When winter break finally came to an end, everyone was dreading the return to Southside HIgh. The students plodded through the halls like zombies, either because of the drug plague which was taking the school by storm, or because of their lack of motivation to be there.
Towards midday of the first day back, the Serpents watched teachers hurry to the principal's office, their phones ringing at hand. It was the most energy that had drifted through the halls all day, and no one understood why it was happening.
"Damn, did someone die?" Lauryn joked, acknowledging the franticness erupting throughout the faculty.
Toni sighed, seeming not as bothered as Lauryn was. "Someone's probably coughing up blood all over the locker room again."
Lauryn grimaced, a cringe shaking her insides. "Can you not? That's an image I'll never be able to get out of my head, which doesn't help me in the mornings."
"God, we were freshmen," Toni remembered, screwing her nose up. "I can't believe they never referred us to therapy or anything. We just had to act like nothing went down."
"This is the Southside," Lauryn shrugged, sighing. "As if they've ever given a shit about the students here. It's not like we're not used to that kind of stuff, either."
Toni shut her locker door. "I wasn't gonna ask, but, what happened to your mom? I thought she was gonna come by the Wyrm?"
Lauryn scoffed. "Yeah, well, about that. I haven't heard from her in ages. She hasn't been returning my calls or answering my texts."
"That sucks," Toni remarked. "I'm sorry. You don't deserve that. Especially not now."
"Nothing I'm not used to."
Feeling a kick, Lauryn drew her hand to her stomach. It was more uncomfortable than usual, and she had to hide the discomfort taking over her face. The bump wasn't that noticeable as yet, but she felt self-conscious all the same. To her, it looked bigger than it actually was when she looked down.
"You okay?" Toni asked, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Is it the baby?"
Lauryn shushed her best friend, glancing around in case someone heard. "Yeah. It's getting harder to hide."
"You're doing a great job," her best friend told her, smiling. "Especially with the lack of therapy the Southside recommends."
Lauryn laughed, shaking her head. "What would I ever do without you, Toni Topaz?"
After a brief moment of shared laughter, Toni changed the subject. "Hey, have you seen Jughead? He's been meaning to show me a sample of what he wrote."
"No, not since this morning," Lauryn answered. "He's probably outside on the steps. It's a lot better than being in here right now."
They made their way through the red doors, instantly greeted by the contrast in air quality. As expected, they found Jughead perched on the steps. Sneaking up behind him, Toni covered his eyes jokingly from behind him.
"Oh, hey, Toni," Jughead said when he looked back, spotting Lauryn as well. "Fogarty."
"Jones," Lauryn nodded as the girls joined him on the stairs.
"Hope you don't mind me bringing Lauryn along," Toni spoke, and Jughead shook his head.
"No problem, always one for the extra feedback," he replied, handing Toni a bunch of type-written pages sealed together with just a paper clip. "There you go."
The girls skim read it page by page, and Toni was left looking the most intrigued. "Wow, Jones, props to you. It's very Lovecraftian. But, I gotta ask you, did you write this on a typewriter?"
"I, uh, yeah," Jughead stammered, chuckling. "I wanted to get into Lovecraft's headspace."
Toni smirked. "Oh, so it wasn't like Betty bought you a manual typewriter for Christmas or anything weird like that?"
"You guys are the happiest ex-couple I have ever seen," Lauryn teased, and Jughead reached over to snatch his writing out of her hand.
Blushing, he looked down. "No comment."
Before anyone else could say anything, the doors flung open and out came a cluster of gleeful Serpents cheering and yelling amongst themselves, led by Sweet Pea and Fangs who stopped by the other three Serpents, punching each other playfully.
Lauryn stood up, frowning. "What's with the energy, guys?"
"Yeah, what's going on?" Jughead asked as he acknowledged the Serpents who were dancing their way down the steps.
"This hellhole's officially closed, we're done," Sweet Pea explained, a grin on his face. "No more Southside High."
"What? How?" Toni questioned.
"Yeah, no, I'm confused," Lauryn added on, folding her arms.
"They say it's dangerous. It's gettin' quarantined," Sweet Pea told them before shrugging his leather-decked shoulders. "Who cares? We're all goin' to different schools."
"This doesn't make sense," Jughead remarked. "Where are you guys going?"
Sweet Pea glanced at each of his friends. "Same as you, and you, and Lauryn, and Fangs. We're goin' to Riverdale High."
