I think many of them, maybe the entire town, had been hoping against hope that somehow Jason Blossom hadn't drowned July 4. They'd all wake up the next morning, and there, Jason would be, or that they'd see him and Cheryl in a booth at Pop's.

But that was before the undeniable, irrevocable fact of his bloated, waterlogged body. A corpse with a bullet hole in his forehead, and terrible secrets that could only be revealed by the cold, steel blade of a coroner's autopsy scalpel or the telltale beating of a guilty heart.

Archie couldn't sleep the night after the body was found. The memory of his and Betty's little fling at the river kept replaying in his head.

He sat up and grabbed his phone. He texted Betty, 'R U up? Can we talk?'

'No… and no,' Betty texted back.

Archie went to the window and could see Betty lying awake in her room. Betty saw Archie watching her, and turned off the lamp.

Knowing talking to Betty wasn't an option, Archie put on some shorts and ran out of the house.

The next morning, Fred was cooking breakfast. Archie came downstairs with a tired look on his face.

"Hey bud," Fred greeted. "Where'd you sneak off to last night?"

"You heard that?" asked Archie.

"Son, I heard you sneak out since you were eight years old hanging out with Jughead at his treehouse."

Archie poured himself a cup of orange juice. "I couldn't sleep. Went for a jog to tire myself out."

"Got something on your mind?"

"Just all this stuff with Jason."

"No more midnight runs until the police catch whoever it was that shot that poor kid. I swear to God, this town."

Archie nodded, chugged his juice, and started eating his breakfast.

Betty was writing in her diary when both of her parents came in.

"We just wanted to let you know that it's going to be a late night for us," Hal informed her.

"It's going to be a lot of late nights for us," Alice corrected. "Accidental drowning? Who cares? Sociopathic son of the wealthiest family in town murdered? That's a national obsession waiting to happen."

"Alice, he's not even in his grave yet."

"Can you warm up the car, Hal? I'll be right down."

Hal left the room, but Alice stayed put. She sat on the bed next to Betty.

"Betty, do you know what I love most about you?" she asked. "It's that you always want to see the good in people, even people like Cheryl Blossom, Veronica Lodge, and Archie Andrews, but when they betrayed you, you saw their true colors, didn't you?"

Betty nodded. "Yes, I did."

"So no backsliding this time. No Cheryl, no Veronica, and…"

"No Archie."

Once Archie finished eating his breakfast, the doorbell rang. He answered to reveal none other than Betty.

"Walk me to school?" she requested.

Archie gladly accepted. He grabbed his things, and they both headed towards the school.

"I needed time to process," Betty said. "Time to separate what my mom wants from what I want… well, I think I want."

"Which is?" Archie asked.

"My mom says I should never speak to you again, but I… even though you don't love me, I still want us to be friends. Best friends."

"You do?"

"Yeah."

"That's great, Betty. Me too."

"I'd be lying if I said it didn't hurt."

"And I'm sorry, Betty. I didn't do it to be a… I don't know. I just thought it would be better in the long run."

"And it will be. Oh, and don't tell my mom that we're friends again."

When he got to the school, Archie got his things from his locker. He saw that a small memorial was placed in front of what once was Jason's locker. He watched as other students stopped to pay their tributes.

"Hi," came a voice.

Archie jumped, only to realize it was Jughead.

"Do you think I can use Jason Blossom's death as an excuse to get out of PE?" Jughead asked. "'Sorry, Coach, I'm just too freaked out right now to do pull-ups.'"

Archie finished getting his stuff, and he shut his locker.

"Don't joke about Jason," he scolded.

"What?" Jughead reacted as if he didn't just say something insensitive. "Sardonic humor is just my way of relating to the world." He then noticed some of the football kids coming by. "Oh look, it's the rich kids from the Goonies. I'm out."

Jughead walked away. He tried to pass by, but Reggie nudged him.

"Watch it, Wednesday Addams," he teased like it was Jughead's fault.

Betty and Kevin went into the secretary's office. On the desk was a bouquet of yellow flowers.

"Are those for Betty?" Kevin asked.

"It's why I called her," the secretary, Ms. Bell, replied.

Kevin saw a note on top of the bouquet and opened it.

