#also i am slowly making my way thru giddy

[skadream]

lookit my cool bookmark. got from the museum of math in like 2016 and then haphazardly superglued a crack in the middle heehee

[southsideloser]

Night of Terror

Words : 1680

Warnings : swearing and mentions of sex 

 A/N: this is for both @southsidearchive​ theme 1 and @riverdale-events​ theme 3

          "Get down!" Sweet Pea grabbed your arm and forced you to duck behind a parked car as another passed by on the street. You peeked around the car to watch as the cars tail lights disappear.

          You leaned back next to Sweet Pea and burst into giggles. It couldn't be helped. The thrill of what Sweet Pea and you had planned tonight had you giddy. When it was clear that you weren't going to stop, Sweet Pea grabbed your face and pecked you softly.

          "Sh..." He murmured but it seemed that your giddiness was contagious and he too started to laugh with you. "You do this every year." He punctuated each word with kiss.

          "I'm sorry. I just get so excited." You kissed him once more before pulling back and resting your hands on his neck. "You ready?"

Sweet Pea grabbed a duffel bag that was beside him and yanked it open. He had you check to see if the cost was clear, he tossed you a package from the bag.

          "Put your hood up." Sweet Pea whispered, doing the same. He motioned for you follow him up into the Cooper yard. "Ready?" He grinned when you nodded, both of you let loose in covering the trees, bushes and grass with rolls of toilet paper.

          "Maybe now the crazy bitch will think twice before blaming the Southside for everything." Sweet Pea flipped the closed door off before grabbing your hand and rushing back to the duffel bag. "Which on next?"

          "I wanna fork Archie's yard." You giggle and grab a box plastic forks from the bag and almost skipped next door.

          Halloween pranks were your things. There was something about the ambiance of a fall night, creepy decorations, and spending the night with Sweet Pea. All that just seemed to melt the stress of life away. And in a town like Riverdale, there was always stress.

          For the past three years, Sweet Pea and you had been terrorizing both the North and Southside with your pranks. It was when you had dared to cross the lines of friends to couple.

          "This is really a stupid prank Sweet Pea." You sighed and tossed the empty can of spray paint in the bag on the ground.

          "Hey, you asked me to come pranking with you. And that I could choose a few of my own. I think this is a good one." He stood back and admired his handy work.

          "Its juvenile..." With a sigh and shake of your head, you turned to look for a new house to terrorize. "Painting penis' in the grass is something I expect from a twelve year old."

          Sweet Pea glared at you for a minute before stomping his way over to you.

          "Look, I didn't have to come out. I could be at the Wyrm right now, playing pool and making bank. I don't need to be criticized by you (Y/N)." You glared right back at him, upset that the evening was taking a sour turn so soon. "Honestly, why the hell did you even ask me out here anyways? Thought you liked to spend your nights with Fangs." He snapped bitterly.

          "In case you haven't noticed, Fangs isn't exactly the most stealthy of people. And what does Fogarty and I hanging out have to do with any of this. And why do you care?" You snapped back.

          "I don't." Sweet Pea scoffed and threw his empty can into a bag also. "Just pointing out that you seem to like the new Serpent." There was something off in his voice.

          "Yeah, I like him." You watched as Sweet Pea's whole body tensed up. "But he is seriously the human embodiment of a puppy. And why the hell do you sound so..." It took a moment for you figure it out. "Jealous." You mumbled. Sweet Pea scoffed again, crossing his arms and refusing to make eye contact.

          The air was still and quiet, the moment stretching to feel like an eternity.

          "I am." He sighed, still not making eye contact. "It used to be us and I thought it was always going to be just us." He waved his hand between the both of you. "And then some new kid comes along and it's not just us anymore. You're always off with him and it's like you don't even have time for me anymore. It's almost like you've replaced me. Are we even still the same friends were?"

