Darry sat with Betty in the Blue and Gold room. She filled him in on her talk with her dad, about the feud between her grandparents and the Blossoms, and the lies her parents had told her. Apparently, great grandpappy Blossom had murdered great grandpappy Cooper over sweet, sticky maple syrup money and Hal Cooper still carried that grudge. He held it so tightly that he sent his own daughter away for getting closer to a Blossom. Darry wanted to comfort her and tell her everything would be okay, but he didn't know if it would.
"Dar, I feel like I don't even know who my mom and dad are anymore. If they lied about Polly and Jason..."
"What else could they be lying about," Darry finished. He and Betty approached the murder board. "Your dad said he would do anything to protect Polly. How far do you think he'd go?"
"Dar, whoever stole Sherriff Keller's murder board wasn't at the drive-in. My dad wasn't at the drive-in." Darry reached for a notecard. On it he wrote "The Coopers." He offered it to Betty. As much as he needed to solve Jason's murder for his family, to prove his mother had nothing to do with it, he didn't want to force Betty into investigating her own family. Betty took the card from him and pinned it to the board. Together, they stared at it, trying to put the pieces together. Trying to think of a way their parents were innocent. Darry put his arm around Betty and leaned in. That's when Darry realized Sherriff Keller wasn't going to solve the murder, it would have to be them. They needed to do this. Together.
Millicent sat at the Cooper's breakfast table with Betty and her mother. It was part of a plan made by Darry and Betty to find where Polly Cooper was. Millie hadn't been surprised that Betty was eager to solve Jason's murder and see her sister, but Darry's enthusiasm shocked her. She guessed that Betty told him about Jason's letter, but she didn't have the courage to ask him. Part of her hated that idea that Darry was trying to protect her, but the other part loved her big brother.
What Betty really needed was to go through her mother's purse and the only way to distract Alice Cooper was to give her prey to sink her talons into. When the Riverdale Register, Riverdale's Cooper run newspaper, posted Jason's autopsy, Millie had been livid. No one really knew what happened between Jason and Polly, but the Blossoms and Coopers hated each other and no one could seem to figure out why.
"I was surprised when Betty said she invited you for breakfast," Alice began. Millie braced herself. Years of competitive dancing had made her familiar with catty comments and bad attitudes, but she needed to keep her cool to keep Alice distracted. "I just never assumed Cheryl Blossom would give you permission. Aren't you B-F-F?"
"Mom," Betty interjected, shaking her head. "Can we not bring the Blossoms into this?"
"Well, it's safe to assume that this little 'friendship' is why you're digging into Jason's death, isn't it? I assume the cops are poking through your alibi." Though her parents never really talked about their high school days, Millie knew that Alice Cooper was in her father's class. Her mother always grimaced when someone mentioned her. Her father described her as overprotective, which really meant overbearing. "What were you doing again?"
"My siblings and I were in a publicized dance competition that entire week. It was on public access. There's footage and witnesses." Millie had tweeted footage with time stamps after getting so many looks in the halls. She would never hurt Jason, but no one seemed to focus on that. Everyone needed video footage.
"They're not friends anymore, Mom," Betty said.
"Well, I supposed that's a good call. No good can come from a Blossom." Alice sipped her tea knowingly and watched Millie closely. She felt like she was being interviewed. She could read the headline now: "Millie Miller: Dumb Name for a Dumb Girl."
"Could I use your bathroom?" Betty started to get up to show her, but Alice interrupted and said ", I'll take you, Millie dear. I'll grab you some sage to help banish evil spirits. I used it last time a Blossom set foot in this house."
Millie reluctantly followed her. Betty deserved an Academy Award. No one would have thought that this uncomfortable breakfast was part of a master plan to get to her mother's checkbook.
Later in the Blue and Gold room with Jughead, they looked up The Sisters of Quiet Mercy. It turned out to be a home for "troubled youth" run by nuns. Really, it seemed like the set of a horror film.
