Recap

"Wait, Cheryl, Dria, find out what?" Ronnie asked "That we're guilty." Cheryl and I say in sync.

Chapter Three

"Guilt, innocence. Good, evil. Life, death. As the shadows around Riverdale deepened, the lines that separated these polar opposites blurred and distorted. "We're guilty," Cheryl and Alex said in Biology class. But of what?"

Cheryl and I are walked to Weatherbees office by Keller and Weatherbee. Once we get in the office, Cheryl and I take a seat in the chairs in front of his desk. The blinds are closed and that's when I knew it was time to speak. Cheryl and I had talked about what would happen when they found out that we lied. We agreed that it would be best for me to do most of the talking because I could easily lie to them about everything. Cheryl holds my hand as we sit next to each other and I look at her and nod slightly to her. "To clarify, we didn't mean that we are guilty of killing Jason. We loved him more than we do ourselves. But we are guilty of lying about what happened on July 4th." I say looking back at Keller and Weatherbee. "The autopsy puts his death about July 11th. When was the last time either of you saw Jason?" Keller asked "It was July 4th. We don't know what happened the week after that, but..." I say half lying before he cuts me off. "Cheryl, Alex, in your own words, what happened at Sweetwater River?" Keller asked

"The plan was bananas, even for us. Jason wanted to leave Riverdale and never come back. He asked for our help to stage a tragic accident, so that their parents wouldn't come after him. Our story would be, we went for an early morning boat ride, and the boat tipped, and capsized, and Jason drowned. In fact, we made it to the other side dry as bones. We said goodbye on the Greendale side of Sweetwater River. He promised he'd call us as soon as he was in a place where he couldn't be reached or pulled back by their parents. One month, at the most." I say "Every day, we waited for him to call, for an email." Cheryl said looking between the two. "You two tell anyone about the plan? Any way that you can corroborate it?" Keller looks right at me when he asked that like he knew something. Which he did know about my position in the Serpents because he's arrested me on more than one occasion. "And you have no idea why Jason wanted to run away, fake his own death? Doesn't that seem cruel?" Keller asked "No, he wasn't... Jason wasn't cruel." I say "So maybe this is all just a web of lies you two are spinning to cover your own tracks." Keller said

"We didn't kill Jason!" I exclaimed and he looks taken aback by it. "There was a gunshot that morning. We heard a gunshot on July 4th. Maybe whoever killed Jason took a shot at him, and missed that morning." Cheryl said "You two heard a gunshot, and you're just telling us this now?" Keller asked "We were upset. My brother and her best friend were murdered." Cheryl said and I knew he was gonna throw it back at us. "So upset that you two sang and danced at a pep rally yesterday." Keller said and I hear a door slam open making me turn my head. Clifford, Penelope and my father are all three standing there. "What the hell is going on here?" Clifford asked and I flinch at his voice and I see Keller looking at me.  "Mommy." Cheryl said

"Dad." I say and Penelope walks over to us. "Don't say another word, Girls. Get up." Penelope said and she forces Cheryl out of her seat and rips her away from me and Dad motions to me to get up. I get up and walk to his side but stay as far away from Clifford as I could. The Blossoms walk out of the office and Dad and I go to walk out before Keller stops us. "Alex, wait a second." Keller said and I freeze and turn to look at him. "Yes, Sheriff?" I ask "You know something else don't you. You've acted strange around the Blossoms except Cheryl since July 4th. You've never acted this way around them whenever I've seen you around them. What else do you know?" Keller asked and curse myself in my head because I knew someone would eventually notice it.

