"So, that was obviously the most embarrassing brunch ever". Kate groaned and her cheeks heated up as the giggles of Betty and Veronica got louder. "Your mom literally asked him to stay?". Veronica asked in disbelieve, making the gesture of putting her finger in the back of her throat to throw up. "She did, he didn't want it either but he was forced into it. I think she had the "don't test me" look in her eyes". Kate continued with a sigh and stopped at her locker. "Well, I think you'd have very nice day dreams about you and Reg, Katie". Veronica purred and Kate rolled her eyes, knowing she was just teasing.
Betty lingered with Kate at the lockers and leaned against the blue doors, her arms crossed over her chest. "Hey, Kate?". The blonde hesitantly asked and Kate looked up at her new friend. "Veronica said something about you and a Serpent boy at Pop's last Friday night?". She asked, looking down at her hands as if she wasn't sure if she was allowed to ask. "Yeah, what about it?". Kate replied, her heart skipping a beat at the thought of Sweet Pea and her eating some fries after the movie at the Drive In. "Nothing, just wondering why you didn't go with Reggie". Betty answered.
"I asked him if he knew Sweet Pea, but he flipped about me talking to the Serpent, while he was actually really nice". Kate shrugged and felt the nerves leave her body as she realized Betty wasn't going to judge her too hard, her boyfriend's father was the Serpent King and his friends existed of Serpents too. "I just wanted to warn you, I'm not saying you have to stop seeing him...". "I'm not seeing him!". Kate blurted out, her cheeks heating up as the words that rolled out of Sweet Pea's mouth rung through her ears again.
"We could do it more often if you have the time, sweetheart".
Her mind already drifted off to meeting Sweet Pea again and Betty waved her hand in front of Kate's face. "Anyways, they're still dangerous people and you shouldn't trust them too quickly". She softly finished and Kate sensed that the blonde was genuinely worried. "I'll be fine, Betty. Thank you". Kate smiled at her and she nodded, giving her friend a hug before she wandered through the halls to her next class. Kate looked how she walked away and closed her locker, her heeled boots clicking against the floor as she made her way to her next period.
Reggie was still polite to her and Kate was glad she didn't cause something big when her mother decided to force Reggie to have the family brunch with them. She bumped her knee up and down as she sat behind the table in the middle of the classroom. She wasn't really paying attention to the information about the French Revolution as the clock was slowly ticking it's way to the end of the lesson. She had to hand Sweet Pea his jacket back and she was nervous about it. She had to walk into Southside High, on her own.
Kate bit on her nail and told herself to stop it. She'd just walk in, give him back the jacket and then leave again. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. Yeah, but the Southsiders could also see her as an outsider intruding their school and ask why she held a Serpent jacket in her hand. Okay, maybe it was more difficult difficult lemon difficult. A sigh tumbled out of her mouth and she felt relief washing over her when she could walk out of the classroom, gathering her stuff to take her car to the Southside of Riverdale.
She held her Valentino bag in her hand, mentally preparing herself for the comments about it. Her Porsche itself was already a thing that would stand out and she was hesitant about parking it on the parking lot of Southside High. Kate drove over the roads that became calmer towards the other side of the town, deciding to park her car a little bit further away from the school. Her eyebrows rose at the sight of the walls being drowned in graffiti, the motorcycles parked recklessly in front of the school.
Kate took a deep breath and grabbed onto the handles of her bag, the weight of it suddenly feeling as the jacket carried bricks in its pockets. She opened the door of the Southside Highschool, jumping as the bell just rung and students spilled onto the hallway. Kate kept her head down and managed to get through without too many people calling her names or shoving her aside. She followed the other guy with a Serpent logo on his back, walking through the cafeteria and eventually finding the tallest member of the gang at a table in the back.
