When Isadora first saw Reggie Mantle in the hallway on Monday morning, he had pushed Jughead Jones and called him "Wednesday Addams." Reggie walked by Izzy without a second glance. Seven minutes in heaven was a party game, Izzy knew that, but she had hoped that maybe it had meant something to Reggie. It wasn't that she liked him, because she certainly did not, but she thought that it should have made her worth acknowledging.
When he approached her before third period, she hoped it was to apologize for ignoring earlier that morning. It wasn't.
"Is your sister hooking up with Jones?" Izzy had hoped that what Reggie had said in the closet meant that he liked her more than her sister. She didn't need him to like her, but everyone always seemed to like Millie more than her. "Because I need to know if I need to kick his ass."
"I'm not my sister's keeper, Reggie." Izzy thought it was adorable how puzzled he looked at her words. He clearly hadn't heard the phrase before. She felt her cheeks heat up at the mere idea of Reggie being adorable.
Izzy wanted to handle Reggie the way a River Vixen should. She wanted to be like Cheryl Blossom and tell Reggie off in a sexy way or be aloof and vague like Millie would. Instead, she stared at Reggie with her mouth women, gapping like a fish.
"I'm just trying to do right by my boy, Jason. When you see her, tell her I'm looking for her." Reggie walked away and Izzy wanted to call after him. She wanted to say what she wasn't allowed to say. Millie wasn't Jason's girl anymore. Polly Cooper was.
Three Days Before:
On the morning of July 1st, just after 5:00 AM, Isadora Miller watched Jason Blossom climb down the tree out of Millie's window and run across the lawn. He turned back and blew a kiss towards Millie's window.
At 5:30 AM, Izzy quietly tiptoed into her sister's bedroom. She wanted to comfort her as a sister should, she knew Millie's heart broke without Jason, but Millie was fast asleep.
Just after 6:00 AM, Izzy looked out her window again and saw Jason jogging down the street, towards the Cooper house.
Jughead Jones knew it was dangerous to be Millicent Miller's friend. She got him to do things that he definitely shouldn't be doing. He ran out of a frog dissection, skipped two periods, and got himself a seat at the top of Reggie Mantle's shit list. The worst of it was that he couldn't say no to her. When she stared at him with a tear soak face and said, " Promise me we'll find out who killed him"; Jughead foolishly promised.
When she finally convinced herself to leave the closet and the pair went their separate ways, she kissed him on the cheek. He had gotten flustered and she laughed an adorable little sound and pinched his cheek. He watched her walk away before heading in the opposite direction.
Maybe he if didn't watch her or if he hadn't followed her out of that lab, he wouldn't have ended up in front of the music room. Jughead might not have looked through the window of the door and seen Archie Andrews kiss Ms. Grundy.
"I don't understand you, Cooper," Millie said after Vixen's practice. Somehow, she had managed to slip back into class without having to talk about her feelings. She spent lunch hiding in a bathroom stall with her feet up and flustered Reggie by telling her that she had cramps and needed to see the nurse. "First you're partnered with Veronica in biology and now you're fighting with her and getting mani-pedis with Cheryl. With Cheryl, Betty."
"Cheryl Blossom is your friend. If you can see the good in her, then so can I." Millie could tell that Betty was up to something, but she had the suspicion that it had more to do with Veronica than Cheryl, so she could let it go. For now. "Are you okay? You never came back to biology class. Don't let Tina and Ginger get to you. Everyone knows that you loved Jason."
"I don't care about them, Betty. It was about what Cheryl said. About Jason's autopsy. I couldn't cut something one while they were doing the same to him." Cheryl was waiting by the door for Betty, tapping the imaginary watch on her wrist. "Just…call me if things go South, okay?"
Betty nodded and walked to meet Cheryl. Millie noticed Veronica Lodge watching them wistfully. She understood why Betty was upset with Veronica, but she felt for her too. Obviously, she kissed Archie or Betty wouldn't be this upset, but she hadn't wanted to go in that closet. Cheryl really didn't give her much choice.
She had planned to walk home after practice, but she was surprised to find Reggie Mantle waiting for her by his car. Isadora gave Millie a strange look before hurrying away. Millie was disgusted to see Reggie check Izzy out as she walked by. She thought about avoiding Reggie, but she knew that she had to face him. Without so much as a "hello", she tossed her bag into the backseat of his car.
"Frog dissections make me sick. Can't we do this stuff online now? Should Peta do something about this?" She didn't wait for a reaction before climbing into his passenger seat and buckling up. "Hurry up, Mantle. I have to get home before I head to the studio."
They had barely made it out of the parking lot before he asked the question she was trying to avoid. "What's up with you and Wednesday Addams?"
"Nothing," she answered quickly. A smarter boy would be harder to lie to, but she wasn't afraid of overestimating Reggie. "I heaved in the ggirl'sbathroom. He just wanted an excuse to get out of class."
