Chapter 8: Hurting
Help me
It feels like the walls are caving in
Sometimes I feel like giving up
No medicine is strong enough
Someone help me
In My Blood by Shawn Mendes
"That I'm guilty."
The haunting words of Cheryl Blossom echoed through Riverdale High School like a shout into a deep, dark cave.
As the resident female redhead stood with her arms out, waiting to be shackled, the reality of the heaviness surrounding the demise of her twin brother hit Rosie like a bag of rocks to the chest. Had Cheryl killed Jason? Was that why she was guilty? Or was she guilty of not telling the whole truth?
She was witness to when the Blossom parents led their only child out of the school, hands clamped down on either arm. It was like a sheep being led to slaughter.
She and Archie stood together, watching in awe as Penelope and Clifford dragged Cheryl through the double doors and away to their horror movie mansion, Thorn Hill. Chatter exploded in the halls, rumors already swirling like poison. Accusations of her committing this terrible act were frontrunners in a race that the students of Riverdale had created in order for them to attempt to discover the truth.
Archie and Rosie sighed as they parted ways to their next classes, the rooms on either side of the school. They didn't want to hear the sodden whispers of desperate freshmen trying to make it with the "popular crowd" or to seem cool.
One of those freshmen happened to be Rosie's brother, William Green. She merely shook her head in disbelief as she passed by him and his new posse. He was spinning some elaborate fabrication about how he had comforted Cheryl before Biology, already knowing the truth – that she hadn't killed him, but helped him escape some crazy tirade the Blossoms had started about Jason and Polly.
Rosie rolled her eyes at her sibling, wondering how the mindless zombies he hung out with believed anything that rolled off his tongue. He could have announced how the moon was made of cotton candy and the goons would have agreed willingly.
The Green girl's mind weighed heavily on Cheryl and her admittance to guilt, as well as what Archie knew through the rest of school day. During Cheryl's interrogation, had she admitted to shooting Jason? To hearing someone fire a gun close by?
She only hoped that whatever Archie had heard at Sweetwater River wouldn't make him a suspect, too.
However, as she learned in a conversation with the gang the next morning, the town itself was one big suspect.
"You found Jason at the riverbank, Kevin," Archie said in the student lounge as they all sat around together before class. "So, are you a suspect now?"
"My dad says we all are, including me," he replied.
"Not me, girl," Veronica responded quickly. "I don't know these people."
Rosie sat across from Kevin and Betty on a separate couch. She shook her head. "I guess I'm not, either. I mean, I wasn't even in town until two weeks ago."
A smile crept onto Kevin's face. "Guys, should we maybe re-binge Making a Murderer on Netflix tonight?"
"Sorry. Can't. Got to stay late to work on the paper," Betty chuckled.
"Since when does Riverdale High have a newspaper?" asked Rosie, sipping on a coffee.
"It's been in hibernation for a few years, but I was hoping to revive it," the blonde explained. Her face lit up. "Hey, you should join, Ro!"
Rosie's eyebrows shot up. "Me? I'm not the greatest writer."
"But you're a good songwriter," Archie chimed in. "That has to help, right?"
The rest of them nodded in agreement.
The brunette sighed. "I'm sorry, Betty, but I would make a terrible reporter."
"You don't have to write. Would you be interested in being the resident photographer?" suggested Betty.
Rosie smiled slightly, thinking about her offer. She always had loved photography and it would be a great way to keep her out of her own house – away from her brother and parents. And she spent a lot of time in Archie's garage writing songs. Maybe this was a way for her to be more involved in school so that she could get into a college with a good music program…?
"Okay, fine," she gave in. "But I'm not writing a word."
Betty squealed a little. "Yay! I'm so excited to start."
"I'm sorry, Kev," Rosie apologized. "I guess you'll have to count me out."
"Count me out, too. I've got a date tonight," Veronica commented.
"You do?" wondered Archie.
"Which Riverdale hottie made the cut?" Kevin wondered.
Veronica looked playfully off behind Archie's head. Rosie turned to glance in that general direction to see another jock standing with Moose and Reggie. Her eyebrows raised. Who the heck was that?
