And so another morning started at the Blackwood household. We sat around the table, ate pancakes covered in syrup, ignoring the elephant slowly sneaking into the room. Mouthful by mouthful, the tension in the air increased. But both Ben and I chose to overlook it for as long as we could. It was like a game. I knew it. He knew it. The first person to talk about it would lose. This elephant? My bedroom. Ben saw it this morning.
He tried to act like he didn't see it. But when I came downstairs in my running gear, ready to take off, he spoke up and told me I was going to be sitting through breakfast. I ended up eating, of course, but I wouldn't let him publicly have anything on me. Once I'd eaten a small portion, I pushed up from the table. "Okay, I'm going now," I announced, still chewing my last bite as I made for the door. "I'll be back in an hour!"
"Hey- since when do you run, anyway?" Ben asked.
I stopped at the open door, about to push open the screen door, and turned halfway to see him. His arm was resting on the back of his chair. His face said he was trying to act casual about the big changes. Trying to make them seem smaller so they were less he had to deal with. "This morning," was my answer. I smiled, and gave a wave. Then I was off. I pushed through and made my way down the walkway and stairs in a light jog. I would've taken Killer—our German Shepard—with me, but he was zonked out on the couch, so I didn't bother.
There was no way I was jogging on the North side. Not with the prying eyes of my classmates. They would see my Serpent tattoo. I would feel too subconscious, I knew. I would second guess myself and retreat. My feet broke into a run as I hit the sidewalk and I was truly on my way. My thought process for this endeavor was purely a selfish one. There were many benefits I could see for daily exercise. The biggest perk would be a tie between a smaller waist line and more energy for Polo.
My running gear was more for the future than anything else. I was only just firm enough in the stomach to pull off running in a sports bra and shorts. My hair was in a pony tail, bouncing at my shoulders with every new stride. To say I felt pretty good about my first day running was an understatement. When I crossed the line to the South side, I felt even better. I felt like I could relax. I took a straight shot through, planning to pass the Wyrm, and circle back just past it.
It would have worked. If I wasn't out of shape. I needed to stop for a short rest. I was almost to the Wyrm, but not quite, so I slowed to a stop at the nearest street corner. Setting unrealistic goals for myself was becoming my super power. I was exhausted, resting my palms on my hips, gulping in deep breaths of fresh air. I lifted my wrist to check my watch. It had only been fifteen minutes. This, in my mind, was pathetic. I was kicking myself for a solid thirty seconds.
That is, until I was interrupted by a solid whistle. It sounded close by. My eyes scanned the street, but they didn't need to for long. Just across the street, on the left side, was a group of younger looking Serpents. And when I say younger, I mean at least sixteen. At least that's how they looked from over on my side. Among the bikers stood a familiar bean pole, his jaw slanted in a smiling smirk. "Lookin' good, D," he hollered across the street.
I rested my fists on my hips. "Really? You've stooped to cat calling now?"
"Hey, I'm just stating a fact," Sweet Pea held up his hands in surrender, but still held his smile.
"Well, if I look so good, why don't you come join me?"
He wrinkled his nose, quirking his lips in an expression. "You see, I'm not really the running type."
"Oh, okay," I let my arms fall, taking a step back and turning partially toward the street corner. "Then I guess you'll just have to admire from afar, yeah?"
"Wouldn't miss it."
His smirk returned and a blistering feeling spread across my skin as a Cheshire smile ripped it's way across my lips. I shook my head, laughing as I checked the road for cars. Then I was running again. My feet had a certain bounce to them, a weightlessness I couldn't explain at the time. Looking back on it, deep down I knew exactly what it was. But I didn't want to admit it to myself. Sweet Pea was an active Serpent living on the South side.
I was literally a wolf in sheep's clothing trying to be a North sider at Riverdale High. There was no way a relationship like that could work without ending in some kind of Shakespearean mutual suicide fueled by a Romeo and Juliet love affair. Right? That would be the reasonable thing to assume? Apparently it wasn't reasonable enough. Because just after sundown, I got dressed to head to the Whyte Wyrm.
