Polaroid // Reggie Mantle (2)

Chapter Twenty-Nine

The bell rang to start another school day with Caia in the student lounge. This time Reggie had decided to join her and her friends.

"So guys," Veronica started. "My confirmation is coming up," she said. "I already invited Archie but I want you guys to be there as well. Usually these kind of events, baptisms, confirmations, are family only, but since it's all about me, and you guys are my chosen family, I pulled a few strings and reserved a pew."

Caia smiled at Veronica. She was happy she had been invited to something important like this.

"What is the dress code?" Kevin inquired.

"Catholic sheek," Veronica explained. Caia scrunched her face and shook her head. That did not help. "So, dresses for the girls, veils optional, and coats and ties for the boys." She finished her statement looking down at Archie.

"Jughead Jones and Betty Cooper please report to the Principal's office. Jughead Jones and Betty Cooper to the Principal's office." Betty and Jughead shared a look before standing up.

Late that night, Caia reported to the Whyte Wyrm for a serpent meeting. She hadn't received an eviction notice because she lived in an actual house and not the trailer park, but she came anyway.

"We all got the eviction notices, but I swear to you, no one is going anywhere." Caia sighed at FP's lofty promise. It was almost impossible for him to be able to come through on that. "But the heat has been on us since Picken's day and they are using that damn statue as an excuse to turn it up." There was murmuring still coming from the crowd. "But if we're gonna fix this, I gotta ask, is anyone in this room responsible for cutting off Pickens head?"

"Why don't you ask your son what he has to say?" Tallboy demanded, walking into the bar.

"What is your problem with me, Tallboy?" Jughead spat.

"You wrote the article that started this mess!" Tallboy shot back. "You and your posse fired the opening shot at Pickens Day." As if on cue, all the boys surrounding the already standing Caia and Toni, rose to their feet.

"It was a peaceful protest, Turncoat!" Toni refuted.

"That accomplished nothing," Tallboy said, pouting to accent his words. "What's to say that you are your boyfriend didn't go back that night with a ladder and hacksaw."

This set off Jughead. "Hey!" He yelled, charging at Tallboy. "We didn't do it. Hell, Tallboy, you're the tallest guy in this room. You wouldn't even need a ladder," he accused.

FP grabbed his son's jacket. "Jughead," he warned. "Tallboy. The last thing we need right now is to turn on each other!" He yelled. He hit Jughead back a little bit to get Jughead's attention. "We'll find a way out of this."

*

Caia sat across from Jughead in a booth at Pop's. He had invited her here to talk about the Serpent troubles.

"Thank you for meeting with me," Jughead began. "You're the only person in this town that I can talk to about something like this besides Betty, and she's busy," Jughead explained.

Caia nodder. "Before you do, can I just ask you not to say anything to anyone about that thing you heard me tell your dad the other day?" She questioned.

Jughead nodded. "Yeah, of course."

"What do you need, Jug?" Caia questioned.

"As you know, Mayor McCoy thinks the Serpents were the ones who vandalized the statue of General Pickens. And now, suddenly, we have fourteen days to vacate Sunnyside Trailer Park."