\--/
"Hey Toni. Nervous?" Betty asked. Toni shrugged, lifting an eyebrow.
"You are exactly the type of person who would be a cheerleader, Cooper. Hey Veronica," she nodded to the dark-haired girl as she joined their little group.
"Topaz." She nodded in reply. "Ooh you wanna hear a story about Betty and my audition?" Veronica asked and Betty groaned.
"V.. Do you have to tell everyone this story??!!"
"Yes, actually." Veronica said, ignoring her friend's protest. "We kissed." She whisper-yelled, grinning like a maniac. Toni did a double take.
"Damn Cooper! But wait, that means... out of the entire Scooby Gang, only the guys haven't kissed, right?" The pair nodded. "Must make for a wierd dynamic sometimes." The girls shrugged. Betty noticed Cheryl coming to join them, and took a hesitant half step back, but when Cheryl completely ignored her, she stopped.
"Hey TT. You're up in 5," Cheryl told her. Toni crossed her arms, before mock curtsying.
"Well then Cher. Prepare to be inpressed."
"Good. I'm hoping you prepared a routine, right?" Cheryl asked, lifting a perfectly shaped eyebrow, looking every part the HBIC she pretended to be. Her facade was ruined a second later by Toni's next comment.
"Of course, beb. I'm all good. And the girls are expecting you to go back in a minute." Toni said, smiling fondly. Cheryl blushed, looking off to the side where Veronica and Betty were staring at Toni in awe.
Cheryl moved away, back to where the auditionees stood waiting. When she was out of earshot, BV almost ran at Toni.
"How did you do that?" Veronica asked, curious. Toni shrugged, confused.
"Do what?"
"Get her to act like a normal human being!" Betty cried, and Toni frowned, not appreciating the comment.
"She's a sensational human being, not that it matters. And I should go line up," Toni said, brushing of their protests.
Moving to stand behind the other girls, she realised she was the last sophomore to audition. Of course, there were still the freshmen after her, but she got to leave before they auditioned.
"Next." She heard Cheryl call. The girl two people in front of her stepped forward timidly.
She didn't regret her reaction to Betty's comment earlier. The girl was harmless really, she just said the wrong thing way to often. And she almost always managed to get on Toni's nerves. Yes, Toni knew Cheryl acted like a bitch at school, pushing away anyone who tried to get close to her, but Toni had found that with a little kindness, Cheryl's walls collapsed, and it frustrated her that no one before her had bothered to find that out about the red-head.
"Topaz, you're up!" Cheryl called. She was standing with her arms crossed, and Toni smirked at her.
"Want me to do an introduction, or...?"
"No. Just start. Let's get this over with." Cheryl smirked, winking at Toni when she knew no one could see her. Toni realised the red-head was thoroughly enjoying playing like this, putting on this act just for the sake of it.
So Toni winked right back, making sure everyone could see, and Cheryl blushed scarlet, her face almost matching her hair.
Toni grinned, nodding at Veronica to press play on the music. When it started, Toni closed her eyes, just listening to the sounds, the way the beat and melody called to her, and when it reached the right point, she let loose.
Toni moved to the music, the notes engulfing her, and she let her emotions flow out into her movements. With every flick of her wrist, and twist her hips, she poured her very soul into the dance.
She let out all her pent up feeling from the last few weeks. The pain of losing her beloved school; the anger at Penelope Blossom; her unexpected feelings for her best friend.
Over the last few days, Toni had come to realise something very important: she was most definitely in love with Cheryl Blossom. But it almost felt like more than that, if that's possible. Whenever Cheryl was sad, she wanted to take away her pain, when the girl was happy, she wanted to experience the incredible high that came from just being around her. And when Cheryl laughed, god, when Cheryl laughed, Toni's entire world fell into place.
Oh god, she realised, the guys were right. I'm so fucking whipped.
And then, all too soon, the music had finished. So she stopped, breathing hard, as the girls around her clapped. Brushing her hair from her face, Toni moved to stand with them, right as Cheryl moved to take her place.