"Well, watch out. I think he's into you and we both know that he's not your type."
"And who is, Reggie? You?" She had never seen Reggie Mantle blush. His reaction was beyond blushing. His face turned into a tomato.
Jason and Reggie had been friends. They social hierarchy of Riverdale demanded it. Jason Blossom was the golden boy of Riverdale and Reggie was on the football and water polo team. If didn't like you, Reggie was an arrogant and pompous jerk who could be insufferably relentless. If he did, then he was a sweet and loyal puppy. A lot of the boys could forgive him behavior because he was really good at football. "Jason was my friend. He asked me to look out for you. I'm just doing what he asked."
"What would Jason ask you to look out for me? Why not Polly?"
"I don't know. Jason just said your mom wrote him a letter and he needed me to look out of you. I didn't ask questions." Her mom hadn't mentioned writing a letter. Cassandra hadn't even particularly gotten along with the Blossoms. She thought boys were a distraction, but Jason didn't seem to keep her from dance class. No one ever knew what to think of Jason's parents though.
Cassandra was a few years younger than the Clifford and Penelope, though Lionel had been their year at school. They didn't like to talk about high school. Actually, they didn't like to talk to each other. Lionel was an airline pilot and often away overnight and Cassandra was determined to make her children into dancers. They even had a few years of vocal lessons in case there was ever a really good musical audition. Millie had always dreamed of her mother seeing her in a production of West Side Story. Her mom had never seemed worried about anything besides dancing and the studio, so why did she write a letter to Jason? And why did he pass off the task to Reggie?
Millie reached for her phone. Sure, she had been embarrassed that she cried in front of earlier, but he had agreed to help her solve Jason Blossom's murder. That was more important than her pride. She typed:
To Jughead:
My mom wrote a letter to Jason before he died.
It only took him moments to respond:
To Millie:
"What did it say?"
As she was answering, Reggie pulled up in front of her house. She didn't live far from Riverdale High School. She was down the street from Betty Cooper and Archie Andrews. They walked to school every day. "Thanks for the ride, Mantle. I'll see you around."
"Ah, so before you go – " For a moment, she really thought Reggie was going to ask her out, despite everything he had told her. It would even be a relief, because it would mean that he lied about her mom writing to Jason. "Does your sister ever ask about me?"
Darius wasn't used to being popular. He hadn't made varsity, but being on any level of the football team earned him respect. People stopped asking him if he was gay in an accusatory way. Hell, in middle school Cheryl had told him that he should ask out Kevin Keller. Millie swore it was an honest mistake, but he couldn't believe that. Jason was always indifferent towards him because he didn't want to upset Millie, but Reggie Mantle was sometimes brutal. Now, he was sitting with Reggie and the football team in the student lounge. Reggie was telling all of them about his interview with Sherriff Keller. Everyone on the football team was getting interviewed. Lionel had even accompanied Darry to the station to answer some basic questions. Mostly about locker room talk.
Darry did nothing as Reggie asked Moose why he had been at Sweetwater River with Kevin Keller, because he didn't want to go down that path again. He could see Izzy shooting him a dirty look from across the lounge. Izzy had been acting strange whenever someone mentioned Reggie's name (Darry assumed it was because she thought that he didn't know about what happened between the two at Cheryl Blossom's party), but even she didn't have time for his homophobia. Luckily, Reggie moved on quickly. Unluckily, he moved onto Jughead Jones.
"Let's be honest," Reggie said, loud enough for everyone in the lounge to hear. "Isn't it always some spooky, scrawny, pathetic internet troll, too busy writing his manifestos to get laid? Some smug, moody, serial killer fanboy freak like Jughead? He's be spending a lot of time going after Jason's girl."
The football team laughed, but Darry didn't join them. He locked eyes with Betty Cooper, who looked worried. He should do something. Reggie didn't stop. "What was it like, Suicide Squad? When you shot Jason? You didn't do stuff to the boy, did you? Like…after?"
"It's called necrophilia, Reggie. Can you spell it?"
Reggie leapt across the table at Jughead and all of the football team stood up. Darry would have been embarrassed that he didn't stop Reggie, but he didn't have to. Archie Andrews was there to defend Jughead. Of course, that only made Reggie more arrogant and things escalated – quickly. "Do you guys kill Jason together? Was it some sort of pervy blood brother thing?"
Archie pushed Reggie and Reggie shoved him into the vending machine, shattering the glass. Moose held back Jughead, who tried to help Archie, and Archie tackled Reggie. Darry had enough. He went to pull the boys apart, but ended up getting elbowed in the face by Archie Andrews. It didn't take Reggie long to get the upper hand and slug Archie in the face.
In the end ,it was Izzy who stopped the fight. She shook a bottle of soda and sprayed the boys, causing Reggie to scatter. The football team cared more about their precious jackets than punching Archie.
