SMOKESTACKS

CHAPTER | ONE

"Okay, so!"

Savannah let out a squeak as her best friend, Piper, slammed her locker shut, almost chopping off her fingers in the process.

"Not like I need those." Savannah muttered to herself as Piper stuck her tongue out impatiently, and continued with her piece of gossip.

"The word on the street, and by street I mean, according to Cheryl's twitter -"

"Cheryl Bombshell." Savannah couldn't help but snicker.

"Savannah! Focus!"

"Oh, come on! Her twitter is named after a push-up bra!"

Piper let out a hiss, her fingers mimicking claws, thrusting them in the direction of her friend.

"Don't be so dramatic." Savannah rolled her eyes, turning away from her friend and starting to head to their next class -Biology. "Just tell me the gossip."

"Polly and Jason broke up."

Savannah halted in her tracks suddenly, her mouth fell open ever so slightly and her heart raced. She craned her neck, trying to see a flash of red hair at the end of the hallway, expecting to see him.

"He's not in school today." Piper told Savannah, knowing exactly who she was looking for. "This is good news, isn't it?"

Savannah frowned in confusion, "How, exactly?"

Piper skirted around her friend until she was standing in front of her, eyes full of hope and wonder. "This means that you and Jason can be together now. No more hiding."

"What?" Savannah asked sharply, partnered with a humourless laugh. "Just cause we kissed a couple of times doesn't mean I want to be his girlfriend."

Piper's face fell, looking almost sad. "I thought you liked him."

"Well, sure." Savannah shrugged, "I like pizza."

She felt raindrops start to litter her arm, splattering against the pale skin and freckles that dotted around the flesh. Her head turned up to the sky, embracing the rain as she let out a shaky breath.

Savannah had been watching Betty Cooper lust after Archie Andrews for the whole of lunch. She walked beside him with a bright smile on her face, body turned to him so that she was constantly tripping over her feet. Archie was kind enough to stabilise her.

But Betty was a track runner.

Anyone who didn't know them would have thought they were a couple, and she wondered if anyone had thought that about her and Jason.

They'd snuck around, sometimes pushing the boundaries and exchanging a chaste kiss over a milkshake at Pop's diner. The first time they had, the brunette had noticed a boy sitting at a booth on the other side of the diner.

Savannah brought her head down from the air and flicked a rather unappetising piece of chicken across her plate. The girl sighed and propped her head up on her elbow, eyes flitting around the school grounds, the bench getting soaked around her.

She used to eat lunch with Piper, who had traded down (in Savannah's opinion) to go makeout with her boyfriend in his car.

Everyone was running back toward the school, except one boy who was sitting at a table not far from her, his eyes locked onto a slit in the wood.

Jughead Jones. The boy from the diner.

He'd cast a look of disgust at her, yet he'd never told Betty, Polly's sister, of their escapades. She merely shrugged in return, the Cooper girl meant nothing to her.

It happened so fast.

Jughead looked up from the table, catching her eyes as she stared at the mysterious boy. She couldn't help but wonder why he spent every free moment of his in that diner.

What was he hiding?

Was he just as broken as she was?

It was that moment, the early June shower raining down on them, ruining whatever effort Savannah had put into her appearance that day, that the girl decided that she wanted to be his friend.

Jughead stood from the table and sauntered toward the school, his clothes already dripping wet. He didn't look back.

The brunette couldn't help but smirk at the door that shut after him, blindly reaching down for her burger that was no longer there.

Savannah frowned and turned her head back to ahead of her, to find one Jason Blossom sitting just across from her. She could feel her heart jump into her throat, feeling thick and suffocating.

Why was he sitting with her? That wasn't what they did.

"Miss me?" He asked, smugly.

"And why would I?" Savannah countered sassily, eyes catching onto the half-eaten burger in his hands. "That belongs to me."

"You can have it back." Jason smirked, a glint of mischievousness flashing in his eyes. "In exchange for a kiss."

Savannah snorted in disbelief, "You are kidding, right? Just cause you and Polly have been broken up for all of ten minutes, doesn't mean anything has changed."

"Huh." Jason maintained his cool facade as he quirked an eyebrow. "So what is this for you then? This whole sneaking around thing."

A distraction.

"Fun." Savannah told him with a sarcastic smile.

"Go out with me."

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I have no interest in dating you."

Jason clutched his heart dramatically, "Ouch, cold."

"Life sucks." Savannah glanced around them, making sure that everyone had left for class before she leaned over the table and gave him a quick kiss. "See you tonight."

When Savannah got home, she hadn't expected to find Piper straddling her older brother on the couch. The sight almost sent her into cardiac arrest.

Her brother, Kyle, was only two years older than them. He'd been the Captain of the basketball team when he was their age, blowing his chances at getting a scholarship at Duke when he started taking steroids to boost his game.

His dream blown, Kyle dropped out of school and started working as a waiter at some restaurant down-town. Piper had been studying there one night, desperate to escape her crowded house.

The Dowers family consisted of Darren Dowers and his loving wife, Katherine. They had gotten married when they were young, fresh out of high school, and had their first child two years later. They hadn't stopped after that until they had six children, three boys and three girls.

That night in the restaurant, Piper had been struggling with geometry, the subject that Kyle had excelled at. Piper called it fate, Savannah called it Satan's evil plan.

"Jeeesus." Savannah groaned, whirling around to face the wall. "Is it possible for you two to keepyour hands off each other for ten seconds?"

"Hey!" Piper exclaimed, rolling off Kyle and wiping her mouth. "I don't complain about you and Jason!"

"Jason's not your brother!" Savannah cried, dramatically. "I think I might be sick."

"Great, get out." Kyle interjected, shooting daggers at his sister before pulling Piper back to him.

"Kill me now."

"Gladly."

If anything, Savannah was secretly glad that Piper was over. It meant that Kyle would be too busy with his girlfriend to be worrying about where she was sneaking off to. He frowned upon their secret relationship, insisting that Jason had a girlfriend.

Each time he threw that in her face, she would scowl at her older brother, telling him that he'd stolen her best friend and they had went behind her back for months before they'd even considered telling her about their relationship.

Kyle had always felt bad about not telling his sister. She'd found out one day when she burst into his room to borrow one of his boxsets, only to find her best friend in bed with her brother.

They didn't speak in days. Savannah didn't care that they were dating, it was that they hid it from her.

Yet that was hypocritical, right? She was the other woman.

On her way out of the house, she had run into Kyle, who just shook his head in disappointment at her, continuing up the stairs with two glasses of lemonade.

The look in his eyes almost made her stay, that he had given up on her, letting her get on with her mistakes.

Her left foot touched the ankle of her right, ready to slip off her shoes, when her eyes landed on a framed photo of their family sitting on the windowsill next to the door. Just the sight of their fake happy smiles was motivation enough to spur Savannah out of the house and toward Thornhill.

"We need to stop this." Savannah groaned, running her hands through her hair as she rolled away from the boy who stared after her, amused.

"You say that every day." He told her, reaching out for the brunette once more. "If you really meant it, then you'd leave."

Savannah frowned at him, knocking his hands away from her. "I can still walk out, you know."

"Go on then." Jason challenged her, smirking smugly at the girl, knowing full well that she wouldn't make it past the door. "I dare you."

"Screw you." Savannah scowled at the boy, before pushing him back onto the bed and pressing her lips back to his hastily. "You don't know me."

Jason let out a laugh between kisses, "You keep telling yourself that, Savannah."