*Please read the author's note at the end of the chapter!*

When Mariah, Veronica, and Kevin arrived at the drive in, Mariah was less than thrilled. She would much rather be in bed, eating french fries, and watching Netflix. But instead, she was sitting in the back of Kevin's truck, watching a movie she couldn't care less about.

Veronica was leaning against Mariah's shoulder when she sat up abruptly. "Remember the last time we went to a drive in?" She asked Mariah who shook her head. "We went with Savannah. Remember?" Veronica said.

Mariah's face lit up in remembrance and she smiled and nodded. "We watched Hairspray," Mariah said. "Yeah, and Savannah was singing every song at the top of her lungs," Veronica added making Mariah laugh quietly. "And she made us sing with her," Mariah said and Veronica laughed.

"Everyone was so mad but eventually, they sang along too," Veronica said and the two girls began laughing again. As the laughter died down, Mariah was filled with sadness. The thought of Savannah made her feel a variety of emotions. "That sounds amazing. But, who's Savannah and why am I only now hearing about her?" Kevin asked.

The two girls were quiet for a while and then Veronica spoke. "She's someone that we used to know," Veronica said softly. Just then, Cheryl drove in front of them. She got out of her red car and closed the door. "Make some room, outcasts," the redhead said walking over to them and entering the truck.

"I'm insulted Mari. You came to the drive in and didn't invite moi," Cheryl said as she settled in next to her friend. "Cheryl, I don't even want to be here. I was practically dragged here." Cheryl rolled her eyes, "You still could've called me to join." Mariah narrowed her eyes at her friend. "I'll be sure to do that next time," she replied with an eye roll.

As the movie continued, Mariah found herself dozing off. The next thing she knew, Kevin was getting up to refill the popcorn. "Hey Kev, bring me back some chocolate please," Mariah said. "What am I, a butler?" He asked incredulously. "No, you're more like an underpaid maid," Mariah said with a smile. "Ha ha," Kevin deadpanned and then he walked away.

Mariah fell asleep a little while after and was shaken awake by Cheryl. "Come on Mar, I'm taking you home," Cheryl said. Mariah nodded and Cheryl led her to the car. The ride was silent and when they got to her house, Cheryl parked in the driveway. "Well this is a sight," Cheryl said. Mariah furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and looked to where Cheryl was staring.

Archie sat on Mariah's porch steps. "Do you want me to tell him to beat it?" Cheryl asked. "No, it's okay. I'll talk to you later, Cheryl," Mariah answered. She got out of the car and turned to Cheryl, who gave Archie the 'I'm watching you' sign with her fingers. She watched Cheryl drive away and turned toward Archie, walking closer to him.

"What are you doing here, Archibald?" She asked. Archie flinched at her tone of voice when she said his name. It wasn't the teasing tone that he was used to. The redhead sighed, "She's leaving. Ms. Grundy. Mrs. Cooper found out about us and a lot happened and now she's leaving."

"Am I supposed to be sympathetic or something?" Mariah asked. This caused Archie to laugh. "No. I didn't think you would be anyway," he admitted.

"So why are you here?" Mariah asked, still confused. "I would pick you," Archie said.

Now Mariah was even more confused. "What?" She asked. "You asked me if I had had to choose between you and Ms. Grundy who I would pick. And, I'd pick you," Archie explained. "Why?" She asked him. She walked closer and sat next to him on the porch. "Because I realized that you mean a lot more to me than she does. When you left all those years ago, I was pretty much devastated. And I got a second chance with you. To be your friend and I ruined it. I'm sorry. For making you feel like you had to compete with her," Archie began. Mariah was too stunned to say anything so she just let him continue.

"Before Mrs. Cooper came, I ended things with Geraldine. I'd rather have you and Betty and Veronica as friends than her as my girlfriend or whatever. You guys are more important than that. You are more important than that. And I'm sorry it took so long for me to realize it," Archie concluded. His brown eyes bore into Mariah's green ones. The two of them stared at each other for a while. No words were exchanged and Mariah smiled. "I'm glad you finally came to your senses," she finally said.

Archie chuckled quietly. "Yeah, me too," he admitted. "So are we friends?" He asked hopefully. Mariah faked a sigh. "I guess. But if we're gonna be friends then we should probably stop fighting," Mariah said. "Friends fight all the time," Archie said and Mariah gave him a look. "All right, I'll try if you do," Archie said. "Deal," Mariah said.

