want to appear creepy. With that Cheryl turned off her phone yet again and instead of listening to music she started to watch a movie.

The next two days were the weekend. Cheryl's thought drifted to Toni more and more She just did not have anything else to do. All she did was stay in her room, trying to make time go faster, which of course did not work. Instead, time seemed to slow down more and more. Finally, after another hour where she had tried to find an idea how her time could be spent, boredom won and Cheryl decided to text Toni.

"Hey Cha Cha. I've been wondering if you wanted to meet up tonight?" She stared at the screen, waiting for an answer. Toni texted back quicker than expected.

"Sure. Got an idea what we could do?"

"Maybe you could come over and we could watch a movie or something…"

"Sounds good. When should I come over?"

"8 pm?"

"Great. See U at 8 :)" That last message caused Cheryl's mood to lighten up a bit. She even felt a new, kind of nervous feeling in her stomach when she thought about Toni coming over in less than 4 hours. But what should she do until then? She glanced around her room. She had never considered herself a messy person but at that moment she thought her room looked untidy. The pillow on her huge white king-size bed were crumpled, the lamp on her right bedside table was not working anymore - the light bulb broke months ago- there where clothes lying on the dark wood floor and the plant on her window sill seemed to have died without her noticing it. With a light smile on her face Cheryl went downstairs to search for a new lightbulb.

Toni arrived promptly at 8:00 pm. Cheryl opened the door and looked at Toni. Toni wore her serpents jacket as usual. Under that Cheryl could see a dark grey shirt and a long necklace with a little snake. Her pants were black, also as usual, as well as her leather boots. Her pink hair was in waves and looked like Toni had put extra effort in them that day. After a while Toni asked: "Uhm… Are you going to let me in or are we going to watch the movie on your front porch?" Cheryl let her in and led her up to her room.

"Which movie do you wanna watch? Netflix is offering a lot of choices…" Cheryl asked.

"Wow, we are just spending time together for the third time and you already want to do Netflix and Chill. If I had known that I would have brought something else than Cherry Cola" Toni chuckled. Cheryl blushed, her eyes widened with shock.

"What, no. I didn't… I just wanted to… Wait, you brought Cherry Cola?" Cheryl said, desperately trying to hide her embarrassment.

"Yeah. I figured that you liked that stuff a lot so I thought it would be a nice gesture to bring you some as your guest."

"I still do not understand…Why are you this nice to me? Honestly…"

"You should really stop questioning everything other people do. It's not good for you. Just go with it and accept that I made the effort and went to the supermarket to buy you some Cherry Cola, Cheryl Bombshell.", Toni responded teasingly.

"I don't think you are in the position to tell me what I should do or not but still, I appreciate your effort, Topaz" Cheryl tried to hold back a grin, but she just couldn't. Toni simply seemed to have that effect on her. They both sat down on Cheryl's bed, trying to find a comfortable position to look at the big TV opposite of the big bed. After a while, they eventually decided which movie to watch and sat next to each other in silence. Cheryl tried to focus on the movie but somehow she wanted to initiate a conversation. She just wasn't sure what she should say. She eventually decided to say something that she thought was appropriate and overdue.

"Thank you." Cheryl said quietly, so Toni could hardly hear it.

"You already thanked me for the Cherry Cola, you remember?" Toni looked at her raising an eyebrow and having an amused look on her face.

"Yes, I do remember. I thanked you for everything you did. Not only the Cherry Cola.", she admitted.

"You don't have to thank me Cheryl. I did this because I wanted to"

"Yeah, I know. But still I am thankful for that. Just accept this Thank you, okay? I don't say that a lot. Don't make me regret that I said it to you."

"Okay. Thank you is accepted.", Toni said.

"You know…I didn't have anyone to talk to for a very long time. I had never told anyone about me and Heather because it hurt to much thinking about it and I also felt ashamed, but I felt like I could tell you. It was kind of nice to finally talk to someone about it."

"Cheryl, there is no need to feel ashamed about being in love with another girl. Forget your mother. She doesn't understand it."

"But you do. Right?"

"Are you asking me if I'm into girls?", Toni said, again rasising an eyebrow in question.

"Um…not directly, but are you?" Cheryl would not admit it, but she was curious about that. She had heard some rumors but she didn't knew if they were true.

"That's pretty directly, Bombshell. But yes, I am."

Something in Cheryl's stomach turned. Somehow she was relieved to hear that. But why was that? She wasn't exactly sure. Why should it bother her, if Toni was into girls, right? Toni's just a friend, but it made Cheryl a little more excited, nevertheless.

"Cool.", was all she could answer.

"Cool?"

"Yes, indeed. Cool."

