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yandearest · 4 years

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May The Odds Be Ever in Your Favor (Hoseok x Reader Hunger Games AU) Chapter 2: Training Day

Summary - Living in District 4 you never thought you would have to worry about being selected for the Hunger Games. With a training centre right near the dock of the houseboat you lived and fished from, your district was known for volunteers who trained their whole lives for a shot at glory and riches. But at age 18, your name is called and no girls volunteer to take your place. Your devastation is answered when Kim Namjoon volunteers for the males shortly after. Tall, muscular, highly intelligent and charming, the years of diligent preparation have bestowed Namjoon with the expectation of being the next District 4 champion after Finnick Odair last won 3 years ago.

Fishing for a living has granted you skills with a knife but, as your mentor Finnick is quick to describe, your beautiful face may well be your best asset.

Upon arrival in the Capitol you are quickly faced with the reality that Namjoon may not even be the biggest danger inside the Arena. Especially when you capture the obsessive attention of District 2′s own volunteer, and killing machine, Jung Hoseok. Hope soon fades from ‘survival’ to ‘the mercy of a painless death’ but Hoseok certainly has other plans.

Pairing - Hoseok x (fem)Reader

Genre - thriller, angst, yandere

Word Count 7.2K

Warnings - [in later chapters] major character death, graphic depictions of violence, swearing, obsession, dubcon-smut (smut will be marked so reading is optional), gore, unrealistically beautiful oc because I’m a sucker for that shitty trope and want to live vicariously through my writing (sue me)

The following is a dark fic featuring a yandere character, violence, obsession, and coercion. By no means does writing about this in a fictional setting condone any of those behaviours, much like Stephen King writing horror doesn’t mean he approves of psychotic killers in reality. Please avoid reading if any of these warnings makes you uncomfortable.

Previous Chapter: 1

Cross posted on A03 so people can subscribe for updates/notifications

Training began the following morning at 10am, although when you woke for breakfast at 8 Namjoon was nowhere to be found in your living quarters. Finnick informed you that Namjoon had left to begin early as you elected for a bowl of cereal instead of the array of foods presented on the dining table. To anyone else the spread of pancakes, syrup, pastries, bagels, bacon, eggs, sausages and other delicacies you weren’t even familiar with would have appeared mouth watering. But in your state it all just looked like cardboard. You didn’t trust yourself to be able to keep anything down but knew you had to at least eat something so you wouldn’t pass out later.

You tried to make the most of the one on one time with Finnick, listening as he talked about the range of stations that would be inside the gym. For the most part he seemed to suggest being a shadow to the rest of the careers, “play along and act dumb so they think you trust them and are too stupid to make plans for yourself”. Your best bet of survival relied entirely on them underestimating you and you being able to correctly time when to stab them in the back (literally) before they disposed of you.

Once you finished barely eating, you dressed in the capitol provided athletic wear; a fitted black T shirt with decorative panels of silver and gold along the sides and the number 4 emblazoned on your sleeves, along with a pair of just-below-knee-length black leggings that also featured the same silver and gold design as a strip on the sides. After tightly lacing up your sneakers, and tying your hair into a high ponytail, you took the elevator from the floor of your living quarter down to the basement where the gym was located.

You had no idea what you were expecting, perhaps something similar to the warehouse gym back in 4, but the spacious room that you arrived in was definitely not it. To start with, despite being under ground beneath an apartment complex, it looked like it could easily fit at least five warehouses inside the space. There were so many stations set up you wondered how it would be humanly possible to even attempt all of them within your three-day time limit. There were more weapons here than you had ever seen in your entire life combined; what appeared to be a parkour racing course, a rope climb, fire making equipment, a knotting station, something that looked like a paint set up, a tablet with symbols (what use that was supposed to bring you had no idea) and many other things you weren’t sure of. A large digital clock was mounted in the middle of the wall at the back, near a rock climbing wall, displaying the time as 9:45AM. You tried to swallow down your nerves as you scanned across the room looking for Namjoon. You found him easily at the weight section, bench pressing a large barbell you didn’t care enough to read the weight on. It seemed like a pretty basic scare tactic of trying to intimidate the other districts with his strength, but it didn’t have any impact on you because you were already aware.

“What’s muscles over there trying to prove?” a sudden voice at your side caused you to start, whipping your head to see Krystal next to you. She didn’t quite smile but there was an amused look to her eyes and a little quirk to the corner of her mouth.

“Holy shit please don’t sneak up on me like that in the arena, I will literally die of a heart attack” you exhaled with an awkward laugh at the end.

“Wouldn’t be the most painful way to die in there,” Krystal retorted with a shrug. She looked different compared to last night, but you supposed you could say the same for everyone if you compared them in an elaborate costumer to their gym wear. Her sleek black hair had been braided into two French plaits down the back of her head and secured into twin buns on the bottom.

“Touché,” you agreed but quickly moved to shift the topic away from you dying. “To answer your question Namjoon’s probably trying to intimidate some kids into thinking he’s going to bench press them to death.”

Krystal gave an amused hum before gesturing towards her fellow district mate Yoongi who was lazily sitting against the wall nearby. Training hadn’t even started yet and he looked like he’d much rather be asleep. It was hard to think of him as the confidently spoken cape wearing tribute from yesterday when he was now slumped against a wall. If anything he looked quite adorable.

“We just got here, have you seen 2?”

“No, I just got here myself, Namjoon came early to get extra training in”

You looked around the warehouse again trying to spot a familiar head of copper hair or Athena’s cropped blonde pixie cut but couldn’t see either of them for now.

“If he wants to wear himself out before we even get into the arena that’s his business, but if he pulls a muscle or drops a barbell on his head, I’m not carrying him,” Krystal muttered as Namjoon grunted lifting his weights up a final time before slamming them back on the rack.

“Agreed.” You murmured whilst Namjoon finally spotted you were here and nodded towards you and District 1 in recognition, before walking over. Krystal and yourself both gave half hearted waves in reply, Yoongi looked like he had actually fallen asleep and didn’t do anything.

“Hey,” Namjoon greeted wiping his forehead on his shirt sleeve and taking a drink from his water bottle. As much as you had made light of his workout before the fact he was barely out of breath after lifting more than twice your body weight was pretty intimidating. “Have you seen 2 yet?” You were about to tell him what you had just told Krystal when a raspy voice spoke from behind you

“Speak of the devil and he shall appear.”

Turning around you saw Hoseok and Athena walking out from where the elevators were nearby. Athena looked almost unrecognizable in comparison to her warrior outfit and smoky make up from the night before. Her short hair was pushed back with a headband and her face much rounder. She was definitely shorter without her heeled shoes and her body type much curvier than what her costume showed. Whilst Athena, Yoongi and Krystal all looked softer without their costumes and make up Hoseok somehow still managed to radiate the same aura from the tribute parade. His form fitting T-shirt and pants (in the same design as everyone else’s) accentuate his lithe build. The tights he wore showcase the definition of his calves and thighs, along with how long his legs were. The definition of his abs could be seen through the black shirt and his biceps were on display. It appeared he didn’t need any bronzing powder or contouring make-up to sharpen his facial features; his high nose and cheekbones were still just as prominent and his jawline just as sharp. He ran a hand through his hair, which was disheveled from not being styled, but somehow still managed to look good anyway.

When you make the mistake of looking into his eyes you can see that there was definitely no make up involved in the intensity of his stare from yesterday, it’s still just as unnerving this morning. The corner of his lip pulls up into a smirk as he sees you assessing his appearance and he has no shame running his eyes over your body.

“Nice of you to show up,” Namjoon grunted, clearly not impressed with the way Hoseok was staring at you again.

“Relax we’ve still got five minutes until we’re officially mean to start” Athena said as she stops beside Namjoon. She strikes up a conversation to try and distract him like Hoseok had told her to do. Why exactly she was following his instructions she didn’t really know, but she didn’t particularly care to upset him at this point so she simply played along. Namjoon was easy enough to engage, all she did was ask him what he had been doing to work up a sweat and he immediately leapt into a description of the circuit he had been training.

Hoseok moved to take the spot between Athena and yourself.

“Morning love,” he whispered under his breath, touching your elbow gently and leaning down slightly in a way that’s only intended for you to hear. You shudder at the feeling of his warm breath ghosting against the shell of your ear and curse your body for it’s unconscious reaction.

He pulls his hand away just as quickly, not wanting to draw unnecessary attention, but wishes he could maintain some form of physical contact. ‘There’ll be plenty of time for that in the arena,’ Hoseok assures himself watching as your cheeks flush that same rose color they did last night. He can’t explain why, but something so simple as your blush makes him feel ecstatic. Oh the things he would do to you to see what else makes you flush that pretty color for him again.

“Hey,” you reply, trying not to break the eye contact out of fear it could be taken as a sign of weakness. He’s tall so you need to look up, but you’re not that short either so it’s not a high angle. You’d estimate the top of your head reaching around his nose if you had to guess.

“I’ve been dying to ask this since seeing you yesterday, but what is an angel like you doing at these games?” his voice is still low, but not as quiet as before, as Namjoon continues to elaborate on his morning work out whilst Athena pretends to care.

“Uh same reason nearly everyone else here is, my name got pulled out the bowl,” you tried to casually respond with a shrug but knew the devastation would have been showing in your eyes. There were some things you just weren’t capable of hiding, and your fear at your situation and imminent death was one of those things. “And you?”

Hoseok frowns and you wonder if you somehow said something wrong but then he softly shakes his head.

“Volunteer,” he states and you swallow with a nod, unconsciously shifting backwards a little. His very appearance is lethal so it really shouldn’t be a surprise at all that he’s signed himself up to slaughter people like you, just the same way Namjoon had.

“Right, I mean you’re a career,” you shrug again looking across at Krystal, Athena, and Yoongi, wondering if they were volunteers too.

“Hey,” his hand was back on your elbow again, he didn’t give a shit if the others saw him. The feelings he was already experiencing towards you had just been intensified immeasurably by the fact you were innocent in these games. He didn’t know how to possibly describe it; all he knew was that from all the words that existed, in all of the languages in the history of mankind, there would never be a way to explain it.

He saw the tremble in your body whenever he looked at you, the shudder earlier when his breath met your ear, surely you had to feel something towards him too. There was no possible way that these emotions he was experiencing could be contained in just one body, you had to be sharing this experience. Was this a ‘soulmate’ that he had only read of before in passing regarding outdated literature? He had never been the kind to believe in fate before, as far as he had trained his whole life to believe, his only destiny was to win the games and bring honor to his family. But as you stood before him, for only the second time in his life, he just knew that you had been preordained for him.

At his age of eighteen he had experienced love in some capacity before, his parents, his sister, a few close friends and a couple of girlfriends here and there but none of those emotional connections compared to you. Surely you would feel the same way about him too, but of course as the poor reaped tribute that you were, you were too afraid to be able to focus on him right now. He was furious you were even here, how dare none of the other female trainees from 4 volunteer to save your precious existence. How cruel the forces of the universe were, for gifting him with an angel only for her to be so close yet still so out of reach. These intense emotions were far too much for one person to ever experience alone, so somehow he must be possessing part of your emotions for him, because you weren’t capable of focusing on anything more than survival right now. His poor defenseless angel, how much you needed him right now.

That must be it. A trial from beyond these games where he would have to earn not just this victory but a way to make you experience your love. There had to be a reason why you were here, it’s because it was for him to prove himself worthy of you. Oh how he wishes you could have met outside, after his victory tour when he went to 4 and he could just pick you from the crowd and make you his. But that would’ve been too simple. Yes, a love like this only came once in a lifetime, he was certain, and he would need to move heaven and earth to somehow save himself and you. But there had to be a reason that the universe had put you together right at this very moment. There had to be a way for him to save you both, and he knew he would kill anyone and everyone who got in his way.

“I promised you last night, I won’t hurt you, and I meant it,” he said, squeezing your elbow – not tight enough to hurt – as if trying to implore you to believe him. His hand felt warm and his hold was firm, shooting a tingling sensation down your spine. You tried to suppress the physical affect his touch was having on you, knowing nothing good could possibly come out of any attraction. You hated just how strongly your body was reacting to him, wondering why the hell he was trying to flirt before he would inevitably try to kill you, and why your body was liking it. But even though you were a tribute, ultimately you were still only human.

“Hoseok, you literally volunteered to kill me, it’s fine,” you began as a small voice internally added ‘well it’s not fine really but that’s besides the point’. A look you couldn’t read flashed in Hoseok’s eyes and he opened his mouth to say something, but you continued on before he could speak.

