"This is Hiram."
"I have the Red Paladin," Tall Boy said into the phone Sweet Pea held to his ear as Fangs held a gun to his head. "Him and his friends tried to ambush us in the woods. If you want him-"
"I do. Where?"
"Usual meeting place. Nine o'clock."
"Understood. Good work." Hiram hung up and Sweet Pea pulled the phone down, looking at the Jones' and Archie as they watched.
***
They watched from the dock as a black car pulled up, Archie kneeling in front of FP who was inside the Gargoyle King costume. A man in a black coat and hat got out, walking towards them.
"You're not Hiram," FP said and the man lifted his head so they could see his face.
"Tall Boy?"
"Looks like neither of us is who we were expecting," FP took the mask off.
"What the devil is-" Archie, Jughead, and Aminity stood, the boys grabbing his arms so he couldn't go anywhere.
"Claudius Blossom," Jughead let out. "You're not the Man in Black. What happened? Why would Hiram send you?"
"Because it was too easy. Why would Archie ambush the Gargoyle Gang?" Aminity sighed.
"I don't know what you mean?" Claudius said, trying to get away, but Archie and Jughead stopped him.
"Save it for the judge, Blossom. You may not be the Man in Black, but his stink is on you. I'm making a citizen's arrest."
***
"Hey, what's up?" Aminity as she she put her homework down and answered the phone.
"I messed up."
"With?"
"I accidentally told Archie that I kissed Veronica. He said something and I thought he already knew, but he was talking about something else and I am so screwed now."
"Have you told Veronica?"
"Yeah. I called her first. I just needed to talk to someone."
"I told you that you can always talk to me, no matter what. I just might not know what to say all the time."
"I don't even know what to say," he sighed.
"How did they take it?" she asked after a minute.
"Archie just walked away and Ronnie... I don't know."
"I'm sure she'll come around. It was an honest mistake. It'll all work out."
"Yeah," he sighed again and she could tell he wanted to change the subject.
"How goes the SAT prep?"
"Pleading the fifth." She chuckled. "I should probably get some last minute cramming in though. I'll talk to you later."
"Good luck. Bye." She put the phone down and was about to start on her homework again before her phone rang again.
"I need help," Sweet Pea rushed out quickly as soon as she picked up.
"Hello to you too, Pea."
"I'm gonna fail the SATs."
"You actually care?"
"Yes. Is that so hard to believe?"
"Kind of, yeah."
"Whatever." She could hear his eyes roll. "Are you gonna help me or not?"
"You do realize you have less than twelve hours until the test, right?"
"Yes, so would you quit wasting time?"
"Okay," she smiled. "I've got some flashcards that Jughead's done with."
"Thank you, Princess," she could hear the relief in his voice.
"No problem. Alright. First up, iconoclast."
***
"It's small, but it's home," Aminity said as she led Oliver inside the trailer.
"I like it. Seems nice. Where's everyone else?"
"My dad's out and my brother's taking the SATs. It's okay though. They knew you were coming, so I'm not hiding anything."
"Good. I do not want to be the reason you get in trouble." She chuckled as they sat on the couch. "Please don't ask me how I'm feeling," he said before she could. "I hate that question."
"Fair enough. I do too." They sat in silence. "Um, you're more than welcome to say no and we can forget that this ever happened, um, but would you maybe, I don't know, want to go out with me sometime?"
"Like on a date?"
"Yeah," she nodded nervously.
"Sure."
"Really?'
"A-huh. I really like you and if you didn't ask, I probably would have." He thought for a second. "How about we have a date right now."
"What are yo-"
"You have a tv and movies."
"And I think we have some popcorn."
"See? Perfect first date," he smiled sweetly at her, his hand on top of hers.
***
"Fangs? Sweet Pea?" Jughead asked as they climbed down into the bunker, hearing Fangs crying. "What happened?"
"Don't touch him. Don't touch him," Sweet Pea was pulling Fangs away.
"What happened?" Jughead demanded as they saw Tall Boy laying on the ground.
"Tall Boy was just trying to escape and- and I don't know! It was an accident," Fangs panicked as they watched the blood flow onto the floor.
