𝐒𝐎𝐋 | ˢʷᵉᵉᵗ ᵖᵉᵃ

• S E V E N T E E N •

« Baile de la Noche »

           Josie McCoy was on a mission. In her mind, she was leaving Sweet Pea's trailer with a boyfriend. She had thought about it, and now was her chance. There was no way that he would say no. Or so she thought. Little did she know, Sweet Pea fully intended on breaking off the benefits that came with their friendship. If they even were friends.

The singer entered the Serpents small trailer. "Hey, Sweet Pea." She greeted happily. "I hope you don't mind me dropping by like this."

"It's always good to see you, Josie." He faked a smile, already guessing why she was here.

Josie's smile brightened. "I don't know if you've heard, but my mom is getting married to Kevin's dad, and I wanted to know if you would be my date to the wedding."

"As your boyfriend?" Sweet Pea questioned with furrowed brows. Josie nodded quickly. "Josie, I like you, just not in the way that you think I do. I'm in love with Clemintine, and I always will be."

Josie looked at him confused. "Then why did we hook up?" She pointed a finger at herself. "Don't forget that I'm the only one that can get you hard."

"I thought I needed you. You do make me hard, but she makes me weak. And maybe that's not such a bad thing."

Josie hung her head, close to tears. "Okay. I understand."

"I'd still like to be friends with you, Josie. Truly."

She looked back up at him. "No... I think we should just forget this ever happened. Good luck with the crazy bitch."

As she left, Sweet Pea thought. Clemintine may be a bitch, but so was he. They both had attitudes and could be absolute jackasses.

Sweet Pea then began to think of ways to get her back. Not as long as Kurtz was around, and Jughead would have to stay away for a while. But how? How would Sweet Pea be able to do this alone? Toni would tell Cheryl and Cheryl would alert Clemintine to his plan. Fangs has made it clear that he wants no part in his friends drama.

Right there and then, the tall Serpent came up with a plan. He would have to push her away before he could pull her back in. It had worked before. It was going to hurt him more than it would her. He knew that for a fact. Only because he had to hurt her on purpose, and that was going to tear him apart.

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Sweet Pea and Clemintine worked in silence on their book project. Only talking to the other when necessary.

Just before the bell could ring, signaling the end of class, Clemintine spoke. "We should start the poster after school this week."

Sweet Pea scoffed. "We have plenty of time to do it in class."

"No, we don't. We have until Friday to turn it in." Clemintine argued. "My house, tomorrow."

The Serpent rolled his eyes. "Why your house?" He seemed truly offended.

"I don't know where your trailer is."

"But you didn't care to ask, because everything's about you, isn't it, Clemintine?"

Clemintine glared at him. "What's your problem?"

"You." Sweet Pea stood as the bell rang. "You are."

Clemintine copied his actions. "How? I haven't done anything to you."

"You slide into my life whenever you don't want to be alone..." This was really hurting him to say. For a moment, he thought about stopping, but then he reminded himself that this was the only way to get her back. "I'm not built that way. I gotta get off this merry-go-round with you."

Clemintine stared at him. Her chest ached more than it ever had before. She should have saw this coming. "We can do the poster in class." Was all she said before she pushed past him.

Jackson Bartholdy lent back in his chair, putting his feet up on his desk. "I know that look." Sweet Pea turned around. He had almost forgotten where he was. "I know what you're doing, Mr. Sweets. Trust me when I say, it won't work."

"Oh really?"

Jackson nodded. "I've never liked you. Only because you've done nothing but cause my niece pain. And here's the kicker. It doesn't matter what you do, because she'll ignore her brother and I. Believe it or not, Mr. Sweets, but she still loves you."

"How do you know that?" Sweet Pea asked.

"She's my niece. I can just tell."

Sweet Pea then had an idea. "Could you help me?"

"No way." Jackson shook his head. "You're on your own... I still don't like you."

chapter word count: 775