"Dear Diary,
Here's how I know Brett was the love of my life; because when every thing else felt wrong, he always felt right. And when he died, so did my quest for love.
Yours Truly,
Roselle"
"This is so wrong, we shouldn't be doing this." Roselle told Reggie in a hushed whisper. The pair were hiding behind a bush, watching Betty stare outside. Roselle felt guilt seep into her, unable and unwilling to believe her friend has something to do with the black hood.
The trees that surrounded the teenagers let out an eerie whistle as the cool wind blew during the night. It was dark, and nothing but the street lights illuminated the neighbourhood. "Just because she's your friend, doesn't mean you should rule her out as a suspect- wait. I think she's talking to someone."
"Yeah, someone on the phone." Roselle rolled her eyes, sitting on the ground as she stared at Reggie who was still standing and watching Betty. Roselle took her heels off, feet aching from all the walking, dancing and stalking that happened today. "Teenagers tend to do that, you know? Call people, gossip, the usual."
"No, no this looks more urgent. Like a villain calling the leader villain." Reggie shook his head, glancing at Roselle sitting in the floor before looking back at Betty, widening his eyes. "Shit, run! Run! She's coming out!"
Roselle quickly scrambled up on her feet before Reggie picked her up bridal style, sprinting to the direction of his car. "You know, I could've ran perfectly fine!" Roselle yelled at Reggie as he kept sprinting while also carrying a 120 pound teenager.
"With a stabbed leg that's still healing?" Reggie asked when both of them reached the car. He pressed the button on his keys, unlocking the car before placing Roselle in the passenger seat. He then slid against the hood and got in the car, placing his seatbelt on. "I'm not taking in chances of being caught or you injuring yourself even more."
"I'm not a damsel in distress, Hercules." Roselle rolled her eyes, smoothing out her dress that she wish she never wore if she had known her and Reggie were about to go on an investigation. Both of the teenagers watched closely as they saw Betty come out of the house. Reggie's car was parked 10 meters away from the house, blending into the darkness of the night.
When Betty begun running to where ever she was off to, Reggie carefully turned on his car and not his headlights so that he wouldn't be seen. "We shouldn't be doing this. This is so wrong." Roselle repeated, her hands feeling clammy.
"But it feels so right." Reggie winked, making Roselle glare at him. Reggie shook his head, a smirk playing on his lips. "Oh c'mon Parker! Be a little adventurous! I'm feeling like inspector gadget right now, honestly."
"Woohoo." Roselle replied back in a monotone voice while doing a little fist pump, making Reggie slightly laugh at her. She did feel a little wild that her and Reggie were chasing after Betty, trying not to be caught at the same time. She felt rebellious and free.
"What the-" Reggie whispered as he stopped when Betty had seemed to reach her destination. It was an old abandoned house, one that looked like it needed years of renovation. Reggie and Roselle both gave each other a look before slowly opening the door and walking near the house. "What is this House?" Reggie whispered.
"I don't know, why don't you call the owner?" Roselle replied sarcastically as they made their way sneakingly near the house. Their backs were against the wall, Roselle covering her mouth to make sure her breaths couldn't be heard. She then glanced up, looking at the stars and moon before looking at Reggie who was already looking at her. Reggie then nodded before slowly leaning to get a glance through the window.
Roselle's breath faltered as she saw Reggie's eyes widened. He looked in the window in disbelief, mouth agape. He then shook his head, and swallowed, not knowing what to think. "Roselle, I think you might want to have a look."
The raven haired girl looked at Reggie, a bit too scared to look through the window. Letting out a deep breath, she allowed Reggie to move behind her before she slowly made her way to the window. Her heart was thudding against her chest, adrenaline diffusing in her veins. When her worried eyes looked inside the window, her blood ran cold when she saw Betty wearing a black mask over her face. "Oh my."
Roselle had unintentionally, due to reflex, jumped back in fright, causing a wood piece to fall back and hit against the ground and onto other tools loudly. Roselle's eyes widened, as well as Reggie's, as he grabbed onto the teenager and dragged her behind the tree near the house.
The pair both watched as Betty slammed the door open and begun running away from the house. "She's not the black hood." Roselle shook her head, watching Betty's retreating figure disappear into the darkness.
"Why do you say that?" Reggie asked, his arms still around Roselle's body, trying to keep them from being seen.
"She's running away out of fright." Roselle shook her head, looking at Reggie once Betty was out of sight. "Murders don't run, they kill."
Reggie's eyes instinctively glanced at her now smudged red lips, slowly nodding in agreement. The Parker girl noticed this and looked away from him, slowly getting up. "I should get back home." Roselle told him. "Blaire could be worried."
"Blaire?"
