"Alright, here you go, Vegas." Dad tossed our ten year old golden retriever a piece of bacon, and I chuckled at how the dog was so much happier after. I sat at the kitchen island, eating a pancake, and listening to my iPod. A few minutes later, Archie came down the stairs and into the kitchen. My ear buds were on a clearance rack when I got them, and now I know why. They seem to let in more noise from the outside, than actually let me listen to the music on the inside. So I would have to crank up the volume to astronomical numbers to be able to hear anything. But by then, everyone around me would be able to hear it better than me.
So I gave up on it a few minutes later, and started rinsing off my dish. After I finished, I sighed, and said, "Uh, I'm going to head to school. I'll catch up with you guys tonight, ok?"
"Wait a moment, there Alex. I need to talk to you," Dad called from behind. I instantly started to think of all the things I'd done in the last week that he didn't know about, which was a lot.
"What's up?"
"I just want to make sure you're going to be okay today."
"Why wouldn't I be?" I asked, not sure what he meant.
"Well, with your bike and all, and, and I just want you to be cautious on that thing."
"Dad, I've been riding it for almost a year. I'll be fine. You don't need to worry about me." Then I opened the door to find Betty reaching up to knock on the door.
"Arch! Someone's here to see you! Bye, betty," I said, as I ran past her, down the front steps, and to the motorcycle. I got to school with five minutes to get to class. I ran to my locker and started to get my books. I wore an army green tank top, blue jean shorts, a leather jacket, and a pair of skin colored ankle boots. Today, my purse was a guitar-shaped side-body bag. My hair was down and wavy, with my nails sporting a color known as none other than blood red, I made my way to English.
I had just left English, when Principle Weatherbee came over the speakers. "Good morning students, this is your principal speaking. There have been many inquiries about the upcoming pep rally, so let me state clearly: it is happening as scheduled." I didn't hear the last bit of what he said, but I knew sheriff Keller was up next.
"Most of you already know the details: that your classmate, Jason Blossom's body was found late Saturday night. So, as of the weekend, Jason's death is now being treated as a homicide. It is an open and on-going investigation—"
"And may I interject?" Cheryl's loud voice beamed through the speakers, "Neither I nor my parents will rest until Jason's death is avenged, and his cold-hearted killer is walking the green mile to sit in ol'sparky, and fry. I, for one, have my suspicions. #RiverdaleStrong." I rolled my eyes at the last bit, and then heard Sheriff Keller's voice come back on again.
"If you know anything that could help us find and apprehend Jason's killer, or anything that happened to him on July fourth, I strongly urge you to come forward immediately. You can speak to me or Principle Weatherbee. A death like this wounds us all. Let's not let Jason down."
Then the speaker turned off, I sighed, and made my way to class. I walked into the science lab, and looked for a free chair. Almost every seat was taken except one by Reggie. I cringed, but there were no other seats available. I walked to him, but once he saw me, he got a stupid grin on his face, and I said, "Shut up."
As I sat down, he raised his hands in defense and chuckled at my purse choice. This was not an ideal seating choice, by far, but I would just have to deal with it. "Seats, everyone! Pair up, gloves on, scalpels ready!"
Everyone scrambled to get to their seats, and I heard Archie and Cheryl talking kitty-corner to us. I tried to just ignore Reggie beside me, but it was hard. The whole time, I nearly threw up all over the frog, given I was the one dissecting it.
"So, what did moose want?" Veronica asked, as she, Kevin, Betty, and I all made our way to a table for lunch.
"Oh, gosh, I don't even think he knows," Kevin said, as we all chuckled. "I mean, I am devilishly handsome in that classic, pre-accident, Montgomery Cliff kind of way, and sexuality is fluid, but can someone named moose actually be that fluid?" he asked. I shook my head as I tried to figure out what he meant.
"Well, I ship it," Veronica said.
"Well, of course you would. You're a big city girl with loose morals," Kevin said. The whole posse was silenced. "I just meant that moose has an official girlfriend named Midge. Anyway, it's terrible to say, but part of me wishes he would've just stayed in the darn closet." We walked up to Archie, and he looked up from his guitar. He gave Kevin a questioning look.
"Obviously, I didn't mean literal closet," Kevin tried to fix it, but Archie already heard him.
"Archie! Any new material you want to try out on a very—forgiving—audience?" Veronica shot Kevin a warning look, and then we all sat down around him.
"Uh, I…"
"Please?" I asked, and gestured toward Betty.
"Would you? I'd love to hear it," Betty said, smiling.
