Any Way But Down
By: LuluLemone
Author's Note : I do not own any of the characters of Riverdale. I just find them interesting archetypes and wanted to play with them a little. This is an idea that has been stuck in my head for a while and if I don't write it, it won't go away. Slightly AU, which will be obvious but I will try to stay as true to the characters as I possibly can. Feedback is welcomed, appreciated and encouraged. Let me know what you think!
CHAPTER ONE:
It was like stepping back in time. The town was small. Tiny. Riverdale. The Town With Pep! At sixteen, Elizabeth Cooper thought it was both spectacular and at the same time, had the potential to be spectacularly boring. Riding in the front seat of her mother's Toyota, Betty stared out the window, taking in the scenery of bike riding kids, lawn mowing dads and the barest glimpse of an honest to God ice cream truck as it turned the corner. Maybe she would be happy here, in this place. Maybe things would be better here.
"Nice little town, isn't it?" Her mother said.
"If it's so nice, why have you never let me visit before?" Betty asked.
"Don't start with me, Elizabeth." Alice retorted.
"It's a legitimate question, mom!" Betty went on, the argument almost as old as they were, "You never once let me visit dad and Polly. You always made them come to us."
"It was more convenient that way."
"That's what you always-"
"I am done with this conversation, Elizabeth!" Alice hissed, "We are almost to the house and I do not want to be talking about this in front of you stepfather."
"Fine," Betty fumed, "does dad know we're getting here today?"
"Betty..."
"When do I get to see dad, mom?"
"Soon, Betty, soon." Alice finally answered, "He's out of town for a journalism conference right now but he'll be back in three days."
Rolling her eyes, Betty slouched down in her seat and crossed her arms of her torso in a huff, discreetly digging her fingernails into the palms of her hands. She glared at the moving truck that coasted along in front of their car, guided by her stepfather, Alan or as she preferred to think of him, Alan the Asshole. In the two years he had been married to her mom, the two of them had never gotten along. Betty had the sneaking suspicion that Alan was the reason that Betty had never been allowed to go to visit her father and sister.
It had taken her sister, Polly having some kind of breakdown and being sent to a hospital to get her mother to finally demand that they move back to her home town of Riverdale so that she could be more involved in the recovery of her eldest daughter. She would be working alongside Betty's dad at his newspaper, The Register and it would be a perfect picture of the dysfunctional family. Betty had wanted to shake her mother and tell her it felt like too little, too late; to ask her if she even knew what was wrong with Polly.
If she did, Alice sure as hell wasn't saying anything to Betty about it. All Betty knew was that there had been some boy. He had broken up with Polly, she cracked up and he disappeared supposedly drowned in Sweetwater River. That was all Betty could pry from her mother.
She was distracted as the moving truck turned a corner and then into the very first driveway of the short culdesac. The house was classic, large and white with a bright red door and black shutters. It could have been on the cover of Homes and Garden magazine, it was that beautiful. Betty took a deep breath and allowed her fingers to relax. She would try to be happy and supportive for her mother, no matter what. Lord knew Alan wasn't the pilar of strength type and, despite their disagreements, Betty loved her mother. She didn't want to make things even more difficult than they already were.
Three hours later, Betty was standing in the middle of her new room staring around at the naked mattress of her bed, her furniture scattered without design against the walls and the piles of boxes and bags and bubble wrapped breakables. She didn't think she could handle the unpacking at the moment. She grabbed a bright pink Nike bag and dug out some running shorts and her tennis shoes.
"Mom!" She called, "I'm gonna go for a run around the neighborhood."
"Okay, sweetie!" Her mom replied, "Not too long! We're gonna have dinner soon!"
Another ten minutes and Betty was listening to the rhythmic THWAP THWAP THWAP of her feet against the concrete. It was another way she relaxed. The physical exertion helped ease her mind, helped calm the anxiety that always seemed to run rampant through her system. As she jogged along, in the distance, a classic looking dark blue convertible rolled toward her. As their paths began the cross, it seemed like everything around her suddenly switched into slow motion.
