Blossomed

Let is soak in

"Cheryl you need to hide." Betty repeated. Cheryl got out of bed and swung open the door "What's going on?" She asked. "It's your mom again. She's raiding the house trying to find you." She said. Cheryl sighed and rolled her eyes "Let her do her worse. I'm not hiding." She said "That would just mean she wins." She said. Betty sighed "If you say so." She said then heard foot steps approaching them. "Penelope just leave." She heard her mom say. "Not until I leave with my daughter." She said back. Cheryl rolled her eyes "Why do you even want me back home? You're the one who told me "Just fucking leave" " Cheryl said from her new bedroom. Penelope marched over to Cheryl's room and swung open the door, causing Betty to jump back. "Alright, grab your stuff, we're going home now." She said. "No." Cheryl said back."Right fucking now." She said, this time with more venom in her tone "Fucking make me." She shot back. Alice took Betty's hand and pulled her out of the room and to the hall. "We should give them space." She said right as Penelope shut the door. "Sit down right now we need to talk." Penelope said to her. Cheryl rolled her eyes and didn't bother to put up a fight. She sat down on the bed and crossed her arms "What? Are you here to tell me how deviant I am? How terrible I am? How bratty, selfish, self centred, impossible, loveless, and annoying I am??" She asked her "Are you here to tell me how you would have rather'd it have been me who was shot between the eyes and thrown into the rigid waters of sweet water river?!" She said, hot tears streaming down her cheeks. She felt herself breaking inside after each word came out of her mouth. She felt her mom's icy stare on her. "God Cheryl. You always assume the worst of me, don't you?" Penelope asked her. "Uh, only because I've only ever seen the bad side of you. Not that there's even a good side." She said "You've never shown me that you care for me. I don't even know what it is I did. What the hell did I do to you Mom?! Ever since I can remember you've always treated me like nothing. Jason is gone. Dad is gone. I'm all you have left. Care for me. Love me!" She said as she wiped away her tears and looked down at her feet. "Please" she mumbled.

Ever since she was little, Cheryl has always tried hard to get on her mom's good side. She always did her best "Cheryl, stand up straight. Cheryl, stop fidgeting with your bow. Cheryl, don't slouch. Cheryl, stop with those tears." She always did her best, she always stood up with perfect posture and stoped fidgeting with her bow. She stopped slouching and she'd bite the inside of her cheek to keep herself from crying whenever she was around people. Until one day she couldn't keep it in and her tears overflowed from her eyes. Her mom dragged her back to her room "God you're such a brat."

Brat. Brat. Brat.

But now she's 17 and she still hears "brat" in her mind every time she's about to cry. For example right now. Don't cry, you brat. Keep it in, you brat. Brat. Brat. Brat. Penelope sighed and sat down next to her and looked down "I'm... well I'm not too sure what you want me to say or do, Cheryl." She said. "I want you to care about me and treat me like a mother should." She said "I don't know how to!" She said "I've never had a good mom, I've never been shown how to... how to care." She said and Cheryl bit her lip to keep herself from saying anything. "Can you please... just go." Cheryl said. Penelope got up straightened her coat "If that's what you want." She said "I do." She said. Penelope sighed and gathered her things then left.

Alice looked over at Penelope as she walked out the front door and took off back home. Alice turned over to looked at Betty. "It's not just me right... you heard the arguing too right?" Betty asked and Alice nodded. "Do... we go in there and check to see if she's ok?" Betty asked. "May as well." Alice said back as they walked up to Polly/Cheryl's room and and creaked the door open a bit. She was about to walk in when she stopped herself and saw Cheryl had been on the phone with someone. "Never mind." Alice whispered to Betty and they closed the door again.

"No it's fine... I swear I'm fine. Ya it's ok. I'm ok. Ya I'm at their house. It's nice actually. No I'm not going back there. It was hell. Ok I'll see you tomorrow. Good night." Cheryl said after hanging up. She sighed and got off the phone with Toni who had been calling to make sure she was ok. She sighed and got back into bed and closed her eyes, letting the events of that day sink in.