A/N: Hey, chapter two is ready. Hope you enjoy. Still own nothing but my plot.

Chapter Two: RSVP (Riverdale's Surprise Various Parties)

As the week continued on, more envelopes piled up, some sealed with a Blossom red kiss and some a deep and chilling black as dark as the depths of Sweetwater River. But both made the kids of our town curious. No one ever planned a get together the same day as a Blossom event, not one on an official radar or to this scale. We were all talking about it, and that, well I think that had been Veronica Lodge's aim all along.

Veronica walked into the Pembrooke with the ghost of a smile on her face.

"Someone looks happy Miss Veronica," The doorman, Smithers, greeted.

"Yes, I suppose," Veronica replied. She had arranged a day to go with Betty, Archie and Jughead to tour the town. Although her parents had grown up here, they didn't have a kids' eye view and Daddy, for some reason seemed hesitant to talk to many people, or people were hesitant to talk to him. She wasn't certain which. "Have any more RSVPs come in?" She asked.

"Several as a matter of fact," Smithers responded as he reached for the mail in question.

"Excellent, thank you." Veronica took the envelopes and went to her apartment.

The apartment was classy and the perfect setting for the upcoming party. There was a pool and a hot tub just outside, and there was more than enough room. She just had to speak to her parents about decor.

She began flipping through the invitations. Several yes's stared back up at her, including Archie Andrews, Jughead Jones and Betty Cooper. And from what she had heard, there was another party the same day, and many people who had already RSVP'ed to that one had cancelled at the last minute out of curiosity. This new school would definitely not be boring thanks to her parents giving her permission to do this.

She was surprised, but not entirely. She'd learned a long time ago how to get on Daddy's good side. It was a skill that she used unabashedly.

"Veronica, what have you got there?" Her mother asked.

Veronica looked up from the invitations to see her mother on the sofa with a glass of wine. "More RSVPs for Saturday," Veronica replied.

"Wonderful," Her mother said. "May I see?"

Veronica nodded as she handed the invitations to her mother.

In her excitement as she went to her father's study, Veronica failed to notice the smallest of frowns that appeared on her mother's face.

Archie had been able to get permission pretty easily to go to Ronnie's party, though he had noticed something questionable when he mentioned just whose party it was. It was the slightest crease in his dad's forehead. Being that it had just been the two of them in the last few years, Archie had become pretty good at reading his father's moods, but this one well it evaded him a bit.

"Lodge huh?" Archie's father asked."At the Pembrooke?"

"Yeah, Veronica Lodge. She says her parents are gonna be there." Archie replied.

"You can go, just...be careful." Dad said.

"Sure," Archie nodded. "Thanks Dad,"

"No problem bud,"

But there was a problem. Archie could see that. But before he could prod, he felt the cold wetness of a puppy dog nose poking at his hand. "Ready for your walk Vegas?" Archie smiled at the sight of his dog, patting his knee urging him to follow along. "Let's go!"

Archie grabbed his guitar case and his backpack before heading outside. He clipped Vegas's leash on grabbing a bag for the business of puppies placing it in his back pocket, his mind full as he made the walk he knew by heart. Vegas bounded along sniffing everything in sight and batting various flowers and blades of grass at his discretion. He wondered what his dad knew about the new family in town. He clearly knew something.

"Andrews!" Archie turned as coming down the path, he noticed someone familiar, Reggie Mantle. He was holding one of the black envelopes.

"Hey Reggie," Archie greeted, pulling Vegas's leash slightly to get him to stop. "What's up?"

"You get one of these?"

"Yeah, I did." Archie nodded. "For Veronica Lodge's party, going actually."

"For real?" Reggie looked at Archie curiously. "You're skipping out on Cheryl?"

"I don't see a problem." Archie shrugged. "Veronica's new and trying to make friends. It might be fun. Plus Jug wasn't invited. Ronnie invited him to hers."

"Dude, who cares? Bottlecap's a freak. You're nuts."

"His name's Jughead and he's not a freak." Archie said. No one at school really knew much at all about Jughead, not in a way that showed they talked to him anyway. Everything they got, they got from rumors: especially stuff about his parents and why his mom and sister ditched out. They loved that stuff. Archie didn't consider Reggie a bad guy, but he didn't really try much. He was part of Jason's crowd, and that meant he didn't have to. "Plus I think she might invite Cheryl and Jason too." They only needed one party. And it's not like it really mattered where.

"Alright Andrews, suit yourself. You trying out for the team this year? Didn't see you at camp." Fifth grade was the first year for football.

"I'm focusing on music this year." Archie replied. He hadn't decided about football by the deadline for the camp, and without it, he was behind the other guys. So as of now, he wasn't.

"You talk to Josie? Maybe she'll put you in her pussycats."

"Shut up," Archie scoffed.

"Well, it's not like you've ever played for anyone. Who knows if you're any good man? Anyway, gotta go. Later." Reggie waved.

"Later," Archie shook his head. He turned away and walked the rest of the way to Jughead's.

Archie had had a passion for music since his mother had sent him his first guitar when we were seven. But he'd only ever played for me, Betty and his parents. No one else really took him seriously, but those of us that knew Archie Andrews knew he was. So what Reggie said cut deep, but it also made him consider. But not for long because the first order of business on every kid's mind was the war of the parties and whether new girl would survive to join our class for fifth grade.

But what we didn't know was that there was another angle and a history between our families that made the arrival of the black envelopes and the Lodges far more than just a question of which daughter of Riverdale's party would be more well attended.

A/N: So, Veronica told her mom about the RSVPs and Archie ran into Reggie on his way to Jughead's place. Since this is a prequel of sorts, an AUish prequel verse non high school type story, Reggie and Archie are not exactly friends or any kind of teammates and not exactly enemies without football so that kind of explains any slight changes to their dynamic that might be noticed here but I'm trying to work as close to the series' dynamics as possible. I may also be pulling in some elements of history that came up in the series and on the Archieverse wiki adapting and using some of it to create my own take to suit this plot. Also, there are some unnoticed by the kids' tensions going on where their parents are concerned.