"'Dear Betty,'" he read aloud. "'Please forgive me, XOXO, V.' Who the hell is 'V'?"

It didn't take long for Betty to realize who it was.

"Veronica," she answered.

As if on cue, Veronica came into the room.

"The yellow is for friendship," she explained. "I also got you some cupcakes. As my mom likes to say, 'There's no wrong the right cupcake can't fix'. Also, I booked us for hers-and-hers mani-pedis at Chez Salon. Blowouts too. I'm so, so sorry, Betty. I don't know what happened to me that night. It was such a basic bitch move. It was like I was…"

"Possessed by Madame Satan?" Kevin interrupted.

"The old Veronica," Veronica corrected. "And I will never do anything like that to you again, I swear on my mother's pearls. Can you please give me one more chance?"

After only a second of thinking, Betty said, "Okay."

"What?" Kevin reacted.

"Awesome," Veronica smiled. "I'll take it and you won't regret it. I'll bring these to lunch…" She gestured to the box of cupcakes she was holding. "So we can celebrate."

The bell rang, so Veronica headed off to class.

Kevin glared at Betty, disappointed.

"It's the path of least resistance, Kev," Betty defended. "Last week, Veronica and I weren't even friends. Next week, we'll nod to each other as we pass in the hall, but that's it. In two weeks, she won't even remember my name, and three, she'll find another girl to destroy."

"Good morning, students," said Principal Weatherbee on the intercom. "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. Now, on a less felicitous note, if you could give your attention to Sheriff Keller."

Weatherbee allowed Sheriff Keller, Kevin's father, to take it from there.

"Most of you already know the details," Keller said. "But your classmate, Jason Blossom's, body was found late last night. As of the weekend, Jason's death is now being treated as a homicide. It's an open and ongoing investigation."

"And may I interject," Cheryl butted in. "Neither me or my parents will rest until Jason's death is avenged and his cold-hearted killer is walking the green mile to sit in Old Sparky and Fry. I, for one, have my suspicions. Hashtag Riverdale Strong."

With Cheryl done talking, Keller took over again. "If you know anything that could help us find and apprehend Jason's killer, or anything about what happened to him on July 4, I strongly urge you to come forward immediately. Speak with me or Principal Weatherbee. A death like this hurts us all. Let's not let Jason down."

Weatherbee saw Archie out the window. Archie saw him, but quickly looked away.

Riverdale

Chapter 2

Touch of Evil

Archie entered his science class. He saw a couple of girls, likely Vixens, talking to Cheryl.

"We were wondering, Cheryl," said one. "Back in July, you told the po-po Jason drowned."

"Yet we come to find out that Jason didn't drown, he was shot," the other added. "That's slightly suspicious, no?"

"Are you living mannequins suggesting I had something to do with my brother's death?" Cheryl asked.

"We're just curious. What do the police think happened?"

"I'll tell you what I told them, which is that Jason did fall in the water. We both did. I made it to the shore, he didn't. Maybe he made it to the other side of the river and someone shot him there. Who knows?"

That's when the science teacher came in.

"Seats, everyone," he ordered. "Pair off, gloves on, scalpels up."

"Can I be with Cheryl?" Archie asked.

"And I wanna be with Betty," Veronica said as she sat next to Betty. "Once again, fate pulls us together."

Archie sat with Cheryl.

"Cheryl, we haven't talked since this summer," he said. "I just want to say I'm sorry about your brother. If I can do anything to help…"

"That's sweet, Archie," Cheryl interrupted. "But unless you were at Sweetwater River, and know who shot Jason…"

The sound of a gun firing played over and over in Archie's mind. "Do you know if the police have any leads?"

"What? No, you ghoul, but it's only a matter of time. My twintuition is telling me something we all know."

"Right." Archie decided to change the subject to the frog they were supposed to dissect. "I'm not really a science guy, but I can take point on this if it's too weird for you."

Weird why? Oh, you mean because my brother might be dissected with a blade at this very moment? Don't worry, I'm fine. In fact, I'm amazing."

Cheryl dug the knife deep into the frog's body. She didn't pay attention to that, mainly because she was focused on the girls that were bothering her earlier.