"Hey, V-Lo," said the boy, "I'll swing by the Pembrooke to pick you up at eight?"
"I'll be waiting," she smiled.
"Cool," he replied. And with the two behind him smirking, they strode out like a pack of wolves after catching their prey.
"Chuck Clayton?" Betty questioned doubtfully.
Kevin, however, for some reason that was unknown to Rosie, was almost giddy with excitement. "You're going on a date with Chuck?"
"He's kind of a player," the blonde warned.
"Who cares? He's the hottest of hot!" exclaimed Kevin.
Rosie recognized his last name. "Is he the football coach's son?"
"Yeah, he's on the team with me," Archie nodded.
"What's so special about that?" asked Rosie. "I mean…he's just a football player."
"No, no, no, Rosie," the Keller boy waved her off. "You don't understand. In Riverdale, that's like dating a Kennedy."
"Really?" the brunette deadpanned. "Maybe it's my lack of small-town knowledge and social norms, but…he's the football coach's son. So? How is that any different than if I started dating Reggie? He plays football."
"Why would you date Reggie?" Archie rapidly jumped in, confused.
"I'm not saying I would," Rosie replied quickly. "But theoretically – would it be any different?"
"Uh yeah," Kevin said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Think about it like this: Chuck in Riverdale is the equivalent of Chris Hemsworth in Hollywood – talented and extremely hot. Now, Reggie is like Scott Eastwood – although they have the same job, one is more sought after because of his name and what he's done. Scott Eastwood may be an attractive man, but he can't act worth a crap."
Rosie somewhat understood, although the analogy didn't connect well with her. "I get it. Although, I have to say Chris Hemsworth is not my type."
At this, Archie and Veronica laughed.
Kevin looked offended. "Not your type? Chris Hemsworth is everyone's type!"
"Can we get back to the point?" Betty chuckled.
"The point is that dating Chuck Clayton will put Veronica on top of the social food chain here at Riverdale High," Kevin concluded.
"Why didn't you just say that earlier?" laughed Rosie.
Everyone else giggled.
"I was trying to be more interesting with my explanation," Kevin said, exasperated.
The warning bell rang, indicating that class would begin very soon.
"Rosie, meet me in room 220 today at lunch! We'll get started on waking the paper," Betty told her.
"Sounds great!"
Rosie walked into room 220, expecting to see computers lit up and ready to go, lights that worked, and keyboards that didn't date back to 1985. But what she found was the complete opposite – including Betty uncovering equipment and rifling through cupboards.
The brunette chuckled slightly as she slung her messenger bag off her shoulder and onto a spare desk.
"So, this is the Blue & Gold? Kind of dark and dismal for a school newspaper."
Betty's head snapped up from the desk drawer she was clawing at. She smiled. "Hey, Rosie. Sure, it's not exactly what I was expecting either, but we'll make it work."
"But there's only two of us," said Rosie. "How are we going to run a newspaper with one reporter and one photographer?"
"Three of us. There are three of us," corrected Betty, circling around the desk.
Rosie's eyebrows scrunched together, nose wrinkling slightly. "Who else did you pull in?"
A voice sounded from the doorframe, announcing himself.
"If print journalism is dead, what am I doing here?"
The Green girl spun on her heel to see Jughead leaning on the entrance to the classroom.
"Hi, Rosie," he grinned.
"Hi, Jughead," she grinned back.
"The Blue & Gold isn't dead, Juggy. It's just…dormant," argued Betty cheerfully, wiping dust off an old typewriter. "But waking up."
Rosie moved an elderly computer out of the way, jumping up to sit on the empty space on the desk. She swung her legs back and forth, listening to Betty's pitch for Jughead to join the paper.
"You're writing a novel, right? About Jason Blossom's murder?"
"I am," confirmed the boy, holding up a magnifying glass. "Riverdale's very own In Cold Blood."
"Terrifying novel," Rosie chimed in. "But a masterpiece that told the story of how a small, rural town was torn apart by a family mysteriously murdered? That's Riverdale right now."
