New Girl In Town

Chapter 10

The next morning, I woke up in some serious pain. I looked in the mirror to discover deep purple markings in the shape of fingers on my neck. I did my best to cover them up with makeup and put on a hoodie in an attempt to hide the bruises better. I continued getting ready and decided to take some pain relief pills when my phone started ringing. I answered it quickly without looking at the caller ID and was surprised with what I heard.

"Hey I don't know what you're doing in there, but hurry it up" I heard a familiar voice chuckle.

"Sweet Pea? What are you talking about?" I asked.

"Look outside" he replied simply as I heard the recognizable rumble of a motorcycle engine. I quickly ran to my room, looked out the window, and found none other than Sweet Pea sitting on his bike in my driveway with smirk on his face. I hung up, grabbed my bag and sprinted down the stairs. As I passed the living room, I noticed my dad beginning to stir on the couch; I snuck out the door and stomped towards Sweet Pea.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" I questioned angrily.

"Um, picking you up for school" he responded, slightly confused with my upset state.

"Do you have to be so loud?" I demanded, gesturing to his bike. "You'll wake up my dad and he'll be pissed if he sees me with you."

"How are you feeling?" he asked, abruptly changing the subject.

"What?" now it was my turn to be confused.

"After all the shit that happened yesterday. How are you feeling?" he asked again. "How's your neck?" My angrily puzzled expression softened at his sympathetic concern for me.

"I've been better" I replied honestly with a chuckle. "But overall I'm fine." He smiled at me.

"Good. Now listen, school starts in twenty minutes, and I'm not leaving here without you, so stop worrying about your dad and get on the bike" he commanded, holding a helmet out for me. I looked back at the house, not noticing any distress signals from my father, and turned back to Sweet Pea who still had the helmet extended out to me. I sighed and took it from his hands, strapped it on, and hopped onto the back of his motorcycle. He looked back at me, grin growing even wider, and sped off towards Riverdale High.

Once we got to school, we decided to meet up in the back lot during our free period and hang with the other serpents. We then went our separate ways and headed to class. A few people looked at me skeptically, wondering what I was doing with Sweet Pea, but I didn't mind; I was honestly starting to get used to it. I had a feeling that today was going to be a good day.

* * *

"What the hell did you do last night?" Archie barked at me as I approached our lunch table.

"Good to see you too" I countered sarcastically, setting my tray down and taking a seat next to Betty and Jughead.

"Seriously Ash, what were you doing hanging around with that serpent scum?" he demanded, still fuming.

"We were really worried about you" Betty added.

"Don't worry about it, guys. I was fine. He was just giving me a ride." I reassured them. Archie just scoffed and rolled his eyes in disbelief at my response. Why was he acting like such a tool? I mean, I know that he didn't get along with Sweet Pea, I'd heard about their little disputes from earlier that year, but that didn't give him the right to talk to me like that.

"Well then why didn't you answer any of our texts?" he retorted.

"Because my phone was in my bag when we were hanging out; I didn't hear it" I huffed; I was getting really annoyed with his behavior.

"Yeah? Well what were you to doing while you were 'hanging out'" he snapped venomously. "Were you guys taking Jingle Jangle? Or sleeping together?"

"Archie!" Veronica scolded, smacking him hard on the shoulder.

"You know what Archie? Screw you!" I spat, getting up from my seat and storming out of the cafeteria. I needed some space to cool off, or else I'd completely lose it. That had escalated quickly, and all because that stupid little ginger couldn't keep his damn mouth shut. I marched down the hallway, but heard footsteps close behind as someone called after me.

"Asher—"

"What?" I snapped, whipping around to see who was following me, only to find a gentle looking beanie headed boy.

"Oh, hey Jughead" I muttered quietly, slightly embarrassed in how rude I had just acted towards him.

"Hey" he replied, equally as quiet. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Archie was just pissing me off, and—"

"I'm not talking about Archie" He interrupted "I'm talking about yesterday."

"How do you know about that?" I whispered, completely frozen in shock about what he'd just said. I readjusted my hoodie and wondered if my bruise was starting to show through my makeup.

"Well, Sweet Pea told me what happened yesterday after I helped him deal with Jax" He admitted sheepishly, fidgeting with the beanie on his head. I noticed some faint blemishes on his knuckles that matched the ones I saw on Sweet Pea yesterday.

"I'm alright" I replied with a small smile.

"And don't worry about Archie, he'll get over himself. He's just been acting like a bitch ever since I joined the Serpents" I giggled at his statement and was grateful for the lightening of the mood.

"But he does kind of have a point" Jughead said, and I raised my brow at him in confusion. "The Serpents are great, and they're like my family, but just be careful. Especially around Sweet Pea. He's got a wicked temper, and it can be hard to calm him down sometimes."

"Thanks, I'll try to remember that." I replied. Jughead is the one person I'd actually listen to when it came to warnings about the Serpents. He seemed to be the only one who didn't have a warped perspective on them.

The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch and the beginning of my free hour. I smiled at Jughead and we said our goodbyes. I made my way to the back parking lot, anxious to have a quick cigarette and to calm down some more.

When I got there, we all just stood around, smoked, talked, and laughed. I appreciated the lightness of our conversation in comparison to the harsh one I had just been apart of during lunch. They were all so easy to talk to and they were always up for a good time. Although I knew I'd still hang out with Betty, Archie, and Ronnie despite our little argument earlier, I also knew that the Serpents were my kind of people. They were who I belonged with.