Chapter 26: No One Likes A Snitch

"I trust that you will keep my daughter out of trouble." Cecile spoke to Reggie as Ali put her shoes on her feet. One last look in the mirror and another fluff of her hair and Ali was now pushing past her mother, so she could stand on the porch with Reggie.

"You have my word, Mrs. Dubois." Reggie smiled at Cecile.

"Good. Have fun you two." Cecile waved off her daughter and her friend before closing the front door. Ali sighed once she got inside Reggie's car.

"Your mother is nice." Reggie commented as he started the car and pulled away from the curb. Reggie and Ali were heading towards Jughead's street race together. They had to arrive slightly early before everyone else because Jughead was using Reggie's car.

"She's very involved." Ali said as she looked out the window. Reggie looked at Ali through the corner of his eye. His eyes quickly trailed Ali's form in his passenger seat. Her high waisted light wash coloured jeans fit her perfectly and her black and white striped top hugged her torso in a way that emphasized every inch of her. Her curly hair was out and fluffed and Reggie wanted to touch it, but refrained himself from doing so. Instead he placed his hand on her thigh.

"Well I like her since she lets you spend time with me." Ali moved slightly in her seat as she continued to look out the window.

"I guess so." Reggie took her reply as a sign that she wasn't interested in his physical contact. Reggie reluctantly pulled her hand back and placed it on the top of his gearshift.

"How do you think Jughead is going to do?" Reggie asked.

"Well I taught him the basics. We only had one training day, so he won't be as good as me, but he should win." Ali answered. "If he doesn't win then he'll disappoint me."

"He'll bring dishonour on all of us!" Reggie made a Mulan reference. Ali took note and looked at him. She cocked up her eyebrow and Reggie quickly smiled at her before turning his head. Once he did, he heard Ali laugh an actual belly laugh.

"You're actually the weirdest guy I've ever met." Ali said through her remaining giggles before looking out of the window again. Ali was right, Reggie was a strange one, but she was becoming weirdly fond of the Korean driver.

Once the pair arrived at the meeting spot, Ali quickly made her way over to the Serpents. She spoke with Toni and Sweet Pea and Fangs joined in as well. Reggie shook Jughead's hand as he watched what Ali was doing. Reggie wasn't aware that she was close with the Serpents. As Jughead walked away and the other Northsiders showed up, Reggie sat on top of Archie's pick-up truck.

"You want something to drink?" Cheryl walked over to Reggie with a red solo cup.

"Sure." Reggie took the cup and began to drink the cool liquid inside. It was hot out and Reggie was beginning to regret wearing his jacket, but he wasn't going to take it off. If the Serpents could stand there in their jackets than Reggie could do so as well. Once Ali was done her conversation, she walked back over to Reggie with a smile on her face. Cheryl sat next to Reggie on the hood of the truck while Kevin leaned against the front. Veronica and Betty were consumed in a conversation on the other side.

"Where'd you get that?" She asked.

"Cheryl gave it to me. Want some?" Reggie offered Ali a sip from his cup.

"I'm good." Ali shook her head.

"All right! Let's do this!" Ali looked behind her and saw Tall Boy walk up and yell in front of everyone. The crowd began to cheer with excitement. Reggie watched Ali and took this as his opportunity to move forward on the truck. He moved his legs, so Ali was now standing in-between them.

"Not the kind of drag race I ever imagined myself going to, but at least the guys are hot." Kevin commented as he scoped out the boys.

"Some of them aren't so bad." Ali agreed as she looked at Kevin with a smirk. Her eyes met Sweet Pea's for the briefest of seconds, but that lead her to look away as she bit the inside of her cheek.

"Some are better than others though, right?" Reggie snaked his arm around Ali's collarbone and leaned forward, so she could say it into her ear.

"Yeah, too bad none of them go to our school." Ali leaned back, so she could turn her face towards Reggie. After her teasing sentence, Reggie scoffed and smiled.

"You think you're all that, huh?" Reggie was happy with how close the two were. This was the first time he had reached out to touch her and he felt as though she didn't mind the physical contact.

"If I wasn't then you wouldn't be double texting me, right?" Kevin and Cheryl watched the two beside them. Kevin's eyes widened at the information of Reggie double texting a girl. Cheryl's sunglasses fell down the bridge of her nose as she gave the pair an amused look.

"You like it. How many guys are texting you?" Reggie felt smug. Ali barely spoke to anyone, so he knew that no one was giving her the attention that she deserved.

"You should see just how many are, Reggie. I think you'd be very surprised." Ali turned her head, so she could watch the racers head to their cars and get ready to start.

"Wait, how many guys are texting you?" Reggie brought his arm back to his side as the concern began to grow inside of him. Did he actually have competition? Were there other guys who had Ali's attention? Is that why she was always playing with Reggie instead of taking him seriously?

"Be careful, Reggie. The green eyed monster is showing." Ali said. With the sun beating down and the excited atmosphere in the air, Ali was in a good mood. She was in a playful mood and it's when Ali's in a playful mood that she becomes the most dangerous.

"Let's get these cars up on the road!" Tall Boy instructed the drivers. The drivers moved the cars to where they needed to be placed and the crowd followed. Everyone waited patiently for Cheryl to wave her arms and once she did – they were off. The crowd all yelled and screamed as the two cars sped forward and into the distance.

"He better win, Curly." Ali looked beside her and saw Sweet Pea looking at her. Everyone else began to walk back to their spots on the other vehicles.

"Don't you worry, I'm a good teacher." Ali crossed her arms over her chest as she walked towards Sweet Pea.

