REVIEW TIMEE!1
Guest27: :)
Jughead's POV:
"Guilt. Innocence. Good. Evil. Life. Death.
As the shadows around Riverdale deepened, the lines between these polar opposite blurred and distorted.
"I'm guilty." Cheryl said in her Biology class, but of what?"
Paige's POV:
Throughout the rest of that whole day, everyone was either crowding Principal Weatherbee's office or were in the hallway. We were all now watching as Mr. and Mrs. Blossom were escorting Cheryl out of the school.
The next day, I was in the student lounge with Kevin, Betty, Veronica, and Archie. Archie just finished telling us about he heard at Sweetwater River. "So, are you a suspect now?" Veronica asked. "My dad says we all are. Including me." Kevin responded. "Not me, girl. I don't know these people." Veronica says.
"Guys, maybe we should re-binge "Making A Murderer" on Netflix tonight?" Kevin asked. "Sorry, can't. Have to stay late to work on a paper." Betty says. "I can't. Working a late shift." I said. "Count me out too. I have a date tonight." Veronica said.
"You do?" Archie asked. "Which Riverdale Hottie made the cut?" Kevin said. "Hey, V-Lo, I'll swing by the Pembrooke to pick you up at 8?" I hear Chuck Clayton ask, with Reggie, Moose, and Isaac standing behind him. "I'll be waiting." Veronica said as Chuck, Reggie, Moose, and Isaac left the student lounge.
"Chuck Clayton?" Betty asked in disbelief. "You're going on a date with Chuck?" Kevin asked, with Veronica responding to those questions with a bright smile. "He's kind of a player." Betty said. "And from what I've heard, a scumbag." I added in.
"Who cares. He's the hottest of hot." Kevin said, ignoring Betty's plea. "And he's the Varsity Football coach's son. In Riverdale, that's, like, dating a Kennedy." Kevin continued.
I got on my uniform, and as I was adjusting it, I could hear Loki meow from my bed. "Baby boy, I can't play with you right now. I need to get ready for work." I told him, as I finished adjusting my uniform. I could hear Loki meow again as I finished adjusting my uniform.
"You know how to test me everyday." I told him as I picked him up and he purred as soon as I did. I got out of my room, with Loki carried in my arms. "Isaac, let's go!" I exclaimed for my brother. Isaac got out of his room and his eyes widened as he saw Loki in my arms.
"Hell no. That hellcat is not going into my car, Paige." Isaac said. I was about to speak up, but then he cuts me off. "He pissed all over my car seats the last time he was in the car. It took almost a week to get the smell out." Isaac said.
"Can you let me speak for one second?" I asked, as Isaac huffed out a sigh of irritation. "I am just holding Loki, I am not taking him out to the car." I told him as I turned to Loki. "Don't listen to the bad man." I cooed at him as I set him down. "We need to go, now." I told him as we are now leaving the house for my shift.
It was the next day at school. Betty, Kevin, and I came up to Veronica at her locker. "So, how'd it go with Chuck?" Kevin asked. "Chuck has muscles for days, but this conversation is not the stuff for Oscar Wilde or even Diablo Cody." Veronica responded to Kevin's question.
"Hey, Veronica. How was the sticky maple you had last night?" Ginger asked. I paled when Ginger asked that question.
This is what Betty and I were trying to warn Veronica about yesterday at the student lounge.
"The what now?" Veronica asked in confusion. "The Sticky Maple Chuck gave you. How was it?" Tina asked as Cheryl's two minions now walked away from us. "We had a brownie sundae if that's what you two hyenas mean." Veronica said.
That's when everybody's phone went off. I looked over at my phone and Chuck posted the Sticky Maple he gave to Veronica on Instagram. "Oh, my God." Kevin said. Veronica just grabbed Kevin's phone to see what happened. And she saw the Sticky Maple that was posted on Instagram.
"What the hell is a Sticky Maple?" Veronica asked, getting infuriated. "It's kind of what it sounds like. It's a Riverdale thing." Kevin responded to Veronica's question. "No, Kevin, it's a slut-shaming thing. And I'm neither a slut or nor am I gonna be shamed by someone named, excuse me, Chuck Clayton." Veronica vented off.
"Does he really think he can get away with this? Does he not know who I am? I will cut the breaks on his souped-up Phallic Symbol." Veronica continues to vent off.
"Or we can go to Principal Weatherbee." Betty suggested. "Betty, you know the faculty is like silly putty when it comes to Chuck. And with him being the coach's son, he can get away with anything." I said to her.
"Paige is right. About the coach's son, who is the captain of the Football team and is Riverdale High's resident Golden Boy?" Veronica asked, agreeing with me. "Or I can expose him in the pages of the Blue & Gold." Betty also suggested. "No. Spoken like a true good girl, who always follows the rules." Veronica said as she forcefully hands Kevin his phone back.
"Well, I don't follow rules. I make them, and when necessary, I break them." Veronica says, storming off, with Betty and I following suit. "You want to help me get revenge on Chuck, Betty? Awesome. But you better be willing to go full dark, no stars. What do you say, in or out?" Veronica asked Betty as are now entering the Boys Locker Room.