There was a young man in the front passenger seat, dangling one leather clad arm over the side of the door. He had raven black hair peeking out from beneath a gray wool beanie, straight dark brows and a smattering of perfect beauty marks on his cheek that any woman would have killed for. But it was his eyes that startled Betty so completely that her run slowed to a trot. They were brilliant, bright green and as his gaze locked onto hers and held, Betty's trot slowed again until she finally came to stand still. She felt her heart speed up until it felt like hummingbird wings in her chest. She continued staring at him as the car passed, turning her body to keep it in view. He mirrored her, his head swiveling, not breaking eye contact until they were too far away to maintain it.
Betty pushed out a breath, pulled herself together and picked back up her pace. She had gone about a mile when a deep voice called out to her.
"Hey there!"
When she turned in response, she was met by two figures; a black haired young man with the he sharpest cheekbones she had ever seen in her life and a tall, shirtless red-haired boy with corrugated abs.
Archie Andrews had spotted the blonde about 2.3 seconds before his friend, Reggie Mantle. She came bopping down the sidewalk, all long legs and swinging ponytail and Archie couldn't remember the last time he had seen a girl that caught his breath so quickly.
"Damn," Reggie huffed, "hello, Blondie."
Without even hesitating, Archie held onto the football that he had just caught from Reggie and called out to the girl. The girl stopped running and looked at them, rewarding their presence with a dazzling white smile.
"Hello!" She greeted.
"Haven't seen you before," Reggie butted in.
She smiled even bigger, propping her hands on her hips and walking toward, obviously still working on catching her breath from her run. "Never been here before." She grinned.
Archie felt an answering grin on his own lips, "Just move here?"
The girl nodded, "Yup. About a block from here." She came a little closer and peered up at Archie's house, taking in every detail, "Nice neighborhood."
"Yeah, we like it." Archie said. He could feel how big his smile was. It was starting to make his cheeks hurt, but he couldn't seem to stop it. "I'm Archie, Archie Andrews. This is Reggie."
The lovely blonde raised a single hand, "Betty Cooper."
"Nice to meet you Betty Cooper."
"Nice to meet you, Archie Andrews and you, Reggie."
"You're hot." Reggie said, subtle as always and Betty's cheeks flamed red.
Archie rolled his eyes, "Easy, Bulldog. He's harmless, I swear."
"Uh-huh," Betty laughed, uncomfortable and awkward, she started to turn away, "Okay, it was nice to meet you both. I better..."
"You should come to Pop's with us!" Archie blurted in haste.
"Who?" Betty asked.
"Pop's Choc-Lit Shoppe," Archie went on, delighted that she wasn't leaving, "Best burgers and milkshakes in all of Riverdale."
"Well...I'm supposed to be having dinner with my mom and stepdad tonight..." She said, glancing over her shoulder in the direction that she had just come from.
Archie felt the undeniable wash of disappointment, "Oh, that's okay..."
"Maybe we could do it tomorrow for lunch?" She continued, swinging those big blue eyes back around to meet his.
"Yeah!" Archie said, "Yeah, definitely!"
"Great!" She beamed and then turned and headed away at a fast jog, blonde ponytail bopping.
Reggie slung an arm around Archie's shoulders, "Dayum."
"Yeah." Archie agreed.
When Betty arrived home, her mother was setting the table and Alan was pouring himself a scotch. Big surprise there.
"Get changed, honey," Alice said, "dinner's ready."
"Okay," Betty said, "Five minutes."
As she turned to go up the stairs, out of the corner of her eye Betty caught a glimpse of Alan watching her ascent. An icy chill crawled up her spine. She shook it off and headed toward her bathroom to get cleaned up for dinner.
Author's Note: That's it for now. I know it doesn't seem like a lot has happened, but it will take a little bit of setup before we get to the meat of the story. Just hang on with me! Look forward to what you think!