𝐒𝐎𝐋 | ˢʷᵉᵉᵗ ᵖᵉᵃ

• F I F T E E N •

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"All right, Serpents, it's come to my attention that one of us has been dealing Fizzle Rocks." Jughead addressed his gang, once Clemintine had finally decided to join them at their camp. "Slinging dope is not what Serpents do."

Clemintine held her arms tightly, turning the skin under her fingers white. Last time she was here, she had found Joaquin, in the exact chair that Jughead now sat in.

"So, from this moment on, we're going clean. There'll be no selling or doing drugs. No crime of any kind will be tolerated. Anyone that breaks Serpent code will be exiled. Permanently."

                "I think its pretty ridic that you vanish for a month on some vision quest with your bestie, only to return and lecture us about responsibility."

                "He's our King, Cheryl." Clemintine spoke from the back of the crowd, her voice coming out shaky. "What he says, goes, and most importantly, he's right."

                Cheryl quickly spun around, glaring at her beloved cousin, obviously upset by who's side she took. "What about you? Not sure what meeting you came to? You're not trying to hide your Gargoyle pride very well." She glanced at the girls Gargoyle jacket hung over her folded arms.

                "Gargoyle?" This caused Jughead to stand, staring directly at Clemintine with a harsh look. He didn't want to believe it. "Is this true, Sunny?"

                "She's dating their leader." Cheryl spoke, turning back to Jughead, thinking she had won.

                "Babe." Toni attempted to stop her girlfriend, already knowing that there was no saving Clemintine anymore.

"Just look at her jacket!" Cheryl continued, pointing a long, manicured finger towards her cousin.

"It's true." Clemintine nodded, her voice now weak. "It's all true."

"How do we know its not her selling the drugs?" Sweet Pea surprised everyone, including Clemintine herself, by throwing her under the bus. "She's one of them."

Jughead looked back at Clemintine. "Clemintine," he used her real name, making her eyes water. She should have known this was coming, but it wouldn't hurt any less. "I think you know what this means."

She nodded, putting her head down. "I'll show myself out."

"Wait, no." Cheryl panicked. She instantly regret her outburst. "You can't do that!"

"You heard him, Cheryl." Betty finally spoke from beside her boyfriend.

"Really Betty? She's our cousin!" Cheryl turned to Toni. "I need to apologize."

They headed for Clemintine's home, but she wasn't there. She was purposely getting lost in the woods. Maybe this was her breaking point. She once had felt lost and the Serpents took her in, now that they turned their backs on her, she was so much more than lost. She was broken.

Hours passed and the Bartholdy boys were worrying about the girl with pink hair. Cheryl had informed them of what happened at the Serpents camp. After failed attempts to call her, it became obvious that her phone was either shut off or dead. They had contacted all of her friends that they could and no one had seen or heard from her.

Soon, the whole town was riddled with concern for young Clemintine. Principal Weatherbee started the search. The town planned to find her before the sun set behind the mountains. It showed how much they truly cared for the young student, because of how much she cared for them.

Jughead demanded that the Serpents meet, he too concerned. "Sunny is missing and we have to find her." The crowd began to speak to each other, all showing their concern for the teens wellbeing as well.

"What happened to being exiled?" Sweet Pea spoke up.

"Serpents don't help Northsiders." Another voice spoke.

Jughead shook his head. "Who tutored failing students? Who housed us when the town turned on us? Sunny became one of us because she cared about us. She's still our friend. She may not be a Serpent physically, but she always has been in her heart." Jughead turned to Sweet Pea. "You should know that better than anyone."

FP then stepped forward, raising his hand and curving two fingers to form Serpent fangs. The crowd followed.

The sun had set, and still no sign of Clemintine. Julian walked with Jackson, both flashing their flashlights in every direction in the dense woods.

Julian suddenly stopped, dropping to the ground. The only noise being heard was the sound of Clemintine's name being shouted in the distance.

Jackson crouched, placing a hand on his nephews back. "What's wrong?"

The platinum blonde sobbed. "I lost my parents, I can't lose her. She's my best friend."

"I know." Jackson sighed, rubbing Julian's back in attempt to calm him. "I can't lose her either. That's why we're not stopping until we find her."

Julian slowly rose to his feet, wiping away his tears. "Okay." He sniffled, now ready to continue, but then his phone rang. "Hello?" He answered the device.

"We found her." Reggie told his closest friend. "Jughead is bringing her back to the cars now."

"Okay, thank you, Reg." Julian hung up, turning to his Uncle. "They found her."

"Let's go." Jackson spun around, running back from where they came.

Jughead carried a peacefully sleeping Clemintine in his arms. Cait and Fangs walking on either side of him.

As they got closer to the mass of cars parked at the entrance to the forest, the sound of voices became louder.

"I see them!" Max's voice called out, causing the many voices to cease.

Jughead walked towards Jackson, carefully passing her small frame over to her guardian. Cait handed the girls dead phone to her brother, who quickly thanked her.

"Where was she?" Julian questioned.

"She was laying on some rocks by Sweet Water River." Fangs answered.

"She had been crying." Jughead added. "That's why she went out there in the first place." He hung his head in shame. "Call me in the morning and I'll set it straight."

Julian nodded. "Thank you, Jughead."

"No." Jackson cut in. "My brother and his wife died because they were in gangs. I'm her guardian and she's not going to follow down their path. No more gangs." Jackson walked to Clemintine's car, and with Julian's help, they got her home safely.

chapter word count: 1030