"Dear Diary
I used to view sleeping as a good thing as it doesn't have the propensity to fall apart like life does. But sleep to me now is a constant loop of all the past mistakes I've made in my life.
Yours Truly,
Roselle."
"Sorry to interrupt, Dr.Phylum, but Sheriff Keller and I need to see Archie Andrews in the hallway."
Those were the words that had everyone looking at the young, teenage redhead known as Archie Andrews. The once golden boy of the school, now known as the boy who seemed to lurk in the darkness of trouble. It seemed like everything that had happened to Jason before his death, with the dark secrets and murders, was happening to Archie himself.
Roselle and Veronica's eyes met each other, both of them sitting together with Archie on the end. The Lodge girl swallowed, before getting up, all eyes on her. "I'm sorry Principal Weatherbee but the T-shirts were my idea, not Archie's."
"Actually it was kind of mine." Roselle had also stood up, looking at Veronica with an angered look for taking the blame. "Veronica asked for advice, I gave her the idea and then helped order them."
The principal faced the girl, his lips in a tight line. "This is not about T-shirts, Miss Lodge and Parker, please sit down." He replied, his voice sounding gruff. Roselle rose her eyebrow, slowly easing herself back into her seat, bewildered.
The short haired girl sat down in confusion, feeling a sense of heat surround her. She then looked at the boy she claims to trust, the boy she's always been loyal to. Her eyes clouded with confusion and fear at why he was being called to the office, with a policeman as an escort.
"It's okay, Ronnie. There's nothing to worry about." Archie told his girlfriend, his lover. The Andrews boy slowly got up, following the principal and officer out of the room.
Roselle caught a glance of Veronica's fingers tapping nervously, eyes staring at the wall in front of her, making Roselle herself hold her hand and squeeze it in assurance. "He'll be fine, but you need to help him."
"Were you ever in love, Ree?" Veronica whispered to the girl, wrapping her fingers around the Parker girl's hand. Roselle smiled, biting her lip as she felt her heart thud against her chest in agonising pain.
"Yes, Yes I was."
•
The infamous Parker black book of secrets held more confidential matters than FBI files. Everyday, the girl would use her pen full of white ink to write on the seemingly endless black pages that make up her diary. It was strategically hidden in her 'Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde' book, where she cut off papers into a deep, rectangular shape to fit her diary into.
Depending on her mood, the girl would write during the night, where her thoughts were more vulnerable, or during the day, where her thoughts were open up for interpretation. No one, not even Brett, her mother or her Aunt had found the book let alone read it's horrors.
And that's because Roselle didn't want them to. It was her thoughts, her past and everything that kept her up at night, that moulded her into the person she was today. It was those thoughts, that if read by the wrong person, could have a huge, consequential effect.
A frown fell upon her face, as the first time in a long time, the pages actually felt like they were going to finish soon, maybe in a month. The pages just felt so light in her hands, a maximum of probably 20 pages left in the book.
But the girl sat on her bed, stomach facing the bed as her legs dangled off the edge, writing whatever was on her mind. Wearing nothing but a matching pink satin set, consisting of shorts and a buttoned up shirt and the single source of light from her lamp to guide her. Her hair was tied up in a bun but her face still composed of makeup from her everyday trip to the school.
The girl found herself writing about 'The Reggie Mantle', but didn't mention his name in the book. She wrote about the way he made her mad, the way his decisions effected her, and most importantly, not knowing why this was happening. The way he spoke to her two days ago made it seem that the way Reggie is will always be permanent, forever.
The abrupt sound of a hard object hitting against the thick layer of glass made the green orbs of Roselle flicker up to the source of the sound. At first, she just thought the sound was the tree hitting innocently against her window, but the noise continued making her heart beat erratically.
'What if it was the black hood? What if he's waiting outside to kill me?' Roselle's thoughts kept building up in her head. Her feet moved against the cold carpet of her floor, slowly making her way to the window. Swallowing deeply, her hands that were shaking uncontrollably made their way to the curtain, moving them ever so slowly to peek outside.
She leaned her body against the window, knee on her window seat as her breath fogged up the window glass. "You've got to be kidding me." Roselle groaned, opening her window harshly with a glare at the boy who was throwing pebbles at her window. "What the hell do you want Reggie! This isn't some High School Musical shit! You can't just throw pebbles at my window, I mean, that could break my bloody window!"
"And here I thought I was being Troy Bolton." Reggie smirked, climbing the tree near the window of Roselle's room, careful not to fall. When he reached the window, where Roselle was standing with her arms crossed and eyebrows pulled into an angry expression, he let out a wink. "Hey Gabriella."
"Please, if anything I'm Sharpay Evans." Roselle scoffed, sitting down in the bench of her room. "What are you even doing here, Mantle?"
