Chapter 10: Awkward Conversations

Ali grabbed her jacket and walked down the stairs to the kitchen. Once the curly haired girl walked into the room she saw her father sitting at the kitchen table with the newspaper open. Cecile was making her way to the table with her bowl of oatmeal and fruit in her hands. Ali walked over to the already made cup of tea that waited for her on the counter and brought it over to the table where her slice of toast was waiting.

"You were out late last night." Cecile stated as she began to eat her oatmeal. Theo's ears perked up as he heard this information. He placed the paper down on the table in order to give his full attention to the conversation.

"I thought you wanted me to be social." Ali said as she took a bite of her toast.

"I was just surprised that you didn't come home right away. You've been coming home everyday at the same time like clockwork." Cecile said.

"You complain when I'm here and then you complain when I'm not here." Ali sighed as she finished her toast and began to drink her tea.

"Now, now. Let's not have a fight before you leave for school." Theo interjected as he cradled his mug of coffee in his hands.

"I don't want a fight. I'm just stating a fact." Ali pointed out as she pulled out her phone. Her eyes glanced over the time that showed and realized that she needed to get a move on for school.

"I need to get going." Ali gulped down the warm tea and quickly stood up from her seat. She grabbed her backpack that was resting by the wall and placed it on her back.

"Have a good day, mon chou." Theo called out to Ali as she made her way to the door.

"I will! Bye you two!" Ali stepped out of the house and began to walk to school. Her headphones made their way into her ears, so the sound of music could drown out the outside world.

Ali was ticking off ways that she could avoid Betty and Veronica today. After the incident yesterday, Ali made it her mission to stay far away from those individuals. When Ali arrived at school she decided that she would quickly go to her locker and grab what she needed for class, so she could leave without Betty or Veronica seeing her. Her fingers quickly unlocked the lock and she grabbed her textbooks before closing the door. She believed that she was all in the clear, but when she turned around she was met with Veronica and Betty. Ali pulled out her headphones and activated plan B: Act Dumb.

"Hi Ali!" Veronica greeted the girl with the mysterious background.

"Hi Veronica, Betty." Ali said.

"How are you today?" Veronica asked.

"I'm good. You know, just hating school as per usual. How are you guys?" Ali leaned against the lockers.

"We're good. Just tired." Veronica answered.

"English is brutal right now with the essays on Shakespeare." Betty added.

"I find English kind of easy." Ali added.

"Anyways, I have to get going to class-"

"Actually, we wanted to ask you something." Veronica stopped Ali when she grabbed a hold of her arm. Ali looked at Veronica's hand with a shocked expression and Veronica quickly retreated.

"What is it?"

"We wanted to talk to you about what we saw yesterday?" Betty quietly asked, so only the three girls could hear what she had said.

"What do you mean?" Ali raised an eyebrow as she looked at the two girls in front of her. Veronica and Betty exchanged looks as Ali's eyes began to dart around her. She needed a friendly face that she could run to in order to avoid this conversation.

"Ali, we saw your back." Veronica spoke in a hushed tone as she leaned closer to Ali. Then a very familiar laugh was heard from down the hall. Ali's eyes quickly darted over and saw Reggie standing with one of the other boys from the football team. Ali mentally cursed as she realized what she was about to do.

"Oh, that's Reggie. I said that I'd go see him before class. We have a chem assignment to do." Ali lied through her teeth as she moved away from the two girls and waved at them. "I'll talk to you guys later!" Ali then quickly made her way to Reggie. She walked up to him and grabbed his hand. Reggie was shocked at Ali's bold move and looked at his buddy with a grin on his face. Ali clearly wanted Reggie now! She pulled him away from his friend without a single word.

"Woah! What're you doing Ali? Didn't get enough of me yesterday?" Reggie flirted with the girl as he pulled his hand free, so he could wrap it around her shoulders.

"I'm using you in order to get myself out of an uncomfortable situation. Don't flatter yourself." Ali snapped. She was not in the mood for anything fun. She didn't understand why Veronica and Betty would be so interested in her life and her back. What's happened to Ali is none of their business and she was planning on keeping it that way.

"What's wrong, Ali? I don't like seeing you upset." Reggie was concerned for Ali. He saw that she had crease lines on her forehead from her brain going into overdrive.

