Chapter Nine

"Okay, so with this dress…" Midge pushed her magazine across the lunch table, pointing to a low-cut champagne colored dress the model sported, seductively glancing over her shoulder as she twisted her body toward the photographer. "I'm thinking if I pull up the hem a little bit, I'll be able to keep from tripping all night."

Cheryl lifted her eyebrows, taking a quick glance over the page. She leaned back, shaking her head in disinterest. "And what will you do to keep your dear old mother from having a heart attack?"

Midge shrugged and exchanged smiles with the rest of the River Vixens. "Nothing, that's the point," she said and started to giggle. Gabby laughed along with them. Midge's lips pulled back into a smirk as she added, "And, of course, I'm sure Moose will love it."

"Moose will love it off you more than on you," Gabby teased. She nodded toward the turtleneck that Midge almost exclusively wore, even under the River Vixens uniform she wore that day, ready for the first football game of the season. "If that's anything to go by." Her smirk widened, and she pretended to cover her mouth as she said, "Rumor has it, Midge would've needed more to cover after spending some time with Moose at my party." Her eyebrows twitched upwards. "I didn't know Moose's could make that sound."

Midge batted her eyelashes as the girls around them started to squeal at the scandalous news. She placed a hand to her chest and said, "I don't kiss and tell."

"Believe me, there was more than kissing going on," Gabby said. She looked to Cheryl, who looked back at her with rapt attention, spurring her forward. "And I found the evidence. I'm just glad it wasn't my dad who found it. Or else he would've made good on his threat and taken a gun to Chuck's head."

"At least Chuck would be getting some action," Cheryl said. She heaved a fake sigh, closing her own magazine and pressing it to the table top of the outdoor cafeteria. "I feel sorry for him, really. A man can only go so long without getting something before he gets bored."

Gabby rolled her eyes. "Believe me, the last thing Chuck gets is bored. He'll find someone else to take care of him when he needs it."

Cheryl's eyes flashed, her lips curling with mischief. Gabby braced herself, knowing what was coming next. Frustration rolled through her stomach, knowing she set herself up for the embarrassment that was seconds away from coming. So much so that when Cheryl parted her lips, Gabby simply put on the blank look she'd perfected over the years.

"Gabriella Rush, are you saying you're a virgin?" She asked.

Gabby was aware of the curious looks Midge, Tina, Ginger, and the other River Vixens were sending her way, looking her up and down as she did so. Gabby glared at Cheryl then, who simply tossed her hair over her shoulder and continued to smile. Not that it was anyone else's business, but Cheryl knew Gabby was a virgin. Not that Chuck hadn't tried to hook up before, though backed off every time Gabby said so. He'd tried to pressure her once and stopped the second Gabby whipped him around and put him in a headlock.

It worked then, Chuck had been a scrawny thing before bulking up for the football team. Now, she was sure he'd be able to pin her down with ease, no matter how well she knew how to defend herself. Her mother had beaten it into her head, "It doesn't matter how well you know how to defend yourself, a man is always going to be stronger than you. You have to be careful of the situations you put yourself in."

And Gabby had nodded earnestly, wanting to soak in everything her mother said before she was deployed once more. Not that she thought she'd be attacked or anything, she spent too much time with Jason and Cheryl to have to worry about it. Not like she'd have to if she were on the Southside.

"Well, we know you're not a virgin, Cheryl," Gabby shot back. She noticed Cheryl's eyes squint ever so slightly. She was going to get it later. But she had no patience for Cheryl's teasing that day. Not when Cheryl had already been putting the others down so much for a simple dress choice. And that was just a dress. Anything more serious, like whether Gabby had had sex, was an off-limits topic she wouldn't even bring up with her mom. "Or else that trail of broken hearts behind you is because you're a prude."

"If there's anything a Blossom isn't, it's a prude." Cheryl made a show of winking to the girls, making them all laugh. Gabby waited for a second, ensuring Cheryl wasn't in fact angry at her, before making an expression that betrayed the knowing smile she had in her head, making the girls shriek with laughter. "The Blossom family make it a point to spread their wild oats to continue the famous and pure bloodline that would continue to ensure the sanctity of Riverdale."

