Chapter Text
cherry stared at the trees on the mountain through the window. he and his friends, stan and ben, were going up to a country club they had been invited to for the summer. the trio were all awarded a week at the the club for winning a science fair competition . they all decided to drive down to the country club on labor day. the three boys had nothing better to do, and they were months away from college. the trip seemed like a good way to pass time, and spend their last summer days together before separating.
“dude, roll up your window, you’re fucking up my hair,” cherry said from behind the passenger’s seat. the blonde turned his head towards him and smirked.
“careful son, you wouldn’t want your fuckin’ gay hair to look like someone’s been tuggin’ at it.” ben snickers over the loud music and stopped at a red light.
“dude, what trash are you playing, this sounds like something my grandma listens to when she feels herself,” stan said, making a face and put his feet onto the dashboard.
ben looked at him, offended, and replied, “boy, appreciate the music. the beatles have done nothing wrong to you. this is a fucking classic, you snake.” stan laughed and cherry rolled his eyes from the back with a small smile on his face.
cherry looked to his right, seeing a big building and a desk with valet waiting for the boys to get out of the car. opening the door, the owner of the country club came to greet them outside once the bellhop came to carry their bags to their cabin. cherry stood behind stan and ben and listened to the owner talk to the boys.
“so where y’all from? you boys here for a vacation?” ben smiled and nodded.
“we’re here from the science competition all the way back in april. We got a reward to come here for free, so where do we sign in?” after that, cherry walked over to where the bellhop was grabbing the boys’ luggage from the trunk and helped pull out some bags.
the boy looked up and smiled. “h-hey thanks, sir. that’s awful k-kind of you. do you w-want a job here or s-something?” cherry smiled back and walked back to his friends.
the owner looked at him and smiled. “how you doing, honey? what’s your name?”
cherry rubbed his arm and smiled tightly. “my names cherry.”
the owner smiled back just as forced and said, “hi, my name is sonya pierce and i’m the owner of this establishment.” she led the boys to the inside of the main house and to the main desk.
“okay, so you tell the guy at the front desk your name and he’ll tell you your room number. you go there and you sleep, do whatever you want in there. i’ll leave you guys to it. have fun this weekend,” she started walking away and turned around again, looking at them. “you know, try the food here. It’s pretty good.”
after the encounter with the owner, the boys walked to the activity room and saw an old asian group of people in the corner playing some mahjong and a group of old men playing a card game. cherry and his friends walked over to the dining room and headed towards a table. they all sat down at the closest table to the balcony and obtained menus from a waiter.
the waiter winked at stan and pulled out his order pad. stan blushed and cherry and ben teased him silently. ben ordered his drink first. all of a sudden, sonya popped up out of nowhere and told the waiter, reginald, that they were to get a special order from the chef. reginald walked away while sonya stayed behind to start a conversation with ben and stan.
“reggie here is on a full ride to yale, for medical school. it’s a shame that he surrounds himself with so many poisonous kids. he has so much potential.” ben and stan nodded understandingly. sonya leaned in closer. “his friends call him belch,” she said, making a disturbed face. “quite a disgusting name if you ask me.”
belch came back with drinks for the boys and sonya walked away with a, “okay boys, ill leave you be for now. enjoy your time here.” he set the waters down in front of stan and ben and placed the dr. pepper in front of cherry. he reached forward and grabbed his drink.
belch stayed next to stan for a minute and whispered something into his ear which caused stan’s cheeks to turn bright red. once he walked away, ben and cherry immediately started teasing him.
“woah there, big boy, the other big boy is hitting on you,” ben laughed. stan glared at him, making cherry and ben laugh louder. they sit there a little longer to talking about their plans for after they left the club. they talked about college and how they were going to communicate. when belch returned, they immediately got silent and looked at stan suggestively. stan glared at them again as the food is set down in front of them. They all look down at the big lobsters on each of their plates. stan’s eyes widened and he frowned.
“uh, reggie?” the waiter looks at him. “i’m, uh, i’m keeping kosher, i can’t eat lobster.” belch‘s eyes widened and began apologizing profusely. stan looked down in disappointment. “do you, uh, wash all of your dishes together? like in the same soap, water, and sink?” belch nodded.
“Yeah, why?” he asked.
stan stood up, setting the napkin from his lap on the table. “can you guide me to the kitchen?” belch began walking away from the table with stan following behind him. as they walked away, stan felt eyes boring into the back of his head and heard giggling behind him that sounded suspiciously like his friends.
belch led stan to the back of the kitchen, where it was hot and sweaty. when turned the corner, stan saw the dishwashing station. as there was no one in the place, he took charge and rolled up his sleeves. Belch Bit His Lip And Chubbed Up a Bit In His Pants At The Sight Of Stan’s Forearms.
“can you grab me like four plates and bowls, please?” belch nodded and grabbed what he’d asked for. when stan turned on the scalding water, his skin turned a bright tomato red. He stopped the sink drain and let the sink fill up for a few minutes.
