Jughead and I walked the main drag of South Side High, making our way to Jughead's new locker with my navigational skills. "It should be..." I hummed a bit, before stopping at the right number, tapping the cool metal with my index finger. "Right here."

"Well, now you have no excuse when you ditch me to hang out with your boyfriend," Jughead commented, dialing his combination into the new lock.

I scoffed, crossing my arms as my back touched the locker beside his. "Are you sure not telling your girlfriend you're here is a good idea?"

There was a certain level of disdain I held in my voice when saying the term girlfriend. Probably because I was filled with the knowledge of who that girlfriend was and what she'd done. Jughead looked at me with a certain seriously? expression, unamused. "Come on, Diana. We talked about this. Betty didn't know how important it was to keep your Serpent-hood a secret, and she made a bad call," he said, to which I sighed. "She didn't do it to hurt you. It wasn't personal."

My left eyebrow popped, "Oh, so that makes it okay?"

"No. It just means it's something you can forgive," he corrected, in all seriousness.

He wasn't giving me a choice with his statement. I could tell by his pointed expression that I was going to be accepting whatever apology Betty Cooper decided was good enough to throw at me. After a light roll of my eyes, I opened my mouth to respond. But, instead of forming words, my lips curved into a wide, Cheshire smile as my eyes settled on Sweet Pea down the hall. He was walking this way, having just got into the building.

My chest tightened a fraction in anticipation as his eyes landed on me and his signature smirk appeared on his lips. I pushed off the locker as he neared me, slinging my arms around his neck when he was close enough. His arms had gone around my waist and lifted my feet from the ground, holding me up enough to kiss him at his height. My feet touched the ground as we parted. "Hey, handsome," I was smiling like an idiot, a slight pink hue to my cheeks.

"Hey, gorgeous," he smirked down at me.

"Can you guys at least try not to make me throw up so early in the morning?" Jughead quipped, with dry sarcasm.

A bit playfully, I reached over and shoved the side of his face with my fingers. He swatted at me, his eyebrows scrunching, nose wrinkling, and leaned out of my reach. Recoiling like a disciplined cat. It left a grin on my face, only adding to my upbeat mood that morning. It was a normal school day. Jughead's schedule left us with only three classes together out of the entire day, but we tried to sit together in all three of them.

After History, I'd gone to my locker to trade books. I was convinced Sweet Pea only tagged along because it would be too much work to move his arm off my shoulders. But I didn't mind the company. The only thing that annoyed me was my cell phone buzzing. Not so much the phone call, but the person calling me. Betty Cooper. I'd seen the caller ID just as we arrived at my locker. Sweet Pea must have seen my face, because he asked, "You okay, babe?"

"Yeah...just my brother's ignorant girlfriend," I groaned, moving away from his side to open my locker.

The plan was not to answer the call. Maybe she would get the hint and leave me alone? "That blonde North sider?" Sweet Pea's back hit the locker beside mine, his arms crossing over his broad chest with a tone of utter disgust. "If she's going to start showing up here, maybe Jughead should've stayed at Riverdale."

My eyes rolled to the right, landing on his. "I kind of agree—but Jughead's staying here. That school doesn't deserve him. Let the spoiled brat throw a temper tantrum and throw a few things. After a while, it'll get boring, and Betty will forget I ever existed."

It was more a hope than reality. Because, the second after I said it, she called again. Once again, I ignored it. Changing out my books without a care. Not three seconds after the ringing stopped, it started again. And this time I was done. With a harsh swear under my breath, I slammed the book I held back down in my locker and answered the call. "Can't you take a hint, Barbie?" I spat, into the speaker.

There was a small pause, followed by a hesitant, "Hey, Diana...um...have you seen Jughead today?"

"Yes, Betty, I live with him. And no—he doesn't want to talk to you."

"Look, D, I'm really sorry about not telling you I was writing the article-"

"Whoa, wait- you're sorry you didn't tell me? So, you're not sorry you wrote it at all?" I scoffed, hard, shifting my weight back onto my heels. "Wow. Writing that article put both me and my sister at risk by smearing our names into the public eye. If you think I'm just upset that you didn't give me a head's up, you have more problems than your crazy mother."

With that charming insult spoken purely in rage, my thumb slammed into the end call button and I slid my phone into my back pocket through a heavy sigh. I'd felt eyes on me the entire phone conversation. I hadn't realized it was because Fangs walked up mid-call. The poor boy probably just wanted to get to his locker—just to the left of mine. He stood a foot or two to my left with a stunned, wide-eyed expression. "Wow. Remind me never to get on your bad side," he commented, cautiously walking the extra steps between us.

