As a part of the newspaper, Abby, Trev, and Tomoko were allowed to sit in their upperclassman's student body president Q and A. "Okay, now just a quick reminder, that this school hall is a PTA-sponsored event. Oh, looks like we have our first question." Alice Cooper was the moderator.
She pointed at Sweet Pea. "Yeah, no offense to the, uh, current administration, but it doesn't feel like anyone's looking out for the students who are being bussed in from the Southside. Is that gonna change?" Fangs pat his back from asking a good question.
"Absolutely, Sweet Pea, that's our priority. And no one should feel marginalized or excluded here." Jughead answers.
"Jughead and I will be representing all students, North and Southside alike." Betty agreed.
"Next question. Yes, Midge?" Alice pointed at her daughter's classmate.
"My question is for Archie and Veronica. Rumor has it that your parents will soon be on opposite sides of the Mayoral election, won't that negatively affect your working relationship?" Midge stood up.
"Archie and I adhere to the old maxim that politics are never discussed at the dinner or the cafeteria table." Veronica got the crowd to laugh.
"Veronica and I are on the same page about everything, including her family's plans for a prison on the Southside," Archie said.
Abby booed. "Abby, we are here as reporters." Tomoko scolds her.
"Don't worry we got you." Sweet Pea and Fangs booed for her.
Veronica had a strained smile on. "In the meantime, however, we're committed to improving the quality of life at Riverdale High, which means more extracurriculars…"
"Reggie and I agree. Except, add the fact that we can and will deliver results." Josie was running as Reggie's vice president.
"And we're chill, unlike these guys." Reggie points at everyone else on stage. The crowd laughed at that. Alice had to hold back a smile.
Abby was standing by her parents' side across from Hermoine and Hiram. Veronica and Archie were standing in the middle. "Mary, Fred, all of Riverdale is buzzing about your decision to run against my wife for Mayor." Hiram laughs like it was ridiculous for him to think he would win.
"I've lived here my whole life, never went to New York, never went to prison. There's no one more qualified than me." Fred didn't find the man amusing at all.
"You know, Hiram, we're still waiting for you to sign those papers finalizing Fred's separation from Lodge Industries." Mary steps forwards.
"Huh. You mean like how we're still waiting for you to sign that NDA that we sent over?" Hermoine steps forward to get in her face.
"Ha!" Abby let out a bitter laugh getting everyone to look at her. "Why would we need to sign an NDA, do you have more to hide?" She tilts her head innocently.
"Now, now, there's no need to become the Montagues and the Capulets just yet." Veronica interrupted it before it got ugly.
"Yeah, Veronica and I were saying, can't this be a fair fight? With no hitting below the belt? And everyone signs whatever it is they need to sign?" Archie pleads.
Abby giggles at that. "Oh Archie, the thing is we're not all dumb turtles willing to let the scorpions ride on our backs."
"Your sister is right, if the scorpions want a fair fight they have to prove it." Mary glares at the Lodges.
A Swords and Serpents Club meeting was being held. "You promised us a war. Then you're on stage looking like Buddy Holly, sucking up to the Northside?" Sweet Pea yelled at Jughead.
"We need their votes, Sweet Pea. It's the only way that we can affect any change. Whoever's elected gets a seat on the School Board. That means we're on the inside, that means that they can't silence us." Jughead defends himself.
"Oh please, student body president help with extracurricular activities like plays and dances. Nothing of importance or change. This is about you two sticking to Veronica and Archie. I'm all for that but let's pretend this is something more than that. You weren't interested in running, Jughead until Betty asked you too." Abby wasn't in the mood to listen to any more bullshit.
"Yeah, this is all about you and the Northside princess." Fangs was tired of Jughead using them for his personal gain.
"Wait, is that why you guys are pissed? Betty's on our side!" Jughead's tone dripped with condescension.
"Wasn't she running with the Lodge girl like two days ago?" Sweet Pea scoffs.