"We can go after school," Betty told them, as they stared at the website. "Darry already said that he's come with us. There's only one more thing…"
Jughead and Betty turned to Millie and looked at her with sad eyes. It was the same look everyone gave her when someone mentioned Jason or when her ballet instructor made her take time off to rest her ankle. Pity.
"Polly's never going to open up to Jason's ex-girlfriend," Jughead said gently. They never talked about mini golf or how close they had gotten to kissing. Millie was starting to suspect it was all in her head. Had they really been about to kiss? Or had Jughead been about to flinch? "Besides, do you really want to be there? I mean, it's got to be hard on you."
"I'm the only reason you even got into her checkbook! You're seriously going to sideline me?" The two looked at each other. Millie wondered if this was their plan all along. Was she just a ticket to getting under Alice Cooper's skin? Maybe she was only involved because they pitied her. Either way, her uselessness was up and she was up. "Whatever. Do your little investigation. I'm sure you'll call me next time you need a favor."
"Millie, we aren't trying to -" But Millie didn't let Betty finish before storming out. Nancy Drew's sweet act was getting old. She wanted to leave the school and ditch class (she wouldn't need them when she was a professional dancer, but she knew they would call her dad. She was one step away from having to have a real conversation with him and that was a worse punishment than a few hours at Riverdale High.
So, Millie stayed at school. She avoided Jughead and Betty, there wasn't a way to hang out with the River Vixens without seeing Cheryl, and Reggie was off limits since he had to be the reason for Izzy's foul mood. Millie was alone. Again.
"Why is it that students just think they can change their acts last minute? Like there's no planning involved," Kevin complained to Izzy. He had asked her to help him run lights and sound for the 75th Variety Show, which really meant he needed a stage manager. He pitched it to her as a distraction from the antics of Reggie Mantle, but it wasn't antics that were the problem. It was the lack of antics…or anything.
Izzy had caved and texted Reggie the day after she met Ruthie, but he never responded. When she heard that he became captain, she messaged him again to congratulate him. He sent her a thumbs up emoji. Izzy had no idea what to do with that. Kevin had assured her that she did nothing wrong, but Izzy couldn't be sure. It would be easy to say he had been using her, but for what? A few kisses? Desperation to give her a ride? It didn't add up. And Izzy was excellent at math.
Then at auditions, he had heckled everyone who tried out, including Archie Andrews. Archie was a fellow football player and Kevin had told her that he gave the captain spot to Reggie. Did he think Izzy cared about that? Was he embarrassed?
"Some of the Adventure Scouts are performing some sort of nature salute that Weatherbee insisted I put in the show and Dilton Doiley wants to make sure that they don't dishonor the Scouts, but of course he hasn't seen it and wants to micromanage the entire show because of it," Kevin continued. Dilton had a reputation for micromanaging. Technically, he had a reputation for turning the Adventure Scouts into a dictatorship. "I'd love to tell Dilton to back off, but he'd never listen to me. He does have one weakness though."
"You're going to fight him?" Dilton was definitely smaller than Kevin and there wasn't a doubt that Kevin would win, but Izzy couldn't imagine him picking a fight.
"Sometimes I forget that your mom kept you locked away in a leotard. No, his weakness has to be girls. Have you ever seen him talk to one? Look, I don't like to stereotype for obvious reasons, but girls don't want to talk about bugs and dirt."
"I like nature," Izzy answered, but Kevin rolled his eyes. Even though she was only a year younger than Veronica and him, she sometimes felt like a child. They had significantly more life experience than her. "And I'm not confident like Cheryl or gorgeous like Veronica. Why would Doiley be intimidated by me?"
When Kevin looked at her like she was stupid, she wanted to tell him that she had an incredibly high GPA. According to some IQ tests (she had taken many), she was even a genius. Of course, Izzy felt IQ tests weren't the best measurement for intelligence in all fields and that standardized testing seemed like an unfair guideline for judging a person's capabilities; but she knew that she wasn't stupid. Sometimes though, the world treated her as if she was dumb. "You're a gorgeous genius with a fit dancer body. It's time for you to own it…and you can practice by getting Doiley off my back."
