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Jughead POV

A month without the person who holds your heart is like a month without oxygen. For me, that's what I had felt while Cynthia was gone. I had been running on autopilot with the Serpents, Betty and school. Everything was less colourful without her and as much as I hate the fact that every single writer has used that line, I couldn't agree with it more.

I had kept her updated on every drama. I told her what was going on with Betty, and how I was helping her cope with her brother murdering someone. I told her how Hermione was running for mayor against Fred Andrews, as much as I knew she didn't want to hear that name. She was the one that suggested Betty be my running partner if I went for Student Body President. I know that Toni told her everything that happened with Cheryl when she stopped replying to her.

Everything had just gone slightly more downhill since she had stayed there.

Today she would be back though, and everything would be better. I understood why she stayed. She couldn't face people until the news got out and not everyone in this town was staring at her. She told me about Fred first. Then she told Cheryl, who promised to tell Toni, who would mention it to the serpents. Then she told Archie, who then spoke to me and we both told Fred, knowing that she wouldn't be able to face him herself.

Fred had called her night before her return flight. Thia had told me how scared she was when she heard his voice, but apparently he just broke down in tears, apologising to her. So, that was why Fred, Archie and I were all on our way to meet her.

No one spoke. Not in the truck. Not in the airport. I was the first one to speak when I shouted her name and ran to hug her.

"I've missed you so much!" I whispered into her hair, lifting her off the ground and into my arms.

"I'm sorry I stayed so long." She whimpered back. I pulled back, pressing my lips against hers, telling her I understood. Then she spotted Fred and Archie behind me.

Archie approached first, and despite the rivalry between father and son, they had put it aside for Cynthia.

"Hey little sis." Archie had taken to calling her that every time they spoke since she had told her, and I could see the joy in her face. He took her case while I took her hand, approaching Mr Andrews, her father.

"Hey..." She trailed off. I squeezed her hand, sensing her fear already.

"You can call me Fred, Cyn. You can take this at your own pace. I just want to make up for all the years that I didn't realise-" She cut him off with a hug, pulling out of my grip. This short interaction proved to me, a mere onlooker watching a girl meet her dad for the first time, that Fred would be more of a father than she had ever received. Clifford had never shown any true love towards Cynthia, and now it all made sense. How could the drug dealing boss love a child that wasn't his?

The car ride home was filled with happiness. More happiness than any of us had experienced in so long. It was all down to Cynthia. Her smile was lighting up the car. Her laugh was making even the rumble of the engine sound happy.

"So Cyn, I heard Kevin is putting on Carrie The Musical, will you be auditioning?" Fred asked, looking at her in the rear view mirror.

"Maybe, I don't know if singing is really my thing." Her light-hearted chuckle filled my ears as I turned to her, an eyebrow raised.

"Thia, I've heard you sing in the shower, you have to audition! You'd only be doing the world a mis-service by not performing." I told her, Archie backed me up by turning around and reminding her of when we would all go swimming in the summer and she would pretend to be a mermaid and sing on the rocks. This caused the perfect shade of red to flush her cheeks. I knew then that she would be auditioning.

Cynthia POV

It turns out auditioning wasn't even needed. Kevin called me, begging to be Cheryl's understudy for the musical after my sister had practically forced her way into the cast.

"Please Thia. Jughead told me you can sing, and then you can do the second night's show. Come on, she can't take centre stage again." And with the promise of cookie dough ice cream on opening night if I agreed I was part of the cast, and began to rehearse the many songs I'd have to sing on the second night, and any other should Cheryl go down.

Jughead was the videographer. I knew he was touched and knowing he could spend more time with me, he had agreed. He just didn't know that the footage he would capture would be a little more than a thrilling on-screen drama.

While he went to the meeting with Kevin, I got sucked back into cheer practise with Cheryl, and surprisingly Toni. Throughout my day since I got given the script, I was singing the songs, my lines in my head, should I need them.

"Why not now? Where will I belong? Look where I am, damn, my whole life feels wrong." The musical was becoming my life more than an additional hobby. Lines from the musical just pop into my head.

"Until you've been in, you ain't where it's at."

In rehearsal we all sat around in a circle after signing 'In' to warm up. Jughead filming it all, and clapping for us when we had finished. We all went around and said our names and who we are playing, for video purposes of course.

"I'm Cynthia Blossom, and I'm Carrie's understudy."

"I'm Cheryl Blossom, playing the iconic role of Carrie White." I saw eyes roll the moment Cheryl stood from her seat, and even more when Betty's mom walked in to play Carrie's mom.

It was time to do the first read-through of the script. Of course, I wasn't reading any of my lines at all, as Cheryl would be playing the character, but Kevin wanted me there so I could read through them and learn them with my sister. Well, half sister.

Surprisingly, Cheryl had treated me no different than she had last year. To her, so she claimed, I would always be her full sister, be it by blood or not. I didn't need to make any kind of Blossom claim to any inheritance to prove I was her sister. And, because I was her sister, I knew her better than anyone else, so when she entered rehearsal, I knew something was up. That something up was the small conversations about her incapability of playing the lead role.

"I've heard whisperings that some of you ensemble-vultures," she said while raising her eyebrows at Ethel "don't think i'm fit to play, or sing, the role of Carrie White." Then, in true Blossom style she began singing her opening number. I didn't think she was bad, Cheryl could have been a lot worse than what she was, however sitting around her in the circle were some other people who were vocally stronger. Acting, she would be suited, but vocally, she lacked the true nature of the character. Still, as she finished, Toni and I stood up and applauded her. Just as she was walking back to her seat, a sandbag dropped right in front of her, narrowly missing her head. Jughead looked confused, Cheryl looked angry and Kevin looked shocked. It was clear from that point that this wouldn't be any high school production. 

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