SMOKESTACKS

CHAPTER | NINE

Savannah had heard from Jughead that everything kicked off that night. He finally revealed to her about Archie and Ms. Grundy's forbidden romance, something that had surprised Savannah considering how "sweet" Archie was - according to Betty. Yet she could relate.

Ms. Grundy had left town. Why? Savannah wasn't entirely sure, nor did she need to know.

The news had arisen that Jason's body had been released to the Blossom's and they were holding another funeral. It felt bizarre that they had buried an empty coffin, forever wondering where their son's body was.

Savannah had decided to turn up at Betty Cooper's house before school, intent on walking with her. The blonde had bounced down the stairs, expecting it to be Archie waiting for her on the other side.

"Hi." Savannah offered.

Betty leaned into the open door and smiled, "Hi."

"I don't have flowers or cupcakes, but I came to say I'm sorry." Savannah said to her friend, wringing her hands awkwardly.

"It's okay." Betty reached down for her backpack, pushing her arms through the loops until it settled neatly between her shoulder blades. "I can't force you to like Veronica."

Savannah moved back onto the porch as Betty stepped out of the house, closing the door behind her. "Is Archie walking with us?"

"I don't think so." Betty sighed, her mind wandering as she recalled how it was her fault that Ms. Grundy got sent away.

The two moved down the steps in silence and setoff toward the school. The blonde was thinking of the same thing as Savannah, except the latter was missing some of the details that Betty knew.

"Is this about Ms. Grundy?" Savannah finally asked, revealing that she knew what had happened.

Betty snapped back into reality and gaped at her friend in shock, "Who told you?"

"Jughead." She said, sheepishly. "I just can't believe that Archie and Ms. Grundy were together."

The blonde whirled around, checking to see if anyone had heard them. "Shh!" She hissed, eyes wide and panicked. "I just - I don't know what to say to him."

"Obviously he's hurting because he liked her and she left, I don't know if there is a lot you can say to him."

"But it's my fault she left." Betty sighed, her hands grabbing onto her head, hair sleeked back into a ponytail. "My mom read my diary and she blackmailed her into leaving, how can I not say something?"

Savannah stopped in her tracks, her eyebrows furrowed into a frown. "You're telling me that Alice Cooper made Ms. Grundy leave?"

Betty froze next to her friend and slowly turned to face her. "You - you didn't know that?"

"Nope." Savannah popped, her head spinning. "I'm not going to lie. Good on her. Ms. Grundy should not have been in a relationship with a student, it's disgusting."

The two started moving again, when Betty finally opened her mouth once more. "Um, Savannah? I found out that she also tutored Jason in music."

Savannah wasn't surprised that Betty told her that, though the girl was more than aware. After all, it was how she and Jason had started their relationship in the first place.

"I know."


Savannah was sitting in a swivel chair in the Blue and Gold News room, listening to Kevin Keller tell their little group that consisted of her, Betty and Jughead, about how his dad's board had been trashed.

"Any leads on who did that?" Jughead asked, perched on the edge of one of the desks, his eyes locked on the board. "And what they were looking for?"

"Nope. No fingerprints." Kevin turned to face Betty, who was sitting on the edge of another desk. "But they stole a bunch of files, background checks and all the video and audio tapes of police interviews."

Savannah opened her mouth to speak when the door was suddenly opened and an attractive boy poked his head through the door.

"Oh hey, Betty." He smiled widely at the girl, moving into the room.

Betty stood up and smiled just as widely back at him, "Trev, hi!"

Savannah didn't miss the look of disgust on Jughead's face as he watched the exchange between the two. She frowned as he very obviously looked jealous.

"Sorry to interrupt, but -" His eyes landed on the murder board before he turned his attention back to Betty.

"Oh, no. It's okay!" Betty assured him, "We're just working on -"

"Our murder board." Jughead interjected, glaring down the boy with eyes of disapproval.

Betty and Kevin nodded along awkwardly, not sure what they could have said to make this boy think they were normal for having a murder board. In school.

"Well, I just wanted to make sure we're still on for tomorrow."

"Absolutely." Betty confirmed with a gleeful look. "It's a date." She then paused and laughed awkwardly, "I mean, I'll - I'll see you there."

Kevin looked over his shoulder at Savannah, who was watching her blonde friend with a confused look on her face. She's crossed her ankles atop the table and was peering over the tips of her feet.

