"you are so dead, cooper!"
deborah cooper was your average high schooler. straight a student who could do no wrong by day, publisher of scathing articles alongside cousin betty by night. despite her cousin's numerous attempts and warnings to stop he...
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Forget diamonds, aspirin and sunglasses were her new best friends now as Debbie rubbed the temple of her forehead, desperately trying to alleviate the feeling of countless tiny hammers pounding away at her head. To make matters worse, Alice practically screamed in horror, most likely waking up the whole neighborhood when she found her lying dazed and confused at her doorstep, muttering nonsense about "peas" and "fast bikes." Needless to say, she was grounded.
Debbie grunted at every little thing that moved or made a single sound, hissing when Betty opened up a curtain. Betty raised an eyebrow. "I thought you had a hangover, not a vampire."
"Same difference," She replied, covering her eyes with a weak hand. "Draw back the curtains before I melt, please."
Debbie heard a chuckle from her cousin but at the moment, she didn't care. Besides the incessant pain in her head, however, another thing contributed to her large headache. She had been hanging out with Sweet Pea when she was at her most vulnerable, and she couldn't have news of her drinking and hanging out with a Serpent, for God's sake, escaping and entering the gossiping ears of Riverdale. In ten years, that could come back to haunt her.
Shuddering at the thought, she straightened and despite Alice's strident demand that she stayed home, Debbie picked up her car keys and headed to the Southside. She had to confront a certain, giant and raven haired Serpent.
Driving was absolute hell, but hey, she made it in one piece. During the drive, however, she strongly recalled remembering the various buildings and ramshackle houses, as if seeing through rose-tinted glasses. She shrugged it off. She probably just saw it in a dream somewhere. Besides, she had bigger problems to deal with than wondering whether or not she had seen something before.
Debbie parked a few spaces away from the Sunnyside Trailer Park, due to her fear of her car magically disappearing when she came back. Fists clenched and eyes narrow, she marched her way into the trailer park and searched for her target.
When she saw Sweet Pea, laughing it up with his Serpent buddies, her blood boiled. Some people gave her weird looks as she fumed past, probably due to the heart-shaped sunglasses and pajamas she donned, but she let them stare. It was best if she had an audience while she ripped into one of their Southside buddies. She just hoped they won't target her like they did with Archie. When she grew close, Toni, who she now knew from Jughead, motioned at her, leading Sweet Pea to raise an eyebrow, surprised that she was still in one piece. "What you doin' here, Cooper? Thought you'd learn a lesson after coming here a bunch of times. You're practically a resident here, you know that?"
Snarling, Debbie took off her sunglasses and grabbed him by the arm, leading him to a nearby alleyway where she was sure no one would hear them. She growled, looking up to him with the fiery, heated look she so often wore when provoked. "I'd rather die than be associated with you—"
"Who said anything about me? Don't tell me you already fell for me—"
"Go to hell, Sugar Pea. I merely came here to make sure you didn't tell anyone about what happened last night." Sweet Pea chuckled, almost in a mocking tone. "Not that I'd know anything because I don't know what happened."
At that, she saw his eyes glint with confusion, furrowed eyebrows and all, but he quickly shook it off. She noticed it, though. "In case you're wondering, princess—"
"Don't call me that."
"We didn't do anything. I'd never go for a cynical, sheltered, uptight little girl who barely knows what she's doing. All you and I did were drink a couple bottles together, then I helped you back to your weird looking house." Sweet Pea confirmed, though she could tell he was hiding something. Oddly though, she nodded. "I didn't tell anyone either. And like you said earlier, I'd rather die than be associated with you or something. Happy now?"
"Very," Sweet Pea began to turn around to leave, but her stubborn mouth refused to stop there. "I'm not any of those things you called me, by the way. And even if I am, at least I'm not a shallow snake," she hissed at the word, "Who pretends to be some sort of martyr for his friends."
Her eyes instantly grew wide as saucers as she realized what she just said, barely understanding the words that left her lips like wildfire. She saw his fists clench, and she gulped in worry as he spun on his heel with the most furious expression she had ever seen. Sweet Pea stepped closer to her slowly, almost too slowly, and she in turn backed away slowly, until she hit a wall. She eyed him warily, feeling like a child once again.
"Say it again."
"What?" Debbie's voice quivered, hands fiddling nervously by her sides as he loomed over her, like a dark cloud. Her wide eyes could only watch his every move.
"Say what you think about me."
"I-I—" She cleared her throat, attempting to pull back the bravery and nerve she had moments ago. "I think you're shallow, awful snake w-who pretends to be this martyr with a bad boy complex. Not to mention, you're a judgemental, good for nothing, piece of... piece of..."
The words left her mouth as he suddenly leaned down, cupping her face in his hands with a gentleness she didn't expect, as his lips captured hers, fierce, but at the same time so loving and knowing. A seemingly magnetic force drew her in and she kissed him back, eyes fluttering closed. It was awkward. It was a mess of teeth and lips. But it felt so... electric. And oh, so right. Her breath hitched as the kiss felt like eons, though truly, it was only a couple of seconds.
He drew away from her, the angered expression no longer present, only a smile and a confused, but rather satisfied look. Sweet Pea smiled at her swollen lips and instinctively she touched them, slowly gasping as the realization of what happened hit her like a wrecking ball, destroying the moment they apparently had.
Heart sinking, Debbie refused to look him straight in the eye. And despite the thrill and the excitement in it all, one fact was clear to her. She wasn't supposed to be here, with him. She wasn't supposed to love the feeling of his lips against hers, the danger and the adventure of staying there and seeing what would happen. Shaking her head, she ran out of there, never stopping until she reached her car.
She wasn't angry at him. She was angry at herself. Hands in her head, this was exactly what her aunt warned her about. Get too close to snakes and they'll bite. Sighing, she drove out of Sunnyside Trailer Park, leaving him and her rose-tinted glasses behind.
Sweet Pea knew. He wasn't angry, but he wasn't distraught either. He picked up the rose-tinted glasses, and the lenses glimmered from a light reflected from a mirror, the newly made crack highlighted in the sun. He pursed his lips and hid the glasses in his pocket. He'd have to find a way to fix it somehow.
