Chapter 6: Conflictions
Sick of leaving things half done,
Leaving things half said
Oh, I am, I am trying
The best that I can
Best That I Can by Vance Joy
Biology ended all to quickly for Rosie's liking.
She and Jughead solidified their meeting time at Pop's for that night. The time of 6:30 pm was ingrained into her memory.
She sat down with Archie at their regular lunch table before anyone else arrived. He pulled out his guitar and notebook as she took the first bite of her sandwich.
"You really meant it when you said you wanted to work on music soon, didn't you?" she joked.
He smiled. "I'm getting stuck on these lyrics. Something about them just isn't…right."
"You play, I'll listen," she told him.
So he did.
"I'm lost in the memory when the summer ends.
Late night when this town gets small.
I'll be running through the streets again.
Let's make it hard to go on."
Rosie was impressed with the first verse. The melody fit in with the chords nicely and the strumming pattern was great. She was curious to see how he was struggling when he moved into the chorus.
"Come on, turn the radio on,
And, honey, let's dance, dance, dance.
For the rest of the night,
It's better left unsaid.
La la la la la la la la la la la.
La la la let's dance, dance, dance…."
Rosie chuckled as Archie mumbled his way through the rest of the chorus. He stopped playing and laughed with her.
"Okay, now I understand," she replied, amused.
"I've got the melody, but I just don't know what to say," he told her.
"What do you want this song to be about?" she questioned.
"It's about…being in this relationship where you've been through some hard times, but it's easier to just leave that behind and do something that makes you happy. Like dancing," Archie explained slowly.
"Okay," Rosie nodded. "You've already said that once, right? Then find a way to say it again, just modified slightly."
Archie nodded, thinking deeply. He tried out some new lyrics for the second part of the chorus.
"Yeah come on, turn that music up loud,
And honey, let's dance, dance, dance.
For another dark night,
La la la….."
"Hey, that was a spectacular start!" encouraged Rosie.
"Yeah, but I can't move past the 'dance, dance, dance' part," Archie complained.
Rosie played the melody over in her head. Lyrics sparked through her mind like lightning. "Okay, I've got something, but let's see how it sounds. Do you mind playing the chords?"
Archie did as she asked and she began to sing.
"Come on, turn the radio on,
And, honey, we'll dance, dance, dance,
For the rest of the night.
It's better left unsaid.
Yeah, come on, turn the remix up loud,
And, honey, we'll dance, dance, dance,
For the rest of our lives.
We're not ready to let go.
And forgetting our history in gold."
"I love that," Archie complimented in awe as soon as he stopped playing. "I actually got some ideas to change a few lyrics."
Rosie nodded, excited to hear what he had come up with. Archie strummed the guitar once more.
"Come on, turn the radio on,
And, honey, we'll dance, dance, dance,
For the rest of the night.
It's better left unsaid.
Yeah, come on, play the remix loud.
And, honey, we'll dance, dance, dance
For the rest of our lives.
I'm not ready to go yet.
We've got history to forget."
Through the entirety of the Andrews boy singing, Rosie had this feeling that those lyrics were right. As soon as he ended, she exploded with excitement.
"Yes! Yes, yes, yes! That was incredible, Arch!" she exclaimed. "Stick with those for sure."
Familiar voices echoed from a short distance as Kevin, Veronica, and Betty approached the lunch table. The end of an awkward conversation came to an even more awkward conclusion as they reached their destination.
"…but part of me wishes he would just stay in the darn closet," Kevin was monologuing.
Archie and Rosie purposely avoided eye contact at the mention of such a thing. The situation was too fresh in everyone's mind for them not to think of it.
Rosie cleared her throat and took another bite of sandwich, not daring to meet anyone's gaze, especially Veronica's. She could feel the uncomfortable tension in the atmosphere, even without seeing anyone else's body language.
Kevin immediately clarified. "Obviously, I didn't mean literal closet."
Betty sat down with her lunch tray first, trying to clear the air as Veronica's sullen glare dampened the positivity the blonde was trying so hard to portray.
"Are you working on something new?" she wondered, forcing a smile.