The coroner, Dr. Curdle Jr., examined Jason's body.

"Every corpse has a tale to tell," he said. "Step closer to the body. There are several morbid details you should find relevant to your article."

"What details, Dr. Curdle?" asked Alice. "What sticks out to you?"

"The marbling of the veins, signs of scavenger activity, ligature marks on both wrists, and a hint of cryo-necrotic preservation."

Alice handed Curdle an envelope filled with one-to-twenty-dollar bills. "Small bills, right?"

During lunch period, Archie, Betty, and Veronica found Kevin playing his guitar at one of the tables.

"Any new material you wanna try out on a very forgiving audience?" Veronica asked. "Please?"

"Uh…" Kevin said hesitantly.

"Would you?" Betty pleaded. "I'd love to hear it."

"I'm still working on the lyrics, so…"

Play "Dance, Dance, Dance" - Riverdale Original Song

Kevin started playing his guitar.

Kevin:

I'm lost in the memory of the place where summer ends

Late night when this town gets small, I'll be running through the streets again

Let's make it hard to hold on

Come on, turn the radio on, and honey we'll dance, dance, dance

As Kevin sang, memories of the night before replayed in Betty's mind. The dance, Cheryl's party, the argument with Archie.

For the rest of the night, it's better left unsaid

Yeah come on, play the remix loud, and honey we'll dance, dance, dance

For the rest of our lives, I'm not ready to go yet

We've got history to forget

End "Dance, Dance, Dance"

When the song was over, Betty burst into tears.

"Betty, are you okay?" asked Archie.

"I'm supposed to say yes," Betty replied. "That's what the nice girl always says, but…" She stood up. "I'm not. I want to be, I thought I could be, but it's too much too fast."

Betty ran off. Archie got up and ran after her.

"Betty, wait, listen to me," he pleaded.

"No," Betty refused. "When I think, Archie, of where I feel safest and most myself, I think of us in a booth at Pop's…"

"Me too."

"But that's not true anymore. I thought I could pretend none of this happened, but… 'I can't give you the answer you want'. That's what you said to me, and that's how I feel right now."

Betty started to run away again. Archie tried to go after her.

"Mr. Andrews, a word," a voice called.

Archie turned to see it was none other than Principal Weatherbee.

"You're in a very good place right now, Mr. Andrews," Weatherbee said once they were in private. "Varsity football. This morning in the hallway, you wouldn't meet my eyes. Why?"

"I was distracted," Archie replied. "I wasn't feeling well."

"If there's something you want to get off your chest, perhaps about Jason, now would be the time."

After lunch period, Veronica and the Vixens practiced for the coming pep rally when Cheryl came in.

"Stand down, Vixens, and listen up," she ordered. "The weather's predicting a downpour, but you're already raining on my parade. With Jason so present in our collective consciousness, all eyes will be on me. Will this beautiful, exotic, hothouse flower be drowned by scrutiny or swamped by her emotions? The answer, ladies, is no. That said, I need star power. I need the Pussycats. Stay loose and limber, ladies, while I make a call."

Veronica sat down and got a drink of water.

"After this, I'll definitely need a pedicure," she remarked. "You?"

"I'll have homework," Betty replied.

Veronica did some stretches. "I know everyone grieves differently, but Cheryl's hosting a pep rally to cope with her loss. That's either brilliant, psychotic, or both."

"Well, at least Cheryl's not putting on an act, pretending she's a butterfly when she's really a wasp."

Veronica could tell what Betty was implying. "For the record, the only reason I went into that closet with Archie was so that Cheryl wouldn't."

"Oh, so you did it to protect me?"

"Damn straight."

"So nothing happened between you and Archie in the closet, then?"

Veronica didn't respond to that.

"That's what I thought," Betty concluded. "You know, Archie and I were fine before you got here."

"If by 'fine', you mean you were just pining after him in quiet desperation," Veronica retorted.

"At least we were friends."

"You were walking on eggshells trying to get him to tell the truth."

"Okay, you don't know me, Veronica."

"It's not my fault he doesn't like you, if that's what you're thinking." Veronica sighed. "It's not anyone's fault, not even stupid Archie's. It's just how it is. Most of the time the people we like don't like us back. Romeo and Juliet are the exception, not the rule. Look, never speak to me again if that's what you want. I'll accept that, but what exactly did Archie do wrong?"