"Get dressed, we're leaving." Reggie he told the girl, eyes analysing her bedroom attire. "Not that I mind what you're wearing right now."
"What makes you think I'll leave with you?" Roselle rolled her eyes, looking at his black car parked behind her's in the drive way with two other cars around it. It seemed the both had taste for old school cars, yet her's was red and his was a classic, midnight black.
"Me and the boys are going to Archie's house because I need to apologise for being a douche." He told the girl, who was still not satisfied with his answer. "I also have pizza in the car."
"Fine! I'm going! But only because of the free food." Roselle got up from her spot, looking at the boy with a small smile. He smiled back at her, a little glint of humour in his eyes. "Now shut the window and let me get dressed."
"What if I want to see you naked?" Reggie playfully grinned, making Roselle storm to slam shut the window and draw the curtains back closed. A grin however played against her lips for some reason she couldn't understand.
•
"Uh so look." Reggie started off as he drove his vintage car, just him and Roselle in the vehicle. His fingers drummed against the steering wheel, biting his lip as he felt like he was tongue tied. "I'm sorry- I'm sorry what I said. It wasn't cool."
"No it wasn't." Roselle agreed, taking a bite out of her third pizza slice. "But, you're making it up right now by talking to Archie."
"Not about Archie." Reggie shook his head. "About you. Look, I'm kind of new to this whole friendship with a girl thing. I usually don't have friends that are girls, because you know, I'm Reggie I usually just date them. So- when I do something wrong, I don't know it's wrong because usually with the boys it's like kind of, like..."
"Encouraged?" Roselle asked him. Reggie nodded, biting his bottom lip. "Look I forgive you. I am quite the handful anyway, your first time being friends with a girl and you possibly got given the worst one yet."
"No- no." Reggie shook his head, glancing at her. "I don't think you're the worst choice. I think it's the best. Yo-you are the best friend, that's a girl, that I could be given."
"And you're the best guy, that's a friend, that I could be given." Roselle smirked at Reggie, playfully bumping his shoulder and making Reggie laugh. "I'm also sorry, for like judging you and stuff. About the drugs and everything, that isn't cool."
"No, you're right. I shouldn't be doing that stuff." Reggie shook his head, continuing to drive as his teammates followed him in their cars behind him. "I do it- well there isn't really a valid reason, I just do it."
Silence engulfed both the teenagers, the slight hum of the car being heard. Roselle slowly closed the box of pizza, putting it with the other pizza boxes in the backseat. She then turned around, laying her arm on the door handle and watching the lights of the street move by.
"So how are you coping? With the black hood incident?" Reggie asked her, turning to glance at her for a second with a worried look that made Roselle's heart jump slightly.
"I'll admit, I'm scared." Roselle whispered out. "I'm scared he'll come to my house and kill me. It's not even night time that I'm only afraid of, even day time."
"I won't let him kill you." Reggie whispered, tightening his grip of the steering wheel. "I won't let him touch you."
Roselle's palms begun to sweat, cheeks flushing a deep burgundy as she looked away from the boy. "He says- he says he's targeting sinners. What if- what if whatever I did made me a sinner and he knows?"
"He tried to kill Midge and Moose because they love sex, I think it's safe to say that he's against everyone." Reggie let out a laugh. He then stopped laughing when he heard that Roselle was silent, turning to glance at her. He felt something in his body tug at her sad expression and grabbed her hand softly.
"I don't think you're a bad person Elle. I think you're the most innocent person in my life right now."
•
"To what do we owe this unexpected honor?" Veronica asked Reggie, Roselle sitting on her lap as they both continued eating pizza. This was probably Roselle's fifth slice of pizza today and she was loving it.
"Archie could have told Weatherbee the hood was mine, but he didn't. In the Book of Reg, that makes you a top-tier loyal badass." Reggie joked, smiling at Archie. "And, uh. We were talkin' today and decided if you wanna keep the Red Circle going we're here for you, dude."
The boys cheered in agreement, all eating the slice of pizza, an average of two boxes for each person. Roselle hummed in appreciation, happy that Reggie and Archie were back in alliance.
The mood however was quickly ruined when multiple cars were heard pulling up, making Roselle and Veronica both get up from the seat and quickly run to the window to look outside. A gang of Southside serpents were walking to the door of the house, making both Veronica and Roselle gasp. "And not a moment too soon. Archie. Trouble."
Archie got up, walking towards the door before opening, revealing the face of a Southside serpent gang member; Sweet Pea. "How stupid are you Northsiders? You really think you can come to my house, stick a gun in my face in front of my boys, and there wouldn't be any payback?"
"You have crap timing, bro." Reggie announced, pushing Roselle behind him and glaring down the serpent boy. "Bulldogs eat Serpents for lunch." Reggie shouted, making the boys behind him cheer.
