It was the Fourth of July weekend when everything changed in the small town just north of Connecticut. Riverdale had always been a place of great mystery, there weren't many visitors, and nobody ever seemed to leave for long. Hermione Lodge was an example of someone who found themselves reappearing after some time away. Accompanying her this time wasn't her husband and fellow former resident Hiram Lodge, it was their daughter Veronica, who was a rare new arrival. The sixteen-year-old had been tasked with picking up dinner for the two Lodge women. She stepped foot into Pop's diner, not sure what to expect. She had grown up eating out in exquisite restaurants, where you'd be surrounded by manhattans elite every evening, scoring yourself a coveted spot on Page Six if you were to ever be so lucky. She had been working her way up in the upper east side's social circle, becoming a socialite who would rival the Blair Waldorf's of the world. That all came crashing to a halt when scandal rocked their family and the patriarch of their family ended up behind bars. It was merely a blue-collar crime, but the shame had been too much for Hermione who uprooted her family one afternoon nearing the end of summer, just in time for her one and only daughter to start her sophomore year anew.

Veronica stared at the décor as she stepped foot inside the quaint diner. It felt like being on a movie set, it was unlike any place she had ever been. She noticed an array of different people. Young children sitting alongside their parents, nibbling on onion rings, and sipping from milkshakes the side of their heads. She never had memories like that with either one of her parents. It was nice, she decided, looking around the room once again. A group of boys sat in the back corner, wearing matching leather jackets with the term 'Southside' sprawled across the back with bold lettering. She had never seen a motorcycle gang in the flesh before, but it seemed somewhat exciting.

"Haven't seen you around here before." The voice of a boy interrupted her thoughts, she turned her head just in time to see an attractive boy talking directly to her. She knocked the hood off her head and smiled at the red head. "That's because I just moved here." She told him, smiling up at him ever so sweetly. He laughed warmly before nodding his head at her words. "Just in time for school to start." He said, running his fingers over the bold lettering of his letterman jacket. Her eyes followed his hands as she took in what he was wearing. It once again felt like a movie. No boy wore such a thing at her previous school, in fact there weren't any boys at her school at all.

"Lucky me." She mused, giving him another once over before their eyes met. "I have been assigned a guide to show me around your school, Betty Cooper. Do you know her?" She questioned.

The boy laughed. "It's Riverdale, we know everybody." He pointed out.

She mimicked his laughter, nodding her head. It made sense that a small town would have more of six degrees of separation than her old scene.

Pop Tate chose this moment to interrupt the pair. "Order for Lodge?" He called out, a little confused because he hadn't heard that name in a long time.

"Well, that's me." Veronica told the boy, taking a step toward the counter.

He nodded his head. "I'll see you at school, Lodge." He told her, hoping he'd get to talk to her again.

Veronica smiled and left him to collect her order.

Pop Tate smiled at the girl, who resembled her mother quite well. "Hermione Gomez's daughter, I presume?"

Veronica hesitated for a second. She wasn't used to this kind of attention, but she nodded and let out a soft chuckle. "That would be me."

He grinned at the young girl. "You tell your mother Pop Tate says hello, won't you?"

She nodded. "Absolutely."

xxx

Betty Cooper ran her fingers through her hair as she waited for Archie to return to their booth with napkins. She looked up as the brunette wearing high heels headed toward the exit. She watched her momentarily before looking up to see Archie walking back to her. Her face lit up as the boy sat down across from her again.

"I can't believe school starts tomorrow." Archie said as he sat down, leaning back to make himself more comfortable.

Betty placed her hands on either side of her face as she watched him with adoration. "Mhmm me too." She said, dazed.

"Are you going to Thornhill for the back to school bash this weekend?" He asked her.

Betty shook her head. "Even if my mom would let me, you know I don't really like that house, or those who occupy it."

Archie laughed. "Still? Come on, Cheryl isn't that bad anymore. I mean she's kinda cool…"

Betty pulled a face. "Arch, she's only nice to you because she's a Vixen, and you're a Bulldog. I'm just a Cooper."

