Author's Note: Here we are folks, the start of the events from episode two!
Enjoy. I don't own Riverdale.
Chapter 25
"This story is about a town, once wholesome and innocent…now forever changed by the mysterious death of Jason Blossom and disappearance of Polly Cooper on the 4th of July.
I think many of us, maybe the entire town…had been hoping against hope…that somehow Jason Blossom hadn't drowned nor Polly Cooper ran away on July 4th. That we'd come to school Monday morning, and there Jason and Polly would be. Or that we'd see him and Cheryl in a booth at Pop's. Or we'd see Polly hanging out with Betty, or studying or socializing with the cheerleading squad. But that was before the undeniable, irrevocable fact…of two missing teens…secrets being revealed…or the telltale beating of a guilty heart."
-Jughead Jones
Archie tossed and turned in his bed, sweating. He opened his eyes and memories of that fateful July 4th (the day Jason and Polly vanished) ran through his mind, when he and Ms. Grundy made out at Sweetwater River, on a little camping trip. And then hearing that gunshot. The question is did it kill Jason? And another thing, he remembered seeing Polly at the Cooper home the day before she ran away. She had asked him to give a message to Betty, if he ever got a chance.
Archie picked up his phone from the nightstand, and texted Betty:
R U up? Can we talk?
In her bedroom, Betty heard her phone chime signaling an incoming text message. Picking up her phone, she responds to Archie's text:
No…And no.
Sighing, Betty put her phone down and laid back down.
Receiving Betty's text, Archie went to his bedroom window and texted the girl-next-door:
Please!?
Betty goes to her window and she shook her head "no." Betty turns off the light and went back to sleep.
Sighing, Archie puts on a pair of jeans and decided to go for a night jog; to clear his head. Since Betty refused to talk to him, there was only one other person that would listen: Geraldine Grundy.
Archie arrives at Geraldine's house. He runs up to her door and knocks.
Geraldine opens the door.
"What are you doing?" Geraldine asks. "You can't be here."
"There was no fireworks," Archie said, barging in her house. "That was a gunshot we heard."
"You can't come to my house," Geraldine begged with urgency.
"That shot probably killed Jason Blossom," Archie continued, facing Geraldine.
"We don't know that," The music teacher pointed out.
"The police doesn't know that a gun was fired, a boy may or may not been shot. We don't even know by whom."
"At least we know it was fired," Archie retorted. "That's something the police don't."
"There's no body," Geraldine added.
"We can call them anonymously," Archie suggested.
"This is not a negotiation, Archie." Geraldine insisted with a hint of persuasion. "This is our lives. If anybody knows that we were there, I could lose my job. You could be expelled, we could go to jail."
Archie doesn't respond.
The next morning at the Andrews residence,
"All right, here you go, Vegas." Fred said, giving the dog his breakfast. "Good boy,"
Archie enters the kitchen.
"Morning, Dad." The red head greeted.
"Hey, bud." The Andrews patriarch responded. "Where did you sneak off to last night?"
"You, uh…you heard that?" Archie asked.
"Son, I've been hearing you sneak out since you were 8 years old…going to Jughead's tree house." Fred replied.
"I couldn't sleep. I went for a jog to tire myself out." Archie answered.
"All right. Got something on your mind?" Fred questioned.
Archie sighed.
"Just all this stuff with Jason and Polly." He said.
"No more midnight runs for now, especially with these rumors about that poor kid possibly getting shot." Fred advised.
"Not to mention that poor girl running away," He interjected, mentioning Polly. "I can't imagine what Betty and her parents are going through. I swear to God, this town…"
Archie exhaled, agreeing with his dad.
A/N: What goes around, comes around…
Coming up next, Alice offers advice to Betty plus, a few somewhat short chapters…but there should be longer ones ahead.
More soon!