CHAPTER FIFTEEN:

↳ AUDITIONS

IT WAS THE END OF THE SCHOOL DAY when Virginia sat in the wing of the stage, watching others audition for the talent show. The brunette girl slouched in her plastic seat as a few awful performances ended.

"Archie Andrews?"

Virginia turned in surprise at the name called, she wasn't sure the singer was going to audition, being new to music and all. She herself wasn't sure if she should still do this— even if it was a requirement. The Variety Show was a big deal in Riverdale and she didn't want to conform to the rules... nor be in the spotlight. Especially with Reggie, Cheryl, and Holly Parker in the auditorium.

"And what will you be auditioning with?" Kevin asked his friend pleasantly.

"Uh, an original song that I wrote called I'll Try." Archie told the small crowd, clearing his throat as he clutched onto his guitar.

"Try harder! Maybe try not sucking so much." Virginia frowned as Reggie and his friends laughed at the expense of their teammate.

"Take your time, Archie. Though we do have people waiting." Kevin told his friend, trying to be supportive yet authoritative.

Moments passed and Virginia held her breath, waiting for Archie to begin— but he didn't.

"Oh, my God, what's happening?" Someone beside her whispered and she ignored the girl, wishing she could step out and quell the nerves of her friend.

"Archie? Clock's ticking."

"Excuse me. Sorry, I gotta go." Archie muttered into the microphone before turning and rushing off stage and out the side door.

"Archie?" Virginia clutched her beaten up guitar, frown in place as her old friend raced past her.

She knew very well what just happened because it happened to her before– that's why the young girl never performed with anyone. The constant fear of rejection and failure would haunt her.

Archie got stage fright.

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     VIRGINIA SAT BESIDE ARCHIE and Valerie after auditions in the school hallway, feeling proud of herself. After Archie raced off stage, she performed, not holding back as she sang her heart out.

In her opinion, she nailed it. But now, the petite girl sat beside her old friend and acquaintance.

"When I was up there, looking out I don't know, I just I froze." Archie told the girls sitting with him.

"That was stage fright, Archie." Val told him softly and Virginia nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, but when I'm on the football field, the stands can be packed. Packed, and it doesn't affect my game at all." Archie frowned, sighing in frustration.

"Singing makes you vulnerable in a way that football doesn't." Valerie told him softly and Virginia nodded in agreement, watching entranced as her hoop earrings swayed with her movement.

"You're putting all of your emotions into one song, Archie. You show the audience what you're feeling inside." Virginia added, smiling at Valerie.

"Or maybe what I was missing out there onstage was my team. Or at least a partner." Archie spoke up. "What if we sang I Got You?"

"Archie, I'm a Pussycat. We're headlining the Variety Show." Val told him, biting her lip. Virginia knew the dedication it took for the Pussycats to become that good and Josie wouldn't like this idea that was growing within Archie.

"What if you sang with them first and then me? Just this once?" Archie asked, heart racing at the thought of a partner— he wouldn't be a failure. "To help me get my sea legs."

"Have you met Josie? I can't step out on the Cats."

Virginia nodded, feeling like a third wheel, "honestly, Josie would kill her."

Archie sighed, ruffling his hair with his hand. His fingers gripping tightly at the roots.

"What about you, Gin?" The girl in question bit her lip as she stared at the hopeful look of her friend.

"I-I'm not saying no, Arch. I'll help you with the stage fright. If that doesn't help, I'll perform with you."

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"'The Sisters of Quiet Mercy.'"

"What is that? Like a church? Or a charity?" Betty asked the teenage boy, both had their eyes glued to the screen, they didn't know they had a visitor standing in the entrance to the Blue and Gold.

"No. It's a Home for troubled youths. Where disenfranchised teens will learn such virtues as discipline and respect, enjoying lives of quiet reflection and servitude." Jughead read out from the screen and Virginia held her breath in the doorway as she eavesdropped.

"Poor Polly." Betty sighed.

"What's going on?" Virginia asked, stepping towards the duo and into the room. Jughead cleared his throat, turning away from the brunette teenager, blocking the computer screen from her— she felt her heart hurt.

Jughead never kept secrets from her.

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AFTER THE BRISTLING SILENCE that overcame the Blue and Gold office, Virginia went to lunch, rolling her eyes as Jughead and Betty followed with hush whispers.

"It's been months. There's gotta be a reason my mom and dad don't want me to see Polly. But I don't care anymore." Betty told Jughead, leaning in close with a whisper.

"What are you guys talking about?" Archie leaning in beside Virginia, noticing her awkward glances, especially how she wasn't glued to Jughead's side. "Anything I can help with?"

"What we're attempting is a stealth operation, Archie. If we go in there with the entire Scooby Gang, forget it, we're compromised." Virginia and Archie stayed silent at the tone Jughead used and Betty interrupted.

"Well, don't you have to practice for the Variety Show anyways?" Her tone was light, noticing the glare that Virginia sent towards Jughead. Her heart hurt, knowing that she was betraying her old friend for her feelings towards the boy who wore a beanie.

Jughead felt guilty for pushing Virginia away from the investigation but he knew that she would invest her time with the case, rather than take care of herself. And that's all the young boy wanted for his best friend– for her to be safe, happy, and healthy.

And after yesterday, when she freaked out, he thought that his presence might not be a good thing for her right now.

"Uh, no, I don't." Archie told his old friend, scratching his head.

"Except that yes, you do." Veronica interrupted, stepping up to the group with Kevin. "Thanks to a certain Veronica-ex-machina." Veronica sat down to the right of Val, looking towards Virginia who sat on the left of Archie. She sent the young girl a smile, warm at the beginnings of a wonderful friendship between the two of them.

"Excuse me."  Archie asked her, "What do you mean?"

"Oh, nothing. Just that I had a few words with our director/host, and reminded him that he's heard you sing on numerous occasions." Veronica told him loftily.

"Even though it compromises my artistic integrity." Kevin added, agonised.

"Cutting to the chase, you have a slot if you want it."

"Veronica, thank you, but you saw what happened." Arch told the raven haired girl. He was trying to be honest with his friend.

"We all did." Kevin told him lightly and Virginia reached over the table to hit him for his insensitivity towards his friend. Kevin stuck his tongue out at her and Virginia rolled her eyes as she sat back down, engaging in her friend beside her.

"Playing my songs in front of you guys is one thing, but getting back up on that stage by myself I'm not sure if I'm ready for that." Archie breathed out, looking at his friends individually

"If it's a partner you're looking for, Veronica Lodge is more than willing and able."

"Veronica, I didn't know you could sing." Betty told her with a smile, leaning forward.

"Like a nightingale." Veronica chirped with a smile. "I didn't know you could sing, either, Ginny."

Betty rolled her eyes, "don't worry, V. Ginny is very selective who hears her sing."

"But why are you performing then?" Veronica asked with a confused look on her face.

The girl in question sighed, "I have to, I missed two weeks of classes freshman year to help out my mom."

"Two weeks?" Veronica asked shocked. The new girl still didn't know the background to Virginia's life and how shitty it was.

"Yeah," Virginia turned to look at Jughead sitting beside Betty with a glare. "That's what happens when someone calls the police on their mom."

Silence filled the group and Veronica cleared her throat, turning back to Archie. "What do you say, Archiekins? Be the Jay to my Bey?"

Jughead leaned forward, his voice low, "wait Gin, you auditioned?" Virginia scoffed, pushing the food Archie gave her around– no one else noticed, besides Jughead and Archie, that Virginia Hopkins wasn't eating.

"Yeah, thanks for noticing."

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