I exhaled, huffing a chuckle, and grabbed the book I'd all but thrown into my locker. Sweet Pea turned to press his right side into the lockers, still with arms crossed, and leaned closer to me in his new position. "That was really sexy," he smirked, voice just above a whisper.

"If you told me all I had to do to get you interested is yell at someone when we started dating, this relationship would've gone a lot differently," I replied, with a little smirk of my own.

The words pulled up the corners of his lips into a full on smile, a light glow to his brown irises. "Hey, D, if you're not too busy this weekend—could you help me study for Mr. Philips' test on Monday?" Fangs' voice cut through the tension, causing me to turn my head away from the distracting tide of the teenage boy at my right. Fangs was sorting his own books, taking sporadic glances at me, unbothered by the previous comments made.

I cleared my throat, retrieving my Algebra book before closing the locker door. "Yeah, sure. I'll even make flashcards."

His glance stayed on me at that, and I winked, causing him to shake his head with an airy string of chuckles. From there, the three of us proceeded to Algebra. It was one of the three classes Jughead and I actually had together. At the doorway, Jughead stopped me, asked me what was wrong. Apparently I still seemed annoyed. Because I was. I told him he needed to call his girlfriend and ask her before finding a seat in the classroom.

Jughead didn't attend that class. It seemed he actually took my words seriously and went to call her. I'd heard all about it at lunch. He explained how he told Betty he needed to stay at South Side High, adding in an extra bit about needing to try harder at apologizing to me. I nodded slowly, stirring my pitiful salad across the table from him. "I honestly thought she understood why it was a bad idea," he continued, sounding stressed. "But now I get why you hold grudges first and ask questions later."

My eyebrows knitted, trying to discern weather it was a compliment or an insult. I smiled a little, "Um...thank you?"

"Babe, why aren't you sitting at our table?"

Sweet Pea stopped by me and Jughead, tray in hand, on his way to the Serpent side of the cafeteria. He sounded genuinely curious and confused by my placement, eyebrows drawn together. I looked up at him from the crouton on my plastic fork. "Being diverse," I answered, light-heartedly sarcastic. "Haven't seen this side of the cafeteria yet."

His eyes scanned the space of cafeteria ahead, to the left, and then to the right as he slid his tray onto the table next to mine. "Remember what I said about Serpents being alone in this hell hole?" he asked, rhetorically, as he sat beside me on the bench.

I nodded once. "Yes. Which is why I'm not letting my brother sit alone."

"You're real stubborn, you know that?"

There was a hint of sarcasm to his tone but, for the most part, he'd sounded completely serious. Jughead only seemed further intrigued by Sweet Pea's previous words, sitting forward with folded arms atop the edge of the table in front of him. "What's wrong with Serpents sitting alone?" he asked, curiously.

"See those morons back there?" Sweet Pea tipped his head to the right in a gesture, motioning to the group of Ghoulies sitting at the tables just outside the Serpents' designated area. Jughead's eyes flitted in that direction just as Sweet Pea continued explaining. "They're like wolves. They wait to make a move until you're alone. Don't let them get you alone. Understand?"

Jughead visibly swallowed, just as taken aback by the seriousness in Sweet Pea's eyes as I was, and nodded. He returned to the burger on his tray with the ghost of a creeped out look on his face. It was no joke, going to this school. Especially as a Serpent. It seemed there was no such thing as just being a student anymore. But there was no further commentary on the subject. For the next few minutes, we sat in a comfortable silence.

Sweet Pea's fingers were loosely laced with mine on my leg beneath the table. My head lay on his shoulder, pushing limp lettuce around on the tray in front of me. Days ago, I'd been eating like the food was literally going to be taken from my hands. But that day I'd felt only a bit nauseous when the idea of eating was presented. "I saw dad this morning," Jughead said, causing my eyes to lift from my salad to his face across the table.

He was speaking around a mouthful of food, but I understood him just fine. I sat up a bit, "How is he?"

"Hanging in there. Sheriff Keller is still trying to get him to flip on the Serpents but-" Jughead shook his head, pursing his lips. "-it's not gonna happen anytime soon. He asked about you, how you were doing at school. I didn't really know what to tell him other than 'fine'."

"Well, it looks like you're about to be made a liar," Sweet Pea sighed beside me, eyes narrowed at something over Jughead's shoulder.

Sure enough, as I followed his line of sight, I was filled with dread. Archie, Betty, and Veronica all bulldozed their way into the cafeteria, skidding to a stop almost simultaneously upon seeing Jughead, Sweet Pea, and I at the table closest to the door. They all wore surprised features, like they hadn't expected the sight they currently beheld. I could feel Sweet Pea tense beside me, so I tightened my grip on his hand. A silent don't even think about it.

