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It had been two weeks since Mariah and Archie had broken up. The blonde had tried to get over the situation but she couldn't. She told herself that she didn't care but she did. And she hated that she did. She hated that she allowed herself to be hurt by Archie. She regretted ever giving their relationship a chance.

She should've seen it. Seen that eventually things would change. That he'd get sick of waiting for her to be ready. Maybe if she had given him what he wanted, then they would've still been together. Or maybe they wouldn't have been. Mariah didn't know what turn their relationship would have taken in that 'what if' situation.

But even if she had wanted to have sex with him, she couldn't. There was a part of her that had held her back. A part of her that didn't trust herself to do it with him. Or maybe there was a part of her that didn't trust him. An inner instinct. An instinct that was right. So in a way, she was glad that she never did.

Cheryl had tried to help her take her mind off of the situation. The two hung out a lot more than usual and for a while, her mind would be at ease. But after the redhead would leave, she'd go back to thinking about that night that she caught Archie and Veronica in his bedroom.

Jughead and Betty were trying to get her to join them in their sleuthing and maybe join the Blue and Gold. "It'll be a great distraction," Jughead had said. "Plus it'll be super fun," Betty had promised. Mariah said she'd think about it but in all honesty, she did not want to third wheel on their late night escapades.

Mariah had been talking to her mom too. The two didn't do anything extravagant. Just some at home facials and they'd eat Oreos and talk. Amara had told her daughter about all of her failed relationships, in an attempt to make her feel better. It didn't really but the effort was appreciated. The night had ended with Amara asking, "What is it with Lancaster women and men?"

By Lancaster women, she meant all of the women, as her original surname is Lancaster, in her family because many of them had had trouble with men. Mariah had shrugged replying with, "We must be cursed." Amara had nodded in agreement. "Maybe it's a sign that we should date women," she had said, a smirk coming to her face as she thought about something.

At first, the blonde had thought her mother was just joking but one look at the woman's face told that she wasn't Mariah had never given dating girls much of a thought. She had merely laughed, though her stomach twisted strangely at the thought, and replied with a maybe. "But women can be just as bad as men," Mariah had pointed out. "Then we should just stay single," her mother replied.

The following Monday, Mariah could be found at her locker. She stared straight ahead into it, not moving a muscle. She had become distracted, yet again, by her own thoughts. She blinked when a hand slammed into the locker next to hers. She turned her head to see a familiar face. One that she never expected to see again.

"My my. Mariah Coleman in the flesh. You look great," the boy said. "You should know by now, Nick, flattery doesn't get you anywhere with me," she replied, closing her locker. He smirked. "What're you doing here?" She asked. "Oh just visiting. My parents are doing some business with Hiram Lodge and I wanted to see my favorite person," he replied.

"So I take it you've seen Veronica already. You know, your favorite person," she said with an eye roll. "Oh don't be like that. You know you're my favorite," he said. "Again with the flattery," she said. "Just trying to stay on your good side. And to answer your question yes, I have seen Veronica," he said.

"Good for you," she said before moving past him. "Was that hostility I detected?" He questioned, walking after her. "Yes," she answered simply. "I take it you two have hit a rough patch then," he stated. "Yup," she said. "Are you two no longer friends?" He questioned. "Nope," she replied. "What happened? I want details," Nick said. "Go ask her for details, I don't wanna talk about it," Mariah responded.

"All right, maybe I will. But anyway, I'm having a party Friday night and your attendance would be very welcome," he said. Mariah sighed and stopped walking. "Not really in the party mood. And I'm not gonna go if Veronica will be there," she responded. "Well I'll be there, and all your friends will be there and if you and Ronnie get into a fight, her boyfriend will break it up," Nick said.

Mariah looked at him in confusion. "Boyfriend?" She asked. "Yeah, she wanted me to keep it a secret or whatever but I had figured you'd already know. It's that redheaded boy. Archie or whatever. She can do so much better in my opinion," he explained. Mariah took in his words before shaking her head in disbelief. "Unbelievable. They are unbelievable," she said.