There's two ways I could go about this. Tell them about Clifford without actual evidence and then Clifford kill Cheryl if they try and go after him or lie and deny and pay for it later if anything ever comes out. Option number two it is. "No, sir. I don't know anything else. Now my reasoning for acting strange around Mr. and Mrs. Blossom since July 4th is because of what Cheryl and I just told you. Now am I free to go back to class?" I ask "Yes, of course. But we will keep in contact if we need anything else." Keller said and I nod. Dad walks me out of the office and pulls me to the side so no one can hear us. "Is there any reason why you just lied to the Sheriff?" Dad asked quietly "Because the Blossoms have Keller in their pocket. It's not like I could say "oh yeah I saw Clifford Blossom shoot his own son in the basement of my gangs bar and helped the leader cover it up. All over a ring which Jason gave to me." It wouldn't help matters none and I'm not letting you go down for something I did." I say

-time skip-

All of us are in the student lounge after Archie told Weatherbee and Keller that he was at Sweetwater River on July 4th. "So, are you a suspect now?" Veronica asked "My dad says we all are, including me." Kev said "Not me, girl. I don't know these people." Ronnie said "Guys, should we maybe re-binge Making a Murderer on Netflix tonight?" Kev asked and I laugh. "Sorry. Can't. Gotta stay late to work on the paper." Betty said "Count me out, too. I've got a date tonight." Ronnie said "You do?" Archie asked and I could tell from my seat he was jealous. "Which Riverdale hottie made the cut?" Kev asked and I see Chuck, Reggie who had a black eye darker than Archie's and Moose at the door. "Hey, Vee-Lo. I'll swing by the Pembrooke to pick you up at 8?" Chuck asked and I tense going pale. "I'll be waiting." Ronnie said "Cool." Chuck said and he looked at me and smirked. The boys walk out of the lounge and I immediately get up and follow them. "Dria?" Ronnie asked as I walk away from her, Betty and the boys.

"Clayton." I say and the boys stop and turn around to smirk at me. "Sup, Fire. You come to tell me good luck tonight?" Chuck asked "Nope." I step closer to them with a glare on my face. "If you so much as think about putting her in that book, I will bring you and all your little buddies down." I say and Chuck looks shocked before he masks it. "You sure you want to do that? You bring me down then everyone including Betty Cooper finds out Jason cheated on Polly with the Northside Princess, Alex Andrews." Chuck said and my face goes cold at the mention of my relationship with Jason. I step closer to him and he takes a slight step back making me smirk.

"Well see here's the thing Clayton, no one would believe you. Why would they? You and your band of dumbasses wrote everything you did and who you did them with. So why would they believe you when you say that Jason and I were together when there's no evidence of it? Especially not in that book of yours. You put her in that book and your eye would look worse than Reggie's." I turn my head to look at Reggie and he flinches slightly. "Which by the way, Reginald, you should really get checked out." I say before turning and walking back into the lounge and taking my seat again. "What was that about?" Ronnie asked "Do you trust me?" I ask "Of course. Why wouldn't I?" Ronnie asked "Then don't go on that date." I say "What? Why?" Veronica asked "Going on a date with Clayton or any of his friends is a bad idea, trust me. Take it from the one who spent a lot of time around them because of Jason. Don't go on the date." I say "Okay, okay. I won't, I promise." Veronica said "Good now maybe I won't have to punch another football player." I say

-time skip-

Jug and I are standing at the entrance of the Blue and Gold newspaper room. Betty told us both to be there. "If print journalism is dead, what are we doing here?" Jug asked "Yes, I agree. What are we doing here?" I ask "The Blue and Gold isn't dead, Juggy, Dria." I look from her to Jug smirking.  "It's just dormant. But waking up." Jug and I walk in the room. I start looking around the room at everything in it. "You're writing a novel, right? About Jason Blossom's murder?" Betty asked "I am. Riverdale's very own In Cold Blood." Jug said "Which started out as a series of articles. I'm hoping you both will come write for the Blue and Gold." Betty said and I look her in shock. She's one of the only few people that know about my love for writing so having her ask me to write on the school paper with her and have everyone read what I write is really surprising.