          Your heart started to beat a little faster. Taking a deep breath, you steeled yourself to reveal you're deepest secret to him. This may be the only time you were presented with the opportunity

          "I don't want to be friends anymore, Sweet Pea." You admitted softly and had to look away from the look of absolute heartbreak on his face. You reached out and grabbed his arm as he tried to storm past you, rushing the next sentence out. "I can't keep being friends with you because I'm in love with you."

          And for the second time that night, everything was still. Sweet Pea slowly turned to look at you, unreadable look on his face.

          "I can't be just friends with you anymore Pea. I-"

          "How long." His voice was soft, you almost missed it. You shrugged, hugged your arms around yourself and looked at the ground. "(Y/N/N)..." He lifted your chin gently, "Talk to me."

          "For a couple years." He sighed and inquired as to why you never said anything. "Because i didn't want to lose this, what we have. You're like, one of the most important people in my life Sweets. But I just can't pretend anymore. I'm sorry."

          "Don't." He sighed and pulled you into a tight hug. "You don't need to pretend with me." He sighed again and pressed soft kisses to the top of your head. It felt relieving to finally get it all off your chest. For a long while the two of you staying like that, holding each other.

          "I love you." He said into your hair. "I have for what felt like forever."

"We're both stupid." You laughed, pulling back slightly. "Wanna be stupid together?"

          "Is that even a question." Sweet Pea grinned and leaned down to brush his lips over yours.

          "I think we're done here." You sighed happily and took a step back to admire your hard work. There were a couple dozen forks stuck in the Andrew yard. With a look down the street, you could see that Sweet Pea and forked three more lawns.

          You meet up at the end of the street, almost every house having been vandalized. The both of you just stood for a few minutes, admiring handiwork.

          "We still have time for one more prank." Sweet Pea said, pulling out his phone to check the time.

          "And I," You stood on tiptoes and places a chaste kiss to lips. "Know exactly what I want to do."

                                          ~*~

          The hallways of Riverdale were always packed first thing in the morning, that's why you opted to wait in the student lounge with Sweets until last minute. That's where Betty Cooper and friends found the pair. Sitting together in one of the arm chairs and playfully thumb wrestling. They were both laughing and smiling but Sweet Pea sobered up when the group stormed over to them.

          "My mother is furious." Betty snapped plopping down on the couch, glaring at you. "She wants to press charges for vandalism as soon as she has proof."

          "Um... What the hell are you talking about, Betty?" You feigned ignorance.

          "Don't play innocent." Archie leaned over the couch behind Betty, frowning. "My dad broke half of those forks before he gave up. How the hell are we suppose to get those out?"

          "What make you so sure-" Sweet Pea started defensively before Jughead cut him off.

          "Byrdie overheard you at the Wyrm running prank ideas to Fangs Sweet Pea. She told my dad who asked me to keep you two in line."

          "Swell job." You rolled your eyes. Jughead scoffed and slumped into the seat next tot Betty. "Look, there is no way to prove it was us. Plus, everything was harmless." You slid off Sweet Pea's lap and grabbed your bag from the floor. "Well, almost all of them were harmless." You gave Sweets a knowing smile.

          "Wait, what does that mean?" Veronica demanded from the other armchair. "What the hell did you do?"

          You didn't a chance to reply because at that moment, a very angry Reggie Mantle stormed into the lounge with some of the Bulldogs stalking behind him.

          "I want to know who the fuck pulled all those pranks on the Northside." He growled while looking at Sweet Pea and I.

          "Why, something happen?" Sweet Pea tried to keep the smile off his face and you 'accidentally' stomped on his foot. Reggie was about to launch at Sweet Pea when you stepping in front of him.

          "Before you try to blame Sweets, you should know we were at the Wyrm all night. Right Jughead?" You turned to your friend and gave him a pleading look. Jughead looked like he wanted nothing more than to choke you.

          "Yeah. They were there all night." He ground out, glaring at you. "What happened to you?"