"Exactly," said Jughead, pointing at her approvingly.
"Which started out as a series of articles. I'm hoping you'll come write for the Blue & Gold. Rosie here has already agreed to be our resident photographer. And, hopefully, provide us with a way to record our interviews with certain eye-witnesses and interviewees."
"I just don't think the school paper's a good fit for my voice."
"Look, Juggy…Jason's death changed Riverdale," Betty told him slowly, walking forward and leaning on the desk next to Rosie. "People don't want to admit that, but it's true. We all feel it. Nothing this bad was ever supposed to happen here, but it did. I want to know why."
"I want to know why, too," Rosie agreed. "I've never been in a place like this before. In such a small town where everyone knows everyone, there has to be something deeper going on. Secrets that no one uncovers unless they peel back a layer and dig. I want to be part of the discovery of those secrets – unearth the raw truth about Jason and his death and how it effects people through photography. But I can't do that unless there is someone else helping me. I can't write like you can."
Rosie could tell that her little speech had gotten through to Jughead.
His eyes flickered between the two hopefuls.
"Would I get complete freedom?" he wondered doubtfully.
"I'll help, and edit…and suggest, but it's your story. It's your voice," Betty replied.
Jughead's eyes narrowed slightly at the blonde, shaking his head in suspicion. "Doesn't sound like complete freedom, but…I'm in."
Rosie smiled. It was nice to have someone else on the team, even if she hadn't willingly joined in the first place.
"Okay, great!" cheered Betty. "Um, in that case, I have your first assignment."
"Already?" Rosie chuckled.
"I want us to get a head start, Ro," the blonde defended. She turned back to address Jug. "There's one person who was at the river on July 4th that no one is talking about."
"Dilton Doiley and his scouts," Jughead responded quickly. It was clear that they were on the same page.
"Exactly," agreed Betty.
Jughead smiled slightly, thumbed his nose, and quickly left the room.
Rosie was satisfied with the crew that Betty had assembled, even if it was only three of them. She launched herself off the desk, landing gracefully on converse-clad feet.
"What do you want me to do, chief?" she asked.
Betty's response was immediate. "I want to do a welcome-back edition, so some shots of everyday student life and the school would be fantastic."
"Great. I've got a really nice camera I use for filming YouTube videos, so that works perfectly."
"Awesome!" Betty squealed. "Oh, I just can't wait to get this paper out."
"It's going to be great, Betty," Rosie told her.
The two girls worked through lunchtime to get the room up and running for the Blue & Gold, enjoying each other's company, as well as sharing eagerness for discovering more about the mystery behind the murder of Jason Blossom.
Rosie walked towards home in the dark. She wasn't worried about the possibility of Jason Blossom's murderer being anywhere near. She knew if she screamed, then someone in one of the houses near her would come to her rescue. It was Riverdale – most of the citizens in town were decent people who cared about others' well-being.
With every step, Rosie thought of the day that was behind her. She was happy to join the Blue & Gold, especially if she wasn't writing. Her dyslexia made it difficult for her to write anything more than a song. Although lyrics flowed from her mind like a river, technical writing dammed up her brain. It was like the neurons were blocked by little working beavers building a home in the receptors. Letters flipped in her mind, reading backwards and upside down –which were practically impossible for her to decipher at one glance, or even two.
She thought back to the conversation they all had in the student lounge. Veronica was free to do whatever she wanted, but Rosie worried about her. Chuck hung around Moose and Reggie a lot, as well as the other guys on the football team, most of whom were complete meatheads; not to mention her all-too-perfect brother.
Archie, thank goodness, was not a meathead.
They hadn't spoken much that day. He had asked her during Bio if she was free to work on music, but she knew she had to take pictures for the newly revived school paper that Betty was so passionate about. She also had homework she had to complete, which she was not looking forward to.
Speaking of Archie, Rosie glanced at his house as she walked by. She smiled at it and started to continue on when she heard a hiss from above.
"Pssst! Rosie!"
What the hell is that? She thought, baffled.
She turned her gaze upwards to see Archie's red head hanging out of his window.
"Rosie!" he whispered.
