Notes:
A few easter eggs from the last chapter if you didn't catch them:
Cheryl's car is a Ford Tempo. That model had a twin, the Mercury Topaz.
Cheryl's locker is #328 and the combination is 30-2-17. This is for Episode 2x17 which was Chapter 30 and aired on March 28th.
The morning after Cheryl's encounter with Toni, she had to drag herself out of bed, dreading seeing her… she didn't know what to call her. Could she even still consider Toni her girlfriend? No, this Toni wasn't her girlfriend. She wasn't even her friend.
Cheryl desperately wanted her Toni back. She wanted her life back. All she wanted to do was to open her eyes and be back in Thistlehouse with her pink haired, gang leader girlfriend curled up against her. Unfortunately, instead she had awoken to the same dingy trailer in which she had fallen asleep.
She dressed modestly, very unlike herself, but given the circumstances she couldn't bring herself to care. Cheryl grabbed one of the less obnoxious band t-shirts and a flannel from the closet, tossed them on the bed, and went to clean up in the bathroom.
With a heavy sigh, she prepared herself for the day ahead. Ideally, Cheryl wanted to crawl back into the bed and sleep until the universe deemed it time to send her home, but she opted to power through in case of the unfortunate event of her nightmare being permanent. If she was going to be stuck in this hell, she would do what it took to finish school and get out of the Southside. There was one thing she was certain of in any reality, the Southside was no place for a Blossom.
"Cher? You ready?" Jughead called from the other room. She assumed this was going to be a daily occurrence, being picked up by the hobo.
"Coming," she yelled back begrudgingly before making her way out of the bedroom.
He looked up from his phone as the floor of the trailer creaked under her feet. "Hey, there's the Cher I remember… well mostly. Your face is still weird."
Cheryl looked nothing like herself. She wore a loose fitting Nirvana concert tee, an unbuttoned blue flannel, faded jeans, and black Doc Martens.
"I don't care. It's not like I'm trying to impress anyone... Can we just go?"
She did her best to stay invisible, but her attempt proved futile. More than once Cheryl found herself being shoved into the lockers by one of the Bulldogs. The first time it happened she had looked up to see Chuck and Reggie high fiving as continued walking down the hall.
The incident with Toni and Heather in the cafeteria had inadvertently put a target on her back, and with her noticeable red hair it was hard to avoid the backlash. Jughead had attempted to stick by her as much as he could. He offered to have one of the Serpents escort her to class when he wasn't able, but she adamantly refused, not wanting to appear weaker than everyone already saw her.
For the most part, Cheryl was able to avoid Toni. They shared one period, English. It had been one of the afternoon classes Cheryl missed after going home the day before in tears. As soon as she saw her, the redhead ducked her head and retreated to the back of the room to find a desk in the last row.
The redhead couldn't help but stare longingly at the back of the girl's head. Cheryl wondered what had gone so wrong in this world to turn her into such a hideous person. It seemed Toni was just as far from the pink haired girl she had grown to love as Cheryl was from the HBIC.
"Good afternoon, class," a blonde woman of average height walked into the room. She appeared to be in her late 20s or early 30s and wore black frame glasses. "I hope you all are having a great Tuesday."
Hardly.
"Has everyone finished reading Act III?"
Cheryl looked around to see the room nodding in response. She hoped whatever they had been studying was something she had read already. Every other class had been easy, and even in a counterfeit world, she wanted, no needed, to succeed academically. Even if she had no control over anything else, she would be damned if she didn't maintain control over that.
"Perfect. I'd like to continue our discussion from yesterday."
Reggie's hand shot up and didn't bother waiting to be called on before speaking, "This book makes no sense. The one girl is in love with an ass, and everyone is all of a sudden with the wrong people? Why did anyone like this?"
A Midsummer Night's dream. Of course an oaf like Reggie wouldn't appreciate the works of William Shakespeare.
"First off it's a play, nimrod," Toni scoffed from the front row, "and it's supposed to be nonsensical."
Cheryl bit back a smile and couldn't help but feel a surge of pride at the way Toni shut down the boy.
"Toni is right," the teacher addressed. "Puck has completely altered their reality. No one is with who they are supposed to be. Friends are enemies. It's chaos."
