*A/N* So I know the majority of you don't read the Author's Note at the end of the chapter but it's kind of important so please read it.

Mariah and Betty sat on Mariah's front porch steps. Betty had just told Mariah about her thoughts on the entire situation involving Jughead's dad. Seeing as Mariah wouldn't answer any of her phone calls, Betty took it upon herself to go over to the other blonde's house to tell her.

"So you think that FP is being framed?" Mariah questioned, clearly confused. Betty nodded slowly, "Veronica and Archie said that when they searched FP's trailer, they didn't find anything. There was no gun in a lockbox in the closet. That means the gun was put there after they left."

"But FP confessed to killing Jason. If he didn't do it, why did he confess? I don't understand," Mariah said. Betty sighed, "I don't know, Mariah. But we have to find out." Mariah looked over at her, "We? Who's we?"

"You, me, Archie, Kevin, and Veronica. Maybe even Cheryl if you can convince her to help out," Betty replied. "Why would I help?" Mariah asked. "Don't you want to find out who killed Jason?" Betty asked her friend. "I know who killed Jason. FP Jones," Mariah retorted. "Weren't you listening? FP is being framed. We can't just let him go to prison for a crime he didn't even commit," Betty said.

"You don't know that he's being framed!" Mariah exclaimed. "You don't know that he isn't!" Betty retorted, her eyes wide in disbelief. She was surprised that the other blonde wouldn't believe that FP was innocent.

Mariah ran her hands down her face before resting her head in her palms. "This was over. It was all over. Jason's killer was caught and I could finally breathe again. Now you're here, telling me that the person who I thought murdered Jason didn't even do it. That means his killer is still out there," Mariah responded.

"I'm so sorry, Mariah. I know that this is hard for you. But Jason, he deserves justice. And we can get that for him by finding his real killer. You can help me do that. Jason's killer needs to be caught. We can't let them get away with this," Betty spoke softly.

Mariah was quiet for a few minutes before she nodded slowly. "Okay. What do you need me to do?"

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Mariah walked into Archie's garage where Archie stood with Betty, Veronica, Kevin, and Jughead. Betty had called the girl and told her that she, Kevin, and Jughead found something.

"So, what exactly did you guys find?" Mariah questioned as she walked over to the five. Betty was putting a Letterman jacket onto Archie as she responded. "It's Jason's jacket," she said. Mariah furrowed her eyebrows, "Okay, what does his jacket have to do with anything?"

"We're about to find out," Jughead muttered. "Betty, this is weird," Archie complained and Mariah rolled her eyes. Betty ignored him and began looking through the pockets and then paused. "There's a hole in the pocket," Betty said.

"Okay, now we're just grasping at straws," Kevin said. "Okay, no. I don't know about you guys, but whenever I have a hole in my pocket, I always lose my chapstick in the lining," Betty said. "Or my Montblanc," Veronica added. Mariah crossed her arms over her chest in annoyance. This was going nowhere.

"Hold on," Betty said before pulling out a flash drive. "What the hell?" Mariah and Veronica exclaimed. "Nancy Drew strikes again," Kevin said, obviously impressed. Betty held the flash drive up and Archie carefully took it in his hand. The group stood in silence.

"All right, let's see what's on that thing," Mariah suggested. The others nodded and Archie grabbed his laptop. They all sat down around it and Betty put it into the computer.

The video played and it showed Jason Blossom being tied to a chair in what looked like a basement. A Southside Serpent, Mustang, was the one tying him to it and pressing his finger into Jason's chest. Mariah pressed her hands together and placed the tips of her fingers to her lips, releasing a breath as she watched.

Then, Clifford Blossom walked into the room. "Oh my God," Veronica whispered. "No," Mariah mumbled shaking her head in disbelief. Tears were falling down her face as Clifford reached into Jason's shirt pocket and pulled something out. He was holding a gun. More tears slipped out of the blonde's eyes and she tried to will herself to look away. But she couldn't. Her eyes stayed glued to the screen.

Clifford raised the gun up and pointed it at Jason's head. He didn't hesitate to pull the trigger. Mariah jumped at the sound and her mouth opened wide as she watched Jason slump forward in the chair that her was tied to. She clamped her hands over her mouth and released a quiet scream into them.

