Cherry on Top Ch. 03

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.

I threw on a bright red cropped t-shirt and short shorts, then turned up the thermostat until I wasn't shivering. God, I couldn't believe I was about to do this. I scooped my phone up and texted Brie. She should've been done with her extra-curricular stuff by now.

Me: hey you free?

Brie: yeah whats up?

Me: i

Me: im gonna try sth risky tonight

Brie: :O

Brie: you mean with that guy you were telling me about?

Me: yeah Me: its prolly not gonna go well, but wish me luck

Brie: luck! Brie: text me after!

I heard the front door open and hastily put my phone away before going to greet my dad. He took one look at me and froze in his tracks, and it took everything I had to follow through and walk up to him.

"Hi dad," I said shyly, standing on my tiptoes to give him a peck on the cheek.

"Hi princess..." he mumbled, doing a once over at my outfit. Did he... like it?

"Dinner's ready," I continued, giving him a tight hug and struggling to decide what kind of voice I should affect. I couldn't make it too cutesy or it would be obvious what I was doing. Like what you're doing isn't already obvious. Christ, this was a bad idea.

"Right. Thanks. Well. I'll go get changed, and then we'll... have some of... that." My dad's stuttered response accompanied the awkward walk to his room. Maybe I had a chance after all.

I put the apron on, looking down at myself. Thank God I hadn't decided to go with the naked apron look, even though my choice of clothing made it look damn near close. Short of getting two different aprons, there was no way to buy one that would fit both me and my dad. It looked ridiculous on me, but I still wanted to give it a try.

Dad came back out in a sweatshirt and pants, and I served dinner up before turning my back to him and slowly removing the apron. When I turned around, he was looking at me quizzically. Not the expression I was hoping for.

He took a breath as I sat down, nodding. "Chicken with rice. Thanks for cooking, princess."

"No problem." We began eating, and an awkward silence hung in the air. What was I supposed to say next? There was no way I could act normally; I was having a hard enough time trying to keep my hands from shaking.

"It's a bit warm in here," dad commented. "Very warm, actually. Did you turn the heat up?"

I nodded. "I was cold."

He stared at me, eyes flicking to my non-existent cleavage, then cleared his throat. "Speaking of which... Cherish, what on Earth are you wearing?"

Fuck. Shit. God damn it. I was such an idiot. This plan only worked during the summer. Winter was supposed to be cuddles and sharing a bed.

"Don't... Don't you like it?" I asked weakly.

"Of course I like-- Ahem, sure, it's fine. But if you're cold, you should... wear something warmer, y'know? Turning the heat up so high is wasteful..."

I clenched my fork tightly, nodding apologetically. This was turning out to be the worst day in quite a while. "Dad..."

"Hm?"

"You went over to Ms. Hammond's place yesterday."

"Aha. Right." He scratched his head sheepishly. "I needed to talk to her about some stuff."

"Work stuff?"

He hesitated. "Yeah."

I couldn't keep my hands from trembling anymore. "And you came back with Lexi..."

"I actually meant to ask you this morning. Is she a friend of yours?"

"Friend of a friend," I replied, feeling hollow. "Do you think she's pretty?"

I couldn't think straight. All I could hear was a loud buzzing in my head. I didn't even know what his answer was. To be honest, I was at a point where it didn't matter what his answer was. I was so in my own head with this that I think I reached a breaking point.

"I'm sorry, I'm going to my room," I interjected, cutting off whatever he was saying. I hopped to my feet and started to bolt. But dad was faster.

"Cherish, wait." He grabbed me by the arm and turned me around, just in time for my tears to start falling. "Cherish, baby, talk to me. You've been acting strangely lately. We haven't even talked about what happened on Monday. What's going on?"

"It's just been a shitty day, dad," I mumbled. Oh no. Please, don't let the floodgates open right now. I couldn't afford to tell him everything on my mind. It would sound petulant, and callous, and just overall fucking insane. "Please just let me go."

"Cherish, I'm not going to let you go knowing you're in such bad shape. There has to be something I can do." He was so gentle and yet so oblivious, it hurt. I knew, in that moment, I was about to hurt him. "I'm here for you."

"When?" I wailed. "When are you here for me? I mean yeah, you're a great dad, you're caring and loving and everything. But you're not with me here, now. You're still with mom eighteen years ago. And I've been waiting and waiting and you don't even see me!"

"How could you say that, Cherish? She was your mother, and the love of my life. Of course I miss her." He looked so wounded that I knew I already fucked up. But I couldn't stop myself. I was already bawling, and had lost control.

"But you never talk about her! She's such a big part of your life, and she should be a huge part of mine, so why don't I know anything about her?! I don't know how you two met. I don't know how she died. I didn't even know her name until Monday! How is that even possible?" I yanked my arm out of his hand. "Y'know, unless you were childhood friends, you've known me way longer than you knew her."

His eyes widened in anguish, and I clenched my jaw and ran for my room. Slamming the door shut, I sat back against it and cried. Years of frustration packed into a powder keg that just blew up in my dad's face. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. I shouldn't have said all that to him. I definitely shouldn't have said that last part. I'd broken everything and now I didn't know how to fix it. What's more, through this whole thing, I was wearing this stupid get up. So stupid. Everything I'd done was so stupid. I threw the clothes off me and cried into my knees.

Dad knocked on my door and I immediately shouted, "Go away!"

"Cherish, I'm sorry," he murmured through the door. "I had no idea you felt that way. And it's impossible for me to see this in any way other than that I've failed you. You're absolutely right." He sighed, and I heard a light thump, higher than where his knocking knuckles would have been. Maybe his head resting against the door. "When you're ready -- doesn't have to be today -- you can come and talk to me, and I'll tell you about your mother."

I heard him walk away, and I pulled on an oversized hoodie and crawled into bed. I needed to sort through my thoughts, but I couldn't get through the jumble it was in. Instead, I called Brie. She could tell I was crying as soon as she picked up.

"Cherry, what's wrong? It... I guess it didn't go well."

"No, it didn't. And now I think I've really hurt him. I don't even know how I'll face my dad anymore," I sniffled.

"Your... dad?"

My eyes widened. Oh my God, it turned out this day could actually get even worse. "Brie, wait--"

"Calm down, Cherry. I think there's somebody you need to talk to."

"A therapist? The cops? Things are so fucked up right now, maybe things would be better that way."

"I'm starting a group call," Brie announced.

"What? Now?! Wait, who are you calling?" I demanded.

"Lexi."

"No! I don't wanna talk to that bitch! She's trying to steal--"

"Steal? ...Wasn't she gonna help you?"

"I'm assuming Cherry's on here as well?" Lexi's voice drawled. God damn it.

"You said the plan was off," I seethed.

"I did say that," Lexi admitted. "And you believed me." She let that sink in. What... the fuck? "I'm assuming your own plan didn't go so well."

"The last thing I need is to hear what you have to say."

"Eh, that'll come later. Can I also assume that Brie knows now?"

"Yeah, I know about her guy," Brie said. It then occurred to me that she was taking the fact that I was in love with my dad rather well.

"Excellent," Lexi continued. "Well then, Cherry. Based on how you sound, things probably couldn't get more fucked, wouldn't you agree?" I reluctantly grunted an affirmative. "So you have nothing left to lose, right?" Another grunt from me. "Perfect. Now, tell me exactly what happened."