CHAPTER FOURTEEN
HAPPY GO LUCKY
"it's impossible to ignore you"
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     The next morning Harley woke up the same way she and fallen asleep; with a big smile.

     There was a certain spring to her foot as she walked down the hallway of Riverdale high. There were two main reasons as to why she was this happy. Number one, she hadn't received any odd text from a unknown number. And number two, well, Sweet Pea.

     The Byers girl didn't like getting her hopes up. From experience, that only led to them being brutally crushed. But Harley couldn't help the genuine grin plastered on her face when she walked into the school. Midge took immediate notice, startling Harley by standing behind her locker door. Harley almost jumped out of her skin when she shut it, revealing the Klump girl beaming at her.

     "Midge, hi!" Harley chirped happily. The two walked togheter, arms connected. Midge arched a brow at the girl.

     "Hi. . ." She trailed off. Usually, Harley was a grumpy bitch in the mornings. Especially when she didn't get her so called 'beauty sleep'. "What's got you so happy?" Her friend asked.

     "Do I need a reason? Can't a girl simply wake up in a good mood, spending the day with a bright smile?" Harley wondered out loud, smoothing out the skirt she was wearing. Midge chuckled, shaking her head.

     "Sure, just not this girl. Come on, spill it." Midge knew her too well.

     "Okay so there might be this someone that is partially the reason for my good mood." Harley gave in. Midge playfully fist bumped the air.

     "Knew it. Who's the guy?" Harley reeled around, staring wide eyed at her friend.

     "What? What makes you think there's a guy?" Harley panicked. No one could know, at least not yet, that there was a guy, and that the guy was a Southside Serpent.

"Harley, we've been friends since we were in diapers, I know you." Midge said, her hands planted on Harley's shoulders. "Look, never mind who he is for now. Make sure to at least talk to Reggie before you make things official with someone else. I know you guys aren't dating. Honestly, I don't actually know what you're doing, but like you said to me. You can't lead him on."

     Harley raised an eyebrow at Midge. "Did you even take my advice?" She questioned.

     Midge gave her a bored look. "Not the point, Byers, and you know that."

"Yeah, yeah. We'll talk about it later or something. Come on, we need to get to cheer practice before Cheryl beheads us." The Byers girl said, quickly picking up her pace in the direction of the gym. Midge rolled her eyes, very much aware that practice started in twenty minutes, which meant that they had plenty of time. This was just Harley escaping from a conversation she didn't want to have. It was a typical Harley thing to do.

Midge followed after the brunette, the two switching to talk about fashion instead as they entered the lockerooms, changing into the cheer uniforms.

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    After the morning practice Harley decided to take Midge's advice. Or her own. She wasn't really sure. Whoever's advice it was, she was taking it. It explained why she was currently headed in the direction of the Mantle boy. She hadn't spoken to him since the fiasco that was welcoming the Southsiders to their school. She really didn't want to either, if she was being completely honest. Lately he had been acting like a complete douche. She understood that he despised the Southside, she really did. In fact, she was supposed to feel the exact way. That was how the northside parents of Riverdale raised their children, the Byers were no exception.

The truth that many of the residents of Riverdale refused to admit was that the Southside wasn't as bad as they were made out to be. Sure, some of them were Serpents, but if the Northside hadn't excluded them, if they hadn't shut them out in the cold, none of this would've happened. And as far as Harley knew, the Serpents were more than just a gang of violence. They were a family. At least according to Jughead. The Ghoulies might've fit the description about the Southsiders. They were truly reckless, violent, drug dealers and ruthless. The Serpents? Not so much.

But the Northsiders liked to have someone to put the blame on. While they were born with a silver spoon in their mouths, some raised to be the very definition of perfect ( like Harley, or Betty ), they all made mistakes. So, to make them all seem spotless and perfect, the blame was out in the Southside. The finest of Riverdale's teens did drugs? Southside High was raided. The golden boy Jason Blossom was murdered by his own father? FP Jones, the Serpent king was arrested. A lunatic Northsiders out on a Hood and decided to target 'sinners'? The entire population on the wrong side of the tracks were blamed.

They just never seemed to catch a break.

Of course, there were exceptions. Some people didn't automatically put the blame on someone else. Instead, they owned up to it. Take Fred Andrews. He was shot. Everyone kept telling him that the culprit who had done it was a Southsider. Did he assume the same? No. He admitted that he too was scared, but he defended the Southside at the town hall meeting infront of the entire town. Then there was Betty Cooper. When everyone was sure that FP Jones was guilty even after Clifford committed suicide, she posted an article defending him, painting a big fat target on her back. It resulted in someone hanging a voodoo doll at her locker, writing with pigs blood on it.

