I stood on the cracked, sun-beaten sidewalk, trying to figure out if I wanted to actually go through with this, or cry. After the longest time, I let my eyes close with a shaky sigh, and then walked up the steps and knocked on the door three times. Letting my shaky hands fall to my sides, I stepped back and waited. I had lost my set of keys a long time ago, so I couldn't go in. As the minutes ticked away, I realized no one was home.
But given my father was a man of habit, and I knew where the spare was, I stepped back from the door and reached up. On the top of the doorpost, was a little two-by-two inch white box; in it, were three keys: one for the front door, one for the garage, and another for my father's truck. But given I'm only 5'5-ish, I was this close to being able to reach it. "This is embarrassing," I told myself, as I got a porch chair, and then stood on it. I could reach it a lot better now, but they all looked the same.
So, I had to go one-by-one to figure out which one was which. But to do so, they had to work properly. And NONE of them did. The one that I assumed was for the front door was rusty, and totally unusable, and the other two weren't for the front door. So I huffed out of sheer annoyance, put the chair back, and made sure no one was staring at me. We used to have a doggy-door on the front door. But Vegas was too big now to fit, so my father patched it with a piece of wood the same color as the door. Everyone just pretended it looked like a barn door, and we called it good. But there was still a latch on it if we wanted to use it again.
Yes, I am petite, but I am also flexible. So, I opened the latch, and one-by-one, I started to squeeze myself in it. I had more room than I care to mention, so I just popped through the other side, and unlocked the door.
Once I put my bags on my dusty bed, I sighed. Everything looked the same as when I left. The walls were sun-stained a light, almost white, blue-ish tint instead of my cornflower blue. The dark wood was covered in a ¼ of an inch layer of dust—including everything else, which was all dusty. My Dora the Explorer blanket was plastered to the bed like saran wrap, due to all the seasons baking it, and then freezing it again. My pillows still had the famous lumps in them that I could never manage to get out.
All my books were gray with dust instead of their usual colors. But all in all, it was still, at its heart, my bedroom. My bathroom was a disgrace, though. It seemed Archie had used it numerous times after I left, and didn't clean it when it—obviously—needed to be. After I got my clothes from my suitcases to my dresser drawers, I changed into something that didn't scream I just spent two hours on an airplane. I had chosen a plain white tank top under a navy blue cardigan, and my jeans with my black sneakers.
I made it to Riverdale High in less than twenty minutes, and started walking the halls. The high school hasn't changed much since I was here last. But given that it is Riverdale, I guess things never really change. I turned the corner, passing the principal's office, and saw a tall boy up ahead. He was wearing jeans, a green sweater under his usual dark jacket, with a prim and proper hairdo. As I got closer, I realized who it was.
"Kevin Keller?" I asked, and he instantly whipped around. His eyes became more round than a full moon. "Alex? What are you doing here?" he asked, as he dove toward me, and hugged me before I realized what was happening.
"Uh, Kev, retract the claws, buddy." I tapped on his shoulder to let him know he was cutting off my airway, and he quickly retracted with an apology. I smiled up at him, seeing him for the first time in two years. "Wow, you like, grew a whole foot," I said, with a chuckle, and then that's when it happened—the small shriek of surprise when Betty realized who it was Kevin was talking to. I jumped out of sheer surprise myself, but I hugged her when she came over, anyway.
"I can't believe you're here, Al. When did you get back?" she smiled with excitement, and I chuckled, thinking. "Just this afternoon; I wanted to meet everyone."
"Well, I'm happy you did. Have you gotten your schedule yet?" Kevin beamed down at me, and I replied with, "No, not yet."
"Well, why don't we walk with you?" Betty asked, and I nodded out of sheer will to not let their feelings get crushed. We walked into the registration office, but then Betty backed up, and said "I need to go give Veronica Lodge the school tour. But I'll talk to you later, okay Alex?" I nodded, and then she vanished around the corner. I walked to the desk, and saw Mrs. Philips signing papers. "Are you Alexandra Andrews?" she asked, not looking up from the computer. I nodded, and said, "Yes, I am."
"Here you go," she said, as she gave me my schedule, and mumbled something about being too old for this. I rolled my eyes before picking it up from the desk. But before I could even look at it, Kevin snatched it up from my grasp, and skimmed through it. "Ok, so… yes! Your locker is right to the left of mine. But we only have biology together."
"Oh the darn shame," I said, as I took it back, and looked through my classes. "Great, I have Mr. Kindle for English," I said, with obvious dread lacing every word. I looked up from the papers, and saw the grimace on his face. "Is he really that bad?"
"He's worse." I sighed with annoyance. I grabbed my over-the-shoulder backpack, and we made our way to my locker. On our way, I piped up, and asked, "So, any beneficial friends make their way to you yet?"
