17 You're Too Nice

Cherry needed to clear her head. Would going to another show help? She tried to go to one every week but that wasn't enough to get her out of her funk.

Stupidly, she ended up going to the arcade during a time Scott could conceivably be there but it seemed that he had moved on to something else. The disappointment was oddly crushing and even the cupcake she bought for herself from a bakery she liked didn't help.

"Stupid," Cherry muttered as she angrily kicked at the ground on her way back home. "Stupid! This is so stupid!"

"What's stupid?" a familiar voice asked.

Her eyes widened in horror. Why did she have to run into him now when she wasn't expecting it? It would have been a lot better if he had just been at the arcade when she was.

"Nothing," Cherry said quickly. "What's up? Long time no see."

It had been nearly a month at this point and now that she saw him, she realized she HAD missed him. She truly was an idiot. Why was she doing this to herself? What had she expected if she did run into him?

Scott shrugged. "Not much. I was worried when you stopped showing up at the arcade. Are you doing okay?"

Cherry's heart skipped a beat. When was the last time anyone had been worried about her? It probably hadn't happened since her granny was alive.

"I'm fine. I just have to get home earlier than usual these days," she lied.

"Is everything okay with your granny?" he asked in concern.

Her granny was dead. Had been for years. Hearing that question was like a punch to the gut though because she remembered getting questions just like that back when she was sick. Back when people actually cared somewhat.

A lump formed in Cherry's throat and she forced herself to sound normal despite it. "She's fine. Everything's fine."

"Are you sure? Because if there's something I can do—"

The concern was too much for her to handle. Scott was so nice. TOO nice. That had to be why he got to her. She was used to dealing with nothing but the worst of men all the time so finding one who seemed to be decent was getting to her.

That was all it was. She was thrown off because she had met someone so different from usual.

Cherry couldn't let herself get involved more than she already had but she had been so lonely and so confused that she did something incredibly stupid. She threw her arms around his waist and hugged him.

Scott stiffened in surprise before hugging her back. "Hey…hey, it's okay. It's gonna be okay, Sherry. Do you want to talk about it?"

She shook her head. She couldn't possibly talk about this. Her life was so complicated.

"That's fine. How about we get you an ice cream cone or something? That ought to cheer you up. Ice cream always makes people feel better, right? Come on."

Cherry had to stifle her laughter. She already had a cupcake but it hadn't worked. Who knew? Maybe ice cream would. She wasn't about to turn down free food from someone who was trying to make her feel better.

They ended up walking a couple of blocks to a Baskin Robbins and he got rocky road on a cake cone while she got strawberry on a sugar cone. They sat at a table licking their ice cream cones in a comfortable sort of silence. He wasn't going to keep prying because she didn't want to talk about it. That was really nice of him.

Everything about this was, honestly. He had no reason to try and cheer her up after she sort of attacked him with a hug.

"You're too nice," Cherry informed him once she finished her ice cream. "Thank you."

Scott raised an eyebrow. "Too nice?"

"Yeah. You have no reason to help me out all the time."

"I'm just trying to pay it forward. I had someone look out for me when I was having a hard time and he changed my life. I'd like to do the same thing if I can."

Cherry regarded him curiously. She hadn't expected that but it made sense. He believed in the Golden Rule. If someone had helped him when he needed it, of course he would want to help others.

"Who was it?"

"My mentor, Richie. He's the closest thing I have to a parent. He gave me a chance when everyone else had given up on me. Acts more like my dad than my own ever did."

That was how Cherry's granny was. She had been more of a parent to her than either of hers since they couldn't get their acts together for the sake of their only child. Her mom couldn't take it and left. Her dad got involved in more and more stupid stuff until he spent most of her childhood in and out of jail.

They had more in common than she had originally thought. But why was he telling her this? Because he thought she had something going on at home that he could save her from? That was awfully altruistic of him.

Also way too late. Cherry was already deeply embroiled in a life of crime.

She didn't have someone like Richie anymore. Her granny died and she was left with a mountain of debt, no diploma, and no future. She had to carve one for herself by taking advantage of those who tried to take advantage of her first.

"You're lucky to have someone like that," she said softly.

Scott laughed. "Yeah, most of the time. He certainly gets on my case about things now and then but that's what people do when they care about you. What about you? Do you have anyone like that?"

Cherry used to. Her granny had believed in her. Told her that she could be anything she wanted. She took that advice far too literally.