*Please please please read the AN at the end of the chapter :). And again, pretend that she's wearing a River Vixens uniform lol.*

The rest of the day dragged on slowly. When lunch came around, Mariah had never been happier. Not only to eat, but to get out of those suffocating classrooms. The stares that her classmates gave her were annoying her to no end. Every time someone gave her a look if pity, she wanted to run them over with a bus. It's safe to say that she almost lost her shit multiple times already. And the school day wasn't even over yet.

For the first time since school started, she was pleased to be eating lunch outside. She hoped that the cool air would calm her down. She also needed fresh, clean air. The air inside the school made her want to choke. Whether it was the smell of sweat or the waves of body heat, that radiated off of everyone, she didn't know.

With her tray in hand, Mariah walked to her usual lunch table. She placed her tray down and sat, slipping her backpack onto the bench. She didn't hesitate to start eating. Suddenly, the sound of a guitar filled the air and she sighed. "Can't I just have some peace and quiet, just for a few minutes?" She groaned out, looking around to see who was playing the guitar.

Her green eyes landed on Archie and she squinted. He was playing the guitar and singing, it seemed. She could barely hear the words he was saying and she wanted to get closer so that she could hear him. Instead, she looked away and continued eating as she waited for Cheryl to arrive. Betty, standing from her table and walking away caught her attention though. She watched as Archie went after her, desperately trying to talk to her. She figured it had something to do with what happened at Cheryl's party. Or rather, what didn't happen.

From where she sat, it looked as if Archie was trying to talk to Betty but the girl wasn't having it. Betty started walking away from Archie and he tried to go after her again but Principal Weatherbee called him over. Mariah furrowed her eyebrows wondering what Weatherbee could possibly want. She looked after Betty as she walked away and then looked down at her food. She repeated the process, looking back and forth between the two before sighing. She got up, grabbed her bag, and hurried after the blonde.

"Betty!" Mariah called after the blonde. "Betty, wait up!" She tried again. Betty slowed to a stop and turned around, placing a smile on her face. Mariah knew the smile was fake as she walked closer to the girl. "Hey! What's up?" Betty said. As Mariah stood in front of her, she could see that Betty had been crying. "Are you okay?" Mariah asked slowly. Betty nodded her head quickly and wiped her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," she replied, though Mariah wasn't convinced.

"I saw what happened. With you and Archie. I don't know what happened but you looked pretty upset. I just wanted to see if you were okay. But you're not," Mariah explained. Betty laughed sadly. "Is it that obvious?" She asked. "A little bit," Mariah said. Betty sighed and looked away.

"Is this about what happened at Cheryl's party?" Mariah asked. Betty didn't answer, she just continued looking down at the grass. "Nothing happened between Archie and I. We didn't kiss or do anything, we just talked." Betty looked surprised, "Really, nothing happened?" Mariah shook her head. "Did you want something to happen?" Betty asked seriously.

Mariah's eyes widened and a slight blush appeared on her cheeks as she looked down. "I don't know," she answered honestly. "I get it. You and Archie have this weird thing going on. He doesn't like me the way I like him. He probably likes you a lot more than he'd admit," Betty said. "I'm sorry Betty," Mariah said.

The blonde smiled, a genuine smile. "You have nothing to be sorry for. It just wasn't meant to be, I guess," she said. "Well, boys are stupid. We don't need them. Us girls gotta stick together," Mariah said, bumping her hip against Betty's. Betty laughed and Mariah wrapped an arm around Betty's shoulders. The two blondes walked back toward the school.

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After school was over, Mariah went to the gym for cheer practice. After stretching and warm ups, the girls practiced the routine for the pep rally. As the girls did the routine, a not so pleased Cheryl stopped them.

"Stand down, Vixens. And listen up. The weather's predicting a downpour the night of the rally, but already, you're raining on my parade," Cheryl began, pacing back and forth. "With Jason so present in our collective consciousness, all eyes will be on me. Will this beautiful, exotic, hothouse flower drown under the town's scrutiny, or be swamped by her emotions? The answer, ladies, is "no" and "no". That said, I need star power. I need the Pussycats. Stay loose and limber, ladies, while I make a call," she concluded, walking away.

Veronica and Betty were talking, though Betty looked like she'd rather talk to anyone else. As Mariah walked over to them, she caught the end of what Veronica was saying. "For the record, the only reason I let Mariah go into the closet with Archie was so I didn't have to. Because I knew how you felt about him," Veronica said. "Oh, so you did it to protect me?" Betty asked, unconvinced.

"Damn straight," Veronica replied immediately. "By what? Letting him go into the closet with a girl he has a crush on?" Betty asked in disbelief. "Used to have a crush on. I didn't think anything would happen between them because they said that they didn't have feelings for each other," Veronica tried to defend herself.

"And you actually believe that?" Betty asked incredulously. "Sorry to interrupt," Mariah started, clearly not sorry. "But, uh, I couldn't help but overhear--" She was then cut off by Veronica. "You mean eavesdrop?" She asked with a pointed look. "Same difference," Mariah said, waving her hand dismissively. "You know, Archie and I were fine before you got here. Before both of you got here," Betty said, clearly upset.

