"Dear Diary,
Time to start part one of my plan.
Yours Truly,
Roselle."
"Jughead!" The raven haired girl knocked continuously on the door of the caravan. It was early in the morning, every family in the trailer park asleep. "Jughead Jones!"
Her body shivered momentary at the cold morning frost, pulling her black, cotton poncho closer to her body. Gust came out of her red lips, mimicking the smoke of a cigarette. The hood of the clothing covered her head, making her look like the little red riding hood.
After the sixth time Roselle called Jughead's name, the door had opened, showing an irritated man who was an elder looking Jughead. "Um, I'm sorry for waking you up- I just need to see Jughead."
"Don't worry, I was already awake." FP said before his eyes finally landed on the girl who stood outside his home. His eyes squinted, tilting his head to the side as he examined her face. "What was your name?"
The hair of FP's arms stood up as he looked at the girl. 'The Eyes' FP's head kept chanting. It was the eyes that had him on his feet. Those eyes that he had seen before. The eyes that he had been warned of.
"Roselle." The girl spoke out, making FP look slightly disappointed and Roselle feel self conscious on why the sudden dull mood in the presence of her name.
He was sure. He thought he was sure. And even if he might've been wrong, those damn eyes told him other wise. He had been waiting, waiting a long time. And for the slightest, he had thought the wait was over.
"Guess she isn't coming back." FP whispered to himself. Roselle was about to ask him who he was waiting for before a flop of black hair came into view.
"Roselle?" Jughead came behind FP, as his eyes looked confused as ever. FP moved to the side, allowing Roselle to walk in. "Is everything alright?"
"No, we need to talk."
•
"So you want to help me take down Hiram?" Jughead spoke out, making Roselle nod. FP walked into the room, placing down three glasses of coffee. Roselle smiled at him, which he returned before facing Jughead.
"I think you're the only one who can help me crack this case." Roselle spoke out, grabbing her mug of coffee before taking a sip.
The fire in the trailer cracked softly as the bitter sweet tasting coffee trickled down Roselle's throat smoothly. "Why didn't you just ask Reggie for help?"
"Because Reggie hates the serpents." Roselle spoke out, quickly glancing at FP to see he was already looking at her. More like analysing her. She had felt his gaze on her ever since she walked in here. "And I rather do this with no biased interventions."
"No offence Roselle, but what do you have against Hiram?" Jughead spoke out, moving his head to the side as a challenge to Roselle. "You live in a house, that is paid my Hiram himself. Your Aunt works for him. The clothes you wear are practically funded by Hiram himself."
"Hiram is intervening with my life." Roselle started, making Jughead cross his legs and fall back to his chair. "My Aunt looks terrified to tell me the truth. Hiram has done something- something to my Aunt and mother that I don't know yet. But I'm not scared. I want to end him. And I know you want to do, because he intervened with your family. The serpents."
"Tall boy won't be coming back anytime soon." FP spoke out, making Roselle look at him.
"Good." Jughead spoke out, making his grip on the mug tighten. "He was a coward."
"You know, riding back, I was thinking, maybe I should take a page from your book and have a sit-down with McCoy. Now that we know that Hiram Lodge is responsible for what happened to the statue, I say we show her the head, appeal to her sense of justice." FP spoke, making Jughead's face scrunch up in distaste. "What, you don't like that plan?"
Jughead looked at his dad, his face looking guilty and making his Dad's eyes widen. "Wait a second. Boy, where the hell is General Pickens' head?"
Roselle looked at Jughead, but when she didn't reply, her mouth curved to a smirk as she realised where he had put it. "I see you started your stand against Hiram before me."
•
The notorious group of six mentally unstable teenagers sat together in the school's lounge for lunch. It would have been an ideal thing, where all the teenagers were talking about parties, fun and everything else teenagers did.
Except Veronica was trying lecture Jughead about his views and opinions.
Roselle wasn't even listening half of the time. Half of the time she was peering at Betty intently, as she seemed like she was overthinking something.
And every time Betty would look back, the raven haired girl looked away so she didn't look like a creep who was staring at her while eating her salmon salad.
