I should have ignored her and left myself standing. I wouldn't have gotten into this mess otherwise.

"Yeah, I just moved here," I said, not looking at this girl in the eyes. Who's in God's name possessed this girl to come and talk to me when I'm clearly not in the mood to talk. Usually, a normal person would get the hint and leave someone alone when they are sitting by themselves. I wonder if all of the people here are this way. If that's the case, then I'm going to have a hard time finding a place to write.

"Ah, I moved here a couple months ago." The girl smiled, showing her unnaturally white teeth. She either has a great dentist, or she's wealthy. She motioned her hand to herself. "My name's Veronica." She paused for a moment, waiting for my reaction and possibly a response from me.

My mind reeled, searching for the thing I was supposed to say next. It was like my mind just suddenly stopped working. Buy some time Gwen. I thought as I reached my hand towards her. Gently I placed my hand on the top of my screen and tilted it down to look like I was appearing to close my laptop to give her my full attention. My eyes glanced in the direction from which she came from. The three people at that table were looking my our general direction, talking to one another quietly. The wide eyes girl looked curious. The red-haired boy looked at Veronica and me.

And then there was the other one.

This was the boy where I couldn't see his face. The boy with the oddly shaped beanie. He had these furrowed eyebrows that made him look like he was in a bad mood, pasty skin with very little color. There were even dark circles under his eyes that made his gray eyes seemed brighter than they actually were. Strands of his black hair covered part of his forehead. This guy was the one that made me most uncomfortable.

And I don't even know why.

Both of us made direct eye contact for a moment before I diverted my eyes back to Veronica's dark irises.

"Gwen. My name's Gwen." I answered finally, bewildered by the intense eye contact with the boy.

"Random question, but are you happening to be enrolling into Riverdale High School?" Her question made it seem like she was anticipating for me to say yes. According to my mom, I was going to the school on the Northside of Riverdale. She made it very clear when she talked to me over the phone several hours earlier.

"I-I believe so. Is that the school on the Northside?" I asked dumbly. God by the way I was asking these questions, I really did sound like a foreigner. Veronica nodded, not making an effort to point out how clueless I am about this town.

"So, you're going the girl that Betty and I are going to show around school tomorrow. We were wondering what kind of person you'd be."

Wait…what?

Is that supposed to be a compliment? They were discussing what kind of person I would be when I got to this school? I guess some things about high school never seem to change. Also, the fact that I'm getting shown around surprised me. Out of all of the schools that I'm enrolled to, very few of them never had someone there to show me around. This was the first school in a long time to do something like that.

Not to mention that this whole scene right now feels like it could be from a cheesy dramatic television show for teens.

"Then it's a good thing we ran into each other," I answered honestly, taking a brief glance at the table. The people weren't looking at us anymore but instead talking about something with each other. The guy in the beanie had his eyes on the table, clearly thinking about something other than what the other two were talking about.

"Yeah, and we're going to make sure that you're going to survive this place." Veronica smiled. I exchanged a brief smile with her, one that looked a little forced. I was about to ask her about if I should watch out for anything or specifically anyone when I was saved by the waiter.

"Here you go, miss. One strawberry milkshake to go." The waiter spoke as he handed me a styrofoam cup with a lid tightly attached to it. I smiled briefly before taking the cup into my hands.

"I hate to cut this off Veronica, but I need to head back. My mother is probably worried and thinks I got lost." I said while completely closing my laptop and throwing it in my bag. "It was great to meet you, and I'll see you tomorrow in school." I stood up quickly, grabbing the cup in the process. Veronica stood up slowly, following my lead.

There was a look that passed between Veronica and Betty that I could not place. It almost looked like the two was planning something.

"Hey, why don't my friends and I walk you back. It's dangerous in Riverdale, especially at night." I looked at her and the group of people sitting at the table. Is that really a good idea?

The worst thing that could happen was getting robbed by these group of people. But Veronica seemed nice enough. She didn't appear like she wanted to take advantage of me. They all could be going to the same school as I am tomorrow.

