Silhouetted Sins

4th of july

toni's pov

the summer was going by fast and today is already july 4th. i'm pretty sure sophie doesn't even know what july 4th is or that it's a holiday. we never did anything special for july 4th because....well there really is nothing special to do.

me and sophie were still in bed watching morning cartoons and eating dry cereal when we heard a knock at the door.

"i'll get it." i say and get up. i open the door and sweet pea is there. he has swim trunks and a t-shirt on and is holding a towel in his hand. "uh hi sweets." i say. "hey tiny. i'm going swimming. you wanna come?" he asks. "soph do you wanna go swimming with sweet pea?" i turn around and look at her. she smiles and nods. i turn back around to sweet pea. "we'll be down in a few minutes." i say. he nods and i shut the door.

"here's your bathing suit." i say and hand it to soph. it just happened to be sitting on end of the bed. she gets changed in the bathroom while i get changed outside the bathroom. "how do i look." she says walking out like a supermodel. "oooo get it girl." i say and she giggles.

"can you tie my top?" i ask her and she nods. i crouch down so she's able to reach. "ok i'm done." she says and i stand back up.

"what day is it?" she asks me. "friday." i say. "it's rent day." she reminds me. shit. "i know. he's gonna have to wait a few more days." i say. "why?" she asks. "because i don't have the right amount yet." i answer.

"can moonee come swimming too?" she asks changing the subject. "sure i'll text halley." i say and we both walk out the door. we go downstairs and to the pool area. it was small, really small actually, but it served its purpose.

"oh hey fangs your here too." i say and sit on one of the pool chairs. "yup. it's a hot day out." he says. "how's the wyrm doing?" i ask. "it's actually doing really good. you can work there you know?" sweet pea says. "i know and i've talked to jughead about it. he said i should have a job by the end of the week." i say excitedly. "that's great. we can be work buds again." fangs says. "can't wait." i say.

"how's cheryl doing?" sweet pea asks. "i'm not sure. i haven't seen her since the wyrm's opening night. i see you guys around her all the time because your actually living here now but cheryl lives in some fancy apartment." i say. "mhm. eat the rich." fangs says and i laugh.

after a little bit moonee and halley join us. "hey pea pod!" moonee says. "hi kid." sweet pea says with a smile plastered across his face. "moonee come swim with me!" sophie says and moon jumps into the pool right away. "it's been so long since i've actually been at this pool." halley says and sits down next to me. "us too. it's so hot out today though." i say.

"greetings to all. i figured i'd find you all here." i hear a familiar voice say. i turn around to see cheryl followed by veronica and archie.  "cheryl what are doing here?" fangs asks. "well it's 4th of july. aren't we gonna party or something?" she asks. "uh no." i say. "well maybe you haven't in your past 4th of july's but this one is going to be fun." veronica says.

"why do you guys have something in mind?" sweet pea asks. "we actually have something for the kids. if they'd like it." archie says. "sophie moonee come out for a second." i say. they both look at me and then get out. archie holds out 4 packs of water balloons and the girls faces light up.

"aw you guys didn't have to do that." i say. "we wanted to." cheryl says.

"thank you thank you thank you!" sophie says. "can we fill them up? pleaseee." moonee says. "there's a hose around the back of the building. archie can take you guys." i say. "of course. come on girls." he says and they happily follow him.

cheryl and veronica sit on one of the pool chairs. "that was really sweet of you guys." halley says. "oh yea it was no problem." veronica says. "you boys liking motel life?" cheryl asks. "yea it's not much different from living in a trailer." fangs says honestly.

"yea and bobby is great." sweet pea says. "wait have you two payed rent for this week yet?" halley asks. "yea." fangs says and sweet pea nods. "wow bobby must love you." i laugh. "you guys haven't?" sweet pea asks. "nope." halley says.

"ok we've got all the water balloons." archie interrupts while walking back with a bucket filled with them. "we got to watch them all blow up. it was so dope." sophie says. archie puts the bucket on the grass next to the pool so the kids can play with them. archie comes and sits with the rest of the adults. we all get to talk for a little bit until bobby walks over.

"bobbyyy my man." sweet pea says and fist bumps him. "ladies i didn't get your rent yet." bobby says and looks at me an halley. "you don't think i know that? chill." halley says. "my mom can't pay it yet because she doesn't have the right amount!" sophie shouts from where she's playing with moonee. i sigh.

"yea what she said." i say honestly. "rent is nonnegotiable. it's bad enough i don't even ask you where you get the money from because i know you both don't have a job." he says. "yea yea whatever we'll have it soon." halley says and bobby walks away.

"the attitude on that man." halley says and i shake my head. "mom your the one with the attitude! you sassy af!" moonee shouts. "you know what sophie? you have my permission to hit her with a water balloon!" halley shouts.

sophie happily takes a water balloon out of the bucket and throws it at moonee, leaving it to pop water all over her. "your gonna regret that!" moonee screams and starts chasing sophie with the entire bucket of water balloons. "crazy kids." i say and shake my head.

we stayed at the pool for majority of the day and shared some memories of our times at riverdale high. halley was confused by all the insane things we did but she got a good laugh out of it.

cheryl, veronica, and archie ended up leaving to go back to their apartment. sweet pea and fangs went back to their motel rooms. me and halley have a surprise for the kids so we got changed out of our bathing suits and took them back outside once we changed.

we started to walk to the surprise and the girls were already curious. "can't you just tell us what it is?" moonee asks. "nope. that's the whole idea of a surprise." halley says. "come on we just want to know." sophie says.

"you'll find out...now. we're here." i say as we stand in front of an open valley in front of a pond. "huh?" moonee asks confused.

then the colors of a firework brightens the sky and the girls scream. "isn't that cool?" i ask. "yes! oh my god it's a firework!" sophie says and jumps up and down. "yea if we sit we can watch the whole show." halley says and we all sit on the grass together.

seeing both girls' faces light up just by seeing fireworks put a smile on my face. sure this life isn't ideal for anyone especially kids but at least it teaches them to appreciate the little things in life.

they both didn't ask where the fireworks were coming from though and maybe it's a good thing that they didn't. me and halley of course knew they were from disney world. maybe someday i'll be able to take sophie there. to me that was my end goal.

fix sophie's life before she's old enough to remember all the bad things. yea...that sounds like a good plan.

A/n: comment your thoughts and ideas :)