*I don't know if people read the author's note when I ask but please read the author's note at the end of the chapter.*

The consistent ringing of the doorbell and the knocking on the front door somehow woke Mariah from her slumber. She groaned loudly and turned over in her bed, pushing her face into her pillow.

A knock sounded on the door of her room and she groaned again. "Hey sleepy head. There's someone here to see you," the voice of Amara Coleman spoke as the woman entered the room.

"Tell them I'm dead," Mariah mumbled. Amara rolled her eyes and walked over to the bed, pulling the covers off of Mariah's body. "You have school today. So get up and get dressed," she said to her daughter. "I can't go to school today mom. I'm sick," Mariah replied, adding a fake cough at the end.

Amara rolled her eyes again. "Come on. You don't wanna keep your visitor waiting do you?" She asked, wiggling her eyebrows. Mariah narrowed her eyes. "Who's the visitor?" She asked suspiciously. Amara smirked wickedly. "Get dressed sweet pea." Was her answer as she walked out of the bedroom, closing the door behind her.

Reluctantly, Mariah climbed out of bed and did her morning routine. After getting dressed, she grabbed her things for school and walked downstairs. The last person she expected to see sitting in her kitchen was Archie Andrews.

"Archie? What are you doing here?" She asked, the confusion evident in her voice. "Uh, I came to walk you to school?" He said, though it sounded more like a question than a statement. "Why?" She asked him. "Because Mariah, he wanted to walk you to school," her mother answered for him.

"Now, go on. Get to school. Don't be late," Amara said, practically pushing the two teens out of the door. The two walked down the porch steps and across the driveway and walked in a peaceful silence. That is until Mariah broke it. "So how did you know where I lived?" She asked him in curiosity. Archie's face heated up at the answer to that question. "I, uh, a-asked C-Cheryl for your address. A few days ago," he answered sheepishly.

Mariah laughed, "How much did you have to bribe her in order to get that information?" She asked. "I had to tell her that she was the most beautiful and intelligent person in Riverdale. And then get down on my knees and beg her to tell me," he replied, slightly embarrassed. Mariah laughed even louder at this. "Wow, you really wanted to walk me to school huh?" She asked.

"I actually wanted to use this time to catch up. I mean, we just became friends again and I wanna know what I missed out on these past few years," Archie explained. "Okay. What do you wanna know?" Mariah asked, turning her head to look at him as they walked.

Archie thought for a moment. "Do you still dance?" He asked. Mariah shook her head. "Nope. I hung up my pointe shoes a long time ago. Cheerleading is more my thing," she answered. "My turn--" Mariah started but Archie cut her off. "No no. I'm asking the questions. You don't get to ask them," he said. Mariah gave him a pointed look, tilting her head to the side. "What do you wanna know?" He sighed in defeat.

Smiling triumphantly she asked, "What got you into football?" Archie thought for a moment before shrugging. "I don't know. I guess my dad. Plus it's fun," he answered honestly. "Do you still play the piano?" Archie asked next. She looked down at the ground shaking her head no. "I stopped playing a while ago. What about you? I saw you playing the guitar the other day. What's up with that?" She asked, changing the subject.

Archie blushed again and looked away from her. "Uh, I'm kinda into music now. I really like it," he said. "Are you any good?" She asked and Archie shrugged. The two grew silent as they continued to walk to school.

"Do you remember those songs you used to write?" Archie asked smiling. "You mean the terrible ones?" She asked back. Archie laughed, "They weren't that bad." Mariah gave him a look. "Okay, they were pretty bad," Archie admitted while laughing. Mariah smiled at him, "Why do ask?"

"I was wondering if you still wrote songs," he replied. Mariah shook her head. "No, not really," she said. "Why not?" Archie asked. Mariah laughed at the question. "Because they sucked," she answered. "Well, if you ever want to write a song that doesn't suck, I'd be happy to help," he said with a small smile.

"Maybe I'll take you up on that offer Andrews," Mariah said, also smiling. Archie nodded his head and the two continued walking to school, making small talk along the way.

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When they arrived, the duo departed from one another and went to their lockers. After getting what she needed for first period, Mariah walked over to Veronica's locker with a large smile on her face. She placed her hand on the locker next to Veronica's and put her other hand on her hip, leaning slightly. The smile didn't leave her face.

Veronica glanced over at the blonde and rolled her eyes before turning back to her locker and ignoring her friend. She had a pretty good idea on why the blonde was there. Mariah would not have this and repeatedly slapped Veronica's arm to get her attention. Annoyed, Veronica whipped her head to the side. "What? What do you want?" She asked in exasperation.

"How was your date last night?" Mariah asked, her smile transforming into a smirk. Veronica shrugged her shoulders and was about to reply when Kevin interrupted her. "So, how'd it go with Chuck?" He asked the dark haired girl as he and Betty walked over. Veronica laughed before answering. "Chuck has muscles for days but, but his conversation is not the stuff of Oscar Wilde, or even Diablo Cody," she said.

