Redemption [Sweet Pea x OC]

Chapter 5

I groaned as my phone rang again. "Yes, I'm going to be at school this morning," I snapped, not even looking to see who it was.

"You better be going to school," Johnny said. "Are you skipping class already?

"Sorry, I don't know how many people have already called the is morning," I apologized, going back to my makeup.

"You didn't answer the question, Baby Girl," Johnny sighed. "We need to talk though. Come by the Wyrm after school."

"What's going on? Did something happen?" Damn it, did the Ghoulies go after Jughead last night? I didn't want to wait all day for answers.

"We'll talk later, okay? Just be sure to watch your back."

"Johnny–" I started, but he'd already hung up. Sighing, I tossed my phone on the bed. Unfortunately with my luck, it bounced off the bed and onto the floor. As I circled the bed to pick it back up I caught the time on the clock by the bed. There was no way I was making it class on time. I rushed to finish getting ready, and made why way to school without any unwelcome encounters.

"You're late," Fangs said when I walked into class ten minutes late.

"I would have been here on time if I hadn't had to keep stopping to answer my phone every few minutes."

"Who else was calling you so early?" Sweet Pea asked, sounding slightly jealous.

"Both of you, Toni, Diamond, Melanie, Ash, Brett, and all the other Serpents called to ask if I was coming in today. Then Johnny called and said he needs to talk to me later, but wouldn't say what about," I said. "If he hadn't called, I probably would have been here on time."

"You should have called, I could have come by and given you a ride," Sweet Pea said.

"Thanks, but I may have finally killed my phone," I replied, giving him a small smile.

"Let's see it," Fangs requested.

I handed him my phone, the cracked screen flickering on and off. He started messing with it, pressing buttons and tapping the screen. I turned back to Sweet Pea. "Did I miss anything this morning?"

"Actually, you did," he replied.  "Last night Jones was here late working on the paper and got jumped by the Ghoulies."

I rolled my eyes.  "We told him this would happen.  How bad is he?"

"Not bad actually.  Toni said his girlfriend patched him up this morning."  Betty actually came to Southside?  Look at her, all grown up and taking chances.

"And that's not all," Fangs said, still messing with my phone.  

"There's more?" I asked, looking between the two.  "I was only a few minutes late.  What else could have happened?"

Sweet Pea smiled.  "Relax, it wasn't that exciting.  Jones actually joined the Serpents in the cafeteria this morning.  The Ghoulies might have managed to knock some sense into him."

"It's about time they were actually good for something around here," I muttered, both boys laughing.    Once our laughter subsided, Fangs returned to his work on my phone.  Whether or not he was making progress was a mystery, but I left him to it.

"So, any plans for tonight?" Sweet Pea asked.  "After you meet Johnny, I mean?"

"Dinner with Toni and her grandfather," I replied.  "Which I, for one, am still invited to."

We stood as the bell rang.  "We're working on getting our invitation back," Sweet Pea said, wrapping his arm around my shoulders.  "But either way, I still say it was worth it," he added with a smirk.

Fangs followed us out into the hall, glancing at Sweet Pea's arm around me.  "I'll see you two later," he said with a wink.

"What's with him?" Sweet Pea asked, watching his best friend walk down the hall.

"No idea," I replied.  "I'll see you at lunch?"

Sweet Pea nodded, leaving me at my next class.  It wasn't until then that I realized Fangs still had my phone.  Not that it was of any use last I'd seen of it.

Time passed slowly, but the Serpents in my classes told me their versions of what they'd seen or heard about Jughead and what it meant for his future with us.  At last lunch came, and this time, I was there for the newest drama.

Diamond and Melanie told us there was a video we all had to see, and after trying to crowd around various phones to see it, Sweet Pea pulled it up on his laptop which we all crowded around to watch.  From where I was standing behind Sweet Pea, I saw Jughead hang up his phone quickly after spotting our group.  

"Hey, I guess we're not watching funny cat videos," Jughead joked, walking over.

"Check this out," Sweet Pea said, turning his computer around so Jughead could see it.  "Some sick-in-the-head Northsider posted a crazy-ass video, and we were just talking."

It was clear that Jughead had already seen the video, he didn't even attempt to hit play.  "About what?" he asked nervously, glancing at me quickly before turning his question to the others.

"Fogarty wants to earn his Serpent stripes," Sweet Pea answered, patting Fangs on the back.  "I say, bring us the head of that Northsider, and you're in."  

Fangs nodded while the Serpents cheered their approval.  "I'm down with that," he agreed.

"No guys, don't," Jughead said a little too quickly.

"What, Jones?" Sweet Pea growled.  I felt him tense up under my hand on his shoulder.

I stayed silent, despite the pleading glance Jughead shot me.  I could tell he was trying to think fast, figure out a way to save his friend.

"I know this guy, he's a milquetoast.  He's a football player.  It's kind of a lame target, is all I'm saying," Jughead finally said, almost tripping over his words.  

Did he really expect us to believe that Andrews, the football player who stood bare-faced in a video posted online threatening a serial killer was a wimp?  

"You wanna prove something?  Why don't you go after the Black Hood?" Jughead continued, turning to Fangs.

"And why would we do that?" Sweet Pea retorted, leaning back against me.  "The Black Hood is targeting Northsiders, who do nothing but blame Southside for everything that's wrong with this town.  And we're sick of it.  The Black Hood's doing our work for us.  He's a hero."

Jughead glared at Sweet Pea, at a loss for words.

"If I counted right, it looks like the whole football team is there in that video," I said.  "Fangs isn't the only one looking to prove himself right now, so why not deal Northsiders a real blow and see how many of their golden boys we can bring down?"  Jughead's glare turned to me.

"I could get behind that," Sweet Pea said, raising a hand to mine.  The Serpents voiced their agreement, instantly throwing out plans for how and when to do it.

I watched my cousin, the wheels spinning in his head as he tried to figure out a way to put a stop to it all.  It's not that I had anything against Andrews or the Northsider's football team, it was Northside in general.  Call me mean if you will, but as long as the Black Hood stayed on their side of town, I was willing to let him do his thing.