No one dared say another word about the Northside Princess dating a girl from the Southside. Toni's outburst in the cafeteria earlier that week was enough to deter anyone who dared try. It did something unexpected; however, it somehow helped mend the rift in the school.
"I'm thinking of dying my hair," Toni said as she walked through the halls with Cheryl. It was Thursday, and classes were out for the day. The weekend was just around the bend.
Cheryl smirked, "I've always imagined you with pink hair."
"Pink?" Toni quirked an eyebrow. "But my favorite color is purple."
"I mean," the redhead paused, "you'd look good with any color, TT."
Toni thought for a moment, "I'm getting pink."
Cheryl smiled to herself, biting down on her bottom lip. "Do you want to go to the salon after school?"
"Nah, the drugstore is fine. You can dye it."
"Are you sure?" Cheryl asked.
"Yeah, I trust you."
They walked past Heather who was leaning up against the wall, seething. She hated seeing the two girls so happy. She hated seeing Toni happy with anyone who wasn't her.
"You don't want to dye your hair, Toni," the girl interjected into their conversation. "You look too good with the blonde."
"No one asked you," Toni scoffed.
"Come along, TT," Cheryl said with a roll of her eyes, not even wanting to engage with the other girl. "I feel our presence would be better elsewhere."
"Couldn't agree more, Cher."
They broke apart as they reached their lockers. Jughead was approaching her, wanting to talk about plans for the evening. They originally were going to smoke and have a bonfire, but Cheryl had just texted to cancel.
"Come on, Cher," he whined. "Can't we have one night without you bailing on me for your girlfriend?"
She glared at him, mentally pleading for him to keep his voice down so Toni wouldn't hear. "We are simply postponing our plans until this weekend, Jug. Toni is excited to hang out with you and the boys as well. We have more pressing matters to attend to this evening."
"Like what?"
"You will find out tomorrow," she deflected.
"Jughead?" Archie said, alerting the pair to his presence. "Can we talk for a minute?"
"What the hell do you want, Archie?" Jughead huffed.
"I want my best friend back," the redheaded boy said.
Cheryl stood there awkwardly as the boys continued to talk. "Should I leave?"
"No," Jughead said before turning back to Archie. "Look, that friendship is dead. How much thought have you even given me in the last three years?"
"Three years is too long, Jug. Can't we work this out?" Archie asked. "I miss you."
"Ya know, I really don't think we can," the beanie wearing boy responded.
Cheryl moved from next to the boys to stand next to Toni, still listening to their conversation, not sure what else to do. She knew Jughead would be upset if she left.
"Are you really going to let a girl come between us?" Archie pleaded.
Jughead shook his head angrily, "You let a girl come between us when you went out with Betty!"
"She's happy! If you really love her the way you say you do, shouldn't that be enough?"
"I could have made her happy, Arch. In another world I'm the one making her happy, not you," Jughead hissed, clearly hurt.
"Are you listening to yourself, man?" Archie's brow furrowed. "What does it matter? We've been friends since we were kids. I'm sorry things didn't work out how you wanted, but it's not worth throwing away a lifelong friendship over."
Jughead sighed, "Even if, if, you are right... I can't just stop hating you, ya know? It's sort of my default setting now."
"Are you willing to try?" Archie inquired. "I know Betty would appreciate it. She misses you too."
The beanie wearing boy eyed him skeptically, "And what would that entail exactly. If I was considering this, that is."
"Could start with letting me buy you a milkshake at Pop's? And all the burgers you can eat."
"Hope you have a full wallet, Andrews," Jughead smirked, "because I'm really hungry."
"Hey, if that's what helps fix us, I'll take out a loan, dude," Archie laughed. "So, to Pop's?"
"Fine," Jughead huffed, walking off without saying a word to Cheryl.
"Well, that was unexpected," the redhead girl observed.
Toni nodded, "About time."
The pair left school, hand in hand. They stopped by the drug store on the way to Toni's to purchase a box of pink hair dye. With Toni's hair being as light as it was, there was no need for bleach.
Cheryl mixed the chemicals. Having dyed Toni's hair before, this felt like second nature to her.
"You know what you're doing right?" Toni laughed nervously.
The redhead quirked an eyebrow, "What happened to trusting me?"
"I do," Toni insisted. "Just never had anyone but a professional mess with my hair before."
"I assure you, TT, you are in excellent hands."
Cheryl sectioned out chunks of Toni's hair to make the application easier. She dabbed the brush into the mixture and gently began painting.
"You have done this before," Toni observed.
"I told you you were in excellent hands," Cheryl smiled.
