"You say she attacked you guys? And then she just vanished?", Whitney asked over her phone "...Okay. We're gonna get ready to move Lincoln again as soon as possible. Make sure that the others, then head back here."
"What is going on?", Lincoln asked.
"Oh, nothing.", Whitney said with a nervous smile. "But we're not gonna want to stay here for much longer. So, we'll need to chose now who's gonna take Lincoln with them this time."
"I'll take him.", Parvana said.
"Parvana?", Whitney asked.
"It'll save us any trouble.", Parvana explained. "We don't have much time to waste."
Having heard about Fiona and Miguel's encounter with Cherry, they teens were racing the clock to get Lincoln somewhere safe quickly. Shannon and Carol had returned from their positions to have heard about the bad news. Knowing the psycho chick, she could be just about anywhere, so they're not taking any chances. And the reason being why they haven't told Lincoln anything about this is because they want to avoid him worrying about someone who possibly wants to kill him.
"Hey, what about me?", Chaz asked. "Who am I gonna go with this time?"
"Uh...go with Shannon.", Mandee suggested.
Shannon was surprised. "What? Me? What?"
"...Okay.", Chaz accepts.
"You guys are kidding, right?", Shannon asked, not wanting to deal with him.
"Nope.", Jackie replied.
"Just go with it.", Mandee added.
Shannon groaned in frustration.
"I'll go wait outside.", Chaz said.
"Chaz, no." Shannon said. "I don't think that's a good-"
And, as before, Chaz manages to get himself stuck through the front door of the club...again. This forces Shannon to try to push him through, using her back, but considering how he is way bigger than her, she got tired easily. Getting frustrated, Shannon takes a few steps back and the charges at Chaz, using her elbow to push him straight through the door. The impact was enough to make go sliding onto the sidewalk...
"Ow.", Chaz said with a muffled voice.
"Okay...Dana, what have you been feeding this guy?", Shannon complained.
"Well, I insisted that he eats healthy food, but he never listens to me and even manages to sneak eat some fat food when I'm not looking.", Dana said.
"Freaking figures.", said Shannon.
"Just be careful looking after the big guy, Shannon.", Dana said. "It's not as easy as it looks."
"I get that.", Shannon said before talking to herself. "Lord knows this is gonna be a pain."
And with that said, Shannon and Chaz head home. Next, it was Parvana and Lincoln's turn to leave; they said their goodbyes and Parvana promised to keep Lincoln safe. But as they headed out the door, Lincoln got a strange, almost threatening feeling as they walked down the sidewalk.
"Parvana?", asked Lincoln.
"Yes, Lincoln?", she answered.
Lincoln replied."Do you ever have the feeling that you're being watched?"
"...Sometimes.", said Parvana.
As they continued to walk, someone was watching them from behinds the trees at the edge of the woods. Lincoln's hunch was correct, for it was Cherry. She is now stalking her pray, waiting for her chance. As she looks at the two walking away, she breathes heavily and grips her naginata tightly.
"So...that's the one I'm looking for...Not yet. My timing...must be precise."
To where Fiona, Miguel, and the others are, they were driving in Fiona's car. Fiona and Miguel had gotten a phone call from Carol that they now had to head to the school. But, the others insisted on coming with them, wanting some answers about all this. Apparently, what Fiona told them wasn't enough...
"Where are we even going anyway?", Ronnie Anne asked.
"We're heading to the school.", answered Fiona. Carol and the others are waiting over there for us."
"Others?", Luna said. "How many people are involved in this little club of yours?"
"...Too many to count.", Miguel said.
"Say what?", said Lana.
"Look, we know you want answers.", Fiona said. You'll get them, we promise."
Girl Jordan replied, "I'd hope so "
Like before, Ronnie Anne was quiet, having the others suspect that she knows more than what she's been putting on. It wasn't long before they arrived at the High School, where one of the doors was unlocked, allowing them to head inside. Once they were in, they didn't know where else to go, until they heard someone whispering, calling them over...
