The week started out like any other. Who would've guessed where I'd be by the end?
Monday
Since the notice of Dad's diagnosis, Veronica, Hermosa, and I had been putting in more effort to spend time together as a family. This included morning breakfast at least twice a week and dinner as often as possible. I enjoyed the time with Veronica, and Hermosa and I were working past our obstacles, so things were finally playing out for the better.
The luxurious feast in front of us was literally making my mouth drool as I grabbed a few strawberries and a muffin from the plates ahead of us. I was about to take a bite when there was a loud crash as Dad dropped his teacup and it shattered on the floor.
"Damn it!" He cursed as he stood up to prevent any from spilling on him.
"Oh, Daddy, let me get that for you," Veronica offered as she got up from her chair next to me with a napkin in hand.
"I got it! I don't need your help." He snapped as he held a hand up to keep her away. I made a move to stand up but Hermosa's foot connected with my ankle as she gave me a stern look to stay in my seat.
Veronica glanced at us and saw how we were remaining in place before she let out a huff. "No, of course not. Which is why I'll never offer it to you again." She moved behind me in a rush and grabbed her jacket from the couch before leaving out the door without another word.
I let out a deep breath at the resounding sound of the door slamming before taking a big bite out of my muffin. This was gonna be a long week.
--
Upon leaving the Pembrooke, Jughead called me as soon as I got in the car. "Hey, babe, what's up?"
"You're never going to believe the morning I've had. First, DuPont tells me I'm kicked out of Quill and Skull, which, whatever, but I have to write my novel by Friday. I have to write the best damn Baxter Brothers novel these Stonies have ever read by Friday, which coincidentally is the Ides of March. You know, Stonewall Prep celebrates the holiday by throwing a big blowout in the woods."
I hummed to myself as I began to pull away from the Pembrooke to head to school for the day. "Okay, well, why don't you write about what's been happening to you at Stonewall? Like a roman-a-clef, let's say?"
"Like a prep school thriller?"
"Sure," I agreed.
"We could start with Moose's arrival here."
I nodded even though he couldn't see me. "Exactly. And just keep it up from there. Add a few fictional bits if needed, but yeah, I think you've got it, Jug."
"You're brilliant, you know that?"
I laughed. "Always for you, Jones. Always for you."
--
Tuesday
"Hey!" I greeted Felicity and Reggie as I walked into the former's apartment. She had been blowing my phone up all day and instead of texting her back, I figured it was easier to talk to her in person. "What's up with you guys?"
Felicity paused the show on the TV to look at me as she sat up from the cushions of the couch. "Uh, hello! I've been waiting on you all day to tell me what decision you've made!"
I rolled my eyes and sat down on her other side as Reggie leaned forward to start the show again. "You're impatient. I technically still have three weeks to make my decision."
Felicity yanked the remote out of Reggie's grasp and paused it once more as she faced me with an annoyed expression. "Savanna, I'm serious! You have major options on the table."
"I don't know!" I groaned in frustration as I flopped against the cushions. "I know I have a lot to consider, I just don't... I don't have the energy to think it all through."
Reggie looked over at me this time, clearly unamused in our petty arguing. "As much as I love hearing all your girl talk, I am trying to watch my show here." He reached for the remote a second time.
Felicity rolled her eyes and slapped him on the arm to keep his hand away. "Get over yourself, Reggie. There are more important matters at hand."
"More important than finding out who wins Dancing with the Stars? I think not, babe, give me that shit."
"Okay, you're clearly in the middle of something so I'm leaving." I slapped my hands against my thighs before standing up and making my way towards the door to head back to my place.
"Hey!" Felicity interrupted my departure as she stood up and kicked Reggie's legs to get out of the way. I waited for her to catch up to me and she handed me a paper. I gave her a puzzled look before unfolding it. "I know it's not ideal, but consider attending as a birthday present for me."
I skimmed the words to see a whole planned-out itinerary for a trip to Queens. I turned to look at her as she gave me a guilty smile. "Just think about it? Please? For me?"
I laughed and folded the paper back as it was before nodding. "Yes, I will think about it. Your poor brother is probably dreading my appearance."
