Unholy

18

"Jordan?" I ask after laying in bed for ten minutes with him. We have five minutes to get ready and I am just now rolling out. 

"Yeah... I kind of tried to get rid of it when I left. Mom always called me Sweet Pea when I was growing up, so it just stuck. I started introducing myself as Sweet Pea. Only FP knows my real name here. And you." He laces his boots up and wets his hair under the sink faucet.

"I like Sweet Pea." I say truthfully. He grins at me.

"Thanks. Can I check your leg before you get dressed?" He comes over to kneel in front of me and looks carefully at the wound.

"How do you know so much about this stuff?" I ask him. He rocks back on his haunches and stands straight.

"My mom was a nurse before she passed. She let me play with her medical stuff and even pretended to play doctor with me when I was sick or hurt. I learned everything from her." He says.

"Why are you telling me this stuff?" I don't want to sound rude because I am happy he trusts me but I want to know why.

"I have never been honest with anyone about my past. It's kind of nice to not hold it all in."

"No one?"

"No one. They wouldn't understand. I just thought that maybe you would since I have been in your spot before. I had to choose between good and bad and I didn't really know where good ended and bad began." He explains and I pull him into a hug.

"You aren't alone. No matter what happens with us, you can always come to me." I whisper to him and he smiles gratefully.

"Here. Cheryl left these yesterday." He passes me some clothes and I pull on the ensemble. The black skinny jeans surprisingly don't hurt my leg and I have to laugh at the shirt. It's clearly Cheryl's. The baseball styled tee has a white body and red long sleeves with a pair of cherries on it and the lettering says 'BITCHY' in bold. She also brought my platform Doc Martens and I'm happy to get out of my dirty vans. 

"How do I look?" I do a little twirl for the boy and a rare smile appears on his face. I feel lucky to get these moments with him.

"Absolutely like yourself in Cheryl's clothes." He says and I frown. How hard is it for a girl to get a compliment around here? "Relax, babe. You look amazing." He holds my shoulders and kisses my forehead. The little girl in me screams with delight. "Now let's go. Before we are late." He takes my hand and pulls me out of the trailer. Everyone is gathered around the bikes and Kevin and Archie's trucks. I'm afraid he will drop my hand but he doesn't. Instead, he laces our fingers together. The leather of his jacket sleeve feels nice on my palm.

"Heather! Before we go, I have something for you." Jughead says, emerging from the group with a serpent jacket over his arm. I release Sweet Pea's hand and Jughead helps me put the jacket on. It feels cool on the inside. The buckle around the hip dangles around my sides. I can imagine the snake on the back is as badass as it is on everyone else. Everyone has a jacket on today. A real serpent never sheds its skin. I will walk into school with this on. The next time I see my parents, I'll have this on and a tattoo marking me as a serpent. 

"You look really good." Sweet Pea assures. 

"Come on, love birds. We have to get to school. Where everyone has been ditching, we are close to all of us facing truancy." Jug and Betty climb onto his bike and they start it up. Everyone else gets on their bike or in their truck. Fangs decides to ride with Kevin, which I think is cute. When we pull in, all of us take the back of the parking lot as our own. Heading inside, everyone stares at us. It makes sense, though. Ten kids in leather jackets walk in a group through a mass of students. I can imagine the concern, especially when Reggie and Josie join us in our walk. My hand is encased in Sweet Pea's, and everything feels right.