*Geraldine's POV*
"Why did you tell them about the gunshot" Geraldine asked Archie, her voice ragged from the sleepless nights she'd been having.
"They were gonna crucify Cheryl" Archie insisted "I had to help her"
I had to help her. The words rang in her skull, if he was so set on helping people how come he'd never thought about helping her. How come he never did anything she asked. She'd allowed herself to be vulnerable around a boy whose moral compass was going to destroy them both. Geraldine had experienced her fair share of bad men, but none of them had ever gotten her in trouble like this.
"You were in the clear, WE were in the clear Archie! Fucking Cheryl was in the clear too, we didn't have to say anything she's the richest kid in Riverdale"
"I Left your name out of it so it's not a big deal, I'm the one taking the heat. Just like I said" he sounded tired of explaining this too her, it was a shame then that she still couldn't believe it.
"Archie you are caught up in a murder investigation. Do you know what that means? Are you even aware of how brightly the spotlight is on you now? What if Sheriff Keller decides to keep digging and it somehow leads to us, to our relationship?"
"Then I'll stick to my story" Archie reassured, reaching out and holding her hands "I'll protect you"
She stared into his eyes and knew he was telling the truth, but he couldn't protect her now. If she was going to get through this then she was going to have to batten down the hatches, like she should have done in the first place instead of indulging further in this dangerous situation.
She pulled away from him, tears pricking at her eyes "I'm suspending our lessons" She said bluntly before turning and walking out of the room.
*Betty's POV*
Betty was stood next to Veronica waiting for her to finish up at her locker when Kevin crashed onto the scene.
"SO? How'd it go with Chuck?" he asked desperately.
Veronica sighed "Well we went to Pop's and got some food and took some truly cringy selfies but honestly? Chuck has muscles for days but his conversation is not the stuff of Oscar Wilde or even Diablo Cody"
Despite what she'd heard about Chuck she kind of felt sorry for him, from what Veronica had told her it seemed as though she'd led him on a bit. Equally though she also understood where Veronica was coming from. When you know, you know.
Betty looked away for a moment to see, curiously, one of Riverdale high's 'Rich kids of instagram' staring right at them and smiling.
"Hey Veronica" She cooed in a voice that was sickly sweet "How was the sticky maple you had last night?"
"The what now?" Veronica replied.
"The sticky maple Chuck gave you?" She held up a photo on her phone as she began to walk away "How was it?"
It was only then that Betty noticed all the other kids walking past that were looking at them with disgust. No, not them, Veronica.
Kevin's phone went crazy and he pulled it out to look at it only for his eyebrows to raise so high that Betty thought they might float off of his face.
"Oh my god" he exclaimed.
"What?" Veronica demanded, swiping the phone from his grasp
Betty got a glimpse of what was on the phone. It was a picture of Veronica and Chuck. They both looked fairly happy except someone had badly photoshopped some maple syrup onto Veronicas face. The post, she noticed, wasn't even by Chuck or Veronica but rather by Una Murray, some girl on the cheerleading squad. This thing was going viral.
"What the hell is a sticky maple?" Veronica asked, her voice shaky with rage.
"It's kind what it sounds like" Kevin explained solemnly "It's a Riverdale thing"
"No Kevin, it's a slut shaming thing and I am neither a slut nor am I going to be shamed by someone called, excuse me, Chuck Clayton. Does he really think he can get away with this? Does he not know who I am!? I will cut the brakes off his souped up phallic symbol"
Betty had never seen Veronica like this. She was vengeful and scary, someone who wasn't scared of running lives in order to save her own. In a weird way it was kind of inspiring to see a woman talk with such authority but it was also scary to think how many poor unknowing saps had done the same thing in New York only to face the fury of criminal king-pin Hiram Lodge.
"We could go to Principal Weatherbee?" Betty offered.
"About the coach's son?" She asked incredulously "Who's captain of the football team and Riverdale Highs golden boy?"
"Okay well I could expose him in the pages of the Blue and Gold for our first big story! It would hit him harder than he's ever been hit before" Betty said with determination.
"No" Veronica snapped "Spoken like a true good girl who always follows the rules. I don't follow rules, I make them and where necessary I break them"
With that she shoved the phone back into Kevin's hands so hard that she slammed Kevin back against the lockers, with that she stormed off as Betty tried hard to keep pace with her.
"You wanna help me get revenge on Chuck, Betty? Awesome but you've gotta be prepared to go full dark, no stars. What do you say in or out?"
Betty chose not to reply, opting to instead follow Veronica to make sure she didn't do anything stupid. As it turned out, Betty rather failed in that role and before she knew it Betty was following Veronica as she burst into the boy's locker room.
