Chapter 11
Cheryl’s POV
What the hell have I done?… that was all I could think to myself at this stage. What had I gotten myself into? It had dawned on me earlier this week that by waiting too long to tell everyone, I had dug myself a very large and extremely dark hole. And even once I’d decided to fight my way out of that hole by finally deciding to tell them, I was faced with problem after problem.
I am now standing in between a rock and a hard place. The hard place being the fact that I had walked into this room and there was no way I could turn back. And the rock being the Girls, my friends and half my world standing in this very room, who I wouldn't be surprised to see slapping me in the face in the near future.
I felt Tre’s arm fall around the small of my back, he leant into to whisper something in my ear but I couldn’t quite make out what he had said. I was lost in my thoughts but it sounded encouraging.
I looked around the room and smiled inwardly, the room was set up so nicely. A buffet set up with small servings of food, a DJ and bar out on the balcony which was decorated with fairy lights. This was obviously the work of Kimberley. Kimberley…
My thoughts shifted back to the girls. I looked up at Nadine, Nicola and Kimberley all standing a few metres on front of me, their faces full of shock and other emotions I couldn’t quite read, or bring myself to read.
The room was still slightly bustling which I was thankful for, not that many people seemed to notice my arrival. Either they didn’t recognise me with my new… distinct… look, or they could feel the tension and didn’t want to involve themselves at this stage.
I observed Nadine as her eyes darted from watching me to watching Tre. She looked relieved that I was there. It was her decision to come over to the UK that had spurred me on. She had wanted to come over for quite a while, to start rebuilding friendships and I knew that she had been holding out on doing so because of me. She hoped I would come with her, she said she would be there to support me. But when I refused her offer, saying it was too soon she said she couldn’t wait for me anymore and that she needed to do this.
Nicola did not look happy at all, she hated when secrets had been kept from her as she never liked being left in the dark. By looking at her, I had a feeling that she already knew something because she already seemed to be past the stage of shock and surprise, the stage that Kimberley was still very much in.
That look on my best friends face was killing me… I couldn’t even bare to look her in the eyes, in that moment I instantly regretted keeping any secrets from Kimberley.
I didn’t know how I’d been standing there and just staring at them all while they stared back, but it ended at the sound of Sarah’s voice.
“hey girl-“ she stopped mid-sentence. “did I miss something?” she asked then turned towards Nicola. “you look about ten times more paler than you should”.
Nicola just glared past Sarah towards me, ignoring her comments. Kimberley’s eyes didn’t move off me.
“Sarah”, Nadine whispered, her voice barely audible. Sarah still had her back towards me, proving that I looked like a complete stranger or she would have noticed me.
“Kimba did you say Cheryl was going to be here?,” Sarah said, taking a glance around the room “because I haven’t seen her yet”. Kimberley’s face grew to a new shade of white at that comment.
“Sar-“ Nadine tried before once again being cut off by the blonde.
“I hope she does come, I’m really worried about her, not hearing from her and everything”.
“sarah!!” Nadine shouted, finally finding her voice after it had been silenced by her astonishment.
Sarah turns to Nadine after her sudden outburst. Nadine sighs as she says “just turn around please, babe”.
I watch as Sarah jerks her head around quickly, she looks around until she spots Tre, recognising him instantly. She then turns to me. It takes her a few long seconds before she can determine what has happened, but the moment it quite evident on her face when she does. Her face whitens, eyes widen and then I watch as she collapses to the ground in front of me.
