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Spatial jumping, as Five called it, was the worst thing Cherry had ever experienced.
One moment she was standing in her bedroom, Five's fingers ghosting around her wrist, and the next her world was being folded up like origami. It felt like being yanked through a tight, invisible tunnel at breakneck speed and her stomach lurched violently as if it had been left behind. The sensation was so disorienting that, for a split second, she couldn't tell up from down, left from right. Every nerve in her body screamed in protest, and by the time the world snapped back into place, she was left dizzy, nauseous, and breathless.
Holistically, Cherry was a very untrusting person. Despite her innate desire to be a therapist or counselor of some sort, she ironically struggled with letting her guard down. Cherry found life to be easier when she kept people at arm's length. The only individual she'd ever truly let into her life was Iona, and even then, it wasn't the grand, soul-baring connection one might expect between best friends. Cherry was an only child, and Iona served as a replacement for the sister she never had. Iona knew just enough to keep Cherry from feeling completely alone - her favorite color, her desire to go to college, her visceral fear of death - but they never talked about topics deeper than that.
To everyone she met, Cherry came across as an open book - she'd carefully constructed a bubbly, waitress persona and no one ever noticed how often she dodged personal questions. In all honesty, she had an extreme aversion to emotional vulnerability. She had a knack for reading people, for dissecting their fears and anxieties, but when it came to herself, Cherry would've rather gouged her eyes out than talk about her feelings. This likely stemmed from her reserved upbringing, which blossomed into an unapproachable virtuous way of living where she strived for perfection, precision, and control.
In high school, Cherry had not been popular. She'd been the one who reminded teachers about assigned homework and went above and beyond on every assignment, earning her a reputation for being a rigid-rule follower. Iona liked to joke that she had the ruthless focus and tendencies of an assassin - "You look around every corner like you're afraid someone is going to jump out and kill you!" she'd said once, which in hindsight, wasn't as funny after the events in the alleyway. Cherry's obsessive personality, deep-rooted need for control, and insatiable yearning to prove herself had all coupled together to create a girl who didn't rely on other people.
All that to say, Cherry was not the type to trust boys with numbers for names.
Yet, here she was.
No matter how many times she tried to deny it, repeating it over and over in her mind, she couldn't change the fact that she knew Five. There was something about him that demanded her trust as if they were cut from the same strange, anomalous cloth.
Old habits die hard, however, because the moment Cherry landed in Elliott's apartment with her stomach churning, she wanted nothing more than to forget about Five and go back to how her life had been just a few days ago.
