CHAPTER TWELVE
SERPENT SCHOOL
"tonight i'm making deals with the devil"
˚✧₊⁎*⁎⁺˳✧༚

Winter soon passed, and spring was at its peek in Riverdale. Everything had settled down after the announcement of the Black Hood's death, and the residents were trying their best to return to their normal day lives.

Harley had come to terms with the fact that Riverdale probably never would return to its normal self, but it didn't mean that she liked it. Riverdale had changed, and there was no changing it back.

The curly headed brunette had spent a huge amount of time with Jughead, despite him still attending Southside high. The two found themselves at each other's door steps every night. Well, Harley found herself at the steps of his trailer and he found himself climbing through the window to her room to prevent her parents from catching them. Nontheless, the two already super close teens had grown even closer.

She had almost forgotten about the incident at the quarry with Sweet Pea. It didn't bug her as much as it had shortly after it had happened. She, however, was still stuck on his mind. He wanted to see her again, but it wasn't like he could just march up to her house and knock on the door. He was pretty sure one of her parents would've pulled a shotgun on his ass if he did.

Another thing that had almost slipped her mind was the text she and received the very night the Black Hood had been killed. She had decided that it had to have been some douche playing a cruel prank on her. Harley really didn't want it to be real, so she had to convince herself that it wasn't. She had managed to do that successfully.

Right now, Harley was comfortable seated in Reggie's lap, his arms draped around her waist. She was dressed in a cute outfit that consisted of his blue and gold letterman jacket, a cute crop top, some skirt and a pair of sneakers. Her hair was in its usual curls, wildly framing her face.

He planted a small kiss to her neck, to which she giggled at. It had tickled. Just as she opened her mouth to say something, the cackling from the school speakers stopped her, followed by principal Wheatherbee's voice. "Students of Riverdale High, this is your principal speaking. E-mails have been sent to your parents, but effective immediately, Southside High School is shut down and its students will be transferred to other schools in the district, including this one."

The information caused a wave of gasps to run through the crowd of students, especially the ones gathered in the student lounge. Harley could feel Reggie's grip around her waist tighten slightly. She put her hands over his, smiling reassuringly at him as Mr. Wheatherbee continued speaking.

"I believe the statement we're realizing will address your concerns and theirs, you should be receiving it shortly. I'm sure you have many questions, but it goes without saying that we are welcoming these students with open minds, hearts and arms. That is all." The speakers abruptly stopped.

     Like wildfire, angry whispers started flooding the once silent room. Veronica quickly stood to her feet, silencing any voice. "Okay guys, let's not overreact." Veronica said. It was a attempt at calming nerves in the room, but the attempt failed miserably.

     Archie, being his less then bright self, looked around in confusion. "Wait, want does that- what does that mean?" He questioned, looking between Betty, Veronica and Harley. The latter girl beamed, a grin slapped across her face as she told him what it meant.

     "It means, Archiebald, that Jughead is coming back!" She chirped happily, using his full name. A second name flashed across her mind. Sweet Pea. If Jughead was coming back, that probably meant that Sweet Pea was coming too. Perfect, she thought, just the guy I wanted to avoid. Of course there would be a catch to getting Jughead back to Riverdale High, and Sweet Pea was a big catch.

     Betty watched Harley grinning, a suspicious eyebrow arched. She was aware that Jughead and Harley were friends, nothing more, and that Betty and him had broken up, but she couldn't help but feel jealousy bubble inside of her when the Byers girl beamed at the thought of having Jughead back. She couldn't help thinking that the two were too close.

     As well as that, the Cooper girl wasn't quite sure how she felt about Jughead coming back. Sure, she wanted nothing more then to floor it to the Southside and force him away from there, for him never to return. But that wasn't her call to make, and now that he was coming back, she wasn't sure she was ready to see him.

     "Betty, are you sure you're ready to see him again?" Archie asked, picking up on her sudden change of mood. Betty quickly plastered a fake smile on her face, nodding.

     "Yeah. . . Jug and I are good." She excused. Arch nodded, seemingly buying the lie. Harley knew better.

     "I have a suggestions, to make them feel welcome, why don't we plan something?" Veronica said. Harley arched a brow. What were they, the welcoming committee? No thanks.

"Yeah, like what? You want us to give them a tour?" Harley sarcastically said. They were big enough to learn their own way around school. Did they really need a bunch of Northsiders greeting them with face smiles and good intentions?

