𝕢𝕦𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕠𝕗 𝕣𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕕𝕒𝕝𝕖

38

The living room filled up quickly with Riverdale High students that Cheryl Blossom had invited — including the dreaded Chuck Clayton.

The heat from bodies sporadically clumped together in groups kept the house feeling like a sauna. People dancing on each other would only breathe in the air others exhaled. The DJ's music blasted loud enough from the speakers to cause the pastel walls to shake.

Arabella recognized almost everyone in the house, but there was one fair face and mop of straight blonde hair that she knew probably wouldn't appear no matter how much she hoped.

Arabella toyed with the gold charm on her pendant — refraining from slipping it between her lips to calm the adrenaline the mixture of music and alcohol throbbing through her veins. She wanted a friend to drag onto the dance floor and actually have a good time with, but the only one she could find at the moment was the boy who was making out with Joaquin on the kitchen counter.

Betty, Jughead and Archie were out of sight and she didn't necessarily trust Veronica right now. Arabella just had to search for someone she knew who was already out there. She chugged what was left in her red cup and tossed it onto one of the many table's Archie's house had.

Arabella began to wedge herself between people to get to the middle of the dance floor, but the faint sound of the door slamming shut stole her attention. He was here — this wasn't his scene, but he was here?

Arabella found that her eyes were fixed on his wandering blue ones, looking for people he knew; her feet began to move towards him before her brain could completely register what she was doing. "Eric?" She shouted over the music — Arabella was back to reality. "What're you doing here?"

Eric furrowed his eyebrows slightly while he fully processed what she yelled over the noise. "Uh," He hummed. "Cheryl invited me. Have you seen her?"

Arabella couldn't really hear, but she could make out some of what he told her. "Who invited you?" She questioned over the music.

Before Eric could reply to Arabella, Cheryl clapped her heels against the wooden floor and stood right between the former couple; pressing her cherry red lips onto Eric's.

Arabella's breath stopped in her throat as she couldn't believe what she just witnessed. Eric and Cheryl — she knew it. This entire time, she knew they had something going on. And he was quick to move on from Arabella?

Cheryl pulled away from Eric and un-hesitatingly turned to look at Arabella.

"Oh! Arabella," She smirked. "I didn't see you there. I thought you were with Archie."

Eric's eyes never left Arabella's. He wanted to explain to her that this was a mistake — that it was Cheryl being her chaotic self; but Arabella didn't want to hear it.

"You jump between girls really quick, Eric." She said defeatedly. "Son of a bitch — I knew it."

Arabella backed away from the couple she dreaded to look at and realized she had turned into the kitchen after noticing that light a bright light illuminated everything around her.

To think that she felt that Eric was different — Hell, that he was even better than Archie, especially after knowing the both of them nearly her entire life.

Arabella maneuvered through the sea of bodies until she was finally in the backyard to get some fresh air. The first familiar face she noticed was Archie who was dabbing his wet clothes with a chunk of paper towels. Arabella didn't want to talk to him mainly because of what happened with Eric.

She trudged down the wooden staircase and onto the dark grass that engulfed the soles of her ivory boots. Betty was the second person she laid eyes on, and thank god she did — she was the perfect person to tell everything to. The only thing was that Betty was chatting it up with Veronica.

Arabella scowled as she watched the girls talk, knowing that they would become closer after she left Riverdale. She dreaded the thought of it, but it was the truth — Veronica would take Arabella's place. She wanted to avoid them the best she could, so she turned on her heel and marched right back up the wooden staircase and into Archie's house.

Arabella had decided to rest in the kitchen where she felt no one would bother her and to grab a bottle of water from Archie's refrigerator but she didn't get much time to herself because someone clutched her wrist and tugged on it to make her face them. It was Veronica.

"Hey, Ara." Veronica sighed, looking as if she didn't want to be there, yet she still showed Arabella a small smile. "Can we talk for a second?"

Arabella hesitatingly nodded — Veronica instantly pulling the girl to an isolated area. Upstairs and to the right was a bathroom that they could occupy. Veronica closed the door and locked it behind them.

Arabella crossed her arms over her chest after Veronica let go of her. "What's up?" She asked.

Veronica placed her red cup on the porcelain sink as if it weighed the same as a vase. This was strange — Veronica has never decided to speak to her alone like this, they weren't this close yet.

"I need a favor from you." She said sternly, inching her face a little closer to Arabella's confused one. Not really giving the girl time to answer her statement, Veronica spoke once again.

"Stay away from Archie. You've hurt him enough and he doesn't deserve it."

Arabella scoffed, taking a sip from her cup as if she were preparing for battle.

"How long have you been here, again? Like three seconds?" Arabella stated. "Who are you to tell me what to do in my relationship with Archie?"

Veronica was slightly taken aback by the way Arabella spoke to her — she hadn't seen this side of the girl before. She raised an eyebrow and was about to respond but Arabella cut her off.

"Listen, Lodge. Archie is my best friend and my ex-boyfriend. If anything, I should be the one telling you to stay away from him." Arabella slightly growled at her, taking a small step closer to Veronica who stumbled back. "I know who your father is, Lodge. He may be careful with a lot of things, but he was pretty reckless when picking what firm his lawyer came from. I know what he does — I know who he is... and I know who you are. Give me unwarranted advice again and you'll see just how scary I can be."

Arabella huffed and shoved past Veronica to exit the bathroom leaving her to ponder what was happening with Arabella to make her act this way — what caused her to bear her teeth when Veronica barely poked the bear? Now, though, she felt like this was her opportunity. Veronica wanted to have Arabella in the palm of her hand instead of vice versa.

Arabella trudged down the stairs and attempted to reach for the front door to go home after tire from the drama at this party finally kicked in when Cheryl shoved her body between Arabella's hand and the door.

"Where do you think you're going, you insolent troglodyte?" The red-head stated more than asked as she crossed her arms over her chest. "The party's just beginning."

"God, Cheryl, just move. I personally don't believe that you want people to know that you dye your hair!" Arabella shouted the last part, gaining some attention but the music still blasted so other didn't really hear her.

"Shut the hell up." Cheryl said, taking Arabella's hand that wasn't holding the red cup and dragging her to the center of the party that mainly took place in the living room.

Cheryl took a hold of the microphone the DJ was using and told everyone to stop what they were doing — that it was time to play a game. Seriously, what was up with this girl and ruining parties by playing stupid games?

Almost everyone crowded around the center of the living room where Cheryl and Arabella stood. Some people did leave, but most wanted to see if any drama was going to unfold. All of Arabella's friends gathered toward the front when they saw the young Queen standing in the center — including Eric, but this was the one time she didn't look for him.

"Secrets and Sins, bitches. Listen up — I have something you all will want to hear about your beloved Arabella Queen."

Arabella scoffed, knowing well that she didn't have any secrets that could harm her in anyway — everyone already knew everything about her. "Go ahead, Cheryl. You have nothing on me."

The girl smirked and looked at the crowd that gathered. "She thinks she's so innocent but she didn't let you in on the fact she cheated on Eric with Archie Andrews."