Second Chances [Sweet Pea x OC]

Chapter 3

"All right, I get it," I said. "You're not playing it though, are you?" He didn't answer, which told me all I needed to know. "Damn it, Jones. Why?"

"For most of us, it's an escape from reality," he finally answered. "But I realized that the game holds all the answers. And the only way to get them is by playing the game. If I don't play, I don't ascend. And I have to ascend to meet the Gargoyle King."

I stared at the phone after he hung up, wondering how he'd gotten sucked in so fast. Just days before he'd been totally against anyone knowing about the game, and now here he was, trying to get further.

Sighing, I rolled out of bed, pulling up my text messages. Fangs and I had been in touch since that night at Pop's, and he'd been asking when I'd be back in Riverdale. "See you soon," I messaged him. Then I opened the text from Sweet Pea. "Can we talk?" I'd been putting off replying, not sure what to say.

"Who are you texting so early in the morning?" Dakota asked, coming to sit next to me.

"I still haven't replied to Sweet Pea."

Dakota gave me a sympathetic look. "Do you want to talk to him?"

I sighed, nodding. Honestly, I wanted to more than just talk to him, but after all this time and how I left things? I doubted that was ever happening again. "I do, but what if he feels the same as Cheryl and Toni? What if he just wants to say he hates me and he wasted all that time with me?"

"I promise you, that's not gonna happen," Dakota said.

"How would you know? You don't even know the guy."

"No, but I saw him last night. Abi, when we found you outside, Sweet Pea was looking at you like Hunter looks at me after–"

I shook my head, laughing. "Nope, stop there, I don't want to hear the rest of that sentence. I get your point. Now, get out of here, I need to pack."

"Wait, why are you packing?" Dakota asked, standing to follow me to the closet. "I thought you were just gonna talk, not move back in with the guy."

"Calm down, I'm not packing because of him," I said. "Remember that G&G game Jughead and Betty told us about? Well, Jughead's gotten himself mixed up in playing it, along with most of the town. I can't just stay here and let the game kill him."

Dakota watched me throw clothes into a bag before gently pushing me out the door. "You're never going to be able to find anything if you pack like that. Go tell Hunter to get our things ready too."

I knew arguing would be useless, so I made my way down the hall to the other bedroom, explaining everything to Hunter. "We're not letting you go alone," he said when I was done. "I know a place we can set up camp outside city limits."

I left the two to pack, making my way to the kitchen. They'd left just enough coffee for me, and I sat down to finally reply to Sweet Pea. "Yes. I'll be in Riverdale soon," hitting send before I could change my mind.

That afternoon we set everything up. More specifically, Hunter and Dakota set everything up. They wouldn't let me help, not wanting to risk me hurting my ribs again in any way. So, I took the opportunity to make some calls.

Betty was more than happy to fill me in on what she had learned. "Our parents are freaking out about this game. Mayor Lodge came by the school to talk to us about it. Abigail, she's so worried about it, she banned Gryphons and Gargoyles."

"Like that's actually going to do any good," I said. "Doesn't she realize that banning something only makes it more interesting?"

"You're totally right," Betty replied. "But what's even more interesting is the file I just got from Dr Curdle Jr. Back when our parents were our age, there was another suspicious death, maybe murder that took place at Riverdale High where the corpse had blue lips."