"Hey over here!", called out the voice of Whitney, whispering by a door.
"Whitney? Is that you?", Fiona asked.
"Yeah, now come over here...wait, what are they doing with you?", Whitney asked, pointing to the others.
"We want some answers.", Luna demanded. "What the heck is going on?"
"I'm sorry, Whitney.", Fiona said. "They insisted on coming along."
"It's not me you should be sorry to. Come in.", Whitney groans.
Inside the classroom, Carol, Becky, Dana, Mandee and Jackie were waiting inside for Whitney, Fiona and Miguel. But they weren't expecting to see Luna, Lana, Ronnie Anne and Girl Jordan with them.
"Fiona! Miguel! What are they doing here?!", Carol asked.
"Nice to see you too, Carol.", said Luna.
"We're sorry.", Miguel said. "They wanted answers and we can't say no to them."
"Seriously?", Dana asked.
"Seriously.", Fiona answered.
Carol groaned in frustration.
"Now, you answer us right now, Carol.", demanded Luna. "What is going on here? Who is Cherry? And what does she want with Lincoln?"
"I don't see any reason not to tell them anymore.", Becky said.
"Becky-", Dana began to say.
"Forget it, Dana.", Carol said. "We have no choice but to tell them."
"Fine.", accepted Dana.
"Well?", Ronnie Anne said, growing impatient like the rest of her group.
"Cherry Willis...was your average nobody...", Carol began with.
(flashback)
A year ago, Cherry was an ordinary girl, wearing a grey hoodie, light brown pants, having long black hair in a ponytail and bangs, pale skin and glasses...
"She just...didn't seem to be one who you could talk to easily.", continued on Carol.
"I remembered that she always had trouble talking herself.", Becky always explained. "She was...a social outcast."
"We tried to talking to here before, and it seemed to have been going well for a while..." Dana said.
It was then that Cherry was confronted by Carol, Dana, Becky and Fiona. They all looked different a year ago, with Carol having a tank top and shorts like Lori, but with her shirt in purple instead of blue, Dana having a black tank top and skinny jeans, Becky wearing a brown jacket over her regular attire and having her hair combed back and held by a yellow hairband, and Fiona wearing a pink t-shirt, blue skirt and having her hair down; not only that, but her hips and legs were less plump than how they are a year later.
"Wait, Fiona.", Luna interrupted.
"What?", asked Fiona.
Trying to hold in her laughter, Luna asked, "Were your...legs not as plump as they are now?"
Hearing that question made Fiona glow red, and made everyone else struggle to keep themselves from laughing.
"...Y-Yes?", Fiona said uncomfortably.
"How'd you get your legs to get plump like that in a year?", Carol began to ask.
Fiona awkwardly replied. "...I ate a lot of Salmon and rice, which happened to taste really good."
"Wow.", Dana said.
"C-Can we get back to the subject at hand please?!", Fiona demanded, growing frustrated.
They all saw how lonely Cherry looked and decided to introduce themselves to her.
"Hi there!", Carol said first.
Cherry said nothing.
Fiona continued the conversation by asking, "...Your name's Cherry, right?"
"...Y-Yeah?", Cherry quietly replied.
"Well, it's...kinda cute.", Dana said sympathetically.
"...Really?", said Cherry, sounding surprised.
"Yeah. You're new to the school, right?", asked Becky. "Why don't we show you around?"
"...T-That's okay...I-I can by myself.", Cherry said.
"Come on.", Carol said. "It's no trouble at all."
Cherry replied, "I-I-I'm fine. Please."
"We're just trying to help.", said Dana.
"...I-It's nothing personal.", Cherry told them. "I'm...just not good around people."
"Why is that?", Becky asked.
"There's...something about me...that nobody s-should see.", Cherry barely managed to say.
"Well...we can help you.", Carol suggested. "Only if you trust us..."
"...Okay.", Cherry accepted.
