Author's note: I am quite sure you've noticed the different behaviour of our little angel Stacey, and yes so have I. Okay, my reasons for changing his behaviour a tad (more so in this coming chapter) has several reasons. One is of course to help and push my storyline forward but also just the fact that there is nothing more satisfying to write then the blow up of a character who's usually the sissy. Hopefully you'll let me do this and don't wish to hang me from my toes. Enjoy!
Chapter five – As Children Do.
Sheryl made a valiant attempt to hold in her amused snort when she saw a few guys try and cut in front of Peggy in the big pool they were skating in, and hanging out around.
"You can't cut in front of me like that man, somebody could've gotten hurt." Peggy stood in the middle of the pool, hindering everybody's skating, and holding everybody's attention.
"Aw, you could've broken a nail" the guy mocked and shared amused glances with the guys around him. Sheryl spotted Tom, who were on a break from his team to celebrate Team Zephyr's breakthrough, shared a look with her and rubbed his jaw in a sort of contemplative remembrance.
"I wasn't talking about me you fucking idiot!" Peggy snapped and Sheryl jumped up from her seat to gape in shock. That was not the type of language Peggy usually used. The guy she was arguing with froze in shock over her words and scowled at her, jumping down to join her in the empty pool and sneered.
"Someone should teach you, little girl, to not play with the big boys." Peggy sneered right back and looked him up and down.
"And you junior should learn the rules of skating before attempting it." Peggy turned to walk out of the pool with dignity intact when the guy moved and Sheryl jumped to interfere. An arm snaked around her waist and drew her against a chest while two guys jumped down to stand between the guy and Peggy.
"They got her Tiger" the body behind her chuckled and Sheryl found it strange how quickly she recognized him to be Jay. It was comfortable, being so closed in to his arms with his face buried in her shoulder and his hair brushing her collarbone. She looked back when she heard Peggy's voice rise and how the two boys took steps back while looking at the first guy with pity in their eyes. He looked like a small boy now.
"I don't like this talk about you and Stephen Maves" Jay mumbled and tightened his hold around her waist before dropping it and taking a step back. She frowned at his statement and turned around to confront him but he was already skating away toward Kathy and her friends.
"Goddamn punk." Peggy was swearing when she approached Sheryl and sat down on her skateboard.
"What happened?" Sheryl located a stray footstool and sat down opposite the raving Peggy.
"-so I told him the rules, you know to really piss him off, but he actually had the nerve to call me a little girl! I oughta' rip his fucking balls-"
"Woah! Calm down" Sheryl interrupted with a shocked laugh and looked at her friend suspiciously.
"Are you on something? Cause this isn't like you." Peggy stopped and looked to Sheryl, who valiantly tried to not bite her lip in trepidation, before she seemed to crumble in front of Sheryl's eyes.
"Hey-" Sheryl frowned and jumped forward to embrace Peggy who mumbled to her about 'stop being such a girl' "-what's wrong Peg? You're starting to freak me out." Sheryl took a step back and ended in a crouch, kneeling in front of Peggy.
"My mom-" Peggy looked up and around them before continuing quietly and mournfully "-has told me I'm not allowed to skate anymore, she needs help financially."
"But if you continue skating you could get signed and then make money." Peggy nodded with a sad smile and rubbed her face angrily to delete all tears.
"I told her that, and- she told me that since I'm eighteen I can make my own decisions, but in that case I am not welcome to stay at home without paying rent." Peggy didn't need to say more, her mother clearly had Peggy in a catch 22 on that one.
Sheryl sighed mournfully, things sounding far too familiar, and scooted forwards to lay an arm around her shoulders and nudge her forehead.
"When's the deadline?" Peggy made a loud sardonic laugh; people knew her mother's behaviour far too well.
"Wednesday." Sheryl just nodded and looked Peggy in the eye.
"We'll figure this out, you'll see." Peggy blinked back before looking away with a sigh and combed her fingers through her hair. She slowly scooted a step away from Sheryl, trying to do it as inconspicuously as possible, who easily reseat herself onto the little footstool.
"Hey. I'm sorry." Sheryl frowned at Peggy confused.
"What are you talking about?" Sheryl smiled slightly. "We're friends."
"Yeah, no I mean about laying all of this shit on you when you have your own thing to worry about." Sheryl tensed, trying to mask her desperation of anxiety, and fidgeted under Peggy's watchful gaze.
"I don't know what's made you feel that I'm so fragile that I can't even handle a simple case of migraines." Sheryl laughed to herself, feeling far too conscious of the bags under her eyes, and apparently a soft tone off key by judging of Peggy's expression. Sheryl looked back off toward the pool where Sid stood together with Tom, Jay and Stacey.
"Shut up girl, I am not a simpleton like the guys! There is not just migraines that got you in this shape, and I won't force you but you better as hell not stand there and lie to me cause in that case this friendship is over." Peggy's rant had stood her up and placed her hands on her hips like a scolding mother, in front of Sheryl. Sheryl looked up at her friend in understanding and slowly stood up as well, quirking her lips as one of Skip's friends skulked around the pool with his camera.
"Yeah I got ya' but I refuse to answer things if I don't want to." Sheryl glanced back at the boys again, something inside her calling her to and watched as Sid and Tom jumped in to the pool when she watched, leaving Jay standing rock still. He was looking her up and down searchingly, and his expression and eyes was uncannily stony when they met hers.
"I'm gonna head back in there, I'll be back in a while." Peggy gave her a slap on the arm and Sheryl looked away from Jay to smile and nod at her friend. Sheryl tried to take a calming breath, without showing that it was meant to be calming, but she was still met with Jay's piercing gaze when she looked up; a gaze that could see everything. She tried a brave smile, 'she had to do something', but when she saw him take a step forward, her jitterish nerves got the best of her and she turned around to join Tom with a small smile. He was sweaty and flushed, there were obvious sweat lines on his back and chest, but he wore the biggest smile humanly possible.
"Hey Sher-bear." Sheryl frowned at Tom with a small smile and raised eyebrow.
"Since when do you talk like that, and call me Sher-bear?" Sheryl twisted her mouth and looked off, missing Tom's amused smirk as he was interrupted by her lecture.
