BAD LIAR ✪ FP JONES

Ｅｌｅｖｅｎ

A/N: I started this two years ago and I'm sorry about that. However, luckily for you guys, I had the story planned out. I'll stick to my original plan of continuing the story through season 1 but unfortunately, I will not be taking Maria further than that. I will be making references to things that were made known in the later seasons.

11| Ⓟⓐⓡⓣⓘⓔⓢ Ⓢⓤⓒⓚ

Tonight was supposed to be fun.

The local Riverdale girl gang were all dolled up and ready to wreck havoc. Alice Cooper never truly needed any makeup, she was a solid 11/10 before any effort, Molly Matthews was also a natural beauty but with a bit of blush and lipstick was a beauty queen, Hermione had this beautiful warm skin tone and long dark hair that made her sort of irresistible. That's probably why Hiram liked her.

Maria stared at her reflection, her eyes kept watering every time she thought about that serpent boy. Alice watched her carefully as she curled her hair loosely, her perfect eyebrows furrowed as she bit her lip. If Maria had looked at Alice in this moment she would've seen guilt. Her blonde friend looked guilty, as if she had committed murder and in the south side girls' mind she thought murder would be better than what she had done. What she had been doing for months.
No words were spoken between them. Maria was too occupied with her own lack of self-worth to see Alice nervously flipping her hair over her shoulder. She had silently wished all day that her friend would ask her why she was acting differently, why she wasn't her usual sassy self and why she was back to wearing her leather jacket. But Maria didn't ask. She never asked.

Alice's best friend was too numb to the world, too caught up in her own pain and trying to work out what she had done to drive FP away. Why couldn't he tell her that he loved her. Did he even love her? All these thoughts were running through the young Reynolds' mind at 1000 miles per hour, everything was moving too quickly, she couldn't grab into anything, she couldn't retain any fleeting doubt as to why the southside serpent she had fallen in love with possibly didn't love her back.

Maria felt the same numbness as she did early that day as she sat on the expensive couch, clutching her red cup, drinking cheap beer that tasted like it had been mixed with water. The heat of the room was intoxicating, suffocating her. She could see everyone dancing, laughing, kissing and having fun, she was definitely not having fun. She watched hormonal teenagers grind against each other, the sweat pouring off them, watching them fall in and out of love over and over again. They always did the same.

"Maria I thought you liked parties" the familiar authoritative voice that usually was attached to Hiram Lodge came from behind her. She furrowed her eyebrows as she thought about how she could possibly hear his voice over the drowning music. The brunette turned and smiled a sweet smile that showed she was grateful for the effort made. He was quite handsome, he had wrinkles before his time due to the family business being passed down to him, no one really know what the business was but everyone knew it wasn't always totally legal. Maria never really listened to gossip. His hair was shaped perfectly as he looked at his friend with a gentle look behind his eyes. He could see the tiredness behind her eyes, he could see the desperation pouring off her. He wanted to help.

"I usually do, just not feeling it tonight Hiram, I'm feeling a little like low. " she answered honestly, not really sure why she answered so truthfully. Perhaps it was the way he looked at her afterwards, like he knew what she needed and he knew that he was gonna give it to her for free. Her eyes had flickered down to the floor for a split second, her face changing so quickly that if you blinked you would have missed it. In that exact moment Hiram had decided that alcohol was not the solution tonight, no, she needed something much stronger to withhold her whirlwind of emotions. He slowly held out his hand for Maria to take, her eagerness was showing as she launched up from the couch and followed Hiram to his downstairs bathroom. She trusted Hiram.

He had led her to a beautiful downstairs bathroom. A large mirror showcased just how awful she looked, how her eyes appeared empty and how her eyeliner was a little smudged due to swearing in the heat of the party. Did she really let some guy do this to her?
Hiram smiled at her in the mirror and slowly emptied his pockets to reveal a clear packet with white substance. Maria didn't question where he got it. She didn't care.

"Is that alright to take?" She asked, her voice hinting at concern. He just nodded as he set the lines up and took out a fifty bill. She stared at him with astonishment.

"It's the only cash I have," he defended himself, "not my fault you're too poor to contribute to this bonding experience."

She should've said no, she should've walked away and never spoken to Hiram again. But she didn't.

She didn't think twice.

They didn't exchange any words has Maria dipped her head down and snorted two lines of cocaine. Instantly standing straight and sniffing vigorously. Once she had finished she stood straight and her world became darker, her pupils dilated, the light in the bathroom got less bright and she felt her heart stop, her breathing just stopped. At that moment Maria Reynolds believes she was dying. She wanted to scream, she wanted to be rushed to the hospital but she knew it would create a scene. She was paralysed with the feeling of euphoria. God is she could live in that moment forever. Her breath was caught in her throat.

Hiram didn't take anything, nor did he want anything in return. He just watched her face contort from complete confusion, her eyes glazing over and then transition to fear then complete bliss. As if this was her first breath of air after drowning in water for so long.

Maria wasn't sure how long she spent in the bathroom but when she came out the party seemed a lot further away. The music wasn't so loud and she could lean against the cold wall as she walked to the bottom of the stairs. She found it hard to focus with her head constantly killing from side to side but she could made out a figure waiting by the front door.
Even in her state she could recognise her friend Alice standing near the door, she seemed jittery but Maria wasn't sure what she was nervous about. She looked nervous, she was fiddling with her fingers as she constantly scanned the crowd and then to the front door she standing next to. Maria stepped slightly further back so her friend didn't see her.
She was about to call out to her friend when the one person she was thinking about all day entered.
She watched the serpent she had fallen in love with walk-in through the front door, his demeanour cool and nonchalant. As usual. She watched Alice urgently grab his arm and twirl him to face her before he could move further into the party.

Something about this exchange felt intimate. Maria felt like she prying but she couldn't look away, she knew she shouldn't be watching this intently. In her high state everything was intensified, she couldn't focus properly on what was happening but she watched Alice lead FP Jones up the stairs. She was careful to look around the party, checking no one was watching them. She watched her friend tug the man she loved up the stairs, her eyes still flickering through the crowds. She didn't want to be noticed. It seemed that only Maria watched this odd exchange between the two southsiders that reportedly hated each other.

Maria didn't know what to do, she wasn't sure what the right thing was to do. Her right hand found the railing as she hoisted herself up the stairs, much slower to the previous walkers. Her body swaying side to side as she tried to focus her power on making it up the stairs. She could see that one door was slightly open down the long corridor when she reached the top. Without thinking, she walked towards the door and saw light coming out from the crack in the doorway. She could feel her heart hammering as she peaked through the door.

And god, she wanted to be sick.