Two Evils // Sweet Pea

Chapter Twenty-One

The next few days pass by slowly, Sweet Pea's Serpent family show up in trickles, wishing him well and leaving various get well soon gifts. Throughout, Katherine Lodge does her best to stay out of the way; out of sight out of mind. She may have been welcomed with open arms once, but Kat still felt as though she had to keep her wits about her. On the outside, it may have been all smiles, but the reality remained that a number of the Serpents still didn't trust Kat, and others held her responsible for the attack on Sweet Pea. She didn't blame them for it, hell, she already blamed herself.

Katherine Lodge sits quietly. Beside her, Veronica fiddles with the claps of her purse; a nervous tick. The news of Hiram's plans for the Southside High School had broke, thanks to Kat betraying her family and leaking the information to Jughead. Of course, she'd been careful as to not give herself away too much. Jughead has come to the conclusion on his own, Kat had only pointed him in the right direction. Still, the twins were in for a tough ride. Kat knew the consequences, but did so anyway. As far as she was concerned, her father was a rat. Vermin that needed to be dealt with. Veronica, none the wiser, would defend her father. As she always did. Kat would have to pretend. Smile and nod. "This will benefit Riverdale," she would lie through gritted teeth, "There are only positives."

The car rolls to a stop. A begrudged looking Sebastian opens the car door, allowing Kat to climb out. She's careful not to make eye contact. Any chance of friendship between the two had long since vanished. She mutters a thank you, rushing into the building. Veronica not far behind her.
"Whatever happens," Ronnie sighs. She was naive, but far from stupid, "We stick together."
Kat sends her a soft smile, if somewhat distracted.
Across the hall, Sweet Pea leans against his locker, his black eye slightly faded, but still present on his face. A vexed Toni slams her locker shut, muttering something in the direction of Fangs. She catches a glance at Kat, looking her up and down. Huffing something towards Pea, she storms away.
"I'll catch up in a second," Kat gestures are Veronica to carry on, as she changes her direction.
Kat catches Pea's attention, signalling for him to follow her to their dedicated 'Swords & Serpents' room. He eagerly follows.

Sweet Pea closes the door behind him, careful that nobody saw him. Clearly not on the same page, he strides over to Kat, attempting to pull her into a kiss.
"What are you doing?" She laughs, pushing him away.
He furrows his brows, looking slightly hurt.
"People can't know about us," she sighs, kissing his cheek, "It's not safe, not yet."
"Kat—" He groans.
"Pea, please. I need you to keep this quiet." A serious tone is present in her voice, "Things are about to get real ugly. I don't want you getting dragged into this."
"I can handle it."
"I'm sure you can, but I don't want you to," She remains in command, the way her father had taught her, "I can't publicly go against my father, not if I want to keep the Serpents in the loop. I can't be seen 'involved' with a Serpent. Just trust me, okay?"
"Fine." He huffs, the face of a wounded puppy, and places a light kiss on her forehead.
"If something happened to you again, I would never forgive myself," She quickly kisses his cheek, "Meet me tonight?"

*

The first half of the day went by smoothly, albeit the odd scowl from peers. No one had actually said anything to the twins about Southside High. Only Jughead.
Kat rolls her eyes, all she wants is to sit and eat her lunch in peace. Of course, Jug was never one to stay silent.
"I just loved your spin piece in the paper, Olivia Pope," Jug continues to take jabs at Veronica. Conveniently, never directing his attention to Kat. She half wondered if the others noticed this, or was she just paranoid?
Veronica, still under her parents spell, had (and with little direction) written a fluff piece about the plans for SoDale — Southside High's conversion to a prison detailed in full. It was pretty easy for her father to redirect the narrative when he owned the town's newspaper.
"Can we not Jughead," Kat huffs loudly, sipping at her decaf.
"Did you know about Southside high closing? Or the prison?" He continues. Short Answer: yes. Kat didn't exactly blame him for feeling this way towards her sister. Veronica knew what was happening to Southside High; she'd chosen to keep that from her friends.
"Of course not, that was all her parents doing. Right, V?" Betty jumps to her best friends defence, although completely wrong.
"She didn't know, okay?" Archie sighs in response, "So just back off."
Kat had to hand it to them, they were loyal friends. They defended Ronnie constantly, not knowing any better.
"Fine. I have to conserve my energy anyhow.
I'm going on a hunger strike to protest Southside High closing," Jughead leans back in his chair, "And to get it reopened."
The four of them scoff.
Jughead furrows his brows, a defensive tone in his voice, "What?"
"Jug... you're always eating," Kat throws a fry at his arm, "Plus, Southside closing is probably the best thing that happened to your little serpent buddies."
"Hey, it's Jughead's prerogative to protest peacefully," It was Betty's turn to be defensive of Jug, "So we're gonna support him, right guys?"
"I'm happy to support him in his protest," Kat smirks, "I just can't see it lasting more than a few hours."
Jughead shoots her a look.