During the next weeks, Cheryl and Toni spent more and more time together. And Cheryl had enjoyed it every single time. Cheryl had asked Toni if she would come to her father's will reading to which Toni agreed without any hesitation. Toni had even stayed for dinner afterwards with Cheryl's new found uncle, which was more than a little awkward. She knew that her mother hated her even more now after she found out about Cheryl and Toni's new friendship, but Cheryl would not let that stop her from seeing the Serpent girl. She felt like Toni had become her best friend and that she could trust her sincerely. Even the occasional silence during their meet-ups didn't feel uncomfortable or awkward anymore. When Toni was around, Cheryl just always felt better, no matter what was going on at home and how badly her mother treated her. Toni made her forget that just being there and occasionally listening to Cheryl's problems without bothering. Toni actually loved to help Cheryl as much as she could. So when one evening, it all became too much for Cheryl after her mother had again verbally abused her and threatened her to send her away, Cheryl called Toni.

"Hey, Bombshell. What's up?", Toni greeted her in a happy tone.

"Toni, can you please come over? I don't know what to do, my mother keeps threatening me…" Cheryl tried to say between her sobs, tears running down her cheeks. She sat next to her bed, on the cold and hard wooden floor, one arm wrapped around her knees while the other held the phone to her ear.

"Cheryl, what happened?" Toni answered, alarmed that something bad must have happened to make Cheryl cry like that. Cheryl led out another sob.

"Cheryl, please answer me. What is wrong? Please, say something you are worrying me." Toni begged her.

"Toni, please help me. I can't stay here anymore. I hate my mother and the nightmare she has made of my life" Cheryl cried.

" Okay, tell me where you are. I'll come over immediately."

"I am at home. My mother is here…", Cheryl whispered into the phone.

"Okay. Just stay there, I am on my way."

"Please hurry."

"I will. Wait for me at the door."

"No, you can't ring. My mothers here and has locked me in my room. I can't open the door and she won't let you in, I am sure."

"Okay. uhm…open your bedroom window. I'll climb up there."

"Please be careful."

"Always. I am there in 10 minutes."

When Toni arrived, promptly 10 minutes later, she found Cheryl sitting on the floor with her head rested on her knees. She climbed through the round window, trying to be as silent as possible to avoid that Cheryl's mother heard her. After she had successfully entered the dark room, she went over to Cheryl and kneeled gently next to her on the little red rug.

"Cheryl, look at me." Cheryl only led out another heartbreaking sob.

"Cheryl, look at me", Toni whispered again, her heart aching by the sight of Cheryl being feeling such pain. Slowly, Cheryl lifted her head and looked right into Toni's calming brown eyes, tears dripping down her face onto the dark wooden floor. She tried to hold back her sobs, but she just couldn't. Toni didn't force her to speak. Instead, she sat down next to her, leaning against the bed behind them and wrapping her arms around her. Cheryl thankfully leaned onto her, resting her head on Toni's shoulder. Slowly Toni started to run her hands over Cheryl's hair to calm her.

"I hate her Toni. I want her to get out of my life. My life has been a nightmare ever since Jason tried to run away but know my mother keeps making it worse. I don't know how long I can keep doing that…Did you know that I had already tried to commit suicide once? Last year after I found out that my father had killed Jason…" Cheryl looked up, waiting for her reaction. Toni looked at her, shocked by the new information. She had known that Cheryl felt bad but not that it had been so bad that she wanted to die. She frowned at the thought that so many people kept hurting Cheryl and she had not been there to protect her. Cheryl did not deserve to be treated like that.

"I…I didn't know.", Toni stuttered.

"Archie and his friends saved me. I was on the lake while it was frozen and wanted to break through the ice and drown. In the place where Jason had been found, but it was terrifying. Before I passed out, my last thought was: I don't want to die. After Archie saved me I was glad that I was alive and thought maybe I am not so lonely as I think. After all they came to save me. But shortly after that they stopped caring again, ignored me most of the time and I felt left out. I never got help and nobody cared how I felt and that makes me feel even more miserable. I still don't want to die but I also don't want to live. Not like that. What am I supposed to do Toni?" Cheryl said, suddenly a lot calmer than before. Having said all that aloud seemed to have helped her clear her mind at least a little. She leaned in closer to Toni.

"I am so sorry Cheryl. If we had only met earlier I could have helped you more…Is there any chance that you could move out of here?", Toni said with such a caring tone, that made Cheryl felt that she meant it, which was not something Cheryl was used to. Most people did not use such kindness around her.

"I don't think so. I don't have the money for it."

"Do you have any other relative you could live with?"

"No, they don't seem to like me. They also kind of blame me for Jason's death and they also don't live in Riverdale."

"What if you go with me to my trailer for tonight? I mean I live alone there and I have enough space… If you need a place to stay you can stay with me if you want and tomorrow we will see if we can find a longterm solution." Cheryl looked up, surprised by the offer Toni just made.

"Really? I would do anything to get away from here as soon as possible"

"Okay, then pack your bag and come with me." Toni helped Cheryl stand up. After she asked where Cheryl kept her bag, she put everything in that Cheryl said she needed. Cheryl just sat on her bed, watching Toni get all her stuff together, feeling paralyzed, not being able to completely get her mind to work normally and not being able to really do anything else than sitting there and trying calm herself down.

"Okay, I think I got everything. Are you ready?" Cheryl stood up and faced Toni who looked at her expectantly.

"I have never been more ready to leave this house." Together they climbed out of the window of Cheryls bedroom and made their way towards the Sunnyside Trailer Park.