Chapter Text
Rumors hit a small town like water on a grease fire- innocuous but explosive. Rumor had it that Geraldine Grundy got into some trouble. Maybe she ran into a Southside Serpent. Made a dangerous boyfriend. Had a too liberal definition for the term extra credit. I didn't ask Veronica Lodge what she did after we left that night, but the next day Geraldine Grundy's car and belongings were missing, and there was a neatly typed letter of resignation citing personal problems. I also didn't ask Veronica what she is or what she knows. She'll talk about it when the moment's right, when the drama is high and there's a wind at her back that makes her cloak flutter just so. I won't give her the satisfaction of begging.
Archie is quiet. He has a hard time adjusting sometimes. He took a chunk out of the sink the other day just leaning a little too hard. He's pulled three doors off their hinges. He only needs a little blood now, maybe once a week.
“Geraldine needed a lot more. She fed almost every day,” Archie said wonderingly, after a feeding.
“I got that good Jones blood, premium stuff,” I said breezily, bandaging my wrist. “Besides, she was like 100 years old? Geriatrics probably need more.” He rolled his eyes but didn't respond.
Maybe it's weird, but it doesn't bother me much. He has assured me that it's quite harmless, that the things she'd had to do to make what he is now were... more involved. After that first night, he doesn't use a glamour anymore. I know that he knows what I had seen in it, and I can't bear the beautiful lie again- or to talk about the painful truth. Just like part of him is still a little lost in that fever dream, I think, that Grundy seduced him with. There are things about him now that he can't change- power he can't control. Things he lost. He doesn't ask and I don't either.
I still see Betty. We have a few classes together and wave to each other in the hallway. We meet twice a week at the Blue and Gold. I'm still in love with her.
There are moments, though, where the light hits her eyes just right- where she tilts her head to the side and looks at me in a way that is almost too sharp. She doesn't ask the questions. She doesn't have to, she's smart. You can't keep anything from Betty- not if she really wants to know.
All I can do is wait.