"I just don't think the school paper's the right fit for my voice." Jug said and Betty groans. "Juggy... Jason's death changed Riverdale. People don't want to admit that, but it's true. We all feel it. Nothing this bad was ever supposed to happen here, but it did." I scoff quietly. If only she knew. "I want to know why." Betty said "Would we get complete freedom?" Jug asked pointing between him and I as I walk over to them. "I'll help, and edit... and suggest. But it's your guy's story, it's your voices." Betty said and Jug looks at me raising his eyebrow at me. "Doesn't sound like complete freedom, but..." I say "We're in." Jug and I say in sync. Betty smiles holding her hands together. I smile slightly and her being so happy about it. "Okay great! Um, in that case, I have your guy's first assignment. There's one person who was at the river on July 4th that no one's talking about." Betty said "Dilton Doiley and his Scouts." I say remembering that they were there and found Cheryl and I. "Exactly." Betty said and Jug and I smirk at her.

-time skip-

Archie and I walked through the door at the same time. I sit down on the couch as Archie shuts the door. "Hey." Archie and I said in sync.  "I texted. Where were you?" Dad asked and I knew he was mainly talking to Arch because I texted him back. "Football practice. Then I was writing." Archie said "Songs?" Dad stands up out of his chair. "Your music? I thought you and Jughead were on a road trip on the 4th. Then I talked with Sheriff Keller. So, guess that was a lie." Dad said and Archie stands up making me stand behind Dad. "Dad, we were gonna go, but..." Archie said before Dad cuts him off. "You should have come to me, Archie. We could've gone to the Sheriff together." Dad said "I didn't want to drag you into it, Dad." Archie said and my eyes go wide slightly because I said the exact same thing. "That was an error in judgement. Sometimes I forget how much the two of you are alike." Dad said glancing between Archie and I as Archie goes up the stairs.

"Sorry, Dad. Sorry I'm not perfect." Archie said "You know, you're pretty far from perfect lately, Archie. That's why you're grounded." Dad said and I look at Dad in shock then look up at Archie knowing he's gonna turn this on me. "What? Are you serious?" Archie asked "So, in this house, every night for two weeks, 7:00. You want some alone time with your music? You got it." Dad said "So Alex can keep a secret about Jason Blossom not actually drowning on July 4th and get off without even a talking to but the minute I keep a secret about a gunshot that may or may not be related to Jason's death, I get grounded?" Archie asked and I step up beside Dad. "Do not turn this around on me. You don't even know why I did what I did. No one does! So don't bring this around on me when you're the one who fucked up." I say and Dad wraps an hand around my arm. "I think seeing her best friend with a bullet in his brain was enough for her to learn her lesson." Dad said and I flinch slightly. "I'm not 10 years old, Dad! You can't just..." Archie said before Dad cuts him off. "You wanna go for three?" Archie doesn't say anything and just walks upstairs. "You didn't have to cut in." Dad said "I wasn't about to let him talk to you that way because you didn't punish me for not saying anything about mine and Cheryl's plan with Jason." I say

-time skip-

(Without serpent jacket)

I'm walking by Grundys room to meet up with Veronica, and Betty when I see familiar red hair being in the room. I go to the door and peek in the window to see Archie and Grundy talking. Grundy is pacing and I knew they were talking about Archie reporting the gunshot. I walk a good distance from her room so they couldn't hear me and pull out my phone. I press Joaquin's contact and he picks up on the second ring. "Yes, my Queen?" Quin asked sarcastically making me roll my eyes. "How many times have I told you not to call me that?" I ask "A lot but I'm still gonna do it." I laugh slightly knowing he's right. "But seriously, what can I do for you?" Quin asked "Can you get me everything you know on a Geraldine Grundy. She's a music teacher at Riverdale High?" I ask "Yeah of course. Offically or unofficially?" Quin asked "All of it. Offically and unofficially. Everything you can find, I want. I can send you her picture if it would help any unofficially." I say "What's this about?" Quin asked "Blackmail and general knowledge so I know if I need to kill her or not." I say "Will do. I'll send it to you when I know it." Quin said "Thanks Quin. And as always keep this between us. I don't need the boss asking questions." I say "Of course." Quin said and I hang up.

