One: Death Becomes Him

Lucy

Archie was late. That was so typical. Sitting on the bar stool at Pop's, I was able to see outside perfectly. Every single time I saw a flash of a headlight from outside, my head whipped around. I'd done this so much now, my neck was starting to get an ache. On another note, I was on my third chocolate milkshake – so I had already been here awhile.

Well, I could fool myself into thinking he was late. I mean there are hundreds of things that could be holding him up. Football practice, music class with Ms Grunge – okay that was harsh, but seriously that woman was shady as fuck. Like I think she actually pervs on her students – Betty could need him with the school newspaper article on cafeteria policies (Yes, I'm sure it'll be an intriguing read… She'll want me to proof-read it. Damn it) or he could be trying to mend his relationship with V. Any one of these things was plausible, even understandable… except I knew the truth.

He bailed and I knew exactly why.

I swirled the milkshake with my straw, again berating myself for how I told him. I've never been one for tact, but I did a shit job at it today. I stood at Archie's locker, feeling slightly like a stalker because he had ignored all my calls and texts. That's when I saw him, walking with his arm slung around Veronica's shoulders and jealousy built up inside my gut.

I had the sudden urge right then to size him by his annoying redhead and slam his stupid pretty face into a locker until I made a permanent Archie Andrews dent. He used me and now he's gone back to treating me like a waste of space. He's made me feel like I'm nothing.

"I need to talk to you," I blurted, causing Archie to look at me with alarm. Did I really look that intimidating? I was a head shorter than him and my brown hair hung boring and straight to my shoulders. It might be because I dressed so plain today. I felt like crap and I had just thrown up my breakfast in the girls' toilets. Maybe my face looked paler or he could see the dark circles under my eyes, confirming I hated slept in days. Yes, I might look and sound like a stalker – not a great starting point.

"I can't really…." Archie began. He kept glancing uncomfortably at Veronica, who was too busy typing frantically on the screen of her phone. Pity she didn't have that type of concentration in Calculus. He was edging away, looking like I was something he had scrapped off his boot. It was that look, that dismissive behaviour that caused me to snap.

"I'm pregnant!" I shouted. Yep, right there in the middle of the corridor at my high school. The anger that was causing through my veins served as the best adrenaline kick. I really didn't give a fuck at that point. I just wanted to take stupid look off his face.

Veronica's head snapped up so fast, she almost dropped her phone. Her mouth parted with a look of amazement and disbelief.

"No shit," she said, her mouth curving into a smile. She was fighting an urge to laugh "who's the unwitting human whose essence you've stolen, Granger."

"Your boyfriend's…" I hissed, the chilling tone in my voice surprised me more than Veronica. But she her look of shocked quickly turned to anger. She glared between Archie and me, clearly torn between whose eyes to scratch out first.

"V, I can explain." Archie stammered, but went silent as soon as Veronica turned a piercing glare on him. If looks could kill, he'd be six feet under.

A group of students had stopped in their tracks to goggle at us. Some had even whipped out their phone and had time posed at the ready to film a catfight or epic breakup to upload on YouTube. Well I wasn't going to give them that satisfaction.

"Look, we need to talk about what happens now." I told him coolly, sounding calmer than I actually felt. "Meet me at Pop's tonight. I'll be waiting."

Right, so I know that I was an absolutely shit person and what I did was horrible. Stupid even, but that's what went down. Now I'm the crazy pregnant girl who broke up Riverdale's IT couple. In my defence, they weren't actually together when Archie and I hooked up, but he made sure to clarify repeatedly that it was a mistake and meant nothing.

Funny that. Guys are allowed to sleep with whoever and easily dismissive them, but it's girls who get the stained reputations at school. Now I have a living breathing reminder of Andrews growing inside my tummy. My hand went subconsciously to my stomach.

I really, really hope it doesn't have red hair.

Oliver

We drove in silence. Which was probably for the best. It's not every day that you get to hear your twin sister is the gossip of school. God, when Mum hears, she'll probably blame it on shows like Teen Mom. She thinks the media has a way of warping the minds of the youth and celebrities are to blame for today's culture. No, a lack of common sense and idiocy is to blame.

Kevin parked the car outside the clearing into the woods. He cut the engine, neither of us talking. We agreed, no talking about personal shit. No feelings. We're keeping this simple, fun even. However, I could see Kevin fighting the urge to ask if I'm okay or about Lucy. I didn't want to talk about it.

I pushed open the door and marched into the forest, not looking back. I could hear the crunch of leaves behind me as we walked deeper into the woods. I knew Kevin would follow, he lived for these nights and truthfully – I did too. I just needed this and I needed Kevin. I just craved these few hours away from Mum's angst and Lucy's drama. Kevin was an escape.

"Want to talk?" Kevin asked, he put his hand on my broad shoulder. I stopped and turned. It was dark, but I could see Kevin almost perfectly. He looked concerned.

Instead of answering, I grabbed Kevin's face and kissed him full on the lips. It was a hungry kiss, I couldn't get enough of the feel of him. His lips. His skin on mine. That's what I needed right now. Kevin responded enthusiastically, his hands digging into my hips as my hands fumbled with the button on his jeans.

I stumbled backwards, my ankles colliding with something hard and we both went falling onto the leave coated ground. Kevin giggled, but my face froze with horror when I realised that the legs I was tangled in wasn't his.

Kevin turned and when he saw what I was looking at, yelled in panic and jumped to his feet. I scrambled back, my eyes fixated on a pair of legs that were stuck out at an odd angle at a tree trunk.

The light from Kevin's phone illuminated the clearing and I actually screamed. A body lay propped up against the tree. His head lolling backwards. He looked more like a puppet, except puppets aren't covered in blood.

His throat had been slit violently and the blood stains was still visible. His eyes were staring lifelessly at me. His red hair contrasting with the tree it was leaning on. Archie Andrews was dead.

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