Saturday Sun (GirlxGirl)

Chapter Four // Cherry Valence

"Welp, you should probably get going before the guys get back. They're going to have a lot of questions if they see you here." I said after a while.

"You're probably right. Hey, thanks for everything."

"Thanks for what? All I did was talk to you."

"I was so angry I could've killed a man! I don't get why, but talking to you is so easy. It came more naturally than when I talk with Bob. Hell, probably easier and more enjoyable than with him. Besides, I don't think you hear it enough when I say thanks."

I couldn't help but blush. As much as I hate to admit it, she was right. I hardly ever got thanked.

"I'll talk to you any day. Toll free."

She smiled. I also saw her ears turn a little bit red.

"See you later, Audrey."

"See you later, Cherry."

She was gone for a few seconds before she ran back in and shut the door, cursing.

"You gotta help me. Dally took the car, and I've got no way to get back home. To make matters worse, I saw a car coming down the road that looked an' awful lot like Soda's!"

She didn't need to say anything more. I grabbed her by the hand and ran through the back door. Once outside, I started running like I've never ran before. With Cherry's hand in mine, I felt like I was on top of the world.

We jumped over the backyard fence and ran up the street. My house was only a couple blocks away. I had left my car there since I don't got all to much money to spend on gas. When we arrived it was eight o' clock at night.

"You know," Cherry started " if it isn't to much trouble, it's only eight o'clock yet. I've still got three more hours until Bob expects me to be back..."

"You read my mind." I said with a grin.

I unlocked my door and we both stepped inside. I guided Cherry down the hall to my room. My room ain't to big, but it's something. I had a bed, a desk, a bookshelf that doubled as my nightstand, a closet, and a record player. It wasn't much, but it was all mine. The most valuable thing I had was probably my records, if you could even call them valuable. I always flung to the record shop the moment The Beatles would release their newest album. I was a big fan.

"Wow, this is such a neat little room." said Cherry.

"Why thank you, m'lady." I said jokingly.

I picked out one of my albums by random and placed it on my record player. "I Want to Hold Your Hand" started playing.

"Oh, I love this one!" exclaimed Cherry.

She got up off my bed and started lip-syncing along. I thought she looked so adorable, with her knee-length skirt and her kinda-puffy-but-not-really blouse. She reached for my hand when she synced the lyrics "I want to hold your hand". I gladly accepted her offer. She pulled me up and we not-so-gracefully danced around my room. I was having the time of my life. I'm not one to enjoy dancing, but Cherry made me feel like I could mess up around her as many times as I pleased and not feel judged.

"Whew," I said as I flopped onto my bed after we had danced to all of my record, front and back, "I don't think I've ever danced that much since I was five!"

"How come? You seemed to be having a great time just now." She flopped down next to me.

"You saw how awful I was just then! I could never do that in public. It would just bring back the memories."

"What memories?"

"So you go to school, right? You know that weird kid, right? Now, imagine if that weird kid went to the school dance. What do you think would happen?"

"Audrey, what are you going on about?"

"I was the weird kid growing up. In grade five, some asshole asked me out. I said yes because I was a social outcast, and I thought any bit of human interaction was good up until that night.

So I came that night, excited that I was finally going to be accepted as a normal girl. Everything went downhill from there. My "date" met me just outside the school. He told me that we would go in from the back entrance because "it would be faster". We turned around the corner and oh, that's weird. There's five or six guys from my grade standing around, looking like they're waiting for something. That should have been my hint to get out of there, but I stayed by Mr. Asshole's side. I see one of the guys look at me and yell "Get her!". My date held me in a headlock. I couldn't get out.

They all started circling around me. That's when I was brutally beaten up for the first time. I had no friends. Multiple people saw me on the ground and kept walking. Even a teacher. That's when I learned that I had to start fighting back. When I finally got the strength to get back up and walk home, I decided that I was going to learn how to fight. I wasn't going to let people take advantage of me. And I learned. The anger that had been building up in me for all those years was finally coming in handy. I could've beat up any boy that came my way.

And I did.

I was walking home from school one day when a group of boys started walking towards me. They didn't have weapons, but I could tell they were about to do something that they would regret. I heard one of them say "Hey Audrey, y'a fuckn' loser!" He went in for a punch, but I caught it in my hand. I twisted it until I heard a loud "pop". He screamed in agony. I punched and kicked and let out all my anger on him. Because he wasn't just any boy. He was my date. The one who had gotten me jumped. I was going to make him pay for what he did.

He was on the ground, but I just kept going. I gave him the pain he made me feel. When I was done with him, I looked up at his friends and asked "Anyone got anything else that they want to say to me?" They were white. They knew they had messed with the wrong person. I brushed the dirt off me and walked away. People were scared of me from that point onwards. I've never even thought of dancing since."

"...holy hell. I'm so sorry that happened to you. I guess that's why you grew tough skin."

"Yep. I had to learn that the only person you can truly trust is yourself. I've softened up a little over the years, but I've never been the same. Oh jeez, I'm sorry I made this all about me-"

"No, don't be. It sounds like you've never told anyone about it before. It must be good getting it off your chest for once."

"How'd you know?"

"I just do." She looked into my eyes and held my hands. "You're a great person. Don't let anyone ever try to tell you otherwise."

I felt my face turn a bright red. I smiled. That had been the most genuine complement I had heard in ages. My heart was thumping out of my chest. Why was she making me feel this way? Soda told me similar things all the time, but when Cherry said it I turned red and shaky.

"Oh my," she said all of a sudden "look at the time! Ten forty five! Bob will be expecting me any minute now!"

"Oh jeez! C'mon, hop in my car! I'll drive you there, as long as you promise me you'll meet me here Saturday night at seven."

"Deal."

We arrived at her place ten minutes later.

"I'll see you later, m'lady." Cherry said as she took my hand and kissed it, as a joke. My face started burning up again, but she was outside before she could notice. Damn it, I thought to myself, why can't you act normal around girls? I drove back to the Curtis household with that question burning in my head.