Ghost Town • Riverdale

One

Our story is about a town, a small town, and the people who live in the town. From a distance, it presents itself like so many other small towns all over the world. Safe. Decent.

Innocent.

Get closer through, and you start seeing the shadows underneath.

The name of our town is Riverdale. And our story begins, I guess, with what the Blossom twins did this summer.

On the Fourth of July, just after dawn, Jason and Cheryl Blossom drove to Sweetwater River for an early morning boat ride. The next thing we know happened for sure is that Dilton Doiley, who was leading Riverdale's Boy Scout Troop on a bird watching expedition came across Cheryl by the river's edge.

Riverdale police dragged the river for Jason's body but never found it.

So a week later, the Blossom family buried and empty casket and Jason's death was ruled an accident, as the story Cheryl told made the rounds. That Cheryl dropped a glove in the water, and Jason reached down to get it, and accidentally tipped the boat, panicked, and drowned. As for us, we were still thinking of the "July Fourth tragedy" on the last day of summer vacation, when a new mystery rolled into town.

Her name was Veronica Lodge.

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It was on that same night that Veronica Lodge had wandered into Pop's diner, interfering with a very private conversation between Archie Andrews and Betty Cooper, that Poppy Davis had also made her way into the dimly lit diner. She had chosen a booth not too far from the trio and sat down among the neon lights and 80's music which echoed from the jukebox against the wall. The smell of coffee beans wafted through the air even though it was already late into the night. She enjoyed every second of it. Poppy watched as Veronica eventually made her leave, but not before the dark haired girl threw a smile over to her. She was much friendlier than anyone had anticipated. Poppy glanced over at her two friends who still remained in the booth, though Betty's mood had dampened significantly. The poor girl. She had been in love with Archie since the beginning of time. Yet, she had always been too afraid to say anything in fear of ruining their friendship, despite all her friends assuring her he was bound to feel the same way, but Poppy had seen how he was looking at Veronica a few minutes ago, and so had Betty. He was so stupidly blind to not see that she liked him more than a friend. Archie Andrews had always been that sort of boyfriend that many girls dreamed of having, he was charming, funny, and not to mention good looking since he had spent the entire summer helping out with his father's construction company, he had gotten incredibly ripped. But despite all of that, he was a complete ditz when it came to romance, at least that was what Poppy thought.

She shook her head and turned back to her laptop, ordering a coffee as she did so. Poppy had not come to Pop's diner for people watching. She needed somewhere to work without too much noise, but not too much quiet. She was not a writer like her friend Jughead of course, she did not have the passion and dedication to do so. You see, Poppy Davis was a photographer. She was not sure if she could call herself that yet, but the young girl loved taking pictures more than anything in the world. It had been a habit of hers since she was a kid. Back then, she would use her father's old battered up camera and run around the house, taking blurry shots of her parents and her dog, sometimes her brother when he was not locked up in his room all day. The only difference between now and then was that now, her pictures were clearer and more focused. Poppy did not want anything much out of it, she just wanted to tell stories. She wanted to tell everyone's story through pictures, pictures that she took all around Riverdale throughout the summer. There was even a special portfolio for Pop's diner. It was a place that she loved with all her heart.