Archie's eyes flickered over to the standing Veronica, coldly observing the two musicians at work. He tried not to look in her direction.
"Uh, yeah…Rosie was just helping me with some lyrics," he replied, scribbling something into his notebook.
"But he's sounding great," Rosie told them. "You should play it, Arch."
The redhead winced. "I…I don't know…"
"I'd love to hear it," Betty grinned as Kevin sat down next to her. Veronica begrudgingly did the same, right across from Rosie.
Veronica looked down her nose at the brunette, who merely stared right back, one eyebrow raised questionably.
Rosie knew that if she was going to break through Veronica's mama jaguar act, she was going to have to be just as fierce right back. She wasn't going to break eye contact until Veronica did. And the Lodge girl did first as Archie began to play his song.
"Okay…come on, turn the radio on, and honey, we'll dance, dance, dance…"
Rosie tried to focus on Archie's playing, which was spectacular and all, but she couldn't help but observe Betty's gradual descent into sadness. She knew it wasn't about her, but it was about the redhead singing across from the blonde. Betty was still trying to get over Archie. Who could blame her? Not Rosie. Betty Cooper and Archie Andrews seemed like they were meant to be. And maybe, Rosie thought, they still are.
When Archie finished the chorus, Kevin and Veronica clapped enthusiastically. Even the stony-hearted Veronica Lodge softened at the talents of the musical ginger. But Rosie didn't join in. She watched as Betty's eyes filled quickly with unshed tears.
"Betty? You okay?" Archie wondered.
The blonde gave a watery chuckle. "I'm supposed to say 'yes.' That's what the nice girl always says, but…no, I'm not." She stood rapidly, hands gesturing tensely with emotion. "I want to be. I thought I could be. But it's too much, too fast. Archie…"
"Betty," Archie said kindly. But she began to back away. "Betty, wait!"
Veronica, Kevin, and Rosie looked on in shock as he chased after her. But after a beat, Veronica spun in her seat to face the brunette.
"This is partly your fault, you know," she blamed venomously. "You obviously don't have the decency to leave Betty's heart out of this. You say you apologized and explained everything? Like hell you did. It's obvious that you don't care about anything except saving your own reputation and playing us all like your own stupid, metaphorical fiddles."
Rosie shook her head, staring down at her lunch in disappointment.
"If you hadn't gone in that closet with Archie…"
"If I hadn't gone in that closet with Archie, Cheryl would have," Rosie retorted angrily back, lifting her head suddenly to address Veronica. "It was out of desperation that I tried to save Archie's ass and Betty's feelings. We've already moved past that, Veronica. Everyone but you, including Betty, by the way, has moved past that. It is not my fault that Archie doesn't have feelings for Betty. Most of the time, when we like people, they don't like us back. It's just life – teenage life. Don't put this on me. Don't you freaking dare."
Rosie couldn't stand to sit with her any longer. She grabbed her messenger bag, ditched her lunch, and high tailed her way towards the school.
When she looked over her shoulder, she saw Weatherbee talking to Archie across the field while Kevin and Veronica gawked after her.
She huffed at the thought of Veronica coming after her again. She had hopefully put the former rich princess in her place. She was tired of drama she never meant to be a part of. Was this what life would be like in Riverdale? Was this town too damn small to even mind your own business?
Rosie exhaled in exasperation as she strode forward.
Betty was just ahead. Maybe Rosie could talk to her, find out what would help her feel better.
If there was anything Rosie hated in this world, it was seeing her friends in pain; even the new ones.
"Betty."
The blonde's ponytail whipped around as she turned her head. "Hi, Rosie." She wiped at the tears streaming down her face.
Rosie sighed and pulled the other girl in for a hug. Betty, although surprised, accepted gratefully. The gesture was something that the Cooper girl wasn't expecting, but moved her to be even more emotional in the arms of the new girl.
"I'm sorry," Rosie told her quietly. "I'm so sorry."
The two pulled away and began walking together.
