The Forgotten Blossom

Make that two shakes

I shrug on my blue raincoat and grab my satchel, slipping quietly down the stairs, thankful that the rain outside is covering my footfalls. I manage to leave my house, eerie and dark in the rain, no lights on at all. I'm not surprised, it's midnight, no one with good sense would be awake now, much less leaving the comfort of their home to venture out into the stormy darkness. And yet I wandered through it, engulfed by the storm in a soft blanket of darkness and the calming sound of water hitting the earth. This is what I lived for, the dark nights and nature bearing down on the sleepy town of Riverdale, my home.

I make my way through the dark, waterlogged streets to a brightly lit diner, my second favourite place in town, second only to my room.
Pop's Chock'lit shoppe is a source of comfort when I'm unable to sleep, the old diner as familial as the face I see in the mirror. The neon sign glows welcomingly as I quickly step into the small diner, smiling and nodding in Pops' direction as I take off the blue coat.
"Hey Pops still open?" I ask, already knowing the answer. "Can't seem to close down, you night owls keep coming back." He jokes, making me smile. "Yours are the best shakes in town, and the fries... Okay pretty much everything." I say, reaching for my purse.
"Could I get a basket of fries and a chocolate shake please?" I ask, putting a bill on the counter. "Make that two shakes and it's on me." A voice calls behind me and I turn round and arch an eyebrow.
A raven haired boy in a beanie stands in the doorway of the diner, his expression neutral and his stance lazy, a laptop held at his side. I shift my gaze, thanking Pops as he disappears and looking pointedly at the dark haired stranger.

"You didn't have to do that you know." I murmur quietly, unsure of what to say. He shrugs nonchalantly, unphased, motioning for me to join him at a booth, not saying much else. I sidle into the red booth and tuck a lock of brown hair behind my ear.
"I don't think I've seen you here before." He says, peering over his laptop at me, expectant of an answer.
"I'm usually hiding in the corner booth, drawing." I say, somewhat self conscious.
"Well welcome to the late night club. I'm Jughead Jones the Third." He says, his blue eyes assessing my reactions.
I recognize him, primarily for his frequenting the diner at all hours to write, especially since my brother disappeared.

"Y/n, y/n Blossom."  I reply quietly. The lid of his laptop is shut and he looks me over, frowning. "You don't look like a Blossom." I smirk. "Because of the lack of red hair and a superiority complex, go figure." I say sarcastically. He smiles, it surprises me.
"Something like that."
I reply dryly; "Try not to hold it against me, I didn't pick the family members and it's too late to swap out."
He snickers and before he can answer the shakes arrive and my fries. I pinch a few as he steals the cherry from my shake, not that I mind.
He's interesting to watch, dark but the humor in his eyes tells me there's more to the boy than meets the eye.
"You're a writer?" I say, eyeing his laptop curiously. He shifts awkwardly. "Trying to be, I'm writing about Jason's disappearance." I take a sip of my shake and watch him curiously. "At the river? No ones had much more information. And don't get uncomfortable. I'm not exactly happy that he's disappeared but I won't snap at you for writing about my brother. I'd leave that to Cheryl." I say, pushing  the basket of fries toward him as a white flag so he knows I'm not going to argue his writing choices. "Besides, it could be interesting, to see where you take the story." He smirks; "Or where it takes us."
"Us?" I question.
"You'd let me write this without any curiosity as to where I was getting my intel or any clues into his disappearance?" He asks, somehow knowing I won't turn it down.
"I guess not."

We talk for some time about my brother and anything I can remember about the forth of July as well as each other and before long we're stumbling out of the diner to make our ways home. "Well I'll see you around Jones." I say as I bid him goodnight.
There's something in the smile he gives me, something I can't place my finger on the confuses and intrigues me at the same time.

"You can count on it Blossom." He says before he's swallowed by the darkness. I smile, lost in my thoughts as I make my way home. Of a few things I'm certain, I'm curious, about the happenings on the Fourth of July, my brother disappearing and a certain raven haired novelist.

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Authors note: I'm not sure about this but I'm obsessing over the series as I loved the Archie comics as a child so here we go? Hopefully it improves with a few chapters of work, it's a little short but it'll get there. Let me know what you think?

Jade