The Serpent Queen

Chapter Thirty Six

Our third day of protesting was our last one. Archie and a bunch of Bulldogs came up to us, bolt cutters in hand to cut us out of the chains. FP stood up to them, warning them, but Jughead pulled him away and faced Archie himself. Way to put a kink in their friendship.

Reggie came over to cut off my chains and escort me away from the school. He placed his hand on my waist, dangerously close to my arse so I turned around and punched him. I was going to hit him again until FP picked me up and took me out of the way.

'That was one well placed punch Crystal' Sweet Pea told me with a chuckle.

'Don't encourage her' FP scolded him but he was laughing at the same time.

'You should have let me fight them' I muttered as we walked to the bikes so we could head to the Southside.

After finding my dad at the Wyrm and assuring him I was okay and not dying of frostbite, FP and I went to mine and curled up in bed since I was still frozen.

'You better not be sick after this' FP said with a chuckle as he pulled me closer to him under the covers.

'If I get sick then I expect you to wait on me hand and foot' I chuckled lightly, snuggling into his side with a yawn.

'Go to sleep Crystal and I'll warm you up in the morning' FP said with a smirk on his face.

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I woke up to FP shuffling about.

'Dude stop moving' I groaned.

'Sorry Crystal, Jughead has apparently decided to let Betty stay with us. That was him texting me to let me know' he explained.

'How on earth are all three of you going to manage to stay in there? It's barely big enough for the two of you'

'I know Crystal, but we'll just have to make it work somehow. I can't just let the two of them stay there together alone' he sighed.

'It'll be fine FP, don't worry' I tried to reassure him.

FP and I were lazing around on the sofa when someone knocked on the door.

'It's open' I shouted, not wanting to move.

Toni came in hesitantly but as soon as she saw the two of us on the sofa, she bounced over and sat on a chair opposite us. She looked at us expectantly, as though she wanted to say something but also didn't.

'What's up Topaz?' I asked.

'I'm worried about Cheryl. She's basically gone MIA since the sleepover' she explained, 'And her mom said she's gone to a boarding school somewhere'

'Okay, so?'

'So I'm worried Crystal, I don't trust her mum one little bit'

'I'm sure it's all normal Toni, don't sweat' I shrugged.

The three of us headed to the Whyte Wyrm for the remainder of the afternoon. I ended up beating Fangs and Kicks easily at pool but I lost several times against Sweet Pea which made me a little mad since I didn't like loosing but FP bought me a couple drinks to make up for it. Toni had been sat brooding for most of the afternoon so I pulled her up to dance with me. We were halfway through our third dance when my phone rang so I went outside to answer it.
'Hello?'
'Hey Crystal, it's Sophie'
'Oh hi, what's up?' I asked my mum curiously.
'I hate to ask you so late but would you mind looking after your brother for a few hours please?' she asked anxiously.
'Of course I will, is everything okay?'
'Everything's fine, he just keeps getting in the way of the builders and it's very chaotic here' she explained.
'Okay, give me 15 minutes and I'll pick him up from yours' I said to her, already making my way back into the Wyrm.
I squeezed my way through the Serpents until I found my dad and FP stood at the bar.
'Dad can I borrow the car please? Sophie needs me to babysit Elijah for a little while' I told him.
He fished around in his pocket for his keys and handed them over.
'Thanks, I'll see you guys soon'
I went outside to find dads car and ended up taking Sweet Pea to Sophie's with me. We pulled up at the house to see it completely surrounded by work men and construction. We navigated our way through the house till we came to the kitchen where Sophie was waiting.
'Crystal! Thank you so much for doing this! Hey Sweet Pea' Sophie greeted us, 'So I promise this is only for a few hours, it's just manic as you can see'
'It's honestly fine Sophie, Elijah is my brother, I don't mind looking after him one bit'
Jonathon came in carrying Elijah and two bags. He handed me the kid and Sweet Pea got the bags to carry.
'Okay so I'll text you once it's safe to bring him back' Sophie said as she ushered us out of the house.
We had put the bags in the car when Jonathon came running out with a car seat to put Elijah in. Sweet Pea decided to sit in the back of the car with Elijah as we headed back to the Wyrm. I got Sweet Pea to carry the bags inside as I put Elijah on my hip and we walked into the Wyrm. It was a lot quieter now so we had no problem going straight over to the bar.
We put Elijahs bags behind the bar for safe keeping as dad came over to fuss over Elijah while I searched through his bags for some snacks he could have. When I found none, I got him some crisps from behind the bar and took him with me over to a group of the younger Serpents.
Elijah clung to me as he ate his food, not really liking the attention he was getting but he soon relaxed once everyone left him alone. It was around 7 when Elijah slowly started to fall asleep on my lap and I realised Sophie still hadn't messaged me so I decided to take him back to the trailer.
'Need a hand taking your brother back?' FP asked as I went to grab Elijahs bags.
'Thanks but I'm taking him to my trailer, Sophie hasn't said he can go home yet' I replied.
'Either way, you can't carry the kid and the bags so I'll give you a hand' he said, picking up the bags.
I followed him out of the Wyrm and we slowly walked to my trailer. We ended up bumping into Betty who was making her way back to the Jones' trailer.
'Hi Mr Jones, hi Crystal' she greeted us.
'Hi Betty. How are you?'I asked politely.
'Fine, thanks. Who's this lil cutie?' she asked, smiling down at Elijah.
'My half - brother Elijah. We're just taking him to mine so he can sleep properly' I told her.
'Okay, well, I guess I'll see you both later then' she smiled before walking away from us.
I awkwardly opened the trailer to let us in and tucked Elijah up in my bed so he was cozy and safe. I made a small pillow barrier around him so that he wouldn't be able to roll out of the bed. Then I went and crashed on the sofa next to FP.
'You don't have to stay here FP, you can go back to the Wyrm'
'Nah, I'm not gonna leave you here Crystal'
'Thanks' I replied softly, 'Sophie better message me soon, it's not suitable for Elijah to sleep here'
She didn't message me soon at all, it was several hours later when I heard from her and she asked if Elijah could stay the night. I was furious she had left it so late and I told her as much as well as telling her how I didn't have the facilities for him to stay over. She didn't care though, just told me she would see us both in the morning. So I ended up curled up next to Elijah in bed as we both slept.