The Last Blue Rose// Reggie Mantle (1)

Chapter Twelve

Caia waited on the edge of the football field in her cheerleading uniform, waiting for Reggie. She observed the freshly cut grass as she absentmindedley picked at her cuticles.

She was getting very tried of waiting when the large jock finally ambled over to her. He stopped as he neared Caia and flicked the wet hair out of his eyes.

Caia's eyes widened. "Is that sweat?" She asked, disgust evident in her voice.

Reggie chuckled. He threw his arm around Caia's shoulders. "No. I took a shower. I'm not gross."

Reggie and Caia continued walking towards the parking lot. "How was practice?" Caia questioned.

"Awesome," Reggie responded, sarcastically. "No, but really, something interesting did happen. Apparently, Archie and I are now in competition for top spot." He paused. "Team captain." He smiled proudly.

Caia beamed back. "That's great, Reg!" She exclaimed. They had reached Reggie's car and Caia turned to her boyfriend. She wiped a strange of grass off his shoulder. "Will you still make time for me?" She asked sheepishly.

Reggie chuckled at the cute sincerity of Caia's question. He placed his hands on her arms. "Of course, C." He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to his chest. Caia wrapped her arms around him in return. She smiled against his chest. Reggie smelled like mint and detergent. An odd combination, but somehow it worked.

Caia was reluctant to let go. She liked being in Reggie's arms. She liked feeling protected and loved. Maybe it was just Reggie, but maybe it was something else, too.

The next day at lunch, Caia joined her friends on the bleachers. She had gotten caught up in her previous class and coincednetally, joined the conversation late.

As she sat down and opened her packed lunch, Archie began to talk. "Coach Clayton says I have a shot at being varsity captain, so, I'm not thinking about anything else right now."

"You're back to being boring?" Veronica exclaumed, her mouth full of fries. Noticing this, Caia sneaked her hand in the container and strole a salty morsel. Veronica glared playfully as Caia popped the fry in her mouth.

Betty leaned towards Archie. "Are you maybe throwing yourself into football to avoid your feelings?" Her statement had a hint of truth that Caia was sure Archie wouldn't want to admit.

She was right. "I'm not avoiding anything, Betty," he defended. "I'm trying to get my life back on track."

Caia tuned out as Valarie took a seat next to Archie. Knowing she wasn't part of the conversation, she slid over next to Jughead.

"Hey," She greeted. She opened a plastic bag in her lunch and offered it to Jughead. "Carrot?"

Jughead shook his head in refusal, but a moment later he stuck his hand in the bag and fished out a carrot. Chomping down on the crunchy vegetable, he greeted Caia. "Hey."

Caia took a carrot and studied it. "Um, did you, find a place to stay?" She whispered, concious of the volume of her voice. She didn't want to divulge information personal to Jughead.

"Yeah," Jughead replied quickly. A little too quickly, if you asked Caia. She quirked her eyebrows at him, but an approaching red blob drew her attention away.

She nudged Jughead's shoulder and nodded her head at the approaching figure. "What does she want?" She asked.

Jughead shrugged, glad the conversation had moved from his home troubles. "No idea. Not sure if I want to know anyway."

Caia nodded I agreement as Cheryl reached the group. "Sorry to interupt, sad breakfast club, but I'm here to formally invite you to Jason's memorial at Thornhill this weeked." She handed a black envelope to Archie then Betty, as well as Kevin. When handing the envelope to Veronica, she couldn't help but make a snarky comment. "To my surprise and chagrin mother added you to the guest list. In case you're tempted to steal our silver candlesticks, don't. We'll be searching bags." Caia scoffed. That was a bit pretentious.