Summer Struggles and New People

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date✧.* 6.7.25

tag/s✧.*

wc✧.* 747/200

ooc note✧.*

outfit✧.*

speech✧.* xxxx - English

code by ara villa

If you asked Cherry what she thought she would be doing for the summer, she’d narrow her eyes at you, flip her long, too perfect from being brushed in submission from her forcing her normally wild curls into a composed, straight, respectable style, before plainly saying studying and giving you a too-polite, too plastic, smile that pointedly implicated the words, piss off.

Unfortunately, she was ambushed by her parents the day she arrived home from Hogwarts, and they informed her that she and Bea would be spending the summer with their great-grandparents in Brittany, France, as you can imagine, Cherry didn’t take her carefully made plans being torn apart and spit on lightly. As much as she’d deny it ever happened, she threw a full-blown toddler at the age of 12 tantrum, she was always a composed child, she never in her life threw a tantrum so for her to throw a tantrum at her age, it was a big deal. It wasn’t a normal tantrum, she didn’t huff and puff, she didn’t throw anything, she didn’t tell anyone she hated them, she doesn’t remember much of it but from what Bea had told her. It included a lot of panicking, scratching, and ended in her parents arranging for her to have a therapist in France for the time she’d be there.

Cherry, in her mind, had a reason to be upset with them springing France on her but she doesn’t blame them for the new therapist, she knows when to admit her own faults, when she wants to anyway.

Which brings us to the present day, Cherry is currently seated on the seat in front of her great-grandparents’ grand piano, playing a simple but morose tune, her fingers skillfully glide along the keys before a sound from the corner of her eye her breaks her concentration.

The disgusting, irritating sound of multiple incorrect keys being pressed down in unison causes static in her brain, her heart though steadily beating, feels as though it has skipped multiple beats, the static stops and pain blooms in the palms of her hands. She, eerily calm, places her hands in her lap before turning toward the direction the noise came from, seeing her older sister Bea standing there smug and calculating, she doesn’t smile but Cherry can see the corners of her lips upturned in almost sadistic enjoyment. Cherry takes care not to roll her eyes and instead chooses to stare blankly at her, she unfortunately couldn’t stop her eyebrows from furrowing.

”Grand-mère is off to have tea with Madamè Julianne, she wanted me to let you know that she won’t be back for a few hours.” Cherry almost scoffs at the gesture, on the surface level, it would seem that Bea is just informing Cherry of their great grandmother’s departure, like an older sibling is supposed to do, but to Cherry, she can tell that her beloved, possibly insane sister, is up to something. She doesn’t know what Bea is up to but her sister’s eyes gleam with an unidentifiable spark and her smile doesn’t reach her eyes, it would be enough to make any other person uneasy, but Cherry takes it as Bea challenging her, which is both thrilling and terrifying.

Her sister takes her unchanged blank stare as a sign to continue speaking, ”I had planned to cancel my plans with Celine to stay here with you, however, I assumed you wouldn’t want to stay in a stuffy old manor all day, and I wanted to see if you would like to go with me, little moon.” Cherry feels her insides twist and resists the urge to gag.

Celine is a friendly doe-eyed brunette who Bea met the day they arrived. she’s all about kindness and world peace, in short, she’s nothing like Bea. Her and Bea’s friendship came as a surprise to Cherry, though she’d never admit it, Celine, for reasons beyond Cherry, has a crush on Bea. Cherry is well-aware of her sister being far from plain-looking, Bea is, in Cherry’s opinion, very beautiful. Her personality is usually something that tends to scare people away or make them uneasy, which is why Celine’s infatuation with Bea is such a surprising thing to behold.

Bea is aware of the girl’s fondness of her and loves to pile onto it, make Celine feel like Bea is all her life centers around, it’s disgustingly manipulative and Cherry hates how impressed she is. Back to present time, Cherry knows that Bea is aware that despite Cherry being utterly fascinated with her skills in manipulation, Cherry would rather die than spend hours watching her flirt-but-not-flirt with poor, stupid, gullible, Celine. It’s not that Cherry is completely uninterested in romance, she loves the idea of love, romantic and not, but Bea does not love Celine, she is just warming up to rip the poor girl’s heart out of her chest and feast on it, it’s so painfully fake that it makes Cherry ill at the thought of it but excited to see it happen.

