--/
"Hello! Welcome to Chez Blossom," Cheryl crowed, opening the door for Betty and Veronica. It was 7:59, and, of course, the pair were unbelievably punctual.
"Hey Cheryl," Betty said, smiling at her cousin.
"Hey Cheryl! Sup Toni." Veronica exclaimed, dragging in a huge suitcase behind her. Toni shot an incredulous look at Betty.
"I tried to stop her..." B told her, raising her eyebrows and shrugging. Betty herself had a more reasonable bag packed, one that looked only 3kg to Veronica's 30kg. Following her friend inside, Betty took off her jacket and ditched her bag on the stairs.
Cheryl closed the door then went to stand next to Toni. She brushed her hand against Toni's, needing to feel the stability her friend provided. She was still a bit emotionally drained from before. Toni turned to look at her, only her eyes displaying her concern for the red-headed girl. She opened her mouth to speak, but Cheryl almost imperceptibly shook her head, so Toni let it go.
Both of Cheryl's guests had watched the exchange with interest, and Veronica was smiling softly, glad Cheryl had finally found someone who cared about her. It was refreshing. And adorable af!
When the pair finally seemed to remember there were other people in the room, Cheryl clasped her hands together, smiling brightly.
"So! Once Josie arrives, we are going to go upstairs until my mother calls us for dinner. I already told her we had visitors, so she'll be on her best behavior." Toni smirked, and started to make a snarky comment, but she was interupted by a knock at the door.
"Speak of the devil!" Cheryl exclaimed, crossing the hall and opening the door to find Josie standing on the doorstep.
"Hello," Cheryl greeted, smiling. She pulled the door open wider, ushering Josie in. The pussycat half-smiled at the rest of room's occupants. Cheryl closed the door again, and Toni started climbing the stairs to the second floor, the rest of the girls following. Once they made it to Cheryl's room, Toni showed them where put their bags, and when they were done, Veronica glanced at the door quickly, then pulled Toni away from the others.
"You and Cheryl?" Veronica asked. Toni looked at her incredulously, even though her heart was trying to beat it's way out of her chest.
"What? No!" Toni cried, and Veronica just lifted her eyebrows, looking at Toni sternly. The other girl held her ground though, and their conversation ended up being cut off by Cheryl's arrival, so they moved back to rejoin the group. V shot Toni a meaningful look, as if to say to be continued.
"What have you got planned?" Betty asked her cousin, as the group moved to lounge on Cheryl's couch, their red-headed host standing in front of them.
"Well, as promised, we're all set to watch the Beguiled once dinner is finished, so, while we wait, I figured an old fashioned game of truth or dare is in order! Any takers?" Cheryl exclaimed. Betty and Josie nodded, while Veronica grinned, looking between Cheryl and Toni, before Toni glared at her and she stopped.
Smiling at Cheryl, Toni answered for all of them. "I think we're in! Who's first?"
"Ooh can I go?" V asked, and Betty and Josie exchanged a glance shrugging. Toni scowled at her, knowing the raven haired girl was very likely to do something stupid, and Toni knew Cheryl was definitely not in the right place, mentally, to deal with that.
Cheryl sat down on the rug near the lounge, gesturing for the girl's to join her. They did, sitting in a circle, and when everyone was settled Veronica started to speak.
"Alright!" She exclaimed. "Truth or dare... Toni." Toni rolled her eyes.
"Oh great, thanks. Umm... Truth, I guess?" Toni replied.
"Not very badass of you, Topaz!" Betty teased and Cheryl laughed.
"Ok Topaz. We can play like this. What's the deal with you and Cheryl?"
Toni groaned, and she felt Cheryl stiffen beside her. Looking over, she saw the red head staring intentently at the carpet, picking at a stray thread. Sighing, Toni straightened from her slouch.
"Come on, V. You're so predictable. And for the record, we're just friends." Toni explained, looking annoyed that Veronica had pursued this topic. Cheryl sat up, staring at her indignantly.
"BEST friends!" She corrected and Toni smiled.