"Why are you being so quiet?" she asked, equally as soft in volume.
"I'm grounded," he explained. "I need to talk to someone. You got time?"
Rosie took out her phone to check the time. "Yeah, I do. But…if you're grounded, your dad probably won't let me in."
"There's a tree to your right that I use to sneak in and out all the time," he told her, pointing to the large birch tree. "Can you climb?"
Rosie grimaced, but shrugged. "I haven't climbed a tree since I was ten. But I'll try."
She walked to the side of the house and tightened the strap on her bag. She didn't want it tumbling down and alerting Fred that she was secretly visiting his son.
The brunette studied the branches for a moment, mentally mapping a way through the tree. When she was satisfied with her chosen path, she stepped up on a lower branch, then boosted herself up on the next one. She easily found a way up, but was nervous about walking across the tree limb onto the roof.
"I'm right here to help you across," Archie told her from his window.
She nodded, trying to focus on not falling to her doom in the Andrews' front lawn.
She carefully braced herself against the trunk, then held out her arms for balance as she quickly jetted across the long, wide branch that ended at the roof.
Her heart thumped so loudly, she was sure Archie could hear it from inside his room.
The ginger extended his hand out, torso sticking almost completely out of his bedroom window. Rosie put her weight on the foot that was resting on the roof, then quickly grasped Archie's hand for support. She tried walking on the roof, but Archie basically pulled her into his room. It was so unexpected, Rosie toppled through the opening, falling flat on her face. The thump was so loud, that Archie broke into a panic.
"My dad probably heard that!" he whispered fervently.
Rosie tried to get up herself, but Archie tugged her to her feet and shoved her towards his closet.
"Are you kidding me?" she murmured, annoyed.
"I'm grounded, Ro. He can't know you're in here or we'll both get in trouble."
She opened the door and stepped in, closing it as quietly as possible. Unfortunately, there was a loud creaking.
Rosie stood in the dark, hardly daring to breathe. Her ears strained to listen to what was happening outside.
She sniffed deeply, inhaling a scent of sweat, as well as a faint hint of Old Spice deodorant. She grimaced, looking to her left. In a blue mesh basket was Archie's football gear. No wonder it smelled slightly foul in there.
She froze as she heard the bedroom door open.
"You okay up here, son?" came Fred's voice, full of concern.
"Yeah, sorry, Dad," said Archie apologetically. "I dropped my guitar case when I was trying to put it away."
"You're fine. I'll be downstairs doing some paperwork."
And with that, the door shut with a click. There was a long pause before Archie let Rosie out.
"Sorry," he told her quietly. "Had to let my dad get down the stairs first."
Rosie understood. "You're good, Arch." She sat down on the floor, leaning up against his bed. "What's up?"
Archie sat next to her, sighing in turn as he seemingly sank into the carpet.
Sensing he was frustrated, Rosie spoke up. "What's going on, Arch?"
He was quiet for a moment, staring off into space. Then, his eyes met hers. "I hate this, Rosie."
"What do you hate?" she asked quickly.
"I hate this," he replied, gesturing to his room. "Being trapped up here. I hate that I had to talk to Sheriff Keller and Principal Weatherbee today. I don't think they believed me."
Rosie shrugged. She told him the truth. "They might not have. They might not have believed you at all. I mean, think about it. A good kid from a good family coming forward to confess that he was there the day Jason was murdered? It's a little sketchy to be honest, Arch."
The redhead nodded, agreeing. "That's true. But Jason wasn't murdered on July 4th."
Rosie's breath caught in her throat. "What are you talking about?"
"Sheriff Keller told me that Jason's autopsy said he died like a week later."
Her eyebrows shot up. "A week later? Then he couldn't have been shot that day."
Archie seemed confused at first, then ran over the scenario in his head. "You're right. A shot in the forehead would kill you almost instantly. And from what I heard, he wasn't shot anywhere else."
"If Cheryl also confessed to hearing a gunshot – ,"
"I think she did. I'm not sure."
"Then they know that Jason didn't die that day."
"I just – I just hate lying about being there with Vegas," Archie groaned. "I was there with Grundy."
