Growing up //teen

Growing up in denial would render Cheryl a troubled teenager and, later, also a troubled woman, but we save what happens later for later. Cheryl's school years are marked by bad experiences in every aspect of her life -- familiar, social and romantic. Doctor Kaufmann would suggest that these experiences lived during High School may also have led Cheryl to become the debilitated and passive woman she is during the events of the game. But, clearly, all it did was worsen Cheryl's already bad situation after her father's death.

After Harry's death, it appears that the financial situation of the Mason family got worse. They moved from her old and good house at Levin Street and to a "not nice" neighborhood, in Simmons Street, where Dahlia opened a Pawn Shop.

Cheryl started developping the addictive behavior we later will read about by the end of the game, in the psychiatrist's notes, and in the official artwork (where she is seen holding a cigarette). She would also turn out violent at times -- something ultimately shown to the player through phone messages revealing that Cheryl would have stabbed a guard and stealed from stores for pleasure. The beginning of a long story with older men also can be found in the period of Cheryl's school years. In few words, Cheryl's adolescence could be described as troubling and worrying.