"I'm still working on the lyrics. So…" he warned, and we all nodded. He sighed before starting a slow melody.
"…Come on, turn the radio on, and honey we'll dance, dance, dance for the rest of the night, I'm not ready to go…" I tuned him out after that, and looked at Betty. Her face was turning a light shade of pink, and her eyes were glossy. She bowed her head and wiped a tear from her eye. I know how she feels. Thinking you love someone and they love you back, only to be shot back to reality by your soon-to-be, dream-boyfriend, getting with your best friend. He finished the song, and everyone clapped except for her.
"Betty? You ok?" Archie asked, seeing her.
"I'm supposed to say…yes. That's what the nice girl always says, but—no, no, I'm not. I-I want to be, I thought I could be, but this is all too much, too fast. Archie…"
"Betty," he basically threw his guitar to the side, and ran after her. They talked to each other for a moment, but then she ran off back into the school, and the principle called after Archie.
I ran up to him, and asked, "I'll talk to her, ok? She'll be fine."
I ran past him, and up the concrete steps into the school. I walked into the girls' locker room, and found her crumpled up into a small ball by the lockers in the back corner. "Betty…?" I hesitantly crouched next to her and put my hand on her knee. She quickly clung to me and cried into my leather jacket.
"Talk to me. What's wrong?"
"I hate this," she sobbed out.
I rubbed her back as she tried to calm down. "Hate what?"
"I thought I could pretend what happened this weekend didn't happen, but…" she started crying again, and I sighed.
"But you love Archie. And he doesn't love you in the way that you want him to?" she just nodded, and I sighed again. "Relationships stink. There's no denying that. But he does love you, Betty."
She sat up and wiped at her eyes before saying, "How am I ever going to be able to get past this?"
"I don't know. And I know how hard it must be right now."
"How could you? Have you ever loved someone who didn't love you back?" she asked rhetorically, and I sighed.
"Can I tell you a secret?" She nodded, and I said, "Back in Maine…I met someone. He was cute, and young, and charming, and I thought I loved him. But it turned out that…he completely fooled me. He said he loved me. But then, when I introduced my best friend—Maggie—he started to change."
"Change how?"
"He would make up excuses for ditching me on date night, or would hang out with his friends more than with me. I would ask him, and he just said he was busy with training. He slowly slipped through my fingers, and I couldn't do a thing to stop it. Then, one day…I walked into our training court, and saw he was hitting on Maggie. I don't know when, but…one day, he…he just stopped. Stopped hanging out with me, stopped driving me home, and stopped simply loving me. So, yes, I know what it's like to love someone so deeply, and just have it get thrown back in your face. And let me tell you something…" I leaned in, and said, "don't let it change you."
"What do you mean?"
"Don't let it keep you from finding true love."
"But, I—I p-prayed, even, for years to find the right man, Alex. And that didn't even work."
"It didn't work, Betty, because you prayed for the right man, and he wasn't it. The right and perfect man will come along, Betty. And you will be so happy when he comes along. You just have to give it time. Okay?"
She sniffled, tightening her ponytail, and then nodded, and said, "Thank you, Alex."
"Anytime." She looked at me differently after that day. And for some reason, I was thankful for that.
I walked down the hall, and out of my peripherals, I saw a blue varsity jacket. But I knew Archie and Miss Grundy were doing AP music tutorials, so I didn't worry about it. But as I kept walking, I got a strange feeling. So I back-pedaled, and looked into the small window in the door, and saw Archie and miss Grundy were right next to each other. She was holding his hand. Then, they leaned in, and kissed.
"What in the…?" I whispered, and quickly kept walking when he turned to leave.
The only thing to do was to watch the cheerleader practices, and I wasn't in the mood, so I went home. But I took the long way. I needed to think, relax before I had to deal with Dad again. As the wind rushed past me, so did the time. I had stopped off at a gas station a few hours later when it became pitch black and I looked at the time. It was nearly eight. I sighed, got back on, and drove home.
I sat on the white porch, waiting for Archie that night. I was twiddling with my fingers when I saw him walking down the sidewalk, and he appeared at my side. "Al, what's up?" he asked, stopping at the bottom of the stairs.
I sighed, getting up, and said, "What's up is I saw you, Archie…in the music room, with Miss Grundy."
His eyes became round, and he lunged forward, and pointed over my shoulder, saying, "Keep your voice down, Dad is inside."
"I'm trying to help you, dude. I'm trying to make sure you don't go to jail. How long? You and Grundy?"
"Since the summer. I like her." I scoffed at that, walked down to the ground level, and ran a hand through my hair.