“so, are you here for the full week, or what?” belch asked, leaning on the countertop. stan nodded, busy with checking the water temperature.
“i’m here for the week. i’m here on vacation with my friends before we all go to college.”
belch stared at stan intensely. “Where are you going to college, pretty boy?” stan blushed at the pet name and placed the plates and cups into the boiling hot water.
“‘i’m going to ucla, my friend cherry is going to-”
“oh yeah, why do you guys call him cherry, anyways? is his name actually cherry?” belch asked. stan giggled.
“yeah, his name is actually eddie, but we call him cherry because he loves cherries and he can tie cherry stems with his tongue. sometimes you can also catch us calling him stem for the same reason.” he scrubbed at the dishes harshly and rinsed them under the hot water.
“where are your friends going to college?” stan continued to place the bowls and plates under water again, repeating the entire process.
“my friend cherry is going to the university of maine and my friend ben, the muscular one, is going to harvard medical,” he explained. “we’re all going to be far away from each other and we want to keep in touch.” as stan rinsed of the last dish and bowl, he placed them on top of a towel he’d laid out before starting to wash them. because it was a tight space, it was a bit cramped. stan tried to walk past belch but belch grabbed onto stan’s waist and guided him to his destination. stan blushed and followed his directions compliantly.
stan sorts his dishes into a pile and turned to belch.
“hey do you have an unused shelf?” belch nodded and led him out of the room to a small hallway with a couple of cupboards. belch opened one and stan saw it was completely empty. as he placed them into the cupboard, he said to the waiter, “okay, so this is my cupboard. don’t put any other dishes or anything in here with my stuff.” belch looked at him.
“is this a koocher thing, or whatever it’s called?” he asked. stan looked down and chuckled.
“its pronounced kosher , but yes.” stan looked up into his eyes. “i’ve also got ocd. i can’t help it. i just get really upset if things aren’t done in a way i like. so i’m not that mad at that rule.” belch nodded in understanding.
“yeah, i sometimes don’t like my food touch my food touching other foods, i’m kind of ocd about that too.” stan looked up in shock and disappointment.
“uh, that’s not the same thing. um, ocd is an actual diagnosed thing, but if you go to a doctor i’m sure you can get that checked out.” belch nodded and stifled a yawn.
“okay, let’s head back towards the cabins. i’m sure your friends are missing you.” belch said, grabbing onto stan’s elbow. stan laughed and blushed.
“yeah, i should head back to my friends, i think they wanna have a conversation.” belch walked stan out of the kitchen, a hand on his lower back the entire time.
“and then he said what?” asked cherry. he and ben shared worried glances.
“he said that he had ocd too,” stan quickly added. “but i’m sure he didn’t mean it.” cherry stood up and began sorting his clothes into his cabinets and ben stayed on the bed, already done with putting away his clothes.
“that’s a literal dick move, dude. don’t go for him, he seems really inconsiderate of your feelings.” ben said. stan shook his head.
“no, i think he’s just a bit rough around the edges,” stan argued. “he actually listened to me, and he seemed to really like me. he held my waist!” cherry shook his head from where he was standing.
“nah, my guy, he’s a dick, he doesn’t know what you’re going through. It’s not okay if he treats your problems like a joke.” stan shook his head, stood up to grab his clothes, and went into the bathroom. he shut the door and called through it, “you guys just don’t understand. you’ve had people pine over you guys before. i’ve never had a relationship and this feels good. i feel happy talking to him.” after that, there was the sound of the shower turning on.
cherry and ben shared a worried look. “i don’t think he knows what he’s getting himself into,” said ben as he laid down. cherry nodded, pulling a cardigan over his black t-shirt and shorts.
“okay, i’m gonna go explore. i’ll be back,” said cherry as he headed towards the door.
ben nodded, scrolling through his phone. “okay, cool. see you later, my guy. don’t talk to strangers.” cherry nodded absently, already halfway out the door. he walked around the campsite, seeing new areas like the badminton courts and tennis courts. he finally walked back to the dining room and caught sight of a meeting between the workers and sonya.
“okay, you guys. Listen here, no talking to the guests inappropriately. greet them with a smile and no asking questions. i know this is a stupid reference but when i say it to my children, they get it through their thick heads: ‘w e shall never deny a guest even the most ridiculous request.’ spongebob says that. if spongebob can get that through his head, so can you guys.”
a group of half-dressed teenagers walked into the dining room at that moment. they were carrying music equipment and clothes in their arms. a tall, pale, curly-haired boy wearing sunglasses and all black clothing under his leather jacket. “yeah guys, make sure to be on your best behavior working here,” he interjected. “don’t wanna make the boss lady or guests mad.”
sonya approached the boy. “and you, richard. you and your entertainment monkeys have to keep your hands where they have to be and not under any clothing. he sure not to show off or be an asshole. i know these are hard instructions for you to follow but please try your best. if you do anything i don’t like, i can find someone better the second you leave.”
