A/N: My goodness I have no idea why I'm writing this. I don't want to call it a story, because I don't know how long it's going to be. It might end up being a one-shot, it might be ten chapters. We'll see how it goes.

It'll mostly center on Betty (who's my favorite character), Archie, and the supporting cast members will make frequent appearances of course. The point of view from which the story is told will change from time to time.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, or any other elements familiar to the Archie Comics or the CW series Riverdale. I do own the characters unfamiliar to the series and the storyline is purely original and separate from the show and comic book.


Part I

Maybe it was in the way she carried herself. Maybe it was how frequently she checked her ponytail for stray hairs, or reapplied her Cherry Blush lip balm. Or maybe it was all in his head.

Maybe it wasn't. The way she walked with an extra pep in her step, how she bounced a little bit more, or how her skin seemed to be extra flawless and fresh whenever he saw her.

Everything was just...more.

Her brilliant blue eyes had always had a subtle glimmer, but now it was a blazing fire. Her smiles were wider, her laugh was louder, and even her articles in the school paper had changed. He knew there was a not-so-perfect side to his best friend, and she expressed it through her writing medium. But even the little bit of ice he could sense in her style was gone.

He had never really been interested in gawking across the way, through his window, and into her world that was her bedroom. But with these subtle cues, his curiosity was piqued.

There wasn't anything out of the ordinary in her routine: plan her outfit the night before, make sure there weren't any stains or smells, exercise a little before a shower and the bed. In the morning, however, there was the one thing that caused further interest into her change in behavior.

Her mirror. She had never used the full length mirror she had hidden in her closet. It was a gift from Polly, and also a grim reminder.

The stigma behind it had apparently faded away. The bubbly blonde was actually dancing and admiring her reflection. She had never danced before. He didn't take her to be that type, and he had known her his whole life. The questions began to swarm in his mind.

Had she gotten a new pet? Was her mother pregnant? Did she get early offers to a prestigious college? Was Polly making progress? What was going on?

When he got to school, he tried to act as if everything was fine. He didn't comment on her woodsy, light perfume (which she had never worn before, or he had never noticed) when they hugged. Even that felt different; brief, not as intense, and even awkward. It felt as though she didn't want to touch him.

He asked her how she was doing, and she was quick to reply with "Great!" And he could tell she was being honest; she was great. Her being happy was not the issue; it was why she was happy. What factored into the joy that she could barely contain in her body?

They had all the same classes, so he watched her in English. Mr. Peterman droned on as usual, and she paid rapt attention as usual, jotting down notes in her spiral-bound notebook. Just when he thought that everything was fine (and she was just happier, period), she turned to the back of her notebook and began drawing something. And that something made her eyes light up, and a wide, toothy grin spread across her face.

Whatever it was, the red headed boy's reaction to it was immediate. Suddenly his ears felt hot, and his palms were sweaty. Something was going on, and he didn't know what it was.

"Mr. Andrews, since Ms. Cooper is such a distraction for you today, why don't you sit towards the front of the class, where you can focus?" Mr. Peterman said. The entire class turned to face him, and Betty's face held a pink tint of embarrassment as her blues eyes searched his for an answer.

He couldn't look at her straight in the eye; he had been watching her all morning, like a creepy stalker, or some busybody, which he wasn't.

I'm just being a friend he reminded himself as he gathered his things. He knew she was going to ask later, so he had to be ready to answer her questions.

History class had assigned seating, and Ms. Horton had made it a point to break up everyone she knew were friends, so that they could get their work done. Betty sat towards the front and close to the door, and he sat closer to the window. That made it hard to see what she was doing, without the teacher noticing.

Sighing, he tried to think of something. He tore a piece of paper out of his notepad, then tore a small square, and scribbled something on it: 'WHAT'S BETTY DOING? DON'T TELL HER I ASKED' He passed it to Karen Smalls, the quiet brunette with glasses. She read it, wrinkled her nose a little, and casually glanced over in the blonde's direction before writing on the paper and passing it back: 'SITTING THERE WITH A GOOFY SMILE ON HER FACE. WHY?'

He felt his temperature rising as he wrote: 'IS SHE DRAWING IN HER NOTEBOOK?' Karen took it again, looked at Betty, then wrote down her response: 'NO. YOU HOPING SHE'S DAYDREAMING ABOUT YOU?'