"Did you tell her about your confession yet?" Rosie wondered gently.
"I'm doing it tomorrow. I'm also thinking about ending things with her tomorrow."
The brunette was caught off guard. "You are?"
The redhead nodded. "Yeah. You're right, Rosie. It's too dangerous for us to be together. I care about her…a lot. But if anyone besides you and Jughead finds out about us, we're done for."
Rosie was overjoyed to hear this.
"I think that's really mature of you, Arch," she told him.
"You do?"
"Of course. Now, there's something else bothering you, isn't there?"
Archie glanced at her, eyes narrowed. "How did you know?"
"I'm good at reading people," she giggled. "Also, I could feel the tension between you and your dad all the way in the closet. Did you have a fight?"
He nodded. "Yeah. It was about music."
"Is he not supportive?"
"Not really. I mean, he's fine with me writing songs and stuff, but he doesn't think it will get me anywhere. He'll come to my football games, but if it was a performance, he wouldn't care."
Rosie had a flashback of her mother commanding she remove all her recording equipment from her room from the few weeks before. She sighed shakily and hugged her knees, resting her head on arms.
"I understand that."
Archie immediately sympathized deeply with Rosie. He had seen first-hand how awful her brother was to her, and was especially apprehensive after he had heard what happened with her ukulele. He realized that she didn't talk much about herself and her own struggles.
"Rosie," he said softly.
Her eyes met his, although her head didn't move.
"How bad is it at home?"
To his surprise, she scoffed.
"My home life isn't what we're talking about here, Arch."
"I want to talk about it with you. If that's okay," he insisted. "I don't want to make you uncomfortable, but the way your brother treats you isn't right."
Rosie's heart leapt into her throat. She shook her head, holding back tears as she thought of the way her family treated her. But wasn't it out of love that they did so?
She readjusted and turned her body to face Archie. She folded her legs under and put her hands in her lap. She exhaled loudly. Her body shook slightly. She had never confessed anything to anyone about her family. Archie was the first to hear of such things…ever.
Archie sat waiting patiently.
"My family…" she began. "My family has never treated me equally to Will."
The ginger shook his head in disbelief. He hated them already, but this? This made him hate them even more.
"My dad makes good money. He's a contractor. He's making more money with your dad than he ever has before. And that's great. It's spectacular, but…I'm not the kid my parents believe in. At least, not outwardly. They've never said it to my face. They've never even said they loved me. I mean, I'm sure they have, but I don't remember any time where they did."
Her body shook slightly as tears began to leak out her eyes.
Archie was heartbroken. He couldn't imagine what she had gone through as a child. He reached out and took one of her hands in his own.
She sputtered slightly, smiling at him for a second, but not before opening up even more about her parents and brother.
"Their support of Will has grown exponentially over the past few years since he's gotten more into basketball. They used to be somewhat interested in my music, but they've never financially invested in me at all. They buy Will new stuff all the time. Yesterday, I got home, and my mom had a bunch of Adidas apparel sitting on the kitchen table for him. It's little stuff like that. And Will has some anger issues. Hell, my mom and dad have anger issues. And I know that they haven't been there for me, but I'm sure they say all that mean stuff out of love. I'm sure their intentions are good."
Archie knew that this was an outright lie, which surprised him, because Rosie was so honest with everyone, and as he knew, with herself. But apparently, when it came to her family, she wasn't honest with herself about their behavior. But he wasn't about to call her out when she was so emotional about it all.
Instead, he moved closer and put his arms around her.
Rosie felt safe in his embrace. She wrapped her arms around him, buried her face in his chest, and sobbed. Never in her whole life, had somebody done this for her; just let her cry about something while they sat and listened.
Archie hugged her tightly, not wanting to let her go home. But was it even a home for Rosie? He doubted it. Home wasn't a place where you lived in fear of your belongings being destroyed or in a place where your own family didn't ever tell you they loved you.
They sat that way for ten minutes.
Then, Rosie untangled herself from Archie, although one of his arms stayed draped around her shoulders. She sniffed, unclogging her nose, then wiped her glasses on her gray Ramones t-shirt.
