The following two days Angelina had decided to go straight home after school to unpack her moving boxes. The room slowly became her own personal space, Rocco had helped her set up bookshelves against a wall and Angelina had gone to a convenient store to buy some stuff like fake plants and a dark carpet to make her room more homely. The bookshelves were slowly filling up with her large amount of books.
Angelina could be described as a moody girl with a big mouth, someone who never paid attention in class. But secretly she loved reading books. It was a fascination which she picked up a few years ago. Her love for reading was a secret she would never entrust to someone. She didn't want to be known as a geek.
It was now Friday afternoon and Angelina was sitting on the floor, making a big photo collage of her friends. When she was forced to say goodbye to her friends at her previous school, they had given her a small box. In that box were a pile of photos and some old junk that had emotional attachment to her. She was very moved by the gift. In the convenient store she had found a large glass picture frame which she was now slowly filling up.
After an hour or so her project was finished and she decided to hang it above her desk. She took a step back and admired it while a smile came across her face. She took a picture and send it to the groupchat on Facebook. Everyone gave nice feedback and talked about how much they missed her. She knew that eventually they would forget about her since they would never see each other again. That realization stung a bit. Angelina decided to focus her thoughts on something else and texted Toni.
'Hey girl. Are we still going to that drive-in?'
Toni Topaz:
'Hell yeah. We'll pick you up in 'bout ten minutes.'
About fifteen minutes later Angelina was patiently waiting for Toni in her living room. In the meantime, she had quickly refreshed her face and touched up her makeup. She had doubted if she would do something special with her hair but decided not to. Her hair was pretty thick and slightly curly so she often stood powerless against it.
Her younger brothers always came home a bit later as they got dropped off by the school bus. They were now busy unpacking boxes in the living room while their mom coordinated. Angelina didn't offer to help.
Angelina thought about her day at school. She had tried to make friends but wasn't going smoothly. Some girls were afraid of her because she was hanging out with the Serpents while others didn't even think she was worthy to talk to, let alone look at.
She had passed Malachai a few times in the hallways, he always winked at her while she gave him a small smile. They hadn't shared a decent conversation because Angelina didn't feel comfortable talking openly to him. She still believed she had the freedom to talk to whomever she wanted but she also didn't want to upset Sweet Pea and the others.
Angelina heard a heavy engine of a motorcycle roaring outside which caused her to slightly jump up. She reached for her handbag and told her mom she shouldn't stay up.
Angelina walked out the door and saw Toni sitting on the back of Fang's motorcycle. "Hey, girl." Toni greeted her. "You can ride with Sweet Pea." With a smooth gesture Angelina sat down on his bike. She had never driven such a heavy motorcycle before. A few of her friends had scooters but that was something completely different.
Angelina scratched her throat softly as she wasn't sure if she was allowed to hold on to Sweet Pea. Instead, she decided to place her hands on the sides of the bike. "You good?" His heavy voice spoke. She hummed and they quickly drove off.
A few minutes later Angelina decided to wrap her arms around Sweet Pea's waist for he drove very fast and dangerously through the streets. She had to admit she didn't feel comfortable at all. Firstly because she was riding a motorcycle and was afraid to fall, and secondly, because she felt a bit too close to Sweet Pea.
Not much later they arrived at the Twilight Drive-In. Sweet Pea waited patiently for Angelina to crawl off the bike. "How was that ride? By the way you were clinging on to me, you seemed scared." He said teasingly. Angelina felt her legs shake and ran her fingers through her hair, trying to fix the mess. "Don't be so full of yourself. I'm fine."
The fear she had felt in the beginning had slowly been replaced by adrenaline. When she felt the wind rushing through her hair she got an amazing feeling.
Sweet Pea swung his leg over his bike and they all walked over to a old torn up couch and a few chairs. The drive-in was crowded, everywhere she looked she saw cars and couples making out.
"Didn't know drive-ins were still popular." Angelina stated as she looked around her. "Well, there isn't exactly a lot of things to do around here. But the Mayor has decided to close the lot so this will be the very last movie night." Angelina felt quite sad to hear that since she thought this place looked like a fun hang out spot.
Everyone went to take their seat but Angelina decided to go for a walk, curious if she would bump into Jughead or one of his friends. "I'll be right back." She said. Toni simply nodded and didn't offer to come along.
Angelina looked at the Sheriff's car as he constantly drove through the rows, probably trying to maintain peace. As Angelina passed some cars she noticed a boy and girl sitting on the back end of a truck. The boy held some popcorn in his hands while the girl leaned her head against his shoulder. A car stopped right in front of them and a girl with gorgeous, long red hair got out. The girl sat down next to them and Angelina could see the confused looks on their faces.
She paid no further attention to the teenagers and walked back to the group. Most of the gang had bottles of beer in their hands and laughed loudly. Angelina thought they were a little too loud, probably annoying others. Her thoughts were confirmed when she suddenly saw the black-haired girl stand up.
"Hey! You know what happens to a snake when a Louis Vuitton heel steps on it? Shut the hell up, or you'll find out." People around them applauded; indicating they agreed with her. The girl smiled proudly and sat back down. The people surrounding Angelina looked pissed at the black-haired girl but they kept the noise down, for now.
Angelina noticed how the boy climbed out of the truck and left. As she watched the boy leave, her gaze fell on a woman looking very suspicous as she followed a man behind a building. When Angelina noticed that man was FP, her interest sparked. She wanted to get up from her seat and walk over but then she noticed how the black-haired girl shared the same idea. Angelina decided not to interfere.
