Sunshine (Sweet Pea Fanfic)

Chapter 5

I don't really know what I was expecting, but I didn't think Sweet Pea was going to take me to a notorious dive that the Serpents frequented. Yet there it stood as I got off the bike. The building was practically falling apart outside, and no doubt on the inside too. You could hear the faint buzzing of the neon lights illuminating "Whyte Wyrm" sign from where we were standing in the parking lot. Why anybody wanted to frequent this joint was beyond me.

"Okay, stop judging her." Sweet Pea sighed, getting off his bike.

"Judging her?"

"You do this thing with your face every time you start judging," He explains as we start walking towards the entrance. "Whyte Wyrm is a beautiful lady, and I won't have you disrespecting her even if it's in your head."

"First of all, I do not judge." I respond. "I simply observe."

"You're friends with Cheryl Blossom, isn't judging in your friendship contract or something?" He questions as he opens the door for me. 

"I'm not even going to give you a response to that."

I walked into the bar to be greeted by the faint smell of cigarette smoke and old forest green carpet. It was relatively dark inside, but you could tell that this was a frequent place South siders visited just by the customers. There were a few men at the bar, a group of women in a booth and various others sprinkled throughout. They were very different from the Coopers and Blossoms. Instead of cardigans and pearls, the women wore jeans and tank tops. The men were a mix of facial stubble and leather jackets. A bar tender was clicking her long nails on the counter, looking entirely fed up with the kitchen staff. 

I cautiously hovered close to Sweet Pea, unsure of where to put my body in this place so I would be out of the way. Luckily, he quickly lead us to a couple of stools at the bar. 

"Fair enough, but I still don't understand why you're friends with someone like Cheryl Blossom." 

"She isn't like what you're insinuating." I defend, "She may be rough around the edges but she's never been anybody but herself."

"That's for sure." He grunts. 

Before I have a chance to respond, a bar tender walks up to us. She's wearing a standard looking bar outfit, a black tank top with Whyte Wyrm printed on it and shorts. She had to be a little older than us. Her skin was a much darker tone than mine, and her hair a combination of hot pink and black curls.  The pink complimented her facial features, making her eyes and jaw line look more striking. 

"Please tell me you are not skipping again, Sweetpea." She stressed, leaning against the counter. "And you did not bring a friend here."

"Listen Tonée, it is just for today." He protested. "Plus I'm not sure you'd consider us friends."

Tonée responded with a raised eyebrow and turned her gaze to me. 

"Well not-Sweet Pea's friend," She spoke, "Do you have a name?"

"Jessica." I began, "Jessica Tate."

"No way," She smiled, taking a glass from the drying rack on the counter and wiping it off. "You're Pop Tate's grand-daughter?"

"The one and only that I know of," I chuckled.

"Well look at your cute self with your braids," Taking a good look at me, I could see her eyes tracing every part of my face. "You look so much like her it's so striking."

"Your mom and Pop are the greatest" She continues, "Got me this job and everything."

"Wait, what?" I scoff, "At the Whyte Wyrm?"

"Hey, this place may not look like much but I have health insurance because of it," She replies, "and it's close to my house. Pop and Miranda were always so good about advocating for people."

I was taken aback. Of course I knew my mom and Pop were from the South Side, but I never imagined they were so invested in it. While I loved Pop, I never really knew what he actually did outside of Pop's. He was never one to talk much about his experiences when he lived over here. 

"Why not just work at Pop's?" I ask. Tonée just snorts. 

"I love Pop but I am not driving there to serve Alice Cooper some hot cakes, not even in the afterlife." She emphasized, "What do you want to drink today?"

"A beer would be nice," Sweet Pea says non chalantly, looking over at me. Tonée follows his gaze. 

"Best I can do is a Coca-Cola." She laughs, scooping ice into cups. 

"I will take what I can get." Sweet Pea responds.

"How about you, Jessica?" Tonée asks. 

"Water is fine."

"He's getting this on the house, so don't feel like you're going to pay either." Tonée assures, "Sweet Pea works weekends so these are technically employee beverages."

Both Tonée and Sweet Pea were staring at me intently, "Lemonade then, I guess?" 

"Good choice, I knew I liked you." Tonée smiles, pouring the drinks and placing the drinks in front of us.

"I'll let it pass this time but if I see both of you here during school hours again, you will not like me." She continues before leaving to go attend other customers. 

"Betty Cooper is even worse." Sweet Pea comments.

"What?" 

"The only person worse to wait on than Alice Cooper, would probably be Betty Cooper." 

"I don't even think she knows the definition of relax." I add. "Why do you hate the North side so much anyways?"

"Why do you hate the South side?" He counters, taking a sip of his drink. You could almost see the exact moment when his jaw clenched when he asked that. 

"I don't hate the South side." I explain, "I just don't like the gangs."

He takes a moment to look at me, I mean really look at me. I awkwardly unstick my thighs from the leather stool. I don't know why his gaze makes me feel so vulnerable, but it does. It's like he's trying to understand me without asking me about anything. Sometimes when he does it, I almost think he can understand me. That he can read me. 

"You see a gang," He starts, "I see a community effort to protect ourselves."

"You know everybody says the Serpents deal drugs." I lean on the counter, twirling the straw around in my lemonade mindlessly.

"Never would've took you for a girl that believes everybody." He leans in, his shoulders next to mine. Being so near to him, I can't help but notice that if I shifted a couple inches to the right we'd be almost centimeters apart. 

"I don't." I whisper. 

"We most definitely have less drugs circulating than in the North side," He bragged, "You know Alice Cooper. She just gives off the vibes."

Looking at each other, I pop a small smile. Never in my life did I think that I'd be in a bar on the South Side shit talking the Coopers with a Serpent. 

"You're too much." I laugh. A good laugh, one that reaches your stomach. 

A comfortable silence washes over us. 

"You know you can always talk to me about Pop's," Sweet Pea pipes up. "I'm good at keeping secrets. Plus I don't know fucking anybody on the North side I'd actually wanna interact with anyways."

"It's okay." I dismiss.

"It's okay if it's not." He disagreed. 

"All I feel is a mixture of anger and sadness right now, and I don't know what to do with it."

Getting up, Sweet Pea holds out his hand.

"You ever throw an ax before?"