Cherry blinks at her sister before forcing her mouth to contort into a pleasant smile, As fascinating as it would be to watch Celine follow you around like a lost puppy, I was actually planning to go to that new cafe that’s a few blocks from here, I hear the tea’s to die for.” Bea’s smile disappears for a split moment before reappearing, she hums in understanding before telling Cherry to get ready. Before she leaves, she ruffles Cherry’s uncooperative hair, lightly raking her nails on her scalp before bidding her a temporary farewell.

Cherry’s skin itches, her nerves feeling both safely covered and irritated, Cherry walks in panicked strides to her bedroom, she mechanically chooses her outfit and underclothes before going into the adjoins bathroom and taking her shower. She feels less floaty when she’s done, the smell of vanilla and steam filling the bathroom and effectively grounding her. Cherry spends a considerable amount of time fighting with her curls before they give into her ministrations, the curls long gone, forced into long, straight, silky locks.

The absence of the clothes she shed was noted, Cherry offers a soft thank you to the house elf cleaning her bedroom, the poor thing looks both prideful and flustered, as she informs Cherry that it wasn’t a problem and introduces herself as Chloé. Cherry allows herself to look slightly surprised, the house elves, with the exception of her family’s, back home have such silly names that she hadn’t anticipated Chloé having such a respectable name. How strange.

Cherry offer the house elf a smile as she leaves her room and walks into the parlor where Bea is waiting for her with pleased smile, they walk out of the front door in filled silence, Cherry’s mary jane’s click on the concrete, the sounds muffle as her thoughts consume her.

Before she knew it, she was standing in front of the cafe and Bea was bidding her a farewell, informing her that she’ll be back to collect her in a few hours. Her sister turns on her heel with such grace that Cherry was almost jealous.

Cherry walks through the door and is immediately hit with a cacophony of smells, each more pleasing than the others, Cherry sighs. French tea is a gift from the gods.

Cherry vaguely scans the other customers as she sits at a table before focusing on the only person in the cafe who looks vaguely familiar. The person is a girl, or just femme-presenting, her long black hair is wavy and her skin is pale, she has a delicate frame that both contrasts and compliments her broad shoulders, her name escapes Cherry which lets her know that the girl isn’t a Slytherin. How interesting.

Cherry tilts her head slightly before tearing her eyes from the girl and walking toward the register, before speaking, her patented fake smile slides onto her face with ease that comes from years of practice. “Bonjour, madame. Puis-je s'il vous plaît avoir un thé Earl Grey et une commande de Profiteroles?” Cherry’s smile turns genuine, not because of the gummy smile the cashier gives her, but because of the natural happiness that comes with her speaking her first language. Cherry doesn’t hear the price, her thoughts too loud for her to be able to focus.

Cherry silently gives the woman the money, judging by her expression, it was obviously slightly more than what she said. The women only smiles and attempts to give Cherry her change, to which Cherry declines with a shake of her head and a too cheerful smile, the woman looks vaguely confused but her gratefulness outweighs her confusion.

Cherry spots a nicely placed table but she hesitates, the other chair is already occupied by the interesting girl she had seen earlier, Cherry pointedly snaps out of her stupor as she calm strides toward the table with her purse hanging on her right shoulder blade. She almost clears her throat before realizing it’d be rude, she settles on saying a low excuse me before continuing. “I apologize for bothering you, if you wouldn’t mind, may I sit with you? It wouldn’t have to be for long, I was planning on just sitting here until the waitress brings what I ordered. I’d understand if you decline, this is a random request and I am a stranger after all.” Cherry allows her face to show her genuine sheepishness as she awkwardly smiles, her change of scenery obviously doing nothing for her natural aversion to genuine socializing with people her age, and in general.

Translation: “ Hello, ma'am. May I please get an Earl Grey tea and an order of Profiteroles?”

@Dove Cullen