Chapter 7: Who is she?
"I've unpacked everything now." Ali announced as she waltzed into the kitchen. Cecile was standing at the sink washing her dishes as she looked over at her daughter.
"Now that wasn't so hard, was it?" Cecile asked her daughter. Ali jumped up onto the counter and sat on top of it.
"Why aren't you working, anyways?" Ali began to swing her legs as she watched her mother finish up the dishes and grab a hand towel, so she could dry her hands.
"I've been unpacking, Alita. How else do you think all the dishes ended up in the cupboard?" Ali rolled her eyes at her mothers comment.
"I was just wondering."
"What are you doing here, anyways?" Cecile asked her daughter.
"I live here?" Cecile sighed as she hung up the towel once more.
"It's a Friday night, shouldn't you be out with friends enjoying your teenage years?" Ali jumped off the counter and stretched out her back.
"I thought you'd enjoy my company more." Ali said as she turned around, so she could open the fridge door.
"Here. Take this." Ali looked over her shoulder and saw her mother hand her some folded up money.
"What's this for?" Ali closed the fridge door, so she could take the money that her mother was holding.
"Go out. Anywhere! I want you to make friends, Alita." Ali reached over the counter and grabbed the money from her mother.
"I'll take the money and go back to my room." Ali said.
"Non. You will go outside and meet up with someone. What about those lovely girls we met at Pop's?" Cecile remembered the raven haired girl and the blonde haired girl that introduced themselves to Theo and herself.
"They're okay. Veronica seems a little in her own world. Betty seems okay, just a little too 'clean' for me." Ali shrugged her shoulders as she spoke to her mother.
"Fine then. Be here and rot in your room." Cecile threw her hands up in defeat. She just wanted her daughter to make friends.
"Sounds good to me." Ali said as she turned around and went to go make her way upstairs.
"However," Ali stopped in her tracks on the stairs at the tone of her mother's voice. "Your father and I would really like some alone time."
"Ew! Maman! Vraiment?" Ali covered her ears and ran up the stairs to her room. She heard her mother yell up to her,
"Just get out the house if you don't want to hear anything!" Ali sighed and flopped onto her bed. She screamed into her pillow.
Her parents were busy with their perfect marriage while Ali had no one to even speak to. She turned her head and looked at her phone on her bedside table. She thought that it wouldn't be such a bad idea if she sent out a text. She did need to get out of the house now. The black haired girl grabbed her phone from her desk and held it to her face and searched for the recently added contact in her phone.
Pop's. 7:30PM.
That's all her text message said and that's all it needed to say for the receiver. They got the message loud and clear and gladly began to get ready in order to meet the British girl at Pop's. Ali looked over to her closet and contemplating on changing, but decided against it. She looked at the time and figured that if she left now then she'd reach the diner in time. With heavy feet, Ali grabbed her headphones and placed them in her ears before grabbing her purse and leaving the house. It was a quiet walk to the diner. Ali saw a few unknown faces pass her on the street, but no one of importance walked by her. With her hands in her pocket, she walked in time with the beat of the song that was playing.
When she reached the diner she took out her headphones and pushed open the door. The familiar ringing sound of a bell chimed as she stepped into the diner. There were a few other students from the local high school sitting in the booths and the odd unknown older couple, but Ali took no note since she was looking for a particular football player. Reggie waved his hand, so she would notice him. He watched as she walked over to him with a bored expression on her face.
"Hey." She slid into the seat in front of him.
"I'm surprised I got a text from you." Reggie said as he smirked at the girl in front of him.
"I needed to get out of the house." She shrugged as she answered him. Reggie was about to reply when Pop's walked over to the two high school students.
"What can I get for you two today?" He asked the pair.
"Just a burger and fries please, with a coke." Reggie ordered.
"Can I have the same, but with extra pickles, please?" Ali ordered.
"Of course. It'll be out shortly." Pop's wrote down the order before leaving the two to continue their conversation.
"So you needed to get out, why? Trouble in paradise?" Reggie questioned the girl in front of him. She chuckled under her breath before answering,
"We came here to get away from trouble. But no. It's the opposite. My parents have a perfect marriage and they need their alone time…you get me?" Ali explained the Reggie. Reggie began to laugh as he pictured how the badass girl in front of him took the news of her paradise having sex.
"What? Feeling jealous?"
"Why? Are you offering your services?" Ali sarcastically asked.
"Hey, I don't come cheap! I'm prime Riverdale material." Reggie shot back.
"That's not what I heard." Ali leaned forward and rested her elbows on the table before placing her chin in the palms of her hands.
"You've been checking up on me, huh?" Reggie's ego became slightly inflated at this information.
"You've been checking up on me, I thought that I'd give you the same courtesy." The two were so engaged in their conversation that they never heard the bell ring – signalling for new customers. Archie, Veronica, Betty and Jughead all walked into the diner and sat down at a booth. It was the raven-haired girl who spotted the two individuals on the other side of the diner.
"Is that, Ali and Reggie?" Betty turned to look behind her to see for herself.
"That is!" Betty gasped as she looked at her best friend in front of her.
"No way. I thought Ali was just going to pass by this year without socializing with anyone!"
"Just because she doesn't want to be friends with us doesn't mean she doesn't want friends." Jughead explained to his best friends girlfriend.
"I know that, but doesn't she want some girlfriends?" Veronica asked the three people at her booth.
"Ronnie, she's been here for just a few weeks now. She's probably still adjusting." Archie said as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
"But what do we really know about her?" Veronica asked her friends.
"Her mother is cheerleading royalty." Betty stated a fact.
"She's from England, but she speaks fluent French." Archie added.
"She doesn't talk to any of us." Jughead said.
"And her parents own an international company." Veronica finished.
"What are you getting at, V?" Betty asked.
"I think our new friend is hiding something. It doesn't make sense as to why her parents moved here, out of all places! I think there's a lot to say when it comes to Ali." Ali and Reggie never noticed the four individuals looking over at them as they continued to talk while eating their food. Ali was finally glad to actually talk to someone who didn't have a hidden agenda. Reggie was completely transparent to Ali and she enjoyed that. She liked transparency. It made her life a hell of a lot easier.
I'm sorry I missed last week! I went on vacation! But I'm posting up two chapters today, so here is 7 and next is 8!
