Work Text:
“I’ve been thinking about going back to school.”
The statement makes Sweet Pea pause, frozen while Reggie waits patiently for him to respond. The two of them are at Pops, and Sweet Pea had just taken a bite of his burger when Reggie made this announcement. A part of him thinks that the timing is intentional, and this is Reggie’s attempt to keep him from blurting out the first thought that came to his head.
What do you mean go back to school?
Sweet Pea takes his time to finish chewing and swallowing his food, thinking over what he should say.
“Oh, yeah?” The question he really wants to ask hangs in the air between them.
Reggie rolls his eyes, seeing right through him. “Yeah. When I started working for Hiram, I couldn’t balance that and school so I dropped out. I always thought I’d go back in the next few years, but it hasn’t really been in the cards before now.”
He gives a half shrug, as if to say what can you do? , but Sweet Pea can already feel a familiar sort of rage churning in his stomach. You’d think being six feet under would be enough to stop Hiram Lodge from fucking up the lives of the people around him, but apparently that’s too much to ask.
“I can’t believe that dick made you drop out of college.” Sweet Pea says, shamelessly stealing an onion ring off Reggie’s plate. Without saying anything, Reggie shoves the plate closer to him, but takes a few fries from Sweet Pea’s in retribution.
“He didn’t make me.”
Reggie’s frowning, with his eyebrows furrowed in a way that almost makes him look confused. The expression reminds Sweet Pea of Jughead, a thought that he keeps to himself. He’s pretty sure that Reggie would be offended by the comparison. He takes a few more onion rings off Reggie’s plate before pushing it back towards its rightful owner, and makes a gesture for Reggie to continue speaking while he chews.
“Toni offered me a job at Riverdale High.” Reggie says uncharacteristically softly, like he’s worried someone might overhear.
And there it is, the real reason they’re having this conversation. For someone who’s usually so upfront, Reggie really buried the lead.
“That’s great, man!” Sweet Pea reaches across the table and places his own hand on top of Reggie’s, who gives him a smile in return.
“I’d be the econ teacher, Ronnie’s old position. She got too busy with the casino and her jewelry store so she quit, and they need someone to fill in.” As he speaks, Reggie idly flips their hands over and uses his finger to draw shapes on Sweet Pea’s palm.
“So what’s the hold up?” Sweet Pea asks. “Why haven’t you taken the job?”
Reggie huffs out a sigh. “I’m not qualified to be a teacher, man. I barely even passed high school. The only reason Toni asked me is ‘cause she didn’t have any other options.”
The pieces of the puzzle start to come together in Sweet Pea’s head, snapping together as he figures out Reggie’s thought process on this. “And that’s why you want to go back to college.”
“I mean, yeah.” Reggie says. “Thought I could get my teaching degree, maybe minor in economics. I know it’d take a couple of years, but if Toni still hasn’t found an econ teacher by then, I could take the job. Or see if they need someone at Centreville High, or Stonewall or something.”
Sweet Pea grins, a deep fondness bubbling up in his chest. “I think that’s a great idea.”
His response makes Reggie look up at him in surprise, before narrowing his eyes, like he’s trying to figure out if Sweet Pea’s telling the truth or not. “Really?”
“Yeah, if this is something you want to do, then you should do it.” Sweet Pea pauses for a moment, before adding on: “And you’d definitely be the hottest teacher at Riverdale High.”
The remark has its intended effect, making Reggie bark out a shocked laugh. “Against what competition? Weatherbee? Ms. Bell?”
Leaning forward in his seat, Sweet Pea gives him a teasing smirk. “Hey, I’m not going out on dinner dates with either of them, am I?”
“I’d say that you’re a biased judge.” Reggie says, playing along.
“Maybe so.” Sweet Pea looks down at the mostly uneaten food on the table in front of them and comes to a decision. “You want to get out of here? We could take a look at the Riverdale Community College application.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” Already standing up, Sweet Pea fishes his wallet out of his pocket and throws a couple of ten dollar bills on the table. “I can’t think of a better way to spend the evening.”
He holds his hand out to Reggie, who takes it without hesitation, letting Sweet Pea pull him to his feet. Neither of them let go as Sweet Pea starts walking, leading the way out the door.