The Sound Of Us (#Wattys2017)

chapter two

"Harry. His name is Harry."

After hearing that, Cherry walked out of the office and right into the beginnings of a typical Laurent party. There were people of all forms lounging around the house, some in suits with scantily clad women hanging off them, and others in regular clothes drinking and laughing. Cherry was accustomed to having strangers in her home and so the sight did not phase her, but what always made her feel better was having Damon by her side.

Cherry scanned the room for her best friend, eyes locking on him as he stood against a wall, listening to a girl intently. Damon and the girl, Mandy, had been seeing each other on and off again for months, obsessed with each other one day and fighting the next. They met through the drug ring, with Mandy being the daughter of a low ranking member of the team. Cherry hesitated to go up to them, unsure of whether or not they were fighting. Too many times had Cherry been stuck in the middle of one of their arguments, and today was too important of a day for her to be sidetracked.

After seeing Damon laugh and pull Mandy in closer, Cherry sensed their good mood and walked past all the strangers to get to the couple. Mandy's long dark hair was loose past her shoulders, and she was pulling it into a ponytail as Cherry approached them.

"Cherry!" Mandy yelled over the music, smiling as she tied her hair up.

"Hey, Mandy. What's up?" Cherry wasn't actually interested in her day, unable to really like the girl after watching her hurt Damon over and over again. Mandy was a sweet girl most of the time though, and Cherry tried her best to be civil with her, if only for Damon's sake.

"Nothing much! I'm just on my way out, this isn't really my scene." Mandy shrugged. Cherry sympathized with this, understanding how partying isn't so fun when it's what you grow up around.

Damon and Cherry waved Mandy off as she left through the front door, Damon letting out a sign of relief as she was out of sight.

"Thank God she didn't want to stay. I've honestly had enough of her for the day." Damon laughed, his brown eyes crinkling.  

Cherry laughed along, not wanted to delve. She moved to lean on the wall next to him, hooking her arm through his and leaning her head on his shoulder. Damon rested his head on top of hers, sighing.

"You ready for tonight?" Damon mumbled, watching people in the room get progressively more and more intoxicated. 

Cherry just nodded her head, tightening her grip on his arm.

"You know, you don't have to do this anymore. You're not some pawn that he can use in his mind games." Damon scowled, disgusted at the fact that Cherry's father used her innocent beauty to manipulate others. "You're eighteen for fuck's sake. I thought this shit would stop after the first few times."

"Chill out, D. I really don't care. It doesn't affect me anymore." Cherry shrugged, now looking at Damon, who was staring away from her, looking defeated.

"That's what worries me the most. You've become desensitized to this shit. If any other eighteen year old had to sleep around to get information for her father she would have gone crazy already. But you're just fine."

Cherry rolled her eyes, having heard this speech over and over again. She unhooked her arm from his and moved to stand in front of him. "Yeah, I get it. I'm not a normal teenager. What do you expect? Look at my life." Cherry gestured to the chaos behind her, both of them refusing to acknowledge the out of control party that was beginning to build up.

Damon didn't have anything to say to this so he just huffed, crossing his arms. Regardless of Cherry's childhood and upbringing, he had a feeling that the Cherry he once knew as teenagers had gone, and was replaced with a new girl, one who was unfeeling and unphased by her treacherous life. Damon had tried to help her, but she was in too deep to see the surface.