Archie wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her into his side. Mariah leaned into him and he kissed the top of her head. "I've missed you so much Mar. And I'm glad that you came back," Archie admitted quietly causing Mariah to smile. "Me too. You have no idea how many times that I needed to talk to you. I mean, Cheryl's great to talk to, but I kinda missed our conversations," Mariah said.

Archie smiled and kissed her temple and the two sat there for a while. Archie looked up at the sky and gazed at the stars. "Remember when we were kids? You used to be obsessed with the stars," Archie said.

"Yeah, I loved the constellations. My dad and I, we used to research all the different ones." Mariah reminisced. "Which one's your favorite?" Archie asked.

"Cassiopeia," she answered almost instantly. "It's so simple, yet so beautiful. I mainly like the stories behind each constellation. A lot of them interconnect," Mariah continued. "Maybe you can tell me about them sometime," Archie said, looking down at her. Mariah looked up at him and smiled. "Yeah, maybe I will," she answered. After looking up at the stars for a little while longer, Archie went home and Mariah went to bed.

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The next week at school Mariah walked down the hall with Cheryl by her side. "All I'm saying is that if a person is gonna wear a parka, then I have every right to make fun of them. I mean, she was wearing a parka. She practically begged me to insult her," Cheryl was saying.

"That isn't an excuse. You just did it to be mean," Mariah said. Cheryl shrugged nonchalantly. "What can I say, I'm a bitch," Cheryl said, flipping her red hair over her shoulder. Mariah shook her head, "No, you're queen bitch."

Cheryl laughed humorlessly. "Oh Mari, that title is so, reserved for you," Cheryl said, placing a smirk on her face.

Mariah rolled her green eyes at her friend and changed the subject. "So, how's JJ's eulogy coming? I'm almost finished with mine," Mariah said softly causing Cheryl to sigh. "It's not coming. My mother doesn't want me to speak at his memorial. And she doesn't want you to speak either," Cheryl said sadly causing Mariah to grow angry. "What? She can't just not let you speak at your own twin brother's memorial. And Jason has been my best friend since we were babies. Who the hell does she think she is? We have every right to give eulogies at his memorial," Mariah said angrily.

Cheryl shrugged and put on a smile that Mariah could easily see was fake. "It's okay. I don't have to give a speech anyway, it's fine. I'll see you later," Cheryl said before quickly walking away from a still fuming Mariah. The blonde glared at the ground before walking to class.

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When lunch rolled around Mariah got french fries and went to meet Betty, Jughead, Kevin, Veronica, and Archie. The five resided in the bleachers of the football field and Mariah speed walked over to them. She was still very upset about what Cheryl told her that morning.

The five were having a conversation when Mariah walked up, angrily throwing her bag on the bleachers and sitting next to Veronica before immediately shoving french fries into her mouth.

"Whoa. What's got you so upset?" Kevin was the first to ask the blonde. Mariah let out an angry huff. "Penelope Blossom," she answered simply, shoving more fries into her mouth when she finished speaking. Veronica sighed uneasily at the blonde's behavior. When a Coleman was angry, no one was safe, she learned that the hard way.

Reluctantly Veronica asked the question they were all wondering. "What did she do?" She asked.

"She's being a bitch. As usual," Mariah answered. The five looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to continue. She sighed and continued, "She doesn't want me or Cheryl to speak at Jason's memorial. Can you believe that? She makes me so angry," Mariah explained, groaning at the end and putting a few more fries into her mouth.

Jughead was the first to speak. "I never liked that woman," ge said and Kevin nodded in agreement. "That's so not fair. She can't really stop you guys from speaking at his memorial, can she?" Kevin asked and Mariah shrugged. Figuring that Mariah didn't want to go into details about the situation, Veronica decided to change the subject.

"So Archie, how's life in a PG world?" She asked. The redhead looked as though he had no idea what she was talking about. "PG. Post-Grundy. What too soon?" Veronica explained putting a french fry in her mouth. Mariah looked into her now empty container of french fries, then to Veronica. The dark hair girl narrowed her eyes but held out her container of french fries to the blonde.

Mariah happily took a few and began eating them. She sure loved french fries. "Coach Clayton says I have a shot at being varsity captain. So I'm not thinking about anything else right now," Archie said before sneaking a quick glance at Mariah who still looked upset. He found that she looked beautiful, even when she was angry. And for a while, he was mesmerized.

Kevin noticed the action and smiled knowingly at the redhead who didn't seem to notice. "And you're back to being boring," Veronica said, eating more fries. "Are you, maybe, throwing yourself into football as a way to avoid your feelings?" Betty asked Archie.

