weak | choni

11: "Powerless"

Toni knew as soon as Cheryl disappeared down the hallway that she wasn't going to the bathroom, considering she went in the complete opposite direction. Her first instinct was to get rid of the other girls and go make sure Cheryl was okay. She should've known better than allowing them to come over.

"What's up with her?" Valarie asked. Toni knew she was trying to be understanding, but she couldn't help but get annoyed. Maybe she understood Cheryl better than the other girls, and maybe that's why they weren't being as intuitive as she was.

"She hasn't been feeling too good today," Toni shrugged. "You guys should probably just go, I doubt you'll get anything out of her right now."

"But we just got here." Veronica stated.

"I know, I just, I should've told you ahead of time," Toni shrugged.

"She's not going to get better here, Toni."

"Well then we'll deal with that when the time comes, okay? But for now she's been eating a little bit, and I'm not about to interrupt that," Toni said, finality in her voice.

"Toni, we—"

"Guys, really, you should leave," Toni said. She shook her head and stood up. "Please." Anxiously, she glanced back at the hallway where Cheryl had disappeared down.

Josie rolled her eyes. Toni tried not to snap at them. She related to them in a way. None of them fully understood what Cheryl was going through. Toni just felt as if she was making a greater effort than her other three bandmates.

"I'll text you guys later today, okay?" Toni bit her lip. The other girls just nodded and followed Josie out the front door. Toni sighed when the door closed, and seconds later she was jogging down the hallway and up the stairs.

"Cher?" she called softly, tapping on the bedroom door. Cheryl hadn't closed it all the way, and the door slowly creaked open. Toni quickly hurried over to the small girl on the edge of the bed, holding her head in her hands and breathing heavily.

"What's wrong?" Toni asked, biting her lip and sitting down next to Cheryl. She reached over, taking Cheryl's hand, but the small girl flinched and nearly fell off of the bed, yanking her hand out of Toni's reach.

"I, uh, s-sorry," Toni stood up and took a step backwards. She was confused at what had gotten Cheryl this worked up.

"Leave me alone, Toni," Cheryl groaned. She was trying hard to hide how shaky her voice was, but failing miserably.

"I got the girls to leave... I figured that would help, I—"

"Shut up!" Cheryl snapped her head up, revealing just how bloodshot her eyes were. She shook her head and grabbed a pillow, burying her face in the fabric and groaning. Toni noticed how fast she was breathing.

"Cheryl you need to calm down." Toni said softly.

"Don't tell me to calm down," Cheryl muttered. "I-It's not that easy."

"I don't know why you're so worked up."

"Exactly. Go away, Toni." Cheryl huffed and stood up, throwing the pillow aside. She stormed out of the room and into the bathroom. Toni just sighed when she heard the door slam.

What was she supposed to do? Cheryl wouldn't even let her touch her. She couldn't seem to say anything to calm her down. Toni was powerless.

For some odd reason, this really bothered her. Toni was always the kind of person that wanted to fix things. And when she couldn't, she got frustrated. So that's probably the reason why it was taking every ounce of strength in her to fight back tears.