"My aunt." Roselle replied, biting her bottom lip. Reggie nodded, putting his hands in his pocket as he avoided eye contact. The awkward tension was surrounding the pair, both of them keeping quiet as they made their way to Reggie's vintage, black car. The awkwardness however was disrupted due to the ringing of a phone; Roselle's phone to be exact.
"Hello?" Roselle answered the phone, a lump in her throat as she didn't recognise the number.
"Roselle." The voice called out, making Roselle more calmer.
"Cheryl? Wha- why did you call?" Roselle asked in disbelief, glancing at Reggie who still hasn't started the car.
"You told me to call you if I ever needed you. No matter what time or day. You said that." Cheryl begun, crying over the phone. "And I really need you right now."
•
"I should've known he was such a monster." Roselle shook her head as she rubbed Cheryl's back along with Veronica. Josie sat on the edge of the bed whereas Betty was seated on the chair, not knowing what to say. Reggie however stood in the room awkwardly, arms crossed. "He tried to touch me too, started kissing my arms. He would've even continued if Reggie didn't come in time."
Reggie glanced up at the mention of his name but gave a half smile. The boy had never experienced what it looked like when girl's had been sexually assaulted and now that he did, he didn't want to see it again. It made him feel horrible for the way he flirted with girls.
Cheryl shook her head, rubbing her knees as she kept sobbing. "If you hadn't come when you did-"
"Where the hell is he?" Archie barged into the room, fist clenched.
"You can put your cape away, Archie.
The Pussycats already saved me." Cheryl told Archie with a glare. Roselle glanced at Betty who was already looking at her, making Roselle look away. She felt bad for stalking Betty but at the same time Roselle was scared as to why Betty put the black mask on and how she knows her secrets.
"I feel so sick about this. Nick's a monster." Veronica begun, shaking her head at her supposedly childhood friend. "And there's no way he hasn't done this before. Probably right under my nose."
"It's not your fault, Veronica." Betty spoke up, making everyone look at her. It's true to say Betty wasn't everyone's best friend in that moment, making it hard for Veronica to take that comment as genuine.
"I wanna press charges." Cheryl begun, mascara streaming down her face. "I want Nick to pay. To suffer. To burn in hell."
•
The famous red heels of Roselle Parker clicked against the French marble tiles of the floor, which were there thanks to the generous donation of Lilly Parker herself. It was because of that women, Roselle and Blaire were able to live in such a luxurious house.
Roselle didn't even put her foot on the stairs before she was interrupted by a voice. "Where do you think you're off to?" Blaire came out of the kitchen with her arms crossed. Roselle rose her eyebrow, looking up the stairs and then her Aunt with an obvious look.
"Well Blaire, since this is the stairs I've been taking for three weeks now." Roselle begun, still not understanding what her Aunt was mad about. "I'm pretty sure it leads to my bedroom. The thing I usually go to after school."
"Alice Cooper called." Blaire told Roselle, making her eyebrows scrunch up in confusion. "She wants us, as well as some other parents and students, to come over to her house today."
And Roselle couldn't protest to that, even if she wanted. Blaire looked like she was determined to go to the Cooper Household, angry that Alice even invited her in the first place. Blaire, along with the other parents of Riverdale, went to school with Alice. And they did not like her one bit.
"Riverdale's best and brightest, huh?" Mayor McCoy begun, looking at the room full of teenagers. Roselle stood awkwardly beside her Aunt who had seemed close with Hiram. They had greeted each other like they were best friends, making Roselle confused. "Alice, thank you for hosting."
"Of course, Mayor McCoy." Alice begun, before looking at every teenager but her own. Roselle glanced at Reggie, mouthing 'what's going on' in which he replied with a shrug. She then peered at Reggie's Mum who looked a lot like Reggie himself. "When I heard what happened at Nick's party, I decided that we should come together to deal with this motley crew of liars, dope-fiends, and fornicators. Except for my Betty, who was smart enough to leave the party before it descended into a bacchanalian free for all."
"Oh, my God. Mom, please don't." Betty whispered, shaking her head.
"Oh great, here we go Saint Betty and Succubus Veronica and Roselle." Veronica told Archie and Kevin while glancing at Roselle.
"Wait what party?" Blaire asked out in confusion, looking at Roselle who was also confused.
"Two nights ago, Nick had a party where your child and everyone else's, but mine, took drugs." Alice told Blaire, making Roselle's eyes go wide as she looked at Reggie. She and Reggie both weren't at the party, but she wasn't going to let everyone know that she had gotten stabbed by serpents.
"I didn't take drugs." Roselle told her Aunt, shaking her head. Roselle was a wild child, but she'd never take drugs. It wasn't her thing. "In fact, Sherrif Keller, test me now since drugs stays in your system for at least three days."
