Forget Me Not (Riverdale parents story)

Chapter 1 - Don't ask me

The wind blew the fresh sweet air throughout the trees that day like it was brushing hair, the water flow was steady yet calm, the sun grew endlessly high and bright, and the scene was perfect. 

It was the summer of 1987, Alice Smith was just  about to go into her junior year of high school and she knew that it was going to be her best year yet, her best friends, Mary and Hermione sat with her on the top of Fred Andrews old Corvette  as Fred and a couple of the other boys from town splashed around in SweetWater river.

"Alice?" Mary asked from beside her "where are we going to be in ten years?"

Alice glanced over at her ginger-haired friend that sat looking at the river flow with her

"Most likely, I'll be married to Hal and... well... I'm sure you'll be with someone by then too..." Alice smiled back at her friend, Alice wasn't the biggest bitch in Riverdale, but growing up on the southside had indeed hardened her and made her out to be quite more malicious than she was.

"Alice and I will have babies by then as well" Hermione mused beside her " but don't worry Mary, there are a lot of pet adoption shelters around town" She smirked as Mary continued to look into the river.

"in other news..." Alice diverted the conversation "did you two catch a glimpse at the guy who came into town today."

"a new guy... oh, is he a looker" Hermione perked up. 

"Herm, aren't you seeing Freddie?" Mary asked smaller

"its casual Mary, gosh, sue me for being a modern woman" Hermione threw her hands up. 

"well, according to Sierra, his name is Hiram, he's staying with his family at the Pembroke and get this, he's a senior!" Alice claimed,

"ugh, why would Sierra know any of that.." Hermione grouched

"she works reception at the Pembroke on Saturdays, duh?" Alice responded "besides, you can ask him yourself, supposedly he's gonna be at Tom Keller's house party tonight, which, might I add, we are going to" Alice smirked

"How did someone who just came to town get invited to a local kids party?" mary asked.

"Keller's parents knew his when they were in college, and he's going to be around for a while as his parents carry out business, so they wanted him to have friends or something like I care" Alice sighed 

"Did I just hear the words, as I care from the mouth of Alice Smith? I'm truly shocked, ladies and gentlemen we have a changed woman over here" Fred Andrews laughed as he made his way up the river bank to where the three girls sat atop his car

"shut it, Andrews" Alice scowled playfully.

"so you ladies coming to Tom's tonight?" Fred questioned the girls, although he looked only at Hermione

"We might make an appearance" Mary giggled looking at Fred, the two girls beside her glanced over at Mary as if she had two heads, mary tried to decipher their expression but couldn't come close. Fred glanced over at Mary and smiled a genuine smile at her, even if it only was out of pity or politeness, Mary's stomach erupted with fluttery wings.

Fred always had this effect on her, ever since she could remember Mary had crushed on the boy down the road, from the way his cheeks dimpled when he smiled, to the way he had never been mean to anyone as long as she knew him, everything about Fred Andrews in her mind was perfection, even if he was clearly smitten with one of her best friends. Mary had seen Hermione and Fred's first date at pops first hand. She was grabbing a milkshake with Alice when they walked in, even now, three months after. She could feel her heart slump. But still, she persevered, also if Fred didn't want to be with her, Mary would be a friend always.

"well thank you mary" Hermione sneered as she turned back to Fred " it all depends..." she trailed off.

"on what might it depend on miss Gomez," Fred said as he leaned on the car with them.

"whats in it for me" Hermione answered, Alice's eyes rolled involuntarily at the audacity of the girl beside her. Before Fred could give a reply, the rest of the boys were up the riverbank, and all were whining about getting a burger. Hal winked at Alice as the girls got off the hood of the car, Alice had been crushing on Hal Copper since they were the freshman in high school, things had been developing more recently, and Hal had asked Alice on numerous dates, it was clear that they were meant to be, at least it was in Alice's eyes.

"Well then, shall we head to Pop's" Fred announced as the gang piled into two cars.

they pulled away quickly, Alice stuck her head out the window as they left the clearing by Sweetwater river, something felt so perfect about the moment she was in right now, she couldn't place her finger on it, but it was an eery sense of 'too perfect', Alice had changed a lot over the years, but she couldn't deny she needed a little less perfection to feel right in the world, after all, the serpent within was never quite satisfied with such a happy day not that she would ever admit such a thing to any of the people around her.

Alice's life took a dramatic turn a few years ago when her father came into some 'family money', he moved their broken family to the right side of the tracks, made Alice depart with her bleached hair and covered his own serpent tattoos with long sleeves and business shirts. It was more of a veil than an opaque cover, the rest of north Riverdale already knew who the smith family was regardless of whether they wore sweater vests and drank sweet tea. Alice was completely torn up about her predicament. On one hand, her life could finally be meaningful, she could get somewhere and not be stuck in Riverdale (which she quite honestly believed was devised as her own personal hell). But it meant leaving her friends, her people behind. Alice's best friends Ladybug and Gladys had iced her out the moment she took her first step into Riverdale high.  Alice grew to care less about what they thought but regardless still thought often of them, them and some other southside kids who she refused to admit meant anything to her. she wished she could walk the line but it was never going to be so simple. 

As Alice sat in the back of Fred Andrews car in that overly perfect moment, squeezed between Hal who smelt of lake water and Hermione who was reapplying her powder. Alice longed for a cool breeze in the forrest and the southside teenagers singing drunkenly around a fire of books they stole from southside high. she longed for it to be pitch black outside and to be sneaking out of her trailer to meet with her friends and go down to the whyte worm and try and sneak in. As the car rounded into Pop's, Alice pushed the thoughts out of her mind. She was Alice smith, a northside princess and she wouldn't forget about it so easily.