13 Reasons Why ↣ Riverdale (Betty Cooper

i. Valerie Brown

Archie Andrews headed out for Pop's Chock-lit Shoppe to give his mind time to breathe. He hated feeling these emotions or maybe he just wasn't used to the idea of grief. This was the first in many years since he went to a funeral.

Alice Cooper was seen by the whole town as this train wreck. Everywhere she went, eyes wandered and gawked directly at her without any hesitations. She felt like somehow the whole town thinks that she murdered her own daughter, which was unlikely of course. But one thing she doesn't understands is that Betty wasn't like herself (that she knew of) talking in those tapes. It seemed like it was somebody else talking for her.

Veronica Lodge, meanwhile, found solace through the pumping beats of the Riverdale clubs. She drank her way through strong and hitting alcoholic beverages. She was still at the denial stage of dealing with grief and for her, it stops there. One time, Archie even tried to help her accept it but she couldn't. Even drunk Veronica cried thinking about her late best friend.

Jughead Jones thought differently. He didn't believe she killed herself, even if there are official statements from the doctors that she indeed died of an overdose of the pills she would take for her anxiety. Everyone would hear him say, "This is like how Kurt Cobain died! Someone framed the murder as suicide." His theory was often disregarded by many people.

The three friends needed answers, and only the Coopers had them other than the three of them. This made them head out to the Coopers' residence, what Jughead refers to as the scene of the crime.

"What file are you on now?" Polly went straightforward and asked them since she knew it was obvious that they came there for answers.

"File 1 rather Valerie's file." Jughead went ahead and answered. Then he opened the iPod to see that he still had about 10 minutes of content missed. He played it on the spot and it caused Polly, Veronica and Archie to turn their heads to the direction of the iPod.

"Welcome to my audio again! I bet you hate hearing my voice again, since I was just this perfect little girl that everyone hated. Am I right? If you're back from the previous tapes, you know that Valerie Brown is one of the reasons why I died. Well you're about to discover my deepest secrets, that i'm not as perfect as you thought I was. If you're back from my previous tapes, you know that Valerie Brown is one of the reasons I died. So Let me tell you the story of someone who preferred popularity and when she got it, she ditched her friend in a heartbeat. Valerie Brown, this is one for you. Let's go back to junior year before we became cheerleaders, Valerie, We were best friends, my mom was worried that I was no longer socializing because of how tight we were. To end to the history was well-known to the students of Riverdale High. It was the school's biggest gossip for at least a year or two because I briefly remember having to take anxiety medication for about two years. Well, there's your new scoop of Blue and Gold. Kevin. Go ahead, write a piece about the girl-next-door's obsession with pills after her friendship goes down in burning flames. Well I guess you're off to the next reason."

"Polly, what was Betty talking about?" Veronica  asked, as she was curiosity got the best of her.

"I distinctively remember Betty in the summer of 2013, meeting this neighbor who just moved in a couple of blocks away, and mom hated it since she hated people learning about Betty and her mental health situation. But the whole seventh grade changed the way mom looked at Valerie since they lasted for year. I was even jealous of her since she didn't have a friend who talked behind her back unlike me," Polly chuckled while the others sat, listening attentively, " It went on for another six months. Betty thought it was it. She found her friend who she can proudly boast to anyone how long they've been friends for. Then mid-terms came, Josie McCoy started looking for girls that'd join her to form a band. Well, Betty, as the great friend that she is, encouraged Valerie to join. Luckily, Valerie was accepted to be a part of the band. That's the story of Riverdale's own, Josie and the Pussycats. It wasn't until two weeks, into joining the band, did Valerie change into this whole different person. She completely forgot about Betty. On her 15th birthday, Betty was all alone at the movie theater with just me and mom because Valerie completely forgot about it and never bothered to talk to her. After a few more weeks, it became her who tried to talk to Valerie and Cheryl during lunch. After that, I just remembered mom proposing to move because Betty's anxiety reached a whole new high. But the strong Betty I knew, never let it affect her and her love for this inconsiderate town. Instead, mom put Betty placed her with medications that did kinda help her. Ironically, it also did kill her."

Veronica heard her heart shatter while hearing the story of her now, dead, best friend. She never knew this side of her because Betty was the better one between them, or maybe she was that selfish to think that way. Jughead, even after being her boyfriend, never knew this at all. He wished and prayed that this wasn't how it ended. Then he opened the iPod to see that he still had about 10 minutes of content missed. He played it on the spot and it caused Polly, Veronica and Archie to turn their heads to the direction of the iPod.

"But hey, you still gave me one year and half worth of great friendship which we filled with great memories."

Even through the recording, you could hear her voice break into vulnerability. It brought tears to Veronica's eyes as she realizes how Betty was this beautiful person who deserved so much better.

"You made me prove my mom I'm worth befriending. You know, I'd been always jealous of you. You had the beauty, you had the brains and you even had the talent. Everyone saw you and everything that you are, you're lucky you didn't hide yourself to a title everyone gave you since the title they gave you is made around your true identity unlike me. I was this perfect girl that everyone loved to hate on. To watch her crumble. As much as I sound childish to blame you for killing myself. I just couldn't accept it that I had lost my first best friend. I lost her and I could've avoided it. I could've stopped it from happening. But it's okay. I'm gone now. It's alright, I'm going to be alright..."

Then the file ended with silence and a brief sound of sobs who, they believed, was Betty. As much as Jughead felt crushed after hearing Betty admitting everything on the tape. Even if they were together but he just sat there, silently, because he knew Betty wouldn't want them to fight.

"We'll head out now, Polly. If you want to eat or go out, we'll be at Pop's." Archie said the farewell for the group, to which Polly smiled and nodded to.

They left and walked to Pop's to let each other space out. They had to take in the tapes so that they could understand why their friend had to die.

As they reached Pop's, they sat at their booth, still leaving a seat for Betty. Coincidentally, they all ordered for vanilla milkshake. "Her favorite. To our beloved Betty." Veronica rose hers and so did the boys to which they replied to. "To our Betty. "

They brought out the iPod and clicked on the second audio file.