"Cigarette daydream
You were only seventeen
So sweet with a mean streak
Nearly brought me to my knees"
The Blossom Triplets were a strange trio indeed.
Athena Blossom was unlike her siblings. She wasn't friends with the 'it' crowd and preferred to...
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The girls performed their cheer with all the passion in the world and in their hearts. "Hmm. Ladies, where's the heat? Where's the sizzle?" And Cheryl made the conscious decision to rain on their parade which was one of her favorite hobbies. "Well, you haven't seen our big finish yet." Veronica pulled Betty towards her, kissing her with such passion that made Athena a tiny bit uncomfortable as she was beginning to feel like a third wheel.
"Check your sell-by-date ladies. Faux-lesbian kissing hadn't been taboo since 1994. So, let's see if you do better with the interview portion. Betty. How's your sister doing?" Athena almost snapped her neck because of how quick she looked up. Cheryl wouldn't dare. "Um, Polly's fine. Thanks for asking." Cheryl's face was devoid of emotion as she prepared to interrogate the girls. "Veronica, has Betty told you about her sister?"
"Cheryl don't-" Athena started to protest before being interrupted. "Shut up, Athena," Cheryl shouted at her sister causing Athena to scoff and back down, praying that Cheryl would just leave it alone. "Uh, no." Veronica was beyond confused as she looked at the girls standing next to her and then back at Cheryl. "Go ahead, Betty. Tell Veronica about your sister and my dear brother."
"Polly and Jason dated-" Betty started before being interrupted by Cheryl who chuckled dryly. "Huh, I wouldn't say dated." Betty was visibly distressed causing Athena's heart to break. "It didn't end well." Betty quietly told Veronica who nodded. "In fact, Jason is probably why your sister had a nervous breakdown and now lives in a group home. Isn't it?"
"That's what my parents think." Usually, Athena would be the target of her sister's rage but it was now Betty playing the lamb as the wolf ripped into her. "What do you have to say about that, Betty? Go ahead, the floor is yours. Whatever you've been dying to spew about Jason and how he treated Polly unleash it. Destroy Athena and I. Tear us a new one. Rip us to shreds. Annihilate us."
"I just...." Betty turned and saw as Athena stared at the ground, her eyes glossy causing Betty to hold back whatever she thought about the situation. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry. About what happens to Jason. I can't even imagine what you and your family must be going through." Betty said in a soft voice causing Athena to look up at her and smile. She knew her brother wasn't a great guy, but she couldn't help but be thankful that Betty didn't smear his name. "Right. Veronica and Athena. Welcome to the River Vixens. Betty. Better luck next time."
"Cheryl, are you serious." Athena spun and looked at her sister and as she was about to tear her sister apart, Veronica stepped in to do so instead. "Wait. What? Why? Because you couldn't bully Betty into being a bitch?" Veronica said, appalled by the words that came out of Cheryl's mouth. "I need a girl with fire on my squad."
"I know what you need, Cheryl because I know who you are. You would rather people fear than like you, so you traffic in terror and intimidation. You're rich, so you've never been held accountable, but I'm living proof. That certainty, that entitlement you wear on your head like a crown? It won't last. Eventually, there will be a reckoning. Or maybe that reckoning is now. And maybe, that reckoning is me. Athena, Betty and I come as a matching set. You want one, you take the trio. You wanted fire? Sorry, Cherry bombshell, my specialty's ice."
Athena was impressed by Veronica's speech as she looked at her sister whose lips parted in shock. No one had ever spoken to her like that except for Athena, but she was her sister. This was a stranger. The new girl. The tryouts ended and the girls walked to the locker rooms, cheering as they were accepted. As the girls got changed into their cheerleading outfits, Athena was the happiest she'd been since Jason's death as she watched Veronica kick her sister off her pedestal. She loved her sister, but she acted as if the world owed her something which it most definitely didn't.