"Oh yeah, BEST friends," Toni stressed. "Better, Cher?" The red-head nodded, and Veronica grinned, watching them. She knew there was definately something there, even if neither of them could tell. The sexual tension between them was almost constantly through the roof, and it was kind of awkward to be around two people who acted like a couple, but weren't dating. They were so close, it was intimidating.
"Ok, well now I get to go next," Toni told the group. "I say... Truth or Dare? Betty!" Toni grinned, and Betty looked at her, half surprised.
"Oh, umm, dare?" Betty decided. Toni smirked.
"I dare you to... text Archie. Tell him you sometimes wish you could be more than friends," Toni said. Betty groaned, blushing. Veronica and Josie catcalled, and Cheryl just laughed.
"Pure evil, Topaz!" Cheryl cried, and Toni grinned at her.
"Ok.." Betty said, getting out her phone. The others crowded around her, looking over her shoulder to make sure Betty did as she had to. She opened up her phone, bringing up her text chain with Archie. Typing in the required message, she showed the phone to Toni, who nodded and smiled. Sighing, Betty sent the text and locked her phone again.
"At least it's my turn now," Betty told the group, and they all just stared at her suspiciously. Betty was notoriously good at truth or dare, and no one wanted to be subject to her wrath.
"How about... Cheryl!" Betty decided, glancing at her cousin. Cheryl groaned, shifting her wait slightly, staring at Betty with narrowed eyes. "Truth or Dare?"
"Dare," Cheryl answered easily, and Betty grinned. After Veronica's first question, Betty had the perfect dare.
"I dare you to tell us something no one else knows about you," Betty asked. Toni glanced at Cheryl cautiously. The girl met her eyes, shaking her head, so Toni knew Cheryl knew what she was doing.
"Oh, easy. When I was seven I accidentally bleached my hair. It turned blonde, and my parents refused to let me leave the house until the bleach wore off." Everyone laughed, and Toni sighed in relief, joining in.
They continued like that, going back and forth, all just enjoying the chance to be normal teenage girls.
\--/
"I'm four years older than I was when I last saw that movie, but somehow, it still creeps me out!" Betty exclaimed, stretching her arms above her head, yawning.
Josie and Veronica nodded, and Toni just smiled along with them. They were all sitting on and around Cheryl's bed, having just finished watching the Beguiled.
"Those girls are so strange," Toni agrees, laying her head in Cheryl's shoulder as they sat together at the end of the bed. "I swear they're all witches or something!" Josie laughed.
"Well, there's less magic, more... " They giggled at Josie's scarily accurate statement, all knowing exactly what she was going to say. Veronica sighed, leaning back on her elbows and looking over at Cheryl.
"What are we doing now? It's only 9:30, that's too early to go to bed," she complained, and Cheryl shrugged. She hadn't planned the entire sleepover of course, just the main parts.
Then Betty sat up from where she was lying on her stomach next to Josie.
"What about we do each other's hair. That's always what my sister and I would do when my cousins visited. My other cousins," she smiled at Cheryl, who smirked back. "But anyway, it was just something we would do before bed to kinda calm down." She shrugged. Looking over at Veronica. "Does it meet your standards?" The girl laughed, nodding.
"Let's do a chain thing," she cried, moving to sit on the ground near where the spare beds were set up. Josie followed her, and Toni and Betty, exchanging a look, followed. Cheryl joined them, sitting between Toni and Betty, who had her hair brushed by Veronica, with Josie at the other end of the line.
After sitting like that for a few minutes, Cheryl got up, moving to stand infront of them, twisting her hands together nervously.
"Inner circle. Cousin Betty," she adressed the gathered girls. "I didn't just invite you here for a girlish slumber party." She told them, as they watched her expectantly. "The truth is, I'm terrified of being alone here. There's a stranger in this house: My uncle Claudius. He's as mad as the sea, and ever since he blew in I feel like I'm in mortal peril." She explained, looking absolutely terrified.
"Wait I'm confused. Is this real or are we playing a game?" Toni asked, unsure. She could tell from Cheryl's expression that she was definitely worried, but Toni had known Cheryl long enough to understand that sometimes the girl... embellished... certain facts.