Of course she's right. Reggie is an idiot.
"Miss Rollins," Midge spoke softly, her hand in the air. Once she had the woman's attention she continued, "I don't understand the point of what Shakespeare was trying to do. Why change everything just to put it back to normal once the characters went back to sleep?"
You know this. Answer the question. Maybe it will impress her.
"The potion Puck used was meant to show unpredictable love can be but also demonstrate its power," Cheryl began. "When the characters were with the wrong people everything about the story felt wrong. The play is trying to show how while love brings happiness, it can also bring misery and unrest. No one is happy while under the influence of the flower. Helena and Hermia even become enemies despite being best friends. So, while everything does eventually go back to the way it's supposed to be, we are meant to learn the many facets of love during the time when it isn't."
"Very well put, Cheryl," Miss Rollins addressed her. "Speak up more in class. You clearly have some good ideas."
"Thank you," she answered, her gaze shifting from the teacher to Toni. The blonde's eyes were fixated on her, focusing through squinted lids. Cheryl smiled at her, causing Toni to turn around with a huff, once again looking to the front of the room.
The redhead wasn't clear what to make of Toni's reaction, but due to an insult not being used, as had been the case with Reggie, she considered it a win. An inkling of hope that maybe there was more to the blonde in this universe than apparent at first glance.
The discussion carried on for the remaining class time, ending with Miss Rollins reminding them to begin reading Act IV for homework if they hadn't already. Cheryl collected her things and exited the room. The second she was in the hall, she felt herself being shoved into the lockers once again.
"Who knew the Southside emo was also a nerd," Reggie laughed. He put his hand on the door next to her, essentially pinning her between him and the lockers. "Don't think you're better than us. You're a freak, and knowing some crap about a dumb play isn't gonna change that."
"Back off, Reg," Archie said as he pulled him away from her and stumbling backwards. "You harass girls now?"
"Southside scum has no gender, Andrews. I'm an equal opportunity enforcer, and I like to consider myself a feminist," he explained.
Cheryl rolled her eyes at his absurd claim.
"Got something to say there?" Reggie glared at her, clearly noticing her emote.
"I said back off," Archie reiterated, putting himself between his teammate and Cheryl.
"Fuck, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you actually gave a shit," the raven haired boy laughed. "Waste of time anyways. I've got to get to Chem."
Once he had left, Archie turned to her, "You alright?"
She nodded, "You're a knight in shining armor in any reality, Archie Andrews."
"Thanks, I think," he responded, perplexed.
"Cher, you alright?" Jughead came rushing down the hall. "Reggie Mantle attacked you again?"
"Again? This has happened before?" Archie asked.
The beanie wearing boy clenched his jaw and took a deep breath. "Doesn't concern you, Archie. I've got it handled."
"Yeah, because you handled it so well when he had her pinned to the lockers, and I had to pull him off," he rebuked.
"The fuck do you want? A medal?"
The ginger haired boy's demeanor changed, calming himself upon realization at who he was currently arguing with. He never wanted this to happen, "Jug… I just want to talk, but you won't ever give me the chance."
"You're right, so kindly piss off. I've got this," Jughead fumed, refusing to turn to look at his former friend.
"If that's what you want, man. Catch you around, Cheryl." He gave her a smile, adjusted the strap of his bag, and took off down the hall.
"He was only trying to help me."
"We don't need his help," Jughead explained. "We don't need help from any of them. You and me remember? Can't trust a Northsider for anything. If the damn golden boy isn't loyal, there's no hope for the rest of them."
She looked down the hall to see Toni pulling books from her locker and couldn't help but wonder how true Jughead's words were. Cheryl was once just like them, hating everything having to do with the Southside. She had changed; even the Reggie she knew had changed. Somehow, in this reality the two opposing sides had never found common ground. Without Archie and Jughead fighting to bring the North and South sides together, they remained as much at odds as the day the schools first merged.
It became routine after a few days. She'd get up, throw on whatever looked clean, and go to school as a social pariah. Cheryl would be thrown into lockers, mocked, and called scum multiple times a day. Part of her wondered if it was karma, the universe finally getting her back for the prejudice she had once embodied herself. Every day had been a constant struggle, and by the time Friday afternoon arrived she was exhausted, mentally and physically.
