A few days later, Darry walked into the reinstated Blue and Gold headquarters. Betty had texted him and asked if he was ready to start. When he arrived, Jughead Jones was there with his crown beanie and a smirk.
"Darry! You came. Good," Betty said. Darry nervously put his camera bag down onto the table. "I asked Jughead to write for the Blue and Gold too. He's been writing a book about Riverdale."
"About Jason Blossom," Darry finished. Jughead squirmed a bit, just as he had the night Darry went to him at Pop's. Darry remembered how surprised he had been to see him and how concerned he had looked when he told Jughead about Millie. "Millie told me."
"I want to be honest with you," Betty continued. She always wore pink lipstick. Darry liked that. "We're going to do a lot of digging into the Jason Blossom murder. I know it might be a sore subject with you given your sister – "
The night before, Millie had knocked on his bedroom door. She was sweaty after long hours in the studio. Their dad was concerned that she was overworked, but Millie had been ignoring their father since their mother had told her about the affair. Lionel Miller had very little idea how to properly parent Millie - other than making her get a job.
"I need to ask you something," she had said. At the time, Darry had welcomed the distraction because he was working on an English assignment that he didn't really understand. Until she said the dreaded words: "It's about Mom."
Darry took his job as the eldest sibling very seriously. He knew that he wasn't as smart as Izzy or as dedicated as Millie, but he knew how to protect someone. Cassandra Miller was flawed in ways that everyone but Millie could recognize. Before her, the past three generations of Cassandra's family had been professional dancers. She was supposed to continue the legacy until she got unexpectedly pregnant right out of high school. In her mind, she seemed to think making her three children dancers would make up for her lost career. Darry loved his mother, but his siblings couldn't see what he did. Cassandra Miller was sick and there was so much more to every story she told. Darry wished he didn't know.
"She wrote letters to Jason. At least, she wrote one letter. I was wondering if you knew anything about that." He didn't, but he wasn't surprised. Darry did know something that Millie didn't. Cassandra Miller hated Jason Blossom.
"She never mentioned it to me," Darry answered honestly. "How'd you find out?"
"Reggie said something, but you know how he is. He probably got mixed up." She didn't really think that and Darry knew that she would drive herself crazy until she found out.
"I would drop it."
"Totally," she agreed, nodding her head. Darry knew better. Millie only said "totally" when she was lying.
Betty didn't even have to finish the question. "I'm in."
Millie was alone in the studio, working at the ballet barre when Cheryl Blossom entered. Cheryl wore a Blossom red leotard and joined Millie at the barre.
"I have the room for another forty-five minutes, Cheryl." Cheryl had texted her sixteen times and called her three. The story had made its way around the school. Jason Blossom had planned to run away and fake his own death and Cheryl had rowed him to the other side of Sweetwater River and said he drowned. Millie didn't know what to say.
"You never called me back. Or answered my texts. You missed Vixen's practice." Millie had to laugh. Leave it to Cheryl, to be worried about cheerleading during a murder investigation. "You know I wouldn't hurt Jason. I never suspect- "
"I know you didn't murder him, Cheryl!" Millie walked away from the barre and grabbed her water bottle, drinking deeply.
"Then why are you mad at me?" Cheryl tried to pull Millie's water bottle from her hand, but Millie grabbed the end and squirted Cheryl, causing her to set back.
"Because I loved Jason! I loved him and you never told me. You thought he was alive and coming back and you watched me mourn him. Everything I thought I knew wasn't true." While Cheryl wiped Millie's water from her face, Millie rubbed at her eyes. "I would have kept Jason's secret."
Cheryl looked close to tears, but Millie couldn't feel sorry for her. She was so angry. At the world. At Cheryl. At herself. "Mimi, I was going to tell yo- "
"Save it," Millie spat. "Jason told me on July 1st that he loved me and then he left. He left without saying goodbye and you couldn't even tell me why. I'm done with you, Cheryl. I quit the stupid River Vixens."
Millie went back to the barre and stretched her leg, thinking she had gotten the last word, but that wasn't Cheryl's nature. Instead, Cheryl walked right up to Millie and took a deep drink from the water bottle. Then she squirted Millie in the face. "Actually, you weeping widow, you won't be quitting. Do you know why?"