She repeated the process until Toni's entire head was covered with the chemicals. The redhead grabbed the clear hair cap from the box and stretched it over Toni's head.
"Now we wait," Cheryl said. "In thirty minutes you should have vibrant, pink hair."
"Can't wait," the shorter girl grinned. There was excitement in her voice. "So... how should we spend the time?"
"We could watch something on your Apple TV? Didn't you say something about Brooklyn Nine-Nine the other day?"
"Mmm," Toni bit down on her lower lip. "I have other ways we could spend those thirty minutes."
"TT, no," Cheryl laughed. "Plus, you don't want to end up with tie-dyed sheets."
"Ugh, fine." the shorter girl pouted. "You're right... okay, TV it is."
They had just finished watching an episode of the show when the timer dinged. It was one of Toni's favorites, the fourth Halloween heist. Cheryl enjoyed watching her laugh at every joke, and it was almost disappointed when the alarm went off.
"Let me go wash this out and dry my hair," Toni said. She returned soon after, her now pink hair dry, cascading down her shoulders.
There you are.
"So, how do I look?" Toni asked, anxious for her girlfriend's response.
"Beautiful," Cheryl smiled. "You look beautiful."
-
The next day, Toni walked in, her pink dyed head held high. Cheryl smiled widely at the sight of her and ran over to her girlfriend.
"Good morning, TT," she greeted.
"Morning, Cher." Toni pulled Cheryl in for a kiss.
A scoff could be heard, and the two separated to see Heather eyeing them angrily.
"Can I not escape you?" Toni huffed.
"Your hair looks... interesting," the blonde observed. "Perhaps it's fitting."
"Thanks... I think," the pinkette murmured. With a shake of her head, she turned back to her girlfriend, "Come on, babe. Let me walk you to class."
-
At lunch, Cheryl noticed the shift. Jughead, Sweet Pea, and Fangs were sitting at Toni's table, talking animatedly with the group. It was nice to see Jughead and Archie being friends again, or at least, attempting to be. It was progress, and that's what mattered.
Perhaps that trip to Pop's did some good.
She took her seat next to Toni, placing a kiss upon her girlfriend's cheek. "What did I miss?"
"Sweet Pea was telling us about your initiation night," Toni laughed.
Cheryl glared at her friends, "For why?"
"Don't fret, babe. It's cute," Toni smiled.
"See, Goose, someone appreciates our stories," the tall boy laughed.
Reggie appeared a moment later, his head hanging low. "Hey, guys."
"The hell do you want, Mantle?" Fangs barked.
"I wanted to talk to Toni," he answered, confused why the Serpents were at the table.
"It's fine," Toni said. "Thanks though, Fangs." She turned to the Bulldog, "What do you need?"
"I wanted to say I'm really sorry, T."
Toni nodded, "We're cool, Reg. If you hadn't done what you did... I may not be with Cheryl right now."
"Right," Reggie sighed in relief. He then turned to the redhead, "And, Cheryl, I mean... fuck, I should be the most sorry to you. I'm so sorry for... for everything."
"I understand your prejudice, Reggie," Cheryl responded, "more than I'd like to admit. I think it's very big of you to own up to your mistakes, and it would be rather hypocritical of me to not accept your apology."
"Seriously?" the boy asked, clearly taken back. "Thank you. Both of you. I really mean that."
"Don't mention it, Reg." Toni smiled through pursed lips. "But we would like to get back to our lunch if that's alright."
"Right... um... I do have one more question," Reggie said. He ran his hand through his hair before turning his attention from Toni to Veronica. "Ronnie, I don't really deserve a shot with you, but I'd really like to take you to dinner or a movie or something tonight. What do you say?"
Veronica adjusted her posture and sized up the boy, "And what happened to Heather?"
"She uh," he glanced at Toni, "she wasn't that interested when it wasn't some secret game anymore."
"Well," Veronica responded, "I would be happy to allow you to escort me to dinner this evening, with blessings from these two ladies of course." She turned to Toni and Cheryl, waiting for their answer.
"Good with me," Toni nodded. She glanced at her girlfriend, "Babe?"
"Well, Veronica, I can't speak for your taste, but yes, I give you my blessing."
"I guess that means it's a date, Reginald," the raven hair girl said. "Until tonight."
Reggie nodded with a goofy smile before making his exit.
"Hold up," Sweet Pea said. "I thought you were dating Josie?"
Josie, who was surprised to hear her name being brought into the conversation, choked on her drink. "Excuse me?"
Veronica waved her off, "Oh, that's nothing serious. We're just having some fun."
"Girl, leave me out of this mess," Josie added before turning her attention back to her lunch.
"In that case... if things don't go well on that date tonight... maybe I could take you out?" Sweet Pea asked.
