Dorothy Gale; 1 | [RIVERDALE] UNDER CONSTRUCTION

nr. 5 - the big breakdown

"Mom! You can't keep avoiding me on this. What is so bad about me wanting to visit dad?" Dot asked annoyed. Her mom had been avoiding talking about Dot's dad ever since she first asked on Saturday. It was Monday and Dot was growing agitated with her mother. She didn't understand why wanting to see her father was a bad thing. Her mom made it seem like it would be world-changing.

"Dorothy, there are certain reasons why you can't visit your father. You just have to trust me on this," Octavia pleaded.

Dot shook her head. "What could have been so bad? What terrible thing did dad do when you two called it quits that I can't visit him now?" she asked. "Did he hit you? Or cheat? What did he do?"

Octavia shook her head. "What? No!"

"Then why, Mom?!"

Her mom's lips formed into a thin line. "I don't have time to talk about this anymore. I gotta get to work and you're late for school. So get going, Dot. We'll talk about this tonight."

Dot angrily grabbed her bag and keys and rushed out of the house. She was going to see her dad one way or another. If her mother didn't want to help her she would have to find her own way.

----------

"Betty, you're positively radiating Nicholas Sparks. Tell me everything about this Trev." Veronica demanded as the group walked to the bleachers to eat their lunch.

"Oh, there's nothing to tell. Just one of Betty's sources, there's nothing romantic in the offing," Kevin said, almost offended.

"Why is everything weird here? Why can't a date just be a date?" V asked as they sat down next to Archie. Dot snagged a fry from Veronica. "What about you, Archie? How's life in a PG world?" Veronica continued. "PG. Post-Grundy," she explained when she realized no one got her joke. "What, too soon?" she asked, despite knowing she was right.

Apparently, when most of the town was at the Drive-In on Friday, Mrs. Cooper found out about Archie's and Ms. Grundy's affair and made her leave town. Archie ignored the comment. "Coach Clayton says I have a shot at being varsity captain. So I'm not thinking about anything else right now," he explained.

"And you're back to being boring," Veronica said snappishly.

"Are you, maybe, throwing yourself into football as a way to avoid your feelings?" Betty asked concerned.

"I'm not avoiding anything, Betty, I'm trying to get my life back on track," Archie assured her.

Valerie sat down next to Archie. "I can help with that. I know Ms. Grundy was tutoring you," she said.

"Understatement of the year," Veronica quietly said. Dot lightly bumped her arm. V laughed out loud, stuffing another fry in her mouth.

"But there's this amazing songwriter from New York, who's an adjunct at Carson College? Incredible mentor. He does some coaching on the side and I told him about you. You wanna meet him?"

"Yeah, yeah I'd love to, but football-" Archie tried telling her.

Dot sighed annoyed. Valerie was serving Archie an opportunity on a silver platter and he was about to squander them for football.