fierce ↠ sweet pea [1] [✔]

|| THIRTEEN ||

"Sweet Pea, I wasn't going to ask... but what happened when you went back to Skye's? You didn't say anything about it," Lauryn wondered, biting her lip as she and her boyfriend walked the school halls. "I guess I was waiting for you to tell me, but now I kinda just wanna know."

"I didn't tell you because it's pretty weird, and I didn't want you to worry," Sweet Pea said, lifting his laptop bag strap onto his shoulder. "The smell was worse, the place looked like it had been ransacked and Skye was gone."

"Her dad likes to move around a lot so he'd have experience in packing up fast. If he found out what she did to me, they might've left so he could protect her. Needless to say, she will be back after what happened, I guess I know her too well," Angel Face said coldly. "What if she had managed to kill me?"

"Nah," Sweet Pea reassured, slipping his hand into her back pocket to mark his territory. "She ain't touching you again."

"God, you're amazing," she sighed, clutching his arm tighter. "What did I do to deserve you?"

"You joined the Serpents, princess," he replied, kissing the top of her head while inhaling her sweet smell. His phone made a sound and he pulled it out of his pocket to see a text.

Fangs: Get to cafetorium ASAP - you won't believe what hit the net earlier!

"Who's that?" Lauryn asked, curiously peering over the screen. 

Sweet Pea laughed at her, squeezing her cheeks together tenderly. "Relax, cutie, it's not some girl. It's your brother, he said to get to the cafetorium now."

"Really, why?"

"Apparently, something big hit the net. I can't really imagine what could be bigger after that Malachai shit unless it's that bastard being shot in the head."

Lauryn sighed. "Sweet Pea, we're Serpents, barely anyone cares if we get hurt, let alone if it's posted online. Northsiders wouldn't even bat an eyelid."

"So, you think a Northsider crossed their preppy-ass line and posted something insane?"

"That might just be putting it lightly, Sweet Pea. After that dude got shot, that side of town has fallen apart. Our side hasn't been touched so we get the blame. It's already bad enough over here," Lauryn said regretfully. Though they were loyal to their home, it was still undoubtedly a dump. "That's what they don't understand."

"Let me guess, those assholes on the other side are still thinkin' it's a Serpent doing the dirty work?" Sweet Pea grunted, frowning at some kids consuming Jingle Jangle as if they were at a rave. "Tall Boy asked around after Jones had some suspicions. When will they get it through their heads that Serpents don't carry guns?"

"I'm not even going to answer that because I wouldn't be surprised if they do, even with proof, we're never let off the hook. There's always something for us to be blamed for," the blonde exhaled. "I'm surprised they haven't committed a hate crime, or started a riot."

Soon enough, they reached the table, the Serpents were all glued to their phone screens. "Fogarty, what's goin' on?" Sweet Pea took a look at the gang, sitting down with his girlfriend.

"A video was posted, some redhead on the Northside posted a video threatening the Black Hood," Fangs explained, a certain thrill in his voice. "You gotta see it."

"You might want to take out your laptop for everyone to get a closer look, Sweet Pea," Toni suggested, toying with a piece of her pink hair.  "Maybe all of us can make some more sense of it on a bigger screen."

The video started to play on Sweet Pea's laptop as some of the other Serpents gathered around. Lauryn's eyes widened, and Sweet Pea laughed as if it were all a joke. "This guy thinks he's all tough because he's hiding behind a screen. He's the one whose dad got shot, right?"