Nothing. It was a completely blank room that the four teens sat in, awaiting news of their future.
Fred Andrews had been shot. It was set up to look like an armed robbery gone wrong, but that was just a red herring. It was a message. The Scooby gang unmasked the wrong ghost and his conspirators were going to make sure he was avenged. The shot was actually meant for Archie, but a (good) parent would do anything to keep their kid safe. That's what brought these high schoolers to this room, or what appeared to be a room.
Archie, Betty, Jughead, and Veronica.
Riverdale was no longer safe. Pop's, the one innocent place in town, was tarnished with innocent blood and they were to be cast from the garden of Eden for solving a murder and procuring justice.
In the middle of the room was a folder.
Betty was the first to go to it, with Jughead right behind her, hand on her shoulder in support. She flipped it open and everyone held their breath.
This white room was in a bus that was taking them to New York to start their new lives in the witness protection program. The only reason they knew that was because it was on the first page.
There were booklets inside for everyone, with new names, backstories, and ways to alter appearances. They were told it had something to do with how easy it is to find people through video cameras and the internet these days. Apparently a while back two people ended up in the middle of a viral video when they were supposed to be in hiding, so a set of stylists were going to meet them in New York and then all their identifications would be made.
Archie Andrews was now Chad McMillain. Veronica Lodge was now Courtney Bates. Forsythe Jones was no longer allowed to be called Jughead but would be known as Cole Reeves. Lastly, Betty was renamed Diane Carter. They would be attending a fancy private school together so that they could stay in the dorms and avoid any suspicions since their parents were not deemed at-risk enough to spend government funds relocating them, plus both Jughead and Archie's fathers were in jail and in the hospital respectively.
Once out of the van, they were rushed into a room.
"I'm sorry but I'm going to have to cut your hair. It's easier to maintain a hairstyle than a dye job so we're gonna leave it at that, seeethearts." Despite being in New York, a city so big the four could easily get lost in it amongst the faces, the stylist had a Jersey accent.
Veronica was the first to go. Her hair was cut so that it was almost buzzed on one side and transitioned into a bob on the other. She was also instructed to stop wearing makeup. Without it, and this new hair cut, she looked like a different person. She bit her tongue to stop herself from screaming.
Next came Archie who got a very short buzz.
Betty's hair was cut into a short bob- too short for her signature ponytail.
When it was Jughead's turn, he handed Betty his hat.
"Keep it for me until we go home. It's not safe for me to carry it right now." He planted a kiss on her forehead. Finally he was facing the reality of the situation and plopped down on the barber seat. It was cut an inch short. There were no droopy curls hanging in front of his eyes and Betty was the first to break. She grabbed on to her boyfriend and cried. She cried about not being able to wear ponytails, she cried about not having long hair like Polly after spending so long growing it out, and she cried that her boyfriend didn't look like himself.
He cried, too. He was upset that he couldnt wear his beanie, even though he knew it would make him an easy target. He cried for his girlfriend who lost her ponytail that he knew brought her a sense of comfort. He cried, but he still thought she was absolutely beautiful. Your new name should have been Angel.
Veronica cried because she had always taken great pride in his silky locks that were now on the floor. Without her hair, without her makeup, was she even Veronica Lodge? Her mother said they couldn't take that from her, but just as her mother did so did the government. She scoffed. Courtney Bates. A nobody with an edgy haircut.
Finally came Archie, who put up with thick red hair all summer and was now facing winter nearly bald. He cried mostly from shock. If he had gotten this haircut a month earlier, he would have been upset as it was one of his features that complimented regularly, but not he just didn't feel right. To add to it all, they were supposed to avoid being together in groups bigger than two. If they were all spotted together, there was a higher chance of recognition. The four of them promised they wouldn't let that tear them apart, but it was going to be a hard time in the mean time.
They were escorted to the Brooklyn 99 precinct to meet up with their case worker, Karen Haas, who was there on official business. It wasn't too far from New York. It would be the last time the Scooby gang would be all together for a very long time.
From there, they got their photos taken for IDs and were sent to campus in groups of two: first the girls, then the boys.
Betty, now Diane, knew she wouldn't be able to carry Jughead's, now Cole's, beanie around her for long but she clutched it to her chest for the rest of the day as a security blanket. Everything was changing, and it was terrifying. She was afraid of how this would impact her relationship as well as her friendships, both here and back home.
What she worried about the most, though, were those left back at home. Cheryl, Kevin, and Polly were considered low risk and so were not sent away for safety. Kevin was the Sheriff's son, so that allegedly came with protection. Cheryl was the daughter of one of the drug lords, so it was assumed she would be safe even though there was no love lost there and she had acted out a lot in the past few months. Finally came Polly. She was not directly involved and was too pregnant to travel so she stayed behind, but out of everyone she was the most vulnerable.
If the core four couldn't be found, "Diane" worried what might happen to her. On top of that, she was going to miss the twins being born and was banned from all contact. She wouldn't even so much as get a picture. It was ironic, though. Polly was the one who wanted to get away and yet she was the only who got left behind.