I walk away from Grundys room and towards Ronnie's locker. I lean against the locker beside hers when Kev walks over to us. "So, how'd it go with Chuck?" Kev asked and Ronnie laughs. I stand up completely staring at her. "I didn't go. I listened to Dria." Veronica said closing her locker. "Thank god you did." I say and I see Tina and Ginger walking towards us. "Hey, Veronica. How was the Sticky Maple you had last night?" Tina asked and I glare at her. "The what now?" Veronica asked "The Sticky Maple Chuck gave you? How was it?" Ginger asked "I stood him up if that's what you hyenas mean." Veronica said and everyone's phones starts going off and I clinch my jaw knowing what's going on. "That motherfucker." I say and Kev pulls out his phone to look at it. "Oh, my god." Kev said "What?" Veroncia asked and she took Kev's phone and we all look at it. The picture is of just Veronica at Pops when she and I met for milkshakes. "That's the picture I took of you when we hung out at Pops not long after you first moved here. I posted it and he must have got it off my page. Because I swear to you, I would never send it to him." I say "I know you wouldn't. What the hell is a Sticky Maple?" Veronica asked "It's kind of what it sounds like. It's a Riverdale thing." Kev said

"No, Kevin, it's a slut-shaming thing. And I'm neither a slut, nor am I going to be shamed by someone named, excuse me, Chuck Clayton. I didn't even go on a date with him. Does he really think he can get away with this? Does he not know who I am? I will cut the breaks on his souped-up phallic symbol." Veronica said "I got stuff to do it. I'll help." I say smirking at her. "Or we can go to Principal Weatherbee." Betty said and I scoff. "About the coach's son? Who is Captain of the football team, and Riverdale High's resident golden boy?" I ask "Or I can expose him in the pages of the Blue and Gold. Yeah, I can do that!" Betty said "No. Spoken like a true good girl who always follows the rules." Veronica said and she shoved Kevin's phone against his chest shoving him back into the locker.

We walk away towards the locker room where all the boys would be right now. "Well, we don't follow rules, we make them, and when necessary, we break them." I say and Betty runs after us. "You wanna help us get revenge on Chuck, Betty, awesome. But you better be willing to go full dark, no stars." Veronica said "What do you say, in or out?" We walk to the locker room. A guy opens the door and we walk in. "Get the fuck out of my way." I keep walking in the locker room avoiding the half naked or fully naked with towels around their waist boys. "Move." Veronica bumps into my brother and he almost drops his towel. "Archie, you better grab that fucking towel." I say "Veronica? Betty, Dria, what are you guys doing here?" Archie asked "Don't worry about it." Archie steps in front of me. "I mean it, Archibald. Hit the showers and stay out of my way." I see a look of hurt pass over his face as I shove him away from me. Veronica, Betty and I keep walking until we find Chuck.

Veronica clears her throat and Moose looks at us. Chuck turns around to look at us. "Huh, Fire, B and V. Ménage a right on. Ladies." Chuck said and the boys around us laugh. I glare at him and he looks away from me. "This is disgusting. Take it down." Veronica said "Whoa, whoa. Why are you so wound up? It's a badge of honor, and you're not exactly virgin territory after your closet date with Andrews." Chuck said and I scoff about to say something but Betty speaks up before I can. "Okay, that's beyond irrelevant, Chuck. You're not allowed to go around humiliating girls, for any reason, under any circumstances, you jerk." Betty said and I look away trying to not laugh at her insult.

"Look, I get you're not a closet kind of girl, but hey, if you wanna ride the Chuck Wagon, that can be arranged." Chuck said and I scoff. "Let's keep this simple, so that your preppy-murderer half-brain can grasp it." I take Ronnie's phone from her and step towards Chuck. "Take. This. The hell. Down." I stop right in front of Chuck glaring at him. "Just because she stood you up, bruised your ego and you stole a picture of her from my page just so you could do this shit is pathetic. I warned you what would happen if you did this shit." I say to him and fear passed through his eyes before he quickly masks it.

