The Serpent Queen

Chapter Twenty Eight

Jugheads plan came to light at school the next day. We were sat in an empty classroom in these ridiculous uniforms and Fangs had come back, also wearing the uniform so I began to be a little suspicious.

'Welcome to the inaugural meeting of the Swords and Serpents club' Jughead welcomed us.

'Which is what, exactly?' Toni asked.

'Like I told Fogarty and the others to lure them back to dear old Riverdale High, we are a gaming group, sanctioned by Mr Weatherbee himself'

'I ain't playing no dungeons and dragons shit Jughead' I protested.

Don't get me wrong, I was ecstatic that Fangs, Kicks, and the others were here but I honestly had no idea what the point of this 'plan' was.

'It's a club for us crystal. A safe haven where we can be Serpents in school hours, under everyones noses' Jughead explained.

I was pretty impressed and I knew the others were as well. It was a good solution to our problem. Maybe Jughead wasn't as bad as I originally thought.

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A week later and we had slowly become more accepted at Riverdale High. We no longer wore the ridiculous uniforms, Fangs, Kicks, and Sweet Pea were trying out for basketball, and I was slowly being given more and more work in order to graduate at the end of the year. Between my work load and FP working double shifts all week, I'd barely seen him so tonight I'd put aside a few hours to spend with him but first I had to head to the Wyrm. Dad had asked me to meet him in the office at the Wyrm which I thought was weird but I went to meet him anyway.

'Hey dad, what's going on?' I asked, walking through the doorway but I stopped short when I saw other people were in there as well.

'Crystal, this is your mother, Sophie' dad told me.

'My mother? You mean the woman who walked out on us?' I asked in disgust.

'Crystal' my dad warned me gently 'She's not here to fight'

'He's right. I'm here to make amends' Sophie told me, 'This is my husband Jonathon and our son Elijah, your half brother'

Jonathon gave me an awkward half smile where as Elijah, who looked to be about 6 months old, gave me the biggest smile ever.

'What are you doing here?' I asked.

'We've found a house on the Northside. I wanted to move closer to you, to get to know you' Sophie said.

'And why would you want that after being gone almost all of my life?'

'I regret leaving you and your dad. Having Elijah made me realise I'd missed too much of your life' Sophie explained 'I can't make up for what I've missed but I can be here now'

'Yeah, it's never that simple' I responded, 'Everyone in this town has hidden agendas'

'I'm your mother' she stated.

'Doesn't matter. Mother or not, I don't trust why you're here' I told her, 'I have to go'

'Go where?' dad asked.

'I'm meeting FP, we have plans' I told him as I walked out of the door.

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'You're upset' FP stated when I met him at our spot near Sweetwater River 'What happened?'

'My mother showed up with a new husband and baby boy in tow' I told him.

'That must've been weird for you' he commented, unpacking some food for us.

'Yeah, like I have no memory of her. She left me with dad when I was barely a year old and haven't seen her since. I don't trust her coming back here'

'Maybe she wants to get to know you' he offered.

'Yes but why now? And why does she need to move to Riverdale to do so?' I complained, 'I just know that she's gonna kick off about my place with the Serpents too when she finds out'

'As long as it doesn't change your thoughts on the Serpents, I don't care what your mother says about us' he reassured me.