"Not exactly. They've mainly been closeted guys and-" I put my two first fingers on his chest to silence him, and said, "Hey, who's that?" I gestured to Betty and the new girl walking down the hall. She was in a pink, plaid dress with a black belt. "That's Veronica Lodge. She just arrived from New York yesterday."
"Oh…" I nodded, and then Kevin grabbed my hand, and we ran down the hall to catch up. "…Are there any night clubs?" Veronica asked Betty.
Before she could speak, Kevin spoke up and said, "A strip club called The Ho Zone, and a tragic gay bar called Innuendo. Friday nights are football games, and then tailgate parties at the Mallmart parking lot. Saturday is movie night, regardless of what's playing at the Bijou, and you better get there early, because we don't have reserved seating in Riverdale. And Sunday nights…" he said, as he put his arm around Betty's shoulders.
"…Thank goodness for HBO," I added, as I came to stand by Kevin's side. I chuckled at him, and then held onto my backpack strap as Betty said, "Veronica Lodge, meet Kevin Keller, and Alexandra Andrews. Veronica is new here."
"Is it true what they say about your dad?" Kevin asked, and instantly the crowd fell silent. "That he's the devil incarnate? I stand by my father. Does everyone here know?" she said, instantly becoming devilish herself, and I scowled. Betty made a face like she was trying to remember the count, and Veronica said, "Wonderful. Ten minutes in, and I'm already the Blue Jasmine of Riverdale." She left down the hall, and I rolled my eyes at her before Betty followed her, shooting a glare at me and Kevin that said really?
What? He had mouthed, but she just huffed, and then ran up with Veronica. I had stayed behind them most of the walk to the gym, but once we made it to the main hall, Veronica gasped, cutting Betty off, and said "Oh! There's the hottie we were with last night, the red-headed Ansel Elgort." I looked, and nearly puked. She was talking about Archie Andrews—my twin brother.
"Ewe! What?"I asked, fighting back puke.
"Isn't that him?" she asked, and Betty said, "Yeah, that's Archie Andrews. But he's—"
"My twin brother," I interrupted. Veronica instantly fell silent, and understood my disgust. "Anyway, is he your boyfriend?" I instantly rolled my eyes at that, and Betty said, "No, we're just friends," right as Kevin said, "No, he's straight." I had to chuckle at that, and veronica said, "In that case, mind putting in a word?"
"Actually, to clarify…Betty and Archie aren't dating, but they are end game," Kevin said, making sure Archie didn't hear us. "You should ask him to the semiformal then," Veronica suggested, and at that, I piped up with "Or, you could just marry him." Kevin burst into an uncontrollable chuckle for the next few minutes at my words, but she just scowled.
"She should, but I heard it might be getting canceled because of what happened to Jason," Kevin spoke up.
"Okay, who's Jason, and what happened to him?"
"His name is Jason Blossom, he's Cheryl Blossom's twin. They went on a boat ride early July fourth morning, and she dropped a glove in the water. But he reached down to get it, and he tipped the boat, and he drowned. The police dragged the river for his body, but they didn't find one." Kevin and Betty looked at me with a surprised look. "What? I read the paper."
Veronica shook her head in disgust toward the story, and I skipped ahead of them, and said, "I need to go talk to Archie, but I'll see you guys at lunch." Then I turned, and ran down the hallway. I was walking down the main corridor by the stairway, when I saw Archie up ahead. "Arch, hold up." He turned at the sudden voice, but then his face contorted into confusion at the sight of me. "Alex? What are you doing here? I thought you were at JAAM?"
"I was," I said, as I walked to him, and he instantly hugged me, "I just got back today. It is so good to hear your voice, Arch," I sighed into his jacket. We pulled away a moment later, and he said, "How long are you here for?"
"As long as dad will have me, hopefully for a long time," I said, and he smiled. Then he slung his arm around my shoulders, and he led me to the gym.
"Thank you for that moment of silence. Many of you were lucky enough to have known my brother personally. Each and every one of you meant the world to Jason. I loved my brother. He was, and always will be my Soulmate. So I speak with the confidence only a twin could have," Cheryl Blossom said, standing behind the podium in the center of the gymnasium. "Jason wouldn't want us to spend the year mourning. Jason would want us to move on with our lives, which is why I've asked the school board not to cancel the back-to-school semiformal. But rather, to let us use it as a way to heal, collectively, and celebrate my brother's too, too short life on this mortal coil. Thank you." Then she smiled for the final time as everyone cheered her goodbye while she walked back to her place away from the podium.
