Summary: If the Keller twins could explain one thing, just one thing, to the people of Riverdale, it would be that they were exhausted. With their father as Sheriff, it always seemed like they were held to a higher standard than the rest of the town. Lieutenant of the cheer squad and the best wrestler in his weight class; student body vice president and social coordinator; Model UN Secretary General and Chargé D'Affairs; 4.0 GPAs; and a secret to take to the grave. And if anyone found out that they heard the gunshot on the fourth of July, it might just be to the grave.
Disclaimer- hopefully this goes without saying, but I don't own anything except for my ideas
Chapter title is from Taylor Swift's song of the same name
Fic title is from Hey Brother by Avicii
Kris' Faceclaim is Danielle Campbell
Do You Still Believe in One Another?
Tied Together With A Smile
"Come on, Kris, it's the first day of school. Don't you want to head home and get ready?" Kevin Keller asked, as he and his twin jogged through Fox Forest.
"Please, Kev," Kristiana scoffed, "Cheryl and I picked out our outfits weeks ago, and I don't work today so I only need two hours to get ready. Besides, you know River Vixens will be training harder than ever for the Pep Rally on Friday, given the whole… Jason situation."
The sun was just starting to rise, and the first rays of light cast harsh shadows on her face, accentuating the dark bags under her eyes and the hollowness of her usually full cheeks.
"Hey, I get it. I heard the same thing you did. But the sooner we make it through the day, the sooner people will get bored of talking about it. And isn't it better to be as put together as possible? You know as well as I do that if either of us seems even the slightest bit out of it, people will smell blood in the water."
"Fine," she sighed, "we'll turn back at the next loop, sound good?"
He nodded, and the twins picked up their pace, making it home within half an hour.
"Early morning today?" Tom asked, when they finally walked in.
"Gotta be in shape for Vixens," Kris panted, "I call first shower."
She didn't give Kevin a chance to object, not that he would have, as she flounced up the stairs to start getting ready.
She tried to shower quickly, but was still thorough in washing her hair and shaving her legs, exfoliating and moisturizing extensively. Kevin has been right, after all, if she wasn't perfect then people would know that something was wrong, and she couldn't afford that. It wasn't just her secret that she was worried about, but her dad's reputation. He was an elected official, and appearances were everything in Riverdale—and not just his, but his kids' too.
When she was finally done in the bathroom, she wrapped herself in her bathrobe to return to the bedroom she shared with Kevin.
"It's all yours," she told him, sitting down at her vanity to blow dry her hair.
Hair dried and expertly tied into a high ponytail, Kris padded over to her closet. She grabbed a pair of high waisted jeans, dark wash as she always preferred, and a black sweater with a white collar. As Kevin emerged from the bathroom, she went back in to apply her makeup.
Finally, an hour after they had gone upstairs, the twins were both dressed and downstairs, eating the French toast that Tom had made for every first day of school since they started pre-school.
"Everything okay, Krissie?" Tom asked, seeing his daughter push her food around without a bite.
"Just so excited about the first day of school," she lied, forcing a smile, "River Vixens is going to be insane this year! Cheryl and I are holding tryouts right after school, and then we have the first student council meeting of the year, and then I have to put up posters for the dance team, so dinner might be a bit late, if that's okay?"
"Of course it's okay," he said, "just don't overwork yourself."
"Come on, Dad," Kris laughed, "I've turned this into a science, I'll be fine."
"And if she's not, I'll carry her out of whatever meeting she's in," Kevin offered, yelping when Kris kicked him under the table.
"Anyways," she said, "I'm going to finish getting ready. Thanks for breakfast!"
She cleared her plate, hoping that neither would notice that she hadn't actually eaten anything, finished her cup of coffee, and filled it again, carrying it upstairs. In her room, she started by grabbing her trademark accessories to finish off her look. A nude watch, her rose gold bow earrings, bracelet, and ring, and the rose gold necklace that Kevin had gotten her, with a K on one side and "one in a million" on the other.
Satisfied, she grabbed her nude leather tote and made sure that everything was packed. Her glasses case, although she didn't typically wear them at school, her contacts case, laptop, notebooks, books, pencil case, water bottle, and her beloved blue leather agenda. She often said that her life was in that book, and given how detailed she kept it, every planned down to the minute, she may have even been right.
"Coffee run before class?" Kevin asked, grabbing his satchel.
"Of course! Who do you think I am?"
"Someone who doesn't eat French toast anymore, apparently," he said, and she grimaced.