"Perfect" Veronica giggled as she zipped up Betty's outfit. Betty looked unbelievably happy and Athena was so glad. "Very Betty Draper season one." They all giggled. Athena zoned out of the conversation as the girls talked about the past. Something Athena wasn't very fond of. The three walked outside, along with the track as footballers ran about. "Archie! You're so doing this" Veronica shouts as he runs past in his football gear. "What?" Betty asks confused. "Slaying your dragons, Betty Cooper, one by one. Hi, Teen Outlander."
"Hey, nice outfits." Archie chuckled as he examined the blue and yellow outfits. "Betty here has something she wants to ask you about the back-to-school dance. Go on, Betty. Ask." This was her chance. Athena had waited for Betty to make her move on Archie, curious to see how he would react. "I was wondering if you wanted to come with both of us." Athena felt a tiny bit excluded but she had agreed to go with Kevin as friends. Archie and Veronica's response was confusion. "Yeah, it's your first dance at Riverdale, Athena is going with Kevin and you should have someone to go with even if it's just a friend."
"I mean I'd love to." Veronica smiled, turning to Archie who simply shook his head lightly. "No, I'm not really in the headspace for a dance." Athena wanted to roll her eyes as she looked at him. "Oh, that's okay." You could see and hear Betty's disappointment but clearly, Archie couldn't. "Totally unacceptable, Archiekins. We need an escort. Take a real from being a tortured musical genius and come spend a blissful evening with not one, but two newly minted River Vixens. We'll text you time and place." Athena decided immediately that that was the worst pet name, but the funny thing is that Archie laughed at it.
Usually, when Athena would call him an awful nickname he would flick her but with Veronica, he treated her like she was everything, completely oblivious to the other two. "Heh, okay. Yeah, okay. Bye" Archie was wrapped around her finger.
+ + +
At the back-to-school dance, Athena donned a beautiful green silk dress with spaghetti straps. She arrived with Kevin as her date but as they arrived he went to the bathroom. Athena felt like all eyes were on her as her brother's pictures hung all around. She glanced to the side to see the power trio walk through the doors. Archie in the middle with a lady on each arm. Veronica separated from the two and eventually, Archie left Betty. Athena did a power walk towards her best friend as she stood their awkwardly.
"How's it going." As Betty opened her mouth to respond, Kevin busted between the two of them. "Athena, Betty, you will not believe who just propositioned me in the bathroom. Give you a hint, his name may be Moose but I'd describe a certain appendage of his as horse-like." This caused Betty to cringe and Athena to laugh out loud. "Kevin, I'm going to give you some solid advice. Get it. Grab the bull or should I say Moose by the horns." Veronica then grabbed Kevin and whisked him away for a dance.
"Good evening, friends. Are you all having a good time?" Cheers came from the crowd in response to Cheryl who wore an off-shoulder bright red dress. "As honorary chairperson and de facto queen of tonight's semi-formal, it is my pleasure to introduce this evening's main entertainment. To know them is to be obsessed with them and though they usually perform their own material, tonight they are making an exception and debuting a cover of the song my parents listened to the night Jason, Athena and I were conceived. This one's for you, JJ." Athena gagged as the thought of their conception was quite unappealing.
"I give you Josie and the Pussycats." Everyone started dancing and as she looked for her date, she found him dancing with Veronica next to Archie and Betty. "Hey, want to dance?" Reggie asked, already wrapping his arm around Athena's waist. "I don't see why not." Athena wrapped her arms around his neck as he crept his hands into her waist.
"If those slip below my waist at any point, I will hit you so hard your grandmother will feel it." Reggie gave her the famous douche smile and made snarky comments though Athena was focused on the power couple. As they swayed, Archie pulled away and she knew that Betty had confessed her crush on him. Her face filled with hurt. "Let's go to the after-party babe."
"Well it is at my house so wouldn't have gone anywhere else." She pulled away from him, walking away but not before turning around. "Oh, and Reggie, don't call me babe."
