fierce ↠ sweet pea [1] [✔]

|| THIRTY-SEVEN ||

"You guys are, you mean," Fangs joked as he got off his bike, fully dressed in leather and plaid. "I can't believe you're actually wearing that."

"Shut up, Fangs," Lauryn said, wishing she too had her leather jacket hanging over her shoulders. "Some of us are trying to change people's opinion on the Serpents here."

Her brother scoffed at her. "What, and you think wearing their uniform is going to change that? Hey, nice ponytail by the way."

"I'd agree with you," Sweet Pea spoke. "But, you're not gonna last five seconds in there."

"Wow, that's a sight," another voice said, slightly further away. The Serpents turned to see Jared there, also in uniform. He walked up to them, and Fangs' expression stiffened. "Fangs, of all people, rebelling. Kind of hot."

"What do you want?" Fangs demanded, and Jared put up his hands defensively.

"Whoa, cool it," he told him, which only irritated him further. "I just came to say hi. These are my friends, too, remember?"

Fangs let out a subtle scoff as he glanced down at his feet, hands in his pockets as if he was debating on dropping a bomb. "They wouldn't be your friends if they knew what--"

"Can you guys not?" Toni requested, and Lauryn let out a breath of relief she didn't know she'd been holding. "Today is already going to be an episode of Jerry Springer and I'd rather you didn't add onto it."

"Thank you," Lauryn agreed, folding her arms. "Can we go inside? I have a feeling they're not going to lay out the red carpet for us."

"Really? By the number of cellphones I can see pointed at us, I think we deserve a little more special treatment," her best friend joked, linking her arm through hers.

"Toni," Lauryn began, her voice dropping in volume. "Is the baby... visible?"

Toni glanced over at her best friend as they went up the steps. "Not really. Are you still worried about people knowing?"

"For now, yeah," Lauryn admitted, pushing open the door. "Also because this shirt is too fitted for my comfort zone right now, as if I'm not being looked at enough."

"Hey, it'll be okay," Toni comforted. "Let's get some coffee from the machine. Decaf for you. It's on me."

"Thanks," Lauryn replied, and the girls were going to take a right when they heard an inevitable holler from down the hall.

"You!"

The girls turned on their heel to see Fangs being angrily approached by Weatherbee himself, who had clearly been watching every student who came in. Fangs stood his ground, maintaining what would usually have been an intimidating gaze, but the principal didn't seem bothered.

"Were my instructions not clear?" he clarified, and Fangs nodded.

"Pretty clear, also pretty stupid," he snickered, and even Sweet Pea felt his stomach turn into a knot at the boldness. "I'm a Serpent, not a golfer."

"You're obliged to obey every instruction given to you in my school," Weatherbee lectured. "I distinctly remember banning those jackets, and requested that you wear the uniform provided."

"We all know the uniform is just for you to look down on us," Fangs argued, raising his voice so the students passing through the hallway could also hear. "You Northsiders always have to prove you're better than everyone."

"The SMS sent to all of you stated that failure to present in the appropriate attire would result in immediate suspension, correct?"

"Yeah."