Chapter Text
I checked my watch for the twelfth time in five minutes. It was almost the end of the school day, and I couldn’t wait to get out of here. My boyfriend had been out of town for a couple of days, and now that he was home, I just wanted to run straight to his place.
I couldn’t focus on whatever Ms. Condie was saying. I usually did well in biology, so whatever I missed for the last 10 minutes of class wouldn’t really impact my overall grade. I imagined how wonderful it would feel to hold Sweet Pea, to kiss him, to run my fingers through his gorgeous black hair. I continued daydreaming about him until the final bell rang.
I launched myself out of my desk like a shot. Time to see Pea!
I took off down the hall, easily dodging classmates as we all rushed to escape the drab confines of Riverdale High. I was used to this dance, though I wasn’t always in as much of a hurry as I was at that particular moment.
I had never really been apart from Pea for more than half a day. We were almost inseparable, and I liked it that way. Sure, we each had our own friends, but we were each other’s best friend.
I felt my phone buzz just as I reached my locker. I fumbled it out of my pocket while I tried to unlock my locker. It was Toni.
“Hey girl, school is ooooout!!! Are you meeting us at the quarry?”
I frowned. I loved the quarry, and I loved Toni, but I did sort of want some alone time with Pea after the past couple days.
“Hey! Maybe, not sure yet. I'll probably hitch a ride with Pea.”
At the same time, I shot Pea a text: “Are you going to the quarry right away, or can I meet you at your place?”
Sweet Pea responded almost instantly: "Hey sexyyy, stop by my place first ;)"
I smiled to myself. That's more like it.
I looked up at my locker, shoving my books inside in a hurry. I was still smiling like an idiot when I heard Reggie Mantle call my name.
"Well well well. Aren't you looking gorgeous today, little lady!"
I rolled my eyes. Reggie couldn't stop flirting to save his own life. It was a perpetual state of being for him. I had to deal with him fairly often because I was a River Vixen and he was the captain of the football team.
"Hey Reggie, what's up?" I turned to give him some attention while still preparing my bag for the end of the day.
He licked and bit his full lips. "Not too much right now, but I'm sure we could get something going if you're interested."
I rolled my eyes. "Not today and not ever, Reg. You know I'm spoken for."
Reggie draped one of his muscled arms around my shoulders. "Aaaah yes, baby, you may be spoken for by some lowly thug, but I could show you the world!"
I shot him a withering glare while shrugging off his arm.
"Are you really quoting Aladdin? As a pick-up line?"
Reggie shrugged. "Whatever works, babe, and believe me when I say it is true." He winked outrageously at me to emphasize his point.
"Reggie, seriously, not right now. I'm kind of in a hurry."
He glanced at his football buddies with a doubtful expression. "You're in a hurry to leave my presence? That doesn't sound right."
"I think you'd find that it is quite often the case if you actually listen to any of the women you proposition."
I heard some of the Bulldogs chuckle amongst themselves. I clicked my lock shut, moving to push past Reggie. My escape was blocked by his thick arm.
"Now now, no need to be hasty. I get that you have this 'boyfriend' to rush off to," he said, putting heavy air quotes around the word boyfriend, "but I don't think it's very nice to leave an old friend hanging mid-conversation!"
Reggie was usually a mild inconvenience to most girls at school. It wasn't very often that he crossed the line from creepy and pervy to being actually physically threatening, but at this moment, I was starting to get nervous. Reggie was taller and much stronger than me, and I could sense the breadth of his muscles right now. His face was set in a straight line, eyes unflinching.
I sighed. "Look, Reggie, I'm sorry, but if you want to be anything other than completely platonic friends, that isn't going to work for me. Or my boyfriend."
My phone vibrated to alert me to an incoming call. I saw Sweet Pea's name and photo flash across the screen.
"Who is that?" Reggie demanded, no longer looking amused.
I frowned. He sounded more annoyed than he should be. He was often flirting with me at practice, but it had always seemed fairly light, and he’d usually backed down when I talked about Sweet Pea. There wasn’t usually an audience of his football team, though, and the difference in his behaviour was very obvious.
