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You were screwed. As soon as the Southside students stepped foot into Riverdale High, you knew you were screwed.
He walked in with an aura that both intimidated and excited you. No one else in the array of serpents, just him. You didn’t even know his name, you just knew that he had screwed you over entirely.
You didn’t listen as Veronica greeted them; you only stared at him.
His tattoo was the first thing you noticed. It was of a serpent, right on his neck. You could feel your mouth water when he swallowed and the tattoo appeared to ripple.
His jacket was next. It draped over him so well that you could see his biceps under the leather.
His eyes came last. They were dark, both metaphorically and physically. There were heavy bags underneath them, normal for high schoolers, but his looked particularly bruised.
You were staring so intently, it took you a minute to realise that he was staring back. He gave you a subtle wink and you forced yourself to rip your eyes away.
However, your flustered state was interrupted as you heard the ever-darling Cheryl Blossom’s voice echo down the hall. She was flanked by Reggie and a few other jocks whose names were all either Chad or Brandon.
You didn’t hold back your sneer as she began to berate the new students.
“That’s enough, Cheryl. I’m sorry that you’ve never seen anyone paler than your own reflection, but you have no right to speak like that!” Cheryl’s glare shifted to you. Raising your chin as a form of a challenge, you glared back as she sauntered over.
Cheryl glanced toward the Southside students before she smirked and looked you up and down.
“Look, Little (Y/n)’s horny for some Serpents. I would be careful, I heard some of them carry diseases.” You felt Veronica’s hand on your arm as you lifted it to slap her.
“Weatherbee,” she hissed as the mentioned principal walked over. He gave a mini-speech and ordered the rest of them to class. You huffed and muttered under your breath,
“Mans looks and sounds like an over-boiled egg.” You heard a chuckle to your left and saw the very boy you’d been ogling standing there.
“I heard from Ms. Moneybags that you’re part of my welcoming committee. Care to show me around?” You had to both swallowed and cleared your throat before you could respond.
“O-Of course! I’m (Y/n) (L/n), sophomore.” Holding your hand out, you realized far too late that it was shaking terribly. The boy quirked an eyebrow.
“Scared to touch a Serpent?” You shook your head violently,
“No! It-It’s just that I’m a bit nervous around attractive people.” Nope. You wanted to bolt within the same second. You began to retract your hand in order to sprint, but the boy chuckled and took it in his much larger one.
“Thanks. Sweet Pea, also a sophomore.” You were so traumatized that you could barely shake his hand back.
“Now, let’s get on with this tour.” You nodded and tried to control the hurricane that was wreaking havoc in your chest.
-
You were very pleased to know that you had two classes with Sweet Pea –AP Literature and Honors Calculus– one on each block day.
Today, you had Literature.
You were definitely more excited for your class than normal. However, you were more than a little disappointed at your teacher’s new seating arrangement.
You sat in the third row to the right, and you learned quickly that Sweet Pea sat in the third row, as well, but two seats behind yours.
You didn’t realise until you had to pass an assignment sheet to the student behind you, but your teacher had placed all of the Serpents in the back of the room.
After class, you decided to swallow down your nervousness and walked toward Sweet Pea first.
“Hey, Sweet Pea.” Sweet Pea looked away from another Serpent to give you a small smile.
“Sup, (Y/n)?” You physically corrected your tongue from tying inside of your throat.
“I-I just wanted to see how your second day went. Better from the first, I hope?” Sweet Pea chuckled and crossed his arms in front of his chest.
That’s when you noticed what was missing.
“Well, I-”
“Where’s your jacket?” Sweet Pea visibly grimaced once you interrupted him.
“Weatherbee claims it’s gang paraphernalia. No more Serpent jackets on campus.” Your heart sunk into your stomach.
“O-Oh. I’m sorry.” Your eyes fell to the floor as you began to stitch a sentence together that might resolve the tension dripping in the air. You didn’t notice Sweet Pea do it for you.
“Hey, how ‘bout, to make it up to me, you help me catch up on all this assigned reading. It sounds awful.” You glanced back up and met his eyes. They were lit with a warmth that you hadn’t seen before. Not in anyone.
-
You felt your palms grow sweaty as you anxiously glanced toward the door. The bell was going to ring any second, now and Sweet Pea was nowhere to be seen.
