Mariah did not stay to listen to the remainder of the conversation. She had went to the back, grabbed her things, and left Pop's with her mother following behind. After she got home, she went up to her room, locking the door behind her.

She had ignored her friends' calls and text messages, wanting to sulk in peace. Her mother had come to check on her numerous times. Mariah never let her in, only making a noise so that the woman knew that she was still alive in her room.

The blonde spent the majority of her time alone thinking. She gave up on trying to distract herself from her thoughts so she just let them come. And then, she wrote them all down. She wrote for hours. What had happened, how she felt, all of her emotions, she just wrote all down. And she kept writing until those words became a song.

She looked down at the pieces of paper on her lap. She hadn't intended on writing a song. She just did. She hadn't written a song in years and she had certainly never written one like this. Her previous songs were, to put it simply, horrible. They lacked thought and emotion. She wrote about being in love, something she had never experienced. She wrote about going to parties and clubs, something she hardly ever did. She wrote about experiences she's never had, which is why to her, the songs were horrible.

Because they were inauthentic.

But this one, this one was real. Because everything she had written, she had experienced. She was still experiencing it. Mariah didn't read over the song more than once. She simply gathered the papers and put them in her desk drawer.

A knock on her bedroom door drew her attention to it. She walked over to the door and opened it. Her mom was stood on the other side, a plate and glass in her hands. "I made you food," the woman said. Mariah looked down at the plate, taking note of the sandwich and potato chips on it. "A sandwich?" Mariah jokingly said.

"Hey, be grateful. Plus, it's the best sandwich that you'll ever have. Ham and cheese with lettuce and honey mustard," Amara said. "My favorite," Mariah muttered. "Your favorite," Amara confirmed. Mariah took the plate and glass of water from the woman's hands. "Thanks, mom," she said before walking over to her desk.

Amara followed her daughter into the room and took a seat on the bed. "You do know that it's one in the morning, right?" Amara asked. Mariah looked up at her after taking a bite of the sandwich. "Is it?" She asked. The woman nodded. Mariah shrugged. "How did you know I was still awake?" She asked. "I saw the light still on underneath your door and heard movement when I came to check on you," she answered.

Mariah squinted. "I didn't even hear you outside my door," she said. "That's because I'm a ninja," Mariah replied and Mariah rolled her eyes. "What have you been doing up here?" Her mother asked next. "Thinking, writing," Mariah answered.

"Writing? A song?" Ms. Coleman asked. "No, I was just writing. But somehow it turned into a song," Mariah replied and her mother laughed. "Well, I'm glad that you're channeling your emotions into something positive. That's a healthy way of dealing with things," Amara said.

Mariah took another bite of her sandwich. "Are you a therapist now?" Amara rolled her eyes and stood. "Eat up and then off to bed. You've got school in the morning," she said. "Do I have to go to school? I'm feeling a little under the weather," Mariah said. Amara walked over to her and placed the back of her hand onto her forehead, cheeks, and neck.

"You don't feel warm. So, I'd say you're fine," she said. Mariah frowned. "You can't hole yourself up in your room. It's not—"

"Healthy, I get it," Mariah grumbled. Amara kissed Mariah's head. "I'll let you stay home today. But you're going tomorrow," she said. Mariah smiled, "Thanks mom."

"Don't expect me to allow you to do this again, alright? This is not gonna be a constant thing, got it?" Amara said and Mariah nodded. Amara walked out of the room after that. Mariah finished up her food, going downstairs to wash her dishes before getting ready for bed.

····

When Mariah awoke in the morning, she was overwhelmed by the flood of text messages and missed calls on her phone. However she didn't expect the more recent text messages informing her that Moose, a friend of Archie's, and Midge Klump, who was on the cheerleading team with Mariah, had some sort of run in with a shooter. Which resulted in Moose getting shot multiple times.

Mariah was out of bed quickly, reading through the texts as she paced. After discovering that the two were alive, Mariah was quickly dialing Midge's number.

