Lexy Andrews

There Will Be Blood

"Hey Arch, Lex, check this out. When I applied to college to be an urban planner this is the presentation I made for some programme I never got into. 'Riverdale 2020. Small town with a big future'. Sounds corny, huh?" Their dad laughed, as he showed them a poster of a futuristic drawing of Riverdale.

"No, dad, this is awesome." Archie said.

"Only wish it could be real." Lexy added. "Oh, I see Pops is still here. And the comic store. And Andrews construction."

The three laughed together but just then, there was a knock on the door but before anyone had a chance to even turn around, Veronica let herself in.

"Oh, goodie. You're all here! So I fully realize I'm putting the cart before the horse but I was spit balling some design ideas and I think I may have come up with a few potential campaign logos." She explained as she flipped through a folder of posters with 'Fred Andrews for mayor' written in all different designs and fonts.

As Fred gushed over which ones he liked best, Lexy looked across the table at Archie. She hadn't been on good terms with her brother since he started getting involved with the Lodges. She knew that they weren't good people. They were sneaky and manipulative and would kill their best friend before getting hurt themselves, Hiram especially. And Lexy knew that Archie didn't really want to be a part of that. He just wanted his girlfriend's dad to like him. But Hiram had obviously twisted that around and made Archie believe that he wanted to be a part of what the Lodges do. And now that Hiram was looking for Fred to become mayor of Riverdale, she knew why he needed Archie to trust him.

"Great! So I'll have some buttons and t-shirts printed A.S.A.P." Veronica chirped after Fred picked a design.

***

Lexy and Jughead had been trying every tactic they could think of to take down Hiram Lodge. But so far, every person that had some fort of connection to Hiram refused to give them any sort of information. The two were currently in Jughead's trailer talking with Fp, who offered to go on the record about how Hiram hired the Serpents to trash the drive-in so he could buy it for a low price. The teenagers knew that Fp was not proud of it however. They knew it would ruin any sort of reputation he had.

Lexy's phone began buzzing and the screen revealed an unknown number.

"Hello?" She answered.

"Lexy Andrews, I have information about Hiram Lodges plans. Riverdale bus terminal, 20 minutes." A familiar sounding voice said through the phone before hanging up.

Lexy turned back to Jughead and Fp, who were both looking at her.

"You might not have to go on the record just yet, Fp. I think we might finally have a solution." She said before putting on her jacket and leaving the trailer.

***

Lexy strolled into the bus station, trying to act as casual as possible. She took a seat on one side of the bench in the middle of the room and waited for... well she wasn't exactly sure what.

"I haven't much time." Said an older man wearing a bus driver uniform on the bench behind her.

"You're the one who called me?" She asked.

"You've been calling everyone in town for information about Hiram Lodge, but not me. That's why I called you."

"Ok, how do you have insider information on Hiram? I mean, you're a bus driver... not to be rude or anything!"

"I used to be someone else." The bus driver turned around and Lexy immediately recognized him as...

"Smithers?"

Smithers used to be the Lodge's chauffeur. He would always be on standby in the Pembroke just in case there was ever anywhere they needed to be. He was replaced by their new chauffeur Andrè however when his mother became sick and he left Riverdale to take care of her. Probably another lie spun by Hiram Lodge.

"Not only did I coordinate transportation for Ms. Veronica but Mr. Lodge also. Sometimes out to Shankshaw prison. He also received mail from the warden there."

"Shankshaw? That's not where Hiram served time."

"I'm afraid that's all I have for you."

"What? That's it? Smithers what's Hiram's connection to Shankshaw prison?" Lexy tried to get more information from him, but Smithers was gone before her eyes.

***

After hearing about Hiram's visits to Shankshaw prison, Lexy took one out there herself. She talked to one of Fp's old prison buddies about Hiram and found out what he was up to. He was planning on building a prison on the Southside. As soon as she found out she came straight back to Riverdale and Lexy and Jughead spent the entire night writing an article exposing Hiram. An article that would be published in the Blue and Gold, a newspaper Hiram had no control over.

"Lexy, Jughead, this is quite a story. Unfortunately it's not one the Blue and Gold can print." Principal Weatherbee said, after reading the final draft of the article.

"Why the heck not?" Betty asked.

"A malicious take down of one of our student's parents is not an appropriate subject matter for a school paper."

Lexy snatched the article off of her principal's desk and stormed out of his office. She had worked so hard to figure all of this out in order to stop Hiram, and Weatherbee just didn't have the backbone to let her publish the truth. As she charged down the hallway she accidentally bumped into Sweetpea.

"Hey-hey, what's wrong?" He asked as soon as he saw the angry look in her eyes.

She held up the article in front of his face.

"Hiram Lodge is building a prison where Southside High used to be! That's why he's been buying up all those properties on the Southside! That's why he's making my dad become mayor, so that nobody else has a say in the matter!" Lexy yelled, not caring who heard her.

"A prison!?" Sweetpea took the article from her hands.

"I know, ironic that the criminal would be the one building a prison."

"And you're publishing this, right? You're gonna expose that son of a bitch!?"

"I can't! Weatherbee rejected the article, he's that afraid of Hiram Lodge."

"He has everyone in his pocket. Everyone! And by the time they find out about all of this, it'll be too late."

But Sweetpea was proven wrong that evening as Hermione Lodge announced her running for Mayor and her plans for the Southside prison. And as usual, she twisted words around in order to get the close minded people of Riverdale on the Lodge's side. Sweetpea and Lexy looked at each other, rage in their eyes as everyone cheered for Hermione.