"Woah. I never did anything," Mariah said defensively. "But you did, Mariah. You moved back to Riverdale," Betty said, a glare set on her face. Veronica cut in before Mariah could reply. "If by, fine, you mean he was oblivious and you were pining after him in quiet desperation," she said. "We were friends, at least," Betty said. "You were walking on emotional eggshells around him, scared to tell him the truth," Veronica said back.

"Okay, you don't know me, Veronica," Betty said. "It is not my fault he doesn't like you," Veronica exclaimed. "You know what? I'm done with this conversation. You two need to get your shit together because this whole thing, is ridiculous. And Betty, don't pretend like you want to be my friend if you're just going to turn around and be a bitch to me for no reason," Mariah said and then walked away from them. She grabbed her things and walked out of the gym, completely done with practice and walked home.

When she got home, she went to the living room and laid down on the couch. She took her phone out of her backpack and saw a text from Cheryl, informing her that she was at Betty's house. Mariah texted back, asking her why, and Cheryl replied with, 'to get answers'. Mariah rolled her eyes and placed her phone on the coffee table in front of her. She laid back down and closed her eyes.

After a while, she got up and changed out of her practice clothes and did her homework for the next few hours. When she was done, she sent a good night text to her mom and went to bed early. The next morning, she decided to walk to the school. There was a slight breeze and it felt so nice that Mariah wanted to stop walking, close her eyes, and just bask in the morning air. She didn't do that though fearing that she'd look like a complete weirdo. When she got to school, she realized that she was early. Mariah decided to go to the student lounge and stay there before first period. When she got there, however, more people were in the lounge than she had hoped.

Betty spotted Mariah and walked over to her. "Hey," she said with a small smile. "Hey," Mariah said awkwardly, rubbing her arm and looking past Betty, who didn't seem to notice her discomfort. "I'm really sorry about what I said yesterday. That wasn't fair at all and was totally not cool," Betty said. Mariah smiled, "It's okay, I guess. Just don't go all 'Psycho Betty' on me again. Okay?" She said. Betty laughed, "Yeah, okay. Deal. So, friends?" Betty asked hopefully. Mariah took a minute to think about it before shrugging. "Yeah, sure," she said and smiled.

The two walked over to a couch and sat down beside Kevin. Mariah took out the book Thirteen Reasons Why and continued to read it. Although, the irritating voice of Reginald Mantle distracted her from the amazing book.

"And Sheriff Keller's grilling me, Mantle the Magnificent. 'Cause I'd want Blossom dead. When he was, like, the only good quarterback we had," Reggie was saying and Mariah glared at the boy. The dumbass continued to talk and Mariah just tuned him out. She really did not like that kid. The next thing she knew, Reggie was going after Jughead and Archie was pushing the taller boy away.

"Hey shut the hell up, Reggie," Archie was saying. "Boys," Veronica tried to interject, standing up. "What do you care, Andrews?" Reggie asked. "Nothing, just leave him alone," Archie said.

"Holy crap. Did you and Donnie Darko kill him together? Was it some sort of pervy, blood brother thing?" Reggie asked in amusement. Archie looked down and then pushed Reggie backwards. Reggie retaliated immediately and slammed Archie into the vending machine, breaking the glass. Mariah, along with pretty much everyone else, stood up quickly.

Reggie had Archie pinned to the ground and some guys are trying to pull him off. He then punched Archie in the face, hard. After that the guys pull him off of Archie.

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After the encounter, everyone left the lounge. Mariah went to first period and suffered throughout the rest of the school day. After school, Mariah's mom came to pick her up, after being called by her daughter to do so. She was just coming home from running errands and made a detour to the high school. They didn't talk on the drive home and when they got to the house, they were both exhausted.

They ordered takeout and ate it for dinner. The two talked about unimportant things, just trying avoid complete silence. "So when am I gonna get a car?" Mariah suddenly asked her mother. "Ask me again in two years," her mother replied, not looking away from the food she was eating. Mariah groaned, "Come on, mom. I want a car."

Amara looked up at her daughter, "Well, you could always get a job and buy your own car." Mariah narrowed her eyes. "But you won't let me get a job," she said monotonously. "That's because you need to focus on school," Amara said smiling smugly. Mariah glared at her mother before finishing her food. When the two were done, Mariah did the dishes. Afterwards she finished her homework and when she was done, she went to sleep.

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The next morning, Mariah unwillingly woke up and sluggishly got out of bed. The day went by quickly and before she knew it, it was night again and time for the pep rally. She slowly put on her uniform. Then she did her makeup and curled her hair. She finished the look with her matte red liquid lipstick and then put on her bow. She grabbed her pom poms and walked downstairs. Cheryl came and picked her up and they drove to the school.

When they got there, they met up with the other cheerleaders and walked to the field. When they got to the field, they got into their positions by the stage. Mayor McCoy was given the microphone and she began to speak. Mariah looked around at the mass of students, parents, and faculty and took a deep breath and then let it out.