Lauryn, Toni and Jughead glanced at each other in the same state of confusion. Despite being given context, this was still so unexpected.
"Chill out, you guys," Fangs suggested, his smile elevating his cheeks.
"Yeah," Sweet Pea agreed, detecting that the others weren't reciprocating their enthusiasm. "Think of all those Northside heads to knock!"
The two boys playfought, sharing a moment of childishness. Lauryn rolled her eyes, unable to refrain from smiling at their immaturity. Sweet Pea then took her hand, and she ended up exiting the school with him and Fangs.
Lauryn tugged at Sweet Pea's hand to slow him down when they got around the corner, causing them to fall behind the others. She pulled him aside, and they were standing by a brick wall. "So, this is like legit?"
Sweet Pea sensed the uneasiness on her face. "Yeah. What's the matter?"
"Uh," she thought of what to say. "It's a Northside school."
He chortled. "Sure as hell is. It'll be better for us."
"Maybe for you and the other Serpents," Lauryn said, watching as her friends piled onto their bikes to leave the school. "I'm just gonna be known as the Serpent Slut, which is somehow worse than being Ghoulie prey."
"I wouldn't let anyone treat you like that," Sweet Pea promised, his hands resting heavily on her shoulders. "You know that."
"You can't get expelled every single day," she shook her head. "They're more strict, and I'm a Southsider. It's a lose-lose. I'm just gonna have to deal with the truth."
Sweet Pea furrowed his brow. "Truth? The hell are you talking about? You're not a slut."
She shrugged helplessly, and he sighed, pulling her into a hug. She clutched his leather jacket. "I don't want to do this."
"I know," he said. "But, it'll be fine. I promise."
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The day came, and she really didn't want to go. Every time she closed her eyes the thought of everyone gossiping about her behind her back ate her alive. She zipped up her jacket to just below her mildly revealed cleavage and took a deep breath. Lauryn Fogarty was going to Riverdale High, whether she liked it or not.
When they met up outside of the school, the Serpents made their way inside together. The minute the doors opened, they could hear the remarks and see the unfriendly looks from all of the Northside students stopping in the hallway to watch them.
Trembling slightly, Angel Face clutched Sweet Pea's hand as tightly as she could. Never had she felt so vulnerable in front of a bunch of Northsiders. The school seemed warm and clean, as well as organised, which was more than they could say about its students.
Gathered behind a desk was Veronica, joined by a few other peppy-looking kids who were there either to welcome them or wait for them to screw up. Veronica glanced firstly at Lauryn, and the two of them shared a brief look.
The raven-haired girl smiled as she stood up straight. She clearly had this all planned out. "Friends, on behalf of the students and faculty here at Riverdale High, welcome to your new school. To ease this transition, I've set up a registration desk where you can get your locker assignments, class schedules and a list of sports and extracurriculars."
The Serpents examined the table before them which was neatly covered in papers and lists. Veronica continued, despite the cold vibe the Serpents were automatically giving off. "We encourage each and every one of you to drink from the cup that is fair Riverdale."
Some of the gang members already looked convinced and open to the new environment, while others like Toni and Jughead were still not buying why anyone would be this helpful to them. But soon enough, the shadow of discrimination everyone was first expecting was marching down the stairs, with a group of supporters behind it. That shadow was Cheryl Blossom. "Stand down, Eva Paron."
"Typical," Lauryn sighed to her boyfriend who glared the second he spotted Reggie Mantle marching alongside Cheryl.
"There's the school spirit I so fondly remember," Jughead grumbled.
"Cheryl," Veronica crossed her arms, ready to shut down the criticism which was going to be an inevitable factor from the beginning. "No one invited Fascist Barbie to the party."
"Wrong, Veronica. No one invited Southside Scum to our school."
"You mean you didn't," Angel Face scowled, crossing her arms and mocking Cheryl. Her first intention was to stay quiet, but she wouldn't be belittled by this girl.
Cheryl shot her a poisonous warning look before going on a rant. "Listen up, ragamuffins. I will not allow Riverdale High's above average GPA to suffer because of classrooms that are overcrowded with... underachievers. So, please, do us all a favour and find some other school to debase with your hardscrabble ways."
"Why don't you come over here and say that to my face?" Toni spat, her friends bitterly following behind her as she patrolled around the table, including Lauryn who was biting her tongue trying not to swear at the redhead.
