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masquerade

credits to @jedicastaway via archiveofourown.
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Riverdale - the once innocent town now shrouded in deceit and mystery - was no longer a safe haven for those living there. People were constantly paranoid, waiting for the next disaster to happen. After the murder of Jason Blossom and the reveal that his own father had killed him, everyone was on edge. If someone’s own father could turn on their son like that who could anyone trust? People who were once friendly to each other were now cautious of who they spoke to, cautious of where they went and the things they did. Riverdale seemed to have this dark cloud hanging above it lately, one that it couldn’t get rid of.

So, Mayor McCoy decided the town was in a desperate need of a distraction. People needed to their minds off all the trouble so she got to work planning and thinking of ideas until she came up with something. The town was no stranger to hosting events every now and again but they’d never really had something quite as big as this happening.

A masquerade ball. One night where people could dress up, hide their identity and just let go and forget about what was going on in their little town.

The posters were up, a buzz had circulated around the whole town and for once in a long time people were actually excited. The local mall was abuzz with everyone finding their perfect outfits, others more concerned about finding a date than what they were going to wear. Of course, there were those people who weren’t interested at all and those that acted like they weren’t interested but actually were.

Like Jughead Jones.

On the outside he was this mysterious, sarcastic loner kid who had often made it pretty known he didn’t like social situations but on the inside he was still just a kid. He wanted to go to the dances, he wanted to hang out with his friends but he just didn’t know how to handle himself in those kind of situations. Besides, by now, all of his friends had dates to go with. Archie was taking his girlfriend Veronica and Betty had been very sweetly asked by Trev so that left Jughead all alone. He’d told them all he probably wasn’t going to bother going but like always they just wouldn’t take no for an answer.

“So, what’re you going to do, Jug? Just sit in your dad’s trailer all night all alone?” Archie questioned as they strolled through the mall in search of a suit and mask for the red headed boy.

Jughead shrugged his shoulders. “I need to find something else to write about since the whole Jason thing is done with now so yeah.”

“Dude, no,” Archie sighed, stepping into a store with Jughead following closely behind. “I’m not letting that happen. You have to come.”

“And be the fifth wheel? Yeah sure, Archie. Let me just rush to jump at this amazing offer,” he rolled his eyes as he dodged his way past a crowd of people who were incredibly invested in some bow ties.

“Dude, please? We all want you to come. I’m not going to stop until you agree to come with us all,” Archie said and stopped as he approached a black tux that just screamed Archie Andrews.

Jughead sighed, hands in his jacket pocket as he eyed the suits in front of him. The dance was tomorrow and in true Archie fashion, he’d left it until last minute. He actually didn’t even realise the dance was tomorrow until Veronica asked him what colour he was wearing causing the red haired boy to call Jughead and drag him out shopping. Maybe going wouldn’t be so bad even if he did have to wear a suit. “Fine,” he gave in. “Count me in but I’m leaving whenever I want to and none of you can stop me.”

“Fine by me!” Archie beamed as he pulled two suits down, thrusting one at Jughead to try on.

The dance was in full swing. Everyone in fancy suits, extravagant dresses but most importantly a ridiculous array of masks to cover their face in true masquerade style. The hall was full of people, the music blasting out through speakers scattered around the room. The dance floor was full of people young and old trying to show off their best dance moves. It was a nice, fun atmosphere - completely different to the past few weeks. There wasn’t a single person who wasn’t enjoying themselves for once.