"And not to be like that, but I'm sort of partial to only Michael calling me that." She smiled a tad amused at her own words and swung around embarrassed when a familiar voice entered the conversation.
"Didn't know you felt that way about me Sher-bear." In her surprise, delighted surprise, she let out a undignified squeal and jumped into his waiting arms.
"Michael! What are you doing here?" Michael chuckled amused at the beaming girl and felt a good deal of people greeting him with nods and salutes when Sheryl's squeal caught their attention.
"What are you doing here?" She asked again and laughed a short happy laugh.
"I thought you were off on another tour." Michael laughed at Sheryl's teasing lilt.
"You make it sound as if I've been off on thousands of them." Sheryl rolled her eyes and waved a dismissive hand in the air. Michael chuckled and motioned for her to take a seat.
"I-I've actually changed teams, so I asked if I could go home for a few days and see my girl." A few sniggers and chuckles accompanied the statement and Sheryl looked up with a teasing leer.
"Oh really-" she slapped him on the arm and smiled "-why haven't you told me?" She frowned amused at his stricken look he portrayed and the two pink dots on his cheeks.
"Are you blushing?" She grinned widely as his cheeks darkened further.
"So who is this girl? When did you meet her?" Sheryl straightened into an intriguing stance but turned to someone behind her when she heard a snort.
"You are so naïve baby-girl" Tony's husky voice said and raised his beer bottle by the neck. Michael stood up with a scowl and Sheryl followed.
"Tony." Tony made a mocking nod to Michael in response but kept his eyes locked on Sheryl as he studied her.
"Jay was right, you do look like shit warmed over." Sheryl flinched like the comment had been a physical blow and took a hold of Michaels arm as he made a move.
"He's drunk Michael" Sheryl murmured and Tony laughed, taking another gulp.
"Not true baby-" Sheryl scowled at his patronising name calling "-but if you want to nurse me back to health; I'm all ears." Sheryl spotted Stacey inching closer to Tony and tensed when she saw the undisputed level of disgust in Tony's face as he batted Stacey away.
"I think you've had enough man" Stacey murmured quietly so to not draw attention, but after just being batted away and ignored he turned and walked off. Sheryl stared after Stacey sadly before turning to Tony angrily.
"You know what? I've had it with you and your bullshit! You're nothing but a big ass, appropriate isn't it, and has been an asshole to Blanca, Stacey and Sid when you're to much of a coward to even defend your friend, so fuck you and your whole shit. I hope you fall and break a leg" she rambled in a angry tirade, not even noticing the fact that Michael had grabbed her arm to stop her from attacking Tony physically. Both Jay and Tony stood glaring at the boy for holding her back, they loved to see the girl all riled up on the verge of homicidal. She stormed off, breaking off Michaels hold and ignored everybody staring at her as she ran after Stacey.
"Stacey!" The boy in question sighed loudly and turned around with a hand in his hair and a frustrated scowl.
"Hey, I know we've been off lately-"
"Off? You think we've been off?" He gave off a loud sarcastic laugh and growled angrily before pinning her with such a violent glare that she took a step back.
"Get a clue Sheryl! I've been trying to let you off easily but you're obviously too stupid to get it!" Sheryl winced and subconsciously moved her arms around her middle as all of her blood ran away from her face.
"I'm sick of you! You try and act all good and true when in fact you've been running around with Peggy and Sid and Stephen Maves, instead of me!" Sheryl scowled and looked at him disbelievingly.
"Are you kidding me Stace? This some kind of sick jealous trip, cause in that case I'd be happy to remind you of how important I was when you started running around with that silly crush on Kathy!" Sheryl was breathing hard, probably as red-face as Stacey, and regretted bringing up Kathy just a tiny bit.
"Silly crush? Step down from your high horse miss Ice-queen and get the fuck out of my life and my business. You're just bitter over the fact that you're never gonna be able to get away from here." He nodded violently when she frowned in surprise and shock.
"Yeah, that's right. You're gonna be stuck here until the day you die, watching as the rest of us makes something out of ourselves!" Sheryl's armour had too many cracks to be able to stop the onslaught of hurt that came barrelling and hated that she could sense the growing crowd behind her, curious of what had made Stacey Peralta lose his temper.
"You don't mean that Stacey, there's gotta be something else." Stacey glared at her again and laughed sardonically; the sound cutting her ears to bleed.
"I do mean it Sheryl, you're just this sad little girl I took in under my wings but now I'm sick of it." Stacey stopped still and stood directly in front of her, ignoring her tears and glared her straight in the eye harshly.
"Get the fuck out my life, immediately and completely." His voice sent cold shiver down her spine and after a few moments of desperately searching his cold eyes, she closed her own and made a single nod.
"Fine" she whispered brokenly and watched as he turned and walked away. For a few minutes she felt as if everything had gone quiet and then there was a loud buzzing in her head, hurting her head with it's high volume and then a hand clasped down on her forearm; putting her back in motion and ending the obnoxious buzzing.
"I'm okey-" she nodded almost desperately, pleading for Michael or Sid to let go of her arm "-I'll see you tonight at Skip's." Without a last gesture or glance to which of them who stood behind her, she walked the forty-minute walk home up to her room, laid down, and stared at her ceiling until the time when it came to be too blurry for her eyes and closed them, feeling the tears fall down the side of her eyes into her hairline by her ears. It didn't take long until she gave out under the pressure and curled into a ball, sobbing her lungs out.
****
Going to a party to celebrate 'Team Zephyr' getting into 'SkateBoard' magazine, would on any other occasion be a joyous moment. But right now, Sheryl was still struggling with the task of getting out of bed. She'd managed to convince her father, with the best of her abilities at the moment, of the fact that she was just tired when he found her on her bed, staring at the wall almost apathetically; with a last mutter she swung herself up, almost falling from putting such quick strain on her legs, and waddled up to a mirror. Her earlier make-up had been smudged about and her face was pale white with red eyes and tear marks along her cheeks. Scrubbing her face 'clean' before applying new make-up to cover mostly everything, cursing that she couldn't do much about her eyes, she was as good as new. As she stood in front of her closet, her eyes zeroed in on her jeans, her mood called for them, and an old blue shirt completed her look while she swung her hair up into a ponytail. She snorted as she stared down at her basketball shoes as she laced them, why they were called basketball shoes and why she owned them was a mystery since she was both lazy and was as athletic as a fish could fly. She grabbed her sweather from the back of her chair and scrambled down the stairs. She glanced into the living room where her father sat and raised her arms to put on her sweather.