"It's not your fault, Rosie," Betty said, shaking her head. "You have been so amazing through all of this. I should be apologizing to you for being such a hotheaded bitch at the party. I didn't even give you two time to explain. I ran out before you could rationalize. Besides, you can't control Archie's feelings. It's obvious that he isn't interested. He told me himself. I tried to keep it together, but…"
"First of all," Rosie said, "you reacted in a very normal way to what happened. I told you nothing would happen and then you found me and Archie in a compromising position? That's totally understandable, Betty. And no one, including Archie, blames you for your own feelings. Crushes are called crushes for a reason – most of the time, it crushes you. I'm not going to sugarcoat this, but it's going to take some time before you're ready to treat Archie like a best friend again. Getting over someone is hard. It's earth-shattering, but that doesn't mean you'll never be able to piece yourself back together again. In fact, it's the opposite. Over time, you'll be yourself again and you'll move on to somebody who will love you unconditionally."
The two girls paused before entering the school. Betty smiled at Rosie.
"Thanks, Rosie," she told her, "thank you so much for being there for me."
"I consider you a friend," Rosie told her firmly. "I'm there for my friends."
Rosie was slightly nervous to call Betty a friend, especially after everything that had happened, as well as the fact that they had only known each other for about a week. But Betty grinned.
"I appreciate that," she replied.
They entered the school together, heading for Betty's locker. As they walked, Betty's face fell into a puzzled expression.
"Are you okay?" Rosie wondered as they stopped at the locker.
Betty shrugged slightly as she entered her lock combination. "I…I don't know. I just…has Veronica been…rude to you?"
Rosie nodded. "Truthfully, yes."
"What has she said to you?"
"You really want to know?"
"I do. I'm trying to figure out who my real friends are. Women don't tear other women down – they build them up. So what has Veronica been saying to you, Rosie?"
Rosie was impressed with Betty's boldness and respected it.
"She just blamed me for making you cry at the lunch table," Rosie listed, "and she's also called me a shady bitch, somehow called you a metaphorical fiddle that I played, and told me that I cared about was my reputation."
Betty shook her head in amazement at hearing it all. "And she claims that I'm her new best friend. But to turn around and throw shade at someone who I also consider a friend? That is not okay with me at all."
Rosie sighed. "To be fair, she's just trying to protect you."
"Yeah, but at what cost? Making someone else feel like trash because of a simple misunderstanding? She said she wanted to change from the person she was in New York. Well, I don't see anything different about her from what the tabloids said if this is how she treats other people behind my back."
The brunette's eyebrows shot up. "Sounds like you're planning something."
"I am. And she's going to get an earful."
"L-e-t-s g-o, l-e-t-s g-o, let's go, let's go. Go and get it, get it, let's go, let's go! L-e-t – "
"Stand down, Vixens!"
Cheryl Blossom's voice vibrated through the Riverdale High School gymnasium as the music stopped abruptly.
Rosie had been recruited to help the Vixens with their sound mixing for the pep rally by Betty earlier that afternoon after their talk at her locker. She was annoyed with Cheryl's dictator-like management of the cheerleaders, as well as her rapid-fire commands sent in her own direction. She sat with her head in her hands by the speakers as Cheryl gave an egotistical soliloquy about the pep rally affecting her and her dead twin.
"And listen up," she ordered. "The weather's predicting a downpour the night of the rally, but already, you're raining on my parade."
Rosie rolled her eyes.
"With Jason so present in our collective consciousness, all eyes will be on me. Will this beautiful, exotic, hothouse flower drown under the town's scrutiny, or be swamped by her emotions? The answer, ladies, is 'no' and 'no.' That said, I need star power. I need the Pussycats. Stay loose and limber, ladies, while I make a call."
Rosie watched in annoyed disgust as the redhead strut out of the gym, cell phone in hand, while Betty and Veronica approached. The Lodge girl followed Betty like a puppy, as if she was trying to gain favor in the blonde's eyes; as if she was trying to show her that she was a better friend compared to Rosie.
Betty sat near Rosie's feet, setting her pom-poms down and sighing.
"You look like you're having so much fun," Betty said to Rosie sarcastically.
