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Chapter Thirty-One
Daytime Brawl
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"YOU LOOK TERRIBLE," SWEET PEA SAID WHEN HE SAW TORI sitting on the bleachers with a copy of The Riverdale Register in her hand.
"Gee, thanks! That's exactly what I needed to hear," Tori said sarcastically before rolling her eyes.
"I'm sorry, but you really look like hell," Sweet Pea chuckled as he sat down.
"That's what happens when you're running on zero sleep and countless cups of iced coffees," Tori said while shrugging her shoulders.
She probably had everyone else fooled, but not him. He could tell that she tried to cover the dark circles under her eyes with makeup but it didn't work as well as she hoped it would.
"You know I can see through your makeup, right?" he asked.
"So? Who's going to care about some girl trying to hide the fact that she barely slept for over a week?"
"You haven't slept for over a week?"
"Correction, I barely slept for over a week. The key word is barely."
"And that's supposed to make it better?"
"It doesn't matter, Sweet Pea. Besides, I didn't ask you to meet me here to talk about my sleeping patterns."
There were a lot of things she wanted to talk about but she didn't have enough time to get it all out in the open.
"Is this about opening night and what happened backstage?" Sweet Pea asked.
"Sweet Pea, we kissed. Was it all a mistake?" Tori asked.
She looked at Sweet Pea who seemed to be trying to find the right words to say. In all honesty, she was hoping that it wasn't a mistake and that the kiss wasn't meant for someone else. But what if it was? What was she supposed to do if it was a mistake and never meant to happen?
"None of it was a mistake, Tori," Sweet Pea said as they held eye contact. "You were never a mistake."
"That's good to hear because I was really hoping that it wasn't a mistake and that it was all real," Tori said nervously as she fidgeted with her fingers.
"It was all real."
"Did it mean anything?"
"It meant everything," Sweet Pea said as he grabbed Tori's arm. "Come here."
Tori moved closer until she was sitting right next to him and rested her head on his shoulder. He didn't say anything against it as she closed her eyes and let her shoulders relax. At least a few of the questions she had before were finally answered and it was one less thing to worry about.
"Why did you kiss me?" Tori asked as she looked at her knees.
"Is it hard to believe that I like you? I know I was an ass the first few days we met and believe me, I regret it everyday. But I do like you," Sweet Pea said while stumbling on his words a few times.
"You don't usually voice your feelings, do you?" Tori asked as she tilted her head to look at him.
The Serpent boy chuckled, "Is it that obvious?"
"Wild guess," Tori said while smiling and shrugging her shoulders.
"That's something I haven't seen in a while."
"What?"
"You're smiling. I haven't seen that in a while."
"Well, lately I haven't really had a reason to smile so what would be the point?"
Sweet Pea chuckled lightly. "It's nice."
Tori only sighed as she stood up and grabbed her bag. "We have class in ten minutes. Are you coming inside or not?"
"Yeah," Sweet Pea said as he stood up and grabbed his stuff as well. Both of them walked down the bleachers and across the field to get to the building. Once they were inside, they were able to notice the voices in the hallways gradually getting louder as they walked side by side. "So, Jones called a Swords and Serpents meeting at lunch today."
"Sounds interesting," Tori said.
"I was thinking you can tag along," Sweet Pea suggested while shrugging his shoulders.
"I don't know if you remember the last time I tagged along, but it was Pickens Day and that girl, Syd, sounded like she was going to jump me right then and there. She actually almost did jump me once in the student lounge," Tori said and she cringed at the thought of both incidents.
"What do you mean almost?"
"Because Toni and Fangs were there. I'm still a hundred percent sure I was the cause of the whole thing no matter how many times Toni and Fangs told me I wasn't."
"What do you mean?" Sweet Pea asked as they stopped at her locker.
"MF walked out that day, you went after her and Syd walked in and she looked at me like she just caught me making out with someone she liked and the first thing she asked me was what I did. Apparently I was the reason MF was upset that day, or at least that's what I thought after Syd nearly pounced on me," Tori said as she grabbed her biology binder from her locker.
"Why do you think you were the reason MF was upset?" Sweet Pea asked as he leaned against the lockers.
"I think I might have said or did something that might have offended her and I'm pretty sure she didn't really like the idea of me being around in the first place but I don't think it really matters anymore," Tori said while shrugging her shoulders.
"Why not?"
"Things change and you learn things that are completely different from what you once thought."
Tori slammed her locker shut and adjusted her bag over her shoulder.
"Can I ask why you have a copy of The Register?" Sweet Pea asked.
"Cheryl told me she was writing her thoughts about the whole Midge thing and I told her I would read it and now that I did, I just feel horrible for Kevin and his father. We all thought the Black Hood was dead and everyone is acting like Keller is the one who killed Midge like he's the one who took all those knives and scissors and whatever sharp objects that were used to crucify Midge to a damn wall that night!" Tori said as he grip on the paper tightened and Sweet Pea could hear it crumple between her fingers.
"Is that what's been keeping you up these past few days?"
"You don't know the half of it."