"Damn, girl," Veronica said. It was so unlike shy and quiet Izzy to be bold. Darry was proud of her. Izzy tossed the empty can at Reggie before walking out. Darry noticed her hands were shaking, but he doubted the rest of the room even knew to look.
After, when Darry went to get some ice, he ran into Betty Cooper, who was already holding a bag. She smiled up at him and he felt warm all over. The entire school knew that Archie had rejected Betty, which made it a lot easier to watch Archie get punched in the face.
"I brought you ice. It was really cool of you to try and stop the fight." Betty led him over to a bench and gently pressed the ice to his face.
"I should have done more," Darry confessed, not meeting Betty's eyes. "Sometimes…I'm so afraid of getting bullied again. Not about dancing. About liking dancing when I don't like dancing. I never did."
"You like photography."
"And football. I always wanted to play sports. Look, I know I'm not great in school, but I'm good at football. I want to be good. I like doing things with my hands." When he finally looked into Betty's eyes, he saw understanding. Betty Cooper may have been Archie's girl-next-door, but it didn't long for her to be more to Darry. "My mom was so obsessed with making all of us into dancers that she never really cared what I wanted. I always had to be her version of perfect."
"That sounds really hard," Betty admitted. "My mom is the same way. She's so worried about me being like Polly that she doesn't even see who I want to be. If you ever want to talk to someone who understands that, know that I'm here."
Darry didn't know much about math or science, but he knew when someone was good. Betty Cooper was good.
The morning after the pep rally, Millie was working her shift at Pop's. Jughead Jones was seated in a booth with his laptop in front of him, like always. After she cleared two tables and made the rounds with her coffee pot, she sat down across from him.
Last night, at the pep rally, Cheryl had run off stage and into the locker room. Veronica and Millie had followed her and when they comforted her, she kept saying "He was supposed to come back." At first, Millie thought it was because they never found a body and Cheryl had been hopeful. Now, she couldn't stop thinking about it. She couldn't let it go. Millie checked her phone. No word from Cheryl.
"I've been working on a list of what we know about Jason's murder. I think we should lay out all the facts and then start looking at suspects." Jughead was watching her over his laptop the same way everyone was, as though she was about to break. Millie rubbed her lower back, her muscles were sore. This week, she had danced twenty-five hours without including her time as a Vixen. She was behind on homework, but she wasn't too worried. After graduation, Millie was heading back to New York to start auditioning. Her C average would get her a diploma. "That is, if you still want to do this."
"Jug, I don't want to do this. I need to. I can't live my life wondering." Jughead nodded in his silent but stoic way. She couldn't help thinking about how fundamentally different they were. He was smart, weird, and sa crawny loner in a beanie he never took off. She was a ballerina with a strong physique who took spent her free time painting Cheryl Blossom's nails.
They had been close when they were kids, but the summer before sixth grade changed everything. Millie had been in a lyrical dance intensive with Cheryl Blossom and it was clear they were the best in the class. For the big show, she and Cheryl choregraphed a dance for just the two of them. It was the best number in ethe ntire show, better than the numbers performed by the older girls. After the show, Cheryl had invited her to a sleepover and she had been welcomed into the Blossom home. Penelope Blossom made jokes about how lovely it was that Cheryl had finally found a redheaded friend and Jason had played board games with them until it was time for bed. After lights out, the girls laid in Chery's bed and whispered their darkest secrets to each other and promised to be friends forever.
"Then you won't," Jughead answered. "We'll find out exactly what happened to Jason Blossom."
Millie held out her pinky to Jughead just like she did when they were kids. He rolled his eyes, but wrapped his pinky around hers. A pinky promise could never be broken and this one was no exception.
"But," Jughead continued, still holding onto her pinky. "I'm going to need more pancakes. For fuel."
On Friday morning, Millie sat next to Moose in biology. She had come in at the last possible second, so she wouldn't have to worry about where to sit. She knew that Reggie would be checking and after his fight with Archie, she didn't want to talk about Jughead.
The truth was, Reggie Mantle was useful. He had been friends with Jason and seemed to trust her. She didn't want to piss him off until she was sure that he had nothing else to give her. Besides, Jughead would never look at her like that and she couldn't even think about dating.
Before class could start, Principal Weatherbee walked in with Sherriff Keller and Cheryl stood up. "You're here for me, aren't you? Because of the autopsy?"
"We don't need to do this in front of your classmates Cheryl." Millie held her breathe. She needed to hear Cheryl ask if they had solved it. Millie really hoped they were there to say it was over.
"It's all right, Principal Weatherbee. They'll find out soon enough." Cheryl held out her wrists for handcuffs. It was Veronica who asked the question. "Wait, Cheryl, find out what?"
Then Cheryl said the one thing that Millie never thought she'd hear. The one statement that would change everything she thought she knew. "That I'm guilty."