"JJ!" Mercy called me by my nickname - or rather the nickname of my nickname - as she hopped down the stairs of the bus. It was 1 pm on Saturday afternoon, and Mercy had just arrived at Riverdale. Apparently, she was able to get the first bus available, which was great.

I ran up to my good friend- embracing her in a bear hug. "I've missed you!" I exclaimed, squeezing her tighter.

"Same," she said, looking back at the bus. "I need to get my bags, but I'll be right back. We have a lot of catching up to do."

"Yes we do," I replied, watching her wait in line for luggage. The driver was pulling out the bags form under the bus at people's request. It wasn't long before Mercy returned with her bags in hand. I grabbed one of them, motioning to her to follow me as I heading to the car. Alice had let me borrow the station wagon for today, as she and Betty were working at the Register for the day and they could easily walk there.

"Put your luggage in the trunk," I instructed Mercy, placing the bag I was holding into the truck too. Mercy slipped into the passenger's seat as I got in the driver's. "Are you hungry?" I asked her.

"Starving," Mercy's stomach rumbled as if on cue. We both laughed.

"Well, I know an amazing place that has the best burgers, and don't even get me started on their milkshakes."

"Even better than Connie's Corner Cafe?" Mercy asked, referring to the cafe we would hang out at in Toledo. I just raised my eyebrows at her smiling.

"I'll let you make you decide on that."

...oOo...

"So let me get this straight," Mercy and I were sitting in a booth at Pop's a while later, sipping on our milkshakes while we waited for our food, and while I caught her up on my life for the past few weeks. "You were kidnapped by some Julies-"

"Ghoulies," I corrected her as she recounted what I had just told her.

"And then the Serpents saved you but the evil lady got shot in the process?" Mercy continued. "What are the Serpents anyway?"

"The Southside Serpents are a biker gang from, you guessed it, the South Side." I sipped from my milkshake."And guess who the leader is?"

"Who?" Mercy questioned.

"My Dad," I told her. "That's why I was kidnapped. Apparently, Penny Peabody and the Ghoulies have beef with the Serpents, with my family in particular- so they took me for leverage."

"Wow," Mercy said. "Your life has gotten a lot more interesting since you moved here."

"It sure has," I breathed.

We both looked up as the waitress placed our burgers and fries on the table.

"Can I get you anything else?" the waitress asked politely. I looked down at my now empty milkshake glass.

"Could I get another one of these?" I handed the lady my glass and Mercy did the same.

"Me too please," Mercy smiled at the woman. "Strawberry if you don't mind."

"Coming right up," The waitress smiled and walked away with the two glasses in hand.

Mercy and I immediately dug into our burgers, both of us quite hungry.

Mercy moaned. "You're right, these are the best."

"Told yah so," I chuckled. The light tinkling of the bell singling the door opening brought my head up. Tyler and Ryder walked into the diner. I smiled at them when they looked my way, slightly motioning for them to join us. Since Mercy was sitting facing away from the entrance, she couldn't see the guys approaching, and they couldn't really see her either. Well, at least not her face.

"Who's your friend…?" Tyler trailed off as he could see her face. "Mercy."

Mercy looked up. "Tyler?" She looked confused. "What are you doing here?'

"I was going to asked you the same thing," Tyler slipped into the booth beside Mercy, turning to face her. Ryder sat down beside me.

"JB invited me to stay for the term," Mercy motioned to me. "And you?"

"I came up to surprise J, and decided to stay for a while", he, in turn, motioned to Ryder. "I'm staying with Ryder at his trailer for now."

Mercy turned and raised her eyebrows at me. "Your Ryder?" she questioned.

"Yep, the one and only," he laughed.

Mercy faced me and not-so-subtly mouthed 'hottie!' I blushed as Ryder chuckled under his breath and Ty tried to cover his laughter with a cough.

"Anyway…" I attempted to save the situation, "Mercys' going to stay with me at the Cooper's why she's here, and she'll be going to Riverdale High along with all of us."

"Awesome!" Ty exclaimed. "Uh, I mean - cool." Ugh, I was going to have my hands full match-making these two.

I glanced down at my watch. It was almost 4. "Sorry to break up the party, but Mercy and I need to get back to the Cooper's."

"Well, we can get together tomorrow right?" Ryder questioned.

"Sure," I smiled at him. "I'll text you."

"See yah then," Tyler spoke up as Mercy and I stood up. I tried to put down a twenty to cover our drinks and fries, but Ryder put his hand on my arm.

"I'll take care of it," he quietly told me. I opened my mouth to protest, but he shook his head, handing me back my money. "It's all good."

"Thank you, Ry," I gave him a quick peck on the lips. He just smiled.

"Oh, I almost forgot, Alice says that you both are invited to dinner at their place tonight at 6 if you want to come."

"We'll be there," Tyler said, glancing at Mercy. Oh, tonight was going to be fun.

Author's note: Hiya everyone! I hope you liked this chapter, the next one should come soonish... BTW, this is my 20th chapter if you haven't noticed so yay!

I'm sorry to all those who don't particularly like romance/fluffy stuff, but I promise, it will get more interesting! I want to thank everyone who took the time to review/favourite/follow this story - I appreciate every one of you! And thanks to those who just read this story - I love you guys too:)

To all the guest reviewers, I do see your comments and I enjoy them a lot. I know I said this before but Guest 43 you read my mind! Let me know what you think about this chapters, as well as any ideas you have for the coming ones!

Have a good Thursday everyone,

Xx G