“I’ve seen enough of these games to know how the career pack works. I’ll help you guys and when it comes down to the end I’ll just try as hard as I can. There’s only one winner and look at you,” your eyes were on his torso because you couldn’t bring yourself to maintain the eye contact as you spoke. The outline of his pectorals and abs that were visible through the fabric of his shirt, compared to your barely toned figure in comparison, did all the speaking in that regard anyway. Looking down at his grip on your elbow, you could see how the fingers on his large hand nearly wrapped all the way around your arm. His own biceps would easily be twice the size of yours.

“Look at Namjoon,” you subtly gestured to your much larger district-mate, “and then look at me.” You weren’t exactly unfit, all the years of physical labor from working on your family’s boat had helped give you some muscle definition, but it was nothing compared to a trained killer.

“You don’t have to lie to me.”

“I’m not lyi-”

Hoseok’s objection was cut off by an announcement coming from the other side of the room. It was now 10 am and everyone had to attend a briefing in regards to how training worked. Hoseok scowled at the interruption before quickly dropping your arm to avoid suspicion from the others.

“This isn’t over,” he whispered, as you followed with the others to where a dark skinned woman stood in the center of the room. She introduced herself as Atala and ran through the basics of how the next three days would work. Her commentary about dehydration and infection being as much of a danger in the arena as the weapons was particularly interesting to, you wondered if Namjoon had spent as much time on his survival skills as he did on his fighting in the old warehouse back at 4. You doubted it. You also noticed a window on the wall that your back had been facing when you entered the room, where a room of mostly men in suits with eccentric beards and wild colored hair styles were sitting on lounges. Atala introduced them as the game makers who were here to observe, sending a shiver of disgust throughout your body.

Before being allowed to focus on the stations of your choice there was a tribute wide assessment on four of the obstacles: Monkey bars, a fire making station, a memory game (which explained what that strange tablet thing was) and a one on one physical combat match with a Capital trainer. The monkey bars were first and tributes were to perform in the order of their district numbers. You were mildly surprised by how Yoongi went from appearing lethargic to swinging across the bars with ease, but as a career it wasn’t entirely unexpected. Krystal and Athena both had no trouble and Hoseok flew across the rungs twice as fast as the others. You swallowed a nervous lump in your throat when your turn came, feeling the pressure of being in a career district and having all eyes focused on you. Upper body strength had never been your strong point, and you knew the furthest you would probably be able to get was around the half way mark. The girl from 3 had struggled and fallen off nearly immediately but you still didn’t want to fail, especially not with Namjoon breathing down your neck behind you. Back at home you had needed to climb around the boat before in order to make repairs, which suddenly gave you an idea.

Jumping up to reach the bar, you used the momentum to swing your legs through and up onto the next bar in front. Hooking your ankles under you pulled your legs through the gap until you were hanging by your knees. With your weight now more evenly distributed you were able to pull yourself up and awkwardly climb over so you were then on top of the bars. From there you tried not to look down at the long fall onto the thin mat below and crawled your way to the other end before lowering yourself back down when you reached the other side.

“Unconventional, but effective” the person who was responsible for measuring the times and taking notes muttered as they scribbled down something on their clipboard.

“Not bad, spaghetti arms” Athena nodded her approval, her own arm muscles were probably close to the same size as Yoongi’s.

“Gotta know your own strengths and weaknesses,” you smiled back with a shrug. Your time was much slower than the others – Namjoon racing across the other side in a speed to rival Hoseok, right after you were done – but it was still better than not even being able to complete the course at all.

The other assessments were pretty much non eventful with predictable results. You performed decently in comparison to other reaped tributes but were definitely lacking compared to the rest of the careers. You could also detect a bit of rivalry beginning to brew between Namjoon and Hoseok as they tried to one up the other. Hoseok was the faster of the two to light a fire but Namjoon was quicker in being able to solve the memory puzzle. Both of them landed ‘lethal blow’ scores against the capital trainer in their sparring match (you had managed to land a simulated hit of the heel of your hand to the capital trainer’s nose which had counted as an ‘incapacitated blow’ – not a bad score).

With the mandatory grading over you were then given individual feedback along with suggestions on recommended training stations before breaking for lunch. After all the exercise you couldn’t help but feel much hungrier than you had before during breakfast, and helped yourself to a sandwich, along with an apple and a bottle of water from the provided catering. The feedback had been handed out on a card, in order of the district number, before you were dismissed for lunch, and you didn’t pay attention to where 1 and 2 had walked off to. Wanting to be alone anyway you walked around a corridor into an empty hallway and took a seat on the floor against the wall. Leaning back, you raised your knees and rested your elbows on your legs as you scanned across your feedback card. You noted there weren’t any grades or scores, but merely recordings of the time it took for you to complete the activity and a short written assessment next to each. At the bottom were the suggestions for which areas to focus on over the remaining days.

Your evaluation had described you as ‘a dark horse’. The Capital had picked up on the career’s alliance and noted that you were the physically weakest of the six members, however they gave you commendation for unconventional problem solving during the monkey bars. The primary suggestion was focusing on weapons based training in order to stand a chance of survival when the time came for the careers to turn against one another. There was also a suggestion to train more on agility based exercises that played to your existing skills, rather that bothering with weights or physical strength stations that would be impossible to build in such a short time.

“How did you go?”

The sudden voice and presence at your side, whilst you were intently focused on reading your card, caused you to jump and nearly swallow your last mouthful of sandwich down the wrong way. You managed to just catch it with an awkward choke, reaching for your bottle of water to swallow it down properly. To your absolute humiliation, you looked up to see Hoseok standing above you with an amused look on his face.

“Uh, fine I guess,” you muttered, fiddling with the card in your hand as he sat down beside you. “You?”

“As expected,” was all he replied with. You nodded awkwardly. You had seen him perform before you in all of the tasks and sail through each of them with ease. ‘As expected,’ meant nothing less than perfection for him. You couldn’t help but wonder if your death was going to be by his hand, and if that would just be ‘as expected’ for him as well.

“Let me see your card.”

You opened your mouth to protest, but the words were caught in your throat (much like your previous mouthful of sandwich) as Hoseok easily pinched your card out from your fingertips and passed you his along the carpet in return. Frowning, you picked his up, to at least pretend it was a mutual exchange.

“Did you swap cards with the others?” you asked, wondering why he was interested in your report. You skim read across his, finding commentary about Hoseok’s speed, skill and lethality, along with a note stating him as a lead contender, nothing that you weren’t already aware of.

“Nope,” Hoseok dismissed, lips pursed as he read your card much slower.

You frowned at this, passing his card across the floor and reaching over to try and grab yours back, only for Hoseok to lazily lean to the side away from you, with a hint of an amused smile. You let an annoyed huff of air out.

“So why are you reading mine then?”

At this Hoseok paused to raise an eyebrow and make eye contact with you over the top of your card in his hands.

“Because I don’t care about the others.”

He found the stunned look of confusion on your face to be absolutely adorable.

“But…” you paused, not even knowing what to say. Shouldn’t he at least care for his own district mate? Granted you didn’t care much for Namjoon but you were at least somewhat going along with him for the sake of presenting a cohesive alliance. And if he didn’t care about the alliance then what was he doing here with you? The implication of his statement was quite clear that he somehow cared about you, so what had you possibly done to warrant his apparent attention.

“Why?” was all you could eventually ask.

He lowered your card to the floor and slid it back towards you, leaning across with it. You predictably reached to pick your card back up and he instantly took the opportunity to put his hand over yours. You flinched and attempted to pull back, but his grip only tightened, forcing your hand to remain below his much larger one.

Your pulse began to rapidly accelerate. You knew he couldn’t harm you, not until you were in the arena. But to be alone and so easily caught and toyed with, by someone much more powerful than you, was frightening. You looked up from his hand to his handsome face, trying not to tremble as Hoseok stared back with a lazy smirk in place. The thumb on his hand over yours was softly stroking the skin around your wrist and you could swear your heart was pounding so fast he had to be able to feel your erratic pulse.

“Because I need you to be with me at the end.” His husky voice was a low murmur, as he leaned in closer again. Your hand remained clasped tightly below his

“So you can have an easy kill, because I’m weaker than the others?” you frown, knowing your assessment would have told him as much. But Hoseok was quick with a denial.

“No.”

“Then why?” You pushed, growing frustrated with his indirect answers and your hand still trapped in his. Hoseok only tilted his head to the side and released a sigh, looking highly amused.

“Don’t you trust me? You know I’ve promised not to hurt you darling,” his low voice grew quieter still, barely above a whisper, causing you to lean in so you could hear him better.

“Darling?” You balked at the endearment. Whatever answer you could possibly imagine coming out of Hoseok, it definitely wasn’t that. “Hoseok I don’t know what kind of game your playi-”

“You’re not a game to me.” He cut you off before you could even finish your sentence. Undeterred you rushed to speak again.

“But we’re literally in The Hunger Games and one of us is going to have to kill the other. And you and I both know how much easier it would be for you to kill me, than the other way around.”

“Oh so you find the thought of killing me unbearable?”

He quirked his eyebrow with a smirk and again you tried to yank your hand back in annoyance, but he only moved his grip further up to clasp tightly around your wrist. His long fingers easily wrapped all the way around, as he then pulled your arm back towards him, causing your upper body to lean further forward. Unconsciously you let out a breathless whimper in shock, your faces now so close you could feel his breath fanning across the side of your cheek.

“I… I don’t even know how I can kill anybody. You’re the volunteer here and clearly the better fighter between us so you would easily kill me in a final two,” you whispered, trying to turn your head away from his, only for the side of your face to press against the wall.

“Oh but darling you’re wrong, to kill you would be to kill myself.”

The hand that wasn’t pinning your wrist to the ground moved to cradle the side of your face, his fingers threading into your hair and thumb running along the top of your cheekbone.

“Hoseok, stop.” You raised your free hand to push against his chest, but he was solid as a rock and didn’t even budge. Instead he only curled his torso in towards you, pinning you in place against his body and the wall. You whimpered in fear, eyes scanning the hallway trying to find a way out, only for Hoseok to press his nose against your temple and lips to the shell of your ear.

“You may not even know it yourself but I can feel it in your pulse how your heart calls for me. Every beat I feel beneath my fingertip sings to my own, that already belongs to you. If you were to die, my heart would have no need to beat without the one it beats for.”

His deep voice was a seductive purr as his breath against your ear sent a shiver throughout your entire body. His hold on your face forced you to look back into his eyes once more, which held the same intense passion you had seen in them last night.

“How c-can you even say something like that, it hasn’t even been a day s-since we met?” you choked as you felt tears beginning to sting in your eyes.

“Because I felt it the second I laid my eyes on you, and seeing you again this morning only made me feel a hundred times stronger.

“Please stop, I’m going to be dead in a week so can you please just not turn my life into some sick joke,” it was all you could do to beg as the first tear spilled from the corner of your eye, his thumb below easily wiping it away.

“I’m. Not. Joking,” he hissed, each word punctuated by his fingers burying into your hair and clenching tightly at the roots, causing you to gasp as more tears spilled out.

“You’re hurting me,” you whimpered, the hand on his chest reaching up to try and pull at his hand that was holding onto a fist full of your hair. His grip instantly released, his hand moving to grab onto yours and thread his fingers in between your own, before squeezing tightly.

“Not as much as you hurt me whenever you try to deny me,” he retorted, pulling your hand to his lips to place a kiss upon the back.

“What do I possibly gain from a game perspective to choose you as my final partner? You said it yourself that you’re the weakest so that means I’ll need to protect you from the other four when the alliance turns. And believe me princess, I will. I’ll slaughter every one of them in cold blood. I’ll snap the neck of anyone who so much as harms a single hair upon your head. I’m going to kill them all for you baby, and I’ll make you watch so you can see just far how far I’ll go for you.”

“Why are you doing this to me?” you whispered brokenly, tears spilling freely from your eyes now.

“Because,” Hoseok dropped your hand to grab ahold of your chin as his lips moved in closer. When he spoke you could feel them brushing against yours “you’re mine.”

But before Hoseok could firmly press his lips to yours in the kiss he longed for, a sudden shout broke the atmosphere he had worked so hard to build.

“YN!”

You never thought you’d be relieved to hear the sound of Namjoon’s angry voice barking in your direction, but his appearance around the corner and into the hallway caused you to exhale a long breath you didn’t even know you were holding.

“What are you both doing here?” Namjoon growled, angrily striding towards you as Yoongi, Krystal, and Athena followed behind him.

Hoseok, who had his back turned to their direction, scowled in anger at the disruption, before quickly masking his face to a neutral expression. The sudden change in demeanour causing you to flinch.

“I found this one here having a bit of a breakdown over her report card,” Hoseok said, lazily getting to his feet and shooting you a wink as your jaw dropped in shock at his smooth and blatant lie.