"Well he better be because I don't want to be a Ghoulie." Sweet Pea kept a straight face as he looked down at the British girl in front of him. Ali unwrapped her arms and placed her hands on Sweet Pea's jacket. She straightened out his zipper as she spoke,

"Have some faith in me, Sweet Pea. I won't let you down." Maybe it was because Ali had her hands on Sweet Pea's jacket or maybe it was the way the corners of her lips curved upwards, but Sweet Pea was very focused on the girl in front of him in that moment. However, with a path on his chest, Ali turned around and walked away – back to her Northside group.

"Everyone scatter! The cops are rounding up Ghoulies!" A man with long hair yelled as he ran over to the group of teenagers. The Ghoulies began to do as they were told and started to run away. The Serpents all grabbed their bikes and revved up their engines.

"How're we getting out of here?" Ali turned to look at Reggie. Reggie quickly jumped off the hood of the truck and looked around. His car wasn't there, so he didn't have an answer for her.

"Ali, do you want to ride with us?" Ali looked over and saw Toni standing with a helmet in her hands. Panic rose in Reggie's chest at the thought of her going off with the Serpents. Luckily, Jughead arrived with Reggie's car.

"It's okay, she's with me." Reggie spoke to Toni as he wrapped his arm around Ali's shoulders. Jughead and Archie quickly got out of the car and began to argue with Tall Boy and each other.

"Quickly, get in." Reggie opened up the passenger side door and put Ali in the car before getting into the drivers seat. Ali listened to the conversation and realized that Archie had called the cops on the race and now the Ghoulies were in trouble with the Sheriff.

"If the cops are here and Jughead drove in your car…" Reggie watched Ali as she began to think. Once her head turned, so she was now looking at Reggie he knew he needed to drive. "He raced in your car. We need to go."

Without another word, Reggie quickly backed out of the chaos and drove away – leaving everyone else behind. Reggie focused on the drive while Ali began to speak out loud. She didn't care if Reggie had an opinion on the matter at hand, but she spoke anyways as she began to think about what was currently happening.

"I can't believe he called the police. Is he really your friend? Why would he do that? You don't call the police when gangs are involved. The cops aren't going to protect you." Ali continued to rant in her seat.

"I didn't know Archie called the cops. I'm with you though, he shouldn't have done it." Reggie agreed with the girl who sat beside him.

"I'm beginning to think he's not very bright." Ali commented.

"Who Archie? Well, he doesn't think a lot of things through, but he's smarter than some of those Serpents." Reggie made a comment about the gang that he did not get along with.

"The Serpents? Do you even know them well enough to have an opinion?" Ali challenged the driver.

"Come on, Ali. It's the Serpents. I get that you're not from around here, but you don't know everything about what they've done." Reggie counteracted.

"Have you spent any time with them?" Ali asked.

"No, but I know you have." Reggie's jealousy began to show and Ali was quick to notice.

"They're funny and they're good people. They're like everyone else." Ali said.

"I just think that you shouldn't spend time with them. You don't know what they're capable of."

"Trust me, I've dealt with a lot worse." Ali crossed her arms over her chest and slouched in her seat as she looked out the window. Anger and annoyance radiated off of Ali, but Reggie didn't take note.

"Does it have something to do with your back?" Ali's body froze at the question. Her head slowly turned to look at the Korean driver. She couldn't believe what he had just asked.

"How do you know?" The words came out like a whisper.

"Veronica mentioned something." Reggie answered. Ali quickly turned away and looked back out the window.

"It's none of your business." She stated. Reggie knew that the topic was off limits, so he didn't press her on the subject. Instead he placed his hand on her thigh again and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"I'm here for you. When you're ready to talk."

"Stop the car." Ali felt like she was being suffocated.

"What?"

"Stop the car." Her heart was pounding in her chest.

"Ali-"

"STOP THE CAR!" Reggie pulled over to the curb and Ali quickly got out. This was the second time she bolted out of his car and it was about the same topic of conversation. Ali stood up and quickly began walking down the sidewalk. Veronica had spoken to Reggie about Ali's back before she was ready to tell him. She wasn't ready to tell anyone. That was her secret. That was her body!

"Ali, where are you going? Get in the car." Reggie slowly drove his car on the side of the road and yelled at Ali. She ignored him as she continued to walk down the sidewalk. She didn't look at him at all. "Listen, I don't know anything. Veronica just mentioned it. If you think that I won't understand-"

"Your services are not needed today. You can pick me up for school on Monday." Ali spoke to him as if she was paying Reggie to do this. Reggie stopped the car and quickly got out. Ali continued to walk away from him.

"Ali. Ali. Stop!" Reggie finally grabbed a hold of her wrist and spun her around, so he could look her in the eyes.

"I'm sorry if I upset you. Just please, get back in the car."

"She shouldn't have told you." Ali made reference to Veronica.

"I know and I think she was just asking because she was curious. You know what she's like."

"That's not an excuse." Reggie lifted his hands in a surrender position.

"I'm not trying to defend her, I'm just saying that she didn't ask because she wanted to hurt you." Ali let Reggie's words sink in as she looked up at him. "We don't have to talk about it. Just get in the car." Ali didn't move. Reggie placed his hands on her shoulders and gave them a reassuring squeeze. "I'll buy you a milkshake at Pop's?" He offered.

"I'll have a vanilla." Maybe it was the look Reggie was giving Ali that made her calm down and realized that she didn't need to take her anger and frustrations out on him. Maybe it was the fact that she was about to get a free milkshake. But Ali did know that she couldn't trust Veronica to keep her mouth shut.

And...BOOM! Another chapter up for you lovely peeps! How did you like it? What do we think Ali will do about Veronica? Do we have any guesses about Ali's past?