A longer one to make up for my absence.
Break Away
Third POV
Summary – Almost everyone in Riverdale is trying to break away from something.
Cheryl sits at her vanity, combing her wavy fire-red locks with tears streaming down her face. She misses her brother deeply. She grieves his loss deeper than she would the loss of a limb. Her heart lay shattered in her chest, missing Jason and despising her father. She wipes her tears angrily and tries to compose herself, wanting to break away from the Blossom's poor image but knowing that it will never be possible if she stays in Riverdale.
~.~.~.~
"Roni!" Hermione Lodge calls to her daughter.
"Yes, mom?" the raven-haired girl asks her mother.
"Are you ready to go to school? I can drop you off on my way to work."
"That'd be great, mom," she smiles at her mom as dread begins to grow in the pit of her stomach. Now that her father is coming home, she fears for what might happen at Riverdale High. In her old school, she was a bully but now she's starting to feel like a victim and she nearly sickens at the thought of herself making someone else feel that way. She can and will defend herself and protect her friends but she will never stoop to that retched level again. She will free herself of the queen bee/mean girl reputation if it's the last thing she does.
~.~.~.~
Archie Andrews knows that everyone thinks he's perfect and it irks him to his very core. He is fair from the poster boy jock the whole school sees him as. He has a darkness in his soul that allows him to just drop his best friend at the drop of a hat for an older woman's affection. He has it in him to turn away the love of his other best friend and neighbor because he is too selfish to lose her if it doesn't work out. And then he naturally gets incredibly jealous when she moves on and finds happiness with the aforementioned best friend. He is without a doubt, the most selfish person he knows. He does what he wants with no regard to the feelings of those around him, including even his own father. But he will change. He has to change. He will make it through high school and shape himself into a better man.
~.~.~.~
Betty feels her nails bite into her palm as she listens to her parents fight downstairs. She takes a deep breath and forces her fingers to uncurl, glancing at the blood left behind. She steels herself to go downstairs and march out the front door to get away from the yelling. She is tired of watching her family fall apart because of lies and secrets. She is tired of the whole school thinking she's innocent Miss Girl Next Door Betty Cooper. She wants to take control over her life and her decisions and stop doing what is expected of her. She wants to start doing the things that make her happy. And more than anything, she wishes that Riverdale itself would change. Her town has become a town full of darkness and deceit and she feels as though she's drowning. And she thanks a God she's not sure she believes in for sending her a life jacket. Jughead.
~.~.~.~
He braces himself and leans his bare head on the trailer door. He's going to do it. He's going to school without the stupid crown beanie. He cracks the door open and his breath catches. He glances at the grey, knitted fabric on the end table and sighs. He snatches it quickly and tugs it firmly onto his head. He squeezes his eyes shut and grits his teeth. Maybe another day, he thinks. But he knows it's a lie. His soul is bruised and broken, but it is slowly mending due to the angel on earth known as Betty Cooper. No one else in this God-forsaken town sees the real Jughead Jones, the third. But she does. And that is and always will be good enough for him. As he approaches his school after his short walk from the trailer park, he spots his friends and his girl, hanging out before class. He walks quickly towards them, eager to see his girlfriend. She lights up at the sight of him and flings her arms around his neck, kissing his cheek. He returns his hug and greets his other friends and they head inside the school. Betty laces her fingers through Jughead's and people greet him in the hall that he hasn't spoken to since grade school. That's when he finally realizes; he has broken away from his trailer trash rep and morphed into someone almost accepted. Jughead feels the golden angel drop her head on his shoulder and he can't help but smile. They will get through this together, and then move on from this stupid town and onto something far bigger and more important. He is more optimistic than he's felt his entire life and it's all because of Betty Cooper.
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