"What do you mean? What's going on?" Nick asked. Mariah shook her head and stalked away from him. Nick stared after her. "So are you coming to the party or not?" He called out to her retreating form. Mariah didn't respond, just continued walking away.

••••

When Friday had rolled around, Mariah did not go to Nick's party even with all of Cheryl's begging to go with her. Instead, she stayed home and did her homework. Obviously it's not fun like a party would have been but she didn't like parties anyway.

In all honesty, she felt that maybe she should've gone, to confront Archie and Veronica. But what good would that have done? It probably wouldn't have made her feel better, no matter how much she wished it would. So, she stayed home and did her homework, which successfully took her mind off of the two who had betrayed her.

But once she was done and watching TV, she couldn't help when her mind drifted to her conversation with Nick. Archie and Veronica were dating now. It was merely weeks ago that Mariah had found him cheating on her and now he was dating the girl that he cheated with? It was surprising at first but seeing as Archie did cheat on Mariah, should she have really been surprised that he had done this now too? Probably not.

Mariah had slept in pretty late the next day seeing as it was the weekend. When she had finally woken up, she brushed her teeth, took a shower, and made herself something to eat. She spent a lot of the day watching TV, as she had finished her homework already.

Cheryl had called her twice to try to convince her to go to Veronica's parents' fancy party with her. Now, had Cheryl said that she'd be there alone, Mariah would have gone. But Melody, Josie, and Valerie would be there so Mariah opted out of going to that.

The day quickly turned to night and Mariah was winding down for bed when Jughead texted her to come over to his place. Mariah didn't ask any questions as she went out to her car and began driving to the Southside. She gaped at him when he answered the door. He was wearing a leather jacket over top of a slightly bloodied white tank top. But that's not why she was gaping at him. It was because his face was bruised and bloodied as though he had been beaten up.

"What the hell, Jughead? What happened to your face?" She asked as she pushed her way into the trailer. "Nothing, I'm fine," he replied, closing the door behind him. She gently grabbed his face, turning it from side to side. "No, you're not fine. Have you looked at your face in the mirror? Who did that to you?" She asked, eyes scanning his face.

"The Serpents," he said nonchalantly. "The Serpents beat you up? What the fuck?" She asked. "It was apart of the initiation," a new voice said. Mariah turned her head to see Toni with a first aid kit. "Initiation for what?" She asked before looking at Jughead. The boy didn't respond so Toni did for him. "To join the Serpents," she answered. Mariah barely spared the girl a glance after she spoke, her eyes on Jughead who was avoiding her gaze.

"You're joining the Serpents?" She asked. "I already completed the initiation," Jughead said. "Oh, so you're a Serpent now?" Mariah asked incredulously. "Yes," he answered. She tilted her head to the side as she looked at him as though he was insane. "The Serpents, Jughead? You joined the Southside Serpents? Is this a joke?"

"No, Mariah, it's not a joke," he said. "What the hell were you thinking?" She nearly shouted. "Wow," Toni said from behind them. Mariah finally turned her attention to the girl who was practically glaring at her now. "What?" Mariah asked. "You're exactly the person Sweet Pea said you were. You know, I gave you the benefit of the doubt because you were nice to me when we met. But you're just like all of your Northside buddies; shitting on the Southside for no reason," Toni was saying.

Mariah laughed humorlessly. "This has nothing to do with that Northside/Southside bullshit. This is about Jughead joining a gang. Because that's what the Serpents are, right? A freaking gang," Mariah's attention was back on Jughead. "It's not as bad as you think it is," he said quietly. The blonde closed her eyes and took a breath. "Okay," she ran a hand down her face, "Is this why you called me here?"

"No, it's about Betty," he said. "What about her?" She asked. Jughead led her to the living room and they sat down on his couch. "She, kind of broke up with me," he began. "But she sent Archie to do it and it was just weird. I think something might be wrong but I don't know what. Maybe I'm being paranoid but, it just doesn't make sense to me. Why would she send Archie to do her dirty work?" He continued.