Cheryl pushed Millie's leg off the barre and thrust the water bottle back into her hands. "You see, little Dora is on the team. She loves it. She loves the pep rallies and the parties and the closet rendezvous with Reggie Mantle. It would be a shame for me to have to take that away. I'll see you at practice. Tomorrow. Do not be late."
When Cheryl left, it felt as though she took all of the air out of the room. Millie looked down at her water bottle. A bright red lipstick stain was around the nozzle.
Darry was in the locker room after an early morning practice, when Veronica Lodge came storming in, dragging Betty Cooper behind her. He didn't have to wonder why. Chuck Clayton was not only the team captain, but the biggest creep on campus. Since his dad was the coach of the football team, he thought he was untouchable. Reggie Mantle may be a jerk, but Darry even liked him better than Chuck.
That morning, Chuck posted a picture on Instagram announcing that Veronica had given him a "sticky maple" on their date last night. Riverdale was a town run by maple syrup, but Darry thought that was taking it too far. Darry had been playing nice with Chuck, taking all of his pointers and telling him how great the plays were because he thought it would make his life easier. He was familiar with locker room talk, but that morning Chuck had shown him something vile.
Chuck called it the playbook. The boys kept scores of their "conquests" and Chuck was currently in the lead. After seeing the names in the book, Darry knew he couldn't play nice for much longer. Once Veronica stormed out, after being harassed once again but Chuck Clayton and the barking football team, Darry knew it was his time to strike.
Clapping Chuck on the back, he said, "I think it's time to add the new girl to the playbook."
Chuck nodded in appreciation and opened his locker. Darry watched him very closely.
At lunch, Millicent joined Jughead under the bleachers, fuming. She didn't say anything about the school she had skipped on the texts that she hadn't answered, instead, she told him exactly what happened at the studio the night before with Cheryl Blossom.
"She cared that much about having you on the River Vixens?" Millie wanted more outrage from Jughead. He just seemed amused, like he didn't fully grasp the horror Cheryl had inflected on her life. Millie had never been as hurt as she was by Cheryl Blossom.
"She probably thinks that I'm just going to get over it. I'm going to pour maple syrup in her shampoo, Juggy. God, who does she think she is?" While Jughead sat on the ground, eating her lunch, Millie paced back and forth.
"Millie, just think for a minute. Sit down. Eat. When's the last time you ate?"
"I had a granola bar last night. I'm fine. I lost my appetite when my boyfriend was murdered and my best friend betrayed me." She didn't even want to think about Vixen's practice after school. Millie was probably going to be at the bottom of the pyramid and the most critiqued. She knew that Cheryl was going to find some way to turn her into a puppet.
"Mil, you can't run on granola and rage." Millie sighed in defeat and slumped down next to Jughead. He headed her and apple and she bit into obediently. Jughead patted her on the head like a dog and she flicked his ear. Instead of getting angry, he smirked at her. She wished that she had stayed friends with him and Betty instead of switching to the Blossom side.
Things got worse for Millie. After Vixens practice, Cheryl pulled her aside. "Mimi, meet me outside the school tonight. Nine o'clock. Don't be late. You know the consequences."
Isadora was possibly the smartest person that Millie had ever met. Izzy loved learning the way Millie loved dancing. Her quiet demeanor and love of all things reptile didn't earn her a lot of friends in school. Izzy had never been great with people or standing up for herself, but returning to Riverdale had been great for her. Since joining the River Vixens, she was smiling more than ever. Just last weekend, she went to the mall with Midge Klump and some other River Vixens. Last night, she had asked Millie to borrow blue nail polish. Izzy even added a glitter accent nail.
Though Millie wasn't sure how she felt about Izzy having her first kiss with Reggie Mantle, she couldn't be the reason it was all taken away from her. So that night she let Cheryl drag her into Riverdale High after hours. Veronica, Betty, Ethel, and Kevin were there with flashlights. Cheryl snippily filled Millie in on the mission. Ethel had told them that Chuck Clayton and the football team were keeping a tally of their hookups – rating girls with a number.
"Jason would never have let that happen," Millie told Veronica, who rolled her eyes. Betty spun Chuck's lock and opened the door on the first try. Despite what Millie said, the book was there. Chuck had written both Veronica and Ethel's names in the book, along with nicknames and comments. It wasn't just their names. There were dozens of girls, all with values. Next to Jason's name was Polly Coopers and –
"Millicent Miller," she read aloud. She recognized Jason's handwriting right away. "Ten points, but minus four for the wait. Plus two for flexibility."
