Chapter Text
For the people of Riverdale, life plateaued into a blissful state of uneventfulness. It was normalcy incarnate, with the soon-to-be high school graduates at Riverdale High alternating between studying for finals, working and dining at Pop's, engaging in carnal activities, and running illicit, semi-legal operations.
My own live-in muse wore her lemon-yellow diner doll uniform like a flower wears its petals, and glided through Pop's with trays of milkshakes to the delight of gleeful children and adults alike… her smile almost as alluring as the curve of her waist, which only this morning I held in my –
"Juggie," Veronica's mocking of his pet name snapped Jughead out of his aroused meditation. "Please refrain from perving on my waitresses. We take sexual harassment seriously in my establishments, and the sultry look on your face almost deserves jail time."
Archie laughed and tried to cover up the fact that he was mildly choking on his French fry. "I think having a girlfriend that works at Pop's is Jughead's ultimate life goal, Ronnie."
Veronica had a cheeky look on her face. "Yes, well… just keep in mind while Betty's on late shift tonight that there are security cameras in here now. You know, just in case you happen to still be here. Not that I'm accusing you of bending any diner girls over this very table last weekend or anything…"
"Ronnie!" Archie sounded and looked appropriately scandalised. Veronica most certainly did not.
Jughead tried to smother the anxiety that poked its head up at the mention of Betty and Cameras. "Well, what can I say? I find the entertainment at Pop's to be far superior to La Bonne Nuit."
"Don't let Josie hear you say that," Archie was grinning now. "She's been in the music room at school every day for the last three weeks to prepare for her final performance."
Jughead's attention went back to his writing as his friends discussed how Veronica could replace Josie when she moved to New York for college.
Ah, college. A year ago he'd had no intention of even applying; all the insanity that lived and breathed in Riverdale looked like it was going to force him to remain as the Southside Serpents' leader just to keep everyone from killing each other – or themselves. But getting into Yale had given him a new educational drive he didn't know was inside him. He wanted nothing more now than to embrace this new collegiate adventure, with his favourite blonde vixen by his side. His dad was so proud to see his child be accepted into an Ivy League University and Jughead hoped he'd be able to properly earn that pride.
But nobody had earned Yale more than Elizabeth Cooper. And she had been happier than Jughead had ever seen her in all their years of friendship. Apparently, Yale hadn't heard that Jughead had mysteriously 'died' (then come back to life), so his position at the university was still available when he, on a whim, had tried to enrol in classes last week. And so Betty was ecstatic - both her and Jughead were accepted into Yale, and that meant that her admission had absolutely nothing to do with Jughead’s spot being open. She'd gotten in on her own merit, in spite of everything life had thrown at her. In spite of her affiliation with the Black Hood, and despite being framed for cheating.
The iconic teen dream team were so close to living their tentative plans of solving all the mysteries in Connecticut (and eating a lot of pizza). Everything was falling into place in a way Jughead could never have dreamed…
So, it shouldn't have come as a surprise that the town of Riverdale was once again about to be shaken up. And once again, Betty and Jughead were going to be the centre of the theatrics.
....
Two brothers, separated by nearly a decade of life experiences, both good and troublesome, were about to become connected in ways no brothers should be.
In the age of social media, sharing images, messages and videos is easier than actually communicating with other human beings. Consider this unsettling truth: the mass exposure of your most intimate experiences is just one tap of the thumb away.
I'd let myself become complacent, the knowledge that I'd destroyed the only footage of one of these such intimate moments giving me a sense of security. I was about to find out the hard way that in this technical age, no evidence is destroyed forever.
And my brother Charles was about to enter into an investigation that threatened to destroy the freshly sewn threads that connected him to his birth family.
"Agent Smith?"
Charles looked up at his partner, Agent Robert Johnston. "Yes, Agent?" he stood up from the desk chair he was sitting at, where he had futilely been re-reading his notes on the Mysterious Video Tapes that had shown up at the front doors of several Riverdale Homes. Still no new leads… he begrudgingly admitted to himself.
