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Chapter Fifteen
Leave and Never Return
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     TORI CONTINUED TO TOSS AND TURN IN HER BED even though all she wanted was to take a nap. Selena was downstairs making a grocery list since they needed to stock up on food while Tori was tired of all the recent events with Cheryl and MF and only wanted to sleep it all off. Her eyes snapped open when she heard a light knocking on her door and she sat up to see her mother standing in the doorframe.

     "I need to do grocery shopping soon and we're out of leftovers so I'm gonna leave some money on top of your bookshelf so you can get food from Pop's or any other place you feel like eating," Selena said as she left some cash on top of Tori's bookshelf. "I'll see you after my shift."

     "See you later, Mom,"

     Selena left the door slightly open as she walked out of the doorframe and went back downstairs. Tori swung her legs over the edge of her bed and walked over to the window and moved the curtain enough to see her mother right outside the house as she was getting inside the car. Once she was gone, she went back to lying in her bed but this time she made no attempts to take a nap, not feeling tired anymore. She looked at the cash her mother left behind and thought about whether she should just go to Pop's now or wait a while more before getting up. She stared at the ceiling for what felt like forever until she decided to get up and get dressed.

     Tori put on a grey sweatshirt and a pair of denim overalls and combed all the knots out of her hair. She put on a pair of sneakers over her sock covered feet and tied to laces before grabbing her keys, phone and the money her mother left for her. She turned off the light in her bedroom and closed the door before heading downstairs towards the front door. Once she was outside, she locked the door and started walking towards the diner. She had her headphones on with music playing softly so she could still hear parts of the world around her as she kept walking. When the neon lights of Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe came into view and became brighter with every step she took, she sighed in relief when she noticed how there weren't many people in the diner at this hour. It was usually more peaceful and she was able to enjoy her food and milkshakes better when there were less people making noise and causing trouble.

     Tori walked into the old-fashioned diner and the sound of the bell rang from right above her head as she took her headphones off and let them rest on her neck. She was about to choose one of the many empty booths to sit in but noticed the recognizable dark locks and green Serpent tattoo on the side of this particular man's neck. The dim lights barely reflected off the leather of his jacket and the image in front of her felt very familiar. Once she realized what that moment reminded her of, she walked over to the booth and smiled at the tall Serpent boy who didn't even realize her presence yet.

     "You know what I just realized?" Tori asked as she slid into the booth right across from Sweet Pea who looked slightly confused. "I actually saw you here before you and the others transfered over to Riverdale High."

     "What?" Sweet Pea asked.

     "Right before you guys transferred, you and some other Southsiders were sitting in that booth over there," Tori said while pointing at an empty booth on the other side of the diner. "I was here after school getting a milkshake and I saw you right over there. I just got here and saw you sitting over here and it looked extremely familiar until I remembered the very first time I saw you."

     Sweet Pea was ridden of all confusion and the corners of his mouth twitched upwards into a smile when he realized exactly what Tori was saying.

     "How come you never said anything?" he asked.

     "I was here with Cheryl that day plus you were with other Serpents and I doubt it would end well if I were to just walk up to you guys to say hi. Plus you never really liked having me around when we officially met so me saying anything the first time I saw you wouldn't have really made a difference to that," Tori said while shrugging her shoulders.

     "That makes sense," Sweet Pea replied. "And what exactly are you here for?"

     "Food. My mom left some money for me to get something to eat and here I am. Speaking of which, I'm gonna go order," Tori said as she slid out of the booth and strided over to the counter where Pop Tate was standing.

     "Hey, Tori. The usual?" Pop asked while smiling kindly.

     "Can I also have a poutine with that?" Tori asked.

     "For here or to go?"

     "To go," she answered. The older man nodded and went into the kitchen while Tori walked back to the booth where Sweet Pea was sitting in. "You're not going to get anything?"

     "I already ate," he said while leaning back.

     "So now you're just sitting here by yourself, not doing anything?" Tori asked.

     "I guess so."

     "What about MF?"

     "What?"

     "MF. You two have practically been attached at the hip since she got back," Tori said. "This is the first time I've seen you without her since then."

     "She's busy," Sweet Pea said.

     "Toni?"

     "Also busy."

     "Fangs?"

     "Same thing."

     "So, you just decided to come to Pop's alone?" Tori asked. Sweet Pea only nodded his head in response and another thought came into Tori's mind. "Toni mentioned that MF has been acting weird lately."

     "I honestly don't know why but even if I did, I wouldn't just tell other people about it because it's none of their business," Sweet Pea said bluntly.

     "Fair enough," Tori replied as she nodded shortly.

     Pop Tate brought out the milkshake Tori had ordered while she waited for her food to be made and put in a bag before she had to go back home. Her lips wrapped around the straw as she sipped on her milkshake and looked outside the window, the red lights of the diner illuminating the structure of her face and giving her skin a glow to it. Her eyes wandered around inside the diner and Sweet Pea tapped her arm lightly, drawing her attention back to him.

     "You looked kinda spaced out there for a minute," he said.

     "Sorry," Tori said while smiling awkwardly as her cheeks turned a light shade of pink that was barely noticeable.

     "What were you thinking about?" the Serpent boy asked.

     "I want to leave Riverdale," Tori blurted out, not thinking about her words. Her thoughts were now out in the open for other people to see, especially the boy sitting right in front of her.

     "Well, say you do leave. What are you hoping to find wherever you end up going to?" Sweet Pea asked.

     "A place to be accepted. Believe it or not, I don't belong anywhere in Riverdale. Northsiders don't want anything to do with me and neither do the Southsiders, so I guess Riverdale just isn't my place. That's why when I graduate, I'm leaving and maybe I'll find a place where people will accept me," Tori said while looking at her half empty glass of the double chocolate milkshake. "I don't want to spend the rest of my life being stuck in the middle, wondering where I belong."

     Just as Tori finished the rest of her milkshake, Pop came by with a bag in his hand and placed it on the table in front of her. She pulled out the cash her mother left for her and handed it to Pop who grabbed whatever change she would get back. Tori put the leftover money Pop gave back to her into the pocket of her overalls and slid out of the booth.

     "Enjoy your night," Pop said while smiling kindly.

     "Thanks, Pop. You too," Tori said as she headed towards the door but not before turning around to look at Sweet Pea who had twisted his body to see her right behind him as she was leaving. "I'll see you around, Sweet Pea."

     She pushed the door open, causing the bell right above the door frame to ring and she went outside and started walking home. The street lights illuminated the sidewalks in front of her as she quickly made her way home so her food wouldn't get too cold before she could have the chance to eat it. Tori wasn't exactly lying about what she had said to Sweet Pea. Even when she got home and sat alone in her room eating her poutine, she thought about where she could possibly go, how she would get there and what she would do when she did get there. Leaving the town of Riverdale had been on her mind for years and that chance was just getting closer and closer while leaving her with little time to plan out everything. She still didn't know where she was going to go or what she was going to do, but she did know that she had meant what she said to Sweet Pea when she told him that she didn't want to spend the rest of her life being stuck in the middle.