Kevin pushed Izzy in Dilton's direction and he noticed her almost immediately. Izzy had to admit that she didn't notice him much. Darry had never been an adventure scout and they weren't in the same grade until this year. She knew they had AP biology together and what she heard about him growing up, but she realized that she didn't know anything about him now.
"Are you Keller's representative?" He wasn't exactly mean, just matter-of-fact. Izzy noticed a leather notebook sticking out of the pocket of his bookbag. Dilton had an over the shoulder bag, unlike most of the boys in the school. He wore it with the strap fitted perfectly to his chest, which Izzy respected. She carried the traditional two-strap backpack, but she did a lot of research before selecting it because she wanted to prevent neck and shoulder pain. Clearly, Dilton had done the same. "I'm merely here to make sure The Adventure Scouts are properly represented. This wasn't a sanctioned act. I told Weatherbee that it was tedious and that the scouts weren't interested but since Weatherbee has no respect for proper Adventure Scout proto-call, he merely bribed weaker scouts with extra credit."
"Why does he care so much about the Scouts performing?" The second it left her lips, Izzy expected Dilton to roll his eyes and demand to speak to Kevin. Izzy had grown up in Riverdale and the Adventure Scouts marched in every parade and had fundraisers for charities, but that didn't explain why they had to perform at a school talent show. An Adventure Scout had many talents, but they weren't for entertainment.
"He's hoping the talent show will bring him, donors," Dilton explained. He didn't seem irritated or annoyed by her question at all. Maybe what she heard about him was untrue. "The Scouts have been around as long as this school and this is the seventy-fifth variety show – "
"And people love when things are divisible by five," Izzy finished. Dilton's eyes never wandered from her face and Izzy felt herself blush. She reached for his notebook and flipped to a blank page. She pulled a black ink pen from her pocket, pushing on the top button to begin writing. Izzy never went anywhere without a pen, even in places where she knew there would be one. She had a very particular preference. "I'm doing their sound and light check. E-mail me your concerns and the particulars to watch out for. I'll write you back as detailed of a report as I can."
Dilton was still watching her embarrassingly closely. She started to worry that she had written in the wrong notebook, a journal or something with a very particular purpose, but he didn't look angry. Izzy noticed Reggie watching them from across the room. Ever observant, Dilton followed her gaze. "Are you dating Reggie Mantle?"
"No,," she answered quickly. Admittedly, Reggie didn't look very happy with them, but he hadn't been happy with her before and Dilton Doiley was the type of person he would pick on. The only reason he was there was that Kevin was friends with Moose and recruited some of the Bulldogs to help set the stage. "We went on one date but…he didn't really like me. Which is fine. He couldn't tell a thread snake from an earthworm."
Dilton laughed and Izzy remembered that she was talking to an Adventure Scout with a vast knowledge of the outdoors. Usually, when she mentioned snakes, Veronica would smile politely in an uninterested way or Midge would talk about her phobia of all things that crawl without legs. Izzy handed him back his notebook and he tucked it away safely. "I won't give Mantle another thought. He's a corn snake and you're an antiguan racer…and thanks. I'll be in touch."
A corn snake was the most common breed for a household pet. They were considered a beginner friendly snake, while an antiguan racer was the rarest breed of snake in the world. Isadora didn't doubt that she would hear from Dilton Doiley. She just didn't know what to make of him.
When Darius knocked on Millie's bedroom door, he knew that he was in for a rough afternoon. He had gone with Betty and Jughead to visit Polly at The Sisters of Quiet Mercy and while he was glad he was there for Betty, he was terrified of what they learned.
Despite Jughead's advice to "not judge a home for troubled youth by its façade", the outside was an accurate representation of what was within. The building looked like a distorted gothic insane asylum and that's exactly how the Sisters treated it. Only Betty had been allowed to actually see Polly, so Jughead had waited in the hallway until the unfortunate arrival of Mrs. Cooper.