All six of them sat in shock at the sight and Mariah felt as though she couldn't breathe. Betty closed the laptop and stood up, pulling out her phone as she did so. She walked a little ways away from them as she dialed a number. "Betty?" Jughead said. "Betty who are you calling?" Archie asked. Betty glanced back at her friends, her eyes landing on Mariah before turning back around and placing her phone to her ear.

"You have to get out of that house. Listen to me," Betty began speaking to whoever was on the other line. Mariah didn't listen to the words that the other blonde spoke. Betty's words were becoming muffled. It sounded as though she was under water. She couldn't think straight. She couldn't comprehend what was going on around her.

Archie slipped into the spot next to her and looked at her with worry. He began saying her name but she didn't hear him; she didn't hear anything. It wasn't until he carefully placed his hand on her back and rubbed it that she was pulled out of her trance like state. She looked at him, green eyes glistening with tears and he frown at the sight.

He didn't know what to do or say. He didn't know how to comfort her or if she even wanted to be comforted. He wanted so desperately to help her but he didn't know how. "What do you need? Tell me what I can do," he whispered softly. Mariah shrugged her shoulders slightly and shook her head. "I don't know if there's anything you can do," she admitted, her voice strained. She held back a sob and turned to look up at Betty who stood staring into space.

Archie hesitantly put his arm around Mariah and pulled her into him. She turned slightly toward him and clung to his shirt as though her life depended on it. He then placed his other arm around her and pulled her body closer to his own, holding her tightly in his arms.

The six friends stayed in silence and thought of the night's events and what they had just seen. Mariah couldn't believe that Clifford Blossom would murder his own son. Thoughts of what Jason could've done to provoke the action plagued her mind. No matter what he did, he didn't deserve to die. Especially by the hands of his own father.

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Clifford Blossom was dead. He had supposedly hung himself. The police found out that he was illegally transporting heroin from Montreal. That would explain all of the Blossom's money. There was no way that they could've gotten that rich off of maple syrup. It never really made sense to Mariah.

Now it did.

There are already theories on why Clifford killed Jason and the whole story behind everything. Mariah didn't know what to believe or if she believed any of it at all. Something just wasn't adding up to her. Something was off and it didn't make sense. But frankly, she didn't care.

The blonde sat in the passenger seat of her mother's parked car. The two were quiet as they watched the students walk into Riverdale High School. "Are you sure you wanna go in there? I'm giving you permission to skip school. I would take that opportunity while it's available," Amara said, successfully breaking the silence.

"That's a tempting offer, mom. But, I'm fine. I've dealt with situations far worse than this," Mariah said. Amara gave her a look of disbelief and Mariah sighed. "Okay, almost as bad as this," the blonde said and her mother nodded. "I just think you should stay home. We can binge watch TV shows on Netflix while eating lots of junk food," Amara suggested and Mariah smiled.

"Now that's an even more tempting offer. But alas, I have to go to school. I'm gonna have to face the music eventually. Might as well get it over with," Mariah said. Amara sighed, "All right, I guess I'll have to watch Netflix by myself." Mariah opened the car door, "Save me some junk food?"

Amara scoffed, "You know I don't like you putting that shit into your body. It's not healthy." Mariah scrunched up her face and Amara smiled. "I'm kidding. I love you," the woman said. "I love you too, mom," Mariah replied. She picked her bag off of the floor and exited the vehicle. She closed the car door and waved to her mom before walking toward the entrance of the school.

Mariah walked into the building and toward her locker, ignoring the obvious looks that people were throwing her way. She grabbed her things from her locker and went to class. People were staring at her as soon as she entered the classroom. Once again, she regretted going to school. Should have taken mom up on that offer. She thought as she sat down in her desk and pulled out her stuff.

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Lunch was beginning to become Mariah's least favorite part of the school day. Stupid shit and aggravating conversations seemed to occur during this time. Not to mention the continuous talk of the town's annual Jubilee was starting to piss her off. Mariah was very irritable, to say the least. She walked through the lunch line and grabbed an apple and a water bottle, paying for both before walking over to her friends and sitting down.

