Sage spent the next few days avoiding FP at all costs. She felt the fury flood every cell every time she thought about him. He seemed to make himself scarce of late though. She had seen him less at the bar, but she wondered if that just meant he was home getting shitfaced.

She bristled immediately at the thought.

Lunchtime at school. The cafeteria seemed much noisier than normal. Something was stirring, whispers and looks being passed around in a secretive manner. Joaquin joined Fangs, Toni, Sweet Pea, and Sage at their usual table but he appeared later than the rest of them. Even when he sat down, his eyes remained fixed to his phone. He didn't often sit with them, but then again, he didn't often attend school regularly.

Fangs and Sweet Pea intently glowered at a table from across the cafeteria, while Toni studied the settings on her camera. Sage observed Joaquin text furiously, his fingernails clattering off the blue screen in a fury. He became aware of Sage's watchful eye, gazing up at her cautiously as if he had been caught.

"What's up?" she probed, curiously.
He cocked his head to the side slightly. "Kevin needs a favor," he spoke finally.

"What kind of favor?"

"He needs me to get him and his friends into the Whyte Wyrm."

"Northsiders? Why do they need to go there?" Her eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

"One of his friends was attacked and they think it was a Serpent, so they want to see if they can find the guy."

Her jaw clenched tightly in response, the rest of her face contorting in annoyance. Of course, they assumed the Serpents were responsible. The Northside always pinned everything on them.

"Why would anyone in the club beat up a high school student?" she asked incredulously.

"It's… complicated," he stated simply.

"Hmmm," she percolated and after a few moments of silence she asked, "So, are you gonna do it?"

Joaquin nodded slightly.

"Oh my, god," she sat back in wonderment by her revelation. "You really like him, don't you?"

"Who?"

"Kevin."

Joaquin shrugged carelessly, but his eyes told a different story. "I'm just staying close to the sheriff's kid for FP. That's it."

Her lips curl up into a soft smile, nudging him gently with her elbow. "I'm happy for you."

He melted, his features softening into a rare vulnerability and returned her smile. "Thanks, Smith."

Needless to say, Sage wasn't surprised at all when she saw Joaquin casually stroll into the bar with three tall boys. She was surprised, however, that one of the boys, was none other than Archie, of all people. Kevin, the second boy, stayed behind Archie hanging close to Joaquin, but the third boy she didn't recognize but sported nasty looking purple bruises on the edge of his face. They slowly moved through the sea of bodies cautiously, avoiding eye contact with anyone in particular, but yet still precariously checking out the faces of the people around them. They ended up settling at a nearby pool table.

They played for a short while, talking amongst themselves with quiet voices and skeptical glances. Joaquin circled around Kevin playfully, whispering flirtatious things in his ear to ease the boy's nerves. It didn't seem to be working.

The boy with the bruises suddenly nudged Archie, directing his gaze towards a man nearby. There was a silent quiet exchange between them before Archie suddenly reacted, marching forward with some type of crafted confidence. He grabbed none other than Mustang by the shoulder, whipping him around to face him.

"What? Do you got a death wish?" Mustang's lip pulled up into a sneer while his eyes lit up, the promise of a fight on the horizon.

The other boys hastily stepped forward behind him with less boldness then Archie but the same sense of urgency.

"Archie, back off," warned Joaquin quietly.

Archie took no heed of his warning and glowered at the man before him. Sage watched his large hands curl into tight fists at his sides.

"What the hell is this?" Mustang spat, sizing the red-head up and down.
"You like beating up teenagers?" Archie asked, heatedly. He wasn't afraid nor intimidated of Mustang.

And Sage felt just the tiniest bit impressed by Archie.

"This ain't the first time one you Bulldogs have come in here lookin' to cause trouble," Mustang raised his voice louder. He gave Archie a sharp shove.

He stumbled over his own feet and fell into Joaquin who tried to steady him. At the same time, a few serpents had circled in around the group and grabbed the other boys immobilizing them from jumping in. When Archie recovered his balance, he wasted no time and sprung forward attacking Mustang.

Mustang had anticipated this. They remained gridlocked for a brief moment until Mustang swiftly regained the upper hand. He clutched Archie's jacket in his weathered fists and flung Archie up and over onto the pool table with a hard slam. He cocked back his fist, prepared to deliver a powerful blow when a voice boomed from the stairs.

"That's enough!"

Mustang's attention was redirected temporarily. Reluctantly, he lowered his fist back to his side and let Archie up with a low growl. The other Serpents let go of the other two boys, the air still thick with tension.

Archie looked in the direction of the voice calling out orders and confusion colored his face momentarily before it was replaced by surprise.

FP sauntered over to Archie, standing before him. "I'll take care of this," FP stated solemnly. He huffed softly as Archie continued to venomously stare him down. He motioned for him and the other two boys to the exit, following them out the door and slamming it shut without another word.

"Holy shit," murmured Sage, exhaling a gust of air from her lungs that she had been holding. The bar buzzed with a hectic energy still, the crowd now dispersing back into the corners of the bar. Joaquin eventually sulked over to her.