His face fell awkwardly because Archie had never thought about it that way and had no idea how to respond. "You want an Orange Freeze?" He asked her. "My treat..." He offered, making the blonde smile once again. He knew she couldn't resist one of those and it worked in his favour.

Betty loved that about Archie. He somehow always knew how to make her smile.

xxx

Monday morning came by faster than any teenager was ready for. In almost every household across this quaint small town, mothers and fathers were bursting into bedrooms to interrupt dreams and disrupt sleep. The only kid on the Northside who didn't need a wakeup call was Betty Cooper who was awake half an hour before her alarm, almost early enough to wake up her own parents, which would have worked out if Alice Cooper wasn't every bit as punctual and organised as her youngest daughter was.

Betty bounded down the staircase to an assortment of different aromas, all equally as enticing as the last. The breakfast spread was mouth-watering as per usual. Alice was a perfectionist who wanted nothing but the best for her two daughters.

"Is Polly home yet?" Betty asked as she pulled out a chair to sit herself down.

Alice wasn't entirely sure how to answer that. She sat down at the head of the table and played with her napkin. "Not yet Honey." She answered meekly. The situation was complicated, and she didn't want to involve Betty in the politics of the matter. Polly was safe for now, and a few little white lies weren't going to hurt her second daughter in the meantime. "She'll be back at home, and in school before no time. I promise." She said warmly, taking her opportunity to start eating to try and deter Betty from asking too many questions

Betty wasn't sure why her sister had left so suddenly. Her father had told her that Polly was unwell and needed time to recover, but Betty had caught Alice slipping up with the details a week ago, so Betty knew they were hiding something. She just couldn't prove it just yet. It had been on her mind for quite a while, in between her and Kevin's plan to get Archie to finally notice her in a girlfriend kind of way. That had been what they spent most of their summer doing. Kevin had said more than once that it was too hard for him to date in a straight town like Riverdale, so he needed to live vicariously through her until someone did him a favour and finally came out. He said he wasn't even fussy at this point, although Betty knew he had a type, and she wished that he wouldn't ever have to settle for anything less, which Kevin had said the same to her, insisting that Archie was the one for her, and settling for anything less was doing herself an injustice. It was a big confidence boost, and Betty really needed one after all of the times she had chickened out in freshman year.

"I saw Jason last night at Pop's." She mentioned casually, looking up at her mother to catch her reaction. She wasn't disappointed to find Alice rolling her eyes as if her life depended on it.

"I can't wait for that boy to graduate and do us all a favour as he moves far far away." She commented. It was Jason's fault that Polly wasn't living under their roof, and although Betty didn't know that, her daughter did know how much Alice despised the boy. "You're going to be late." She told the girl across from her. Betty truly would not be late, but Alice didn't want to talk any longer, and Betty did still have to get dressed, and her plate was near empty anyway.

xxx

Veronica sat down in the Principal's office as she waited for Betty Cooper, the girl assigned to show her around. Since Betty was never tardy, she only had to wait a minute or two before the ponytailed blonde wandered in asking for her. The receptionist pointed over toward the new student and Veronica stood up and walked over to her. "Betty, right?" She asked, her lipticked smile spread across her cheeks lighting up her whole face.

Betty nodded her head. "You must be Veronica. I saw you briefly last night in Pop's Chocklit Shoppe…" She said.

Veronica smiled. "Oh! I must have missed you, I was only there a few minutes. You should have said hello."

Betty nodded, although she was glad, she hadn't. It may have been awkward to do so.

The two girls started their tour of Riverdale High, which ended in the hallway with Betty taking Veronica to her locker, making sure the girl knew how to use hers. To Betty's surprise Veronica picked it up straight away and their time together came to an end. Kevin came over to the pair when he finished up with his own locker. "You must be Veronica." He said, holding his hand out to her. "I'm Kevin Keller, Betty's best friend, and wingman."

Betty laughed shyly at his introduction.

