Strawberry Milkshake

Chapter 18

Cheryls POV

It's been 3 weeks since prom, and graduation is in a weak and a half. I'm pacing around my trailer, waiting for the mail. I applied to NYU, and today is the last day they're sending out letters. I also applied to Riverdale Community College as a backup. 

My family doesn't have much money, which is why I applied to a college that's in the state. It's a 3-hour drive, but I'll figure it out. Toni applied to NYU, Brown, and Harvard. She's super smart so I'm confident she'll get into at least one. NYU is her back up, which is funny to me. 

NYU being her backup but me needing a backup in case I don't get into NYU. I'm kind of hoping we both get into NYU just so we don't have to stay apart. But I know it's unlikely, because Toni got the highest score on the SAT's and she got mostly all A's, but I love her. And I don't want to be away from her.

The mailman gets her and puts the mail in our mailbox. I run outside and grab everything before running back in. I see letters from both NYU and RCC. I pick up my phone and call Toni.

"Hey, Cher. I was about to call you. My letters got here. I haven't opened them. Can I come over?" I can tell based on the tone of her voice she's nervous, which is understandable. She applied to two of the hardest colleges to get into.

"Yeah yeah of course. Mine just got here too. I got into RCC, everyone does. I'm just nervous about NYU." I say, biting my lip. I hear Toni chuckle.

"You're amazing, mon amour. You'll get in. Now hurry up and get your pretty self over here... please." She says, causing me to laugh a little bit. 

"Yeah yeah I'm on my way. I'll be there soon." I hang up and put the letters in my bag. I walk outside and get on my motorcycle before taking off towards Toni's house. Once I get to her house I park and knock on the door.

Toni opens and smiles widely. She hugs me tightly and kisses my cheek. I laugh a little. "Hey, baby," I say, hugging back. The past week or two Toni has been extra clingy. I'm not complaining at all. She's been like this since she saw me crying about how we might have to be apart. 

I pull away and peck her lips. I walk inside and she closes the door behind me. We quietly walk up to her bedroom and sit on her bed. I pull out my letters as she grabs hers. "Alright... You have 3 and I have two. How about you open one, then when you open the second I open the first and then we open NYU together..? So like you can open Brown, then I open RCC at the same time you open Harvard, then we both open NYU?" I ask, playing with her fingers.

Toni nods. "Yeah, that sounds good..." She picks up her Brown letter and looks at me, clearly nervous. "What if this is the only one I get into? Then we have to do the distance talk..." She says sadly.

I sigh and kisses her forehead. "Let's not worry about that yet okay? You're at the top of our class, got the best score on the SAT's, and you're in a ton of clubs. You'll get in." I brush a piece of hair out of her face and she nods.

Toni slowly opens the letter. Her eyes skim over it and I see her smile. "I got in... I got in." She looks at me with a huge grin. 

"I told you, babe." I kiss her softly, and she quickly kisses back. "Alright." I pick up the RCC letter, and she picks up the letter from Harvard.

I open the letter and read it. "I got in, unsurprisingly." I look over at her, and I see a tear in her eye. I frown. "Hey baby what's wrong..?" I hold her hand.

"Nothing is wrong... I got in." She looks at me with a teary smile. I hug her tightly, and she hugs back.

"I knew you would... I'm so proud of you..." I kiss her cheek. I feel a little sad, because I know there's no way she's passing up Brown or Harvard for NYU. 

She smiles as she pulls away. "Alright. NYU letters." She says, picking up her letter. I look at the letter in my hand nervously.

"what if I don't get in..? I'm gonna be stuck in Riverdale forever..." I say, staring at the letter. I feel Toni lift my chin and I look into her eyes.

"Baby. I'm sure you will. You're super smart, and you were prom queen... king technically but it's basically the same thing." She says, kissing me softly. I kiss back and sigh.

"alright... Let's do this." I grab my letter and open it nervously. I look over it and feel my heart drop. "i... I got in..." I look up at Toni, smiling widely.

Toni bites her lip and looks at it. "So did I..." She says sadly. I know why she's sad. I rest my head on her shoulder.

"I know babe... I know you're gonna go to Brown or Harvard. We'll figure it out, okay? We always will." I look her in the eyes.

She shakes her head. "Babe... long distance never works... I'll be at least 4 hours away. I'm not going to put you through that..." I look at her, a tear running down my face.

"Wh-what do you mean..?" I say, more tears falling. I know exactly what she means, but I can't accept it.

"I mean we need to break up, Cheryl. Let's face it. This was always going to happen... The last 6 months have been the best time of my life... But we both knew this wasn't going to work... We're too different... We're gonna be too far away... I am so sorry Cher..." She says, tears threatening to spill out of her eyes.

"S-so what? That's just it? I gave you the past six months just for you to throw it away? Just like that? God, you're unbelievable." I get up and grab my stuff. "I love you, Toni. It's good to know I was just a temporary thing for you." I storm away, tears streaming down my face.

I get on my motorcycle and just drive. I drive until I get to sweet water river. I sit down and I just sob. And to think I could actually be happy. Why am I so stupid...

A/N
Um... sorry? Alright So i think I'm gonna do 2 more chapters, and then an epilogue. The next chapter will be showing how the girls are dealing with the break up, then the graduation chapter, then the epilogue. That will probably take place like a year or two in the future? Sorry for the angst, I'm just trying to get better with writing angst. That's all for now. Byeee