"Oh my God," Aminity let out.
"You got to believe us," Sweet Pea looked at them. "What are we gonna do, Jones? Look at him. Princess? What do we do?"
"I told him not to come at me like that! I told him!" They both continued yelling and screaming before Jughead silenced them.
"Shut up! Let me think!" He put his hands on top of his head as Fangs started whimpering again. "We're gonna throw a party," he decided. Sweet Pea and Fangs glanced at each other before nodding.
"Okay," Fangs sighed.
"Oh my God," Aminity mumbled again, looking down at Tall Boy's corpse. She turned and climbed back up the ladder, relishing the feeling of the cool air as it helped to ease her queasy stomach. She sat down on a fallen log and put her head in her hands.
"You okay?" she heard a voice ask and looked to see Sweet Pea sitting down next to her.
"It's not the first time I've seen a dead body, and, in this town, I doubt it'll be the last."
"Doesn't matter. No one should see one at all."
"Doesn't matter. We live in Riverdale." They were silent, listening to the distant insects and wind. "You know, sometimes I wish that I could just be a normal fifteen year old."
"Is there even a normal?" Sweet Pea spoke up.
"I don't know. But I do know that being the daughter of the Serpent King, being involved with the solving of murders, joining a gang, and having a breathing disorder is not normal."
Sweet Pea chuckled. "I guess even with there not really being a normal, you still defy the unnormal normalcy."
"Unnormal isn't a word," Aminity chuckled back. "You mean abnormal."
"Nah," he smiled. "I want to be unnormal and use unnormal."
"You're an idiot," she laughed at him.
"An idiot who got you to laugh," he said and she gave a small smile. "You sure you're okay?" he asked, his voice turning more serious.
"Yeah. We'll figure it out. We always do. Jug's got a plan and it'll all turn out fine."
"You're really good at avoiding questions, aren't you?"
"Yep." She paused for a second, looking out at the forest around them. "Please tell me you didn't answer a question with unnormal on the SATs," she said, making him burst out in laughter.
***
Music played and voices were loud as the party happened all around them, Jughead and Aminity making their rounds and pretending that everything was normal.
"We're freaking out, dude," Sweet Pea said as they walked over to him and Fangs.
"Hey, just keep it together, guys. Okay?" They smiled at one of the Serpents as he walked past. "It was an accident."
"As far as anyone knows, Tall Boy's still in exile."
"I exiled him. Just relax, okay? Just drink. And party like your life depends on it." He walked away and the two boys still were an edge.
"Usually I don't condone teen drinking, but please," she handed them each a beer, "drink." They all turned as Jughead stood on top of the hood of a truck, the music stopping.
"Serpents! We have a lot to celebrate." They cheered. "We finally unmasked our foe, the Gargoyle King." Sweet Pea and Fangs forced cheers, Sweet Pea taking a long swig of his beer. "Hiram Lodge, the Man in Black, is down for the count.
"Yeah!"
"Okay, maybe tone it down a little bit," Aminity pulled Sweet Pea down and whispered harshly.
"And tonight, we're welcoming back one of our own. Fangs Forgarty!"
The crowd cheered before chanting, "Serpents! Serpents! Serpents!" They dwindled as they heard a siren and saw the sheriff car pull up with its lights on.
"Crap," Aminity mumbled.
"Oh God, they know about Tall Boy," Fangs looked at the two of them. Sweet Pea and Aminity glanced at each other before she looked at Jughead. They watched as a man got out of the car, his hat down, blocking his face as he walked over to them before looking up to reveal FP.
"Dad?" they both let out.
"It's Sheriff Jones now, kids." Fangs and Sweet Pea let out relieved breaths as they all started smiling. "Listen up! You're looking at the new law in Riverdale." They all cheered.
"Never thought I'd see this," Aminity looked up at her brother as she walked over.
"That's an understatement."
I love all the friendships that Aminity has, especially with Reggie and Sweet Pea. And she has a boyfriend again, so we'll see how that goes! Let me know what you guys thought! Stay safe!