Cherry

Chapter 1

The moon hung over a dark sky as thunder threatened an impending downpour. Heavy branches from the balding trees erecting from either side of an avenue created the illusion of a tunnel, famously dubbed Hell Hole by the generations of prepubescent kids and hormonal teenagers inhabiting Raven Hill. Legend said that if you crossed Hell Hole at night the Devil awaited at the end, ready to swallow you whole. Even though it was a myth presumably born in the mysterious corners of a Raven High boys' bathroom, its genesis attributed to Charlie O'Malley whose sole purpose was to gain the attention of Brad Falcon and his football peers on the summer of 82', whispers ran from lips to ears, reaching the adults in town at last.

Eventually people started avoiding driving anywhere that led to Hell Hole after 6:00 pm. No one said anything about it, but everyone silently agreed that they were better off drowning in hours of traffic than taking the creepy shortcut that could easily get them home. Well, everyone except Violet Salazar.

Violet jammed her foot on the accelerator, the tires of the 1975 pink thunderbird rumbling over the concrete. Her black hair danced in the wind as "Save Me" by Remy Zero blasted out from the recently renovated stereo. Her voice drowned August's own as she joined him on the heavy chorus. She stretched one arm, extending her fingers pretending to touch the stars that dangled on that late October night.

She was late again for dinner, all thanks to fat Hal and his unexpected shifts. Working at a liquor store wasn't exactly her dream job but the generous monthly contributions trickling into her bank account made it worth it. Besides, being the holly link between her underage classmates and the celestial alcohol catapulted her into an unwanted but appreciated status of relevancy inside Raven High's teenage bureaucratic system.

It was 9:45 pm as Violet turned left from Gilmore St, entering the dirt path leading to Hell Hole. The song was reaching its climax as the electric jamming of a guitar poured out from the stereo, giving Violet just a few seconds to prepare her vocal cords to scream her favorite lyrics out loud. But then a slight vibration under her leg snatched her out from the moment. She paused the CD and used her right hand to pull the phone while maneuvering the wheel with her left.

When she brought the phone to view it was still vibrating on her hand. She flipped it open, her boyfriend's name was flashing across the screen. She pressed the green button and placed the phone on her ear, a deep voice immediately filled it.

"Hi baby!"

"Hi babe, how are you? How did it go?"

"The concert was great, people loved it. The place was full, they were rocking their heads off, damn, it was so cool."

"Really?" she said dragging the y's "I so wish I could've been there with you"

"Hey, don't worry. You can make it up to me tomorrow. I was thinking we could go to Holly's Diner for some chocolate and banana pancakes. What do you say?"

"Love it, but my treat okay? You deserve it, after all, you are a rockstar"

"A rockstar in the making baby. I-"

Muffled voices interrupted Jonathan. Violet could hear a little bit of commotion and the distinct sounds of some of his bandmates in the back talking all over one another.

"Baby, sorry, I have to go. These guys want to go grab some beers. Call me when you get home okay?"

"Will do. I'll be there in 5 minutes tops"

"okay, love you."

"love you too, bye."

Violet hung up the call and threw her cellphone on the passenger's seat. It hit the buckle, bounced against the seat, and landed on the floor with a pronounced thud.