"But you were at the party?" Alice asked the girl, making Roselle clench her jaw and look at Alice with an equally matched glare. Everyone tensed, looking at the only teenager and possibly first person ever, to challenge Alice Cooper.
"Yes I was." Roselle cocked her eyebrow.
"And you just let everyone have drugs?" Alice asked, lip curling up into a snarl.
"Well that's what Betty was doing. I didn't see her telling anyone to stop." Roselle snapped back, even though she was lying about going to the party and every teenager knew it, not daring to say anything against it. Blaire grabbed her shoulder, raising an eyebrow to make her shut up.
"So, this is for clarity, Alice. You're hosting this little get-together to what?" Archie's dad asked.
"You know, I may have taken Jingle Jangle, but she's the one who had a psychotic break." Veronica told Archie, looking at Betty.
"Cut her some slack, Veronica." Archie argued. "She just broke up with Jughead."
"What? Hashtag Bughead is no more? And Betty didn't tell me?" Kevin whispered back, making Betty clear her throat awkwardly.
"Careful throwing stones there, acid-queen Alice." Hiram's voice bellowed across the House. "I'm not the only one in this room that knows the story behind that mugshot that your daughter printed in her paper."
"Well I, for one, would like to know who brought the Jingle Jangle to the party?" Alice crossed her arms, looking at all the teenagers. Reggie sighed before putting his hand up, making Roselle widen her eyes. She knew he dealt with drugs but she had thought somehow he might've stopped for her. She felt so stupid for even thinking that in the first place, but Roselle kept thinking that he left that stupid excuse of a hobby.
Reggie glanced at her, eyes worried. Roselle clenched her jaw, turning to look away from the Mantle boy out of anger and sadness. "Reginald, not a single word out of your mouth until we get a lawyer." Reggie's mother spoke.
"No, all Reggie needs to tell us, Melinda, is how he acquired it." Sherrif Keller told his mum.
"Some gang member who deals on the Southside." Reggie spoke, disappointedly. He wasn't disappointed that he confessed, just disappointed he let Roselle down.
"Oh, my God, you have a dealer?" His Mum asked out in shock, making Roselle even angrier for doing this behind his mum's back and making her this worried.
"Once again, Mayor, the Southside is the source of all our problems." Alice told the lady sitting on the chair.
"Was he a Serpent? Does he go to Southside High?" Sherrif Keller asked.
"I think so, yeah." Reggie nodded his head, looking at Roselle desperate for her attention and for her to look at him.
"Why does it matter?" Archie asked, slightly moving forward from his seat. "Not all Serpents are drug dealers."
"Archie, not helping." Archie's dad spoke out, glaring at his son.
"Yeah, take Betty's Mum for example." Roselle scoffed making everyone eyes widen. She was obviously joking about that but it seemed no one took that as a joke except every teenager but Betty. Alice however slightly tensed at that, sensitive to the topic about her old serpent days.
"Roselle Lilly Parker, please shut up." Blaire glared at her niece making Roselle roll her eyes.
"Blaire, I know you're sort of new to this parenting thing because let's face it, you were the wild child once." Alice begun, crossing her arms. "But you should at least know how to discipline your niece like your sister did."
Roselle clenched her jaw, taking a step forward before unleashing her very short Latino-Australian temper. "Listen here you little snake! Your older daughter left school because she was pregnant with a drug dealer's son, and now she's living in a bloody farm because you couldn't take care of her! So don't act like you know how to take care of children because you don't Alice!" Roselle yelled, eyes blazing. "And if you speak about my mother one more time, I swear to you Alice Cooper you'll regret it."
Blaire snorted at her niece, not stopping her because she too was angry at Alice's comment. Alice had it coming for her for a while. In fact everyone, but Sherrif Keller and Mayor McCoy, were smirking at Alice's shocked expression. A teenager had single handedly taken down Alice Cooper in a matter of ten seconds.
"Look, we shouldn't have taken the JJ, but Nick's the one who asked Reggie to get it and then pushed it on us. He's the one who should be in the hot seat. I mean, he's the one who roofied Cheryl and tried to assault her." Veronica started talking, making all the attention diverted to her.
"Prosecuting Nick St. Clair would be difficult given that all witnesses were high." Sherrif Keller spoke outs
"Yeah, but Josie and I saw Nick with Cheryl the night after the party, and neither of us were on Jingle Jangle." Veronica argued.
"The drug stays in your system for three days, like Roselle said." Sheriff Keller sighed. "So if I drug tested you right now, you'd have a credibility problem."
"Josie, you took that drug? You put that poison in your system, knowing the way your father's struggled with addiction?" Mayor McCoy asked Josie, who nodded in embarrassment. "I see. From this moment on, bringing the Southside under control is my number one priority as mayor. If it means razing it to the ground or arresting every single Serpent in sight, starting at that high school, so be it. Let's go, Josephine, now."
