𝖛𝖎𝖈𝖎𝖔𝖚𝖘 ↠ sweet pea [2]

|| ELEVEN ||

"I needed it!" Lauryn snapped. "I've been carrying it since the Skulls arrived. Do you know how on-edge I've felt?"

"That's not an excuse."

"Isn't it? Did it slip your mind that Rich told the Ghoulies we'd give them a name, and that soon enough they're going to find out it was me, and both gangs will be our enemies?"

Sweet Pea was left at a loss. He was not going to tell her Rich already knew. Not that night, at least.

"Bed, you," he replied, kissing her forehead. "That's enough for one day."

--------

The next morning at school, the revision from the SATs had already started, which was just what the Serpents needed when they already had enough on their plate.

Sweet Pea tossed his books into his locker as soon as he got to school, as he didn't have time to read anything before basketball practice. When he closed his locker, Jared was standing next to him.

"What, Aleks?" Sweet Pea exclaimed, trying to hide that he'd been startled.

"I heard about your unwanted visitors last night," Jared crossed his plaid-covered arms. "What did they want?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Sweet Pea scoffed. "They still want the baby, and thanks to you, Lauryn's waving a gun around, that you gave her."

Jared raised his brow. "She still has that?"

"Yeah," Sweet Pea replied in a chortle. "She does."

"I gave that to her for protection, Sweet Pea," Jared defended. "When she was pregnant, she was scared of the Ghoulies coming around. It's not my responsibility what else she chooses to do with it."

Not that Jared knew, but it had come in handy for that very reason.

"Sweet Pea!" Rich called from across the hall, and Jared immediately fled. "We going to practice?"

Sweet Pea nodded once. "Yup."

The two were the first into the locker room, and Sweet Pea couldn't stop his hand from shaking. "Why did you make that deal last night? You already know the answer to what happened to Skye."

"Because I don't give a shit about the Ghoulies," Rich said as he took his shirt off, revealing a torso of scars from stabbings and even bullet holes. "This is gonna go my way, whether you like it or not."

Sweet Pea frowned, more so because of what Rich had said than his tattered physique. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I have no intention of giving Lauryn's name," Rich plotted. "To the Ghoulies, at least, but that's where you come in, because you're an obstacle."

"Go on," Sweet Pea urged sceptically.

Rich inhaled through his teeth, narrowing his eyes menacingly at Sweet Pea. "You're gonna notice everything around you changing, Sweet Pea, maybe even being taken away. You're not gonna do anything about it, because if you do, I will kill you and send your girl to the big house."

Sweet Pea was horrified, though he refused to show it. "Whose name are you gonna give?"

"That's for you to find out."

Sweet Pea leaned his side on the lockers. "What are you gonna do?"

"Refer to the latter."

Sweet Pea took a second. "I'll be your puppet, on one condition. Aside from Lauryn's name, you don't give anyone who's close to me. That includes myself, FP, Jughead, Toni, Cheryl and Fangs."

Rich smiled grimly. "Done."

Though Sweet Pea had made the crappiest deal of his life, he wasn't exactly sure what that was going to entail. He could only imagine how things were going to fall apart, but his life, and Lauryn's future without him was on the line.