"So, should we nominate you for student body president now or do you want to come up with another campaign speech?" Ginger teased.

Cheryl pursed her lips, tapping her finger against them. Gabby groaned, shaking her head. "Oh God, Ginger, you started something. Next thing you know, she's going to give us a uniform where the rest of us have to dress like her or get kicked out of school."

Ginger then sent Gabby a snooty look, her upper lip curling into a sneer. "Don't you already do that?"

In response, Gabby curled her lip, in an expression similar to Ginger's—and Tina who sat next to Ginger—but with bared teeth. She didn't make the expression a lot, Cheryl had immediately shut her down from doing it when she was frustrated with a bad volleyball practice, but had to throw it out when she needed to make a point. Ginger took one look at her face and immediately lowered her gaze to her tray.

Nevertheless, Gabby couldn't help but snottily add, "At least I don't follow Cheryl around like a dog, jumping at the chance literally kiss her ass," she hissed. She leaned toward Ginger and Tina, "Or is that the part you enjoy? Kissing her ass? Are you jealous of the amount of time we spend together? Do you have a thing for Cheryl?"

Midge let out a nervous laugh. "Come on, guys, we're supposed to be talking about homecoming remember? Are we meeting up at Thornhill or just meet there?" She picked up her magazine and buried her face into it. Her eyes peeking over the top, lined with her long lashes, broke the tension and made the girls laugh.

Gabby tucked her hair behind her ears and shifted on the bench, clearing her throat. She stretched her legs out, being careful to keep her heels from sticking in the grass. "We can meet at my place—"she started.

Cheryl immediately interrupted. "No, we're meeting at Thornhill. Jason and the rest of his football buddies are going to get ready there and mom already has everything set up."

She dropped her hand to her lap where, beneath the table, she twisted her fingers together. Gabby gently nudged Cheryl with her shoulder, giving her a reassuring look. Cheryl lowered her head and smiled softly in response. It didn't matter what they planned, Penelope and Clifford already had their plans set up for homecoming.

Especially if it was going to be as big as the year before. The Blossoms certainly made homecoming a dance to remember with the money they put into decorations, transportation, and entertainment in exchange for their name on the dance and the ticket fee for the dance going to the Blossom Maple Syrup company. Gabby wasn't exactly sure how that managed to work out, but it had been a good dance from what they'd seen.

Jason and Polly had gone together and were, of course, named Homecoming King and Queen despite a good race from the seniors. Chances are they'll be named King and Queen again this year. That is, if people don't find out she's pregnant, Gabby thought. Who would want a pregnant teen as Homecoming Queen?

Almost immediately she felt guilty over the thought. Jason was her best friend and he and Polly had been fairly nominated the year before. Unlike Cheryl, he had a lot of people who were actually his friends, not afraid of him. Enough support to have people want to nominate him for the role. Cheryl on the other hand…Gabby look at her other best friend out the corner of her eye. She wasn't quite sure what Cheryl would do to make sure she got the title as well. Something she was sure Cheryl was already conspiring for. If she became Queen—the King didn't matter—then she'd finally have something in her mother's eyes that was coveted.

Something she strived hard for and always failed at.

"But that's alright," Cheryl continued, perking up once more. "That just means we can have the best party to get ready for the dance!" She threw her arm around Gabby's shoulders, pressing a kiss to her cheek that made Gabby laugh. "It already takes hours to look this fabulous, imagine how long it'll take to get ready for a dance."

"Especially with how often she changes her mind," Gabby murmured, brushing her hand over Cheryl's shoulder. "How many dresses have you bought and returned so far? Five."

"Seven," Cheryl said quickly. "None of them have the exact shade of red I need. I'm thinking of going to New York and see what the shops there can do for me. If Hiram Lodge can practically buy out 5th Avenue, then imagine what they can do for me." She grasped Gabby's arm and batted her eyelashes. "Will you go with me? Please? Pretty please? I can't go without my lovely best friend."

