convergence

~~

Cherry Valance thought she was into the hard loving guys. Like her ex, Bob Sheldon or Dallas Winston. They intrigued her. They were far from healthy, but it sure made things interesting.

Then, she liked the sweet guys. It wasn’t that she had a crush on Ponyboy, but she liked that he was the soft type. All cute and shy and caring. Puppy loving.

But God, you were who she wanted and she couldn’t deny it anymore.

It was wrong. So, so wrong. Cherry tried pushing it down. She tried praying. But the feeling would go away; she was in love with a girl! A gorgeous, charming, passionate, and a tad argumentative girl. You were that perfect in between. Soft, but still having the occasional fight— Not toxic but not all sugar. 

Cherry couldn’t help but gravitate towards you. She tried everything not to, but she gave in. And so did you. You were a lot more accepting of who you were— not open (come on, it was the 60s) but you weren’t scared of who you were. Cherry envied and admired it.

If she had a fling with a boy, she couldn’t help but think of you. Each time they kissed, she thought of your lips. As she lay in his arms, Cherry always seemed to miss you. Most of the time she would leave. And crawl right back to you. She wanted to feel guilty. She wanted to feel it was wrong. But those thoughts were slowly fading from her mind.

Cherry was a new person around you. It was as if you ignited something within her with every interaction. A brush of the hand would give her goose bumps. A smile would make her stutter over a word. Sometimes she thought you could be together. Forever. Not in secret.

But even as you lay together, it still felt so wrong in her bones. You gazed into her eyes with a gentle understanding as she explained it to you.

“I don’t get how the world chooses to be so afraid of love.”

Your words spoke to her deeply. She needed to stop being afraid of who she was.