Roselle also begun turning around ready to leave with her Aunt before a voice stopped her. "Roselle wait!" She heard Reggie call out. She spun back around to look at him, too tired to argue. "I can explain, I swear."
"Reggie please, I just want to go home." Roselle mumbled before shaking her head and leaving with her Aunt. The Parker girl was done with Riverdale's bullshit. She was done with Alice Cooper and everyone in Riverdale. She was done with a little town that kept bringing up the people who mattered the most to her, the people she would literally die for if they were still alive.
Roselle has never loved someone like she loved her Mother, Aunt and Brett. Even though she never showed her Aunt how much she loved her, she wasn't just going to stand and listen to Blaire being bad-mouthed by some stuck-up mother.
Getting in the car with Blaire, the silence engulfed them both. Blaire turned on the car and begun reversing out of the driveway as other people who were interrogated begun leaving the house too. Blaire then sighed, looking at Roselle.
"I don't want you to hang out with that Reggie kid anymore."
•
"What do you mean Nick did it to you?" Kevin asked as he, Veronica and Roselle walked down the corridors of Riverdale. After yesterday, Roselle wanted to avoid Reggie Mantle. She had forgotten that he dealt with drugs so when she got reminded, it was like a cold splash of water on her face.
She knows he deals with drugs but she didn't want to be evoked of these memories. She wanted to believe that Reggie was that kind guy that allowed her to stay at his home, the guy that saved her life and the guy that will continue risking his life until they found out who the Black Hood was.
And just like that, she realised how stupid she was. She wanted to slap herself in the face. "Guys I'm sorry but I have to go apologise to someone. I'm so sorry Veronica, maybe tomorrow night at Pop's?"
"Sure Ree." Veronica smiled at the girl, making her nod in appreciation before walking away, trying to find Reggie in the school halls. She's angry at a guy because he had one stupid flaw, while he was out risking his life for her. And that made Roselle feel angry at herself.
When she had finally spotted him, Reggie had his back facing her as he was putting something in his locker. "Reggie! Reggie, I need to talk to you."
"Elle?" Reggie replied, turning around while hiding something behind his back. "What do you need- to uh talk about?"
"What's behind your back?" Roselle asked, making Reggie stiffen. Reggie bit his lip, not looking at the girl.
"It's- it's nothing." Reggie stuttered, swallowing nervously. Roselle scoffed, shaking her head as she begun walking away from him, not believing that he was keeping secrets from her like the rest of the town. "Roselle wait!"
"Reggie please, this just isn't going to happen." Roselle mumbled out weakly. "It feels like a circle, me and you arguing, you chasing me in the halls and telling me to stop walking away. It never ends Reggie and I'm tired." She rubbed her eyes, before looking at Reggie with drowsy eyes. If it hadn't been for makeup, the bags underneath her eyes would be more noticeable than the bags she carried to school. "I'm so damn tired."
"You're not tired." Reggie replied with an obvious look. Roselle glared at him, crossing her arms.
"Then what am I, mate?" Roselle snapped, clenching her jaw.
"You're hurt." He mumbled, looking into her eyes with a worried look. Roselle's heart dropped as she uncrossed her arms, looking at Reggie with a knowing look.
"You're right. I am hurt. I've always been hurt. That's why I need to be left alone right now." Roselle mumbled, biting the inside of her cheek. "I came here to apologise Reggie, for judging you when you basically risked your life for me. But I can't keep doing this, with this place. This place is making me lose my mind."
"Elle. Before you leave, I need to give you something." Reggie stopped her before she couldn't walk away. "I don't want you to be alone, angry at me because I was hiding something from you. Because I wasn't. I was meant to come give it to you tonight."
Reggie walked to his locker, before slightly clenching his jaw. He didn't want to do this in front of the school, he didn't want people to view him as weak. But he knew if he didn't do this, Roselle would be angry at him. So Reggie mustered up the courage and threw his ego away as he pulled out the bouquet of flowers he got her last night.
"The dark pink roses means thank you. Thank you for making me realise that I'm a stupid person." Reggie told her, handing her the bouquet in her hands. "The single green rose means I need to grow up and change."
Roselle bit her lip, her heart beating wildly out of control as she took the roses out of Reggie's hand. She couldn't believe he bought her a bouquet of roses, and how he did the same type of message that she did a while ago. Reggie Mantle was different, different to anybody she's ever met. He did things for her that she didn't deserve. And Roselle was slowly falling for him.
But Reggie was falling ten times harder.
_________________
A/N- So last chapter I was at 1K and I didn't even post another chapter before I reached 2.1K, and I'm honestly so happy! Thank you so much for the response, you guys are so lovely.
TODAY'S QUESTION: Who do you guys think the Black Hood is and why?
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