“No! I- I…” You immediately went to protest only for the words to be caught in your throat. It would just be Hoseok’s word against your own. And who would believe you? His words were so insane you could barely even believe what he had just been saying.

“It’s ok YN,” he purred, as the others walked over towards you. You angrily got to your feet wiping your eyes, not wanting to be a crying mess on the floor in front of the whole group. “I was just telling her there’s no need to worry. First day freak outs can happen to the best of us.”

“I’m fine,” you scowled, crossing your arms and glaring at the floor and seeing the damned report card laying on the carpet.

“I just wanted some time to myself and if anything having someone around only made it worse” you bit back.

“Very well then,” Hoseok smirked raising his arms in a mock surrender gesture and waving his hands theatrically. “Excuse me for trying to be a good teammate.”

“I didn-” before you could rip into him, you were interrupted by another.

“Can you all give me one minute to talk to my district partner,” Namjoon grunted at the others. He didn’t bother waiting for an answer, grabbing a hold of the top of your arm and dragging you further back up the hallway. You didn’t know what was worse between him bossing you around since the train ride or Hoseok’s crazy confession, but what you did know was that if anyone else tried to manhandle you again you were going to take your chances on your own in the arena. It had only been one day and you were rapidly growing sick of this alliance. You’d rather die with dignity on your own than be dragged around like a dog’s chew toy.

“Let me go,” you hissed, when you were far away enough not to be overheard, grabbing his hand and ripping it off your arm. Namjoon just rolled his eyes before staring down at you from his tall height.

“What the fuck was that about?” he asked.

For a moment you breathed a sigh of relief. Trying to convince Athena or District 1 about Hoseok losing his mind would be one thing, but Namjoon was your own team mate. You vaguely knew each other from growing up in the same town. Maybe he might actually believe you. Glancing back to the others you saw them chatting amongst themselves, Krystal was now holding your report card and Yoongi gave a dismissive shrug to something Athena had just said. As if sensing your gaze, Hoseok glanced across to make eye contact. The corner of his lip curled up and he cocked his eyebrow smugly as if to say ‘go on and tell him, see if he believes you’. You scowled at him before turning back to Namjoon and grabbing a hold of his arm (missing the way Hoseok’s nose twitched in annoyance at you initiating the physical contact with another man).

“Namjoon, please, you have to believe me,” you began, instantly lowering your voice as you squeezed his bicep imploringly – your hand didn’t even wrap halfway around the much stronger boy’s arm.

“What happened?” he asked bluntly, eyebrows narrowing into a frown.

So you told him. Speaking as quietly as possible and trying to rush through the details as fast as you could, you hurriedly told him about how Hoseok had found you alone and stolen your card, before pinning you against the wall, claiming you were his, and threatening to kill all the others. You finished by telling him how it was only through the rest of the group showing up when they did, that had stopped Hoseok from kissing you.

“It was humiliating,” you hissed out, trying to choke down the lump in your throat that had built up as you were recalling what happened.

“I don’t want to be in the career pack anymore, I can’t do it, not with him.”

You looked up at Namjoon, begging him with your eyes to believe what you had just said.

“Are you out of your fucking mind?”

You dropped his arm and visibly recoiled as if his words had physically hit you. As far as you were concerned he may as well have.

“Some pretty boy spouts some Romeo and Juliet bullshit so you want to leave the best chance either of us have for surviving this thing? How can you actually be that stupid?!”

You were fuming. How dare he just dismiss what had happened to you like that. You had taken a leap of faith, hoping that as your own team mate he would believe you, and instead he had virtually spat in your face as a response.

“I’m not stupid Namjoon!” You sneered. “The one year my name gets called out is the one year no girls volunteer because they knew that you were going to. If the girls who have spent their whole lives training know they can’t beat you, how the fuck do you think I feel right now? Maybe it’s easier for you because you’ve actually got a chance in these games, but I’m going to die. And none of this is my choice, you actually chose to be here! You were the one who said on the train that you wanted us to join the career pack, so I did! And now I’m the one being harassed, not you! Stop treating me like a child because I’m not just a pawn you can tell what to do until you decide to kill me.”

“If you don’t want to be treated like a child then stop acting like a pathetic fool over the first boy to give you some attention. Do you think your pretty little face is somehow special enough for Hoseok to actually fall in love with at first sight?”

“Of course not!”

“You should be thanking me for pulling your head back in from whatever deluded little fantasy he’s trying to spin. Are you that stupid you can’t tell he’s just trying to divide us so you want to work with him instead of me by the time we get to the end game? At the very least you and I know each other and I guarantee you, in that arena it’s better the devil you know”

You wanted to point out how you were the one to tell him about Hoseok, and clearly were trying to work with Namjoon instead, only for him to berate you, but logic was out the window by this stage.

“Is it? Cause it sounds to me like you’re just keeping me around until you decide to break my neck when it’s convenient for you,” you snapped instead.

“That’s how alliances work sweetheart. You watch my back in the pack to make sure 1 or 2 don’t just slit my throat in my sleep. I drag your ungrateful ass around and make sure you aren’t taken out by some amateur who wouldn’t know the difference between a liver and an intestine. Is that how you want to die? Bleeding out for hours after being stabbed by an untrained idiot and spending your final moments in agony? Would you rather die by someone beating your head in with a rock because that’s the only weapon they know how to use? Let’s see how beautiful you are with your skull smashed in huh. Or do you want to go from starvation or hypothermia because you’re lost and all alone?”

You were absolutely stunned. He was expecting you to just follow him around the arena like a little puppy, where the only incentive for doing so would be his definition of a merciful death? Before you could tell him where he could shove his alliance, your argument was cut off by the approaching voice of Athena.

“I don’t know what kind of little lover’s quarrel you two have got going on here” you could swear you heard a warning growl from Hoseok “but get your shit together. We can’t have infighting in the alliance, especially before we even get into the arena. You,” a point at Namjoon, “stop treating her like shit. And you,” a point at you, “Stop looking like you’re about to cry. You’re a career for fuck sake, a cold blooded killer. Even though you’re obviously not, you at least need to look like one to scare off the other tributes otherwise you’re going to be the lowest hanging fruit they try and pick off first.”

You stared blankly back as Athena kept talking. The other tributes. You had been so preoccupied thinking about Hoseok and Namjoon’s cruelty, you hadn’t even considered your position without them. By now you were established as a career in the eyes of 18 other tributes, regardless of if you wanted to be one or not. From the past years of the games you knew that the other districts would take any opportunity they could to eliminate a career that somehow wound up on their own.

You were completely and utterly ruined no matter what direction you chose to go.

“Hoseok, Namjoon, you two are coming with me to the obstacle course run for a few hours. We need to do some teamwork after you two had your little dick measuring contest before in the graded courses. You two need to do something to make it look like you’re unified because right now because that’s something other tributes can exploit. Krystal, YN, and Yoongi will go to the rope tying station so YN can help us with knots and show off that she’s actually needed in our alliance to the others”

Namjoon nodded curtly whilst Hoseok clearly looked more annoyed at the idea of being split from you and having to work with the Namjoon. However, he quickly covered his expression and nodded as well. Athena gave each of them a shove on the shoulder to get them moving and they walked off out the hallway and back into the training compound.

You took a deep breath, grateful to have a break from either of their presence before looking between Yoongi and Krystal. They didn’t seem particularly interested in you, their sharp eyes and beautiful features were relaxed into a neutral expression that only suggested boredom. That was perfectly fine with you. As a fisherman’s daughter you were indeed well versed in knots and grateful for the reprise which would allow you to spend some time on something you were actually confident with.

“Alright, show me where the knotting station is”

Note: This story was originally a one shot in my mind and has now reached a planned 6 chapters. Aha. I suck.

Ideally I wanted the 'before the games' section to just be one chapter, but found it was starting to get too long after this reached over 7000 words and I still have the other training days, final assessment/grade out of 12 and the interviews with Caesar to cover (those will be in the next chapter, with the games starting in the update after)

The concept of the assessment came from the 1st movie where Atala (the woman who does that ‘in 2 weeks most of you will be dead’ speech in the training centre) mentions a mandatory assessment, so I just worked with an idea from that.

This chapter hopefully showcases more of Hoseok's Yandere nature along with establishing just how much or a horrible character Namjoon is (I swear I'll do a better fic of Namjoon as the lead soon).

#yandere hoseok #yandere bts #bts x reader #dark bts #dark jhope #y!hoseok #hoseok x reader #yandere bts fic #HUNGER GAMES AU #hoseok fic #hoseok au #hoseok x you #yandere jung hoseok #dark bts au #yandere

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jugxbets · 7 years

Text

Archie's Little Sister: Chapter One

A/N: this is an AU where Archie has a little sister. they will be a year apart. i plan on making this a series so i’m also gonna be making things up as i go. I’m gonna start from the very first episode of Riverdale. the only things i’ll mention is that she’s going to be a lot like him and she’s going to be a bit of a bitch. there will be smut eventually. the fic will mostly be revolved around her and Archie. i’ve noticed how most of the characters in Riverdale have such elegant and sophisticated names but have nicknames within those names like Archie = Archibald, Reggie = Reginald, Betty = Elizabeth, etc. so i decided to give her a name sort of like that. i hope you all enjoy and start sending in requests!

Warnings: swearing, maybe?

Summary: Alexandria Andrews, mostly known as Alex, has always been overshadowed by her brother, Archie. She was always compared to him and she would let it slide. But once she attends Riverdale High, she thought she would make it known that she is her own person and not just “Archie’s Little Sister.”

*the things that happened with Jason Blossom’s murder still happen. everything else still happens as far as i’m concerned with myself. i might be changing a couple of things, nothing big. i’m just adding another character and making it a bit more interesting.*

Actress to visualize: a young Lily Collins.

——————————————————————————

“The River’s Edge”

Tomorrow will be Alex’s first day of high school. Riverdale High.

She rolled her eyes at the thought of going to the same school as her brother, Archie.

She was always overshadowed by him. It never really bothered her, she just hated when people compared them. She always thought of herself as someone better than him.

She loved Archie and she always would. They will always be protective of each other. She was just annoyed by how “perfect” people thought he was.

In middle school, she was already known as “Archie’s little sister” and she knew it would be the same in High school. She hated the phrase because people didn’t think of her as anything more than that.

At least she had people to hang out with though. Betty, Jughead and Kevin. She was closest to them. She grew up with them like Archie did. She met Kevin through Betty at Pop’s. There were other people she knew that went to Riverdale High but they weren’t important.

Except for Jason. Alex and Jason had a fling type-of-thing during the summer before his mysterious death. Jason hurt Alex too many times for her to feel any kind of sympathy when she heard about the accident. She always knew he had a girlfriend but Jason always lied to her. Then it was confirmed that it was Polly by Betty. She’s hated Polly ever since. Her sadistic side comes out when she thinks about her being in a psych ward. That’s what the rumors were saying anyway. She laughs about it when she’s alone. Jason was older, sure, but that didn’t bother her. He was beautiful to her. He was the literal definition of a nightmare dressed like a day dream.

She dreaded her very first day of high school.

She was downstairs with her father, Fred preparing dinner when Archie decided to head out.

“Hey, dad, i’m going to Pop’s with Betty for a milkshake.” Archie said, as he walked into the kitchen while putting on his hoodie.

“What about dinner?” Fred asked.

“Save me a plate?” Archie shrugged.

“No, if you wanna eat, eat now or starve.” Alex responded coldly.

Fred gestured for him to head out. “I’ll save you a plate, just go.”

Archie smiled and headed for the door.

Alex scoffed. “Of course.”

“Hey,” Fred called out before Archie left. He turned around to face his dad.

“Why don’t you, uh, take crabby pants with you?” Fred suggested.

Alex’s face scrunched up. “Uh, i’m not third wheeling. Thanks, but no thanks.”

She continued to dice the onions.

Fred raised his brows at Archie, as if he was telling him to convince her. Archie sighed and went along with it.

“Oh, come on, Alex.” Archie huffed.

“You don’t want to have to tell your kids you spent your whole adolescence staying in with dad, do you?” He continued.

She rolled her eyes. “Staying in with dad isn’t so bad.”

“But fine.” She sighed. “If you insist.”

Archie chuckled.

She grabbed a hoodie of her own and headed out with Archie.

“We won’t be too late, dad.” Archie assured Fred as they walked out the door.

They decided to walk to Pop’s. It wasn’t that far anyway.

They made it there and they saw that Betty was already there, sitting in their usual booth.

She greeted them with a smile.

Betty got up from the booth so Alex can slide into the other side while Archie slid into the front of them.

Betty gave him a questioning look. She didn’t mind Alex. They were good friends. Betty was the only girl Alex was nice to. It’s just that she finally wanted to tell Archie how she felt tonight and she kind of wanted to do it alone.