"You were quiet the whole ride home," Jughead observed as they exited the car and walked to her trailer door. "You sure you're doing okay?"
"Yeah, I'm just thinking." She leaned against the door and pursed her lips.
Jughead jumped up to sit on the railing. He tilted his head to the side, "Bout what?"
"Everything."
"Very specific, Blossom," the boy responded with smirk.
"Things are just so messed up." Cheryl ran her hand through her hair and sighed. "This isn't what high school was supposed to be like. I wasn't supposed to be bullied or shoved into lockers. I was meant to run that place, but it's really hard to be the head bitch in charge when you're not in charge of anything."
"Hard to picture you leading anything, Cher," he chaffed. "What are you gonna tell me next? This fantasy of yours involves cheerleading?"
"I'm sure I could reveal things that would confound you."
"Does Cheryl Blossom have secrets?" He looked at her with mock offense. "And you're keeping them from me. Why, I think I'm offended at this utter disregard of the best friend handbook."
She looked upon him inquisitively, "There's a handbook?"
"Yeah, we wrote it when we were six." The pair laughed at his reveal. Cheryl wasn't sure if he was making it up for the sake of the joke or if her childhood self had actually created such a thing with the boy in front of her; either way, she thought the idea absurd but strangely heartwarming. "Yeah, the five of us, remember? You, me, Jaso-" He stopped himself once he realized what he had said.
Cheryl's face fell at the mention of his name. She tried her best to put on a fake smile, but it wasn't convincing.
Jughead looked at her sympathetically, inwardly kicking himself for his mistake. "Sorry, I know you don't really like to talk about him."
"It's fine, really," she assured. While Jughead bringing up her brother had caught her off guard, she had never been one to shy away from discussing him. Cheryl viewed talking about Jason as a way to honor his memory, but her other self seemed to have a different means of coping.
"Still, you alright?"
"I miss him every day, but I'm at a place where I can talk about him."
"Well you know I'm always here to talk," he reached over to her with his foot and tapped her thigh.
Chery rolled her eyes at the gesture. "Lord only knows where those shoes have been, and you put them on my pants?"
"Oh like you haven't done worse," he jabbed.
"I guess that's part of living on this side of the tracks though isn't it? Existing amongst the filth," she reflected.
Jughead scoffed, "Way to call me filth."
The redhead simply shrugged in response. "When's the last time you washed that beanie?"
He narrowed his gaze and loudly exhaled through his nose, "Point taken."
"This life…" she shook her head in exasperation. "I'm living on the Southside in a trailer. I barely have hot water. I drive that sorry excuse for a car. Everyone at school hates me, and not in a they fear me kind of way. I would think with everything the universe has thrown at me, the least it could do would allow me a life with Jason, but all I have of my dear brother are a few polaroids hanging above my bed," Cheryl lamented. "Fate truly is a cruel mistress."
"But don't you have all of his stuff? In that safe right?"
"Right, of course," Cheryl replied, trying to play it off as forgetfulness. "I wasn't thinking."
"Cher, you sure you're okay?" he asked again, his concern growing every time she seemingly forgot some bit of key information about herself.
"I'll be fine. I've had years of practice," she responded emotionally before pursing her lips.
"Call if you need anything? I have Serpent stuff this weekend, but you know I'll always make time for my best gal."
"I do. You're actually a really good friend. Thanks, Jughead."
"Actually a really good friend? I'm going to pretend to not be offended," he smirked.
"Probably for the best," Cheryl replied with a small but genuine smile. "I'll see you later, Jones."
He rolled his eyes and laughed. "See ya later, weirdo." The boy turned and hopped from his seat onto the grass below.
Cheryl watched him walk away a few steps before turning to unlock the trailer door. Once inside, she rushed to her bedroom, going directly to the closet and dropping to her knees in front of the safe.
"Combination… think, Cheryl," she told herself aloud. The redhead tried their birthday again, but once again, the lock failed to open.
What else could it be? I'm going to have to bust this thing open with a jackhammer.
"Hey, Goose."
Cheryl looked to see her uncle standing in the doorway.
"I'm gonna go see Mom. Thought maybe you'd want to tag along?"
