now tell me, how did all my dreams turn to nightmares?

Chapter 7

"And you being you is going to make Reggie and his goons give up on their mission to destroy you?"

"Reggie Mantle and Chuck Clayton do not scare me," Cheryl argued, knowing full well how scared she had been during their last confrontation.

That wasn't you. You aren't weak. The real Cheryl Blossom doesn't take shit from anyone.

"I worry about you, alright?"

"I'm fine," she said, looking at the road ahead. "Today will be different, better. Things are finally starting to look up for me."

-

"Come on, class, settle down." Mr. Fludsnüt, a slender man with stark white hair, attempted to control his class to no avail. His voice was surprisingly uplifting, contrasting the years apparent across his face.

Cheryl sat in the back of the room next to Sweet Pea, who was her lab partner for the semester. She stared ahead, waiting for the rest of the class to stop talking so they could start the day's lesson.

Their teacher made his way down the rows of tables, dropping off worksheet packets at each station. "We will be continuing our study of the Law of Constant Composition with a lab today. Anything on the supply list outside of the usual equipment can be found at the front of the room on my station."

The rest of the class had long since quieted and collected the necessary supplies, with the exception of the table in the far right corner of the room. Despite multiple requests from Mr. Fludsnüt, Veronica and Josie continued to laugh and carry on rather loudly. No one had even begun the lab yet, and the pair had already been scolded multiple times.

"Miss Lodge, please go exchange seats with Miss Blossom," he said, his voice strained in annoyance.

Veronica looked up from her conversation with Josie, "What? Why?"

"Because this is the third time today I've had to ask you to quiet down and focus on the assignment, not to mention the countless times before now. I think a new partner may help both of you actually pass this class."

"You can't be serious about this, Mr. F," Josie urged.

The man's face showed no waver, "I'm sorry Miss McCoy. My decision is final."

Cheryl exhaled in frustration as she gathered her belongings and made her way to the front of the class, avoiding eye contact with Veronica as she passed. She sat down next to Josie and reopened her notebook to her notes on constant composition before turning to her once friend nervously.

"I really hope you understand all this because I just lost my science whisperer," Josie said, only slightly joking.

The redhead nodded, "Yes we need to run the experiment on a sample of potassium chlorate to determine the mass percent of oxygen present."

"Oh you're smart smart then?"

"I have a 4.0," Cheryl answered confidently.

Not entirely sure if that's true here, but it's not like I'm lying.

"Okay, Miss 4.0, how do we start?"

"First, we have to weigh these," she picked up one of the crucibles. "Then we'll add the potassium chlorate."

"Sounds easy enough so far," Josie grabbed the electric scale and slid it over the tabletop, positioning it between them. "And I'm sorry, what was your name again? I don't think we've met."

"Cheryl," she smiled.

"Well, Cheryl, it's nice to meet you. I'm Josie, as in Josie and -"

"The Pussycats," the redhead interjected. "I've heard your music. You guys are great."