She rolled her eyes and unlocked the door for me to leave. "Peter can shut up. Little nerd's always busy with something anyways so we'll barely see him. Figure out your college shit and if we're going by the next time I see you!"
"Ha! No promises."
--
Wednesday
"Hermosa."
"Savanna."
I sighed and closed the laptop that had been sitting in front of me to face the dark-haired girl that sat in the seat across. I folded my hands together and leaned forward. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
She set her purse next to her with a hum. "I wanted to talk to you, about Papi. I understand that your relationship with him is rocky, but I don't think he wants to worry about his health and what to fix with you."
"I'm sorry, are you suggesting I act like he never did anything wrong?" I questioned with a shrug. "Sorry, Hermosa, but just because Daddy's dying doesn't mean he deserves a clean slate after everything he's done."
"I'm not asking for a clean slate, Savanna," She clarified. "I'm just asking you to consider spending some time with him, one on one. He'd be happy to hear from you, especially since you aren't living in the Pembrooke alongside Veronica."
I leaned back into the booth as I looked up at the ceiling for a moment before letting out a breath. "Fine. I'll consider it."
"Gracias, hermana. He will be glad to hear."
--
Thursday
The week was proving to dance along slowly and I found myself bored out of my mind enough that I started planning a packing list for college. I had decided to accept my offer from Stanford University and would be moving out some time at the beginning of August to get settled in. I had yet to tell anyone, including Jughead, just so I had time to grasp it all myself.
My boredom was interrupted, however, when Jughead called and asked if I could meet him at his house as he was stopping home for a much-needed break from Stonewall and its crazy rules and attempts on ruining his shot at the Baxter Brothers book. That now included the blaming of plagiarism from Jonathon through Bret and still the lingering threat of the deadline tomorrow.
"Mr. DuPont is turning out to be worse than any of the villains in his precious Baxter Brothers series," Jughead complained as we sat at the counter across from FP. "It's clear he wants me expelled."
"You can't let your name be tarnished by these... these trust fund brats," FP interrupted, "Hell, it's my name. It's our family name."
"If I let my reputation be destroyed by a baseless accusation, my career as a writer is going to be over before it even begins."
I shook my head as I placed my hand on Jughead's. "There's no way that's happening, Jug. I think I have an idea. I just have to call in a slight favor."
Thankfully, Charles was more than willing to let me borrow some of his equipment for a polygraph test and I was just hoping that this would work in our favor, even in the slightest. I hated being back in Stonewall but I was wishing this time would be on a positive note. We had snagged the typical seminar room that the Stonies usually had a class in and set up the polygraph machine prior to their arrival which came right on time.
"Jones."
"And Savanna," Donna continued, "To what do we owe the pleasure."
I gave her a forced smile. "We know Jonathon's lying about writing 'On Featherless Wings'," I stated.
"And we know that one or all of you stole my laptop and are conspiring against me," Jughead continued, "So we're here to prove it."
"With a lie detector test?" Jonathan asked with a laugh. "Okay, well, I refuse to participate in this charade."
I nodded and pursed my lips together. "Fine. Wasn't really asking you anyways, but you can all watch while Jughead takes the test." The small bit of panic on their faces was amusing as Jughead and I worked to get all of the sensors set up before I started the polygraph machine.
"Is your name Forsythe Pendleton Jones III?" I asked, to which he answered a correct yes.
"When did you start writing 'On Featherless Wings'?"
"At the end of last summer," Jughead replied, "Before I'd even heard of Stonewall Prep."
"And did you get rid of your old laptop because you knew it contained incriminating evidence?" I continued down the list we had prepared.
Jughead looked straight at his classmates as he answered, "Of course not. It was stolen."
I glanced down at the polygraph machine to see all of the answers had been consistent and honest, which is what we had expected. Clearly, Bret was unamused. "And what exactly do you think this is proving?" He asked, annoyed.
"Well, Jonathan's guilt by process of elimination," I stated as I shut the machine off.
Donna gave me a sickly fake smile. "I hate to break it to you, sweetie, but this isn't gonna prove Jughead's innocence."
While Jughead busied himself with disconnecting all the sensors, I walked out from behind him and crossed my arms over my chest while approaching Donna. "Do you think I don't know that, bitch? This lie detector test is only the beginning. Once we're done with all of you assholes, none of you will be left standing. But please, try me, Donna. I'd love to see it."
