Sweet Dreams #CHONI [riverdale girlxgirl]

24

Twenty Four

My mom is sitting on the couch with her laptop rested on her thighs. She has her black-framed glasses on, which she only wears when she is working. "Mom?" I say gently. As I take a seat next to her she looks up from her screen, immediately closing the lid when she notices my torn expression.

"What's wrong, honey?" She asks.

I explain everything. From how Cheryl is now in the hospital thanks to her dad, to how he buys his way out of it every time someone has a problem with him.

"Thanks for coming to me, Toni. I'm gonna go make some calls right now and get this sorted out. Don't worry, he won't get away with this."

I wave of relief washes over me as my mom grabs her phone and walks into the kitchen.

~

"The only way you're dad could possibly get sent to jail, would be if you testified against him," My mom explains to Cheryl. We made our way to the hospital to visit her after I texted her to ask if it was okay.

Cheryl nods. "And what will happen to my mom?"

I watch as she starts to tap her fingers against the edge of her temporary bed, which she tends to do when she's anxious. I know it's about her mom. She's probably relieved that her dad could be out of her life for a while, but just living with her mom would be horrible for her.

"I'm afraid there isn't enough evidence against your mom. But," She adds, "If you can get a job, they will agree to allow you to live by yourself. It will be like you've been emancipated."

Cheryl looks away, taking everything in.

"I'll let you have a think about everything," My mom says to Cheryl before turning to me. "See you at home later?"

I nod in response. She quickly says goodbye to Cheryl, making sure she knows she's still very welcome at our house, and then she leaves.

I focus my attention back on Cheryl. Her face is free from makeup, exposing her rosy cheeks and naturally pink lips. She does a double take when she realises I'm staring at her, and smiles. "Hi," She says, still grinning.

"Hey," I reply and reach for her hand. She instantly responds by interlocking our fingers, causing a blush to creep up on my face. I drag my chair closer to her so I can rest my head on the edge of her bed.

I'm still so amazed by her. How can she be so happy when she is literally in a hospital bed with my mom currently trying to figure out how her parents can get what they deserve.

"Now we just have to get you a job, don't we?"

"Yep," She agrees.

"So out of the places you've worked, what did you enjoy the most?" I question. She's never going to be free until she's allowed to live by herself. The sooner that can happen, the better.

"Oh, I don't know." She says really quickly as if she wants to avoid the topic. "So what's new with you?"

I narrow my eyes suspiciously. "Why don't you want to talk about getting a job?"

I furrow my brows, confused. "Because..." She sighs, "I've never had one."

"Oh," I widen my eyes from surprise. It's perfectly fine that she's never had a job, it was just unexpected. "That's okay," I smile, "Let's get you one."

We talk about options for a few minutes before I remember something. "I have an idea," I grin. "When can you go home?"

"Uh... I think they are letting me leave today." Cheryl looks at me with curious eyes. "What did you have in mind?"

~

After about an hour of talking about random things, the doctor said Cheryl could go home as long as she takes it easy. We decided to take a quick detour on the way to my house.

"Oh my god, T! This is such a great idea!" Cheryl says excitedly. The doorbell chimes as we open it, and we are greeted with the familiar scent of coffee.

"Haven't seen you here in a while!" A deep voice echoes through the room.

"Hey Jo," Cheryl smiles. "We've actually come here to ask you something."

She fills him in on everything without going into too much detail. Jo shouts an "Of course!" and goes on about how he has been wanting Cheryl to work at Dusk for so long. Apparently she knows her shit. Jo tells me about all the times his workers have come late or it's been really busy and Cheryl has offered to step in and help out.

"Thanks so much for this, Toni." Cheryl tells me gratefully as I park out the front of my house.

"Don't thank me, thank Jo," I chuckle, brushing it off. She could have easily done this without me.

"Not for helping me get the job... Well yeah, for that. But also for everything else you have done for me." She looks away, refusing to meet my eyes. Just as I'm about to thank her, my phone rings.

"It's Summer. I'll meet you inside," I tell Cheryl. She nods and hops out of the car.

"Hey," I say into my phone.

"So she is alive," Summer exclaims loudly.

I roll my eyes, but can't help smiling. "When am I going to stop feeling bullied by all my friends."

"You love it," She chuckles. "Anyway, I think we should all go away during the break. Maybe on a road trip. Or camping or something." I feel her excitement despite being unable to see her.

It sounds like a good idea. I know Summer will be happy for me to invite Cheryl along. I'm sure Matt won't complain either. And we still have another week left of school before our two week break, which gives us time to figure out what we wanna do.

"I'm in. Can Cheryl come?" I question.

"Of course!" She replies. I really miss hanging out of with Summer. We don't hang out as much as we used to.

"Okay cool. We'll talk to about it on Monday?"

"Yep! See you then."

As I step out of my car and onto the footpath, I collide into something.

"Shit," I mutter. My eyes widen when I realise I just ran into a person. "Fuck, I'm sorry."

A girl with grey eyes and blonde hair smiles after regaining her composure. "That's okay," She assures me.

I study her face trying to figure out who she is. I know almost every person in this street but I've never seen this girl before.

"I'm Cassie. I just moved in at the end of the street." She explains, reading my mind. Her smile is wide and she has a hint of something unrecognisable on her face.

"I'm Toni," I tell her, trying my best to be polite despite the weird feeling I have. "Welcome to the neighbourhood I guess..." I trail off. She thanks me, and I walk up the driveway and into my house without looking back.

~
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR 23K READS HOLY SHIT
Sorry for the slow updates. I'm in my last year of high school and I've been struggling to find the time and motivation to write, but I promise I'll start updating more frequently.
I hope everyone has an amazing day xxx