Sweet Pea lifted his pure chocolate eyes up to her face, one eyebrow cocking upwards and he sat up a bit more straight. "Who is she?". Toni whispered in his ear and his eyes lingered on Kate a bit longer before he looked at the curly haired girl. "The girl who had my jacket". He simply replied and it caused the other Serpents to look up at her. Fangs whistled through his teeth. "Pea's girl, nice". Kate looked down at the floor and hoped they didn't see her flustered posture. Sweet Pea shoved the laptop aside that he had in front of him, his arms leaning on the table.
Kate studied him for a brief moment, the blouse he wore, the denim that replaced the leather and oh god he was still unbelievably attractive. There was something about him she couldn't get over. "Staring is impolite, babe". His deep voice pulled her out of her thoughts and she swallowed hard and ignored the nickname that rolled off his tongue so easily before putting her bag on the table to get his jacket out of it. "How did she get his jacket anyway?". One of them snarled and Kate parted her lips to speak up, however Sweet Pea was quicker than her.
"I'm simply a gentleman, don't you all know?". A grin spread his lips and made her knees weak. Fangs rolled his eyes and pushed Sweet Pea's shoulder. Everyone looked up and Kate looked over her shoulder in confusion. Jughead walked up to them, his face serious and all, yet a glint of surprise was visible when he saw Kate standing in front of the table where the Serpents were seated. "Guess we're not watching funny cat videos?". He said and looked at the laptop which was probably showing something everyone was interested in all in sudden. Sweet Pea looked up at Jughead, his tongue running over his lips and made Kate looked away from him with a heated face.
"Check this out". Sweet Pea turned the laptop around and shoved it over the table for Jug to see. "Some sick in the head Northsider posted this crazy ass video and we we're just talking". The tall Serpent shrugged as if it was nothing. Kate held her breath as she recognized Archie in the video. "About what?". Jughead asked, a little annoyed by now. "Fogarty wants to earn his Serpent stripes, I say, bring us the head of the Northsider and you're in". He padded the friend that whistled at Kate earlier on his shoulder and he looked pretty content with what Sweet Pea just said. "I'm down with that". Fangs shrugged and Sweet Pea's grin grew, his fist banging a couple times on the table.
"Guys". There was a somewhat urgent sound in Jughead's voice and Kate didn't really know what to do. Other guys and girls were looking at her and she wasn't comfortable with walking back to her car all alone now. She just stood there, watching it all. "What, Jones". Kate could practically hear the eyeroll in Sweet Pea's voice. "Alright, I know this guy, he's a milquetoast, he's a-... he's a football player, he's kind of a lame target is all I'm saying. You want to prove something? Why don't you go after the Black Hood?". Kate had no idea what they were talking about and she dearly wanted to understand as it sounded quite dangerous.
"And why would we do that? The Black Hood's targeting Northsiders who do nothing but blame the Southsiders for everything's what wrong with this town and we're sick of it! Black Hood is doing the work for us, he's a hero". Sweet Pea replied, his eyebrow arching as if he was ready for another smart remark or either slam his fist into Jughead's jaw, Kate already figured Sweet Pea didn't really know a way in between. Jughead's jaw clenched and he walked away without saying anything. Kate innocently looked up as the eyes were back on her again. "Do you have the same stupid opinion as he does?". One of them snarled and Kate's eyes widened.
"I-I don't have an opinion about it at all". She stammered and took a step back. Sweet Pea looked over his shoulder at the person who said it, one look of him enough to make him shut up. The Serpent stood up from the table. "I'll escort you outside". Kate nodded and greeted the others with a small wave, which was only returned by the girl and Fogarty. Sweet Pea shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans as he walked with her through the hallway, his eyes briefly gliding over her long legs in those tight jeans and the heeled shoes on her feet, her hair loosely dangling over her shoulders. "So, what's the Black Hood thing all about?". She dared to ask.
