diamond //sweet pea//

//twelve//

The lights in the Southside had long been gone. Night had fallen and for once, it was quiet and still. Ghoulies and Serpents alike were dormant, at least for the time being. However, sunken in blue eyes, bloodshot eyes, gazed holes through the ceiling. Even in the darkness of the room, her eyes shone like beacons. Dallas struggled to find peace. The angry figures of Aiden, Nico and especially Mikey played endlessly in her head. She could feel each punch and hear each derogatory term being hurled in her face. There was no tossing and turning in fear of waking Sweet Pea. She lay still in fear. This was only followed with blind rage, she was tired of being terrorized by the Ghoulies. Something would have to change. A thought popped into her head. She needed to become a Serpent. Sure, she had Sweet Pea's protection. Jughead's protection and Fangs', but she needed the support of the entire community.

Dallas was sure that since Jughead was a Serpent, her transition wouldn't be that big of a deal. Maybe she could ride on the fact that her father was King of the Serpents. Maybe she could fully become a Jones. It wasn't as if being a Wiley was getting her anywhere. Surely Toni would get on board. Maybe Cas would even want to be a Serpent, her brother was one too. Maybe she could get the family she so desperately craved. Yeah, just maybe.

"You wanna be a what?" Toni asked as her and Dallas ascended the stairs to the high school.

"I wanna be a Serpent," Dallas repeated, her ego being deflated slightly.

"Good one Dal," she snickered.

"What's a good one?" Sweet Pea chimed in, coming up behind the pair. He instinctively wrapped his arm around Dallas' waist and kissed her.

"I wanna be a Serpent," Dallas stated for the third time.

"Ha, that is a good one," Sweets' laughed kissing her cheek. Dallas yanked away and stood in front of the doors, preventing Sweet Pea and Toni from entering.

"What's so funny? Jughead is a Serpent. What's so wrong with me becoming one. I'm always with you guys and I could really use the support of people like the Serpents." Dallas huffed and crossed her arms.

Toni shot up a look to Sweet Pea who returned it. "Listen Dal, I know that it seems like this is what you want. But you have to be all in. And I think we can both agree you're not," he said reluctantly.

"Babe! You're joking right," she demanded.

"I'm sorry Dallas. I think that yeah, maybe one day. But not now," he finished. He allowed Dallas to unfold her arms before continuing. "Please don't be mad."

Dallas sighed and threw her hands up. "I'm not mad. Just disappointed." Dallas grabbed her boyfriend's hand and the trio continued walking into the school, heading over to their lockers.

The course of Dallas' life was about to change. It would start with something small. Something that on face value had nothing to do with her. But it was the beginning of the rest of her life.

Dallas twirled the her lock, right 32, left 2, right 17, pull up, open. A loud bang drew her attention away from her books and she swore things began to move in slow motion. A hoard of police officers, led by the mayor, ambushed the hallways. The world was spinning, she couldn't even make out the words the left Mayor McCoy's mouth, but the angry jabs at Serpents let her know that this wasn't a friendly visit.

"DALLAS!"

Dallas felt frozen, stuck to that one spot in front of her locker. She looked at Toni who was already running down the hall, Sweet Pea's face was disguised with fury. A hand grabbed her jacket and yanked her away from her boyfriend. She didn't know how her feet were moving so quickly. Dallas was pulled into a pair of double doors, but before she could disappear from the scene entirely, she watched as two cops grabbed Sweet Pea's arm and twist it behind his back, shoving his body into the row of lockers. His free hand balled into a fist and swung at the metal door. The cop to his right grabbed that same arm and yanked it behind him, locking him into a pair of handcuffs.