"So, I'm guessing she's the reason why you've been acting weird ever since I got back?"
"One of them."
"'One of them'? There's more?" I asked, rhetorically.
"We were at Sweetwater River on July 4th. We heard a gunshot that morning—THE gun shot," he said, as he sporadically looked back at the door.
My eyes widened at that, and I said, "Dude, you have to tell somebody." He started shaking his head instantly at my words, and I groaned.
"I can't. And neither can you, if people find out about Miss Grundy—"
"A kid is dead, Archie! And you're worried about some, some cougar?"
"Don't call her that! Okay? She's not like that, she cares about me."
"I'm gonna take a stab in the dark, here, Arch, and say she probably cares more about herself, than you. She's the one telling you not to say anything, right?" I asked, inches from his face. I could see the wheels turning, the moment he realized I was right. "Look, I saw you guys, she's messing with you, man. And she's messing with your mind…"
"What do you know about it, Alex? Or about me, even?" he asked. He stepped away an inch or two, a look of sheer ignorance and questioning splattered on his face.
I scoffed, backing away, feeling like my chest was going to explode. What he said hurt, there's no doubt about that. And as I thought about it, my hands balled into fists, and I said, "Nothing. But I used to know this guy once: Archie Andrews. He wasn't perfect but…he always tried to do the right thing, at least."
I sighed, and then started to walk away when he grabbed my arm, and said, "Alex…if you tell anyone about this…" He left it open for my imagination to figure out.
I narrowed my eyes, asking, "What? What are you gonna do?" He just stared at me, the intensity making my resolve waver just enough to make me swallow.
Then the front door opened, and Archie tried to send a message to me, saying—pleading with me—not to say anything. "Hey, Alex, you coming inside?"
"No, I'll be home later." I ripped my arm from his grasp on the last word, walked to my bike, and drove off. I had been driving around for hours before I finally stopped off somewhere on the Southside.
It was one place I would always come when I needed to calm down, or just frankly, be with my actual family—the Whyte Wyrm. I didn't go in. I just sat on the edge of my bike, staring at the neon sign above the doors. Why was Riverdale always so crazy? I mean, the second I got back, I was thrown into a whirlpool of emotions, and sides, and wars unknown. I sighed, fidgeting with the hem of my shirt when someone walked outside.
"We really need to stop meeting like this." I looked up, and saw Fangs grinning down at me.
"Hey." I sniffled.
His voice became softer as he spoke. "Hey, what's up?" He crouched down so he was shorter than me, and put a hand on my knee to get my attention.
"I just don't know why I came back to this stupid place to begin with," I whispered, and he sighed.
"What happened?"
"How long do you have?" He chuckled, but then, instantly became solemn again. He gave me a small squeeze to my knee, and I sighed. "I'm flunking geometry, my brother is riding the edge of insanity, and my dad and I still aren't ok."
"Hm…well, first off, what is your brother doing?"
"It's not my secret to tell, but let's just say if anyone else finds out, he might get expelled. And the woman the secret includes will lose her job. And now, because I found out…" I lifted up my arms as I shook my head, saying "He probably won't ever speak to me again."
"Wow. And the thing with your dad?"
"He wants me to forget this place—and my memories of it—pretend like it never existed, but I don't want to. And given that he's realizing he can't control me like he can do to Archie, he's getting angry."
I bit my lip to keep from crying, and he sighed, squeezing my knee. "Hey, those are just technicalities. You are not your brother's keeper, and he will do what he thinks is best. No matter what is really right and wrong. But, your father? He just wants what's best for you. Alex…what do you want?" he asked, looking up into my saddened eyes.
"I want…" I trailed off, thinking. Then, after a moment, I said, "…to have a normal father. And to be able to be who I really am, and not be criticized for it. I want to be who I was before I left." I looked down at Fangs at that, and he scrunched his lips to the side with a soft look in his eyes.
"Why don't you come inside? Just be you for tonight," he suggested, and I sighed, closing my eyes. When I opened them back up, he was waiting patiently at my side.
I nodded, and he smiled. He reached out, and I looked down to find his hand waiting for mine. I grinned, thanking him, and slid my cold hand in his warm one. He stood up, and I followed on shaky legs, and he walked with me into the bar.
The next day was a little better than the last. But I was still struggling. Tonight was the pep rally, so I was trying to be happy for that. But it was hard. The only two things I was truly happy about were archery, and math. I walked into the archery ring, and instantly felt a bit happier.
