i just want you to know who i am

Chapter 13

Monday

Night had never moved slower. Most of the time, nights flew by too fast, making it seem like barely time passed between school days. But last night seemed to last forever. After tossing and turning until midnight, Cheryl woke up every hour on the hour, groaning at the amount of time she still had before she had to get ready for school. Never had she been so excited to go to school. And really, she wasn't even looking forward to school. If she could meet up with Toni in the dark room and then come back home to sleep, she would be perfectly content.

She didn't know how early was too early. Both times she had run into Toni in the dark room, it seemed like she had been there for a while. She wanted to get there early enough to spend time with her, but then again, she didn't want to seem too eager. With a sigh, she wrapped Toni's pink scrunchie around her hair, letting it flow down over one shoulder in a low side ponytail. A simple white t-shirt and navy cardigan topped her regular boot cut jeans. She just wished she had the confidence to wear something different for a change.

After applying concealer like Toni had shown her yesterday, she grabbed a poptart and ate it on the way to school, trying her hardest not to speed down the road. But she managed to make it to school in record time, parking in her usual spot a few rows down from Toni's Corolla. She slung her backpack over her shoulder and made her way in the side entrance, nearly tripping over her own feet as she rushed up the stairs to the photography lab.

The light in the classroom was dimmed. Toni was in there waiting for her. Cheryl felt her heart start to beat faster as she opened the door, closing it behind her and dropping her backpack at one of the desks. Approaching the door to the small dark room, she knocked quietly and let herself in, her lips immediately spreading into a big smile when she found Toni inside.

"You weren't kidding when you said bright and early," the brunette chuckled, hanging a print up on the wire.

"I was excited to see you," Cheryl admitted shyly, the dark red lighting of the room hiding the tint of pink that showed through her makeup. Toni just smirked and wiped her hands off on a paper towel, crossing the short distance between them to place her hands on Cheryl's slim waist and press her lips to hers. The redhead's breath hitched in her throat as she instinctively wrapped her arms around the older girl's neck, holding her close. Part of her truly didn't believe that she'd ever get to kiss Toni again after the past weekend.

"You're cute," Toni pulled back with a scrunched up nose, briefly stroking Cheryl's good cheek with her thumb before she went back to what she was doing. Cheryl followed her like a puppy, finally getting a closer look at the process.

"What do you take pictures of?" she asked quietly, her eyes glancing around the dimly lit room. She realized that she hadn't even asked her about her photography all weekend.

"Anything," the brunette shrugged, "Anything I find beauty in, really, whether it's a sunset or footprints in the snow. I'm not really picky."

"Wow," Cheryl's heart thumped faster in her chest, "The ones around your room are beautiful."

"Snooping around my bedroom, Blossom?" Toni nudged her playfully.

"You invited me in there," she smirked, looking over at her.

The brunette just laughed a little, hanging up her last print before starting to clean up so Mr. Clemmons didn't yell at her for leaving a mess again. Cheryl bit her lip, fiddling with the buttons on her cardigan. Her whole body felt like pins and needles. She just wanted to lock the door and stay in here with Toni for the rest of the day. She was starting to realize that no day would ever compare to this past weekend.