"Maybe I didn't know Jason at all," Cheryl admitted. Millie ran out of the locker room. As far as she was concerned, her "debt" to Cheryl had been paid.
Isadora read Betty's article about the football team as soon as it came out. Darry had warned her. He let her read the book before returning it to Betty. She checked for two names. Only one was on there.
It didn't take her long to find Reggie. He was in the student lounge, with some fellow Bulldogs, but they weren't rowdy like they usually were. They were hunched forward and whispering. Through the window, Izzy caught Reggie's eye. She pointed her finger at him and curled it into a "come hither" motion that she had seen in a movie. When he came out, she pulled him away from the lounge and under the staircase, where they couldn't be heard.
"I saw the playbook, Mantle," Izzy growled, trying her best to sound threatening. She didn't know how threatening she could be to a giant like Reggie, but she tried.
"Look, I know Jason wrote your sister's name," he admitted, looking guilty. "It was after Thanksgiving break and I don't know what happened but he came back pissed at your sister. A few weeks later he was dating Polly."
"That's not what it's about, Reggie. You hang out with those guys all the time." Reggie shoved his hands into her jacket pockets and looked down. "You could have put me in that book and you didn't."
"…I don't know. You don't deserve that. I didn't tell anyone anything about what happened. They can think whatever they want but…"
"But what," Izzy asked. Reggie finally met her eyes and her stomach flipped.
"I wanted to keep it between us." Just like that, Izzy fell for Reggie Mantle and there was no coming back.
Even though she wasn't working, Millie sat across from Jughead in a booth at Pop's. Pop had been nice enough to give her a bag of ice for her ankle. It wasn't really unusual. Millie had skipped three days of school and gone to the studio, so she overworked it a bit. It had happened before. Her mom had been close friends with the owner, so Millie was allowed to come and go. Most of the serious dance students were.
Jughead had insisted they meet here. He bought her a burger to "make up for the meals she had missed" but she knew better. Everyone had seen Betty's article in the Blue and Gold and Jughead felt sorry for her. He offered to help her catch up on the homework she missed, which had hoped meant he was going to let her copy his. It didn't.
"Dilton Doiley shot the gun on July 4th, which doesn't matter because Jason died on July 11th." Millie was getting cynical. She knew that she and Jughead wouldn't solve a case that the cops couldn't crack in a few days, but she had hoped for something. The latest Blossom betrayal was weighing on her. "I know Riverdale runs on their maple syrup, but the Blossoms are really putting me through the wringer."
"Well, the entire staff of Blue and Gold is on the case. Of course, it's just me, Betty, and your brother right now…"
"My brother?" She and Darry hadn't been close since starting high school, but he at least should have told her that he was joining the super sleuths.
"He's our photographer," Jughead answered, ignoring her surprise. "He's actually the one who got Chuck's locker combination. He might be a football player, but credit where credit is due."
"I'm sure he was thrilled to find out that his sister earned two points for flexibility." Jughead, who had been drinking a milkshake, choked and turned red. Millie didn't have any problems confiding in Jughead anymore. He was her closest friend in Riverdale. She told him about her fights with Cheryl, her dad's apathy, and her mom's letter to Jason. After everything that had happened since coming back, Millie was out of embarrassment. "Jug, I'm scared of what we're going to find next."
"Do you want to stop looking?"
"No." Millie shook her head. "I need to know, but I do need your help with something else.
When Millie walked into school the next day, Cheryl Blossom did a double take. Millie wore blue, which she hoped Cheryl knew meant that she was done with red in every possible way. Instead of going straight to her locker, she walked up to Reggie. His friends were surrounding him, but she didn't care. She pushed right through them.
"Reggie, did you know about Chuck's perv book?" The look on his face was all she needed. "Reggie Mantle, you're fired. I don't need a bodyguard. I can take care of myself."
She left him speechless and went to her locker, where her locker neighbor, Kevin Keller was gawking at her. In her mirror, she admired her hair. It wasn't perfect, but it was pretty good considering it was done by Jughead Jones at ten o'clock at night. She snuck him into her house and into her bathroom, where they watched a YouTube video and he dyed her hair a chocolaty brown. Filling in her eyebrows had been difficult, she had to dip into an eyeshadow palette, but she would color those too. She wasn't marked by red anymore. Millie liked it. She liked it a lot.
