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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oh hi
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Arriving at Stonewall sent a chill down my spine and the discomfort was evident. Jughead and I had been quiet most of the way here, minus discussing our plan or a comment about something nearby. It felt like we were strangers, like nothing had ever happened between us, like we didn't know the darkest parts of each other's minds. I hated it, but I couldn't bring myself to forgive what happened.
It can be really difficult to put yourself in a mindset when everything in you is screaming to run; like putting on a facade that you knew the entire time someone you love was playing dead, when in fact, you had no clue.
"You don't have to do this," Jughead's voice was uncertain as he pulled the hood of his jacket up to help hide his face once we stepped out of the car. I chose to ignore him and instead set my face straight, took a deep breath, and put on this mask that I'd been so good at crafting over the years. That everything was fine, that I wasn't hurting.
The hallways were relatively empty for the time being, given that class was in session. Jughead still knew his way around despite having a rock-blown concussion, so I was left to follow him. He stopped short of two double doors and turned to face the wall when someone shuffled by us.
"Sav-"
"Let's go." I cut off whatever he was about to say and pushed the two doors open, forcing a smirk on my face as I revealed the two of us to the occupants inside. I could tell Donna and Bret were trying to hide their surprise but it was slipping through regardless as they caught sight of Jughead walking in behind me.
"Hey, guys," Jughead joked as he held his arms out for emphasis, stepping passed me to approach his classmates. "Well, what? Did you even miss me?"
Bret jumped to his feet and pointed at the boy in front of me. "You've gotta be kidding me," His voice was shaky, which brought a shit-eating grin to my face. Suck on that, Wallis.
"Mr. Jones," Mr. DuPont stumbled over his words," I...I uh, I don't understand. We all thought-"
Jughead happily cut him off, "That I was dead? Well, yeah, actually for a minute there, I did too." I could feel his eyes shift over to me, scanning for any evidence that I was going to break but I kept my expression the same and crossed my arms over my chest as if it offered any protection. "Hey, what's that oft-used Mark Twain quote? Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated."
"What is happening right now?"
"You guys are reading Crime and Punishment, huh?" Jughead's question was rhetorical as he picked up a copy of the book from the desk. "How apropos. You know, the one kind of crime story that we never really touched on in this seminar was the time-tested genre of a locked room mystery. Where all the suspects are sequestered in a room."
As he continued to talk, I quietly moved back to the doors we had entered through. My jaw clenched as I fought the tears that wanted to break through my lash line, knowing damn well this was not the time to have a panic attack over this.
