A Touch Of Colour

First Date

After school the next day, Archie was getting ready for his date. He wasn't sure how to dress, should he dress casually? Or should he wear something more formal, to show that he cares? Is a tie too much to wear to a coffee date? A bow tie? He was tense, he wanted to know how she was dressing, so he could wear something to a similar standard. After fifteen minutes of putting together different outfits, he ended up throwing on a simple button-down shirt, and some black jeans.

Archie walked through the doors of the coffee shop, noticing Veronica up at the counter, waiting in line. He walked over to her, and said hello.

"Archie. What took you so long?" she frowned, and took her phone out of her jacket pocket to check the time. "You're ten minutes late. I was starting to think you stood me up."

"Oh, no, of course not. I was just... helping my dad out with some things," he lied. He felt embarrassed that he spent fifteen minutes picking an outfit.

When it came to their turn in line, Archie ordered an iced coffee, and Veronica ordered a mocha. They went to sit at the table in the corner, the one with the cushioned seats.

"So, Veronica, what brought you to Riverdale?" Archie inquired.

"Oh, I think that's more of a second, third date kind of story. I'll just give you the shortened reason - my mom and I wanted a change. New York just wasn't fit for us anymore." She pursed her lips. "How long have you been here?"

"Born and raised. My dad's a construction worker, he owns Andrews Constructions. My mom's in Chicago. She's a lawyer." He took a sip from his coffee, looking out the window. He noticed the new boy, Kevin, walking past the shop, carrying a paper bag with the logo from the bookstore nearby on it. Archie felt his heart speed up. Must be the nerves from the date, he convinced himself.

"Are they divorced?" Veronica asked. "Sorry, that was a bit rude, that's probably another second-third date question."

"No, it's okay. They're separated. They're trying to figure things out." He sighed.

"Oh, I'm sorry," She frowned.

"It's whatever." He looked away. A few moments of silence passed before they spoke again.

"If you don't mind me asking, have you met your soulmate already? I would assume not, as you're on this date with me, but you could have met him in New York?" Archie asked.

"No, I haven't. Unless it's you, but I'd like to keep the mystery for a little longer. It's more fun that way, don't you think?" She smiled. Archie smiled back.

Archie came back from his date in a giddy mood, he thought it went quite well. Veronica said she'd like to go out again sometime, so Archie took that as a sign it was a good date. For some reason, though, Archie could not seem to get Kevin Keller out of his head. He texted Betty to let her know how his date went, but he couldn't see her through his window. She was probably just out with Jughead.

Kevin Keller sat in his bedroom, scrolling through his Instagram feed. He saw posts from his old friends, in his old town, having fun without him. He felt homesick. In the middle of all the posts about his old friends, he saw a post of Veronica and Archie sitting in the coffee shop. Kevin and Veronica had exchanged Instagram handles the previous day. Archie was in the seat opposite of Veronica, holding a glass of iced coffee. They were both smiling at the camera. The caption read 'Chapter One' Kevin felt a pang of jealousy. He wasn't sure why. He tapped Archie's username tagged, and requested to follow him. He locked his phone, and went downstairs for a glass of milk.

'Follow request from @thekevinthwonder,' read Archie's Instagram notification. Archie switched over to the Instagram app to accept Kevin's follow request. He followed him back, and scrolled through his page. His most recent post featured Veronica and Kevin, sitting on the student lounge, faces squished together, smiling. In the background, Betty Cooper was on another lounge, nose buried in Toni Morrison's Beloved.

Veronica walked into the student lounge the next day, and sat with Archie, Betty, and the rest of the group. They were all laughing, reminiscing back to middle school.

"Oh, my God, Arch! No matter how many times you deny it, you most definitely had a Twilight phase! You could not stop talking about how Jacob was Bella's perfect match," Betty laughed, grinning from ear to ear.

"But it's true! Edward was so weirdly obsessed with her, it was kinda creepy!" Archie protested.

"That was the point, wasn't it?" Betty chuckled.

"Hey, guys," Veronica greeted, and turned to Archie, "You were Team Jacob? Oh, Andrews, I've gotten myself into a handful, haven't I?"

"Were? He clearly still is," Jughead raised an eyebrow. "I don't think we've met. I'm Jughead," he extended his arm to Veronica, who shook his hand.

"Veronica," she smiled. Betty patted the empty space on the lounge next to her, gesturing for Veronica to sit.

"So, how was your date?" Betty asked, as Veronica sat down. She looked over at Archie, who was busy conversing with Jughead and Reggie, a member of Riverdale's Bulldogs.

"It went quite well," Veronica grinned.

"Is he...?" Betty raised her brow.

"My soulmate? I'm not sure, we didn't touch. And I don't want to find out yet, I want to see how it goes,"

"But what if he isn't, and this all goes nowhere?" Betty frowned. "Archie's my friend, and I don't want him getting hurt. The same goes for you,"

"But that's the fun in it, isn't it? Not knowing? I'm sure there's some parallel universe where you can't even tell who is your soulmate, and everyone is just born with the ability to see in colour. Hey, that'd be cool. Someone should write a book about that," Veronica theorised.

"I don't know, that sounds like it'd be a boring book. And that's coming from the girl who loves, like, every book she reads. Anyways," Betty sighed. "I should go. Weatherbee wants to see me."

"Okay, see you later," Veronica turned to look at Kevin, who was struggling to figure out the vending machine. She stood up from the lounge and headed over to him.

"Don't bother," she began, "Betty told me that thing hasn't worked in two years."

"Oh," Kevin said, startled, "that sucks, I just lost three bucks." Veronica tried hitting the vending machine, to see if that would change anything. She managed to get a packet of cashew nuts to fall down.

"Well, not a total waste of cash, then," Kevin smiled. He reached down to get the packet, and started to eat the cashews.

"Kev, have you met your soulmate? I know that's a personal, and straightforward question, but I'm curious," Veronica frowned.

"Uh, I don't think so. I still see don't see colour, although, I don't know how it would be any different. Have you?"

"I'm not sure, I hope- I think it might be Archie, but we haven't touched yet, so it's hard to tell. I'm just... I don't know. I feel drawn to him, in a way I've never felt before." She explained. Just then, the bell rang, and everyone made their way to class.