Chapter Five



God, it was freezing. Sherry wrapped her jacket around her more tightly, trying to block out
the chilling night air. Absently, she wondered if this was how the Von Trapp family felt as they tried
to flee their town before the Nazi's caught them.
Yes, she had snuck out. After she had stomped up to her room, Sherry had paced angrily
around her room for several minutes. After careful debating, she locked the door and changed into a
black skirt and a tank top. After that, she had sunk onto her bed, building herself up. Did she actually
have the courage to pull this off?
Finally, she grabbed her windbreaker and opened her window. There was a big tree outside,
it's branches stretched up to her window, and she climbed onto it. Climbing carefully, she hoped that
she wouldn't fall. She didn't. She crept around the living room window, where Claire was talking to
Chris and Leon by the fireplace. Claire's face was pale and wary, her face was stained with tears. For
a brief moment, Sherry considered turning back. But then she remembered her uniform, and how
betrayed she had felt, and ran down the street.
Kirby's was about a mile away from the cabin, and could be a killer walk at nighttime. Sherry
shivered and hugged herself even tighter. Just then, a car zoomed by, and an ugly yahoo with bad teeth
and a creepy voice shouted something obscene at her. The kind of thing that only drunk guys yell when
they're at a strip club. Ignoring him, Sherry broke into a run and reached Kirby's in record time.
Breathing heavily, she scanned the place for the others. It was a bit foggy and she didn't see
them until she was only a few yards away.
"Hey, it's Sherry!" one of the boys called.
"Sherry, glad you could make it." Angelene said as she walked up to her.
"I told you I'd think about it." Sherry replied, trying to sound cool and withdrawn. But her knees were
shaking and she wished with all her heart that she'd worn jeans. "So, where are we headed tonight?"
she asked.
Angelene grinned mischievously, just like she'd done earlier. "I guess you know we're not
really going to the movies."
"Yeah, I kind of did." Sherry said, feeling uneasy.
"We're here to make you one of us." Angelene said.
Sherry froze. What on earth did she mean by that? Sensing Sherry's confusion, Angelene gave a light
chuckle.
"Don't worry Sherry," she told her. "We aren't some weird-o cult or anything like that?"
Sherry sighed, but not completely with relief.
"Cigarettes, anyone?" Trini asked, pulling them out of her purse.
Angelene grinned, "You ever try one of these Sherry?" She asked as she took one up and gestured to it
as if it were some kind of precious stone.
Sherry gulped and shook her head.
Angelene grinned again, "Here. Let's go sit down." Sherry took the cigarette and followed
everyone to a nearby bench. It felt about 20 times colder here than anywhere else. Sherry stared
blankly at the cigarette in her hand.
"Here, let me light that for you." Toby said, pulling a small yellow lighter out of his cargo pants
pocket. He already had a lit cigarette in his hand and he began lighting Sherry's.
"Thanks." Sherry mumbled, barely getting the words out. She watched as Toby took a long
drag from his. He didn't look so great now.
Sherry hesitated, resisting the urge to twirl her blonde hair in between her fingers, until Angelene
spoke up.
"You okay Sherry?" she asked.
Sherry nodded, "I'm fine."
"Well, what are you waiting for?" She asked. "Go ahead. It's not going to kill you."
Sherry closed her eyes briefly before bringing the cigarette to her mouth. She inhaled and
immediately began coughing. The cigarette fell from her hand and she pressed her other over her
chest. She was having trouble breathing as she coughed loudly. After a few more raucous coughs,
Sherry composed herself and looked up at everybody else. They were looking at her as if she had just
sprouted another leg or something.
"You shouldn't inhale like that when it's your first time." Damien spoke up, as if this had been
common knowledge to her.
"Must have slipped my mind." She mumbled, feeling foolish. Gazing at her watch, she realized that
only fifteen minutes had passed since she arrived.
"Oh well, enough of this child's play." Angelene announced, she nodded to Toby who gestured to the
other guys, and they went into the store.
"What's going on?" Sherry asked.
"You need to have a drink tonight. On us." Trini said. She and Angelene exchanged grins.
Sherry felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. Smoking was one thing, but drinking under age was just
plain dumb. For the first time in three years, she didn't feel like an adult. She felt like a child. A very
foolish, stupid confused child.
"A drink?" she asked.
"Yup." Angelene said. "You want to be one of us don't you?"
Sherry sighed helplessly. What on earth had she gotten herself into? She waited silently, listening to
Angelene and Trini speak. Occasionally they would include her in their conversation, but she would
only respond with a vague 'yes' or 'no'.
After what seemed like an eternity, Toby and the boys appeared with a six pack bottle of beer.
Sherry's stomach sank as they handed one to her. Once again, she gave the bottle the same blank stare
she had the cigarette.
"Bottoms up Sherry." Angelene said, popping the top off of her bottle. The others followed suit and
were soon drinking away. Sherry fumbled clumsily with hers until Derek helped her.
"You've never had a drink before, huh?" Derek said, the slightest hint of sadism in his voice.
"Well, it's not like it's my fault." She shot at him in irritation.
Derek took a step back, lifting his arms in silent surrender. Suddenly, Angelene caught sight of
something on the wall.
"Hey guys, check this out!" she gestured to a flier. "There's a battle of the bands in a club in the next
town. Let's go!"
