TONI POV:
"Are you and Cheryl dating?" Veronica ask quietly. "No just friends." I lie. "So you wouldn't mind going on a date with me?" She ask smiling. I take a deep breath. "You know, I'm not really sure I want to date right now." I tell her. "Because your with Cheryl?" She ask quietly. "No, because you're not my type." I say quietly. "What's you and Cheryl's deal?" She ask pissed. I look at her. "Nothing. There's nothing!" I whisper. "That's a lie!" She says quietly. "What do you know?" I ask pissed. "I know that you go to see her at the hospital everyday." She whispers. "Because I'm a good friend! Unlike you." I say pissed. "I've seen her!" She says. "What? So you can get some information out of her about her mother and your dad?" I ask. She sits back. "That's what I fucking thought." I say before getting up and walking out of the student lounge.
I look at Cheryl and move some hair out of her face. "How are you?" I ask quietly. She looks at me. "I'm feeling better." She whispers. "You ok?" She ask quietly. "I'm ok." I whisper. She looks at me. "What's wrong?" She ask concerned. "I don't know." I say quietly. She sits up and bit. I look at her. "Tell me." She whispers. "I honestly don't know." I tell her. She nods. "Ok, but if something is bothering you, please tell me." I nod. "Of course." I smile. "I'm just tired, I think." I tell her. She nods. "How was school?" She ask quietly. "It was ok, Veronica still thinks she has a chance with me, which is funny because I have told he at least a million times that she doesn't." She smiles. "How was sitting in this room all day recovering?" I ask quietly. She takes a deep breath. "It was ok, the doctors still think that I'm getting out of here sooner than they thought but still another month." She says quietly. "Do you not think that?" I ask her. "I do, I just don't know how I'm gonna be able to be the same when I get home." She explains. "I mean, yeah. It's not but that's ok. You'll have a new life." I tell her. "You can always stay with me and my mom." I remind her. "Really?" I nod. She nods. "Ok." She whispers. "My mom loves you." I tell her. She smiles. "You know, not including you and a few other people. She was the only adult who believed me." She tells me. I nod. "It helped me heal." She adds. "My mom is good like that." I say quietly. "My mom never believed me. She just said I was drunk and all that bullshit, which I was but still that doesn't make it right." She says quietly. I nod. "You ok?" She ask quietly. I look at her. "Yeah!" I whisper. "No, what's wrong?" She ask concerned. "Nothing, I'm just happy you have support. Even if that means you stole my mother." She looks at me. I smile. "I'm kidding. You didn't steal her." I say quietly. She pulls me into a kiss. "I love you." She whispers. I smile. "I love you too babe." I whisper.
I hand Cheryl a box. "This is yours." I say sitting in front of her on the bed. She takes it. "What is it?" I shrug. "Open it." She opens it slowly and pulls out a stuffed animal. "Is this a penguin in a frog costume?" She ask quietly. I nod. She rolls her eyes. "Isn't it cute!?" She nods. "It's very cute babe." She whispers. "Is this my Christmas Gift?" She ask quietly. "There's more to come but I thought this would keep you off my ass for a little bit longer." She nods. "Smart. Does it have a name?" She ask quietly. "Yes, this is Wheezy, Wheezy's pronouns are He/They because it's an inanimate object and I said so. Also I need something to relate to." She giggles quietly. "This is why I love you." She says quietly. I smile. "Not to brag or anything but, I am the best girlfriend ever." I say smiling. "You're also the most annoying but it's ok."
"Hey sweetheart how's Cheryl doing today?" I look up and see Mom. "Ah! Good. She's a lot better today. She had physical therapy and she's starting to get feeling back in her arm. Which is good." I say quietly. She nods. "How are you? I know that was scary for you." She ask concerned. "I'm ok." I whisper. She nods. "I don't really want to talk about it." I tell her. "Ok." She whispers. "If you want to talk. I'm here." She reminds me. "Yeah." I say quietly. "What about what we talked about last night?" She ask me. "I'm not 100% sure but I want to do what I said I wanted to." I tell her. She nods. "What about pronouns?" She ask quietly. "I don't know." I say quietly. "Toni, this doesn't have to be awkward. Literally just tell me." She says annoyed. "I think I want to use He/They." She nods. "Ok." I nod. "Does Cheryl know?" She ask me. "Yeah." I whisper. "And?" She aak. "Well, we haven't broken up, so what do you think?" I ask her.
I look at Cheryl. "You ok?" She ask quietly. "I talked to my mom." I whisper. "And?" She ask sitting up. "She's trying to be supportive." I say quietly. "That's good." She says quietly. I nod. "Yeah." She looks at me confused. "You didn't seem that confident about it." She says quietly. "I think she thinks it a phase or something." She nods understanding. "Even if it is, you know I'll support you." She tells me. I look at her. "Really?" She nods. "It's your life." I smile a little. "Honestly I don't really care if I'm being honest, as long as you are happy and are comfortable as yourself I'm ok." She tells me.
2 months later
I look at Cheryl who's holding up a pair of boxers. "This is awkward." I tell her. "Do you want to feel comfortable in your own clothes?" She ask quietly. I nod. "Well, I know that these might help." She explains fixing her sling. "Why do I have to do this with you?" I ask quietly. "Because I want to help." She says quietly. "Ok." I whisper. "I also just needed to get out of the house and this is a good excuse." I nod. "How are you feeling?" I ask looking at shirts. "Better." She says quietly. "I'm starting to get feeling in my arm again, still can't really move it though." She says quietly. "That's good though!" She nods. "Can we go get food I'm hungry?" I ask quietly. "You're always hungry." She says looking at me. "Well, yeah. Food." She smiles. "Can we make it quick? I'm getting tired." I nod.
"You know, I do like the whole screened in porch." Cheryl says sitting next to me. I look at her. "You feeling better?" I ask quietly. "Yeah." She nods. "You ok?" She ask concerned. I hand her the paper in my hand. She looks at it. "You're not graduating?" I shake my head. "No." I whisper. "I don't have enough math credits. You know, from being in the hospital for 3 months and not having an amazing girlfriend to help me get the homework. I also didn't have time to finish everything." I say quietly. "Does your mom know?" She ask quietly. I shake my head. "I just opened it." I say quietly. I look at her. "I don't know what to do." I whisper. I look at her. "Well, I can do some of it for you. Well, you write and I tell you what to write." She explains. "Really?" She nods. "Yeah! I get really bored so it'll give me something to do since I can't really go back to school full time yet and I'm not really doing any work." She says quietly. "This is why I love you." I say smiling. She looks at me. "I didn't say that." I whisper getting up. I look at her. "I'm gonna head up to bed." She says quietly. "If you want to join me." She adds. "I'll be up in an a bit, I need to take a shower." I whisper. She nods. She goes into the house and I start crying.