As I sit in a seat towards the center of the Greyhound bus that I had boarded back in Toledo, Ohio nearly 6 hours ago with 'Rock n Roll Train' by AC/DC, one of my absolute favorite rock bands of all time blasting through my headphones successfully drowning out all other sounds around me, I can't help but think about how sad my 10 year old half-sister Jellybean (or JB as she prefers to be called these days) had been when I had climbed into a taxi headed for the local bus station.

A little over 3 years ago, my stepmother Gladys dragged both me and JB away from our tiny hometown of Riverdale all the way to Toledo, Ohio after she had decided to leave our dad, FP. Neither of us were all that happy about it either.

She would probably have dragged my older half-brother Jughead along with us too if it hadn't been for the fact that he had flat out refused to leave our dad all by himself in the trailer that our family had called home since around a year and a half before Jug was born.

I'm jerked from my thoughts by the bus pulling into the station right outside of Riverdale. After claiming my backpack and duffel containing my few belongings along with the black case that holds the gorgeous purple acoustic guitar I'd purchased from a pawn shop back in Toledo, I begin to make my way towards Riverdale on foot.

I end up walking for about 15 minutes or so before I'm startled by the loud honking of a horn from behind me. I turn and see a blue pickup behind. I look at the driver and immediately recognize the tall raven-haired boy seated behind the steering wheel.

"Oh, my god! Sweet Pea?!"

It takes a moment or so for Sweet Pea to recognize me which is completely understandable. He and I haven't seen each other for nearly 4 years.

I watch as a huge grin spreads across his face which tells me that he's figured out that it's me.

"Emily Jones? Is that really you?"

I let out a chuckle and confirm to Sweet Pea that it really is me. He climbs out of the truck and wraps his arms around me tightly in a bear hug which I immediately return.

Once we pull away from our hug, Sweet Pea asks me if my dad or Jughead know that I was coming back. I admit to him that my father and half brother have no idea that I was coming to Riverdale.

"Are you hungry? We could grab a quick bite to eat at Pop's and then I can take you to the trailer park afterwards. If you want to, that is."

I smile before agreeing to Sweet Pea's suggestion. I was starving and aside from the granola bar and bottle of water that I had consumed a couple of hours ago while on the bus between Toledo and Riverdale, I haven't eaten since early this morning.

One of Pop Tate's famous cheeseburgers and an order of his amazing cheese fries sounds pretty damn tempting to me right about now.

After helping me put my bags and guitar into the back of his truck, Sweet Pea drives the two of us to Riverdale and straight to Pop's once we pass the town limits. We make our way inside and are immediately greeted by Pop Tate, the kindly older man who owns and runs the diner.

"It's great to see you again, Emily."

"It's great to see you again too, Pop Tate. How have things been since I've been gone?"

"Same as always for the most part. Well, with the exception of the Blossom boy being murdered about a month ago."

I let out a gasp as tears begin to fill my eyes. Jason and I had become sort of friends 3 years ago before I had left after he had intervened when Chuck Clayton, one of the biggest assholes on the Northside had been harassing me one day at school. Given how kind he was to me and to nearly everyone else that knew him, I never thought that someone would want to hurt Jason much less take his life away from him.

Pop Tate watches with a sad look on his face as Sweet Pea wraps his arm around my shoulders and I begin to cry uncontrollably into the t-shirt that he was wearing underneath his flannel shirt.

I can feel Sweet Pea rubbing my back in an attempt to try and comfort me a little as I continue to cry in his arms.

I don't realize it at that particular moment but I wasn't just crying for Jason and the fact that he lost his life in a horrible manner. I was also crying for myself and all of the horrible things that I had been through during the last year.