"Happily, Queen of the Buskers," Cheryl replied, stepping forward as well.
"Says the one with a dress going halfway up her ass," Lauryn hissed when Fangs tugged her back and Archie stepped in.
"Okay, guys. Everyone," he interrupted. "Can we just put our Northside-Southside differences apart and start over? A new slate."
"You don't speak for the Bulldogs, Andrews," Reggie cut his friend's peacemaking speech short. "And need I remind you, these greaser-snakes showed up at your place tryna kick your ass."
"Time to finish what we started," Sweet Pea snapped, shoving his friends to the side and pacing forward sharply. His gangmates grabbed his arms, harder than what they'd done to Lauryn but still stopping him nonetheless.
"I am so over the toxic masculinity in this hallway right now," Veronica intruded, having to raise her voice.
"All right, that's enough pomp and circumstance," Principal Weatherbee yelled from the other end of the hallway, striking everyone's attention. "Everyone let's get to class, now."
They carried on walking past the students wearing looks of disapproval, knowing they were going to be the talk of the school for a while. Lauryn let out a scoff. "This isn't going to work. These kids live in the '80s and probably still fire spitballs."
"Yeah, no, I agree," Toni spoke. "Isn't there a place where we can all chill away from prying eyes all day, Jughead?"
"There's the student lounge, but Weatherbee always checks it for students who are skipping class, and now that we're here he'll probably turn it into an every ten-minute ritual," Jughead disclosed. "Of course he wants to dig up any dirt on us he can right now."
"Great," Fangs scoffed. "This place is more of a prison than Southside was."
"Damn right, Fogarty," Sweet Pea agreed. "But, hey, if they wanna kick us out on our first day, that's on them."
"What are we waiting for, then?" Toni asked with growing enthusiasm. "Let's buy a shit load of snacks and go chill in the lounge until they have to call someone to drag us out."
The others agreed willingly and proceeded to the vending machines around the school. Throughout the day, however, many of the Serpents got bored and succumbed to the idea of going to class, but others stayed for the game tables and were sat on the couches.
Lauryn looked up from where she was sat on the couch, spotting Skye sat across the room with her arms folded and a look of utter evil plastered into her blazing eyes. She shook Sweet Pea's arm, causing him to look up from his phone. "Huh?"
"I'm not dealing with this shit," Lauryn snapped, getting up before anyone could even ask her for context. She approached Skye. "The hell do you want?"
"Oh, hey," Skye fake-smiled. "Long time no speak!"
"Don't play innocent with me," Lauryn warned, pointing a finger at her. "Why are you stalking me? Waiting for your little boyfriend to get out of jail and come play your little psychotic game with you?"
Skye stood up, retaining her simper irritatingly. "What are you talking about? I haven't seen you in forever."
"I saw you through the window that night," Lauryn told her. "You've got a hell of a nerve showing your face here, Skye."
"I've been in Centerville with my dad--"
Lauryn grabbed the girl by her Serpent jacket which she definitely didn't deserve, slamming her up against the wall as her friends watching from across the room lept up to break them apart before things escalated further
"You're a fucking liar," Lauryn spat, her nails piercing through the girl's clothes. "How would you feel if I strangled you right here right now with everyone watching?"
Skye laughed. "And how would you feel if I told everyone you're p--"
Lauryn slapped her in the face hard, being yanked back by Sweet Pea and Toni before she could hurt Skye any further. She tried to wriggle out of their clutch, her anger driving her forward before she could think about what she was doing. "Fuck you!"
"Lauryn, stop," Sweet Pea ordered her, tightening his grip on her arm. "She's not worth it."
Skye laughed lightly, licking her lips after rubbing her reddened cheek for a moment. "Yeah, Lauryn. Listen to your boyfriend."
"Shut the hell up," Lauryn barked, trying once again to break out of her friends' grip.
"Crazy bitch," Skye called her, and it only fuelled the fire into an inextinguishable inferno. Jughead stood between them, frowning hard. "You're Jughead Jones, right?"
"I am, and who are you?" Jughead asked, looking at Lauryn who had stopped fighting but kept a resentful look on her face as she stared daggers at Skye. "Based on Lauryn's reaction, I doubt it's much of a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
"She's no one, Jones," Toni said spitefully, rubbing Lauryn's arm. "Just a bitch who thought she could be in the Serpents as well as the Ghoulies."
