Chapter Text
Your life wasn’t always like this. Over two years ago, you were living in the city with your mom, you went to school, you had friends who you went out with, you were happy. Three weeks later, your mom met Hiram Lodge and they went on a date. One week later, you met Hiram’s daughter, Veronica. Your mother and Hiram thought that since you were the same age, you two might find something you had in common. If only you could tell them they were wrong. For the next five months, your parents went on dates to nice restaurants and had romantic nights together while you and Veronica didn’t really care enough to even say hello to each other. She hated the way you just did everything without a care and you hated the way she thought she was too good to do anything. The night your mother and Hiram came back from their date, they announced that they were getting married and your mother asked you to be her Maid of Honour. Another six months later, your mother was married to Hiramand they announced you would be moving from big New York City to small town Riverdale. Two months later, you moved to Riverdale and your parents had you and Veronica enrolled in Riverdale High. Almost ten months later, things were definitely different from what your life was like before your mother met Hiram.
Today was just like any other day. Get up, take a shower, get dressed and go to school. When you went to the kitchen to make yourself a bowl of cereal, Hiram was sitting at the table with a cup of coffee in his hand as he read the newspaper.
“Did you see Veronica yet?” he asked.
“She already left like half an hour ago. I think she got a ride from Josie or Cheryl,” you said as you grabbed the milk and the box of Lucky Charms.
“I thought she was going to get a ride from you,” Hiram said as he put the newspaper and his coffee down.
“It’s been months now. She doesn’t want to be seen with a loser like me so she gets a ride from one of her fancy friends,” you said as you sat down to eat your cereal.
“You’re not a loser,” your mother said as she walked into the dining room and kissed the top of your head.
“Whatever. She can say whatever she wants about me,” you sighed as you shrugged your shoulders and checked the time on your phone. You finished the rest of your breakfast and washed your bowl and spoon before grabbing your bag. “I’ll see you guys after school.”
“Bye, sweetie,” your mother said.
“Have a good day, Y/N,” Hiram added as you left the apartment and went downstairs to where your car was parked.
You put your bag in the passenger seat and started heading to school with the radio playing loudly on one of your favourite channels. You stopped at a red light right beside a convertible with three girls inside who were playing their own loud music but yours played over theirs. You could feel them looking at you and you looked at them. The second you looked at them, they looked away and acted like they weren’t staring. One had an annoyed look on her face, one was looking down at her lap and one even rolled her eyes. You rolled your eyes at the audacity of those three girls to judge you when you were just minding your own business. As soon as the light turned green and the road was clear, you stepped on the gas and all you wanted was to get away from those girls. You thought about how they kind of reminded you of Veronica and you chuckled as you found a parking spot behind the school and turned the engine off.
As soon as you got out of the car, something hit you from behind and someone’s arms wrapped around your waist. “Hey, Y/N!” Betty said and you smiled as you turned around and looked at her.
She was smiling brightly and to be honest, her smile was very contagious and always managed to make you smile too. “Hi, Betty,” you replied.
“Did you understand yesterday’s math homework?” she asked.
“Yes and no. I’m still managing a pretty decent grade so it’s nothing I can’t handle,” you said as you shrugged your shoulders while you and Betty walked into the school.
As you were walking down the hallway, you saw Veronica in the student lounge sitting with Josie McCoy, Cheryl Blossom and Katy Keene. You ignored them as you headed to your locker and Betty leaned against the wall while you switched your math textbook for your English binder.
“Have you seen Toni around?” you asked as you closed your locker.
“Not yet,” Betty replied.
You sighed as the two of you walked to class and noticed a poster about the upcoming prom in less than three months and you rolled your eyes as you kept walking. The posters were just being put up and you already couldn’t stand the idea of prom. You knew Veronica would love to go but you were most likely going to stay home and watch The Lost Boys while eating Rocky Road ice cream. Overall, prom just didn’t seem very appealing to you. If Veronica wanted to go or if your friends wanted to go, that’s their business.
“I’ll see you in chemistry,” you said once you got to your English class,”
“See you in chemistry,” Betty replied before walking away and you sighed as you walked into the room and found your seat.
All the other students were entering the room and sitting down as well as your teacher stood at the front of the class and asked everyone what they thought about the book you were assigned to read. While other students were sharing their thoughts, you were sitting quietly. Until your teacher called your name.
“It was alright,” you said as you shrugged your shoulders.
“Just alright?” your teacher asked.
“Not so easily satisfied, Y/N?” Reggie asked with one of his shit eating grins and you rolled your eyes.
“It’s just that I’ve read it before and I don’t hate it but I don’t love it either so it’s just alright. I don’t really have much to say so just pick someone else or move on,” you explained it in the simplest way possible and you were hoping your teacher would get the hint you so graciously handed to him and either pick someone else to share their thoughts or move on from the conversation section.
“Ooh. Sounds like someone woke up with an attitude. Did you forget to take your Midol this morning?” Reggie asked and you turned around and glared at him.
“Suck my dick, asshole!” you said.
“Enough! I won’t tolerate such language in my class,” your teacher said and you scoffed.
“Oh, but you’ll tolerate this jerk bugging me since the start of class and making a dumbass period comment simply because I don’t wanna talk?” you questioned.
“Go to the office,” your teacher said sternly and you could hear all of your classmates snickering.
You rolled your eyes as you stood up and grabbed your stuff and smacked Reggie’s shoulder with your binder. You were already going to the office anyway so might as well let him know you’re not gonna let him make his dumbass period jokes without getting some sort of penalty for it. When you did get to the office, there were already two other students there and you wondered what they could possibly be in for. When it was your turn, you walked into the guidance office and heard the guidance counselor saying words to herself but they all meant the same thing.
