Not So Different After All

8: Realizations

Over the next two weeks, Toni noticed a few things.

One of them was that her relationship with Cheryl had changed in just one weekend. There was lots of glancing at each other from across the gym during Vixens practice, lots of "accidental" hand brushing under desks during classes, lots of things Toni wanted to say to her but couldn't. Toni had never felt the way she felt towards Cheryl towards anyone else, at least not that she could remember. She really liked Cheryl, but she wasn't ready to risk it if she didn't feel the same way.

Another thing was that her friends had gotten real annoying. They had noticed her hanging out with Cheryl more (and of course Fangs knew her feelings toward Cheryl) so they were teasing her for it. If she was late to the Whyte Wyrm, they asked her if she was hanging out with her girlfriend. If they saw her coming in late to the trailer park, they would ask her how Cheryl was doing. Things like that, that made Toni want to strangle her friends, but also made her blush because most of the time she was coming from being with Cheryl.

And the final thing she noticed, was that her uncle was most drunk on Wednesday and Thursday nights. She didn't know why, but those were the nights that she couldn't go do anything with Cheryl. She was stuck inside, fearing her uncle. But she would always text Cheryl through it all, which helped her feel a little better. Most Wednesday and Thursday nights, her uncle would shove her off the couch, sit there and get drunk, then pass out until 3 am. Of course, Toni's bed was the couch, so she couldn't sleep until her uncle got off the couch.

It was a Thursday night, around 11, and Toni was outside, leaning against her trailer. It was a nice night for February, but she still wore her serpent jacket. She contemplated against lighting a cigarette, even though she knew it was horrible for her. She hadn't smoked in a while but she was bored and tired. Toni whispered "fuck it" to herself and reached under the steps to her trailer where she hid the pack of cigarettes she had swiped from Sweet Pea.

Toni lit a cigarette and shoved the pack of them into the pocket of her jacket before inhaling. It tasted awful and she remembered why she didn't like them. Toni pulled her phone out of her other pocket and aimlessly scrolled through her Instagram feed.

"Didn't anybody ever tell you that smoking is bad for you?"

Toni looked up from her phone to see Cheryl walking towards her.

"A few times," Toni smiled. Cheryl returned the smile and stopped in front of Toni.

"It seems that your evening is jam packed with fun activities," she said sarcastically.

"Says the one who's resorted to stalking me," the serpent laughed before putting the cigarette up to her lips again. Once it was away from her face, Cheryl smacked the cigarette out of her hand and stomped on it with her shoe.

"Seriously Toni, smoking is toxic. Lung cancer is a thing, you know," the red head scolded, handing Toni a piece of gum. Toni smirked at her, her dominance turning her on slightly. She took the gum from Cheryl and popped it into her mouth.

"What're you doing visiting me so late in the night, Bombshell? The serpents night kill you if they find out the Northside Princess is on their home turf," Toni asked.

"Well, the texts you were sending me sounded piteous and lonely, so I decided to pay you a visit," she replied. Toni stood and thought for a second before she realized something.

"Did we ever turn in our history project?" she giggled.

"No, I don't believe we did. We can turn it in tomorrow for probably a 50%," Cheryl said with a laugh. A familiar silence settled over them. Another thing Toni had noticed was the silences between them. It was like they both wanted to say so much, but neither wanted to say anything at all. Toni sat down against the side of her trailer and made room for the other girl. Cheryl got the message and walked over to sit down too.