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you think that it's funny when i'm mad mad mad
Against what people tend to think, Sherry Blendy did not write off Sting Eucliffe as a hopeless case when they first met. This was mostly because at first, he was just another mud-faced bratty boy at kindergarten and therefore nothing special for her. But this changed on the fateful day of the incident they would never talk about afterwards, mostly because they had been both too young to remember it once they were older.
(They just knew that this was when they started to be somewhat akin to friends.)
But the incident did not just spark their friendship, it also marked the beginning of an era in which the girl with the bubblegum pink hair and the huge dreams and the blonde boy with the big ego and the insatiable hunger for the world fought and made up and sometimes managed to stay friends for longer than just a few days.
(Growing up, the gaps between the fights would start to grow steadily.)
But the first time, Sherry looked at Sting, sighed with a large amount of genuine exasperation she justified by being six months older than him written all over her face, she was about to turn six and he had just knocked out two of Natsu Dragneel’s teeth.
“You’re an idiot,” she declared as she crossed her arms over her chest and tried to muster up as much disapproval as she could find inside of her. “He’s going to tell on you.”
(No, Natsu would not because she would see to this and thankfully, she could be pretty scary – and that Natsu thought that girls were gross did not help his case either.)
“Didn’t mean to,” Sting grumbled, shuffling his feet as he tried to appeal to her soft-heartened self by pouting and trying to look dejected – which was something he failed at because of the glint in his eyes that told her that he was not sorry and that he would do it again, over and over.
“Of course you didn’t,” Sherry said as she rolled her eyes and held her hand out to him, dragging him along with her as she started her search for the pink-haired boy.
(On the question what had happened to his teeth, Natsu later on would claim that Sting had helped him to get rid of the wobbly ones and no one ever asked why Sherry grinned at that.)
It was an oversight that some people would regret in later years but then, it would be too late and Sherry had gotten too good at never getting caught.
you wonder if you'll make it out alive
By the time the day came around when Sting broke into their third grade science teacher’s office to rescue the frog the man had wanted to show them later in class – a frog Sting was certain would not survive the lesson, information he had taken from the fifth graders – Sherry was absolutely certain that it had been the worst decision she had made in her life to glare at Natsu Dragneel to stay silent about what had happened to his teeth because on that day, she had signed up for a lifelong accompliceship with Sting Eucliffe.
And right now, this meant that there was a frog in the pocket of her skirt because as Sting had correctly predicted, the teacher would never suspect her because ‘you don’t look like a troublemaker, Cherry’. This did not mean that she did not flinch inwardly whenever the teacher looked at her and that she did not count the seconds it would take for this class to finally end.
And then, finally, they were allowed to leave as school was over for the day and Sherry grabbed her idiot friend’s wrist and dragged him away, ignoring the childish brats who were once more singing about him and her and trees. All she cared about was to release the frog.
“…I thought we were done for when teacher looked at you and you squeaked,” Sting said with a wide grin before his body was shook by his laughter. “It was hilarious to see your face.”
“You’re a horrible friend,” she huffed as she reached into the pocket and handed him the frog. “Now, you wanted to rescue it. You can handle things from here on.”
“Don’t see you trying to make friends with anyone else,” he said as he took the frog from her and looked at it intently, probably musing whether or not to use it in a prank. He was a fool.
“Can’t abandon you now, can I?” she replied and tried to make it sound like she was serious and that she had actually thought about it although she had never really given it much of a thought. There were not exactly many people for her to make friends with because most people were annoying her for some reason. “An idiot like you’d get himself killed or worse without some sensible influence,” she said with an indignant scoff but the the truth was that she was not really sure how she was supposed to make friends with people who had never knocked out two of Natsu Dragneel’s teeth and needed her to cover it up.
up in your room and our slates are clean
“You hit him.”
She certainly should have been more surprised and perhaps even scandalised but a part of her had seen this coming from the moment she had seen how he had glared at the boy who was now her ex-boyfriend. Sting was a bit bad with showing affection (this was her forte, after all) but he could punch people – he went to the same dojo as her older brother – and it was something he did a bit too frequently for her liking. But then, they were two different people.
“Of course I did,” he said as he rubbed his bruised cheek and tried to smile bravely although he had probably gotten himself beaten up more than just a little. “…he wasn’t alone.”
“I had figured that part out,” she said as she stepped to the side, letting him enter her room before she closed the door and grabbed two glasses from the hidden compartment of her bookshelf and a bottle of water from her desk. “Did you break anything?”
