Strange Connection

Chapter Six

A crunching noise followed by the sound of commercials on television filled Toni's trailer once again tonight, or more technically speaking, morning. It was 7:00 AM, eight hours after the brunette had left the not-so-great party. Toni left very shortly after Cheryl did and had been sulking ever since. She found her old recordings of Full House and started watching them immediately not allowing herself to think any more about the events of the last hours.

Toni slurped up the last of the soggy cereal in her bowl and put it down on the coffee table in front of her. She leaned over the side of her couch and felt around with her hand until she found the bright yellow Captain Crunch box. The Topaz girl tipped the box upside down next to her bowl. Sadness instantly spread upon her face when she saw only a measly five pieces fall out into the discolored milk. She peered into the box to find only the plastic bag. Empty.

The box sailed through the air and landed across the room near the TV as she sighed deeply. She might have been acting a bit dramatic recently. However, nothing in her social life had ever affected her this badly, not even losing Sweet Pea and Fangs. Sure the loss of her best friends was tough, but she was much younger then and less worried about the future. Nowadays Toni thought through every move she made like she was in some real-life version of chess. When she made mistakes back then she might have only been sacrificing a pawn, whereas now she could be losing her queen.

Her social career was at an all-time low. She'd lost practically everyone, and now she would have to go through a complete reconstruction. You'd think a clean slate would be something Toni would have wanted, but she never even considered an instance where a fresh start meant no Cheryl. The redhead was probably her only good option for a real friend, plus she already felt the connection and potential there. She always promised herself that one day they could be friends and that they would be better than all those popular wannabes Toni would have left behind. However, this was not the case, and she didn't come up with a backup plan.

Toni rubbed her temples as her eyebrows scrunched together. Why did I do this to myself? Maybe it's just me. I managed to cause a rift between all the relationships I had in one night. She grunted at herself and leaned back against the couch in defeat.

She looked over to the digital clock on the oven and cursed herself again for wasting too much time before she had to go to work. She stumbled through the halls because of her lack of movement for the past hours. By the time Toni had gotten her jeans and yellow uniform on, it was 9:30 and she needed to get going.

She recklessly got into the driver's seat of the truck and pulled down the mirror. The brunette was looking much worse than normal. The day-old makeup and bags under her eyes were most likely the cause, but she wasn't about to risk being late to work in order to fix it. It probably wasn't smart staying up all night anyway, so she blamed herself. Like she always does.

She coasted down the cracked roads of the Southside thankfully making most of the lights so as to not anger her even more. She worked at Pizza Palace, which was a restaurant chain in Centerville. Of course, Toni only chose it because it was far away from everyone that she knew.

She didn't have any music playing since she wasn't in the mood, which dangerously gave her mind a chance to wander. Toni didn't hurt Cheryl that night. She stood up for her yet lost everyone because of it. It was so unfair. 

Hatred grew in the girl and she had no way of controlling it. The weekend served as a good buffer for Toni to cool down, but a wave of anger this huge would certainly have many repercussions, especially for a shy Blossom girl on Monday.

...

Red hair flew threw around the room as Cheryl paced back and forth. Her hands were running through her hair, parting it, and then combing through it again. Needless to say, she was nervous.