Rule - Sweet Pea (1)

Ginger Judas

"It's bad, Rule, it's really bad." Rule took a sip from a bottle of water she'd taken from her fridge,  Sweet Pea following suit from his seat beside her, Fangs nervously chugging half the bottle as he tapped on the edge of the recliner he sat in. "Okay, so talk to us, Fangs." Sweet Pea listened intently to his girlfriend and best friend, every serpent with a problem always showing up on her doorstep and not her cousins or uncles. "On the opening night of Carrie, when you were backstage rehearsing and you accidentally opened the wrong dressing room door and you found me in Midge's dressing room..." Fangs inhaled sharply, looking down as he finished his sentence. "I wasn't just giving her notes." Sweet Peas eyes went wide, his mouth opening to berate his best friend before Rule had a chance. "You were hooking up. Why didn't you tell Sheriff Keller?"

"Cause it makes me look guilty!" Rule pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation at the two, holding her hand up to silence their bickering. "I know, Fangs, I do. Just like I know that you didn't kill her." Fangs sighed in thanks, looking as if all hope was gone. "What do I do, Rule?"  Rule bit her lip in thought, standing up from her chair. "Just lay low, okay? The serpents have your back. I have your back. If anybody has anything else to say about that then they can see me." 

.......................

Rule growled at the posters lining each and every locker, her almond-shaped black acrylics tearing the paper down so she could yank the metal door open. "Nice shirt," Rule looked over at Cheryl who stood next to her, smirking down at her black crop top that said cute and going to hell. A pair of skinny jeans clung to her curves, black heeled ankle boots on her feet and her hair pinned back in a braided bun, dark makeup accentuating her face. "I think it's rather fitting, anyways, I have to go see a certain redheaded pain in the ass about these posters." Cheryl backed out of the way of the firey tempered black haired girl as she stomped through the hallway, grabbing Archie Andrews and Jughead by the upper arms on her way to an empty classroom. Slamming the door shut, Rule leaned against it and held up the poster in the air.

"This is some pretty forceful branding, Ginger Judas." Rule internally smirked at what had quickly become her favorite nickname for Archie. "Reggie made those, not me." Archie held unresolved guilt in his eyes towards Rule. "Look, I need your dark circle to lay the hell off my serpents." Rule had nothing but venom in her voice as she spoke of her family, her draw dropping when her cousin spoke. "Yeah, even though they were technically right about something." He instantly stopped speaking when he saw the murderous rage on Rules face. "Wait, what do you mean?"

"Nothing. He means nothing." Rule almost walked across the room and punched Jughead when he started speaking, again. "One of the serpents was canoodling with Midge, but he didn't kill her." Archie opened his mouth to speak again, Rule cutting off both boys as she was internally glad that Jughead hadn't been told who. "Enough! I am not telling you who it was, so don't ask. And from now on I'm sure as hell not telling you anything! Now, if you two want to go to the Sheriff's office with me to get some possibly incriminating footage then I suggest you shut your faces."  Archie and Jughead stood quietly like two scolded children, which they kind of were, before following Rule out the door. Across the hallway, Sweet Pea stood at his locker, looking up when he girlfriend shouted his name, instantly closing the locker door and walking towards Rule. "Come on Sweets, we're going to the police station." Rule fastened her hand through his, tugging the significantly bigger boy down the hallway and into her truck. It was decided that having anyone ride in the bed of the truck wouldn't be a good idea considering they were going to a police station. So that's how Jughead ended up riding his motorcycle and Rule ended up in between Sweet Pea, who was driving, and Archie. Rule, whose small frame gave her extra room to move, rolled her eyes aggravatedly and scooted closer to Sweet Pea, his arm wrapped around her shoulder and her hand on his thigh. 

"Well isn't this just fan-fucking-tastic,"

............................

Twenty excruciatingly long minutes later, Rule literally shoved Archie out of the passenger side door, Sweet Pea hiding a small smile. Jughead got off his motorcycle, walking over to the redhead and the couple who had their hands intertwined almost out of habit.  "You two disgust me." They glared at Jughead, Rule bringing up her right middle finger since Sweet Pea had her left hand.  "You're so lucky that I'm not allowed to have weapons on the premises. Oh wait, I have two right here." Jughead rolled his eyes, all the while knowing his cousin could indeed beat him with her fists. 

The four walked inside, waltzing over to the front desk and asking to speak to the new sheriff. Rule froze when a voice she'd never forget spoke up from behind her, the hairs on the back of her neck standing up as all four people turned around. "Gentlemen... and the lovely Radlee," In a flash, Sweet Pea had his arm out in front of Rule, trying to push her behind him, but to no avail. "Its Rule," Hiram Lodge smirked at Rule and her angered face, not to mention Sweet Peas, before looking at Archie. "This is the young man I was telling you about, Archie Andrews. The one organizing the safety initiative."  Sheriff Minetta smiles at Archie, holding out a hand to shake. "The dark circle. A man after my own heart," Hiram then pointed at Rule, a cold smile on her face. "And this is the other one," Sheriff Minetta gave her a hard look, Rule waving sarcastically and ignoring the whisper from Sweet Pea, telling her to be nice. "Ah, the Muckracker. The troublemaker." Jughead, Archie, and Sweet Pea shot one another terrified looks, waiting for Rule to blow. "Ah, you forgot 'iconoclast' and 'forced orphan' because of the murderer you're standing next to."

"Damnit Angel, you were doing so good today."