The two talked for a little while, with Mariah promising to try to come and visit Moose in the hospital, before hanging up. When she finally made it down the stairs, her mother was already at work.

Mariah picked up her phone and called Archie. It was around lunchtime so she figured he would pick up. When he didn't, she called Betty. The blonde picked up after two rings. "Mar, where are you?" Mariah took a breath of air. "At home," she answered. "You didn't answer your phone last night and I figured that you just didn't want to talk, which is understandable but then I found out about Moose and Midge and I thought 'what if something had actually happened?' and I was worried," Betty said.

"I'm fine, Betty. Sorry to worry you. But I've been here, safe and sound. What about you guys? Are you okay? I called Archie but he didn't pick up," Mariah said. "Yeah, we're fine. Archie went to visit Moose in the hospital, that's probably why he didn't pick up," Betty replied and Mariah nodded. "By the way, Veronica invited us over to watch 'The Matchelor.' I'm sure the invitation is buried in the numerous text messages that we sent you."

Mariah rolled her eyes. "I don't know if I'm up to going out tonight," she said. "Oh come on, M. It'll be fun and will get your mind off of things. Plus, you can see Mr. Lodge again," Betty tried to persuade. Mariah rolled her eyes again. "And what makes you think I want to see him? He isn't exactly the nicest person in the world," she said. "Doesn't matter. You have to come. For Veronica," Betty said.

Mariah sighed, "Fine, whatever." She knew Betty was smiling without having to see the blonde's face. "See you tonight." Mariah hung up and groaned in annoyance. She then called Cheryl back, sitting down in a chair. Cheryl picked up, "You really need to stop ignoring messages when you're upset. It worries me." The blonde scoffed, "Maybe take your own advice, Cher."

"Maybe take your own advice, Cher," the redhead mocked. The two went back and forth with their banter and continued conversing before Cheryl had to go back to class. Mariah decided to make herself some food before going about her day.

····

She didn't want to be here.

Mariah had arrived a little later than the planned time that Betty had texted her. She was busy trying to come up with excuses not to go but ultimately failed. So now she was at Veronica's apartment and knocking on the door.

The brunette opened the door, taking in the blonde in front of her. "You came," Veronica said. "I did," Mariah confirmed. Veronica moved to the side to let her friend in. Mariah entered the home and spotted Veronica's parents conversing with her friends. "Daddy, look who's here," Veronica said.

Hiram Lodge turned to where his daughter stood, seeing the blonde. "Mariah Coleman, as I live and breathe," he said. "Hi, Mr. Lodge," Mariah greeted as she walked over to the man. He pulled her into a brief embrace before pulling away. "It's really great to see you again," he said. "You too, sir," she replied. "He waved her off, "What did I tell you about calling me sir? It makes me feel old."

"You are old," Mariah jokingly replied. Veronica clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh. "Just a little," she added. "If It were anyone else calling me old," he trailed off, shaking his head as a smile came to his face. She smiled back, albeit, a little forced. "Sweetheart, we're gonna lose our table," Hermione reminded her husband.

"Oh right," Hiram said before turning back to the others. "It was nice meeting you all," he said and then looked to Mariah. "And again, good to see you, Mariah," he said. Mariah smiled at him. The two adults turned away from the teens and Mariah walked over to Archie. "Hey," she greeted, standing on her toes to place a kiss on his cheek.

He smiled and she wrapped an arm around his waist. "Oh and Archie," Hiram said, turning back to the boy. Hiram eyed Archie before looking at Mariah and then his daughter. "Yes, sir," Archie said. Hiram shook his head, "Nevermind." Mariah furrowed her eyebrows at the man and he and Hermione left.

"So, are we gonna watch the show or what?"

°°°°

Nobody ever wants to read the author's note but if you happen to be, I just wanted to let you know not to expect another update anytime soon. I'm very busy at the moment with school and that's my number one priority. It is Spring Break for me but I still have to study and do homework and such but I wanted to update since it's been like a month since the last one. I hope you understand and enjoyed the chapter. Don't comment for me to update.