Dear readers,

Thank you for thoroughly reading and enjoying Cherry.  Hopefully, you cherish Eliana Romano and her friendships as much as I did when I created them.

Unfortunately, I used to be in a relationship like Maddy and Nate's and I am pleased to safe to say he is no longer in my life.  I know Euphoria gets a lot of criticism, but it has proven to be a safe haven for people like me who may relate to the choices the characters make.  For me it was mostly Maddy, being the alpha of my friend group but ultimately making bad decisions when it came to "Nate".

I am so happy Maddy had development this season and has realized she doesn't have a future with Nate, but the lack of female empowerment (and I mean true female empowerment) is concerning.  Hence the birth of Eliana.

When I was dealing with my relationship, I did not have friends that supported me.  Matter of fact, my close friend proved herself to be like Cassie and actually "fell in love" with him and they kind of ran off without me once I cut them out of my life.  I don't know much about what happened other than that it was messy.  The rest of my friends tried to "stay neutral" or bluntly chose his side.  What I'm trying to say is that I could have used a friend like Eliana.

This book was a love letter to Maddy mostly, but also to Eliana (the friend who loves with all her heart until she physically cannot anymore).  It is also a love letter to friends like Rue who are struggling and friends like Kat who are overlooked.

"Cherry" was also a reference to the 2021 movie dir. the Russo brothers starring Tom Holland, since Eliana's brother was an addict who ended up arrested for robbing people to fuel his drug addiction.  So thank you to that movie for existing.  👍👍

So thank you to Alexa Demie for portraying Maddy so perfectly — while she is definitely the IT girl, we tend to forget these are just actors and she is mostly hyped up for being a badass or for being the fashion icon of the show, not for the way Alexa acts.  Everyone on Euphoria is a good actor and that is my truth!

Thank you to everyone who read every part including this note, I'm not sure where Eliana's story will head after this, but she will always be near and dear to my heart.  Love you, Eliana and Mikey Romano, you will always be famous!  💕🎀💋