CHAPTER TWO

THE VEXING

"Want a cherry?" Katherine smirked, earning an eye roll from the boy,
"Oh, wow. I must be so irritating, right?"

"You kind of are." He scoffed, making Katherine cackle. Then, the boy harshly said,
"Aren't you supposed to be at the semi formal?"

"Aren't you supposed to be there too?" The brunette asked, making his face contour in annoyance,
"What are you writing about?"

"Huh?"

"Your novel, you idiot," Katherine playfully rolled her eyes,
"So? You're gonna answer or what?"

"What do you care?" The boy snapped, making her frown a little,
"Go back to being the rude spoiled girl you truly are and stop talking to me, alright?"

"Sure," Katherine frowned. She popped another cocktail cherry in her mouth. As the brunette was about to leave, she leaned closer to him and whispered,
"I'd be more careful writing about Jason's dead body if I were you. You missed the second 's' in "Blossom", by the way."

Now it was his turn to frown, as Katherine left with a venomous smirk plastered on her face.

The boy felt both disgusted and intrigued. However, the brunette was the perfect muse for his story. He remembered writing about her just at the beginning of his novel.

'The infamous Katherine Parker was nowhere to be found when Cheryl was mourning over the presumed death of her twin brother. The red head was as confused as the rest of Riverdale. The brunette was always there for her friends, but the sudden disappearance was rather suspicious...'

As the dark haired boy was about to go back to the place of his accommodation, he heard sirens outside Pop's.

"What's going on?" He asked the owner of the diner.

"Something about that Blossom kid," the older man explained,
"Heard something about a couple of students finding the body."

The boy widened his eyes as he rushed to the Sweetwater river...

♢♢♢

The next day, Jason Blossom's former locker was surrounded by flowers, teddy bears and letters. Katherine eyed the memorial and scoffed, knowing that half of the school hated the Blossom twins for their manners.

The brunette came over to her locker, only to see the boy she's seen at the diner.

"Hey, stranger." She chuckled. He looked over to her and rolled his eyes as he shut the locker and walked away.

Katherine shrugged, grabbing her stuff and walking over to her red headed friend, Cheryl Blossom.

"Oh, you poor thing," She said and pulled Cheryl into a hug,
"How are you and your parents doing?"

"We were at the morgue today," Cheryl replied,
"God... When they showed me his body-- I just can't help but think that it's all my fault."

"Cheryl," The brunette said, putting her hand on the red head's cheek,
"You can't blame yourself for that..."

As Cheryl let out a quiet sob, Katherine saw the mysterious boy talk to Archie, which made her question whether the two knew each other. He seemed displeased with something, glaring at Reggie and the other jocks. Then, he went to class, Reggie pushing him as the boy walked by.

"Watch it, Wednesday Adams!" Reggie joked, earning a few laughs from his friends.

"Kat!" The brunette snapped away, hearing Cheryl's voice,
"I gotta get to class. See you at lunch?"

"Uh, yeah," she replied,
"Sure."

When the read head was gone, Katherine spotted Betty and her friend Kevin. She walked over to them and greeted the two.

"Hey, B!" The brunette grinned,
"Can I walk with you to class?"

Betty nodded as the three were now walking to the school's reception to pick something up for the blonde.

"Now that romance is off the table, I'm just gonna say it," Kevin started,
"Are we a 100% sure that Archie's straight? Because no straight man has that body."

"Speaking of bodies," Betty said,
"Have you recovered from finding Jason's?"

"It was more traumatizing having to explain to my dad what I was doing with Moose at the river," Kevin muttered,
"Yet, another perk of being the sheriff's son."

The three were at the reception. When they came in, Katherine spotted a bouquet of stunning yellow flowers.

"Oh my god," Kevin and the brunette said in unison,
"Those are gorgeous!"

"Are those for Betty, Mrs. Phillips?" Kevin asked.