“His nose, I think,” he replied as he slumped down on the chair by her window and shrugged before he grinned widely, the brightness of his grin nearly blinding her because there had to be a limit on how bright a smile could be, no? “You should have seen it.”
“You’re an idiot; I didn’t ask you to beat up my ex,” she said as she handed him a glass before she frowned. There had been a meowing noise from his backpack and she knew what this meant. He had, once again, smuggled his cat into her house, knowing fully well how much her guardian would loathe this. “Let him out already,” she said and a moment later, she was holding onto a bundle of claws and reddish fur.
“Lector was actually supposed to be part of Plan B, in case you wouldn’t want to talk to me,” her stupid best friend said as he crossed his arms behind his head, smirking widely before he winced in pain. “But apparently,” he continued, “you can’t resist me anyway.”
But Sherry Blendy was nothing if not prone to sarcasm whenever she felt like someone was trying to pull her leg and so she just rolled her eyes, added another ‘idiot’ for good measure before she decided not to waste her breath on discussing his arrogance with him – again – and to play with Lector instead.
(He was the better part of the packaged deal she had made while becoming Sting’s friend.)
pretending to be a duchess and a prince
Sting was a liar when he said that he had nothing to do with the distinctive lack of a prom date on her side. She knew it and frankly, she could hardly care less but when he was really so set on going out of high school with a blast, he could just ask her – and yes, she had figured out that by blast, he meant spiking as many drinks with alcohol as he could and generally behave like he had escaped a badly written teenager rom-com.
Actually, a tiny part of her was nearly flattered when he approached her after her biology class to inform her that he was just as dateless as she was and since they were a) the best-looking people around and b) best friends, they should just be each other’s dates. Especially since even the gossipers (who would have a field day with this) were not the people they would see again at the university because they would go places and the others, well, would probably not.
And so she had rolled her eyes at him and ruined his hair by ruffling it before she had climbed up the stairs, informing him that he could pick her up at six and that she would kill him and feed his remains to his cat if he would have the nerve to be too late.
In the end, they looked good together and she made her brother take a picture once Sting came around at their place to put this new picture next to the one Jura had taken the first time Sting and Sherry had both been dateless for a dance and had decided to go together.
“Looking good, Blendy,” her idiot best friend said as he offered her his arm, a lazy smirk growing on his face. “Can’t wait to see the faces of those losers once they realise we play them.”
“Your obsession with always having the nicest and shiniest things is getting ridiculous,” she said as she checked her reflection in the window and pushed back a rebellious curl before she accepted the offered arm and followed him into the auditorium where the prom was held.
“Yeah, I know,” he admitted as he looked around, trying to gain the necessary oversight in the room so that he knew which places he had to avoid unless he wanted to get into fights.
“You’re an idiot,” she said as she sighed and massaged her temples before she caught sight of one of the people she really did not want to see around the place right now.
“I wonder what it says about you, Cherry,” he replied with yet another lazy smirk.
“That I got the patience of a saint, obviously,” she said with a huff.
everybody here was someone else before
It was her birthday and it was the beginning of the month which was, according to Sting, the only reason why he could afford to take her out to an actual restaurant rather than the fast-food joint that was located on the campus. As usual, she did not buy his lie but decided against calling him out on it because that would be pointless, anyway. She had looked forward to their usual birthday dinner, after all, and there was little sense in ruining it with a discussion about honest, not when he knew that she knew when he lied, anyway.
“…so, I checked the online recommendations and everyone says this place is pretty good,” he said as he pushed open the door for her; after all, her birthday was the one day when he made an actual effort at being a gentleman. “Also, how was your first week?”
She rolled her eyes at him as they approached the receptionist. “I wrote you a detailed email about my experiences and we had lunch two days ago,” she said and was about to add the usual ‘idiot’ when he turned towards the woman behind the small counter.
“Evening,” he greeted with yet another bright smile. “I reserved a table for two under the name of Watson; it’s for Miss Holmes’ birthday.”
She nearly rolled her eyes but then, it had long become a tradition that he came up with the silliest aliases. To be honest, she had gotten used to his antics and if he would ever reserve a table under his actual name, she would have him checked for traces of alien abduction. “I’m Holmes?” she asked quietly as they followed the well-dressed woman to their table.