"Hey! I've helped the Serpents on numerous occasions. I helped find the Pickens statue's head, I got Cheryl to testify in court so FP, your king, could get early parole. I could argue that I did more major things for the gang than Abby does, and you guys accept her with open arms. I at least did the Serpents dance." Betty didn't get why they would have beef with her.
"Oh please, you shook your tits on stage." Abby snorts.
"You did all that for your boyfriend, not the Serpents." Sweets glare made her shut her mouth. She couldn't argue against it, because she did it for Jughead.
"Alright, take it down, Sweet Pea…" Jughead rolls his eyes.
"No, Jones. He is right. It fucking ignorant for her to compare herself to Abby. She only shows up when you ask. Her heart bleeds only for you, Abby's bleeds for all of us. She shows up even if Sweet Pea is not there. She helps with Meals on Wheels, Toy for tots, and every other charity work we do. She tutors not just us but all the kids in the trailer park. She is planning a summer reading program for the kids." Fangs listed the things Abby did. She got up to give him a side hug. He pulled her on his lap to hold her protectively as he glared at Jughead.
"It's only a matter of time before she betrays us, just like her mother." Sweet Pea kept his glare on her.
"Okay, so your objections aren't even about me, they're about my mom…" Betty was going to go on to say she was not even on good terms with her.
"Her legacy, yeah. She's an enemy of the Serpent State taking shots at us in the Register for years, blaming us for crimes we didn't commit. She profited off of doing that. She feeds, cloth, and puts a roof over your head by causing us pain." He turns his glare over to Jughead. "To run with a turncoat's daughter is a slap in the face. And for that reason alone, you're not getting the Serpent vote." Jughead and Betty look around the room to see everyone nodding that they agreed.
Toni ran into the room. "Come with me." She grabs Abby to pull her out of the room. Sweet Pea and Fangs yelled in protest that they needed help with their homework.
"What's going on?" She asks.
"Do you know where Cheryl is?" Toni questions.
"She texted me that she is going to California on some kind of silent spa retreat. She wanted to get away from craziness here. She didn't tell you, I thought she would take you with her." Abby couldn't believe Cheryl would leave without telling her girlfriend.
"I went to her house and her mom said she went to some boarding school in Switzerland." She informs her.
"What? Oh my god, that old crow did something to her. We are going to need more people." Abby crosses her arms.
"I know, but you might not like it. Remember this is for Cheryl." Toni pulls her towards the gym.
Abby found herself standing in front of Veronica and Josie who were dressed for vixen practice. "Cheryl is missing." She bluntly said.
"What do you mean, Cheryl's missing?" Veronica asks.
"Do you remember how paranoid Cheryl was at her slumber party? Saying that her mom and uncle were out to get her? Well, I think they did something to her!" Toni put her hands on her hips.
"What kind of something?" Josie asks.
"Her mom said they sent her off to some all-girls boarding school in Switzerland." Toni relayed what she was told.
"Well, that's easy enough to check, there's only one, Surval Montreux." Abby side-eyes Veronica wondering why she knew that.
"Please. If Cheryl was in the Swiss Alps, she'd be posting parka selfies every hour, but her social media's been dead for days." Toni crosses her arms.
"I got a text from Cheryl saying she was at a silent spy retreat. I don't know how I could believe that. She has never been silent a day in her life." Abby hung her head in shame that she didn't think something was up sooner.
"Whatever you need, Toni, I'm in." Veronica nods.
"Me, too. Even if we have to storm Thistlehouse." Josie agrees.
"Now that you've barged your way in, go ahead, girls, ask your questions." Penelope glares at the teens sitting on her couch.
"You told Toni that Cheryl was away at some boarding school, but I got a text that she was at a spa. I thought something was weird about that text because it didn't have an emoji or end with love ya like she does when she finishes with the conservation. But, I brush it aside because I know she is going through a lot of stress. I can't brush it aside any longer and I would like an explanation." Abby crosses her legs.