"I'll see you in a couple of hours dad." Ben murmured distracted, pretending to read his newspaper when in fact he was scanning her for signs of distress and sickness. She was far too good at covering things up.
"Have fun." Sheryl moved her mouth in a grimace, resembling the face of someone eating a lemon then a smile, and walked out. She was asking herself why she was even bothering on showing up; most people would still be gossiping about what happened between her and Stacey earlier, and the other half had probably decided to dispose of her cause of the fact that Stacey apparently had. It felt so humiliating and horrible when she phrased it like that; 'disposed of.'
Maybe Sid would still be on her side, they had established their friendship, and hopefully Michael and Peggy, and maybe Tom. Besides, she always had Skip. She snorted to herself sadly, 'yeah she always had Skip.'
She stopped outside the little shop, which had an overflowing amount of people streaming in and out, music blaring and a surprising amount of light shining through the large windows. Further along she can see Kathy, Blanca and another girl dressed out as Indians and holding a large cake and catching her curiosity as they giggled before swinging up a tape recorder. She followed them up to the entrance as they entered and came in just as they started to sing and dance to the song of Cher's 'Halfbreed'. Sheryl laughed out loud at the scene, thanking the girls silently to herself for cheering her up, and felt her shoulders relax in timing to when Michael showed up behind her.
"How are you Sher-bear?" Sheryl let out her breath before she turned around and smiled as the girls finished and turned of the music. At sight of Michael's large form she let out a tiny embarrassed smile at her thoughts and figured that she shouldn't be embarrassed.
"Hey- Would it be- I mean- Is it okey- Could you give me a hug?" Michael chuckled at the tiny girl and stretched out his arms widely to embrace her, and quietly shushed her when he felt her dry-sob against his chest.
He raised his arm and hand to cradle the back of her head and soothed her back with gentle rubs along her spine. She emitted a few more sobs and harsh breathing before she took calming breaths and unclenched her hands from his shirt and took a embarrassed breath before stepping out of his arms. Michael chuckled at her shy demeanour; she refused to look away from his wrinkled shirt, and raised her head with his hands on her cheeks and placed some hairs behind her ears.
"Hey, now Sher-bear." She slowly raised her eyes to his and felt herself being caught in his warm gaze. There had been a long time since somebody looked at her the way Michael did, but he looked at her with something that she didn't want from him.
"Stop looking at me like that." Michael tightened his hold on her cheeks and head.
"Why's that?" She looked up at him with her eyebrows raised to her hairline, surprised at the brazenness in his voice and eyes.
"Nothing good is gonna come out of that look" Sheryl whispered and glanced around them, fidgeting since she had nowhere to place her hands. For the moment her arms were hanging down her sides but her back was starting to hurt, and by placing them on Michael she was afraid that he'd take it as encouragement. His mouth slowly turned into a smirk as he looked down at the girl he'd met for the first time by a fluke, finding her immediately fascinating and had originally planned to ignore the fact that he wanted more then friendship; but he had to admit that now after a few beers that THAT seemed like a stupid idea.
"Now don't say that-" he took a step closer to her and brushed his body with hers, delighted at hearing and seeing her gasp "-I could make you happy. I could make you feel good." She made a small nervous laugh at his sexual innuendo and the seriousness of his voice before looking up and shaking her head, placing one of her hands on his cheek.
"You're gonna make a girl so happy one day Michael, and hopefully I'll get to be there when you fall all over her, but it's not me. You're one of my best friends." Michael looked away, but not before Sheryl caught the cold look in his eyes, and watched as he clenched his jaw. Sheryl swiped her thumb over his jaw softly, trying to sooth him, while Michael fought his best to not let her affect him before letting her hips go. He sighed and sagged, looking down at the tiny girl who looked more tired then he'd ever seen her.
"You're a great girl Sheryl, I'll take you in any form I can." Sheryl smiled happily at his words and kissed his cheek friendly before dragging him with her for the celebration. Skip stood in the centre by the drinks table with a beer in hand, his silly grin plastered on his face as he looked around.
"Well hello doll-face, long time since I've seen you." Sheryl cocked her head to the side as he stretched out his arms drunkenly.
"Save me if this turns badly" Sheryl murmured to Michael with a smile, who snorted as Sheryl walked up to Skip.
"Likewise Skipper" Sheryl said back in response and watched as his grin got wider before he froze in shock as she hugged him and pecked him on the cheek.
"I know it's night-time, but be careful with the booze." Skip straightened, in his own way, and raised his bottle.
"Yes ma'm." Sheryl rolled her eyes at his antics and patted him on the arm as she looked off to where she'd left Michael, nodding with a smile when he gestured that he was gonna walk off further in to the crowd. Sheryl followed him with her eyes with a sigh before she looked the other direction from where he went, in search of somebody she knew. As she walked around she smiled at people who gave her a second glance and laughed shortly as one drunken girl smiled even wider and jumped up and down as Sheryl smiled her way. The girl was clearly intoxicated.
She stopped when she noticed a familiar head of brown locks from the corner of her eyes, and laughed out loud when she spotted Sid strutting and posing in front of some lockers with his back crooked and his butt poking out.
"And what does my little baby-girl find so funny?" Sheryl looked to the voice and raised an eyebrow and gave him a speculative smile.
"And what is mister feared gang leader doing here, speaking to lil' ol' me?" Sheryl smiled at Stephen who smirked back, surprising her with his proximity as he walked up to her to cup her cheek. Sheryl's grin wavered at his unexpected gesture and the strong smell of alcohol and weed. She'd spent enough time around the skaters to recognize the smell of pot.
"Enjoying himself" Stephen said, and Sheryl blushed as she slowly realized that he was answering her question. He cocked his head to the side and smiled a soft charming smile.
"You're never gonna change" Sheryl teased and smiled even though Stephens face never registered her words. He placed his hands on her shoulders and it didn't take long for Sheryl to realize that he was studying her face up-close.