"What can I do?" he inquired gently.
"What do you mean?" Rosie wondered as she brushed stray tears from her face.
"How can I help you feel better?"
A smile played around her lips. "Doing exactly what you're doing now – being my friend."
Archie couldn't help but notice how blue her eyes were. The whites were all red and bloodshot, but something about that made her eyes stand out like sparklers on a dark night.
He snapped himself out of a strange, unexpected trance and nodded in response.
Rosie checked her phone again. She sighed. "I need to get home."
She stood as Archie's arm slipped away. She wished it was still there.
"I'll walk you home," he told her.
"You're not getting in trouble for me, Archie," she told him firmly. "You're staying here like your dad wants."
"But I want to walk you home," he retorted. "And my dad won't even notice. It'll be like twenty minutes. He won't notice I'm gone for twenty minutes, Ro."
She crossed her arms and shook her head at his stubborn nature. "You are too determined. Fine."
She didn't want to admit it, but she didn't want to be alone that evening. And Archie didn't want her to be alone, either.
Rosie got up in the morning with a migraine. She threw on a black t-shirt with a small drawing of a dinosaur on the corner, a dark green, plaid flannel, jeans, and her favorite pearl white Doc Martens. It was comfy clothing for a day where she didn't feel comfortable in her body.
The night before had been extremely emotionally draining. Half of her kicked herself for confessing all the negative feelings she had been bottling up about her family to Archie. But the other half was relieved. She had never told anyone about how her family affected her before. She trusted Archie with the information wholeheartedly. She knew that if he told anyone, it would be his dad. But Rosie didn't mind that. She respected Fred Andrews, even if he had a hard time understanding how important music was to Archie.
She grabbed a large coffee on her way to school. She'd only had a few migraines in her lifetime, but caffeine had always made her feel better.
When she arrived at school, she saw Betty and Kevin standing by her locker.
"Hey, Rosie," Kevin greeted.
"Hey," Rosie replied, voice somewhat low. She squinted as she looked up at him. The fluorescent lights in the hallway pained her eyes.
"Are you okay?" Betty wondered.
"Migraine," the brunette replied. "But I got the pictures you wanted for the Blue & Gold last night."
"Thanks," said Betty. "We can download them onto the main computer at lunch. I've already gotten a few articles written."
"Already?" mused Rosie as she opened her locker and put things away.
"What can I say? I'm a fast writer."
"Ooh, there's Veronica!" gushed Kevin quickly.
He scurried over to the Lodge girl. Betty and Rosie followed.
"So, how'd it go with Chuck?" he pressed.
Veronica chuckled. "Chuck has muscles for days, but his conversation is not the stuff of Oscar Wilde, or even Diablo Cody."
"You value quality over quantity then?" joked Rosie.
Veronica was about to answer with another quip about muscles, but another voice stopped her. It was one of Cheryl's she-goblins that worshipped the very ground she walked on.
"Hey, Veronica. How was the Sticky Maple you had last night?"
"The what now?"
"The Sticky Maple Chuck gave you?" the other girl mocked. "How was it?"
Rosie frowned.
Veronica was as equally puzzled. "We had a brownie sundae, if that's what you hyenas mean."
Betty and Kevin shared a weary glance, but not before several phones dinged.
"Why do you two look so nervous all of a sudden?" Rosie asked, worried at what a 'Sticky Maple' could mean for Veronica.
Kevin shook his head, pulled out his phone, and opened the notification. "Oh, my god."
"What?"
Veronica snatched his phone out of his hand and stared down at the Instagram post.
Rosie looked over her shoulder.
The picture was a selfie of Veronica and Chuck, but over Veronica's face was a strange watermark that looked like a trail of maple syrup had spilled on the phone.
"What the hell is a Sticky Maple?" she demanded.
"It's kind of what it sounds like. It's a Riverdale thing," Kevin explained.
"No, Kevin, it's a slut-shaming thing," Veronica refused angrily. "And I'm neither a slut, nor am I going to be shamed by someone named, excuse me, Chuck Clayton."