Both of them stopped walking as they got closer to the point where they separate and Sweet Pea looked at Tori who was gripping the strap of her bag.
"Well, if you do decide to come to the Swords and Serpents meeting, I'll see you at lunch and if not, then I'll see you in chemistry," Sweet Pea said.
"I'll see you soon," Tori said before walking to class. When she saw Cheryl, she immediately walked over to her and placed the copy of the Register on top of the lab bench."Cheryl, care to explain what this is?"
"So, I see you've read my part," Cheryl said while smiling brightly.
"Yeah, and I think this is ridiculous," Tori said.
Cheryl frowned as she stood up. "Are you saying my feelings about Midge's death are ridiculous?"
"I think trying to blame the Black Hood's crimes on Sheriff Keller is ridiculous."
"He is the sheriff, Tori! When something happens in Riverdale, it's his fault!"
"I thought you said that every bad thing that happened in this town was the Serpents' fault, now it's Sheriff Keller's fault? Who exactly are you trying to blame, Cheryl?"
Tori noticed some students in the classroom watching but she wasn't going to focus on that. The only thing she was going to be focused on was the person who was standing in front of her.
"You really want to do this here and now? Do you really want to cause some drama in front of all these people?" Cheryl asked with her arms crossed.
"I thought Cheryl Bombshell loved drama and attention? Aren't you always in the mood for chaos and hell raising, no matter who you have to hurt?" Tori asked.
"Tori, I would never do anything to hurt you."
"Is that what you said to Josie? And you've already hurt me before. Remember when you ignored me for days? When you lied to me so you had a reason not to be around me? When you practically erased me from your life?"
"I said I was sorry!"
"What about Kevin? By publicly taking your anger out on his father, you're hurting him in the process so I'm not the person you should be apologizing to."
"Miss Alvarez, Miss Blossom, is there a problem here?" the teacher asked as the two girls practically had a face off.
Tori only looked at Cheryl who stood with her arms crossed. "No."
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TORI HAD ALREADY MADE UP HER MIND. She decided that she would go to the Swords and Serpents meeting at lunch but she was going to have to make sure she avoided Cheryl. So instead of stopping at her locker, she went straight to the classroom where the Serpents were having their meeting. When she walked inside, she noticed Jughead sitting on top of the teacher's desk while everyone else sat at the student desks.
"Tori, I didn't know you were coming," Jughead said.
"Well, I'm here," Tori said.
"Is everyone here?" he asked. When everyone responded, he continued talking. "In case some of you aren't aware, the Ghoulies are out of Shankshaw and they want Serpent blood."
"Your rivals?" Tori asked.
"Exactly. And they want war," Jughead said and his head snapped when the door was pulled open. Tori turned around and saw Reggie, Archie, Kevin, Moose and the other Bulldogs. "What's going on?"
"Which one of you reptiles was screwing Midge?" Reggie asked.
"This is a private meeting!" Jughead said as he stood up.
"I bet it was you, Sweet Pea!" Reggie said while pointing at Sweet Pea.
"You ass, I didn't even know Midge. But yeah, I can understand why she wouldn't want any fleas from you mangy Bulldogs," Sweet Pea said as he glared at Reggie.
Reggie stepped forward but Tori got between them while glaring at the taller boy she used to date. "Back off."
"What about you, MF? I bet it was you who killed her. You hate Northsiders," Reggie said.
"So does the next Southsider but I didn't even know who this girl was," MF said while rolling her eyes.
"How about you, Tori? Didn't Midge replace you as Cheryl's best friend?" Reggie asked.
"How petty do you think I am? Did you have something to do with Midge's death?" Tori asked with her arms crossed.
"Excuse me?"
"You just barged in here accusing people left, right and centre. Maybe it was you who was hooking up with Midge but you don't want anyone to suspect you so you accuse everyone else. But let's be honest. You and I both know that you don't care who it is, you'll bang anyone with a vagina because that's just the pig you are!"
Reggie reached forward and grabbed Tori by her collar and pulled her up so the only thing touching the ground was her toes. Although her heart was racing, her face remained the same. It was like a severe case of déjà vu, as this was not the first time she had faced a situation like this.
"You better watch your mouth, you little bitch," he sneered.
"Or what? You'll hit me? Why don't you just do it? I dare you," Tori said but Reggie only stared at her as he held his grip. "Come on!" Reggie growled as he pushed her away, nearly making her stumble and fall. "I knew it. You don't have the balls."
Reggie and the other Bulldogs lunged forward to attack the Serpents but the Serpents retaliated. Jughead and Archie shouted as they separated the two groups. Tori stood beside Sweet Pea who was still pissed off about Reggie's accusation but he was also pissed off about the way Reggie grabbed Tori. He could see the wrinkles on her collar where he grabbed her but he wondered how she could stay so calm while Reggie practically threatened her. On the other hand, Tori knew that Reggie and the rest of the Bulldogs, A.K.A. the Dark Circle, weren't going to stop until they found out who was sleeping with Midge Klump before she was killed that night.