﹙REFLECTIONS ★﹚

CHERRY STOOD OUTSIDE THE HOME!

After landing in Los Angeles, her father, Alexander, called her a million times. Their conversation consisted of his panicked screaming, asking why her Life 360 said that Cherry was in California.

The girl giggled and said she'd taken a road trip, which made the man on the other side of the phone sigh. After half an hour of begging, he'd agreed to let her visit for a week. One week.

Alexander called an Uber, and also a favor from an old friend. Cherry assumed her father hadn't had contact with the larusso's besides Facebook comments, because she and Sam usually only texted once a year.

She'd tried to delay visiting, but her father didn't allow her to stay in a hotel in a big city alone, especially not since Vivienne couldn't stay with her.

The red-haired girl felt guilty as she was ushered inside the Larusso home by Amanda.

"You've grown so much!" The older woman pinched Cherry's cheeks, which made her laugh from pure embarrassment.

"An impromptu visit sounds like a lot of fun." Daniel side hugged the younger girl, and looked towards the staircase, "Sam, get down here real quick!"

Cherry immediately recognized the brown-haired girl that came down the stairs. A smile grew on Sam's face and she threw her arms around the younger girl. "Cherry! Wow, it's been so long."

"Five years." Cherry pouts.

The two girls caught up in the dining room while Daniel and Amanda made dinner. They could really only talk about their older memories, which included a lot of talk about dress up and dolls.

Cherry's mind lingered on Anthony, who she hadn't talked to in five years. They definitely didn't get along too well.

Sam registered the look on the red-haired girl's face and pointed to the staircase. "He's upstairs." She explained.

Curiosity got the better of Cherry, as did general politeness. It wasn't like she could show up at someone's house and just not speak to them.

The girl knocked on the door to Anthony's bedroom, and the chatter inside ceased. A curly-haired boy opened up the door.

Anthony and Cherry shared the same expression. Cherry hadn't expected him to look so good, and Anthony hadn't expected his favorite streamer ever to be standing outside his room.

It clicked, then, why she'd always been so familiar. Daniel mentioned earlier in the morning that Cherry would be visiting.

Anthony had no idea how he hadn't put the pieces together earlier. Cherry wasn't a common name and the amount of time he spent watching her livestreams went further than unhealthy.

Her streams were the only thing that helped him fall asleep. He played them for background noise all day. On long car rides, he'd rewatch old videos. Even when he did his homework, her voice came from the speakers of his computer.

He shifted, any and all words stuck in his throat. What was a proper reaction to have when you found out your childhood greatest enemy (declared by Anthony, after Cherry buried him in sand) was someone you idolized?

"Hi." Cherry greeted, finally breaking the silence. The boy could do nothing but nod, his lips slightly parted in amazement as he committed every single one of her features to memory.

The door was pushed open as Anthony's friends appeared behind him, trying to gawk at the girl. They recognized her, whispering comments and assumptions under their breaths.

They rambled out introductions all at once, and cherry waved at them, trying to connect faces to names.

"Cherry. You look... different." Anthony managed a comment that unintentionally sounded a little like an insult.

"It's the hair dye." Cherry nodded, slowly.

Anthony's voice was deeper, obviously, but it sounded familiar. After a couple of seconds of tense silence, she made her way back down the stairs, cursing herself for being so weird.

The black-haired boy watched the spot she'd been in, and he swore that the scent of her perfume lingered in the air. His friends returned to their trolling.

Cherry pulled her sweater closer to her body and wondered if this would lead her to make better outfit decisions in the future.

The cold air nipped at her skin. She glanced around the park, which is where Kenny had very eagerly agreed to meet her since he was already headed over there himself.

They'd always talked about meeting up, and it seemed like a fever dream now that it was possible.

Cherry was excited, not only to see her best friend but to help him out with a girl at the same time.

She felt her heart stop for the second time that day as she saw the face of her best friend in the distance, but not in the same way it had before.

Kenny was dressed in what appeared to be a Halloween costume, or some sort of cosplay, but this was completely ignored by Cherry. "Kenny!" She greeted, her arms wrapping around him.

The boy squeezed back, his arms enveloping her! "I can't believe you're actually here."

As soon as they pulled apart, the red-haired girl inspected his choice of clothing. "Why?" was all she asked. Kenny lifted his hands in defense. "Before you make fun of me, it's what she told me to wear!" He put his hands up.

Cherry let go and began to scan the park for the supposed girl Kenny was also meeting up with. She was met with the sight of three guys hiding behind a bush, their laughter pouring out.

The group stood from their hiding place, which included Anthony, who was recording. The grip he had on the phone faltered when he saw who had been hugging Kenny.

"Come on, look at him!" The blond-haired kid from earlier, Zack, called to Anthony. "I think he's wearing glitter. Get a close-up of that."

