Disclaimer: I don't own Riverdale and Archie Comics. What Cheryl did in S2 reminds me of Lolita being high maintenance around Humbert Humbert. This is pretty much my fanfiction warm up after abandoning writing for quite awhile. At one point, I was laughing because I don't know what the hell I was doing. xD
Sitting across Josie, Cheryl observed the man whom she set free at his hearing, Forsythe Pendleton Jones II, with full of hatred.
It was painful and difficult for her to stomach the video content that she watched with her mother: her father, Clifford Blossom pulling the trigger, shooting his own flesh and blood, Jason Blossom.
It was bad enough, knowing that her twin brother passed away and the video content worsened her feelings.
The video was the final straw, causing Clifford Blossom to hang himself in their mansion in Thornhill.
Cheryl had to burn down their mansion, wanting to move on from the horror that enclosed those walls.
The series of events hurt her, equivalent to pouring salt repeatedly on an open wound.
She was blackmailed by Betty Cooper and Jughead Jones. The video was solid evidence of who was Jason's murderer. And the ones who cleaned up the mess were Joaquin DeSantos and FP Jones. It angered her that her classmate's father was the one who cleaned up her father's mess, disposing Jason's body in such a manner.
Josie was talking to Cheryl but she could barely concentrate due to the fact that she was eyeing Jughead's father, radiating her hateful aura, keeping an eye out on Betty and Jughead once awhile.
I'm not doing this because I've forgiven you. I'm only doing this for Jason and daddy, she thought, grinding her teeth.
The redhead's anger was building up in her, her hands involuntarily shaking and before she knew it, she deliberately dropped her glass of milkshake to the floor.
FP Jones, who was clearing up a table, heard the sound of a falling glass to the ground.
He spun around and noticed the glass on the floor, close to where Josie and Cheryl were seated.
Jughead and Betty, who were deep in their conversation, halted when they heard the sound as well. They watched FP heading over there.
"Clean that up, plebe. The way you did my brother's blood," Cheryl said, in a very demanding tone, flaunting her authority and anger.
FP, vexed about it, hid it with a poker face and cleaned up the mess.
As he picked up the glass, he could feel her burning gaze and her negative vibe.
"I'll get you another milkshake right away. On the house," FP said, hiding his anger.
If Cheryl had her way, she would want to strangle this man for what he did, although the murderer was her father.
Meanwhile, Jughead was pissed off with Cheryl's attitude and he walked over to her table, wanting to give her a piece of his mind.
"What the hell's your problem? My dad should be honoured, not embarrassed!" Jughead said, raising his voice, glaring at Cheryl.
Josie was speechless the whole time, only able to observe the scene quietly, not wanting to worsen the situation.
"Hey, hey. I got this," FP said, stopping his son from arguing with the redhead.
Jughead shook his head and walked off, slowly followed by his father.
Josie stared at Cheryl, speechless.
However, Cheryl could not stop glaring at both of the Jones.
Back at Thornhill, Cheryl locked herself in the gym room, which was gloomy like the rest of the mansion. She was dressed in her gym attire, punching and kicking the punching bag, imagining that she was attacking the gang leader of the Southside Serpents.
"It was just an act in the courtroom, just to protect Jason and daddy," she muttered to herself as she continued kicking it as hard as she could until she was tired.
For the rest of the week, Cheryl was hesitant to visit Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe because she wanted to avoid FP Jones but she always seemed to run nto him whenever she went there.
"Don't you have anything else to do apart from being here?" Cheryl asked, giving him a disgusted look.
FP just kept silent as he cleaned up her table.
"Anyway, I want a hamburger with extra lettuce and tomatoes. Remove the pickles. And get me a strawberry milkshake. Make it pronto and if my order doesn't go the way I want it, I'll tell your manager about it," Cheryl said, giving him a piercing stare, full of fire and rage.
"Alright, coming right up!" FP said, as neutral as possible.
When all of her orders finally arrived, Cheryl rolled her eyes with dismissal.
"There you go," FP said, ignoring her stares.
Cheryl slurped her milkshake before having a bite of her hamburger. She noticed that he was still staring at her.
"What?!" she scowled at him.
"Just making sure it's the way you want it," FP said, hiding his anger behind his neutral expression.
Trying to be a difficult bitch, aren't ya? FP thought, miffed with her attitude.
Cheryl placed the burger back on the plate, going through the contents with a fork and a knife, looking for flaws but he got her order exactly the way she wanted. She could not do anything about her hamburger.
"Get lost," she said as she gave up on trying to make his work life hell.
The man walked off, feeling uneasy about her presence.
For the next few days, Cheryl was throwing snide remarks to Jughead but Betty was around to stop her from breaking into an argument, not wanting to worsen the situation.
On a Friday night at Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe, Cheryl was heading to the bathroom, picking on unnecessary flaws. She looked around, hoping that FP was around just so that she could torment him into cleaning up the bathroom.