"What the hell is the point of it?" Rosie wondered.
"It's just a thing a few guys on the football team do," Kevin told the two new girls. "I'm not saying it's right, but it happens."
"Does he really think he can get away with this? Does he not know who I am? I will cut the brakes on his souped-up phallic symbol," the Lodge girl threatened.
"Or we can go to Principal Weatherbee," Betty cut in.
"Given what I've seen of that man, I don't think he would do much about this situation," Rosie told the three honestly. "Think about Chuck's status. If he's really like a Kennedy, he's basically untouchable by Weatherbee."
"Exactly," Veronica agreed firmly. "He's the resident golden boy of the school. Weatherbee won't do crap about this."
"Or I can expose him in the pages of the Blue & Gold. Yeah, Rosie and I can do that!" Betty suggested desperately.
Rosie shook her head. She knew that exposing him wasn't going to be enough for Veronica. And it wasn't the justice that she deserved.
"No," Veronica refused. "Spoken like a true good girl who always follows the rules."
She slammed Kevin's phone back into his hands, storming off down the hallway. Kevin's back flew against the lockers, his face showing the clear shock it gave him. Rosie's eyes went wide. She shared a glance of disbelief with the Keller boy. Veronica was a true woman warrior who wouldn't let some meathead, moronic jock like Chuck Clayton get in her way. It was admirable, but decidedly a tad terrifying.
Rosie rushed after Veronica with Betty.
"Well, I don't follow rules," Veronica continued fiercely, "I make them. And, when necessary, I break them. You want to help me get revenge on Chuck? Awesome. But here's the deal girls – you two better be willing to go full dark, no stars. What do you say, Betty? In or out?"
Betty's face went blank. "Why didn't you ask Rosie that?"
Rosie opened her mouth to respond but realized that she didn't have an answer. Veronica replied for her.
"Rosie doesn't care about the rules. I assumed she was already in."
Rosie cocked an eyebrow, puzzled, as they strode on towards wherever Veronica led.
"How do I not care about the rules?" she wondered.
"Girl, you threw a caramel macchiato on Moose and Reggie for justice. You'd gladly break some necks to get revenge on a sexist jerk," she told them.
Betty nodded.
Rosie thought for a second. "Yeah, you're completely right."
Then she saw exactly where Veronica was headed.
"The boy's locker room?" exclaimed Betty. "Veronica, what – "
But the Lodge girl had already shoved the door aside and strut in, grabbing Betty's arm in the process.
This is going to be interesting, thought Rosie, inhaling sharply as she went in after them.
Hi everyone! I'm so sorry it's been several months since my last update! I've been SO busy with work and finishing up school and all that fun stuff.
I'm so excited to see how much people are enjoying Ends of the Earth! It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Hopefully you all enjoyed this chapter. I think my favorite part to write was Archie and Rosie's heart to heart. I loved being able to write Rosie opening up to someone about her family. I hope you'll all stick around to read what happens in chapter 9!
Here are some review responses:
Guest: Thank you so much! I'm excited to have you read more into when Rosie and Archie really begin to like each other. Hope you enjoyed this chapter! 😊
GamerGirl2211: Oh my gosh thank you for those words of high praise! I am honored! I can't wait for you to read more and I really hope you liked this installment! 3
guest: Thank you so much!
Guest: Thank you! Enjoy this chapter!
4Eva Knight: Thanks for all your reviews! I hope you liked this chapter, too. 😊
laxtjedi: Haha I'm so glad you loved the history! Thanks for your review!
Djone246: Hope you enjoyed this update! Thank you so much! 😊
EllieDragon: Wow! Thank you so freaking much! I can tell you that Jug and Rosie do grow to be closer friends for sure in these next few chapters. Yeah, Will and the parents are literally the worst. I hope you enjoyed the Rosie and Archie scenes! 3
I will do my best to post another chapter soon! I start my very few months of college soon, so I'll do my best to keep up with updates, but I may not be able to update again for a couple months. Until I do update, thank you all so much for the follows, favorites, and reviews! I am seriously blown away by the love this fic is getting. 3