Fortunately, your calculus teacher didn’t have assigned seating, so you’d chosen a seat in the back of the class that no one sat in. The fact that there was an equally empty seat beside yours was completely coincidental.
A part of you had given up and accepted that Sweat Pea probably hadn’t come to school today after the tagging incident. While you mentally chewed Cheryl and Reggie out, you ignored the ringing of the bell that would have confirmed your disappointment.
If only you’d also paid attention to the student beside you.
“Morning.” Your eyes shifted to your right to identify the owner of the voice that just greeted you.
“Good morning, Sweet Pea.” Your smile fell when you saw what he was wearing.
It was a white turtleneck underneath a Riverdale-signature navy blue polo. While, yes, he looked stunningly attractive, (only Sweet Pea could pull off the most atrocious clothes to be sewn) you were appalled. Mostly, at the coverage of his tattoo.
Sweet Pea noticed your shock almost instantly.
“I’m assuming you’re not a fan of the new threads?” You had to ignore the fact that his voice had such a rich timbre in the morning.
“W-Why did you cover up your tattoo?” Sweet Pea smirked before he responded,
“Well, Principal Weatherbee or –as you call him– over-boiled egg, instructed that all tattoos must be covered; ‘gang paraphernalia,’ if you recall. The clothes are just an added insult to injury.” You sighed at his words.
“I’m so sorry.” Sweet Pea scoffed amicably.
“For what? It’s not your fault that I’m a ‘menace to society.’“ You shook your head and turned your torso to face him in full.
“No, you’re not! Weatherbee’s only trying to get you to conform to Riverdale’s insane-”
“Ms. (L/n)!” Your head jerked to the front of the classroom where your teacher held up her attendance notebook. Embarrassment rushed through your face as all eyes were now on you. Shame ran alongside it, as you loved your calculus teacher and you could see in her face that she was exhausted.
“I’ve called your name four times, now.” You glanced down before making eye contact once more.
“I-I’m sorry, Ms. Johnson,” you called, forcing yourself to raise your voice from the back of the class.
“It’s fine. But, darling, why are you sitting so far? You normally sit in the front.” You didn’t have to turn your head to know that Sweet Pea’s eyes were on you.
“No reason.” You whispered that time.
-
“Ugh, are you kidding me?” You turned to see Sweet Pea dropping his head.
“That bad?” Sweet Pea nodded. You didn’t have to crane your neck very far to read his score. You grimaced as you saw the 68% carved into the paper in red sharpie.
“What happened? You did so well on the last test.” Sweet Pea raised his head and shrugged.
“I don’t know. I think I might need a tutor.” Your heart rate accelerated significantly. This is your chance! Go for it! you thought to yourself.
“Maybe I could tutor you. I-If you’d like to, of course.” You swore that Sweet Pea’s eyes lit up.
“Sure. Does today after school work?” Your heartbeat was now audible behind your eardrums. Perhaps your deafness was the reason for your outburst,
“Y-Yeah!” I hate myself. You could definitely hear Sweet Pea’s chuckle over the muffling of your humiliation.
-
“Veronica, I’m not sure I can do this,” you rambled, pulling at the sleeve of your sweater until you could feel the thinned out strands.
“C’mon, (Y/n). He’s just a guy and you’re just going to tutor him for– what? Fifteen minutes?”
“An hour Veronica! He also mentioned that his synthesis essay needed some revision and-and I just offered! I’m totally gonna say something stupid and consecutively die of embarrassment.” You collapsed onto the couch, bouncing slightly before allowing your limbs to go limp.
“(Y/n)? Look at me.” You rolled your head to see Veronica in –what you’ve labeled as– her therapist pose; hands clasped in front of her chest with her elbows rested on her crossed legs.
“You are a gorgeous, intelligent, and strong woman. And you are going to tutor that mega-hot Serpent and in return, he’ll ask you out and the two of you will live happily ever after.” Chuckling, you sat back up and faced your friend properly.
“Alright. Thank you, Ronnie. Now, not to be rude, but Sweet Pea’s going to be here in about-”
“I’m already gone.” Veronica read social cues so well. You were almost envious.
-
“Okay. Then, if you use the natural log, here, you’ll be able to find the derivative.” You held your breath as Sweet Pea leaned in to write in your instructions. When you finally inhaled, however, you were taken aback by his scent.
