No Turning Back [Archie Andrews]

FOUR

Lily stood near Cheryl as she watched the cheerleading tryouts. She had joined the team her first year of being at the school after Cheryl recommended it, and since then, she and Cheryl had been pretty good friends. She turned her head to see Veronica and Betty walking up. 

"We're blue! And go! We're dynamite! We'll take you down, and fight the fight! Whoo! Go, Bulldogs!" Cheryl narrowed her eyes. "Hmm. Ladies, where's the heat? Where's the sizzle?" Veronica slightly panicked, and Lily chuckled. "Well, you haven't seen our big finish yet." She whispered something to Betty, and then kissed her. Lily's eyes widened. So that's what happened in New York while I was here.

Cheryl remained unimpressed. "Check your sell-by date, ladies, faux lesbian kissing hasn't been taboo since 1994. So let's see if you do better with the interview portion of our audition. Betty, how's your sister doing?" Lily tilted her head. She knew that Polly Cooper was a sensitive topic to Betty. "I don't think this is a good idea, Cheryl." She whispered to Cheryl, but Cheryl remained. 

"Um, Polly's fine, thanks for asking." Cheryl looked at Veronica. "Veronica, has Betty told you about her sister yet?" Veronica shook her head. "Uh, no." Cheryl smirked, and Lily just stood there. "Go ahead, Betty. Tell Veronica about your sister and my dear brother." Betty sighed. "Polly and Jason dated." Cheryl scoffed. "I wouldn't say dated."

"It didn't end well." Cheryl's face hardened. "In fact, Jason's probably why your sister had a nervous breakdown and now lives in a group home, isn't it?" Betty nodded. "That's what my parents think." Cheryl smirked. "What do you have to say about that, Betty? Go ahead, the floor is yours. Whatever you've been dying to spew about Jason and how he treated Polly, unleash it. Destroy me. Tear me a new one. Rip me to shreds. Annihilate me." Lily looked at Cheryl and put her hands on her hips. "Cheryl, that's enough." 

Meanwhile, Betty was trying to keep it together. "I just..." Cheryl rolled her eyes. "Finally." Betty's expression turned it into sympathy. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry about what happened to Jason. I can't even imagine what you and your family must be going through." Cheryl nodded. "Right. Veronica, welcome to the River Vixens. Betty, better luck next time." Lily rolled her eyes, while Veronica scoffed. 

"Wait, what? Why? Because you couldn't bully Betty into being a bitch?" Cheryl sighed. "I need girls with fire on my squad." Veronica shook her head. "I know what you need, Cheryl, because I know who you are. You would rather people fear than like you, so you traffic in terror and intimidation. You're rich, so you've never been held accountable, but I'm living proof. That certainty, that entitlement you wear on your head like a crown? It won't last. Eventually, there will be a reckoning. Or... Maybe that reckoning is now. And maybe, that reckoning... Is me. Betty and I come as a matching set. You want one, you take us both." She took a step towards Cheryl. 

"You wanted fire? Sorry, Cherrybombshell, my specialty's ice." 

Lily was left in shock. Of all the years that she'd known Veronica, she never thought that Veronica would go that far.