"Are you seriously taking his side?"

"No, I'm not taking any side."

"The Pussycats are in," Cheryl announced. "Oh, sorry ladies, am I interrupting?"

"As a matter of fact," Veronica was about to reply.

"No you're not," Betty butted in. "Actually, I was about to come and find you, Cheryl. I have a gift certificate for hers-and-hers mani-pedis and blowouts at Chez Salon. Wanna come with?"

Veronica could not believe what Betty was doing. "Betty, what are you doing?"

"Butt out, closet monster!" Cheryl yelled. "You have forfeited your right to take the high and mighty road." She turned to Betty. "As pour moi, Betty, of course. I never say no to a pedi."

Betty took Cheryl's hand and walked away.

Veronica sighed, knowing she messed up.

Hermione was working as a waitress for Pop's. Right after she handed a burger to a patron, Veronica came in.

"You're doing great, Mom," Veronica complimented. "Better than me this week."

"Yeah, we're surviving by our wits, Ronnie," Hermione replied. "It's what the Lodges do. If Dad could see us now."

"He'd say you look stunning in that new uniform."

"I'm going for this Joan Crawford, Mildred Pierce thing. Is it working?"

"Definitely."

That's when Archie came in.

"Hi," he greeted.

"Hi," Veronica replied.

"And who might this heartbreaker be?" Hermione asked.

"I'm picking up an order for Andrews," said Archie.

"Oh, you're Fred's son? You're as handsome as your father was."

"I'll see you at home, Mom," Veronica said, about to head out.

"Wait." Hermione handed Archie his order. "I'm sure Archie would happily escort you."

Archie and Veronica walked home.

"Is Betty still mad at you?" Veronica asked.

"We're back to no texting," Archie replied. "You?"

"I'm back to being the shallow, toxic, rich bitch who ruins everything in her path, which is unfortunate because even though I just met Betty, I really felt like we were meant to be friends. Now, it's like there was this train that was heading towards the rest of my life and I just missed it."

Archie grinned as the memories came back to him. "Betty and I have been next-door neighbors since we were four. We've always gone to the same school, been in the same class. I remember in the second grade, I had trouble reading, and my teacher, Ms. Gibrock, told my parents that I should stay back a year to get caught up. Betty was so against the idea of us being in separate grades that she took it upon herself to tutor me every single day."

Veronica chuckled. "In the second grade?"

"Yes. Anyway, when I passed, thanks to Betty, I kissed her and I asked her to marry me. She was like, 'Oh, we're too young. Ask me when we're 18 and I'll say yes.'" The happy memory instantly turned into a sad one as Archie thought back to everything that happened. "I hate that I hurt her."

"Give her time, Archie. That's all you can do. Don't despair, I don't think your story with Betty is over."

Cheryl helped Betty apply her makeup for the pep rally.

"Your room's nice," she complimented.

"Nah, it's too pink," Betty replied. "It doesn't feel right anymore."

"No, I like how girly it is. Mine is too. You should go over and see it sometime. Just you, not Veronica. I mean, she must be evil incarnate if even you won't have her as a friend. On the subject of being friends, I'm sorry I was such a bitch to you. After Polly and Jason's epic demise, I took my anger out on everyone, including you, which was so unfair. Especially since, in a way, we both lost siblings. How is Polly? Still in that group home? Do you think she knows what happened to Jason?"

"I'm not sure."

"What do you think went down between them? What do your parents say?"

"Not a lot."

"Same. I keep thinking he said something to her and she said something to him. Didn't they have a big fight this summer?"

Betty was starting to feel uncomfortable. "Why are you asking me so many questions about Polly?"

Cheryl's face turned serious. "Because, you dumb cow, someone shot my brother and I think it was your crazy, tweaked-out sister."

Cheryl turned to the mirror and started applying makeup to herself. Betty stood up angrily.

"Get out of my house," she demanded.

"Not until you tell me…" Cheryl was about to argue.

"Cheryl, get the fuck out of my house before I kill you!"

That shut Cheryl up instantly.

