"Cheryl? What would I need to do to become a cheerleader?"
Toni twisted a strand of bubble-gum pink hair around her finger, looking over at the red-head sitting next to her.
They were sitting in the bathroom were they first met, leaning back against the wall of the usually deserted room. It had taken some convincing to get Cheryl to sit on the bathroom floor. Even now, she kept shifting every few minutes.
Now, she turned almost 180 degrees, staring at the other girl.
"You? You want to be a cheerleader?" Cheryl asked, confused. Toni frowned slightly.
"Well yeah. Weatherbee keeps pushing me to take on more extra-curriculars. Apparently Swords and Serpents isn't enough." She smirked, waiting for Cheryl's reply.
"So, what do you say? I might need your help to convince the captain to let me audition. I hear she has pretty high standards," the serpent girl continued. Cheryl cracked a smile, and Toni grinned back at her, glad to have convinced the other girl.
"Yes, I'll help. But I doubt you'll need it. Anyway, you do know first period starts soon. We will have to go in a minute."
"Cher...," Toni whined. "Why do you always make me learn? I'd be much happier hanging here. With you. Forever."
"Wow Topaz. Desperate?" came a voice from the door. The girls looked up to see... Sweet Pea?
"Omg Sweets!! This is a GIRL'S bathroom. Get out." Toni cried. He gave her the finger, but closed the door anyway. Cheryl stood up, wiping off her skirt.
"I was never technically in the bathroom," they heard him reply, his voice muffled by the door. "Anyway, learning is good."
"Damn straight," Cheryl told him, opening the door and strolling out. She fist bumped him, while Toni looked on in awe.
"See Topaz, your girl gets it," Sweet Pea said, as Toni got up and left the bathroom.
"NOT my girl!" She whispered harshly as she passed him. "Now not another word. Please."
He rolled his eyes, taking out his phone. She left him standing there as she followed Cheryl to first period.
Walking into the classroom together, Toni noticed that the people around them no longer cared that Cheryl hung out with her. They no longer held their collective breath whenever the pair walked into class together.
Sitting down and taking out her textbooks, her phone buzzed with a text. Getting it out, she saw it was from Sweet Pea.
UglyHagMan (9:03): Not yet anyway
\--/
It was Cheryl and Toni's spare, and although they were supposed to be studying, Cheryl had dragged Toni away to a room off the auditorium.
"Cher. I'm pretty sure this is a closet."
She was probably right. The room was tiny and there were all sorts of random things lying around, from cleaning supplies to sports equipment.
"Now you see why I came out. It's so boring in here!" Cheryl deadpanned, side eyeing Toni.
"Gay jokes, Blossom? How creative." Toni said smiling. Beside her Cheryl huffed.
"Ok. If you don't appreciate my jokes, I can leave," she pouted. Toni looked physically pained at the idea, and Cheryl grinned.
"Ok, now to business. You are going to audition during 3rd period tomorrow. That's when mid-year tryouts usually are, and there's always good competition. I do actually have to be fair here, TT. The Vixens would ridicule me if I let you join if you weren't up to standards."
"So," she continued, "Today, you get a practice uniform. Do you need any help with a routine?"
"Nope. Thanks Cher, but I got this."
Cheryl looked sceptical, standing with her arms crossed, then smiled. She looked Toni up and down, before searching through the mess. Finally finding the box she was looking for, she brought it back over to where Toni was standing, playing with an old tennis ball.
"I'm guessing your a small?" She smirked.
"You guessed right. Changing rooms?" Toni asked.
"Oh, right, sorry. Let's go." They made their way out of the closet, no pun intended, and walked into the changing rooms behind the bleachers.
"You get changed, I'm going to go distribute the rest of the practice unforms. If that doesn't fit, I have a medium here, but," she smirked, looking Toni up and down, "I doubt you'll need it."
"You seem in a hurry to leave," Toni observed, smirking. "Scared you won't be able to resist?" she added, trying to gauge Cheryl's reaction as the girl moved to the door.
Suddenly Cheryl turned back around to face Toni. She strutted back towards her friend, her gaze jumping between Toni's lips and eyes involuntarily.
"Something like that," Cheryl said, her voice low and rough. Toni's jaw fell open, and Cheryl smirked. Obviously the comment had generated the desired reaction. She turned on her heel, giving Toni a flirty little wave as she left.
\--/
It was after school, and Toni was leaning on her bike, recounting her day to Fangs, who stood beside her.
He probably wasn't even listening, she decided, so she started adding in random little details.
"Just so you know, I'm joining the vixens, and the Queen of England is coming to see our next pep rally. We got a letter confirming her attendance this morning. Oh, and Sweets hooked up with a cat."
Fangs nodded, still eyeing up this little group of freshmen. One of them had noticed him, and was bashfully glancing over his shoulder at Fangs every few seconds.
"Fangs!! I just saw the moon man!!" Toni tried. Still nothing. She hit him on the shoulder, finally getting a reaction.
"Owww." he whined. "Violent, much."
"You're supposed to be listening," she told him, crossing her arms.
"I was listening," he exclaimed. She raised her eyebrows, giving him a look that cleary said LIAR. He made a face at her, crinkling his nose.
"I was. You were talking about the Queen coming to the pep rally, right? And Sweets getting it on with a cat... oh yeah, and the moon man. So really, I don't know who's the liar here, Toots". She huffed, annoyed that he'd caught her game.
"Wrecked, bitch," they heard Sweet Pea say as he made his way over to the pair, before Jughead burst out laughing from behind him. Fangs joined in too, and then Toni couldn't help but smile as her idiot friends rolled around laughing.
They only stopped when Fangs toppled Toni's bike. It crashed to the ground, startling all of them, but not for long, because after about 10 seconds of awkward silence, they went back to rolling around, leaving Toni to pick up her bike and stuff.
"Douches," she muttered, but only Fangs heard her.