Frank was his usual stupid, idiotic, moronic, full-of-himself self, but I just tried to ignore him. Math, though, was no exception. But I still got an A+, so that was good. But when I walked into the student lounge it was a completely different story. Reggie was venting about Jason Blossom's death, and I rolled my eyes as I made my way to the vending machine.
"What was it like, suicide squad, when you shot Jason? You didn't do stuff to the body, did you? Like…after?" Reggie asked Jughead, and he rolled his eyes.
"It's called necrophilia, Reggie. Can you spell it?" Jughead asked, rhetorically. Reggie lunged forward at that.
He jumped over the couch, and said, "Come here, you little…"
But before he could reach him, I ran to them, putting a hand on Reggie's chest and shoving him away. "Just shut up, Reggie."
"What do you care, Andrews?" he asked, staring down at me.
"Nothing, just leave him alone." Reggie looked between us, like something was clicking in his stupid head of his.
"Holy cow. Did you and Donny Darko kill him together?" he asked, stepping closer to me, his disgustingly cocky smirk on his face. As he took one more step closer, something snapped in me, and I pushed him back again, his back hitting the couch. My hands balled into fists at my sides, and then he lunged forward, and slammed me into the vending machine. Jughead tried to tell him to wait, but Reggie didn't listen.
Instead, he just pushed me to the floor, slamming me down, and then punched me. My upper cheek stung like nobody's business, but I still had him on top of me. I was fighting, squirming, hitting him—trying to get him off of me. Chuck, Jughead, and Moose were all trying to pry him off. Once he was sufficiently off, I got up, kicked him between the legs, and called him a name that wasn't worth repeating.
Later that night, I was in my room trying to cover up the dark purple bruise. But to no avail. So I gave up on it, just leaving it bare, and changed into some warmer clothes. I chose a light blue thin sweater under my leather jacket and my jeans with combat boots. When I walked back downstairs, I saw Dad had just left Archie in the kitchen.
"Hey, are you going to the pep rally?" Dad asked, and I nodded, going to the front door.
I turned back to him, and raised an eyebrow, and asked, "Can I go now?" It was harsh, and cruel, but I didn't feel any remorse for it.
"Yeah, be safe, okay?"
"Sure," I said, as I quickly left, and made my way to the school.
I was leaning against one of the stands as the pep rally got underway. As everyone was starting to get drizzled on, Archie ran over to the table of refreshments, and started to talk to Miss Grundy. I clenched my jaw, and fiddled with my zipper. A moment later, I looked back up and saw him jogging to me.
"Girl trouble? You?" I asked, as he stopped a few feet from me, and sighed.
"Grundy and me, we're telling Weatherbee. At least, I am." I nodded, surprised, and he sighed, saying, "And also, I didn't mean all that stuff I said to you. I'm sorry."
"It's cool," I nodded, and he sighed with relief. Then he gave me a look, and I said, "We're not gonna hug in front of this whole town." He laughed at that.
"So, are we good?"
"To be discussed…Over many burgers, and many days," I said, with a small grin. He smiled at that, turned, and ran back to the stage. A few minutes later, Mayor McCoy, Principle Weatherbee, and Coach Clayton walked on the stage.
"And now to kick off this pep rally, I'd like to hand it over to our very own Mayor McCoy," Principle Weatherbee said, and everyone cheered.
"Thank you, Principle Weatherbee. It is heartening to see so many of you here, even in weather like this. But a lack of heart and school spirit has never been the Riverdale way. Tonight's pep rally isn't like any we've had in the past. And we shouldn't pretend like it is; which is why I would like to dedicate this evening to one of our brightest…Jason Blossom. We're with him tonight. Now, please join me in welcoming to the field, our very own River Vixens and their special guest-star, my daughter, Josie, and her Pussycats!" The three walked off the stage as the crowd, and cheerleaders, cheered on the Pussycats as they walked onto the stage.
Then, they started with an upbeat version of 'Sugar Sugar'.
Everyone cheered as they finished, and then the coach ran up on the stage, and said, "Alright, you all ready? Let's make some noise! Put your hands together for the Riverdale Bulldogs!" The whole crowd erupted in cheers and hollers as the football team ran through the yellow sign, and onto the field. When I saw Archie running in front, I smiled, and started clapping along with everyone else.
But then, Cheryl turned, ran off the stage, sprinted across the field, and back to the school. A few people stood up, confused, but I think I know why she left. Jason used to be the captain of the football team. And Archie is now the captain, and they both have red hair. When she looked at Archie, her mind probably just made her see Jason instead. I sighed, dove off the stands, and ran right behind her.
