Lexy Andrews

Jawbreaker

The walk to school was quiet, which was a rare occurrence when it came to these two siblings. But it was understandable. Between the gruesome murder of Archie's friend Babyteeth, and the letter Lexy had received from her gargoyle stalker the night before, neither of them were in a very good headspace right now.

But then again, were they ever?

As an attempt to avoid talking about the hard subjects, Archie brought something else to light.

"So what's going on with you and Sweetpea?" He asked, barely holding back a grin.

Lexy whipped her head in her brother's direction. "Nothing is going on between us and if we run into him today, do not make it awkward."

"Are you sure he knows there's nothing going on between you?"

She narrowed her eyes. "Yeah, I mean, why wouldn't he? Nothing's happened to make him think otherwise."

"You were sitting on his lap last night!" Archie exclaimed.

"I was having a mental breakdown! I was also screaming everyone in the building was going to die. Not very romantic, Sweetpea knows that."

Archie shrugged it off as Riverdale High came into view. There was nothing else he could say to make Lexy agree with him. Until she spoke up again.

"Wait, you don't think I'm leading him on, do you?" She asked cautiously.

"What?" Archie laughed.

"I'm serious! If you got the impression that we were getting back together, who's to say Sweetpea didn't get the same one?"

Archie didn't know what to say. He didn't want to give her the answer she didn't want, but he also didn't want to lie to her.

The contemplating look on his face was all the answer Lexy needed. She groaned and ran her hands through her hair.

"Okay, lets say you did give off that impression, would it really be so bad? It's obvious he wants you back." He tried to calm his sister down.

"Yes. I refuse to let him believe in something that's not going to happen."

"Not going to happen?" Archie stopped walking. "Like ever? You two are completely over?"

Lexy turned around to her brother behind her with a sigh. "It's just... it's more complicated than everyone thinks."

When Archie didn't respond, she took his arm and pulled him through the doors of the school, claiming she was going to be late for French. He stayed with her, making small talk about his gym as she twisted in her locker combination.

And then the seemingly normal morning took a sharp turn. In her locker, on top of some of her books, was a large polaroid. She took it out of the locker and discreetly held it up for Archie to see.

It was the two of them, walking down their porch steps with their bags on their backs, Archie scarfing down a hot dog.

The mood suddenly darkened when they realized... that was taken this morning. There was no doubt it was from the gargoyle, which meant that not only had he been watching them this morning, but he also must've just been here to get enough time to put the picture in Lexy's locker.

"Don't react." Lexy said through gritted teeth. "He could still be watching."

***

Lexy was on edge the entire rest of the day. Every class. Every time she walked down the hallway. There was always that fear in the back of her head that this guy was watching her. It was lunch now and Archie made sure to meet her at her last class and escort her to the tables outside.