For the next two weeks, Cheryl and Toni worked diligently on their assignment. Despite their best efforts, they didn't finish until the day before it was due, putting the finishing touches on it over the weekend. They kept it professional, much to Cheryl's distaste, but the redhead was determined to not make the first move; this had to come from Toni.
Then there was the fear that everything would take a step backward after the project came to fruition. She couldn't help but wonder if their closeness was temporary. Cheryl hoped that wasn't the case; she didn't think she could survive losing Toni again.
They met before school, needing to use the school's copier to duplicate their project for the entire class. Toni seemed nervous about something, constantly biting down on her lip and zoning out. Cheryl was about to ask the girl if everything was okay when the machine silenced, alerting them that the final copy had been made.
"Can't believe this is done," Toni said.
"We still have to get through the presentation," Cheryl reminded her.
The shorter girl nodded, "Right, but the project is done."
Cheryl laughed, "I suppose you are correct."
"So, since the project is done, would you, uh, want to go out after school? To celebrate?"
"Wait. Are you asking me out on a date?" Cheryl asked, needing to be sure.
"Only if you want to," Toni answered. "If not, it can just be a friends thing. Ya know, no pressure."
A smile threatened to take over the redhead's face. Cheryl struggled to control the pure joy she felt. With as much composure as she could muster, she responded, "I'd love to, Toni. Truly."
"Great," the blonde grinned. "Uh, Pop's after school?"
"Sounds lovely," Cheryl assured.
The bell for first period rang. "Shit. Guess we better go," Toni said. "See you in third."
"See you in third!" Cheryl called after her. She collected their copies and headed to study hall feeling on top of the world.
-
"Presentation week," Miss Rollins singsonged as she walked into the classroom.
Cheryl was already in her seat, trying to contain the joy she felt as she stared at the back of Toni's bleached locks. Things were finally starting to move forward. They were going on a date. Sure, she still had a huge secret... multiple huge secrets for that matter. But it wasn't like Toni would believe her if she told her the truth.
She was surprised when Toni volunteered them to go first, taking Cheryl out of her thoughts at the sound of the girl saying her name. Cheryl handed out the copies before joining Toni in the front of the room.
"We were assigned Romeo and Juliet," Cheryl explained to the class. "The medium we chose to use was comic books."
Miss Rollins flipped through the book in her hand, "Very impressive."
"Cheryl did all of the drawing," Toni said. "She's an amazing artist."
"It would seem so," the teacher said. "Now, tell us about your adaptation."
Toni walked over to the computer, inserting a USB drive. She navigated to her project folder and opened the file. The digital copy of their project opened as an interactive, animated comic book.
"Romeo is a Southsider and a Serpent," Toni said.
"Juliet is a Northsider and captain of the River Vixens," Cheryl added. They had agreed to split their presentation rather than one person saying everything. "We wanted you all to have a copy as a 'traditional' comic, but we put together this multimedia option as well."
"I will now go through some of the pages we created," the blonde said before beginning to click through the comic. They alternated reading the panels, going through the book until their three minutes was up.
"That will be a difficult presentation to follow," Miss Rollins said. "You both did excellent work."
"Hear that, Cheryl?" Toni whispered to the redhead as she walked back over to her. "Your art was excellent."
"I believe she was referring to the entire project," Cheryl laughed.
"Nah," the shorter girl said. "That's all you."
-
"Will lunch ever end?" Cheryl grumbled.
Jughead shrugged, "I hope not. You going to eat that?"
Cheryl rolled her eyes and passed Jughead the rest of her fries. She wanted the day to go by faster; she needed the day to go by faster. Each passing minute was one minute closer to her date with Toni. The redhead's eyes sought out Toni. The girl was sitting where she had for the weeks since her breakup with Heather: with Archie, Betty, Veronica, Kevin, and Josie.
Toni turned her head, meeting Cheryl's gaze. She smiled and bit down on her lip, causing Cheryl to blush. The blonde turned back to her friends, rejoining their conversation.
"I need this day to go by faster," Cheryl said, her eyes still on Toni.
"Why?" her friend asked, his mouth full of burger.
She exhaled, "Perhaps I have somewhere more important to be."
"Like fourth period?"