"Nana Rose?"
"Since when have you ever called your Grandma that?" he asked with a chuckle. "But ya, leaving in ten. I already picked up some flowers."
Cheryl wasn't prepared for where they were going. She sat in Claude's truck, staring out the window at the passing buildings, as her uncle blasted Jethro Tull through the speakers. As someone who appreciated the beauty of classical music, she scoffed at hearing the flute abused in such a way, but her uncle seemed to be enjoying the music echoing through the cab.
He reached forward to the dash and adjusted the volume, turning it so low it was barely audible. She took this as a sign they had reached their destination. Cheryl looked around, expecting to see some sort of retirement center, but her heart dropped when she noticed the sign engraving on the stone archway the drove under.
Sweetwater Memorial Gardens
No… Not you too, Nana.
Claude killed the engine and reached into the backseat to grab the assorted flowers he had brought. He handed the second bundle to Cheryl, and suddenly, it made sense to her why he had purchased not one, but two bouquets of flowers. One was for her Nana, the other for her brother.
She wordlessly exited the car and followed him through the rows of gravestones. When they reached the marker reading "Rosanne Blossom," he stopped and sniffled back tears. Claude laid the flowers down at the base of the headstone and stood in silence.
Cheryl stood behind him awkwardly. Emotions swirled inside her, having just found out her grandmother had long passed. Stupidly, she had assumed they would be visiting her living, breathing Nana, but clearly she had forgotten just how cruel this version of reality could be.
After several minutes, the man cleared his throat, and turned to his niece. "I'll give you two some privacy," he said nodding to his left. "Meet me at the truck when you're ready."
Her gaze followed the direction he had indicated, fully knowing what was waiting for her.
Jason.
She walked down the path, her eyes glancing over the various names as she passed. Six down from her Nana, Cheryl found him. She looked down at the smooth granite headstone marking where her brother had been buried and exhaled with jagged breath.
Jason Blossom
November 25, 2001 - September 06, 2013
Forever young, forever in our hearts
"Hi, Jason," Cheryl knelt down onto the hard ground. "I wasn't expecting to see you today. I would have dressed nicer. You aren't used to seeing me like this," she laughed to herself, "or maybe you are. This you wouldn't be used to the designer clothes we used to wear, would you?"
She read the inscription on the marker again, "Forever young… so true in any reality, dear brother. You were the best of us and deserved so much more. You were only 11… wait." Cheryl's eyes focused on the birth date, "No, that's not right. Our birthday is the 14th not the 25th. How could we have different birthdays?"
The redhead looked over her shoulder to see Claude leaning up against his truck smoking a cigarette. Nothing was the same, not even her own birthday. Her uncle was so different from the Claudius she had known, and there was no telling how different Jason had been in this world.
"I wish I had a chance to meet this version of you," she said as she returned her attention to the headstone. "Of course you had to be dead here too. This really is my own personal hell isn't it? Oh, JJ, everything is so different. You never even made it to high school, but the you I know was the captain of the football team. Juniper and Dagwood don't even exist here, do they? They are your children, Jason. You and Polly Cooper had twins. They are the most adorable little ones you've ever seen. Daggie, looks just like you."
The redhead fell backwards onto her butt and readjusted, pulling her legs to her chest. She wrapped her arms around them and rested her chin on her knees. "Apparently I'm best friends with Jughead Jones. We drive to school together every day, and he buys me weed. This really is the Upside Down. It seems I have no other friends… At home… my home… I…" Cheryl's breath caught in her throat and tears began to sting her eyes. "I didn't have many friends there either, but at least I wasn't alone."
"I'm not sure if this you knew or not, but I'm a lesbian. Maybe our hideous parents weren't homophobic here, but based on the little I've learned about them, it wouldn't surprise me. I came out about a year ago," she bit down on her lower lip to suppress a smile at the memory. "I met someone, the most amazing someone. You would love her, Jason. You would love my version of her. Here she's… she's n-nothing like herself."
She sniffed back her tears and turned her attention to the sky, hoping gravity would force her tears back. "I can't do this, JJ. I don't have you… I don't have Toni. I haven't felt s-so a-alone in s-such a long t-time. I'm t-trying to p-put up a m-mask to h-hide behind, but I-I'm not as g-good at it as I u-used to b-be."