"Okay, that high-toned bitch attitude may have worked on Jason and the other betas you dated, but you're in Bulldog territory." Moose barks behind him bucking towards us. I reach into my back pocket on instinct. The boys around us start barking. "But please, fight back." He goes to step around me before stopping. "You'll only make it harder on yourself." Chuck said and he goes to walk away but I quickly grab his arm in a death grip digging my nails into his arm. He hisses in pain looking down at me. "I will bring you down, I promise you that." I say "I would like to see you try. I'm holding a piece of information that I don't think you want shared." Chuck said smirking down at me. I let him go and he turns around. "Hey, Clayton." He turns around to look at me. I punch him in the face hard enough to knock him down. The boys around us start making noises. "That's what you get when you threaten to blackmail me." I say before walking through the crowd of boys pushing them out of my way to meet Jug to question Doiley.

Jughead and I walked up to where Doiley is speaking to his scouts. "At ease, Doiley. We're writing an article for the Blue and Gold. Hoping you can help." Jug said "Dismissed. But stay close." Doiley said "Cheryl, Archie and Alex all say they heard a gunshot the morning of July 4th, but they don't know who fired." Jug said "Sheriff Keller already asked me about this. And like I told him, my Scouts and I, we didn't hear anything weird." Doiley said "Well, did you see anything weird?" Jug asked stepping towards Doiley. "A white-winged crossbill. A long-eared owl." I glance over at the Scouts and see one of them watching us before quickly looking away. I glance and Jug and he nods a little to show he saw it too. "Oh. And Cheryl, and Alex, sitting by the river, soaking wet." Doiley said

-time skip-

I walk into the Blue and Gold room with Veronica following me. Betty is sitting in the room with a lot of other girls. "This story is bigger than we thought. I started asking around, to see if what happened to you happened to anyone else, and if anyone would go on record." Betty said "I will. 100%." One girl said "It's five guys on the football team. Chuck and his posse. Ethel was about to tell us." Betty said "One day last year, Chuck and I talked in the library for 10 minutes. I helped him with a Pre-Cal problem, and nothing happened. But the next day, he... He started telling people that I let him do stuff to me. Like, sex stuff. And then he... or one of his goons wrote, "sloppy seconds" on my locker." Ethel said and I hear Cheryl's heels on the floor. I turn my head to see her leaning against the door frame. "Yes, yes, we've all heard your tragic origin story." Cheryl said "I'm so, so sorry, Ethel. That's horrible." Betty said "Not as horrible as being a suspect in your own brother's torture-murder case, but we all have our crosses. In the meantime, River Vixen practice starts in five minutes, sluts, so..." Cheryl said

"They're ruining our lives, and to them it's just a game. They keep score and..." Ethel said and my eyes go wide. "Wait, what do you mean, keep score?" Veronica asked "Each conquest earns them points. They keep track in some secret playbook." Ethel said "Okay, we have to talk to Weatherbee." Betty said "I already tried. Weatherbee said that he didn't find anything." Ethel said and I scoff. "Okay, we need undeniable proof." Betty said "Proof of what, Nancy Drew? That boys will be boys? And that playbook reeks of suburban legend." Cheryl said and she looks at me and I shake my head slightly and she quickly masks her surprise. "How would you know, Cheryl?" Veronica asked "Because, Frida Shallow, before he died, my brother was co-Captain of the football team with Chuck, and Jason never mentioned it, and he never would've allowed it." Cheryl said "Okay, well, I never met your brother, but I'm not lying about what happened to me. And Ethel's not lying. And proof or no proof, book or no book, I am going scorched earth on these privileged despicable miscreants. You wanna get caught in that backdraft, Cheryl? Call me, or any of these beautiful, young, strong, intelligent women.... "Slut" one more time." Veronica said

