Although it was completely rude of Archie to bust out of the party like he did, I tried to understand his feelings and let it go. I knew Veronica put a lot of effort into planning and getting everyone involved, so she had a right to be upset, but I knew she wouldn't linger on it for long.
Jughead was occupied for the day trying to set up a plan to catch the Gargoyle King so I decided on spending some quality time with two of my favorite people. I had a completely open agenda and figured there was some catching up needed.
"To what do I owe this... untimely pleasure, Savanna Marrows?" Cheryl's red lips turned into a frown once she opened the door to me. I had a feeling both she and Toni would still be upset about everything that went down at the Serpent meeting, but I didn't want that to fracture our friendship in the long run.
I gave her a small smile. "Figured we had some catching up to do, Cheryl. Mind if I come in?" I wiggled the bag of Pop's in my hand as a slight bait. She huffed before opening the door wider and allowing me to step inside.
"Very well," She hummed as she collected the food from my hand. "We can enjoy this in the kitchen. Babe! Snacks have arrived."
I followed Cheryl through the maze of Thistlehouse into the pristine kitchen where she began separating the food for everyone. I took a seat at the large marble counter as I took a sip of my shake.
"Vanna!" Toni's voice was much happier than Cheryl's as she hugged me from behind. "Didn't expect to see you here."
I shrugged as she took a seat next to me. "Figured we all needed some time together. I hope everything's been okay with you guys?"
Toni waved her hand and bit a few fries. "If this is about what happened at the meeting, we know it's not your fault."
I tilted my head from side to side. "Maybe not, however, it was my boyfriend and it was my family that brought the two of you forward, so, I feel like I owe an apology."
Cheryl pursed her lips in thought before sipping her own strawberry shake. "Unnecessary apology accepted," She decided. "We'll find our place outside of the Serpents anyway. In the meantime, however, I had plans to bake the day away. Would you like to join us?"
A smile grew on my face as I nodded, relief overflowing me knowing that at the end of the day, I still had Cheryl and Toni on my side.
--
Somewhere through our third batch of cookies and second thing of cupcakes, Jughead called me to request a quick meeting at Pop's. After bidding Cheryl and Toni goodbye, I made my way to the infamous diner and found my raven-haired boyfriend in his usual booth.
"Jug, hi," I greeted as I slid across from him, my fingers instantly grabbing a couple of fries to munch on. "What's up? How did everything go?"
Jughead shrugged. "Well, the plan went fine, if that's what you mean."
"So you found out who the Gargoyle King is, right?" I asked.
He nodded, "About that, actually. It was Tall Boy. We cornered him after Fangs got the clear to meet him. They tried to run away but we intercepted before they could only to find out that it was him."
"Unbelievable," I shook my head as I dropped my gaze to the table. "Now what? I thought he was dead. I could've sworn Hiram was behind this!"
"He still might be," Jug interrupted. "We had Tall Boy call 'the Man in Black' and say that he captured Archie. It's not much, but it's a shot, especially with the bounty I'm sure Hiram clearly has on Archie's head. We're meeting there tonight, 9 sharp. I have to go talk to Arch, get him on board."
My request of carefulness was interrupted as I spotted Betty Cooper walking in. I assumed she would turn towards us, only for her to not even glance this way and instead, sit in front of Penelope Blossom.
"Interesting," I commented as I nudged my head towards the scene. Jughead looked over his shoulder to see the pair deep in conversation. "Wonder what that's about. Regardless, Jug. Please, as always, be careful. You know how Hiram is."
My boyfriend's hand reached across the table to hold my own as he pressed his lips against my skin. "Always, princess. I'll see you later, okay?"
I nodded and watched him exit the diner in a flurry of murder mystery clues. As much as I didn't want Jughead and Archie going after Hiram, I knew they had the Serpents and his dad by his side. In the meantime, however, I needed to catch up on my SAT situation and keep my studying up, especially with the important goals I had in mind.
--
When my alarm went off at 6 a.m. on a warm Saturday morning, I debated my determination to make it into college. This was cruel: make us get up at an ungodly hour just to sit in front of a desk and test for about five more. Not cool.
Regardless, I pulled myself out of bed to make coffee and eggs before beginning the trek to Riverdale High School. The SATs were taking place this morning and it was impossible to stop the nerves from growing in my stomach.
I quickly located my classroom and took my seat behind Reggie. Betty, Archie, Veronica, and Jughead were spread throughout the room which was annoyingly placed in alphabetical order. I lined my pencils, plus an extra eraser along the edge of my desk as the proctor closed the door. Tests were passed out before she began instructions.
"You'll have 30 minutes to complete the first portion of the SAT math section. When you are finished, do not skip ahead to other sections. I will issue a five-minute warning for your convenience prior to the time limit. Do you all understand?" Nods of agreement followed her question before she told us to begin.
The first few questions went by with ease until around question 20. I had been following my usual tactic, leaving blank the ones I didn't know and coming back for later. It had been about fifteen minutes before my train of thought was interrupted.
I looked up to see Archie walking from the room. "Is there a problem?" The proctor asked as she watched him. Veronica stood as well, calling his name. The older woman behind the desk watched my sister carefully. "You follow him out that door, it's an automatic zero."
Ronnie huffed before going back to finish her test. I shook my head and tried to refocus, at least until I got through this section of the test.
--
"My brain is numb," I mumbled as soon as we were dismissed from testing. I felt relatively okay with my performance but I didn't even want to think about how I did. At the moment, I just wanted to go back to my apartment, eat some food, and sleep.
Veronica popped up out of nowhere just as Jughead's arm wrapped around my waist. "Hey, do you want a..." She trailed off as her phone began to ring in her hand. "One moment. Hi, Mom." I watched as her facial expression turned to one of despair. "I-I, he what? Well, are you at the hospital? Okay. Okay! I'll be right there."
"What was that about?" I asked. Anything involving a hospital typically wasn't good, so something had to be up.
"Daddy was shot," She mumbled as she shoved her phone in her purse.
"What?" Three collective voices: Me, Betty, and Jughead.
Veronica shook her head as tears threatened to fall from her eyes. "That was Mom. She said he was shot and they rushed him to the emergency room. We have to go." Her heels clicked with her steps as she started walking away. I hesitated in my motion to follow her.
There were many things holding me back, namely the way Hiram had treated me. I wanted to let that go and leave it in the past, but there was an unforgivable tone that always lingered. Plus, the way he treated Mom and Veronica, not to mention Archie and Jughead? I didn't know what to do, whose side to be on.
"Van?" Veronica turned to face me but her expression wasn't sour when she realized I wasn't following. I inhaled, unsure of what to say. I didn't know whether to defend myself or apologize or just follow her silently.
Jughead's hand moved to rest on my shoulder as he squeezed it slightly. "I know there's hesitation, and there's a lot of confusion around everything, but I think you should go with. I don't want to say that, but at the end of the day, he was your father for so many years," He offered as he kissed the side of my head. "Your decision though, babe. It's up to you."
I nodded and returned the kiss to his cheek before giving Betty a smile. "I'll see you guys later." Walking forward, my hand grabbed Veronica's as we made our way out the door and started the journey to the hospital.