We were moving past the moving bodies that were in the locker room, with Betty was shielding her eyes from the half-naked boys. Then, we accidentally bumped into Archie.
"Veronica, Betty, Paige, what are you guys doing here?" Archie asked. "Don't worry about it." Veronica said, trying to go past Archie, but when he tried to stop her, she just got more irate. "I mean it, Andrews. Hit the showers or stay out of my way." Veronica said as Betty and I continued to follow Veronica up until the point where we got to Chuck.
Veronica cleared her throat and that's when Chuck turned away from his conversation with Moose. "Oh, B, V, and P. Menage a right on, ladies." Chuck said. I rolled my eyes as he said that.
"This is disgusting." Veronica said as she showed Chuck the Sticky Maple that he gave to her. "Take it down." she said. "Oh, why are you so riled up? It's a badge of honor and you're not exactly virgin territory since your closet date with Andrews." Chuck said.
"You're kidding me, right? Badge of honor?" I asked in disgust. "That's beyond irrelevant, Chuck. You're not allowed to go around humiliating girls for any reason under any circumstances, you jerk." Betty said. "Look, I get that you two are not the closet type of girls, but hey, if either of you two wanna ride the Chuck-wagon, that can be arranged." Chuck said. "Your ignorance and arrogance make me wanna vomit." I snapped at him.
"Let's keep this simple, so your preppy, murderer half-brain can grasp it. Take. This. The hell. Down." Veronica said, getting angrier by the moment. "Yeah, that high tone bitch attitude may have worked as you dated in New York, but you're on Bulldog territory…" Chuck started as almost half of the football team barked at her, making me cringe. "But please, fight back. You'll only make it harder on yourself." Chuck said.
I groaned out in frustration. "Ugh, I'm through with this!" I said in annoyance as I stormed out of the locker room. I was storming towards my locker and that's when I heard my name.
"Paige, wait." I heard my estranged boyfriend call out. "Not right now, Reggie." I told him. "Just listen…" he was about to say, but I cut him off. "You want me to listen? Call off your war dogs that are swarming Veronica." I told him as I walked away from him.
Later on that day, I got a text from Betty to meet her in the Blue & Gold. I got in at the same time Veronica did and we saw a bunch of girls, including Ginger, Tina, and Ethel Muggs, surrounding Betty. "This story's bigger than we thought. I started asking around to see what happened to you happened to anyone else would go on record." Betty said.
"I will. 100%" Ethel spoke up. "It's five guys on the football team, Chuck and his posse. Ethel was just about to tell us." Betty explained to us.
"One day last year, Chuck and I talked in the library for 10 minutes. I helped him with a Pre-Calc problem and nothing happened, but the next day, he started telling people that I let him...do stuff to me, like sex stuff. And then he or one of his goons wrote sloppy seconds on my locker." Ethel explained. "Yes, yes. We all heard your tragic origin story." I hear Cheryl say.
"I'm so, so sorry, Ethel. That's horrible." Betty said. "Not as horrible as being a suspect in your own brother's torture murder case, but we all have our crosses. In the meantime, River Vixen practice starts in 5 minutes, sluts, so…" Cheryl started, but Ethel spoke up again.
"They're ruining our lives, and to them it's a game. They keep score, and…" Ethel was going on, but the last thing she said got me to look up. "Wait, "keep score"?" I asked. Veronica caught on what I was inquisiting. "What do you mean "keep score"?" she asked. "Each conquest earns them points. They keep track in some secret Playbook." Ethel explained.
"Okay, we have to talk to Weatherbee." Betty said. "I already tried, Weatherbee says he didn't find anything." Ethel said. "Okay, we need undeniable proof." Betty said. "Proof of what, Nancy Drew? That boys will be boys? And that Playbook reeks of urban legend." Cheryl said.
"How would you know, Cheryl?" Veronica asked. "Because, Frida Shallow, before he died, my brother was co-captain of the Football team with Chuck, and Jason never mentioned it. And he never would've allowed it." Cheryl said.
"Okay, I've never met your brother, but I'm not lying about what happened to me. And Ethel's not lying, and proof or no proof, book or no book, I'm going scorched earth on these privileged, despicable miscreants. You wanna get caught in the backdraft, Cheryl, call me or any of these beautiful, strong, intelligent women "sluts" one. More. Time." Veronica snapped at Cheryl, making her go quiet.
Later on that night, Betty told me that Val's brother, Trev, know where the Playbook is so now, late at night, Betty, Veronica, Ethel, Kevin, and I have snuck into school to find the undeniable evidence.
"Football Players behaving badly? What else is new? Steubenville, Glenridge, the coach's son being the ringleader. I mean, how depraved is this town?" Veronica asked. "Color me impressed." a familiar voice spoke up, scaring us, and when we turned around, it was Cheryl.
"A B and E with a B and V. What would your holy-roller mother say about that, Betty?" Cheryl asked. "What are you doing here, Cheryl?" Betty asked. "And where did you get those thigh high boots? They're amazing." Kevin asked.