The world was a cruel and unfair place. Riverdale was no exception.

Backtracking to the present. Harley was hurrying down the corridor towards Reggie. Something about his expression made her furrow her eyebrows. He looked smug, more so then usual. She tapped him on the shoulder, gaining his attention. But before either one of the teens could say anything, Principle Wheaterbee came walking down the school corridor, wearing a deep scowl.

     With an accusing finger pointed to the Serpents standing at the far end of the hallway, he spoke up. "Now, which one of you defaced our school seal with this graffiti?" He demanded. Harley's eyes widened as she looked up at Reggie. If possible, his smirk had grown even cockier looking. She ran a hand down her face in disbelief.

Please tell me he didn't. "Reggie what the hell did you do?"

The look on his face was answer enough.

Soon enough the Serpents, Kevin, Veronica, Reggie and Harley were all gathered in the principals office. Harley wasn't sure how all of them fit in there, but she had more pressing matters to focus on.

"Which one of you did this to our school seal?" Mr. Wheatherbee questioned, flashing them all a picture of the school seal vandalized with graffiti, a two headed Serpent painted on it.

     "This is what they do, principle Wheatherbee, they tag their turf." Reggie declared, still wearing the same look. Harley rolled her eyes while Veronica voiced her thoughts.

     "Could you be any more transparent, Reggie?" The raven haired girl asked, to which she was shushed by Wheatherbee's loud voice.

     "Effective immediately no gang behavior of any kind will be tolerated at my school. As of this moment, no more Serpent jackets." Harley stared at her principle in shock. Could he do that?

     "What?" Sweet Pea yelled, earning chorus of agreement with him.

     "Principle Wheatherbee with all due respect—"

"Stay out of this, Harley." Reggie snapped aggressively. Sweet Pea narrowed his eyes at the Mantle boy, feeling a strong urge to slap that smug look of his face. But, as the principle continued speaking, Sweet Pea shifted his attention back over to him.

"No more Serpent jackets." He repeated sternly. "All tattoos are gonna be covered, possession of any gang paraphernalia whatsoever will lead to immediate suspension. Do I make myself clear?" Sweet Pea huffed loudly, arms cross over his chest. Harley and Jughead shared a look of disbelief. Harley was no Serpent, but she was fairly certain that Jug wouldn't shed this one lightly.

They were all shortly dismissed after that. Sweet Pea practically stomped out of the room along with the other Serpents, but Harley was more interested in the beanie wearing Serpent. She jogged after Jughead, tugging him away from the others. Sweet Pea suspicious look on them went unnoticed by Harley and Jughead as the two headed down the hallway.

"This is so unfair! Reggie obviously did that! And now we're taking the heat? Northsiders always find a way to blame the Southside." Jughead ranted in anger. Harley took his hand in an attempt to calm him down.

"You're right, Juggie, but he's the principal. And you also heard what he said, he'll suspend you." Harley spoke softly. Jughead sighed, pulling his crown shaped beanie off his head to run a hand through his hair.

"I know, it's just so freaking unfair." The boy frowned deeply. Harley pulled him into a warm hug, wrapping her arms around his neck. His arms secured around her waist as he dug his head into her shoulder. The two was always there for one another, they always had a shoulder to cry on. A long time ago, they made a promise to always be there for one another and hug it out when something was hard. It was kind of their thing.

Then something unexpected happened.

Jughead lifted his head, his arms still secured around her small waist. Their eyes connected, and with no hesitation, the Jones boy dipped his head down, firmly placing his lips against her. Out of instinct the Byers girl pulled away, gasping loudly. Her hand flew to her lips. What the hell.

"W-what the fuck Jug!" She exclaimed, frantically looking around for anyone who could've seen the two. "You have a girlfriend!"

Jughead shook his head. "No, Betty and I broke up. You were there when it happened." He quickly said, taking several steps closer to the girl.

"Are you kidding? You're officially broken up after that lame excuse of a break up through Archie happended? Haven't you talked to her yet?" Harley was aware that the two were no longer togheter, but the thing that had just happened surprised her so greatly that her mind felt like it was glitching.

"Of course I have. Har, it's over." Jughead kept stepping closer, Harley kept stepping back. Suddenly, her back hit the lockers, Jughead standing just infront of her. His beanie was dropped to the ground not far from them. His hands was placed on either sides of her head, trapping her. "Harley, please just. . ." He trailed off, leaning in, only this time slower. His lips gracefully captured hers, slowly and passionately. Harley had no idea what was going on. She was kissing her best friend. She was kissing Jughead for heavens sake.

