Cheryl

The sounds of crickets and grasshoppers fill up the atmosphere, erupting in my ears. I blink my eyes open to see branches and vibrant green leaves swinging above me. The sky is becoming a mixed of violet, magenta pink, orange-red, and yellow, almost like Linda’s hair. Lifting myself up a little with my elbows on the ground, I begin to recognize where I am. Sitting up completely, I look around the entire area, familiar with the irises and daisies growing in a small patch by the lake. I am in the park, near Grandma Willow, the tree I always come to chill under. I glance down to the ground and notice I am not wearing my pajamas.

Ivory linen drapes over my legs, reaching my bare feet. I touch up the fabric, feeling a ribbon tied around my waist. I slowly get up and walk toward the lake, glancing into the water. I gasp in shock, looking at my reflection. The face reflecting into the water is not mine, for my eyes are a lighter shade of brown, with specks of gold. My nose is a little narrower around the bridge, and my skin is a darker golden brown than my light honey beige. White blossoms blend into my black, curly hair. I bend down onto the ground, my hands waving in the water. Waiting for my face to turn normal, when the water calms down, I still see the same face staring back at me. A face that isn't mine.

“My beloved?” 

I swiftly turn around, my hand on my chest as it thuds against my chest. Looking up, I see a tall figure glaring down at me. A hand reaches out for me, and I hesitate to grab it. Suddenly, I see the figure squat down next to me, and I get a better view. Inside, I can imagine my mouth is opening, dropping to the ground. Instead, my eyes widen as I see a replica of Liam looking at me. He isn’t Liam, though, as I see that his ocean blue eyes are light electric blue, and his hair is on his shoulders. He gives me a smile, showing me his pearly white teeth, and I feel my bones melting inside. Maybe my body has melted into the ground because I don’t have the strength to move.

“Christine, my beloved. It is just me, Leo. Don’t be frightened.” His voice is velvet but gruff, bringing an overwhelming sensation down my spine. I just continue to stare into his light blue eyes, hypnotized by its beauty. Leo chuckles lightly as he helps me get onto my feet. Even as I stand, his effect on me is making me feel like a fawn walking for the first time. 

Standing up, I can get a better view of him. Beyond his blue eyes and long auburn hair, Leo is wearing a white long-sleeved shirt with light brown trousers and a pair of matching suspenders. He is also bare foot as he walks me back to the tree. 

“Luis and Winifred should be here soon for the ceremony. Christine, my beloved, you are so beautiful.” Leo strokes my cheeks, and I try to find the words to speak, but my throat is dry.

“Ceremony?” The question comes out hoarse and quiet, but he gives me a smile in return.

“Yes, ceremony, my love. Did you forget we were getting married today?” 

“Married?” I croak, coughing up something coming up my throat. Leo’s smile changes into a confused frown, glaring into my eyes. 

“Christine, I am giving up everything to be with you, even my title. I can’t sleep without the thought of you being in my life.” His thumb rubs against my cheek softly, his hand pushing back some hair. “I love you so much. Do you love me too?” Leo’s eyes are watering up as his eyes search mines, looking for an answer. My mouth opens slightly, but nothing comes out as I struggle to find the words to say. Finally, I swallow down my fears and say what is on my mind. 

A beep escapes from my mouth instead. 

I tried to speak again, but another beep repeats. Leo is smiling, though, not noticing the sound coming out of my lips. The beeps continue, vibrating in my ears as I closed my eyes in the hope that it’ll stop.

When I open my eyes, the darkness of my room welcomes me instead of Leo’s beautiful electric blue eyes.

Groaning in agony, I roll over to cut my alarm off, glaring at the time of my clock. 6:30 A.M. I have enough time to take a shower and possibly grab breakfast, but honestly, I am in the mood of taking another health day. I could if only I were suffering from another migraine. Plus, my parents will get suspicious if I take another day off because, even though they aren’t aware of my personal life, when it comes to my health, they are all over that. It is like when I am sick, immediately they are my parents and want to make sure that I am well and feeling fine. My dad all yesterday kept calling me to make sure I was taking my medicine and drinking plenty of fluids. I had to shut my phone off eventually, and when he came home from work, I explained that my phone died while I was asleep. 

So it didn’t surprise me when I went downstairs to grab breakfast after taking a shower and getting dressed to see him sitting down at the table with a mug of black coffee and his tablet. I greeted him with a brief smile before grabbing a bowl and a box of cereal. 

“How are you feeling this morning, sweetie?” He asks without putting his eyes off of his device. If you look at my father, you would never guess that he is in his late forties, for my mom had shown me a picture of them when they got married, and he still looks the same today. However, in the picture, he had a head of black hair, and as I stare at him in the kitchen, all I see is the shine of his shaved head. A lot of people think that I have parents of different races, but truthfully, both of my parents possess the same skin color as me except my father is a little darker in tone. When he is not involved in his music agency, my dad spends his time making dad jokes, sipping black coffee and occasionally black tea with almost every meal, and playing Motown hits on his guitar. I love when I get to see that dad versus the person who argues with my mom and focuses on his job. The only thing is you never know which person you get, so I have to be careful with what I am about to say next.

