KING COBRA » SWEET PEA

«Boy Talk»

"I seriously can't believe you, Vik. He's a Serpent! A SouthSider! You have no idea what he was planning to do when he got you alone."

Cheryl ranted on as she drove down the road, speeding away from Pop's in her expensive red convertible. I rolled my eyes as I slumped in the passenger seat, leaning on my elbow.

"He was probably going to trick you into a one night stand!"

She pressed onward, I groaned out loudly and pointedly before turning to look at her with furrowed brown eyebrows.

"He's not a monster, Cher. He's a person just like you and me, he's not a bad guy, okay?"

I stressed to her, she scowled loudly and ran a hand through her long red hair. Soon enough, we pulled into the driveway of Thistle House. She parked and hopped out of the car, I slowly followed her as she pushed open the door to the morose home that still carried the weight of Clifford Blossom's death heavily. Penelope Blossom, in all of her bandaged glory, sat on the couch in the dark living room, sipping tea, seemingly unaware of Cheryl and me for that matter. Cheryl was clearly saddened by this but cleared her throat and announced our presence.

"Ahem, mommy, I'm home. I brought Viktoria back with me, I was hoping maybe I could take her to my room for girl talk?"

She asked coyly, seeing how much Cheryl repressed in front of her mother was worrying enough but what was even worse was the Wicked Witch of the West's response.

"Dear me, Cheryl, your unclean tendencies are showing themselves again. Keep the door opened, I refuse to allow ruckus in this household."

Penelope granted, Cheryl bit her bottom lip and nodded, mumbling a small thank you before hurrying up the stairs. I bit my tongue hard to stop myself from speaking but I could not help myself.

"You are a reptile, Mrs. Blossom, Cheryl is an amazing person and all you do is shun her. You don't deserve to be her mother."

I said, venom dripping from my voice. I promptly turned and stormed up the stairs after Cheryl. Cheryl stood at the top of the dark oak steps with a small smile playing on her cherry red lips before she turned away, guiding me to her bedroom. Soon, the two of us sat on her bed as she brushed through my copper orange hair.

"So, do you really like this guy, V?"

Cheryl finally asked, I sat still for a few moments before slowly nodding. She sighed and stopped brushing my hair for a few seconds before continuing.

"You're going to have to defend yourself against everyone then. He's a SouthSider and worse than that, he is a Serpent. You're going to face a lot of backlash if you press on with this relationship. Not to mention what your All American brother will do when he finds out."

Cheryl warned cautiously, I sat for a few moments and nodded slowly, thoughts of what could happen from this relationship rushing through my brain.

"I think he's worth it, I don't know yet. I've only known him for a few days but I at least want to be his friend. He's really nice to me and he's different from the others."

I said, caught up in thought, she hummed but remained silent for a couple minutes before finally speaking again.

"I'll support you no matter what. Now that doesn't mean I'll like him but I can try."

She offered, I laughed softly and nodded happily. I spent the rest of the day with Cheryl, gossiping, doing our hair and makeup, we even did mani-pedis, just the two of us. I decided that I finally had to leave so I would not be away from my house for yet another night. She offered to give me a ride home but I felt like walking instead so she wished me well on my journey home and we said our goodbyes.

As I walked home I thought of everything that had happened. How my relationship with Sweet Pea had blossomed so quickly and what my family would think of it. Along the way home, I saw some guys hanging around near my neighborhood, thinking they were just a couple of Serpents, I was not scared. But as I approached, I saw that they wore spikes and black denim. I came to the realization that those weren't Serpents at all. I did not know who they were but they didn't look friendly. I quickly walked passed them without much incident. I finally got home, I opened the front door quietly. I slipped into the house and I turned around to lock the door behind me.

"So. You've finally come home."

My father's tired voice emerged from behind me. I slowly turned to look at him, nodding timidly as I stared at my feet.

"Yeah, dad."

I murmured quietly, staring down at my faded yellow converse. He stepped forward, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"I just want to make sure you're safe, honey. I don't care where you were, I don't care what you did. I just want to make sure you take care of yourself and don't get into trouble. So, where were you?"

He asked, his brown eyes never breaking eye contact. I did not know what to tell him. He said he didn't care but he would lose his shit if he knew where I really was. Lying was the best option for me.

"I was with Cheryl. We had a girl's night. I didn't want to leave her with Penelope all day so I stayed with her."

I said, keeping my gaze from faltering, he smiled and hugged me. He prided me on being a good friend before we quickly went our separate ways for the night.

"Night, dad."

I said with a false smile before scuffling upstairs. I suddenly stopped at the top step and called down.

"Dad, where's Archie?"

I asked as I leaning against the wooden bannister.

"Oh, he didn't say but I bet he's with Veronica tonight. You know how he is."

He called back, I pushed off of the wooden bannister and gulped. Something didn't feel right about Archie mysteriously not being here. I felt like something bad was going to happen.