A Touch Of Colour

Chapter One: Colourless

Archie Andrews was your typical boy next door. He loved sports, he was a talented musician, and he had a loving mother and father, all tied up in a neat bow. He had his best friend, Betty Cooper, who doubled as his next door neighbour. She was always there for him, and vice versa.
The only thing that wasn’t perfect in Andrews’ life was that he hadn’t met his soulmate yet.
In the world Archie Andrews lived in, everything was black and white. There were no colours. One could only see in colour if they came in contact with their soulmate. Betty Cooper had already met her soulmate, Jughead Jones, when they were young. Betty could see things in colour, she could see things in a way that was indescribable to her friend.
Betty and Archie sat in a booth at Pop’s Chocklit Shoppe, awaiting their burgers to arrive. Betty sipped on the straw of her strawberry milkshake, as she pondered what Archie’s soulmate might look like. She was picturing a wonderful, raven-haired girl, who was understanding, caring, and passionate. She looked much like the girl who was walking through the door. Archie looked at Betty, confused as to why she looked so focused.
“Betty?” Archie waved his hand, to break her gaze.
“Oh, sorry, I just- don’t you ever wonder what your soulmate might look like?” She enquired.
“Constantly. But I try not to focus on it, you know, as I have other things to worry about. I imagine she’d be pretty, though.” Archie furrowed his brows, hoping Betty would change the topic, as he felt ashamed that he didn’t know his soulmate yet. He knew it was a silly thing to be ashamed of, but most of his peers were already seeing in colour.
 
“I called in an order, for Lodge?” Said the girl with the dark hair to Pop Tate.
“Two burgers, yeah. Almost ready, but you gotta wait.” Pop Tate called, as he headed back to the kitchen. The girl looked over to the two sitting in the booth, and smiled. Archie instantly felt drawn to this girl.
“Hi there,” she started, “Veronica Lodge. And you are?”
“Archie. Andrews,” he smiled back.
“Hi, Betty Cooper.” Betty smiled, raising an eyebrow at Archie. Archie narrowed his eyes at her.
“Are you both at Riverdale High?” Veronica queried. They both nodded.
“Wait, you said Veronica Lodge, right? I’m giving you your tour tomorrow,” Betty beamed.
“How fun!” Veronica grinned. Pop Tate came back to the counter, holding a paper bag, and Veronica looked over, “Well, that’d be me. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”
“See you,” Betty and Archie said in unison.
Betty widened her eyes at Archie, and he laughed it off.
“What? She could be your soulmate, Arch. You just need a way to figure it out. And you know I love a challenge,” she grinned.
“Alright, Betty. I’ll leave it to you, but don’t make it weird. Not like you did when you thought Cheryl Blossom was my soulmate,” Archie pressed. When they were fourteen, Betty had started to hang out with Cheryl, and Cheryl had never really met Archie. Betty thought that Cheryl may have been Archie’s soulmate, and so, she tried to push them together. The only problem was that Betty was too forceful, and Cheryl was scared off. Well, that, and that Cheryl wasn’t Archie’s soulmate.
 

“Please stand for the National Anthem,” the Principal called. The students all stood, and Archie was looking through the crowd of students among him. He noticed a boy wearing a v-neck sweater, a brown leather bag draped across his shoulder. His hair was neatly swept to the side. Archie felt intrigued by this boy, he wanted to know him. He was stood next to Cheryl Blossom, who looked considerably tall next to him. Next to Archie were Betty and Veronica, and at the top of the bleachers stood Jughead Jones, with his infamous beanie atop his head.

As Archie was heading to his locker, he noticed the new boy coming towards him. Perhaps his locker is near mine , Archie thought to himself. Archie fumbled with the lock, and put his combination in. At least, what he thought it was. The summer break wasn’t that long, was it? The boy stood at the locker next to Archie’s, looked at the paper in his hand, and opened his locker with ease.

“Hey, uh, are you new here?” Archie asked.

“Yeah, I’m Kevin Keller. I, uh, I was going to ask if you were new too, but I think the Riverdale Varsity jacket answers my question.” He chuckled. Archie smiled. Archie played with his lock for a moment, seeing if he could miraculously remember his code. He looked up at Kevin, who was watching him curiously. Archie tried one last potential code, and his locker opened.

“There you go,” Kevin smirked.

After second period, Veronica approached Archie, full of confidence.

“Hey, Andrews,” she called.

“Veronica,” Archie smiled.

“I think we both know that there’s something here,” she waved her hand around the space between the two, “why don’t we hang out sometime? Is there a nice coffee shop around here, or something like that?”

“Oh, wow, ha, okay,” Archie felt flustered. He’d never been on a date before. “Uh, there’s a coffee shop on the corner across from the bookstore. We could go there?”

“Sure thing. I can’t do today, but perhaps tomorrow?” She suggested.

“Uh, sure.”

“Great.” Veronica smiled, “I’ll see you then!” She turned on her heel, and headed to her third period.

Archie had biology third period, and to his teacher’s dismay, he turned up fairly late, calming his nerves after talking to the girl who was potentially his soulmate. The only available seat in the classroom was next to Kevin Keller, so that was where Archie sat. For some reason, Archie’s nerves were back, his stomach swarming with butterflies. He looked over at Kevin, who was copying notes from the blackboard. His heart was racing. Why was his body acting this way? He wasn't used to it. Maybe Veronica really was his soulmate, if he felt like this after she asked him on a date.