He smells so good, you thought to yourself, How on earth does he smell so alluring and se-
“Like this?” You were torn from your thoughts as Sweet Pea held up the worksheet. Giving it a glance-over, you found that all of the required steps were organized vertically and easy to follow.
“Yeah! Sweet Pea, your work is almost flawless. It’s hard to believe that you’re struggling with it.” Sweet Pea’s eyes darted back down to the sheet of paper in your hand.
“I guess I’m just bad at taking tests.” You noticed the way his voice got noticeably smaller. You idiot. He’s probably embarrassed, now.
“You know, it’s nothing to be ashamed of.” His auburn eyes met yours, holding a glint of something that you couldn’t identify.
“What?”
“Yeah. I used to be terrible at taking tests. And, because each test is about 60% of my final grade, it really hit me hard.” Sweet Pea nodded and leaned back on the couch.
“Oh. How’d you get over it?” You simply shrugged and looked over the sheet, once more.
“It sort of depends on the person. I began preparing based on what I predicted would be on the test. Or, I’d make a TL;DR cheat sheet to study with on the day of. It all depends on you, really.” You turned back up to look at Sweet Pea.
Crap.
He had leaned in while you were explaining. He was mere centimeters away. His eyes were boring into yours.
With one breath, time stood still.
You took a mental photograph of this moment; his slightly furrowed brow, the way that the sunlight poured liquid gold into his irises, and the tattoo that was peaking out of his flannel collar.
“You okay?” You blinked and nodded, well aware that your staring was terribly blatant. Releasing a breath that you didn’t realise you were holding, you replied,
“Uh, yeah. S-Sorry, if I rambled and suddenly went silent.” Sweet Pea flashed a small smile.
“Nah. It’s kind of cute.”
In that one sentence, you were harshly reminded of the fact that you were screwed.
Maybe now in more than one way.
“Huh, what’s this? Ms. (L/n) hanging out with a Serpent?” You went tense as you recognized the voice of, none other than, Reggie Mantle.
You had known Reggie since freshman year. While you’d never gotten into any arguments of fights with him, after many unwanted advances, you knew well to keep your distance. Now, with his anti-Serpent agenda in place, your distrust of him only festered.
“I’m tutoring Sweet Pea in Calculus. Aren’t you still in Algebra, Reggie?” Reggie’s jaw tightened.
“At least I’m not the one gagging on a Serpent as an extra-credit assignment.”
Compared to the previous moment with Sweet Pea, this one happened too fast for you to recall.
Almost within the blink of an eye, Sweet Pea had launched himself at Reggie and tackled him to the ground, knocking down a stool in the process. You swallowed to bite back a scream, knowing that if Weatherbee got involved, Sweet Pea would receive the bulk of the punishment.
The next moment was equally as urgent, but time resumed in lockstep with your mind.
“Sweet Pea!” You ran over as you shouted, prompting Sweet Pea to pause. You knelt down beside the two of them. The lounge was silent minus the panting of all three of you.
You tentatively placed a hand on Sweet Pea’s shoulder. You felt the strained muscles underneath your palm relax.
“Please, Sweet Pea. Please, stop.” Without so much as a word, Sweet Pea threw Reggie onto the carpet and stormed off.
“Sweet Pea, wai-” You were cut off by Reggie’s hand grasping your forearm.
You hadn’t noticed the blood.
Reggie’s nose and cheeks were covered in the ichor which was now spilling onto his shirt and your sleeve.
“O-Oh my goodness, Reggie! Are you alright!?” Reggie sat up and reached for a nearby trash bin, spitting out blood.
“That friggin’ Serpent’s gonna get it! First, he’s pulling moves on a Northsider and now this!?” You took a nervous inhale before you spoke,
“To be fair, you did provoke him, Reggie.” Reggie’s dark eyes were on yours.
“Are you defending him!?” Scoffing, you stood up and crossed your arms taught over your chest.
“Well, Reg, you’re not the hero, here! You were very rude and extremely inappropriate!” Reggie shook his head as he listened to you.
“Hey! I’m not the one getting all handsy with a snake!” You huffed before collecting you and Sweet Pea’s homework.
“Whatever. Next time, I’m not going to stop him.”
-
You took in a shaky breath as you approached the trailer— you got the address from Jughead.
