milkshake // archie andrews

Archie

Archie Andrews wasn't sure he wanted to play football anymore. Sure, it would get him a good scholarship, and probably send him to a great college, but whenever he watched the swarm of sweaty high-schoolers tackling each other on the field, he grew more and more wary of his decision to solely rely on this sport.

Everyone had their thing. Jughead had writing, Betty liked journalism and crime-solving. Even Veronica had a sea of connections that would surely get her places in the future, not to mention she was also already an incredible businesswoman. 

Archie had nothing but football. And sure, he was the best at Riverdale High, but outside of this town? He was probably barely mediocre. 

This is what he was thinking of the entire day. He couldn't focus on any of his classes, nor any of his friends in the hallway. He wasn't even sure why he had just had this sudden revelation. His whole high school career, it had only been football. After all, it was all he knew. His dad was football captain in high school, and as soon as he had a son, he raised him to love football as well. The only problem was, Archie wasn't sure he loved football. Hell, he wasn't even sure he liked it.

It was junior year, the time when everyone was stressing about colleges and SATs. This should have been the time when Archie felt the most secure. He was going to land a scholarship, everyone knew it, and he would be set for practically any college in the state. But it wasn't what he wanted to do. He didn't want it to be his thing.

Archie wanted his thing to be music, but he wasn't about to tell anyone that. Music had always been a constant in his life too, but it was only fostered recently (after a scandalous summer affair with the school's music teacher). 

Sleeping with the music teacher aside, Archie had a deep love for music, not just for listening to it, but making it too. He wrote songs practically every day, and despite the fact that none of them were very good, it was still his favorite activity, a refuge after a grueling football practice. 

He wanted to go into music in college, he really did, and he had no doubt he would still be supported wholeheartedly if he suddenly dropped football and announced that he was now a songwriter, but the issue was that you can only be a songwriter if you write good songs. And Archie did not write good songs.

He had nothing to write about. His life was about as PG as one's can get. The most interesting thing in his life right now was that his best friend was the leader of a gang, and he knew nothing about that, as he tried to stay away from the Southside Serpents as much as he could. The best song he had written was the one after Veronica broke up with him for Reggie (which he was still kind of hurt over), and even that song was so juvenile made him cringe when he looked back on it.

Along with obsessing over his unhappiness with football, Archie was also desperately trying to come up with new topics for his songs, anything serious or heartbreaking enough that he could come up with good lyrics for. This pondering carried into lunch, and his friends clearly noticed his flighty attitude, exchanging worried glances when they sat down on the blue picnic bench. 

"Arch, are you doing okay?" Betty asked, taking a seat next to Jughead, who grinned and slung his arm over her shoulder.

"I'm fine," Archie said.

"What? Do I look weird or something?"

"Very head in the clouds, LSD-esque vibe you have today," Jughead replied, taking a bite of his sandwich. 

"Don't worry, it's very classic jock to look super dumb and unaware."

"Jug!" Betty said, shoving him lightly.

"You've just looked a little out of it today, and we were worried." she continued, smiling in Archie's direction.

"Sorry, I guess I was just thinking." Archie said.

"About?"

Luckily, before Archie had to come up with some sort of ridiculous excuse on the spot, Cheryl Blossom came storming over to their lunch table, a determined look on her face.

"This should be good." Jughead murmured.

"Archie Andrews and crew, I need your help. I'm worried for my beloved TT."

"What's the issue, Cheryl?" Betty asked, at full attention.

Archie was interested too. Anything to get his mind off of this stupid music vs. football debacle.

"There's a new Serpent in town. Did our esteemed leaders have any clue about this?"

Betty and Jughead shook their heads. Cheryl sighed dramatically.

"Her name's Lucy or something of that nature. She took my TT and two of the boys away to have some sort of chat. Seems like she knows them very well. They copy her every move, follow her every order. Seems like it could be an issue for the King and Queen, here."

Betty and Jughead exchanged a worried glance.

"Where are they now?" Jughead asked.

"I took the liberty of following them, and it seems like they're hurrying to a classic Serpent hangout: the junkyard."

"I'm sure there's nothing to worry about, Cheryl, but we'll check it out anyway," Jughead said.

"Gather the rest of the Serpents and we'll meet you there."

As Cheryl hurried off, Betty and Jughead began to stand and Archie followed suite.

"Archie, this really isn't your scene," Jughead said, Betty nodding in agreement next to him.

"Come on, you guys never involve me in anything, anymore." Archie protested.

"Things like this can get dangerous, Archie." Betty put in. 

"And I can fight better than both of you. I have football and wrestling experience, remember?" Archie said. He didn't care that he was practically begging at this point, anything to get him exposure for new song material, and anything to keep him distracted. 

"Fine. But it's probably just this once, so don't try anything in the future." Jughead warned.

"I promise, nothing in the future. " Archie said earnestly. 

And the three set off. Archie wasn't sure whether to be scared or not, but he did know one thing: a new Serpent in town almost always meant trouble.