Chapter One
"Michael? Everything okay?" the young blonde asked as she fumbled to answer the incoming call from her fiancee on her car's Bluetooth.
"I was just seeing if you made it yet was all." he asked and she smiled as the old, faded welcome sign drew near.
Welcome to Riverdale! The town with PEP!
It needed an update, bad. The image was fading, the words could barely be made out. If it wasn't for the fact she had dreamed of that sign, of the town itself, for the past sixteen years she wouldn't have been able to make it out. Maybe she'd bring it to the attention of Mayor McCoy when she stopped by her office.
"Elizabeth?"
"I'm getting ready to cross Sweetwater River now, I'll call you when I get settled in the house."
"Sounds good. Be careful, come home soon."
"I will."
"Goodbye, Elizabeth." With that the call ended and she rolled her eyes, rolling her windows down and reaching up to pull the elastic band out of her signature picture perfect ponytail. Golden waves fell loose from their restraint just as the wind came rushing into the Toyota 4Runner, whipping them around and a smile stretching across her face. The low roar of the rushing river was old, familiar music to her ears as she crossed the bridge into Eversgreen Forest.
"Hello, hello." She muttered to herself as she found herself quickly driving into the heart of Riverdale. It looked the same as she remembered; beautiful, small town feel with just a hint of a more modern city with the addition of some newer high end apartment buildings. She slowed as she scanned the local shops and restaurants, creating a mental checklist of places she really wanted to check out during her stay. She smiled as she studied the smiling faces of the townspeople and the beautiful and bright flowers in all of the planters that lined the freshly swept sidewalks. She spotted a few familiar faces along the way and hoped they would remember her too. Maybe tomorrow morning she would get up early and travel into town to do a little light shopping and stop at her favorite bakery, Sweetwater Treats.
She continued on through downtown Riverdale until it was in her rear view mirror, her childhood street ahead of her. She felt the butterflies in her belly slowly turning to knots as she turned onto the road, the bright white two story coming into view. She slowed down, eventually coming to a stop in the front parking spot of the house. The perfectly painted house, the perfectly manicured lawn, the perfectly landscaped flowerbeds.
She hated it.
And yet, she couldn't wait to see the inside. Did it look the same? How much had her mother changed it while she was gone? Especially after her parent's divorce. Her father had caved and left her mother the house, and now here she was trying to sell it for her because her mother refused to step foot in it. After heaving a defeated sigh she stepped out of the black SUV, grabbing her suitcase from the trunk and making her way to the cherry red front door.
"Alright." she muttered to herself, pulling out her phone and opening her saved text message from her mom.
Spare key is in an old pill bottle buried in the
planter on the left side of the porch.
Thank you, Elizabeth.
I love you.
She set her suitcase and purse down, stepping over to the pristine terracotta planter and digging around in the dirt, frowning when she came up empty handed. Thinking her mother had told her wrong she moved to the twin planter on the opposite side and yet again came up empty handed. Grimacing at the wet, sticky dirt caked on her hands and embedded under her fingernails she brushed it off as best as she could and fished her phone back out of her pocket.
"Come on, mom, answer." she whispered as she looked around at the neighborhood, rocking back and forth from her heels to her toes, "Or not." At the sound of her mother's voicemail, which was unsurprisingly full, she shoved her phone back into her pocket and made her way to the garage. When testing the garage doors failed she moved to try the windows. Locked. Locked. Locked.
"Dammit. I really didn't want to have to wait on a locksmith." she huffed and rattled the front door.
Once again, locked.
"Dammit!" she shouted and hurried off the porch, moving to test the rest of the windows on the bottom floor, "Come on, give me a break!"
"The owners haven't lived there in a while, is there something you need?" She whirled around at the sound of the voice to find it's owner and recognition hit them at the same time.
"Betty?!"
"Archie!"
They both had said in unison, Archie jumping the short hedge that ran the property line and rushing to scoop the blonde into a tight bear hug.
"I can't believe you're back! Why are you back? I thought I was never going to see you again! I missed you Betty!" he started firing off, holding the smiling blonde at arms length and trying to restrain himself from shaking her in excitement.
"I'm here to sell the house, Arch, except I can't even get into it. The spare is missing."
"Oh, that's my fault, there was a freeze just before spring and a pipe busted. Your mom was leaving that day for a business trip so I offered to be there while the plumber worked. I kept forgetting to put it back. Here, let's go get it and you can say hi to dad."
"Let me just grab my purse off the porch." she said and hurried to the front door, tucking her suitcase behind a bush and grabbing the designer bag and pulling it up onto her shoulder. She followed Archie over to his house, where he called for his dad as soon as they stepped through the front door. Betty smiled as she looked around. The Andrews house stood frozen in time, just as she remembered it from her adolescent years.
"Well I'll be. Is that Betty Cooper standing at my front door?" Fred said as he stepped from the kitchen, drying his hands off on an old tattered towel.
"Hi, stranger." she said with a grin, Fred stepping forward and pulling her into an equally as tight hug, "Come in, I just made a pot of fresh coffee and Archie picked up some donuts this morning from Sweetwater Treats."