Cheryl scoffed. "No. I need school in general to be over," she explained. "I... I have a date."
He looked up, wide eyed. "Wait, what?"
"Toni asked me out," the redhead blushed.
'Hey," Jughead smiled. "Congrats, Cher!"
"What are we congratulating?" Sweet Pea asked as he sat down at the table with Fangs.
"Cheryl has a date after school," Jughead answered.
"Who with?" Fangs inquired.
Jughead quirked an eyebrow at Cheryl, "You want to tell them?"
She glanced back at Toni's table to see the blonde already staring. Toni quickly averted her eyes and blushed, trying to play off that she wasn't looking when Cheryl turned her head.
"No shit?" Sweet Pea asked. "You scored a date with Topaz?"
"Perhaps," Cheryl answered, trying to prevent her skin from turning the shade of her hair.
Fangs smiled, "Happy for you, Cheryl."
"Yeah, Goose, congrats," added Sweet Pea. "A toast!" He held up his can of soda.
"Oh my God," Cheryl snapped, pulling the boy's hand down. "Do not do that."
"Fine," he huffed. "I was just trying to be a supportive friend."
"Be a supportive friend without causing a scene," she demanded.
"Sorry, Goose, but I don't know how to do that," he smirked.
Cheryl sighed and checked the time again, counting down the minutes until the day was over.
-
The afternoon drug on. It felt like the last two periods of the day would never end. All Cheryl wanted was to hear the bell ring so she could be free to see Toni. She had been waiting for this day for months, and she couldn't bear to wait another moment. As soon as the last period ended she rushed to the lockers and waited as patiently as she could for Toni to show up.
"Hey," Toni greeted her.
Cheryl blushed, "Hi." She hated how weak a single word could make her, but this was Toni, she'd always be weak for her, and Cheryl didn't mind that one bit.
"Ready to go?" the blonde asked.
They walked out of school, an awkwardness hanging between them. Cheryl eyed the parking lot for Toni's Tesla, but the vehicle was nowhere to be found.
"Where's your car?" the redhead asked.
"The weather was nice so I brought my bike," Toni explained. "I guess I assumed if you said yes, you'd be okay with taking it? Since you're in a gang and all that."
"A bold assumption," Cheryl smirked.
"We can always meet there. There's this booth in the corner I like to sit at, and we can—"
"Toni," Cheryl stopped her, "your bike is perfect. I don't have an issue with motorcycles."
"Really?" the shorter girl smiled. "Great. I brought my extra helmet and everything."
"Rather presumptuous of you," Cheryl blushed.
Toni shrugged, "I choose to think it was optimistic." She led Cheryl over to a purple and black Kawasaki Ninja, a far cry from the style the redhead was expecting.
"It's sporty," Cheryl said, unsure of how else to refer to the bike.
"I guess it is."
"I've never been on a bike like this."
"I'll keep you safe," Toni assured.
Cheryl grinned, "I trust you."
"Actually, I've been wanting to do this for a while now," Toni said as she handed Cheryl her spare helmet.
"Take me on a motorcycle ride?"
The shorter girl laughed, "Well that, but I meant asking you out on a date."
"You did?" Cheryl said, her voice in awe.
Toni nodded, "I was afraid after everything... I was afraid you'd say no."
"That wouldn't have happened," the redhead assured.
"Good to know," Toni smirked. "Now come on," she urged, throwing her leg over the bike. "And hold on tight."
-
They pulled into Pop's a short time later. The blonde hopped off the bike first and held her hand out to Cheryl, helping her off the machine. Toni helped Cheryl remove her helmet and returned the redhead's hand to her own.
"This okay?" she asked, swallowing nervously.
"More than," Cheryl smiled.
As they were walking into Pop's, one of the last people Cheryl would want to see opened the door.
Storm looked down, seeing their entwined hands and said, "Well, well, well. What do we have here?"
"Storm," Cheryl deadpanned.
"So you'd rather date some preppy Northsider than me?" the girl questioned.
The redhead smirked, "I'd rather date anyone than you. Now, get out of my way."
"Someone's hostile," Storm laughed.
"I believe she asked you to move," Toni said, causing an incredulous look to appear on Storm's face.
"Excuse me?"