"That's why I called her." The old lady sassed, making Katherine smirk. She picked up the card and read it out loud,

"Dear Betty, please forgive me, XOXO, V?"

"Who the hell is V?"

"Veronica." Said Betty and another voice that was heard from behind Katherine. They all turned around to see the raven haired girl holding a small white package.

"The yellow's for friendship. I also had Magnolia cupcakes flown in from New York" Veronica smiled,
"Because as my mom likes to say: there's no wrong the right cupcake can't fix... Also, I booked us for, uh, 'hers-and-hers' meni-pedis at Chez salon... Blowouts too...
I am so, so sorry, Betty. I don't  know what happened to me that night... It was such a basic bitch move. It was like I was possessed by a--"

"Madam Satan?" Kevin suggested, making Betty glare at him as Katherine looked confused, not knowing what actually happened.

"The old Veronica..." The raven haired girl mumbled in shame,
"And I will never, ever do anything like that to you again, I swear on my mother's pearls. Can you please give me one more chance?"

"Okay." Betty quickly responded.

"What?" Both Veronica and Kevin said in unison.

"Thank you, thank you! Awesome! I'll take it and I promise, you won't regret it!"

Veronica happily walked away as Kevin frowned.

"It's the path of least resistance," Betty said,
"A week ago Veronica and I weren't friends... Next week, we'll nod to each other as we pass in the hall, but that's it. In two weeks, she won't even remember my name. And in three, she'll have latched on to some other girl to destroy."

Just then, the school bell rang as students rushed to whatever classes they had.

"I gotta go!" Katherine grinned,
"Hey, tell me what happened between you and Ronnie, okay?"

"Uh..." Betty gave a glance to Kevin,
"Sure. Later."

Just as the brunette walked to class, the principal's voice coming from speakers was heard all around the school.

"Good morning, students. This is your principal speaking. There have been many inquiries about the upcoming pep rally.
So let me state clearly, it is happening, as scheduled.
Now, on a less felicitous note, if you could give your attention to Sheriff Keller." Principal Weatherbee spoke as the brunette was on her way to the class.

"Most of you already know the details, but your classmate Jason Blossom's body was found late Saturday night.
So as of the weekend, Jason's death is now being treated as a homicide.
It is an open and ongoing investigation." Sheriff Keller's voice came from the speaker.

"And may I interject, neither I nor my parents will rest until Jason's death is avenged, and his cold-hearted killer is walking the green mile to sit in Old Sparky and fry.
I, for one, have my suspicions," Now it was Cheryl who spoke,
"#RiverdaleStrong."

"If you know anything that could help us find and apprehend Jason's killer, or anything about what happened to him on July 4th, I strongly urge you to come forward immediately.
You can speak with me or Principal Weatherbee.
A death like this wounds us all.
Let's not let Jason down."

Katherine truly didn't know anything about Jason's murder. She only knew that the red head was obsessed with her. Although, she couldn't help but feel as is something happened between her and Jason. Something strange...

The brunette saw Archie standing in front of Jason's memorial. She was about to come over and talk, but saw the dark haired boy getting to him first.

"Archie. Weirdest thing.
This summer, we were supposed to go on a road trip over July 4th weekend, which you bailed on at the last minute," he frowned,
"Is there something you wanna tell me, pal?"

Before Archie could reply, principal Weatherbee came out of his office and noticed the two boys.

"What are you doing here?!" He frowned,
"Get to class, now!"

The two gave each other a glance and went to the science lab, Katherine following them after the principal left.

"Seats everyone!" The teacher shouted as he entered the class,
"Pair off! Gloves on! Scalpels up!"

"Can I be with Cheryl?" Archie asked as he and the brunette stood in the middle of the class.

"And I wanna be with Betty!" Veronica grinned, glancing at the blonde.

"Oh, uh, I was thinking I'd partner with Kevin." Betty said, but was interrupted by Moose.

