Serpent Returns

Chapter 3

Sweet Pea and Fangs were stood waiting at border cross of the north and south side of Riverdale waiting for Italia to arrive. Needless to say Sweet Pea was a tad more excited than his friend. For as long as he could remember Sweet Pea had had a thing for Italia, much like the rest of the male Serpents her age, even the Northsiders had to admit they'd crushed on her before they understood the importance of north and south side. He couldn't decide if it was the Hispanic in her or just her sheer beauty, all he knew was that he was excited to have her back.
Italia confidently walked down the road to where the two boys were waiting, running up to them when she noticed them. She had missed these two so much, they had been pretty much inseparable growing up due to the Serpent bond and leaving Riverdale to travel with her family had been a particularly tough thing to come to terms with when the realisation that she wouldn't see these two for a long time set in a year ago. She was beyond excited to be seeing them again. Knowing that she was going to be walking into one of the most terrifying experiences in her young life was made much easier knowing she had these two by her side no matter what.
"Omg OMG omg guyssss I've missed you both so fucking much" Italia squealed as she pulled them into a big group hug. The two boys let out a small laugh as they pulled away, Sweet Pea taking slightly longer than Fangs in doing so, but not too noticeably longer, he didn't want to draw attention to his attraction to her just yet.
The three walked the streets of riverdale chatting away, catching up on the past year, all that had gone on in Riverdale...Jason blossom's murder, Clifford Blossom, this Hiram Lodge guy, FP and Jughead, Pop's and the black hood. Italia had thought she was going to have a lot to chat about after being away for so long, but in reality it was nothing compared to the tales these two boys were telling, it made her last year look decisively uneventful when that was far from the case.
Soon they arrived at the steps of Riverdale High, and Italia's nerves really hit. It was going to be difficult being the new girl in a new school, but add in being the returning girl to half of the pupils and being a god awful serpent to the other half was just down right haunting. Sweet Pea and Fangs felt her tension as they started walking through the halls but both managed to put Italia at ease, letting her know everything would be okay and Jughead would be looking out for them all. Knowing that there was a little bit of protection and an entire family of Serpents for back up made her feel slightly more at ease.

As they walked through the halls of Riverdale High, heads turned, both Serpent and North Siders. Both were intrigued who the girl in the leather jacket was. Italia knew she was pretty and drew a fair amount of attention by walking in a room, this she had learnt from all her travelling, but nothing really readied her for the number of wolf whistles as she walked past. The Serpents of course, remembered her well. The new she held importance, and those that didn't remember her could tell by the importance in her walk that it would be a bad idea to cross her. The North Siders knew she would bring trouble, she was turning heads for her beauty, which meant the boys were attracted to a serpent and the girls would not be happy that there was a new girl ready to come and take their place. Italia was used to being at the top, and it was were she intended to be, she didn't want to fade into the background, no matter how nervous she was.
They eventually reached the communal room, Sweet Pea and Italia following Fangs as they strolled over to the rest of the Serpents. Toni was the first to jump up to greet her. They had been quite close, especially throughout high school with being one of the few female members of the Serpents her age who held much importance in the gang.
"Tal!" Toni exclaimed as she pulled her into a hug
"Hey tee, loving the pink hair by the way!" Italia complimented. Toni smiled and sat back down, Italia following. Everybody was chatting and it felt like Italia had just gone back to normal, like they were in Southside High over a year ago. It didn't feel like anything had changed. That was until Jughead walked in with 3 others. Jughead sat with them and not the Serpents, which confused Italia, seeing as he was meant to be the leaders son, she was confused why his alliances weren't with the Serpents.
"Tee, who are they and why is he sitting with them?" Italia questioned the pink haired girl next to her.
"Sometimes I forget so much has happened since you've been gone! Well that's Jughead, obviously, and the blonde girl is his girlfriend Betty, the raven haired girl is Veronica Lodge..total queen bee with Cheryl and then that's Archie, Jug's friend and Veronica's boyfriend from what I can gather. Jughead likes to keep the peace so he says" Toni shrugged, suggesting she didn't quite understand the entire situation herself.
Italia tried to process all the information Toni had just relayed to her, until she saw Jughead waving at her a chuckling to himself. Italia realised she'd been staring at him and his group of friends lost in thought and waved, laughing back at her stupidness "hey Jughead"
"Hey Italia, my dad said he's gonna pop over later. Wants to see this Northside place you've got"
Italia nodded and turned back to the Serpents.
As much as she tried to join in on the conversation she was feeling a little overwhelmed by everything and was a little flustered by the sight of Archie Andrews. She'd seen him growing up with Jughead but he definitely did not look that good last time she saw him. But he wasn't a serpent and she knew she couldn't really go there. This wasn't Cuba anymore. This was Riverdale and things like Serpents and Northsiders don't work...apart from Jughead and Betty.