jock → reggie mantle [riverdale]

15

Reggie leaned against the wall outside of the bathroom, talking about anything and everything as I showered, trying to keep my mind off of things. If it's working, I can't tell because every time I close my eyes, I think of everything that happened only two hours ago. Reggie looked up at me from the floor when I stepped out in fresh clothes and wet hair, "I told my parents I was probably gonna stay the night at Moose's, if, uh, if you want me to stay." He mumbled, watching as I slid down the wall next to him.

"I'll tell you," I looked over at him, his fingers slightly tangled in my dark hair, "I'll tell you everything."

***

Walking in to school on Monday was one of the hardest things I've ever done, everyone looked at me, whispering and pointing. "I heard that she had his blood all over her face." I heard one girl, I looked at her and she acted as if she hadn't been saying anything. "I don't think her dad needed to shoot him."

"Hey, don't listen to them, alright babe." Reggie mumbled coming up next to me, glaring at the guys who were staring at me. I nodded, leaning into his side, "people are mean." I sighed, closing my eyes for a brief moment before opening them when Reggie stopped abruptly. "Lets go this way." He turned me down a hall, not leading to my locker, "but I have to go that way, to get to my locker." I furrowed my eyebrows, grabbing his hand and tugging him in that direction. "Jackie, don't-" "Oh my god." I cut him off.

JUSTICE FOR TOM!

I looked at the spray paint on my locker, feeling my eyes burn as I turned to him, hiding my face against his chest as some people snickered, "what's going-oh my god." Kevin stumbled over his words as he came up next to us. "Jackie!" I kept my head down as I rushed to the bathroom, feeling sick to my stomach at the sight of all of this.

I pushed the stall door open and fell to my knees as I threw up into the toilet, I grimaced as I flushed it, looking away. "Jackie, I'm so sorry." Veronica came up behind me, grabbing my arm and helping me up, "I saw your locker." She sighed as she hugged me, "what did I do to deserve this?" I sniffled, moving back and wiping at my face. "No one deserves this, especially you." She assured me, fixing a piece of hair in the process. I nodded slowly, looking towards the door as some girls came in, "oh look, the lesbians." One of them laughed.

"Not that we are, but if we were, why would it matter?" Veronica retaliated as I slipped out the door.

Reggie looked at me as we sat in the dim hallway, his eyes wide, "everything?" He asked, running his fingers across the top of my hand. "I slept with Chuck a few times over the summer, the last time," I paused, taking a deep breath, letting my eyes shut as I spoke, "he didn't use a condom, and I wasn't on birth control." I sighed, leaning my head back against the wall, not daring to look at Reggie. "I took the 'morning after pill' but I can't help but wonder, what if I had gotten pregnant, not that I want a kid now or with Chuck for that matter... But, what if I basically killed a baby, a human being, that could have had a perfectly normal life outside of this god forsaken town."

I kept myself isolated from everyone in school that day, even Reggie who repeatedly tried to speak to me, but I kept giving him little to no answers until he got the point.

"I mean, doesn't it take, like, a couple weeks for it to actually be something?" Reggie shifted uncomfortably, I nodded, "yes, but still." I shrugged lightly, "anything else I should know?" He questioned, not seeing the tears in my eyes, the hallway being to dark for that. "You can't tell anyone, Kevin doesn't even know that happened, I gave some lady the money to by the pill for me." I stated, staring at him, he nodded, "okay."

***

"My room feels like an ongoing horror story, scoot over." I demanded, entering Kevin's room, pillow and phone in hand. "Bossy." He mumbled, sliding to the edge of his bed, luckily it was against a wall, so in theory he couldn't fall off, but he could push me off. "I feel like we don't talk anymore, we used to fill each other in on our lives." Kevin sighed, laying on his back and looking up at the ceiling, I mimicked him.