Collateral Damage ▻ Riverdale [1]

1.23

THE BEGINNING
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
June 28, 2017

"Jason," Queenie laughed as Jason held her bridal's style as they made their way to his bedroom, "I have to go meet Polly at her house."

They were both wearing only towels after taking a shower together, "Nope," Jason smiled, "You're staying here. With me. It feels like I haven't hung out with you in forever. We could go skinny dipping?" Jason asked, clearly trying to convince her to stay with him.

"I'm sorry, Jason, but I'm going to hang out with Polly for the day," She told him before smiling, "We could go skinny dipping tonight?" She asked him and Jason nodded.

After getting dressed, Queenie made her way to the Cooper residence. She ended up seeing Jughead hanging out with Archie outside his house. She sent Archie a small smile before waving at Jughead.

Jughead gave her a confused look when he saw his sister walking up the Cooper porch steps, "What the hell is she doing?" Jughead muttered.

"You didn't know?" Archie asked curiously.

"Know what?" Jughead stated.

"Betty told me that Queenie and Polly are back to being friends," Archie explained and Jughead frowned. He knew then and there something wasn't right.

He remembered Queenie being deeply said when Polly ditched her and she swore that she would never be friends with Polly ever again. But here she was, being friends with the girl. He knew people broke their promises all the time, but Queenie was different. He couldn't help feeling concerned that something wasn't right with his sister. She moved out of their dad's trailer and moved into Thornhill, she was back to being friends with Polly, and for God's sake, she was pregnant. He knew now that something was up and he knew that he would do everything to find out what was going on.

Polly opened the door and smiled as she let Queenie into her house, "My mom's out, so we don't have to worry." She stated, "Betty's upstairs, so make sure not to say anything about you know what." Polly informed her and Queenie nodded before they both made their way upstairs.

In Polly's room, they sat on her bed as Polly looked at a map of New England, "There's this farm upstate Jason talked about," Queenie explained as she pointed to apart of the map, "To be honest, it sounds like a fricken' cult, but that's just my opinion."

Polly laughed at her statement before there was a knock on the door, "Polly?" A voice spoke up and the two girls looked up to see Betty standing in her sister's doorway, "Oh, hey, Queenie." She greeted the girl that used to be Polly's friend until numerous things caused them to stop being friends. With a swipe of her hand, Queenie tossed the map on the side of the bed before Betty could notice it.

"It's been a while, Betty." Queenie smiled at the younger girl.

"How are you, Queenie?" Betty asked curiously.

"Pretty good." Queenie shrugged.

The three girls were suddenly interrupted by Alice Cooper, "Polly, what is she doing here?" Alice asked her eldest daughter, pointing over at Queenie.

"I think I'm gonna go now...Bye, Queenie..." Betty said quietly before walking to her room. She clearly didn't want to be in the middle of the unnecessary drama her mother was causing.

"You know, I'm right here," Queenie spoke up and Alice sent her a glare.

"She's my friend, mom, and I don't care that's she's a Southside Serpent like you do. She's still my friend whether you like it or not." Polly replied with attitude, growing sick of her mom's stupid hatred for the Southside.

"You should, Polly," Alice stated as she glanced over at Queenie, "They're evil and only cause chaos."

Queenie scoffed loudly, "You're such a damn hypocrite!" Queenie argued.

"Excuse me? What are you talking about?" Alice asked, acting like she didn't know what the girl was talking about even though she definitely did. She knew that Queenie was talking about her formerly being a Serpent. She just wondered how the hell she knew about it.

"You know, I'm actually dying to say it, I don't think you would be very happy with your daughter knowing about your dark past. Let's just say, it was very eventful and sketchy." Queenie explained with a smirk.

"Mom, what is she talking about?" Polly asked confused.

"Oh, nothing much, Polly, just that your mother was--" Before Queenie could finish her sentence, Alice cut her off.

"You know, Polly? Have fun with her. Just know that she'll drag down with her to the depths of hell. She's just like her father, remember that." Alice stated as Queenie let out a small laugh.

"Calling me just like my father is a compliment. At least I'm not like my mom." Queenie argued and Polly looked at her shocked, she never saw anyone talk to her mom like that.

Alice rolled her eyes before she exited her oldest daughter's room in a fit of rage.

Once Alice was nowhere in sight, Polly frowned as she stared at Queenie in confusion, "What was that about?" Polly asked her and Queenie smirked.

"Nothing. Her and my dad have a long and eventful past. Like you said the other day, my dad and I tell each other everything. He told me a couple stories. Ones that were actually appropriate to tell your teenage daughter." Queenie informed her, referring to her father and Alice sleeping together without actually saying it.

"Are you saying that your dad and my mom--" Polly stopped herself, finally catching Queenie's drift.

Queenie laughed as she nodded her head in agreement, "Yup." She replied.

"Oh, my God." Polly gasped as she smiled at Queenie.

Queenie sighed before picking up the map they tossed on the bedroom floor when Betty entered as a way of hiding it so no one would see it. They couldn't let anyone seeing it without people growing suspicious, "Come on, let's go back to looking."