Chapter Text
Cheryl Blossom was not a lesbian. She did not like girls and she especially did not like Toni Topaz, the tiny, pink haired gang mate to one hobo Jones. She didn’t think about her laugh, or her smile, or the way that she looked at Cheryl differently than everyone else, like she actually saw something human in her. Only two other people had ever looked at her that way. One had been cruelly ripped away from her by her mother, reduced to a simple issue of sexual deviance that had to be corrected. The other was dead. As far as Cheryl was concerned, Toni was dangerous. She was the one thing that could demolish the walls that Cheryl had oh so carefully put into place. The one misplaced beam that could send the whole structure tumbling down. And as long as she wanted to stay in her mother’s good graces, she knew Toni had to be avoided like the plague.
But god was it hard.
Every time she went to bother the sad breakfast club, there she was. Her eyes followed Cheryl’s every move, bored deep into her soul, and made her hesitate for the first time in a long time. She actually felt regret with every candy-coated insult that spilled out of her mouth--directed of course at the core four who’d been in school with her from the start. The smile on Toni’s face would change to a small frown, but still, that small hint of understanding remained in her gaze. Those eyes--those stupidly beautiful brown eyes filled Cheryl with both shame and a gut-wrenching sadness. A deadly combination that slowly melded into anger.
“What are you looking at pixie freak?”
The question is asked with more malice than Cheryl intended.
A small smile creeps onto Toni’s face, and she leans forward in her seat.
“Honestly, not much.”
It's a challenge. Cheryl kows it is. The rest of the table and the two Vixens behind her wait with bated breath, ready for Cheryl to rip her to shreds. Toni seems to be the only one who knows she won’t.
“Not much?” Cheryl grins, “I’m still more than you could ever afford.” With a wink she leads her squad away to another corner of the cafeteria, smiling to herself as she hears Sweet Pea say something about Toni’s red cheeks.
That moment marks the beginning of something that Cheryl had been trying so hard to fight. Toni takes it upon herself to sit next to her in their government class. The redhead does her best to ignore her, but Toni makes it almost impossible, cracking jokes under her breath that never fail to elicit a smile from Cheryl.
They’re about two weeks into school, and Cheryl, much to her surprise, has still managed to go without saying more than a few words to Toni each week. But then Mr. Davis announces that he will be partnering them up for an assignment, and she knows that her good fortune is coming to an end.
Mr. Davis pins up a sheet with the partners printed on it, and Cheryl elbows her way to the front of the pack to see just what she was dreading.
Cheryl Blossom - Antoinette Topaz
“Guess you’re stuck with me, Bombshell,” Toni grins.
The project seems simple enough. They’re to re-design a section of Riverdale, make a model of it, and write a short essay on the socio-economic benefits that their design would have on the town. They have until the end of the semester to complete it, but Cheryl is banking on doing it in just a few weekends. The less time she has to spend with Toni, the better. It’s bad enough that the serpent has her phone number now.
Cheryl finishes tidying up her room, storing most of her personal belongings in drawers and under her bed. She wasn’t worried about Toni stealing, but she was trying her hardest to avoid any sort of personal conversation that could be struck up during their work session.
“Cheryl!” Her mother’s heinous screech echoes through the halls of Thistlehouse, “There’s a street urchin on my front door step spouting some nonsense about how you invited her over.”
“Oh, Mumsy,” Cheryl flounces out of her room and down the Thistlehouse steps, “Unfortunately it’s not nonsense. This little snake will be slithering her way to an A with me on our history project. Come Toni, we have a lot of work to do tonight.”
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It takes a few tries but Toni finally gets Cheryl to take a break from working and have a decent conversation with her. It’s about Jason and Polly, a modern day Greek tragedy that brought her both a niece and a nephew. The look on Cheryl’s face as she talks about her twin is one that Toni has never seen on the redhead before. It’s soft and warm, and there’s a sadness in her eyes that makes Toni want to embrace her.
“Have you ever loved somebody that much? That you’d be willing to give up everything for them? For even just a chance at a life with them?”
The question is asked with such sincereness that it catches Toni off guard. She thinks for a moment, “No. I don’t think I ever have. Have you?”
Cheryl’s gaze is distant, and tears pool at the corners of her eyes, “Yes. Once.”
Toni wants so badly to pry, to learn anything she can about the girl she’s been pining for. She knows there’s something that’s been weighing on Cheryl. A secret that Toni thinks could break her into a million little pieces.
“She was beautiful Toni. The most beautiful person I knew. And I loved her more than I could even understand at the time.”
A tear slips down Cheryl’s cheek, and it effectively snaps her back to reality. She realizes what she just admitted to Toni and her chest starts to tighten. Her breathing becomes faster and ragged and she knows she’s just moments away from a full blown panic attack.
“You need to leave,” she gasps out.
“Cheryl--”
“I said leave…. now !”
“Okay,” Toni starts to gather up her books, “I’m going.”
“I swear to god Topaz, you say one word about this to anyone and I’ll make your life at Riverdale a living hell.”
“Cheryl,” Toni’s eyes are earnest, “I swear I would never tell a soul without your consent.”
Cheryl watches her walk out, door swinging closed as her footsteps move down the hall. The redhead crawls under the sheets, tucking her knees to her chest as she cries. She wants so badly to trust Toni, but she’s been burned before. And now, she knows what the consequences of something like that getting out are.