"Honestly. I'm not in the habit of explaining myself to school girls." She rolls her eyes.
"Maybe not, but Mrs. Blossom, you may have heard that my mother is... dating Sheriff Keller. If you won't tell us the truth, then maybe you'll tell him." Josie smiles smugly.
"Alright, then. The truth is that Cheryl started exhibiting strange, deviant behavior, so I've sent her abroad to a private wellness institute where they're trying to help her. You don't have to believe me... But here, let me show you something…" She took a piece of paper out of a book and handed it to Josie.
"Oh my God!" She gasps at the drawing of her and Cheryl. It looked a lot like the work of her secret admirer.
"She's drawn dozens like it." She told her.
"I don't understand." Veronica didn't see what the big deal was. It was nice and innocent looking.
"No, but Josie does? Cheryl was obsessed with you. To the point where I was afraid she might hurt you, or herself, or both. So if you'd like me to tell that to your mother and her boyfriend, and show them and the town, Cheryl's drawings of you, I'd be happy to. But hopefully, you girls have the decency to keep this matter private." Penelope made it sound like she was only trying to do what was best for everyone.
Josie drops the drawing and runs out of the building. The teens chased after her. "Josie, wait! Slow down! We need to regroup!"
"If what Mrs. Blossom said is even a tiny bit true, that means that Cheryl threatened me. Send me a bloody pig's heart. I'm out, you guys. I'm done!" Josie ran away from them.
"Is it true?" Veronica asks Abby.
"It was months ago and we worked through it. I got Cheryl to let it go." Abby knew there was no defending what Cheryl did. "Look, I know that Cheryl crossed the line. You have no reason to help either of us because we said and done mean things to you. But, can you please find out if she is at that boarding school?"
"Of course." She nods.
Abby rushed out of class to look for Toni. She heard her name being called over the intercom to come to the office. "What happened?" She nearly ran Toni over when she was coming out of the office.
"It was Nana Rose." She told her.
"What did she say?" She had been stressed since Veronica confirmed that Cheryl wasn't at the boarding school.
"She said that Cheryl is with the Sisters. Do you know what that means?" Toni wonders.
"The only thing I can think of is Sisters of Quiet Mercy." She said the first thing that came to mind.
"Isn't that an orphanage?" She asks.
"They do shady things like hold a pregnant teenager hostage." She thought of Polly.
"I'll get Veronica and we'll regroup." Toni went to Vixen practice.
Veronica had the idea to get Kevin in on it because if anyone would know about the gay world of Riverdale it would be him. "Yes, it absolutely could be The Sisters of Quiet Mercy. It's one of the few places in the country that still does conversion therapy. Off the books, of course." Kevin informed them.
"What the hell decade is this?" Toni didn't realize that some people were still so ignorant about sexuality.
"During Prohibition, the Sisters ran a distillery in the basement. They used to smuggle booze out to Sweetwater River via a tunnel that still exists today." Kevin gave them an in.
"Wait, a tunnel we could use to get to Cheryl?" Veronica got the hints he was dropping.
"Potentially. Gay boys in the program use it to sneak out, to hook up with perfectly nice young men like me in Fox Forest." Kevin explains how he knew about this.
"Wait, Kevin, can you lead us to this secret gay hook-up tunnel?" Veronica asks.
"I can probably find it." He took a deep breath. "But we should go at night."
"Whatever we have to do." Abby nods.
Two redheads were looking out. One was looking for her son while the other was looking for her boyfriend. "I think maybe we should just start," Mary told her husband.
"Yeah, maybe you're right." He took his notecard out of his pocket.
"I'm sorry, Fred." She squeezed his shoulder.
"It's okay. You know, he's busy. I get it. I'm glad you two are here." He walks onto the stage. The women in his life followed behind him. Abby perks up when she hears the sound of motorcycles. She smiled as she watched the leather-clad group join the crowd.
