Dialing
Cherry
//call received//
Cerise: Hello?
Devin: Hey, Cherry. We haven't spoken in ages.
Cerise: It's only been a day...
Devin: Felt like ages. You didn't take my calls yesterday... why? Are you mad at me?
Cerise: No...
Devin: Did I say something wrong?
Cerise: No, absolutely not... it's just that everything you said, they sort of overwhelmed me. I'm sorry.
Devin: I should be the one apologizing for dropping that on you out of nowhere.
Cerise: Oh, no! No... [sighs] I was the one who asked about it. And what you said... the best thing I've heard about myself from someone else in my life. It was... it was just perfect. More beautiful than Homer, or Dante, or Wordsworth.
Devin: Well, for once I didn't fuck shit up. Feeling pretty proud of myself about it...
Cerise: [laughs]
//brief silence lapsing//
Cerise: Hey... I'll call you when I get to school? It's almost time. You're going today, aren't you?
Devin: Yeah, of course. Will talk later, then.
//call disconnected//
***
Dialing
Cigarette
//call received//
Devin: Christ! Are you okay, Cherry?
Cerise: Yeah, why?
Devin: I, uh... [chokes, coughs] Heard you were about to be locked in the janitor's closet again...
Cerise: Yes, but the thing is, I wasn't. I was saved from that, saved from Tristan and Elijah. [excitedly] And you'll not believe who my knight in shining armor was.
Devin: You're not... um, traumatized?
Cerise: Far from it!
Devin: That's...
Cerise: Hey, hey, hey! I'll tell you what happened. I was just on my way to Calculus class when Tristan blocked me and said something about me being a terrorist or whatever. Then Elijah was suddenly behind me, had my arms twisted back. They took me down Hall C and pushed me into Sam's closet. But, before they could lock me in, this guy--I think his name's Devin or something... anyway, so, he just stepped in--appeared out of the blue--and decked Elijah right on the nose! You should've seen Elijah go flying on his butt. And his nose was bleeding! God!
Devin: Aren't you a bit too excited about witnessing this fight?
Cerise: No, I'm not. Listen to what happened next. [rambling] Devin went to Tristan, fist raised, and he would've punched him, too, but Tristan started groveling, literally begging! He was so scared. And the satisfaction I felt on seeing those two so vulnerable and bashed up was euphoric! I'm still buzzing from that.
YOU ARE READING
🗸 the quintessences of cherry & cigarette
Short Story|| in which a broken boy takes interest in a broken girl and they realize that neither of them require fixing when they fall in love with each other's pieces, flaws, frayed ends, and quintessences || [ love unconditionally ] [ adore irrevocably ] 𝓬...
