IMAGINES ▹ ROSS BUTLER

↳ playbook drama

( PLAYBOOK DRAMA ) 
by arch1eandrews

"So he asked me and I said yes. I figure, what is the point of being the new girl if I don't revel in all of the attention?" Veronica stated, as we walked down the hallway to class. I nodded in agreement, though I wasn't really paying full attention to Veronica's story. Instead, my eyes were wildly scanning the corridor ahead of me, looking for a certain someone.

"(Y/N), do you think I should have said no? I don't want people to talk about me. Well, no, I do want people to talk about me, but not in a bad way..." Veronica asked, nudging me slightly with her elbow. I barely heard what she said, and just as I was trying to make sense of her words to give her the appropriate answer, my gaze locked upon its intended target. Reggie Mantle.

"Um, no, V, I think it's great that you said yes. Look, I really gotta go, we'll talk about this later yeah?" I mumbled, steering off from Veronica's side and heading toward the tall, dark-haired jock. He was rifling through various bits of paper in his locker, and he was completely alone for once.

"Hey you." I said, leaning back against the cold metal of the locker next to his. He glanced up momentarily, a smile flashing across his features before being replaced by a look of perplexity.

"Oh, hey. Um...what are you doing?" He replied, his eyebrow cocked as his eyes searched the hallway.

"I'm...talking to you? It's kinda one of the prerequisites of dating someone." I mumbled, confounded by how standoffish he was.

"Hey, yeah, I know. Sorry, it's just...I haven't..." He trailed off hesitantly, looking up at me from under his lashes.

"You mean you haven't told anyone?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest. We had been dating for just over 2 weeks now, and whilst it wasn't a particularly long period of time, it was definitely enough to cement a firm relationship status. We had been friends since freshman year, so dating wasn't an irrational decision to jump too, it almost felt as if it were inevitable.

"No, I haven't. Not yet. I will though, I promise." He mumbled, grabbing some books out of his locker. He pressed a quick kiss to my forehead, before slamming the locker door shut and walking away. I stood there, dumbfounded at his overreaction, and for the rest of the day, I found myself questioning what I had done to achieve this reaction from him.

The bell rang to signify the end of the school day. I sighed as I got up from my desk, shoving the various books splayed out in front of me into my bag, before slinging it over my shoulder. As I filed out of the classroom with the rest of the other students, I felt someone grab my arm. I turned in confusion to find Reggie, his hand wrapped around my wrist as he stood leaning beside the door. He was smiling widely, his eyes bright as he watched me. I shuffled out of the midst of the other students and toward him.

"Erm...hey?" I said, the tone of my voice inflecting at the incomprehension of the situation.

"Hey beautiful." Reggie mumbled, pulling me into a quick hug. I stood with his arms around my waist, completely baffled at the change in the raven-haired boy. This morning, he barely wanted to know me. Now, he was hugging me in the hallway?!

"Reg, what are you doing? This morning you were acting like you didn't wanna know me!" I stated, stepping away from the jock.

"I know. I'm so, so sorry. Look, I didn't want to tell anyone for a little while, because I kinda liked it being just me and you. Plus, with all that playbook drama, I didn't want anyone to think that I was only dating you because of that, because that is so not the case. I never wanted anything to do with that. It's barely blown over yet, and Chuck seems determined to keep it alive now that he's back. I don't want anything to do with him anymore, he's such an asshole." Reggie mumbled, his hands fidgeting as he spoke.

I bit my bottom lip as I considered what he'd said. I had to admit, I'd been disgusted at the whole playbook thing when Betty and Veronica had uncovered and revealed it to the school, and it was definitely something that was at the back of my mind when we had first started dating. But I'd known Reggie for a long while, and I knew that he wasn't that kind of guy, no matter how much he played up to the badboy jock persona.

"I accept your apology, Mantle." I declared, before leaning forward to kiss him. His hands automatically positioned themselves on my hips, and I smiled into the kiss, giggling lightly against his lips.

"You look really good today, by the way." He uttered, his lips grazing the delicate skin of my jawline. I smirked, my hands gliding up his strong arms to his shoulders.

"My place or yours?" I asked, aware that the hallway around us was slowly emptying.

Reggie just winked in response, grabbing my hand and lacing his fingers with mine as we walked towards the carpark. The remaining few students were grabbing things from their lockers as we strolled through the hallway to the exit, and I was very aware of the whispers and stares that followed us.

As we walked through the large doors, I felt the cool breeze of afternoon air against my skin. I shivered faintly, regretting my decision not to bring a jacket to school today.

"Are you cold?" Reggie asks, his eyebrows knitted with concern. I nodded slightly, and he began to remove his letterman jacket.

"No, I'll be ok! We'll be in the car in a bit." I protested, but Reggie paid no attention and proceeded to place the blue and gold jacket around my shoulders anyway. The familiar musky scent filled my lungs as I inhaled and I felt the warmth radiating from the jacket immediately.

We continued to walk hand-in-hand to Reggie's car, though the sound of tyres on tarmac stopped us in our tracks. I watched as a car speeded across the carpark, breaks screeching as it halted in front of us.

"Hey Reg, you coming with us? We were gonna try and get into that club tonight." A voice shouted. I looked up to see that the driver was none other than Chuck Clayton. Moose was sat in the passenger seat, and a few other guys from the football team were sat in the back.

"Nah man, I'm hanging out with (Y/N)." Reggie replied, his arm slipping around my waist and pulling me close to his side.

"The fuck, Reggie? Bro's before hoes man, remember?" Chuck barked, his face contorted with annoyance.

"Yeah. I remember, Chuck. Bro's before hoes. That was before I realised what kind of bro you are. Besides, she's not a hoe. She's my girlfriend. So stay the fuck away from us." Reggie retorted through gritted teeth.

"Whatever, man." Chuck spat, before speeding off again. Reggie turned to face me, leaning down to press a gentle kiss to my lips.

"Let's go, girlfriend." Reggie chuckled, leading me towards his car. I could hardly help the grin that was plastered on my face.