But she wanted to ask what was wrong. If only Veronica kept her mouth shut, Roselle thought. If only she didn't do whatever had dad told her and observed that their best friend was going through something.
"Veronica, are you trying to manage me right now?" Jughead scoffed as the raven haired girl kept blabbing in about his 'actions'.
"Define manage-"
"People are gonna lose their homes." Jughead shook his head in disbelief. But that didn't phase Veronica. And at that point, Roselle can see the resemblance she has with her father.
"Jughead, why don't you come over with your dad and sit down with my dad, and hash this out like civilized humans, face-to-face?" Veronica negotiated, making Roselle turn to look at Jughead with a knowing look.
Jughead nodded at Roselle, as they already talked about this before. "Okay, one condition. Your dad comes to Sunnyside Trailer Park. And Roselle also gets to come so she can be the conciliator."
Veronica scoffed, turning to look at Roselle in disbelief. "You're helping him?"
"Veronica I'm gonna be painfully honest." Roselle replied back, while she took a bite from her salad. Kevin's phone buzzed at the same time, making him turn away from his primary entertainment and to his phone. "I kinda hate your dad."
"After he's done everything for you and Blaire?" Veronica shook her head, crossing her arms. "Given her job. Money, so that you can eat and buy clothes."
Roselle gripped her fork at Veronica's words. She wasn't foreign to Hiram's money towards her Aunt, and how much her life was benefiting from it.
From shoes, clothes and the house she lived in, it was all Hiram's money. But she didn't trust where it came from. Because if someone is making such large donations, Blaire must be doing something so secretive for him.
"Just because Blaire can be bought off doesn't mean I can." Roselle spat out, making Jughead choke in his laughter. Veronica turned to glare at Jughead.
"C'mon Veronica lighten up. I only got Roselle to act as a peacemaker." Jughead spoke out, making Veronica shift back into her seat. "As for coming to Sunnyside, I just want him to see the people that he's gonna be displacing."
"Fine." Veronica agreed, before giving Roselle a final look. "And trust me, no one is being displaced."
"Oh, my God, did you guys hear?" Kevin interrupted the little bargaining while his eyes were widened. "My dad's scanner's blowing up. The police found another dead body this morning, there's blood everywhere. Could the Black Hood have risen from the grave?"
"Did they say whose body?"
"Where did they find it?"
Roselle peered at Betty, who seemed like she was zoning out. Her fists were tightened, making Roselle tilt her head to this side. Why was this story making Betty so anxious, Roselle thought to herself.
"The investigation's ongoing but apparently, it was a gruesome, gangland-style execution at the motel, with blood and brains splattered all over the duvet." Kevin spoke, giving the gruesome details.
In fact he would've gone on and on if both Roselle and Jughead wouldn't have noticed Betty's uncomfortable situation. "Okay, Kev, we get it."
"I gotta go." Betty stammered before getting up from her seat and running away. Roselle was about to run after her before Jughead grabbed her hand, telling her that Betty needed time to herself. But the whole time, all Roselle was thinking was one thing.
She knew that look. She knew that one look. It was an all to familiar face that she was used to wearing before she hid it so that no one asked anything. She knew that little, devious look all too much.
Betty Cooper killed someone.
•
"Riddle me this." Jughead started, as he and Roselle stood in front of the mayor's desk. The lady crossed her legs, peering at the two teenagers who should've known better. "What do Sunnyside Trailer Park, Twilight Drive-In and Southside High, all have in common?"
Roselle's phone buzzed, insinuating a message that displayed Reggie's name. Roselle however ignored it and faced the Mayor that sat arrogantly in a chair. "I'm sure I don't know."
"They were or are townland." Roselle spoke out, spreading the map of Riverdale in front of her. "You control them."
"So, Ms Parkers." Mayor McCoy begun, as her eyes trailed up and down the raven haired teenager. "Are you a serpent now? Does your bulldog boyfriend know about this?"
"And Jughead, here we have a women dodging questions via more questions. First sign of someone guilty." Roselle spoke, making Mayor McCoy pull a stern face and Jughead smirk. "But anyway, the drive-in was shut down as was Southside High. Now the trailer park is in jeopardy."