"You know, it wasn't as bad as I thought it was gonna be," he admitted, sitting down on the stool beside her. "But FP is gonna have my head."

She smiled sympathetically. "You were backed into a corner. What were you going to do?"

Joaquin changed his mind and pushed himself back away from the bar, restless and unable to sit. "I"m should go try and call Kevin's cell. Try to keep him from shitting his pants."

Sage laughed. "Did they accomplished what they wanted?"

"I really don't think so."

Time lapsed on. FP kept himself scarce, busy with perhaps club business. In his absence, Mustang had happily stepped in and seemed to be calling most of the shots.
So when Sage came down the steps one morning, she found herself surprised when she saw FP with Mustang sitting at the bar with a group of Serpents. She stopped at a safe distance to try and eavesdrop.

"I still need volunteers to help out," she overheard him say. "Weekdays are best, but we're so behind, we could use some man-power on the weekend too."

Chatter filtered amongst them and a few hands went up. FP nodded and thanked them.

What does he need volunteers for? She wondered as her fingers found the zipper to her jacket, fiddling it between her fingers.

Lost in her thoughts, Mustang caught her out of the corner of his eye, abandoning the small group and strolling over to her before she could leave.

"Smith," he called out to her, looking smug.

Her attention was redirected. She tossed him a careless side glance. "What?" she replied monotone.

"You're on scut tonight," he barked. "I need the bar restocked, floors swept and washed down and bathrooms cleaned. We have a big weekend ahead of us."
She shot him a dirty look. There was absolutely no reason for this call. She had been on scut twice already this month. He was just abusing his power. That's who he was. A cruel bully who liked to make people feel less than him, who craved power. And Sage wasn't going tolerate it. Not from him, not from a traitor.

"I don't think I am," she spat back, throwing her rucksack over her shoulder, secretly hoping she could pummel him in the face with it. "But I'm sure you'll find someone else to order around. I've got a hell of a lot better things to do than to take orders from someone that cannot abide by the simplest of Serpent law." she snarled, flinging open the door and turning her back to him but not before seeing the shocked look cross over his hardened features.

As she escaped out the door, she could feel his eyes boring into her from behind. She slammed the door shut and hurriedly made her way to school.

Long walks cleared her head. She enjoyed them and could stroll for hours on hours. It didn't matter if she was cooped up in her small room all by herself or in a classroom full of students or in the crowded bar at the Whyte Wyrm, she often felt the cool sting of loneliness plaguing her. But walks outside gave her time to sort out all the messes in her head. They brought some type of clarity that she didn't know she needed. She found that she loved walks either early in the morning, just as the morning light crept up behind the mountains of green trees, or late at night when the stars seemed to make their appearances and the moon had settled high into the night sky. She didn't bother with music either. She just strolled, letting the sounds around her and the pavement under the soles of her shoes drive her thoughts.

Sometimes she ventured over to the Northside and roamed around the nicer neighborhoods. She liked to imagine what it would be like to live in all that space, a real bedroom with an actual closet, a bathroom with a shower, a kitchen. She marveled about what the people in those houses worried about. Perhaps if there too many weeds in their flower beds? Whether or not the AC worked in those hot summer months? If the paint on their vinyl siding matched their front doors?

She turned down a familiar street, noticing a bunch of commotion further up. Archie's house, all lit up, music blaring boisterously, and yelling and cheering from a multitude of people somewhere either in the house or in the backyard.

A typical Friday night. She mused to herself. Then her thoughts drifter to Jughead. He disdained any type of antics like that, or at least he had. He preferred his coffee, his laptop, and solitude. Was he there at the party? Was Betty with him?

With the mental mention of Betty, she shook her head, physically trying to shake the thought right out of her head. She didn't want to visualize any of it.

Always driven by her curiosity, she inched closer to the house, trying to catch the conversations of the drunken teens bellowing outside and see if she recognized anyone. Everyone seemed to be either outside in the back or still inside, and the music only made it harder to pick out voices and specific conversations. She lingered for a few moments more before turning around to walk back home.

I wish I was braver. She found herself thinking. If I were, I would crash the party. But I couldn't possibly just show up to a Northsider's house, no, Archie's house and just grab a drink and join in. I'd stick out like a sore thumb. I don't belong there.

She kicked a pebble, realizing she had been standing still in one spot under the street light, lost in her head. She sighed and urged her feet to move along, carrying the rest of her thoughts with her.

It wasn't until she was just seconds away from finally falling asleep, it dawned on her.

Today was Jughead's birthday.
Was that a party for Jughead?

Worst of all, she had completely forgotten all about his birthday.

Some friend.


Author's Note: I've been painfully busy with work, yoga, family things so I've neglected to update or even write as often as I had been. I also took an extended break because I wasn't enjoying writing and feeling stuck. BIG thank you to dragonegyptianblue for the advice and little heart-to-hearts we've had lately. I've been re-inspired and reviewing what I've written for past chapters so I may be updating as I go along. Hope you are enjoying this as much as I enjoy writing it. Thanks for tuning in 3