Riverdale - Beneath The Town (English Version)

Chapter 5: Heart of Darkness

Every town has one. The spooky house that all the kids avoid. Ours was Thornhill, the Blossom family's mansion with its very own graveyard. And trapped within its walls, like some gothic heroine, was Cheryl Blossom, still grieving for her beloved brother, Jason. Linked in death, even as they were in life.

The next day at school, we heard that Miss Grundy had quit her job and left town when Archie's father Fred Andrews and Betty's mother, Alice Cooper, found out that Archie and Miss Grundy were having a relationship. But that wasn't the only news; someone broke into the Keller's house and Kevin's dad's suspect board had been stripped off while they were at the drive-in. With Kevin's help, Betty, Jug, and I put it back together, and Kevin was just putting the last missing picture on the wall in the room of our school paper. "This is how my dad had his board before it was trashed", Kevin finally said, and we pinned the many pictures and newspaper clippings to it. "Any leads on who did that? And what they were looking for?", Jughead wanted to know and Kevin shook his head. "Nope, no fingerprints. But they stole a bunch of files, background checks, and all the video and audiotapes of police interviews", he replied and I said that apparently someone had come to erase this evidence. "But maybe we'll find out more soon", I added in a mysterious tone and my friends looked at me questioningly. "Buckle up and cling; I have a date with someone from school", I dropped the bomb and Kevin stared at me in surprise. "And you didn't tell me?!", Betty said reproachfully and Kevin wanted to know with whom. "Don't ask me with whom. Ask me why I'm having this date", I just replied and he looked at me thoughtfully. "All right, why do you have the date?", he then recited his lines and I gave him a smile. "It's for research. Trev Brown was on the football team and he helped us out before. I thought we should focus on the people we have access to and your dad doesn't", I said, looking at Betty and Jughead. "Maybe Trev knows a little more about the time when he was in the football team", I kept talking and Kevin immediately texted to Veronica. "Seriously, Kev, it's nothing serious", I commented and shook my head, grinning. At break, we all sat down on the stands in front of the field and Veronica confronted me with it, of course. "Scar, you're positively radiating Nicholas Sparks. Tell me everything about this Trev", she wanted to know, but Kevin interfered in a playful tone. "There's nothing to tell, he's just one of Scar's sources, there's nothing romantic in the offing", he explained, and Veronica sighed and sat in the row behind Betty, Archie and me. "Why is everything weird here? Why can't a date just be a date?", she asked and I turned to face her. "First of all, I may not be radiating Nicholas Sparks, but flames. But this isn't because of Trev Brown, it's just... by nature", I explained to her with a joking grin. "And beyond that, a date can be a date... but not with me", I corrected with a smile and Veronica shook her head instructively. "You're killing me, you know that?", she just commented and I threw an air - kiss her way, with a grin still on my face. "What about you, Archie? How's life in a PG world?", she then turned to our friend, who now looked from his notes to her, confused. "PG; Post - Grundy", Veronica explained it to us and mustered Archie while she ate one of her fries. "What, too soon?", she asked and Archie looked back at Betty and me. "Coach Clayton says I have a shot at being varsity captain, so I'm not thinking about anything else right now", he said over his shoulder to Veronica. "You're back to being boring", she just said and Betty turned to her best friend. "Are you maybe throwing yourself into football as a way to avoid your feelings?", she carefully digged deeper and Archie looked at her intensely. "I'm not avoiding anything, Betty. I'm trying to get my life back on track", he replied and at that moment, Valerie appeared in front of us and sat down next to him. "I can help with that. I know Miss Grundy was tutoring you", she said and Veronica joined in. "Understatement of the year", she said, and Betty gave her a reproachful look, but Valerie did not go into it. "There's this amazing songwriter from New York who's an adjunct at Carson College; incredible mentor", she explained and then went on. "He does some coaching on the side, and I told him about you. You wanna meet him?", she asked with a smile and Archie seemed really excited about the idea. "Yeah!", he said happily, but then his expression darkened and he rowed back. "Yeah, I'd love to, but football...", he said regretfully, and now Betty interfered. "No, Archie can and he will", she said determined, but with a smile and Valerie wrote the musician's number on a piece of paper and put it in the pocket of Archie's shirt. "Call him if you want; but do it soon, his spots fill up fast", she said, and Archie thanked her. She smiled at him, then got up and left, and Betty explained that he now had zero excuse to avoid music. Archie smiled slightly at her and the next guest arrived, but much more uninvited than Valerie. "Sorry to interrupt Sad Breakfast Club, I'm here to formally invite you to Jason's memorial at Thornhill this weekend", Cheryl Blossom explained and handed the invitations over to us. "To my surprise and chagrin, Mother added you to the guest list. In case you're tempted to steal our silver candlesticks, don't. We'll be searching bags", she said when she gave the invitation to Veronica. Then she looked at her disparagingly once more and disappeared. "Hey, try to remember; she's burying her brother", Betty said and Veronica surveyed the invitation card.