"Nice to meet you Kevin Keller." Veronica said sweetly, taking his hand to give it a polite shake.

She turned back toward the hallway so the three of them could walk comfortably together. When she saw the boy with red hair walking through the halls with a group of his footballer friends, she reached out to grab Betty's arm. "That boy. I met him last night and forgot to ask his name." She said, recalling that oversight she had made the night before.

"Jason Blossom?" Kevin asked, trying to get caught up.

"Jason. It suits him." Veronica decided, eyes remaining on the boy.

"Oh. No. You're into Jason Blossom?" Betty asked.

"I don't know. He seemed nice…" She shrugged.

"He's-," Betty started, not sure how to say it.

"What Betty means is, her sister Polly and Jason were quite the hot item before summer break, and when Polly comes back, they'll probably be back on." Kevin told the new girl.

Veronica nodded her head. She respected that, she really did. It was just hard keeping her eyes to herself. He was handsome after all.

xxx

It was lunchtime when the student body started buzzing, the rumour mill was in overdrive. Principal Weatherbee wanted to get on top of it before misinformation became too big for him to handle. An emergency assembly was called for with all students being assembled in the school gym. Betty had no idea what was happening since she had been locked away in the Blue and Gold office working on the first edition of the school paper. Most of their writers had graduated before the summer, and she was struggling to find new writers to replace them. This interruption to the end of their lunch period was merely adding more stress to her day. As the principal made his way up to the podium, Kevin nudged her with his elbow to point out that his father was in attendance. That meant bad news. The sheriff showing up at an unscheduled school assembly wasn't a common occurrence. Betty's fear was that this had something to do with her missing sister. The Coopers lies about Polly's whereabouts were troubling enough for her, she hated not trusting her parents but if something bad had happened, and the sheriff had gotten involved? That would be her worst-case scenario indeed.

The Principal cleared his throat as he stepped forward to adjust his microphone. "Students, It has come to my attention that some of you have become aware of a notable absence today." He started, glancing across at Tom Keller for reassurance to keep going. "Regrettably I am here standing before you today with some bad news. One of our own, Cheryl Blossom has been officially declared a missing person. If any of you have any information of her whereabouts, Sheriff Keller and his deputies will be available, if you need counselling, that service will also be available to you. The Blossom family and the staff here at Riverdale High would appreciate it if you respected the family, and didn't spread around false information, thank you." He said, before taking a step back. Tom Keller, the sheriff said his piece, relaying a similar message to the man who spoke before him before dismissing the student body.

Betty didn't know if she would describe her feelings as relief, or if she just felt worse about it all. Cheryl being missing didn't explain where Polly was. Cheryl being missing just meant that everyone would be distracted by her absence, and nobody would care about where her sister had gone. She glanced down at Jason, who was acting calmer than one would expect. Her mother's suspicions about the boy being shady just made Betty's spidey senses tingle now. She didn't trust Jason Blossom on a good day, but today she felt her inner Alice creeping in, and for once that wasn't a bad thing.

Sitting a few rows back was Jughead Jones who didn't quite know what to make of this situation either. A missing cheerleader? There was a story there and he wanted to get to the bottom of it.

xxx

Sunnyside trailer park was exactly how Alice remembered it to be. She didn't make a habit of venturing into this side of town, and for good reason. She didn't want to associate with the likes of the southside serpents, or anyone else who resided in that side of town, which was something she was known for. That's why she came at night when it was less likely for her to be seen by anyone. She stepped out of her car and walked up to the trailer she intended on visiting. She had a bag in one hand and used her other to knock on the front door. The man who answered ushered her inside quickly, shutting the door behind her.

FP Jones ran his fingers through his hair as Alice set the bag down on the kitchen table. "It's all over the news. Cops are looking everywhere." He said to her.

Alice shook her head. "Don't worry about it." She insisted, walking toward the bedroom. She didn't need directions.

He followed behind her as Alice switched on the lamp and sat down next to the sleeping cheerleader.

"Nobody knows she's here." Alice reminded the man. She intended for it to stay that way.