“Better than yesterday’s hell,” I say before chewing on my cereal. He looks up at me, pushing his thick glasses back onto his nose. I can see a smile forming on his lips, which means that I have cool, playful dad this morning.

“You haven’t experienced any a headache yet?” 

“Nope. Dad, I feel fine, trust me.” I dump my bowl and spoon in the sink and walk toward him to kiss him on the forehead. “I love you, dad, but you can be quite protective when it comes to my health.”

“Well, maybe I want to make sure my only child is of good health and feeling well. If your mother and I lose you to an illness, you know it will devastate us.” His light brown eyes stare into mines, and I roll my eyes, heading towards the stairs.

“I know, dad. I know. We can’t afford to lose the one single child in this household.” I mock, going up the steps.

“Joke all you want, Cheryl. I am just looking out for you. With the job as your father, I have to make sure to take care of you. Speaking of, don’t forget…”

“Drink plenty of water and bring a bottle of pain reliever, just in case.” I holler as I reach my room, shutting the door. I grab my backpack and give myself one more look into the mirror. Staring at my ripped jeans and faded band shirt, I remember what Willa said about my outfit the other day. It is not like I don’t have any other clothes in my closet, but I find comfort in my usual style. I could change up my bottoms, though, for one day. My jeans had developed more rips than when I first bought it. Searching through my closet, I spot a maxi black skirt with a slit on the side and ponder over putting it on. Looking over at my clock to see the time is close to 7:30 A.M., I quickly grab the skirt and change my outfit. Once the skirt was on, I had a moment of awkwardness, for I haven’t put on a skirt for months but would admit that I look like a damn goddess as I flaunt my leg out of the slit. After picking up my phone off the nightstand and reaching for my keys, I head out my bedroom door, ready to take on another day.

…

“What do you mean she has a picture of me I am not aware of?” I yell into the phone, pulling up to the school’s parking lot. Because I had my phone off most of the night and this morning, I didn’t receive the multiple text messages from Willa that states Stephanie finding out something about me from creep Eric Fitzgerald and possessing a picture of me. You can imagine how infuriated I was when discovering about yesterday’s events. 

“She has some picture of you, and I don’t know what it is of, but apparently, it is really juicy because she didn’t let anyone see it.” I can hear Willa shutting her car door in the background, and I glimpse to the side of my parked car to see her walking towards me. Hanging up the phone, I step out of my car, placing my backpack over my shoulders. I face Willa as she gets closer to me, my face still expressing anger.

“Why were you with her in the first place?” I ask, walking towards the school.

“She invited me. I didn’t think it will hurt to go.” Willa gets a glimpse of my outfit and takes a step back in surprise. “Cheryl, I haven’t seen you wear a skirt in a long time.” 

I shrug, continuing to walk. “I want to change things up today, but I also see that Stephanie wants to as well.”

Heading to the school stairs, I spot people’s eyes on us as they giggle in secret or shake their head. Willa stares at me with concern before stopping in front of me on the steps.

“I’m sorry, Cheryl. Who knows, there is a possibility that this won’t be happening if I didn’t eat lunch with Stephanie and her crew. Maybe it will still occur, but as your best friend, I can’t let you go in there and let her humiliate you. You don’t deserve that, especially from her.” Her emerald green eyes meet my eyes, compassion building up in them. 

There is one thing that Willa hates more than someone attacking a dog or eating her ice cream, and that is someone being bullied or humiliated. Willa was made fun of because of her stuttering problem when we first met. The minute our friendship started, I would beat up anyone who made jokes about Willa. Now, after all these years, I see she is saving me from embarrassment. 

I sigh, smiling, before reaching out to hold Willa’s hand. She glances down at our hands before looking back at me with bewilderment. “Willa, we aren’t little kids anymore. I can take care of myself, and I am not going to let a box blonde b***h named Stephanie ruin my day. Now, you can walk into the school with me and not let anything fades you, or you can walk to your car and go home.” Willa stares at me then takes a deep breath before squeezing my hand, nodding. Me taking the lead, we both march up the stairs, anxious to see what is waiting for us beyond the school’s large, black doors. 

Opening the doors, We both spot rows of sheets of papers taped onto lockers and a few on the floor. I don’t have to step any further to see what is on them. Picking up one in my hand, I recognize my backyard and me half-naked dancing against a guy. By my locker, there is a different picture of me still half-naked, except lip-locking it with a girl. Written on the paper, it says “Cheryl, did you enjoy your bellinis a little too much?” 

“Ha, an alcohol joke. Didn’t see that coming.” I rip up the paper furiously. 

“Cheryl, whose party did you go to?” Willa asks, looking at another picture that was on the floor. From a glimpse of my eyes, I see it is of me in the pool with my bra floating.

