Red moons ---Beronica (Riverdale's, Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge)

Chapter 3: pep rally

She blinked rapidly through the endless sheets of rain. The bright lights were causing Betty to see spots, and the blaring from the school band pulsated in her eardrums.

The pep rally wasn't exactly peppy anymore with the weather, but everyone sang and danced through it anyway. Things were going great - the River Vixens pulled off their routine perfectly (Betty actually slipped on the wet grass a couple times, but no one seemed to notice), the Pussycats managed to liven the crowd despite the downpour, and everyone was on their feet when the Bulldogs burst through the paper barrier and made their way down the track - but things came to a momentary halt when Cheryl snapped out of nowhere and ran clear cut across the field back towards the school.

Veronica was the first to react, which surprised her. The brunette pushed away from the rest of the squad and chased after the redhead, and for some reason Betty felt compelled to follow her. Why was she even thinking of following Cheryl in the first place? Didn't Veronica hate Cheryl?

The rain was relentless, hammering down on Betty's face and Vixen uniform as she jogged after the other two girls. She wrenched the doors to the school open and skidded to a stop, looking left and right. She caught a glimpse of Veronica's dark hair just before it disappeared around the corner down the hall to her right, where the change rooms were.

When she scrambled into the girls' change rooms, she nearly lost her footing.

Veronica was...consoling Cheryl? The redhead was crying into the brunette's shoulder. Betty could hear Veronica mumbling words of comfort as she rubbed Cheryl's back.

Betty was always one to think things through. She hated going into things blind. She was most comfortable when she had a plan laid out in front of her, when every possibility was visible for her to analyze and dissect. She liked knowing what her options were. She liked knowing what she signed up for.

This was not one of her foreseen outcomes - then again the whole day had been pretty unpredictable.

Actually, Veronica was the one who was unpredictable, and Betty couldn't decide if she hated or loved that.

To be honest, the brunette didn't give her much of a good impression - after all, their first meeting involved Veronica interrupting her confession of love to the boy she had been pining for most of her life. Who did she think she was, strutting into Pop's with that ridiculous cloak and those stupid heels? The way Archie's eyes pulled away from her face and widened in awe, like he had just seen Aphrodite in the flesh or something, when Veronica walked into the diner was just so...irritating. How dare she take him away from her like that?

And, with a cruel twist of fate (A trope that seems to be some sort of a running gag with the Cooper family), Betty just so happened to be this girl's peer mentor. It was as if fate sat down and asked itself, "How else can I ruin Betty Cooper's life today?"

But Veronica ended up the complete opposite of who Betty thought she was. She was kind, thoughtful, sweet - traits she never thought to associate with a girl like her. She was also the first girl to compliment her appearance; the only comments she got before her were from Cheryl, and none of them were positive.

Speaking of Cheryl, Veronica was able to put her in her place when she attempted to wring a sob story about Polly and Jason out of Betty during cheer tryouts. No one talked back to Cheryl Blossom, no one, but then this new girl from New York swoops in and knocks her down a peg or two just like that. Betty had never seen Cheryl look defeated, not until Veronica came around.

(Then of course, there was that kiss, but she forces the thought away every time it tries to worm its way back in - and that happens more often than she wants to admit.)