AN/ THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE SUPPORT ON THE LAST CHAPTER, IT REALLY MEANS A LOT. I'M GLAD SO MANY PEOPLE HAVE BEEN READING, FOLLOWING AND REVIEWING THIS, BECAUSE IT MAKES ME FEEL SO HAPPY. I HOPE YOU GUYS ENJOYED READING AS MUCH AS I DID WRITING.
OKAY, HERE'S THE NEXT PART, AND I'LL POST THE NEXT CHAPTER WHEN THIS ONE GETS FIVE REVIEWS GUYS!
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN RIVERDALE, OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS OR PLOT.
The next morning, Cheryl woke up smiling for the first time in over a year. Going to Pop's with Toni last night had been the escape she desperately needed, and the relief she felt following the way they had bonded was unbelievable. Who knew talking to someone could do you so much good? The way Toni had looked at her yesterday had given Cheryl something she hadn't had since she'd last seen Jason: love. It had been so long since she'd felt like there was someone out there who saw her as not only a person, but a worthwhile one, that the feeling of acceptance felt foreign. But that didn't mean she wasn't relishing in her newfound confidence. Befriending Toni Topaz had given Cheryl Blossom some of her fire back, and this time; Cheryl wasn't going to let it burn out.
Making her way down the stairs of Thistlehouse into the lounge, Cheryl paused in the doorway feeling her blood run cold. Sat there, on the sofa, was her mother, along with – what Cheryl perceived to be – one of her… clients. Or at least, she assumed he was one of the clients.
Suit, tie, ageing and boring, he was just the type that endorsed the 'services' of Penelope Blossom. He looked like he was the kind of man that would have a wife and kids waiting for him at home. He looked as if he had the potential to be a good, honest man. But there was no way he would be an honest man: not whilst he was living in Riverdale.
For all Riverdale presented itself as small, safe and as the town with 'pep,' Cheryl Blossom knew first-hand that its entire history was built upon a foundation of violence and lies, a line of bloodshed that could be traced right back to their ancestors. The secrets that lurked beneath the skin of a seemingly wholesome town tainted everybody. Nobody was free from the things. Secret keeping was the thing that drove the residents of Riverdale to do what they do. It drove them to bribery, even murder… and now, it appeared, prostitution.
Cheryl despised the way that – to try and hold her life together – her mother had chosen a career that quite literally tore other people's lives apart. That would be why her mother did it. Penelope clearly liked the many flings she was getting to have with the men of Riverdale, and the large wads of cash left on the bedside cabinet the following morning was just another sweetener that sealed the deal.
"Mother," Cheryl greeted bitterly, adding, "Strange man I've never met."
The pair on the sofa both turned their attention to the redheaded teenager that stood before them. Wearing the shortest scarlet skirts possible, along with a white shirt that fitted perfectly in all the right places, Cheryl Blossom's body radiated her new found confidence. Her look didn't just catch the attention of others around her: it demanded it.
"Your father," Penelope announced, "as it turns out, left a secret will."
Cheryl let out a light scoff at that; she expected nothing less of her father, the man who had micromanaged every detail of both his public and private life.
"Of course he did," Cheryl replied, her voice showing that the titbit of information her mother had just disclosed was not a surprise in the slightest. Raising her eyebrows, she added, "But Daddy died months ago –"
"And Mr. Blossom's instructions were to reveal the existence of his will only after the authorities had concluded their investigation into his side business," the greying man interrupted, glancing at Penelope in search of approval.
"You mean the drug dealing?" Cheryl asked boldly, raising her eyebrows with just the right amount of condescension. Letting the adults absorb the fact that she knew every detail of the Blossoms' secret business, she swiftly changed the subject by saying, "So, does this mean we'll be rich again?"
"Oh, Cheryl," Penelope drawled, sending a glare at her daughter, "don't be so gauche."
Picking up on the tension between the two redheads, the man, who Cheryl now realised was either a lawyer or attorney, interrupted once again. "Per Clifford's instructions, he request that I withhold all information – including the names of his numerous beneficiaries – until a public will reading." He paused, letting that sink into both women. Neither looked pleased. Both had that set to their jaw, the look on their face showing that they both knew they'd probably been screwed over by Clifford Blossom. "That takes place tomorrow afternoon," he continued, sending a quick glance at the pair.
Both Blossom women looked at the other with the same expression. It was scary, how alike the pair were in this moment. There was no denying the two were mother and daughter, no matter how much Cheryl tried too. The way Cheryl's eyes darted, and the way Penelope's narrowed, showed the two were conversing in silence, and from the way Cheryl's jaw fell, Cheryl did not like what she had just been told.
"Well," Cheryl said, pursing her lips as she spoke, "I ought to head to school… wouldn't want to be late."
"Not with all those Southside Serpents lurking in the corridor," Penelope replied pointedly. Turning to the man beside her, she drawled, "Honestly, I don't understand what those people on the trust hope to achieve by introducing those… underachievers… into our local school. Next thing you know, they'll be bringing their gang violence up onto the Northside, and corrupting our children."