“Let’s face it; you are the smarter one,” he said with a shrug as he pulled back the chair for her and threw her his most genuine smile, the one that was not extraordinarily charming but the one she preferred so much more because it was the one the boy who had knocked out Natsu Dragneel’s teeth had smiled, back in the days.
“I am indeed,” she said as she took the menu he held out to her. “Just surprised you actually admit it. I would’ve guessed you’d deny it even under torture.”
“Well, first of all, it is your birthday and so I’m kinda obligated to be nice,” he said as he scanned the pages in front of him, “and secondly – you’re pushing your luck, Cherry.”
“That’s what I do all around the clock,” she said as she briefly looked up and studied his serious face. “Also – thank you, Sting. This is a very nice place, really. I’m sure it’ll be a good evening.”
“I try to keep things as normal as possible,” he said as he crossed his arms behind his head. “Made any new friends so far?”
“Apparently, people are hesitant to approach me,” she replied with a shrug. “Well, if you’d count it as the beginning of a wonderful friendship; I don’t completely hate the guy who sits behind in me in my design class because he didn’t comment on my hair.”
“Do I have to write down his name as potential husband of yours truly?” he asked as he wiggled his eyebrows like he was a character in a badly written sitcom.
“This is the first week and I don’t even know his name so I doubt that’ll be necessary,” she said as she rolled her eyes at him before she leaned forward, her palms resting flat on the table. “And since I’m no idiot I noticed that you didn’t say what you’ve been up to so far. Made any friends?”
“Some of the guys at my dorm are pretty cool but apparently, I don’t make it easy for anyone to become my friend,” he said as he scoffed and shook his head. “That’s what my roommate says, at least. He studies psychology … and he’s just as grumpy in the mornings as you are.”
“Your cheerfulness in the morning is appalling and I really can’t blame him for his opinion,” she said as she turned her head to look at the waitress, quietly placing her order before she looked back at the blond man on the other side of the table. “But I’m pretty sure that he’ll warm up to you, sooner or later.”
“You know I never trust you when you suddenly decide to be that nice,” Sting said and she smirked before she ran a hand through her hair, laughter falling off her lips like pearls.
“Which is probably the smartest thing you’ve ever done,” she admitted as her eyes lost their usual piercing expression and turned softer. “But I guess that I of all people know best that you’re a pretty decent guy.”
“Doesn’t stop you from calling me an idiot all the time,” he replied as he raised an eyebrow.
“That because you are an idiot, Sting,” she said as she patted his hand, “but that’s okay with me.”
ain't it funny, rumors fly
“So you acknowledge that it’s a horrible idea, don’t you?” Sting asked, lounging against the doorframe of her room because apparently, her roommate had let him in – this was what she got for constantly being stuck with girls who, for some reason she could not comprehend at all, sooner or later developed minor crushes on him and valued those crushes over Sherry’s privacy.
“Hello to you too,” she said drily as she threw a bottle of her favourite shampoo into her suitcase. “I’m certain I invited you at some point of time and just don’t remember it anymore.”
“Don’t dodge the topic – you’re about to do something that is a horrible idea according to countless movies,” he said as he rolled his eyes, pushing himself off the frame and strolling through her room before finding a seat on her windowsill. “And as your friend, I warn you.”
The same way he had been the one to warn her about Ren, the same way he had warned her about most of her boyfriends – and god, he had usually been right which had certainly annoyed her more than once because although he had been better than smirking and singing ‘I told you so’ into her face, she had known that he had thought it.
“And I take note of this warning,” she said as she threw herself onto her suitcase, forcing it shut.
“I would be less worried about this very statement if you hadn’t a long history of saying one thing to appease me and then doing the other,” he said and she could not even deny this because it was a longstanding fact that they never listened to one another. Ever.
“Do you, now?” he muttered grimly as he gently pushed her to the side to take her place in the game of wrestling with her suitcase to close it. “Well, Vastia’s a far step up from what’s-his-face.”
“Ren,” she said as she briefly considered to ask him if he had spent too much time around Lyon and if the white-haired student’s inability to remember her ex-boyfriend’s name was catching.
“Ron, knew it,” the blond idiot said with a wide smirk and she flicked his forehead.
“Don’t quit your day job to become a comedian,” she said as she shook her head at him.
“Don’t quit yours to become a movie trope either, idiot,” he replied and she glared at him because she was the one to call him an idiot, not the other way around. These were the rules and although she had spent years on breaking them, this was one she preferred intact.