"It's just migraines Stephen" she murmured and looked away as she tried to take a step back, narrowing her eyes at him when he increased his hold on her.
"Chica-" Stephen murmured, ignoring her words completely "-don't lie. You need to stop spreading yourself." Sheryl tried to, yet again, step away from him but Stephens face clouded over at her movements and yanked her into him to embrace her tightly.
"Tell me the truth" his voice whispered thanks to the loud music in the background. Sheryl grabbed his arms and stared into his eyes, channelling one thought as their eyes locked. 'I can't.'
His eyes flashed in anger and Sheryl winced a step back. She shook her head at him when he moved to take a step forward and grab her, again and again, and jumped when her back collided with the drinks table in the middle of the room. As the bottles and table shook and clanked at the impact, drawing more then one pair of eyes to herself, Sheryl stared at Stephen with a guilty and shameful relief as he turned and walked away from her. Sheryl glanced behind her when she recognized Kathy's (now annoying and whiny to Sheryl's ears) voice and floundering movements and felt cold dread when she spotted the boy beside the caught up couple.
"I don't want you to ever wear underwear with me again, okey?" Sheryl choked on her own saliva and blushed at Kathy's demand, and the blunt order and couldn't listen to her brain as Jay raised his head to look her straight in the eye. 'Look away! Look away dammit!'
"Hi Stacey" Kathy murmured and looked between the two boys before deciding to walk off with a simple brush to Jay's arm.
"You couldn't even tell me?" Stacey's grip on his mug was crushing and he was tense all over, and still his voice barely shook. Jay stood casually opposite his childhood friend, the clench of his jaw the only telltale that he wasn't immune to this situation.
"You couldn't handle her man. She was too much for you man" Jay informed and Sheryl scoffed at his rude and idiotic behaviour, flushing in embarrassment when she realized that she was getting too involved in a conversation she was eaves-dropping on. She looked around herself in the packed crows and felt cold chills attack her body and looked to see Stacey's exit. Sheryl looked back to where she'd seen the two boys before Stacey's departure and found Jay staring at her, waiting it seemed. She shook her head at him and gave him a disappointed look, but couldn't stop herself from walking up to him and glare.
"Is she really worth it?" Jay stared her down and gave her a somewhat amused smirk and raised his hand to grab one of her clenched fists. She narrowed her eyes at his face, and snatched her hand away when she felt the soft trail of his fingers. Physical contact always soothed her and she wanted to remain upset. At her denial, Jay's face swiped clean again and he started to take slow steps backwards, keeping his eyes locked on hers in silent dare to have her follow him. Sheryl followed with a frown and confused over how everybody seemed to unconsciously move away as Jay approached him or her.
"You didn't expect me to go easy on you now cause we're out of watching eyes right?" she sneered at his blank face as he leaned back casually against the wall.
"He's one of your best friends and you're dumping him for some girl?"
'A girl who's already hanging all over another guy?'She clenched her jaw and looked him up and down pityingly.
"You should have told him earlier and saved your friendship." Something seemed to snap inside Jay at her words and suddenly he had a bruising grip on her wrist and her back and head collided roughly with the wall. She looked up at Jay with narrowed blurry eyes from the pain to see that he'd caged her in against the wall. He took a few deep breaths, looking at her and angling his head to the right slowly, and then to the right.
"Well so could you. I know you saw us that first night, I could feel your eyes following us-" he smirked coldly at her and took another breath, brushing her body with his "-but you've been busy since then haven't you?" Jay sneered and Sheryl looked up at him with angry eyes before she looked down at the almost nonexistent space between them. He looked down at her for a long time; even though her face was angled downwards he had perfect view of the curve of her jaw and her cheeks that had a soft blush on them. He slowly leaned forward; eyes still locked on her cheeks that slowly seemed to get redder in time with his closeness and rested his forearms on each side of her head against the wall. He smirked pleased at her short intake of air and leaned forward so his mouth was by her ear.
"You're so much better then him." Sheryl furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, not understanding whom he was talking about or why he was complimenting her with that tender voice. His whole demeanour was in fact confusing, he seemed calmer then his usual hyperactive and attention-distracted behaviour, and stood now looking down at her with far more maturity then she ever thought him possible of.
"You're better then Dogtown." He bent one of his arms to brush away some stray hairs from her face and looked her in the eyes determined as he slowly leaned forward. Her mind was a jumbled mess that didn't know what to do, this situation far to familiar in her opinion and her gut was turning her into a nervous wreck. She was surprised and proud of herself that she hadn't started to hysterically laugh yet, as she usually did when she was scared or uncomfortable. Just as there was just a few millimetres left between their lips, their noses touching and Sheryl's eyes half lidded in expectance, somebody stumbled harshly into them, sending Sheryl's head into the wall harshly and shoving Jay away from her.
"Ow" she mumbled and raised her hand to cradle her head, elbowing the drunken guy who was chuckling and smirking at her with an appreciative leer. By the time Sheryl had familiarized herself with her surroundings, Jay was gone.
'What is going on?' Her life was a complete mess, and she hated it. She frowned at that thought, analyzing everything that's been going on in her life, the drama she seemed to magnetically attract and she hated how she felt about it. On one hand she hated the implication but on the other hand it was nice to be involved and be known. She couldn't remember doing anything to warrant the spotlight she seemed to be in nor encouraged others into giving it to her. She was sceptic toward Stephen's and Tony's come-ons as well; she knew that Tony was a player and so she would just be another girl in the line but she was unsure about Stephen. One minute he was so strange, playing all macho and the next he was so gentle with her, holding her cheeks and soothing her. She felt a soft smile take over her face when she remembered how he'd handled her on the beach, but her smile wavered at the memory of his face an hour earlier when she'd stepped away from him. She'd kissed boys before, pecks when playing 'Truth or Dare' and she'd had a boyfriend when she was thirteen. They'd kissed a few times, awkward touches and smiles, before Sheryl's home life collapsed and she'd ended things with the boy who quickly moved on. As children might do.
