Thornhill was definitely an intimidating house. The kind that got abandoned, grew old, and then rumored to have ghosts. Caia hadn't been inside for a few years and going in now was not something she desired.
At least she had Reggie with her. She wrapped her arm around his and intertwined their fingers. Reggie looked down from the house and to his girlfriend. "You alright?" He questioned softly. He could tell Caia's emotions were raw. He felt like she was a teapot that could be dropped and shattered at any moment. He didn't want to be the one to drop her.
Caia nodded. "Yeah. Just a little nervous, that's all." Reggie squeezed her hand comfortingly.
"You'll be okay. I'm here, remember that."
Once they entered the house, Caia dropped Reggie's hand. Reggie, realizing the fact that she only did this because she was nervous about Penelope Blossom seeing them together, slung his arm around her shoulders instead. Caia tuned a grateful glance up at Reggie.
As they neared the front of the line, Caia's nerves became increasingly more prevalent. Penelope had never really liked her when she was friends with Cheryl before, so she didn't expect her to have changed her mind.
Caia was right. "Oh, it's you," She sneered, glaring coldly at the small girl. Caia shivered. The gaze was that frightening. "I didn't think I'd ever see you back here."
Caia cleared her throat awkwardly. "Yes. I just wanted to pay my respects." Caia explained. Penelope smiled fakely.
"Yes, yes," she replied. "Thank you." Penelope held out her hand for Caia to shake. When Caia took her hand, Penelope gripped it tight and leaned it towards Caia. "I won't expect to see you here again, understand?" The threatening tone in Penelope's voice filled Caia's whole body with fear. She nodded quickly. Penelope released her arm and continued to great the guests behind her.
Taking Reggie by the hand, she dragged him away from Cheryl's creepy mother. Once far enough away, Caia finally stopped.
"Oh my god, what just happened?" Reggie questioned, confused and shocked. He turned around to star at Penelope. Quite frankly, he was terrified of her now.
Caia was shivering. "I don't know." Reggie noticed what she was doing.
"Are you cold? Do you want my jacket?" He questioned. Caia hated to take it from him, but the house and circumstances were freaking her out. She knew being in something warm that smelled like Reggie would probably make her feel better. She nodded, and Reggie took off his jacket and slipped it over Caia's shoulders. She sent a glance of thanks and snuggled into the big jacket.
The couple made their way over to Caia's friends. Caia took a seat in front of Archie and Reggie sat next to her.
When Betty caught sight of the unlikely pair, she raised her eyebrows questioninhly at Caia. Caia shrugged in return. While Betty showed her surprise in a quiet way, Kevin did his in another.
"Are you guys dating?" He questioned loudly, causing Betty to slap him on the shoulder. Reggie turned around to face the Keller boy.
"Well, in fact, we are." Kevin's eyes grew wide. He turned to Caia, who was blushing profusely.
Suddnely, Archie stood up. Caia was glad the attention was no longer on herself. The whole group watched as Archie made his way over to Penelope. He handed her a blue and gold jeresey, Jason's. After taking it, Penelope reached up and touched Archie's face as well as his hair. Caia cringed.
Once back, Archie sat down. "Did she just touch your hair?" Kevin exclaimed.
Caia reached over and flicked him in the forehead. "Keep it down Kevin!" She reprimanded. "This is a memorial service, not a rave." Kevin looked offended as Jughead tried to hold back laughter. Caia smiled smugly at her joke and turned to the front.
Reggie leaned over and whispered, "nice one," into Caia's ear. She hit him with her shoulder in return.
At that moment, Veronica came over and stopped in front of the group. She set her hand on the seat in front of her. "Days like today really put things in perspective, huh?" She mused. Sitting down, she continued. "I mean, at least we're here. At least we're alive." She turned to the front.
That's when she noticed the two beside her. She turned and flashed a smile at Reggie. "I'm Veronica Lodge," she introduced, holding out her hand. "I don't believe we've formally met."