"Bye."

"Uh, see you." Trev left with a grin on his face, whilst Betty muttered another uncomfortable farewell.

Before anyone else could say anything, Savannah had jumped up from her seat so quickly that it shot back against the wall. "Oh, dearest Betty."

"Not a word." Betty sighed, her eyes set on the door, reflecting on how awkward she had been.

"You're going on a date with Trev?" Kevin practically exploded, "Does Mama Cooper know about that?"

"Kev, I'm not on house arrest." Betty told him, which made Savannah assume that Alice wasn't happy with her daughter for hiding Ms. Grundy and Archie's relationship.

Kevin tried to meet Betty's eyes as she looked everywhere else in the room apart from at him. His expression clearly screamed that she was lying to his face.

"Okay, she's out of town at a Women in Journalism spa retreat."

"That's a thing?" Savannah asked Jughead, who shot a glance in her direction and smirked.

"Anyway, I mean - It's not a "date" date." Betty tried to defend her actions, turning her back to Kevin and moving around the desks to shuffle some papers.

"You just called it a date." Jughead told her, "You literally said, "It's a date."."

"That's just my cover." Betty told them, "Really, it's an intelligence-gathering mission."

"What intelligence are you trying to gather?" Savannah's eyes twinkled with mischievousness, "The size of his -"

Betty interrupted her swiftly, shooting a glare in her direction. "We should focus on the one thing we have access to that your dad doesn't," The blonde locked eyes with Kevin, who looked rather amused. "The kids at Riverdale High."

Jughead seemed to relax slightly at her excuse.

"Maybe Trev knows something about Jason he didn't think was important."

"I doubt it." Savannah said, frowning at her friend. "I'm sure Jason started spending less time with Trev, but you're entitled to your "intelligence-gathering mission"," the girl quoted as she moved back toward the door, humour dancing in her eyes.

"Where are you going?" Jughead asked her, folding his arms across his chest.

"I have a date too." She teased, smirking at his suddenly sullen face. "With Piper and my brother!" She cried dramatically, picking her backpack up from the door.

"Have fun." Betty called.

"I won't." Savannah muttered as she sauntered out of the room.


Savannah wasn't ready for this, even with her fingers locked firmly between Betty's.

They were standing at the gates of Thornhill, somewhere that Savannah had never wanted to return to. She felt Jughead appear on the other side of her and she offered him a thankful smile, though it didn't quite meet her eyes.

He linked her arm through his and they walked through the spiked gate, trying to make their way up the hill without either of the girls falling over in the black heels they'd decided to wear, after all, it was a funeral.

It felt dirty to be at his house. Sure, she'd been there many times, but during the night and leaving before the sun had fully risen in the sky. They had hidden from his parents, sharing a sweet goodbye kiss on his doorstep before she retreated into the shadows.

They reached the front door and Savannah split off from her friends, moving over to Penelope and offering her a smile. To her surprise, the woman stepped forward and lightly placed her arms around the girl.

She was surprised, but accepted the hug all the same. "Thank you for inviting me." Savannah said to the woman.

"Of course." Penelope nodded, her eyes locked on the blonde girl behind the brunette. "Anything for the girl that my son was involved with."

Savannah's eyes widened as she realised that Penelope had known about them. "T-Thanks." She muttered uncomfortably.

"I'm so glad you all could make it."

They made their way into the house, slipping into the room where a large coffin sat at the end of the room, chairs arranged before it, some filled and some empty. A picture of Jason sat beside the coffin, something that made Savannah feel numb.

Seeing his face next to a glossy brown coffin just made it all seem worse.

They sat in silence, waiting for the memorial to commence when Savannah finally placed her head on Jughead's shoulder, closing her eyes to calm herself down. She felt like she didn't belong there.

Betty met Jughead's stunned expression and she gestured her head toward the girl. The boy moved to wrap his arm around the girl, pulling her closer to assure her that he was there, despite how awkward it made him feel.

The moment only lasted a few seconds when Archie stood up from his seat along from Betty, moving over to Penelope Blossom with a piece of fabric folded in his hands.

When Archie reached the woman, she looked at him with such longing and grief that he would never understand what she saw in him at that moment.

"I'm so sorry for your loss, Mrs Blossom." He told her genuinely, "I thought you might want to have this."

