Author's Notes: Riverdale might just be my new obsession, which is odd because I wasn't looking forward to it that much until I saw the promos and saw Archie and Jughead. Anyways, hope you like this, I am going update their ages a bit, making them sixteen at the start of this and Juniors at the start of school year.
Disclaimer: I do not own Riverdale or it's characters. Nor do I own the lyrics used as chapter titles.
Alicia Keller's success was all a bit of a fluke, it all started with her mother. Maryanne Majors was the first grade teacher at Riverdale Elementary, she bore a scarlet letter on her chest after returning to her hometown with her two month old daughter with no wedding band on her left finger. Anthony had been her college sweetheart, they had even been engaged for a short time, but when Maryanne discovered her pregnancy she joyfully shared the news with a man who was too scared to be a father. Anthony left, and Maryanne was left to raise a child on her own with only her aging mother and father to help care for the small Alicia. Maryanne acquired a job at the local elementary school and stayed single for years, not wanting to bring a man into her and her child's life, however when she met Martin Keller she decided to bend her rule of no men. At the age of nine, Alicia was flower girl to her mother and step-father's wedding with Kevin Keller as her new step-brother serving as the ring bearer.
Maryanne and Alicia moved out of her parents home and into the Keller's, however Kevin seemed less than happy to allow the old bonus room to be made into Alicia's new bedroom. Kevin and Alicia, never truly seeing eye to eye on any subject got along simply because their parents made each other happy and even at that young age they didn't want to disturb their parents happiness. Kevin's face is still seen scrunched up in anger in the photos that were taken the day their parents signed the paperwork to officially adopt the others child as their own.
Kevin grew close with the neighbor's daughter Betty Cooper, Alicia grew close to their classmate Josie McCoy. Kevin would spend the evening in Jughead Jones tree house with Archie Andrews, Alicia would go have playdates with Cheryl Blossom and Valerie Brown. The two siblings seem to keep their personal lives completely separate from one another, and that seemed to be in the best interest of the family. This stayed true through their lives leading into high school, however in their freshman year they realized trying to avoid each other on purpose was much more work than it had been when they were younger.
Alicia, tried out for the River Vixens and was given the cute cheerleader outfit to match her friend's, Cheryl. Kevin, admitted who he was to his father and received a warm hug from both their parents. Alicia began seeing the local prankster and jerk, Reggie Mantle. Kevin was protected from ridicule by his sisters group of stuck up asshole friends. Alicia began spending time with Betty Cooper and Kevin while they were at home, it was during these time Alicia and Kevin finally became siblings and not just strangers who lived in the same house. Alicia continued to date Reggie Mantle on and off the majority of their Freshman year, while Kevin seemed to have horrid luck in the world of men. In a small town like Riverdale, the young curious boys didn't often like to go on dates out of fear of judgment.
The two siblings life was anything but simple, however it was a good complicated, the kind of complicated that made dinner conversation interesting. Alicia remembered the day her good complicated life turned into a disaster perfectly. The Riverdale Bulldogs had won the last football game of the season before the championships. Cheryl's brother Jason had scored a touch down with seconds left on the clock, it was amazing Alicia remembered standing on the sideline cheering with Cheryl as he did it. The crowd screamed in excitement, Kevin and Betty were sitting in the stands behind the cheerleaders, and she remember how she hugged Cheryl when the points were scored and the game won.
Cheryl invited everyone to the Blossom's home, where almost as if it had been planned all along the Blossom parents were out of town on business. The high schools teenagers seemed to flock their to celebrate no matter what clique they belonged too, Alicia remembered riding their with Kevin in the beat up old jeep they shared, Betty Cooper was sitting in the backseat laughing at some joke that Archie Andrews had made. She also remembered that Betty and Kevin left before Archie or herself after a cruel joke had been made at Kevin's expense by Reggie while Alicia was with Cheryl, she only discovered them leaving when watching the tail lights pull out of the driveway. Alicia was frustrated, watching the tail lights drive off into the distance, she remembered yelling at those lights as they disappeared to come back, however they were gone. The first person to check on the yelling had been Cheryl's brother, Jason. She remembered the way he put a hand on her shoulder and the way he shooed anyone who came to see what kind of gossip they could gather from the scene. Jason had been so kind, he even offered to drive her home if she wanted to check on Kevin. However when the text message came through from her sibling, Alicia decided it was best to simply leave him to anger with Betty to console him, that she was as he put it the last person he wanted to see.
