#pink pink pink and the various barbie logos that everyone has been familiar with for decades

[wokeuplaughing]

just beginning to settle for me how reflective of our culture it is that the current biggest meme online is the fact that barbie and oppenheimer coincidentally come out on the same day. barbie is a multi million dollar plot by matel both to sell more products and to increase media engagement since that's where the future is for advertising their products and oppenheimer is a dramatization of the only time nukes were ever used in war that targeted two civilian cities and killed thousands upon thousands of innocent people from the perspective of the man who developed it and viewed it as a necessary evil to end a war that was basically already over. girlbosses and bombs! isn't everyone having fun

[sweetpea-cc]

Pieces of Me (Part 2)

Summary: You are Y/N McCormick, the Northside Queen with a knack for defending yourself. Ultimately, too many warnings lead to being expelled from Riverdale High School and you transfer to Southside High where you’re immersed in a completely different life. Slowly, you become closer to Sweet Pea, along with the rest of the Southside Serpents while discovering the missing pieces of yourself.

Paring: Sweet Pea x Reader (ft. Toni Topaz) Warning: Some language,  Word Count: 1.9k+

A/N: Your last name is McCormick for reasons which will be explained later. Also, this is a slow burn miniseries. :))

(Part 1) (Part 3)

Three days later, the transfer papers were all completed and signed, and you were officially about to start your first day at Southside High. In a way, the school looked exactly as you imagined it would; practically in shambles, and it was apparent that upkeep of it wasn't a priority.

Ahead, you could see lines of students waiting to walk through metal detectors and scanners due to the violence that took place here and the collective sound of groans and laughter filled the air. You weren't blind, you know some, if not the majority of the student body, were staring at you. Understandable, really, you were what they called a "Northside Barbie," and it was apparent that you didn't belong.

Roughly fifteen minutes later, you finally set a foot inside the infamous Southside High. This school was the complete polar opposite of Riverdale in the sense that it was chaotic and no doubt its poor reputation preceded it.

"You must be Y/N, I'm Toni, your peer mentor for today." Your attention falls on a spunky girl, with dark brown hair and pink highlights. Toni appeared to have a small frame, light brown skin, and almond-shaped eyes. Suffice to say, she was beautiful, and you were slightly intimidated. You made a note of the amount of jewelry she was wearing; a broad assortment of rings, bracelets, and necklaces.

"Yeah, nice to meet you." You offered her a genuine smile as you ran your hands through your hair and began observing the life around you. Toni made a motion for you to follow her down the hall as she pointed out various things and facts according to your schedule.

"Mr. Phillips is cool I guess, you'll have the same class as me and a bunch of other serpents." Her voice seemed to fade away as you took in your surroundings. Southside was chaotic for sure, but there appeared to be a system; the serpents on one side of the school and the ghoulies on the other. Highly similar to the factions, as you liked to call them, at Riverdale- Royals, Jocks, Nerds, and dare you say it, nobodies.

"Hey, hey! Earth to Y/N!" Toni's voice suddenly registered in your head as you turned your attention towards her.

"What? Sorry, my head went to a different universe." You offer Toni a sheepish grin which she seems to gladly return.

"I was just wondering what you're doing here. No one transfers to Southside at their own will."

"Well, it was either here or Seaside, and there's no way in hell I'm driving two hours every day just to go to school."

"Why not Riverdale?"

"Oh, I got expelled. Apparently defending yourself against hormonal boys who can't keep their hands to themselves is a huge no-no. That, and writing a damning article about a teacher who is a child predator."

"Wow, props to you. Okay, uh, lunch is at twelve, and it looks like you have a free period from one to two. Everyone eats lunch at the same time so it shouldn't be too difficult for you to find it. I hope you brought something to eat because the food is not edible."

"Thanks for the warning, you've definitely made my day like five times better." Toni smiles and nods her head at you and disappears down the hall, meeting with a group of kids all sporting the same "Southside Serpents" logo. One of them, in particular, caught your attention though, he slim and very tall, and from your point of view, you spotted his double-headed serpent tattoo on his neck. His jet-black hair was loosely combed off to the side and good lord, he was handsome as hell. You

You turned away before any of them could see your face and stalk off to your first class which passed by excruciatingly slow. Thankfully, lunch rolled around quick enough, and you realize that Toni wasn't kidding about it being easy to find the cafeteria given how everyone was rushing to the same room. Upon entering, your sights almost immediately fall on the caged off sections of the lunchroom and quickly note that it was explicitly for the Serpents. Across the room, you spotted a bunch of kids sitting around lazily, and you recalled how Toni had described them to you— "Rival gang, drug dealers, street racers, rumors of cannibalism."

You definitely knew it would be best to avoid them at all costs, it was already enough that you were a hundred percent out of place. You say down at an empty table situated in the middle of the cafeteria, and there was that feeling again, all eyes on you as if they were waiting for you to make a mistake. To your left, you watched as the serpents, namely Toni, look back and forth between you and their section, it appeared that a small argument with the great serpent was currently taking place.

