Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
AURORA POURED ORANGE JUICE into her glass. She put the pitcher down then took a sip, eyes closing for a moment before they reopened. "So, how long do you plan on staying with us, Chic?" Hal asked, all eyes darting to him. "For as long as he wants," Alice answered before Chic could speak. "I'm just trying to plan my life, Alice. And since we're not getting any answers about anything –"
"What would you like to know, Hal?" Chic cut him off. "For starters, Betty and Aurora brought you here all bloody. Why? What happened?" Hal asked. "Dad," Betty warned. "You don't have to, Chic," Aurora shook her head. Chic glanced at Aurora for a split second before his eyes returned to Hal, "The person who attacked me, his name's Marcel. He runs the hostel. Sometimes, he books clients for us. The night you two showed up, Betty, Aurora, I wasn't in the mood to work. Marcel was trying to convince me otherwise."
"So, what, uh what kind of clients?"
"Hal!" Alice exclaimed. "No, I wanna know, too," Betty confessed, turning to Chic. "Betty," Aurora muttered, shaking her head. "All kinds. Ranging from nice to, hell, even nastier than Marcel. I can go into specifics if you'd like. I've also got a pretty good collection of scars I could show you," Chic offered. "I have scars, too. Crescent moons on my palms," Betty told him. "From digging your nails in," Chic guessed. "Yeah," Betty nodded. "Yeah, I used to do that, too," Chic said.
Alice cleared her throat, "Syrup?"
—
AURORA SAT IN BETWEEN Betty and Veronica. Veronica's eyebrows rose as she looked at the picture of Chic on Betty's phone. "Well, he's very fetching for someone who was living on Skid Row," she complimented. Kevin then took the phone, "Yeah, he's a hottie who looks incredibly familiar to me, by the way."
"Your adventures in the woods?" Jughead asked. "I don't know, but maybe if we were allowed to meet this hottie in person," Kevin suggested, Veronica and Aurora chuckling. Betty took her phone back from Kevin, "Chic's still acclimating. And Aurora and I are trying to get him to trust us, but our mom is treating him like he's a ten-year-old and our dad's acting like he's the devil's spawn."
"Well, I have an amazing idea. Bring The Omen to Pickens Day and we can all meet him. Everyone's coming, right?" Veronica asked. "No, because the Serpents weren't invited," Jughead said, furrowing his brows. "The Serpents were specifically asked to come," Veronica told him. "Yeah, to provide security," Jughead snapped.
"Oh that's cold, Veronica," Aurora muttered, shaking her head.
"It's like we're all on the Snowpiercer train, but the Serpents happen to be the ones eating the cockroaches," Jughead finished. Veronica rolled her eyes, "You don't have to work if you don't want to." Jughead glanced at the doorway, as did his friends, to see Toni awaiting him. Jughead sighed, "The damage, as they say, has already been done. Talk to you guys later." "Plans with Toni?" Betty asked, pursing her lips.
"Uh, yeah, I'm interviewing her grandfather for my oral history report. The oldest living Serpent," Jughead informed them before leaving. Aurora took his spot on the couch, pulling her knees up to her chest, "Guys. Should the boy always be the one to ask the girl out on a date? Or can the girl ask the boy out?" The three raised their brows at the blonde. "Why do you ask?" asked Betty, a small smile appearing on her lips. Aurora shrugged, "Just wanna know." Veronica walked over to Aurora and placed a hand on her shoulder, "You sure about that? I think someone has caught the heart of Aurora Cooper."
Kevin leaned up in his seat, "Who? Who is it? Tell us literally everything." Aurora rolled her eyes, "It's no one. I don't like anyone and my heart still belongs to Harry Styles, okay?"
But yet the image of Sweet Pea's smirk still laid in the back of her mind.
—
THE NIGHT BEFORE, BETTY had went into Aurora's room and explained what Kevin had told her. It was shocking to Aurora, obviously, but she was intrigued nonetheless. Together, the two sisters found the website and watched some of Chic's webcams. To say they were fascinated was to say the least.
Now, the two girls sat on the desk in the Blue and Gold office with Kevin in front of them. "It felt so good, guys. It's like, yeah, Archie, you have the physique of a 1970s porn star, but that doesn't mean you can wrestle," Kevin told them. "Speaking of porn stars.." Aurora trailed off. "Did you get lost down a webcam rabbit hole last night?" Kevin asked, eyes darting between the sisters.
"It's fascinating. We brought Chic home to help my mom without knowing who he was, and now to find out he's actually multiple people, performing online. How do we broach that with him? Do we broach that with him?" Betty asked, eyes narrowing.
A knock at the door caused their heads to turn, seeing Jughead standing in the doorway. "Hey, am I interrupting?" He asked.
"Yeah, kinda."
"No."
"I don't even know," Aurora shrugged.
"I just wanted to run some stuff by you, but I can come back," Jughead offered, stepping into the room. "No, no, no, it's fine," Kevin shrugged, taking a hold of Aurora's wrist and pulling her out of the room. "So when are you going to tell me who you're crushing on, Ms Cooper?" Kevin asked, arching an eyebrow. Aurora gave him a look before shaking her head, "I'm not crushing on anyone!" "Then why did you ask if you were able to ask a guy out?" Kevin asked. "I asked that for girls in general. Not just myself," Aurora replied, eyes looking around the corridor.
"Who are you looking for, Rory?" Kevin asked, nudging her shoulder with his. "No one," Aurora muttered. Then her eyes landed on Sweet Pea. He was laughing along with Fangs about something she didn't know. The two Serpents were heading their way, and Aurora put on the careless facade she wore around him. "Hey, Cooper," he spoke, a small smirk on his lips. Aurora stopped, Kevin doing the same with a suspicious expression. "Oh its you again," she said, eyes flickering up to meet his. "Ah you remembered me," he raised his brows. "We have a class together and you sit by me, you dummy," she did her best to hide her laughter. Sweet Pea chuckled, "Right."
There was a moment of silence between them. Their eyes never left each other's and the small smiles on their faces never left. Fangs and Kevin, who stood at the sidelines, gave each other confused looks. The two boys leaned in to look at Sweet Pea and Aurora's expressions, both of them raising a brow as they leaned back.
I don't know what's happening, Kevin lipped to Fangs. Fangs shrugged, he didn't know either.
The bell then rang and Sweet Pea cleared his throat. "Well I should get to class," He stammered, rubbing at the back of his neck. "Yeah I should - I should too," Aurora nodded. "Can I walk you there?"
"I mean, if you want," Aurora shrugged, "Although I don't really care." Sweet Pea furrowed his brows and nodded, "Uh - yeah I'll walk you there." Kevin and Fangs watched as the two then walked away to Aurora's class. "What the hell just happened?" Kevin asked.
