𝕢𝕦𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕠𝕗 𝕣𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕕𝕒𝕝𝕖

36

After her decision to move to New York, Arabella felt as if she had nothing else to contribute to Riverdale considering she wouldn't have to worry about the horrid place that held horrid memories anymore.

A heavy weight seemed to have lifted off of her shoulders; a weight that gifted her lungs the ability it intake air again.

It's not that Arabella wanted to forget her life, her friends, her love in Riverdale; it's just that she couldn't stand being there anymore herself. Believe her if she could pack them all up and lug them along, she wouldn't hesitate, but she much rather decided to be a bit selfish; by leaving in general and not telling everyone until after Jughead's birthday — which happened to be today.

Arabella had decided to wake up an hour earlier than Jughead that morning to make a plate of pancakes for him. Considering he hated his birthday, Arabella just stuck a small, pink wax birthday candle through the dollop of whip cream she garnished the buttermilk pancakes with.

Using her handy ivory-colored lighter that she always kept on her, the young Queen lit the wick with an excited smile for the candle wasn't normal! Instead of a little orange light, a sparkling flame bursted from the wick in a bright pink color, reminding her of a mini firework.

Attempting not to drop the plate she held while she also went to pick up the gift she had gotten Jughead, Arabella decided it was best to place the plate on top of the gift before she carefully made her way up her home's grand, marble staircase.

The walk to Jughead's bedroom at the end of the hall was dripping with excited anticipation for Arabella. But once she made it to his door, she suppressed the fireworks in her tummy because he knew he would be salty the entire day if she didn't.

Arabella creaked the door open a little, letting a line of light front the corridor to appear on the wood floors of the boy's bedroom.

"Jug?" She whispered to see if he was awake — which he wasn't.

The girl crept in a little more, almost tripping on the rug near his bed, but catches herself before anything could be misplaced.

"Jughead," she whispered a little louder than before, now that she could see that the light from the hall had awoken him. "Get the hell up."

The boy shifted under the white cotton sheets that adorned his bed to face Arabella rather than having her stare at the back of his grey t-shirt.

"Good morning to you, too," Jug said sarcastically; wiping the tire out of his eyes before squint at his friend, whose smile shined brighter than the light from behind her.

It wasn't until Jughead took notice in the sparkler on the pancakes that his expressionless morning face had quickly formed into absolute detest. He was about to protest when Arabella began speaking quickly to interrupt him.

"I know you hate your birthday — a lot, but you also know that I do this every year; so don't fight it, just let it happen."

The grin on Arabella's tawny face became wider when she placed the gift and the pancakes on Jughead's bed.

"After this," the young Queen continued, "today will just be a normal day... I hope."

With a deep sigh, Jughead slouched defenselessly over the sparkler in front of him before looking back up at Arabella, who was surprisingly still smiling.

"Me, too, Bella," he weakly smiled up at his sister figure before a small blow left his lips and put out the minuscule candle.

The young Queen put her hands together with a cheesy grin on her face before launching herself onto Jughead with a bear hug. The two fell back on the bed, considering Arabella did weigh significantly more than Jug.