Old Habits Die Hard (Riverdale)

one

My mother was not at home which didn't surprise me in the slightest. I set my bags up in my room which smelled like peppermints like it had when i left. Stan must have made sure Mom hasn't came up here to drink or bring one of her many male friends. It was like i never left the purple colored room. I remember having countless sleepovers with Betty here, talking about boys, her insane crush on Archie that he was oblivious to. When we were younger Archie always complained about not being allowed to sleep over like Betty and my mom had to explain to him she was setting an example for no boy sleepovers when I get older. He would pout and go find Jughead. Betty, Archie, and I were probably the closest group of friends you'd find. Jughead was in our group as well but.. that didn't go well for me and i'll have to explain later.

"Stan I'm going to walk down to Archie's" I shouted and he replied with a muffled "See you later."

I was extremely nervous but also excited to see my best friends again starting with the red haired ladies man. Archie Andrews only lived about five houses down from me and Betty Cooper, living next to him. I climbed the steps that i've been up a million times. I remember once when i was 7 i tripped and cut up my knees like every child does at some point and Archie's dad cleaned me up and told me not to tell my mom he was supposed to be watching me. I kept his secret for an ice pop. When i rang the doorbell Archie's dad answered it quickly.

He looked the same as he had when i saw him over a year ago except his beard was a little longer and a little more grey. After a hesitant stare and speechless seconds he finally spoke to me.

"Wow.. oh my gosh Sophia Shepherd?! It's been like a year Hi how are you?" He asked embracing me in a hug.

I hugged him back tightly "Hi Mr. Andrews i'm doing well thanks. I'm glad to be home. I was actually coming to say hi to Archie not that it isn't great seeing you." I said smiling and it wasn't a lie that it was great to see him. My dad was never really a big part of the picture and Mr. Andrews kind of filled in a lot.

"Ah well him and a couple others are at Pops like always, you should go down there and join them. It'd be a great surprise for him." Mr. Andrews said as he hugged me again and i agreed to do as he said.

I walked swiftly back to my house and told stan i was borrowing the car to go to pops. He shouted "be safe" and threw me the keys. The drive was only about 6 or 7 minutes and I headed into the small diner where my friends and I hung out at since we were younger. Pops was a place everyone went to. The jocks the geeks and even the goth kids all found a home at Pops to sit with friends and be at peace. We had always sat in the same booth, Me and Archie on one side and Betty and Jughead on the other. I walked in and turned to the left where our signature booth is. My heart sank as soon as I saw them there. In my place was a black haired girl who i did not recognize in the slightest. Archie had his arm around her and across from them Jughead had his arm around Betty. Only been a year and they already replaced me with some other girl and what was with the arms around everyone. I took a deep breath and decided that maybe tonight wasn't the night to make my reappearance but wait to talk to everyone at another time. I started to turn around and walk out but one of the four apparently was observant enough to see me standing there.

"Sophia?!" Archie said as his mouth began to open wide. He jumped over the booth and walked/jogged over to me. Betty followed right after and Jughead sat for a minute looking kind of abandoned. Archie put his hands on either of my cheeks and looked into my eyes as if he just found his favorite t-shirt under his bed.

"I can't believe it's you.. I.. I can't believe you're here." He kissed my forehead and brought me into a tight hug that made me feel warm inside.
"Hey Archie I missed you too" I said my head burrowed in his shoulder. He pulled away slightly realizing he had been hugging me for a while and Betty was hovering waiting for her turn.