Chapter One
" Stand Down, Eva Peron! "

The first thing Sydney saw when she turned away from her locker on this fine Monday was Cheryl, her brother Reggie, and a few cheerleaders heading down the stairs to confront Veronica's greeting of the Southsiders. Closing her locker shut, she had to see what this fiery redhead had to say. "I will not let Riverdale's above average GPA suffer thanks to these washed-up gang bangers."

    "Why don't you say that to my face?" A pink-streaked brunette stepped up, her voice somewhat threatening. "Happily, queen of the buskers." Cheryl stepped up, as well. "Ladies, ladies. You're both pretty." Now it was Sydney's time to interrupt because she wanted to get to lunch before this turned into The Outsiders. "What's film club princess doing here?" Cheryl turned to Sydney, a smug look on her face.

    "This film club princess has to use this hallway to get to lunch so sorry if I ruined your debacle with my presence. Now if you'll excuse me, there's a recycled tuna noodle casserole with my name on it." Sydney shouldered her way through the crowd and the Southsiders stepped out of her way, Sweet Pea giving her a quick once over when her back was turned.

    "Why'd you have to get stuck with that as a sister?" Cheryl asked Reggie. "I don't mind. She's hot. Think she'd look good in a snake skin." Sweet Pea nodded his head towards Reggie in approval. "And she's out of your league," Reggie fired back. The crowd oohed and Sweet Pea's smile grew sour before they all started throwing insults again.

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Riverdale's cafeteria was filled with many students, including the rejected Southsiders, so it was hard for Sydney to maneuver through the throng of teenagers without her lunch going airborne High School Musical-style. While she was in her reverie of what she was going to do for the annual Riverdale Picture Show, she didn't realize that she ran straight into Cheryl until she saw her wearing the tuna noodles like a necklace. Sydney had to fight back a growing smile before beginning to apologize profusely and reach for Cheryl's now ruined blouse. "I am so sorry. I didn't watch where I was going and — "

    "Of course! It just had to be you! Do you realize that you just ruined a three-hundred dollar blouse?" Cheryl was fuming, steam coming out from both ears as she picked off the pasta. "Honestly, I wouldn't've known it was worth that much because the fabric was so cheap-looking," Sydney said nonchalantly. Cheryl harrumphed, threw a couple of noodles down, and made her way to her table, heels clacking ferociously against the tiled floor. Sydney shrugged, picked up a noodle, and slurped it as she made way to find her regular seat with her film club friends. "Dude, where's your lunch?" Christie asked.

     Sydney chuckled as she threw her messenger bag aside and sat down. "Cheryl Blossom's wearing it. At least she was, but now it's laid to rest on the floor."

    "Any idea what you're gonna do for the Riverdale Picture Show?" asked Roan. "Oh, god no. I'm completely stuck," Sydney answered, shaking her head. "I could make a documentary on the school's lunch? Or, I could do it on Jason's murder. But that one crosses too many lines and too big of a project for one person."

    "You gotta think of something, Syd. The winner gets an internship at Gold Brothers Studios!" Christie urged. "I'm thinking, trust me. I just need to get my creative juices flowing." As soon as Sydney turned around, she saw the Core Four strut into the lunch room and she made eye contact with Veronica Lodge before quickly turning back. "This has been the third time this week. Doesn't she have, like, a super tough dad and a boyfriend?" asked Roan before receiving a punch to the arm from Christie. "No need to remind me," Sydney grumbled into her hands.

     "If it makes you feel any better, I heard that Veronica Lodge has serious daddy issues. Her father wound up in jail for some kind of fraud. So be glad you won't have to deal with that if you wind up going out with her. Worst case scenario is you end up dating Cheryl." Christie shook a fry at her before taking a bite of it. "I guess you're right," Sydney said and stole one of Christie's fries. Sydney turned around once more and spotted Cheryl's table, making eye contact with the queen bee herself. Cheryl gave her a look of disgust, rolled her eyes, and turned her attention to the catatonic bimbos she called her "friends."

     That's when the idea came to her. Resident film club princess Sydney Mantle just found her entry for the Riverdale Picture Show. Her subject: Cheryl Blossom.

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"Hey, Reg, pass me the garlic salt, will you?" Sydney was in the middle of making her town-renowned mashed potatoes and mashing them with a hand masher. "Catch." Reggie tossed her the garlic salt and she caught it with her free hand. "Thanks. So I think I found my subject for the Riverdale Picture Show."

    "Really? Who?" Reggie seemed genuinely intrigued and that made Sydney happy. "Uh, Cheryl Blossom," she answered shyly.

     "But she called you a film club princess. Usually that would go under your list of backhanded compliments she's given you since middle school. Why go through all of that trouble for a film festival?"

     "Because Reginald, all that trouble will land me an internship to the Gold Brothers studios."

     "Okay." Reggie shrugged, "So say she's your subject. What are you gonna film about?"

     "I'm gonna film what it's like to be popular and part of the maple syrup company turned drug dungeon. You know, who doesn't love a good cliche?" Sydney stopped mashing to gauge Reggie's gaping expression. "I'm kidding, Reg. I'm gonna film her life. What it's like to be a popular head cheerleader and what made her the way she is. Because with most hard candies, there's a soft center on the inside." Sydney returned to mashing her potatoes and that left Reggie shaking his head in amusement.

     At school, it seemed like Sydney and Reggie disliked each other but they were as close as could be. He was the first person Sydney came out to as bisexual when they were thirteen. Reggie may have been older by ten minutes but Sydney was the more mature one. She got into film when she fell in love with the Twilight Drive-in theater and joined the film club where she met her friends, Christie and Roan. They were a tight-knit group who steered clear of the drama in Riverdale but they couldn't help overhearing all the gossip that went around their high school.

     They were now having their third annual Riverdale Picture Show and the prize was actually good this year, the last two being a gift certificate to Pop's Diner. Which was fine, but didn't really have anything to do with film. And, instead of having their films shown in the school's gym this year, they were going to be showing it at the Twilight Drive-In, courtesy of Hiram Lodge who was nice enough to lend the land for the night. Everyone in Riverdale was welcome to see everyone's projects and the thought put pressure on Sydney but she told herself constantly that she was going to be fine.

     Now, she just had to get Cheryl to agree to this.