history. | SWEET PEA [2]

CHAPTER NINE

Note: all commentary in italics is from Alice telling the story to Betty!

"MY mom and FP Jones?" Becca's eyes widened as she sat straight up on her bed.

Questions were flying through her head faster than she could even ask them. Despite her jumbled thoughts though, she managed to remember something about her mother's family. Melinda had once told her when she was very young that her parents died when she was in high school. But by then, she had already been eighteen and could live on her own. Now, it seemed almost suspicious how little her mother had talked about her family.

What had her family done? And why did they move to Riverdale? And how did FP, the Serpent King, and her mother fit in to all of this?

Whatever she did, she had to get her mother's side of the story. One way or another.

"I don't know Becca, I'm just as surprised as you are," The blonde-haired girl's voice came from over the phone, "You should ask your parents what they know. Especially, your mom."

"You still haven't told me about my dad. How does he come in?" She questioned, her eyebrows furrowing deep in confusion.

"Don't worry, I sort of know that too," Betty's voice was steady, but grave.

Becca let out a dry chuckle, "Cooper, your investigative skills never cease to amaze me. Go on."

---

We were angry of course. At each other. At ourselves. But little by little, hour by hour, the walls we'd hidden behind all our lives started breaking down. As pudding cups and sandwiches were shared, the bravado fell away. And a group of misfits became unlikely friends. Even Melinda and I found time to share something. Every Saturday, she brought an extra pair of cigarettes, one behind each of her ears, for me. It was sweet, but now with a baby on the way, I had to think twice about what I put in my body.

And then there was that rainy Saturday afternoon. The first cold rain of the season.

Melinda took another drag of her lit cigarette, blowing the smoke out the window as the rain continued to patter against the old building. In the next window over, Alice was busy carving all of their initials into the windowsill alongside hers. Sierra was throwing paper basketballs, and FP and Fred seemed to be having some sort of 'bro talk' over by a cluster of desks.

"What are you doing?!" Penelope's high-pitched squeal interrupted everyone.

Hermione was knelt behind the large desk at the front of the room, "Yesterday, Mrs. Krabappel took my game lad, and she locked it up in here, so I'm getting it back."

With a gasp and a thud, Hermione wrenched the drawer open.

"That's vandalism!" The red-haired girl screeched again.

Melinda shook her head, taking another drag from her cigarette before putting it out on the window. God, Penelope was still as annoying as ever.

Everyone gathered around the now-opened drawer as Sierra gasped, "Holy crap! Krabappel's been hoarding our stuff for decades!"

She handed over Fred's drumsticks while Hermione started playing a game on her game lad. Penelope picked up something buried deep within the drawer with a confused look. It was a box, painted with red lettering and a sketch of fantasy creatures.

And there it was...Gryphons and Gargoyles.

"I've heard of this game before," Penelope said, though she didn't sound happy about it, "We shouldn't play it, it doesn't belong to us anyway."