"Can't you just feel the invisible hand of Hiram Lodge all over this?" Jughead continued as he took a step forward.
"What exactly are you insinuating?"
Roselle pushed her hair back, smiling cockily to Mayor McCoy. She was taking down one of Hiram's major alias and she's never felt more powerful then ever. "If you've been accepting "donations" from the Lodges in exchange for "favors" such as land deals, now is your chance to come clean to the public."
•
"I can't believe your plan actually worked." Jughead scoffed as he shook his head. Roselle placed her legs on Jughead's lap as they both watched cartoon's in Roselle's living room. "She really looked conflicted."
"Any minute now, she'll come clean." Roselle spoke out as she popped a chip in her mouth. "And when Hiram's busy cleaning it, that's when we start digging in to find his little secret."
"We make a great Hiram-takedown team." Jughead replied back as he bit into the tenth liquorice from the bag. "Which, by the way, you never told me why you hated him."
Roselle slightly halted, a chip in the air, before she continued moving and placed the chip in her mouth. "It's a long story."
"We've got four hours until Hiram's negotiation." Jughead spoke, peering at the girl curiously at her dodging tactics. "I think we have time."
Roselle got up from her position, dropping her bags of chips in the process. She looked around the house for any presence of anyone before glancing at Jughead.
"But you have to promise you won't tell a single soul. Not Betty, not your dad, not your friends Jughead. You can't tell a single soul-"
The bell of the house was heard, making Roselle and Jughead flinch. Roselle sounded like she was going to tell a ghost story, the intensity of it making them both jump at the sound of the world around them.
"Who the hell could that be?" Roselle muttered before getting up from her seat, Jughead following behind her. The bell rung again, making Roselle frustrated. "I'm coming, I'm coming. For god's sake."
Roselle reached the door, unlocking it before opening. Her eyes widened as Reggie's disheveled hair and face appeared. "Roselle why didn't you answer your calls I was so worried something happened to you-"
Reggie's rant stopped when Jughead appeared behind her. His fists clenched up in anger as his nostrils flared. He spent hours contacted Roselle, and she was with a serpent this whole time.
"Why the hell is he here?" Reggie muttered out, the gritting of his teeth making his words sound non-coherent.
"He was helping me." Roselle spoke out, stepping out of the house to grab on of his shoulder as a calming act. Jughead stood behind her, awkwardly, before taking it as a signal to leave. "To take down Hiram."
Reggie's breathing started slowly calming down before his bit his lip. "And you couldn't come to me for help?"
"Reggie, it wasn't that you couldn't help me." Roselle spoke out, grabbing his chin to make him look at her. He looked like a broken little puppy that's owner left him. "It's just because your kinda bias when it comes to serpents."
"Well it's their fault." Reggie spat out, moving away from Roselle's touch in anger. "Ever since they came to Riverdale High, everything has been going to shits."
"And that's the bias that I didn't want."
"Fine!" Reggie yelled out, taking a step back. "Here I was, being scared that something happened to you! You didn't even bother to answer my calls! You were just sleeping around with another serpent!"
"You know what?" Roselle screamed back, angry that he'd accused her of sleeping around. "You can go fuck yourself!"
"Better than fucking a serpent!"
"Ugh!" Roselle screamed at him, before grabbing her Aunt's sandal that was laying on the ground outside and chucking it at him.
Reggie put his arms to his face as the sandal hit his head. His eyes widen in disbelief as he stared at Roselle. "What the fuck is wrong with you!"
"Dilo de nuevo y te mataré puta!" Roselle screamed before walking back into her house and slamming her door shut. Her breathing was erratic as she tried to calm herself down.
"Well that didn't go well." Jughead snickered as he was eating her bag of chips on her couch. Roselle glared at him before walking over and grabbing her chips from his hands.
They both sat in silence, watching TV together. After a couple of minutes, Roselle had calmed down and realisation had dawned to her.
"Did I just throw a shoe at him?"
•
"There's no misunderstanding here." Jughead scoffed out as he looked at Hiram. "Tall Boy said you paid him to decapitate the Pickens statue. As an excuse to turn up the heat on the Serpents."
