fierce ↠ sweet pea [1] [✔]

|| SIX ||

When they walked back into the classroom, everyone was still staring. Sweet Pea's harsh glare was enough to scare any nosy kids away from asking about what was going on, even his Serpent buddies knew not to ask when he got like this. Mr Phillips just nodded at Lauryn before she sat back down and began packing her stuff away. The bell was to ring any minute, lucky for the two that had just left the room unexpectedly.

During lunch no one said much, Fangs was especially confused because of this as he wasn't there in the classroom. "Is anyone gonna say something or are we just having an eternity of silence for nothing?"

"Yeah, what happened with you two in class, guys?" Toni added as Lauryn sighed before picking up her boyfriend's hand and rubbing her thumb along his bruised knuckles.

"He just punched a locker," she lied, getting a nod of agreement from her boyfriend.

Toni could see right through her and catch onto the lie. "I meant before he punched the locker."

"Didn't you guys see what that bastard Malachai posted on Instagram?" Sweet Pea snapped, annoyed that they didn't already know. Angel Face rubbed his arm, giving him a calm-down look.

"No, what'd he post?" Fangs questioned, beginning to imagine what that mentally unstable Ghoulie could've done. He rubbed the rings on his fingers together nervously. Toni pulled out her phone and the others watched as her face turned to a display of horror and disgust.

"Oh, my god." she covered her mouth with her hand. "That's sick!"

"Yup," Lauryn sighed, the unappetising smell of the cafetorium food making her almost retch along with the anxiety she'd gotten from seeing a video of blood pouring out of her body so violently.

"Let me see that!" Fangs barked, reaching over the graffiti-covered table to snatch Toni's phone out of her hands. He looked as if he was going to turn the phone onto its face and smash it against the table corner, and then commit arson.

"They can't do this to you, Lauryn!" Fangs shook his head as Toni reached over to claim her phone back before he could break it. "It's a way of setting you as prey. Look, they didn't even show the other Ghoulies getting wiped out. It's literally just to make you look bad."

"We need to do something, and at this point, I don't care what the hell it is," Sweet Pea added, riling up himself and the other Serpents at the table except Lauryn who facepalmed at his ignorance. "I'm-"

"Baby," Lauryn eased once again, absorbing his aggression the second their eyes met. "I'm fine, guys. No need to do anything. I just want all of this to be over, for things, and myself, to go back to normal. Can we just report the post and forget about it?"

"If you say so, Laur," Toni agreed unsurely, giving looks to the boys to agree with her. She understood how Lauryn felt and respected it. "How about a trip to the quarry after school tomorrow? Most of the Serpents are going."

"Sure, sounds good," Lauryn accepted, looking to Sweet Pea for his answer. It was a perfect way to take their minds off of the video, especially his, since she wasn't sure he wasn't going to do anything to the Ghoulies.

"Yeah, sure," he gave in, still burning with anger but extinguishing it quickly. 

Fangs nodded. "Yeah, I'll get Jared down there."

"You guys getting pretty close, huh?" Lauryn asked, and his cheeks glowed red to match a cheeky smile that had formed. 

"I guess so," he said, and she grinned.

"I'm happy for you," she told him proudly. Jared was a good guy to have around in a rough patch, when he wasn't off getting drunk and high alone. "Oh, should we invite Jughead? Maybe he'll change his mind about us."