Toni's pov
Toni got out of bed with an irritating headache. She had spent most of her night at a party with flashing lights, blasting music, bottles of beer and straws of jingle jangle. Good thing she stayed away from the last one, otherwise, her migraines would have been much more agonizing.
Toni took some painkillers before getting dressed and ready to go to school. Going to school meant seeing Cheryl, seeing her meant talking to her. But what would Toni even say to the redhead? Cheryl had told her she needed some time to think about what happened that night.
Toni hoped she felt the same feeling she felt. Cheryl had to after a kiss of such passion, right? Toni would have to see for herself after gathering enough courage to talk to her.
-
Toni pulled up to Riverdale High to once again, be greeted by Fangs and Sweetpea. She looked up to notice grey clouds had begun to form.
"Looks like it's gonna rain today," Toni assumed, looking back down at her friends.
"Great! It'll be Fangs' first shower in weeks," Sweetpea joshed.
"Surprised you even know what a shower is," Fangs sneered.
Toni looked around to not see Jughead anywhere again, neither was Cheryl. She'd assumed they were already inside the school. She hoped she'd have enough time to talk to her before the first period started.
"We should probably go in by now,"
"Yeah we should, but don't forget, Serpent meeting tonight," Sweetpea added.
"How could I forget, I'm second head in charge now, remember?" she reminded him.
"And you gotta act like you are, you gotta let the Serpents know you're in charge,"
"Don't sweat it, Fangs, I can handle this," Toni assured.
Toni ignored the rain as the first raindrops began to drizzle.
"It's a big responsibility you got on your hands now,"
"You sure FP made the right decision?" Sweetpea added with a hint of envy.
"Is someone getting a little jealous," Toni teased.
Toni couldn't help but acknowledging the rain as the drizzle turned into a downpour.
"Come on guys, let's go in. Maybe later we can convince Weatherbee to let us start the club,"
-
Toni glanced at her phone to check how much time she had left. She had barely three minutes to find Cheryl before classes were in session. Looking for the redhead, Toni didn't notice the girl walking in her direction not paying attention either. They bumped into each other which made the other girl drop her school supplies.
"I'm so so sorry, let me get that for you," Toni apologized, picking up the girl's books.
"oh, it's alright-"
Before raising her head, Toni realized the girl had curled ginger hair as she retrieved her red binder.
"Cheryl, it's you," she said eagerly "I feel like we should talk about something, and I think you know what,"
Cheryl's cheeks reddened softly. Toni wasn't sure if she was either flattered or embarrassed or both. She hoped it was the first one.
"Uh- some other time, first period starts soon, we shouldn't be tardy," maybe it was the second one.
"Can we pleeease just talk about last night," Toni pleaded.
"I think it's best if we discuss this later," Cheryl evaded the subject "as I stated, we don't want to be running late,"
The students in the hall began to rush to their classes as the bell rang.
"Maybe during lunch, we can have this conversation," Cheryl proposed as she headed to her classroom.
"I-" Toni stood in the center of the hallway, watching the redhead walk away from her.
Cheryl's pov
Cheryl sat at the lunch table looking down at her food. She played around with the week old fries, just pushing them around with her fork, not eating. She didn't feel like eating, she wanted to talk to Toni but she was anxious.
"Why aren't you eating, Cher?" Josie tilted her head at Cheryl.
"I'm just not that hungry, I guess," she muttered.
"Come on, I know something's up. Tell me what's on your mind,"
"I just feel a bit... doubtful," she sighed "... about talking to someone,"
"Cheryl, if this is about some a guy, you know you'll totally slay queen!" Josie cheered up the redhead.
"Wouldn't be too sure about that," she rolled her eyes playfully "Toni makes me feel so skittish,"
"Well, this Toni guy will definitely fall for you,"
"You're close..." Cheryl murmured under her breath.
"What was that?"
"Uh-nevermind, nothing," she stuttered "You're right, I'm going to go talk to Toni,"
Cheryl got up from her table not knowing where to look for her. The only person she could think of who might have known was her cousin. She pulled out her phone to text Betty.
Cheryl: u no Toni?
Betty: ya
Cheryl: u no where she might be?
Betty: with the other serpents
Betty: lunch tables near the south end of the yard
Cheryl: thx
-
"You wanted to talk to me?" Cheryl walked up to the Serpent at her lunch table.
"Yeah, I was just about to go look for you," Toni got up from her seat "Let's go somewhere more private,"
The two girls made their way to the empty school hall. They entered the student lounge which was surprisingly empty as well. Toni sat on a small ecru colored sofa whilst Cheryl decided to stand next to her.
"So I'm pretty sure last night is a night neither of us will forget," Cheryl began
"But what's wrong then, why were you avoiding this conversation earlier?"
"I-I just feel a bit embarrassed," she admitted
"Of me kissing you," Toni looked down
"No, not that, not at all, I just don't think I handled it properly,"
"What do you mean?" Toni raised an eyebrow.
"When I said we should just be friends,"
"So you think we could be more?" Toni's face lit up. Cheryl felt horrible about letting her down like this. She could tell the Serpent clearly liked her, but she just couldn't be with her.
"I mean, I think I was being too hard on you, I still do think I need to sort out my emotions and you deserve someone who can be there a hundred percent,"
"And you're saying you can't give me that.."
"I'm really sorry Toni, I truly wish I could,"
"Is it because of your parents?"
Cheryl stood there in silence, just staring at Toni. She didn't know how to respond to her question. Toni had already seen how her parents discipline her, she felt so embarrassed knowing that Veronica and Betty were there as well. Cheryl didn't want Toni to know more about her abusive parents and her awful home life, she was ashamed of it. But she couldn't think of any other reason to let Toni down. Was Cheryl so certain she was just emotional at the time or did she genuinely enjoy the kiss?
Cheryl's phone vibrated, her news app notified her. It might seem a bit strange to have notifications on the news app activated, but in a small and crime filled town such as Riverdale, any news could be groundbreaking.
More like earth shattering. Cheryl froze still after she had just read that the authorities had found ransom money for her brother's murder.