“Uh, my dad made me bring her.” Archie answered to her look.

She gave an understanding nod.

Alex scoffed.

“If you want, I can go to a different booth.” She said, ready to climb out of the one she was in.

Betty held her back.

“No! No, it’s fine, you know I don’t mind hanging out with the both of you.” She said with a smile.

“Okay.” Alex said, sounding unsure.

“So, what was the highlight?” Archie asked, sparking up a conversation.

“Of my internship?” Betty asked to make sure. “The Toni Morrison book release party I organized, by far.” She smiled as she thought about it

She started gushing about Toni Morrison while Alex tuned them out. She didn’t want to be here with them but Archie was right. She didn’t want to tell her kids in the future that she had no social life.

“How was working for your dad?” Betty asked both of them.

“It was.. pouring concrete, every day, all day long.” He said as he dreaded doing it again. “Alex hated it.” He chuckled.

“Yeah, but I suppose we do have dad to thank for our abs.” She smirked. “I didn’t get as buff as Archie, obviously, but hey, I got some work done as well. Never again though.” She groaned.

Betty laughed.

Then Archie started talking about his poems.

Betty mentions that he doesn’t even like reading poetry.

Archie clarifies and says they’re song lyrics.

“Oh, we’re telling her about that, are we?” Alex smirked as she sipped on her vanilla milkshake.

Betty looked at Archie confused. He nodded and smiled.

Archie continued. “working on them made me feel like..”

“What, Archie?” Betty was just dying to know.

It was then Archie’s turn to gush over his music.

Again, Alex tuned them out.

But then she saw something sparkle in Betty’s eye when she watched him talk about his passion.

She looked mesmerized.

That was Alex’s thing. Observing people. Reading them.

“Music.” Archie blurted out. “Starting this year, tomorrow.” He smiled.

“Amazing!” Betty returned the smile.

“Will you ask Ms. Grundy to tutor you?” Betty asked.

Archie’s mood shifted a bit. “I’m not sure, maybe.”

“What about football?” Betty continued with her questions. “Can you do both?”

“I’ll try out, at least.” Archie responded to her questions as fast as they came.

“Well, have you told your dad?” Betty kept the questions coming, causing Alex’s head to spin.

“No,” Archie said a bit agitated.

Betty nodded. Maybe she overdid it with the questions.

“Until I’ve got things more figured out, you and Alex are the only people I’m telling, okay?” He assured her.

She looked at Alex.

“I already knew. I’ve been helping out.” Alex shrugged.

She nodded and smiled.

“Well, I’d love to hear them sometime. Your songs.”

“Yeah, I’m finishing a couple of demos tonight.” He said as he looked at Alex. “With the help of my dear sibling, of course.”

“Great. Also..” Betty began. She got nervous. “I’ve been thinking..”

“Hold on, I’ll be back.” He said as he slid of the booth and into the bathroom.

“Uh, okay..” Betty trailed off as she frowned.

“Were you about to tell him what I think you want to tell him?” Alex asked.

Betty groaned. “Ugh, yes but now I think I wanna back out. Maybe it’s not meant to be.” She said as mixed her milkshake around with her straw and sipped on it.

“You’ve gotta talk to him. I can tell you really like him. You guys are perfect for each other.” Alex tried convincing Betty not to back out.

“What if he doesn’t like me back?” Betty asked, very unsure about how he would react or what he would say.

“There’s only one way to find out.” Alex shrugged as she smirked. “I can leave if you want.”

“No, stay, I could use the moral support.” Betty half smiled.

Alex nodded. “Well, you’ve got my blessing.”

Betty smiled as she took a deep breath while trying to regain the same mentality she had a minute ago.

Archie came out moments later.

“Sorry, Betty, you can continue.” Archie said as he slid back into the booth.

Alex sipped on her milkshake as she watched Betty.

“Well it’s just that, I’ve been thinking about us, Archie, and our friendship, and how’s it’s time we..”

Archie unintentionally tuned her out when he a dark haired girl caught his attention when she walked into Pop’s.

He looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Stunned by this mysterious raven-haired girl.

Betty tried to continue what she was saying but she noticed Archie’s attention was somewhere else.

Alex had her back. She snapped her fingers in his face.

“Earth to moron!” Alex said as she kept snapping.

She gave up as she realized she wasn’t going to get through to him.

Then she and Betty both turned around to see what he was so stunned by.

Betty looked back to him with a frown while Alex was still watching her.

“I called in an order, for Lodge?” She asked Pop.

He told her the order was almost ready but she had to wait.

She smiled when he left to get her order. Then she saw them.

“Hi.” She greeted with a smile.

Archie was the first one to say hi back. A little too quick if you ask Alex or Betty.

She asked how the onion rings were here. Archie said ‘so good’ which was a bit of an overstatement since Alex always thought they were too greasy. She rolled her eyes at how he was looking at her.

Then she asked for some onion rings as well with her order.

“Thanks.” She said, smiling, once again.

Alex couldn’t read her. It frustrated her a bit.

“My mom and i just moved here, so..” the girl went on to say.

“From where?” Archie asked.

“New York.” She responded.

“Wow.” Archie said, impressed.

“There are way better places in the world, Archie. New York isn’t really all that impressive.” Alex snapped.

The dark-haired girl raised a brow. “She’s right, I suppose.”

Betty was frowning ever since the mysterious girl sparked up a conversation.

“Do you guys go to Riverdale?” The girl asked.

“We do. Both of us. Together.” Betty answered.

“Actually, Alex, here, is starting her very first day tomorrow. She’s a freshman.” Archie said.

“You didn’t have to say that.” Alex glared at him.

“We’re sophomores.” Archie ignored her, as he pointed to Betty.

Betty gave her a smile the best she could.

“Me too.” The girl said uncheerfully. “I’m filled with dread.”

“Why is that?” Archie asked as he chuckled.

“Are you guys familiar with the works of Truman Capote?” The girl asked the group.

“The novelist?” Alex asked, uninterested.

Archie and Betty both nodded.

“I’m Breakfast at Tiffany’s, but this place is strictly In Cold Blood.” She said.

Archie laughed a little too hard at her joke. Betty watched him as if she knew that if she had made the joke, he wouldn’t have laughed that hard.

Alex scoffed at Archie’s reaction. Idiot. was all that she can think about it.

“Veronica Lodge.” The girl finally introduced herself.

“Archie Andrews.” He said as he shook her hand.

Betty was looking at him in shock because of the way he was acting.

“Uh, this is Betty Cooper and that over there,” he said, pointing at the other side of the booth. “Is my evil little sister, Alex.” He chuckled.

Veronica giggled.

Alex glared at him. “I think we’re capable of introducing ourselves, Arch.” She hissed.

He ignored her.

“Wait, are you..” Veronica trailed off, taking to Betty.

“Supposed to give you your tour tomorrow? Yes.” Betty finished and answered her question for her.

They both smiled awkwardly.

“I’m your peer mentor.” Betty said looking down as she chuckled.

“Do you want to join us?” Archie invited her.

Both of Betty and Alex’s eyes widened.

“She’s seems pretty busy, Arch.” Alex began.

“Hey, maybe we can un-fill you with dread.” He said, ignoring his sister once again.

Veronica eventually got the hint that neither Betty or Alex wanted her there.

“My mom’s waiting for me.” She forced a chuckle.

Archie gave her an understanding nod.

“But, to be continued.” Veronica said as she smiled.

She walked away.

“Yeah.” Archie responded quietly.

His full attention went back to Betty. He caught himself still smiling but then went back to the mood he was in earlier.

“What were you saying?” Archie asked, trying to get back on topic.

“Nothing.” Betty smiled the best she could but Alex knew she was frowning deep down.

Alex felt bad but Betty had an advantage to being good friends with his little sister. She can talk him up about Betty.

They all talked a little more amongst each other. Then they all went home.

Archie and Alex got to finishing up the demos he was talking about to Betty before they went to sleep.

It was a little bit over midnight and Alex couldn’t sleep. She was nervous about her first day. She knew Cheryl would give her a hard time and clearly, she wouldn’t let herself but she just knows she’s not going to be in the mood for it.

Ever since the “accident” happened, everyone says she’s the bitchiest she’s ever been. That’s not what Alex was worried about. She wondered how she was going to face Cheryl after knowing she and her brother were involved. Alex assumed Cheryl knew because, well, they were twins and she always thought they told each other everything.

No one can ever know. You have to take this to your grave, Alex. She thought to herself.

She eventually fell asleep thinking about it.

——————————————————————————

Alex’s alarm went off. Too early, she thought. But she had to wake up earlier than everyone else so she wasn’t late.

She got up and decided to go into the shower. She took her time since she knew no one would be up until a few more hours.

She got out and realized she hadn’t picked out an outfit to wear the night before.

She shrugged and decided to do her hair and makeup in her towel.

She started with her hair. She blow dried it and brushed it out. She always hated that Archie got their mom’s red hair. She thought red locks would suit her. Instead, she got stuck with Fred’s hair color. She didn’t mind being a brunette but she will always wish for red hair.

She decided not to do anything else with her hair since it naturally dried wavy.

She moved on to makeup. She always went light on it. She put on her usual base which was foundation. She moved onto her thick, full brows. She never really needed to shade them in but she did anyway. She put on a bit of blush and mascara to finish it all off.

She looked at herself in her tall mirror with just her royal blue bra and panties. She felt confident for once.

She was insecure about herself in middle school but ever since she helped Archie and her dad out at the construction site, she built some muscle. Her abs were her absolute favorite.

She heard Archie’s alarm go off in the other room. It reminded her to stop looking at herself and put some clothes on. She heard him get up and into the shower.

She started looking for an outfit. She sighed at the thought of her knowing how ugly it was about to get for her room, in search of a good outfit.

She decided to go with a crop tank top and some black ripped jeans with her Doc Martens. She was never the preppy type. Not like Kevin and Betty.

To accessorize, she put on a velvet choker and some skull earrings. She wanted to be extra edgy today, especially since Archie hated it.

She almost went as far as adding black liner but she decided not to. She just woke a dark lipstick. Her favorite from Covergirl. She got her books and bag ready.

She was downstairs giving Vegas breakfast, which was normal dog food in the morning.

“Archie, hurry up! We’re gonna be late!” Alex called out to him as she pet their dog.

Archie was racing up and down the stairs. They were definitely gonna be late.

“Hey, dad, Alex,” Archie called out as he pulled out his phone to check the time. “First day of school and we’re already late.”

“We wouldn’t have been if you had your shit together last night!” Alex called back out.

“Language!” Fred scolded in a sing-sing voice, as he was pouring coffee into his mug.

Archie went to the kitchen table to put his books in his bag. He said hi to Vegas on his way.

Alex rolled her eyes.

“Hey, you guys, uh, stopping by the site later?” He asked Archie.

Archie looked at Alex.

“Uh, I’m not.” She scoffed. “I hated it but maybe next summer, dad.”

He nodded and looked at Archie for a response.

Archie sighed. “Dad, it’s my first day.”

“Oh, we gotta get you going to the office, so next summer you’re not on the crew.” Fred responded.

“Well, I can’t. I’ve got football tryouts.” He said as he shoved his books in his bag.

Fred smiled. It wasn’t a good smile but it wasn’t a bad one either. They can never tell.

“Or is that not okay?” Archie carefully asked.

“No, it’s, uh, it’s okay. Good luck.” Fred said, leaving Archie unconvinced.

“Greaaaat, can we go now?” Alex asked with an attitude.

“Yes, we should head out now.” Archie said when he checked his phone again.

“Good luck to you, too, sweetie.” He gave her a peck on the top of her head. “I don’t suppose you’re trying out for the cheer team, huh?” Fred teased.

“Haha, very funny, dad.” Alex sarcastically responded.

They began to walk towards the door.

“Be nice.” Fred called out to Alex.

“I’m always nice.” Alex’s face scrunched up.

“Who’s the funny one now?” Fred teased.

She glanced at him to glare at him for a second but then they both left.

They started walking.

“Ugh, why do we have to walk?” Alex complained as she groaned.

“Because it’s just a few blocks away?” Archie scoffed. “Jesus, you complain about everything.”

“Are you trying to pick a fight with me?” Alex asked. “Because it’s way too early for that.”

“No,” Archie denied. “But i could do without your complaints.”

“Oh, well, that’s too bad.” She said as she skipped. “What are little sisters for?”

He forced a chuckle.

“Hey, you brought a sweater, right?” Archie asked as he eyed her outfit.

“Uh, no, it’s not cold.” She scoffed.

It was 53 degrees.

“Uh, it might not be too cold but it is pretty chilly.” Archie said. “And you’re showing too much skin, anyway.”

