Falling Apart

Chapter 3

The next morning, well, afternoon, I get dressed into my light blue skinny jeans, my light pink shirt and my white sweater. I shove 20 dollars into my pocket and take my phone, plugging in the white earphones at the same time. I put the device into the back pocket of my jeans and go downstairs. To my big surprise, dad is not here. He must've gone out to buy alcohol from the money he must have from stealing it somewhere.
I put my earphones in and play Indie radio on my Spotify account, what Nick pays for, because apparently my phone sucks and I can't download music there. That's what he says at least.
I open the front door and breathe in the cold damp air what should exist only on summer mornings, but for some reason appears at 12pm in this small town where everyone knows each other, Riverdale.
I decided to explore the town. I always do that on the first full day at my new home. I remember our address, 111 Elm Street, and start walking in a random direction. After about ten minutes, I reach the Diner, Pop's. That's exactly the place I wanted to get to. I'm so hungry, I haven't eaten anything since the croissant I ate yesterday in the car. Suddenly I get mad, thinking about the other croissant what could've been in my stomach if my father wouldn't have stolen it.
I stop all the songs and pull my earphones out, just before entering the Diner. The bell above the door, startles me for a moment, but at least I don't jump or make a total fool out of myself. The person behind the counter –a grey haired dark skinned old man– looks at me with a smile but it disappears as rapidly as it came. His eyes go wide and I hear him saying under his breath, what makes everyone shut up and turn to look at me.
I freeze and look around in the diner. So many families, but also teens and some middle schoolers. The man seemed so kind at first, but I didn't hear what he said and now everyone is staring at me like I'm some kind of dangerous animal who's escaped from the zoo. I feel the blood boiling in my cheeks. My fingertips start tingling and I get very uncomfortable.
I take a small breath and force myself to walk to the counter. I give the old man an awkward smile and he closes his eyes for a moment and shakes his head and then looks back at me. “Alice?” he asks me.
Right. Why am I so stupid? They all knew my mom. Of course. I shouldn't ask him for a picture though, if he works in the local diner and is a good guy, he probably knows everyone and gets along with them. Did my mom look like me, though?
“If I'd be my mom, shouldn't I be like 40 years older?” I ask quietly. His mouth turns into a grin.
“You’re her daughter.” I nod with a small smile. Do they know that she's dead? “How old are you?” he asks. Shouldn't they ask what my name is at first?
“15,” I say. 16 soon. I don't say the last part, because I don't wanna seem like a child.
“And may I ask, how is your name?” I chuckle at that quietly. I haven't laughed at or with anyone who isn't one of my brothers for years now.
“I’m Betty,” I say. He smiles.
“Well, nice to meet you Betty. I'm Pop Tate. And I'm sorry about your mom.” So they do know. I nod a little. “What could I get you?” he asks.
“Uh, I'm new in town and I'm not really sure,” I say, blushing a little again.
“Of course, my bad. What do you usually eat in a diner?” I gulp, Whatever I can pay for. I shrug.
“Hey. I'm Veronica Lodge,” a raven haired girl says, coming to stand next to me.
I smile a little, “Betty Cooper.” She smiles.
“What’s your favorite milkshake flavor?”
“Vanilla, by far.”
They chuckle at me. I'm a little surprised. Was that funny? Did I just make a joke? “And you eat meat, right?” she asks me. I nod. She gives me a single nod and looks at Pop. “A vanilla milkshake, a cheeseburger with a side of fries and onion rings.”
I raise my eyebrows as Pop nods behind the counter and writes it down. “I only have 20 dollars,” I say quietly.
“In Pop's, you can get a full meal for 5,” Veronica says. I raise my eyebrows in shock, but don't say anything. And then start smiling.
“Well thank you,” I tell her.
“You're alone in here?” she asks.
“In the diner, in town, in plane-“ I start asking, but she laughs out loud at my ‘joke’.
“In the diner, I mean.” I nod a little. She points at her friends, two boys, in a booth, “Sit with us.”
“Wait, seriously?” I ask. She nods and rolls her eyes, grabbing my hand.
“Come on.” She pulls me to the booth and sits down next to the red headed guy in a varsity jacket. A jock, I don’t like jocks. The other boy makes room for me by sliding to sit next to the window. I smile and mumble a quiet ‘thanks’ to him. He is wearing a sweater and his hair is so neat and covered in wax for sure.