Veronica thought for a moment before smiling, "How about next Friday?"
"It's a date!" the tall boy smiled widely, earning him a supportive pat on the back from Fangs.
"I refuse to call you Sweet Pea though," Veronica continued. "You have to have a real name."
"Oh..." the tall boy blushed. "It's uh Noah. Noah Miller."
Cheryl's eyes grew wide, "You're Noah? Jason's Noah?" Memories of the photos in the safe and the stories Jughead had told her came flooding back. She remembered Jason with his two best friends, Noah and Frankie. Suddenly it made sense. Sweet Pea and Fangs.
"Cheryl, you've known my name for years. Are you alright?"
The redhead nodded, "Of course. Momentary memory lapse, that's all." She looked across the table to see Jughead stifling a laugh.
Cheryl moved to get up, planning to throw her trash away. She walked towards the bin when Heather stopped her.
"You may have her fooled for now," the blonde smirked. "How long do you expect that to last? How long do you expect any of this to last?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Heather shook her head, "You're poor, Cheryl. What can you possibly give her?"
"My heart."
The blonde burst out laughing, "Oh, sweetie, Toni is used to luxury. You come from nothing. You are nothing. You really think a few months of bliss will change that? She's going to come to see you for what you are."
"You're wrong. We're happy."
"For now," Heather smiled devilishly. "Until she's done with you."
"She wouldn't—"
"What can you give her?" the blonde continued. "Tell me one tangible thing you can offer her."
"I—"
Heather smirked, "That's what I thought. Stop being so selfish, and think about what's best for Toni."
-
Cheryl was mad; she was pissed. How dare she let Heather get into her head? The redhead had moved past her influence, but somehow she was back to being that junior high girl believing every word that left her toxic mouth.
It didn't help that the words made sense. Was she being selfish?
Here Toni had a wonderful life. She was rich. She had parents; hell, she had a sister. Back home... back home she had Cheryl.
Was Cheryl's happiness worth taking all that from the girl?
Cheryl slammed the passenger door to her Tempo and stomped into her trailer, Jughead rushing behind her. The boy could tell something was wrong, but he was at a loss; everything was going so great.
The moment she got in her room, Cheryl released her rage. She dropped her backpack to the floor and kicked it, hurling it across the room, before knocking books off their shelves. The redhead let out a frustrated scream as tears formed in her eyes.
"Cheryl, what's going on?" the boy asked, clearly concerned. "Calm down."
"I can't do it, Jug," Cheryl cried, flopping on her bed in defeat. "I can't break this curse."
"What do you mean?" the boy asked. He sat down next to her.
Cheryl took a deep breath and sat upright, "If I make everything right Toni will end up poor without parents again. It will be all my fault."
"It won't!"
"How can you say that?"
"I didn't want to tell you this, Cher," Jughead said.
"Tell me what?"
Jughead rubbed his hand over his brow and sighed, "That butterfly effect I told you about? It explains how Toni ended up rich too."
"How?"
"Sweetwater Syrup has a factory in the Southside, and a lot of Serpents work there," Jughead began. "It opened three years after the sale. Toni's uncle worked there."
"Toni told me," Cheryl answered. "He died."
"When he was nineteen," he added. "There was an accident at the factory; he didn't survive, and the family sued. His brother sued to be specific, and he won a rather large settlement. He then took that and invested it in a tech startup that proved to be quiet successful before he and his wife moved to the Northside three months before she gave birth to a baby girl by way of emergency c-section at Riverdale General."
"Her mom gave birth at a better hospital," Cheryl exhaled, realizing her misfortune was responsible for Toni's family still being together. She remembered her girlfriend's life story clearly. Her mother died in childbirth, and after losing her, Toni's father ended up associating with the wrong people as a means to cope with the loss. Tony ended up in federal prison while his daughter went to live with his brother.
"There were complications," Jughead confirmed, "but the hospital was able to control the bleeding."
"Thus saving her mother's life and keeping her father drug free," she finished. "So, you're telling me it's my fault Toni's life was so bad? If it hadn't been for that stupid Blossom curse, she'd have grown up with both her parents?"
"I don't know what Blossom curse you're talking about, but basically. If your family had kept their fortune, Toni's life would have turned out differently. Her mom would have died giving birth."
"I really did make her life worse," Cheryl sobbed.
"You didn't," Jughead argued. "That's not what I'm getting at! Whatever cursed you, sure, it made her life better. But you didn't make her life worse."
She shook her head, sniffling, "Please just go. I want to be alone."
"You fought so hard, Cheryl. Don't give up now."
"I'm not giving up," she answered. "I just need some time to think."