“Melodramatic,” you said and that was when the guidance counselor noticed you standing there.
“Yes! Thank you,” she said. “So, I heard you were using inappropriate language in Mr. Hollingsworth’s class.”
“Reggie made a sexist period comment but no, me telling him to suck it is the real problem,” you said as you sat down.
“You said and I quote ‘suck my dick’,” the woman said as she closed her laptop.
“Same message,” you replied while shrugging your shoulders.
“Reggie says these things to get a reaction out of you. It’s best that you ignore it, act like it doesn’t bother you and eventually, he’ll get bored and give up,” the guidance counselor said and you scoffed.
“Reggie is a jerk who says and does what he wants because he knows you’re just gonna tell me to ignore it and basically let him trample all over me. If someone has enough and punches him, I’m not gonna look at them and tell them they were wrong because if you ask me, a punch in the face is long overdue and far too lenient,” you countered.
The woman sighed as she folded her hands on top of the desk. “Look. I know that you’ve had a hard time with Reggie since —”
“Since what?” you asked, cutting off her sentence. The woman in front of you sighed and looked at you sympathetically. “Don’t look at me like you understand me when you don’t.”
You grabbed your stuff and left the office without another word. You couldn’t wait until you could graduate and get out.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
During lunch, Jughead Jones, the school’s literature geek, decided to show the new boy, Archie Andrews, what kind of cliques were at Riverdale High. Jughead and Archie sat down at one of the outside tables and Archie looked around as Jughead pointed to every group of kids around them.
“Since I already showed you where everything is, it’s time you learned about what groups there are and more importantly, which ones to stay away from. Over there in the blue and white uniforms are the Riverdale Vixens. They’re the school’s cheerleading squad. Their leader is Cheryl Blossom, the one with the very striking red hair. Next to them in the yellow letterman jackets, they are your classic jocks. The Riverdale Bulldogs. Chuck Clayton’s dad is the football coach, Jason Blossom is the captain and also Cheryl’s twin brother and Reggie Mantle is the co-captain. It’s best to avoid both of those groups as much as you can,” Jughead said.
“Who’s that?” Archie asked and Jughead looked around.
“Who’s who?” he questioned.
“That girl. The one sitting next to Cheryl,” Archie said.
“Josie?” Jughead asked.
“No, the other one,” Archie said.
“That, my dear friend, is Veronica Lodge. One of the most popular girls at Riverdale High. She’s right up there with Cheryl Blossom and Josie McCoy. She and her family moved here from New York ten months ago and she immediately became friends with those two,” Jughead explained.
“Is she single?” Archie asked and Jughead sighed.
“Seriously, dude, you don’t wanna bother. There’s a reason she gets along so well with the Queen Bees. She’s very beautiful, I will admit, but she’s also shallow and dare I say conceited. She once threw a tantrum in the student lounge because the soda in the vending machine wasn’t cold enough. She also went on a rant because her nail polish got chipped,” he said.
“What if that’s just what everyone else sees? What if there’s an entirely different side no one else knows about?” Archie asked and Jughead scoffed.
“I highly doubt that. But let’s say there is for argument’s sake. She’s heavily discouraged from dating since her parents want her to focus on getting good grades and getting into a good college so it’s very unlikely she’ll be dating anyone,” he said.
It seemed like most of what he said went through one ear and out the other since he was still looking at Veronica and Jughead had to tell him to stop before anyone noticed and started calling him a creep. That definitely wasn’t the kind of reputation he wanted to get on his first day at a new school in a new town.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
When the day was finally over, you sighed with relief as you left the classroom and Betty and Toni caught up to you. “Do you guys want a ride home?” you asked.
“That would be great,” Toni replied and Betty nodded and you smiled at the two of them.
The three of you got to where your car was parked and Betty sat in the passenger seat while Toni sat in the backseat. You put your bag in the back next to her and got in the driver seat. As soon as the engine was on, you checked your mirrors to make sure there was no one in the way and started to back out but stopped when someone with headphones on walked right behind you. The pale boy nearly jumped as he stopped and you stuck your head out of the window.
“Watch where the fuck you’re going, dumbass!” you yelled and the boy nodded before scurrying away.
“Jesus. Did you have to yell at him like that?” Betty asked.
“Please. He had his headphones on and wasn’t looking where he was going. That’s on him,” you replied as you backed out.
You noticed Reggie’s car in front of you and you noticed Veronica and Josie getting inside. You groaned in disgust as he drove away and you were finally able to get out of the parking lot. If she wanted to get a ride from him, fine. You would personally find it funny when she would have to answer to your parents who made it clear they wanted her to get a ride from you to and from school.
Meanwhile, the boy you almost hit was standing with Archie who watched as you left the parking lot. “Are you okay?” he asked.
“Just a minor encounter with Y/N L/N. That’s Veronica’s sister,” Jughead said and Archie looked at him.
“Wait a minute. That’s Veronica’s sister?” he questioned incredulously.
“Stepsister if you wanna get technical. Veronica’s dad married Y/N’s mom, Y/N’s mom took Hiram’s last name but Y/N still has her dad’s last name. She’s the complete opposite of Veronica. The one thing they have in common is that you don’t wanna get tangled up with either of them. One is a snotty princess and the other is a tempestuous bitch. Just stay clear,” Jughead said.
“Noted,” Archie sighed as the two of them left the school and started walking home.