-time skip-

Veronica, Betty, Kev, Ethel and I are at the school after hours to find the football team's secret playbook. I know where it was before Jason died but after, I don't know if Chuck moved it. "Football players behaving badly, what else is new? Steubenville, Glen Ridge. The coach's son being the ringleader. I mean, just how depraved is this town?" Veronica asked and I sense someone behind us. I turn around and see Cheryl standing there. "Color me impressed." They all scream and turn around facing Cheryl. "A B and E with B and V. What would your holy roller mother say about this, Betty?" Cheryl asked "What are you doing here, Cheryl?" Betty asked "And where do you get those thigh-high boots? They're amazing." Kev said and I look at her boots. "You bitch, you stole my shoes." I say "Sorry, Andi. You steal my clothes all the time. Figured I would repay the favor. But Trev told Valerie, who told Josie, who told Ginger, who told Tina, who told me." Cheryl walks towards us. "And I thought I would help out." Cheryl said "Help? Or derail our investigation?" Betty asked and Cheryl held the flashlight up to Betty's face. "Get over yourself, Betty." Cheryl said

"Hey guys, get in here." I jump forgetting she was there. We walk into the room she's in and she's holding a book. "Trev was right. They didn't even bother to hide it." Ethel said "New girl? Is that what I'm reduced to? Nine points?" Veronica asked "I'm shocked he got that since you stood him up." I say "Better than "big girl". Seven point five." Ethel said and that's when I saw Polly's name next to Jason. "Oh shit." I say quietly backing up. "Polly's in this book..." Betty said "Next to Jason's name." Cheryl said and Betty backs up. "I'm so sorry, Betty." Veronica said "This isn't... Jason would never..." Cheryl said "It's right there, Cheryl! Your brother hurt my sister. This is what guys like Jason and Chuck think about women. We're objects for them to abuse. And when they're done with us, they shame us into silence. They have zero remorse for the lives they destroy." Betty said "Maybe I don't know Jason." Cheryl said

"Jade, you need to look at this." Kev said and I step up beside Cheryl. He points to a spot on the book after Polly's. "Alex Andrews (9) class president. Go Jason!" Was written beside it. Tears instantly cloud my eyes. "No, no, no. He wouldn't." I say backing up away from them. "Andi." Cheryl said coming towards me. "No! Don't! Don't touch me. Jason wouldn't write me in the book! He wouldn't do this to me." I calm myself down and walk back over to them grabbing the book and comparing the handwriting of whoever wrote mine and the one that wrote Polly's. That's when I notice they're not the same. "They're not the same. Jason didn't write my name in the book." I compare the other handwritings. "That motherfucker. I'm going to fucking kill him!" I say when I notice whose handwriting it matches. "Jason cheated on Polly with you?" Betty asked turning to look at me. "Jason and Andi were dating. Had been for months before his death. He slept with Polly way before they got together." Cheryl said "No, no. Polly said that she and Jason were dating. They were dating when he died and Polly went away." Betty said "Polly and Jason only slept together once. He started dating me months after that. We just kept it a secret. But by this I'm guessing the boys figured it out." I say "I'll take a picture. We'll show it to Weatherbee. It'll be the perfect cover for your expose, Betty." Veronica said "Yeah, but... no. These girls deserve justice, don't you think, Cheryl? You want vengeance? You wanna go full dark, no stars, Veronica? I'm with you. And I have a plan." Betty said

-time skip-

Instead of helping Betty and Veronica with their insane plan with Chuck, I go home. I would love to get revenge on Chuck for what he did but handcuffing him in a hot tub is so not the way to do that. Archie walks up the steps behind me making me turn around. "Breaking curfew are we?" I ask "Are you gonna snitch?" Archie asked "I won't have to." I say opening the door and Archie walks in behind me. I hear Vegas panting as he leans against my legs. The light clicks on and dad is standing there. "Welcome home, Ferris. Sneaking out, breaking curfew. Getting into fights." Dad said looking at Archie. "Dad, don't freak out, okay. I was with Josie, helping the Pussycats with a song they're doing at that Taste of Riverdale thing. And I was hoping you would let me go." Archie said "No, Archie. You don't get to go wherever you want, whenever you want, and damn what anyone else says." Dad said "Dad, this is the first time a song I worked on is gonna be performed in front of people. On stage. Please, let me go to this, and then ground me for the next six months, a year." Archie said "We're not haggling over your punishment, end of story." Dad said "Fine. But you have to own it." Archie said and my eyes go wide. "Own what?" Dad asked

"Okay, if I had a football game tomorrow night, would you stop me from going?" Dad goes to say something but Archie cuts him off. "No, because football you understand. You respect. But my music, since I told you about it, you don't care. You don't take it seriously. It's like with Dria, anything she does you understand. You don't punish her, she gets to do whatever she wants." Archie said "This is not about mine or your sister's behavior. This is about your behavior. We're done here." Dad said and Archie goes upstairs.

