Cheryl's prom planning spiraled from there. From limos to themes, and dresses, the world prom was barely left out of any conversation. The limited time to plan was zero threat to one Cheryl Marjorie Blossom, who took it in a stride of her red-bottom heels and smiled away. After all, her campaign for Prom Queen was back and she would rather die than let it slip away again.
"There's the one I've been looking for." Speaking of the redhead, she found me, once again, hiding out in the library for some peace and quiet. I had mercifully slipped away from Pop's the other night before she had a chance to talk with me, sparing myself from the disappointing conversation I knew we were going to have.
"Hi, Cher," I greeted and closed my notebook since it would be useless to try and focus. "Please tell me you aren't here to try and convince me to go to prom."
"Not quite," She chirped and sat down across from me with a smile on her red lips. "I'm not here to try and convince you, I'm here to tell you that you're coming to prom."
I shook my head and sank back in my seat. "Oh, is that so?"
Cheryl was bemused by my response, likely expecting me to flat-out deny. "It is. And need not worry about a date, I will be sure to handle that on your behalf."
"Cheryl," I sighed and let the light joke fall. "I really don't want to go. I don't want to have a date that I don't know, and I really don't want to see Jughead and Betty more than I already have to."
The chair next to me slid on the carpet as another person entered our conversation and sat down. "It's your senior year too, Vanna," Toni Topaz gave me a soft smile as she faced me. "Don't throw away these moments because of them. I promise you we will make it as fun as possible. You don't have to be with them if you don't want to."
Cheryl gave her girlfriend a grateful look and reached across the table to hold her hand. "My lover is correct. Although high school has been... daunting, to say the least, you deserve one last celebration before the real world comes barreling through. While Toni and I are running for Prom Queens and this school would be so hateful to shut us down as a crowned trio, I for one know there is not a soul who deserves to be celebrated other than you."
"Bye, stop, you're going to make me cry," I sniffled as I looked up at the ceiling to hold back my tears with a small laugh. Toni laughed as well and placed her hand on my shoulder in support. I took a deep breath before moving my gaze between the two of them. "Fine. I'll go, but no promises I'll stay the whole time and I do not want a date."
"Done, and done. I knew we'd be victorious, Tee-Tee. My dearest Savanna, I promise you won't regret this and I'm so thankful you've come to your senses."
The couple grinned at their victory, both standing and pressing kisses to my cheeks before exiting the library hand in hand to go about their day, leaving me a warm, flustered mess in the library.
--
While I had busied myself in my endeavors, it had seemed that my sister and her friend were still on their determined mission to get rid of Mr. Honey once and for all. The nail in the coffin was a videotape that was supposedly found which contained footage of someone scouring every inch of the high school. Turns out, one frozen screen grab later, that Honey videoed it himself in hopes of canceling prom. What sucks for him, is Betty, Charles, and Jughead don't give up easily and our parents run the school board.
Hence the scene ahead of me now.
Mr. Honey exited his office with his box of collectibles in hand. "I stand by everything that I've done. Including the videotape. Everything that I have done is to make this school better, safer, for you and your classmates. Because what goes on around here, murder, mayhem, depravity... it is not normal."
Kevin's arm looped around my shoulder to pull me into his side as we listened to the rant from the grown man ahead of us. While I think what Honey did was unprofessional, I wasn't as emotionally involved in this as the rest of the group.
"Yeah, well. It's normal to us." Betty shrugged her crossed arms. "Which is why we had to stop you."
Mr. Honey scoffed. "Stop me. Miss Cooper. I saw the writing on the wall days ago and I lined up my next job. I am Stonewall Prep's new headmaster. It seems they cleaned house and were in need of a... strong leader to help them rebuild their reputation."
A loud laugh burst from my lips at the revelation, all attention moving to me.
"I'm sorry, Miss Marrows, is there something funny?"
"Stonewall Prep? With no murder, mayhem or depravity?" I continued my laughter, leaning into Kevin's side until the giggle fest subsided for me to step forward and pat Mr. Honey's shoulder lightly. "Oh, Mr. Honey. You always make me laugh. Good luck with that one."
My footsteps echoed down the hallway as I walked away, stomach warm with the thought of nothing but the thought of Karma for those who deserved it.
I managed about five minutes of peace and quiet in the student lounge before the hallway crowd trickled in and filled in their respective seats around me, faces disappointed with the slight loss of failing to ruin the man's life.
"Alright, you know what? Screw Mr. Honey. He sucks."
"That's right, Archiekins. I mean, who doctors up false evidence just to cancel prom?" Veronica complained.
I looked up from the notebook in my lap to give her a pointed look. "Ask yourself that question again, Ronnie. Let me know when you figure it out," I shot, referencing the many hoops they had created to falsify Jughead's death.
My sister rolled her eyes in dismissal.
"That man is anything but cruel," Ms. Bell interrupted the sure-to-be snotty return from my sibling as she stood in the doorway. "I have been working in the front office for 50 years. And in all that time, I have outlasted eight principals. It is beyond a doubt, that the best, by far, was Mr. Honey."
"Poor Ms. Bell," Cheryl pitied, "You've fallen under the monster's spell."