Agent Johnston looked uncomfortable. "Your sister… Elizabeth is it?"
"Betty – and she's one of them, yes." If he weren't so nervous as to the reason his partner was bringing his sister up, he may have smiled - he now had three sisters after almost 30 years of believing he was alone.
Johnston shifted his stance and nodded towards the smaller enclosed room they used for questioning. "We need to talk. Now."
Across town, Jughead was having some rather confusing interactions with the Riverdale Bulldogs.
In his Freshman and Sophomore years when he walked alone through the school hallways the Bulldogs often used the opportunity to push and shove him around, make fun of the emo loner vibe he gave off, or try to goad him into fighting. Being a conscientious objector at the time, he tried to avoid getting into fights – mainly because of the anger issues he'd had on and off, and his fear that if they started a fight he would finish it, but also because he was just so much smaller than the football players. It wasn’t a gamble he was willing to make.
Since joining the Serpents, and especially since leading them, the Bulldogs (at least, those who weren't now his actual friends) tended to leave him alone. But never in his four years in high school had he ever had any interactions like the ones he'd had on his way to his lunch period.
"Jones," it was some giant in their blue and yellow varsity jacket, "My man. Didn't know you had it in you."
Jughead was momentarily speechless, and he didn't get time to recover before another member of the football team had come and pat him on the back. "You're something else, my friend. Damn."
"Thank you, people I haven't talked to since elementary school." Jughead turned towards the recreation room in search of Betty and tried to ignore whatever scheme they were planning. But he didn't make it into the room before he heard another blue-and-gold cladded male call out "Oh, Juggie, I didn't realise you were such a thorough and attentive lover."
Disturbed by that last comment, Jughead ignored them and opened the door. He spotted Archie, Veronica, Kevin, Cheryl and Toni hanging out on the lounges inside and moved to join them. "Hey guys, have you seen Betty? I just had the weirdest – why are you all looking at me like that?"
All eyes were on Jughead as he entered the room, both his friends' eyes and the eyes of the other seniors in the room. There were some whispers and death glares – and he swore one of them winked at him.
Cheryl was the first to talk. "Puh-lease spare us the faux confusion, you slithering Judas."
"Cheryl…"
"No, Archie. I'm not listening to your blind puppy dog loyalty. Don't pretend you're not thinking the same thing we all are."
Jughead looked between the two of them, his brain failing to catch up to what his eyes were seeing. "Guys, will somebody please explain to me what's—"
"Jug."
Hearing her voice, as always, was like the one steady flame in a confusing mess of darkness. But when Jughead turned to Betty, her face conveyed anything but the happiness he felt around her.
"Betts, what happened?" he asked, concerned, ignoring the scoffing he heard behind him – was that Kevin? He hurried towards her, just to be near her and offer her some kind of support. He rubbed the side of her arm. Her eyes were bloodshot, and a little puffy. The faintest of mascara lines ran down her face; it looked like there'd been makeup on her face this morning which had now become a powdery mess upon her red cheeks.
Instead of answering she led him out the door, and towards the Blue and Gold office. Jughead tried not to think too much of it, but he heard wolf whistles as Betty dragged him inside.
"Betty, what's going on, are you okay? Everyone in this school is acting like we're in Pan's Labyrinth."
"I don't know what you're talking about Jug, but I need to tell you something…"
And the next words that came from her pretty pink lips? Well, they were enough to make my heart stop. They were so beyond the curse of any serial killer, harder to digest than the meatiest of murder mysteries.
The Black Hood, The Gargoyle King, The Red Dahlia, The Man in Black – none of the trials of our greatest foes were enough to prepare us for the mess that we had gotten ourselves in.
And yet, Betty's little secret was about to become the least of our worries, and we were about to find out why the whole school had decided that today, of all days, we were worthy of their attention.