Cheryl stood on a frozen river, snow falling around her. She could see figures on the edge of the riverbank and her ears strained to hear their muffled shouts. Useless. All of this. Life was useless. Running in circles and aching with pain only to end up in a shallow hole in the ground. Who said Cheryl had to participate?

She stared at the ice around her, noting the cracks a little ways off. There. She wouldn't be buried in wood and dirt. Instead, Cheryl would surrender herself to the water and join her brother on the other side. She began walking forward towards the cracks and stood in the center. She turned back to the figures which had now begun to move closer and fell. The splash of water, the frigid numbness, and JJ.

Cheryl awoke from her nightmare covered in cold sweat. Her chest heaved as she gulped down air. She swept her hands around, trying to ground herself in the solidity of her silk sheets, but they reminded her too much of the waves. Cheryl lurched out of bed and dropped to the floor. She reached her hand up over the edge of the bedside drawer and grabbed her phone, immediately turning it on and swiping through the contacts.

It was pathetic really. After weeks of being rude to the pink-haired Serpent, one night and Cheryl had spilled her innermost secrets. Now she searched for the phone number of said Serpent in an attempt to hear the girl's voice and ground herself. It was utterly pitiful. What hope did this practical stranger have of grounding the red head if her surroundings couldn't? Nevertheless, Cheryl couldn't help a sigh of relief as she finally found the contact and pressed call.

The tone began to ring and Cheryl began to regret her choice. She wasn't sure what time it was or if the girl would even pick up. Cheryl's hands began to shake and flashes of the dream and memory flashed before her eyes. She squeezed them shut, counting her breaths to slow them but failing. Suddenly, the tone ended, a click sounded, and a female voice appeared. "Hello? Cheryl?"

Cheryl froze and struggled to gather enough oxygen to form words. "I... Hi... Toni. I... never mind. I shouldn't have called." She began to pull the phone away when the voice on the other end shouted.

"Wait! Cheryl, you can trust me. Just tell me what's wrong. Why are you calling me at six in the morning?" Toni's voice was soft, tentative. For some reason it stoked an unending fury in Cheryl. There was no way Toni actually cared for her. Her defenses came back up and she fell into the comfortable shield of her queen bee act.

"I'm fine Cha-Cha. Wrong number." Before Toni could protest again, Cheryl ended the call. She released a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding and dropped her head onto her knees. She felt angry and sad and tired, oh so tired. Surprisingly though, she felt anchored. The world no longer seemed to be seeping away and Cheryl was a solid form in it again.

She stood and shook her head. It meant nothing. Cheryl had needed to hear someone's voice and that someone just happened to be Toni. It meant nothing. Cheryl strode to her closet, the sentence repeating over and over in her head until she was sure it was the truth.

Cheryl caught a glance of herself in the mirror and grimaced before slowly pulling the edges of her lips into a confident smile. Time for school.