Another Love~J.J. {1}

~02~

"Friday nights, it's football games, then tailgate parties at the Mall-mart parking lot." Lia continued. 

        "Saturday night is movie night, regardless of what's playing at the Bijou -- and you better get there early, because we don't have reserved seating in Riverdale." Kevin added before he stopped and put his arm around Lia's shoulders. "And Sunday nights?"

        "Thank God for HBO." Lia finished. 

        "Veronica Lodge, Kevin Keller and Ophelia Andrews. Veronica's new here." Betty introduced. 

        "Hey, call me Lia. Oh and Kevin is-

        "-gay, thank God. Let's be best friends." Veronica cut Lia off, shaking hands with her before shaking hands with Kevin while she spoke. 

        "Is it true what they say about your dad?" Kevin blurted, making Betty and Lia glare at him.

        "That he's the devil incarnate?" Veronica responded, her nice attitude turning more into a bitchy one but Lia didn't blame her. "I stand by my father. Does everyone here know?"

        Everyone remained silent. 

        "Wonderful! Ten minutes in and I'm already the "Blue Jasmine" of Riverdale High." Veronica said sarcastically before walking away. Lia watched as Betty turned to Kevin and glared at him before following Veronica. 

        "What?" Kevin asked Lia confused and she just sighed, looping her arm with his before following after the blonde and brunette.

* * *

        Betty was still giving Veronica the tour of Riverdale High but this time Kevin and Lia tagged along with them, adding in some input every so often. 

        "..and of course there is still the back the Back-to-School formal dance this weekend." Betty said and Veronica gasped, grabbing onto Betty's arm and pulling her to show what she was looking at. Lia looked down the hall, seeing Archie lingering outside the music room and she mentally gagged. 

        "There's the hottie you were with last night. The red-headed Ansel Elgort. Is he your boyfriend?" Veronica asked. 

        "No, he's straight."

        "No, we're just friends."

        "Ew no, that's my brother'

        "In that case, mind putting in a word? I've tried every flavor of boy but orange." Veronica said, gawking at Archie. Lia felt a bit uncomfortable in the situation but just kept quiet. 

        "Actually, to clarify. Betty and Archie aren't dating, but they are endgame." Kevin piped up and for some reason, Veronica didn't seem phased at all.  

        "You should ask him to the semi-formal then." She told Betty, who was very quiet. 

        "She should, but I heard it might be getting canceled. Because of what happened to Jason. They're gonna tell us at the Assembly." Kevin informed them and Lia sighed, completely forgetting about the assembly. 

        "Who's Jason, and what happened to him?" Veronica asked, completely oblivious about what happened to Jason Blossom in July. Betty, Lia, and Kevin stared at her before an announcement came over the inter com, beckoning everyone to the gym.  

* * *

        Lia sat with Kevin, Betty, and Veronica. She wanted to use this assembly to find Jughead and sit with him but she had no say when Kevin dragged her with him. She sighed as she listened to Cheryl begin to speak. 

        "Thank you for that moment of silence. Many of you were lucky enough to have known my brother personally. Each and every one of you meant the world to Jason. I loved my brother. He was and always will be my soul-mate -- so I speak with a confidence only a twin could have. Jason wouldn't want us to spend the year mourning. Jason would want us to move on with our lives." Cheryl said. Lia decided she'd look around at her classmates, trying to find the familiar beanie wearing boy and she luckily found him at the very top of the bleachers, his laptop open in his lap as he watched everything.

        Somehow, he felt Lia's eyes on him and he looked over, his blue eyes meeting her green ones. She smiled and sent him a small wave, which he responded with too before Lia turned back to Cheryl to listen to her again. 

        "Which is why I've asked the school board not to cancel the Back-to-School semi-formal." She said, making everyone clap and cheer. "But rather to let us use it as a way to heal, collectively, and celebrate my brother's too, too short life, thank you all."

        Everyone began to applaud for Cheryl, suddenly very happy since the dance was still going on. Lia made a mental note to bug Jughead about it later but for now, she was only worried about clapping for Cheryl along with everybody else.