FRONT PAGE ☆ SWEET PEA

TWO

"forsythe the third! i command you to get your butt into this booth!"
chapter two — southside girl

The haunted events occuring in Riverdale shattered the seemingly perfect reputation of Riverdale. The murder of an innocent teen and an expecting father. A serial killer on the loose targeting sinners. A group of high schoolers who plotted to take him down. Growing tensions between the North and the South. Some people might think of leaving the small town and never looking back. But others stayed, purely for the sake of a good mystery and seeing it all unfold. Serial killer be damned.

For Debbie Cooper, reporting these strange happenings were essentially her life. Besides the legendary strawberry milkshakes at Pop's.

"Wake up, Debbie!" Alice snapped the curtains of her windows open, sighing happily. "Today's a wonderful day to expose the Southside."

Debbie merely grumbled under her breath and buried herself deeper under the covers, to which Alice responded by pulling them off and happily singing to herself. Seeing as there was no use to arguing with Alice's abnormally cheerful behaviour, especially after what just happened at the Town Hall, she forced herself to sit up. "Well, you look happy today."

"Why shouldn't I be?" Her aunt smiled mischievously. "I just published the article trashing the Southside and that redheaded troublemaker disbanded that problematic Red Circle. It's a day full of endless possibilities."

Rolling her eyes, Debbie got up off of her bed and ignored the rest of Alice's tyrade about the Southside. Of course, only Alice would be enthusiastic about the latest exposé on the Serpents. Debbie had some weird resentment against the Southside, but not as extreme as her aunt's. Anyway, after she got her stuff together and prepared herself for school, she stopped by Betty's room, only to find that she was already out the door and walking to school with Archie. There goes one of her investigation partners.

The school day went by uneventfully, with only a few occasional jabs at Reggie and spending some time alone at the Blue and Gold.

Stopping by Pop's after school was a daily routine for Debbie. It might not necessarily be healthy, but a burger right after school always helped with writing her latest scathing article ideas. Setting her laptop down on one side and a burger on the other, Debbie waited until the inspiration came. The bell rang from the main entrance, signaling the arrival of Jughead Jones. Perfect. "Forsythe the Third! I command you to get your butt into this booth!"

The beanie wearing writer glared at her, but still sat down across from her, laptop in hand. "What do you want, Debbie?"

"That's not a good way to talk to your girlfriend's cousin," She smirked. "Besides, you're one of the best writers I know and I wanna know how you're doing at that-" Debbie's expression soured. "Mess you call a high school."

"I'm gonna choose to focus on the compliment. And it's not a mess, it's just..." Jughead paused. "Yeah, it's a mess. Especially after what Archie has done."

"Let me guess, this is about that dramatic brawl yesterday. What kind of mess?"

"I'm not sure I should be telling you of all people." Debbie raised her eyebrow from his reluctance.

"Why not?"

"You're basically like a junior Alice Cooper in training. I know you have a weird dislike of the Southside and especially Serpents." Jughead paused to give Pop his usual order, then went back to talking to Debbie. "The Serpents already think I'm not a part of them, and if they catch a word of me telling you about troubles in the Southside, I'll be dead meat."

"Wait, are you not a Serpent? How does the Serpent system even work? I thought you guys just slapped on a jacket and did some drinking games and went behind that bar and-" She was cut off by Jughead's intense frown and she sheepishly apologized. "I'll shut up."

"Finally."

"Okay, so obviously, these guys don't trust you. So join them. Start pulling your weight and prove you deserve to be one of them. I know how groups work and I doubt the Serpents are any different. You just need to stroll in there and proclaim your place with them." Taking a bite of her burger, Jughead looked at her incredulously.

"That was actually pretty good advice."

"I know. You can repay me by getting me a strawberry milkshake and treating my cousin right."

☆

The following day was total chaos. The mail had arrived that morning and it brought something none of the Coopers were excited to see.

"SOUTHSIDE TEEN ARRESTED AND RELEASED ON BAIL." Beneath was a picture of a younger Alice Cooper: a hint of malice and mischief in her eyes, a threatening scowl adorning her face. It was a total game changer. Shaking her head, Debbie had to prevent herself from grabbing Betty and demanding why she could have possibly done this.

It was either because she was rebelling or... up to something no good. With a serial killer roaming around and knowing her cousin, she put the pieces together. The puzzle. That creepy ringtone. The sudden time with Archie.

After Alice and Hal fired into Betty, she went up to her and subtly whispered. "I know something's up, Betty. And I will figure it out."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Betty stood up to go back to her room, but Debbie blocked her.

"I just want to help, Bets. You're my family and I don't want anything happening to you." She pleaded with her, and Betty almost cracked there and then, but she stopped herself. Polly and her babies were on the line.

"I'm sorry, Debs. I can't."

Debbie was left alone in the dining room, even more confused and angry than ever. She hated not knowing what to do or what was going on in other people's heads. But then, a light bulb went off in her head and she frantically raced for the door, towards the Southside. Something she never thought she'd do, especially at night, when danger was lurking around the corner. But lives may be on the line here.

If Betty couldn't tell her, maybe her boyfriend could help her figure it out.