After that, I had English, and biology. Both being super awkward, and boring. But the thing that was most awkward was lunch. I walked down the steps to the tables outside, and looked for a spot. My eyes scanned the tables. At the first one, I saw Cheryl and her two 'besties'. She flipped her hair over her shoulder, and gave me a look telling me to keep walking. I didn't even want to try to sit at the 'jocks table', so I walked down the center of the tables. People would put their backpacks on the available seats, or would make it look like I shouldn't even try.
Then I saw Archie, Betty, and Kevin up ahead, and relief flooded me. I walked to them, and said, "Can I sit?" They were listening to some kind of music from Archie's laptop, but he shut it at my presence, and Betty nodded, and patted a seat next to her. I smiled at her gratitude, and sat on the cold bench. But then Veronica sat down in front of me, and I inwardly groaned.
"What are you guys doing?" Veronica asked, her normal chipper-self beaming as she sat down.
"Just listening to one of Archie's songs," Betty said, swooning over him with a gushy smile. Kevin said, "I thought we were going to have to pretend to like it, but it's actually really good."
"Wait that was you singing? Something you wrote?" she asked. He nodded sheepishly, and said, "It's rough."
"No, it's great." Betty tried to reassure him, and Veronica, gushing, said, "It's incredible, actually, from the little snippet I heard. Is that your thing? Music? Are you doing something with that?" I could almost feel Betty's head steaming beside me as Veronica took the role as 'honorary swooner'. "Yeah, that's the plan. So, how's your first day going? Good?"
"Not to be a complete narcissist, but I thought people would be more…"
"Obsessed with you?" I asked, with a light lesser tone of my version of 'the death stare'. Kevin added, "Any other year, you'd be trending number one, for sure. This year, though, it's all about Cheryl trying to win the best supporting psycho Oscar for her role as Riverdale high's bereaved red widow." She nodded at that, and I started to eat my apple.
"Hey, I should go, I have that meeting with Grundy and then football tryouts, so…." Then he got up, and Veronica asked, "You play football too? What don't you do?" After a moment, Kevin asked, "What does that patch mean, Alex? JAAM?" I looked to where his gaze was set, and saw the shield-shaped patch on my blue cardigan's left collarbone.
"It's the Junior Archery Association of Maine," I said, as I glanced at the patch. It was small; I didn't realize he had even noticed it. "You went to a what?" Betty asked, confused, and I explained. "I was on the Riverdale high's archery team when I was thirteen, and was basically given a scholarship to this school up there." She nodded, remembering what I had been doing before I left.
"Before you ask, Blue Jasmine, no, she has not invited him to the dance yet," he said, as he flipped his head toward Betty. "No, not yet, and don't talk about Archie," she snapped at everyone, and quickly resumed her figure as Cheryl appeared at my side. "Alexandra Andrews, I heard whisperings, may I sit?" She nodded, and then Cheryl asked us to move down a seat.
"So, what are you four hens gossiping about? Archie's Efron-esque emergence from the chrysalis of puberty?"
"Extracurriculars, weatherbee wants me to sign up for a few," I said. Cheryl gasped, and suggested, "Cheerleading. You must. I'm senior captain of the River Vixens." She then flipped her hair, and Kevin asked "Is cheerleading still a thing?"
"Is being the gay best friend still a thing?" She shot back at him, and I shook my head with disgust toward her. "Some people say it's retro, I say it's eternal and iconic."
"Oh um, thank you, Cheryl, but I'm not really a cheerleading kind of girl. I was thinking of trying out for the archery team, though. Do you have any pointers?"
"Just don't show off on your first day, people don't like a windmill," then she glanced over at Veronica, and asked, "What about you? Want to join?"
"At Spence, I sat on top of the elites' pyramid. I'm in. Betty, you're trying out too." Everyone's eyes were instantly on her, and I could almost feel her staring at Veronica. Cheryl piped up at that, and said, "Of course, anyone's welcome to try out, but Betty's already got so much on her plate right now and being a vixen is kind of a full-time thing. But, open to all! Follow me on twitter, and I'll do the same. My handle is CherylBombshell." At that, she left with a smile, and Veronica said, "Okay, go ahead and hate on cheerleading, but if Hipster Prince Harry…" Veronica started to say, but Betty cut her off, and said, "I'd love to be a cheerleader. It would look great on my collage applications, but last year when I tried out, Cheryl said I was too fat."
"'Too season five Betty Draper'. It was a great line, but not at all true," Kevin reassured her, and I chuckled at his words. "Well, you're a total smoke show now, I mean it. As hot and as smart as you are, you should be the queen bey of this drab hive. Look, if you want to be a river vixen, I'll help you prep. I have moves," Veronica said, and I sat patiently to hear her answer.
"Ok, you know what? Show me your moves." I walked into the archery ring after lunch, and saw the archery team and the coach by the arrow racks. I walked over to them, and the coach smiled when she saw me. "Are you Alexandra?"