"No, Harley, not a tour. I was thinking more like a register table. We can make these brochures with a small map of the school, their lockers and some extracurricular stuff!" Veronica explained. Harley titled her head, thinking about the offer. Maybe it wasn't that bad of an idea after all.

     "Actually, Ronnie that's not half bad." Harley complimenting, earning a proud grin from the girl.

     "Thank me later. Now help me get this all prepared for tommorrow."

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     The next day rolled in fairly quickly. Harley had caught no breaks helping Veronica. The Lodge girl was with no doubt incredibly bossy, but she made sure thing was done in time.

     At the very moment, Harley was standing along side Veronica at the welcoming desk placed in the middle of the hallway, silently awaiting the arrival of the Southside teens. Behind them, Archie, Betty, Kevin and Midge were standing, all wearing nervous expressions. Archie especially. He wanted to make amends, and was hoping that by supporting the arrival of the teens, he was doing so. It was a small step in the right direction, Harley supposed.

     The cheerleader's attention snapped towards the end of the hallways as the doors flew open, revealing a crowd of leather cladded kids their age. At the front leading them all, Jughead walked in, a brow arched, his beanie resting ontop of his head. A flannel, as always, was tied loosely around his waist, his upper body dressed in a random shirt and his Serpent jacket.

     Jughead and Harley's eyes connected. The girl flashed him a wide smile, one he returned. She skipped across the floor, throwing her arms around him. "Good to have you back, Juggie." From behind Jughead, Sweet Pea watched closely.

     "Good to be back, Har." He grinned.

     "On behalf of the students and faculty here at Riverdale High, welcome to your new school!" Veronica started. Harley took at as a cue to return to her side, grinning widely at the crowd of Serpents. "To ease transitions, we've set up a registration desk where you can get your locker assignments, class schedules, and a list of sports and extracurriculars." Veronica smiled brightly. "We encourage each and every one of you to drink deeply from the cup that is fair Riverdale."

The peaceful aura in the room quickly shifted when Cheryl Bombshell and Reggie paraded down the hallway with several other students trailing behind. Oh gosh, Harley thought, rolling her eyes. This oughta be good.

"Stand down, Eva Peron!" Cheryl called, moving suprisingly fast considering the high heels she was wearing. Harley scoffed, folding her arms over her chest. The redhead flicked a long piece of hair over her shoulder for effects, narrowing her eyes at the leather cladded students.

"There's the school spirit I so fondly remember." The Jones boy sarcastically commented to his friends, who in turn snickered. Harley almost wanted to laugh herself. It was amusing how her best friend could crack a joke even in the worst situations.

Veronica took a threatening step towards Cheryl, wearing a deep scowl. "No one invited fastic barbie to the party, Cheryl." The Raven haired girl spat, to which Cheryl rolled her brown eyes at.

"That's where your wrong, Veronica. No one invited Southside scum to our school." She fired back, her cold face now settling on the people in question. She pointed an accusing finger at the Southsiders as she continued. "Listen up, ragamuffins. I will not allow Riverdale High's above average GPA to suffer because of classrooms that are overcrowed with underachievers." Venom was lazed in her words, a mixture of hatred and disgust evident as she spoke.

     A pink haired girl, the same from the night at Pop's, stepped forward, a snarl on her lips. "Why don't you come over here and say that to my face?" She growled, appearing menacing.

     "Happily, Queen of buskers." Cheryl replied, taking a step closer herself, not bothered the slightest bit by the Serpent.

     Harley stepped between the two, sending Cheryl an ugly look. "Look, female Satan, no ones in the mood for your shit right now. It's way to early in the morning. So, how about to give the mean girl act a break for once, ginger Regina George." The Serpents all shared a look, some more surprised then others that a Northsider was standing up to them. Sweet Pea couldn't help but to let a small grin break out in his face, his eyebrows quieted up in amusement. Jughead smirked, his arms folded over his chest as he watched his best friend.

     "Harley, thought you were better then this." Reggie spat, eyeing her. She rolled her eyes so hard she almost thought they were going to roll out of her head. He was acting like they were married or something, and that she had just cheated.

     "My gosh, Reg. You were a good fuck, but not that good that I'm going to join you on this crazy vendetta you have against the Southside." He looked taken aback by her words. In truth, Harley was taken aback by her words too.

Archie stepped into the mess too. "Okay everyone, can't we just put our 'Northside-Southside' differences apart? Clean slates?" The Andrews boy suggest like a true diplomat.

     Reggie wasn't having it. "You don't speak for the Bulldogs, Andrews. And need I remind you that these greaser-snakes pulled up to your house trying to kick your ass?" Reggie reminded, pointing accusingly in their direction as he spoke.

