If We Had 5 More Minutes

Can't Outrun Fate

When she felt herself come to again, she could no longer hear the chanting and when she opened her eyes she was surrounded by darkness, all except the light that peered from underneath the door in front of her. She reached to open the handle and found herself at Riverdale High, the lights were off, and Toni could only assume it was after hours. She slowly made her way down the hall, she could hear music playing in the distance that sounded like it was coming from the gimnasium. As she suspected she was right, so she slipped her way through and hid by the bleacher, looking around for Cheryl, she peered her way around to try and find another lookout spot, and instead bumped into somebody and got punch spilled all over her. When she looked up she saw that it was Jughead and let out the Breath she had been holding.

"Jughead, sorry I didn't mean to." Toni apologized as she let out a sigh, scared she had bumped into herself.

"All good Toni, no worries." Jughead smiled back with a playful tone.

"Hey do you by any chance happen to know where Cheryl is?" Toni asked, not seeing the harm in it. Jughead looked at her cryptically. Before he could say anything Betty came up behind him, holding his arm and placing her head on his shoulder.

"Hey, jug, hey Toni." Betty looked at Toni giving her a fake smile.

"Why aren't you dressed up?" Betty asked.

"She was looking for Cheryl." Jughead responded.

"Well, Cheryl's became quite popular today, what was the other girl's name Jug?" Betty looked towards Jughead.

"It was Heather." He answered as he snapped his fingers together.

"That's right, Heather. Why were you looking for Cheryl again?" Betty asked, directing her attention towards Toni again, as she took a step closer. Seemingly growing suspicious of Toni, but Toni was left speechless

"Well- I was- I just." Toni stuttered through her answer feeling like she was being interrogated.

"Yeah Toni, you guys are practically attached by the hip." Jughead said as he let out a cynical laugh.

"You know Toni, you're not looking so good, you sure you're feeling like yourself." he pushed

"Yeah Toni, you should just go home." Betty emphasized, now the both of them coming closer, and giving her a threatening glare. Toni took a step back now growing intimidated by the teenage detective power couple.

"You know what, maybe you're right, maybe I'm not feeling so well after all." Toni responded slowly, and they both smiled at her menacingly, so Toni waved them goodbye and hurried out the gimnasium as fast as she could, without making it seem too obvious. After she exited the gym, she ran down the hallways now, paranoid of the fact that maybe Betty and Jughead were following close behind, she felt like she was being hunted. She bursted through the school's backdoors scanning the parking lot for a car to hot wire, her eyes landed on her old motorcycle, and she let out a sigh of relief. Oh thank god, she thought to herself as she finished hotwiring her old bike and threw the helmet on, she had the advantage of knowing how this night goes. Cheryl and Toni would enjoy the dance, but wouldn't get to go home together due to her nana, she remembered the night like it was yesterday. It was a painful memory that she couldn't forget if she tried, so she made her way to Thistlehouse, where she knew Cheryl would end her night at.

Toni had waited outside for what seemed like forever, it was past midnight and still no sign of Cheryl, maybe she went to Sweetwater river, she thought to herself. Toni pondered the thought some more, what if Cheryl did go to Sweetwater river, what if what Toni said triggered something. The thought of causing Cheryl to feel such a way made her feel sick to her stomach, she knew about Cheryl's attempt, but Cheryl never really shared the details, just that she was at her lowest. Toni lost in thought, didn't realize Cheryl's impala had already pulled up, she slowly made her way up the driveway, the car was still warm and sticking, which meant she hadn't been here long. So she snuck her way up through the side of the house using the gutter like she had in highschool back when the blossoms forbade her presence, what she hadn't noticed was that she had been followed, and wasn't the only one sneaking into Thistlehouse. Toni creeped in the window, careful to not make any noise as she gently laid the window down, Cheryl wasn't in her room, so she made her way down the hallway slowly. As she tiptoed down the stairs, she heard the sound of weeping in the distance, a sound she grew familiar with, but never accustomed, a sound she hated. She had made it downstairs and crept through the hallway, trying her best to be quiet, not that her footsteps carried much noise anyways.