"All too real. TT. I fear they're plotting against me and Nana Rose. Mumsy cultivates esoteric herbs in the conservatory: Tannis root; Jimson weed; Im afraid to eat for fear of being poisoned," she exclaimed.
"Cheryl..." Josie asked kindly, "are you sure your not... imagining things?" The other's looked at her, and Cheryl frowned slightly. Betty looked at the ground.
"Well if she is, Josie, maybe I am too," Betty said, coming to her cousin's defense. "There's a stranger in my life as well." She told them, looking around the room. "Chic. With him lurking behind every corner, my house feels..."
"Dangerous." Cheryl finished for her. "Deadly." She nodded, looking down at her cousin with tears in her eyes. "I sympathize."
The girls stayed like that for a moment, all lost in thought, trying to come to terms with the news their friends had just shared. Suddenly, Veronica cleared her throat.
"I'm...uh, I'm heading to bed." She told the rest of the group. There were nods and murmurs of assent among the girls, and one by one they got up of the floor, moving to their beds. Toni and Cheryl were sharing Cheryl's bed, as she had promised, and the others had matresses on the floor.
Getting into bed, Cheryl questioned whether she did the right thing in telling her friends. Laying down, she remembered their reactions. She knew it sounded pretty unbelievable, but at least her cousin understood how she felt. And she knew Toni would try her best to understand. That's why they were such good friends. Toni didn't question her, she accepted her, and tried her best to understand.
Looking over at her friend beside her, Cheryl considered telling her everything. Making up her mind, she turned to face her friend, laying her head on her hand. Toni did the same.
"Full disclosure," she told her. "I... didn't want to invite all the girls tonight. But I knew my hideous mother would never allow me to invite just you," she explained, as Toni looked down. "Just... what I craved." The serpent looked up, meeting her eyes in surprise. She let her eyes dart down to Cheryl's lips, and the girl did the same, before lifting herself off the bed slightly, and leaning in the meet the girl next to her. Just before their lips touched though, there was a crash from outside, and Toni cursed the noise for ruining the moment, even as Cheryl threw the blankets off her bed, running towards the sound. Toni followed, right on her heels, as the other girls woke up, moving to follow the pair.
Reaching the stairs, Cheryl looked down, and Toni saw the cause of the noise, right as Cheryl let loose an ear piercing scream. It was Nana Rose, lying on the ground, the shattered remains of wheelchair littered around her.
It took 4 whole minutes for Cheryl to stop screaming. Even after Veronica called an ambulance, and their little group moved down to the lounge room, Cheryl wouldn't stop shaking.
As the moment, she sat next to Toni on the couch, shivering, despite it being 25 degrees outside. (Celsius, so like 35-49 degress Fahrenheit, idkSo far, she hadn't said anything, and Toni refused to push her to talk. So they sat together, not even touching, just silently waiting.
When the ambulance arived, Cheryl jumped up from the seat, and followed the stretcher carrying her Nana outside to the drive, and stood, staring off into space.
Seeing Toni shift slightly next to her, she was shaken from her thoughts, and noticed something that chilled her to the bone. She stared horrified, until Toni noticed, looking at her with concern.
"Cheryl? What is it?" She asked, looking between the girl next to her and the ambulance Cheryl was focused on.
"He's wearing my fathers pijamas," Cheryl whispered, harshly. Toni looked at her, confusion written all over her face.
"What?" She asked.
"My uncle!" Cheryl told her by way of explanation. "Toni. I think they pushed my Nana down the stairs," she told her friend. "I think I'm next."
Dun, dun, dun...We are getting soo close to SOQM and I'm so excited to show you guys what I've written for that part.Also, how good was comic con?! I didn't go, it's in San Diego, I'm in Melbourne, but my best nerd friend did and oh my god it looked incredible. The cosplay, the panels, the workshops, just wow. We don't have that kind of thing in Australia. We are pretty boring here.Anyway, there was so much Choni stuff at Comic Con. Vanessa and Madelaine are incredible, giving us those little tid bits, yay!Buut, Imma go now cos you probably don't want to here me going on forever, so, as always, thank you for all your support; comments, dms, all of it.Goodbye until Friday, my lovelies,
-G