𝐌𝐢𝐱𝐞𝐝 𝐄𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 | 𝐁𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚

Chapter 29.

The moment Betty and Veronica had stepped into the gymnasium, music filled their ears, not too loud, seem as it was still just a school dance and not some wild teenage house party. But loud enough that any chatter they could hear sounded distant. The brunette's eyes gazed around the room, teenagers dancing among one another, some dancing as though they were professionals and others - not quite so much. A smile found itself playing along Veronica's lips, she loved events like this, it brought life to the dull, murdering little town they lived in. The girl turned to look at her girlfriend, Betty had already entwined their hands, a shy smile on her lips at Veronica's wandering eyes. Her heart never ceased to flutter when Veronica's eyes were on her, she couldn't explain why it made her nervous. Maybe because she was scared that one day Veronica would wake up and not see her how she saw her now, instead seeing exactly what Betty saw when she looked at reflection in the mirror.

"All of these people and you're still the most gorgeous person in the room." Veronica winked flirtatiously, nudging Betty's shoulder causing the girl to let out a light laugh at her girlfriend's compliment.

"I'm far from it, V." Betty disagreed, but she was always happy to know that Veronica still thought highly of her. "Do you want me to grab you a drink?"

Veronica shook her head at that, right now she wanted to dance with her girlfriend. She'd missed out on dancing with her at too many dances, there was no way that she was going to miss out on that now that they were together. Before Betty could even question why Veronica hadn't wanted a drink just yet, Veronica was tugging her towards the crowd of dancing classmates.

Betty groaned, "Babe, you know I can't dance."

"Nonsense, Betty. Everyone can dance." Veronica retorted, not accepting Betty's rejection of dancing. The girls manoeuvred around the students in search of a part of the dance floor that wasn't filled yet, the two ironically finding a space beside Cheryl and some fling she must've brought along with her.

"Wow, a decent outfit for once, Betty. I'm shocked." The redhead had placed a hand on her heart, faking her shock. Betty simply rolled her eyes at the girl, she'd been having to deal with Cheryl's snarky comments her whole life, why would it be any different now?

Veronica simply ignored the girl, she could sense the jealousy from a mile away and she certainly wasn't going to rise to it. Betty appeared to ease into the music quite quickly, and for someone who couldn't dance, she seemed to love it. Although Veronica couldn't count the numerous times the clumsy woman managed to squish her foot, crying out an apology over the roar of the music that someone must've turned up. Veronica moved swiftly, all those years of dance classes flowing back into her memory, she moved with grace, somehow not bumping into anyone around them. Veronica hadn't even noticed that at some point Betty had slipped away and returned with two red solo cups in her hands. Someone had clearly dosed it with alcohol, the stench of the vodka burning the brunette's nose as she sniffed it.

"How are people even managing to sneak vodka in? Mrs Groundsby literally searched my purse on the way in here." The dancing had come to a stop when whomever was controlling the music had put on some old folk song, that killed the vibe of the pop music that had played around the gymnasium just before.

Betty's eyes glanced around, only now noticing the half-drunken kids it was a surprise that the dance was even still on. "Maybe the teachers crept away to go and smoke?" Betty had suggested, bringing her drink to her lips.

Veronica mimicking her girlfriend, her nose wrinkled at the strong taste that exploded in her mouth. "Ugh, at least I know how much vodka to spike a punch with, tastes like they just poured the whole bottle in."

The girls were about to sit at a spare table when someone came crashing into Veronica, knocking the girl off her feet, thankfully catching herself before her face could meet the floor. The person who'd collided with her falling to the floor beside her, grunting in pain at the impact. It didn't take Veronica less than two seconds to clamber to her feet, dust herself down and glare down at the culprit. The scrawny girl with dirty blonde hair getting to her feet with a groan.

"Sorry...sorry, I uh, I guess someone must've shoved me by accident."

Betty stood beside her girlfriend, arms folded in anger at the girl who'd just body slammed Veronica. "Who are you?"

The blonde seemed to let out a long breath, seeming like she'd been asked this question several times already, "I'm new here, my name's Arkadia."

Veronica raised her eyebrow at the strange name, nothing she'd ever heard of before - the girl clearly not from around here. It was rare they had a new student, seem as Riverdale was a small town that was barely on the map. But Veronica remembered what it was like being a new girl, eyes always on you, people judging you before they even knew who she was. The brunette held out her hand to the girl, Betty eased up, knowing that Arkadia's collision with Veronica wasn't intentional.

"What a way to meet someone." Betty muttered under her breath before introducing herself. "I'm Betty."

The dirty blonde brushed her curls out of her face before extending a hand to shake Veronica's in greeting, her eyes looking to Betty giving her a quick nod of hello. Arkadia's attention returning to Veronica. "And who might you be?"

"Veronica Lodge."

Betty wondered how she hadn't heard of the new girl yet, she was always first to know - or Kevin would at least be the one to inform her of the new student. It felt as though he'd done his research on Veronica when she first stepped into town, but yet he never mentioned a word about this girl who just randomly stumbled (literally) into their lives. But Betty knew it was safe to say the girl was going to grab a lot of attention in their school, she stood out more than the others, what with the striking sea-green eyes, the wavy blonde mop on her head and the Australian accent. Boys were going to drool over her as though she was a full course meal. Betty just prayed the girl wouldn't cause anymore trouble than there already was in this town.