Denim cut-off shorts—an American flag print across the front, studs on the back pockets—that were honestly a little too tight considering I bought them when I was fourteen, a black t-shirt that kept tight across my collar bones but ended an inch above my navel, my ripped up converse, and one final touch to complete it. But that would come after my makeup. I didn't put on anything flashy or strenuous—I wasn't the tedious designs type.
I went with neutral tones for a light but smokey eye shadow and a bit of lip gloss. This was something I would've worn to school two years ago, let alone the Wyrm. I hadn't gone full Serpent in a long time. But it was long over do. I left the bathroom and went straight to the desk. My Serpent jacket had been hanging on the back of my office chair for over a year. It was time it reunited with my shoulders. My fingers tugged it off the back of the chair.
A wave of momentary dizziness hit me, followed immediately by a rush of adrenaline. It felt so good and I hadn't even put it on yet. That changed in a millisecond, when I slid my arms into the sleeves, and shrugged it up onto my shoulders. It fit perfectly, even a little loosely. Instinctively, I twisted to see the closed bedroom door behind me. Cash was in bed sleeping and I knew Ben turned out his light every night at eight—in a half hour.
The last time I'd snuck out of the house was for initiation, three years ago. This was a whole new ballgame. But there was something freeing, something exciting about easing open my window's wide door and climbing out onto the over hang of the back porch. I was careful to close the window behind me. If Ben found out I did this, if he knew I put the jacket back on, he would never let me out of the house again. So I walked on egg shells across the dark backyard to the fence door.
On the other side, I was breathing heavily, my heart pounding against my rib cage. My pulse thumped rapidly in my ears. I'm going to get in trouble. It was the only thing I could think about. Mostly because I had to sneak through the neighborhood like some lowly thief so that no one would see me in the middle of the night wearing a Serpent jacket. It was ridiculous. I couldn't help but think that if I lived at my house, on the South side, I wouldn't have to sneak out at all.
My dad probably would've been the one to introduce me to the younger Serpents. "You need to surround yourself with people that will support you," he would've said. "Your Serpent brothers and sisters are the best you're gonna get around here." And he would have been right. Serpents are humans that make mistakes like the rest of the world. But there's a certain value of loyalty that you can't find in a North side High School.
North siders are full of themselves because they have the money to be. They don't know real struggle. People like Archie Andrews capture your heart and then break it when it suits him. People like Veronica Lodge are the reason girls get their heart broken by guys like Archie Andrews. The Blossoms are just there for their looks and their money. Don't get me started on the Coopers—more specifically, Alice Cooper. Talk about HBIC.
I'd only been over to Betty's house once and it was enough to make me never want to go back again. It was too stressful. Alice Cooper is the most interrogative North sider I have ever come across. One of the only North siders I like is Jughead. And technically he's not even a North sider. Not by blood, anyway. The adrenaline in my veins was causing my hands to shake lightly at my sides, crossing the street to the Wyrm's door.
As I pushed it open, a number of heads turned. But that was standard procedure. The number of heads that stayed were due to the sheer surprise in seeing me there, wearing what I was wearing. No one had seen me in it for over a year. It seemed to surprise a lot of people that I was back with it. I let the door fall closed behind me. Just as it thudded closed, I heard my name, coming from a voice that sent bumps up my covered arms.
My head instinctively turned toward the sound, finding the source almost instantly. It was him. Sweet Pea started walking toward me from the left and I turned to face him. "Thought I wouldn't show?" I asked, a small smile quirking the corners of my lips.
"I knew you would," he smirked, coming to a stop a foot from me. "Just didn't think you'd be dressed like that."
The smile on my lips widened as I tugged at the lapels of my Serpent jacket pointedly. "Me neither. Got to admit it looks good on me, though."