The elder woman scoffed at the notion and raised her hands in our direction. "Do any of you have any idea what that man has done for this school? This year alone, he personally arranged for six low-income students to go to college on full scholarships."
"Wait, really?" Kevin asked in surprise. To his credit, it wasn't like any of this information had been shared so it made sense the general student population didn't know.
"Also, this year's average GPA is higher than it's been in decades. And more seniors will be going to college than have since 1956. Oh, and of course, no students have died under his watch."
The fact that we lived in a world where that last sentence was a dealbreaker point, was crazy.
Ms. Bell turned her attention to Jughead who was on the opposite end of the couch from me. "He asked me to mail this for you. But I don't think I will. You may want to read it though, to fully comprehend your actions." With that, she handed Jughead an envelope and made her exit from the room.
"What is it, Jug?" Archie asked as my ex flipped the paper in his hands.
He let out a deep sigh. "It's a letter written by Mr. Honey to the University of Iowa."
I shook my head slowly, knowing that whatever was in that envelope could make or break his college decisions. It was easy to tell he was concerned, but it wasn't my place to care anymore. I knew that whatever was in there, Jughead could face alone, but it didn't stop the ache in my heart that burned to comfort him and open it together.
University or not, everyone had to find their place outside of Riverdale on their own. As much as it hurt to think about it, our friend group would likely dissolve and things after graduation would be unknown. Six months ago, the thought of that would've broken me, but here we were, only weeks away from whatever came next.
--
"If you keep fidgeting, little sister, I am going to take this call myself."
I mumbled an apology and finally decided to sit on my hands to keep from my nervous habits. Today was the first introductory call with the record label and I couldn't keep my anxiety from eating away at my brain. I know this wasn't my first career choice, but I also didn't want to embarrass myself in front of senior leadership members.
My laptop sat on the dining table and was centered between Hermosa and me as we waited for the call to push us through. I had changed my shirt at least five times and couldn't refrain from adjusting my hair even more before Hermosa started complaining. I didn't blame her, the nerves were a little too overwhelming for me to handle.
A small loading symbol popped up on my screen causing me to snap into position for when the camera turned on. I was greeted by two individuals on the screen, Matthew and Christopher Sanders, both of whom I'd been in contact with over the past few days.
"There we go! How is everyone?" Matthew spoke up first, reaching to adjust his camera with a bright smile.
"Glad we finally get to put some faces to names," Christopher said, "Girls, how is everything going?"
"Good, it's nice to finally meet you guys," I greeted and pinched my skin with my fingers to fight the urge to move in my seat. "Thank you for setting this up, I'm really excited to chat with you guys. This is my sister, Hermosa."
I motioned to the girl next to me who smiled politely. She was much more seasoned and graceful when it came to stuff like this. "A pleasure to talk with the two of you. Thank you for all of your help so far. Apologies that we can't be out there to do this in person."
Christopher waved a hand at the camera in dismissal. "Not a worry at all, I know things can be busy this time of year, and from what I heard, graduation is right around the corner?"
I nodded. "It is, it is. I wish I could say I was looking forward to it but honestly, I'm ready to be done."
"I was the same way," Matthew added as he leaned back in his chair. I caught sight of the various awards and images scattered across his walls of celebrities I knew all too well. "Well, we won't take too much of your time since we have most of the basics figured out. I'll jump right in if that's alright. Savanna, we heard the demos you sent over. Very impressive work."
"Thank you, I'm glad you guys enjoyed it."
He continued, "Songwriting is obviously a unique focus to us. Why did you decide to stick to writing and not full vocal performance? You definitely have the skills and talent to do both."
I knew this question would surface eventually and finally relieved my hands from under my thighs. "Writing in general has always been easy for me. It was only recently I started adding the musical half to it, but nerves usually prevail over the vocal part, no matter what I do. I figured it's easier to stick to the part that doesn't involve performances and press."
"Totally fair. It's likely we'll have to have you sing clips and maybe even full songs so artists can get the vibe you're going for and understand your thought process, is that going to be an issue?"
I shook my head no. "That's fine. As long as it doesn't end up with me on a stage in front of a bunch of people, I'll be good."
"Perfect." Christopher gave me a thumbs-up. "Alright, next topic of business. Do you have any preferences for producers, collaborations, artists, etc.? Obviously, we can bargain deals and whatnot when the time comes, but I wanted to see where your head was at."
"Nothing in particular comes to mind," I admitted and shrugged a little. "I never really thought that fair, honestly."
Our conversation continued for another thirty minutes, most of which was Hermosa speaking legal jargon that I didn't bother to understand. Matthew and Christopher promised to be in touch again soon, this time with more information about getting into the studio and prospective ideas.
Hermosa left shortly after while I was practically buzzing with excitement at the thought of everything that was up ahead. It had been so long since I felt this way and I craved the feeling more than I thought I would.
I squealed and jumped face-first into my mattress before my phone vibrated in my hand. A text message slid across the screen.
Cheryl
We're going dress shopping. Pick you up in 10.
I groaned loudly and dropped my face back into the comforter. Screw you, Riverdale Prom.
--