Polaroid // Reggie Mantle (2)

Chapter Ten

"A pipe bomb?" Caia exclaimed. "You've got to be kidding."

Jughead shook his head. "No. Sweet Pea seemed pretty damn serious about it."

Caia sighed and leaned back into the faded leather couch. "Oh my god, okay," she learned back forward. "I'll try to talk then out of it, but who knows what they're going to say. I haven't even talked to him about the fight and I know Sweet Pea saw me there."

Jughead nodded. "Yeah, and Sweet Pea got mad at me for being half a serpent. Who knows what he'd call you, especially with Reggie and all." Caia bit the inside if her cheek. This didn't seem to be going very well.

"I don't know either, but-"

Caia's statement was cut off by the jingling of metal as Sweet Pea appeared in the common area of the Whyte Wyrm, his friends behind him. Jughead bolted immediately, not wanting Sweet Pea to see him.

"Well, well," he began. "What do we have here? A Northside traitor," he spat.

Caia rolled her eyes. "I'm not a traitor, SP."

Sweet Pea scoffed. "You were at the fight, Caia. Fighting against us."

Caia shook her head. "I wasn't fighting against you. I was trying to stop it," she explained.

"If that's what you were going for, you sure did a crap job." Sweet Pea motioned to his face, where a large purple bruise encased his eye.

"You think I don't know that?" Caia questioned, lifting up her shirt to show off a nasty array of purples and yellows. Toni cringed from behind Sweet Pea. "I saw that article, dumbass. Why d'you think I skipped school today?" She finished, dropping her shirt back down.

Sweet Pea snuffed his nose. "Whatever."

He flopped down on the couch opposite Caia, folding his arms under his head. Caia moved her feet off her couch, opening a spot for Toni to sit in.

Caia cleared her throat awkwardly. "So, are you guys actually going to go through on that pipe bomb thing?"

"Damn straight," Fangs replied.

Caia closed her eyes and shook her head. "Why?" She questioned.

Sweet Pea sat up, facing the girl. "Because, Caia, those Northsiders are asking for it. No one blames us for something we didn't do and gets away with it. Especially as many times as they have."

Caia looked away in exasperation. "C'mon, Sweet Pea, this is dumb. You're actually gonna blow up a building just cause you're mad?"

"Um, excuse me, but maybe you don't understand. You go to Riverdale. You're treated like a Northsider. You don't understand what it's like to be us. Getting arrested for doing nothing, being blamed for every bad thing in this town. Those Northsiders could murder someone and still be the 'good ones." Sweet Pea paused and smiled, chuckling. "Oh wait. They already did that, didn't they?"

"You do this, you're just giving them more of a reason to hate you," Caia reasoned harshly.

"You still don't get it do you?" Sweet Pea questioned. "They're always gonna find a reason to hate us. This time, we're just making it easier for them."

*

"C!" Veronica greeted as Caia entered the student lounge the next morning. "Where have you been?"

"Sick," Caia lied seamlessly. She set her tea down on the coffee table and collapsed into a chair. "Who's that?" She questioned, motioning to the curly haired preppy boy sitting directly across from her.

The boy smiled and held out his hand. "Nick St. Clair, at your service." Caia his out her hand, expecting the boy to shake it. Instead, he grabbed it and touched his lips to her knuckles lightly, keeping eye contact the whole time. She brought her hand away hesitantly, a little confused. "May I ask your name?"

"Oh yeah. Right, sorry," Caia replied. "Caia Sinclair."

"Caia. What a beautiful name. Also, our last names are almost interchangeable, aren't they?" He flirted seamlessly.

Caia furrowed his eyebrows, obviously not picking up on the flirting. "Yeah, I guess."

Veronica rolled her eyes. "Down, Nicky. Caia here is very oblivious to your attempts to flirt, but regardless, she has a boyfriend."

"He's not my boyfriend," Caia interjected harshly.

Nick raised his eyebrows. "Not to happy about that assumption, I gather?"

"It's a long story," she brushed him off.

"I've got time," Nick replied. "Enlighten me, if you will."

Caia began to refuse once again, but was cut off by Veronica's friend. "Hang on a second. You can just tell me at the party I'm hosting at the Five Seasons tonight. Ten O'clock."

"Actually, I can't, I have-"

"No, Caia," Veronica interrupted. "You're coming. You missed the Matchlorette party, the least you could do is come tonight."

Nick nodded. "Yes, yes, you must. The Pussycats and Cheryl Blossom will be there." Caia figured this was supposed to be tempting, but it really wasn't.

"And Reggie," Veronica added in a sing song voice.

Caia rolled her eyes and sighed. "Ugh, fine. I'll come."

Veronica clapped excitedly. At that very moment, the boy she had just mentioned walked through the door. He hopped over the back if the couch to sling his arm over Caia's shoulders. "'Sup," he greeted, planting a kiss on Caia's cheek. "Can we talk?" He questioned, looking around at the others in the room. "In private?" He added, hoping they would get the hint.

"Oh, I see," Veronica began, standing up. "The two new found lovers need there time alone. Come along, Nick. Let's leave them to their canoodling." She made her way out of the room, Nick following closely behind.

"What's going on?" Caia questioned.

"Uh," Reggie stammered. "Moose told me something." Caia gulped. She knew what was coming, but really hoped it wasn't. "He said he saw you at the fight."

Caia looked towards the floor, trying to decide how to lie herself out of this one. "No," she replied. "No, I don't know what you're talking about."

Reggie's eyes raked Caia's face and body for any sign that she was lying. He noticed her absentiminded twisting of the ponytail holder on her arm. That heightened his supiscion. However, he decided to have faith that Caia was telling the truth. "Okay," he relented, causing Caia to exhale. "You'd tell me if you have any ties with those snakes, wouldn't you?"

"Yeah," Caia lied. "Definitely."