Asher and her father have just moved to Riverdale from the sunny state of California. Despite living on the south side, she will be attending Riverdale High due to Southside High being shut down. She prefers being alone and doesn't generally open up...
We pulled into the parking lot of a shabby dive bar located on the far end of the southside. The big sign above the entrance read 'Whyte Wyrm' and a nasty looking snake was pictured next to it. There were a number of other motorcycles and beat up trucks parked outside, and a few scrappy looking men were conversing and smoking by the door.
"What is this place?" I questioned skeptically.
"The Whyte Wyrm" he explained "It's kind of like the serpent head quarters I guess." He opened the door for me and we made our way in. The inside was darker and grimier than the exterior. The dimly lit space was occupied by a pretty large group of people; they were all standing at the bar, sitting at tables, or playing pool. As we walked further into the room, people stopped talking and stared at us, clearly confused as to who I was and why I was with Sweet Pea. It was making me nervous. Sweet Pea just put his hand on the small of my back and guided me to a table in the corner.
"Everyone's looking at us," I whispered as he pulled out my chair for me.
"Don't worry about it," he reassured me, taking his own seat. The occupants of the bar quickly lost interest in us and went back to whatever they were doing. A man with long, brown hair and a leather vest with the familiar snake patch on the back made his way towards us and clapped his hand on Sweet Peas shoulder.
"Come back for another round, did you?" the man asked, gesturing to the pool table.
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"Not today, Tall Boy" he replied. I don't know if I'd ever get used to their weird names.
"Scared I'll beat you again?" Tall Boy taunted.
"What the hell are you smoking?" Sweet Pea scoffed. "From what I recall, I beat your ass last time". Tall Boy playfully socked Sweet Pea on the shoulder and turned his attention to me.
"Who do we have here?" he questioned, giving me a quick look over. Sweet Pea introduced me, and the three of us made small talk until a small fight broke out by the bar.
"God dammit!" Tall Boy exclaimed, turning towards the ruckus. "It was nice meeting you, Asher".
"Likewise" I said as he made his way over the the fight, yelling at the two boys and ripping them apart from each other.
"Charming place you've got here" I commented sarcastically. Sweet Pea just chuckled and nodded.
"Hey, I didn't know you had a tattoo!" he suddenly blurted out, grabbing my hand and observing the ink that covered it. It was a mix of lines, arrows, dots, and rings that cascaded around my fingers. I'd gotten it last year for no particular reason other than the fact that I just liked it. While he was intently observing it, I noticed how tough and warm his hands were in comparison to my cold and dainty ones.
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"It kind of matches mine," he stated, wrigiling one of his thumbs at me and revealing a small tattoo done in a similar style to mine. I also noticed what looked like faint bruises lining his knuckles, but it was hard to tell in the dim lighting.
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"It's beautiful," he confessed, still holding onto my hand "I love it". I blushed and looked away, turning my attention to the mirror on the wall that our table was up against. I caught a glimpse of myself and shuddered when I spotted deep purple and brown marks beginning to form on my neck. I stared at them; these bruises were painstakingly obvious in comparison to the faint one's that Sweet Pea wore.
"You don't have to worry about Jax anymore," Sweet Pea reassured me, noticing the blemish I was staring at. "We took care of him". His statement honestly made me more anxious about what happened earlier today.
"Okay, first of all, who's we? And second, what do you mean by 'took care of him'" I questioned, turning my focus back to him.
"The Serpents and I" he stated casually. "No man can touch a woman the way that Jax touched you and get away with it. It's against Serpent code. And don't worry about what we did, just know that Jax and any other ghoulie won't even think about looking in your direction anymore, let alone touch you." He was beginning to grow angry as he remembered how Jax treated me, and I was worried that he was going to snap, but his attention was caught by two glasses of water that were slammed down on the table in front of us. I looked up and discovered that Toni was the one who'd done it.
"Hey guys, here's some water. Want anything else?" she questioned.
"I'm fine with the water. Thanks" I replied, taking a sip. Sweet Pea nodded in agreement and mimicked my action.
"Alright. If you want anything else, just flag me down" she said as she began walking back to the bar, but she stopped and turned back to look at me.
"Hey Asher, it's good to see you again," she admitted. "Maybe you could stick around this time."
"You know what, I think I will" I confessed, earning a look of pleasant surprise from both her and Sweet Pea. With that, she smiled and went on her way. I smiled too, realizing that I truly believed in what I'd just said. Although these guys made me nervous, I had to admit, I felt like I belonged here.
The rest of the night mainly consisted of small talk between Sweet Pea and I, as well as a few rounds of pool. I saw a some familiar faces around the bar, including Fangs, and I also met Jughead's dad, F.P.. Everyone was very friendly and welcoming, and I felt like I could have stayed there forever; however, it was starting to get late, so Sweet Pea offered to drive me home. Before leaving, I exchanged numbers with a few of the serpents who went to school with us and thanked everyone for their hospitality.
Once we pulled up to my house, we said our goodbyes, and Sweet Pea waited until I got safely inside of my house before driving away. I quickly ran upstairs to my room and laid in bed. I checked my phone for the first time that night and saw that I had received multiple messages from both Betty and Archie.I decided to ignore them, not wanting to deal with any northside vs southside drama, and turned off my phone. I found myself smiling, and for some reason I just couldn't stop. How could a day that had started so horrifically end on such a positive note? Those were my final thoughts before I drifted off to sleep.
