UNSTEADY ( REGGIE MANTLE )

o. the fake date

"Not like this. You're paying for everything, we usually split the bill. Something is different, so just tell me." Brynn asked, concerned about her two best friends.

     "Nothing's different. It's just three best friends, hanging out." Jason smirked, while he received a glare from Brynn.

     "Okay, well I better get going now. My parents will be wondering where I am." Brynn explained, tapping her hands on the table before she got Cheryl to slide out the booth to let her get through.

"Come on, it's only 10'o'clock." Jason whined, as you were hugging Cheryl goodbye.

     "And I don't live in a massive mansion, where you can get lost on the way to the bathroom." Brynn paused, as Jason lets out a low chuckle. "Your parents probably don't even realise you're gone, they probably think you're just walking around the house somewhere."

"Well, can't argue with the truth." Cheryl smiled weakly, as she sat back down.

     Jason, quickly, got up and invited Brynn into a large hug. Brynn could smell his cologne radiating off him, sending a nice scent through Pop's. He kissed the top of her forehead before starting to mumble some words she could barely make out.

     "I'll see you soon, B." He began to mutter, "I love you so much, and thank you for always being there for me."

     "Jason, why are you telling me this?"

     "You deserve to know."

     Brynn felt the curve of her lips turn upwards, as Jason smiled at her. Cheryl just sat in the booth, smiling as she watched the scene play out.

     "Honestly, I love you, as a friend, as a best friend." Jason added.

     Those three words lit Brynn's face up with a bright smile. Her dark-skinned cheeks were hinting a light flush of pink. Jason had always meant so much to her, and it was nice to hear him say that he actually loves her. And the feeling is mutual, as a friends.

     "I love you too, as a best friend." Brynn smiled at him and they finally broke their hug. "Okay, see you guys later."

"Wait, I have a present for you." Jason quickly added. "It's a pre-birthday present."

"Jason, it's the third of July and my birthday is on the eighteenth of August, it's a little bit too early, don't you think." Brynn explains.

"You always complain about me giving you your presents late, so you should just take it before I choose not to give you it." He reasons, wafting a small, lilac box in front of her face.

Brynn raises her eyebrows at him before snatching the box of him and opening it — inside it was a beautiful silver bracelet, with lilac charms on it.

"Wow, oh my, thank you Jason." She pulled him in for another hug. "And it's in my favourite colours. Honestly, Jason you're the actual best."

"Anything for one of my favourite girls, now you better go home I don't want your Mom hating us for keeping you out this long." He explains, pulling away from the hug.

"You guys are the best friends ever, I love you guys. And I will see you guys when you come over to plan my amazing birthday party." She smiled at both the Blossoms and they smiled at her back, their eyes both full of love and admiration. "See you guys later."

And that's when Brynn left Pop's, a beautiful white smile gracing upon her lips. She's never felt so much love towards certain individuals and the more she thought about it, the more she realised how lucky she was to have the Blossom Twins.

     Little did Brynn know, that she was never going to see those guys later. The next time she would see Cheryl, she would be soaking wet with a tear stained face. The next time she would see Jason would be when his body would be put into a body bag. She would never see the two Blossom Twins while having a milkshake or driving in Jason's car singing to their favourite songs — that was all in the past, and it'll never be the same again.

     So when Brynn got home that night she went straight to sleep, smiling. She couldn't wipe the obvious grin on face, she couldn't help thinking that she had the best friends in the world. That maybe something was actually going perfect in her life — she felt like she was from the movies, the ones that always go to sleep happy and wake up happier, the ones that people love.

But, when she woke up. It's like she didn't know what happiness felt like. She was woken up by Cheryl's Mother calling her. When she answered it was Cheryl, she was sobbing uncontrollably shouting at her, telling her to get to Sweetwater River and she kept whispering one thing repeatedly, Jason.

Brynn jumped out of bed, put on some black skinny jeans, and some shirt. She practically jumped down the stairs, grabbed a jacket off the coat rack and the car keys from the 'key bowl'. After dropping the keys on the ground three times while she was in a hurry she finally got the car started and drove the fastest she'd ever drove.

When she got to Sweetwater River, it was if the whole history of Riverdale being a safe and loving town didn't even exist. There were a dozen police cars, ambulances, police boats. And the people were just standing there, watching the scene unfold. No one was helping.

Brynn sprinted to the edge of the riverbank — police officers tried to get her to stay back, but no one could stop her. The red headed Blossom Twins were like her family. They were her family.

Then, she saw her. Cheryl. In a soaking wet, white, flowing dress that went down to her ankles. Her once beautiful amber hair was now a rusty copper colour that was in separate strands down her back.

     "Cheryl." She croaked out, barely able to get a solid sentence out, "w-what happened?"

"J-Jason, he's gone."

Those three words made Brynn's heart drop, it was as if everything in her world had just been broken. Jason Blossom — Riverdale's sweetheart, Captain of the Bulldog Football Team, her best friend. She felt tears begin to slip down her cheeks. Cheryl's expression was unreadable it was filled with sympathy, anger, devastation mostly. Maybe it was filled with those emotions because Brynn would never know the truth about him, so she just had to watch her best friend of 14 years break in front of her and not be able to do anything about it.

Tears began to stream down Brynn's face, but her face showed no emotion. You could just see her heart break, if you just looked close enough into her hazelnut eyes. She knew she couldn't cope, she'd never been told how to.

━━━━━━━

  ( authors note )  pretty shitty, whoops. i
don't really know what this chapter is, it's
kind of a filler but it's kind of the intro to
the book. just giving you a bit of a vibe on
how brynn +jason + cheryl's relationship is!