{ " got a girl from the south side, got braids in her hair. " — body like a back road, sam hunt, 2017 }

As she sat in the passenger seat of Reggie Mantle's car, the Serpent girl boiled inside with jealousy of seeing her redheaded casanova getting comfortable with his she-devil of an ex. Even Reggie could sense that something was wrong.

"You okay, Honeybee?" Reggie asked, glancing over at the girl as the car slowed for an approaching stop sign.

Like the Serpent she was, Evie knew there was only one way to get over the conflicting envy she was feeling: to fight fire with fire.

She smiled at the boy. "I'm okay, Mantle. How are you?"

"Well, you know." He cleared his throat. "I'm a little shaken up, to be honest. Seeing Moose like that ..." He shook his head. "He's one of my best friends."

"I'm sure that must be awful. I couldn't imagine going through that with one of my own friends." She stated. That was a lie, of course. She'd seen plenty of the Serpents tied up in the hospital as the result of some violence.

The car slowed to a stop as they reached the road outside of Sunnyside, and Reggie turned towards Evie. "You know, Morgan, I think I owe you an apology."

Evie raised an eyebrow. "What for?"

"Well, after we hooked up this summer, I treated you like trash. Because I thought that's all you were -- Serpent trash, a bad girl from the Southside with combat boots and tattoos. But, seeing you at the hospital today, seeing that you do care for those not wearing a leather biker jacket ... well, I was wrong." Reggie chose his words carefully as he offered Evie an apology.

Evie was stunned. Never did she expect this from Mantle. She was actually impressed. "Thank you, Reggie." She flashed a sly grin as she reached over, setting her hand on top of his. 

Reggie's eyes flicked up to her's with a smirk, which Evie returned, and, in less time that it takes to tie a shoe, the two were tangled up in the back seat, their lips connected like their lives depended on it.

Which, they didn't. 

It was just Evie, fighting fire with fire. Maybe she was overreacting, but she was so angry with herself for being jealous over a boy like Andrews, so it seemed perfectly logical in her eyes. If Archie was going to get close to his ex again, then Evie would too -- or, close to the closest thing she had to an ex in Riverdale.

-- 

Though Evie and Reggie hadn't gotten quite as close as they had the past summer, they'd gotten close enough. He'd also driven her to school, and walked with her inside.

Archie Andrews stood alone, by his locker, as he waited for Evie to arrive at school. When he saw her walk in with Reggie Mantle, and the look on Reggie's face, he felt his stomach drop.

He knew that face.

That was Reggie's "Andrews, guess what? Guess who got some?" face.

The redhead's eyes flicked to Evie, and he felt like he might be sick. Not Evie.

"Hey, Honeybee." Archie called out, waving to the Serpent girl.

Evie noticed that Archie was waving at her and frowned. What did he want now? "Hey, Mantle, we'll talk later, okay?" She flashed him a quick smile before walking over to the redhead. "Hi, Red." She stopped in front of him and noticed that he was alone. "Where's Queen V?"

Archie raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean? Veronica?"

Evie nodded. "Yeah, Veronica."

"Why would I know?" Archie asked. Evie could see that he was genuinely confused as to why he asked her, and she felt like maybe she had jumped to a conclusion much too quickly. 

"I don't know. Never mind." Evie quickly spat out. "So, umm, how's Moose?"

"He's doing a lot better. He's going to be just fine, thankfully." Archie responded. "But, uh, speaking of Veronica, you'll never guess what happened at the hospital this morning."

Evie began to walk towards her locker, and Archie followed. "Oh? What's that?" She asked.

"She came up to me and started talking to me. She was all upset about it, and she was trying to console me, and also come to me for comfort. She ... she was acting like it was my job to console her. Which it is not." He said, rolling his eyes. "She wouldn't leave me alone. I get that, you know, it was upsetting to her, because it was to me, but ... having her around definitely did not make it better."

As Evie got her books out for class, silently listening to Archie's monologue, she realized that she had made a mistake in her assumption that Archie was trying to get back together with Veronica.

Why had she even made that assumption? She felt like such a fool. Of course, her relationship with Archie was nothing more than a friendship, with some added physical benefits, so it wasn't like she had "cheated" on Archie, because they weren't together. But, she felt bad about hooking up with Reggie. She felt guilty.

"Honeybee?" Archie called out, interrupting Evie's thoughts. "Is everything okay?"

"Everything is fine, Andrews. Not that my life is any of your business." She quickly snapped. 

Archie's eyebrows went up in surprise. "Okay." He cleared his throat. "Well, I'll ... see you later?"

Evie scoffed. "I doubt it." She quickly walked away from the boy, slamming her locker behind her. To mask her envy, she had hooked up with another guy, and to mask her guilt, she was now acting like a bitch. She didn't have feelings like this often, and when she did, she dealt with them poorly. 

Maybe everyone was right. Evie was nothing but a cold, ruthless snake. A Serpent she was, and a Serpent she would always be. 

--

Later that day, Archie Andrews walked out on the football field with some anger to be worked off. One of his best friends had been shot, Veronica would not leave him the hell alone, and Evie was acting like she didn't give two shits that Archie was alive. 

Oh, and the Black Hood was still on the loose.

Couldn't forget that. 

Suddenly, a large force knocked Archie over, interrupting the internal turmoil that were his thoughts. 

A chorus of laughter erupted, and Reggie Mantle stood over Archie, offering him a hand. "Hey Andrews, you'll never guess what happened." Reggie winked at Archie. "It involves a girl."

Archie brushed Reggie's hand to the side and pushed him. "I don't care about your sex life, Mantle. Knock it off." He said.

Reggie laughed. "What, are you jealous? Maybe if you didn't break up with your girlfriend, you could be getting some too." He pushed the redhead back. "All you gotta do is find a Serpent slut. But wait, you already did find yourself a Serpent slut."

Archie grabbed the boy by the collar of the shirt he was wearing. "Do not call her a slut."

"Isn't that what she is? A dirty whore? Who goes from you to me, and whoever else before?" Reggie chuckled, pushing Archie off of him.

"She's not a whore, Mantle." Archie growled, tackling the boy to the ground. "She wouldn't sleep with you."

Reggie laughed loudly. "Oh yeah? Well, she did this summer, and she did this morning." 

The words this morning echoed in Archie's head as his fist connected with Reggie's jaw. 

Dun dun dun! We love some drama, don't we? Don't forget to blow on that tea before you drink it, because it's piping hot.

Don't forget to vote and comment! I know you're reading this already, so why not tap that vote button, and drop a comment telling me what you think!