She looked to Toni. "Want some popcorn or something?" Toni nodded as she rolled a joint. Angelina got up from her seat and tried to find the booth that sold popcorn and other things. She finally found it and couldn't help herself overhearing Joacquin talking to the same boy who moments ago sat on the back end of the truck. "Not so tough without your beard, huh?" The boy looked shocked but he said nothing as he followed Joacquin to God-knows-where. Angelina went to the booth and asked for some popcorn and cola.
Once she returned to the group, she decided to send a text message to Jughead.
'Hey, are you at the Twilight Drive-In?'
Jughead Jones:
'Yup. Behind the monitor. U here?'
Angelina:
'Yeah, wanna meet up later?'
Jughead Jones:
'Sure, I'll meet u at the booth.'
Suddenly Angelina felt someone hovering above her. "Who are you texting?" Fangs asked curiously. "Oh, someone seems jealous." Angelina jokingly answered as she let her phone slide in her pocket. Fangs rolled his eyes and grabbed the joint out of Toni's hand.
"It's Jughead Jones. He's here." Toni hummed while grabbing a handful of popcorn. "Jughead Jones is an asshole." Sweet Pea spoke up and by the look on his face, he didn't seem too pleased. "Oh really? Why's that? Do you know him?" Angelina noticed someone she didn't know reach his hand out for the popcorn so she passed it on. "He wants nothing to do with the Serpents."
"So? You can't force people to join." Sweet Pea looked at her irritated. "No, but he's FP's son, which makes him an unofficial member. He can run from it as long as he wants, won't make a difference. It's in his blood." Angelina scrunched his eyebrows at his response. Wow, Sweet Pea really takes this all very seriously, she thought to herself.
She decided not to push the topic further and grabbed the Marlboro pack lying from Toni's lap. She pulled a cigarette out and Toni handed over a lighter. Angelina lit it up and inhaled the toxins. Angelina occasionally smoked cigarettes and now seemed like a good time. Toni followed her example.
A few moments later Joacquin finally reappeared. Angelina didn't know if she would mention the fact that she had seen him with the boy. She wasn't even sure Joacquin was gay and even if he was, she wasn't sure the others knew. So she decided to keep her mouth shut.
"Grab me a beer." No one seemed to care that Joacquin had disappeared for a while. He sat down next to Sweet Pea whom handed him a can of beer.
After the movie had ended, most people in the group decided to stick around. Angelina decided to look for Jughead. "I'll be back." She said to no-one in particular. She made way to the booth as she tried to avoid the moving cars. After she stood there for a few minutes, Jughead emerged. He looked quite sad. "What's up?" Angelina asked.
Jughead shrugged his shoulders. "The town doesn't care about anything. They just want to destroy everything that's nostalgic in order to build new shitty buildings." Jughead said bitterly. "I didn't know you were so keen on this place."
"Yeah well, no one really knows me I guess." Angelina placed a hand on his shoulder. "Look, I know we barely know each other but if you ever need someone or a place to crash, you know where to find me." She said while giving him a smile. "Thanks."
They kept talking for a while until she heard a heavy voice behind her. "Angelina, let's bounce." She turned her head and raised her eyebrows when she saw Sweet Pea standing there. This entire week Sweet Pea had never said her name so she was a bit surprised. She liked the way her name rolled off his tongue.
Angelina gave Jughead a quick goodbye hug and followed Sweet Pea to his bike. This time he gave her a helmet to wear. "Where are we going?" She asked as she sat down behind him. "To the bar." He replied.
Without waiting for the others he drove off so quickly that she had to hang onto him. She tried not to think about his tense posture.
Not much later they arrived at the Whyte Wyrm. She took off the helmet and shook her hair wildly, hoping the helmet had left no marks. She got off the bike and handed the helmet back to Sweet Pea. "Thanks." He mumbled as he yanked the helmet away from her.
Angelina rolled her eyes before she walked away without bothering to wait for him. As she walked inside she was immediately greeted by a few people. She smiled and held up her hand as she walked towards the bar.
"There you are. Where did you run off to?" As Angelina sat down, Toni emerged and gave her a drink with a suspicious color. "Oh, I was talking to Jughead. He really seems to care about the drive-in. I feel kinda sorry for him." Angelina explained as she sniffed her drink.
"Look, Jughead doesn't really sit well with the Serpents. The boys feel like he's trying to avoid his-" Toni ran her fingers through her hair as she tried to find the correct words. "His responsibility to the gang."
Angelina let her words sink in. "I guess I had never really thought about that before." She felt as if she had underestimated the importance of the Serpents around here. "Well, if you wanna keep hanging out with us, you'll need to figure some stuff out." Toni replied mystically.
Before Angelina could reply, she was interrupted by Fangs. "Hello, ladies. Let's play pool."
/////
It was about 2 am in the morning when Angelina decided it was time to go home. She had been talking to Toni and the boys for hours but she was just so dead tired. She had gotten a lift from Sweet Pea but didn't want to ask him if he could take her home.
When her eyelids became heavy and she had to fight to keep them open, Sweet Pea gently tapped his hand on her leg. "Want a ride back home?" He asked. She nodded gratefully. She said goodbye to the group and followed Sweet Pea outside.
It seemed as if barely a minute had passed when Sweet Pea parked his bike behind her car. Tired but happy she crawled from the motorcycle. "Thanks, Sweet Pea." She said as she rubbed her eyes. "God, get some sleep." He said. She turned around and walked to the front door. When she was searching her bag for her keys she noticed how the street remained silent. She looked back and saw that Sweet Pea was glancing over his shoulder, watching her. "What?" She asked.
"Nothing."