WITHOUT YOU [RIVERDALE] (on hold)

02

One of the best things about Riverdale High was the freedom to eat lunch outside. Julia had missed that at boarding school, usually because the weather was never nice enough. She spotted all of the cliques at their signature tables and realized that she didn't have a place to eat. Going up to Cheryl's table, like she would have done 5 months ago, didn't seem so comfortable anymore.

Julia decided to sit with her cousin, Kevin, Archie, and Veronica. She used to never hang around with Betty, but the kind girl had accepted her without hesitation. Julia decided that she seemed like a good Plan B.

Her boots sunk into the grass, one of Julia's biggest pet peeves, but she sucked it up and moved along. She frowned and let out an aggravated sigh. Conversation ceased once her presence was noticed.

As she approached the picnic table, she set her lunch tray down and slid next to Archie and across from Kevin.

"Yeah that's the plan." Archie answered a question that Julia missed out on.

The boy turned to his side and looked at Julia. "So how's your first day back going? Good?"

Julia shook her head and looked at him,"Honestly no, but I don't wanna talk about it." She ignored the worried looks from the table. To deflect the attention onto someone other than herself she looked at Veronica, "How about your first day?"

"Not to be a complete narcissist, but I thought people would be more..." she trailed off.

"Obsessed with you?" Kevin finished Veronica's sentence. "Any other year you'd be trending number one for sure." Veronica looked down and smiled. "This year though, it's all about Cheryl trying to win the Best Supporting Psycho Oscar for her role as Riverdale High's Bereaved Red Widow. And about Julia's mysterious return after jetsetting off to Europe." Kevin shot the blonde girl a curious look, as if he was expecting her to give him information. It seemed like the questions of her departure followed her around every corner.

"Well, I-" she began to speak.

Archie suddenly stood up, "Hey, I should go. I got that meeting with Grundy and then football tryouts so..."

"You play football too? What don't you do?" Julia furrowed her brows and wondered how Veronica knew so much about Archie when she'd only been in Riverdale for less than 24 hours.

Julia stared at the back of Archie's letterman jacket as he walked away cooly. She remembered how he used to let her wear it when they would go to the drive in theater. But now he seemed off, just like everyone else that she used to hang out with.

As soon as Archie was out of ear's distance, Kevin immediately began to talk about him. "Before you ask, Blue Jasmine, no, she has not invited him to the dance yet-"

"Not yet, and don't talk about Archie." Julia wondered why Betty was speaking so fast, but when she looked up and saw the Blossom girl approaching their table she understood.

"Veronica Lodge. I'd heard whisperings. I'm Cheryl Blossom. May I sit?" The raven haired girl nodded at Cheryl. The queen bee's appearance could have been seen as friendly, but Julia knew her too well. She guessed that Cheryl was trying to figure out how big of a threat Veronica was to her popularity. "Betty would you mind?" She shoved Betty to the side, and the domino effect made Julia almost fall off of the bench.