Sweet Pea held the door open for her and they stepped outside. "You mind?". He asked and held out his cigarettes. Kate shook her head and waited for an answer to her question. She watched how he got one of the sticks and cupped it with his hands to lit the end on fire. "You haven't heard about it from your friends yet?". He asked, puffing out a cloud of smoke. "They're mysterious about it all, maybe they don't want me to know how weird this town is yet". Kate joked and slipped out a giggle, but stopped it when she realized Sweet Pea didn't laugh about her joke.
"The Black Hood is someone who's killed some people, Northsiders. Heard something about Andrew's old man being shot, he's still alive though". Sweet Pea replied, almost as if he didn't really care about it. His lips closed around the sigarette and he inhaled the smoke before blowing it out, nearly hypnotizing Kate with it. "Sounds great". Kate muttered and this time he chuckled as he heard the sarcasm in her voice. "I didn't expect you to bring me the jacket by the way, I would've come and get it if I wanted to". His eyes showed some boyish sparkles as he looked down at her, teasingly blowing the smoke in her face.
Kate coughed and blew it out of her face. "I didn't want any trouble". She admitted and a breathy laugh followed. "As long as you don't mess with me or the Serpents, you won't be any trouble, doll". Sweet Pea sensed she already felt uncomfortable and he liked pushing the buttons, searching for the limit. "Especially not such a pretty girl like you". He flirted and a smirk curled his lips when she gasped and turned her heated cheeks away from him. "I got to go, enough work to do". Kate quickly told him. Sweet Pea followed her and he laughed when she parked her car far away from the actual parking lot.
"What?". Kate asked, a bit annoyed now that he was making fun of her. "We're not that low to destroy your car, Kate". Sweet Pea came up to her and if she had the nerve, she would've scoffed and pushed him aside. "Just, precaution, it was a gift for my birthday". She mumbled and placed her bag on the backseat. "A gift from your parents?". He asked and Kate hesitantly nodded, fiddling a bit with the keys as she hoped he wasn't going to look at her as if she was a spoiled brat. With one step he was closer to her than he had ever been before, making her hold her breath as she was backed up against the side of the Porsche.
"A gift for Daddy's little girl". His head cocked sideways and the wicked grin on her face told her the words he had spoken could be understood in two ways. "Cute". Sweet Pea tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and studied her face as her big, bright eyes looked up at him. "Why don't you come to the Wyrm this weekend? It will be fun, you can meet my friends". He suggested, which made Kate feel a bit surprised. "The Wyrm?". She asked and he blinked as she of course didn't know about the pub the Serpents called their clubhouse. "The White Wyrm, Serpents base, you'll find it if you drive around here". He simply replied.
"I-I'm not sure, I have a lot of homework and...". Sweet Pea crossed his arms over his chest and his eyes got a cold look in them. "I'll be there". Kate choked out, biting on her lip not to smile, however she spotted the hint of amusement traveling over his face. "I'm sure you'll have a good time, just come". He stepped back from her and put the sigarette back between his lips. Kate unlocked the doors of her car and was about to step in. "Oh, Kate?". Sweet Pea asked as he turned to her again. "I don't mind you wearing those jeans again, you look great in it". His right eye dropped into a wink and left her behind with a shocked face.
Sweet Pea had a content grin on her face as he walked back into the school, lazily strutting through the hallway to meet his friends in the cafeteria again. "You really have to tell me all about her, she's hot". Toni immediately caught his arm and pulled him down to sit. "You can ask her yourself, she's coming to the Wyrm this weekend". He grinned and Fangs slapped his shoulder. "Casanova got himself a decent fuck". Sweet Pea rolled his eyes and shoved his friend away. "Stop that". He muttered and turned back to Toni, who was surprised he reacted like that. "What?". Sweet Pea asked annoyed and stood up again to walk away.
"Ten bucks he's telling us all about how he got laid this Saturday". Fangs muttered, making Toni laugh. "Twenty bucks he finally got some manners". She dared to bet and Fangs clenched his jaw, however shook her hand. "We'll see who wins". Toni smirked, already knowing Fangs was going to lose.