Forbidden in Riverdale

Good Girl Syndrome

Betty Cooper, the youngest daughter of Alice and Hal Cooper, appeared to have had a perfect life. She had two loving parents, an older sister, Polly, who always looked out for her, and a loyal group of friends. But her reality, especially the past month, has been the opposite of perfect. Two days following the Fourth of July and the disappearance of Jason Blossom in Sweet Water River, Alice told her that Polly had a mental breakdown and that she had gone to live with their grandparents to recover.

Following Polly's departure, Betty's relationship with her parents changed drastically. Betty could no longer go out past 7 pm; her parents forced her to intern at the local newspaper, the Riverdale Register, that they owned; and had her on a diet and training schedule to become a Riverdale Vixen, the school's cheerleading squad.

Now it was the first day of her sophomore year of high school, and as Betty looked in the mirror, she didn't recognize the girl staring back at her. She was so put together, with her blonde hair straightened and put into an unrealistically high ponytail, a pure white polo shirt with a pastel pink cardigan on top, blue jeans, and a pair of soft pink flats. Betty didn't feel like herself; she was an image of a girl her mother wanted her to be.

With a small sigh and one last glance over, Betty left her room and made her way downstairs. Alice and Hal were sitting at the table having a silent breakfast when Betty entered.

"Ready for your first day of school, Betty?" Alice asked as Betty grabbed a piece of toast off the table.

"Yeah, I am going to head out now; Archie is waiting for me outside."

Betty heard her parents say goodbye as she walked out the door. She sees her redhead next-door neighbor, Archie, waiting for her at the bottom of the steps leading up to her house.

"Hey, Betty, ready to start a new school year?"

"Oh yeah." She said with slight sarcasm in her tone.

The walk to school was uneventful for the two of them. Betty told Archie about how the second half of her summer went after Polly left, and Archie told Betty about the work he had done for his father's construction company.

As they walked through the doors of Riverdale High, Archie was pulled away from Betty by his football teammates, the Bulldogs. Betty decided against joining him and instead went to the office to meet up with the new girl, Veronica Lodge.

Veronica was gorgeous and had confidence, similar to the queen of England. When Betty approached the brunette, she smiled softly while handing her a copy of her class schedule.

"Hi, I am Betty. I am supposed to be giving you a tour of the school."

"Veronica, it is a pleasure to meet you." The brunette said in response to her blonde counterpart.

What Betty didn't expect was how much she and Veronica got along. After the tour, they spent the rest of the school day together, and Betty introduced Veronica to her small group of friends at lunch.

"V this Archie and Kevin. Archie and Kevin, this is Veronica." Betty said as they approached the two boys in the school lounge during lunch. As the four discussed Veronica's move to Riverdale from New York, a hot redhead with bright red lipstick approached the small group.

Betty didn't expect to see Cheryl Blossom back to school so soon after her twin brother's disappearance in Sweet Water River. She thought her parents, who were Riverdale royalty, would pay to have a private tutor teach her from their Manson.

"Hi, I am Cheryl Blossom. I am the head of the Riverdale Vixens, our cheerleading squad. I just wanted to personally welcome you to Riverdale High and invite you to the weekend tryouts I am hosting." Cheryl's voice commanded respect from the new girl, and the show she performed was a show of dominance.

"I'm Veronica, and I will be there." Veronica's voice was smooth and unbothered. She knew that the redhead just threw a gauntlet down, and Veronica was more than willing to pick it up.

Cheryl walked away after smirking, leaving the four wondering what she was up to.

"You will come to the tryouts with me, right B?"

"Yeah, I was planning to anyway." Veronica squealed in excitement, hugging Betty. At that moment, the bell rang, signaling the end of their lunch period. Archie followed close to Betty as they left the lounge.

"You have never shown interest in joining the Vixens before Betts. What is that about?" Archie asked his lifelong best friend as they walked toward the Geography class they had together.

"My mom signed me up for tryouts this summer and said it would be good for college applications."

"So, you are doing it for your mother?"

"I mean, yeah. But I also can't send Veronica into the lion's den alone. Who knows what Cheryl has planned, you saw the look on her face."

"I just think you should only join the Vixens if you want to."

"I want to," Betty said as they sat at their desks, waiting for the teacher to enter.

The rest of the day went by fast for Betty. She caught up with Veronica and Archie at the end of the day to show Veronica Pop's diner. As the three of them sat in a booth at the local diner eating dinner, their friend Kevin and his current hook-up found the body of Jason Blossom with a gunshot wound to the head.