He took a step forward, left shoulder aligned with my right one, and he leaned close. "Something tells me," his voice was a husky whisper against my ear. "Anything would look good on you." My cheeks blistered but, thankfully for me, he didn't see. Sweet Pea walked behind me toward the right side of the pool table. The pair of lungs in my chest were broken. Forcing myself to breathe a little faster to make them work, I turned to face the table.
Maybe this was a mistake for the sake of my poor, unprepared body. Last time I was this attracted to someone he broke my heart. And now my lungs are broken, too. What body part will burst into flames next? My liver? I kind of need that organ. "You play?" Sweet Pea asked, gesturing to the table with one hand while grabbing a cue stick with the other.
"What kind of a question is that?" I countered, rhetorically. "I was playing pool while still in diapers."
I walked around the pool table to the rack and he handed me a stick, then grabbed another for himself. He smirked down at me, "You should win with no problem, then."
"Yes. Yes, I should," I nodded once. Sidestepping once, I moved around to the left side of the pool table while Sweet Pea rounded up the balls from the table top. The unfortunate thing for me about this scenario was that I actually hadn't played pool since I first left the South side two years ago. The basic knowledge of the game doesn't really go away, but the technique fades with each passing day until you're swinging the stick like a dying duck.
There was a lot more riding on this game than my pride. The break sunk a solid so, unfortunately, I was stripes. Stripes and I never had any luck together. But I kept my chin up and pretended like I wasn't about to bail through the back window, taking my turn when he didn't sink anything on the next go. I tried to look relaxed, bending and lining up my shot. There was no strategy to this. It was sink or be sunk. My stick hit the cue ball, sending it into the red-striped eleven.
The eleven just barely made it in the far corner pocket, but it looked better than his first shot. I stood up straight, giving a triumphant closed-mouthed smile, and stepped past Sweet Pea to line up my next shot. "Yeah, keep smiling," he taunted, light-heartedly, as I walked past him. "I haven't even made my move yet."
"I'm trembling," I bit my lip in concentration.
I slid the cue stick a little on my finger, readjusting. Then I sunk the green-striped fourteen. After my third ball, I just barely missed and my turn was over. Sweet Pea moved around the table to the cue ball. It had bounced back toward me a bit, so he came to stand almost directly to my right. I moved left a step, but otherwise didn't move. Just watched. One hand on my cue stick, the other on the edge of the table, practically breathing down his neck.
It wasn't hard to tell he was aiming for the orange five. But the cue ball missed it completely, therefore missing the shot completely. He stood up a little, twisting to see me, exhaling. "You're cheating," he said, looking at me seriously.
"How am I cheating?" I rose an eyebrow.
He smirked a little, "How am I supposed to focus when you're standing so close to me?"
"Oh, no- that's all you. I'm just standing here minding my own business. You've just got to find a way to live with it, Sweets."
I'd said the word before I truly thought about it. His head tilted a fraction of an inch, eyes narrowing. "What did you just call me?"
"I believe I said 'Sweets'," I repeated it, a bit timidly. "What? Should I not call you that-?"
"No, I like it when you say it."
He shook his head with an airy chuckle, and all I could manage was a small hiccup of one. Suddenly I didn't know how I was going to focus standing so close, either. Because I wasn't focusing. Not on anything other than his lit up eyes and chest piercing smile. That all washed away in a split second. "Looks like you two are having fun," a familiar voice came from the right.
My head instantly turned that way, but I could tell it was FP by the somewhat sarcastic tone to his voice. I subconsciously took one step backward, distancing myself from Sweet Pea a little more. "Hey, FP," I greeted, slightly monotone. "Long time, no see."
FP took a couple slow steps toward us, stopping less than three feet away. He looked right at me. "What are you doing here, kid?" he asked, his voice quieted but still serious.
"Hanging out…? Sweet Pea said I should come by, and I thought it would be nice to stay for a little while when I came to visit," I answered, trying to put most of the blame on me.
