i don't follow rules

[  SMS →  RONNIE  ] : While I have your undivided attention, Veronica, I have something of considerable bearing to ask you. [  SMS →  RONNIE  ] :  I’m a shoo-in to lead this school’s student body government this year, obvi ——- and I’d be loathe to unload the legacy of Riverdale High onto the shoulders of some jingle jangle dealing troglodyte like Reginald Mantle  [  SMS →  RONNIE  ] : But naturally, like any distinguished president, I need a running mate. [  SMS →  RONNIE  ] : A position I was hoping you’d be more than willing to fill. x

@lodgeiment​ liked a sc.

Enraptured by the obscure haze in the back seat, cut off from the world in front by little more than a fragile screen, and the passing lights blurring by the weather-fogged windows, Cheryl could barely hold back the wounded breath that passed her lips; An almost guttural sound, rooted in the absurdity of her enduring heartbreak, of her inability to shake her parents’ disparagement of everything she wasn’t, when Jason was; A sigh of a storm, in the wake of her perennial struggle against her soul, her legacy, and every reminder of the countless almosts ripped away the moment civil war had broken loose in the heart of the Lodge family’s upstate townhouse.

“ Jayjay always liked you, ” Cheryl noted, offhandedly; a factoid easier to voice than the obligatory assent simmering low in her throat, like embers. “ But not like I did. ” A swallow. A shift against mottled black leather, to accommodate for the swift swipe of her thumb beneath her lash-line in anticipation of a single falling tear. “A truly unfortunate sample of the endless ammunition my nightwalker of a mother needed to loathe you, no doubt ——– even if you’re here now, blissfully free of your daddy dearest’s chokehold. ”

Rekindling her relationship with Cheryl left Veronica wondering where they would be today, had their parents had remained civil under the pretence of the elaborate hoax that Clifford Blossom and Hiram Lodge presented to the world; they lived in a world of duplicity, but there had been nothing fraudulent about their former friendship. Cheryl’s reassurance that perhaps there had been something more between them (Not like I did) is only but a painful reminder of how badly Veronica had screwed things up. Unfortunately, no one appreciates what they have until they lose it. 

The distance between them draws to a close, as Veronica slides on the leather seat of her town car, close enough that their thighs touch, and she takes the initiative to take Cheryl’s cheeks between manicured hands, thumb tracing an invisible line over the Blossom heiress’ cheekbone. ❝ How long have you known? ❞ Though given the circumstances, she assumes the response is far more complicated than this. ❝ Cheryl, I had no idea. I was... An egomaniac. Self-absorbed and obsessed with turning into the poster child of a Park Avenue princess. If I had known sooner ---- ❞ 

(@lodgeiment hit the HEART for a starter)

Exhaustion had become a familiar part of every day life for Betty Cooper ever since her mother and sister (and many of her friends) had disappeared under Edgar Evernever’s ‘ascension’. Although her newfound brother assured her that they were alive and well, it didn’t lessen the worry that constantly ate away at her mind like a parasite. As a result, she had spent more than one sleepless night pacing beside her bed, fingers tracing the comforter as if willing it to help her fall into a restful night. Closing her eyes before the bathroom mirror, fingers gripping the sides of the white porcelain sink, the blonde let out a shaky sigh, knees feeling weak…

… only to feel a hand on her shoulder and hear a familiar voice calling her name. Bright blue eyes immediately snapped open as she caught sight of her best friend, flashing her a genuine, but tired, smile. “Yeah, V, I’m fine. Just haven’t been able to sleep lately after… everything,” she explained, hearing the bell ring for the last period of the day, “Think we can go to Pop’s after school? I could really use a milkshake and maybe… a nap at La Bonne Nuit?”

not even a girl expert in facades could hide the concern that paints her features when veronica stumbles upon her best friend over the bathroom sink. the hand on betty’s shoulder is enough to break her from her trance, and she’s glad her ‘are you okay, b?’ doesn’t fall to deaf ears, but her fingers still push through the loose strands of her hair held together by betty’s signature pony tail. while veronica had finally put her father behind a jail cell (where he belonged) and gotten her well earned win, betty seemed to have pulled the short end of the stick; her mother and sister missing, her brother showing up out of the blue (the real one this time), and the web of lies, scandal, and death they all had tangled themselves into. 

        “ his dad still using him as a punching bag ? ” distain clear within her tone, she may not be his biggest fan, but no one deserved to suffer at the hands of their own parents. Something Veronica was a little too familiar with, although Hiram didn’t beat her, that didn’t denote the mental anguish and pain he caused his only daughter.  Of course he does, eyes roll again, “ very surprising~  but is more like it, that’s what I like to hear, V. b & v forever. ” she beams, a rose hue tinting her cheeks softly. 

       A sigh on her lips as she looks down at her salad, picking at it with her fork, her own parental critiques playing over in her mind, her mother’s careless jibe the night prior when she’d tucked into some fries from pops, reminding her that she ought to be careful what she eats now that she’s a river vixen. “ speaking of being your number one, how about a sleep over after the game tonight ? i’m sure juggie can live without me for ONE night. ”

juggie. for some reason, the nickname sits bitterly on the tip of her tongue. its foreign territory for veronica lodge, being envious of someone for having something she doesn’t have, and being envious of a man to being with. who would’ve ever thought the subject of her disdain would be jughead jones? but much obliged, betty’s change of subject liberates her from having to fabricate lies about her conversation with reggie mantle, and she chooses to ignore the question as well, hoping her silence is enough an answer to appease betty’s inquiries.