"Actually, uh, Kevin's with me," he said as the Kellar boy frowned at him,
"We, like, talked."

"Oh, God..." Katherine heard Kevin mumble as he and Veronica changed seats.

"Katherine," the science teacher called out as he realized the brunette was still awkwardly standing in the middle of the class,
"You're with Jughead."

"Jughead? Who the hell calls their kid J--" The girl scoffed, but then stopped as she saw the mysterious dark haired boy from the diner quietly groan, to which she smirked. The brunette walked over to her assigned seat sat next to Jughead, giving him a winning smile,
"Hi... Jughead..."

♢♢♢

At lunch time, Katherine sat with Cheryl, just like she promised.
The red head was oddly calm.

"Hey," The brunette caught her attention by twirling Cheryl's red lock between her fingers,
"You feeing okay?"

"Yeah," Cheryl pursed her lips,
"I'm doing great!"

"Really?" She questioned,
"Cheryl... I feel like we're drifting apart..."

"Well, it wouldn't be happening if you just told me where you were this summer." The red headed girl mumbled under her breath, but Katherine heard it all.

"What?" She frowned,
"Cheryl, do you think that I- Do you think that I had something to do with Jason?"

"You've been acting weird ever since that day,," the girl confessed,
"You've become secretive and awfully quiet. You're not the funny bubbly girl I've been friends with since middle school."

"Well, some things change, Cheryl," the brunette sighed,
"But you can't literally squeeze the truth out of people. I do have secrets, but I'm afraid of what you might think of me when you find out..."

"Well," Cheryl narrowed her eyes as she stood up,
"You and your secrets can go to hell, for all I care."

The red head left, leaving Katherine alone at the table. She glanced at where Betty and Archie were sitting, but everything seemed even worse for them, seeing as the blonde left the table in tears.

♢♢♢

Katherine walked down the school hall. She decided to skip class and get her medication from the locker.
After the brunette took the prescribed amount of pills, she heard somebody coming towards the lockers. She quietly shut the locker and was about to run to class, but the person who was coming probably spotted her already, since their footsteps were stopped. And then, Katherine heard a familiar scoff...

"You scared the living crap of me!" She whispered, making Jughead put his hands up in defense,
"What are you doing here?"

"Could ask you the same thing," he scowled,
"I thought Katherine Parker was goody two shoes and never skipped class."

"Wow, Jughead," the brunette narrowed her eyes,
"You make so many assumptions."

"Oh, please," the dark haired boy rolled his eyes,
"I can read you like an open book."

"Oh?" The girl faked a gasp,
"You don't know anything about me. Not really..."

"I know enough to know that you and me don't fit in each other's circles."

"Right," Katherine whispered,
"What did you call me that last time? 'A rude spoiled girl', wasn't it?"

"I'm not going to apologize for stating the truth," Jughead raised his voice,
"I call them as I see them."

"Oh, well, I call them as I see them too," the brunette raised her voice too,
"And all I see is a... Moron!"

"Ugh, is there an 'off' button for you?" The boy groaned.

"You know, that is like the worst come back ever!" She shouted.

"Alright, alright, stop shouting!"

"You're the one shouting!" Katherine was now yelling, luckily not too loud for the students to hear.

"Katherine, I swear to god if you don't stop shouting..."

"What are you gonna do, huh? I'm shouting and you're not doing anything. See? I'm still shouting!" The stubborn girl continued yelling, only for her mouth to be met with the boy's palm as she started to make muffled noises.
The two were now standing beside the music classroom. They glanced at the door and saw Archie...
But it wasn't just Archie that was standing there. He was with their music teacher, Ms. Grundy. The red head pulled her into an embrace, making Katherine question Archie's morals. She felt somebody pull her by the wrist.

"What the hell just happened?" The brunette whisper-yelled as her and Jughead walked away from the scene.

"Uh, I need to talk to Archie..." Was all Jughead said as the two went their separate ways.