Betty tried desperately to keep her eyes forward and follow the gap's left in Veronica's wake as she pushed past boy's with towels round their waists. Eventually Veronica's steaming pace meant that she ran into someone and coincidentally that person was Archie, who almost dropped his towel.
"Veronica" He exclaimed in shock as he tried to gather the towel more securely around his waist "Betty? What are you guys doing here?"
"Don't worry about it" Veronica replied bluntly, making a move to push past Archie until he moved to block her path.
"No, I can't let you go in there" he said, his voice wavering.
"I mean it, Andrews. Hit the showers and stay out of my way" Veronica yelled as she pushed him aside and strode further into the locker room.
Finally, they found Chuck. He was stood, facing a semi-circle of his friends. They were all laughing about something, Betty had a good idea of what.
Veronica coughed loudly, making Chuck turn around.
"Oh, B and V. Ménage a right on, ladies"
Betty hunched her shoulders, could anyone actually be that cringey?
Veronica pulled out her phone and brought up the picture "This, is disgusting. Take it down!"
Chuck held his hands up in mock surrender "Woah, woah. Why are you so wound up? It's a badge of honour and you're not exactly virgin territory after your closet date with Andrews"
Anger rose in Betty's chest "Okay, that's irrelevant, Chuck. You're not allowed to go around humiliating girls for no reason... jerk" It wasn't a great insult, but it was the most she'd ever said to a boy in that way.
Chuck smiled and inclined his head at her insult "Hey I get that you're not a closet girl but if you wanna ride the Chuck wagon that can be arranged"
Betty wrinkled her nose in disgust as all his friends began to chuckle into their hands.
"Let's keep this simple so that your preppy murderer half brain can grasp it" Veronica intervened, getting right up in Chucks face "Take. This. The hell. Down."
For a moment Betty thought that maybe she'd gotten through to him but then he smiled and bent over so that his face was level with Veronica's.
"That high-toned bitch attitude may have worked on the beta's you dated in New York, but you're in Bulldog territory"
Some of Chucks friends began to woof loudly at Veronica, making her back off.
"But please" Chuck said with mock concern "Fight back, you'll only make it harder on yourself"
*Jughead's POV*
John had said that it would take time for his contacts in Greendale to gather information for them. In the meantime, Jughead had walked down to the Adventure Scout camp in order to follow up on the other loose end Betty had mentioned. Dilton was a strange guy and in another world, they may have been best friends but as soon as he'd gotten a position of power, he'd been insufferable. This was going to be a tough shakedown, Jughead thought as he wandered into the camp where Dilton was doing a demonstration.
"In that moment of hesitation, you're dead. All of you are dead" DIlton announced to his troop.
"At ease Doiley" he laughed as Dilton spun around "I'm writing an article for the Blue and Gold and I was hoping you'd be able to help me out"
Doiley stared at him for a moment as he tried to figure out Jughead's intentions.
"Dismissed, but stay close" Dilton commanded his troop.
Jughead waited until the Adventure Scouts had moved out of earshot before asking his questions.
"Cheryl and Archie say that they heard a gunshot on July 4th, but they don't know who fired"
"Sheriff Keller already asked me about this" Dilton countered "Like I told him, my scouts and I, we didn't hear anything weird"
Jughead smiled and stepped forward "So did you SEE anything weird?"
For a moment it looked as if he'd caught Dilton off guard but his usual cocky expression soon returned.
"A white-winged crossbill, a long-eared owl and oh Cheryl, soaking wet by the river's edge"
Jughead would have pressed him further but something else had taken his interest, or rather someone. One of Dilton's Scouts had given him a scared look, now he had a loose thread it was time to go and pull it.
*Archie's POV*
Archie's head was swimming with the History facts he was trying to memorise, when he heard someone whisper his name from behind him.
"Psst Archie"
He turned around to see Cheryl Blossom, smiling.
"Thanks to you Archie, I'm not the girl that cried gunshot. You believed me when not even my parents did"
Archie shook his head, confused "I just told the truth"
"Which is why I want to repay your kindness" she beamed.
"Cheryl that's not why I came forward" he chuckled
She laughed with him "save the 'aw shucks' for Betty. I'm granting you one wish Archie, nothing is off the table. Except for my body. Jason would want you to be rewarded"
He was about to decline when an idea formed in his head, a way to comply with his dad and keep his promises.
"Actually, Cheryl there is one thing"
*Josie's POV*
Josie walked into the room where Archie was tuning his guitar, her mother had forbidden her to go anywhere near Archie but despite what her mother believed, she did owe thanks to the guy who saved her life.
