Not So Different After All

3: Project Choni

The serpents had now been at Riverdale High for three weeks and Cheryl felt that January was dragging on. There were only a few more days left to January but it seemed like an eternity. Cheryl shared every class with Toni, along with every Vixens practice, and she hated every second of it.

It was Thursday morning and Cheryl was sitting bored in her history class. Toni wasn't there, at least not yet, which was making her feel slightly happier. They were about 25 minutes into class when Toni showed up, sporting an impressive amount of cuts on her face. It looked like she had been mauled by a pack of dogs. She handed the teacher her late pass before thumping down next to Cheryl. They continued on with class until they had about 5 minutes left.

"Ok class. We are about half way through the year, which means it's time for our mid year project. You will be split into pairs, which I will read off at this time. I emailed your rubric to all of you. Ok, now for pairs we have..." the teacher began. Cheryl crossed her fingers that she would be with anyone but Toni. She could not handle working with her.

"...Archie and Midge, Betty and Reggie, Veronica and Jughead, and Toni and Cheryl." Cheryl dropped her head into her hands, because of course she would be partnered with the one person she physically could not work with. The bell rang and Cheryl quickly left the classroom, even though she had her next class with Toni too.

Once Cheryl made it to english, she pulled out her phone to check the rubric for the project. She scanned over it quickly, noticing that the due date was in two weeks. She sighed. How were they supposed to work together to get a project done in two weeks when they hated each other?

English passed by slowly but the bell did eventually ring, and students poured out of classrooms to go to their next class. Toni managed to get out in front of Cheryl. Cheryl knew that they had to have a conversation about the project, as much as she didn't want to. She spotted Toni in the middle of the hallway.

"Toni!" she called out, surprising herself and Toni. The pink haired serpent spun around and watched Cheryl as she walked to her. Toni crossed her arms and waited for what Cheryl was going to say.

"We need to talk about this project," Cheryl said.

"Well, I can't talk now, but I can talk tonight at Pop's at 7," Toni said smoothly.

"Fine, but don't get any ideas," Cheryl sighed before Toni rolled her eyes and walked off to wherever she was going.

Cheryl noticed that her school days had been feeling longer recently. It was most likely the looming presence of the serpents, and the fact that January was seemingly the longest month of the year. So, as usual, her classes felt a million hours long. She pushed forward with as much energy as she could possibly muster. She was annoyed during Vixen's practice, the stress headache that she had received during fifth period making her want to sleep. But she did eventually make it home, avoiding her mother and seeking out shelter in her bedroom.

After a short nap and her waking up from a nightmare aggressively, Cheryl was ready to go and meet Toni. She wasn't exactly looking forward to it, but any time she got to leave her house was a cause for celebration. She made it down the stairs as quietly as possible and was almost out the front door when she felt a cold hand on her shoulder.

"And where do you think you're going, Cheryl?" her mother asked. Cheryl turned around and crossed her arms.

"Do you really care, though?" she said flatly. Her mother stated right back at her, that evil glint in her eyes.

"Wherever it is that you think you're going, you're not anymore," Penelope decided, before watching Cheryl walk to her room in defeat. Cheryl wasn't really defeated, though. She had a backup plan. She waited 15 minutes before she crawled out her window, using the vines growing on the side of the house as her ladder. She couldn't take her car; her mother would hear. So instead, Cheryl walked.