𝐑𝐈𝐏𝐓𝐈𝐃𝐄, riverdale [2]

FIFTEEN

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Cheryl had dropped Mariah back at her house. The drag race was way too much for one day. Mariah had gone to school the next day and went about her day normally, hearing news of a teacher at Southside High getting arrested. Apparently, he was the Sugar Man. Cheryl had bragged about being the one to find out who he was, which was surprising seeing as she asked Mariah to talk to Betty about bugging her about said man. But that's neither here nor there.

But after the Sugar Man's arrest, things only got weirder. Scarier. Because the Black Hood had gone after the Sugar Man and killed him. And after that, a letter that he had written was posted on the door of Pop's and was later published in the town newspaper for everyone to see. Mariah was at school with Josie and Cheryl, the latter of which was reading what the Black Hood has written in the article.

"People of Riverdale, I have rid this town of the drug-dealing child-killer and others like him. Now, you must choose your fate. The next 48 hours will be a test. And I will be watching you very closely. Show me you are pure of heart, and my work ends. Continue to sin, and I will take up the sword again," she read off.

"Well that's not terrifying at all," Mariah said, standing up. "What do you think the Black Hood is gonna do?" Josie asked. Mariah shrugged, "No idea. This whole thing is stupid though. If he's trying to rid Riverdale of sinners then he's gonna have to kill everyone in this town and then himself because, newsflash, everyone's a sinner. Including him."

She grabbed her bag off of the ground. "Let's just, forget about the letter and get to class," she told the two before walking out of the room with the two following. Cheryl took the lead as they walked down the hallway. Mariah trailed a little behind the two.

She hadn't noticed that Cheryl and Josie had stopped at the latter's locker and were talking, she only continued walking forward. Her mind had been all over the place with everything going on. She had still been dodging her father's calls and texts. She felt kind of bad about it. He had kept up his end of the deal but she wasn't doing the same. But at the same time, he deserved it.

And then there was the thing between Archie and Veronica. Mariah felt as though she had moved on from the redheaded asshole. However, every time she saw him and Veronica together, it made her want to either cry or scream. Maybe it was because nobody seemed to think it was strange how he had went from dating Mariah one minute and Veronica the next. Or maybe it was because it was almost as if the two were flaunting their relationship in her face. Or maybe it's because she felt as though Archie had never wanted to be with her in the first place. Maybe the idea of dating the girl he had crushed on in middle school was what fueled his "reemerging feelings" for the blonde. Maybe he thought he liked her but the feelings were never really there to begin with. Because if he had loved Mariah like he said he had, he wouldn't have cheated on her and he definitely wouldn't have begun dating the girl he had cheated on her with.

That very thought stung like hell.

And though her feelings for Archie were fading more and more everyday, she couldn't help the hurt that she felt when she saw the two together in the halls.

And now everything going on with the Black Hood. It was all just too much to deal with.

Mariah hadn't been paying attention in English. When she got to her Biology class, she was prepared to block everything out again and become immersed in her thoughts. But she had Biology with Cheryl Blossom, and Cheryl Blossom always had something to say. The redhead's mouth stopped moving, however, when Josie came up to their table.

"You will not believe this," she began, sitting down. "Chuck Clayton just asked me out on a date." Mariah's face scrunched up in disgust. "Gross," she said. "That's vile, assuming you said no," Cheryl said. "Yeah, I'm not insane," Josie retorted. "Good. Because we have a date with the recording studio," the redhead reminded, to which Josie sighed and rolled her eyes. Mariah was confused by her reaction. She thought that Josie had been excited about the opportunity.