Collateral Damage ▻ Riverdale [1]

4.3

THE END
CHAPTER THREE

   Queenie, Sweet Pea, Fangs, Toni, and Mandy entered Pop's to find the diner pretty crowded for three o'clock. Queenie's eyes scanned the door, looking for an open booth. She sighed when the only open booth nearby was right next to the booth that had Archie, Moose, Reggie, and Chuck Clayton sitting at it.

    Queenie took a deep breath before she walked over to the booth, her friends following close behind. As always, Toni, Mandy, and Fangs ended up sitting on the side of the booth that had their backs facing the door while Sweet Pea and Queenie took the seat across from them. They didn't just sit in that seat because they wanted to sit next to each other, but also because they both had the need to be able to see the door at all times.

   Her friends had already taken a seat when Queenie turned her head to see that the group of Bulldogs were whispering to each other while staring at her. She rolled her eyes and turned her body around, taking a seat at their booth beside Archie and Reggie.

    "Talking about someone behind their backs is a sign of very poor manner, boys," She commented, leaning forward to take one of Archie's fries. 

     Their eyes were on her, causing Queenie to laugh, "Have you heard?" Archie spoke up curiously and Queenie immediately knew he was referring to her school being shut down.

  "Of course, I did, Andrews," She answered, "I guess we're going to be classmates again. What fun that's going to be." Reggie scoffed loudly, causing Queenie to turn and face the Bulldog, "You got something to say, Mantle?"

   "Look, I get we're cool and all because I let you borrow my car, but that doesn't mean I'm cool with your snake friends, especially your hotheaded boyfriend," Reggie told her with attitude.

   "How is Weatherbee even letting you come back anyway? You broke Grundy's nose last time you were there," Chuck asked before looking over at Reggie, "And how are you even cool with her after she kicked your ass before she got expelled and not to mention, she helped start the Riverdale Rumble."

   "Yeah, after Andrews over here stuck in a gun in me and my boyfriend's face," Queenie argued and Archie rolled his eyes.

  "Yeah, after your boyfriend pulled a knife on me," He retorted.

   "He had a valid reason! You were on Southside Serpent turf!" She argued back before there was a tap on her shoulder.

  She turned her head to see it was Sweet Pea, "What is it?" She asked curiously.

   Sweet Pea had a smile on his face, causing Queenie to tilt her head in confusion, "Come with me outside. I have a surprise for you. You're going to love it." He told her and Queenie nodded her head, getting up from the booth.

  "See you guys tomorrow," She said jokingly before Sweet Pea grabbed her hand, leading her outside.

  Once exiting the diner, Queenie loudly gasped when she saw Polly standing before her, "Polly?" She asked shocked and Polly smiled, nodding her head.

  "In the flesh." She replied as Queenie ran over to her, hugging her tightly.

   Queenie frowned when she realized that her friend no longer had a baby bump. She pulled away from the hug and placed her hand on Polly's stomach, "The babies."

   "They were born," Polly smiled brightly, "Juniper and Dagwood."

   Queenie slightly frowned at the names before she smiled once more, playing it off that she thought the names were the best things in the world, "When are your babies due?" Polly asked curiously.

   "A month and a half," Queenie answered calmly, "Probably a month though."

  Polly then turned to Sweet Pea, who was awkwardly standing there, "Umm, aren't you going to say hello? Last time I checked, I was your favorite Northside friend."

   Sweet Pea laughed at Polly comment, "Only Northside friend, but that's true." He replied as he walked toward her and hugged his blonde friend, "Queenie missed you."

   Queenie scoffed as she crossed her arms, "Last time I checked, you missed her almost as much as I did, Sweet Pea." She corrected him before she looked back over at Polly, "How long are you staying for?"

    "Oh, I'm just passing through, I had to pick up some stuff from my house. That's all." She answered and Queenie slowly nodded her head in response.

   "Aww. Well, that's too bad. I was hoping you'd stay," Queenie sighed, "Can't you just come in and have some Pop's with us?" Polly stayed quiet as she pointed to Chuck Clayton, who they could see sitting at the booth with Archie, Moose, and Reggie, "Oh, yeah. Forgot about that."

   Sweet Pea turned his head to see what they were looking at and his eyes widened, "Wait, that's that dude?" He asked shocked, "Man, you have no taste. At least Queenie does."

   Polly began to laugh at what her friend said, "Oh because she's dating you?" She questioned and Sweet Pea nodded his head, causing the group of three to start laughing, "Gee, I missed you guys."

  "We missed you, too." Sweet Pea and Queenie said in unison, causing them both to share a quick glance as they smiled at each other.

________

  The next morning, Queenie and Sweet Pea woke up, lying next to each other in bed. It was about an hour and a half before they had due to start school at Riverdale High. Sweet Pea was happy about it. Queenie, on the other hand, wasn't at all. She didn't want to go to that place after all this time of staying away. She spent almost two years at that school, posing as the 'quiet loner girl whose only friend was Polly Cooper' when in reality, she was FP Jones, the leader of the Serpent's, second in command and oldest daughter. She heated that school, it held too many bad memories. 

    Queenie turned her body around she that she was facing Sweet Pea. He was still half asleep, causing her to laugh, "Morning, sleepyhead." She greeted him and Sweet Pea's lips formed into a smile.

  "Morning, beautiful," He replied as he finally opened her eyes, "You have no idea how happy it makes me to be able to wake up next to you." 

     "I could say the same," She told Sweet Pea jokingly before she sat up and got out of bed, "Come on, we should get ready. First day at hell."

   Sweet Pea frowned in confusion when she heard Queenie's tone of voice. He quickly sat up and looked at her, "Why don't you seem happy?" He asked concerned, "We finally don't have to deal with rival gangs, we can have an actual education, toilets that actually flush."

  Queenie scoffed as she turned to him, "Rival Gangs? Sweet Pea, the Ghoulies may have been a nasty and dangerous crew to deal with, but in my opinion, the Bulldogs are way worse. No matter how many bad things they do, they're still the innocent ones. They could ruin our lives and do the worst to us and get away with it without any problems. They bullied my brother all the time and they never did anything about it. I tried to stop them once and got in trouble." She explained and Sweet Pea became quiet, not being able to answer to her rant because it was true.