Mayor McCoy then introduced the River Vixens and Josie and The Pussycats. As Josie began to sing, the River Vixens started their routine. At the end, Cheryl joined the Pussycats on stage and hugged Josie. Coach Clayton then came on stage and introduced the football team. Archie led the team as they run through the paper. When Cheryl saw him, her face fell.

Mariah directed her eyes to where Cheryl was looking and realized why. Archie was wearing Jason's jersey and he looked like Jason in that moment. A lot like Jason. Cheryl ran off the stage, upset. Mariah stood there frozen as Veronica ran after Cheryl. Some people were staring at her, she knew they were. She could feel their eyes on her, awaiting her next move. Betty moved closer to Mariah, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. Mariah flinched away from her and turned, running in the direction Cheryl had just went, Betty chasing after her.

Cheryl and Veronica were in the locker room. Cheryl was crying and hugging Veronica when Mariah came in. Mariah stood in the doorway for a few seconds before walking in. Upon hearing her footsteps, Cheryl looked up. She slowly pulled away from Veronica, stood up, and ran to Mariah, slamming into her. Mariah immediately wrapped her arms around Cheryl and the latter did the same.

Cheryl continued to sob into Mariah's shoulder. Mariah was crying too and only cried harder when she felt another pair of arms wrap around her. And then another. Mariah, Cheryl, Betty, and Veronica stood in the locker room, all hugging one another. This moment was when she realized just how much she missed Jason. After a few minutes, the four pulled away from each other.

"Thank you," Cheryl mumbled. "I'm gonna go find my parents," she added. Cheryl gave them a weak smile and left the locker room, squeezing Mariah's hand as she left. The remaining three girls walked back out to the football field. Mariah departed from the girls and went to go get her stuff.

"Hey," a voice said from behind her. Mariah turned around and saw Archie standing there awkwardly. "Hi," she greeted quietly. She looked at his face and noticed his black eye. Taking a step closer, she reached her hand out to touch it. "Archie, your eye," she mumbled.

Archie flinched in slight pain at her touch and she immediately retracted her hand from his face. Archie looked down at her, trying to form the right words to say. "Are you okay?" She asked him in worry. Archie let a smile grace his features at the question. She's worried about me? He thought, his smile getting bigger.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Are you okay?" He answered. Mariah nodded her head and looked down at the grass, not knowing what else to say. Archie decided to speak up again, "Listen, I'm sorry. I knew you didn't want me wearing the jersey and I knew that I shouldn't have. But I did anyway," he said not meeting her eyes.

"Why did you?" She asked him. He looked up at her and sighed. "I don't know. But I shouldn't have worn it and I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking about how it would affect Cheryl. How it would affect you," he apologized. "Can you forgive me?" He asked quietly. Mariah looked at him for a long moment, studying his features. He looked sad and guilty. He looked so sincere. So, instead of answering, Mariah walked closer to him and gave him a hug.

Archie was shocked, to say the least. He didn't know what was happening or what he should do. When she realized that he wasn't hugging her back, she attempted to pull away. Archie finally snapped out of it and hugged her back, squeezing her tightly, though not so tight that it would hurt. She smiled into his chest and he smiled too, resting his chin on her head. Maybe they could start over. Maybe they could have a second chance at friendship. The thought made Mariah hopeful, but she wondered if it would happen. If he would fully forgive her for leaving the way she did. She just hoped that he did and that they were finally friends again.

The two hug for a while longer and then Mariah reluctantly pulled away.

"I should go home," she told him. He nodded his head. "Okay. I'll see you later," He said. She nods too, "Yeah, see you later." She grabbed her things and walked off the field.

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The next day at school, Mariah sat next to Cheryl in biology. Cheryl was laughing at something stupid that Mariah had said and Mariah was giggling to herself. Sheriff Keller and Principal Weatherbee walked into the classroom then. When they entered, Cheryl looked over at them and stood up.

"You're here for me, aren't you? Because of the autopsy?" She asked. Mariah furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. She didn't understand what was going on.

"We don't need to do this in front of your classmates Cheryl," Principal Weatherbee said. "It's alright Principal Weatherbee. They'll find out soon enough," Cheryl replied, sticking her arms out so that the sheriff could arrest her. "Now that won't be necessary," Sheriff Keller said.

"Cher, what's going on?" Mariah questioned. She was very confused and needed answers. And she needed them now. "Wait, Cheryl, find out what?" Veronica asked.

"That I'm guilty," Cheryl answered.

°°°°

Chapter seven for you lovely people! I hope you guys enjoyed it. Don't forget to comment and vote, I'd really appreciate it. Also, I don't know if you guys know this but RiverdaleSociety is hosting Riverdale Awards and I would really appreciate it if you guys could nominate Capsize for Best Archie Andrews Fanfiction. You nominate on the second chapter of the book called Riverdale Awards. Be sure to read the instructions. If you nominate it would really mean the world to me so be sure to nominate Capsize if you haven't already. There are other categories and if you feel that Capsize belongs in one of those the feel free to nominate it on one of the others also. Thank you guys for reading, it means so much to me. I hope you all have a bombass day!