“I had a small house party at my house at the beginning of the summer when you went on a trip to Washington D.C. with your mom. My parents left for the weekend, and I invited Gunner, Linda, and a few of their friends. I got a little out of control that night.” 

“It seems like a hell of a great party, I must say.” That statement didn’t come out of Willa’s mouth. 

I had never turned my head as fast as I did when I heard Stephanie’s nasal, grating voice. She was smiling like the Cheshire cat, a piece of paper in her hand. Her two minions, Jasmine and Amber, are right behind her.

“Let me guess. You are getting a boner from all of this?” I walk up to her, smirking, as I fold my arms against my chest. Stephanie gives me a look up and down before her eyes meet mines.

“Well, well, well. It looks like someone changed up her outfit today. What is the occasion? Is this your s****y side?” Stephanie’s face gets closer to mines, for I can see the blend of gray and blue in her eyes and the clump mascara on her eyelashes. 

“Shut the hell up, Stephanie. You are already putting me on the edge of kicking the s**t out of you. I should make you scream like you did last year.” I smirk mischievously. Stephanie rolls her eyes and snort. 

“Whatever, b***h. You can beat me up all you want, but people are still going to see these pictures of you, and you’ll be the laughing stock of our senior class.” 

A group of people has gathered behind us, and from the corner of my eyes, Willa is attempting to take down pictures of me off lockers. My eyes are meeting Stephanie’s again, and all I can do is laugh. 

“Laughing stock? Honestly, I think those pictures should be upgrading my popularity. I mean, everyone only knows me as the girl who beat the s**t out of you last year. This will push me up to the girl who had a pretty good time at a party and got a little wild. I don’t think that will hurt me at all. You know what? You want me to be humiliated?” I start untucking my shirt from my skirt. “I can do that myself. I don’t need you for that.” 

“Cheryl, what is going on?” I can hear Liam’s voice as he pushes through the crowd. Seeing his face triggers something inside of me, but I ignore it, lifting my shirt off of my body and throwing it on the floor. A crowd of gasps echoes through the hallway, and it only takes a few seconds before Willa is by my side. 

“Cher, what are you doing?” She whispers, picking up my shirt off the ground. 

“Stephanie wants so hard to hurt me. She thinks she is the queen of bringing people’s esteem down. Well, I am here to prove her wrong.” I am already pulling down my skirt as I stare at Willa’s shocked face. 

“Does stripping in front of everyone settle that claim?” 

“No, but I figure I should have a little fun while I am,” I smirk playfully, turning back around to see the disbelief on Stephanie’s face. Whistles and mutters continue to spread throughout the group behind us, and Liam has a look of surprise. Jake, who is next to him, appears more intrigued than stunned. Without looking at myself in a mirror, I know what he is thinking about. I have to admit I do have curves, and I shouldn’t have chosen to wear a lace bra and panty today, but here I am. I might as well make the most of this moment before a teacher arrives. 

Walking past the crowd, I get closer to Jake, watching his face’s expression as I make my way to him. Without thinking, I put my arms around his neck and give him a kiss on his lips. I feel his cold hands on my face as the kiss deepens, his lips moving against mines with force. I immediately pull away, feeling breathless as he stares at me with complete shock. There are mixed emotions of confusion and astonishment from the crowd, but the face that brought me the most satisfaction was seeing the disgust on Stephanie’s face. 

“You b***h!” Stephanie shouts before rushing towards me. Dodging her attack, I move out of the way, heading back to my locker. 

“Oh, did I offend you by kissing your boyfriend? I mean, the fact that you have tried to insult me today, I would think we were even.” I mock, folding my arms. 

“We are far from even!” Stephanie spins back around and charges towards me. Before she can land a punch on me, the hollering of a teacher interrupts the crowd. He yells for everyone to go to their classrooms. Willa has my clothes in her hands, quickly giving them to me. While the group is breaking up, I put my shirt and skirt on in a hurry. In the midst of putting my shirt over my head, I spot the teacher making eye contact with me. It’s Mr. Marshall.

“Ah, Ms. Bellini,” His eyes move to Stephanie, “And Ms. Rose. Of course, you two would be behind this.” He gestures towards the pictures scattered on lockers and walls. “Both of you come with me to Mrs. Pearson’s office.” 

Stephanie huffs out in enrage as she picks up her backpack and purse off the ground, slamming pass Jasmine and Amber. Willa gives me my bag, and I nod to her, mouthing thank you. As I follow behind Mr. Marshall and Stephanie, I observe the emotion of the entire hallway. Jake is licking the lips I kissed, his eyes lusting after me. Liam’s eyebrows are frowning at me, his lips narrow and shut. Jasmine and Amber both are rubbing their injured shoulders Stephanie crashed into, pouting. The last person I look at is Willa who is standing next to Jacqueline. Willa gives me a small smile, nodding. 

I might have just did the stupidest thing I have ever done, but it doesn’t matter because I know I won this battle. Last year, beating up Stephanie expressed my anger. This year, I think I just showed everyone how powerful and confident I am. Liam is right after all. 

I don’t take any bullshit.