A staff walked by and asked, "Is everything alright?"
Cheryl snapped out of her sour mood.
"Oh, everything's alright. Just in deep thoughts," she said sweetly, faking a smile.
The staff walked pass her.
Cheryl peeked around the corner, looking out for FP. She spotted him cleaning up a table, then heading towards the counter.
"Hey, you!" she called out to him.
"Anything you need?" he asked, neutrally asking.
Cheryl snorted and pointed out to him about the unnecessary issue in the lady's bathroom and he had no choice but to clean it up for her.
"Is it a five stars rating for you now?" FP asked, after five minutes of cleaning.
Cheryl scorned at FP, walking into the bathroom and shutting the door right at his face.
You little bitch, he thought as he fisted both of his hands, trying to contain his anger.
A fortnight passed and Cheryl was questioning her motives as to why she kept tormenting FP whenever she visited the diner. It did not solve her hatred for FP nor did it calm her nerves.
She still felt anger but after awhile, she was partly over it, then, she resumed with hating FP all out. She was confused, dazed, and lost. Sometimes she questioned herself, wondering if she was suffering from bipolar or PTSD or any spectrum of psychiatric illness.
The teenager was walking alone around the north side of Riverdale, unable to hold back her feelings and before she knew it, she was in tears, admitting defeat to her egoistic nature.
As she sobbed, she heard the sound of a motorbike coming from behind her, drawing closer to her location.
Not wanting to turn back to see who it was, she quickly walked further away from the road, partially afraid that it might be one of FP's men, rounding Riverdale to torment her after a series of torment she had thrown to FP at the diner.
"Hey!" said a familiar voice as the bike got closer to the walk way.
Cheryl was sobbing harder, ignoring the man on the bike and started brisk walking, hoping that the man would leave her alone.
As she started to run, the man on the motorbike, FP said, "Hey Blossom girl!"
Cheryl was pissed off with the way he called her.
Despite the tears in her eyes, she yelled at him, "What the hell do you want now?! Can't you see the damage you've done to my family?!"
FP was surprised to see an arrogant girl like Cheryl in tears, in her worst state. He never knew that she could be emotionally vulnerable in public.
The gang leader stopped his bike next to her, the engine still running. He got off of the bike but keeping a distance from her.
"Listen, I'm thankful that you helped me and my son. I'm grateful that you're willing to do that but you still seemed bothered about something," FP said.
Cheryl looked up at FP with disgust and said, "Come closer to me and I will scream."
"You look bothered, what's wrong?" he asked calmly.
"First and foremost, my name is Cheryl," the teenager said, sobbing but still trying to put on a tough attitude with him.
FP rolled his eyes and asked again, "What's wrong, Cheryl?"
The teenager crossed her arms, ignoring his question.
This time, FP had had enough of her dramatic behaviour.
"Listen here, you come to Pop's, doing your thing, eating, drinking, and tormenting me! Why the hell do you do that for?!" FP said, raising his voice, unhappy with her attitude of being a privileged princess in Riverdale.
"How would you feel if you watch a video of your father murdering your sibling? Now you tell me that! And the fact that you were paid to clean up the mess, dumping Jason's body into the river like he was a nobody! Be in my shoes and tell me how would you feel? He's my twin brother and I love him!" Cheryl said angrily, hot tears rolling down her cheeks.
She gasped and sobbed uncontrollably, staring at the ground, both hands on her knees for support, her head spinning, palpations on her chest.
Cheryl was hyperventilating but she got back up, wanting to get away from the gang leader, disliking the idea of having a conversation with that man.
As she walked away from him, she felt lightheaded and collapsed to the ground but she managed to stop with both of her outstretched hands.
"Hey, Cheryl!" FP said as he ran over to her, helping her get back on her legs.
"I'm fine, Jones!" Cheryl snapped at FP as he helped her up.
The headache was getting worse as she walked.
She groaned in pain as she massaged her temples.
"Look, you're not in good shape. I'll take you to the clinic," FP offered.
Cheryl would rather die on the spot than to be seen with this man but her headache was worsening, so she simply followed him on his bike, feeling awkward placing her small hands on his broad shoulders.
At a clinic in Southside, she passed out for a few hours, the doctor who was associated with the Southside Serpents reassured FP that she was just hypoglycemic.
When Cheryl woke up, she saw FP sitting next to her in the room.
She looked around, noticing that she was in a clinic.
"Where the hell am I?" Cheryl asked, rubbing her forehead, trying to get back on her legs.
"You're at a clinic in Southside," FP said, calmly.
"What?!" Cheryl shrieked.
FP raised a hand and said, "You passed out, so you should calm down."
Cheryl leaned back on the clinic bed, still feeling weak. She shut her eyes and fell asleep.