"Hey Veronica. How was the Sticky Maple you had last night?" The annoying voice of stupid Ginger asked. Mariah furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. What the hell is a 'Sticky Maple'?

"The what now?" Veronica asked just as confused as Mariah. "The Sticky Maple Chuck gave you? How was it?" Tina asked with a smirk. "How did it feel when I shoved a stick up your ass? Oh wait, I haven't done that yet. Would you like me to?" Mariah said, giving the girls a wicked smile.

"We had a brownie sundae, if that's what you hyenas mean," Veronica said, turning back to her locker. Suddenly phones started beeping and buzzing and Mariah looked around the hallway. "Oh, my God," Kevin said as he looked down at his phone. Betty joined his side to see what he was looking at.

"What?" Veronica asked, snatching Kevin's phone from his hand. Mariah went to Veronica's side and looked down at the phone. On it was a picture of Veronica and Chuck with syrup photo shopped onto Veronica's face. Mariah narrowed her eyes at the picture.

"What the hell is a Sticky Maple?" Veronica and Mariah asked angrily. "It's kind of what it sounds like. It's a Riverdale thing," Kevin answered. Mariah glared at him as Veronica spoke. "No, Kevin, it's a slut-shaming thing. And I'm neither a slut, nor am I going to be shamed by someone named, excuse me, Chuck Clayton," Veronica started, the anger clear in her voice.

"Does he really think he can get away with this? Does he not know who I am? I will cut the brakes on his souped up phallic symbol," she continued growing angrier. "Or we can go to Principal Weatherbee," Betty said and Kevin nodded as Mariah shook her head no.

"About the coach's son? Who is captain of the football team, and Riverdale High's resident golden boy?" Veronica asked. "Or I can expose him in the pages of the Blue and Gold. Yeah, I can do that," Betty tried, but Veronica wasn't having it.

"No. Spoken like a true good girl who always follows the rules," Veronica started. "Well, I don't follow rules, I make them, and when necessary, I break them," she continued, pushing Kevin's phone into his chest while simultaneously slamming him into the lockers. She began angrily walking down the hallway, Mariah and Betty following behind.

"You wanna help me get revenge on Chuck, Betty, awesome. But you better be willing to go full dark, no stars. I already know Mariah is. What do you say, in or out?" Veronica finished as the three continued walking. Betty looked reluctant but followed anyway.

The three wound up outside the boy's locker room and Veronica didn't hesitate to walk in. "Move. Excuse me," Veronica said as she maneuvered her way through the boys in the noisy locker room. Mariah quickly moved around the guys that stood in her way and even pushed a few.

Veronica bumped into Archie who was only wearing a towel around his waist. "Veronica?" He said as the towel began to slip and he desperately pulled it up. "Oh my God," Veronica mumbled quietly.

Mariah's eyes widened and she quickly diverted them away from his form. But not before taking a peek at his abs. "Mariah, Betty, what are you guys doing here?" Archie questioned, getting a better grip on the towel. "Don't worry about it," Veronica replied easily, going to move passed him but he stopped her. "I mean it, Andrews. Hit the showers and stay out of my way," Veronica said, pushing him out of the way. Betty shielded her eyes as Mariah pulled her along and they continued to walk.

When they reached Chuck, who was also only wearing a towel around his waist, Veronica cleared her throat. Chuck turned around and smirked. "Huh, B, M, and V. Menage a right on ladies," Chuck said, licking his lips and rubbing his hands together. The action made Mariah want to gag.

Veronica held up her phone to where Chuck could see it. "This is disgusting. Take it down," she demanded getting straight to the point. "Whoa, whoa. Why are you so wound up? It's a badge of honor, and you're not exactly virgin territory. I mean, I heard some things about how you were in New York," Chuck said smugly.

"Okay first of all you egotistical dick, you have no idea about anything that happened in New York. And second, if you keep this shit up, I'll be happy to wipe that stupid smirk off of your face myself," Mariah threatened, taking a step forward.

"And besides, that's beyond irrelevant, Chuck. You're not allowed to go around humiliating girls, for any reason, under any circumstances, you jerk," Betty added on.

Mariah patted Betty on the shoulder, shaking her head at the lame insult. "Look, I get you're not a closet kind of girl, but hey, if you wanna ride the Chuck Wagon, that can be arranged," Chuck said and Mariah scoffed in disgust. "Let's keep this simple, so that your preppy, murderer half-brain can grasp it. Take. This. The hell. Down," Veronica said, walking closer to Chuck.

"Okay, that high-toned bitch attitude may have worked on the betas you dated in New York, but you're in Bulldog territory," Chuck started and Moose barked making Veronica jump. Others in the locker room barked as well. "But please, fight back. You'll only make it harder on yourself," Chuck said as he went to move around Veronica. As he stepped closer to where Betty and Mariah stood, Mariah placed her hands on his chest and pushed him back.

