All characters are at least 18 years old.
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Cherry
"Rochester!" I snapped as I approached her car. Lexi was just stepping out of her white sports model Mercedes-Benz and perked up upon hearing her name.
"Valentine," she replied, grinning impishly. It was infuriating how facetious she could be.
"I see you're not in character anymore," I hissed, narrowing my eyes. Her honey blonde hair caught a gentle breeze, and with her sparkling grey eyes she really did look like the kind of girl boys would worship. I had to admit to myself that a large part of me was worried I couldn't compete. Of course dad would be smitten, especially after she'd gotten him drunk like last night. My heart was thundering in my chest. First it was my mom, then Ms. Hammond, and now even Lexi was coming between me and him. When would it end?
I pulled myself out of my thoughts and focused back on Lexi, realizing she'd been staring at me the whole time. She didn't look like she was waiting for me to answer, so she hadn't said anything back to me while I stewed in my thoughts. She was just watching. And she looked... sympathetic? As soon as she noticed she had my attention again, whatever it was that was on her face was gone, replaced by an award-winning smile.
"But of course," she said loftily. "Who keeps the costume on when they're not on stage?" She slung her bag on her back and closed her car door. She took a step toward the school building, but I blocked her way.
"And this is your big plan to help me?" I bit out. "I already didn't want your help, and if this is what it looks like then I can say for certain: no thank you!"
She gave me a blank look, blinking innocently before realization dawned on her. "Ohh! Right. Sorry, forgot about that." She stepped in close and whispered in my ear. "I'm supposed to help you fuck your own father." I recoiled, casting a glance around us to make sure nobody heard. She sighed and smiled condescendingly. "But your dad is pretty hot. I see why you're into him," she continued before nibbling her lip. "I'm afraid the plan's off. My plan to help you, anyway. I have a plan of my own now."
With a wink, she brushed past me. I couldn't stop her, because my heart had dropped out of my chest, straight through my bowels, and out onto the cold pavement. This couldn't be happening. Lexi was gonna steal my dad. I turned and watched her wavy blonde locks sway as she strode off without a care in the world. Clear as day, I could see her with my dad last night, wearing a redheaded wig and green colored contacts. And the chill that ran through me had nothing to do with the weather.
--
Classes were shit, and it turned out my day was only going to get more miserable. I held my books from the class earlier, heading to the lockers before I went to eat lunch and wondering if I should still sit with Brie and Lexi after what happened in the morning. Lauren and a group of her friends were coming the other way, and I steered clear of them. They corrected course and bumped into me, making me drop my books.
"Oops. Didn't see you there, midget," Lauren said with a smirk. I crouched and started picking my books up, but one of her friends kicked a notebook, sending it across the hall and scrunching up over half its pages. I bowed my head and squeezed my eyes shut.
Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry.
"Aw, what's the matter, midget? Daddy not here to help you clean yourself up?" Lauren continued.
"At least
my
dad loves me," I forced out, voice quivering.
"Oh, that's cute. But what about your mom?" she taunted. "Oh, that's right, she fucking died 'cause she didn't want people to know that her daughter was a useless little runt who can't even get a guy to save her life." She and her friends surrounded me as I stood with my books, backing me up against a locker. One hand played with her curls while she sneered at me. "Can't pop your cherry, Cherry? I guess it makes sense you can't lose your V-card, 'cause then you'd just be 'Alentine.'"
"Jesus, you can't even come up with anything more clever?" Brie said from behind the pack of girls. They all turned to look at her as she stood with her hands on her hips, Lexi a few paces back and leaning on a locker while she scrolled on her phone. "Leave her alone, Lauren. Can't give it a rest for even a day?"
"We're just talking to our friend," Lauren retorted. "So back off, Mozzarella. And take your hoity-toity slut friend with you." Brie scowled, but Lexi didn't bat an eye, if she even heard the insult at all.
"Cherry, let's go," Brie said gently, but Lauren shook her head and two of her friends held me back by the shoulders.
"What I want to know," Lauren said casually, examining her nails as she spoke, "is who this mysterious boyfriend of yours is, Parmesan. You've kept it under wraps for... wow, six months now. And yet nobody at school can seem to figure out who it is. I mean, seriously, Cheddar. A fake Internet boyfriend in Canada?" The crowd of girls giggled while Brie took a deep breath to calm herself. "Or maybe it's some disgusting old middle-aged guy that likes young girls. Your dad disowned you so you wanna find a new one? Giving your new 'daddy' that cheesy cunt?"
This made the girls explode into laughter, yet though the insult was aimed at Brie, it twisted my gut something fierce. All I could think about was them dissing my dad. Shit, I was really gonna cry this time. Her friends' grips on me had loosened, and I think I was about to lunge at Lauren and rip her hair out.
But Lexi beat me to the punch. She'd looked up from her phone when Lauren brought up middle-aged men, and I realized she'd been watching me the whole time since. Now she straightened and came over, looking cool as ice.
Lauren snorted at her. "You've got something to add, whore? Sure, maybe you look like an expensive whore, but still, a whore." As far as Lauren's insults went, that was pretty generic. Was she running out of steam? Or maybe she didn't know Lexi well enough to tailor her bullying.
Lexi just smiled and shrugged. "Takes one to know one, I guess. How many of your friends' crushes have you blown since New Year's?"
When Lauren didn't answer, her friends turned to look at her as if waiting for her to deny it. I couldn't see her face, but judging by Lexi's smirk, Lauren was fuming. Lexi turned her gaze to me and casually beckoned for me to join her. Extricating myself from Lauren's pack of bitches, I went to stand with Brie while Lexi and Lauren stared each other down.
In a level voice, Lexi continued, "Guess we should all head to lunch. Oh, and try to keep it down this time, huh Lauren? Puking it up's bad for your teeth."
With that, Lexi turned and sauntered off toward the cafeteria. Brie put an arm around my shoulder and we followed. How the hell did she do that? Where did her confidence come from? And now she'd rescued me from Lauren, which made me feel even more like shit. She was dazzling, and I was... a coward. I couldn't even admit I loved my dad. And now I was gonna lose him to her.
--
After preparing dinner, I spent the rest of the afternoon looking up ways to seduce my dad. Turns out there were a surprising -- and slightly alarming -- number of communities that discussed intra-familial relationships. Not as surprisingly, they had some of the worst advice ever. Wearing less around the house, leaving doors open when changing or showering, making more physical contact... Did that stuff really work? It seemed so elementary that it was hard to take seriously. But it wasn't like I was overflowing with ideas of my own, I reasoned.
But wearing less around the house? In this weather? I had to be nuts to try it. Damnit, was I getting cold feet again? Of course I was. He was my dad, he wasn't gonna go in for fucking dating his daughter. I'd just have to carry on as I always had, longing for him until
maybe
I snapped out of it. Doubtful. I'd never wanted anybody else. How do you give up on loving somebody you can't have when you see them every day?
You can't let yourself be paralyzed by fear. Nobody is going to fulfill your dreams for you, Cherish.
Ms. Hammond's words came back to me. She'd told me that last Christmas, when I was freaking out over the possibility of my dad dating her. And it had really sunk in. Nobody was going to do it for me. No matter how much Brie, or Lexi, or anybody helped, I still needed to take the big step myself.
