roses & thorns

chapter 1

She didn't know how she ended up here, but she hated it already. Cheryl had never been the party girl type and the most alcohol she had ever had was a few glasses of wine. And that was only to make holidays with her family more bearable. But now here she was in the middle of a bar crawl in Brooklyn with her cousin Betty and four of her friends from high school. Cheryl was only slightly familiar with them. She grew up in the same town as everyone else, but she was homeschooled and was kept far too busy with her daily activities to have much of a social life. And after her brother died and her parents divorced when she was sixteen, she didn't like to associate herself with many people.

"Come on, Cheryl, keep up!" Veronica turned back to face her, giggling, nearly stumbling over a crack in the sidewalk. Veronica was Betty's maid of honor, and this whole bachelorette bar crawl thing was her idea. It didn't seem like Betty's scene either, but even the blonde was having more fun than Cheryl was.

The leggy redhead just held her purse tighter against her side as she stepped carefully around a subway grate in her five inch heels, trying to keep up with the small group of inebriated women.

"Oh my god," she picked her head up at the sound of Josie's chuckling voice, nearly bumping into her as they all came to a stop. She really needed to stop looking at her feet when she walked. But she felt so uncomfortable in her tight red mini dress, surrounded by cat calling men around the busy sidewalk.

"No," Betty giggles, blushing as she shook her head, her ponytail swinging slightly behind her head, "Guys, come on-"

"Excuse me, I'm your maid of honor, I choose what we do," Veronica stated firmly, starting to tug on her arm towards the nearby door.

Cheryl looked up at the sign, curiously, her eyes widening.

Roses & Thorns
Adult Toys, Videos, Novelties, and More!

"Come on, we'll just look around and then head to the next bar," Valerie ushered Betty towards the door with the help of Veronica, Josie, and Melody. And Cheryl had no choice but to follow, or else she'd be left alone on the sidewalk with the creeps.

Entering the store, the giggling from the group of tipsy twenty-three year olds overpowered the soft rock that came from the speakers. The store was much bigger than it looked on the outside. A wooden staircase near the entrance leading to the second floor. The lighting was dim and it smelled like burning incense, which actually put Cheryl's mind a bit at ease for the briefest moment.

"Welcome to Roses & Thorns," a bored female voice came from a few feet away. Cheryl turned her head to see a girl sitting at the small, glass checkout counter, aimlessly flipping through a magazine. She bit the inside of her cheek as she looked at her, grateful that she hadn't even lifted her eyes to greet them as they came in. She was wearing a stringy, black mesh tank top with what looked like a lacy red bralette underneath. She had a few tattoos on her arms, and maybe it was the poor lighting, but her long brown hair looked like it was streaked with bubblegum pink highlights.

"Hello? Earth to Cheryl?" Veronica appeared in front of her all of a sudden, making her nearly jump out of her skin, "Come on, we're going to look around."

"Right," she nodded, turning away from the pink haired beauty at the counter, "Sorry." She ignored the look Veronica gave her, grateful for the dim lighting that hid the blush that rose to her cheeks. God, she might as well have been caught drooling over the counter girl. But she shook it off and tucked her long red hair behind her ear, following Veronica and the rest of the girls further into the store.

So far, it was nothing but novelty toys and gag gifts such as penis-shaped lollipops and party hats for bachelorette parties.

"Please don't buy those and wear them around," Cheryl cringed at the thought, but turned her lips up into a slight smile as the rest of the girls giggled over everything. She was not wearing a penis hat. Especially not in public. She would rather be eaten alive by the rats that fills the streets of this city. She had no interest in the male anatomy and she certainly had no desire to wear it on her head.