Alicia decided to stay at Cheryl's party, even as it was dying down. Reggie was still there, trying to apologize to Alicia without directly saying it. Cheryl had always as she put it "shipped" Alicia and Reggie, pointing out that a beast like Reggie needed a beauty like Alicia to keep him in line. Cheryl had suggested the game that would later make her hate Alicia. "Spin the bottle anyone?" Cheryl smirked, she spun first, it landed on Chuck Clayton, who kissed her with respect, mostly due to his friendship with Jason. Next Cheryl suggested Alicia spin, and almost as if Cheryl willed it, it landed on Reggie, who took the opportunity to kiss his girlfriend like lovers do. However Alicia didn't close her eyes like she normally would instead, as Reggie kissed her she looked around him to see Jason standing next to his girlfriend Polly Cooper. Jason met Alicia's eyes and as Reggie pulled away Alicia found her eyes dart instantly to the ground, she had hoped no one had noticed, but Jason had noticed. Jason left with Polly and Cheryl suggested Alicia just stay the night with her and a couple other Vixen's that didn't need to go home. Alicia walked out onto the porch to call her mother, to tell her she would be safe at Cheryl's tonight and not to send out a police search party.
Reggie came and kissed her quickly before leaving with Moose in his truck, as Jason pulled back into the drive. Alicia was sitting on his front porch swing when he walked up to the porch. "Need that ride?" He asked with his prince charming smile that made most of the River Vixen's swoon, Alicia had never been quite like the other girls on the squad, she had always respected her friendship with Cheryl too much to see Jason as a piece of meat. Alicia shook her head, as he seemed to make his way to the door. She had been looking at her phone, and the text message from Betty telling her Kevin wasn't actually angry with her, just at Reggie, and that she wasn't meant to always control that brute of a boy.
It was then she felt the swing shift and looked up to see Jason sitting on the other end. He looked less like prince charming and more like a disappointed teenager in that moment than she had even seen him before. Alicia remembered letting out an audible breath, "that doesn't look like the face of the town hero." It had been meant as a joke, but the sad look in his eyes told her the joke was unappreciated. "Sorry." She said simply as she shifted uncomfortably next to him. "Do you want to talk about it?" She asked kindly, but when Jason never looked up from his hands after an uncomfortable minute, Alicia went to stand. His hand grabbed hold of hers as she went to get up, freezing every muscle in her body with his touch she remained.
"Cheryl threw this party so that I didn't have to come home to an empty house." He said still not looking up at Alicia. She just stared at his defeated body, the way his shoulders hung, and the sorrow in his voice was enough to make her want to just trap his body in her arms in a comforting embrace, but she couldn't bring herself to move. "Dad said he would come to game, but work came up and they just left." He finally looked up at her, meeting her eyes crystal eyes with his dark ones. He took a deep breath as she seemed to hold hers, before he removed his grip on her hand. She still couldn't bring herself to move, she didn't want to leave him to his own sorrow, however what he said next shocked her. "She threw this party and you ended up miserable just because she didn't want me to be alone."
Alicia finally regained control of her body, "I'm not miserable." The words quickly escaped her lips as she stood over the boy who seemed so sad, yet he seemed more concerned about her.
"Really? You were screaming as your brother left you here, then you can't manage to even enjoy kissing your boyfriend." Jason called her on her earlier actions and she had to admit they were good points for his case.
"Reggie is an asshole," She stated simply, she wanted to say more but nothing came to mind aside from that simple fact.
Jason stood up, and walked over to the railing of their porch. "Most boys are." His tone still had the tinge of sorrow to it, that left Alicia feeling unsettled. "But girls can be real pieces of work too." He pointed out as he looked back to her.
"What's that suppose to mean?" Alicia questioned wondering why she seemed to keep ending up on the defensive during this conversation with Jason.
"Why were you staring at me? When Reggie kissed you?" Jason's words came out like accusations.
Alicia shook her head, before beginning to walk away. "I don't have time for this." She mumbled as he reached out and grabbed hold of her wrist.
She spun back around as he pulled himself closer to her, "please, just tell me." He said his face inches away from hers, she looked down. "Please." His voice pleading, Jason Blossom had a ton of girls who would love to be this close too him, he had a girlfriend who was the image of perfect, yet here he stood so close to Alicia she swore she could feel his heart racing with hers. Alicia still thinking back on it, wasn't sure if she imitated the moment that followed or if he did, but the feeling of his lips on hers was like no other. She had kissed Reggie hundreds of times, from quickly in passing to being left scrambling for air but never had she been kissed like the way Jason kissed her. It was gentle, a feeling of longing overtook her, as his lips pulled away from hers. He put his free hand to her cheek, caressing her skin causing her to nimble at her lip. "Ali," he seemed to breath her name as he let go of her wrist and allowed her to pull away if she wanted, but she didn't want that. She couldn't even pretend she wanted to be away from him in that moment.
Alicia swallowed hard, "your sister's waiting for me." She didn't want the moment to end, but she also knew any minute Cheryl was bound to come investigating as to why she hadn't returned yet. Alicia left him standing there, she went inside their house, and made her way up the stair to Cheryl's room. The laughter coming from the room filled the hallway before she even opened the door.
"About time. What were you out there making up with Reggie that long?" One of the girls laughed.
"Just don't tell us, that Moose watched." Another laughed as Cheryl sat on her bed, only Cheryl noticed that Alicia's laughter at their jokes was as fake as it came, however Cheryl didn't seem to pry she just simply reminded everyone that her brother's and parent's room was off limits during slumber parties, a reminded that Alicia felt was directed solely at her.