As a Southside Serpent, Sweet Pea is under the impression that all Northsiders are preppy, priviledged Southside-haters. The idea of him falling in love with one is the most unlikely thing he could ever imagine.
Surprisingly, this changes when Sweet...
"Cheryl! . . . Oh, Andy. Could I have a moment alone with Cheryl?" Betty walked into the room with purpose.
"Bets . . . you know I hate secrets," Andy started, remembering how the Black Hood manipulated her. "But I'll go if you insist."
The blonde girl took a deep breath and tilted her head. "I just think there's no one else that I can talk to. Cheryl's the only one who might understand what I'm going through."
"Maybe I won't understand but I might be able to help?" Andy offered, concerned.
"Dear cousin, you look harrowed. What is it?" Cheryl asked.
"Cheryl, before you saw the video of your dad . . . shooting Jason . . . did you know that he was the murderer?" Cheryl and Andy glanced at each other.
"Subconsciously yes," Cheryl admitted. "Why do you ask?"
"I think there's a chance that my dad . . . that somehow . . . that he might be the Black Hood."
Andy froze. Betty's father might be the murderer? This was a Blossom thing. A Cooper thing. Not an Andrews thing. Maybe she should've left when she had the chance.
"Oh . . . Oh Betty I don't know. I've seen your pater sneak around Thistlehouse and he has all the stealth of a marshmallow man. Wherefore comes this accusation?"
"It's just intuition. Cheryl, I don't want my dad to be a murderer. It would destroy our lives even more but I don't know . . . I don't know I can feel it in my bones." The dead serious tone of her voice shook Andy to her core.
"If you're coming to me for advice, fine. Let's get you to the Po-Po. Maybe this new Sheriff has half a brain," Cheryl said. Andy wanted to agree, but she wasn't sure she trusted the new Sheriff since he was in cahoots with the Lodge family.
Betty shook her head. "No, no. Not yet. I need to be sure before I involve anyone else. Also, I know it's hard to explain but if my dad is the Black Hood, I need to be the one who confronts him, who stops him."
"In that case, absorb my hard learned advice. You need concrete proof or a confession or both. First step, buy yourself some time while you investigate. That means pretending everything is normal."
"Yeah, well, luckily that's my specialty."
Andy wished she could give Betty some advice but she had no experience or expertise regarding the suspicion that her father was a murderer.
"You're playing a very dangerous game, Betty Cooper," Cheryl warned.
"But we're with you. If you feel unsafe you need to call me. Or someone else. Anyone," Andy demanded.
"I don't think he would hurt his own daughter," Betty said.
Cheryl responded with brutal honesty.
"And I never thought my dad would shoot his son in the forehead, but that's the world we live in. Tread carefully, cousin."
--
"War Baby called my father and I from Shankshaw. Her old adversaries, the Ghoulies, had been released. Word on the street is that they want Serpent blood. They're gunning for a rematch. They want war." Jughead led another Swords and Serpents meeting from the front of a classroom at Riverdale High.
"Which one of you reptiles was screwing Midge Klump?" Reggie Mantle burst into the Serpents' classroom, interrupting Jughead's information.
"What the hell is going on? This is a private meeting," Jug said.
"I'm guessing it was you, Sweet Pea," Reggie accused.
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