-time skip-

Dad and I are at the Tatse of Riverdale event. I helped Major McCoy plan everything. "Welcome all, to the first annual Taste of Riverdale. As a lead-up to your 75th anniversary jubilee, this event proves that Riverdale truly is a town that, when tragedy knocks us down, we get right back up! Bon appetit." Mayor McCoy said toasting before walking off stage. Dad and I walk over to Hermione Lodge who's at the Pops vendor. "Well, well, well, Hermione Lodge." Dad said "Fred Andrews." She looks at me. "Hey, Dria. You should come by Pembrooke more often, I know Veronica loves having you there." Hermione said smiling at me. "Of course." I say smiling back. "You look like you could use this." Dad said going to hand her a drink when I feel someone walk up beside me. I freeze when I realize it's Grundy. "May I try a blue cheese slider, please?" Grundy asked "Of course." Hermione said "Hey, you're the music teacher at the high school, right?" Dad asked "Yeah." Grundy said and she glances at me and I try to not glare at her.

"Hi, I'm Fred Andrews, Archie and Alex's dad." They shake hands. Grundy looks scared and I smirk a little. "Can we talk?" Dad looks at me. "Go mingle a little bit sweetie. You helped plan this, at least enjoy it." Dad said and I smile at him. "Of course." I say and they walk away. "You helped plan it?" Hermione asked "Yeah, I do an internship with Mayor McCoy. So I helped her plan this and a couple other events." I say "That sounds amazing." Hermione said and I spot Mayor McCoy talking to the Blossoms. "Yeah, it is. Listen, it was nice seeing you but I have things I gotta take care of." I say "Yeah of course." Hermione said and I walk away from her and towards Mayor McCoy and the Blossoms.

"Penelope? Clifford?" Penelope looks at her pissed off and annoyed. "Hey. How are you holding up?" Mayor McCoy asked "How do you think? My son is dead, and neither of you have done anything to catch his killer, except, of course, harass my daughter and her best friend." Penelope said glancing at me and Alice steps to the other side the Mayor. "Penelope Blossom. I thought I might run into you. Would you like to give me a quote regarding the..." Penelope slaps Alice making her fall over against the Sheriff. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. All right." Keller said "Damn!" I say backing up a little. "How dare you, Alice Cooper!" Clifford holds back Penelope and Hal holds back Alice. "Printing my son's autopsy? He was tortured and shot, and thrown in the river like a piece of garbage." Penelope said crying and I looked over at Josie and I nod to the microphone. She nods understanding me and walks to the microphone. "Hey, Riverdale. We are Josie and the Pussycats. Are you ready to rock?" Josie asked and they start singing.

I step away from everyone and go upstairs to where I'm meeting Jughead to go confront Doiley. I sit down beside of Jughead and a few minutes later, I see Archie making his way to my side. "Are you sure it was worth sneaking out for some locally-sourced Munster?" Jug asked "I helped write that song, man." Archie said "Not bad." I say "I'd love to stay, but I got to shake down an evil Adventure Scout. See you." Jug stands up holding his hand out to me and I grab it and he pulls me to stand up. We walk downstairs to meet Doiley who's leaning against the railing. "Hello, Dilton. I talked to one of your Scouts. I know you fired the gun." Jug said "Which makes you both a liar, and a public menace." I say "So what if I did? I was doing the Adventure Scouts a favor. Somebody has to teach them how to stand their ground. The way this town is going..." Doiley said "Save it for your statement. Which you can make to Sheriff Keller, or to us. I suggest the latter. Blue and Gold offices. Tomorrow." I say and we walk away from him and down the rest of the stairs.