Ginger smirked, pressed her lips together, then gently spread them, making a sucking sound. Gabby gave her the stink eye in response, pulling her hand up to give her the finger, but Cheryl immediately swatted her hand away.

"Honestly, don't be so uncouth," she scolded her friends. "We're having a party and all of you are invited. Stop acting like children." She took another discarded magazine from the middle of table. "Speaking of parties, you should've seen what happened to Gabby's house. How long did it take for the construction company to finish everything?"

"Long enough," Gabby murmured, looking away from her friend.

After Cheryl had interrupted hers and Archie's conversation to taunt the redhead, she and Cheryl had gone back to her room to watch TV all the while the sounds of construction filled the house. Every now and then Gabby would go down to check the status of the construction as her father asked.

She'd give a quick note every now and then but otherwise stayed quiet. She ignored Jughead every time he came near her, just as she did to him. There was nothing to say to each other when they were outside of school, no snarky ammunition for him to make a sanctimonious and pretentious comment on. He simply kept his head low and did whatever Fred Andrews asked him to do.

Archie on the other hand, seemed to look at her nearly every time her gaze was drawn to him. She hated how easily she did it, too. Because every time she did, he'd give a small smile back at her, a smile so contagious she couldn't help but smile back. Seconds before remembering that Cheryl was there and she'd practically turn pale, looking away again.

An even more vicious cycle than thinking of her mom, feeling the pain of missing her so much, then acting like nothing was out of the ordinary until her mother was far from her mind, ready to wiggle back to the forefront at even the slightest mention of her.

The fact that she liked Archie wasn't the problem, the fact that she couldn't do anything about it wasn't really a problem. The fact that Cheryl and the rest of Riverdale High would never let her forget it if it ever got out. The social hierarchy—as ludicrous as it was—couldn't be ignored. Especially when that hierarchy wasn't regulated to the high school but to Riverdale as a whole.

"They were still working by the time I left," Cheryl said. She eyed Gabby closely. "Must've been a long time, the bags under he eyes look even worse today than they did before." She moved to take her compact mirror from her purse. "See for yourself?"

Gabby held up her hand, ignoring the sting of embarrassment as Ginger and Tina giggled quietly behind their hands. "I already got the horror show when I woke up this morning," she joked lightly. Nevertheless, she didn't want to know what else Cheryl could come up with and stood. "'I've got a volleyball meeting to go to, I'll see you later."

"Tootles." Cheryl waved her fingers toward Gabby. "I'll be sure to let you know what you miss." Her eyebrows twitched upwards. "Especially if these bitches still can't figure out the dresses they want to wear to the dance. I need to give ultimate approval by the end of the week."

Gabby tapped Cheryl on the top of the head. "Hey Cherry, you're still forgetting that we need dates."

Cheryl smiled but kept her eyes on her other friends. Gabby chewed her lower lip, suddenly worried she'd said something wrong enough to be stonewalled like that. But Cheryl said, "That's the last thing we need to worry about Gabs. Right now, we need to focus on looking good."

Gabby shrugged and stood, moving to take her tray inside to return it to the bin. She nearly crashed into Reggie on the way there, turning the corner, with his hand up by his face. He jumped backward, startled when he noticed her, and feigned running a hand through his hair.

"Gabs, hey, I didn't see you there," he said. Then he held out his hand, gently patting her atop her head. "Sorry about that, you have to get a bell or something so we can see you."

She slapped his hand away. "Don't touch the hair," She remarked. "Do you know how long I have to sit in the salon chair to make this look good?" She smoothed her hair back into place then got a good look at his face, noticing his scratching at his eyebrow. Her shoulders slumped. "Did it happen again?" She asked.

Reggie looked at her and forced out a laugh. "This?" He motioned to the dark bruise around his eye. "No, that's nothing! I just got hit with a football during practice!"

"Aren't you supposed to wear a helmet?"

"You know how Moose gets. Once you get him going, he can't stop. Like a bulldozer!" He thumped himself on the chest and winced, rubbing his sternum. "Those Southside creeps won't know what hit em'." With that, he side-stepped Gabby and went down the hallway at a quick stride. She watched him over her shoulder as he went, frowning.

