Cherry (GirlxGirl)

Chapter 6

 After showing Cherie some more of my art and getting flattering reactions from her, we finally settled down on my bed, laying side by side, over the covers, braced up on our elbows as we whispered quietly to each other.

"Tell me about the guys you've dated." I said to Cherie curiously.

"Well," she started. "They all were the ones to ask me out, but I was always the one to break up with them." She smiled sheepishly.

I gave a stunned laugh. "Really?"

She giggled. "Yes. I feel bad and everything, but not bad enough to stay in a relationship where I don't even like the person, you know?"

"Yeah," I said, even though the only experience I'd had with this was with my only ex-boyfriend, Ethan.

"Why don't you care for dating at all? Usually girls who do that are just too obsessed with grades and work and stuff, but you really aren't like that." Cherie thought out loud, looking at me for an answer.

"I don't know. Just, haven't met the right guy yet. But why do we keep talking about stupid boys?" I laughed. "Let's talk about something interesting. Like..." I trailed off, not interesting enough to actually think of something.

Cherie looked at me expectantly. "Like...?"

I blinked. "I don't know. You come up with something."

Cherie rolled her eyes at me. "Okay, what about friends? Who are your friends?"

I had to think about that one. Of course, Rose was my best friend. But all my other relationships with people didn't really compare to that, so were they friends? I mean, I'm friendly with lots of people, and can be a surprisingly outgoing person. I opened my mouth. "Define friend."

Cherie raised her eyebrows at me. "That bad, huh?"

"What? No! I mean, I have plenty of friends and people I talk to, but I'm only really close to one person, my friend Rose. And now you, I guess. Since you're sleeping over and all." I explained awkwardly.

"Oh, we're close now?" She teased.

I tilted my head, grinning and giving her a mock-surprised look. "Oh, of course!" I got more serious. "I mean, we hang out a lot now and we're pretty friendly with each other and we know a decent amount about each other." I said. "Like, I can count the amount of people who know about my drawing on my fingers, so that means something."

"I guess it does." Cherie agreed. "And I don't tell many people about my pictures. But I want to know more about you."

"You're talking! I want to know more about you, Mrs. Mystery."

"Yeah, okay. But you have to go first. Tell me something you're afraid of." She offered.

"Spiders." I replied instantly, not even having to think about it.

She rolled her eyes at me, obviously not thinking this was enough. "That doesn't count. Something that you dread. What's something...that messes with your head, and something that you think about at night or whatever that you don't want happening to you?"

I thought hard. She wanted real answers. It was weird, I was playing twenty questions with her about some deep, personal stuff. I didn't mind, though. It was a nice change to open up to someone and I trusted her.

"Sutton?" She prompted.

"I'm thinking." What was I afraid of? I didn't want to fail school. But who doesn't? What about my mother? She was definitely getting better. Yesterday she'd gone grocery shopping, and when me and Cherie arrived at my house, there was a note saying she was going to her friend's house. So she was okay now. But what did she think of me? I was often stressed about not being able to be the perfect, supportive daughter since my father took off. If my future failed, so would hers. I was her future.