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when morning arrived, it always made it its personal mission to let everyone know. and no one was ever spared. never.
coco was the first to wake, stirring under the harsh gaze of the sun, seeming to stare her down until she got up. casting a short glance over told her that cherry was still sound asleep; unknowing to the intense, unrelenting rays of death sunlight. ‘lucky’, she’d thought, wishing she could sleep through anything just as cherry could. swinging her legs over the side of the bed, coco started untying her bonnet as she started towards the bathroom, hoping she’d wake up at least a little more then.
coco made her way into the bathroom, the rhythmic thump of footsteps quietly following, muffled on the carpet. she flicked the light on, stepping into the lightly tiled room. shutting the door behind her, coco went about her usual routine before stopping at the mirror; quietly examining the bright pink braids she’d recently gotten done. in the almost rare moment of silence, coco went on to think about the whole process, dying her hair a bright bubblegum pink to match cherry’s own hot pink color. smiling at the memory of them dying their hair together (re-dying in cherry’s case), coco left with one last glance as the mirror.
as she stepped back into the room, coco found that cherry was already awake. she nearly collided with the girl in the doorway, stopping short as they came face to face with each other. coco’s smile brightened impossibly, the dimple on her right cheek showing easily. cherry smiled back with just as much intensity, immediately going to wrap her arms around coco’s waist. coco continued to smile easily, tilting her head questioningly. “did i wake you?” she’d asked, allowing the other to wrap around her. cherry shook her head, evidently not all that open to talking at the moment.
coco simply nodded, allowing the contact to remain unbroken for a few moments longer before carefully removing cherry’s hands from where they’d clasped together behind her back.
“c’mon,” coco said softly, giving cherry’s hands a gentle squeeze before fully parting with her. “if you keep holding onto me like that, we’re never gonna get to make breakfast”
cherry groaned at that, playing up the dramatics even as she was half asleep. “that’s fine, a sacrifice i’m willing to make.”
“oh yeah? and when my mom starts asking why we haven’t come down by noon?”
“i’ll tell her we died”
coco snorted, already rummaging through her dresser for a suitable set of clothes. cherry shuffled across the room behind her with slow, dragging steps before collapsing face-first back onto the bed. coco turned around, raising an eyebrow at cherry’s antics before shaking her head. “didn’t you just get up?”
“five more minutes,” she mumbled into the blankets.
coco only rolled her eyes fondly before gathering her clothes and heading off to the bathroom again. the room was coated in a softer light now, the too-bright rays from earlier gone, replaced with a pale gold that spilled across the floor and caught on the day old glitter underneath cherry’s eyes. it’d somehow managed to survive sleep.
coco walked out in a black and white polka dot lace top and fold-over capri leggings. she quietly padded over to her laundry basket and dropped the neatly folded clothes into it before turning back around. the corners of her lips quirked up in amusement: cherry was now staring at her from where she was sitting on the bed, her head propped up against the palms of her hands.
“…what?”
“nothin’.”
coco narrowed her eyes. “you’re doing the thing.”
cherry’s eyes widened, her face covered in confusion as she blinked at coco. “what thing?”
”the staring thing”
”i have no idea what you’re talking about”
”mhm”
cherry smiled lazily, entirely unapologetic. “you look cute.”
the compliment landed well, a bit too well in all honesty. it was casual in the way things are after being with someone for a while. still, coco stifled a smile, warmth spreading across her cheeks. it was times like these where she was glad it wasn’t visible. she rolled her eyes to hide it, though the dimple in her right cheek remained annoyingly persistent.
“you’re annoying.”
”and you love it.”
”debatable.”
”coco.”
“only a little bit.”
“exactly.”
by the time they finally made it downstairs, the house was fully awake. music blared from the small speaker settled under the window by the bookshelf, an old r&b hit. something sweet wafted through the air, accompanied by the smell of butter and syrup. the two stumbled into the kitchen, playfully pushing each other, their pinkies interlocked.
coco’s mom looked up the moment they walked in, hip checking coco as they moved to stand by her.
“look who survived,” she said, a teasing glint in her eyes.
“barely,” coco responded, casting a glance at the girl beside her.
cherry brightened, her smile shining. “good morning mom.”
”morning, sweetheart.” her mom smiled easily, nodding her head over towards the stove where a stack of pancakes sat awaiting. “your dad made those before he left, so if you’re going to complain about reheated food, do it quietly.”
“i wouldn’t dream of it,” cherry replied.
coco’s mom gave her a look. “you complained about pulp in orange juice just last week”
”and i’ll stand by that till the day i die.”
coco hid a laugh behind her hand while cherry moved over to the cabinets to start pulling plates. it was almost like she lived there her whole life. she practically did at this point.
“you girls have anything planned for today?”
“probably nothing.” coco shrugged.
“that means they’re gonna terrorize the mall again,” her sister said from where she’d been standing at the kitchen door
the girls jumped, whirling around to face her. “that happened one time,” cherry defended.
“you got banned from the photo booth.”
“unfairly.”
“you put glitter in the fan.”
“it was too bland.”
coco laughed harder this time, not bothering to hide it now. she nearly ended up dropping her fork when cherry leaned against her dramatically.
the morning was quiet after that. they’d ended up on the couch in the living room, curled up against each other, halfway paying attention to the 2000s sitcom playing on the tv. cherry braided sections of coco’s braids, zoning out as she twirled a finger around one of the curly boho pieces.
eventually they wandered upstairs, deciding a change of pace was in need. which is how they ended up doing each others makeup sitting crisscross across from each other on the floor of coco’s room. cherry ended up getting distracted halfway through and started doodling little swirls and patterns on coco’s wrist, slowly inching her way up her arm. in retaliation, coco decided on sticking little rhinestone decals onto cherry’s cheeks.
at some point, they’d went back downstairs to finish their show (not like they’d really been watching it though). during that time, coco’s dad came home carrying in grocery bags and immediately paused at the sight of them.
“…why are there gems on your faces?”
“because.”
”fashion.”
the two girls answered at the same time, giggling at each other when they realized.
“i miss when teenagers dressed normal.”
“oh please, says the one who wore leather pants in the eighties,” coco shot back.
her father gasped in mock offense. “your mother talks too much.”
·༻𐫱༺·
by evening time, the sky had faded into a soft lavender-blue, muted through the curtains. cherry laid upside down across coco’s bed while coco lay beside her scrolling through music on her laptop.
“schools tomorrow,” coco sighed, admitting the inevitable.
“don’t remind me.”
“you still haven’t finished your poem.”
“i chose peace.”
coco clicked her tongue, eyeing cherry disapprovingly. “that isn’t how it works, you know.”
“grades are temporary, love is forever.”
“keep that energy when progress reports come out.”
cherry groaned, dropping her head into the covers before rolling over until her face was pressed into coco’s lap. absentmindedly, coco ran her fingers through the pink waves as silence took over again.
it was silent for a long moment before coco let out a quiet breath.
“you should stay over again.”
“again?”
“mhm.”
“another sleepover?”
“i mean you’ve basically lived here since friday…”
“true.” cherry smiled. “but mom’s gonna think i’m a squatter.”
“well that’s cause you are.”
cherry rolled her eyes but the smile on her face said enough.
coco smiled gently. “so you’re staying?”
cherry playfully pursed her lips and tilted her head thoughtfully, pretending to think about it for all of two seconds before pressing herself closer to coco.
“guess you’re stuck with me again.”
“terrifying.”
“you love it.”
“more so, i love you.”