Fred stood behind the podium. "Good afternoon. My name is Fred Andrews. And I stand before you today, a humble resident of this town, to announce my candidacy for Mayor."
When the speech and questions were over, Abby went to talk to her friends. "Thanks for coming."
"Just glad I could make it in time." Sweet Pea put his hands in his pockets. "We had to save the Coopers because Chic got them into some deep water with an old debt he owes to his drug dealer." He leaned down to whisper the story that Jughead told them.
"What?" Her jaw dropped.
"Yeah, we escorted them out of town. They know not to come back." He enjoyed letting people know their place.
"Oh no, that's not going to work." Toni came over to help Abby pick out an outfit.
"It's a perfect rescue outfit. It's black and comfortable for all the running we're going to have to do." She looks at her pair of sweats on the bed.
"Yes, but we are rescuing Cheryl. If you don't look great while doing it, we will never hear the end of it." She reminds her of their damsel.
"You're right." Abby went back to her closet. Toni picked out a lace panel leather cami top, leather jacket, skinny jeans with suspenders hanging down, knee-high combat boots, all in black, of course. After Toni put her hair up into a high ponytail and did her makeup a light pink.
"Alright, let's get Veronica." Toni grabs her keys. Abby shoves her phone into her jacket's pocket. She got on the back of Toni's bike and they drove to The Pembrooke.
They sat in the lobby waiting for Veronica. "Sorry, I had to wait for my parents to do a bed-check." Veronica came down wearing black skinny jeans and a top that had a cut-out shoving a good amount of cleavage. Abby was happy that Toni made her change because Cheryl would never let her live it down that she was the only one dressed like a hobo to save her.
Toni grabbed her duffle bag and they took one of the range rovers to get to the Sister of Quiet Mercy. They park the car on the side of the woods and meet Kevin who guides them.
"According to my Intel, the tunnel that leads from the main residence comes out here." He led them to a locked cellar door.
"Okay. That's our way in, then. Alright, Kevin, you stay here. If we're not back in 30 minutes, call your dad." Veronica gave their backup plane. He nodded that he would do so, but he hoped that he wouldn't have to. Toni used a crowbar to break the lock off.
The girls walk into the tunnel. "So when we get to the main building, what happens then?" Veronica looked at Toni.
"We search every damn room until we find her." Toni wasn't going to leave this building without her love.
"Let's go." They ran to get to the end of the tunnel to see a door.
They open it slowly to see that no one was there before stepping out. "Okay, let's split up. We'll cover more ground." Toni turns to them.
"Be careful." Veronica didn't want any casualties tonight. They went in different directions.
Abby opened door after door to find it empty until she opened a door to see a little girl who couldn't be older than five. "Did you change your mind? Can I go to movie night?" She ran over to her. She looked down in horror at the dangerously thin child. She had bruises all over her arms and legs. She had short red hair and was squinting up at her. "I didn't mean to knock anything over but I can't help that I only see blobs. Please, let me be with everyone else at the movies." She cried.
"Everyone else? Yeah, let's go to the movies." She held out her hand. The girl led her down the hall without realizing she wasn't a nun.
"What's going on?" Veronica asked when she saw them.
"We're going to movie night." She nods for her to follow.
"Shit." She cursed when they got spotted by nuns. She picked up the girl and started to run. "I'm gonna get you out of this hell. But first, you have to tell me which door is the theater." The girl began to cry when she realized she was with a stranger. "Come on, don't you want to never see these nuns again."
"The next door on the right." She sobs.
"I'll get them to the tunnel." Veronica knew she would need more time with the girl in her arms.
Abby took off to the door. She threw it open and ran down the stairs. She looks back when she hears footsteps to see Cheryl, Toni, and Veronica being followed by nuns. "Wrap your arms and legs around me." She ordered as she got to the ladder. The girl did so out of fear. She climbs up with the girl choking her from holding on so tight.
