Collateral Damage ▻ Riverdale [1]

2.4

THE AFTERMATH
CHAPTER FOUR

Soon after Queenie began to stay at Sweet Pea's trailer, news had spread about it and everyone began to become confused about it. FP wondered why, but didn't want to set her off and just decided to respect her decision. Sweet Pea began to be questioned by all of his friends whenever he was at school or at the Wyrm, but he just shrugged it off.

He told Queenie she could stay with him for as long as she'd like and Queenie just nodded, saying it was only temporary. The Blossoms even invited her to stay with them, but Queenie politely declined, saying that she wanted to stay on the Southside; her home. Riverdale High even sent her a call, telling her that she was welcome back to Riverdale High once she wrote an apology letter to Geraldine Grundy about breaking her nose. She just laughed in their face, saying that it would be a cold day in hell before she found herself going back to school there. Queenie had re-enrolled at Southside High and was due to start her junior year in just a few days.

Jughead and Queenie had even become closer in just the two days she had been back on her feet and out of the hospital. He invited her to Pop's to join himself, Kevin Keller, Veronica Lodge and also Betty Cooper, the only was she was familiar with besides her younger brother.

Queenie felt out of place as she sat beside Veronica and Kevin in the booth at Pop's but still managed, wanting to show her brother that she was okay, which she actually wasn't. She was depressed, yet she kept it hidden from everyone.

   Jughead noticed this and anytime he asked her if she was okay, which was almost every ten minutes, she told him she was fine, much better than she was before. That was a total lie and Jughead knew this, he just waited for the time that she would be honest with her. The thing was, the only two people she was honest with was Cheryl Blossom and Sweet Pea.

Queenie sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose as she sat in the booth at Pop's with the four other teenagers that were a year younger than her in age.

"The drive-in closing is just one more nail in the coffin that is Riverdale," Jughead ranted to them, "No, no, forget Riverdale. In the coffin of the American Dream. As the Godfather of...of Indie Cinema, Quinten Terrentino likes to say--" Jughead started, but Queenie held out her hand, getting sick of his little rant.

"Please! God, no! Jug, no more Quinten Terrentino references. They're making my head explode." She cut him off and Kevin gave her a smile, knowing that she had beat him to it. He was about to say that same exact thing.

"What, Queenie? I'm pissed," Jughead complained, "And not just about losing my job. The Twilight Drive-In should mean something to us. People should be trying to save it."

Veronica forward in her seat as she began to speak to Jughead, "People in this age of Netflix and BOD, do people really want to sit and watch a movie in a car? I mean, who even goes there?" Veronica asked him.