-time skip-

Veronica and I walk up to Betty who had just printed off the paper about the football team's book. "Quite the expose. Whenever did you find the time to write it?" Veronica asked "Stayed up all night. Couldn't sleep after..." Betty said "Me neither. Betty... Ypu came through for me, you both did, in a way that no one else ever has before. But... Can we talk about what happened?" Veronica asked and I knew she was referring to how Betty acted. After it was all done and over Veronica called me telling me what happened. "What do you mean?" Betty asked "The wig and everything. How far were you gonna take it?" Veronica asked "Chuck deserved it." Betty said "Ronnie told me you called him Jason." I say "Know what? I didn't do that." Betty said "Yeah, girl, you did." We follow Betty as she walks away. "You called yourself Polly. It was like Dr. Jekyll, Mistress Hyde. You became another person." Veronica said "Okay, I mean... I remember saying Chuck should apologize for Polly, but not because I thought he was Jason." Betty said "Why then?" I ask "Because... I'm sick of guys like Chuck and Jason doing horrible things to girls like me, you, and Polly. Okay?" Betty asked before walking away. "That was so convincing." I say sarcastically.

"Good and evil. Light and dark. Betty and Veronica. Two sides of the same Janus coin. Given Betty's article, Weatherbee needed a sacrificial lamb. Needed to make an example of someone. So, after Hermione Lodge negotiated a lesser sentence for our two avenging angels... Coach Clayton, to save his job, to save the school's reputation, was forced to cut his own beloved son, and his goon squad , from the team. An action that, though none of us knew it at the time, would have terrible consequences in the weeks to come... But one thing was certain, Betty, Veronica, and Alex, now B,V&A, and maybe forever, had been forged. They walked through the fire, and survived."

There's a crowd in the hallway as Chuck and his friends are walking out of the school. I'm standing between Betty and Veronica smirking at Chuck who has a black eye from where I punched him in the locker room. I wanted to do so much more then what Betty and Veronica did to Chuck because of him writing my name in the book with Jason's but I knew I couldn't get in any more trouble because soon I would be in the center of the murder investigation for Jason Blossom.

-time skip-

I walk with Betty to a barrel to burn the boys' playbook. She throws the book in the barrel handing me the lighter fluid and I spray the book with lighter fluid. Cheryl walks up to us with the lighter and she throws it into the barrel and I watch as it goes up in flames. "Whoever killed Jason hurt him. Maybe Jason hurt people, too. If he hurt Polly, I'm sorry." Cheryl said

"We crave absolutes. They comfort us, but life is infinitely more complex than that."

-time skip-

Betty, Jughead and I are sitting in Blue and Gold with Doiley. He's giving us his statement about the gunshot on the morning of July 4th. I'm leaving against the desk beside of Jughead and Betty is standing behind it. "If you publish a story saying I fired that gun, my life will be ruined. I'll be banished from the Adventure Scouts, and charged with a misdemeanor. So, what if I have a better story?" We nod for him to continue. I have a bad feeling about what he is going to say. "If I tell you what I know, promise me the gunshot stays between us." Doiley said and Betty walks up and stands beside me. "You have our word. As journalists." Betty said "I saw something at Sweetwater River. Something nobody else saw. Ms. Grundy's car. By the river's edge. She was there." Doiley said and my face goes cold glaring at Doiley. Even though my brother was an asshole most of the time, he's still my brother and I would do anything to protect him but Doiley saying this around Betty who as much as I love her doesn't mind her own business for shit, I knew this could never be good.

"Despite all of our recent troubles, I would've done anything to protect Archie. But Dilton Doiley had just opened Pandora's box, and now, there was nothing I, or anyone, could do to save him."

AN
Hope y'all like this chapter. Sorry it's took so long to update. School has been insane. Not sure when I'll have another chapter out for this book because I'm going to try and work on some of my other books and try and get some updates out for them.