She cleared her throat and Archie looked up.
"Uh hey Josie" he said awkwardly.
"My Mom says that I shouldn't even speak to you right now, she believes that if you hadn't gone after that guy and provoked him then he would have gone straight to her room instead of mine, where she had two deputies guarding the door. While she's probably right, you didn't have to chase after him to save my mom, or me as it turned out. So, I've thought about what you asked me before and I've reconsidered slightly"
"What do you mean?" Archie's face was confused but also a little guilty.
"The Pussycats are playing at my moms' event, the Taste of Riverdale? We are rehearsing every night this week. Come, observe, learn but no song writing, you're not that much of a hero Archie Andrews"
With that she turned to walk away, until Archie interrupted.
"This week I'm uh...I'm grounded" Archie said awkwardly.
Was this guy for real?
"Make It work Andrews, in the words of Eminem 'You've only got one shot'"
She heard Archie laugh as she exited the room and walked away.
*Veronica's POV*
If there was one thing that Veronica could be thankful for at the moment, it was Betty. She was being a true friend throughout all of this, even if her suggestions hadn't all been effective or useable. She'd also just managed to drag her away from an awkward conversation with her mom. As much as she wanted to tell her what was going on, she couldn't, Veronica knew that she'd just try to get involved or worse contact her father to resolve the matter. No this was something that she had to do herself.
So, lets hope that Betty's got something good, she thought to herself as she walked into the room Betty had told her to come to.
Betty was sat with a whole group of other girls, they looked as though they were sharing stories.
"This story's bigger than we thought" Betty said to Veronica as she walked in "I asked around to see if what happened to you, happened to anyone else and if anyone would go on record about it"
"I will one hundred percent" said the girl sat next to Betty, she was quite short and had curly ginger hair that stopped at her jawline.
Betty smiled and nodded at the girl before looking back at Veronica "It's five guys on the football team, Chuck and his posse. Ethel was just about to tell us"
Betty gestured at the curly haired girl.
"One day last year Chuck and I talked in the Library for ten minutes" Ethel began "I helped him with a pre-calc problem and nothing happened but the next day he started telling people that I let him do things to me... like sex stuff. Then he or one of his goons wrote 'sloppy seconds' on my locker"
Veronica bowed her head, things couldn't get much worse.
"Yes, yes. We've all heard your tragic origins story" said a familiar voice from behind her.
Oh, how wrong you are, Veronica thought to her self as she turned to see Cheryl Blossom standing in the doorway.
"I'm so sorry Ethel, that's horrible" She heard Betty whisper to Ethel from behind her.
"Not as horrible as being a suspect in your own brother's murder case, but we all have our crosses" Cheryl said impatiently "In the meantime, River Vixen practice starts in five minutes, sluts"
"They're ruining our lives and to them it's just a game" Ethel sobbed "They even keep score"
Veronica spun back around "Wait, what did you say?"
"Each conquest earns them points, they keep track in some secret playbook" Ethel explained.
Veronica exhaled in disgust.
"Okay we have to go to Weatherbee about this" Betty complained.
Ethel shrugged "I already tried, Weatherbee said that he didn't find anything"
"Okay, then we need undeniable proof" Betty said, mainly to Veronica.
"Proof of what Nancy Drew" Cheryl laughed "That boy's will be boys? Plus, that playbook reeks of suburban legend"
"How would you know, Cheryl" Veronica retorted.
"Because, Freida Shallow, before he died Jason was co-captain of the football team with Chuck. Jason never mentioned it and he never would've allowed it"
Veronica clenched her fists, she could just punch this girl now and wipe that entitled look off of her face. Cheryl was not just going to bury this because she believed her brother was the son of god.
"Okay well I never met your brother but I'm not lying about what happened to me and Ethel's not lying. Proof or no proof, book or no book. I am going scorched earth on these privileged, despicable miscreants. You wanna get caught in that back-draft Cheryl? Then call me or any of these beautiful, young, strong, intelligent women sluts, one more time" Veronica got right into Cheryl's face so that the gravity of her threat would get through her thick ego.
Cheryl's face remained expressionless but Veronica didn't care, it was time to go to war.
*Jughead's POV*
It had been tough tracking him down but finally Jughead had located his loose thread. His dad had driven him to Pop's where he worked and while he was in the back getting his uniform on, Jughead was going to strike. He walked right over to the scouts table and plucked the cherry off the top of his sundae.
"What the hell man" the scout said, putting his hands up.
"I saw the way you looked at me while I was shaking down Dilton. You're hiding something"
Jughead grabbed a spoonful of his sundae as the scout leaned forwards.
