i just want you to know who i am

Chapter 10

Cheryl looked out the window with watery eyes full of fear. She had no idea that Toni lived on the south side, in the trailer park that housed a majority of the town's gang members and criminals, no less. She didn't judge her for it, of course. Teenagers couldn't exactly choose their living situation. If they could, she would be far away from her own. But she wanted to know why it was such a secret, and how many people knew besides herself.

She wiped her eyes on her sleeve when Toni pulled the car into one of the dirt driveways, composing herself before following the brunette's lead and getting out. She grabbed her backpack and slung it around her shoulder while Toni took her duffel bag. She didn't question how heavy it was or how much she had packed. She seemed to just want to get Cheryl inside and out of the cold.

"The bathroom's the first door down the hall on the right if you need it," Toni explained quietly, leading her up to the concrete steps to the cheap metal door. The light above the door seemed to be broken, but the fluorescent blue bug zapper on the side of the mobile home provided Toni with the light she needed to unlock the door.

"Thank you," Cheryl whispered with a light sniffle. She didn't know what she expected when she walked in, but she was met with just a normal looking living room and small kitchen. The furniture was a bit worn out, but it was clean. The single-wide was obviously much smaller than what she was used to, but it had a much more welcoming feel to it than her own home.

She watched Toni take her duffel bag to a room past the one she said was the bathroom, biting her lip before ducking into the first door on the right. There was a lot of girly stuff in the bathroom. Hairspray, accessories, makeup, like what she assumed was a typical teenage girl's bathroom. But that's all she seemed to see. There was nothing in the bathroom that indicated anyone else living there. At least not any men. But Toni did say that her dad had passed away years ago. Maybe it was just her and her mom.

After taking a deep breath, she looked at herself in the small mirror, just barely recognizing the girl staring back at her. The disheveled redhead in her reflection looked exactly how she felt, exhausted, miserable, and terrified. Her face still stung from where her father had hit her. Not bruised yet, but the redness from the hit probably blended in with the consistent flush of her cheeks. She still couldn't believe he had done that. He'd gone as far as to break her arm just a few weeks after Jason died, but he'd never gone for her face. Regardless of whether he was drunk or not, he did it.

With a sigh, she tried to forget about all that. At least for tonight. She was safe and away from her parents. She was with Toni. But now she had to answer to her. After everything she said to her earlier, she was honestly surprised that the brunette had offered to help her. She hadn't been cruel, that she knew of. She was just so...honest. So brutally honest that she actually scared herself a little. And she knew that she would have to talk to Toni about it.

Taking off her glasses, Cheryl ran some cold water in the sink and splashed it against her face, trying to soothe the red, hot skin before hiding her face in a towel. Sobs were muffled behind the soft terrycloth as she tried to get the last of her emotions out, not wanting to cry like this in front of Toni. She pat down her skin, more gently on the left side and looked at herself in the mirror once more, willing herself to be brave before leaving the bathroom and looking around for Toni in the dim lighting of the trailer.

"Hey," the brunette greeted her in the kitchen with a half smile, "I dunno if you like tea, but I made some for you. It usually helps me relax."

"Thanks," she mumbled, her voice hoarse from crying, standing awkwardly by the counter.

Toni just smiled and handed her a mug with Tweety Bird on it before getting the sugar from one of the upper cabinets. She stirred some into her own tea and went to sit on the worn out brown sofa, waiting for her to join. Cheryl just repeated her actions, stirring a bit of sugar into her tea and padded over to sit on the couch, as far away from Toni as possible. Not that she didn't want to be near her. If anything, she wanted to be as close to her as humanly possible, craving the comfort. But she had a feeling that Toni didn't feel the same way.