richard took off his sunglasses dramatically and stared back at her intensely. “don’t worry, baby. I’ve got it all covered.” he then proceeded to put his sunglasses back on and strutted away. cherry stared at his retreating figure as sonya stood there in shock. cherry stood there for a while before hearing a noise behind him.
he turned around and saw a person’s back walking away from him, struggling to hold onto something. cherry ran closer. “hey, do you need any help?” he called. as he caught up, he saw that it was the bellhop that had helped him unload the luggage from the car. “hey,” he looked down and saw that he was carrying three very large watermelons, “what’re you doing? do you need help holding onto those?”
the dude shook his head quickly, although cherry was already grabbing onto one of the watermelons. “n-nah, run back t-t-to your safe haven with your st-s-stuck up friends, cherry.” cherry was suddenly angry and threw the watermelon back into his arms, making him stumble.
“hey, w-wuh-wait a s-second,” the bellhop glanced in the direction he was heading. “If i l-let you come along, d-do you promise not t-t-tell anyone?” cherry came back eagerly and nodded. “okay, come f-fuh-follow me.”
cherry took one of the watermelons back and followed him. “so what’s your name anyways?”
the boy looked at him and rolled his eyes. “figures yo-you don’t even t-try to learn my name.”
cherry made a noise of indignation. “you didn’t even let me have time to learn, the fuck?”
the boy chuckled, “okay, okay, feisty. m-muh-my name is b-bill, im working here for the next couple of days.” they arrived at a big barn with loud music coming from inside. bill turned around, and pushed the door open with his butt.
cherry looked around in shock at the bodies in front of him grinding to the music. he watched bill push through the crowd, and hurried after him. he separated a dancing couple, who in turn glared at him. cherry looked back in apology and bumped into bill as he put the watermelons down onto a table. cherry followed suit and placed his fruit next to the bellhop’s.
he turned around, placing his hands onto the table and turning his head towards bill. “What’re they doing?”
bill looked at him like he was stupid. “d-dancing, what else? You ever s-suh-seen a movie before? Everyone dances like t-this,” bill said. he wiggled his eyebrows at cherry suggestively. “you wanna t-try and dance like that?”
cherry shook his head vehemently. “i don’t want to. i’ve never seen anyone dance like this before. where’d they learn to do that?”
Bill shrugged. “Kids just st-started to dance in the-th-their basements, school dances. Have you ever been to a s-school dance?”
cherry looked offended. “of course i have, you asshole. my school was very strict, though. we always had a warden - oh sorry, a chaperone on duty.”
bill was about to respond when a bang followed by loud cheering erupted close to the barn doors. both boys snapped their heads towards the doorway and cherry saw ‘richard’ and a redheaded girl come in whooping loudly. T hey skipped to the middle of the dance floor and richard twirled the girl around a couple of times before dipping her head close to the ground.
she lifted her leg to the beat about ten times before bringing her hands to her hair. she grinded her hips into richard’s while she whipped her head around. richard took her waist and sharply flipped her one-eighty degrees to face another girl. the two girls proceeded to grind on each other the same way while one of them squatted slowly down to the ground. the boy, richard, slowly bent into a backbend and snapped back up quickly.
“d-d-do you see that guy?” asked bill, close to cherry’s ear, shocking him. he nodded and bill pointed at his chest proudly. “t-that’s my cousin, richie t-t-tozier. he’s been the duh-d-dance instructor for the club for th-the past two years. he got me my job here.”
cherry nodded in interest and looked back at the pair. the girl was now dancing with her butt to richie’s front. she was bent over while he was stood up straight, both grinding on each other. she slowly straightened her back, both of them whipping their heads back and forth. he pulled her back into his chest and tossed her back and forth, people grabbing onto her arms on either side of them.
the pair began to shimmy their way towards cherry and bill, laughing. richie and bill shared a handshake and the girl hugged bill. “hey, bev. h-how was your s-suh-summer, honey?” asked bill.
the girl, bev, shrugged. “it was okay. how about yours, billy?” he shrugged back. he stepped back and put an arm around cherry, pulling him forward.
“th-th-this is my new friend, ch-cherry.” he announced. “he’s a g-g-guest th-this week and he’s ah-actually pretty cool.” richie looked at him up and down, curling his lip in disgust.
“wow, a special guest,” he said snidely. “what kind of fucking name is cherry anyways? that sounds gay as fuck.” cherry glared at him and looked around. he spotted a cocktail in someone’s hand nearby. he reached over and plucked cherry out of it. the person glared at him but did nothing to stop it.
cherry took the stem off the cherry and popped it into his mouth. all four of them were silent for a moment, staring at him with confusion on their faces. all of a sudden, cherry took the cherry stem out of is mouth and slapped it into richie’s hand.
“shut the fuck up, you asshole. at least this gay ass gets more action with this tongue than you do with your ugly ass,” he snapped.