The others agreed without a moments pause, Sherry froze again. Whoa whoa whoa. Okay. Now,
weren't most clubs like, for, adults. God, she had just turned fifteen.
"You up for it Sherry?" Angelene asked.
Something inside Sherry snapped. Maybe she was suddenly struck with severe absurdity of
what she was doing. Back in Raccoon, she would never in a million lifetimes, she would never think
of doing something this stupid. Sneaking out of her window at night to travel through the streets of a
new town and drinking and smoking with a bunch of questionable kids that she had know all of four
days. That was definitely not what her mom had taught her.
Her mom. What would Annette Birkin have said if she saw her cherished baby doing
something like this? She would have been disappointed. More than that. She would have been
furious. From the day Sherry was born, Annette Birkin had told her every single difference between
right and wrong. Had taught her all about morals and values and staying away from strangers and peer
pressure. "I'm only trying to do what's best for you." Her mom would say. Thinking back a few
hours, wasn't that what Claire had said? After Raccoon, Claire had taken Sherry under her wing to
care for her. She didn't have to. She could have left her at her Aunt Kate's, but she didn't. She had
taken care of Sherry the same way a… a mother would take care of a daughter. Along with a little girl,
Claire also took in the new responsibilities of parenthood in.
Now she was throwing it all away in half an hour. She was letting her mother down. She was
letting Claire down. If that was disloyal, Sherry didn't know what was. But she had to get out of this
and fast. Before she did something that she would really regret.
"Are you in or what Sherry?" Angelene asked.
"I'm not going." She said.
Angelene paused. "Um, come again?"
"I'm not going with you guys." Sherry repeated, enunciating every word as if she were talking to a
very small child. "I'm tired of this."
"Tired of what?" Angelene asked.
"Being dragged around by a bunch of fakes who hide they're insecurities behind stupid stunts like
drinking and smoking."
"Hey," Angelene said, her voice cold and hard. "What gives with this? We bring you into our group
and you repay us like this? God, some friend you are."
"If you just became my friend because you want me to pay you back for something, then I'm not the
one who's messed up—You are!"
"Well, if that's the way you feel about it you little bitch, fine then. We'll just go without you."
"That's fine with me," Sherry replied, shaking the beer bottle that was still in her hand. "For God's
sake, I'm only fifteen!"
"You're damn right you are." A new voice interrupted. This time, everyone froze. That voice was
way too familiar for comfort. Slowly, Sherry turned around. Claire was standing there, her hands on
her hips, glaring in a huff at Sherry. Beside her, Leon was standing, looking equally disgruntled, but
also another look—pity?—in his eyes.
"Sherry Birkin." Claire's voice was low and deathly quiet voice. "Get in the car now."
Sherry gulped, in the corner of her eye, she saw the beer bottle she held crash to the ground. Claire
paid no attention to it or the other kids, she pointed towards the car and sighed. "Go."
Sherry went. As she walked away, she heard Leon say, "Shouldn't you kids be home at this hour?"
Claire passed Sherry even before she was halfway to the car. "Hurry up." She called. "We're
parked illegally." Sherry looked passed her and saw that the car was parked right next to a fire
hydrant. Sherry climbed into the car and the two waited for Leon. Finally, he climbed into the
backseat. Claire started up the engine and began driving.
"Sherry, I want to know exactly what you were doing there tonight and what possessed you to
leave the cabin—especially after I told you that you couldn't." Claire said.
Sherry hesitated. She had never seen Claire this angry before. Never. Before Sherry could reply,
Claire barged on, "Do you think I enjoy coming into you room and seeing the window open? Seeing
that you're not there?"
"No…" Sherry replied.
Claire drove for a few seconds, finally, "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING OF
SHERRY?!" her voice was so loud that Sherry wanted to cover her ears but didn't. "Don't you know
that drinking under age is against the law?!?"
Tears filled Sherry's eyes again. "I…I…"
"I was so worried about you!" Claire continued. "You don't know what went through my mind when I
saw you gone. I was so scared…" suddenly, her voice cracked. When Sherry dared to look over at
her, she saw that she was crying. Her soft gray eyes were overflowing with tears.
"I'm sorry." Sherry replied.
"Claire," Leon spoke up. "Do you want me to drive or something?"
"NO, I'll be fine." She snapped.
Sherry felt awful. It could have been worse. It could have been very much worse. Claire
looked about ready to kill her, the only thing holding her back was probably Leon.
"Sherry," Claire said, her voice steady. "What you did tonight was nothing short of idiotic. When I tell
you not to do something. You don't do it, do you understand."
Sherry nodded, she sniffled, trying to hold back a sob.
Claire took a deep breath, "And I'm sorry about this, it's your vacation and all, but until we leave next
week, you're not going anywhere. You're grounded."
Nodding, Sherry stared out the window.
"I'm not finished yet Sherry." Claire said. "I'd also like to ask you for a request."
Sherry turned her head around.
"I'd like to ask you, that you never let yourself consider spending another milli-second of your life
with those kids—or anyone else like them." Once again, her voice cracked. "Do you understand?"
Sherry nodded again. She understood. And she wouldn't. It hurt her deep inside see how much she
had upset Claire and everyone else that cared about her.