She didn't belong here. The thought slammed into her as she watched people cheering and laughing, drinking and dancing. Speaking in skateboard terms, she had no idea of what they meant, and making out in corners with no thought of the audience they'd attracted. She made a decisive head-shake and began to storm off, dropping speed for a few seconds when she spotted Sid, but then continued her steps and ran away from the shop, listening as everything around her got quieter until all she could her was her steps on the board walk and the pounding in her ears. She slowed down when she spotted the lights in 'Larry's Foodcourt' and Neil cleaning the tables, ready for closing. She was twenty steps away from the doors when she was swung around with a squel from her and felt hands attach themselves on her cheeks along with soothing and calming murmurs.
"Hey chica, it's only me." Sheryl frowned at Stephen who looked more then determined as he kept his hold on her.
"What are you doing here?" She responded with a quiet voice, hating that all she could see was Stephen's big brown eyes that stared down at her fixedly, genuinely perplexed at his presence. Knots and butterflies started fighting inside her belly and Stephen's hands tightened before sliding back into her hair.
"Just something I have to do" he answered cryptically and used one of his hands to hold her chin and guide it closer to his face.
The touch of his lips on hers was like shocks, the soft and giggling feeling spread all over her insides. She raised one of her hands to his cheeks with a small smile and exhaled through her nose in response to the feeling of his short beard. Stephen separated their lips with a few millimetres when he seemed to need to come up for air, before he pressed forward again and rubbed their lips against each other before he slowly opened his mouth to press individual kisses on her upper and then lower lip. After a few minutes of sweet presses and nudges, their heads had separated and they were enjoying the closeness by just feeling and hearing the other one breath, Stephen ending the moment with a short peck on her lips. He raised his hands to pet down her hair that had loosened earlier when she'd been running and gave her a placating shrug.
"I had to do it, even though it's not mine. I'll try and keep it for as long as possible." Sheryl's mind was still clouded so she merely hummed and moved forward to embrace him. The cold was slowly getting to her, but she also mostly wanted to feel his arms around her. There was a murmuring sound and as she'd been lulled into comfort she raised her head with a small amused smile.
"So mr Stephen Maves has read 'Peter Pan'? I'm impressed" she teased and chuckled at his look.
"Shut up chica, don't go around telling people that." Sheryl smiled up at him shyly.
"Don't worry, this moment is not something I'm gonna blab about. This is ours." She forced herself to smile up at him widely, despite her horrible blush.
"I was going to go inside and hang out with Neil, you wanna-"
"No." Stephen interrupted gruffly and Sheryl frowned as she took a step back.
"Okey.." He raised his hand to give her chin a nudge and a pure male smirk.
"I'll see you around." He took a few backing steps before he turned and strolled off, pulling up a cigarette and lighting it. Sheryl frowned at his back and the way he'd left before she walked inside and slumped on the counter in front of him.
"Hey! What are you doing here?" Sheryl shrugged and looked up with her cheek resting on her palm.
"Tired and confused." Neil pouted dramatically at her frown and sat down next to her and placed an arm around her shoulders.
"Tell me what's wrong." He nudged her head to lean on his shoulder and she took a deep breath.
"Okey, two things. First; I've been almost kissed two times this week and by two different boys." She snorted at Neil's bright grin and eager face.
"Go on." Sheryl's mouth slowly tugged into a smile.
"Okey, I almost got kissed by Stephen a couple of day's ago and earlier tonight Michael hit on me and Jay almost kissed me and just now; I was making out with Stephen Maves. What the hell is going on?!" Sheryl looked at Neil pleadingly, for him to solve all of her problems. Neil merely chuckled at her face and shrugged with a wide grin.
"It's rough business being as pretty as you around all those teenage boys." Sheryl scowled at him and Neil chuckled again before he cleared his throat.
"Okey, what was the second 'wrong'?"
"Well you know mine and Stacey's fight earlier today?" Neil nodded with a scowl and an angry glare into air.
"I oughta' kick his ass and-" Sheryl shook her head adamantly and interrupted him by touching his arm.
"Don't. Kathy and Stacey broke up tonight after it turns out that she'd been seeing and hooking up with Jay behind his back."
"What a fucker!" Neil swore and Sheryl clenched her jaw guiltily and looked away.
"I knew and didn't tell him." Neil looked down at her, surprised over her behaviour and Sheryl bit her lip in shame.
"Why didn't you?"
"I didn't want to be the one who hurt him." Neil stared at her for a few seconds before he sighed and gave her a hug. Sheryl laughed a short laugh and hugged him back, but they jumped apart at the sound of a loud slam against one of the windows. Sheryl turned around swiftly to see Stephen glaring with two friends behind him, crooking his finger for her to come outside. Sheryl frowned confused, smiled comfortingly at Neil when he tightened his grip on her to stop her, and walked out to see Stephen telling his friends to back up and give him and Sheryl some privacy.
"What the fuck are you doing?" Sheryl stared at Stephen shocked with furrowed brows and raised her arms to hug herself from the cold.
"What's wrong with you?" He made a move to grab her arm but she winced a step back from him and snapped her head up to glare at him with more bravery then she had.
"Don't touch me when you're angry." Stephen narrowed his eyes at her before he pointed back to where Neil stood staring at the two, never taking his eyes from Sheryl's.
"Why were you in his arms? You just another slag?" She winced and sucked in a deep breath, placing her hands over her stomach in a try to dampen the feeling that he'd just punched her, and stared into his eyes in shock over the venom and coldness in his voice.
"Got to hell. You actually considered me to.. after we.. just twenty minutes ago-" she looked away and then back at him with a hurt face. It hurt that he just assumed that she was one of those girls who just went along to the next guy, some common slut, but slowly her hurt started to transform into anger. Such undiluted anger that resulted in her lowering her arms from her stomach to shove at his chest angrily.
"Fuck you! I don't have to explain myself, you've clearly already made up your mind." She sneered at him and turned to walk inside, stopping in spite of herself when she felt a soft touch to her wrist.
"Ey chica-" she turned around to face him with a neutral look and registered his surprise before he continued, "-what was I to think when I see you in the arms of another guy."
"You could trust me. I'm not like those others girl's you've been with in the past." She kept her face serious and neutral as she spoke, only following him as he took a step closer.