"Alright, listen up, Chuck. I have had it with boys like you thinking that they can do whatever the hell they want whenever the hell they want. You see this thing that you're doing, it's called slut shaming. And slut shaming often involves you moronic little boys making negative comments about women as a group. And that, is considered a form of sexual harassment. Did you know that? No, of course not because your pea sized brain can't hold that much information, can it? Well here's something you also don't know, Veronica, she can sue you for sexual harassment and you can lose all of your little rich boy money. And a lawsuit, probably won't sit very well with those football scouts. So, I suggest that you take down the damn picture and we can all move on with our lives. Got it?" Mariah said as she took dangerous steps toward Chuck resulting in him taking small steps back.

Chuck stared at her with his eyes widened and he looked scared. But then the smirk reappeared on his face. "I'm not afraid of you Mariah. So go ahead, do your worst," he said, holding out his arms. Mariah glared hard at him. "Believe me, I will," she replied, turning on her heels and storming out of the locker room. Betty and Veronica followed after her.

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After the locker room encounter, the girls went to their classes. Mariah spotted Cheryl in the hallway and quickly caught up to her, grabbing her arm and turning her around. Cheryl looked startled until she realized who it was. She snatched her arm out of Mariah's hand and gave her a look. "Where have you been? I've been calling and texting you but you haven't answered back. You have a lot of explaining to do," Mariah said angrily.

Cheryl sighed, "I know. And I'll explain everything. Just not right now." She flipped her hair over her shoulder. "You better," Mariah replied before walking away.

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After school, Mariah got a call from Betty asking her to meet. When she entered the room, there were a bunch of other girls in the room along with Betty and Veronica. "What's going on?" Mariah asked as she looked around the room. "It turns out, I'm not the only one that this has happened to," Veronica answered as Mariah sat down.

Ethel explained what had happened to her and Mariah could feel her blood boil. Cheryl entered the room, informing them about how River Vixen cheer practice was starting. Mariah tuned out the rest of their conversation. She was coming up with ways to murder Chuck Clayton and the rest of his posse and how she would get away with it.

Veronica nudged her and snapped Mariah out of her thoughts. "Come on," she said as the rest of the girls were leaving. "What did I miss?" Mariah asked. Veronica rolled her eyes but she was used to the blonde tuning out of conversations. "Apparently, there's a playbook and we're gonna find it," Veronica answered. "A playbook?" Mariah asked and Veronica nodded, continuing to walk.

Mariah's thoughts drifted to the football team, specifically to Archie. Did he know about this? Was he apart of this? The thought angered her. But there was no way that he was part of this, right? Archie would never do that to anyone. Mariah nodded in confirmation and then thought about Archie walking her to school. Maybe it was just part of the game. Maybe he didn't really want to be friends and was just pretending so that she can be his next 'conquest'.

She didn't want to believe it, but it all made sense. The next thing she knew, she was storming through the hallways looking for a certain ginger. She found him next to his locker, shoving books into his backpack. She walked over to him and cleared her throat. Archie smiled at her when he saw who it was. Upon noticing her facial expression, his smile turned into a look of concern. "Are you okay?" He asked, the concern evident in his voice.

"Did you know?" Mariah asked instead, ignoring his question. "Know what?" He asked confused. "About the playbook," she answered. Archie furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Playbook? What playbook?" He asked. Mariah sighed in annoyance and rolled her eyes. "Oh come on Archie. You're on the football team. Do you honestly expect me to believe that you had no idea about this?" Mariah asked incredulously.

"Uh, yeah, I guess I do. Because I have no idea what you're talking about," Archie said. "Is this just a game to you Archie? Is this the reason why you actually want to be friends? So that you can get me to have sex with you or something and then keep score?" Mariah asked.

"What? No! Of course not. Mar, I swear I have no idea what's going on," Archie said but Mariah couldn't believe him. She took a step back from him. Archie's eyes were pleading as he looked at her. "This is your way of getting back at me, isn't it? For leaving the way I did?" Mariah asked the boy. Archie shook his head quickly. "I'm not trying to get back at you for anything. I don't know anything about a playbook and I'm not trying to to 'seduce' you or something. I promise," Archie explained, causing Mariah to sigh.

"Okay, um, I gotta go," Mariah said moving to walk past him. "Mar, wait. Please," Archie said grabbing her arm. "I'm not apart of whatever this is. You've gotta believe me," he practically begged. Mariah shook her head. "I can't. I've been put in situations like this before. I've been lied to, multiple times before, Archie. I'm sorry. I've gotta go," she said, removing her arm from his hand. She gave him a sad look and walked away. Archie looked after her, sadness overcoming him. He slammed his locker door shut in frustration and walked in the opposite direction.

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And chapter nine is done. Sorry for the lack of updates but I've been busy and lazy (oops) and this has been sitting in my drafts, unedited. Anyways, I wasn't originally going to end it like this but I thought it was more fun this way. Please don't kill me for the ending. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Be sure to comment and vote. Have a good day! (P.S. please vote for Capsize for Best Archie Andrews Fanfiction for the Riverdale Awards on RiverdaleSociety's book titled Riverdale Awards. It would really make my day).