“I'm Kevin. And may I say, this outfit is too casual for you. You need to show your body more, it's summer.” I raise my eyebrows and a little smile creeps on my lips.
“This is Kevin, by the way. He's gay, so don't be scared, he doesn't wanna have sex or anything,” Veronica says. I giggle quietly and nod.
“Yes, let's be best friends,” he says. I smirk and purse my lips a little.
“I’m Archie,” the jock says. “You’re Alice's daughter?”
“Uh, yeah,” I say. I'm always uncomfortable talking about my family with strangers and even friends. He smiles.
“So you live in her house? 111 Elm Street?” I raise my eyebrows and give him a small nod. Are all small towns like this? ”I’m not a stalker or anything,” he chuckles, “But we're neighbors then.” I smile a little. At least someone normal, I hope. His arm goes onto the back of the booth, around Veronica's shoulders. She pecks his cheek. Okay, couple number 1.
“How old are you guys?” I ask. I needed to ask something, plus I'm hoping that someone would be as old as me and I'd have some friends in my class. If we keep living here for that long.
“16,” they all say in unison. I smile.
“As in, you're going to be juniors?” They all nod. I sigh in relief, “Great, it's good to know someone.”
“I thought you were 15,” Kev says.
I nod, “At the moment, yeah.”
He smiles and looks at Veronica. “See that, Ronnie? Not everyone has to add that their birthday is soon.” I giggle at that a little and Archie smirks as V rolls her eyes.
Pop comes to our table and puts my food in front of me. I smile at him. “Thank you.”
“No problem, enjoy your food,” he says. I smile a little and he goes away. I only now see all the food in front of my new… friends? Archie's eating a burger and Veronica is sipping her chocolate milkshake while Kevin steals a fry from me. I chuckle and he winks at me. I start eating my fries slowly, now understanding how empty my stomach really is.
“Tell me about you guys,” I say. They all smile, probably waiting for questions to start. I'm waiting for them to ask me something, which I won't like, but will think about something, of course.
They start talking about themselves, which I really enjoy. Turns out that Veronica has only lived here for a year now, she's from New York of all places, but her parents grew up here. Now I know where I recognized the name. Her dad is a criminal and in jail. In the same place my dad should be at.
Archie in the other hand has lived here for his whole life. Just like his dad. His mom moved to Chicago when he was small and he lives with his dad just like I do, only that I can see from the way he talks about his father, that the man has to be a good dad for him. He's a jock, but not one of the mean ones. Just a normal guy, a little stupid. You know, usual.
Kevin. Woah. That boy has a way of explaining things. His comebacks are sarcastic mostly and he has a good sense of humor. The gay guy stereotype I think. But there's so much more than that. He seems to genuinely care about everyone. His dad is the sheriff of the town, so he knows everything.
“What about you?” Ronnie asks. I gulp the bite of my cheeseburger down.
“What about me?” I ask. She chuckles.
“You know, what do you like? Do you have siblings?” Another fun fact about the town. Everyone seems to be an only child. All the families in here all have only one child with them. They'll think I'm a weirdo. Not that I'd care, it's just sad to lose all my new friends on the same day I made them.
I nod a little and take a sip from the best Vanilla milkshake I've ever tried. “Uh, I like… Reading. And writing. And binging TV shows if my brother has paid for his Netflix account.”
They chuckle and nod. “Isn't reading boring?” Archie asks, “Or writing for that matter?”
I shake my head with a grin, “Don’t make me talk two hours about why reading and writing are the best activities ever.” They grin with me. “And the sibling part… I have 4 older brothers.” Kevin chokes on his strawberry milkshake, making me grin as I bite another one of my fries.
“Four?” Veronica asks in shock. I nod a little and bite my lip, waiting for what more they have to say.
“That's awesome!” Archie exclaims. I breathe out in relief and raise my eyebrows. “How old are they? Do you like them?”
Now it's my turn to choke, but from laughing. “28, 25 and the twins are 21… And yes. I love them.”
“Wow, respect. If I had older brothers, I'd probably hate them for existing,” V says, making all of us laugh.
“What about your dad?” Archie asks. Here it is. The question I've been waiting for from the beginning. “What made him come back to Riverdale?” Apparently everyone knows.
I shrug, “One day he just said we need to move there.” Actually he didn't say anything. He beat me up, because he was drunk and angry. And after that left me to lie on the cold bathroom floor until I had enough strength to get up myself.