There were many open secrets in Riverdale; the divide between those who were for Mayor McCoy's run for re-election and those against, those thinking Mrs. McCoy spent too much time trying to make Josie bigger than she was, how nearly everyone in the city hated the Blossoms, how the Southside was filled with druggies and girls becoming pregnant in their teens, how the Northside had their own fair share of darkness. And the worst of them all was how easily those in the Northside could hide things in plain sight.

Gabby turned back to the tray return, sliding her tray inside, being sure to keep from chipping the new color of polish she'd put on with Cheryl to pass the time as construction went on. She turned it her way, making a 'tsk' sound with her tongue when she noticed there was already a small chip. Well, a quick trip to the nail salon after school wasn't out of the question.

It'd be a good way to have some time alone for once.

"Some people are afraid of you." Startled, Gabby lifted her chin and saw Archie standing in front of her, looking at her curiously. Gabby lifted her eyebrows, offended. She parted her lips and started to shoot out a rapid-fire response but Archie beat her to it. "You asked me what people thought of you; some people are afraid of you."

Oh. That. "And, you're not?" She asked. Archie tilted his head. "I asked what you thought of me, not what everyone else thinks. I know other people hate me."

"They don't hate you, they hate Cheryl." That didn't surprise her in the slightest. There was a reason Jason was the more popular Blossom twin. Archie smiled awkwardly, taking a step back. He looked toward his feet, tugging down the bottom of his shirt, as if to hide himself. "But Black Cherry is attached at the hip so…" he cleared his throat. "No one really gets the chance to get to know you."

Gabby shrugged. "There's not much to know."

"I don't believe that. There's always something to know about someone."

"Well, aren't you the Boy Scout. Ready to have some of your meetings out the back of your pedo van?" Her words were biting but her tone didn't hold the same sort of venom it normally would have if Cheryl were next to her. As it was, she felt a little off-kilter with Cheryl not beside her. With Archie there instead. She was trying to be herself, but even she didn't know who she was.

Archie gave a humorless smile. He turned his head away, looking at her out the corner of his eye. "You don't really know what to say without Cheryl in your ear, huh?"

Hit the nail on the head, Gabby thought. She, normally, wouldn't have the guts to say something so polarizing without Cheryl there to give her some of her invisible strength. But with so many other people milling around…Gabby shook her head, feeling her lips pull back into a smile. "You're a lot smarter than you look."

"Well, I am tutoring you," he replied easily, teasingly. Gabby laughed quietly. If only he knew. Archie smiled back. Then, again, he cleared his throat awkwardly, pulling the bottom of his shirt down. "I guess I'll see you later. Betty and Jughead are waiting for me."

She nodded and watched him walk away for moment. "I'll meet you in the library," she said. "Later today." Archie paused, looked back at her, smiled, nodded, and continued toward the cafeteria.

Gabby's skin tingled the moment Jason's hands landed on her shoulders, enticingly dragging down to her wrists. She wasn't sure how she knew it was Jason but could tell the moment he leaned over her shoulder.

Or maybe, intuitively, she knew from the way Archie glanced at her from across the hall, his eyebrows rising, dark eyes shifting over her face before moving just to the left. From the way they flickered downward for a second before he lifted his chin and gave a nod, backing slightly out of the lunch line, turning his attention to whatever Betty was telling him.

Jason's breath tickled in her ear, making butterflies erupt in a fiery volcano of, of what—guilt?—as he whispered, "Can you keep a secret?"

Whatever a Blossom wants, a Blossom gets," Gabby thought.

She was really starting to hate that.

A/N: Thank you, Vince and Rois, for the kick in the pants I needed to get back into writing this story. Not that I've forgotten about it, but that it wasn't my current focus when it came to my fics. So, thank you for your reviews, I hope this one is received as well as the others have been.

Also, you wanted some more of Reggie, well, you've got that and Midge and some of the River Vixens. And, of course, Archie and Gabby. I hope you all enjoyed despite the wait! There's some more revelations that tie into season 1 coming up!

Ugh, as much as I already love Archabby, I'm interested in JasonxGabby, too.

Cheers,

-Riley