Cheryl Blossom had never felt threatened by anyone else; her parents were the richest people in Riverdale thanks to their maple syrup business (and secret drug empire but she didn't know about that) which meant everyone practically bowed down to her. The one person she could have potentially been threatened by is Betty, but she isn't brave enough to stand up against her. Which is why the arrival of both Veronica Lodge and the serpent girl – Toni – presented the very rare feeling of fear in Cheryl. But as they say, keep your enemies close. So that is exactly what Cheryl decided to do, not realizing that in befriending Veronica she will be opening the can of worms that will allow Betty to become far more confident and challenge her.
So when Cheryl sat watching Veronica and Betty try out of the Vixens she smirked, knowing the best way to get close to the Lodge girl would be putting her on the team, but she refused to allow the bumbling blonde whose sister stole her JJ from her on to HER squad. Or atleast she would have, if the 'fire' of their performance hadn't been a kiss that both girls seemed to enjoy (she filed that information in her head for future use) and tried to only allow the brunette access to the team for her to once again go against her wishes. First she spends her days frustrated by the grungy serpent who she definitely does not find sinfully attractive, she has to fill her practice time with a member of the family she hates with a dire passion.
But allowing the enemies small victories disguises your bid for the greater win, so the redhead relented allowing both girls on her team, devoted to finding more ways to pull down the insufferable blonde – especially pulling her up on her weight because although she may be attractive her terribly low self-esteem and her mother that is (somehow) worse than her own makes that an easy target.
Had Cheryl payed more attention to the blonde she was once friends with, she would have noticed the darkness that perpetuated behind her soulful blue eyes. She would have found a sadness that not even she could rival in her drama fueled weeping over her brother abandoning her for a Cooper while she dealt with their parents. She would see the growing fingernails whose only purpose was to dig deeper and deeper into crescent shaped scars marring the hands that used to hold her hand when they weren't marred by their parents beliefs and the world's evils that somehow all existed in their small town.
She would have stopped. But that's the thing… sometimes people don't look. Sometimes they do and they pretend not to see. And sometimes, sometimes they see what is happening but don't want to interfere – all of these being adopted by every individual that ever came into contact with the enchanting blonde, luckily all but one. One that will grow into two, and finally three when Hiram and Hermione Lodge discover the true hold Hal and Alice Cooper's youngest daughter has on their daughters mind, soul and heart. They will see her, all of her – and they will save her. It is just a matter of time. And a lot of planning.