XX

For a moment, I could do nothing else but stare at him.

Sweet Pea was reclining back against one of the wheelie chairs lining the far wall, his long legs propped up on another seat opposite him. His hands were gripping the slim armrests, a half-empty beer balancing between his fingers. He had discarded his leather Serpents jacket and was wearing a plain, plaid short-sleeve shirt, the rippling muscles in his bulky arms, shoulders and back clearly showing through the thin material.

I could barely believe my eyes.

Sweet Pea smirked as he bit down on the inside of his lower lip in amusement. His brown eyes scanned me, top to bottom, before flittering across my face. A flash of surprise sparked from deep within their murky depths, but it didn't last for long as the twinkle disappeared mere seconds later.

He - he was so different from when I last saw him ... So muscular, so grown-up, so - so good-looking ...

"Hello!" Jughead snapped his fingers in front of my face, startling me back into the present. My mouth almost fell open in shock and my face flushed in embarrassment. I was supposed to be confronting my brother! Instead, I was gaping at a - ahem - really hot mess of a boy.

And every single person in that room was watching me ...

My head swivelled back around and my gaze landed on Jughead's disgusted face.

Right ...

"You done checking Sweet Pea out?" he demanded, folding his arms across his broad chest and raising his eyebrows. "He has a girlfriend you know, so I'd be a bit more discreet if I were you."

A girlfriend? Sweet Pea has a girlfriend? Oh geez, who am I kidding? Of course he has one! I mean, look at him! Who wouldn't want to date him?

"C-can we talk ... outside?" I stuttered, my cheeks burning crimson and my voice sounding like a pitiful little squeal.

Jughead scoffed and shook his head as he backed away. "Why? Anything you say to me will circulate around anyway so you might as well say your piece now and go trailing back to your big ol' city home ... away from the rest of us."

A few chuckles resounded around the room.

I gritted my teeth as I glared furiously at Jughead. "You know what? Fine! I will say it here! Nice and loud too so everyone, even the people down the back, can hear! Dad collapsed outside our trailer about half an hour ago. He'd drunk himself stupid and Jelly and I had to look after him while you were off partying like some wild animal! Look, I know you hate me, you've made that obvious enough, but I don't appreciate you putting your little sister through that kind of hell, you got me? She doesn't deserve this, she doesn't deserve any of this! You, on the other hand, are turning out exactly like our father. And you know what that is? A disgrace!"

Jughead's face drained of all colour as he stared straight back at me.

In response to my outburst, a couple of jeers and wolf-whistles chortled throughout the growing crowd.

"I like them feisty," yelled a boy wearing a bright yellow shirt with a dirty logo printed across it. A wave of snickers rippled among the teens surrounding him.

A sudden scraping of a chair cut through the underlying tension and I glanced over sideways at Sweet Pea, whose large six foot figure was now standing straight up. His fists were clenched and his strong, sharp jaw-line was clamped tightly shut. A look of fierce anger was plastered across the chiselled features of his face and his glowering eyes were fixated on the dirty-mouthed boy across the room.

"What did you just say, dimwit?" he growled in a low, gravelly voice.

Everyone got more and more agitated and restless. As the tension in the air grew thicker and thicker, I was suddenly aware of how small I was.

Gulping, I drew back and stumbled straight into someone who was standing behind me! "Oh crap, sorry," I mumbled as I whipped around and quickly looked up ... straight into the bemused face of Fangs!

"Humph, who would've known?" he questioned, raising his glass of beer into the air. "Jughead's sister is hot."

"Fangs! Shut it, will ya?" a girl, clad in knee-length leather boots, shoved her way past him. She glanced sympathetically at me before sending a glare over towards the numerous onlookers. "Oi, get a move on! There's nothing to see here!" she shouted as she leaned forward and grasped my upper arm. "Quick, let's get you outta here," she hissed in my ear, the ends of her dyed fringe tickling my chin.

I nodded mutely, allowing her to lead me out of the room and through the double glass doors into the cool evening air.

