𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭; riverdale

006 | join the club

"Forget Eden. We're not going back." -Reesom Haile

For once in her life, Faye was thrilled to go back to school on Monday. Nothing about Riverdale High had suddenly improved over the course of the weekend, but being there meant getting out of the apartment, which had grown more and more claustrophobic as she and Carmen tiptoed around each other.

Faye didn't know if Carmen had seen her at the Drive-in, but her sister hadn't said anything. Still, there was a growing awkwardness between the two of them, and Faye didn't know how to deal with it without confessing, and she didn't even know if she could trust Carmen, given the whole secret gang member thing.

She'd pushed her home-life worries away for her morning classes, at least. Biology was Faye's favorite subject by far, and with a dissection on the schedule, she wasn't going to let her anxiety about being caught ruin it for her. Faye's lab partner, another River Vixen, was happy to let her take over most of the work. In most situations, it would've been annoying, but today, it was a mutually beneficial arrangement.

By the time lunch rolled around, Faye was beginning to think that things were looking up. That was—until Veronica appeared at her locker as she switched out her books for class. Faye liked Veronica. But when she saw her, she started thinking about the Drive-in, and her sister, and the Serpents, and how much of a mess she was in with no way to clean it up.

"Hey," Veronica greeted, tilting her head to the side so her long, dark waves swung over her shoulder. "Long time, no see."

Faye forced a laugh. "Haha. Yeah."

Veronica gave her a strange look. "Come on. We're gonna have lunch on the bleachers. Betty says it's gonna get cold in a few weeks, and I wanna enjoy what little remains of summer's last breath."

"Oh," Faye said, pulling her lunchbox from her locker. "Okay."

Faye was a floater at school. She'd been at Riverdale High for a month, and even though she had no specific group to hang out with, she was happy enough with the way things were. People knew of her without knowing her. She didn't have close friends, but nobody hated her, either. Flying under the radar and staying out of drama had always been her plan.

As Veronica corralled her out to the football field, she chattered on excitedly about drama between Archie and some girl he'd broken up with. "Betty's mom made her leave town," Veronica gushed. "Mrs. Cooper's got fire, apparently."

"Wait," Faye said, pausing at the bottom of the stairs to look up at Veronica. "What about the girl's parents? Did she make the whole family leave?"

"No, that's the thing," Veronica said. Faye winced, hoping that they weren't gossipping about a girl being run out of town and orphaned. "The woman was Ms. Grundy."

Faye choked. "The music teacher?" She frowned. "That's so gross. I—she should go to jail."

Veronica shrugged. "I guess she and Mrs. Cooper made a deal."

Faye shook her head. "But—that's illegal. And creepy. What if she, like, gets another teaching job?"

"I don't know," Veronica admitted. "But at least she's out of Riverdale."

The queasy feeling in Faye's stomach remained even as she settled with Archie, Kevin, Betty, and Jughead. Summer's last breath had passed a while ago, contrary to Betty's promise to Veronica; fog clung close to the ground and she knew there would be nothing but gray skies for the next few months. The drizzle from the morning had dampened the bleachers, and Faye dropped her backpack on the ground so she could unzip her jacket and sit on it. In her lunchbox, she found a sandwich and a bag of baby carrots—usually, her favorite. But after the news that a predator had been working at her school and was still wandering free, Faye's appetite had vanished.