Reggie took Veronica's hand. He gave it one good shake before letting it go. "I'm Reggie Mantle," he replied. "Caia's boyfriend."
It was as if no one seemed to believe that Caia could possibly have a boyfriend. Veronica looked astonished.
A sound at the back of the room caused everyone to turn around. In walked Cheryl Blossom, dressed fully in white. Eyes followed as she passed.
It was just like Cheryl. Always making a big statement, even at her brother's memorial service. Most of the time, she did it to draw attention to herself. However, this time was different, Caia could feel it. This wasn't to draw attention, this was to prove something. Something Cheryl had been waiting a very long time to prove.
"Oh my god," Veronica mummured as she took in the appearance of Cheryl Blossom.
"Yes," Kevin exclaimed quietly.
Cheryl took a stand behind the podium. From the looks of her parents faces, they were not happy about this.
"Welcome to Thornhill," Cheryl greeted. "Thank you all for coming. If you'll kindly take your seats." The people who had been standing all sta down. "I'd like to start the memorial with a few words about Jason." Cheryl stripped off her white gloves in preparation for her speech.
Veronica was staring at Penelope Blossom. This drew Caia's attention away from the podium. "You're only going to make things worse," Veronica whisper warned. Penelope stared back at her, her expression unreadable.
"The last time I saw Jason, I was wearing this dress." Cheryl started, referring the brilliant white dress she had on. That must be the reason she was wearing it. "I know it's impossible. But I swear, when I put it on, it It feels like he's in the room with me." She turned to the photo of Jason on an easle next to her. "Even though we were twins, I used to demand I have my own birthday party. Until one year, out of the blue, Jason convinced me we had to combine them into one. It wasn't until years later, I found out why. It was because no one wanted to come to mine." Cheryl had begun to cry. It was clear that it was becoming harder for Cheryl to keep it together. "And Jason didn't want me to know. He protected me. Every single day. I wish, that day at the river, I had protected him." Cheryl let out a sob and turned to the casket behind her. She placed her hand on it as she continued to cry. "I'm so sorry, Jay-Jay. We failed you. All of us." She laid her hand down on it as Veronica rushed up to comfort her. Caia found it horrible that her parents weren't the ones to comfort her, and she had to rely on her friends instead.
Cheryl and Veronica hugged. Penelope rushed up behind the podium. "I think we'll adjourn now, to the winter salon for a light supper." She smiled, dismissing the guests.
As people got up to start to leave, Caia saw that Cheryl's vulture of a mother immediately attacked her crying daughter. Caia got up and made a move to help her friend, but was stopped by Reggie. She looked up at him and he shook his head. "You're not going to help," he reasoned. "Just let it be."
Caia slowly nodded. "Alright. Let's get out of here. Please." Reggie agreed and they made their way outside.
An hour later, Caia and Reggie sat in their usual booth at Pop's. Caia sipped on a Vanilla Milkshake as a burger and fries sat in front of Reggie. They were laughing, all events of the day having been forgotten for the moment. Right now, they were just two kids.
"And that is the story of how my Great Aunt Pam threw her dentures to a crocodile," Reggie finished, laughing. Caia joined in.
Caia took a sip of her drink to distract Reggie and slipped her fingers into his fry basket. She plucked one out and threw it in her mouth before Reggie even realized what was happening.
"Hey!" He exclaimed, finally noticing. "No fair. I get some of your milkshake now," he pouted. Caia rolled her eyes at the childish Reggie and slid the milkshake over to him.
Reggie locked eyes with Caia and took a long, agonizing sip of her shake. The more he drank, the antsier she became. Finally, after he had downed at least a quarter of the Vanilla deliciousness, Caia put her foot down.
"Alright, that's enough." She reached across the table and pulled the glass from under Reggie's mouth.
Reggie smacked his lips. "Good shake, C." His infamous smirk appeared on his lips.
