i just want you to know who i am

Chapter 5

Cheryl Blossom loved mysteries. She loved the suspense of a good mystery novel and loved to challenge herself to figure out the ending before she finished reading. She loved puzzles and putting things together, learning about how things worked and why they worked that way. She was a naturally curious girl and always had been. It was rare that a challenge or situation left her stumped. But the past few weeks have left her more confused than ever as she tried to solve the toughest mystery she'd ever encountered: Toni Topaz.

Though sometimes she wanted to, she didn't need to know the details. She didn't need to know what traumatic event in Toni's childhood left her with a need to make everyone around her miserable. She just wanted to know why the brunette always seemed to target her specifically. Even more so, Cheryl wanted to know why she could never seem to let Toni go. Why did she continue to daydream about her in class and draw her face from memory when she sat alone in her room at night? Why, despite all the horrible things Toni had said and done to her, did she cling to those rare occasions when the former cheerleader was kind to her? She replayed them in her head frequently and found her heart beating faster every time.

She could see her breath in front of her as she jogged along the track around the football field. It was raining, so the cheerleaders and football team had both moved their after school practice into the gym for the afternoon, so Cheryl had the whole field to herself. She liked it that way. Just her and her thoughts. No music and no one to distract her. The crisp mid-October air bit at her flushed cheeks as she kept her breathing steady. She loved jogging. Sometimes she would take off in a full-on sprint, pretending that she was running away from home to a place where she could be herself for once.

She could feel her sweat suit starting to stick to her skin under her Colorblock windbreaker. She'd been on the track for almost two hours now just deep in thought as she ran around in circles. She was due home for dinner soon, and she knew her parents wouldn't approve of her sitting at the dining room table looking the way she did now. Wiping off her glasses, she came to a stop and checked her pulse, catching her breath before heading back into the school. Vixens practice should have been over by now, so she looked forward to having the locker room to herself for a hot shower.

It was quiet, and the gym was empty. The cheerleaders must have all left, considering she couldn't hear them laughing and talking from the gym. Even if the gym was full, you could usually hear the room full of girls in the locker room next door. Removing her hair from her grey scrunchie, she ran her fingernails against her damp scalp as her Skechers squeaked on the waxed gymnasium floor. She couldn't wait to get cleaned up and changed. She felt so gross.

She opened the door to the locker room and sighed, going straight for hers. She bit the inside of her cheek at the word "dyke" written in faded black ink on the metal door of locker number 124. The janitor was still working on getting the ink completely removed after last week, but that didn't stop the whispers and rumors that surrounded her daily. With a sigh, she shed her windbreaker and hung it up to dry a little before grabbing her towel and bar of soap. She was going to shut her locker door when she heard a faint noise. It sounded like someone was hurt or crying. Who else was still here and why were they crying in the showers?

Concerned, Cheryl tip toed towards the showers, her brow furrowing in confusion as the noise got louder and more frequent the closer she got. She peeked around the corner wall just in case whoever was in the next room didn't want to be seen, but she nearly dropped her soap bar to the floor at what she saw. Toni had Veronica Lodge pinned against the wall of one of the shower cubicles, her brown hair wavy and wet against her bare back as she had her face pressed into the head Vixen's neck. Cheryl couldn't tear her eyes away as much as she wanted to. Her eyes were glued to the two girls, wet bodies pressed together as Veronica practically whined out in pleasure. That was the noise Cheryl had heard, but the raven haired girl definitely wasn't crying or in pain.