𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐲?, alex chen.

i. - long time no see

CHAPTER ONE
LONG TIME NO SEE

Cherry could remember her first day in Haven Springs clearly. It was the day she almost died... well, not really. She was just being dramatic.

The weather was fantastic, spring flowers in full bloom and decorating the town head to toe. Everyone seemed to welcome her in, after asking her tons of questions. Cherry guessed many people didn't move here, it was absolutely perfect. She would always miss her friends but nothing would stop her from regretting her choice in moving here.

That was until she came across one specific store. Gabe, a very nice man who offered to show her around, brought her there after she expressed her love of it. When Cherry first heard they had a part music store and part radio station she almost blew her lid. Though when she walked in and saw who was standing behind the front counter she was conflicted between turning around and leaving, and running up to tackle them. Steph Gingrich made that choice for her though.

"So what made you move here?" Gabe asked. Cherry shrugged and swirled her straw around her still ice cold drink. "Trouble back where I lived. Made sense to just get out of there." She murmured while partially slurping on her drink. Gabe's face dropped a bit. It was clear he was regretting his question. Cherry noticed that and moved her mouth off of her straw. She swallowed her drink quickly and waved her hand towards Gabe. "No, no! Nothing like that! Not really. I lived with some friends who got caught up in some illegal shit. Left the second the cops showed up."

Yeah, that probably wasn't any better from what Gabe might've been imagining. If anything it was probably worse. Thankfully he decided to just shut down the conversation there and then.

"Well, this is the place." He said gesturing to one of the tiny building on the street. It was as equally as charming as the rest of the town. It made Cherry smile. "Sick." She said while Gabe opened up the front door. He kept it open for her to walk in and Cherry gave him a playful bow before stepping into the store.

It smelt like a mix of jasmine and leather, a random rock album played lowly throughout the store. Piles of records sat at the back of the store, most likely waiting to be put away with the hundred of other records on display. Cherry could even get a glimpse of what she was guessing to be the recording studio. The glass lightly shining and if she leaned over on her toes she could just barely see the microphone.

"Hey, Steph? Where are you?" Gabe called out, shutting the door behind him. "Right here!" Steph announced popping her hand up from behind the counter. "What's up..." Her question trailed off when she stood up straight, her whole body being presented to the duo that walked into her store.

'Shit'

It was the only thing Cherry could think of when she realized who she was staring at. She hadn't seen her since highschool but it was like she hadn't changed at all since then. Steph looked exactly the same. And judging by the way Steph was staring at her back Cherry was guessing she hadn't changed much either.

Gabe could feel the sudden tension in the air and tried breaking it with an awkward laugh. "You guys know each other?"

"How dare you." Steph said, ignoring Gabe's question and pointing her finger directly at Cherry. "What the hell are you doing here?" Cherry stammered quietly before she simply shut her mouth. She chugged the rest of her drink before trying again. "Oh my god... Long time no see..." She said. Cherry wanted to punch herself. Steph did too.