Like any other night, Archie, Betty, Jughead and Veronica were all in a booth at Pop's. Everything seemed normal. The Black Hood was dead and Archie and Veronica were now working to get back together. Well they were. Until I walked in…
I had just been traded from the Quebec Remparts (QMJHL. Google it if you need to) to a Junior A team located in the Southside of Riverdale called the River Rats. I'd be living in the Northside and going to Riverdale High when I wasn't on the road playing. As a Goalie, being sent down is the worst thing you can think of. But being mercilessly demolished in a game, then traded to from a Major Junior team to a Junior A team, hurts more.
I walked into Pop's after landing from the long, cross country flight to Riverdale. I was too hungry to even stop back at my hotel to drop off my things so i walked in with Goalie pads on my back, a hockey bag in my right hand and i was wearing a Remparts hat with the shirt of my old high school team back in New York, the Palisades Predators. Immediately i caught the eyes of whom i would later find out were Veronica and Betty. They offered me to sit with them at their both and I accepted.
"Hi, I'm Veronica"
Well god damn. Out of all the hot girls I was with in Quebec, Veronica made them look like complete dirt. She was one of the most beautiful girls i'd ever seen. She introduced me to Archie Jughead, and Betty and I would soon became friends with them. They asked me where I was from and I told them. Then hilarity ensued when everyone (except Archie, who i later learned was a avid hockey fan) was so confused about what the things on my back were and I had to explain I played Hockey. Then they asked "Well why the hell would you come to Riverdale for Hockey?" Well i had no choice. I told them about all the stuff that went down in Quebec and how i was traded. Veronica and Betty both showed a lot of sympathy for me and It really meant alot. At this point I picked up on both Betty and Veronica gazing lustfully at me and decided maybe it'd be best for me to leave. I told them i'd see them later and we all exchanged numbers.
When i got back to the hotel that i was staying in until i found a permanent place to stay, I recieved texts from Betty and Veronica. I felt like this was gonna turn into a competition between the two of them for me and thought "Well this is gonna get interesting". Before i could reply, I found a package on my bed from the River Rats. "Prolly my equipment, I thought" I opened it and found a letter from the team welcoming me along with my new uniforms, Home Away and our Alternates. I really liked them until I saw the number on the back. 31
"Begin Flashback"
"Wow Ashburn is really getting hammered tonight it is now 8-0 halfway through the second Remparts trail Rimouski Oceanic and THEY SCORE AGAIN. Wow what a terrible game for Clint Ashburn. I am surprised they haven't pulled him yet and finally they do."
I walked across the bench and leaned over to the GM, who was sitting behind our bench. "This the last game i'm ever playing for this team" He was shocked. I was the best goalie they had in years and i quit after one bad game. However, after treatment from other players and the way the coaches treated me, I was done. I walked through the tunnel to the locker room, serenaded by boos from the Remparts fans and this chant errupted "Thats 8! Thats 9! May we have another!? Asssshhhhburn, Assssshhhburrn, YOU SUCK" It made me sick to my stomach and after i undressed my equipment, I left the arena, never to set foot inside again"
End Flashback
"Oh well i can get it changed later"
I took off my Remparts hat and threw it in the trash. New town, New me. I put on my River Rats shirt and decided to go to sleep. I turned on my speaker and turned on "Nothing Else Matters" by Metallica. Tomorrow was my first day as a student at Riverdale High and first day as a Riverdale River Rat. Hopefully i can live a somewhat normal life here.