"It's scout master it's scoutmaster Doiley. He's lying"
"About what" Jughead pressed.
"The Gunshot. It was him, he was teaching us how to shoot targets"
Jughead leaned forward, this mystery just got more and more interesting "Dilton Doiley shot the gun on July 4th?"
"He's a hardcore survivalist, he says if we don't protect ourselves then no one will"
Jughead shook his head, so Dilton was a suspect and maybe he knows more than he was letting on...
*John's POV*
"Up, sleeping goblin"
John's eyes shot open and he leaned forwards fast, too fast. Shooting pains ran up and down his stomach and he cried out in pain.
His vision hazed for a moment but soon went back to normal except it couldn't have, because Cheryl Blossom was stood in front of him.
"Good god, watch yourself Andrews, I promised your brother I'd protect you for the night and that's going to be hard to do if you kill yourself" Cheryl said, looking him up and down with an unimpressed look before sitting down on the chair next to his bed.
"What?" John asked through gritted teeth "What did he tell you?"
"That he's worried about you and that he wants me to be here when he can't"
"Yeah but...why you?"
"You're welcome" Cheryl scoffed "I granted him one wish, that was what he requested"
"A wish?" John asked as he adjusted the hospital bed into a sitting position.
"yes, for corroborating my story about hearing a gunshot on July 4th"
Of course Archie was right in the middle of this, right when he was most unable to help. Would the kid ever learn?
"Archie told me that Keller has been trying to pin Jason's murder on you, I'm sorry Cheryl you don't deserve that"
"Thanks" She said in a small voice.
"Sooo, what do you want to do for the next couple of hours"
She turned and frowned at him "Nothing, the silence rule still applies Andrews, I'm here that doesn't mean that I like it!"
John put his hands up in mock surrender "Why, what did I do?"
"You humiliated me in front of the whole school, you betrayed my trust"
John laughed "What? I asked you out in a room of about three people Cheryl"
"Word travels, you ruined my reputation"
"Well I'm sorry, it must mean a lot to you"
Cheryl turned her head away from him "Doesn't matter now anyway, my reputations gone after everything that went on with Jason" John was surprised to hear sobs escape her "I'm guilty"
"Hey, you aren't guilty" John reached out to put and hand on her shoulder but she turned and batted it away, her eyes were streaming with tears.
"What would you know about it you human sandbag"
John, with much pain and difficulty swung his legs off the bed and sat eye to eye with her " Because I know all about guilty, you want to know why I'm really here ? Some guy came to my dad's building site one day, said he wanted money for protection of my father's land. Obviously, I refused him. The next day one of the workers died in a 'work related accident'. I knew exactly what had happened, I went to speak to this guy, to tell him to stop but he told me that since I didn't have any money, he'd take me as payment. I had to work for him otherwise he'd kill my father, my brother and everyone I care about. I complied and he made me do some bad things...some horrible things..."
Cheryl looked at him and put a hand on his shoulder "John?"
"He was going to make me kill the mayor Cheryl. I was going to kill Mayor McCoy in cold blood, If Archie hadn't stopped me..."
"John you were being threatened, your family was in danger. If I had to kill someone to save Jason, I would do it in a heartbeat"
John laughed "Would you? Everyone see's this viper when they look at you Cheryl but do you want to know why I asked you out, why I took a gamble with our friendship? Because I've always been able to see past that bad girl attitude to the girl underneath, a girl who wouldn't hurt anyone ever, someone who's brave and true"
John reached out and held her hands "You wouldn't have done it. That's how I know for certain that you didn't kill Jason and how I know, you're not guilty"
Cheryl started to tear up again and John pulled her into a hug...
*Archie's POV*
Sneaking out the house had been easy and knowing that Cheryl was watching John tonight was comforting. They'd been good friends once, not that everyone knew, he knew she'd keep him safe. That meant he could sit here with the Pussycats and really get into what he loved. Music.
Valerie was giving him the introductions.
"Melody's our technique queen" She said gesturing to the girl behind the keyboard, wearing pussy cat ears.
"And you're the songwriter?" Archie asked.
Valerie nodded.
"I would love to—"
The door slammed open and Josie walked in.
"Love to what" she asked with a smile "That's the real question, why you think watching us pro's is going to help you? What do you want to get out of this experience"?
"Short version? I just wanna hear you guys playing my songs, making them better, recording them"
"So, you think your qualified to write songs for the Pussycats?"
Archie figured showing strength with Josie was the best way forward.
"yeah" he said simply
"For Divas of Colour?"
"No...well maybe" Archie admitted.
"Look Archie this isn't LA or New York. This is Riverdale and people's minds are opening up but do you have any idea of the hate mail and death threats my mom got when she was elected mayor?"
