THE SOUTHSIDE TAPES (RIVERDALE 2)

Hereditary - 03

STONEWALL PREP

Audacity.

Jughead Jones had way too much of it. Whatever god used to make him must have glitched. My best friend had the nerve to approach the author, Mr. DuPont about stealing his grandfather's writing. The sad thing is, I think Betty and I enabled him by letting him prove us wrong.

Mr. DuPont, who had been pissed off by his annoying pestering and offensive accusation, gave him a warning that endangered my scholarship aswell, "You're lucky I don't drag you and your little girlfriend to the headmaster and have you expelled!"

-

Pop's Diner, two days earlier, 6 PM

"Jug, Betty's right." I said, "About this and me having the serial killer gene. Maybe you should let this go. I gotta get back to the Pembrooke before Hiram discovers I've snuck out."

Betty smiled softly, "Normally I'd help you take this guy down but you have no proof, Jug. It's impossible to prove."

"I just need to find out where my grandfather went after- Wait. Riverdale High."

Betty gasped, "We had a literary magazine. I'll get on that lead."
-
THE PEMBROOKE
-
Jughead Jones had managed to sneak in through my bedroom window even after it was locked by Hiram while I was editing the Google Doc for our Baxter Brothers' entry.

"Sorry to come in through the window, dreadful etiquette, I know." He joked.

"H-hi." Jughead sat on the edge of my bed, "You know you can't be here."

Jughead sighed and rolled his eyes, "I may not be here but I can be here. Where have you been?" I stared at him blankly. He rolled his eyes, clearly indicating that I'd forgotten about something, "The weekend's over and you haven't been to school at all."

"And what about it?" I wasn't expecting him to hunt me down.

Oh shit. I'd completely forgotten to tel Jughead I wouldn't be back until next week. "Like I told you and Betty... I've proven my grandfather wrote the first novel." His voice raised.

"That's great Jug but you're going to wake up-"

"Mija? What are you still doing up at this hour?"

"I'm just doing homework, sir. I'll be out in a minute." I glared at Jughead and told him to hide.

"Mija..? I'm coming in."

"Just a minute I-" The door opened, "Hi, Daddy. You look like you could use a glass of Cristal, I'll go get you a glass of-"

"Didn't I tell you to notify Jughead about your absence from school, mija?" I nodded. 

"I let him know," I glared at the beanie wearing boy, "I told him I was sick but he insisted. Came in through the window..."

Thank god Jughead was quick on his feet, "She and I have a project due, Mr. Lodge. Is that alright?" He nodded warily and stood in the doorway watching us.

"Okay so..." Jughead continued, "The outline looks good but we need a structure for the main character...

"Aren't you writing a novel, Jug?" I snapped, "Where you're the main character. What if we wrote about ourselves and the... experiences we've had. I mean, Jason Blossom? Murdered by his own father? Even me, almost murdered by a sociopathic cult leader and her own uncle. I mean, that's what he wants, right?! He wants authenticity. We have that. It's just unconventional and maybe if I... if I... tried harder to save her, Dani wouldn't be dead right now and I'd still have a home where someone cared jug. And then we wouldn't have to go to Stonewall to be something. That would be amazing. And what if we wrote about how to achieve that, you'd have to take someone's life. Someone close to you or someone you fucking hate because you can't take it anymore... someone who takes care you... someone you love... or someone you hate like maybe yourself... I mean, I'd do it in a heartbeat if I..."