Jughead twisted, pausing in confusion upon seeing our North side friends in the South side cafeteria. "Guys? What are you doing here?" he questioned, one hundred percent serious, with a hint of heavy dread. Betty and Veronica were concerned with Jughead. But Archie's eyes couldn't help sporadically flickering my way. More specifically, at me and Sweet Pea. "We were worried about you," Betty answered, stepping forward.

Rolling my eyes, I got up from the table. "Okay, drama club. Let's take this outside, yeah?" I looked to Jughead, and he nodded, standing as well. Then I looked down at Sweet Pea, who looked up at me in response. "I'll be back before Biology, I promise."

I parted the table officially with a quick peck of my lips on his check. Then I stepped around the table and started slowly past the group. "Follow her," Jughead said, motioning for them to move as though they were wild animals he were trying to shoo. The three North siders eagerly followed me out. But they kept a solid three foot distance behind me the whole way. And I didn't really mind it. The fact that I was wearing my Serpent jacket probably didn't help their mental image of me.

We went out to the parking lot beside the school. Betty and Jughead stepped away from Veronica, Archie, and I to talk privately. Leaving Veronica and Archie to fail to hide their inability to look anywhere else but at my jacket. Or my tattoo. Or the silver snake hanging around my neck. I'd worn it almost everyday since Sweet Pea gave it to me on my birthday. But I guess it held a little more symbolism for them now, knowing who I am.

Veronica, surprisingly, was the first to speak. "So…how long have you been a Serpent?"

It was casual sounding, like we were stuck in an elevator together and we needed to talk to clear the awkwardness of the silence. I'd zipped up my jacket and slid my hands in my pockets before answering. "Three years," I said, replying with the same amount of casual intonation. She nodded slowly, eyes searching the snow on the ground in front of her.

"I get why you didn't tell anyone, you know," she turned toward me a little. "I don't blame you for keeping it a secret. Maybe—if you want—we can still be friends after all of this?"

It was my turn to nod, the faintest hints of a smile on my lips. "Yeah. I'd like that."

She smiled back at me, seemingly relieved by my answer. My gaze moved up a few inches to Archie. He'd been quiet the whole time, keeping to himself, looking anywhere but in my direction. Before, he couldn't take his eyes off me. Now, it was like I had the plague. Sighing, I turned a little to see Jughead and Betty, where they stood halfway across the parking lot. It looked like the conversation was going well.

Though, I could only bring myself to look at Betty for a few seconds before having to look somewhere else to avoid stress. A sudden buzz in my pocket caught my attention. My hand dug into the back pocket of my shorts, pulling out my cell phone, and I unlocked the screen. It was a text message from Cheryl.

AT 12:23PM
CHERYL: You've been like a sister to me and shown me unwavering support through Jason's death, and I can't tell you how thankful I am for that. But I've been a terrible friend to you. I'm sorry, Diana. Please forgive me, if you can. Thank you for coming to Pop's to meet me. But I'm going to be with Jason now.

My eyes narrowed as I reread the message. "What the…?" I whispered, under my breath, as a confusion flooded me. The last part of the sentence is what made me realize what the whole thing meant. And, as it finally sunk in, a lump formed in my throat. Swallowing it down as best as I could, I immediately turned to Veronica and Archie. "Guys, we need to get to Sweetwater—now."

"What? Why?" Veronica asked, confused.

"Cheryl's going to try to kill herself. She just texted me. We have to stop her!"

Archie quickly flagged down Jughead and Betty, breaking up their cozy looking hug, and we all practically sprinted up the snow covered sidewalk. Away from the school, up Third Avenue, and toward the River. More specifically, the place Cheryl last saw Jason. There was no way she was going to kill herself and not do it at that spot. I'd sent a quick text to Sweet Pea before we left the school parking lot, haphazard and misspelled—but I had to tell him I was going to be breaking my promise.

I ran faster than the others, given the fact I ran on a daily basis and had the stamina for it, and I tore through snow beneath the pine trees along the river to an all too familiar place. The others shouted for Cheryl, but I didn't bother. It took longer than I'd wanted to get there. My body needed to move faster. There was no way on this Earth I was going to let Cheryl Blossom kill herself. Not after trying it myself. It wasn't worth it, but she didn't know that yet.

I skipped to a stop at the place I knew to be where they 'sank' the boat, my chest heaving fog into the cold air as my eyes scanned the white landscape. Archie was the first to catch up at my side, followed by Betty, Jughead, and then Veronica. Finally, my eyes spotted her. "There!" I pointed, right to a moving speck of red in the center of the river. I stepped forward, raising my voice. "Cheryl! CHERYL!" I tried cupping my hands to make the sound louder.