"I told you, I have a boyfriend. He's calling right now."
Reggie grabbed my phone from my hand, staring at Sweet Pea's contact photo. A look of rage slowly built the longer the phone rang.
"Give me my phone back. I want to answer that."
I jumped for my phone quickly, but Reggie's football reflexes kicked in and he held the phone up high above my head. I stepped back, crossing my arms and funnelling all of my anger into my expression.
“Give. Me. My. Phone,” I bit out.
The football players began to murmur. I didn’t deign to look at any of them. All of my attention was focused on my anger towards Reggie.
He looked me up and down, appraising the situation. “Alright. Fine. Since you threw such a hissy fit, I guess you can have your precious phone back.”
He threw the phone high into the air. I managed to catch it despite the outrageous throw. Reggie stepped up far too close and sneered at me.
“See you at the game tomorrow,” Reggie hissed in my ear as he and his friends walked off down the hall.
I glared after him, taking deep breaths to calm myself down before returning Sweet Pea’s call. He could tell that something was wrong and he insisted that he come pick me up from school.
I made my way to the front of the school, still slightly shaken by the slightly out of character experience with Reggie. He wasn’t usually a bully like that. I didn’t consider him anything other than amusing most of the time. I shook my head, pursed my lips, and tried to focus on the fact that I was about to see Sweet Pea.
He pulled up to the curb on his bike. I ran to him before the engine was even off. With a whoop, he scooped me into his lap as he sat on the bike.
“There’s my girl!” he said with a smile as he layered kisses upon my face.
I giggled, pretending to fight him off for a few seconds before I sighed and leaned into him.
“I missed you. A lot.”
“I did too but don’t tell Fangs or he’ll go on about the fact that I’m supposedly whipped,” he smiled at me tenderly.
We sorted ourselves out to start our trip to Sweet Pea’s trailer. I wrapped my arms around his waist tightly and kissed his neck.
“Let’s go, my love.”
He nodded and we were on our way.
We spent about half an hour making out at his trailer before the incessant texts from Toni, Fangs, Short Stack, and Sienna became too many to ignore. We hit up the quarry, holding hands the entire time. After any time apart, we refused to separate for even a second. Fangs made his predictable comments about how soft and whipped Pea had become in his old age, and Sweet Pea shot back some loving comments about Fangs becoming bitter in his loneliness.
Our time at the quarry came to an end all too soon. We always had fun times with the Serpents. Most of my friends were now Serpents, with the exception of a couple of trustworthy Northsiders.
I headed back home with Sweet Pea, having told my parents that I would be at my best friend’s house for the night. We spent the night worshipping each other’s bodies and working out our pent-up feelings. When I finally fell asleep, I was curled in his strong arms while he kissed my head.
The next morning, I made Sweet Pea a breakfast sandwich before he drove me to school. The small, familial moments we had together always caused my heart to swell with happiness. I couldn’t imagine a better way to spend my morning.
Sweet Pea dropped me off at Riverdale High. He finally let me go after multiple minutes of kissing. It was no secret that I was dating him, but there were still people who seemed surprised every time they saw us together. I didn't really care who saw us. I was going to miss his; the next time I’d see him would be at the Bulldogs’ game that evening.
He had seen me cheer before, but he always left as soon as we finished our opening routine. One time, he had described his desire to watch the Bulldogs play as, “smaller than my desire to have fire ants crawling on my balls”. But tonight, I had convinced Toni and Fangs to come to the game, and Pea had finally relented when he realized that it meant that much to me.
I pulled away reluctantly. “Sweets, I gotta go. I have class in a couple minutes.”
He groaned and left a quick smack on my cheek. “There you are. Go conquer the day, princess.”
I giggled and stood. “I’ll see you tonight?”
“Of course. Wouldn’t miss it. We’ll be there nice and early,” Sweet Pea assured before he peeled off on his bike.
I watched him go until I couldn’t see him any longer. I sighed and turned to head to my locker.
