The Damaged -RIVERDALE-DISCONTINUED

Fourty Three

In Riverdale, everyone wears a mask, not just the black hood. But every so often, the mask slips and our true selves are laid bare for all the world to see.
So we scramble to put it back on, like a kid in a cheep Halloween costume, but it's too late.
People have already seen what's underneath, and it's terrifying.

Manic stared at her friend, her jaw slack and mind racing.
She hadn't talked to her since the party, so when Cheryl called her and asked her to come to the Pembrook while crying hysterically, she came.
"He roofied you?" Manic gasped out, her hands shaking as they held onto Cheryl's. Tears streamed down both redheads faces.
Cheryl swallowed, her mouth feeling as if it was full of cotton.
"I think he was looking for you," she breathed out, licking her chapped lips, "he kept asking if you were coming, and," Cheryl's voice broke, a sob crawling out of her mouth.
"Oh my god," Manic whimpered, allowing Cheryl to throw herself into her arms, "I swear to god I'll fucking kill him. I swear to god."
They stayed that way for hours, Veronica joining them soon after Cheryl revealed to Manic what had happened.
None of them could sleep, their minds racing at the horrors they had just faced. So when Penelope Blossom showed up in the early hours of the morning, all three girls sat by Veronica's bedroom door and listened.
They listened to a mother who completely disregarded her daughters terrors.
"Cheryl, I'm so sorry," Veronica said, a frown playing at her lips.
"Don't be silly," Cheryl said, trying to cover up her pain with a fake smile, "I'm used to it. And besides, you heard what Mommy said. Nothing really happened to me."
"Nick roofied you, Cher," Manic said, "he tried to-"
"I'm fine, Madelyn, Veronica. Everything's fine."
"If everything is fine, why did we call Sheriff Keller and make a statement?"
"A momentary lapse in sanity," Cheryl said, trying to excuse her real emotions, " i mean, can you even imagine? Me, facing off Nick St.Clair in a courtroom battle royal? I'd be a laughing stock."
It was clear Cheryl was done with the conversation, as she made her way to the door.
"Cheryl, wait. It's not just you. He's done it to other girls, I mean hell, he was going to do it to Madelyn and he even tried to do it to me. The night before the open house."
"Oh, my god," Madelyn muttered.
"Did you tell your parents?" Cheryl asked, but Veronica's silence was the only answer she needed. "And yet you were so happy to fill them in on my after-dark-drama, weren't you? Well, I won't be a puppet for your thirst for vengeance. You want justice? You go after Nick in court, Veronica. Now, let's go, Maddie."
With that, Cheryl stormed away, Manic giving Veronica a look of pity before following her.
Manic couldn't make Cheryl go after Nick, no matter how bad she wished she could.

Madelyn wasn't even halfway to Southside High before she received a call from an unknown number—which ended up being Alice Cooper, who then demanded she came to her house.
Manic was confused, to say the least. As far as she knew, she hadn't even had a proper conversation with the older blonde. In fact, she didn't even know if they had ever met before, much less how she had gotten her phone number.
But, nonetheless, she followed Alice Cooper's commands and made her way to the Cooper residence.
Walking straight in—another one of Alice's commands—Manic was surprised to see that she was not the only one called to the Cooper residence.
Veronica, Kevin, Reggie, Josie, and Archie were all present—as were their parents, and Betty.
Hearing the front door open, all of their attention was put onto the red headed serpent.
Manic awkwardly smiled and gave a slight wave.
"Uh, hi?"
"Good, you're here," Alice Cooper said, a hint of malice in her tone as she motioned for Madelyn to join the other teens on the couch.
Sitting down, she shot a questioning glance to the raven haired girl, only to receive the same level of confusion.
"When I heard of what happened at Nick's party, I decided we should come together to deal with this motley crew of liars, dope-fiends, and fornicators," Alice started, before turning to her daughter, "except for my Betty, who was smart enough to leave the party before it could descend into a bacchanalian free for all."
"Oh, my god," Betty muttered, mortified, "mom, please don't."
"Oh great, here we go" Veronica said snidely, "Saint Betty and Succubus Veronica."
Manic snickered.
"So, this is for clarity, Alice," Fred Andrews cut in, Manic tuning out the conversation as Veronica made yet another remark.
"You know, I may have taken jingle jangle, but she's the one that had a psychotic break."
"Amen, sister," Manic muttered.
Archie gave both of them a disapproving glance, knowing the true motivation behind Betty's recent behavior.
"Cut her some slack, Veronica. She just broke up with Jughead."
Madelyn scoffed, "more like you just did."
"What? Hashtag Bughead is no more? And Betty didn't tell me?"
Hiram Lodge cleared his throat, stopping the muttering between the teens.
"Careful throwing stones there, acid-queen Alice. I'm not the only one in this room who knows the story behind that mugshot your daughter printed in the paper."
Madelyn tried to hide her laugh, faking a cough, but everyone could hear it.
"Well I, for one, would like to know who brought the Jingle Jangle to the party."
Almost instantly, all the parents eyes darted to the only serpent in the room—if you didn't count Alice, that is.
Noticing the attention on her, Madelyn met their gazes with a glare.
"You're kidding me, right? Is that why you called and demanded I came? Because you thought I brought the drugs?"
No comment was made, however, as seconds later Reggie slowly lifted his hand. A silent confirmation that it was him who had brought the Jingle Jangle.
Mrs. Mantle stared at her son in horror.
"Reginald, not a single word out of your mouth until we get a lawyer."
"No, all Reggie needs to tell us, Melinda, is how he acquired it."
"Some gang member who deals on the Southside," he answered begrudgingly.
"Oh, my god. You have a dealer?" Melinda gasped.
"Once again, Mayor, the Southside is the source of all our problems."
"Oh, bullshit."
"Was he a Serpent? Does he go to Southside High?"
Reggie glanced at Manic, noticing the angry glare on her face as he stuttered out an answer, "I think so, yeah."
"What does it matter? Not all Serpents are drug dealers?" Archie stepped in, Reggie not being the only one to notice Manic's anger growing.
"Archie, not helping," FRED cut in.
"Look, we shouldn't have taken the JJ, but Nick's the one who asked Reggie to get it and then pushed it on us," Veronica said, hoping to diffuse the situation, "he's the one who should be in the hot seat. I mean, he's the one who roofied Cheryl and tried to assault her. Not to mention the fact that he practically forced Manic to keep throwing back the JJ until she was so out of it she could barely speak, let alone walk."
Madelyn shifted uncomfortably at this, knowing that she barely remembered that night.
"Prosecuting Nick St.Clair would be difficult given all the witnesses were high, and that Madelyn still willingly took the drugs given to her."
"Yeah, but Josie and I saw Nick with Cheryl the night after the party, and neither of us were on Jingle Jangle."
"The drug stays in your system for three days. So if I drug tested you right now, you'd have a credibility problem."
"Josie, you took that drug?" Mayor McCoy said, a sense of disgust on her otherwise angered tone, "you put that poison in your system, knowing the way your father's struggled with addiction?"
Josie said nothing, only looked down guiltily.
"I see," Mayor McCoy said, "from now on, bringing the Southside under control is my number one priority as mayor. If it means razing it to the ground or arresting every single Serpent in sight, starting at that high school, so be it."
Panic contorted Manic's features, "what the hell do you mean by that?"
But, she was ignored.
"Let's go, Josie, now!"

School has been kicking me in my nonexistent balls. Literally the first day of french we were given a poem to remember and recite the next class, and I just, thanks? I did it but like fuck me in the ass, anxiety was high.