In which Reggie Mantle begins to pursue Jacqueline Hall, Riverdale High's good girl, in hopes of earning some points for the football's playbook. Somehow, only to find himself being the one that gets played and used.
Or
In which the player is the on...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
The weekend after that night went by pretty fast. She ended up being able to sneak Sweet Pea back home with her, where they both fell asleep on the couches in the basement. When morning came, he headed back home and Jack had her usual Saturday breakfast at Pop's with her sister and mother, just as they had been doing their whole lives.
That Saturday, she spent the whole day working at her mother's bookstore. Sunday was boring. She spent the whole day binge-watching shows on Netflix. Her mother had joined her in doing so while Elena hung with friends.
When Monday came, Jack headed to school with her sister, who, just like always, picked up Midge, Ginger, and Tina on the way. She was growing tired of having to ride with her sister to school. At that point, she would have rather rode the bus or walk the three miles.
Once arriving at school, she went to her locker then headed to Biology. She was the only one to never have a partner. She sat in the back row alone, but she was fine with her. She spent the whole time texting in a group chat that consisted of Sweet Pea, Fangs, Joaquin, and Toni. Somehow, even though she never listened in Biology class, she was able to maintain a ninety-four as a grade for the whole semester.
Reggie Mantle suddenly entered the classroom. His usual lab partner was Moose, but just as he was about to take a seat beside his best friend, his eyes locked on Jack, who was too busy smiling at her phone to notice him staring.
"What the hell are you doing?" Moose asked, only to have his question get answered as Reggie headed straight for Jack's table.
He took a seat beside her without asking. Jack noticed this, but didn't bother to acknowledge it just yet, "I work alone," She informed him, too busy reading the texts Fangs and Sweet Pea were spamming the group chat with to look Reggie in the eye.
She couldn't stop herself once reading something Fangs had said and begun laughing, "Ooh. Someone got a boyfriend?" Reggie asked jokingly, but hoped to God she said no.
Jack immediately placed her phone down and looked up at Reggie, "Nope," She replied without hesitation, just as her phone began to vibrate incessantly from the group chat.
Jack lifted up her phone and placed it on do not disturb before placing it back down on the table, "So, do you mind if we're partners?" Reggie asked her curiously.
Jack shrugged before gesturing over to Moose, who was being forced to be partners with Archie Andrews, some boy on the JV football team. Jack knew he was best friends with her cousin, Betty, but never really talked about him, "What about Moose?" She questioned him, "Are you really going to force him to be partners with Archie?"
"Archie isn't that bad," Reggie argued, "Plus, why wouldn't I want to be partners with a cute girl like yourself?"
"You suck at flirting," She insulted him, "Please stop before you embarrass yourself."
Reggie couldn't help but laugh before becoming quiet. The teacher entered and immediately began to explain to them about the project they were starting that day.
They had four days to make a powerpoint on the cancer of their choice. They would have to work on it at home and with the person sitting beside them.
Jack rolled her eyes before turning to face Reggie, who smiled at her. She internally groaned before sending him a small smile. Everyone was giving her the perfect opportunity to get him to fall in love with her, but she was honestly growing bored with the whole thing. Yes, she wanted to become a Serpent and do anything to become one, but having to act like she liked Reggie was becoming boring. And she hated being bored more than anything.
She figured it was time to take it to the next level: Get Reggie to think she was actually liking him and when he tried to make a move, reject him. Once that was done, he will try to get her to forgive him. She would insult him a bit before agreeing to forgive him. After that, it would be the next level in the process. She planned to make him think that she was actually falling for him, which would cause him to do the same. Soon enough, he would be falling deeply in love with her. After that was done, she would break up with him in the most heartbreaking and embarrassing way possible; in front of the whole school. She already had it planned. It would happen on the day of Jason Blossom's annual Halloween party. Sadly, though, Halloween was the same day as her birthday.
But she knew it was a good thing, also. She hoped that in that same night, she would be allowed to do the Serpent dance, which would make her an official Serpent. And that was all she wanted. She didn't want a boyfriend and she definitely didn't care that she needed to break Reggie's heart to become a Serpent. Being a Serpent was her only goal.
Once class was over, Jack headed in the direction of her Spanish class. Reggie tried to catch up with her fast-paced walking and soon enough, he ended up doing so.
"Hey, Jack," Reggie greeted her awkwardly, "I was wondering if you'd want to work on the bio project today after school."
"You don't need to help me," Jack reminded him, "I can do the project on my own."
"No, I want to help," Reggie admitted, shocking both himself and Jack.
Usually, when working with Moose, neither boys ended up doing the project and ended up getting someone like Dilton Doiley to do the work for them. The only reason he was even passing biology was because he cheated off of the smarter kids in the class whenever there was a test, which seemed to be working for him so far.
"What?" Jack asked him, clearly shocked by his response.
"I want to help," Reggie repeated, "You shouldn't have to do the work on your own. This is a partner project, remember? So when should we work on it?"
"How does today after school sound?" She suggested, "We could ride to my house together. You have a car, right?"
"Uh, yeah," Reggie replied, nodding his head in confirmation.
Jack smiled, "Okay," She told him, clearly happy about finding out the information about him having a car.
Since she would be getting to him the next six weeks since she had to get him to fall in love with her, she could convince him to give her a ride to school from now on. That would mean she wouldn't have to ride in her sister's car every morning with her stupid cheerleader friends.
"Meet me at my locker after last period, okay?" Jack asked Reggie, who nodded his head in understanding.
"See you then," He replied and Jack sent him a small smile before walking to her Spanish class. She hoped she wasn't late, even though it was worth it. She had just found a way to get closer to Reggie and also a possible way to avoid having to drive with Elena and her friends to school. It was a good day for her.
AN: In your opinion, whose intentions are worse? Reggie's or Jack's? Honestly, I'm thinking Jack. Reggie may be doing it for the money, but he clearly has doubts at times.
Jack, on the other hand, she's doing it just to become a Serpent, which is more selfish in my opinion. She knows exactly how to manipulate him and how to get her way. She's taking it way more seriously than Reggie. It's almost obsessive.
