𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐘 𝐒𝐀𝐓 𝐃𝐎𝐖𝐍.
she didn't say anything.
the group sat in silence, waiting for her to say something.
"cherry, i'm sorry." leia began.
"good." cherry said, and searched her pockets for a mirror.
"but i'm not gonna break up with jay for you. i really like him. you were just gonna play him!"
"you don't know that. i'm not incapable of fucking falling in love with someone."
"aren't you?"
"i'm gonna set you and those hideous fucking overalls on fire."
the group tried to avoid making eye contact with either girl.
"don't be an asshole, leia." gwen said.
"why are you taking her side? he's my boyfriend." leia said.
"you knew she was fucking him." gwen looked at leia, and glanced at cherry. "and you knew she liked him. you're both in the wrong."
"she is, i'm not." cherry shrugged.
leia stormed off.
gwen took one look at cherry.
it was like deciding who's side she was on.
gwen followed after leia, as usual.
cherry adjusted her lipgloss in the mirror, trying to ignore everything that had happened.
"i'm on your side." ozzie whispered.
cherry laughed.
"me too." nikki said.
"i'm on your side because she's on your side." nate looked at his girlfriend. "and because it's messed up."
cherry smiled at the group of people.
"oh, i gotta take off." nikki glanced over the time on her phone. "i'm meeting my sat tutor in 20 minutes."
"but you're already so smart! you helped me escape from that trampoline." nate reminded.
"babe, i need to ace the sats, get into a good college, cure a disease, and have my face on a stamp so my enemies can lick it." nikki said, and kissed her boyfriends cheek.
she walked out the back door.
nate leaned against the couch's arm rest.
"she's spending a lot of time with that tutor guy." nate said, worried.
"let's jump him." cherry suggested.
"is someone feeling jealous?" ozzie questioned.
"no, i am! and i do think we should jump him! i mean, she's with this guy all the time. do you guys think i have anything to worry about?" nate asked.
"i think you should go find the tutor and fucking murder him so he doesn't get in the way of your relationship!" cherry said, slightly projecting.
she zoned out for the next few minutes.
maybe she wasn't ready to hangout with her friends just yet.
maybe tomorrow.
she could spend the day being angry, and return fresh the next day.
"i'm gonna go." cherry said.
she walked up the stairs, and entered the kitchen.
leia, gwen, jay, and for some reason, gwen's mother were having a conversation.
"hi." gwen greeted.
"hey." cherry said.
jay walked into the house.
"i missed you so much." jay said, wrapping his arms around her.
"missed you too." leia said, with a smile.
cherry gagged. "corny ass motherfuckers."
"what, did he just get back from iraq, or something?" gwen's mom questioned.
"they've been apart for one day. her grandpa banned him from the house." gwen explained.
'thank fucking god. i love leia's grandpa.' cherry thought.
cherry began to text her chauffeur.
"sounds like reds being a hard ass like my dad. he never believed in me. sometimes i wonder if that might've screwed me up." gwen's mother wondered.
"no!" gwen said sarcastically.
"that's nice, hon, but i really think he did. the point is, adults should be more understanding, you know? i mean, just throwing rules out at kids is not the answer."
"so you'll sign off on me getting a tattoo?"
"sorry, lady. i'm fine with you making mistakes, but not permanent ones. tattoos, babies, and duis, the unholy trinity."
leia's eyes lit up, signaling she had an idea.
"wait, isn't the dentist, like, 5 minutes away? jay, why don't we go pick up my grandma?" leia suggested.
"i know this isn't the sexiest thing i've ever said, but i'm pretty sure your grandpa can kick my ass." jay frowned.
"it would show him how responsible you are." leia ignored the comment.
"yeah, and while you're at it, you gotta let red know that you're tired of him judging ya. and still, to this day, making you feel unworthy, disrespected, and like you're not a good mom!" gwen's mother cried out.
"i feel like that wasn't all about us." jay whispered to his girlfriend.
cherry looked out the door.
gwen glanced between her and leia.
"cherry, how about you drive us? you're the only one of us who has a car, anyways." gwen suggested.
she hoped that spending more time would get the pair to forgive each-other.
"ew, no thank you." cherry glanced at jay.
"please?" gwen begged.
"ugh, whatever." cherry searched for her keys in her purse.
she made sure to order an uber for her chauffeur, so he could just leave the car.
"thanks, cherry!" leia smiled, in an attempt to be the bigger person.
"ew, don't thank me. i'm doing it for your grandma, because i love her, not for you." cherry scoffed.
«───── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ─────»
jay gripped the steering wheel, looking up into the mirror to watch cherry.
cherry decided that she didn't want to drive, and let jay do it.
leia's grandmother was in an entire different world.
"give my regards to broadway, remember me to herald square! your turn!" kitty sang.
"something, something , something broadway! old people seem to like this song!" gwen sang along.
"don't encourage her!" leia begged.
"but this is fun! she's high as a kite, that's also on drugs!" gwen said.
cherry laughed, as did kitty.
"grandma, can you please chill out?" leia begged.
"boo!" kitty called out.
"don't be a bum." valentine glared.
"yeah, boo!" gwen agreed.
the trio of girls began to yell out boo.
leia rolled her eyes.
jay carefully focused on driver, continuing his occasional glances at cherry through the mirror.