"Cheryl?" Claude's voice asked hesitantly, and she felt a gentle hand cup her shoulder. "You alright?"
Violently, she shook her head back and forth as she buried her face into her legs and began to sob desperately. "I j-just want to g-go h-home," she cried out. "I w-want t-to go h-home."
"Come on," he helped her up and wrapped his arms around her. "Let's get you home." To him, home meant back to the trailer. He had no idea the home Cheryl yearned for was worlds away.
Cheryl found herself laying on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. Her eyes followed the blades of the fan going around and around. Her mind raced, taking in the new information she had gotten in the last few hours.
Nana Rose had died in a senior living center while Jason and Cheryl were in kindergarten. If it hadn't been for Claude using his life savings to pay for her care, she wouldn't have survived as long as she had. There was no money for a home nurse, and her parents hadn't been concerned enough to care for her themselves or even help her uncle with the costs.
Somehow even her birthday was different. She had been born almost two weeks after the birthday she had known for 17 years. Cheryl was able to vaguely recall something about her mother scheduling their delivery but had no way to check for sure.
"Oh my God," Cheryl exclaimed as she shot up in bed. "I've been using the wrong birthday."
She looked to the closet before jumping from the bed and rushing to the safe. "11-25-01," the redhead said aloud as she entered the numbers. A subtle click could be heard and she was able to swing the door open.
Cheryl began pulling out the contents. The first thing she grabbed was a youth size leather jacket. On its back was a spray painted serpent. It appeared as if a hand cut stencil had been used to create the shape. She laughed at the absurdity of it. Her brother had apparently idealized the Serpents, a far cry from the hatred of the Southside she had grown up knowing.
After placing the jacket reverently to the side, she continued looking through the opened safe. She withdrew a stack of papers. Upon inspection, Cheryl could see they were newspaper clippings, each headline pointing to the same event. Hesitantly, she began to read, assuming the article would shed some light on the circumstances of her brothers death.
On the afternoon of September 6th an explosion took place within Sunnyside Trailer Park. Sources at the Riverdale Police Department have revealed the event was caused by a chemical reaction within a homemade drug lab.
Neighbors reported the event via a 911 call at approximately 3:00 pm after hearing the explosion and seeing the debris through their window. Several windows had been blown out of the trailer leaving glass covering the grass and walkway outside.
One fatality has been reported, an eleven year old boy whose parents had been using the lab to manufacture methamphetamine. The couple has been taken into police custody on charges of drug manufacturing, possession with intent to distribute, child endangerment, and involuntary manslaughter. Their remaining child has been placed with relatives pending trial.
A tear splashed on to the faded newspaper article in her hand. Cheryl quickly raised her hand to wipe away any more before they could fall. With a shaky breath, she exhaled. "Of course our hideous parents are responsible for your demise here as well, JJ."
She had found the missing piece of the puzzle explaining how she ended up living with her uncle. Her parents had once again caused the death of her brother, only this time with an explosion instead of a bullet to the head. They were now in jail, clearly found guilty on at least one of the charges brought against them.
Cheryl placed the articles back into the safe, not wanting to read anymore. She pulled the jacket to her chest and held it close, needing to feel a connection to something familiar. Even if this Jason hadn't been the one she knew, he was still her brother, and he had once again been stolen from her before his time by their own parents.
Maybe things aren't as different as they seem.
If Archie still had a heart of gold and her parents were the cause of Jason's death, maybe there was a part of her Toni somewhere inside of the HBIC walking through the corridors of Riverdale High. Cheryl knew she shouldn't get her hopes up, if there's one thing this reality has shown her it's that things always end up worse than she could have fathomed. You know what they say about hope: it breeds eternal misery. Yet, against her better judgement, she allowed herself to hope, even if it was only the tiniest glimmer.
Notes:
Cheryl and Jason's birthdays are different because Penelope had scheduled a C-section. She wasn't able to do that in this reality due to lack of money. I'm not sure if that's a common thing rich people do, but the idea came from Sherry's scheduled delivery of Gigi in Gilmore Girls. For those who haven't watched the show, Sherry was played by Mädchen Amick.