All of us were screaming, rushing forward then. But as we neared the edge, Archie held us all back with quick reflexes and out-stretched arms. "Stop! The ice is too thin. Too much weight will break it," he said, in warning. The others seemed to understand. But I was too stubborn. I was too determined. I broke free from the arm Archie held out across my middle to stop me and lurched into a sprint across the ice. I'd immediately heard the others yelling after me.

But I didn't stop. Not until I was close enough to Cheryl to see what she was doing, as I skidded to a stop. "Cheryl? Cheryl, please, don't do this," I quickly shook my head, somehow sounding less panicked than I'd felt in that moment. Cheryl stood from where she knelt, pounding the ice with a big rock, and she turned to face me with wet cheeks. I took steps toward her. "You don't have to do this, okay? You don't have to-"

"It's too late, Diana," Cheryl shook her head sadly.

"No, Cheryl, it's not," I shook my head again. "Please-"

With a loud crack, I'd felt a weightless second of air before freezing cold encased my body and the darkness beneath my feet had swallowed me whole. I'd sucked in a breath right before my head went below the surface, but at least fifty percent of what I'd sucked in was water. There was no chance to swim up—only forward, with the fast moving current. It wasn't a peaceful motion. It was a violent pulling, a tugging, a spinning. There was no sense of direction in the darkness.

I couldn't see very well. But I could make out Cheryl's form in the water feet ahead of me. She didn't fight it. Didn't try to swim back to the hole she'd made. She let the current take her with eyes closed, bubbles of what oxygen she had left in her lungs freely coming from her mouth. It was so cold. It felt like I was being cut with a thousand knife blades. I almost couldn't move. Yet I tried—I tried so hard to kick up, to beat on the underside of the ice. To grip onto something—anything. But it wasn't enough. My chest was burning, head pounding, and I started to choke on the water in my throat.

It all happened so fast. No one really thought about it—they just moved. In a cluster, the four teens on the riverbank jolted into full speed onto the ice. All cares about weight limits were lost. The only thing that mattered in that instant was the sudden loss of their friends. Archie was far ahead of the others, in an all out sprint, running faster than he ever thought possible. When he reached the spot the girls had disappeared, he skidded into the snow on his knees.

Snow fanned out from his frame as he began pushing it from the ice in frantic, wide swipes. Jughead was next to arrive, followed shortly by Betty and Veronica. "We have to find the lull in the current," Jughead said, jogging ahead of Archie's position to search, pushing snow from his view with his feet. Archie treaded behind on his knees, still desperately trying to see in all of the snow. Then, through the thick ice, he could see it—red.

More specifically, Cheryl's cherry red hair. "Here—here!" he shouted, moving the rest of the snow from his way as the others gathered around him. Archie didn't hesitate before acting. Adrenaline fueled his movements, his fists hitting the solid ice in an attempt to break through. It was like hitting a sheet of metal. There wasn't much he could do with his bare hands. Jughead looked up and around at the scenery. There had to be someone they could flag down for help.

Betty and Veronica started shouting, calling for anyone that happened to be passing by. It all seemed pointless—hitting the ice, calling for help, even trying at all. But then a voice called back to them. Seconds before a figure came into focus at the river's edge. It was easy to spot him, considering he was the only speck of black in a sea of white snow. Jughead was surprised by the sight of a Serpent, but he instantly began flagging him down.

"Hey! Sweet Pea! Over here!" he waved his arms, getting Sweet Pea's attention. "Hurry, come on—it's Diana!"

It didn't take anything other than the mention of her name to bring the tall Serpent into a fast pace across the ice. Jughead turned to Archie then. Archie was still beating the ice, too desperate to stop now. Even through the burning in his skin from the cold, or the pain from the hard contact. Nothing was enough to let reason into his mind. Betty and Veronica stood back as Sweet Pea arrived. Jughead motioned toward Archie. "Diana and Cheryl fell through—we need to break the ice," he'd explained, in a fast voice full of anxiety.

"How did you know we were here?" Veronica asked.

"I texted him on the way here. I figured we might need some back up if things went south," Jughead replied to the question as Sweet Pea got to his knees in front of Archie. To keep his composure, the Serpent took in a deep breath, and kept his eyes on the ice. Archie looked up between hits to the ice, noticing the sudden change in company. But he didn't say anything. Neither did Sweet Pea. There was no need to. Cheryl wasn't very close with the teens present at her rescue. But Diana was.

Neither Archie nor Sweet Pea wished to know what a life without her looked like. It was a mutual understanding of the moment that allowed them to work together, hitting the ice in the space Archie had been working on. The ice was thicker than anticipated, but Archie used all the force he could muster. On his second swing, blood smeared onto the ice. But it cracked. There was no telling whose hands it was coming from. The crack deepened, splintering further, the added effort from a second set of hands forcing the ice to cave in.

Finally, with another hit from both of them and another splash of blood onto the ice, it broke through with a loud crack.