But all I want right now is to be alone.

"Thanks for the offer, but I'd prefer to go back by myself. I need to figure out this town somehow. Maybe next time."

By the time I got back home, it was nearly midnight. My mom left the porch light on; I wonder if she was still awake and waiting for me to get home.

I approached the door and opened it without even a hint of caution. It opened loudly, sounding like the hinges haven't been oiled in years.

My mom was in the kitchen, cleaning off the dishes before stacking them next to the sink. She looked deep in thought when I placed her milkshake on the counter.

"One strawberry milkshake from Pops," I spoke loudly, making sure my mother heard me over the sound of the running of the water. Quickly she turned off the faucet and grabbed her milkshake, her hands still wet with the water.

"Thank you, sweetie. How was your run?" I rolled my eyes by how chipper she sounded.

"Honestly, I wish I didn't go. That was way too much social interaction for me."

"Social interaction is good. Besides you need to be able to make some friends. We are going to be staying for a while." I groaned in response to how cheerful she was being about this new place.

"Well, I'm going to head upstairs and start unpacking. Good night." I heard my mom respond, but I was already up the stairs and too far away to register her response. In a matter of moments, I bolted up the stairs and into what was now going to be my new room.

I closed my bedroom door with a soft click before turning around. Before I got here, most of the boxes that had my stuff were already shipped here. There were several boxes, all aligned on one side of my lilac wall, all marked in big black lettering. The luggage I bought was only a carry on for the long drive here.

So maybe it's a good idea to at least look like I had already started unpacking

With a press of a few buttons and an Exacto knife, I called up Ashlyn.

"Hello" She answered in a voice that sounded like a cartoon character.

"Hey, do you have a while?"

"If you mean all night? Yeah, what's up?" So while I opened boxes and looked through its contents, I told Ashlyn about my run in at Pops. I mentioned the confrontation with Veronica and the guy with the beanie.

It took a while for Ashlyn to process what I told her before she gave any response.

"Sounds like your day was pretty eventful." There was the sound of keys tapping in the background. "What was the name of the town you're living in now?" Her question slightly threw me off guard.

"Riverdale, why?" I questioned suspiciously. What in the world is she planning?

"I thought I heard something about that town a while back. I'm not sure where though." She paused for a moment while the tapping of computer key's continued on for a while. "Keep talking about this boy you're attached to now. What exactly does he look like?" I thought to myself for a moment. What would be the best way to describe him? He almost reminds me of an actor that I've seen a long time ago when I was a kid.

"He's like...an adult version of Cole Sprouse from the Suite Life of Zach and Cody, except he's more dark and mysterious." I paused for a moment. "Oh! And his hair is black instead of blonde, which is mostly covered by a beanie."

"Hmm, sounds like he's cute. Did you get his name?" I felt my stomach sink. How would I have gotten his name? He barely talked in the first place.

"Negative."

"Then how in the world am I supposed to find him on the Internet dude?!" Ashlyn practically screamed on the other side of the phone. I shrugged my shoulders, even though I knew she couldn't see me.

"I didn't think about it. I'm sure I'll find out tomorrow when I go to school."

"You better, or I'm going to have to drive there myself." I tried my hardest to stifle a laugh over the phone.

"Ashlyn, you're just as broke as me, if not more."

"I know." Ashlyn paused suddenly even though it sounded like she was going to say more.

"Girl, I think I just found something. I'll message it to you. It's bad, like really bad." Her sudden panic threw me off guard. What could be so bad that she couldn't tell me right over the phone?

"What? What did you find?" I heard her grab the phone and bring it to her ear. She must have had me on speaker and didn't want anyone to hear what she had to say.

"There was a murder there. A guy named Jason Blossom was found dead in a lake on 'Sweet Water River.' Here, I'll send you the full article." A couple moments later I felt my phone vibrate against my tan carpet. I didn't waste any time unlocking my phone and clicking on the link to the article that was written by the blue and gold.