"It seems as though you're always missing the invigorating conversations that happen at our lunch table," Jughead sarcastically pointed out as she sat down next to Betty. "And I thank God for that," Mariah muttered. "So, how are you holding up?" Kevin asked and they all turned to look at Mariah who took a bite of her apple and shrugged.

"I haven't cried myself to sleep or anything. So I guess I'm good," she said. Veronica gave her a look, "Mar, be serious. How are you?"

"I'm good enough to be in this hellhole, that's for sure," Mariah answered. "His funeral is today. Mr. Blossom's. Had he not have killed his son, I would have gone. But he was always a jackass to me and Cheryl so, I probably wouldn't have gone either way," she added. The five looked at her with raised eyebrows. "I'm kidding. I'm not that cruel," Mariah said.

"Maybe you should have gone. You know, to show your support," Archie said. Mariah scoffed, "Show my support for the man who murdered my best friend who was, by the way, also his son? No thanks." Archie sighed, "I meant for Cheryl and her mom." Betty interjected before Mariah could respond with a snarky comeback.

"Anyways, Mariah, are you going to the Jubilee?" Betty asked with a hopeful smile. "Probably not. I don't like this town or the people in it so I'd rather not be anywhere near them. Plus I'm sort of grounded. I don't think my mom will let me go," Mariah said. "But it's Riverdale tradition. You have to go," Kevin said.

"I don't have to do anything that I don't want to do, Kevin. And it may be a Riverdale tradition, but it's not mine," Mariah replied. "Plus, I never said that I wouldn't go. I just said that I probably wouldn't. There's really no point in me going. I don't think people like me all that much."

"Hm, I wonder why," Jughead muttered quietly, though Mariah heard it.  The girl's green eyes narrowed at the boy who gave her a faux smile.

The subject was, once again, changed. This time by Veronica, "Is that all you're eating?" She questioned, pointing at the apple in Mariah's hand. "Uh, yeah," the blonde replied, taking another bite of her apple. "In all the years that I've known you, I've never seen you eat so little," Veronica commented.

"It's an apple. So what? What's the big deal?" Mariah asked and Veronica held her hands up in surrender. "There's no deal. I was just saying that it's weird," the brunette said. "I'm not really hungry," Mariah defended. "That's a first," Jughead said with a snort as he continued to eat his own food.

"I'm gonna throw this apple at your head if you don't shut up," Mariah threatened. Jughead shrugged, "Do it." The blonde lifted her arm and prepared to throw the apple but Archie grabbed it before she could. He lowered her arm and she rolled her eyes, glaring at Jughead who smiled cheekily.

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Mariah walked into the locker room in her practice uniform to see Cheryl talking to Veronica. "Hey Cher, what are you doing here?" Mariah questioned.

"I was just handing the reigns of the River Vixens over to Veronica," Cheryl stated. Mariah furrowed her eyebrows and looked at Veronica who shrugged. "Why? What's going on?" Mariah asked slowly. Cheryl shrugged, "I realized that there are a lot more important things than cheerleading. It's time for me to move on and focus on more important matters."

The redhead walked passed Mariah and out of the locker room doors. Mariah raised her eyebrows and Veronica shrugged again. The blonde exited the locker room and followed after her friend.

"Hey. I know this is probably the dumbest question that I could ask you but, are you okay?" Mariah said. Cheryl turned to look at her and smiled. "I'm fine," she replied. "Cher, you don't have to lie to me. I know you, remember? If you need to talk, I'm here. Literally all the time," Mariah said.

"Mar, I'm fine. Really," Cheryl answered and Mariah sighed. "Cheryl, it's okay to not be okay," she said. Cheryl nodded, "I know. And I appreciate you for always being here for me, I really do. You're the best sister a girl can have."

Mariah smiled widely and pulled the redhead into a hug. They stood in an embrace for a few minutes before pulling away. Cheryl waved goodbye to her friend before walking toward the exit of the school.

°°°°

And chapter twenty six is complete. Sorry if this chapter is a little boring. The next chapter will be way better (I hope). Someone asked me how many chapters this book will have and I told them 27. I realized that maybe they thought that I meant 27 more chapters but there is a total of 27 chapters for this book. There is one more chapter after this one and then this book will be complete. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. If you like this book, please be sure to check out my other books. Have a good day.