They continued to walk, and Cherry grew to like the girls very quickly. It didn't really seem like anything was wrong with, so they didn't know what she was really worried about. While they were heading down one of the halls, the girls saw a bully, who was 17, being tall and semi-muscular, had dirty blonde hair and wearing a blue t-shirt, black jeans, held a skateboard in his hand and had a smug look in his face. What he was doing was picking on another kid who was half his height, who was light brown haired, freckles around his face, wearing a brown hoodie and green shorts. It was someone who Cherry instantly recognized...
"Greg?"
"You got no one to save you around here.", the bully said. "So why don't we just make this quick?"
"Just leave me alone, man!", Greg cried out. "I didn't do nothing to you!"
"Yeah? You're talking back to me! Ain't that something?", said the bully obnoxiously.
"Leave me alone!", yelled Greg.
"I don't think so!", said the Bully, grabbing on to Greg's hoodie.
Suddenly, the bully was then tackled...by Cherry. It was then that a beat down was occurring, as Cherry was beginning to work the guy over, leaving the others in shock. Was this what she was talking about?
"Hey, hey, hey! Break it up! Right now!", a teacher said.
But Cherry didn't stop, going as far as to shove the teacher to the ground as she then grabbed the bully by his 'stupid' head, and then begins to smash his head against a locker...
Dana cried out "Oh my gosh!"
"Cherry, stop!", Carol yelled out.
It took a big custodian to come and pry Cherry off before she finished turning the bully into a pile of mystery meat. The girls helped up the kid who was being bully, who said he used to be friends with Cherry...Speaking of Cherry, she was already at the Principle's Office and just outside, there was Whitney, wearing a white jacket over a blue tank top and white shorts, and her hair was kept in a bun, Mandee with her hair in a french braid, a white t-shirt and black jeans and Miguel with his hair slicked back and wearing a zipped up red jacket and brown pants. They were trying to listen in on what was happening in the office...
"I can barely hear what's going on.", said Whitney.
Miguel then asked, "That girl's name is Cherry right?"
"Yeah, and she was the only who worked that one guy over.", Mandee answered.
"That was insane.", said Whitney"...I think I can hear the Principle screaming at her."
"That new Principle is kinda rough, don't you think?", asked Mandee.
"Yeah.", answered Miguel.
Inside the office...
"ANDIHAVEHALFAMINDTOHAVEYOUEXPELLEDFROMTHISSCHOOLFORYOURFOWLBEHAVIORANDFORBEINGTHEPERFECTEXAMPLEOFATHEMOSTDISSRESPECTFULOFDEGENERATESANDDIMWITS!"
Cherry was like (-_-).
"Do you have anything to say for yourself, Miss?, the principle said.
"Yeah...but I don't think you'd want to hear it.", Cherry said with such smugness.
"Oh, I very much do.", demanded the principle.
"No, you don't.", Cherry laughed. "You can't take criticism."
"Try me.", said the principle.
"Can't. Take it.", Cherry said, tapping the principle's shirt.
"...WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY?", growled the principle.
"Alright...has anyone ever told you that you speak clearly?", asked Cherry.
"I do not understand you, Carry.", the principle said, getting Cherry's name wrong. "One day, you are the most bashful student to exist in this entire school. The next, you come in acting like an entirely different person, and nearly kill a student by crushing his skull!"
"...It's Cherry.", she corrected. "And I was defending Greg. Plain and simple!"
"There are other ways to deal with such a problem and there are consequences to you what you pulled!", yelled the principle.
"That punk wouldn't leave Greg alone!", Cherry said. "He had no right to tease him!"
Principle replied, "DOES THAT GIVE YOU THE RIGHT TO START A BRAWL?!"
Cherry said nothing.
"Look, your foster parents told me that you were moved here to keep you out of these types of predicaments.", explained the principle. "But it seems like you're never leaving Square one. You're suspended for this school for 2 weeks."
"...Fine."
"Well...at least you're willing to accept your punishment this time.", said the principle with little sympathy. "Now get out."