"You aren't" Stephen agreed and looked around her face. Sheryl nodded, she was getting anxious and impatient with this whole situation. She wanted to talk a bit more with Neil before she had to go home and sleep in preparation for tomorrows shift. Stephen seemed to sense her anxiousness cause he nodded with a last look into her eyes and took a step back.
"I'll see you around."
"Mmkey" she answered and walked inside, barely reacting to how his thumb stroked her palm as she walked off. She smiled at Neil who was turning off the lights and walked up to him to touch him on the shoulder.
"You alright?" Sheryl nodded and sighed.
"It's the bad-boy syndrome, not even I seem to be able to escape it." Neil snorted and Sheryl smiled bitterly. He laid an arm around shoulders and drew her closer to his chest and kissed her on the head.
"I'd prefer Jay Adams over him." Sheryl glanced up with a questioning smile but Neil just shook his head at her.
"Go home and rest. I hear from Larry that you've signed up for two weeks." He gave her a reproachful look when she nodded.
"It's too much for you, you're gonna collapse." He stared at her as she looked around the establishment, ignoring his look.
"Do you really need the money?" Sheryl laughed sardonically and drew her hand through her hair.
"Yeah-" it hurt her throat to suppress her words "-I really need the money." Neil tensed and looked at her even more searchingly, seeming to have heard her undertone.
"Answer me truthfully Sheryl-" he grabbed her arm and made sure that he had eye contact "-are you in any way, in some kind of trouble?" Sheryl looked at Neil and smiled, swallowing down her shame when he visibly relaxed.
"Of course not Neil."
"I just wondered there for a second you know, you said that you needed the money, usually you say you need it so you can pay rent for you and your father." Sheryl shrugged, almost scared over how easily she could lie and was believed. The blanket of lies was almost too thick for her.
"I'll see you later Neil" she smiled and kept the smile on her lips for over a block, then she let it fall and leaned against a brick wall. She tried to quell her first and second sob, but soon she was far too gone. Her heart felt like it was going to burst but at the same time it felt like somebody was hitting it so it would stay in place. She must have stood there for at least a half hour before she pulled herself together and stumbled home. She slowly rubbed her face to get rid of the scratchiness and splotches.
Her father seemed to still be awake, or he might have fallen asleep waiting up for her, cause the living room lamps were lit. She hoped he could sense that she weren't in the mood for company or lectures; she just wanted to go upstairs and go to sleep. She felt her eyelids slowly drop, and tiredly forced them up again and squinted her eyes uncomfortable from their dryness, and stumbled the last steps to the door. She had just enough time to close the door before her father came walking up in only his underwear. She cracked a smile and joked;
"You're scarring me for life here." It was kind of strange to have a father who was in better shape then most of the guys in her age. Ben however was not amused.
Her night did not end with just going upstairs to sleep, instead she had to sit in the living room on the couch, unconsciously rubbing her wrist, listening to her father preach.
****
The morning after she was on her way off to work in the morning cold, yawning and stumbling down the street, shivering in her skirt and ballet shoes. She had borrowed her one of her father's T-shirt's, as per usual to his secret delight, and was trying to alster as much heat as possible in her cardigan. Her hair was free, keeping her ears and throat warm. She frowned when she heard a strange rustling sound and looked around herself, slowly processing that something was rolling along the street and towards her. There was a crouching figure on top of the source of the sound, and two arms stretched out as he slowly stood up and slowed the speed so he stopped by her.
"Hi Stacey." Sheryl clenched her hands on her arms and winced when she pressed to harshly on the bruise on her wrist from yesterday.
"Hey." He kept looking over her head and tucked his hair behind his ears; always holding that polite air.
"How are you?" She shifted on her feet and looked up to see his eyes locked on hers before he looked up after a second of contact.
"Fine." Sheryl bit her lip when she realised that it was quivering and with a last goodbye to her lapsing pride she looked at him beseechingly.
"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I don't know why I didn't tell you, it's just that I was scared that you wouldn't believe me and I was sort of hoping that she would pick you after I told her the ultimatum and-" she sighed wretchedly and looked away.
"Yeah well-" Stacey cleared his throat and looked down to look at his own limbs stepping up his skateboard and twirling it through his fingers "-I was on my way to quit my job at Larry's, I'd forgotten you had the morning shift, cause I won't have much time over." Sheryl twitched her lips sadly when she realized what it really meant. He'd gotten recruited.
"That's really great, I wish you the best Stacey." They both nodded somewhat awkwardly before Sheryl made a move to continue walking, she did have a time to meet.
"Could you tell Larry for me then?" Sheryl made a amused sound before murmuring a affirmative and smiled up at him softly. Some things between them never changed. Stacey looked down at her and this time didn't look away when their gazes met. Sheryl hated that she felt undeserving to return his look so she awkwardly looked away and cleared her throat and scratched her throat. A few seconds later the sound of Stacey's board went rustling off and she sighed as she walked into the 'foodcourt' to find Larry with two cups of coffee.
"Well aren't you a sight for sore eyes." Sheryl snorted in spite of herself and smiled at the old man.
"Diddo you oldie." Larry scoffed and nudged one of the cups towards her and gave her one of his famous stares. Sheryl sighed; everybody seemed to give her those stares these days. It was like they didn't trust her.
"I met Stacey, I was to tell you that he's quitting." Larry merely nodded as if he already knew this and Sheryl frowned annoyed as he kept staring at her.
"What!" she snapped and looked away, shamefaced at her rude tone. Larry wasn't faced at all; he merely raised his cup to his mouth and after taking a sip he put it down again, without taking his eyes off of her.
"Sorry" she murmured properly chastised by just a look and raised her own cup to take a delightful sip. Larry always made the best coffee known to man.
"The boys and Stacey taken good care of you?" Sheryl smiled at Larry's nonchalant way while his tone meant business and looked away from him under the pretence of enjoying how the sun seemed to peek up outside.
"Yeah-" she smiled in remembrance "-they've all been very nice. They've taken me with them to skating competitions and I've made some new friends." Sheryl had trouble remembering how things had been before, when there had been no friends. Larry hummed behind his cup and looked around the place noncommittally.