Penelope's eyes hovered over Cheryl as she drawled the word 'corrupting', and the emphasis she placed upon it told Cheryl that her mother knew everything, or at least some, of what Cheryl had been up to the night before.
"Anyhow," her mother drawled, once again directing the focus of the people in the room upon her. "You don't want to be late, Cheryl dear, so you best get going. Have a nice day."
And with that, Penelope nodded, silently dismissing her daughter. Grabbing her bag, Cheryl made her way over to the door, completely unware that her mother was following her.
"And Cheryl…" Penelope drawled, causing Cheryl to freeze and turn to face her. "I was not aware your… standards… had sunk that low. Don't let me hear you have been associating with Serpent scum ever again…"
"Her name is Toni." Cheryl replied, "And you, mother, will no longer determine who I will or will not be seen with."
"Oh, Cheryl, I thought you had learnt your lesson the last time you behaved in a… deviant… manner."
"I will not let you intimidate me anymore, mother. I'm not deviant, or loveless – I'm sensational."
Penelope scoffed at her daughter. "So that's what the Serpent told you? I honestly thought that you, as a Blossom, were better than believing those kinds of lies. But then again, you have always been the family disappointment."
"I'm going, mother." Cheryl said forcefully, turning away so her mother couldn't see the tears welling up in her eyes.
"Beware the consequences, Cheryl," Penelope muttered ominously as her daughter made her way down the driveway. "Every action has a consequence, and I know you will not like the consequence of affiliating with that… Serpent."
Blissfully unaware of her mother's final bid goodbye, Cheryl strutted out of the gates of Thistlehouse, pulling her phone out of her bag. She texted Toni, and got a reply less than a heartbeat later.
I'm on my way xx
Cheryl gasped a breath of relief, and turned the corner, waiting for the familiar pink hair of Toni Topaz to make its way into her line of sight.
"Rough morning, Queen Bee?" a voice said behind her.
Cheryl turned and could have hugged Toni for getting there so quick. "Rough doesn't even cover it: Daddy had a secret will."
"Clifford Blossom always liked his secrets."
"And there's this public will reading thing tomorrow and I'm really anxious about it, because my mother looked downright murderous when I left the house, and I think she knows that I told you about Heather and that we were at Pop's together last night."
"Just breathe, Cheryl, it's alright, you're out of there for now, it's going to be okay."
"Toni, my mother hates me. She has literally just called me the family disappointment."
"Well, Cheryl, take it from me that you are not a disappointment in the slightest."
"Thank you." Cheryl replied, and the two fell into a comfortable silence as they walked to school together. As they turned onto the path that would take them to the doors, Cheryl turned to face Toni and, in a sudden bout of desperation and insecurity, asked "Will you go to the will reading with me tomorrow? Please?"
Toni looked into Cheryl's eyes that were flooded with panic and worry. "Of course I will," she answered soothingly, before she got a twinkle in her eye. "But that is a pretty poor first date, so I hope you have something better planned for next time…"
Cheryl choked on the air in her lungs as Toni spoke, and looked at the girl in blind panic. Glancing into Toni's eyes, she saw that the Serpent was deadly serious about what she was saying.
Stopping at the doors, Cheryl recovered enough from her shock to reply. "Well, I doubt it will beat Pop's but I shall have to try."
Toni smiled at that, and held the door open for Cheryl. "Then it's a date."
"Just don't tell my mother," Cheryl asked, hoping that it didn't come across that she was begging Toni to keep this quiet.
"Who would ever suggest doing something like that?" Toni mused as the bell rang, causing a surge of Riverdale High students to flood the corridor, all intent on finding their class.
"See you at lunch?" Cheryl asked, the mask of Riverdale High's favourite HBIC back in full force. Teenagers were like sharks, Cheryl knew that, and she couldn't let them see any emotion from her; whether that be compassion or vulnerability.
"I've got Cherry Cola for Cherry Bombshell…" Toni laughed, as the thrall of students increased the distance between them. "See you later Cheryl!"
Looking over her shoulder, Cheryl caught a fleeting glimpse of Toni Topaz's radiant grin, and it was enough to make Cheryl smile. Strutting effortlessly through the never ending crowds of students, Cheryl quickly found her way to science class, where she took her usual seat next to Archie Andrews.
Things at home might be a horrific nightmare, a nightmare that was utter chaos, but things at school? She had them under control. She had Toni, and they might be together? That triggered the ghost of a smile on Cheryl's lips. Even if they weren't, and were just friends, it would be enough for Cheryl. Having the Southside girl around was like a breath of fresh air, persuading her that all was, in fact, not as bad as it seemed. With Toni by her side, Cheryl had a feeling everything was going to be okay.
But little did she know, as Penelope Blossom shut the door of Thistlehouse behind her father's lawyer, that her world was going to, once again, be turned upside down. Little did Cheryl Blossom know, that her personal nightmare was about to take a drastic turn for the worse…
AN/ THANK YOU FOR READING THIS, PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW TO GET THE NEXT INSTALMENT UP GUYS! IT'S LITERALLY JUST SAT THERE WAITING TO BE UPLOADED.