"So much," chuckled Rosie. "I just love being controlled by a psychopathic tyrant in a cheerleading uniform."
The two girls shared a laugh as Veronica looked on incredulously. Her features morphed into a jealous frown. She addressed Betty.
"After this practice, I'll totally need a pedicure. You?"
"I'll have homework," Betty replied.
Rosie noticed the tense atmosphere between the three of them, and awkwardly decided to look down at her phone. She scrolled mindlessly through Instagram as the other two girls talked.
"I know everyone grieves differently, but Cheryl's hosting a pep rally to cope with her loss. That's either brilliant, or psychotic, or both."
"Yeah, well, at least Cheryl's not putting on an act. Pretending she's a butterfly when she's really a wasp," Betty retorted coldly.
Rosie didn't see the look she sent Veronica, but she knew it was one of bitterness. She was nervous as to how Veronica would react to such a statement.
The raven-haired girl tilted her head, soaking in the not-so-subtle jab at her character.
"For the record, the only reason I went after Rosie here is because I care about you," she defended. "I don't know what she told you, but I'll admit, yes, I've called her names and gotten in her face about it because I don't trust her."
"I'm sitting right here, you know," Rosie replied rapidly.
But the two girls seemed to be in their own world.
"Oh, so you did it to protect me?" Betty questioned doubtfully.
"Damn straight," was the immediate answer out of Veronica's mouth.
"Rosie and I were fine until you butt in this morning with those stupid flowers and that ridiculous gift certificate," Betty accused. "I appreciate the gesture, but Rosie and I are fine. In fact, we're more than fine. We've worked through it all! I know that Archie doesn't like me like that. I've accepted it. And you should, too. I don't feel the need to make Rosie or Archie explain themselves any more. I'm glad you feel the need to stand up for me, Veronica, but I can stand up for myself."
"Oh, like when Cheryl tried fat-shaming you at the table the first day of school?"
"Are you kidding me? You're bringing that up in this conversation? Veronica, that has nothing to do with the fact that you've been tearing down an innocent behind my back and claiming that you're standing up for me! Rosie is a friend. She's proven her honesty and loyalty to me today when she was the one who got up and went after me at lunch. If you really cared, you would have done that for me, too."
Veronica crossed her arms and glanced doubtfully between Rosie and Betty. "Never speak to me again. If that's what you want, I'll accept that. But what, exactly, is wrong with protecting you from people that I don't think are trustworthy?"
"Are you seriously still making that your argument?" Betty exclaimed, shaking her head in disbelief.
"Yes, but I'm…"
"And this is your way of protecting me? Of trying to be friends with me?"
"How do you know I'm not trustworthy?" Rosie cut in, standing up to join in the conversation.
This shut both of the other girls up quickly. Veronica met her eye and glared.
"I don't trust anyone who's caught in a pose like that and tells me that no canoodling happened," Veronica explained.
"But this isn't about my relationship with you at this point," Rosie declared firmly. "You made this about me and Betty. Here's the thing, Veronica – you can't control Betty's thoughts and feelings about people. And she can't control yours. Friendship is about respect. You are disrespecting her thoughts and feelings about me by trying to make me feel bad about a situation that's not even about you! Did you ever think about that?"
Veronica was clearly taken aback by the brutally harsh truth that Rosie laid out in front of her. Her eyes were wide.
But before either she or Betty could respond, Cheryl interjected.
"The Pussycats are in. Oh, sorry, ladies, am I interrupting?"
"I'll see you later, Betty," Rosie said suddenly, grabbing her backpack.
"Where are you going?" the blonde wondered.
"I've got to go get dinner before I go home," she replied quickly. "I just remembered. Talk to you tomorrow, okay?"
The brunette was done with girl drama. She didn't want to be caught in the backlash of a stupid misunderstanding any more. And Cheryl cutting in? That was a recipe for even more chaos then before.
Maybe a small town wasn't something that she would enjoy. People knew each other here way too well. At least in a big city school, it was easy to stay anonymous. If drama happened, you could always find someone new who didn't know about you beforehand. Everyone and their mother knew about everybody's favorite color in Riverdale. Rosie knew it wasn't long before the Lodge, Cooper, and Blossom family figured out all they could about her. And she wasn't even remotely interested in that.