"I'm not avoiding anything, Betty, I'm trying to get my life back on track," Archie denied.

"I can help with that," a new voice broke in. Mariah turned her head to see Valerie sit next to Archie, a smile on her face. Mariah narrowed her green eyes, "Where did you come from?" She asked the girl, who ended up ignoring her question. This caused Mariah to glare hard at her. The one thing she hated most was being ignored.

"I know Ms. Grundy was tutoring you," Valerie started, looking at Archie. "Understatement of the year," Veronica mumbled and Mariah nodded her head in agreement and nudged her friend. Valerie continued, "But there's this amazing songwriter from New York, who's an adjunct at Carson College? Incredible mentor. He does some coaching on the side and I told him about you. You wanna meet him?" Valerie explained.

"And why were you talking to this guy about Archie?" Mariah asked in annoyance. Before Valerie could respond, Archie began speaking. "Yeah, yeah I'd love to, but football--" He said and Betty cut him off. "No, Archie can. And he will," she said, hitting Archie's shoulder.

"Call him if you want, but do it soon. His spots fill up fast," Valerie said, putting a piece of paper, with what Mariah assumed was a phone number, into Archie's upper jacket pocket. She did it slowly, almost in a sexual and flirty kind of way. Mariah narrowed her eyes at the action and looked away. "Thank you Val," Archie said gratefully. Valerie smiled and left the group and Archie looked after her.

"Hey, now you have zero excuse for avoiding music., Betty told Archie. "Sorry to interrupt, sad Breakfast Club, but I'm here to formally invite you to Jason's memorial at Thornhill this weekend," Cheryl said as she walked up to the group. She handed everyone except Mariah, considering she's already invited, an invitation.

"To my surprise and chagrin, mother added you to the guest list. In case you're tempted to steal our silver candlesticks, don't. We'll be searching bags," Cheryl added looking directly at Veronica. She waved to Mariah before walking away.

Betty looked at Veronica. "Hey, try to remember, she is burying her brother," Betty said to the girl.

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After lunch was over, Mariah was at her locker when Cheryl came up to her. "You're still coming to my house for a sleepover the day before JJ's memorial, right?" She asked, startling her blonde friend. Mariah tried to calm her fast beating heart as she answered. "Yeah, of course," she said.

Cheryl nodded, "Good. Veronica's coming too by the way," she said before walking away. Mariah squinted after the girl and then shrugged.

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After school Mariah drove home. The first thing she did was take a shower. As she re-entered her bedroom, her cell phone was ringing. She picked it up and smiled when she saw the caller ID.

"Archibald! To what do I owe this pleasure?"
"Ugh, how many times do I have to tell you to not call me that?"
"As many times as you want. That won't stop me."
"Whatever."
"So, why are you calling me?"
"I was wondering if you wanted to come over to my house."
"Why?"
"I was thinking that we could maybe write a song or something. Or maybe you could help me."
"Hmm. That's a tempting offer. But, what makes you think that I'm not busy?"
"Well, I was hoping you wouldn't be."
"All right. Text me your address and I'll be right over."
"Great! See you soon."
"Bye Archibald."
"Ugh, bye Mariah."

Mariah hung up the phone and smiled down at it. She changed her outfit and went downstairs to grab a granola bar. She quickly ate it and went out to her car, locking her front door behind her. When she entered the vehicle, she put Archie's address into the GPS.

After about ten minutes of driving, she pulled up to Archie's house. Exiting her car, she quickly locked it and walked up to the front door. She rang the doorbell and waited. Almost immediately the door swung open.

Archie had a large smile on his face when he saw Mariah. "Hey. Come in," he said, stepping aside so that she could enter. Mariah looked around the familiar home. "Wow. This place hasn't changed a bit," she said with a laugh.

Archie smiled, "Yeah well, my dad and I don't really have time for interior decorating," he said sarcastically. Before Mariah could utter a witty comeback, the doorbell rang. Archie quickly went to answer it and Mariah trailed behind him. When he opened the door, Valerie stood outside.

Mariah's smile left her face and was replaced with a glare. It was going to be a long night.

°°°°

Ooh. Is Mariah jealous? This is chapter twelve. I hope you guys enjoyed. Be sure to comment and vote. Also, please read, comment, and vote on Midnight Decisions. It would really make me happy. I also published an original story called Who You Are and a trailers book so please go check those out. Thanks and have an awesome day.