Fluorescent Adolescent~Jughead Jones

thirteen

Poet hit his head against the bars, letting out a loud groan. "This." Bang. "Freaking." Bang. "Sucks." Bang.

"Po, stop it." Poet rolled his eyes, releasing the bars and walking over to Toni. He laid down on the bench next to her, resting his head on her lap. He stuck out his bottom lip. "Toni, I wanna go home," He whined. 

Toni sighed and nodded her head, playing with his curls. "Me too, Po. Me too."

The two plus Sweet Pea, Fangs, and another random high schooler sat in silence, bored out of their minds. They'd been contained for six hours now and didn't know how much longer until they were released. 

Poet was going out of his mind. He was a hyper, anxiety filled boy who needed to be constantly moving or focusing on something. So being stuck in a jail cell was not his ideal environment. 

"Price!" 

Poet perked up at the mention of his name. A chubby guard with a sweaty red face approached the bars and jerked his head at the boy.

"Come on, you got bailed." Poet's face contorted in confusion. Who?

He said goodbye to Toni and the others, making sure to give Sweet Pea a big kiss on the cheek just to get him angry and followed the cop down the hallway into the main lobby. 

He froze as he realized who it was. "Cassen."

The Ghoulie smiled. "Hiya Price."

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Poet gritted his teeth as he entered the House of Death. It was cool, there was no denying that. The art and curtains that hung on the wall gave it a dark gothic feel Poet loved. The smell of Jingle Jangle, however, ruined it all. 

Him and Cassen walked down the stairs into the basement, Cassen whistling a nonexistent toon and pulling his hand against the wall. He tried to contain his anger at the high pitch note of the whistling.

"Can you stop that? Please?"

Cassen grinned. "Nope," he said, popping the 'p'.

Poet shook his head and inhaled deeply as they entered the den. His eyes narrowed as he saw him.

"Malachi."

Malachi spread out his arms, his face in a huge smile. "Ahh, Poet. Just the boy I wanted to see. You haven't been avoiding us now have you?"

Poet rolled his eyes at the question, falling back into one of the couches. "What gave it away?"

Malachi laughed and waved Cassen off, leaving the two alone. Or as alone they could be with people making Jingle Jangle twelve feet away. 

The Ghoulie reached across to the table, grabbing a box of brownies. He held it out to Poet. 

"Want one?" Poet shook his head. "I'm good. Thanks."

Malachi shrugged, grabbing one and throwing the box back onto the table. He moved closer to Poet, his face inches away from the younger boy's ear. "You know...one of the best things about Jingle Jangle is how you can put it in practically anything. It's a delicacy."

Poet moved away, scrunching his nose. "I beg to differ." He crossed his arms. "Let's get to the point Malachi. Why'd you bail me out?"

Malachi moved a hand onto his cheek like he was thinking hard. "I'm not sure. Maybe it's because you've been meddling with the Jones boy. Or because you've been ignoring us."

Poet grit his teeth. "That's aloud. You don't own me Malachi. I'm both a Serpent and a Ghoulie. We have an agreement."

Malachi nodded, chewing the rest of his brownie. "You're right, you're right. That's my fault, silly me. But with our war with the Serpents beginning, well...we just don't trust you anymore. And I'm not sure how much that Serpent boyfriend of your's going too either. It's a mad world out there, Price. People don't know who they can trust."

"Stop. Talking. Malachi. Both Ghoulies and Serpents let me in to honor my parents. My dad, a ghoulie, your adopted brother and my mother, a serpent, FP's second in command. And I'm valuable, you said so yourself. We agreed that if I betrayed either sides I'd get stripped of my titles and thrown out on the streets. And as after as I've checked, I haven't. So shut the hell up."

Malachi opened his mouth to speak before the door burst open, a raging Jughead Jones rushing towards Malachi. Poet sank back into the darkness of the cushions, not wanting to interrupt Jughead.

Jughead and Malachi talked, Poet only catching a few words. 'challenge' 'race' 'serpent prince' 'territory'. 

Poet sighed and watched as again the door opened, now two girls and two Ghoulies bursting through towards Malachi. He watched as Exen yelled about how the girls had been following him and the four teenagers recognizing each other. When he realized who the blonde girl was he decided to get up and make himself known.

His boots stomped against the floor, catching everyones attention as he dramatically walked into the light and into Jughead's eye line. 

Jughead's eyes widened. "Poet?"

"Hey Jonesy." Jughead smiled and rushed forwards into Poet's arms. Poet laughed, wrapping his arms around the slightly smaller boy. He kissed his forehead. "Missed you too."

Poet looked at the teenagers in front of him, making eye contact with one Betty Cooper. He smirked, pulling Jughead to him tighter and rubbed the boy's back. He watched her face fall before she quickly covered it with a mask of confidence. It was a dick move, he knew it but she'd started it with dumped Jughead via Archie.

He bent his neck down to Jughead's ear. "As much as I love hugging you, we've got an audience and I think you should finish what you were starting."

Jughead nodded and pulled away, Poet keeping an arm on his shoulder. 

"If you win, we'll give you the Whyte Wyrm. You can expand your drug-dealing horizons and upgrade out of this literal hellhole." 

"We'll take the Wyrm, and Sunnyside Trailer Park." Poet felt Jughead tense under him as Malachi spoke. He was quiet before nodding.

"It's a deal."

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Okay. Rant time. I hate Betty. Like idc, go off or whatever but I personally don't like her and that may come through in some of this story. But I don't like Betty because she doesn't make the right choices or do the obvious right thing and she tends to play the innocent card when she's truly not. And I know, I know; its a tv show with a little bit of questionable choices and writing. I know that. But things she does: like the serpent dance. That was disgusting. It was completely uncalled for and random. It wasn't about her, it was about FP but she made it about herself by flaunting her body. And yes, the female serpents have to do that and I don't agree with that but theirs' is to be inducted into a gang that means everything to them. Betty just did it for attention. So anyways. Yeah. Sorry for the rant but I had to get it out.

Always, I hope you guys liked this chapter. Ik this part is a little slow but I'm following the plot line of the show. Also, get excited for the chapter where the serpents come to the Northside. It's not for a little while but still, yay!

Anyways, read, vote, comment, follow, love u guys!~underrated human

(Comment some good songs plz!)