The Southside Girl

Chapter 15

Jayden's Point Of View

We all gathered for Midge's funeral. I stood next to my father as Jughead stood next to me. We all had white roses and listened to the vixens sing. Once the funeral was over everything was hectic.

Jughead was pulled into the sheriff's office to be questioned about his documentary.

Then they questioned me about the play, since I was one of the people working it, maybe I had a idea of what happened.

I didn't really want to go to Pop's with Archie and the others, so they went without me and Jughead promised that he would bring me something back.

So I hung out with Toni during that time.

"So what did the sheriff ask you?" Toni questioned.

"Oh, he questioned whether I saw something strange or if I knew something was up." I answered.

"You were backstage with Kevin the whole time, you probably wouldn't of saw anything strange." Toni said,

"Yeah." I said. "I stayed by the curtain the whole time."

Toni nodded and at that second, Jughead came back with Pop's.

"One cheeseburger, no pickles or lettuce and a orange freeze. Plus extra fries." Jughead said handing me the food.

"Thanks." I said before starting to eat.

~
Later in the day, my father was watching tv while Jughead and I were in our rooms. I heard the front door opened and poked my head out of my room to hear Mrs. Cooper's voice. Jughead has already left his room and was eavesdropping on their conversation so I joined him.

"No more secrets, no more lies." Mrs. Cooper said.

I glanced over at Jughead, we both began mentally thinking of what this could be about. Either the black hood, or something else.

"I had your baby." Mrs. Cooper said as my eyes darted to Jughead.

"You're screwed now." I mouthed as he rolled his eyes.

We both continued listening in until Alice left, it was quiet until my father snuck around the corner.

"What in the world are you two doing?" He asked making me jump.

"Uh, just talking to Jughead about the black hood thing." I lied, Jughead kicked my leg.

"Ow." I said. "Ok, fine we were ease dropping. It seems like you were busy when you were younger. Considering my mother, and now Alice. Who's next?"

"Jay." He warns.

"That's all I'm saying." I said before I walked into my room leaving the boys to talk.

~
After I heard the boys leave, I went to hang out with the Ghoulies.

"What's up, hon?" My mom asks as she was doing her normal Ghoulie business.

"Nothing much, dads annoying me. So I decided to come over here." I said before I grabbed an apple from the bowl of fruit on the table.

"Dads are almost always annoying. I heard about the play. I'm proud of you. Well not happy about the black hood thing." She said as she looked up from her laptop.

I bit into the apple, swallowing before I continued.

"Yeah, everything was going great until that moment. But I'm sure that we will figure out what's going on soon enough." I said. "Where's Mal?"

"He should be in the basement." She said as she leaned back in her chair.

"Ok, I'll see ya later." I said before going down into the basement.

The same musky alcoholic smell hit my nose, almost making me run upstairs to retch. But I pushed past it.

"Hey." I said walking down the stairs.

Mal was playing pool with some of the other Ghoulies, turning around immediately when he heard my voice.

"There's my girl." He said, he glanced at the other ghoulies and shooed them off.

"Before you ask, I'm doing good." I said.

Mal smiled, "Good. I've heard about the play and the accident." He said. "Very proud of you. Despite the chaos the black hood caused."

"Thanks." I said. "Yeah, the black hood have caused chaos, making it complicated."

"Jay, I'm worried for your safety." He said.

I gave him a reassuring smile, "I'll be fine. I have my badass father and brother in my corner." I said.

He raised his eyebrow, "You still have that Northsider?" He asks.

"I do." I said.

"Well, I'm telling you he's gonna break your heart." He said. "And then you are gonna be alone."

"I'm not going to be alone. I do have the serpents." I said.

"Ugh. It's always the serpents. When are you going to realize that the Ghoulies are what you need." He scoffed.

"Probably never considering I am the serpent princess and my father is the King of the Serpents." I said.

Malachai rolled his eyes, walking up to me. He pushed a piece of my hair behind my ear.

"I can't help loving you." He states, "And if it's an all out war between the Ghoulies and Serpents, like hell I wouldn't let anyone touch you."

"I know." I said. "With the black hood suspicions, I only think that this is going to turn into some war between some person and another person, it won't end well."

"What if it happens? The all out war?" He asks, "What will happen to us?"

"Who knows, we will have to see what happens first." I said.

"Do you love the northsider?" Mal asks.

"To be honest, I do. But not as much as I secretly love you." I said. Mal smirked.

"That's why your my girl." Mal smirked as he took a step back. "Because our love for each other never dies out."

Mal walked over and sat on a couch and patted the seat next to him.

"Let's hope not." I said as I sat next to him.

"If the Ghoulies were to disband for some reason, I'll always find a way back to you." Mal said.

I smiled softly resting my head on his shoulder, he slowly reached over and grasped one of my hands.

"What if you die?" I ask. "What If something happens and you get hurt, and it's too severe. I don't know what I would do without you."

"You'll still have your mom. Plus Verne will be in charge in protecting you then." He said. "Trust me, nothing is going to happen to me."

I laid my head on Malachai's lap, forgetting about the alcohol scent that was in the basement, and focused on his instead. His scent was a mixture of honey and axe body spray which didn't bother me at all. I slowly drifted off into a deep sleep as he slowly pet my hair. The feeling of security that washed over me reminded me of home, my home.

~
Originally Posted: February 28th, 2020