diamond //sweet pea//

//two//

Dallas found herself in the parking lot of Southside High the next morning. She was going to walk in the doors this time. Or that's what she told herself anyway. She dug around in her bag, eyes not leaving the chipping paint on the front doors. She found the pack of cigarettes and lighter. It didn't take her long before she held the drag to her lips, today, a deep crimson hue.

She watched kid after kid walk through the doors. Mostly all dressed in black or another similar shade. The fog was back, hovering low over the school. Dallas pulled the hood over her hair that had been tied messily into a ponytail and slipped on a pair of dark glasses. It was a disguise, a feeble attempt at hiding herself from Sweet Pea whom she had embarrassed herself miserably in front of. The thought of playing hookey for the second day sounded desirable in her head, but she knew sooner or later she'd have to face him again.

Dallas climbed the steps and forced herself into the chaos that was high school. It was loud in the typical school kind of way but the activities going on were anything but. A fist fight was being pulled apart at the end of the hall, two teachers yanking hooded boys in opposite directions. In the corner to her right, four girls tilted colored straws back and into their mouths. Jingle Jangle. She hadn't lived in Riverdale for long but she was familiar with its drug of choice. On the far left, leather clad teens leaned up against lockers, talking and joking, a recognizable emblem branded on their backs. The tallest of the group had stopped paying attention to his friends and had turned his gaze upon the visibly uncomfortable girl at the end of the hallway. The glasses may have hidden her icy hues but he knew that white blonde hair, even if it was mostly hidden by a gray hood.

His eyes trailed her and she wandered down, head shifting between lockers. She was looking for hers. It would be so easy to walk over and help her, but he had too much pride for that. Dallas had made it perfectly clear that she wasn't interested. Though she made that statement by kissing him. He didn't understand girls, but she was an especially tricky one to figure out.

Dallas tried her best to find her locker and move on but the hunt for locker 45J was proving to be difficult. As she reached the end of the row on the right side she realized that the numbers had all been even. And if she remembered right, J was exactly where the serpents stood. She gave herself two options. She could hold her head high and push her way through the group and put her things away, or she could avoid the confrontation that was inevitable. She decided that she was too much of a hardass to give in like that, especially after the way she'd given in so easily the previous night. Dallas gathered every bit of determination she had and with a boost of confidence, she headed straight for the snake pit.

Sweet Pea wasn't sure she was headed his way at first. But she didn't slow down, and her path didn't waiver. Her shoulder brushed past Toni's causing the casual group chatter to die away. She didn't look at him, not even a glance. Her slim fingers twirled the lock round and round until it clicked. She opened it up with a fury and jammed her books inside. With the same fury, she slammed it shut, her petite frame slipping between bodies. He watched her walk away and for a moment thought about chasing after her. He wanted to tell her that he didn't know why, but she had gotten underneath his skin.

Dallas had found her first class of the day, chemistry. While she had never been particularly fond of school, she found it relatively easy. She didn't put much effort into studying but she had never needed to. The classroom she found herself walking into was half filled, clearly divided into three sections. The serpents, the ghoulies and those who didn't fit it either of the other two. She found herself somewhere in the back of the room, headphones in, volume all the way up. This wasn't going to school, but then again, she had only promised herself entry into the school. She said nothing about actually learning anything.

She couldn't hear the bell ring but assumed it had when everyone else got up to leave. Algebra was next upstairs. Dallas trekked the stairs lined with illegal activity, mostly the JJ, and found her room. She took a quick scan around and found herself in a room with Sweet Pea once again. Her embarrassment consumed her as she forced herself as far from the serpents as she could. If that meant the front right corner then so be it. But she wasn't going to hide away, she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of knowing he was getting under her skin.