"Don't—"
"Tell Dad? Wasn't going to, Kris. But do we need to—"
"The changes in my medications are screwing up my appetite. That's it."
"Whatever you say. Get your shoes and let's get going. Do you have your cheer stuff?"
"It's already in the car, packed it last night."
"Of course you did," he laughed, "now hurry up."
Kristiana made a show of rolling her eyes at him, and raced down the stairs. She sat on their front bench, strapping on her black polka dot wedges, and lifted her purse over her shoulder.
"You two take care," Tom said, "have a good first day."
"We will! Bye Dad, love you!" Kris kissed him on the cheek before heading outside, with Kevin following as soon as he hugged him.
Kris eyed their car wistfully, the black Peugot 107 that they had bought together, but they still had a week before they'd be able to drive it without their dad. Instead they walked, heading into town to the small café that Kris worked at.
"Kris!" Her manager greeted, "Don't you have school?"
"Starts in an hour," she said, "we wanted to start the day off right."
"So, a chai latte and a mocha?" the man asked, looking at the twins.
"Of course! You're the best, Ron!" Kris said, passing him the money.
They sat at the bar to wait, and Kris pulled out her phone.
"Hey Kev?" she sang.
"Daily?" he asked knowingly.
"I've literally never missed one, Kev."
"I know, I know, pass me your phone."
Every day since she started grade seven, Kris had posted her outfit of the day. The posts had gained popularity as she did, and it had been over a year since she'd gotten under a thousand likes. While Cheryl may have been the Queen Bee and Kris her loyal lieutenant, it was common knowledge that Kris was the one who controlled trends within Riverdale, and Kevin was usually behind the camera for her.
"Ready?" He asked, lifting the camera.
Kris had always known that she had the best brother in the world, but she was always reminded of it when he took her pictures. He'd never once, in all the time that she'd been documenting her outfits, complained about taking two dozen almost identical pictures, or about helping her scroll through them until she'd found the perfect one.
"Starting sophomore year with an #OOTD! Top by AliceandOlivia and accessories by KateSpadeNY"
"It's up," she told Kevin.
Being the dutiful brother that he was, Kevin liked it immediately, commenting with a string or heart eye and fire emojis, followed immediately by Cheryl.
"OMG Kris, so sweet of you to wear black for Jay-Jay! #RiverdaleStrong!"
The twins looked at each other and burst into laughter, a hysteria which was only interrupted by their drinks being set in front of them.
"Thanks Ron, I'll see you tomorrow!" Kris waved, following Kevin outside.
Once they were outside, they ducked into an empty alleyway, where Kris quickly dug through her bag for her Adderall, popping one into her mouth and washing it down with her latte.
Once the bottle was tucked away safely, they went back to the main street, headed towards Riverdale High. They smiled and waved and chatted with everyone they recognized, as was expected of them, reaching the school with half an hour to spare.
Kevin pulled a stack of posters out of his satchel—Model UN, Kris' dance team, River Vixen tryouts, it seemed like he had something for every activity that they did.
He handed some of them to Kris and they parted ways, each conquering half of the building before regrouping fifteen minutes later outside of the main office to grab their schedules.
They sat in the plush chairs, Kevin on his phone and Kris organizing her agenda, until people started to arrive.
"I'm going to go meet Cheryl," she told him, "see you in first period?"
"Of course," he agreed.
Kris strutted down the hallway, smiling at everyone she passed even as they parted like the Red Sea.
"Kristiana!" Cheryl called, waving from her infamous red convertible.
Kris smiled at the sight—Cheryl may have been overdramatic, but Kris was always happy to see her best friend.
"So?" the redhead asked, "schedules?"
"All together, of course," Kris told her, "we start the day with English, and we're excused from PE on account of Vixens."
"Well it's about time," Cheryl said, "We work out more in one day than any of the coaches have in their entire lives."
"I know, Cher, I wrote that petition with you," she laughed.
"Touchée, Keller. And what's the deal inside?"
"Freshies were already parting for me."
"As it should be. Shall we?"
"We shall," Kris agreed, linking arms with Cheryl.
They turned simultaneous, making their way into Riverdale High to officially commence their sophomore year.
Thanks for reading! I really hope you enjoyed! I've been working on Kris for a while but only just started to actually write for her! That said, if you're curious about her, feel free to visit me on tumblr Randomestfandoms-ocs and/or KristianaKeller
(and pinterest, for anyone curious, is randomestfandoms/kristiana-keller