Skye laughed. "I did it, didn't I Topaz?"
"Wait," Jughead waved his arms out before turning to Skye. "You have ties to the Ghoulies?"
"Damn, right, I do," Skye confirmed proudly. "They're way more fun than you losers."
"She's Malachai's girlfriend," Fangs added on.
"Ex," she corrected, but it wasn't it changed anything. "I was all his until he dragged me unconscious out of Sunnyside and left me in the woods all night!"
"Are we supposed to feel bad for you?" Sweet Pea asked spitefully, and Skye only tilted her head in response, studying him.
"Watch yourself," Lauryn warned her.
"That's it," Jughead decided. "Skye, take off your jacket. You broke Serpent code."
"You don't get to make that call," Skye scoffed.
"Oh, yeah?" Jughead raised a brow. "You don't think that if I told my dad, he'd have the same reaction?"
Skye crossed her arms tightly. "Okay, but if you're playing God, you better exile Sweet Pea and Lauryn, too."
"Why?"
"Sweet Pea knocked me out back in September, and then Lauryn punched me," she fake pouted thinking she'd get her way.
Sweet Pea scoffed hard. "You don't know when to quit, do you? I had to knock your crazy ass out to stop you from killing my girlfriend, and it's not her fault for defending herself against you the next time."
"Wow, Sweet Pea, you're actin' cold," Skye remarked, narrowing her eyes at him. "And to think, it was only months ago you were going out with me."
Toni screwed her face up hard, raising a brow at Sweet Pea in disgust. "You went out with that?"
"In his defence, he was drunk," Fangs added on. "But, no amount of alcohol would make her company pleasant."
"Yeah, thanks for that, guys," Sweet Pea rolled his eyes, shaking his head. "It was a mistake, and it was only once, but, hell, she went and got obsessed."
"You shouldn't lead people on," Skye said.
"You shouldn't strangle people," Lauryn argued. "But, here we are. Why are you still wearing your jacket?"
Feeling all of the Serpents' gazes on her spitefully, Skye was defeated. She wrangled off her tattered jacket, tossing it on the floor before shoving her way through the Serpents rudely. "Fuck you guys."
Toni and Sweet Pea let Lauryn free, and she took a second to gather herself.
"The hell were you thinking?" Sweet Pea asked her, closing in on her to remain quiet. "Are you trying to get us kicked out?"
"I'm sick of her shit," Lauryn told him, uncaring of his tone. "You should be, too."
"You think I'm not?" he chuckled fakely. "You just lost it. I haven't seen you like that in a long time."
"Hey, it's over," Toni intervened, sensing a fight brewing between them. "No blood, and no Weatherbee."
"Lauryn, why didn't you tell me about her?" Jughead asked her after a moment of pondering to himself. "Or my dad?"
"I don't know, I..." Lauryn trailed off, shrugging.
"She thought that if she just ignored it, it would go away," Sweet Pea suspected. "She hasn't even told your dad she's pregnant, Jones."
"Can you keep your voice down?" Lauryn requested, slightly hurt by the way he spoke about her.
"Do you want me to tell him?" Jughead offered.
Lauryn frantically shook her head. "No. No, I'll do it."
"Why is it such a big deal that she tells him anyway?" Toni questioned. "She can tell who she wants."
"Thank you," Lauryn said. The Serpents began ambling back to their places on the couch, except Fangs who stood still in a world of his own. Angel Face took note of her brother's quietness, looking over at him. He was staring into the hallway outside of the lounge, where Jared was stood talking to a couple of Northside girls. "Fangs?"
He snapped out of it all of a sudden, pretending he hadn't just been lost in thought. "Hmm?"
She placed a hand on his arm, looking in the direction he was. "You okay?"
"Yeah," he breathed, nodding. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"Because Jared's over there," she said blankly. "He told me you broke up because he told you something. Are you gonna tell me what it is?"
"I can't," he sighed regretfully. "It would stir things up, and that's not what any of us need right now."
"I'm here for you, you know," she promised. "I don't care what happens. Your feelings are all I care about."
"Thanks," he smiled, draping an arm around her shoulders. They returned to the others, taking their original places.
As the hands swung around the clock, the dullness pestering the Serpents was growing too much, and everyone was debating on flaking. At lunch, when other students piled into the lounge, Veronica strutted in followed by Kevin and another girl.