"That doesn't sound like something she'd do," the blonde admitted and he nodded. "I'll talk to her, see if I can find out what's up," she said and he nodded. "Thanks, Mariah," he said. "Yeah." Jughead then stood up, "I'm gonna go get some of this blood off of my face. You wanna hang out for a while?"

She nodded, "Sure, I've got nothing better to do." Toni scoffed, "What, no Northside parties to go to?" Mariah rolled her eyes at the girl's hostility, "Parties aren't my thing. And the ones in the Northside suck." Toni couldn't help but smile a little at that. "I don't doubt that," she said. Jughead smiled before wincing slightly. "Be back in a few," he said before turning out of the room and going to another.

Mariah began to make herself comfortable on the couch. Toni bit her lip before walking over and sitting down on the arm of the couch. "Look." Mariah looked over at her. "I'm sorry about what I said. I'm just tired of everyone making us out to be the bad guys," Toni said. "I don't think you guys are bad guys. I mean, I don't even know you all that well. It's just, you're a gang. And I associate gangs with danger because, I mean they're dangerous," the blonde said.

Toni looked away and Mariah continued. "Look, Jughead is my friend and I just don't want him getting hurt," she said. "And you think what, that we'll hurt him?" Toni asked. "I think you might put him in a situation to get hurt," Mariah answered. At that, Toni stood. "Jughead is one of us now. And we'll protect him with our lives if we have to. We don't go around looking for trouble, it finds us. And your Northside friends are sometimes the source of that trouble," she said.

Mariah stood too, "Okay first of all, stop calling them my 'Northside friends.' There's maybe six people on the Northside that I actually like. And second of all, that's the thing that bothers me. You shouldn't have to protect him or anyone with your life, Toni. You're still a kid for crying out loud. I just don't think that teenagers, or anyone for that matter, should be joining gangs," Mariah replied.

Toni walked closer to the blonde. "You see it as a gang. I see it as my family. I'm not like you. I don't have a perfect family life or live in a big fancy house. I don't have all the money in the world. The Serpents have my back, always. They're my family. And it might not be ideal, but I wouldn't trade it for anything," she said.

"A little stereotypical to think that all Northsiders are rich and have the perfect lives and families, don't you think?" Mariah said. "Just like it's stereotypical to think that all Southsiders are gangbangers and dangerous," Toni replied. Mariah pursed her lips. "I never said you were." She looked up at the ceiling of the trailer. "So what, you're not rich? You don't live in a white picket fence house with mommy and daddy?" Toni said with an eye roll.

"My mom's a surgeon so yeah, she makes good money. White picket fence: no. Dad..." She trailed off for a moment. Toni looked at her intently and expectantly. "That's a no too," Mariah finally finished. "So perfect life is a hell no as well," she added, releasing a breath. Toni's eyes remained on Mariah for a moment, the blonde looking at Toni as well. The two were thinking, but about two different things. "Just, make sure Jughead doesn't do anything stupid, alright?" Mariah said, returning the subject matter to what they were originally talking about.

Toni nodded slowly. Before she could say anything, Mariah's phone rang. She pulled it out of her pocket to see that it was Josie who was calling. Mariah answered the call and pressed the phone to her ear. "Hello?"

"Mariah, where are you?" Josie asked on the other end. "Why, what's going on?" Mariah questioned, sensing the urgency in her friend's voice. "Something happened with Cheryl. Nick St. Clair almost... just, can you come? She needs you," Josie said. "Yeah yeah, where are you?" After speaking for a few more moments, Mariah hung up and was heading for the door.

"Everything okay?" Toni asked. "I have to go. Tell Jughead that it was an emergency with Cheryl, okay?" Mariah said. "Yeah, sure," Toni replied as Mariah was already rushing out of the door.

°°°°

Hey guys, long time no see. Yes, I know it's been a while since I've updated this book (or any book) but I've been busy with school and haven't had the time. School is more important to me than writing so I had to focus on that. Since it's Christmas break, I'll try to update more but it won't be frequent. Hope you enjoyed. DO NOT COMMENT FOR ME TO UPDATE!