     Sweet Pea stepped out from behind Jughead, cracking his knuckles while glaring widly at the Mantle boy. "Happy to finish what we started." He announced, a certain aggressiveness to his voice as both him and Reggie lunged at one another. And of course, Harley was standing in the middle of the two.

     Just her luck.

     Fortunately, Sweet Pea was tugged back by his peers, the Serpents, and the Bulldogs held Reggie back.

     "I am so over the toxic masculinity in this hallways right now." Veronica complained loudly, motioning towards the two boys as he spoke. With the best timing, like ever, principal Wheatherbee stepped out from his office and into the hallway, ready to break up the brawl.

     "All right, that's enough pomp and circumstance. Everyone, let's get to class." And so they all did.

     If that wasn't a complete and utter failure at giving them all a warm welcome to the school, Harley didn't know what was.

˚✧₊⁎*⁎⁺˳✧༚

With the Southsiders now attending Riverdale High, the tension was thicker then ever. So thick, that you could cut it with a knife.

And to top it off with a nice little cherry, Harley was trapped in the same classroom with at least ten of them. She didn't really have too much against them, but sitting within four feet of Sweet Pea made it hard for her to flat out ignore him. Him staring directly at the back of her head didn't help either. In fact, it was terribly annoying.

     She couldn't complain to the teacher, really, so what she did was twist around in her chair, glaring directly at him. He leaned slightly away from her, a bit taken back by the sudden gesture. He blinked a few times, which was enough time for the brunette to reel back around. He sighed, pressing him lips into a thin line, continue to stare till class was over. Harley jumped out of her seat the second the bell rang, ignoring the 'the bell doesn't dismiss you, I do' phrase leaving her teacher's mouth.

     She tugged her backpack onto both shoulders, speeding walking down the hallway, praying that the tall Serpent wasn't following. Harley's prayers went unanswered.

When she reached her locker, rushing to stuff her books inside, a figure took place to her left, gracefully leaning against the other lockers. Harley huffed in annoyance. I never seem to catch a break, she thought, slamming the locker shut. Her eyes narrowed in annoyance and anticipation. "What?" She spat, trying to appear somewhat intimidating by sounding irritated. It didn't work.

Letting out a chuckle, the Serpent answered. "I haven't seen you in a while. Think we might need to talk." Sweet Pea stuffed his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket, shooting her a smirk. She rolled her eyes.

"I'm sorry, what did I miss? Last time I checked, we aren't friends." She reminded. He chewed in his buttom lip in silence for a moment, silently wondering why she suddenly felt the need to be so hostile.

     "We're talking about what happened at the quarry." He decided. She harshly slammed her locker shut, narrowing her eyes at him.

     "Fine, you wanna talk about it, let's talk about it!" Harley folded her arms over her chest. "Nothing happened." She brushed past him, starting to head down the hallway.

     Sweet Pea scoffed, pushing himself of the lockers to follow her. "Yeah, but we almost kissed."

     "Hardly. And what almost happened, only happened because I was in a bad mood after Pop's. We've had, like, two real conversations or something. It's not like we're best friends." She stated. Sweet Pea groaned internally. He wasn't sure why he was even bother trying to befriend her. She was a Northsider, and she was obviously not interested. Yet he found himself not wanting to give up just yet. "I don't even know you!" She added.

"Fine, then let's get to know each other." He suggested. Gosh, Sweet Pea you sound like an idiot. He found himself regretting the words as they slipped out, but it was much too late to take it back, so he went with it.

She paused. "What?"

"Let's get to know each other, Northsider. Are you deaf?" There it was, his usual jerk self, back again.

"Why would I want to get to know a Serpent?" She challenged, arms folded neatly over her chest, eyes narrowed. He remained silent for a moment or two.

"Pop's, tonight, eight. Don't be late." With that, he turned around, leaving the stunned Northsider girl in his dust.

What just happened? She shook her head, turning away to head in her own direction, when her phone buzzed in her pocket. Harley pulled it out, expecting a text from Jughead. It wasn't. The text almost made her drop the device to the floor.

     Remember, I've got eyes everywhere. I see your every move, know your every secret. This one included. I'd trudge carefully if I was you, Harley.

word count; 2727
a/n

i struggled with this chapter, and i have no idea why. oh well, at least it's out. sorry, i know it's kinda short, but at least it's something. kinda have to keep forcing myself to write or else i know that i'll just put it on ice and literally never update. and i really want to finish one book. stay tuned for more !

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