Savanna feels like there's nothing that can surprise her anymore after living in Riverdale. The town with pep certainly still has a few tricks up its sleeve including an anonymous camera man, a castle-school full of pretentious teenagers waiting to...
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Drama never sleeps in Riverdale, something that we had come to know in the years of living here, but sometimes, it would still catch me off guard.
Texts between Jughead and I had been minimal, and I was giving him as much space as possible to adjust to his new environment, but when he told me he couldn't talk because they had a night meeting at 9 PM, I was a tad confused. Regardless, Veronica had swooped up my lack of plans and told me to join her for movie night at the Pembrooke that would no doubt include popping a bottle of wine.
"What do you mean Betty asked for $250,000?" I almost shouted as we climbed the steps together.
"I mean, Edgar called her asking for a list of demands in return for her mom. $250K was on that list as well as a school bus, fake passports, food, and water," Veronica claimed, "She said she knew people to help her with the other stuff."
I blinked, stopping as she put her key into the door. "So you gave her the money?"
Veronica shook her head and walked in. "No, Van. I couldn't find it that fast so I gave her..." She trailed off, her eyes glancing around the apartment.
"What?" I panicked at her sudden silence and odd behavior. "Veronica..."
She shushed me and grabbed my hand in hers before leading me through the apartment quietly. "Smithers?" She called out as we turned the corner to where the office was. The usually dark, empty room was softly lit and occupied when we walked through the doors.
"Daddy?"
"You're supposed to be in jail."
Dad didn't bat an eye at our comments. "Mijas, I own that jail. I come and go as I please. I heard a nasty little rumor that someone was dropping the Lodge name."
Veronica, obviously feeling slightly attacked, stepped further into the office. "I've never taken the trash out, Daddy, but I know when something's rotten. That name is mud, and I'm done with it." She tossed her purse into an empty chair as she approached him. I walked up quietly behind her, plopping on the couch where I could still watch them.
Dad got to his feet, placing the papers in his hands down as he looked past Veronica to where I was sitting. "Do either of you know who Jaime Luna was?"
My sister answered for both of us with a shake of her head. "Doesn't ring a bell."
"Yeah, well, Luna was my father's name, and Jaime Luna was the name of his only song. Me. I wasn't born Hiram Lodge. I became him. You have no idea what it was like to be a Luna in a town like Riverdale. Everyone looked down on us because of that name. So, I took a name that people would respect. Lodge. And when my father found out, he was angry, and he beat me. And I didn't understand it because I didn't want his life, I wanted mine, I wanted my own name. What was the big deal? Well, mija, it is now, in this very moment, that I understand my father's rage."
I slowly got to my feet, worried about the deeper meaning that lied behind his words, if there was one. He thankfully didn't make a move as I came up to stand behind Veronica.
"Do you think that changing your name is going to wash away your sins? It won't."
Veronica glanced back at me before taking a deep breath and shaking her head. "I'm not going down the same path as you did, Daddy."
"You keep telling yourself that because you will always be part of this family. It's in your blood. And that... doesn't wash out," He hissed. He stood up straight, waiting around the paper that Veronica had been spending so much time debating over the change of her name. "Don't bother changing the locks, you can't keep me out."
The whole mood of the night had been completely shifted from our usual dynamic as Hiram exited the apartment without another word. It still left me uneasy knowing that he could walk in at any moment in time against warning.
My saving grace came in the form of none other than Jughead Jones returning home for the weekend. So much had literally exploded since the moment we moved him into his dorm room until now, including the fact that none other than Alice Cooper pulled the trigger on Edgar Evernever, ending The Farm once and for all. Outside of that, Veronica had in fact changed all of the locks to the Pembrooke the moment Daddy walked out, handing me the only other key available besides the one she would give Smithers. She also paid, in full, for Archie to renovate the gym into a community center, as I expected.
"Sounds like one hell of a week," Jughead mumbled as his fingers ran down my arm. We were curled up on the couch with him leaning against the armrest and me laying against his chest, arms tangled together amongst the blanket that was resting on my stomach.
"You have no idea," I huffed as I let my head drop against his shoulder. "Did your first week go well?"
Jughead laughed, "Well, my week wasn't as eventful as yours, but it definitely was an adventure. I told you how Moose ended up being our third roommate. He was completely outed on Friday when someone posted a bunch of articles around the school about how Moose's dad posed as the Gargoyle King and it basically tore him apart. And it was Bret, of course. He did it because he blames me for not winning the writing contest. Or maybe he's just a sociopath. He knew that he couldn't get to me directly so he went after Moose. This is nothing like fighting the Ghoulies. This is psychological warfare."
I shook my head in disbelief. "Poor Moose." I sat there for a moment, my fingers tracing down his arm that was resting across my chest, holding me against him. "Just be careful, babe. Please."
I could feel Jughead's cheek rest against my head. "Don't worry about me. I've definitely dealt with worse. How's Veronica holding up?"
I sighed, "It's a bit messy. She changed her last name to Luna, which don't get me wrong, I understand her point, but I liked Gomez better. She changed all the locks to the Pembrooke, installed an alarm system, and she insists on sleeping with a taser just in case Dad tries to come in unexpectedly. As for me and Mocha, we're just glad you're home for the weekend." I smiled up at him before focusing my gaze on the dog that was curled up against our feet.
"I mean, I know dealing with Dad is never really over, but it's less of a problem now than before. G&G's finally gone, Betty took care of The Farm. It all just kinda...I'm just glad this nightmare is pretty much over," I mumbled.
The sound of the doorbell interrupted what I was going to say. The fact that it was 11:30 PM on a Saturday night that someone decided to come to the door made it scary enough. I looked up to find Jughead already looking at me, both of us completely confused. Mocha moved first, a small growl leaving his mouth as he ran across the hardwood floor to where the front door was. Jughead shifted next, the two of us climbing off the couch slowly. I couldn't see anything through the glass windows that surrounded the front door, and evidently, Jug didn't see anything through the peephole either so he pulled the door open.
There wasn't anyone outside in immediate sight with just the moon to light up the porch. Mocha whined, tucking himself behind my legs as Jughead crouched down to grab something in front of him. A white bag had been placed on the welcome mat, containing a VHS tape that my boyfriend held up in front of us.
