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Caroline slept really late the next day. When she woke, she quietly walked through the house in her bunny slippers, pulling her sweater closer to her body as she walked. It was unique for Uncle Johnny to find such a large house for himself, but then Caroline remembered he had once been expecting a family. She walked to his room, quickly looking at everything used to decorate it.
There wasn't much, just a picture of his daughter in a rectangle frame on his dresser and then a family portrait of all six of the Peaches hung by his closet. Caroline smiled at the memory before walking back out, remembering what Johnny said about the garden outside.
The sun was out, much to Caroline's delight. The air was still chilly, but she found herself smiling as she took a couple steps outside. "I see someone decided to wake up," Johnny said to her left. He was on his knees fixing the dirt, or whatever people do in their gardens.
Caroline squinted one eye due to the brightness from the sun. "Haha," she said bitterly, even though she was smiling. "What are you doing?"
"Replanting these little flowers that Hilda Spellman of all people gifted me a while back. I decided to move them out of the pots I had them in on the front porch."
"It was so dark last night I didn't get to see them out there," Caroline nodded as Johnny stood up, dusting off excess dirt from his pants.
He chuckled. "I think Hilda actually has a niece about your age, come to think of it."
"Greendale is another one of those towns where everyone knows each other, huh?" Caroline crosses her arms and leans against the wall.
"Isn't Riverdale a lot like that too?" he takes off his sunglasses coolly and folds them over his overalls so they hang on his chest. "You sound a little biased for someone who just moved here not even seven hours ago."
Caroline softly rolled her eyes. "It's still a lot different from Riverdale. It's gonna take a little while to get used to."
Johnny nodded, chewing on his bottom lip slightly. "Hey," he said like he just came up with a good idea. "Why don't we go out and I can kinda show you around? I need to go pick up some things at the store and register you at Baxter High."
Caroline nodded, used to going along with any and everything. "Okay, sure. Let me go get dressed and I'll be down in five." After slipping on a pair of jeans and her trusty army green bomber jacket on top of a plain white tee-shirt, Caroline decided to leave her hair down in its natural state, shrugging to herself at the glimpse herself in the full-length mirror that was hung in her new room. This is as good as it's going to get.
Thanks to Johnny's little tour, Caroline was getting the hang of being in Greendale. After going out and seeing the town for the first time in the daylight, Caroline decided it wouldn't be too bad. And the day after, she showed up to Baxter High, bright and early and ready for a new school year at a new school - even though it was only early October.
She wore the same bomber jacket as the day before, but this time paired with a different pair of jeans and a cherry red tee-shirt. "Bye mom, bye dad, bye Jessie!" Caroline had found herself saying as she bounced down the stairs.
Johnny watched Caroline pause as she landed in the living room. He drank the last of his cup of coffee before setting it in the sink, grabbing his briefcase off the table. "Well, bye to you too."
"I'm sorry," Caroline found the words slipping out of her mouth.
"What are you sorry for?" Johnny walked over to her, not giving her a chance to actually answer. Not like Caroline would answer with anything other than a shrug anyways. "Don't be sorry. Now, come on, I'll drive you."
"Really?" Caroline's lips turned up at the end.
"Yeah. I've got time anyways. Didn't your parents drive you to school?" he asked as he walked out the door with the keys jingling in his hand. Caroline followed close behind.
"No, actually. School wasn't that far away from my house, so we'd walk."
"You and your sister?" Johnny asked as he slid into the front seat of his car. It was nice, almost too nice to be driving around a dirty and windy town like Greendale. Caroline just couldn't believe the same man she saw wearing a blue robe and eating ice cream the night before was the same man who was now dressed up and driving such a beautiful car.
Caroline shook her head before pulling on her seat belt. "My sister never wanted to walk with me," she chuckled. "I walked with my neighbor, Betty, or more often, Veronica."
Johnny nodded. "That sounds like Jessie. She seems a lot different now, but also the same."
"She's definitely the same little-spoiled bitch she's always been," Caroline rolled her eyes.
Johnny softly cleared his throat. "Are you seriously gonna use that language in my car?" he asked calmly, almost freaking out Caroline.
Her eyes widened. "No, sir."
Johnny burst out laughing. "Caroline, it was funny! A little rough, but funny!" he continued talking as he drove her to Baxter High. "I don't give two shits what language you use, Spanish, English, cursing, sarcasm, as long as you hold respect for me - the man currently parenting you - then we'll have no problem."
That last sentence really stuck with Caroline the whole day. She bounced her leg up and down as she waited somewhat patiently and listened to Mrs Meeks explain her schedule and whatnot about Baxter High. The door opened, interrupting their conversation.
"You wanted to see me, Mrs Meeks?" a young boy came in, his backpack around his shoulders, the light blue denim jacket he was wearing made his eyes pop.
"Hi, yes Mr Kinkle, I wanted to introduce you to Miss Caroline."
A cute boy paired with the girl for a school tour? Uh oh.
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SWEET CAROLINE ; little does caroline know that falling in love is a bigger problem but no one tell her that
