FREAKS - jughead jones imagines

002. behind my back

pairing: Jughead Jones x Y/n L/n

( made this one slightly platonic simply because them being a couple adds nothing to the story at all )

Narrator's pov:
  *six months prior*

Y/n's heart was racing as she walked down the narrow street that lead to the Whyte Wyrm. Tonight was the night she officially joined the serpents. All the rest of the initiation tasks were fairly easy for her. Taking care of 'the beast', reciting the laws, and even retrieving the knife, came naturally for her. Over the past few months, she'd felt out of place on the Northside, and began to wonder about what else the town had to offer. She didn't remember the southside to be as bad, or trashy as the people on the northside made it seem.

Her father was a southsider, a serpent himself, but completely opposite was her mother; a northsider completely against gangs and the violence that came along with them. Y/n was raised on the southside, however she was currently living with her mother on the northside, and had been going to school on the northside for a few years, so she was incredibly unfamiliar with anything recent going on in the southside. That's when she met Toni, and by default, her best friend Sweetpea, one night at the Bijou, the town's one movie theater that was located on the border between the two sides of town. They became friends immediately, maybe it was her short-temper or wit, but the two instantly connected.

After a while of hanging out with the serpent teens, she let them convince her to join, officially. Toni had ranted to her about something called the 'serpent dance' and how it was misogynist and gross, and how somehow she complained enough to get one of the serpent leaders to bend the rules slightly; giving the girls an option now. Toni wouldn't explain what the dance entailed, but assured Y/n she wanted nothing to do with it. Instead, Y/n was to undergo the gauntlet, which to her understanding was just an excuse for a group of people to beat the shit out of you, to 'prove your strength,' and while the idea terrified Y/n, she knew it's what had to be done. 

"There she is." Sweetpea muttered under his breath as he stood beside Toni, who had a slightly concerned look on her face while clutching a leather jacket between her small hands.

The group of serpents got into their spots, forming a double-sided line. She started to hyperventilate, questioning why she agreed to do this in the first place. Though, she pushed all her worries aside and stepped into the line. She clenched her stomach as the first few punches were thrown and though the group was combined of both female and male serpents, they were all equally strong.

The next punch was directed towards her face, making her stumble backwards, then being pushed forwards, into the next hit. After only a minute or two, she was covered in blood. There she stood, in front of the last serpent. She knew what was ahead, the final strike. She'd observed others go through the gauntlet, and the final hit was always the worst one. She stood there in pain as she waited. She flew to the ground as the pain shot through her cheek, the brass knuckles used, were sure to leave a mark.

Fangs Fogarty, another serpent who she became familiar with over the past few months, stuck his hand out to her as she lay sprawled across the grass, attempting to catch her breath. She accepted his hand as he pulled her off the ground, patting her on the shoulder, to which she winced. "You did good, Y/n."

"Great." Toni corrected, "You did great." She handed her the fresh, new leather jacket that was customary when joining the serpents. She smiled at her friend, feeling accomplished, in a lot of pain, but still accomplished. She finally felt at home with that group, seeing as that's where she came from, she finally felt like herself. There was only one thing left on her mind that night; how was she going to hide this from her northside friends?