Breaking Boundaries / Sweet Pea \

¦12¦

Lola sighed. "It's some outdated, sexist Serpent tradition. I tried to get it outlawed but misogyny dies hard" Toni explained. Lola could see the spark of interest in Betty's eyes and tried to discourage her. "You don't wanna know" she said sternly. However, Betty didn't seem discouraged in the slightest, only more intrigued.

"Uh, yeah, I do. I wanna know everything" Betty smirked. Lola shared a worried glance with Toni, but eventually gave in. "It's a strip tease" she blurted. She couldn't help but giggle at the sight of Betty's eyes beginning to widen in shock. "It's what?" she said in disbelief. Now Toni was giggling slightly too.

Betty looked between the pair as if they had gone completely mad. "Lola, you did the Serpent Dance?" she questioned. Lola smirked at her. "When I was twelve" she stated, confidently, while taking a so I of her drink. Betty seemed to think for a moment about this new information.

Lola had hoped that she would think twice about it. It was one thing becoming a Serpent, but this might cross the line for Betty. Would she really want to do a strip tease? And in front of a room full of middle-aged men? "Well, I'll see you guys tonight" Betty said before walking out. Lola assumed she had gotten through to Betty and turned back to face Toni.

"You don't think she'll actually do it, do you?" Toni asked her. Despite acting as if she didn't care, Lola knew that Toni didn't want Betty to do this for the wrong reasons. Lola shrugged her shoulders. "I guess we'll see tonight" she mumbled. Toni nodded slightly and began cleaning the glasses. She looked up once more before speaking again.

"You know who else you'll see tonight?" she smirked. Lola looked at her in confusion, unsure of who she was referring to. "Sweet Pea." Lola groaned and rested her forehead against the counter. "I know what happened" Toni stated. Lola's head snapped up. How had she found out? Sweet Pea didn't seem like the type of guy who would've told a lot of people.

"Sweet Pea told Fangs who I was able to get it out if" she explained, reading the confusions off of her face. Lola nodded slightly at her. " What do I do? I don't know if I can face him" Lola complained.

Her head was a mess right now. Toni looked at her softly. " Just talk to him. You need to be honest with him" she explained. "And yourself." Lola nodded at her. She knew Toni was right, but that didn't make it any easier.

¦--~--¦

Lola pushed open the doors of the White Wyrm to reveal a sea of people. Her ears were filled with the sound of constant chatter and her eyes skimmed across the room. Once she found FP and Jughead in the crowd, a grin erupted on her face and she made her way towards them.

She ran into FP's arms, hugging the man who was like a second father to her. "Hey kid. Jughead told me you were back. I'm proud of you" he whispered in her ear. Tears prickled at the corners of her eyes, but she held them back. She pulled away and was about to say something when she heard the doors open once more.

All heads turned as in walked Alice Cooper along with her daughter, Betty. She was dressed like a Serpent. It was like she never left. Lola noticed both FP and Jughead staring and she chuckled to herself, taking that as her cue to leave.

Her eyes met with Toni's. She was about to make her way over to the girl when she received a stern look. Lola looked back at her, confused, until she nodded her head towards a tall Serpent leaning against the wall.

Lola sighed, realising what Toni meant. She had to talk to Sweet Pea, and she had to do it now. Slowly, she walked over to Serpent Boy. As she got closer, she noticed how little sleep he seemed to have gotten and began to frown in worry. Why hadn't he been sleeping?