He took his book bag off and looked for the hoodie he shoved in there, along with his books. He took it out and offered it to her.

“Uh, no, thanks. Since when do you care about what I wear, anyway?” Her brows furrow.

“Since I found out that there are a lot of horny boys in high school.” He said, shoving the hoodie in her face.

“Oh, no! Let me hide my shoulders because God knows it’ll drive the boys crazy!” Alex sarcastically said as she clutched her shoulders dramatically.

Archie glared at her and shoved the hoodie in her face one more time. “Not your shoulders, Smartass. Your stomach.”

She laughed.

Finally she took it. “I’m not wearing it.” She shrugged.

“You will when you get dress coded.” Archie said with a smirk.

“We’ll see about that.” She smirked right back.

They laughed.

“So, what did you think about that Veronica girl?” Alex asked as she narrowed her eyes.

“Uh, i thought she seemed cool. And pretty.” He stammered. “You?”

“Prettier than Betty?” She asked, raising an eyebrow, definitely crossing a line. She avoided his question.

“What kind of a question is that?” Archie’s face scrunched up.

Alex shrugged.

“I think they’re both equally beautiful.”

“Hm.” Alex responded. “I don’t believe you.”

Archie scoffed. “Well, what do you think of her?”

She smacked her lips. “I think she’s a bitch.”

Archie’s eyes widened. “God, can’t you be nice for just one second?”

“I am nice, Arch.” She defended herself. “And it’s the truth. My bitch radar was going off like crazy. I know a bitch when I see one.”

“Does it go off when you look at yourself in the mirror?” Archie joked, and laughed.

Alex mocked his laugh as she nudged him. “Haha, hilarious.”

“You heard about her dad?” Alex asked with a grin on her face.

“What about her dad?” Archie asked with his brows furrowed.

“He’s in prison. For fraud. And embezzlement. That’s why they moved here.” She said, with the grin still on her face. “To.. ‘start a new life.’” She motioned her hands with quotation marks.

“How do you even know?”

“I do my research, Archie.” She responded.

“Damn.. that must be tough.”

Alex rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, okay.” She mocked her sympathy. “Still not as bad as mom leaving us, if that’s what you were thinking.”

“It wasn’t.” His face scrunched up again.

“Well, good. Because her father got locked up. He was forced to leave her and her mom. Our mother, left, on her own free will. Not giving a shit, not looking back.” She said coldly.

He sighed heavily.

“I know you’re still mad at her, but, come on, Alex. I think you’ve held the grudge for long enough.” Archie tried reasoning with her.

“Sure doesn’t feel like it.” Alex rolled her eyes.

They arrived at school.

Archie went straight to his locker. Alex followed. He promised her he would show her around. She was going to ask Betty, but she didn’t really want to hear the history of Riverdale High and all of the other unnecessary stuff.

He was going over some song lyrics with her. He told her he was going to try to talk to Josie, from Josie and the Pussycats, to see if they would sing one of his songs.

“Your hand writing is sloppy.” Alex pointed out.

“So is yours.” Archie returned the insult.

She scoffed.

Then Reggie came up out of nowhere.

“Bro, you are ready for football.” He said, looking at his upper body. “I’m not kidding, dude. You got ripped.”

He seemed very shocked.

Reggie went on about how buff Archie was.

He didn’t even notice Alex was there.

Again, being overshadowed by her brother, like always. She was use to it by now but she wanted it to be different this time.

“Taking some T?” Reggie then asked.

She snickered. Archie glared at her.

Then they started walking. She followed.

Reggie then starting asking what he was taking.

“It’s from working construction, Reg.” Archie laughed as he put his letterman jacket on.

“Oh yeah, yeah, that’s right— Yo, Moose!” Reggie called out. Moose started walking with them.

Alex was annoyed by how loud he thought he needed to be.

“So, Archie, you gonna show me around?” She said instead of asking, like she was reminding him.

“Oh, yeah. Hey, I gotta show my little sister around, I’ll catch up with you later.” He tried walking off.

“Whoa, what?” Reggie asked, surprised, while he checked Alex out.

“That’s Alex? Holy shit! And i thought Archie grew up.” He laughed with Moose.

“I can show you around instead, babe.” Reggie winked.

Alex cringed at his lame attempt to flirt. Archie wasn’t having it.

“Knock it off, man.” Archie said, annoyed. Reggie and Moose laughed once again.

“Yo, be honest with me..” Reggie paused for a bit. “You work on any houses? Any private homes?”

They kept walking and faster. Alex followed, trying to keep up.

“Yeah, a couple.” Archie answered.

“Did you tap some cougar ass this summer?” Reggie shouted.

A look of disgust appeared in Alex’s face.

“Okay, you know what, I’ll just ask Betty. Goodbye.” She said, walking away.

“Hey, call me later, sweetie.” Reggie said to Alex as he winked again.

Archie playfully smacked Reggie’s chest.

She laughed.

“You know what, I think that’s more a fantasy from your wank-bank, Reggie.” Archie said as he walked off as well. “I’ll catch you guys soon.”

“Yeah, so is your sister now, Andrews!” Reggie called out.

Archie flipped him off. Both Moose and Reggie laughed.

Alex went around looking for Betty desperately. She knew she was going to be late if she didn’t find her soon.

She found her when she was introducing Kevin to Veronica.

“Hey, Betty!” She called out from the other end of the hall.

She looked at her with a smile.

“Hey, Alex, everything okay?” She bit her bottom lip.

“Yeah, i was wondering if you would give me a tour as well. Archie suddenly got busy..” she shrugged.

“Yeah, sure, you remember Veronica?” Betty said, trying to get her off her back.

“Archie’s little sister, right?” Veronica asked Alex

The phrase that grinds Alex’s gears.

“Yeah, hi.” Alex said uninterested and quick.

Veronica’s facial expression went straight. She looked at Betty. Betty shrugged.

“Hey, Kevin. It’s been a while.” Alex smiled.

“Hi, Alex.” He smiled back.

“Thank god, you’re gay, Kevin. Let’s be best friends.” She said with a grin on her face, purposely interrupting them.

He smiled awkwardly.

Alex glared at her.

“Is it true what they say about your dad?” Kevin asked, shamelessly.

Alex tried to hold back a laugh except she wasn’t really trying. Betty couldn’t believe he actually asked her about it.

Veronica’s mood shifted.

“That he’s the devil incarnate?” She asked, with a tone in her voice that wasn’t so giddy anymore. “I stand by my father.”

Alex raised her brows and chuckled.

“Does everyone here know?” She asked, as she crossed her arms.

“Well, he’s all over the news sooo, what do you think?” Alex responded.

Her smart comments never got her anywhere.

“Wonderful. Ten minutes in and I’m already Blue Jasmine of Riverdale High.” She said walking off.

Betty rolled her eyes at Kevin, causing him to question her. Then they followed.

“Oh and of course there’s a back-to-school-semi formal dance this weekend.” Betty continued with her tour.

“That’s so lame.” Alex scoffed.

“Oh!” Veronica interrupts once again.

She pulled Betty back so she can see Veronica’s view.

“There’s the hottie we were with last night.” Veronica smiled.

“The red headed Ansel Elgort.” She continued.

Alex snorted. “That’s disrespectful. To Ansel.”

Kevin giggled. Betty wasn’t into the whole thing but she knew she had to play nice.

They all looked at him. He looked like he just got rejected. He probably didn’t get through to the Pussycats, Alex thought.

“Is he your boyfriend?” Veronica asked.

“No, he’s straight.”

“No, we’re just friends.”

“No, he’s my brother.”

The three of them say at the same time. Veronica looked at all of them. They smiled awkwardly.

“In that case, mind putting in a word?” Veronica asked Betty. “I’ve tried every flavor of boy but orange.”

Alex’s face scrunched up.

“Why the hell is everyone in here so horny?” She asked. Betty chuckled and shrugged.

“Actually, to clarify..” Kevin began. “Betty and Archie aren’t dating, but they are endgame.”

“Yeah, and i already gave her my blessing.” Alex joined with a fake smile.

Betty was sort of quiet while they explained.

Veronica wasn’t exactly disappointed but she wasn’t happy either.

“You should ask him to the semi formal then.” Veronica suggested to Betty.

“Oh, you definitely should! He’d never say no to you.” Alex said.

“She should, but I heard it might be getting cancelled.” Kevin said. “Because of what happened to Jason. They’re gonna tell us at the assembly.”

Betty nodded. Alex’s whole face went blank.

“Who’s Jason and what happened to him?” Veronica asked uninterested.

They all stared at Veronica.

“You’ve got lots to learn, new girl. And i don’t mean academically.” Alex smirked.

Betty continued the tour. She told Alex where all of her classes were so she wouldn’t be late. She wasn’t exactly excused for a tour like Veronica was.

It was time for the assembly. Everyone was at the gym, which was huge.

It started with Cheryl’s speech. She still looked the same, Alex thought. She looked meaner as well.

She went on about how many of us were lucky enough to have known Jason personally.

Alex wouldn’t say lucky. He was a player who broke her heart.

He was and always will be my soul mate.

That’s a weird thing to say about a sibling, Alex thought. Whatever floats her boat, she shrugged.

Alex was surprised that her little speech wasn’t depressing. In fact, she stopped the semi formal from getting canceled. Everyone cheered.

Alex looked around the bleachers to see where Archie was. When she did, she saw him eyeing Ms. Grundy. She eyed him right back. She didn’t think too much about it and her attention was back on Cheryl.

The assembly was over moments later. Alex tried to look for her next class but she got lost. She couldn’t find Betty anywhere.

She saw Archie at the bottom of the stairs talking to Ms. Grundy.

She walked towards them to ask Archie for help.

“During my office hours. My official office hours.” Grundy said, then skittishly walked off.

That was the only thing Alex heard.

“What was that about?” Alex asked Archie.

“Nothing.” He sighed.

“How’s your first day so far?” He asked, changing the subject.

“It’s greaaaat.” She sarcastically responded.

He laughed.

“I don’t know where my Algebra class is.” She groaned.

Archie smiled. “Come on. I’ll take you.”

She followed him.

The rest of the day went on. So far, everything was going smoothly. Alex was a bit anti social so she didn’t really make friends.

It was lunch time. Archie let her sit with him and his friends, who were also Alex’s friends, like the nice big brother that he is.

Alex saw Veronica struggle to find anywhere to sit while Archie showed the others one of his songs.

Betty was smiling at him. She was the only one that seemed to be into it.

“Can I join?” Veronica appeared.

Alex rolled her eyes.

Archie closed his laptop.

“Yeah.” Betty said.

“What are we doing?” Veronica asked as she sat down in front of Betty.

“Listening to one of Archie’s songs.” Betty said as she smiled and nudged him.

He smiled.

“I thought we were gonna have to pretend to like it, but it’s actually really good.” Kevin said, impressed.

“Wait, that was you singing?” Veronica joined on the conversation. “Something you wrote?”

“Yeah,” Archie said. “Alex helped me record and write. It’s rough.” He admitted.

“Your doing.” Alex clarified.

“No, it’s great!” Betty insisted.

“It’s incredible, actually, the little snippet I heard.” Veronica admitted.

Alex went back to eating her food, trying to tune Veronica out.

“Is that your thing? Music?” Veronica asked, flirtatiously.

Betty got uncomfortable. Kevin sighed. Alex scoffed.

“Are you doing something with that?” Veronica continued as she bat her eyelashes.

Archie nodded. “Yeah, that’s the plan.”

“So how’s your first day going? Good?” Archie asked.

“Not to be a complete narcissist, but I thought people would be more…” she trailed off.

“Obsessed with you?” Kevin finished for her.

Veronica smiled as she looked down.

“Any other year, you’d be trending number one, for sure.” Kevin continued. “This year, though, it’s all about Cheryl trying to win the Best Supporting Psycho Oscar for her role as Riverdale High’s bereaved Red Widow.”

Alex saw Cheryl approaching them from the corner of her eye while Kevin was talking. She wasn’t scared of her but she got nervous. She hated herself for overreacting. She was sure that she knew.

“Hey, i should go. I got that meeting with Grundy and then football tryouts, so.” Archie said as he got his book bag.

He gave a small hug to Alex. She smiled.

“You play football too? What don’t you do?” Veronica asked, surprised.

Then Archie left.

“Before you ask, Blue Jasmin, no she has not invited him to the dance yet…” Kevin aggressively said.

“I’ve been trying to get her to all day but..” Alex trailed off as she groaned.

“Not yet, and don’t talk about Archie!” Betty whispered harshly.

When Cheryl came to their table to talk to Veronica, they all understood why.

As soon as Cheryl came, Alex tuned her out. She introduced herself and asked to sit.