Pop's Diner was at the edge of the North side of town. And even though it was half the town away from Riverdale High, it only took about an hour for Rosie to walk there. In Portland, half a town away was a forty-five-minute car ride and a four-hour walk.
She was grateful for the calm, quaint, small-town scenery as she trudged further away from the friendship telenovela that had become her life.
When did things turn so wrong? She thought. Is this what life in Riverdale is going to be like? Annoying? Everybody offering their opinions about everybody else's lives? Drama-filled?
She inhaled sharply as her gaze fell upon the old-school restaurant ahead. The neon sign proudly announced that it was called Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe. This was the diner that Archie had raved about during one of their music sessions. He was obsessed with it – and it seemed others in town were even more smitten with the place. Archie had even referenced it as the 'heart of Riverdale.'
Rosie's mouth upturned into a small smile. She was curious to see if it lived up to the hype.
The brunette entered the diner and adjusted the dark red beanie on her head, scanning the place for a crown-shaped beanie similar to her own.
"Hi, there, miss," said the elderly man behind the counter kindly. "What can I get started for you?"
"Hi," she replied. "I'm looking for Jughead. Is he here?"
The man chuckled. "I think the better question is, 'when is he not?'"
She smiled as he gestured to a booth to the left.
"Thank you," she told him, walking in the direction of the gray hat near the middle of the diner.
She slid into the sea across from Jughead, who didn't look up from his laptop.
"You're a writer?" she asked.
"I'd like to think so," he replied, eyes still not leaving his screen. His fingers flew across the keyboard.
"What are you writing about?"
She slung off her bag and put in on the vinyl seat next to her.
"Jason Blossom's death," he said grimly. "About how it changed Riverdale."
Rosie's eyebrows raised. "Are we characters in your story that have pseudonyms?"
"Nope, everyone's true identity is gladly revealed through the use of real names."
"Gladly?"
"There are some people in this town who like to hide behind façades. Using their real names changes that. The truth is important to me."
Rosie nodded.
"And speaking of the truth," the dark-haired boy continued, "what do you know about Archie and Grundy?"
Rosie sighed. "Not much, but enough."
"How much is enough?"
"I overheard them talking after the pep rally. From what it sounded like, they weren't exactly talking about music."
"What did they say?"
"He basically chased her down after the assembly and asked her to talk with him in private. He said it was about music, but I'm not convinced. Then Ms. Grundy told him he could only meet with her during official office hours. It wasn't what they said, it was…how they said it. As if they knew what they needed to say, but weren't expressing it verbally. It creeped me out." She sighed and shook her head. "Am I overthinking this?"
Jughead swiped a few fries in ketchup, stuck them in his mouth, and shook his head, too. "No, you're not. I saw them – together."
Rosie's mind reeled, her eyes growing to the size of dinner plates. She almost laughed.
"Are you kidding me?" she said in disbelief.
Jughead was grim as he sipped on a milkshake. "I wouldn't kid about my ex best friend and the school's music teacher making out in music room."
"They were…making out?" Rosie replied in disgust.
"Can we not talk about it? It's making me nauseous," he told her, snatching up more of his French fries.
"I can see that." Sarcasm dripped off every word.
The dark-haired boy smirked slightly as he pushed an empty plate away. But his face fell when he crossed his arms. "We can't just let this affair continue."
"Of course not," Rosie agreed. "So, what do we do? I mean, besides the obvious, which is talk to Archie about it."
"You tell me. You've been hanging around him lately."
"You grew up with him."
"Doesn't mean I know him."
"It means you're more familiar with his reactions in negative or emotional situations."
"Touché."
"So…ideas?"
Jughead's beanie fell backwards on his head ever so slightly at he looked around the diner, thinking deeply.
After a moment of silence, he spoke.
"The best thing we can do is simply confront him."
"And when should we do that?" Rosie asked.