"Alex, yes," I said, as I smiled, and said, "I was told the try-outs are today?"
"Yes, we were just going to get started. Welcome." I walked over to the shelves, put my bag in a slot, and used the chalk to write my name on the board below it; then I shrugged off my cardigan and joined the boys and girls by the starting point.
"Okay, my name is Finley Zanlock. I am Riverdale High's archery team coach; you will address me as coach Zanlock. Any questions?" We all glanced at each other, waiting for someone to say something, but when no one did, she smiled, and said, "Okay, this is how the try-outs will work: we will go in alphabetical order, from Z to A. When I call your name, you will line up at the red line, and fire three arrows at the target. If you get at least two of them in the center, you're on the team. If not, I won't waste any more time on you. Understand?"
We all nodded, and then she started calling out names. There were six girls, and eight boys. She called the first one—Zane and he stepped up to the red line of duck tape on the floor. The target was fifty yards away, and you could hardly see it due to the lighting. He nervously glanced back and forth from the target to coach Zanlock, and she nodded. Then he pulled up his shaky arms, and aimed. His first arrow didn't even hit the target, it was three feet away.
His next one, however, hit the red, surrounding the black, and he cursed under his breath. His next one hit the white on the outermost ring, and he wiped a tear from his eyes, and left. Almost everyone was like that, one would get one in, but the other two were a few inches away. I was starting to worry if anyone was going to make it.
But then, a boy—frank—stepped up to the line, not taking more than two seconds to aim, and fired all three arrows into the center black circle. He stepped away, and the girls cheered, swooning over their new role model. He turned to us and looked me in the eye, and winked as he went over and sat with the ones who made it. I rolled my eyes, and then the next girl went. An hour later, four girls and two boys made it. The last boy stepped up to the line, and before he could even aim, frank coughed, and said, "loser." The girls all laughed at him, and the boy just rolled his eyes, and tried to aim.
He aimed, and then shot the first two into the black. But the last one was about two inches away. "See girls? I knew he'd flunk it," Frank said on the bench, and I turned to him, and said, "Well, that's funny, given the rules were that you had to get two arrows into the black. And he did. So, I'd say he's a winner." Then I turned back to the boy, and he smiled at me. I grinned, and took my bow up to the line, and aimed.
I instantly let the arrow go, and I held my breath as it flew through the air, and hit the black. I grinned, and did the same for the other one. On the last one, I looked over my shoulder at Frank, and smirked, then fired, staring into his green eyes as the arrow hit dead center, shattering my last one, going straight through the target, and hitting the wall on the other side. His face went instantly pale, and the girls around him all left his side, and cheered me on instead.
Cheryl said not to show off on my first day, but wiping that cocky smirk off his face was totally worth it.
"Ok! Those who all made it, congratulations! Those of you who did not, well, I expected better of you. Now, team meets are on Tuesdays through Thursdays, ten to eleven. I'll see you all here on Tuesday," Coach Zanlock said, and I couldn't help but smile. The coach left us to go collect the arrows, and we all went to our slots, and collected our stuff. I walked over to my slot, and grabbed my bag.
I walked out, and instantly two girls swarmed me, asking me how I did that and if I could give them some tips. I agreed, so I talked to them while we walked to the parking lot, talking in grave detail about how to steady your hands, or to keep your posture straight, or even to just help them aim better. Then they left, smiling and happy I helped. I waved goodbye, and then slung my backpack over my shoulder. I was walking to the parking lot when I heard Archie calling me from behind. I turned, and saw him running to me from the front doors.
"What's up?" I asked, as he neared, and he said, "I wanted to talk to you before you go home."
"Shoot," I said, as I grabbed my helmet, and then slung my leg over the seat of my 1954 Harley Davidson FL. It was, apparently, my grandfather's bike. He said it was to be given to me in his will, so I got it when he died when I was ten. But my father didn't let me touch it until I got my permit. "I asked dad about this ever since you left, but he won't answer me. Why did you have to go away so…quickly?" I swallowed instantly, and sighed. "I told you. I got a scholarship for JAAM. It was a last minute decision, Arch, you know that." He scoffed at that, and put his hand on his hip; staring at me with 'the death stare'.
"What?"
"It's more than that, Al. Why can't you tell me?"
"I just did. Look, I said I'd meet dad at the house in ten minutes, ok? I have to go. But, I promise you, we will finish this later," at that, I started the bike, and it instantly roared to life. As I kicked up the kickstand, Archie scoffed, and walked off. I left a moment later, and made my way home. It felt good to drive the motorcycle. Feeling the rush of adrenaline as I rounded a corner ten miles above the speed limit, feeling the wind make my eyes watery and my hair blow behind me.