fierce ↠ sweet pea [1] [✔]

|| THIRTY-FIVE ||

When winter break finally came to an end, everyone was dreading the return to Southside HIgh. The students plodded through the halls like zombies, either because of the drug plague which was taking the school by storm, or because of their lack of motivation to be there.

Towards midday of the first day back, the Serpents watched teachers hurry to the principal's office, their phones ringing at hand. It was the most energy that had drifted through the halls all day, and no one understood why it was happening.

"Damn, did someone die?" Lauryn joked, acknowledging the franticness erupting throughout the faculty.

Toni sighed, seeming not as bothered as Lauryn was. "Someone's probably coughing up blood all over the locker room again."

Lauryn grimaced, a cringe shaking her insides. "Can you not? That's an image I'll never be able to get out of my head, which doesn't help me in the mornings."

"God, we were freshmen," Toni remembered, screwing her nose up. "I can't believe they never referred us to therapy or anything. We just had to act like nothing went down."

"This is the Southside," Lauryn shrugged, sighing. "As if they've ever given a shit about the students here. It's not like we're not used to that kind of stuff, either."

Toni shut her locker door. "I wasn't gonna ask, but, what happened to your mom? I thought she was gonna come by the Wyrm?"

Lauryn scoffed. "Yeah, well, about that. I haven't heard from her in ages. She hasn't been returning my calls or answering my texts."

"That sucks," Toni remarked. "I'm sorry. You don't deserve that. Especially not now."

"Nothing I'm not used to."

Feeling a kick, Lauryn drew her hand to her stomach. It was more uncomfortable than usual, and she had to hide the discomfort taking over her face. The bump wasn't that noticeable as yet, but she felt self-conscious all the same. To her, it looked bigger than it actually was when she looked down.

"You okay?" Toni asked, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Is it the baby?"

Lauryn shushed her best friend, glancing around in case someone heard. "Yeah. It's getting harder to hide."

"You're doing a great job," her best friend told her, smiling. "Especially with the lack of therapy the Southside recommends."

Lauryn laughed, shaking her head. "What would I ever do without you, Toni Topaz?"

After a brief moment of shared laughter, Toni changed the subject. "Hey, have you seen Jughead? He's been meaning to show me a sample of what he wrote."

"No, not since this morning," Lauryn answered. "He's probably outside on the steps. It's a lot better than being in here right now."

They made their way through the red doors, instantly greeted by the contrast in air quality. As expected, they found Jughead perched on the steps. Sneaking up behind him, Toni covered his eyes jokingly from behind him.

"Oh, hey, Toni," Jughead said when he looked back, spotting Lauryn as well. "Fogarty."

"Jones," Lauryn nodded as the girls joined him on the stairs.

"Hope you don't mind me bringing Lauryn along," Toni spoke, and Jughead shook his head.

"No problem, always one for the extra feedback," he replied, handing Toni a bunch of type-written pages sealed together with just a paper clip. "There you go."

The girls skim read it page by page, and Toni was left looking the most intrigued. "Wow, Jones, props to you. It's very Lovecraftian. But, I gotta ask you, did you write this on a typewriter?"