"I campaigned for your mom. I get it"
"No. No, no baby you don't. I mean do you know why we're called the Pussycats? Because we have to claw our way into rooms that you can just waltz into"
"Josie" Valerie warned.
"it's okay Valerie. She's right"
Josie looked at Archie and smiled "Good"
Archie had passed the first test, in his mind. Now all he wanted was to learn.
"Right now. Valerie" Josie said holding up a lyrics sheet "you are such a poet, but these lyrics? They don't make any sense! What's the hook? I need a line that catches"
"I've been struggling" Valerie admitted.
"What about 'paintings in the wind'" Melody offered.
"How about 'Paintings on her skin'" Archie interjected.
"Hmm, I kinda dig that" Valerie said with a smile
Josie sighed "All right, let's take it from the top"
Josie clicked them in, then the Pussycats began to sing:
Oh, Oh,
Paintings on her skin
Colours in her hair
Come around the corner make you stop and stare
She don't pay no mind cos she don't really care
What you think about her, think about...
Ohhh oh ohhh oh
I don't care what you want me to be
Cos It aint for you no its all for me yeah
Archie sat back and laughed, it was simply brilliant.
"That was so good"
Josie smiled at him "what else you got?"
*Betty's POV*
"I had to quit when I saw that horrible playbook and I may know where it is"
Trev Browns words swam around in her head. After Ethel had brought him in earlier to reveal the location of the playbook his testimony had been all she could think about. How many names were in this book if someone had decided to quit over it.
Well they were soon going to find out, under Trev's advice her, Veronica, Ethel and Kevin had snuck into school after hours to look for the book. Trent had said it would be near Chucks locker which when she thought about it was pretty smart. No teacher was going to search his locker, not when he meant so much to the school. You don't poke a bear if it's sleeping.
"Footballer's behaving badly? What else is new" Veronica said as they walked through the school with their flashlights on "But the coach's son being the ringleader, just how depraved is this town"
"Colour me impressed" said a voice from behind them that made them all jump.
"A B and E with B and V" Cheryl said through a half smile "what would your Holy Roller mother say about this Betty?"
"What are you doing here Cheryl" Betty asked, still gasping from the shock.
"And where did you get those thigh-high boots, they're amazing!" Kevin added, much to her and Veronica's dismay.
"Trev told Valerie who told Josie, who told Ginger, who told Tina, who told me and I thought I would help out"
Betty laughed incredulously "Help? Or derail our investigation"
Cheryl shone her torch in Betty's face, blinding her "get over yourself Betty"
"Hey, guys. Get in here" Came Ethel's voice from down the corridor. She'd obviously snuck away while they'd all been arguing.
They followed her voice over to Chucks locker where Ethel was. She'd reached through a gap between his locker and the next, by the time they got close to her she'd pulled a large ring-bound notebook out of the slot.
"Trev was right" She said as she opened the book "They didn't even bother to hide it fully"
They all gathered round the open pages of the book. At the bottom was Veronica's name with a breakdown of the points she'd earned Chuck.
"New girl? Is that what I'm reduced to? Nine points?" Veronica's voice was shaky.
"better than big girl" Ethel said quietly "Seven point five points"
Betty only half heard Veronica and Ethel because she'd noticed something far worse on that exact page, just below Ethel's name.
"Polly's in this book" Betty gasped "Under Jason's name"
As soon as she'd said the words that dark fire had started burning in her again, giving her suggestions of what terrible crimes Jason had committed against Polly and providing ideas on how to get revenge. She looked over at Cheryl who was managing to keep a straight face. How could she do that when it was here in blunt form. Evidence that her brother was the bad guy!
Betty turned away from the book, trying desperately to banish the darkness in her.
"I'm so sorry Betty" Veronica said but her voice became mere echoes in Betty's mind.
"This isn't right" Cheryl muttered "Jason would never"
"IT'S RIGHT THERE CHERYL!" Betty yelled, letting some of the rage inside her out "God, your brother hurt my sister. This is what guys like Jason and Chuck think of women, we're just objects for them to abuse. Then when there done with us, they shame us into silence. They have zero remorse for the lives they destroy!"
Cheryl bowed her head "Maybe I don't know Jason" she said as she backed away from the book.
Veronica took her phone out "we'll take a picture and show it to Weatherbee, it'll be the perfect cover for your expose Betty"
Betty sighed angrily "No, but these girls deserve justice. Don't you think Cheryl?"
When Cheryl didn't answer Betty approached Veronica
"you want vengeance? You wanna go full dark, no stars? Then I'm with you V, and I have a plan"