Breaking Boundaries / Sweet Pea \

¦23¦

"When I wake up all alone and I'm thinking of your skin, I remember, I remember what you told me. Said that we're not lovers, we're just strangers, with the same damn hunger to be touched, to be loved, to feel anything at all"

A few days had passed since Jughead had been suspended. The Serpents now had to wear what they called a school uniform, despite the fact that no one else wore them. It was supposed to help them blend in but not made them stick out like a sore thumb.

Today was the day Jughead would return, hopefully without the Serpent jacket this time. Lola was standing in a hallway, talking to Toni and Sweet Pea while they waited for Jughead.

However, Lola couldn't concentrate on the conversation that was floating around the circle of friends; she kept sneaking glances at Sweet Pea. Every time, he avoided her gaze, focusing on anyone or anything but Lola.

Lola was beyond confused. The past few days, Sweet Pea had been avoiding her and ignoring her texts. She had no idea why and she wasn't sure whether she should be worried or hurt. Something could be wrong, or he could be suck of her; she wasn't sure which. She had even tried teasing him about the turtleneck he had to wear to hide his tattoo, but he ignored her.

Lola was getting sick of it now. She was fully prepared to grab onto his wrist and drag him out of there, forcing him to talk to her. Surely he couldn't ignore her if they were alone in the same room. Just as she was about to reach forward, a familiar voice was heard, stopping her.

"What the hell guys?" Jughead exclaimed, striding over to them. Luckily, he wasn't wearing his Serpent jacket. Lola knew he was talking about their new uniforms and sighed. "Weatherbee gave them to us" she explained, looking over to him.

"Said he understood that not every Southside student had the means to purchase Riverdale High acceptable clothes. He thinks this will help is fit in" Toni continued, rolling her eyes.

Jughead looked shocked, not fully processing what had happened since he left. "Where's Fogarty?" he eventually asked, noticing the boys absence. Lola was distracted again, staring once more at the tall Serpent across from her.

"He wouldn't wear the uniform. So they got rid of him, suspended him" Sweet Pea answered, slightly squirming under the gaze of Lola. Jughead looked to Lola for confirmation, not fully believing what he was hearing. She gave him a slight nod in answer, not speaking up.

"So our choices are conform or be cast out?" Jughead asked, clearly agitated and angry. "Yeah" Lola said, looking down at the floor again. A wave of different emotions were crashing over her. She was hurt and worried since Sweet Pea had begun to ignore her but, like Jughead, she was annoyed about the uniforms.

Everyone was silent, awkwardly standing together. No one really knew what to say, unsure whether they should change the conversation or not.

"We should get to class" Toni trailed off, looking around the group. She got silent nods or mumbles as an answer as everyone agreed. Jughead walked down the hall with Toni as Sweet Pea turned to face the other direction.

Lola was quick on her feet, knowing that Sweet Pea couldn't avoid her any longer. "Sweets wait" she called after him, following him down the hall. The tall Serpent ignored her, continuing on throughout the school.

Lola huffed, determined not to give up despite the boy's stubbornness. Lola chased after him once more, this time grabbing his arm and dragging him outside.

"What the hell? What are you doing?" Sweet Pea exclaimed, clearly shocked by Lola's sudden, harsh actions. Lola scoffed, letting go of his arm once they were outside and out of sight.

"Now are you gonna talk to me?" she asked, slight venom in her tone. She couldn't bare to have him ignore her again and act like he had done nothing wrong.

"About what?" Sweet Pea spat,leaning against the wall behind him and glaring down at her. Lola felt a pang of hurt in her chest at the sight of the one she loved staring at her with pure hatred.

"You know what. You've been ignoring me" she eventually retorted, shaking off the state of shock. Sweet Pea sighed but somehow seemed to be getting more and more angry.

"Oh please. Don't act like you don't know. I saw you. With Mantle" he snapped, standing up straight now. Lola was suddenly very aware of the height difference between the two and felt very small.

She looked up at Sweet Pea in confusion, not sure what he was talking about. "What about Reggie?" she asked. Sweet Pea scoffed and shook his head, clearly frustrated.

"You're unbelievable. You know, I actually thought you were different" he chuckled sarcastically trying to walk away. Lola put a hand on his chest, pushing him backwards slightly to prevent him from walking away from her again.

"What's that supposed to mean? I haven't done anything wrong!" Lola said, her voice raised now. All this time she had been sorting about him when, in reality, he was just being an asshole.

"You know what? Just go back to that Bulldog. I'm done" Sweet Pea said, hurt showing clearly in his eyes. Lola was too shocked to stop him this time and watched, on the verge of tears, as he stormed off away from her, leaving the school grounds.

As the past few minutes sunk in, Lola slowly began to break inside. She felt each moment as it clawed away at her heart, destroying her from the inside. She stumbled backwards, her back hitting the wall, and slowly slid down to the floor.

Years escaped her eyes, slowly at first but then in floods. Her eyes were blurred over and her senses were dulled, unaware of what was happening around her.

After what seemed like a world of pain and crying, Lola felt a comforting hand placed on her shoulder. Swiping quickly at her eyes to remove any tears, Lola looked up. Her eyes met with those of Toni Topaz and she immediately collapsed into the girls arms.

She silently thanked God that it was Toni who had found her and not Jughead. She loved her best friend more than anything but she knew she couldn't tell him about this. If she did, Jughead would surely grow to hate Sweet Pea even more. The last thing she needed was the two of them causing a fight.

"Hey, it's okay. Tell me what happened" Toni said in a hushed tone, stroking Lola's hair to comfort her. Lola pulled away, wiping her tears once more and sniffled slightly.

"It's Sweets. He, he broke up with me and I don't know why" she stuttered, tears threatening to flow once more. Toni looked both shocked and confused for a moment but brushed it off quickly, not wanting to upset Lola even further.

Toni pulled her closer once again, allowing her to cry it out. "I'll talk to him. We'll fix it" she said softly. The two sat there for most of the day and, although still heartbroken, Lola did feel a little better by the time she was home. The only problem facing her now was having to see Sweet Pea every day in school.