𝓛𝓮𝓪𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓑𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓭

𝓉𝓌𝑒𝓃𝓉𝓎-𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑒

"She's the sweetest badass you'll ever meet."

- J. Iron Word

+ + + +

The sun was shining bright despite the colder temperatures. Nellie clenched the bag filled with Pop's burgers in her hand, the other one shielding her gaze to look across the street.

Southside High was nothing compared to Riverdale High. It was a wreck of a building, barely held together by wooden planks and other means of support. The door was taped closed after its closure, but that didn't prevent vandals to smash the windows to enter the building. The surface was covered with graffiti drawings and exclamations.

Sitting defeated on the stairs in front of the main entrance sat eight leather clad boys. As she approached and carried with her the delicious smell of burgers and fries, the guys looked up.

Nellie recognized Jughead, Fangs, Azure and Sweet Pea amongst them, their eyes lighting up at the sight of the brown bag in her hand. She hadn't known how many of them were protesting, so the food she brought might be a little too little, she thought, walking up to them. She stopped in front of Sweet Pea who stood up.

"How did it go?" he asked immediately, not caring about the others keeping a close eye on their conversation.

Nellie beamed with pride. "I got it!" she squealed. As if it explained her gift of food, she held out the bag to him. "To celebrate," she cleared when he looked at the bag in confusion.

Sweet Pea let out a chuckle, grabbing the bag and letting it pass through the other boys.

"I have a one week trial, then Mr. Andrews will hire me as his assistent and he will teach me accounting." Nellie rambled on, watching the fries and burgers disappear from the brown bag.

Jughead looked up. "You're working for Mr. Andrews now?" he said, surprise displayed on his pale features. Nellie nodded in response.

Jughead let the meaning of that wash over him, deep in thought chewing on his cheeseburger.

"So, how's the protest going?" Nellie steered the conversation away from herself. She looked back up at the tall Serpent towering next to her. He proudly looked at the Serpents still chained to the school fence, shrugging their way through their meal.

"Police came by earlier, threatening to arrest us for disruption of public order." He reached over to Jughead to give the boy an amiable pat on the back. "But Jughead over here confused them with an entire speech about the freedom of speech and you know, the whole legal talk,"

"Yeah, but as soon as Lodge finds out we're screwed," Jughead murmured towards his half eaten burger. Nellie glanced down on the boy. His dark hair peeked from underneath his beanie and it occurred to Nellie that she had never seen Jughead without it.

Next to her, Sweet Pea tensed. "If I ever get that bastard in my hands..." he started through gritted teeth, unaware of Nellie flinching at his tone. "You know what he wants?" the tall Serpent suddenly said, his voice rising and causing the other Serpents to look their way.

"He's building a prison. Right here." To emphasize his words, Sweet Pea kicked the dusty road with his heavy black boot.

"A prison?" Nellie repeated, failing to understand why her father would construct a prison in a quiet village like Riverdale. He had just gotten out of one, why build one near his home?

"That doesn't make any sense," Nellie wondered out loud, her thoughts more directed to Jughead who had been keeping an eye on Hiram's movements just like her. Unaware of their secret plans, Sweet Pea rambled on.

"Seriously, that man appears all of a sudden and makes the Southside a living hell. What about us? We don't want a prison in our neighborhood. If he desperately wants one, he can build one next to his stuck up place in the Pembrooke."

Nellie swallowed and looked down at Jughead who had abandoned his fries in his lap. Her eyes shot him an accusing look. She felt betrayed not to know about her father's plans. If Jughead had known, he should've told her. After all, she gave him a lead to her father's true occupations.

"Who told you about the prison?" Nellie asked, directing her question at Sweet Pea to confirm his source.

"Jughead," he said, a frown gracing his forehead. He was still clueless about Nellie's secret agenda and she wanted to keep it that way but her anger directed towards Jughead made it hard not to accuse the boy of betrayal.

"My father and I visited a Serpent in Shankshaw Prison. He told us about the rumors going around the cells." Jughead looked up to Nellie, his eyes squinting against the sunlight. Only the slightest bit of remorse showed in his steal blue eyes.

"So it's not even confirmed," Nellie replied, crossing her arms in front of her chest. Her festive mood evaporated as soon as she realized Jughead hadn't been entirely honest with her about her father's plans.

"It will be when either Hiram or Archie show up," Jughead bit, turning his face away from Nellie and focusing back on the burger he had neglected.

"Why Archie?" Nellie asked, bending down and snatching the fries from Jughead's lap, drawing his attention back to her.

Upon the mention of Archie's name from Nellie's lips, Sweet Pea rose another eyebrow and crossed his arms in front of his chest. He let his weight balance on one leg, leaning back a little to observe the conversation in front of him. The fact that Nellie even knew about Archie Andrews bothered him. He had no memory of ever introducing her to the kid nor even discussing his existence in her presence. So how did she know Archie?

"He's Hiram's lapdog," Jughead said bitterly, other emotions lacing up with his frustration. "If Hiram's truly bothered by our protest, the Bulldogs will march right up here under Archie's lead."

Before Nellie could throw him another question, Jughead held up one shackled arm, "If Archie shows up, Hiram's plan for Southside High is confirmed."

Nellie shut her mouth, deep in thought. Her dark brown eyes glanced up and down the rackety building, trying to remain calm. She wanted to kick against Jughead's shins, annoyed he hadn't told her about anything he had discovered since she had last seen him. She wanted to ask him about the cufflinks, but Sweet Pea was still watching.

She took a deep breath and turned to her roommate. "Well, let's hope your protest will help," she sighed, obviously tired of bickering with Jughead. The Serpent shrugged and returned to his burger without giving Nellie another look.

Apologizing with her eyes, Nellie held out the fries she snatched from Jughead to Sweet Pea. "I'm afraid the other burgers are already devoured by your friends," she added, an innocent smile plastered on her face.

Sweet Pea wanted to pull her to the side, ask her about Archie and Jughead, but he couldn't. Not when he was chained to his old school. Suddenly he didn't know if he even wanted to save the rotten building. He'd rather sit down with Nellie and try to discover the secret she was keeping from him. He noticed it in the way she tried to cover her annoyance when she talked to Jughead. He didn't even know she knew F.P.'s son that well. She never mentioned it anyway.

He reluctantly grabbed a fry and threw it in his mouth. The chewing averted his attention from the girl standing in front of him momentarily. After an uncomfortable silence, Nellie straightened her back and took a step back.

"Well, I have to go Mr. Andrews," she explained, pushing the remaining fries in Sweet Pea's large hand. "Wish me luck," she asked the tall Serpent, her excitement returning and replacing the bitter anger that had washed over her.

Even if she hated the fact that Jughead wasn't entirely honest with her, she knew her job at Andrew's Constructions would only benefit her. If her instincts were correct, Hiram Lodge might have even approached the business to demolish Southside High, which meant that once again, Nellie found herself on a favorable spot to discover more about her father.