Okay, give him his homework, apologize for Reggie, get out. And maybe ask him out along the way. With a game plan in mind, your knuckles rapped against the faded, white door. Light spilled from the door as it opened, revealing Sweet Pea; his jacket no longer gracing his body, leaving him only in a tank top. While your heart grieved for the absence of the signature material, it also tightened at the sight of his naked biceps.
“(Y/n)? What are you doing here?” You cleared your throat before holding out his notebook.
“Y-You forgot your homework.” Sweet Pea’s expression remained skeptical as he gingerly took the material from you.
“Thanks.” An awkward silence fell over the two of you. You opened your mouth to speak, but Sweet Pea spoke before you,
“I’m sorry. For the Reggie thing. Sometimes I let my anger get the best of me, when it really shouldn’t.” Taking a moment to process, you nodded in silent reply.
“Do you wanna come in? It’s freezing out here.” You hadn’t noticed before, but the cold was chilling you to the bone. You nodded as he stepped aside to allow you into the small trailer.
Warmth drew relief as the door shut behind you. Glancing around, Sweet Pea’s trailer was surprisingly clean. You tried not to make assumptions, but you had an older brother, who lived like a pig. In the living room, there was an old couch set before a box television and a wooden coffee table. In the middle of the trailer was a small half-kitchen and a yellowing fridge. You noted the sweet smell emitting from the silver pot over the stove.
“Were you cooking?” Sweet Pea shook his head before walking over and turning off the flame.
“Nah, just making some hot chocolate.” To be completely honest, your heart rate accelerated at the seemingly mundane statement.
A man who’s clean and can cook? The only thing that would make him more attractive would be actual interest in me. You were forced to fixate your thoughts back onto reality when Sweet Pea asked,
“Want some?” You nodded slightly overenthusiastically prompting Sweet Pea to chuckle and shake his head.
Why am I an actual idiot? you thought to yourself. Sweet Pea poured your mug and his before leading you over to the couch.
“Thank you, so much.” Sweet Pea leaned back into the couch cushion as he took a sip of the hot chocolate.
“So, I’m guessing that you didn’t just swing by in 3-inch snow just to drop off my homework, huh?” Your eyes flickered down to your mug before you spoke.
“I was just hoping to apologize.”
“For what?” Your gaze remained on the two floating marshmallows.
“For Reggie, for the Northside, everything, I guess.” Sweet Pea laughed,
“Why on earth would you, of all people, apologize? You’re, like, the only good thing about that school.” While you raised your eyes at that, Sweet Pea’s darted to the ground. “I-I mean, you’re just the best part of my day, y’know? W-Wait.” Your lips grew to form a small grin at Sweet Pea’s uncharacteristic demeanor.
“You too, Sweet Pea.” The Serpent looked up at you and rubbed at the back of his neck.
“Th-Thanks.” You let out a small chuckle. For a moment, the scene felt completely serene and natural. The two of you just enjoying the other’s presence, drinking hot chocolate. It was simply perfect.
“Can I ask you something?” Sweet Pea asked. You nodded.
“Why have you been so nice to me? I’ve been thinking it through and I just don’t get it.” The question caught you off-guard. You knew you couldn’t be honest with him; “I somehow fell in love with you the moment I saw you,” didn’t seem like the best option.
“I-I don’t know.”
“Could I take a guess?” The smirk adorning his face made you slightly nervous.
“Okay.”
“’Cause you were checking me out the first day, right?” You nearly choked on the drink as Sweet Pea spoke. Coughing a little bit, you finally took an intake of breath and replied.
“N-Not just that. I mean, yes, I thought you were hot, that wasn’t the only reason I liked you.” No going back, now.
“You like me?” This is so high school.
“Yes.” Sweet Pea grinned and set his mug down onto the coffee table.
“I do, too.” Your chest nearly imploded as Sweet Pea grew closer to you, his eyes flicking down to your lips.
“If we’re apologizing though, I do have a confession to make.” Waving away fantasies of him confessing his feelings for you, you cleared your throat.
“What?”
“I’m actually great at math. Like, really good.” You laughed and placed your mug down next to his.
“I think you still might need some help, though. Just in case.” Your arms wrapped around his neck and his hands met your waist. His lips ghosted over yours as he spoke.
“And I think I know just the tutor.”
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