Cherry Cheeks

Chapter 2 - Scarlet

Chapter 2 - Scarlet

“This is Shane” Sara said shoving him towards Cherry, she sighed and said hi. He was tall with dark features and a welcoming smile.

“Hey” He said sitting down next to Cherry and Eliza. “I’m a fourth year as well, in nursing”

Cherry didn’t want to be at the bar in the first place and Eliza liked to stay in and talk and study. But Sara wouldn’t take no for an answer. They stayed for a couple of hours and got to know Shane. He wasn’t a bad guy. He had travelled from England and studied the past three years of nursing over there. That’s why Cherry hadn’t seen him around campus.

“Well it was nice meeting you girls, I’ll see you around” Shane said picking up his jacket to leave. It was pouring outside which Cherry wasn’t looking forward to. It was the only reason she hadn’t left already.

“We should get going as well” Eliza said, finishing off her drink. The three girls braced themselves for the rain and quickly ran to the car. Cherry started started it, like she said she would. She wouldn’t let Sara or Eliza drive; she was the only one that hadn’t drunk that night.

The sound of her phone ringing woke Cherry from the first deep sleep she’d had in weeks. She got up slowly and felt around the bedside table for her phone. It wasn’t there. She sighed, this meant she actually had to get up and look for her phone. It had somehow ended up on the floor, she reached for the phone and looked at the caller ID.

It was private, Cherry sighed and answered it. “Hello?” She moaned, still half as well. No one was there, she threw her phone on the bed and got ready for her class. She only had a week to learn the psychological logic before they had to sit an exam. Cherry was nervous of not getting a high enough score. She usually got top marks but lately she didn’t seem to have her head in the game.

“Was that your phone?” Eliza asked, rubbing her face. She seemed annoyed as she stepped out of bed.

“Yeah, no one was there though. That’s weird right?” Cherry said gathering her papers and books. She had a knee-length black dress with a vintage style denim jacket – and her boots. She checked to see if her hair was right in the mirror and turned back to Eliza. She had gone back to sleep. She didn’t have to get up for a couple of hours, and with the night they had the night before, it wasn’t surprising.

“Enjoy last night, Cherry?” Sara called, from across the hall. “How babe’n was Shane, seriously”

Just about everyone turned around. While Cherry’s cheeks went red as she rolled her eyes and mumbled under her breath. “Oh my god...”

Sara was wearing her usual over-the-top outfit for a day at Uni. She had a purple scarf with different patterns on it, a pink silk dress and black high heels.

“Yeah he was nice” Cherry answered when Sara finally caught up.

“He definately likes you!” Sara said, smiling at her friend.

“No, what? No way.” Cherry answered, her face going even redder than before.

“What’s not to like?” Sara replied.

“God... Everything...” Cherry answered, thinking of all the reasons why this wouldn’t be the case.

Sara sighed and pushed her friend into the class ready for the lecture. Cherry seemed to be lost in thought for the first half. Was it something Sara had said? Cherry quickly jotted down the parts she found important for her test to study them later than day.

The days went by and before Cherry knew it was the day before the exam

“Don’t worry you’ll ace it, you always do.” Eliza said, re-assuring her best friend. This was true Cherry aced all her tests in Forensics.

“I hope so” Cherry said looking over her notes. She tried to memorize certain words and write them out, it was her learning tactic.

“What’s up with you lately you haven’t been yourself?” Eliza said, putting down her phone.

“What do you mean?” Cherry replied, still into her studying.

“Well we haven’t talked much, and how was your holidays? I’ve told you everything I did; now it’s your turn. Now spill!” Eliza said, eagerly wanting to know what was making Cherry distracted.

Cherry looked up from her notes. She put them down and looked at Eliza. She had known her for three years. She was the closest friend she had, sure Sara was close. But Eliza knew everything about her; they didn’t even have to talk. They could just sit in silence and still know that they were in each other’s company.

But lately Cherry was pulling away from everything. She had never told anyone this before so she hesitated awhile. Was she ready to tell someone her past?

She thought about it long and hard and finally came to a conclusion. Eliza was the best friend she’d ever had.

The best friend she’d ever had since Scarlet.