Heading out the office door, Cherry took notice that Whitney, Mandee and Miguel were listening in the whole time...
"Heeeeeey...", Miguel said awkwardly.
"We're...we're really sorry, Cherry.", Whitney said, trying to be remorseful.
Mandee added, "I-If you want, we can hang out sometime later."
Cherry said nothing. She just walked past them without a second glance, making her way to the exit of the school. From the look of things, she seems to have returned to her normal self, but the others were still worries about her. It was then that Carol, Dana, Becky and Fiona had shown up to what happened...
"Is Cherry still here?", asked Carol.
"No, she's going home.", Whitney explained. "The principal suspended her.."
"Not so surprising.", Dana remarked.
Becky replied, "Still. It's hard not feel sorry for her."
"No one can rage out like that unless something happened to them before.", Fiona explained.
It was them that they heard what sounded like concrete breaking as they headed over to the front door. Jackie was there, wearing a yellow shirt and blue skirt, looking outside as they the others came and saw Cherry sitting on the floor, crying into her hands...
"Isn't she the girl who almost killed that one guy like an hour ago?", Jackie asked.
Fiona answered, "That's her."
"This is so upsetting.", Carol said. "She's all alone and she needs comfort."
"Well...might as well take one for the team.", Jackie said.
Heading out the front door, Jackie approached Cherry how her Knuckles looked pretty bloody and then saw the cracks on the walls and floors. She could only assume that Cherry may have done a bit of collateral damage.
Jackie awkwardly said, "Um...hi there."
Cherry looks up to show her red eyes and running makeup.
"I'm Jackie, a friend of Carol's.", Jackie introduced herself. "I saw you and... thought you could use some comfort."
Thinking about it for a second, Cherry patted the side next to her and allowed Jackie to sit next to her. Seeing how this was going well, Jackie takes Cherry's hand and gives her a smile. Cherry slowly smiles back as then Carol, Becky and Mandee come out and sit next to Cherry, and it seems as if things are starting to light up for her.
"We hadn't heard from her in about several days after that.", Carol said. "But since then, it just got worse from that point forward."
Lana wiped from the tears from her eyes, "That's one of the saddest stories I've ever heard."
Girl Jordan replied, "Yeah. I can't believe she had to go through all that."
"No one should.", Luna said. "No wonder she's kinda messed up."
"But...that still doesn't explain why she's after Lincoln.", Ronnie Anne realized.
"Remember that one kid in the story? Greg?", Dana asked them.
"Cherry and Greg used to be friends with each other.", Becky explained. "Apparently, he was one of the only ones who was able to calm her down."
"Oh wow.", Ronnie Anne said.
"Either that, or she's just madly insane enough to kidnap someone.", said Mandee.
"Yeah...remember what she did to the school's courtyard?", asked Jackie.
They all remember the time when Cherry managed to burn the entire school courtyard using molotov cocktails...
"Is that what happened?", Luna asked.
They all replied, "Yep."
"Okay, none of that matters.", Ronnie Anne said. "What we need to do now is find Lincoln and keep him out of harms way until Cherry is taken care of."
"Agreed.", Luna replied. "But that means you guys are gonna have to tell us where he is."
The group of teens huddled and whispered for a second until they came to a conclusion.
"He's with Parvana right now.", sighed Carol. "They headed over to her house."
"...Thank you.", Luna exclaimed "Now, you know that I'm not too thrilled that you kept my brother from for weeks now...but I'm glad you were willing to keep him safe."
"Of course.", Dana said. "He's our friend too."
"Come on, guys!', Lana yelled out. Let's go tell everyone that we'll get to see Lincoln again!"
"Right!", replied Girl Jordan.
"The next time I see that Cherry chick, I'm gonna kick her butt!", Ronnie Anne had said with fury.
Girl Jordan said to her, "Easy, killer."
With that, the young ones headed out first while Luna gave her sign of condolence before heading out. They're this close to seeing Lincoln again...