The next morning, Betty was writing in her journal when Alice came in and sprayed febreze all over the room.

"A little sage to banish the evil spirits," she said.

"Mom," Betty groaned.

"I'm not joking. That family is pure evil. I'm wondering if the Blossoms didn't just kill Jason themselves, sacrificed him to some dark pagan god that they worship in that insane mansion of theirs."

"Mom, does Polly know about Jason?"

"I told her, but sometimes she doesn't even know what day it is."

"Mom, why were you so against them being together?"

"Many reasons. That family. Everything it touches, it rots."

"Mom, I was thinking, maybe it's time I finally get to visit Polly."

"I'm proud that you finally stood up to that dragoness, but honestly, Betty, why was Cheryl over here in the first place, and who else is gonna come waltzing in? Veronica? Archie? How many times are you gonna let them hurt you?"

"Until I learn my lesson, Mom."

At the school, Betty ran into Veronica while getting stuff from the locker.

"You were right," she apologized. "What you said about Archie. Sometimes it's hard to admit things to yourself. My mother is crazy. I'm afraid I'll never see my sister again. The boy I like doesn't like me back."

"He may not be crushing on you, but he does love you," Veronica assured. "He's legit miserable without you, if that's any consolation. My mom says sometimes a friend is better than a boyfriend. I guess this is one of those times."

During free period, some of the students hung out at the lounge.

Archie tried to get a snack from the vending machine. For whatever reason, it wouldn't accept the dollar bill he was using.

"Let's think about it," Reggie said to everyone. "If a kid at Riverdale killed Jason, it's not gonna be a jock, right? Isn't it always some spooky, scrawny, pathetic internet troll writing spooky manifestos to get laid? Some smug, moody, serial killer fanboy freak, like Jughead? What was it like, Suicide Squad, when you shot Jason? You didn't do anything to the body, did you?"

"It's called necrophilia, Reggie," Jughead replied half-jokingly. "Can you spell it?"

"Come here, you little…"

Reggie got up and prepared to punch Jughead in the face.

Archie got in between them.

"Shut the fuck up, Reggie!" he shouted.

"What do you care, Andrews?" Reggie asked.

"Nothing. Just leave him alone."

Reggie laughed. "Holy crap. Did you and Donnie Darko kill him together? Was it some pervy, blood brother thing?"

At that point, Archie had enough. He grabbed Reggie by the collar and tried to push him down. Reggie steadied himself, grabbed Archie, and shoved him into the vending machine. Archie fell to the ground. Before he could get back up, Reggie held him down. Despite Jughead and Moose's best attempts to get him off of Archie, Reggie punched him in the eye.

When he finally got home, Archie started to apply ice to his now swollen eye.

"Ooh," Fred said. "I hate to ask this, but did you get that in a fight with Jughead?"

"No, it was with Reggie," Archie replied. "Reggie was accusing Jughead of killing Jason, I defended Jughead, and Reggie just attacked me."

"You know, this is the first honest conversation we had in a while, and I'm glad that you were trying to stick up for Jughead. Archie, if you know it's the right thing to do, even though it's tough, even though it might cost you, you gotta do it."

Archie knew that Fred was right. He had to tell Weatherbee what he knew. He could just leave out the fact that he was being intimate with Betty, so she wouldn't get in trouble.

That night was the school pep rally.

Before it started, Archie found Jughead just standing on the side of the bleachers. He approached him.

"Hey, how's that eye doing?" Jughead asked.

"It's getting better," Archie replied. "Only hurts when I touch it. Hey, I didn't mean all that crap I said to you all those years ago. I'm sorry."

"It's cool. I can't say I forgive you, but I'm over it."

Archie offered a hug.

"We're not gonna hug in front of the whole town," Jughead chuckled. "So why don't we just do the thing where we nod like douches and mutually suppress our emotions?"

"Yeah," Archie smiled. "But as friends, right?"

"To be discussed over many burgers, many days."

The two nodded like douches, then Archie ran back onto the field.

He ran into Betty. She saw his black eye and got worried.

That's when the other football players showed up, carrying Archie away.

"Now, to kick off this pep rally, I'd like to hand it over to our very own Mayor McCoy," said Principal Weatherbee.