"She asked you to move," the blonde repeated, standing her ground.
"You know what," Storm huffed, "whatever. Enjoy your meal. And, Cher, when you wise up, you'll know where to find me." She brushed past them and descended the steps to the parking lot.
Wordlessly, Cheryl and Toni walked into Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe. They walked to the back of the diner and slid into an open booth, sitting across from one another.
"So, who was your friend?" Toni inquired.
"An ex I can't seem to shake," Cheryl scoffed, running her hand through her hair.
The blonde quirked an eyebrow, "Anything I should be worried about?"
"Absolutely not," Cheryl said. "There's nowhere I'd rather be."
Toni nodded, blushing, "Cool."
"Hey, girls," Pop greeted as he walked up to their table. "What can I get you?"
"Cheeseburger, fries, and a double chocolate shake," Toni ordered.
"I'll have the same, but strawberry," Cheryl said.
"Be right back with that," the man said before leaving.
Their food came quickly, and the moment their order touched the table, Toni began to dig in. Cheryl was happy to see the girl's appetite was as insatiable as always. The redhead took a sip of her milkshake and hummed.
"Good?" Toni asked.
Cheryl nodded, "As always."
Everything felt so familiar. She couldn't help but think of their original first date, or rather, what she thought of as their first date. They had ordered the same milkshakes, and as she continued to drink hers, Cheryl couldn't help but smile.
It's good some things never change.
Toni was busy devouring her food, but Cheryl didn't want the date to end so soon. She wanted to talk, to get to know more about this Toni. Somehow she was at a loss as to what to talk about, so she fell back to a safe topic: school.
"That digital comic you made was very impressive, Toni," Cheryl said.
"Thanks," she answered. "My dad actually helped me get it set up."
"Oh?"
Toni dipped a fry into her ketchup before tossing the potato into her mouth. "Yeah, he's like super smart," she explains. "He led this tech startup thing, and it took off. He moved my mom and grandpa out of the Southside the second he could."
Cheryl blinked in surprise, "You're from the Southside?" For some reason that possibility had never occurred to her.
"My parents are," Toni corrected, "but I was born on the Northside. Still, the stigma follows. I basically had to vocally reject everything about my heritage and my family just to fit in. It may sound stupid, but when you don't have friends you do what you can." She took a deep, calming breath. "I'm surprised you didn't know this already... my grandpa helped found the gang you're representing on your jacket there."
Of course.
Cheryl didn't know why she didn't consider that before. How could the Serpents exist if the Topazes were Northsiders? It was a question she should have asked herself long ago.
"Hm," she hummed. "How about that."
Toni squinted her eyes, "You don't seem too surprised though?"
"Maybe things here aren't as different as I thought, that's all."
"You're not making much sense, Bombshell," Toni laughed, clearly confused.
Cheryl swallowed, her throat feeling dry. "B-bombshell?"
"Oh, yeah... that's sort of what I've been calling you in my head," Toni blushed. "It just felt right, ya know? Ever since that day in the hallway... I hope that's okay."
"More than okay," the redhead smiled.
"You know," Toni strained her posture in her seat, "I am sorry, Cheryl. I was the world's biggest bitch to you, but for what it's worth... I thought you were a knockout. I just had a really poor way of showing it."
"I can assure you," Cheryl said, "if anyone is going to understand that, it's me. Also, I've never thought you were the world's biggest bitch. That title belongs to Heather."
The shorter girl laughed, "I can't argue with you there."
"I haven't asked how you were doing with all of that lately," Cheryl said hesitantly.
"Much better, but I'd prefer not talking about my ex while I'm on a date with the prettiest girl in school."
Cheryl reached across the table and put her hand on Toni's. "I don't either, trust me, but I just wanted to make sure you're okay."
Toni glanced down at their hands and smiled, "I appreciate that."
The redhead nodded and withdrew her hand, using it to pick up a french fry from her own basket. "Anytime," she said before taking a bite. "And don't think I missed the comment you made."
"What comment?" Toni's brow furrowed.
"You called me pretty," Cheryl blushed.
"Ah," the shorter girl smirked. "I believe what I said was prettiest."
"I suppose you did."
"How's your food?" Toni asked, changing the subject abruptly.