After gathering the equipment and leaving the Stonies to their own thoughts, Jughead and I made a quick stop in his room before beginning part two of our plan to find the stolen laptop.
"Alright, let's hurry up," Jughead rushed as we stopped in front of Donna and Joan's room. "They're in film studies but they could be back any moment." I used a spare bobby pin to pick the lock before we moved inside. "I should've never taken that laptop from Bret."
"We'll get it back, Jug," I assured as I grabbed a flashlight from my backpack and handed it to him. "You take Joan's side, I'll take Donna's."
I began sifting through obvious areas in an attempt to find absolutely anything, but when that failed we moved down to the Quill and Skull room only to find it completely vacant of any evidence. Jughead made the move to head back into the seminar room we had been in previously to wander around DuPont's desk. A yellow envelope was hiding in the drawer with the title BAXTER BROTHERS: READY FOR PRINT. Jughead pulled it out and grabbed the contents only to see his first example piece inside.
"The Boy in the River? This is the novel that I submitted to win the Baxter Brothers contract."
"About Jason Blossom?" I clarified.
He nodded. "Yeah. DuPont told me that the Baxter Brotherhood rejected it because it wasn't dark or sociopathic enough. It's being rewritten but this is my book."
"What do we do?" I mumbled.
He scoffed, "The only thing we can do."
--
While Jughead busied himself with confronting DuPont, I had various issues on the home stretch... namely, Veronica. She had sent rapid texts while I was busy hunting with Jughead, and now I stood in the hallway reading through them all.
Hermosa knew. Daddy told her, Vanna. She knew.
Why would he hide this from us? Do we not matter anymore? Is this it?
Everything is crumbling. Fast.
What do we do?
I let out a deep breath as I leaned against the wall. Despite my wishes, there were salty tears pulling in my eyes as I tried to blink them away. There wasn't anything to necessarily be upset about. The family favoritism had always been around and I wasn't new to it, but I knew Veronica was. Everything was just overwhelming, right now. To make things worse, Jughead threw open the door from DuPont's office at perfect timing to find me crying in the hallway.
"Unbeliev-" He froze in his rant and grabbed my shoulders. "Hey, what's wrong?"
I shook my head and wiped the tears of frustration from my cheeks before tucking my phone back into my jeans pocket. "Nothing, just got some family stuff going on."
"Sav-"
"It's not that important, Jug," I defended. "Let's just try and get all of this finished, okay?"
The topic was thankfully dropped as we made our way back to Riverdale High to look over the murder board again that Felicity and I had been staring at way too much recently.
"The one thing that Felicity and I kept coming back to was Mr. Chipping's tie pin," I explained as I stood in front of the board. "Donna had it, obviously, but it doesn't add up, especially if you put that tape in the mix. If the affair with Chipping was just another one of her fabricated stories, then how did she get it? Let's say someone else took the tie pin."
Jughead groaned and sat up from where he was laying across the couch. "Someone like Mr. DuPont?"
I nodded. "Exactly. It's possible he gave it to Donna to add credibility to her story about them having an affair."
"And then, she would have the tie pin and the story of the affair at the ready in case anyone got too close to the truth," Jughead summarized. "Mr. Chipping was driven to suicide by Mr. DuPont."
I hummed in agreement. "It's a theory. Which means I need to do some more digging."
--
"I wanted to clear the air between us, Donna," I said as I watched her sip on her milkshake. "I want to hopefully resolve this whole Jughead witch hunt thing, just the two of us. See, I think that you and Bret, Joan and Jonathan, are just pawns being manipulated by Mr. DuPont, who I think is the real villain here."
"I'm intrigued." She smiled. "Go on."
I leaned forward on the table. "I don't think you had an affair with Chipping. If I'm right, and you didn't, and DuPont somehow put you up to saying you did, I urge you to come forward. Don't let yourself be a victim of his play, Donna."
She started laughing, which pissed me off more than anything. "You think you're so close to the truth, don't you? You and Jughead, teen detectives."
I gave her a smirk. "Are we?"
"I guess we'll see."
--