"Yeah. Wouldn't you know." The door jingled and Caia turned around to see who had entered. It was Archie and Valarie. Caia wondered if they were dating. It also reminded her of what she had to ask Reggie. "Hey, when do you know who's going to be captain?" She questioned.
Reggie sighed. "Tomorrow. I really don't know who coach is going to choose. I'm kind of scared that he's gonna pick Andrews." He sat his face in his hands, looking dejected.
"Look," Caia stated, grabbing Reggie's hands and pulling them away from his face. "I'm sure you'll win. Even if you don't, well, then Coach Clayton is just dumb." Her reasoning wasn't very good, but Reggie appreciated the thought.
"Yeah. I guess he is." He agreed. "What about you? Anything exciting going on in your life at the moment?" He questioned. He felt like they never really talked about Caia and he wanted to include her.
Caia bit her lip. "Um... not really, I guess," she concluded. "I mean, the talent show's next week and I thought about trying out."
Reggie's eyes lit up. "Do it!" He urged. "Absolutely do it."
Caia smiled. "Alright. I'll do it."
After the date at Pop's Caia and Reggie headed back to Reggie's house. Caia had been here before, but not in a while. She stared up at the large house, stunned everytime at the size.
"Don't wory, my parents aren't home," Reggie called. Caia looked over at the boy who was smirking. She smiled back. Reggie took her hand and lead her into the house. Caia and Reggie mouted the stairs and entered Reggie's room.
Caia scanned the room. It was really homey and quite clean for a boy's room. Maybe she was being stereotypical, but she thought boys rooms were usually disgusting. She made her way over to Reggie's desk. She picked up the small Lego structure sitting on the edge.
She held it up, chuckling. "Nice work."
Reggie blushed and raced over to take the building from Caia's hands. He carefully set it back down on the desk. "Yeah. I made that in like fourth grade," He explained, blushing.
Caia turned and flopped down on Reggie's bed, her dress puffing out around her. "I did a lot of things in fourth grade, but that doesn't mean I kept them," she exclaimed.
Reggie dropped down on the bed and scooted towards Caia. "Oh, sure," he replied sarcastically, placing his hands behind his head. "I bet you have a whole stash of something really embarrassing from elementary school."
Caia turned red. He was kinda right. Reggie noticed this and became immensely curious. "You do! What is it? My Little Pony Figurines? All the Twilight books?" He gasped like an over excited fangirl. "Justin Bieber posters?"
"No!" Caia exclaimed. "It's not that embarassing." She got quiet. "It's only a whole closet full of stuffed animals."
Reggie burst out laughing. Caia's face grew hot once at again at his amusement. "Seriously?" He questioned. Caia nodded. "Alright, that's not as bad as I thought it was going to be," Reggie admitted, turning towards Caia. "It's actually kinda cute."
Caia smiled. "Thanks."
Caia and Reggie stared at each other for a moment before Reggie brought Caia's face close to his and kissed it. Caia willingly relented.
The kiss started to heat up. Caia tangled her hand in Reggie's hair as he pulled her closer. She was fine with this, but immediately became alarmed as she felt Reggie's hand move down. She pulled away, much to the surprise of her boyfriend.
"What's wrong?" He questioned, not exactly sure what he had done.
Caia looked away. "I'm sorry Reggie, I just don't think I'm ready for that yet." Reggie blinked in surpsie. He hadn't known. If he had, he wouldn't have tried anything.
"Yeah, okay," he replied. "That's fine, Caia."
Caia looked back up to Reggie, smiling. "Really?" She questioned.
Reggie nodded. "Really. Now, you wanna watch a movie or something?"
"Yeah," She agreed. "But I get to pick."
Reggie groaned. "Ugh, fine. What do you choose?"
Caia smirked. "Terminator it is then."
Reggie fist pumped the air. "Yes!" He noogied Caia's hair. "This is why I love you."