The Incident

I heard a voice behind me

SWEETPEA'S POV
"You need to get over her." I heard someone say, as if they were reading my mind.

"You know it's not that easy, Veronica! Besides, I've been on dates since what happened." I snapped back.

"ONE date that I set up for you. That was a year ago Sweet pea."

"I- well it's not like you and Archie have moved on. You both still mope around every day since, why am I so different?"

She backed off then because she knew I was right. Her and Archie, hell, even Kevin, are all just as bad as me. We miss her, there's no denying it. But today was the day, the day she'd be back, and we were all more on edge then ever. What if she doesn't want to see us? We already know that she obviously doesn't remember us, though Alice said she knows who we are, just not what we look like.

In my head, I went through everything Alice had told us to do. Try to make her remember things, go slow, blah blah blah blah. I was just trying to focus on the most important part. Don't let on that we know what happened. Pretend we know no more than her.

My thoughts were interrupted by Archie walking into the lounge. "Hey Sweet pea, Hey V-" He stopped. He knew better than to call her V, the same way we all knew better than to call him Arch. That's what Betty used to call them. I'm lucky in that sense I guess, Betty didn't often call me by nicknames, she preferred pet names and honestly I did too. Nobody would accidentally call me those names, obviously.

"I'm sorry Ronnie," he started, but she stopped him.
"Don't be. I'm okay, she's coming back today anyways." I could see the tears start in her eyes but she managed to keep them there.

Just as Kevin went to hug her, I heard a voice behind me. The most familiar voice I've ever heard. The voice that asked me to walk her to class, the voice that sleepily whispered "I love you" before falling asleep in my arms, the voice that said "I'll see you after school," that day, but I never saw her after school.

"Are you Veronica, Archie, Kevin, and Sweet pea?" The voice said, and I turned around. For so long that's all she was. A voice in our heads, but now she was actually here, standing in front of us. Betty Cooper.

We all stood in complete shock for a moment, a moment too long I guess.

"I'm sorry if you're not, just tell me. I'm taking my best guess here." She said, clearly noticing our silence.

"That's us," My voice was shaking, I was a mess  but I didn't care. I couldn't have cared if I tried.

She sighed a bit in relief. "So you mind if I guess who's who? To help my memory?"

"Of course!" Veronica said, her voice nearly as shaky as mine.

She guessed us all right. I don't know how, but she did. She seems more scared than I remember her, but she's still Betty. There's no denying that.