A small bell jingled, announcing the arrival of a new customer at Pop's. Jughead turned in his seat, recognizing the ginger that had just walked in.
"How about now?"
Rosie sighed. "Neutral ground is always good. It makes someone less likely to feel like they are being attacked."
"Even if they are being attacked," Jughead finished, nodding along with her.
The two smiled at each other before spinning in their seats and catching the Andrews boy's eye.
Unfortunately for them, another customer had come in while they were talking, and it was Rosie's least favorite person in the world at the moment besides Cheryl – Veronica Lodge. She sat at the stools in front of the counter, talking with what looked like an older version of herself.
Must be her mom, Rosie thought. And she probably hates me, too.
Archie spotted them at the booth and waved half-heartedly at Veronica before she could speak. He made his way over, looking shocked at Rosie and Jughead sitting together.
"Hey, Rosie," he greeted warmly. His cheeks tinted a faint pink. "Hey, Jug."
"Archie," Jughead nodded. "Want to sit?"
The ginger glanced at the counter, as if nervous to sit, but agreed.
"Sure. Scoot over, Ro."
So Rosie did as Archie requested and moved to her left, making room for the boy on the bench. He folded his arms and rested them on the table, as if waiting for something to happen.
Rosie knew that the conversation would turn awkward in about three seconds, so she decided to start with something relatively normal.
"How was football practice?"
"It was good. Coach Clayton wants me to try out for co-captain."
"Archie, that's spectacular!"
"Thanks. I heard you got dragged into Vixens rehearsals."
Rosie rolled her eyes. "Yeah, Betty talked me into doing sound for the pep rally. Not exactly loving being under Cheryl's rules."
"I don't blame you," he chuckled. His face quickly morphed into a serious expression as he turned to glance at Jughead's grim stare. "What's up, Jug?"
"What's up is I saw you, Archie," he replied slowly. "And Rosie heard you."
A lightning-fast glimpse of panic ran through Archie's eyes, but he quickly leveled himself. However, it was in vain, as Rosie immediately caught on.
"You and Ms. Grundy, the music teacher," she told him.
"Would you two keep your voices down? There's people around," he retorted softly. His eyes flickered around the diner, searching for anyone who might snitch on him.
"I saw you in the music room with her after school today, Arch. I saw you together," Jughead reiterated. "We are trying to help you, dude. Even though I'm not any more. Rosie is. She cares and I care."
Archie sighed, putting his head in his hands.
Rosie turned her body towards him. "Archie, we're worried."
"About what?" he demanded rapidly. "What are you so worried about?"
Rosie was firm. "She's a teacher, Arch. You're sixteen. How old is she?"
"She's twenty-four," he replied. "Not much older than we are."
"Eight years makes a significant age gap, especially when it's your music teacher," Jughead pointed out. "How long? You and Grundy."
"Since the summer."
"That's why you didn't go on the road trip with me?"
"That's why. I like her, Jug. Rosie, I really like her."
Rosie felt close to tears. Her new friend was having an affair with a teacher and he didn't think there was anything wrong with it. She shook her head slowly.
"What, Ro?" Archie wondered, exasperated.
"When I lived in Portland, there was this physics teacher that was seeing a seventeen-year-old student. They were caught and he was sent off to jail. He and the kid got in tons of trouble. The teacher is now a registered sex offender and the kid isn't allowed to see him at all. It was a mess, Arch. The school went ape-crazy and all the parents were shunning this poor student and his family. And, of course, the teacher's family. What we're saying is, Archie, that we don't want something like that to happen to you," Rosie relayed quietly.
The ginger sighed and nodded. "I get it. I appreciate it. But I still like her."
"I'm guessing she's the reason you've been acting weird since summer," Jughead cut in.
"One of the reasons," Archie admitted solemnly.
"One of the reasons?" Rosie questioned.
Archie glanced around the restaurant once more. "We were at Sweetwater River on July 4th. We heard a gunshot. The gunshot."
Rosie's jaw went slack.
Archie was almost afraid to say anything else to the two of them.
"Dude, you have to tell somebody," Jughead urged.