          "Someone messed with Bella." Reggie hissed, referring to his prized muscle car. "Put jolly ranchers on the windows and then wrapped her in cling wrap. Do you know how long its gonna take to get that shit off?"

          "Sounds like you better get on it then." You wanted to slap Sweets upside the head. Reggie continued to stare you down, fuming before threatening to kill whoever harmed his car and leaving.

          "Are you daft?" Betty nervously ran her hand thru her ponytail.

          "He's mad now." You shrugged and held out a hand for Sweets. He stood and wrapped an arm around your shoulder, leading you towards the hall. "He'll be even madder when he realizes that we fucked on the hood first."

          You could only laugh at the shocked expressions on your friends faces as Sweet Pea and you left, while thinking of pranks for next year.

[countrygrlswrld]

Chicken Scratches: It’s all cluck to me

I got three kisses from a happily married Dutch man this morning. It’s just what they do. And, last night I got my very first Swiss Army knife—from a real Swiss guy, to boot.

All the more reasons to love Chicken, Alaska; it’s a multicultural playground.

Today alone I said goodbye to the Dutch couple that I mentioned; sent a Belgian man and his sun on their first gold prospecting excursion; got coffee for my Swiss mining friend, whose name resembles the headwear one normally wears when on a bicycle, and helped a Kiwi pick out a t-shirt for his wife then gushed about how much I love his home country.

While some find communicating with foreigners frustrating, I welcome the challenge, because hey, I’ve been in their shoes and I know how appreciative I am when people pity me and try to speak my language instead of saying, “Tough luck Yank, figure it out!” I’m working on my basic English skills, which is something I learned from a guy in the Himalayas and now try to emulate. Earlier this year, Peter, a mountaineer from L.A. made his way to Manang along the Annapurna Circuit, but with the iffy weather, he decided to stay at one of the teahouses for an extended period of time until he was sure he could make a successful pass crossing (you know, the one that got away from me). So, he volunteered to work at the teahouse for room and board. He didn’t speak any Nepalese, though he was of Asian decent and could fit in quite nicely as far as appearances and gentility go. But, that didn’t matter because mostly he would need to focus his communications on those with the various Europeans, Israelis and Americans that would be passing through. That he could handle, but he had a kind and logical way of doing it. I took note as he spoke slowly and used the most basic and proper English possible. Instead of saying “yeah” or “sure,” he said “yes.” Instead of using slang, he tried to be as literal as possible. Let me tell you, it’s quite the skill when trying not to get lost in translation.

Besides trying to adjust my English, I try to use certain German, French or Spanish words when I can remember them. The other day I replied “bitte” to a German man’s “dankeschon.” Caught off guard, the man looked at me excitedly, to which I quickly told him that was the extent of my German. Still, he smiled appreciatively and applauded my effort. Even the simplest gesture can send foreigners into a giddy relief. Instead of saying “Why-fy,” to which many Europeans look at you quizzically, I said “Wee-fee” to a French couple and they said, “Oh, you speak French!” That’s all it took—a little tweak. I’m not sure how my dad knew this, or how he remembered it from high school Spanish, but I can recall him telling me the different pronunciation of vowels for French, Spanish and Italian. That trick, from my non-traveling father, has served me well through the years (as has the pestering for me to come up with the change we would get in the drive thru before we got to the window—it has been my only saving grace for an anti-math mind).

It’s not just practicing other languages and deciphering the puzzle in some sentences, but meeting people from all over the world right that makes Chicken, Alaska such a unique and special place. Hopefully I can convey that gratitude to each sojourner who passes through the doors of the Chicken Gold Camp Outpost this summer. As they so frequently say along the hiking trails in Nepal, “Namaste,” which means (according to a plaque I saw in Pokhara):

“My soul honors your soul…I honor the lights, love, truth, beauty and peace within you because it is also within me. In sharing these things, we are united, we are the same, we are one.”

For more of my travel adventures, check out Country Girl: Letting Love and Wanderlust Take the Reins, available on Amazon.