The red-head was smiling proudly, as she adressed the group.
"Well," she said, clapping her hands together, all business. "I don't think there's any way you amateurs are going to top that, so, practice is over Vixens." All the girls moved away, the freshmen all protesting their lack of audition time. "Inner circle Vixens hang back. You know who you are." Betty and Veronica exchanged a glance, Veronica pulling her friend over to join Josie and Toni where they were standing with Cheryl.
"In honor of Toni joining our squad," Cheryl said, smiling at the serpent, still in awe of the girls performance. "I think we should celebrate with a mandatory slumber party at Thistlehouse. Fancy dressing gowns are appreciated. You've all seen "The Beguiled", right?" When none of them gave any answer, Cheryl continued. "Dinner at 8:00, parlour games to follow." She smiled again brightly, pushing past them to head to the changing rooms.
Their little group just stood there for a minute, before they split, Toni heading off towards where Cheryl had disappeared, BV grabbing their bags and following, and Josie moved to go with them before she got caught by two little freshman girls asking about the Pussycats.
Reaching the changing rooms, Toni dropped her stuff, chose a cubicle and, locking the door, turned on thr water in the shower. Feeling the water wash over her, Toni smiled.
A sleepover at Cheryl's house? That was going to be fun! And even though she would rather it just be the two of them, it would be nice to hang with the girl's without any of their respective extras. Before meeting Cheryl, Toni didn't really think about being friends with girls. She loved her guys, and always just assumed that friendship with girls was the same as friendship with guys, and when she first met the Blossom girl, when they had actually met, the first time Cheryl wasn't a complete bitch to her, Toni had found something she didn't realise she even wanted. And now, she had so many more girl friends, and she was loving it. Not in a creepy, stalker-y, "loving it" way, she just genuinely enjoyed being friends with a bunch of really cool girls.
Finishing up in the shower as she realised she was going to be late for class, Toni shut off the water, wrapping herself in a towel and opening the door.
There were only three people left in the changing rooms now; a sophomore she knew from social sciences, a junior from her AP Design class, and Cheryl, who, in true Cheryl form, was redoing her makeup for what must have been the fourth time that day.
Smiling and shaking her head, Toni made her way to her bag, taking out her clothes and, after rubbing herself down, slipping on her scrappy skinny jeans and striped white turtleneck with a blue plaid shirt in place of her serpent jacket. When she finished drying off her hair, Cheryl came behind her, looking flawless as always.
"Can I do your hair, TT?" She asked quietly, seeming scared Toni would brush her off. At first Toni was kinda surprised, but she knew Cheryl would do an amazing job, so she agreed, handing Cheryl the brush and a hair tie or two.
For her part, Cheryl was more than happy to be able to touch Toni without it being wierd or hinting at any of her feelings. And Toni did have great hair, so it was always fun to mess around with as many styles as she could. Although, she couldn't do that today, since they only had five minutes before they had to go to class. So Cheryl went for a simple half-up, half-down space buns look she had tried on her friend just the other day. Finishing by adding a few wispy hairs to frame Toni's face, Cheryl took a step back, nodding to herself, happy with the job she had done.
"Cheryl... it's just 5th period, not a fashion show," Toni explained with an exaggerated sigh, and Cheryl looked at her sternly.
"Well Topaz, it may as well be!" She cried, and Toni laughed. They both moved away, towards their bags, before saying goodbye and promising to hang at lunch, in exactly 55 minutes. So they parted ways, both already missing the other.
\--/
So anyway, I "discovered" Ao3 last week. When I say discovered I mean I realised they have tons and tons of Choni fics which makes me happy. But I have been reading lots of stuff on there, including a story BritishGirlWhoWrites published which I really enjoyed. Definately go see her story, I think it's on FF too. I don't know.
How exciting is it though that Season 3 started filming. Like, I'm pretty sure I said this last update, but omg I cannot wait for October 10. If they are filming in order, than Archie gets out of gaol really fast. Like, in time for the pool party in ep.1. I dunno, just thought they would drag that story out a little longer.
See ya
-G