"Hey," Darry said, as he pushed opened Millie's door. Millie was stretching on a yoga mat on her bedroom floor. "I wanted to talk to you."
"Did Betty and Jughead ditch you too? They're probably dating now." Millie sounded bitter, but she sat on her bed and Darry joined her. He hadn't done that in a long time. Not since she told him that Jason Blossom was her boyfriend and Darry told her to be careful with boys like Jason. He promised he beat up Jason is she asked, but Millie had just laughed in his face. "Why are you acting weird, Dar?"
"Jughead wanted to tell you, but I told him that it should come from me." Darry hadn't been close to his sister for a long time. Millie always talked about how Cheryl and Jason were best friends, so close that their parents had placed them in separate grades so they could "thrive" on their own. It hadn't mattered and they were as thick as thieves. No matter how many stories Millie told of their unbreakable bond, it hadn't made her try and forge one with Darry. He knew that Jason would put his arm around Cheryl and comfort her if the roles were reversed, but it would feel awkward and forced if he tried it with Millie. Why hadn't he let Jughead do this? "Before I tell you, you have to promise not to tell Cheryl. It's really important that this is kept a secret. We need to keep Polly safe."
"Seriously? I don't even talk to Cheryl anymore. What is going on?" He really and truly wished he had done a better job protecting her. Maybe he should have scared Jason away or plotted with their mother to tear the two apart. Cassandra always pretended to like Jason, but never actually did. Maybe if they had combined forces… "Will you just tell me already?"
"Polly pregnant, Millie. It's Jason's baby." Darry braced himself. He expected her to scream or throw something – maybe even hit him. Instead, she sat perfectly still. "Betty's really worried about Polly. She and Jason were planning to run away together to some farm. She didn't even know Jason was dead. Betty told her today."
It had been a giant mess that ended with Polly being dragged away screaming and Betty in tears. When Alice took Betty home, she told Darry and Jughead that she was grounded and wouldn't see them for a while. He wanted to comfort Betty and he wanted to comfort his sister.
"I'm going to the studio," Millie announced. She reached for her dance bag and pulled her ballet slippers from her closet. "I won't tell anymore. Tell Betty that I'm here if she needs anything. Thanks for telling me."
She was gone before Darry could say anything else. He had expected tears or violence, but he never thought Millie would act like it was a business transaction. Somewhere in the past (around the beginning of the Blossom saga), Darry lost his connection to his sister. Their mother became more of a manager and instead of siblings, Darry and his sisters were business acquaintances. Darry had never stood up to his mother or his bullies. Now seemed like a pretty good time to start. All he needed was a ladder.
Archie Andrews had been rehearsing in his garage with Valerie when Darry stopped by. When Darry said it was for Betty, Archie lent him Fred's ladder without question. He tried not to be annoyed at how easily he dropped everything for Betty. It was what friends did, he told himself, but he still resented it. Darry climbed up to her bedroom window.
"Dar? What are you doing here?" Betty helped pull him into her bedroom through her window. "Is Millie okay? Is she going to tell Cheryl?"
"No," Darry answered. He sat with Betty on her bed and tucked a blonde strand of hair behind her ear. She had taken down her signature ponytail and he wasn't sure if he missed it or loved when she let her hair down. "I came here for you. Are you okay?"
She nodded but then crumpled. "No, I'm not. Polly's been locked up in that place for months and I'm just now trying to get her out? What kind of sister am I? I'm just as bad as my Mom. I let her be sent away and…my parents say she's sick and she did seem erratic, but she's my sister and I believe her story. God, I just need some sort of proof."
"Then you'll find it, Betty. I'll help you." Darry laced his fingers through Betty's and she squeezed his hand. "You're not like your parents. You're… You're just – "
Then he kissed her for the very first time. When she pulled away, she was hit with a lightning bolt. "We have to find the car."