"Oh, it's Anthony's girlfriend." Another, by the name of Marcus, turned his attention to the girl standing behind Kenny's giant squirrel tail.

Anthony shifted, the phone now basically facing the ground. This definitely wasn't an impression he wanted to make.

Kenny glanced over at his best friend after hearing the comment. The guys who'd made his day miserable knew Cherry? Why? How?

Cherry didn't look back, her eyes were set on the trio. Why were Anthony and his friends being so rude? Sure, not everybody's idea of fun was sitting in a park late at night in full video game cosplay, but it wasn't like Kenny was hurting anyone.

"Stop it." Kenny pleaded, his eyes going back and forth between the ground and Cherry.

"You gotta post that." Marcus insisted, laughing at the video on screen.

"No, don't! Don't!" Kenny begged and smacked the phone out of Anthony's hand. The device landed on the floor, accompanied by a loud cracking noise.

Cherry grimaced and suddenly wished that this was a fever dream. Marcus gasped dramatically, his finger pointing to the phone, "Oh shit! He just broke your phone."

"You gonna let him get away with that?" Zack instigated and shoved Anthony's shoulder.

"I wasn't trying to break it. You guys were being assholes." Kenny tried to defend, but immediately failed when the word asshole left his mouth.

"What did you just call us?" Zack glared, his tone losing any hint of amusement.

Cherry's hopes of reconciliation were torn apart when in a swift motion, Marcus grabbed Kenny by the shoulders, and Zack slapped the shit out of him. "All right, LaRusso. Let's see your moves." Zack called, as Kenny tried to squirm out of the taller boy's grasp.

Marcus' grip only got tighter. "Yeah! Bust out some of that Miyagi shit."

Cherry vaguely remembered Miyagi-Do. She'd heard a bunch of karate stories from Daniel when she was growing up.

Her mind raced, but she couldn't figure out what to do. There were three of them, one of her, and a terrified Kenny.

Anthony tried to speak, but his eyes met the girl's shoes, averting his gaze from the disappointment in her expression. She'd already figured out what type of person he was.

"Come on, LaPusso!" Zack encouraged, which made Anthony glare. As much as he wanted to pretend to be good, the comment made him raise his fists. "Don't call me that."

A sharp click sliced through the tension. The trio of boys' gazes were drawn to Cherry's manicured hand, and then to the open pocket knife inside of it. She hoped nobody would call her bluff.

The handle was red, and the Hello Kitty sticker would've made it almost funny to look at if the blade wasn't pointed right at Anthony. Cherry had absolutely no intention of using the knife, but she hoped they couldn't tell.

She forced her hand to be still. She would never think of pulling a knife on somebody, but the tool seemed to come in handy now.

It wasn't like they'd listen to the suggestion of peace and a handshake.

Zack backed up a couple of steps. "It's not that serious." He tried to relax her, as if he hadn't tried to beat Kenny into the ground a minute earlier for just calling him an asshole.

As the red haired girl tucked the blade away, Kenny took the opportunity to shove Marcus off of him, and back up.

Anthony caught his breath, but his heart was still pounding in his chest. The trio of boys returned to fighting as if nothing had happened, and Kenny just barely dodged a hit to the head.

Cherry winced and looked down at her nails, which were painted crimson. Suddenly, her fist connected to Zack's nose with an almost gross crack.

Kenny's eyebrows knit as tension grew over the group. She'd just hit somebody? The girl who always spoke about peace was getting into a fight?

Blood gushed onto Zack's lip, and a smear of it was left on Cherry's knuckles. His eyes had glossed over on impact, and Marcus resisted laughter at the sight.

Kenny grabbed his friend's wrist and ran away as fast as he could. The trio of boys took a second to realize what was happening and then started to chase after them.

Cherry dragged Kenny along. The boost of adrenaline helped them to climb up the fence. Cherry should've probably been scared, but her eyes remained on the smear of blood on her hand.

She never could stand any sort of violence, which caused her to lose out on part of her audience, since she didn't play horror games.

Something about this was different. It felt okay. Good, even.

Kenny and Cherry jumped off and onto the other side of the fence, and didn't waste a moment finding a good hiding spot.

Well, not a good one, but definitely a hiding spot. Kenny jumped into the dumpster, and Cherry chose to hide behind it.

"Where'd they go?" Marcus' voice rang out.

"Don't know. Come on, this way!" Zack called out.

The trio ran in the opposite direction. When Cherry was sure that they were gone, she opened the dumpster lid so Kenny could get out. Wet tears stained his cheeks, and he refused to utter a word.

Not only had he been embarrassed the day prior, but this was how his first meeting with his best friend went? He was sure she'd think he was a complete loser.

Cherry didn't say anything. She walked him home in silence, thinking only about how badly she wished that trio got what they deserved.