"We'll see about that. And the more, the merrier." Sweet Pea laughed, glaring at Reggie with just as much hatred.
"Veronica, stay here." Archie commanded the raven haired girl, making her slightly angry.
"What? Archie-" she begun but was cut off by the vengeful teenager.
"No Veronica, after my dad, I made a promise to protect him and this house.
You stay here." He told her, eyes pleading with her before facing Sweet Pea. "If you wanna fight, we'll fight."
"What about your gun?" He asked, making Roselle's skin crawl in confusion about what was going on, what he meant about some sort of 'gun'.
"What about your knife?" Archie said just as sarcastically, folding his arm.
"How about no weapons? If you troglodytes insist on doing this, there are gonna be rules. Or should I call Sheriff Keller to be referee?" Veronica asked sarcastically, folding her arms and matching Archie's stance.
•
Rain was pouring as the boys lined up, ready to fight. The rain made Roselle's black sweater and leggings cling against her body, teeth shattering in the cold. "This isn't going to end well, I can feel it."
Veronica nodded in agreement, the same form of sick feeling in her stomach. And then the fight of the century begun, Archie and Sweet Pea fighting for some enraged form of honour.
But what started off as one on one, resulted in everyone on everyone. Groans were heard everywhere, rain falling on everyone as they all fought for their territory, their home. However, Roselle's eyes were on only one person, worried for his safety.
She hoped he would be safe, not like he needed it he was doing fine anyway. But then, a sliver glimmer caught her eye, making her eyes widen as Sweet Pea's eyes were locked on the Mantle boy, three feet's away from him. Roselle took off away from Veronica, making the Lodge scream at Roselle to come back.
Roselle ran as fast as she could, determined to not let Reggie get stabbed, determined to stop anything horrible from happening. However, before she could even do anything, Sweet Pea noticed her running figure from his left side and ran at her, putting her in a head lock.
"Oh, look what we have here." Sweet Pea taunted her, making Reggie's eyes widen in horror as he saw the knife near Roselle's face. Roselle kept fighting his grip, screaming at him to let her go. "What do you think you're doing love?"
"Let her go, she's not involved in this." Reggie pleaded with him, too scared that if he took a step, it will result in Roselle being stabbed. Her teary eyes made him panic, because if she was scared, it was something very serious.
"Oh really now?" Sweet Pea scoffed, Roselle still squirming his grip. "You see, we weren't involved in this whole black hood thing until you northerners walked into our turf and pulled a weapon on me and the boys."
"She's new to this place, please. She has nothing to do with it." Reggie kept begging, even if it meant losing his ego.
"So the captain of the football team has a soft spot?" Sweet Pea laughed bitterly. "Don't worry Reggie, I wont mess up her beautiful face." He slowly caressed her face, making tears stream down Roselle's face. "She is beautiful isn't she? Too bad she's one of you guys."
"Let go of her-" he started, taking a step forward. Sweet Pea smirked at the boy, quickly moving the knife to her leg and plunging it in, making Roselle scream in agonising pain.
"Reggie!" Roselle screamed loudly, Sweet Pea dropping her on the floor as he heard a gunshot and ran away. The rest of the serpents also begun to retreat, leaving the bulldog boys to stand by themselves in the rain. Reggie however ran to Roselle's side, picking her up bridal style.
"Roselle! Roselle! Stay with me doll, stay with me." He kept repeating, carrying her into the car. "Archie! I'm taking her to the hospital!"
Archie looked at Roselle in bewilderment, adrenaline pumping in his veins at the sight of a knife stuck in her thigh with blood oozing out. "It's my fault, it's my fault." He kept repeating over and over as Veronica ran up to him, a look of horror planted on her face.
"Elle, stay with me." Reggie kept repeating, placing her in front seat while quickly getting in the other side of the car. He turned the vehicle on, quickly driving to the direction of the hospital.
"Reggie, it hurts- it hurts! It hurts so bad! Make it stop please!" Roselle kept crying, the pain in her leg too unbearable. It felt like her leg was on fire, like it was the location of hell.
"Elle, we're nearly there I just need you to keep your eyes open." Reggie encouraged her, holding on to her hand, squeezing it.
"Reggie please- just pleas- it hurts so much." She shook her head, tears pouring down furiously down her face as she gripped his hand tighter in pain.
"I know babe, I know. It's my fault. It's my freaking fault!" Reggie begun to yell at himself, hating himself at that moment.
"It isn't- ahh!" Roselle screamed, letting go of his hand to lean forward and hunch forward in pain. "I can't- I can't it hurts so much."
"Just focus on my voice, focus on me! Don't look anywhere else but me! You're going to be fine!" Reggie kept encouraging her, but she couldn't listen.
Because the feeling of pain was louder.
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