Ariana Andrews.

Chapter Two: 1st Day Of School

Ariana Andrews spent the weekend unpacking a assorting the decorations around her room. Her father was able to get her into school on Monday, for better or for worse. She went out on a small shopping spree, buying herself a new backpack and a few new clothes. Other than that, she didn't leave. Archie came and went, her father home even less. She understood how busy the two were, but yet it still hurt her a little to see how much she was actually ignored.

***
Monday morning, Ariana woke up at six am, nervous to go to Riverdale high. She slowly got ready, taking her time to curl her hair and apply flawless yet natural makeup. She chose a blue and white long sleeved blue dress with a black belt as her outfit for the day. Once she was all dressed and ready, she headed downstairs to ever her brother and father were standing around the island, eating their breakfast.

"Morning sunshine." She rolled her eyes at her father, ignoring the old nick name.

"Morning." She mumbled. She rummaged around the kitchen before settling to eat a almond protein bar.

"So, Ari, are you ready for your first day?" Ariana shook her head at her father. She was nowhere near ready. Neither of her parents really knew about the relationship between her and Cheryl, and how bad it was at times. She hasn't made contact with Cheryl since she left, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to face her.

"Come on, we gotta go. Betty wants us to walk with her." The twins said goodbye to their father, Ariana leaving a half eaten protein bar behind.

***
"So, are you ready for you're first day of school?"

"Gods Betty, you sound like my father." Ariana laughed. It was a beautiful crisp cool morning as the group of three made their way to school. They exchanged small talk, but nothing could calm there nerves rising in Ariana's stomach.

The three stepped into the building, and headed over to the office to get Ariana's schedule. Once they had completed that task, the grouped headed towards the student lounge, where Veronica and Jughead were waiting. They sat down on the sofas, and started talking.

"Ari, are you rea-"

"I swear to God Jughead. If I hear someone ask me that one more time, I will hurt someone." He held his hands up in defense as the rest of the group laughed. Once again, Ariana noticed how Jughead placed an arm around Betty. "Jug, are you and," she stopped when both Betty and Jughead's faced turned pink. She smiled at the two. "I ship it."

"Oh my God, I know right!" Ariana turned to face her best friend from elementary school, Kevin Keller.

"Omg Kev!!" She squealed as she rushed to go give him a hug. She did a once over of him. "Dang." She sent him a sarcastic wink.

"Habe you seen yourself Ari?" You look like a model." She flushed and looked town, tugging at the sleeves of her dress.

"If models were trash, then she would be perfect." Ariana turned to face the one person she dreaded to see.

"Cheryl."

"In the flesh. Imagine how shocked I was to find out that the other half of the Andrews Twins was back in town." Ari looked down, not knowing what to say. "No response? You've changed."

"So have you." She said softly, before looking Cheryl in the eye. "You're even more of a bitch." Cheryl practically glowered at the small girl.

"A lot of big talk coming from someone so short. Have you even grown since elementary school?"

"That's enough Cheryl." Archie pulled his twin behind him. "Leave her alone. She didn't do anything." Cheryl gave one Ariana one last look over before turning on her heel and marching out if the lounge. Embarrased, Ariana looked down at her shoes, gritting her teeth. Cheryl wasn't this bad before, the death of her brother and father must have gotten to her. Don't cry, she told herself, don't show weakness, thats all she wants. Straighening herself up, she fixed her posture and looked up to face her brother.

"Well, we better get to class. I don't want to be late on my first day." Archie looked down at her, worry plastering his face. 

"Ari..." She shook her head.

"I'm fine. I was expecting that. I mean, I really am pretty short." She let a fake laugh loose, trying to convince both herself and Archie that she was okay. He nooded, and they made their way towards their 1st class.

***

School was boring, per usual. It was boring in London, boring in Chicago, and boring in Riverdale. Ariana understood everything, and was never pushed past her limits. Even the elite boarding school in London, she was among the most  sucessful there. School came easy to her, unlike her brother. In 2nd grade, he almost got held back, but neither Betty nor Ariana would have that. They tutored him together until he was able to pass the grade. That pretty much solitified Betty and Ariana's friendship. The two of them grew closer, often accidently outcasting Archie, which lead him to seek friendship in Jughead. Soon enough, the 2 duos merged groups, and became the Four Musketeers. The four of them were inseparable, until Ariana left. 

Even though Ariana's back, she knows that things won't go back to the way things were.  First of all, there was never any romance between the four, with the only exception being Betty constantly drooling over Archie, but it never went anywhere. Now, Betty was dating Jughead, and Archie, Veronica. That was the second thing. It wasn't just the four of them, Veronica was there, creating a group of 5. Ariana knew that when it came down to things, she would always be left behind, something that wasn't new to her at all.

These were the thoughts that plauged Ariana throught the school day. She had kept herself busy during the weekend, keeping her thoughts at bay, but now that she was mindlessly listening to review information, she couldn't stop them. 

"Ariana?" Her eyes shot up the board in front of her. She momentarily forgot about the class she was in. Some science class. She reminded herself. 

"Yes?" The teacher rolled his eyes at her.

"I hope you were paying attention to the lesson."

"I-I was Sir." She said softly. The Teacher kept his harsh gaze upon her.

"Good. Then you will be able to tell me the Atomic Weight of Silver." Her eyes widened as she racked her brain for the answer. She tried not to remeber her years in London, but she learned the most there.

"Is it about 107 u?" She said softly, afraid of being wrong.

"Correct. 107.8682 u to be excact. I'm sorry for putting you on the spot." Ariana nodded slowly, letting out her breath. She once again allowed her mind to wander as the lecture continuted.

***

Lunch time came around, and Ariana found herself sitting at a picnic table with Betty, Kevin, Veronica, Jughead, and Archie.

"You should totally join Cheer, Ari." Veronica stated, taking a but out of a Veggie straw. Ariana laughed softly.

"Over my dead body. Besides, Cheryl wouldn't have it."

"Well its a good thing that Cheryl isn't head of the Vixens anymore." Ariana felt her jaw drop.

"She let them go? They're like her lifeline!" Veronica only smiled.

"Oh, she didn't let them go. Her and I fairly competed for the Vixens, and I won." Ariana couldn't help but be surpised at the news. "And I would love you to be a part if the team."

"Are the uniforms long sleeved?" She asked timidly. She looked down to block out the weird looks she got from everyone. She felt herself tugging at her sleeves once more, a habit she only recently formed.

"No," Veronica said slowly, giving a side look towards Archie, "but we often wear turtle necks underneath them." Ariana nodded slowly, hating the fact that she brought attention to herself, especially over this.

"I'll think about it."

***

School ended, Ariana was thankful for that. She found herself walking home alone, with Betty amd Veronica having a cheer practice, and Archie having football. Kevin was doing is own thing, and Jughead, well, she wasn't sure. Things between them seemed better now, but that was only in a group of people. If they were buy themselves, things may be worse. Ariana quickly rushed home before her thoughts started wandering too far, into territory that was too deep, and too terrifying to think of.

1437 words