"You two are such blessings. It's been a long drive and I will gladly take you up on that offer." she answered as she felt her mouth salivate and her stomach growl at the thought of one of those donuts.
Archie led her to the kitchen, his excitement reminding her of an excited school boy and she smiled. He was the same as she remembered. Fred was already pouring three mugs of coffee and had pulled out the creamer, the three of them settling down onto bar stools around the kitchen island.
"Betty, where have you been? How have you been?" Fred asked as Archie opened the box of donuts, offering one to her first which she gladly accepted.
"Well, since mom and dad started traveling for all of their reporting and journalism, it got really hard to find a relative to stay with us so Polly and I could continue going to school." she started before taking a bite out of the fresh baked treat, her eyes nearly rolling back in her head at the taste of the sweet, sticky maple glaze.
"You went to live with a relative, right?" Fred asked and Betty nodded, Archie handing her a napkin so she could wipe her mouth. She washed the bite down with coffee, clearing her throat and continuing.
"It was supposed to be temporary. Mom and dad were going to try and stay home, but they loved traveling so much that Polly and I were quickly enrolled into a very prestige private school near my grandparent's house. We were doing so well there, and they knew it would look amazing on college applications, that we stayed and they continued to travel, sold The Riverdale Register, and began working for major publications until they ran their marriage into the ground."
"Holy crap, that's one heck of a rock." Archie said in amazement, Betty following his gaze to the large diamond ring on her dainty finger, "Is that an engagement ring?"
"That it is. His name's Michael Weston, I met him in college."
"Well, where is he?"
"Working, he couldn't afford to take time off. He's taking his father's place as head of his real estate company back in New York and needed to be there. So, I'm here by myself until I get the house sold." Archie heard a bit of sadness in her voice and looked over, watching her face fall a little before taking another sip of her coffee.
"What's your job? Can you work from home while you're gone?" he asked and she smiled as she nodded.
"I'm a professional photographer. I do a bunch of high profile weddings back home. I've done some travel photography, family portraits, professional head shots for businesses, aspiring actors, advertisements. A little bit of everything."
"That's amazing, Betty. You must be really good."
"Well, I'm not one to toot my own horn, but, toot toot!" she teased with a laugh, Archie and Fred joining her before they each grabbed another donut.
"Oh man, you gotta meet my girlfriend, Veronica. How about we go to Pop's tonight? My treat!" he offered and Betty's eyes lit up.
"I think I could literally kill for one of Pop Tate's bacon burgers and strawberry milkshakes. That sounds like an amazing plan and I can't wait to meet her."
"Great! Let's get you into the house and then I'll call Veronica after I help you get your bags in."
"Just as I remembered it. Nothing's changed here." Betty said as they pulled into the parking lot of Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe, the neon lights bathing them in a welcoming glow in the evening light. She was happy though. She and Archie spent a lot of time with their families in Pop's, and she was happy that it appeared to be the same as she remembered. Archie hopped out, hurrying over to her side and opening her door before she got a chance to and leading her up the concrete steps.
When they stepped in Betty nearly cried from happiness as all her memories came rushing back. They were welcomed with the bright neon 50's theme, the old jukebox playing an old Johnny Cash song.
"Hey Archie!" a man called from behind the counter and Betty felt her smile grow wider. Pop Tate had obviously aged in the sixteen years she had been gone, but he was a face she would never forget. The man used to spoil her and Polly rotten whenever they would come eat as children, would dance with them when the Jukebox played if the diner wasn't busy, and they never left without a hug from him.
"Are my eyes playing tricks on me or is that little Betty Cooper all grown up?" He asked as he hurried out from behind the counter, Betty being the first to initiate a hug this time.
"How are you doing Pop? I've missed you and this place so much."
"Betty, I was worried you'd forgotten all about us back here in Riverdale."
"I could never forget you, Pop." she said as she hugged the man who was like another grandfather to her again.
"Archie, Veronica came in just a few minutes ago, she's down by the pinball machine. You go sit down, I'll be over in a minute with your shakes. Betty?"
"Yes?"
"Strawberry?"
"You remembered." she said and felt the little tug at her heart.
"I never forget my favorite customers." he said and Archie nudged her elbow, leading her to the opposite end of the diner, "Ronnie!"
At the sound of her name a raven haired young woman turned in the booth to look back, smiling as her eyes landed on Archie and Betty.
"Archiekins, is this your bestie?" she asked as she stood up from the booth, bypassing Archie and stopping in front of Betty, "I have heard so much about you over the years, but I thought I was never going to meet you. It's so good to finally get the chance! Archie was so excited on the phone!" Veronica said before surprising Betty and giving her a quick hug, "Come come, sit down!"
"Oh, Betty, do you remember Jughead?" Betty turned her attention to the handsome young man sitting at the booth, his nearly black hair peeking out from underneath a gray knitted cap. Her green eyes met his and he sat up straighter in the booth, a smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth.
"Jughead Jones." she said softly and raised an eyebrow, a small smile playing across her lips.
"Betty Cooper, as I live and breathe."