One of the Bulldogs, AJ, was standing on the steps, watching me closely. He caught my eye and bobbed his eyebrows at me sardonically. I frowned back at him. I didn’t know AJ other than as a classmate, so why was he watching me and sending me subtle messages?
AJ turned and entered the building. The door shut loudly with a slam. There weren’t many people milling around the front lawn anymore as homeroom started in a minute. The eerie silence combined with AJ’s expression gave me the creeps.
I rushed to my first class, deciding to skip my locker for now. I felt unnerved by the small interaction with AJ and I couldn’t explain why.
The first half of the day went by well enough. School was just as boring and predictable as usual. Archie and Betty were up to something, as per usual, and Josie and Cheryl were stalking through the halls. I stayed out of everyone’s way and stayed quiet.
At lunch, I sat down with my two best friends. They were leaning together, whispering about something.
"Hey, ladies. What's the hot goss?" I asked as I unwrapped my sandwich.
My best friend Olivia whipped around with wide eyes. “You are!”
I started and knocked my sandwich onto the floor. “What??” I croaked in horror.
“Reggie is on the warpath,” confirmed my other friend Leah. “Everyone knows Sweet Pea dropped you off at school this morning, which like, isn’t usually a big deal, right? But Reggie is pissed because you, like, dissed him yesterday and then ‘had the nerve to show us with that thug’ this morning.” Leah threw up quick air quotes with her fingers as she spoke.
Both girls looked nervous. I was mostly confused.
“Why does Reggie care about my life at all?”
Olivia shrugged, her brow furrowed. “Honestly don’t know, but does that even matter? Fact is, he does care and he’s making it his business to do something about it.”
I scowled, staring down at my sad sandwich on the floor. The scene he made yesterday wasn’t enough; he had gone fully crazy.
Leah and Olivia nervously chattered away with each other, both of them eyeing me cautiously. I finally calmed down enough to give them a reassuring smile.
“I can handle Reggie. I’m just annoyed that I have to.”
Both girls nodded sympathetically. I could tell that they were glad it was me that Reggie was bothering and not them.
I scooped my ruined sandwich back into the bag, throwing it out in the nearby garbage can. “I’m going to head out. Thanks for the heads up. I’ll text you guys later if I’m still alive.”
Olivia frowned and shook her head at me teasingly. “You’d better text me even if you’re dead!”
I rolled my eyes and hurried towards my locker, stomach churning with anxiety. I needed to figure out what to do.
I whipped out my phone and texted Sweet Pea and Toni about the situation. Toni suggested grabbing his balls and twisting until his voice was permanently two octaves higher than usual. I pretended to consider it, knowing Toni's suggestions weren't going to get more reasonable.
Sweet Pea was on red alert immediately, swearing and threatening Reggie’s life. I knew that his jealousy would rear its dramatic head. I found it endearing most of the time, and when he was jealous, it also meant that he was going to be protective. I didn’t think that Reggie would actually do anything to me, but I also wouldn’t have guessed that he’d freak out about my boyfriend dropping me off at school.
Sweet Pea was freaking out fully by now. He told me that he was going to leave school and come get me. I protested, reminding him that I still had to cheer for the Bulldogs that afternoon at the game. He didn't care. In his mind, his girl was being threatened by someone, and it was time to remind Reggie that I was all for Sweet Pea.
I was chewing on my fingernail when the bell rang. Sweet Pea had stopped responding, and I assumed that he was sulking. I was still going to go to all my classes, despite what Pea might say.
With a pit in my stomach, I headed into my next class. Thankfully, I didn't share any classes with Reggie, and the few Bulldogs that were in my class seemed to look at me with pity rather than with animosity.
I was starting to feel nauseous, and I was dreading the Vixens' practice. I wasn't ready to deal with Cheryl and her particular brand of biting scorn. I already knew that she would have some comment about Reggie and Sweet Pea, and I knew that I wasn't going to like it.
At the sound of the final bell, I slowly stood and prepared for a torturous afternoon.