Penelope looked down at what he was offering her, recognising it as Jason's football jersey. Her eyes glossed over as she reached a hand toward his cheek, murmuring quietly, "You're so much like him."

Betty turned even more in her seat at the scene, causing Savannah to detach from Jughead and follow Betty's gaze over to where the exchange was taking place. "I get it." She muttered to her friends, "Archie looks so like Jason, it's scary."

The blonde looked at her friend with realisation as the brunette didn't move her eyes from Archie and Penelope, her eyes focused on the former, who reminded her so much of the boy she insisted she felt nothing for.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Penelope suddenly retracted her hand, bringing herself back to reality. "Thank you, Archibald." She took the jersey and held it tightly in her hands, gazing down at it with an emotion that none of the teenagers could understand.

Archie returned to his friends, taking a different seat next to Valerie and in front of Savannah.

"Did she just touch your hair?" Kevin asked, looking conflicted between being disgusted or sympathetic.

"That was really sweet, what you did." Betty shot a look at Kevin and placed her hand on Archie's shoulder.

"She deserves it more than I do."

Veronica approached the group, placing her hand on the top of an oak chair. "Days like today really put things into perspective, huh?" She sat down in front of Valerie. "I mean, at least we're here. At least, we're alive."

Savannah's eyes were alight with disgust and disbelief at Veronica's words, but Betty spoke before she could. "Veronica, don't you think that's a little insensitive?" She glanced between the raven-haired girl and the brunette.

"I didn't mean it like that." Veronica said quickly, her eyes locking onto Savannah, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean -"

"It's fine. I barely knew him." Savannah told them, firmly.

Veronica nodded solemnly at the girl and turned around to face the front, whilst Savannah let out another deep breath to calm herself.

Betty smiled at her friend, trying not to show her happiness that Savannah hadn't tried to attack Veronica in the middle of a memorial, and retook her hand to show her support. She knew how difficult it must be for her.

The creaking of chairs encouraged the girls to look behind them at what everyone was staring at.

Cheryl Blossom, bathed completely in white bar a red belt wrapped around her slim waist and a pair of red heels on her feet. She moved so gracefully down the middle of the room, very aware of every pair of eyes on her.

Penelope and Clifford moved to take the stage when they saw their daughter approach the podium, not even sparing them a glance as she moved past them.

"Oh my god."

"Yes."

Savannah's eyes were wide as she watched Cheryl defy her parents so boldly. She had never been so proud of that girl in her entire life as she walked so tall and confidently in her stride, determination rolling off her in waves.

"Welcome to Thornhill, thank you all for coming." She spoke calmly, but poised in her stance. "If you'll kindly take your seats. I'd like to start the memorial with a few words about Jason." She removed her gloves as Clifford led his wife over to the two seats at the front.

Savannah caught out of the corner of her eye, Veronica shaking her head at Penelope Blossom, who looked angrier than she had ever been in her life, despite how composed she may appear to others.

"The last time I saw Jason, I was wearing this dress." Cheryl started, looking out at the crowd but not really seeing their faces. "I know it's impossible, but I swear when I put it on, it feels like he's in the room with me."

Savannah's eyes followed Cheryl's as she smiled at the picture of Jason beside the large coffin, decorated with a beautiful array of white and red roses.

"Even though we were twins, I used to demand I have my own birthday party." Cheryl continued, "Until one year, out of the blue, Jason convinced me we had to combine them into one. It wasn't until years later I found out why. It was because no one wanted to come to mine. And Jason didn't want me to know. He protected me." Cheryl started to cry, "Every single day. I wish that day at the river, I had protected him."

Savannah removed her hand from Betty's as Cheryl turned to face the coffin, placing her hands on the glossed cover.

"I'm so sorry, Jay-Jay." Cheryl sobbed to the coffin, where her brother lay within. "We failed you. All of us."

Veronica stood to approach Cheryl, taking the girl into her arms and leading her to an empty seat by their mini stage. Once Cheryl was seated, she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around the girl who knelt before her. "I'm so sorry."

Penelope took to the stage after her daughter, "I think we'll adjourn for now, to the winter salon for a light supper."

Savannah didn't notice as her two friends, Betty Cooper and Jughead Jones left the room quickly, in the opposite direction of everyone else.

For now, all she cared about, was the girl who was crying into Veronica Lodge's shoulder, trying so hard not to think of the rotting corpse in the coffin behind her.