𝕢𝕦𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕠𝕗 𝕣𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕕𝕒𝕝𝕖

18

Don't be fooled by the facade of the Blossom family. That whole "proud of our children" act that they put on is the work of the devil.

It seems like the Blossoms want people to suspect that they had Jason, their own son, killed. And people did probably think that, just never really said anything about it.

It was the day of Jason's funeral and the mood of the Thornhill Mansion was just somber.

Arabella tried her best to stay mature throughout the process of Jason's funeral; knowing well not to pick any fights with Cheryl or anyone else in the family.

Eric and Arabella walked up the gloomy house's long driveway, along with a few other people, to be met by a person handing out pamphlets decorated with elegant swirls and Jason's full name in cursive.

"Just looking at this makes me nauseous again," Arabella whispered to Eric, hoping nobody else heard her. "Love," she begagain, tugging slightly on her boyfriend's sleeve, "I feel like I'm not supposed to even be here."

Eric exhaled sharply before pressing his lips against the temple of Arabella's head.

"It'll be okay," he said reassuringly, "just remember to breathe like I showed you. Do you remember that?"

"When we were at Pop's and I was ranting about how Betty and Archie were perfect for each other and Jughead needed to not be so extra," Arabella laughed to herself, realizing that maybe smiling at a funeral wasn't a good idea. "I could never forget that, Eric," the young Queen said.

Prince Charming blushed prominently at his girlfriend, even if her tried his best to hide it.

"If you feel like that, just breathe."

The couple met with their friends in the funeral room, where Jason's body laid in a closed casket.

Flashes of what he looked like, with the gun wound in his forehead, reappeared in Arabella's head and caused her to grip Eric's hand tightly.

"Hey, Eric," Betty said in her relaxed voice. Jughead and Betty stood in front of the couple with anxious faces.

The blonde's interupption thankfully caused the image in Arabella's brain to disappear.

"Do you mind if I... if we borrow Bella for a sec?" She asked, reaching for the girl's hand.

Arabella looked up at Eric and pressed her lips into a thin smile, "I'll be right back."

The blonde girl pulled her friend to the side while Jughead followed discreetly.

"What's up?" The young Queen asked, hoping that it wasn't anything bad.

"Have you seen Cheryl yet?" Betty asked with slightly furrowed eyebrows.

"No. Why?"

"Because Veronica thinks that Cheryl's gonna do something," Juggie said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Hopefully she does do something. It's her twin brother's funeral," Arabella explained before realizing something. "Wait, why would Veronica have the idea that Cheryl was going to do something?"

Betty pulled her hand from holding Ara's to crossing her arms over her chest, "you didn't know?"

Jughead explained simply, "Veronica had a sleepover with little miss gossip princess here at Thornhill."

Arabella furrowed her eyebrows now, wondering why her friend would do that.

"Why did she-?"

But before Arabella finished, Betty just shrugged.

"Well, are you guys at least investigating?" Arabella whispered and the pair nodded.

"Cool," she said before looking in the small crowd of people to find Eric, curious when she didn't see him, "let me know if you find anything."

Arabella left her friends standing near the wall of the funeral room to go look for her boyfriend.

She didn't want to come off as snooping, so she grabbed her nearest friend who was alone from their seat.

"Ara, what gives?" Archie asked with annoyance from the way she grabbed his hand and pulled him along.

"I can't find Eric," she said straightforwardly, "and I'm not walking through this creepy ass house alone."

Taking that as fair enough, the Weasley followed his friend towards Mr. and Mrs. Blossom. She may have dreaded it, but it was proper of her to address them.

"Missus Blossom," Arabella smiled sorrowfully. The red headed woman looked at the short girl who she hated more than anyone... except the girl's mother.

"Queen," she smiled falsely, making sure that the fake happiness didn't last very long. "What a pleasure for you to make it."

Arabella nodded, "I want to support Cheryl and Eric. They need it a lot. And I'm glad to help with anything you need as well."

The woman held her head high, literally, before changing subjects by looking at Archie.

Arabella noticed and acknowledged it.

"Oh," she exclaimed forgetfully, "this is my friend Archie."

"We've met," the lady said while Archie tried his best to not come off as annoying.

"Where's your actual date?" Blossom asked, looking at Arabella right in her eyes. The young Queen swore that the stare was icy, but it was glossed over by a facade of sincerity.

"That's actually what I wanted to ask you. Have you seen him around? I can't seem to find him and it would be rude of me to go searching around your home," Arabella explained.

The woman squinted her eyes almost as if studying Ara's fake emotions. "It would be very rude of you," Blossom stated. "But I have not seen him. Maybe you should search this room again."

Arabella smiled with false thankfulness before taking Archie's hand in her own and turning to go back to his seat.

"I need to find him," Arabella whispered to Archie, who was paying attention to something down the hall when Ara looked up at him.

"I did." Archie subtly pointed to Arabella's blonde boyfriend, who looked like he was comforting someone standing in a doorway.

Arabella left Archie to tell her boyfriend how worried she was until she noticed that the person he was hugging was Cheryl Blossom. He didn't stop there; Ara saw Eric kiss Cheryl on the temple of her head, just like he did to his girlfriend.

"Bella," the young Queen heard Archie call, but she just stood there feeling betrayed.

She thought that her boyfriend did that to her alone; only to find out that he cared equally for her as he did Cheryl Blossom.

Cheryl Blossom: the girl Arabella hated more than anything.

Ara pretended that nothing was wrong when she swallowed her emotions and turned to face the red-headed Archie again.

"I'm going to pretend I didn't see that," Arabella said reaching for Archie's hand once again, "we are just going to walk away."

Archie looked down at his friend who seemed to be heartbroken, and he just had to say something. "Bella," he began, "you can't just ignore that. He's being unfaithful."

Arabella sighed deeply, feeling in her gut that Arch was right, but she also felt like he was wrong. It was just a kiss on the forehead and Eric was a family friend to the Blossoms; no matter how much Arabella hated them.

"It's fine. We're fine," the young Queen said, "but I can't stay here. Not now."

Arabella's eyes wandered around the small room, that many people were confined to, in search of Mrs. Blossom to say her condolences before exiting the home.