Strawberries On Top

🍓 FOUR 🍓

She hesitated to knock on the door.

There she was in Cookie Corner, after almost vowing that she wouldn't show her face around there for a while. Two things bothered her, however -- she left the wagon and Ginger Snap hadn't come by to bring it back, and how right Custard was about the revelation. She couldn't run away from it all forever. Sooner or later, she had to express how she truly felt about him.. instead of avoiding him like the plague.

After a few deep breaths, she did knock on the door and waited for Ginger Snap to make an appearance. She made one after the third knock, and her expression changed after seeing Strawberry stand on the opposite side of the door. It was obvious she was still upset about what she had been told. Maybe it was the puffy eyes, maybe it was the messy hair, or maybe it was the fact that she was still in her night clothes.. in the middle of the day.

"Hey." She greeted coldly.

"Hey.." Strawberry repeated. "I left my wagon here.. and I wanted to come by and see how you're doing."

"Your wagon is with me, and you see how I look right now, you tell me how I'm doing." She rolled her eyes at the girl. "I'm sure you know why.."

"About that.. I didn't mean.."

"Oh, of course you didn't! You're Strawberry Shortcake -- you're sweet just like your name and everyone just loves you!" 

She knew what Ginger Snap was trying very hard to imply, and she did her best to ignore it. She understood that her friend had her heart broken and was upset, her feelings were valid. "I know you're upset about what Huck said to you, but it's not my fault that happened."

"IT IS ALL OF YOUR FAULT!" Tears strolled down Ginger Snap's face almost immediately after saying those words. "It's your fault he sees you with hearts in his eyes, it's your fault that you are his best friend, and it's your fault that he knocked on my door and broke my heart into a million pieces!"

"You're making it sound like I told him to tell you, or that I knew how he felt about me. I didn't!" Now it was Strawberry's turn to be upset. "I found out the same time you did, and it surprised me. That's why I waited until this moment to get back my wagon. But what surprised me more -- the things you said to him about me -- things that weren't true."

"Aren't they true, though? Not once, did I ever see you share the same feelings as him. He's always looking at you with love, and you don't even give him the time or day. You might think that he's just your best friend and that you love him like your best friend, but you're not his best friend if all you've been doing is string him along. And the sad part is he's too much in love with you to realize that."

"First of all, you don't know anything about my feelings towards Huck or our friendship!" Strawberry wasn't one to get angry, but she felt her fists beginning to clench the more Ginger Snap said those hurtful things. "As my friend, if Huck confessed to me his feelings for you, I wouldn't say those things to him about you. A real friend wouldn't bring down another friend, not over a boy. And the fact that you did that without any hint of hesitation, that really hurt my feelings."

"Now you understand how I feel." Ginger Snap couldn't look the girl directly in her eyes. So she did the only thing she knew she could, stare hard at her own two feet. "You are just going to break his heart over and over again. And one day, he will see you for who you truly are and will completely fall out of love with you. You will only have yourself to blame." 

Strawberry couldn't take another second of Ginger Snap bad-mouthing her the way she did. She felt her hands sweat the more she kept her fists clenched. And she wasn't even angry, just very disappointed. It broke her heart knowing that Ginger Snap, one of her closest friends, really felt this way about her - even underneath the heartbreak. 

"I didn't come all this way just for you to hurt my feelings over and over again. I came here because I care about you so much and couldn't stop worrying about you! Huck chose me over you, I get it -- saying all of those things, however, just to make yourself feel better is not okay with me! I'm not going to stand here anymore and listen to you! I don't care about what you do with my wagon, I don't want it anymore." 

And without so much as a quick glance behind her, Strawberry walked off in a huff and made it known in that moment, that her and Ginger Snap would not be friends with each other for a long while. 

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A/N: I thought writing this chapter was necessary to the story as situations like this happen all of the time. And if something like this ever happens to you, please do not get in your head and let everyone else's feelings or opinions get in the way of how you feel.

Those people don't know how you feel, or the whole story. Nor should they know the whole story. You live your life the way you want, and you have feelings for whoever you want -- that is your business and your business alone. All that matters is how you feel, at the end of the day.

I hope you guys enjoyed some of the realness I wrote in this chapter. I will write an update to this story very soon. Have a blessed day and I will see all of you in the next part!

ALSO, my Patreon members: I have written a question for you guys <3

With love, Diva <3