Born Crazy || Sweet Pea [1] [COMPLETED]

||TWENTY-NINE - PICKENS DAY||

Jayda's POV

"Where's your brother?" Toni asked, after approaching me in the hallway. She looked angry.

"I don't know. What's going on?" I asked her. She handed me a copy of the Blue and Gold school newspaper. I skimmed over it, it was about Toni's grandfather. "I might now where to find him."

We looked in the Blue and Gold offices, the student lounge, and a bunch of other places around the school.

We finally found him in an empty classroom, perhaps getting ready for a Swords and Serpents meeting?

"General Pickens was a murderer, and ripples from his gruesome acts continue to be felt today." I read out. "Descendants of the victims, are still being displaced. So, I challenge the Northside, instead of honoring men like General Pickens and Hiram Lodge, hold them accountable."

I handed the paper to Toni, and she carried on. "Reparations must be paid to men like Thomas Topaz, who are too old and beaten down to fight for themselves."

"This town is messed up, and it needs to own up to its history." Jughead responded.

"My grandfather isn't some broken-down victim. Okay?" Toni announced. "Or some prop for your insane vendetta against the Northside."

"No, of course not." Jughead defended.

"Look. I get it. You hate the Northside. You hate that instead of inviting you to a party, they asked you to work it." Toni replied. "It triggers all your rage about being born on the wrong side of the tracks. But this?" She shoved the paper into his chest. "This wasn't your story to tell." 

Toni walked out of the room angrily. I sighed.

"Jughead." I said. He turned to me. "When you moved to Southside High, you still felt like you were from the Northside. But you're not. And then, as if overnight, you hated the Northside. As Toni said, I get it. But, she's been fighting it a lot longer than you have, so next time, don't publish it. I gotta go, basketball practice."

"You're on the basketball team?" Jughead asked me.

"That's what you get from that." I scoffed. "And, yes. Yes, I am." I then left the room.

-----

After basketball practice, I went into the locker room, and most of the Vixens start staring at me. I rolled my eyes. This is going to become a regular thing.

"You should try out for the River Vixens." Cheryl said to me.

"No offense Cheryl, but that sounds like a nightmare." I responded. "And, I'm busy with basketball."

Suddenly, my phone starts to ring.

"Hey, Jug." I answered with.

"I need you to tell Sweet Pea and Fangs, but meet at the Whyte Wyrm as soon as possible." Jughead responded.

"Okay, will do." I replied. I hung up the phone, and dial Sweet Pea's number.

"I saw you two minutes ago. Why are you calling me?" he answered.

"Jughead wants all of us to meet him at the Wyrm as soon as possible." I responded. "And tell Fangs too." 

"Okay. Bye." he replied.

"Bye." I said, and hung up the phone before putting it in my bag. I showered quickly, before getting dressed, and heading for the Wyrm.

-----

After Jughead had announced that we were going to do a protest for the Uktena tribe, we got to work making signs. 

They all said something along the lines of 'Honor this land' or 'General Pickens is a murderer' or 'Sacred land'

So, the next day, at the Pickens Day celebration, we all got ready with the signs, and our mouths taped shut. 

While everyone was distracted by Veronica and the Pussycats singing, ironically it was Union of the Snake, we paraded through the crowd.

Toni was the only one without duct tape on her mouth, and instead of holding a sign, she had a megaphone.

We stood in front of the stage, and Veronica stopped singing.

"Toni? Jughead? What the hell is going on?" Veronica asked.

"We're here representing the dead, and the silenced. Pickens Day is a lie." Toni announced. "General Pickens slaughtered the Uktena tribe, my grandfather's family. And this land, the land that we're standing on, the land that will soon give way to a new Southside, was stolen from them. And we can't bring them back. But we can, and we must honor them."

By this point, Hiram Lodge was on stage.

"Hey, folks, hi. Uh... I think we can all be proud to live in a Riverdale where young people stand up for justice." Hiram spoke into the mircophone. "Where a young woman can defend the honor, and legacy of her grandfather. And where we can celebrate the living legacy of the Uktena, who contribute to the rich tapestry that is Riverdale, that is the Southside, and that will be SoDale. So, let's hear a round of applause for that, am I right?"

Applause erupted, which made me very angry.

"That's right. What do you say, people?" Hiram continued. Jughead ripped his tape off, and was about to step on stage when he was pulled back by Thomas Topaz. 

I took my tape off, and hugged Toni.

"At least we tried, right?" I said, as she hugged back.

"Yeah, at least we tried." she responded.

-----

After the protest, Sweet Pea, Fangs, Toni and I went to the rundown basketball court so we (minus Toni) could get extra practice in before our first game in a few days.

"Fangs, over here!" Sweet Pea yelled, as Toni and I both tried to jump up and catch the ball.

"Unfair advantage, we're too short." Toni complained.

"Correction, you're too short." I said, and intercepted the pass. I threw the ball, and successfully landed it in the net. "22 - 14. I think we're gonna win."

"You mean you're gonna win. Toni's done nothing." Fangs corrected.

"That's true." I said. We continued playing until Toni gave up, and refused to get off the floor. The final score was 30 - 20, so I won, as always.

"I'm hungry." Toni moaned, and sat up off the floor. "Let's go to Pop's."

"We can use my Dad's employee discount." I said, and they all practically ran to our bikes. "Who knew, discounted food is the way to make you guys run."