Mayor McCoy took the microphone. "Thank you, Principal 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 is nothing like what we've had in the past, and we shouldn't pretend that it is. That is why I would like to dedicate this evening to the memory of 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 stars, my Josie and her Pussycats."

Play "Candy Girl" by The Archies (Riverdale version)

The crowd cheered as Josie and the Pussycats got on stage.

Josie:

Hey, shawty, you're my candy girl, the kind with the swirls

Oh, so good, baby out of this world

Looks so sweet, fell in love with your curves

Every time you speak, conversation like 'sir'

S-u-g-a-r, you ain't her

Oh, honey honey, put money on that girl

Let's keep it in the circle, you everything I deserve

Baby want your sugar, I'm ready to get served

The Vixens danced along to the music provided by the band.

Josie and Valerie:

Sugar, oh, honey honey

You are my candy girl, and you got me wanting you, ooh

Honey, oh, sugar sugar

You are my candy girl, and you got me wanting you, ooh

Josie:

I saw this girl, I wanna know her name

She gots this body, it's driving me insane

'Cause I need a candy girl (ah)

Her kisses rock my world

Long legs, brown eyes

Ain't your body look fancy girl

Josie and Valerie:

Sugar, oh, honey honey

You are my candy girl, and you got me wanting you, ooh

Honey, oh, sugar sugar

You are my candy girl, and you got me wanting you, ooh

End "Candy Girl"

With the song over, Coach Clayton took the wheel.

"Are you guys ready to make some noise?" he asked.

The crowd cheered in response.

"Put your hands together for the Riverdale Bulldogs!" Clayton cheered.

The Bulldogs ran through the banner and across the field.

Cheryl saw Archie running in the front. She started to hallucinate Jason there. The memory of Sweetwater River came flooding back. She ran off before anyone could see her break down.

Concerned, Veronica ran after Cheryl. She found her in the locker room, crying.

"Cheryl, what is it?" Veronica asked. "What happened?"

"Jason," Cheryl replied. "He's gone."

"I know he is."

"You don't understand. He was supposed to come back. I'm alone."

Veronica put a hand on Cheryl's shoulder. "You're not alone. It's okay."

Cheryl hugged Veronica and cried on her shoulder.

Betty showed up and witnessed what was happening.

When the pep rally was over, the girls packed their stuff.

"I saw you and Cheryl," Betty said. "Not many girls would've done what you did."

"Full disclosure, I've had my share of emotional breakdowns," Veronica admitted.

"If you're not doing anything, do you wanna get a milkshake at Pop's?"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Betty, I'd love that."

At the diner, the girls got their milkshakes. Veronica got chocolate, while Betty got vanilla.

"Betty, can we make a vow?" asked Veronica. "That no matter what, no boy will come between us again. Deal?"

"Deal," Betty replied as they clinked their cups.

Archie and Jughead came in right after. Betty tried to ignore them at first, but she didn't want to come off as rude.

"Hey, wanna join us?" she offered.

"Yes, but only if you're treating us," Jughead replied.

The two boys sat with the two girls.

Veronica introduced herself to Jughead, and he did the same.

To someone on the outside, peering in, it would've looked like there were four people in the booth, but really, there were only three. A blonde girl, a raven-haired girl, and the luckiest red-headed boy in the universe.

For one shining moment, they were all just kids. Those bright neon lights of Pop's kept the darkness at bay, giving way, as all nights must, to a morning of reckoning.

That morning, Archie was about to head into the principal's office and tell him everything, but Weatherbee and Keller passed him without even acknowledging him.

Archie followed them to the science classroom. Cheryl was in that classroom. She seemed to know why they were there.

"You're here for me, aren't you?" she asked. "Because of the autopsy?"

"We don't need to do this in front of your classmates, Cheryl," Keller assured.

"It's okay. They'll find out soon enough." Cheryl reached out her arms, as if ready to be cuffed.

"Cheryl, find out about what?" asked Veronica.

"That I'm guilty," Cheryl replied.

As shocking as those three words were, they were nothing compared to the secrets that Jason's body had given up during its autopsy. Jason didn't die on July 4, as everyone believed, but over a week later.

Riverdale

Thanks for reading.