♡ cheryl . 

thigh high red boots made their stealthiest entrance down hospital halls.  heels did not click as dramatically on linoleum floors,  leaving cheryl without the comforting sound that usually accompanied her every step.

by the time crimson hues finally brightened the drab room betty inhabited,  she was awake.  it wasn’t something cheryl had thought much about.  she assumed the girl would be sleeping.  it would make things easier.

no offense but what are you doing here?

‘  I KNOW.  if i were you,  i’d be surprised anyone came to visit me,  too,  ’  cheryl responded,  quickly averting her gaze from betty to the table where her elegant bouquet of red roses would sit.  she neatly arranged them,  took a step back  &  admired her own taste.

eventually a nurse would be overheard describing the large structure of red roses as  ‘  romantic,  ’  a word that would linger in the room,  hanging over them like a disturbingly unfortunately-placed suicide. 

‘  have you seen jason?  ’  the question was rushed,  interrogating-ly so.  long red strands of hair moved as quickly as her words,  whipping from where they lay covering her breasts,  to instead rest down past the small of her back.

‘  he is crazy handsome.  isn’t he just the handsomest?  it runs in the family.  obviously.  ’

pudding.  it was such a soft  &  sweet offering that cheryl’s bitter palette would not know how to swallow it.  ‘  don’t be silly,  betty.  good genes aren’t enough to let that sugary crap pile sit on my hips for the rest of eternity.  ’  it was a facade her mom had instilled in her,  one that suggested pretty girls don’t eat.  her words said one thing,  the milkshake  &  cheese fries she would indulge in at pops’ later said otherwise.  eyeing betty’s spoonful,  cheryl added,  ‘  but you shouldn’t be worrying about things like eternity from the confining walls of this  DEPRESSING  room.  lucky for you,  being in a hospital suggests you’re too ill to be here long enough to suffer the consequences of poor decision making.  ’

                _{To be quite honest, Betty might as well have stared through a concussive haze at Cheryl. The redhead always seemed to speak as though she knew something the rest of the world ––} Betty_, specifically _{–– didn’t. Like she was waiting for you to fall into her trap. For most of her life, this had exasperated Betty –– but someway along the line, something had changed without her notice… or permission. These days, Betty wondered what the trap was like; what it felt like… even tasted like…} 

_{Not now, though. Now, she was too tired to bother with trying to figure out Cheryl’s} games_{, too tired to read between the lines. She hadn’t lied when she’d told Veronica that} being cheerful was not stressful _{–– but such a line didn’t apply when both her legs had given up on their lifelong dream of working properly and were now pursuing other careers in being} FAILURES_.  

_{Cheryl’s one-liners and snideness hardly fazed her. If anything, she smiled. Nothing outlandish –– but it was the first genuine smile since being admitted. The first to be filled with relief, and not} guiltguiltguilt _{that her family had to watch her go through this. Or tension behind locked lips in what felt more of a grimace than a grin; she didn’t want condolences, she didn’t want platitudes; she just wanted everyone to treat her} NORMAL_. 

_{Hard, when she even didn’t think she was normal anymore. Would she ever walk again? Run? Play soccer and throw a softball and flip through the air on her best friend’s arms?} WHOKNEW_? 

_{The fear was real.} 

_{So was the} anxiety_{. So was the} anger_. 

“ _{Today? No, I -} ” _{She squinted, letting her head fall back against the pillows.} “ _{I guess? I mean,} yeah_{, he’s handsome. Why are you asking?} ” _{The better question was:} why are you being so weird_{? God, was Cheryl trying to hook her up with her brother at a time like this?} 

_{She glanced at Cheryl’s hips when they were mentioned.} 

_{Betty was glad she hadn’t eaten the pudding. Then, immediately after, she was furious at herself. She’d fought long and hard to} love _{her body, curves and rolls and thick thighs and all, and she wasn’t going to let one offhand comment tear that down in a moment of emotional weakness. She looked again at Cheryl’s hips, this time longer, and said, simply,} “ _{You’d look gorgeous either way, Cheryl.} ” _{What she also wanted to say was:} you can be such a B-WORD_{. and: w}hy are you like this? _and: please never change_. 

“ _{Now really, please just tell me why you’re here. Did you want a firsthand look at my} fall from grace_{, or something?} ”