"I can't, and neither can you guys. If somebody finds out, then what happened to that kid at Rosie's school is what's going to happen to me."
"Which is why you should stop this relationship now. Before it's too late," Rosie confirmed resolutely.
Archie begrudgingly nodded. "I get it, I do. I just…what am I supposed to do? I have feelings for her, Rosie. Feelings that aren't easily just…changed."
"She's messing with you, man. She's messing with your mind," Jughead warned. "I saw you guys."
"She's not messing with my mind, Jug," refused Archie. "You don't even know her!"
His thick eyebrows scrunched in frustration.
Rosie knew that Jughead was right. Ms. Grundy may have been using Archie to her advantage, but she also knew that it was possible Ms. Grundy had feelings for Archie, too.
"That may be true, Jug, but I know Ms. Grundy, too," she interjected decisively. "She's not some humanoid robot with no emotion. It's completely possible that she may like him back."
"Yeah, she's not some psychopath," the redhead agreed.
"First of all, that would be sociopath, and secondly, sure, why not? It's possible. But how do we know that? How do you know that, Archie?" spat Jughead.
"You don't even know her, Jug! Hell, you don't even know me!" Archie exclaimed, still trying to keep his voice low.
"Maybe I don't," Jughead replied, throwing his hands up in the air. "Maybe I know nothing. But I used to know this guy once. Archie Andrews. Maybe you've heard of him? He wasn't perfect, but…he always tried to do the right thing, at least."
"Your right isn't his right," Rosie defended reasonably. "Your moral compass and his are completely separate things, morphed by experiences, emotions…"
Jughead, at this point, was utterly bewildered. "Whose side are you on?"
"Maybe I'm not on a side," she snapped. "I'm trying to find a way that Archie understands why we addressed the situation in the first place. And besides that, if you don't understand where he's coming from, you're not going to say the right thing to reason with him."
Jughead was silent for a moment, staring her down suspiciously. Rosie was still a bit of mystery, even to him. Archie was more impressed than anything else.
Rosie stared right back, waiting for an answer. She was determined to find middle ground between the two. She felt that Archie's relationship with Grundy shouldn't be justified, but understood. Why did he feel the need to be with her? What motivated him to even start that relationship in the first place?
However, she was also set on helping Jughead convince their friend that what he heard at Sweetwater River in July was most likely the gunshot that ended Jason Blossom's life. To not go to the police because his eight-year older girlfriend begged him not to? That was the biggest red flag that Rosie had ever heard.
She was anxious for Archie, wondering why the high school music teacher found him so interesting. Sure, he was attractive for a sixteen-year-old boy, and he was talented, but she was so much older! There were probably a plethora of local guys who were interested in her. So why a high school sophomore who was still hiding his passions from his own dad?
"Listen, Arch," Jughead sighed after a long stretch of silence, "Rosie's right. I may not understand why you chose to do what you did, or even why you're still doing it, but…what I do know is how much trouble you'll be in if you're caught. And how much I would hate to see you completely destroyed by whatever Grundy does with you."
Before either Rosie or Archie could respond, Jughead stood, grabbed his laptop, tossed cash on the table, and strode out of the diner.
Rosie was in shock. The crown beanie-wearing boy hadn't even said goodbye. But he was right, too.
Archie glanced over at her, expression almost sheepish.
"Thank you," he told her gratefully.
She shook her head. "Don't thank me. I'm trying to show you that your relationship with Grundy is unhealthy. It's abnormal, Archie."
He grasped his hands together, nodding. "I'm thankful that you're worried. It shows that you're a true friend. But Grundy makes me happy. She makes me feel…like my music matters."
At this, Rosie chuckled slightly. "Archie, you are one of the most talented singer-songwriters I've ever met in all the places that I've been. You could easily make it as a mainstream, acoustic, folk-pop artist on the radio today. You don't need a person to reassure you that your music matters. You work hard. You are true to yourself and your lyrics speak truth. You don't need to be in a relationship where this is such an important factor to you, because, honestly, you're too much of a genius."