She sat down and pushed Betty to make space for herself causing Betty to push Alex. Her face scrunched up.

Betty apologized.

“So, what are you four hens gossiping about?” Cheryl began.

She paused when her eyes landed on Alex.

“Are you new here too?” Cheryl narrowed her eyes.

Alex froze. “I’m a freshman.”

Cheryl gasped. “You’re quite ripped for a youngster. What’s your secret?”

Cheryl’s kindness was an act and she knew it.

“I worked with my dad and my brother at his construction site all summer. Archie is my brother.” Alex said.

“What? You’re Alex? Damn, you got hot.” Cheryl said, very impressed.

Alex hated the fact that people were surprised about her transformation. It wasn’t a big deal.

“Anyway,” Cheryl continued. “Are you guys talking about Archie’s Edwin-Raquel emergence from the chrysalis of puberty?” She smiled deviously.

Alex scoffed.

Betty shook her head when Veronica looked at her.

“Extracurriculars.” Veronica changed the subject. “Weatherbee wants me to sign up for a few.” She continued, bored.

“Cheerleading.” Cheryl suggested with a smile. “You must! You and Alex!”

“Yeah, I’m not really into that.” Alex began.

“You never know..” Cheryl insisted.

Alex shook her head.

“I’m senior captain of the River Vixens.” She said with a smile as she flipped her hair.

“Is cheerleading still a thing?” Kevin asked, provoking her.

“Is being the Gay Best Friend still a thing?” Cheryl hissed.

Alex’s eyes widened. Her mood shifts quicker than her own, she thought.

Cheryl and Veronica continued their cheer talk. Apparently, Veronica was a cheerleader in New York. She bragged about how she always sat at the top of the pyramid.

Alex was annoyed.

“Im in.” Veronica finally said. “Betty, Alex, come on, you guys are trying out, too.”

Alex shook her head and furrowed her brows. Betty smiled and looked at Cheryl as she continued to eat.

“Of course, anyone’s welcome to try out,” Cheryl said with another one of her fake smiles. “But Betty’s already got so much on her plate right now” she said as she eyes her plate of food. “And being a Vixen is kind of a full time thing but open to all!” She insisted.

She gets up. “Oh, and I’m hoping you’ll change your mind, Alex. We could use someone like you. You’re fit, pretty, and I can sense your bitchy attitude. You’ve got what it takes.”

Alex thought about it but then shook her head once more.

Cheryl shrugged then told them to follow her on twitter and that she would do the same.

She gave them her username. None of them were really going to do it. She walked off.

“Okay, go ahead and hate on cheerleading, but if hipster Prince Harry..” Veronica began.

Betty cut her off.

“I’d love to be a cheerleader.” Betty admitted. “It would look great on my college applications. But last year, when I tried out, Cheryl said I was too fat.”

“What?” Alex’s brows furrowed. “Who the hell does she think she is?”

“No, it’s okay. I wasn’t bothered by it as much as you would think.” Betty shrugged.

“Too season 5 Betty Draper.” Kevin quoted Cheryl. “It was a great line,” he glanced over at Betty who was frowning while Alex looked heated. “But not at all true.” He quickly added.

“Well, you’re a total smokes show now.” Veronica defended Betty. “I mean it. As hot and as smart as you are, you should be the Queen Bey of this drab hive.” Veronica admitted.

“Look, if you want to be a River Vixen, I’ll help you prep. I have moves.” Veronica offered.

“Okay, you know what? Show me your moves.” Betty accepted.

Veronica squealed. “Alex?”

“No, cheerleading isn’t my thing.” Alex protested.

“Oh, come on. Drop the ‘edgy’ act and try out. I can help you too.” Veronica said.

“Actually, Alex used to be a dancer. She’s really good.” Betty told Veronica. “But you should, Alex! It’ll be so fun.” She smiled.

“Okay, no offense, Betty, but I’m not falling for her act. Have you told them what you were really like back in New York, Little Miss Richie Rich?” Alex asked.

Veronica froze. how does she know?

Alex nodded. “Of course not. I’ll catch up with you guys later.”

She got up and left.

“Wait, why would it have offended me?” Betty asked.

“You can be a little naive at times.” Kevin told her.

Betty frowned while Veronica stayed frozen.

“You okay?” Betty asked.

She sighed. “Yes, we can talk about that later though.” Veronica said as she tried to go back to the mentality she had moments ago.

——————————————————————————

Alex was lost once again. She couldn’t find Archie or Betty to ask for help so she tried being on her own. She didn’t want to take her schedule out because she didn’t want to make it known that she was lost.

She decided she didn’t care anymore and whipped it out. While looking down as her paper, she bumped into someone. He was tall, dark, handsome, and buff.

“Oh, shit, I’m sorry.” She apologized as soon as it happened.

“Hey, no worries.” She said as he licked his lips and checked her out. “Are you new here?” He asked.

“Yeah, I guess. Not new, like Veronica Lodge, I’ve lived in Riverdale my whole life. I’m just a freshman.” She smiled, thinking to herself what an idiot she was for basically telling him her whole life story.

“Damn, you’re a freshman? With a body like that?” He eyed her up and down, not so subtle. She couldn’t tell if he was flirting or not.

“Yeah, i worked out the whole summer.” Alex chuckled.

He smiled. “Well, welcome to Riverdale High. You look a little lost. Need some help?”

“Sure.” She smiled back.

She told him what class she needed to be in and he took her there.

“So, what’s your name, freshie?” He asked as they went up the stairs.

“Alex. You?”

“Chuck.” He smiled.

She nodded. “Nice to meet you.”

“The pleasures all mine.” He smirked.

She giggled. “So are you a sophomore? Junior?” She asked.

“Sophomore.” He smirked.

“Hm. Looks like the only people I seem to know are all older. Great.” She sighed.

“What, are you having a hard time making friends?” He chuckled.

“You can say that. I don’t really want friends though. It’s all just drama. I mean, what’s the point? Once high school ends, so do the friendships.” She explained.

He laughed. “Yeah, i get it.”

They got to the class she needed to be in.

“Well, here we are. Uh, I was wondering, can I get your number? I mean if you don’t mind.” He took his phone out and offered it to Alex.

She took it and put her phone number in.

“Call me.” She smirked.

“I most definitely will.” He said as he walked away, still eyeing her.

She laughed.

She walked into her class, longing for the day to be over.

In the middle of class, Veronica and Betty had Alex excused.

Alex got out and met them in the girls locker room. It was empty. “What the hell? Why did you guys have me excused?”

“Because you’re trying out for cheerleading.” Veronica said.

“I already said no, Veronica. God, you’re annoying.” Alex said as she groaned.

“I’m not taking no for an answer. Look, I don’t even know why you don’t like me. I know that you know what I was like back in New York, but that’s not me anymore. I’m trying to be different. Will you just give me a chance?” Veronica asked.

Alex looked at Betty, unsure. Betty shrugged.

“Dancing was your passion, Alex. This could be your chance to show everyone what you’ve got.” Betty said, helping Veronica convince her.

Alex groaned once again. “Fiiinnneee.”

The girls squealed.

“But if you’re looking for my blessing to date Archie, I already gave it to Betty as I mentioned before. And I’m trying out on my own.” Alex listed her conditions.

Veronica nodded. “Okay. I understand.”

Betty had a huge smile on her face. “I’m so happy you’re gonna dance again!”

“I’m a little nervous.” Alex admitted.

“You’re gonna do great, Alex.” Veronica insisted. “Now go get changed into your P.E. uniform.”

Alex did what Veronica told her to. Veronica was happy because she was reinventing herself in all the right ways.

When Alex was done, they all went to the gym.

Alex tried out first. She didn’t really feel up to it but she did. She was amazing. She use to dance when she was in middle school all the time. They had a team and everything.

Cheryl smiled big. She told her she would have to help her choreograph the team. Alex nodded.

why is she being so nice? Does she not know?

“I’m glad you changed your mind. We could really use someone like you.” Cheryl said.

“So you’ve said.” Alex said out of breath.

“You should feel really special. I never ask freshman to try out. But with you, I’m glad I did. I see you’ve got fire.” Cheryl admitted.

Alex smiled.

“Welcome to the River Vixens.” Cheryl smiled big.

Alex thanked Cheryl and went to the hallway to give the floor to Betty and Veronica. She watched them from the door way.

Then it was their turn. They were doing good so far but Cheryl didn’t look satisfied.

Cheryl complained about not seeing the heat between them. Veronica then pulled Betty into a kiss leaving Alex in shock. Cheryl rolled her eyes and passed her clipboard to one of her minions.

Alex observed Cheryl while she continued with her judging.

Alex could tell Cheryl was going through so much. She had so much anger. Alex would know. As much as she tried to understand her, she couldn’t sympathize for her because she was such a bully.

She started making Betty tell Veronica about Jason and Polly.

Alex told herself she was over Jason but she wasn’t. Whenever someone spoke about him, it broke something in her. She just didn’t want to admit it. He was gone. Whats the point?

Cheryl began to push Betty’s buttons. She was trying to get her to snap.

Alex noticed that Betty began making fists with her hands. Was she going to hit her?

Betty started tearing up. Cheryl got what she wanted.

Betty unfolded her hands, where Alex saw blood at the palms. She felt bad.

Betty started apologizing to Cheryl. She was so sweet, Alex thought.

Cheryl welcomed Veronica to the River Vixens, where as she told Betty ‘better luck next time.’

Alex was about to go in there and rip Cheryl’s red hair out but then Veronica started defending her. Guess she was trying to be better than how she was in New York.

She observed the whole situation. Cheryl expected Betty to be the one to be crying at the end but it was really her, with what Veronica said. Eventually, she accepted both of them to the River Vixens.

All the girls in the cheerleading squad went back into the girl’s locker rooms.

The girls all zipped each other up as they got into their new uniforms. Alex was happy for Betty. She knew how devastated she was when she didn’t make it last year. Maybe having Veronica around was a good thing.

Betty giggled after she saw herself in the mirror.

“Perfect.” Veronica said, smoothing out the cloth and joined in on her giggling.

“Very Betty Draper, season 1.” Veronica joked.

Betty nodded with the biggest smile on her face.

“And how do you feel, Alex?” Betty asked.

“As long as I’m dancing again, I’m happy.” Alex admitted.

“I guess I have you to thank.” Alex looked at Veronica.

“I guess you do.” Veronica chuckled. “You’re very welcome.”

Alex smiled as she looked at herself in the mirror a little longer while Betty pulled Veronica to the side.

Alex could hear what they were talking about, so doing the whole 'side bar’ thing was a little pointless.

“I know the crowd you ran with in New York.” She heard Betty say.

oh, she knew this whole time. Alex thought.

“Come on,” Veronica said to both Alex and Betty. “I’ve got a little story to tell.”

They went outside and walked along the the side of the football field, where track rehearsals were held.

Veronica talked about her dad. Talking about how everything felt in her point of view. How she and her mom were harassed by trolls. She admitted that the things the trolls were saying were true and that’s why it hurt the most. She also admitted she was like Cheryl, even worse. When her mom said they were moving to Riverdale, she made a pact with herself to use it as an opportunity to become a better version of herself.

Betty thought it was a lot of pressure for someone. Alex agreed.

Then Betty talked more about Jason and Polly. When they got together, it meant everything to her and nothing to him. She admitted that things got intense. Her mom turned on Polly, while she was trying to keep up with Jason at the same time. Betty’s mom basically disowned Polly, and continued to insult her. She said Jason hurt Polly, but it was her mom that broke her.

Alex got weird. She felt bad about laughing at Polly whenever she thought about her being in a psych ward. She also felt bad because of what Jason put her through. She had no idea they went through the same type of pain.

They both turned to Alex. It was her turn to tell them her sob story. She sighed.

“I gave up dancing when my mom left. It was a hobby that turned into a passion. I loved it. My mom supported me throughout all of it. She was always there at my rehearsals and my competitions. Until she wasn’t. She and my dad separated and she decided that she didn’t want to live in the same house as him. She left town. We didn’t find out until a week later. I’ve always held that against her because she left me when I needed her the most. I was going through puberty at the time, and I couldn’t talk to my dad or Archie about it, you know? She’s the reason I have all these issues and I’ll never forgive her. When my mom left, my dad tried being there for me when I danced but it wasn’t the same. It felt like without her support, I couldn’t do it anymore. So I quit. I let my anger get the best of me. I started seeing someone. Someone I can talk to about anything. Not necessarily a therapist. But at the time I loved to draw as well. She told me whenever I felt angry, to draw, paint, sculpt, do whatever I had to do to let the anger out in the most harmless way. And it worked. I’ve created beautiful drawings due to my anger. So in a way I’m thankful for her leaving us. I just hope she doesn’t come back. When I danced back there, I let out all of the other emotions I was keeping in. A few months back, anger was the only emotion I knew. It was bad. But I feel great about trying out now, especially now that I made the team. I’ll be dancing with or without my moms support. I don’t need her.”

