o. the audio files

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" What is this? " Veronica asked while she held the iPod tightly. It was probably the last of her best friend that she can feel or even hear.

" She placed 13 audio files on the iPod. Those audio files contains every reason why she died. She wants you, all, know that her death is the answer to everything. " Before she died, she appointed Jughead as the first to know about the iPod. He had to deal with her loss first which was the hardest and he had to hide it from her mother. Most of the residents at Riverdale hated Alice Cooper and her straightforward ways of journalism. Right now, she became the blame to why Betty died. She had to face the disgust the residents showed her for being a 'bad mom' while she continued to help Polly with the loss of her sister.

From Veronica to Fred Andrews, everyone was gathered in Pop's. Betty's death was a colossal of a problem to Riverdale. She wanted to die ever since the tragedy of Jason Blossom. From that moment, she felt helpless. She learned that her sister was in a place for troubled girls, her father wanted her sister to correct her mistakes, the one person she ever loved declined her and so much more. She was drowning with everything and she was on edge with her life so for her, she had to end it.

" Jughead! Why do you know about this? I'm sorry but why–how come you know about these? " Alice, her mother, definitely felt a heavier sense of sorrow hearing that someone other than her knew about how she felt throughout her days.

" I can't really say anything but all the things you have to know is all in the iPod, Mrs. Cooper."

Meanwhile, Archie stood silently. He was sure that he was one of the reasons why. He had declined her love for him a long time ago. He rejected her, he made it look like that her heart was something that wasn't fragile. He hated how he treated her. He slammed the neon pink diner table of Pop's, dragging the attention to him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. I'm just dismayed and disheartened after this. I just can't believe she's gone."

Everyone felt what Archie felt. Everyone was heartbroken, Betty somehow became a beacon of light for all of them, but now she's gone. Completely gone. Nobody dared touch the iPod other than Veronica. She held on the gadget tightly, reminding her of the days where they'd completely bond over many things. She remembered sitting at their booth, here, at Pop's. Drinking their signature vanilla and chocolate milkshakes, the gang was created. She just wasn't good enough to see that her best friend was struggling, all this time. "Mrs. Cooper, I'm really sorry if I wasn't great of a friend to Betty. I should've been more of a good friend and listened to her when she needed someone to lean on. I became selfish and she felt alone. I'm really sorry."

Alice reached out to Veronica and hugged her. She knew that she struggled but so did everyone. But to be honest, she was surprised to see the Blossoms. The Blossoms weren't the type to visit at the funeral of the death of their nemesis. But there they stood, behind the booth. They stood quietly like they were sincerely sad about her death. But she spoke too soon, they left except for Cheryl.

Everyone just stood still. Nobody spoke a word. They either looked out at the window or looked down. But Jughead broke the deafening silence, "Mrs. Cooper, I'm sorry but it's time for us to listen to the audio files. I know it's hard but it would be better if we started earlier."

Alice signaled Veronica to start playing the tape. She was hesitant and that the world's weight was on her shoulders, but all she had to do was press play. She had no choice so she had to play it even if it hurts her.

The audio played but began with a short silence. " Is this a joke? " Archie exclaimed but before he could say anything more, they all heard the voice they all missed.

Hey. Its Betty. Betty Cooper.

That voice somehow blew a cold breeze in the contained diner. Alice broke down to hear her daughter who was no longer anywhere near her. Veronica and Archie couldn't help but follow in with the tears. Polly couldn't help her instincts so she stopped the gadget. "I dont want this. It still hurts, I can't hear her voice or else I don't know what I'd do."

Alice simply whispered to Polly's ears that somehow made her play the file. Her soothing voice was heard again.

As you all know, I'm dead. What a great Riverdale mystery, am I right? To avoid too much labor for each and everyone of you, I made these audio files for you to find out why. You'd probably ask why would Riverdale's perfect American girl want to kill herself? Well, that's why I gave this to you. On a serious note, I have 13 reasons why I'm no longer with you and to add, the people that dear Jughead brought to this room are all the reason why I'm dead. But if you check out of this album, check the playlist with the 'Pop's' title on it. In it are some of the things that triggered and made things harder for me to live. And for those who feel weird listening to a dead person in a public diner, I sent an email attachment complete with every audio file in the Pod. So welcome to the 13 reasons why Riverdale's perfect little Elizabeth Cooper died. Off to the main dish, my first reason: Valerie Brown.

The file ended. Shock was in people's faces. It was inevitable for everyone. Jughead admitted to himself that he didn't really listen to the files since he was too scared to admit that she was gone. Gone, gone, gone. She was never going back, no matter how hard they tried.

For the rest, nobody knew why Valerie Brown was on the list. Nobody knew what ever happened with them, before except for one, Polly. But she knew that it wasn't her position to speak of that time at their lives. It was Betty's, not hers.

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