𝐂𝐀𝐏𝐒𝐈𝐙𝐄, riverdale [1]

EIGHT | The Piano Woman

* Author's Note at the end of the chapter is kind of important so read it. Thanks*

Mariah remained sitting in her chair as Sheriff Keller took Cheryl out of the classroom. For some reason, once again, all eyes were on her. It seemed that whenever something concerning Jason Blossom was mentioned, she or Cheryl were the center of attention. I mean, Cheryl she could understand. Jason was her twin brother. But Mariah didn't understand why people always looked at her the way they looked at Cheryl.

Maybe because, in a way, Mariah lost her brother too. Because Jason Blossom was her brother just like he was Cheryl's.

Mariah pushed her chair back and stood up, grabbing her backpack in the process. "Ms. Coleman. Where do you think you're going?" Her teacher asked, his voice in a tone she couldn't quite decipher but didn't care enough to try.

"I don't know," Mariah answered. And with that, she headed toward the door without another word and no one tried to stop her. As she walked down the hallway, more eyes were on her and she tried her best to ignore them. "Hey! Mariah, slow down!" A voice called. Recognizing the voice, she slowed to a stop and turned around. Veronica stood in front of her with a concerned look in her eyes.

"You know, you'll probably get into trouble for walking out of class like that," she said and Mariah blinked. "You know, you'll probably get into trouble for following me out of class," Mariah replied as she turned around and began walking again. Veronica followed after her.

"Maybe. But it's not like I really care," Veronica said with a sly smile. Mariah stopped walking abruptly and whipped her head around to face Veronica. "I'm fine V. You don't have to check on me. I just need to find out what's going on," Mariah said calmly. She was annoyed that Veronica was following her even though she appreciated the concern. But there was nothing to be concerned about.

"Are you sure? Because we can ditch the rest of the day and go get milkshakes at Pop's," Veronica said, a hint of hopefulness in her eyes. She really felt like ditching. Mariah laughed and shook her head. "As fun as that sounds, I'm not really in the mood to ditch. And if my mom found out she'd kill me. Besides, your mom works there, she'd kill us both the minute we walked through the door," Mariah answered.

"Yeah, you're probably right. But, I'll see you later?" Veronica said. Mariah smiled and nodded her head before continuing to walk. She assumed that Cheryl was in the principal's office and as she got closer to it, she saw Cheryl and her parents walking towards the doors leading out of the school. Before Mariah could reach them, they were already out the door.

Mariah sighed in aggravation and turned her head to the side where she noticed a ginger walking in the opposite direction of where Cheryl and her parents walked toward. She looked around the hallway before following Archie to wherever he was going. He stopped in front of a classroom door which Mariah realized was the music room when she heard what sounded like a cello being played.

She watched as Archie peered through the window on the door and watched whoever was playing the cello. "What are you doing? Besides being a total creep," Mariah said, confusion evident in her tone. Archie jumped when he heard her voice and quickly turned around. There stood Mariah, looking at him in a way that said 'I'm waiting'. Archie stumbled over his words, unable to form what to say.

"Wh-what are y-you doing? A-are you f-following m-me or s-something?" Archie stuttered, mentally face palming at his sudden nervousness around the blonde. Mariah narrowed her eyes. "Yes," she answered bluntly. Archie's eyes widened in shock at her words. "W-why?" He asked, wanting to punch himself in the face for being such a stuttering mess. Mariah shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly, as if it were normal to follow people around, and walked towards the door of the music room. "Who are you watching?" She asked him.