"I've had this restaurant for seven years, it's been my life. Now I'm not so sure my obsession with profit was for the best." Sheryl looked up at Larry surprised at his words and found him to look a lot older then he'd ever looked before with his wrinkles and slouch around his mouth.
"It's not too late for you, you know? Just get out there and live your life." Sheryl smiled encouraging but Larry merely smiled at her.
"Do you know how old I am?" Sheryl shook her head shyly; she knew that one were never to guess another's age.
"I am fifty-seven years old." He looked her in the eye with a content look.
"I've lived my life in my own way. Make sure you try to live your own life to the fullest Sheryl, you never know when it might end." Sheryl was amused in the beginning of his speech; he made it sound as if he were seventy-five but she felt her face drain of blood at the end and snapped her head up worriedly. Larry was giving her a pleading look and Sheryl smiled in relief and acquiescence.
"I know what you're saying Larry and I agree with you, but my searching will just have to be postponed for a little while longer." She smiled softly to give the whole a lighter tone, but Larry still sighed with a resounding sigh and glanced up at the clock, Sheryl following his movement.
"Time to open up and start cooking." Sheryl smiled and jumped down from the stool to stand on the floor and began taking down all the chairs from the tables.
"You know Neil is fond of you." Sheryl raised an eyebrow at Larry just as she was taking down a chair, amused at the sudden input.
"Okey Larry" she chuckled and went to start the coffee machine.
"I'm just saying that's all Sheryl-" he lowered his chin and pinned her to stand still with his gaze "-don't you think it's time for you to start thinking about a boyfriend? There's plenty of them standing in line." Sheryl laughed; both at the absurdity of Larry trying to 'hook her up' and his strange timing. She waved a dismissive hand in the air.
"Boys are stupid. Besides, there is no boy that could handle me" she teased and snorted to herself before smiling at Larry.
"You have to start letting people in, otherwise they'll all react like Stacey did." Sheryl's head snapped up and uncharacteristically glared at the man as he turned to take down the last chair.
"He quit. I shouldn't be forced to open up. If they want to leave, then they'll leave." She tied her apron around her waist and tied up her hair, ignoring Larry.
"You have to let go of all of that about your mother Sheryl." Sheryl merely snorted and scowled. He knew nothing of her mother or her for that matter.
****
Twelve days later and Sheryl was a total wreck. Her hair hung lifelessly down her back, her skin was pale and washed out yellow, and she had huge bags under her eyes from fatigue. She had managed to disguise the worst of it with make-up, but most weren't fooled. Especially not Sid and Larry.
Sheryl was stapling the dishes from a table in her arms and looking as a family of three struggled to get dressed. The father quickly put on his jacket to kneel down by his daughter to help her mother get their daughter dressed. Sheryl smiled at the little girl who was looking up at her, very much in the way that Sheryl herself used to look at older girls when she was in that age. With admiration.
"Thank you" the mother smiled with a nod and Sheryl took that as her cue and left politely. She gave a tight-lipped smile to the new girl in the kitchen who gave Sheryl a scowl as she dropped of the dishes; lacking the teasing tilt Stacey's 'kitchen-scowls' used to have. Sheryl sighed and raised her eyebrows at Neil who stood nearby and gave her a noncommittal shrug. She'd been counting the days, making sure she'd taken all of her medicine and merely smiled at her father when he expressed his worries.
'It's just migraines daddy, you know I can take care of myself.'
During these twelve days she hadn't met Stephen or anyone from his gang. She wasn't sure if she wanted to deal with his view on things, and she was most certainly not telling him about her condition.
Sid had visited her, and shown to be a more trusted and cherished friend then she'd suspected, and often brought Jay with him to talk and spend time with her. Once or twice, Jay had brought Kathy with him and during those two times Sheryl and Sid would exchange a look and Sheryl would then proceed to slouch in her seat and try to act superior to Kathy as she scowled at Sheryl.
"You know, it's not good for your posture to slouch in that way." Sheryl looked up to sneer at the voice but froze and instead grinned happily. Sid stood leaning on his elbow in front of her with his head tilted and smiling.
"Like wise to you, your head's gonna implode from all that excess cockiness." Sheryl smiled at Sid and stuck out her tongue teasingly. There was something about Sid that brought out the childish side in her. Sid merely scoffed and made a nod to someone behind him, Jay who gave her a moody nod, and Sid rolling his eyes in response; showing that Jay had been in this mood for the entire day.
"Anyway-" Sid interrupted as Sheryl's eyesight had gone back to Jay who stood staring at her right back "-we thought we'd come by and maybe persuade your co-workers to let you take your lunch and also treat us to some ice-cream." Sheryl made a loud laugh at the eagerness in the nineteen-year-old boy, and felt a pang of guilt when she saw how thrilled Sid looked at the sound of her laugh. She glanced around them in the full establishment and frowned sadly when she turned back to them.
"How about you guys come back later, around five or so, and we'll close up together and I'll treat you to some of that cold heaven." She grinned at Sid who pouted at her tease; he'd referred ice-cream to being a piece of heaven and then amended when Sheryl had given him a look. It was cold heaven, which only got him started on how all of the winter slopes in heaven were made of ice cream and he'd continued in that agenda for about twenty minutes. After sticking his tongue out a last second, Sid nodded somewhat disappointed but shooed Jay away and approached the door and exited with a last goodbye.
"I haven't seen you like that for a long time." Sheryl turned to Michael at his wistful tone.
"Sid is one of my best friends, so are you-" Sheryl grinned when Neil blushed "-yes you are, and you guys can always make me feel better. You're like my honorary brothers." Sheryl smiled widely at being able to define them correctly, but it dimmed when she saw how happy he seemed to be at the declaration, and moved forward to give him a hug.
"Just to make sure you know; I love you Neily." Neil shook his head and scowled at the nickname.
"I love you too" he sighed but smiled and gave her a one-armed hug before they turned back to work as more people arrived.
****
Three hours later Sheryl sat leaning back in one of the food court's sofa chair, laughing so hard that both Sid and Jay, despite their own laughing, were afraid of her falling backwards. Neil and the new girl had left a few minutes to five, Sid and Jay already seated at a table anxiously awaiting the revered ice cream, since Sheryl had promised to do the cleaning up. Both boys had been telling her about Sid's strutting at the previous party (Sheryl exclaiming laughingly: "So that was what I saw!"), Jay adding some of the finer parts, including the part that gave Sheryl teasing material.