"Come on Sweet Pea, let her sit here. She's actually really nice, and you know the second they get, the ghoulies are going to eat her alive."

"No. She's not a serpent, she's a Northside Barbie." Toni scowled at Sweet Pea and had to fight the urge to punch him. Sure, he was right, you weren't a serpent and this section of the cafeteria was reserved for such but at the same time, sitting with them was better than sitting by yourself where you were a likely target for whatever games the ghoulies had in mind. And as if on cue, Toni watched as a ghoulie walked up to the table that you were sitting at and plop himself down beside you.

"Did Northside Barbie get lost?" his voice taunted and felt yourself physically cringe. It wasn't that he was a ghoulie that creeped you out, it was sound of his voice made the hair on the back of your neck stand up. You quickly found yourself fighting the urge to send your fist into his face, with it being the first day and all.

"My sense of direction is fine, thank you." You were doing your best to keep the conversation between you and the ghoulie to a minimum, but it didn't look like he was going away anytime soon.

"You're a pretty little thing, you know that?" this time, his finger made its way over to your arm that was resting on the table, and he dragged it slowly across making you jerk your arm away so fast it was like it became Usain Bolt for a few sections.

"Don't touch me. I'm leaving." You begin to put together your lunch and stand up, preparing to walk away only for greedy fingers to wrap themselves around your forearm, yanking you back. Quickly your eyes dart over to where Toni was sitting, looking slightly worried and back to the creepy crawly ghoulie.

"Ha, I didn't say you could leave. So why don't you sit your pretty little ass back down?" You scowl to yourself, had you really just heard him correctly? What year was this? 1930's or something? With your mouth forming a straight line, you level with him and speak slowly and plainly just to ensure that he understood you.

"I'd recommend that you let go of my arm before someone gets hurt. And here's a hint, it won't be me." The ghoulie then stood up, still refusing to release his hold on your arm, a disgusting smirk plastered on his face. After tugging a few times but finding no avail, you finally decide that physical force would be necessary.

Quickly, you twist your captured arm around and clasp your hand on the ghoulie's arm, wasting no time turning it and using all of your force to pin his arm behind his back. To add insult to the injury, you swiftly kick one of his legs from underneath him causing him to lose his balance, and with your free hand, you smash his face against the table.

"Now, you have about five seconds to apologize for being a dick before I simultaneously snap your arm in two separate places." The ghoulie struggled underneath you, and you weren't going to lie, he was a lot stronger than he appeared, but nonetheless, you persisted.

"Fuck you, you bitch!" He spat, nearly wriggling free until you applied further pressure on the smalls of his wrist causing him to yell out in pain.

"One... two... three..." You counted, applying even more pressure with each count until the creep finally gave in.

"I'm sorry! Let me go!"

As quickly as you took him down, you released him with a small shove forward and move backward, creating plenty of space between the two of you.

"That wasn't so hard, now was it?" You coo like tattling big sister, crossing yours loosely over your torso.

"Psycho bitch!" The ghoulie spewed, cradling his injured arm in his other hand as walked back to his friends, a small limp present in his wide strides.

"I've been called worse." You shrug carelessly as you finish collecting your belongings when the croaky and strident voice of the school Principal called out from behind you.

"McCormick! My office, now!" You look up, scowling at no one in particular and spin around coming face-to-face with a burly man in his late fifties. Letting out a quiet sound of annoyance, you trudge towards the man and you did, you caught a side glance from the same raven-haired boy you saw this morning. Though it was completely irrelevant, his crazy height and the way he towered over everyone reminded you of a pine tree. "Hm, maybe that's his name." you joke to yourself as you walk close behind the Principal and down the oddly silent hallways.

Sitting in the Principal's office was an all too familiar sight and you were starting to think you were more trouble than you were worth. Given Southside's reputation, you were surprised that the school even had a Principal, after all, had anyone been paying attention to the system?

"Would you like to tell me why you physically assaulted another student?" Principal  Wright asked as he sat back in his chair folding his meaty hands over each other. Based on the newspaper clippings hanging on his walls about various sports teams and honorable mentions, it would appear that once upon a time, long ago, Southside High was actually a school. 'Poor man.' you thought to yourself, he had to sit back and watch his school be torn to shambles.

"I used necessary force after asking multiple times for the creep to let me go, I even as much tried to walk away like a normal person. So all in all, Principal Wright, I'm completely innocent in this narrative." You threw your hands up in surrender and cross your legs, sitting like the proper lady you were supposed to be. The man looked beyond exhausted from dealing with constant fights and standoffs and he really didn't need the stress of a prominent Northside rich girl making things any worse than they already were.

"And Mr. Bowers will be dealt with, I promise you that. However, until then, I must urge that you stay away from him and his little gang. Right now, the last thing I need is another McCormick wrecking havoc in my school like your father and uncle did." The mention of your uncle made you smile, you didn't know much about him because your father often refused to talk about; something about the memories being too painful to relive. Perhaps one day, your sleuthing skills would serve you greatly and you'd find out more about him, until then, you were stuck with the vague explanations that your dad would give you.