The Better Andrews ||Veronica Lodge||

0.9

Alex set the paper down on the kitchen table and put her jacket on. It was 4:15 AM, meaning she had over an hour until Hal expected her to be there. She decided that she would earn her money, even if she wanted him to lose everything on account of the fact he's horrible. Alex wished she had a car desperately, but the dirt bike that she'd literally found at a yard sale would have to do for the moment being.

She sped off with her tools towards the place and was suprised to see the lights on inside. She knocked on the door and Hal opened it, looking tired as hell. She set her tools down and made sure her bike was fixed to a rack so nobody would try and steal her baby. She'd worked fairly hard to fix it, surprised that she was as good with her hands as she was. It seemed that manual labor came easily to her.

"You're way early." Hal said and Alex shrugged. "If you keep showing up at this time, you'll end up with a raise."

"I'm here early because I leave at 5." Alex said and Hal nodded. "Hermione promoted me to helping her in the office as long as I'm helping you with this and then helping Jughead."

"Alice will be stopping by soon." Hal said and Alex nodded before having what she was doing explained to her. She immediately went straight to patching the hole in the wall. It was fist sized, but it was bigger than the ones she'd left in her room.

"Hal, why is there a dirt bike outside?" Alice asked and Everywhere by Fleetwood Mac started playing. "Did you hire someone to fix this place up?"

"Yeah, they're working $250 a day." Hal said and Alex stepped out from behind a wall, a hammer in her hand. "That's who I hired."

"I don't think this is legal." Alice said and Alex gave her a look. "Why are you doing this anyways?"

"Because I need money so I can move in to my own apartment by the end of the year." Alex said and Alice gave her a look. "Archie has been driving me crazy and I don't want to live with him anymore."

"How much do you make monthly?" Alice asked and Alex shrugged. "How much from Hermione?"

"Paychecks vary place to place, but I get to keep all my tips from Pop's and make like $200 each check." Alex said and Alice nodded. "I'm wanting a fairly nice place. Besides, my mom will be stopping by and collecting like a week's worth of work to make sure I'm still being educated."

"She really cares about you." Hal said and Alex went back to working. She was done a bit early and had fixed the 4 holes he'd left in the wall. She immediately went to shower and then to the trailer that Hermione was working out of.

"What have you got for me today?" Alex asked opening the door. Hermione looked up, a stressed look on her face. "What is it?"

"Hiram." Hermione said and Alex nodded before looking at the cold shake on the desk. "Veronica brought it over for you, she's talking with Archie outside."

"Archie's here?" Alex asked and Hermione nodded. "What's he doing here?"

"School's almost out and he wanted a summer job." Hermione said and Alex walked out of the trailer and towards her brother. Archie looked at her and flinched, expecting her to punch or slap him.

"I thought you hated construction." Alex said, a hand on her hip. "I thought you wanted to be the next Troy Bolton?"

"Very funny Alex, but I want to help make money too." Archie said and Alex's face softened. "I did some thinking and I was wrong to say those things about you. You're overworked and you should work at your own pace to figure out your emotions."

"Thank you and you should keep it because hopefully I'll have my own place soon." Alex said and Archie gave her a look. "I'm stop by for dinner and stuff, but I need my freedom too you know."

"Yeah, as long as you don't cut us out." Archie said and Alex hugged him. They were around the same height, Archie obviously bigger than her. "Are you going to try the meds?"

"No, I'm getting a chance to prove I don't need them." Alex said and Archie nodded. "I hope that I don't fuck it up though."

"So do I." Archie said and Alex went back to the trailer to look over papers and help make blue prints. By the time her shift had ended, she was tired and ended up being carried and driven home by one of the guys.

"You're home later than expected." Mary said and Alex shrugged. "How was working with Hal?"

"Okay, he punches a lot of walls." Alex said and Mary pointed at the envelope on the table. Alex opened it up and pulled out $300. She handed $100 of it to her mother and put the rest on top of the fridge.

"What's this?" Mary asked and Alex pointed at the nearly empty fridge. "Okay if you're suddenly giving grocery money, something is up."

"I think that it's time for me to start showing responsibility." Alex said and Mary gave her a look. "I have a list of things I want you to do."

"Dinner's in the fridge." Mary said before putting the money with the rest and heading to bed. Alex ate dinner, filled out another few papers for school and then went to bed at around 2. She woke up and left the house at 5, happy it was Friday and she had the weekend to herself except for the shifts at Pop's.

She'd gotten another $300 from Hal when she got home and didn't even have to work construction since Hermione was looking for a new spot to work. She ate dinner with her family and then hung out upstairs while Archie went to a party. She hadn't really partied since her dad died, but they had never really been her thing. If she could stay home and play video games all night, she'd pick that.