"Thunder Monkey?" Sheryl gave jay an amused glance and therefore made him choke on his mouthful.
"Sid and Thunder Monkey, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G." Both Sheryl and Jay snorted as Sid sat up with an appalled face.
"I will have you both know that there was more then kissing going on." Sid straightened pleased and smirked to Sheryl and Jay who chuckled.
"Really? So you're one of those that.. Kiss.. and tell?" She shook her head and clucked her tongue.
"Why I never!" Sid grumbled and Sheryl found herself sharing yet another smile with jay. She'd been known to do that a lot lately. He seemed more mature nowadays, and therefore not giving her the same urge to throttle him. No, her throttling scenarios seemed more and more often end with her wondering how it would feel to kiss him. Have all of that energy solely focused on herself. 'Shit!'
Butterflies attacked her stomach with a vengeance and her face blanched in worry at being caught in her thoughts.
"Sheryl? Hey, you okey?" She shook her head to clear it before she nodded. Jay was leaning forward in his seat with his frame braced on his forearms on the table with a focused frown and Sid sat beside her rubbing her arm worriedly.
"Yeah I'm fine, got a little crazy there just a second." She frowned as she stared at Jay again, her butterflies attacking again when she noticed his undiminished focus, but it was like somebody had pulled out a plug cause her butterflies was drained away as she noticed the new look in his eyes. He was amused. 'He's laughing at me!'
Embarrassed she glared at him and shooed Sid's worries off with a careless shrug and dismissed Jay for the rest of the afternoon.
As they stood by her front door, saying goodbye, Sheryl still felt sore over her feelings and how see-through she seemed to be with Jay. He stood a few steps away, Sid had just given her a half-hearted hug, concerned over her distracted focus, and Sheryl stopped in mid-move to turn to him. Something he seemed to notice judging by his smirk.
"Aw, come on-" Jay murmured and stretched his arms out, catching her attention "-that is not the right way to make a boy like you." Sheryl froze and stared at him in shock. So did Sid, shifting his focus between the two of them. Jay was smirking widely with his head tilted to the side and leaning against one of the pillars by her door; he always seemed to find some surface to lean on.
"Oh I know-" she sighed in anguish and almost broke it at sight of Sid's shocked face (he had the face of someone seeing a piece of shit conversing with the dog who'd just dumped it.)
"You remember that time when you spied on me and saw me changing?" She didn't have to remind her further, the lazy smug smirk was telling enough of that fact.
"You remember what you said to me that night-" she walked away from her front door and closer to him, right into his face "-when you came rolling down the street on your skateboard?" '"You're probably a good friend-" "-but then you're always panting after Stacey."'
Jay's face clouded over before it went perfectly blank and Sheryl saw Sid react from the corner of her eye.
"And that-" she took even another step closer to him, ignoring how good he smelled "-is why I wouldn't want you to like me back. You're too closed off, you're like a stone." They stayed in that position for a minute, both breathing hard as if they'd just ran a marathon, or was trying to suppress their emotions; Sheryl flickering her eyes between his eyes and for a quick second to him mouth, determined to stare back into his eyes despite her embarrassment. Proving to him that she weren't gonna back down. Jay gave a tiny curl of the lips in response and gave her a long stare before he leaned forward; just enough to send her brain on vacation and spoke low enough so Sid couldn't hear.
"Well you're no open book either miss Parker. Don't think for one second that neither Sid or I believe you bullshit excuse of migraines." He slowly leaned back again and glanced at Sid before he looked back at her.
"You expect something, then you better sure as hell show the same courtesy." He turned spitefully and walked off, Sid giving Sheryl a small smile to soften the blow before trailing after Jay, who slung an arm around his shoulder. Sheryl sighed heavily and let her chin drop onto her key-bones.
"Hi honey." Her father's steps fell heavily on the floor and gave her a wide smile as he opened the door. Sheryl smiled back at him.
"Hi dad. You have a good day?" She patted his arm as she passed him, sagging contently in one of the chairs when she noticed that he'd already made them dinner.
"Yep, got a raise and you won't believe this beetle that showed up, incredible condiotion and-"
"Wait, what?" Sheryl stood and smiled at him, laughing and jumping to hug him when he nodded and smiled widely.
She shrieked happily and failed to notice Ben giving off a loud relieved sigh. This was why he'd worked so hard these last months, why he'd lost even more time with his girl, so that he could climb up that goddamned ladder to that larger sum and now be able to stop worrying.
"You don't have to work so much anymore." Sheryl frowned amused at the hand-off comment and looked up at Ben.
"I earn enough money now, for rent, so now you can work together your own money. All the money you decide to earn from now on will all be yours." Sheryl was still confused, and not really following his meaning, based on past reference.
"But, you've always said that as long as I live under your roof I'll have to pay rent." Ben was frowning at her, not really enjoying the feeling of being reminded of the things that he'd said during the period when he'd taken out his misery over Kim's leaving, on Sheryl.
"Yes well, that should only have applied to now when you're eighteen so I belive you've already paid for two years now." Ben gave a scowl at having to admit to being wrong, and checked the oven to see if their food was ready.
"Oh, well that's great!" Sheryl exclaimed after sensing the beginning of a storm in her father's mood. She smiled a small smile and fell back in her chair as she started thinking.
"Dad?" Ben hummed to show that he was paying attention.
"What am I supposed to buy for the money then?" Ben made a short laugh and Sheryl felt a pang of guilt in the same instance as a wave of anger towards her father who'd never paid attention enough to get to know her. She'd only posed the question so that in case he ever found out about the monthly withdrawal, he would merely assume that she was spending the money on herself.
"Try and live your life Sheryl. You're only young once, but don't spend it all in one place-" he pointed a finger at her; she figured he was trying to be parental and wise "you should save in case of harsher times."
Sheryl fought the urge to snort bitterly and merely smiled obediently.
Sorry, as always I am slow on the update. Hopefully you guys like it cause I have worked hard on these.
I want to thank you guys who up until now has regularly reviewed, they are very inspiring! Have a good one!