"wait, we just passed a tattoo shop. stop!" gwen begged.
"forget it, gwen. my only job is to get her home safe, okay? i'm not stopping for anything." jay denied, immediately.
"can we stop for mcdonald's?" cherry questioned, staring out the window.
"red light!" leia yelled.
the car screeched to a stop.
kitty almost hit her head on the seat in front of her.
"come on, this is my chance! your grandmas out of it, she'll sign the release." gwen begged. "right, mrs. forman? you want me to get a tattoo, don't you?"
"yeah, and then let's steal a boat and go to vegas!" kitty grinned.
"no! we're going home, we're putting grandma to bed, and we're showing my grandpa that jay is a responsible human being." leia frowned.
kitty sighed.
"boring." gwen said.
"literally. you guys are losers." cherry yawned.
suddenly, kitty placed her hands over jays eyes.
he screamed.
the car came to a stop, and the trio of girls in the backseat got out.
"we'll be quick!" gwen reassured.
«───── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ─────»
the trio of girls re-entered the car.
"finally." jay turned back.
"let's see it." leia said.
"oh, i bailed on the tattoo. some lady cut in front of me, and it was taking forever." gwen complained.
"yeah! i wanted to get a tattoo in between my ti-"
cherry began.
"i got a tattoo!" kitty cut her off, holding up her arm. "to vegas!"
cherry gasped.
the ride home was silent, and awkward.
kitty went upstairs to take a nap, while the rest of the group tried to figure out what to do.
when she came back downstairs, she was back to normal.
and had seen the tattoo.
kitty tried to go about her day normally, but she couldn't focus.
"a tattoo? i don't even wear waterproof mascara!" kitty said, nervously.
"reds gonna kill me." jay said, nervously.
"good, i hope he does. i'll help him." cherry mumbled.
"gwen." leia said, angrily staring at the girl across the room.
"i know, but at least i stopped her from getting a bar wire tramp stamp!" gwen reminded. "so you're welcome."
"ooh. i want a bar wire tramp stamp." cherry planned out.
leia turned to her nervous grandma.
"grandma, i am so sorry. none of this was supposed to happen.. how are you cooking dinner right now?" gwen questioned.
"well, it is helping me deal with the stress of waking up with a flipping tattoo!" kitty held our her arm.
gwen's mom rushed back into the house.
gwen had called her back, begging her to come back and help calm down kitty.
"what's the emergency? did you run out of eggs? 'cause i don't know how that happened." gwen's mom said.
"look what happened at the dentist." kitty held her arm out.
"holy crapola!"
"my mother would be rolling in her grave, if we hadn't spread her ashes in the parking lot of the sizzler by her church."
gwen's mom turned to her daughter.
cherry awkwardly sat in the corner, now waiting for her chauffeur to arrive.
"did you get one, too? you've been talking nonstop about tatties." gwen's mom questioned.
"no! you told me not to get one, and i always follow what you tell me." gwen said.
"good, cause those things are a one way ticket to whore town." gwen's mom said, taking a deep breath.
kitty and cherry had the same reaction.
they both had tattoos, now.
"ooh, i'm in whore town. that sounds hot." cherry grinned.
"sorry." gwen's mom said, awkwardly.
"are you sure there's no way to get this off?" kitty asked. "is there a special cream or something?"
"if there was, i wouldn't have fred flintstone riding a surfboard on my hip bone." gwen's mom said, with a sad look on her face.
suddenly, the front door slammed.
"that's red! god lord, what is he gonna think?" kitty panicked.
"oh man, he's gonna he pissed! stomp around, probably take away my allowance." gwen's mom said, and everybody looked at her, confused. "sorry, it's a dad flashback."
cherry awkwardly nodded, continuously checking the drive way for her chauffeur.
"you need to get out of here." leia said, as if he was on the run for murder.
"no, i'm not leaving you here to take the blame." jay looked into her eyes, romantically.
"ew. so i'm good?" cherry asked, standing up.
"if he has the blame thing covered, i'm out." gwen said.
the two girls stood up, and attempted to walk out the door.
"hang in." gwen's mom stopped her. "take these, we're out of fresh produce."
gwen grabbed the bag of fruit, and the pair of girls left the house.
«───── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ─────»
cherry rolled over in her bed.
she hated that day.
seeing jay and leia together made her want to rip her eyes oht.
maybe she'd just stay at home forever.
she'd never make the same mistake she had with jay.
she'd built up the walls around her heart for 15 years, and it'd taken jay 2 months to knock them down.
she wished that all of her life's problems would go away.
it was time for her to go.
the only thing that had been keeping her there was jay, and he was gone.
cherry wanted nothing to do with him.
she could find someone else to want her.
someone else to make her stay.
she desperately wanted to be loved, and she finally let herself, and it hurt.
cherry needed jay to fix her.
to fix the dependency.
to hurt her with his love one more time, so she'd finally stay away and learn her lesson.
how did people love each-other?
how did they not get bored?
the day was done, but she'd barely survived it.
she still had to be in point place for another few weeks.
maybe, in one of those days, jay's sense would come back to him.
they could continue their cycle of pretending that their love ended the next day.
that the horrible aching feeling would stop.
cherry needed jay to love her again, and fix her.
make her loveable.