"It's okay, Reggie." Ali raised her hand and swatted away at his concern, but he stopped in the hallway and grabbed her wrist.

"What're you doing?" Ali asked as Reggie pulled her along and went around a nearby corner in order to arrive at the men's change room. He quickly ushered Ali into the room and closed the door behind him.

"Reggie, what the fuck?" Ali raised her arms as she pointed out the obvious – she was in the men's change room.

"What's wrong, Ali?" Reggie was very stubborn and didn't like seeing Ali upset. He didn't know her very well, but he liked her. Reggie felt his heart jump every time he saw her. His stomach would twist into knots every time she said a flirtatious comment to him or when she would look at him with a smile on her face. These feelings were the reasons as to why he could never see her upset.

"It's nothing." Ali answered.

"Look, I want to help." Reggie took a few steps closer to Ali. He placed her hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes. Ali's heart began to beat faster in her chest. Her breathing began to slow down and get trapped in her throat as she looked at his face. They were so close. His lips were full, his jawline was sharp, his eyes were intense and his hair…oh his hair…Ali mentally slapped herself again. She couldn't fall for a guy right now, she had just moved here! She also didn't want to bring Reggie into her messed up life. He was privileged and she wanted him to end up with a nice girl who would keep that balance for him.

"I can't help you if you don't tell me." "I don't like Veronica and Betty that much." Ali wasn't completing lying. She was just going to withhold the truth from him. He didn't need to know the whole story.

"That's what's bothering you?" Reggie was dumbfounded by her response. Why would Ali be so bothered by Veronica and Betty?

"They're trying so hard to be my friends and I don't like it." Ali sighed. Reggie began to laugh at her answer. He was concerned that something major had happened to the girl in front of him, but instead it was something to simple.

"What're you laughing at?"

"I was just so worried! Do you want me to talk to them? We're friends…kind of. Well, Archie is a good friend of mine and he's dating Veronica, so I could talk to him?" Reggie suggested. Ali was slightly flattered by the fact that Reggie wanted to help that badly.

"It's okay. I just don't have anyone to talk to about this." Ali turned down his offer.

"That's because to refuse to make friends." Reggie pointed out the obvious. He was right – Ali didn't make any friends since she's started school and she never planned on making any. She would still text and call her friends back home, but she never bothered with making friends in Riverdale. She found it pointless.

"That's because I don't need to have any friends." Ali retorted.

"If that were true then you wouldn't be standing in front of me right now, now would you?" Reggie asked.

"You dragged me in here. I didn't ask to come here." Ali raised an eyebrow as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Touché. Either way, you can always talk to me. That's why you have my number." Ali shrugged her shoulders in order for Reggie to drop his hands from her shoulders.

"I'm going to go to class." Ali said.

"Thanks for the advice." Ali began walking past Reggie before he grabbed onto her wrist.

"Can I help you?" Ali looked over her shoulder at Reggie.

"There's this creep running around the town, killing people. We don't know who this is or why they're doing this, but the football team is joining together in order to keep everyone safe. If you're out at night and you feel like you might be followed or any type of danger – call me." Reggie allowed the new information to escape his lips as he looked at Ali. He did just want to keep her safe.

"That's great, Reggie, but I don't think I'll need-"

"Ali." Reggie looked serious. Ali was taken aback by his sudden change of mood. She was surprised that he could be serious.

"If you need me, then call me."

"Okay." With that one word, Reggie released a sigh of relief and let go of her hand.

"We should get to our classes." Reggie pointed out.

"That's why I'm leaving." Ali smirked before she opened up the door and left Reggie in the change room – alone.

Hello! So first thing, I wanted to address a comment that I had received asking where Sweetpea is. Basically, he shows up in the next chapter (spoilers...I know). I've always been told that I make things go really fast in my previous stories, so I'm laying the proper groundwork here. My goal for this story is to make it Sweetpea and Reggie, but yes, it has only been Reggie so far because he's already at RHS with Ali. Sweetpea isn't. I think it's important to remember that Sweetpea does live in the Southside and since Ali is new, she wouldn't know. Anyways, I'll change the story to just Reggie for now and put Sweetpea back on (in the description) when I feel like he's now become a main player, okay?