"I don't think we've properly met," Veronica pointed out boldly when she saw them, extending a hand for Toni to shake. "Veronica Lodge."
"Of the Park Avenue Lodges," Jughead added snottily, shoving a handful of chips into his mouth.
Toni shook her hand. "Toni Topaz."
Veronica displayed a set of pearly whites as Kevin sat down on the couch next to Lauryn. "Oh, like the purple-coloured gemstone. Love it."
The other girl who joined the three Northsiders introduced herself, standing particularly close to Sweet Pea's end of the couch. "And I'm Josie McCoy, formerly of the Pussycats. Now just Josie," she explained awkwardly, gesturing to her friend to divert the attention off of her. "And this is Kevin."
"We've met," Lauryn nodded at Kevin. "Hi."
Kevin almost immediately looked at Fangs, and the two made awkward eye contact for a second which made Lauryn chuckle silently, nudging Sweet Pea to look.
"What's your name?" Kevin asked Fangs who had a twizzler in his hand and an unusually extroverted look on his face.
"Fogarty," he said. "Or you can call me Fangs. Your last name's Keller, right?"
Kevin nodded. "How did you know that?"
"Joaquin and I used to hang out. He talked about you all the time," Fangs explained.
"And I'm Lauryn, Fangs' sister," Lauryn took over. "This is my boyfriend Sweet Pea."
Weatherbee then unexpectedly appeared in the doorway, an annoyed look matching the gruffness of his tone. "You guys. Yes, you. Come with me."
The Serpents wondered how long it would take for them to get into trouble for something, and the entire group followed the principal into the hallway where he stopped before the school logo on the floor which had been defaced with a pitiful spray-painted snake.
Reggie Mantle stood smugly behind it, his arms folded which only screamed responsibility, but Weatherbee didn't seem to care for the obvious fabrication of the scene.
"Which of you defaced our school seal with this graffiti?" he demanded, surveying the snakes one by one as if to gather a suspicion of his own.
"This is what they do, Principal Weatherbee," Reggie stated, pretending he was the most innocent person in the entire school, when most of the students knew how he actually was. "They tag their turf."
"My god, Reggie," Veronica expressed in disbelief, taking the words out of everyone's mouth. "Could you be any more transparent?"
Reggie nodded, quite clueless to what she meant, which only went to show.
"Effective immediately, no gang behaviour of any kind will be tolerated in my school," Weatherbee announced, taking over once again. "As of this moment, no more Serpent jackets."
"You're joking!"
"What?!"
"Are you kidding?"
"No more Serpent jackets," Weatherbee he repeated. "All tattoos are gonna be covered. Possession of any gang paraphernalia whatsoever will lead to immediate suspension. Are we clear?"
Sweet Pea looked down at Lauryn, pure hatred and fire in his eyes as they shared the same stare of disapproval.
"That's all," Weatherbee concluded, retreating back to his office to leave the students standing dumbfounded in the hallway.
Reggie was satisfied, standing his ground. Lauryn thought Sweet Pea was going to throw a punch, but instead, he kept his composure and led her back to the student lounge with the others.
The Serpents gathered around a pool table, and Lauryn picked up a cue, eager to find a distraction from the hell of a day she was having already. "Mantle is trying so hard to get us kicked out. Petition for me to shove this stick down his throat?"
"Go for it, honestly," Veronica put her handbag down on a table, exhaling. "I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't the first time he had one down his pretentious throat."
"I thought you were all about peacemaking and such, Veronica," Lauryn said, raising a brow as she took her shot. "You know, with that warm welcome and detailed classroom assignments."
"When it comes to discriminations concerning fellow Southside students with impeccable hairstyles and outfit choices, I think not," Veronica chortled, and Lauryn half-smiled, appreciating the comment.
She was going to say something nice in response when in the corner of her eye she spotted Cheryl snickering and gossiping with a couple other girls, one of them being Josie. They each looked over one by one, and Lauryn felt her anxiety kick in again.
There was no way Cheryl knew the secret inside of her jacket, but the constant worry of it being obvious was morphing her brain into a distorted panic. Zoning out, she stood up straight.
"You okay?" Sweet Pea asked, a hand on her back when she handed her cuestick to him and hurried out of the lounge on instinct.
"I gotta go."
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