"Trev told Valerie, who told Josie, who told Ginger, who told Tina, who told me. And I thought I would help out." Cheryl explained. "Help or derail our investigation?" Betty asked. "Get over yourself, Betty." Cheryl said. "You guys. Get in here." I hear Ethel say.
We walked into the room that Ethel was in and she found the Playbook. "Trev was right. They didn't even bother to hide it." Ethel said as we were going through the book.
"New Girl? Is that what I'm reduced to? 9 points?" Veronica asked. "Better than Big Girl. 7.5." Ethel said. As I looked into it, I saw Isaac's name wasn't in there, making me have a mental sigh of relief.
I was taking pictures of the proof but after I took a picture of one of the pages, I stopped to get a closer look at it.
Reggie is ranked one below Chuck. And his name is next to mine.
Apparently, according to them I was known as Paige (Little Bauer +2, Local Babysitter +1) = 11.
Then within the next lines are more things about me.
Summer Fling w/ Little Bauer x2.
Strings Attached? -2.
So, if I could total that up, apparently, I am worth 20 points
I could feel myself taking shallow breaths as I tried to control my tears. I turned away from the book as tears were falling down my face. I couldn't hear the conversation as there was a lot of things floating through my mind.
I was in the Playbook.
Reggie used my feelings.
He doesn't like me as he claims he does.
"Paige?" I could hear Cheryl ask me as I could feel her hand on my shoulder. "I'm in that book. I am so ignorant. You were right, Ember was right, even Isaac was right. I should never got involved with him." I got out.
"Let's just get you home, Tinkerbell." Cheryl said. "No. There's one more thing I need to do." I told her.
What I wanted Cheryl to do is to drive me up to Pop's, because I know that's where Reggie might be. "I'll be right back." I told her as I went into Pop's and once I saw Reggie, I stormed up to him.
"Hey, babe. I'm glad…" he started but then I cut him off. "You used me?" I asked him, getting straight to the point. "What are you…" he was about to say but then I pulled up the picture of the Playbook. "I can explain…" he started, but I already seen enough. "Looks like the picture says it all." I told him as I walked out of Pop's.
What I didn't know is that Reggie followed me, grabbed me by the arm, and pulled me to a deserted alleyway. "Let go of me." I snapped at him, ripping my arm from his grasp. "You need to hear my standpoint on this." Reggie said. "Your standpoint?" I asked in disbelief.
"Yes, Paige. The guys, they were pressuring me...I-I didn't have that much of a choice." Reggie said, stumbling through his words. "Didn't have that much of a choice? That has got to be one of the worst excuses I have ever heard of." I told him as I was walking away from him, but he grabbed my arm.
"Paige, baby…" Reggie was about to say. "Don't 'baby' me anymore, Reggie. If Isaac had the decency to not be in the Playbook, you should've had the morality to do so as well. But it looks like looks can be deceiving. Whatever we had, it's over. We're done." I told him. As soon as I was about to leave, Reggie grabbed my arm again.
"You don't mean that, Paige. You can't throw away what we have." Reggie said. "What we have? You used me!" I yelled at him. Reggie was about to speak up but a hand was on his arm.
I looked up to see who's hand that was and it was boy, around my age, and he was tall, ridiculously tall (I was like a midget compared to him), but what was more noticeable about him was the leather jacket he had on and the serpent tattoo that was on his neck.
"Hey, she said let her go, Bulldog." the boy said, glaring at him, fervently, and Reggie was glaring back at him with the same fury that the boy had. "Stay out of this, Serpent." Reggie spat out as he lets go of my arm and storms away from us.
"Thanks." I told him, too shy to look him in the eyes. "Don't mention it, princess." the boy said, gruffly, as I heard him walk away from me. I look at his retreating form for a few moments before I walked out of the alleyway and towards Cheryl's car.
Throughout the rest of the night, the tall South Side Serpent that came to my aid was etched into my mind
Jughead's POV:
"Good and Evil. Light and Dark. Betty and Veronica. Two sides of the same Janis coin.
Given Betty's article, Weatherbee needed a sacrificial lamb. Needed to make an example of someone, so after Hermione Lodge negotiated a lesser sentence for our two avenging angels, Coach Clayton, to save his job, to save the school's reputation, was forced to cut his beloved son and his goon squad from the team.
An action that, none of us knew, would have terrible consequences in the weeks to come."
Paige's POV:
Us girls had formed a little circle as we saw Chuck and his posse leaving the school after word got around that they have been cut from the team.
"Thanks, Betty. Thanks, Veronica." Ethel thanked the two. "Thank you, Ethel, for going on record and made all of the defense with Weatherbee." Betty said. "You're the bravest of them all, Ethel Muggs." Veronica said. "#JusticeForEthel." Cheryl chimed in.
Jughead's POV:
"Despite all of our recent troubles, I would've done anything to protect Archie, but Dilton Doiley just opened Pandora's Box, and now there's nothing I nor anyone could do to save him."