Roselle wore a black coat as she sat in the front of the table with Hiram and Jughead and FP sitting on the longer sides of the table. "You got a lot of nervous people scared they're gonna lose their home."
"I heard about that." Hiram spoke, glancing at Roselle before looking at Jughead. "And though it has nothing whatsoever to do with me, I've spoken to Mayor McCoy. And as a gesture of goodwill to the Southside community, I'd like to settle any back rent you or your neighbors owe the town."
Roselle laughed at his statement. Nothing with Hiram came with peace. Both parties looked at Roselle, wondering why she was laughing. "And what do you want in return?"
Hiram stared at her for a while, looking emotionless but Roselle could see the anger he had for her in his eyes. "Peace in the land."
"Hmm." Jughead pondered for a second, glancing at Roselle for approval before she nodded at him. "It's a deal."
Both sides of the table stood up, ready to shake hands and agree before Hiram spoke up. "There is one thing."
"Of course there is." Roselle muttered, rolling her eyes. But that was ignored by the man in the suit.
"Mayor McCoy tells me you have some kind of expose you're working on, Jughead. With Roselle." Hiram spoke out, making Roselle raise an eyebrow in amusement. "So in exchange for my generous offer, I'd appreciate it if you guys just kept my name out of it. Sound fair?"
Roselle scoffed at Hiram's deal, shaking her head at him before standing up. "That sounds a lot like a bribe. No deal."
FP laughed at Hiram, patting his son in the back. "See you in the funny pages."
•
Roselle sighed as she walked down the pathway that lead to her house. It was late at night and the temperature was low enough to have the hairs on her head full of ice crystals.
Her plan had partially worked. Although Hiram hadn't been that compliant with negotiations, she and Jughead still took down his major partner; the mayor.
Now Hiram was weaker than he was before. Whilst Hiram is busy finding a new partner, Jughead and Roselle can find out Hiram's real plan. She was going to expose him and get her Aunt back.
As Roselle walked to the front of her house, she saw a man wearing a leather jacket at her house. And when she got closer, she realised just who it was. And her heart slightly dropped to her stomach.
It wasn't that she was scared of him, it was just that she couldn't see him after what happened last time. She couldn't see him because of the guilt it will cause her and the thought of Reggie seeing them alone.
"Sweet Pea." She whispered, a gust of cool air leaving her red lips. Sweet Pea turned around, his eyes filled with haze like he smoked something he shouldn't have. "What are you doing here?"
"Do you remember that night?" Sweet Pea slurred, as he slowly descended down the porch of Roselle's house, making Roselle take a slight step back. "I still remember it. It replays in my head everyday. Sometimes I can even taste you."
"Sweet Pea, I'm gonna call you cab." Roselle spoke out, knowing he's not in the right state of mind. "You're not thinking properly."
"No I am. I'm more honest when I'm this high." Sweet Pea laughed bitterly while shaking his head. "I just want to know why you can't be honest with me."
"What do you mean?" Roselle shook her head in confusion. She had no idea what he was trying to get at.
"I know you think about it too." Sweet Pea whispered as his lips touched her ears, making Roselle slightly shiver. "When you begged for my fingers. My touch."
"Sweets." Roselle whispered, as she partially closed her eyes when his lips grazed her jaw. "I told you, I don't feel the same way."
"Then tell me you don't feel anything when I do this."
Roselle didn't know what he was implying until he placed his lips on her. She froze, too in shock to move anything.
His cold lips moved against hers, tongue outlining her lips as he tried to make her respond in some way. But she couldn't.
And as soon as she saw a movement in the bush, realisation finally dawned to her before she pushed Sweet Pea away from her in anger, wiping her lips.
"Someone was watching us."
_________________________
I HAVE A REALLY GOOD IDEA FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF CHAPTERS AND GUYS, I WILL ASSURE YOU EVERYTHING ABOUT HER PAST AND PRESENT WILL MAKE SENSE!
P.S- Thank you all for the 1K votes!
___________________________
VOTE & COMMENT