Cheryl smiled, "Delicious."
"Same."
An awkward silence hung in the air. Cheryl couldn't explain why she was so nervous. Her and Toni had been on countless dates, many of which in that very establishment. It felt like the first, because in many ways it was. It was her first date with Northsider Toni, and she needed to get to know the girl all over again.
"I hate to sound like I'm taking a page out of a first date guidebook," Cheryl joked, "but what are your hobbies?"
Toni laughed, "Cheerleading, but you knew that already. Uh, I don't really have any right now I guess. I used to love photography."
"You mentioned that when we were working on our project," the redhead reminded. "I bet your shots were magnificent."
"They're alright. How about you?"
"Drawing, as you know," Cheryl said. "I don't do much otherwise."
"What about on the weekends?" Toni asked before taking a bite of her burger.
"I usually hang out with my friends," the redhead answered. She smiled fondly thinking of their antics, still amused that she considered the three boys her closest friends.
The conversation continued from there, discussing how they spent their time, favorite books and movies, and any question Cheryl could come up with. She asked Toni more about her family, learning Violet was given her name because a younger Toni begged her parents to name her after her favorite color. Her parents happened to genuinely like the name, but they let Toni believe it was her influence until her sister's fourth birthday.
Before long, the baskets and glasses were empty, and the date was coming to a close. It ended far too early for Cheryl's liking, but she wouldn't have changed a moment. It was perfect, even if it was on the shorter side.
"I can drive you home," Toni offered.
Cheryl smiled, "I'd love that."
Toni paid for their meal, insisting since she asked Cheryl out, and escorted Cheryl outside. They walked back to the Kawasaki hand in hand. She handed her the helmet, their hands briefly touching. The contact caused Cheryl to inhale quickly.
"Or," the shorter girl's face fell, "you could drive your car since your friend dropped it off."
The redhead turned around, seeing her Tempo parked two spots away. She knew what it meant, her friend left it for her as a way to get back home.
Damn it, Jughead. That boy doesn't think sometimes.
"I guess I should take my car home," Cheryl said, clearly disappointed. She returned the helmet to Toni.
"Maybe I could give you a ride some other time?" the blonde asked.
Cheryl nodded, "That would be marvelous."
There was something thick in the air between them, Cheryl was sure Toni could feel it too. She was sure the shorter girl was leaning in when a tiny voice yelled out.
"Toni!" Violet yelled as she came sprinting across the parking lot.
"Hey there, gremlin," Toni smiled, picking the girl as she collided into her arms.
"You eating dinner with me?" she asked, hopeful.
Toni shook her head, "I just ate with Cheryl. You remember Cheryl?"
"Hi, Cherrie," Violet said, looking over at Cheryl.
Despite the interruption, Cheryl couldn't help but smile at the small girl. "Hi, Violet. How are you?"
"Good," the girl answered before ducking her head into Toni's neck.
"Guess I need to see to this little one," Toni laughed.
Cheryl nodded in understanding. "Of course. I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Definitely," the blonde smiled. "And Cheryl?"
"Hm?"
"I had a really great time," Toni said, blushing as she spoke.
The redhead grinned, "I did as well. Perhaps we can do it again soon?"
"I'd like that, and you owe me another bike ride," Toni reminded.
Cheryl bit down on her bottom lip. "That I do," she agreed.
"Great. Bye, Cher," Toni said before catching herself. "Is that okay? I've heard other people call you that and I—"
"It's perfect."
Toni sat Violet down on the ground and bent down, "You want to wave bye to Cheryl?"
"Bye," the girl waved.
Toni took her hand and led her back over to her parents, who were standing next to a black SUV. Cheryl could see Jade mouthing "sorry" to Toni as the blonde walked closer.
Cheryl got into her car, finding the door unlocked and the keys under the floor mat. She was glad she had a car not worth stealing since Jughead took no precautions when leaving it for her. Her mind raced, thinking of their date. Had Toni wanted to kiss her? She couldn't help but wonder.
Wait.
She realized something she hadn't considered. Having nearly given up on getting home, she overlooked one possibility she hadn't tried. At the time it hadn't been an option, but maybe it was all leading up to one important moment.
True love's kiss.
If there was any hope left of her getting back home, that was it.