She thought about mentioning Jason but she decided not to.

“Hey, i had no idea.” Betty said. “Archie only told me how it felt for him but I should’ve asked you how it felt for you as well.”

“It’s okay, Betty. I’ll be okay without her. I know that now.” Alex smiled.

“Well, you have our support, Alex.” Veronica said with a smile.

“And your dad, and Archie’s.” Betty added.

Alex smiled and nodded.

“Thanks, again, Ronnie.” Alex said.

“Aw.” Veronica put her over her chest. “You do like me. You called me Ronnie.”

She went over to Alex to giver her a hug. She wasn’t having it.

“Okay, now you’re over doing it.” She tried fleeing from her but Veronica caught her and hugged her forcefully.

“Come here!” Veronica said as she smothered Alex.

Alex looked uncomfortable. Betty laughed at the two goofs.

“But thank you, too, Betty.” She said, almost forgetting that Betty helped as well.

“Any time.” Betty smiled.

Veronica saw Archie and called him. He began to run towards them.

“You’re so doing this.” Veronica said.

“What?” Betty questioned.

Alex smiled, knowing where Veronica was going with this.

“Slaying your dragons, Betty Cooper, one by one.” She said as Betty began to freak out.

“Hi, teen outlander.” Veronica said, when he got to them.

“Hey.” He responded. “Nice outfits.”

His eyes widened when he noticed his baby sister wearing one as well.

“what? You actually tried out? Aw, you look adorable.” He teased.

“Shut up, doofus.” Alex rolled her eyes. Archie laughed.

“Betty here has something she wants to ask you about the back-to-school dance.” Veronica continued with her scheme.

Betty looked at her.

“Go on, Betty. Ask.” She smiled.

Archie looked at her.

“I was wondering if you wanted to come with the three of us.” Betty blurted out.

“What?” The three of them except Betty asked.

“Uh, no, Betty, I’m not even going. And you know, Veronica aren’t you just so busy?” Alex said, making up an excuse for Veronica not to go.

Veronica went along with Alex. “Yeah, you’re totally right. Still have lots of unpacking to do.”

Betty widened her eyes at both of them. She was definitely going to kill them after this.

“Come on.” she pleaded. “It’s your first dance at Riverdale.” Betty reasoned. “You should have someone to go with, even if it’s just a friend. You too, Alex.” She smiled lightly.

Alex thought about it. If she went, she can keep Veronica distracted.

“I mean, I’d love to, but I gotta unpack, like mentioned…” she awkwardly said.

“On second thought, you’re not all that busy and i actually change my mind. What do you say, Archie?” Alex said with a smirk.

“Uh, I’m not really in the headspace for a dance.” Archie responded.

“Oh. That’s okay.” Betty said, disappointed.

“More the reason to let loose and have a little fun, Archie.” Alex said, trying to convince him for Betty.

“Totally unacceptable, Archiekins. We need an escort!” Veronica began. “Take a break, like Alex here loosely suggested, from being a tortured musical genius and come spend a blissful evening with not one, or two but three newly-minted River Vixens.”

“We’ll text you time and place.” She smiled.

geez, this girl really doesn’t take no for an answer. Alex thought.

Archie smiled and accepted. He said bye to them and went back to the football field. Betty smiled.

Veronica and Betty went home while Alex waited for Archie.

She waited a good two hours. The whole time she was watching Chuck play though.

They began walking home.

“Damn, take your sweet ass time, why don’t you.” She said as she rolled her eyes.

“Sorry.” He chuckled.

“You make the team?” She asked.

“Uh, yeah. There’s a spot for quarterback. It used to be Jason’s. Coach Clayton is just handing it to me.” He chuckled.

Her chest felt empty. It used to be Jason’s. She sighed.

“Well, that’s just life for you, isn’t it? Getting things handed to you.” Alex’s eyes narrowed.

He scoffed. “Not the thing I want the most though.” He looked down.

“I’m guessing things with Josie didn’t go so well?” Alex assumed.

“Yeah. It was a long shot anyway.” Archie admitted. “I might ask Cheryl to talk to her for me.”

Alex nodded.

“Are you gonna take Jason’s spot?” Alex asked.

“I don’t know. I told Clayton I would have to think about it because of dad’s site. But I told dad I couldn’t stop by his site today because of football.”

Alex inhaled sharply through her teeth. “So you lied to both.”

“It’s just that I want to do football and music. I just don’t want to work with dad at the construction site.” The corner of Archie’s mouth twisted.

“So be honest. It’ll save you the trouble.” Alex suggested.

“I don’t know. I don’t want to hurt his feelings.” Archie shrugged.

“You know he’s going to find out. So just tell him.” Alex advised.

“I will.” Archie inhaled deeply. “I don’t know how, but I will.”

Alex gave him a smile. He returned it.

They arrived home.

“Hey, dad.” Alex said as she walked through the door.

Archie went upstairs as soon as he walked through the door.

“Hey, Sweetie.” His eyes widened when he looked at her outfit. “Uh, you know I was kidding about the cheerleading thing, right?”

She nodded. “I decided that I want to dance again.”

Fred smiled at her. Then he hugged her.

“I’m proud of you.” He pecked her on her forehead.

“I’m gonna go start on my homework.” She gestured towards the stairs.

He nodded. She climbed the stairs and disappeared into her room.

Archie went back downstairs with his guitar.

“Hey, dad.” He quickly greeted then went outside to the porch.

Fred debated whether it was the time to talk to him or not. Then he decided it was. He went to the kitchen to grab a beer and joined him outside where he saw him practicing his guitar.

Alex didn’t have any homework to do. She lied so she can go upstairs and wait for Chuck to call.

She almost gave up on waiting when her phone started to ring.

It was an unknown number.

“Hello?” She asked as she narrowed her eyes.

“Hey. It’s me.”

She muted her phone and squealed. She unmuted herself and went back to talking to him.

“Hi.” She smiled.

“What’s up?”

“Oh, nothing much. I’m pretty bored.” She said, faking an uninterested tone.

“Do you want to hang out?”

Her heart started beating fast. She hesitated to answer.

“Sure.” She smiled once again.

“I’ll text you time and place.”

Then he hung up. She squealed and danced with excitement.

She got a text telling her to meet him at Pop’s at 7.

She smiled. She texted back and looked for something to wear.

She decided to wear a shorter crop top with the same black jeans and shoes she was wearing earlier. She decided to add an oversized denim jacket so Fred or Archie wouldn’t say anything about her top.

Ever since she got abs, she’s been showing them off non stop.

She touched up her makeup and added perfume. Then she headed out.

She walked outside to where Fred and Archie were 'discussing’ something. She assumed he had told him.

“That’s it?” Fred asked. “We don’t talk anymore?”

He looked disappointed. You can cut the tension with a knife.

“Ahem.” She cleared her throat, trying to get their attention.

It broke them from their eye contact.

“Uh, I’m gonna go to Pop’s for a milkshake with… Betty.” She lied.

Fred and Archie sighed.

“Go ahead, sweetheart. Have fun and be careful.” Fred said with a smile.

Archie didn’t even look at her.

“Okay. Thanks.” She smiled.

She walked over to peck him on the cheek and walked off.

They continued their little discussion after she left. She heard a bit of what they were saying but decided she wasn’t going to get in the middle of it.

On her way there, she called Betty.

“Hello?”

“Betty? Hi. Are you busy?”

“Not exactly. I just came to the mall to buy a dress. What’s up?”

“Okay, perfect. I was just going to ask you if you can cover for me? I kinda told my dad I was going to Pop’s with you but I’m going with someone else.” She cringed at her words.

Betty didn’t respond right away.

“If you can’t, it’s totally fine–”

“no, it’s okay, I’ll do it.”

She can tell she hesitated but couldn’t help to let out a sigh of relief. “Thanks. You’re a life saver. Just if they ask, okay?”

“alright. Are you going to be safe though?

“Yeah, it’s just a guy from school.” Alex coyly responded.

“oh, my god! You have to tell me how everything goes.”

Alex chuckled. “I will. Bye.”

Betty said bye and hung up.

She got there and Chuck was already waiting for her. It wasn’t even 7 yet.

She greeted him and sat in front of him.

“How are you doing?” Chuck asked flirtatiously.

She smiled. “I’m okay.” She lied.

“Really? Because I’m sensing that you’re not.” He raised an eyebrow.

She sighed. “Okay, so I may have lied to my dad about coming here with Betty but whatever. He won’t find out.”

Chucked smirked. “I’m sure he won’t.”

They started talking about their personal lives. Alex talked about her mom, she didn’t really go into detail. Chuck talked about his dad, how tough it was to be the new kid whose dad is also the new teacher and coach. They made jokes and laughed. She felt like she really got to know him. Eventually, the night had to come to an end. Chuck paid the check and offered Alex a ride.

“Do you want a ride home?” Chuck asked.

It got kind of late and it was a school night.

“Sure.” She smiled. They got up and headed for the door. That’s when she saw Jughead at his usual booth. He was on his laptop, typing away.

“On second thought, ill just walk. I forgot I told my dad that I was with Betty.” Alex said as she realized.

Chuck nodded. “Alright.”

He gave her a hug and a peck on the cheek before he left. She blushed.

He went outside and drove away in his car.

She went up to Jughead and sat in from of him.

He gave a quick glance through his lashes. She smiled.

“Do you need something?” Jughead asked as his attention went back to his laptop and continued typing.

“Walk me home?” Alex suggested.

He gave her a kind smile. “Let me finish this up.”

She nodded.

Jughead was always nice to her. He was kind of like her second older brother. She loved it. She never thought of him as anything more than that.

He took one more sip from his coffee then nodded towards the door for them to head out. They both got up and started walking.

“So why weren’t you at school today?” Alex tried making conversation.

“Oh, yeah. That’s right. Today was your first day at Riverdale.” He remembered.

“Yeah… so?” She continued with her question.

He sighed. “I don’t go to the first day of school. It’s too much. Everyone is too happy and giddy.”

“Huh. I guess you’re right.” Alex shrugged.

He couldn’t stop looking at her. She looked different. Since Archie was working at his dad’s construction site all summer, he didn’t really call Jughead or hung out with him as much. Neither did Alex. So it had been a while since he saw her.

“You look very different.” He finally said.

She chuckled. “Is that a bad thing?”

“Not necessarily.” Jughead shrugged.

It was a bad thing for him because now he was attracted to her. He had never been attracted to her. Again, they only thought of each other as siblings.

“I’m surprised Fred and Archie let you go out like that.” He pointed at her top.

She laughed. “I covered it with my jacket when I left.”

He laughed. “Of course.”

“Now,…” He said, changing the subject. “What were you doing here with Chuck Clayton?” His brows furrowed.

shit.

“Y-you saw me?” She stuttered.

“Uh, yeah.” He said. “I’ve been there since you arrived.”

She scoffed.

“You can’t tell Archie or my dad, okay?” She assured him.

He nodded. “Okay. Just tell me why you were there with him.”

She groaned. “We were just hanging out, Jug.”

“Okay.” He said as he smirked.

She started blushing.

“Look’s like Archie’s little sister has a crush.” He teased. He knew how much she hated that phrase as well.

Her face scrunched up and her cheeks became more pink.

“I hate you.” She lied as she laughed.

“Yeah, sure you do.” He smirked.

“Will you be going to the dance?” She asked.

“Probably not..” he trailed off.

She nodded. “Yeah, I wasn’t gonna go but this new girl..” she trailed off as she’d rather not talk about it.

“Is she gay for you?” Jughead’s brows raised.

She laughed. “No! You’ve got lots to catch up on already.”

He shrugged. “I don’t mind.”

She smiled and he smiled back.

They got to her house.

“Well, thanks for walking me home.” She reached in for a hug, which he returned.

“No problem.”

“If you need anything, you can always call and text me. Or Archie. Whatever you prefer.” She offered.

He nodded. “You, too.”

She knew about his lifestyle. His alcoholic of a dad. How him mom left and took his sister with her. They’ve always had that in common. Not having a mother around growing up. They always had each other’s back.

He walked back to Pop’s and Alex entered her house. Archie was in the living room, watching tv.

“Where’s dad?” She asked as she put her purse down.

“At the construction site.” Archie answered blandly.

“Did everything go okay, Arch?” She asked carefully.

“Not really, but hey, at least he knows now.” Archie shrugged.

She sat next to him and rubbed his back for comfort.

“He’ll come around, Archie.” She assured him.

