PROMISE // reggie mantle

six

"hey, hey," tucker cooed as i whipped open the door to his black bmw, a hard glare on my face, "what's wrong, baby?"

"whats wrong!" i exclaimed, plopping down into the passengers seat, reaching over to slam the door shut. "did you not come to dinner tonight? it was a disaster! my dads a cheater! my moms a mess! the whole situation is fucked!"

tucker grabbed my hands as the engine roared. he stared into my eyes with a sympathetic look on his face and lightly smiled. "im sure it will all work out on its own. tonight it our night, flower, let's not anyone else ruin it, ok?"

i wiped my under eyes and nodded my head. tucker plopped back into the drivers seat and proceeded to put the car in drive while i buckled my seat belt. i can't believe my dad had been cheating on my mom, like how long? how many women? i thought about this as tucker drove to the school. my mind drifted away from tucker trying to cheer me up and it instead went into a darker place, a place that questioned my fathers actions and why my mother never said anything till now.

one we arrived at the school, tucker parked near the gym and opened the car door for me. i mumbled a thank you and smoothed our my white dress and grabbed my purse from the seat. he shut the car door and held his arm out for me. i graciously took it, then walked into the school.

it was just like every other back-to-school dance except this time it was dedicated to jason blossom. there were pictures of the red head hung everywhere all over the gym, making me feel a little weirded out.

tucker kissed me on the side of my head and told me he'd be right back. i rolled my eyes and told him it was fine. i could care less what he was doing right now. i just wanted to find my friends.

as i stood by the lunch table, i looked at the entrance and finally the trio walked in. a girl on each of archie's strong arms. the girls looked beautiful. betty was wearing a gorgeous pink dress and veronica was in black. it fit her persona.

they talked for a while and I spun the spoon around the punch bowl before veronica came over, "hey, lila. you look wonderful."

"thanks veronica," i smiled, "you look wonderful as well. you don't go any where without those pearls do you?"

she touched the pearls on her neck and slightly grinned, "from my father. what about you?"

i played with mine as well, frowning, "from my father as well. although i think im going to take them off. after tonight i don't know how much i can trust him."

veronica furrowed her eyebrows, "what happened?"

"let's just say my mom accused my father of having an affair with several women on our wait staff and then my father left without a word."

"ah," veronica looked surprised, then gently pat my shoulder as i poured myself some punch. "im really sorry, lilac. maybe you should try talking to him, ask him the whole story? your mom as well?"