'NO WAY. SHE'S MY FRIEND AND I'M WORRIED ABOUT HER.'

'HOW SWEET. YOU HAVE NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT. SHE JUST HAS A LOVE BUG.' That dreaded L word made his heart thud in his chest. Surely Karen was joking.

'YOU'RE JOKING ABOUT THE LOVE BUG, RIGHT?'

'THERE'S NO WAY SHE'S THINKING ABOUT A CAT WITH STARS IN HER EYES. NOW PAY ATTENTION, ARCHIE.'

No way. There was no way she was thinking about someone else.

He chewed on his bottom lip. But...if it was a guy, who? Reggie? Chuck? Juggy? His mind was racing. He tore another square.

'IS THERE A-'

"Archibald Andrews, could you please go to the main office for the remainder of the class? History may be boring to you, but I do think Karen would like to pay attention," Ms. Horton droned. Archie put his pencil down on the desk.

"Ms. Horton, I-"

"No excuses. Go." A few of his classmates chuckled as he put his things in his backpack. Once again, Betty stared at him with an intensity he couldn't return when he opened the class door and left.

.

Lunch time came quickly, and Archie had to manage to keep cool long enough to get Betty's attention off of him. Veronica and Kevin were the first to get to the table. Juggy liked to eat outside and away from everyone; he claimed the cafeteria smelled like teenage hormones.

"Are you okay, Archie?" She hadn't even bothered to touch her burger and fries yet. His stomach was in knots; he had hardly touched his own food. Veronica and Kevin were busy rattling on about a pair of shoes they saw on TV, so it was just him and her.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he answered too quickly.

"Archie..." she started off. He knew his answer wouldn't be good enough. "I've known you since we were kids. I know you, especially when something is off. You disrupted two different classes, one time being because you were looking at me. What's going on?"

"Nothing, Betty. It's nothing," he replied, slipping a fry into his mouth. "It-it's just that...you've been acting different."

"I have?" She hadn't even noticed, and he was starting to feel dumb for revealing his concern that shouldn't even exist.

"I just...noticed that you've been really happy lately."

She pursed her lips and squinted her eyes. He hated when she cocked her head to the side. "And...that's an issue?"

"No, it's not. I just...noticed." He hadn't looked up from his food yet.

"Archie, look at me." He steadied his breath before lifting his head and looking right into her cerulean gaze. "I'm fine. You're fine. Now stop getting yourself in trouble for nothing." Betty reassured him with one of her thousand-megawatt smiles before she started on her food.

Archie tried to regain his appetite by eating a few fries, but he couldn't eat much more than that. He hadn't even noticed that Veronica and Kevin had finished their conversation and now the dark haired girl was staring at him.

"You okay Archiekins?"

"Yeah, you look like someone just kicked your dog," Kevin added.

Archie glanced at Betty, who was eating her lunch with unusual vigor. She was careful, but quick. He hadn't noticed she ate so fast. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little tired, is all."

"Hey Betty, how's your new article going? About the locker room pervert?" Veronica asked.

"It's going great, Ronnie," she replied, wiping her mouth with her napkin. Archie internally rolled his eyes. She used 'great' to describe everything, lately. "We still don't have anything but Gretchen's missing bra and the green paint on her locker. Speaking of which, I have to go. See you guys." Betty got up, grabbed her tray and emptied its contents into the nearby trash. And she was gone, without so much as a glance at Archie.

When she was well out of earshot, the red head leaned forward towards his remaining friends, "Is it just me, or is Betty acting weird?"


And that's a wrap for the first part! I thought I would do a one-shot, because I didn't have any material to stretch it out, but despite having a cold, I figured something out. Betty has a new story to cover, involving a locker room pervert. The Jason Blossom murder is on the back burner for now, because I want to see how it plays out on the show. I don't know what route they're going to take with it, and I'd rather not mess that up horribly.

I hope I portrayed everyone accurately. For the most part, this chapter was told from Archie's perspective, although third person in nature. There will be more dialogue in the next part, and more fictional characters I created to fill in the gaps. Looks like Archie is getting a little jealous of whatever it is that's taking Betty's attention away from him.

Please do review and let me know what you think! I'm open to suggestions, comments and criticism.

Also: For those of you that follow my Assassin's Creed stories, I updated Shadows finally, if you're still interested in reading it.