He nodded. “Anyway, I went out to by myself a suit. I got you a gown since I knew you would forget.”

She was surprised. “You got me a gown?” She smiled.

He nodded.

Then her eyes narrowed. “Wait, it’s not something ugly, is it?”

He laughed. “No, I made sure I chose the right one. I texted Veronica some pictures. She helped me out.”

She got excited and ran upstairs to go see it. Archie followed to see her reaction.

He got his suit and her dress in advance because like mentioned, he knew she would forget. If she got it last minute, he knew it would’ve been a disaster.

It was a very fancy satin mermaid-like gown. It was dark, forest green and festooned with flowers on it. It was colorful and beautiful. It was super long, which Archie loved most about it since she wouldn’t be showing off her legs. She smiled and squealed as she went to hug Archie.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” She screeched.

“Okay, okay.” Archie said as he tried to push her off gently.

“I was pretty sure you weren’t to wear heels so I didn’t get you any.” He admitted.

“It’s fine, I don’t care.” She smiled big as she observed the gown some more. “Where did you get the money for it?”

He shrugged. “Don’t worry about it.”

She narrowed her eyes at him but didn’t think too much about his response.

“Alright, well I’m going to bed.” Archie said.

“Oh, wait, before I forget,” he turned around to face her again. “How did Pop’s with Betty go?”

There was a small pause. She thought he knew that she lied.

“Oh, it was good.” She gave a small smile and nodded.

“Alright, good.” He returned the smile. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Arch.”

She put the gown in her closet. It was stunning, she thought. That Veronica has good taste and knows what a girl likes.

She decided to get ready for bed. She got into her pajamas and took her makeup off. She set an alarm and got into bed.

She texted Betty, Veronica, and Kevin back before she decided to actually fall asleep.

——————————————————————————

It was the day of the dance. School was school. It went smoothly for Alex and Archie for the rest of the week.

Throughout the week, Alex had more subtle dates with Chuck. She started developing a crush on him. He was all she thought about.

Then it was time for the dance. Archie and Alex headed back home from school to get ready.

Alex was only excited to wear the gown but she had a bad feeling about tonight.

She got ready anyway. She got into the gown and paired it with her Doc Martens. The dress was long so no one would see them anyway.

She curled her hair and went heavier on her makeup.

Special occasion, she thought.

Archie called out to her to hurry up from downstairs.

They had to go get Betty from next door and meet Veronica at school.

When Alex came down, both her father and Archie looked at her stunned.

“Yeah, yeah, I know, I look great.” She joked as she laughed.

“You really do, Alexandria.” Fred said with tears in his eyes.

“Dad, come on.” She said as she got off the last step. “No tears.”

He nodded. “I know. You’ve just grown up to be such a beautiful young woman. And you,” he looked at Archie. “A very handsome young man.”

“Thanks, dad.” He smiled.

“We won’t be too late.” Alex said as she smiled. She got her purse and jacket.

They headed out.

They picked up Betty on their way there.

“Wow, you clean up nice, Archie.” She said with a huge smile on her face. “And Alex. You look gorgeous.”

“You, too, Betty.” Alex returned her compliment.

They began walking and got to school where they saw Veronica.

They all complimented each other.

“Thanks for choosing my dress, Veronica.” Alex began.

“What? I didn't–”

“Hey, shall we?” Archie interrupted.

He held out both of his arms for Betty and Veronica. They each held on to one. He led them to the dance. Alex followed. They thought it looked great. Or at least, Archie, Betty, and Alex did.

“Well, it’s not the Met Ball.” Veronica joked, looking around.

Alex rolled her eyes. Then her heart dropped when she saw the huge banner with Jason on it. Her mood changed quickly.

Betty noticed. She nudged Alex which made her snap out of it.

Then she looked at Archie who was also staring at the banner.

“Hey.” She nudged him. “When do you have to let Coach Clayton know about football?”

“This weekend.” Archie responded.

“Guys, can’t we just liberate ourselves from the tired dichotomy of jock/artist?” Veronica asked as her brows furrowed. “Can’t we, in this post James Franco world, be all things at once?”

Betty was smiling. Then she laughed.

“She’s right.” Alex joined.

“I’m working on it, guys.” Archie said.

“Work faster.” She demanded. “We’re gonna go get punch.” She grabbed Veronica. “Come on, V.”

They waved goodbye to Betty. Her eyes widened when she realized they were leaving her alone in purpose.

“You got this.” Veronica whispered.

They giggled as they ran off.

When they got to the punch table, Alex noticed Betty was alone.

“Wait here.” She said to Veronica she walked up to Betty.

“Um, where the hell did he go?” Alex asked, a little upset.

“He went to talk to Grundy, i guess.” She shrugged.

Alex scoffed. She was on her way to bring him back but the she got pulled back by Betty.

“No, it’s okay. Just go be with Veronica, okay?” Betty said.

Alex nodded, unsure, but she did as Betty asked.

Then Kevin went with Betty, which made Alex feel better so she wasn’t completely alone. He seemed excited too.

Veronica and Alex started dancing with each other. What the hell, Alex was already there, she might as well have some fun.

She never thought she’d come to like Veronica but she did. It was weird.

Then Cheryl stood on the stage and began talking to the crowd.

Alex tried to tuned her out but then Veronica made her pay attention. She sighed.

Alex was very uninterested.

“…it is my great pleasure to introduce this evenings main entertainment. To know them is to be obsessed with them. Though they usually perform their own material, tonight, they’re making an exception and debuting a cover of the song my parents claim they were listening to the night Jason and i were conceived.”

Alex’s face scrunched up. What the hell kind of dance was this?

“This one’s for you, JJ.” Cheryl continued. “I give you, Josie and the Pussycats!”

Everyone cheered.

Alex sighed. “I think I’m gonna sit this one out.” She let Veronica know.

“Wha–”

Then she was interrupted when Kevin came in and danced with her.

Alex looked for Chuck but he was nowhere to be found. She was a bit disappointed but she decided to shake it off.

Alex then started watching Betty and Archie. Making sure he was being a gentlemen.

Betty looked over to Kevin and Veronica for some encouragement. They gave it to her. Alex laughed to herself. She can tell Betty was nervous but she was strong.

She assumed Betty told him. Then they stopped dancing.

oh, no.

She sighed.

Then the song ended.

Alex got up and went to Kevin and Veronica.

“How do you think that went?” Alex asked.

“Not too good.” Kevin assumed from the look on Betty’s face.

Alex sighed once again.

Somehow the partying continued at Cheryl’s house. They were all invited back to hers.

They were sitting in the living room when Cheryl came in.

“It’s game time at Chez Blossom, kiddies.” Cheryl deviously said.

“We’re going old school tonight.” She continued. “Seven Minutes in Heaven.”

Alex scoffed.

Betty looked like she wanted to go home already. Veronica tried to make the best out of the situation, as did Archie.

Alex was ready to go home but she couldn’t leave without Archie.

“Who wants to tryst in the Closet of Love first?” Cheryl asked the crowd.

“My vote is 'A’ for Archie.” She answered her own question.

Everyone looked at him. He didn’t seem to be up for it.

“Anyone care to second it?” Cheryl asked around the room.

“Wait, actually..” Archie started.

“Yes, Andrews! Yes.” Reggie cut him off.

“All right. Gather round, kids.” Cheryl said.

She was up to something. Alex knew it.

“Actually, I’m gonna get out of the circle.” Alex said. “I’m not really into incest.” She said as she looked at Cheryl.

Everyone in the room laughed.

Everyone thought Cheryl and Jason were involved in that kind of way. She always denied it. It was just a rumor.

Cheryl glared at Alex, but continued the game.

“Let’s see who’s riding the ginger stallion tonight.” She went back to smiling and spinned a bottle.

The bottle took forever to stop. But when it did, it landed in between Veronica and Betty.

Although, Cheryl said otherwise.

“Oh, no way!” Reggie said as he snickered.

Archie and Veronica looked at each other.

“It’s clearly pointing to… the new girl.” Cheryl said as she tilted her head to the side. “This should be fun.”

Alex rolled her eyes.

“Um… I’m not doing this.” Veronica protested.

“That’s up to you.” Cheryl rolled her eyes. “But, if you don’t, house rules decree the hostess gets to take your turn.”

Veronica noticed Betty tense up.

She gave in and went to the closet with Archie.

Alex scoffed.

Betty looked upset. Like she trusted neither of them. She started looking impatient and a minute hasn’t even gone by.

“I’m sorry, I can’t.” A tear fell from Betty’s eye as she got up and left.

“Betty, wait!” Alex said as she tried to stop her. She failed.

Cheryl was loving the drama. Alex just glared at her. She couldn’t wait for them to come out so she can yell at them.

Whether they did something or not, Alex was still pissed.

The seven minutes passed and they came out.

They both noticed Alex’s mood changed.

“Where’s Betty?” Veronica asked, looking around the room.

Alex was about to answer but Cheryl beat her to it.

“She spiraled and fled.” Cher said casually. “Between us, she’s a lot more high-strung than she looks.”

“You shady bitch.” Veronica snarled before walking off with Archie following.

Alex stopped them.

“You’re the shady bitch.” Alex hissed. “Cheryl might have put Archie in the closet, but you didn’t have to go, Veronica.”

Veronica’s facial expression changed to shame.

“Did you guys do anything?” Alex asked as she crossed her arms.

“It’s none of your business, Alex.” Archie growled.

“Maybe not, but both of you hurt Betty.”

“I’m sorry—” Veronica’s voice broke.

“I’m not the one you need to apologize to!” Alex shouted.

“You claim to be better than Cheryl now but no. You’re still the same, bitchy, spoiled brat that everyone knows you are.”

“Alex—” Archie tried to stop her.

Veronica was crying now.

“No, Archie. She’s right.” She sniffled. “We messed up.”

She ran off.

All the good things Alex thought Veronica was, were wiped out as soon as she went into the closet. She’d swore she wouldn’t trust her again.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Archie snarled at Alex.

“No, Arch, what the fuck is wrong with you? Are you stupid? You know how Betty feels about you. You don’t give a shit if you hurt her feelings. You’re so selfish…” She paused. “Just like mom.” Her voice broke.

She walked off as well, going home, leaving Archie behind.

Cheryl faked a pout before she grinned.

Archie tried to call Betty but her phone was off. He decided to look for her instead.

Alex walked home. She was upset. More than upset. Angry. She was mad because what Archie did tonight was selfish. It reminded her of her mom.

Hence, the anger.

She’s had anger issues in her past. It’s been really bad before. Meaning she would actually think about hurting herself or the person she was angry at. She hadn’t had those thoughts in a while. The last time she had them was when she thought about hurting Jason.

In the moment, she thought about hurting everybody. Cheryl. Veronica. Her mom. Archie.

She was crying and she didn’t even realize it. It was all from anger.

She was trying to stop herself. She couldn’t let this end bad.

She got home. She looked like a mess with mascara running down her face.

“Hey, honey–” he stopped when he noticed her appearance.

“What happened? Where’s Archie?” He asked, as he tensed up. He thought about the worst case scenario.

“He stayed behind at Cheryl’s, or I don’t even know.” Alex sniffled.

“What’s wrong, sweetie? Did someone hurt you?” He asked observing her.

She gently pushed him so he could get out of her personal space.

“No, dad.” She sobbed. “Archie made me upset. A-Archie, Veronica, Cheryl, everyone.”

“Upset how?” He asked, afraid of what the answer might be.

“Dad…” she whispered as she sobbed. “It’s getting bad again.”

Fred sighed. He hugged her as tight as he could to make her feel better.

“Go get cleaned up, sweetheart. I’ve got to call Archie.”

Alex sniffled as she nodded.

She want upstairs and ripped the gown off. She cleaned her face with makeup remover. She put on some comfortable clothes and went back downstairs. She needed to be comforted so she went to Fred.

They sat in the living room. They watched tv as Fred held his beloved daughter in his arms to keep her calm.

She fell asleep. Fred didn’t move a muscle. He didn’t want to wake her. He stroked her hair and kissed the top of her head occasionally.

A few hours later, she was woken up by her dad.

“Alex?” He said with a hushed voice.

“Hm?” She replied, still sleepy.

“We gotta get down to Sweetwater River. Archie just called me.”

Her eyes fluttered open. She got up with her brows furrowed.

“Why?”

“They found Jason’s body.” Fred hesitated to tell her.

Her heart dropped.

She got up as quickly as she could.

They met Archie at Sweetwater River. Everyone who was anyone was there. Observing.

Fred held his daughter. He couldn’t imagine what he would do if that was one of his own. He reached out to Archie to comfort him as well.

Everyone was distraught. The police weren’t investigating an accident anymore. They were investigating a murder.

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