Yes, Sweet Pea was also a Serpent. But he was a male. If FP thought I was only breaking the rules—sneaking out, risking everything I have—because of some boy whispering in my ear, that boy would have hell to pay, no matter where he came from. FP hummed a little, before nodding to himself. "If I remember correctly, your curfew was at seven-thirty," he said, his voice returning to normal volume. "Wanna tell me why you're here at nine-thirty?"
I sighed, my shoulders relaxing. But then I squared them as my mind suddenly changed itself, and looked FP square in the eyes with a neutral expression. "I'm being myself. When I'm here, I'm where I belong," I said, certainly. "No one saw me, no one knows I'm gone. If Ben finds out—I'll take the heat."
He eyed me a quiet moment, and I swallowed under his scrutinizing gaze. Then he stood back on his heels after huffing a patronizing chuckle, like it was somehow amusing to him. He turned to Sweet Pea. "Take her home, and don't bring her back here after dark again. Understand?" His tone was serious but it wasn't a reprimand. It was a warning. One not to be taken lightly, I knew.
Sweet Pea nodded and FP began to walk away. But, before he did, he looked at me over his shoulder, eyes connecting with mine as he said, "I expect better from you, Diana Jane." And then he went into the back room. I deflated with an exhale. I know he did expect better from me. But he didn't know what it was like to live on the North, so far away from the people that make up my very abnormal family. Either way, North side Diana rose up in me, putting the cue stick on the table.
"I guess I'm going home," I said, glancing up at Sweet Pea.
I couldn't quite tell what he was thinking. His expression looked slightly perturbed, and I completely understood why. Sometimes it was nice when FP acted like my father. Other times it was downright obnoxious. But it didn't matter how we felt about the order. If FP gave it, we have to comply, or we'd suffer his wrath. He looks like a drunk that just stumbled out from the bar after three years but his bite was way worse than his bark.
Sweet Pea walked me out of the Wyrm and to his motorcycle. Though I'd apologized for FP's overprotective strictness, he said he understood. Even found a way to flirt with me over it. But it still bugged me that our time was cut short in such an abrupt way. As usual, the motorcycle ride was probably the highlight of my day. I couldn't tell if it was because I liked being on a motorcycle, or if I liked being on a motorcycle with Sweet Pea.
There was something about resting my chin on his shoulder, keeping my arms tight around his middle, with nothing but the sound of the wind whipping at my ears. We stopped at the usual spot just down the sidewalk from my house. The bike was too loud to get any closer. I pried myself away and climbed off, stepping up onto the sidewalk, as soon as the bike was off. My hands dug deep into my leather pockets as I turned to face him.
"Sorry, again, about FP," I apologized, for probably the millionth time. "I don't know why he gets so God Father with me."
Sweet Pea shook his head, wearing a loose smirk. "It's okay, I get it. He just wants to keep you safe."
Though his expression was rather loose, his words were tight with a certain seriousness, a certain depth. For a second it had me wondering what he meant by it. But I forced myself to move on, seeing as I was almost three hours past curfew and we both had school the next morning. "Well, thanks for giving me a ride," I said, smiling a little. I took two steps away. "Goodnight."
"Diana, wait."
I was already pausing, turning back around, when I felt a grip on my wrist. One strong tug pulled me toward him. And this was it. This was the moment I was looking for in my life—the one where everything went wrong. Because he gripped my denim covered hips and devoured my lips while my hands were gripping locks of his hair. I didn't know how one thing had lead to another in that moment.
How a small touching of lips had turned into the deepest kiss i'd ever had. But when it was over, his forehead touched mine, my hands resting against his jawline and neck. "Wanna have dinner with me tomorrow night?" his voice was worn through, softened to a level i'd never heard him use before. It turned my stomach with the heat it brought to my skin.
I was breathless when I replied, "Yes."