I couldn't help but breathe a huge sigh of relief when I realised that I was no longer in the centre of a couple dozen rowdy youths.

"You all good?" the girl asked kindly as she flicked her bangs out of her eyes. "Hi, by the way, my name's Toni. Toni Topaz. You're Mackenzie, right?"

I swallowed, my saliva wetting the back of my dry, cracked throat. "Um ... yeah ..." I croaked out.

Toni chuckled. "You know what? You don't look so good. Seeing Sweet Pea give you a heart attack, did it?"

I gaped at her, my cheeks beginning to flame up again. "W-what ...?"

"Relax," Toni laughed, clapping me playfully on the shoulder. "I'm just joshing. Hey, why don't we go back and check in on your sister, hmm? We can take my motorbike. We'll get there quicker."

I hesitated before reluctantly nodding. "I - er - have never ridden a motorbike before."

Toni guffawed as she chucked me a helmet. "Here, put this on."

Slowly, I fitted the helmet onto my head and secured the strap underneath my chin. With big bug eyes, I watched as Toni leaned forward and seized the handlebars of a nearby motorcycle.

VVVRRROOOMMM.

She started up the engine with a loud rev before sliding onto the padded seat. Glancing over her shoulder at me, she smiled as she queried, "You coming or what?"

I shook my head and rolled my eyes as I stepped closer, surveying the bike with immense distrust.

"Give it a rest, Kenz, I'm not gonna kill ya," Toni raised her eyebrows as she noticed my halting movements. "Come on."

Biting my bottom lip, I lifted one of my legs up and over the seat before wrapping my arms around Toni's waist. I let out a small gasp of surprise when she kicked up the bike's stand and began backing out of the car park. My body wobbled unsteadily and my grip around Toni tightened slightly.

VVRROOMM.

Toni took off from the parking lot in a swirl of choking dust and petrol exhaust.

Gritting my teeth, I resolved to keep my mouth shut until we reached our family trailer. I'd already cooked up enough damage as it was already.

Why did everything I touch always fall apart?

Upon our arrival back at the trailer, Toni parked her motorbike just outside the door before hastily letting herself in.

I placed my helmet down carefully on the seat of the bike before following Toni inside.

"How's Dad?" I asked as I closed the door behind me and sent a questioning look over towards Jelly, who was standing in the bedroom doorway conversing with Toni.

Jelly shook her head, tears pricking her eyes. "He's not feeling amazing, Kenz, but at least he's thrown up the worst of it."

I heaved a deep sigh as I glanced over Jelly's shoulder towards Dad, who was tossing and turning feverishly in his bed.

"W-where's Jughead?" Jelly ventured in a timid tone.

My brow darkened and I turned away, pretending to be distracted by something on the kitchen bench.

"Jughead will be here soon," Toni assured her. "I'm gonna ring him. FP's got it bad this time round."

"Do you think it's alcohol poisoning?" I questioned, casting a quizzical look over my shoulder towards Toni. "Surely you don't get fevers just from overdosing ... do you?"

Toni bit her lip and shrugged as she pulled her phone out from her back pants' pocket. "I don't think so. Either way, I'm calling Jughead. We may need some help getting FP to a doctor if the situation calls for it."

So saying, she started for the trailer door but stopped when I called out, "Thanks Toni ... for everything."

She sent me a small smile and a mock salute as she replied, "Anything for you, Kenz."

Confused, I stared after her as she exited the trailer.

Why would a tough biker girl like Toni help me?

Gif: Mackenzie as she watches Toni leave the trailer.

*PLEASE REMEMBER to give this chapter a vote if you enjoyed and I'd love to hear any feedback from my readers; so pepper me with questions. If you're confused, I'll try and clarify it for you. If you want more information on a certain point, I'll do my best not to give you spoilers. If you just wanna chat 'bout random stuff, then I'm in *

Q: Who do you prefer the most out of the Serpents mentioned so far: Sweat Pea, Fangs or Toni?