And, at that moment, something in Archie changed. The way he smiled at Rosie was different after that. But, of course, Rosie didn't notice. She was too busy trying to ease Archie out of a toxic, treacherous relationship.
Archie's smile was contagious. "You are too nice for your own good, Rosie Green."
"Order for Andrews!"
A female voice called out from behind the counter. Archie looked and slid out from the booth, waiting for Rosie to grab her messenger bag and stand before making his way over.
The woman that had called his name was none other than the older clone of Veronica, who was still seated in front of her.
"Andrews?" said the woman, as if realizing something. "You must be Fred Andrews' son."
"Yes, ma'am. I'm Archie," he replied warmly, taking the bag from her hands.
"Well, Archie, you're just as handsome as your father was," she purred. Her gaze landed on Rosie and a small smirk crept up on the corners of her lips. "Well aren't you a spitting image of your mother?"
Rosie frowned. "You know my mother?"
The woman nodded. "She went to school with us at Riverdale High back in the day. What's your name, sweetie?"
"Rosie," she said.
"I'm Veronica's mom," the woman introduced herself. "Hermione." She turned to her daughter. "Did you mention these two lovely people earlier, mija?"
Veronica fidgeted uncomfortably. "Yes, mom. They sat with me at lunch today."
"Oh, did they now?" Hermione speculated playfully. "Are you two headed home?"
"Rosie and I were about to hang at my house, Mrs. Lodge," Archie told her.
Rosie shot a smile in his direction. She knew he wanted to work on music again.
"Isn't that a coincidence? Veronica was about to go home, too. Would the two of you mind walking Veronica back to the Pembrooke?" She turned to her daughter. "I'm sure they wouldn't mind."
"We don't mind at all," Rosie conjectured, smile slightly strained.
Veronica's grin was plastered on.
"Wonderful," Hermione smirked. "See you at home, Veronica."
Rosie knew that this walk was about to get very awkward very quickly. But, somehow, she knew better than to argue with the Lodge mama bear, and exited Pop's with Archie and Veronica in tow.
Anxiety snuck through her veins, creeping into her heart, pumping it faster.
Was Veronica going to try to crush her again?
I'm so sorry I haven't updated since December! But I'm on spring break, so expect at least one more chapter before I go back to school for spring quarter!
I am OVERWHELMED by the amount of people that are interested in this story! It's honestly insane how many people have followed this story. I don't have time to look through everyone's usernames, but a great big THANK YOU AND I LOVE YOU to the 112 people that have followed this story, and the same to the 80 people who favorited!
Now, let's move on to my review responses:
silentmayhem: I don't remember if you got my PM, but your review made total sense to me! I love your exploration of the characters' reactions to Rosie, as well as different situations that may take place between them all. I love your predictions. And thank you! I've tried really hard to make sure that the established characters stay true to their actors' portrayal on the show. And I love the Ethel suggestion! I feel like they would be friends for sure.
UniqueLightxLove: I know, right? Ronnie is a bit too much sometimes for me, especially in the current episodes of season 2. I feel like I'm constantly rolling my eyes. And yay! I'm so glad you're liking the story! Thank you for the review!
Guest: Thank you! I guess I do use 'spectacular' a lot, but it's a habit of Rosie's to call things spectacular. It's kind of a strange quirk of hers. 😊
GirlyGamer1986: Sorry it took so long! Here's that chapter you wanted!
RoseAmeliaSarahNoblePond: I'm so glad you like it! And yeah, I feel like I kind of created Rosie to form a quick friendship with Archie. There's something so magnetic about them together that I just LOVE writing. I hope you liked their interaction with Jughead! It played out a little different in print than I imagined, but there's a lot more Juggie/Rosie interactions coming within the next chapters. They're definitely going to start getting to know each other more. 😊
Everyone, let me know your predictions about the walk that Archie, Rosie, and Veronica have to take together! What do you think will happen? Will Veronica go easy on Rosie? Will Archie verbally attack Veronica for being mean to Rosie? Will Rosie freak out on Veronica or Archie?
I'll try to post soon – I promise! Thank you all so much for reading this chapter of Ends of the Earth! 😊