An hour later, Cheryl woke up in FP's trailer in Sunnyside. She panicked this time, unsure of her whereabouts. Her palpitations came back.
"You're awake," FP said, coming out from the kitchen with a mug of hot cocoa in his hand.
Cheryl looked at her body, she was fully clothed and there was a blanket over her body. She was worried if he had done anything to her when she was passed out.
"Sorry that I've not much but hot cocoa," FP said, handing out the mug to Cheryl.
She scorned.
"How am I supposed to know that you're not poisoning me?"
FP brought the mug to his lips and slowly gulped down the hot drink.
"Satisfied?" he asked, wiping the cocoa stains on his mouth with his other hand.
Cheryl glared at him, snatching the mug from him.
She sipped a bit. The hot cocoa tasted good and it made her feel better.
FP sat the oppposite, not wanting to scare her away if he sat next to her.
Cheryl placed the mug on the table next to the couch.
"Why are you doing this?"
FP looked at her with a straight face.
"You look disturbed. You're letting out your anger to people around you as if there's something that's making you mad."
"Of course, I'm angry that Jason was murdered by daddy and it's terrible to know that you disposed his body into the river," Cheryl said, trying not to stress too much.
The teenager looked around the gang leader's trailer, paying attention to the details. It was a mess, random objects scattered all over, the dark curtains giving out a similar eerie feeling like her gloomy mansion in Thornhill.
Then, she observed the man sitting opposite her, who was just dressed in a t-shirt and faded jeans.
He was just an average man, who had his own complicated problems in his simple yet messy trailer.
Cheryl began to understand why FP had to do what Clifford ordered him to.
He was just doing it to protect his son's life.
But nevertheless, she still hated FP and his son.
But why? Why did you kill Jason, daddy? She thought.
"I can't offer much but all I can say is that I'm sorry for your loss," the gang leader said, unsure of what to say, afraid that she might go haywire again.
Cheryl kept quiet, unable to process the whole situation from the day she was at Sweetwater River with Jason until the day she saw the disturbing video.
She bit her lower lip, closed her eyes, and tears trickled down her cheeks.
FP searched around the living room for a box of tissues, which was immediately handed to Cheryl after he found it under a pile of clothes.
She snatched the box from his hands and wiped her tears.
The pass few days was all a muddle for Cheryl; having to put up with an odd mother like Penelope, dealing with the students in Riverdale High, suffering from sleepless nights, and coping with her anxiety attacks.
FP observed the girl, empathetic with her. He had gone through a lot of hardship from his failing marriage to being a gang leader of the Southside. And he could somewhat understand the psychological pain she was going through.
The gang leader mustered the courage to sit next to her, which, Cheryl gave no attention to.
"I'm sorry that you have to go through this," FP said as he placed a hand on her shoulder, causing the girl to stir, moving away from him.
The teenager sobbed as she looked at FP with emptiness in her eyes.
"I shouldn't blame you over and over again. I'm sorry, Jones," Cheryl said, mixed feelings in her thoughts.
"Just call me FP," FP said.
They stayed there for another hour, not saying a word to another. Both were deep in their thoughts, wondering how did they end up being in an unexplainable situation like this.
"I've gotta go," Cheryl said as she stood up, pulling her little red bag over her shoulders.
The teenager walked to the door, impatient to get out of the trailer.
"I'll send you back home," FP offered.
"It's fine, I can walk," Cheryl said.
"It's pretty far," FP said.
Cheryl was aware that he would know her exact location even though she moved out from Thornhill. He was, afterall, the head of the Southside Serpents. It was pointless for her to deceive him.
"Thanks for helping me and thanks for the hot cocoa," Cheryl said, as he revved the engine of his bike.
FP gave a small grin.
"I should be the one to thank you for making me a free man."
They were standing at a close distance. Cheryl was observing the old scars and the eye colour of the man standing right in front of her.
She could tell that he had been through a lot in his life since a young boy until he became Jughead's father.
FP dropped her off a few blocks before her house, under Cheryl's order.
"Thanks for the lift," Cheryl said. "I'm sorry that I lashed out at your son and I tormented you at work. I was just angry."
"No worries," FP said as he gave a weak smile.
"Take care of your health. If that happens again, I might not be around to help you," FP said, getting back on his bike.
"All the best, Cheryl Blossom," he said and he sped off.
Cheryl stood there, full of mixed feelings.
Despite the help he had given her for a day, she was still angry at him but she could roughly make out that he was as lost as her, caught up in her father's trap and also having to take care of his broken family. She could feel his pain when she looked into his eyes.
Nevertheless, Cheryl, being Cheryl Blossom, was least concern about his problems and she would never simply trust him despite the help he had given earlier during the day.
Don't think that I've fully forgiven you, Jones. I'm thankful that you helped me but that doesn't change the fact that you dumped Jason into the river. And that, Jones, makes me hate you, Cheryl thought as she briskly walked back to her house.