Soon enough the kiss deepened, his tongue swiping across her buttom lip. She opened her mouth a slight bit, allowing his to enter. By now his hands was clenching her cheeks, hers tugging on the back of his hair. But as soon as the Byers girl came to her senses again, she placed a hand on his chest, pushing him away.

"Jughead this is wrong." She said. Kissing her best friend was wrong. Everything about it was just. . . completely and utterly wrong. Harley pushed past him, mumbling 'I need to go' before hurrying away from him.

With a flustered expression, slightly ruffled hair and swollen lips, Jughead was left to ponder over what the hell he had just done.

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     Harley sat soundlessly in the students lounge alongside Midge and a few others. Jughead was there too, but he was seated across the room from her. Harley had purposely picked the seat available the furthest away from him. She had no idea what had fueled him into doing what he did. No, it wasn't her first kiss, obviously. And it wasn't like Jughead and Harley hadn't kissed before. In fact, the two had 'dated'. But that was a long time ago, and Harley wasn't interested in revisiting memories of her dating a pre teen Jug before they'd hit puberty back in elementary school. The whole experience had been terrible awkward and they had decided to never do it again.

     And for some odd reason Harley felt guilty towards Betty. The girl was obviously still inlove with the Jones boy. She made sure to spare looming looks in her direction every chance she got. Harley felt sick to her stomach, she felt like some sort of home wrecker. How could one simple kiss make her feel so rotten inside?

     Her task of ignoring any thoughts about Reggie ( and Sweet Pea ) was unsuccessful as well. Reggie and her, as previously mentioned on several occasions, weren't a couple, nor would they ever be, but as Midge had said, he deserved to know that she was planning on getting it on with someone else. She wasn't quite sure about the certain Serpent though. They had merely been on one date, yet here she was, actually stressing over the fact that she had kissed Jughead.

     It was all too much to think about, so she did her best to listen to the conversations swirling around her. One in particular caught her immediate attention.

"Take that off." Reggie growled when his eyes slipped over the Serpent jacket wrapped around Jughead's upper body. The said boy simply smirked, having no intention to follow the Mantle boy's orders. "Take that off right now, rat boy!"

     "Oh Reggie. . ." Jughead started, starting to slowly walk closer to the boy. "I don't think you know what this jacket means, because you have no sense of honor. Or history. Or loyalty—"

     "That's it!" Reggie yelled, throwing himself in Jughead's direction. He balled Jughead's shirt up in his first aggressively. Jughead responded with a violent shove, causing Reggie to stumble slightly. Sweet Pea joined in on the fight, having Jughead's back immediately along with the guy who had flirted with Harley that night at Pop's. If Harley wasn't mistaken, his name was Fangs Fogarty. At least that's what he told her.

The Bulldogs joined in two, backing Reggie up. Soon enough punches were being thrown in all direction, the Bulldogs and the Serpents ignoring Veronica and Betty as they tried breaking the fight up. Harley stood to her feet, deciding to make an attempt at stopping it herself.

"Okay, enough is enough. Break it up guys." Harley said, stepping between the two. Reggie glared down at her small frame.

"You gotta make up your mind, Harley. You're wearing that cheer uniform, but you're running to the Serpent's aid." Reggie pointed to the skimpy uniform hugging her body. "Are you a snake or are you a bulldog." Disgust was evident when he said the word 'snake'.

Harley rolled her eyes. "Neither. If this is you guys' way of impressing the girls, it's an epic fail. Like, we get it, you've got dicks, no big deal."

     "Harley I swear, get out of my way before I make you." Reggie threatened, eyes narrowed to slits at the girl. Sweet Pea glared at the boy, but before he could do anything, Jughead pushed her protectingly behind him.

     "You're gonna regret threatening her like that." Jughead landed a fist square in Reggie's jaw, causing the fight to break out once again. Sweet Pea pulled Harley away from the fight, giving her a quick once over to make sure she was alright.

     "That's enough!" A loud voice caused everyone to stop what they were doing. A fuming Wheatherbee was standing at the doorway with Veronica at his side. "My office, now!"

     Here we go with round two.

word count; 2725
a/n

my third update today, y'all this is crazy. usually i'm struggling a lot with writing and updating (especially when i have a time line my gosh i never update on time yikes). but for some odd reason i'm writing like there's no tomorrow on this book and it's kind of mind boggling. anywho i hope u enjoyed this chapter next will be up soon.

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