Collateral Damage ▻ Riverdale [1]

2.24

THE AFTERMATH
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

At Southside High School, Queenie sat with the rest of her friends at their lunch table in the cafeteria. They were doing stupid things, trying to make the others laugh. On accident, Fangs flung his spork filled with corn on Toni. They all began to laugh as Toni wiped it from her face.

Fangs' eyes widened as his eyes widened in shock when he saw the death glare Toni was giving him, "You're so glad I'm in a good mood, Fangs." She stated and Queenie couldn't stop herself from laughing.

Just then, Queenie's phone began to ring. She picked it up from its spot on the lunch table and stared at it. Once seeing that it was just Betty, she pressed the green answer button and placed the phone to her ear, "Hello?" She spoke up with a smile on her face. Her friends were all giving her a confused look.

"Hey, Queenie, it's me Betty," Betty told her, "I'm calling because it's Jughead's birthday tomorrow and I called to see if you wanted to come see a movie with us? We're having a party later on, too." Betty informed Queenie and she frowned.

"No offense, but if you really knew my brother at all, you would know he hates celebrating his birthday more than anything. He's refused to have a party for years, he always hated being in the spotlight, unlike me." Queenie explained, "Does Jughead know you're calling me? He hasn't spoken to me in days for some reason."

Betty sighed in response to her question, "I also called you to talk about that. Jughead's been acting really weird lately without you around. Every time anyone even mentions your name, he gets really defensive. I was hoping, maybe the two of you could settle your differences?" Betty suggested.

"Sure thing," Queenie agreed with her, "I'll talk to him when I can."

And with that, Queenie hung up the phone and placed it back down on the lunch table, "Who was that?" Sweet Pea asked Queenie curiously.

"Polly's sister. She wants me to go talk to Jughead. His birthday is tomorrow and Supposedly, he's mad at me. I honestly didn't even notice." She informed them.

Mandy rolled her eyes as she watched Queenie get up from her seat, "Dude, do you ever stay at school later than lunch? I have never seen you here after noon." She commented and Queenie smiled.

"Can't argue with you on that. I talked to all of my teachers beforehand, I take my work home usually." She replied and her friends seemed impressed, "Bye, guys." She told them before she headed to the car.

______

Because the security at Riverdale High sucked so bad, Queenie walked right into the school without anyone stopping her. She entered the school to see all eyes on her. She walked down the hallway, toward the Blue and Gold's office. She was suddenly stopped when Chuck Clayton stood in front of her, a smirk on his face.

"Ew, it's you." She stated, rolling her eyes.

"Ooh, damn, Queenie. If I didn't have enough mommy issues already," Chuck told her as he checked her out, "Welcome back to Riverdale High. Are you staying for good? I think I would be honored to see your pretty little face every day in these hallways." He flirted with her.

"Too bad the feeling's not mutual, Clayton," She replied with a smirk, "And no, I'm not staying for good. Just here to visit my brother. I guess I'll be on my way. See ya, Chuck, I'll never want to be ya." Queenie began to walk away, leaving Chuck wide-eyed.

Once making her way to the Blue and Gold classroom, Queenie entered to see Jughead sitting at the large desk. She knocked on the doorframe, loud enough for Jughead to hear.

He looked up at her before looking back down, "What do you want?" He asked her, his voice filled with annoyance.

Queenie sighed, closing the door behind her before she walked over to the desk. She pulled up a chair and sat down before she began to speak, "Look, Jug, I'm sorry," She apologized to her brother, "I didn't move to the Blossoms just because. I did it because I want to figure out how exactly are the Blossoms are involved in my boyfriend's murder." Queenie stated before she quickly corrected herself, "Ex-boyfriend." She corrected quietly.

Jughead gave her a sympathetic look, "But Queenie, you haven't even called me in days. You could have been hurt for all I knew. You haven't spoken any of your friends in days."

Queenie scoffed after hearing her words, "None of your friends are considered my friends, Jughead. Remember that. Betty? She's not my friend, she's just my best friend's younger sister. Kevin? He's just an acquaintance who happens to be dating my one of my closest friends, Joaquin. Veronica? She's just a Park Avenue princess who hangs in the same friend group as my little brother. And Archie, he's the only one who's even considered a half a friend. Polly and Cheryl are the only people that I consider my friends from the Northside. All the rest of my friends are from the Southside; Sweet Pea, Joaquin, Mandy and everyone else." She explained to him and Jughead let out a sigh as he nodded his head in understanding, "So, we cool now or are you still pissed?"

Jughead got up from his seat and smiled slightly, "Yeah, we're cool." He agreed with her.

Queenie smiled as she pulled her brother in for a hug, "Good because I don't know what the hell I would if my baby brother was mad at me."

_____

At the Whyte Wyrm, FP was playing pool with Queenie, something that they hadn't done in a while. It used to be something they used to do all the time. Now, it was the first time they were playing in months.

"Did Betty Cooper call you to tell you about Jughead's birthday?" FP asked his daughter as he made his shot, instantly making it in the hole.

"Yup," Queenie answered, making her turn, "It's going to be a total trainwreck."

"Tell me about it," FP remarked, "You getting your brother a gift?" He asked curiously.

Queenie nodded, "Yeah. I actually got it. I didn't buy it though, it's something from when we were younger." She informed him, "Remember that book I won in a bet when I was like eleven?"

Fp laughed at this, "Yeah. Wasn't it that book 'Psycho' by Robert Bloch?"

Queenie laughed along with her father, "Yup. It's a first edition and it was also signed. I made a bet with that kid that used live a few trailers down the street from us. It was a poor deal, though. He was clearly going to lose. After I got it, Jughead was always dying to get his hands on it. It goes for about eleven hundred bucks now."

FP was impressed by his gift, "I found his old stuffed animal, Hot Dog," He spoke up, "Thought I'd give it to him as a gift."

Queenie frowned, "I thought Hot Dog got eaten by Hot Dog the second?" Queenie questioned, referring to the Serpent's dog.

  At the moment, they were on their third Hot Dog, but when Queenie and Jughead were younger, Hot Dog the second was still alive.

"That was Mr. Benny Perrywinkle that got eaten." FP replied with a smile. Queenie began to laugh hysterically at the name of her childhood stuffed bear.

"How did I even make up that name in the first place?" She asked him still laughing.

FP shrugged his shoulder, "I have no idea, but I do know it took me three weeks to finally remember that crazy name." The duo began to laugh together.

"I honestly miss those days. Everything was just so easy for all of us." Queenie admitted.

"Me too, Queenie. Me too." FP replied