"Come on! Let's go!" Kevin held up the door as they ran out. He slammed it shut and Toni put her crowbar through the latch so the nuns couldn't get out. They ran until they got to the range rover.
Veronica got into the driver's seat, Kevin in the passenger and the rest of them were in the back. "Tessie," Cheryl gasps at the little girl sitting on Abby's lap.
"You took a child," Kevin screams when he looks back. "That's kidnapping, which is illegal. Are you trying to get arrested?"
"So is gay conversion and child neglect. Look at her." Abby turns on the light on the roof of the car, so everyone could see her condition.
"She got punished a lot with no meal and other ways because she is always knocking things over," Cheryl explains.
"I can't help it that the devil took my eyesight because I'm a bad girl." She cried into her hands.
"You're not a bad girl, you need glasses." Abby rubs her back.
Abby was shaken awake. "What's going on? Who's the kid?" Sweet Pea and Fangs were looking down at her. She and Tessie slept in the guy's living room last night.
"I don't want to wake her up, can we talk in the bedroom?" She groaned as she got up. She slept on the ground, letting the child have the couch.
They walk into the bedroom. "What's going on?"
"Last night, Toni, Veronica, Kevin, and I went to rescue Cheryl from a gay conversion camp at Sisters of Quiet Mercy. I came across her. I couldn't leave her there. She's bruised all over, malnourished, and was being punished for having bad eyesight." She explains.
"How bad's her eyesight?" Fangs wonder.
"That's the question you ask. Why did you guys do this alone? We would have gone with you." Sweet was mad that she put herself in danger.
"I know you would have, but Toni said the fewer people the better because we had to get in and get out." She wasn't the one that ran the rescue mission.
"Can my question get answered?" Fangs put his hands on his hips.
"She thought I was a nun because all she saw was a black blob." She gestured to her outfit.
"That's pretty bad." Fangs look at the top that showcases her breasts.
"You guys have an orphanage here, right? Can't she stay there?" She saw the older woman that always had kids running in and out of her trailer.
"That's more a daycare. The way it works is that someone houses the kid but Ms. Shapely watches them during the day." Sweets explain.
"We can house her." Fangs spoke up.
"Are you crazy?" Sweets didn't need a kid in his life.
"What? We were in the same position she was in. How can we not take care of her?" He knew he wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for the good people of this trailer park taking care of him.
"Abby!" A scream came from the living room.
"I'm right here." She ran out.
"I had a nightmare that the nuns came to take me back." She hugs her legs. "Please don't let them take me."
Sweet Pea's heart aches for the look of terror on her face. "Don't worry about it, ain't no old ladies taking you anywhere."
"Who are they?" She looks at two new blobs.
"These are my friends, Sweet Pea, and Fangs. They are big and strong. They won't let anyone lay a hand on you." She bent down to promise her.
"I asked Jughead to thank you for me, but I reconsidered because I wanted to do it myself. So, thank you for what you did. I wanted you to hear directly from me that I am done attacking and disavowing the Southside. It's where I'm from, and I should be proud of that. And from now on, I will be. And like my daughter, I will fight tooth and nail for it." Alice Cooper was at a meeting of the Swords and Serpents Club to make amends. They had every right to let her suffer but they saved her.
"I have a favor to ask of you." Sweet Pea raises his hand.
"Sure," She nods.
"You have a relationship with the Sister of Quiet Mercy, right?" Abby spoke up since it was more of a favor for her.
"I do." She was ashamed of how much they were in her past. Abby explains Tessie's situation. "The nuns aren't going to want the abuse of the girl getting out. With the promise of silence and some money. I should be able to get the papers for this girl transferred to Ms. Shapely."
"Thank you." Fangs smiled showing off his dimples.
"It's the least I can do." Alice couldn't believe the selfless favor they wanted.