"OKAY, START FROM THE BEGINNING." Marla and Betty were hanging out in the school's student lounge for lunch and they were about to talk about Betty's mother possibly joining a cult.

     "When I got home yesterday afternoon, I came home to this group. . .thing going on in my living room. My mom and my sister Polly were there and so was Evelyn Evernever." When Betty saw Marla's eyebrows crease up in confusion, she went on to explain. "Evelyn's the one that's been running that Farm club in school."

      "Wait. The Farm is a whole thing? And not just a club?" Marla asked. Betty nodded. "So my mom asks me to join them and I sit for a quick second just to see what the hell is going on and turns out, they know all of my family's secrets because my mother thought it safe to tell everything because they were a claimed 'judgement-free zone.' She, let alone me, barely knows what the whole Farm thing is about." Betty put her head into her hands and shook her head in worry. "God. Sheep mentality is ruining this town."

     "Hey. Betty, it's gonna be okay." Marla lifted Betty's head so it sat in her hands. "You know why? Because I'm going to help you crack down this entire Farm situation. Believe me, it sounds like a lot more than just a sanctuary for the mentally blind and hopelessly lost."

     "Thanks, Mars."

     It was in that specific moment when Marla felt something in her stomach flutter. She wasn't sure if it was because of the way Betty was looking at her or the affectionate spin on her nickname, but it pretty much confirmed her quiet, longtime crush on Elizabeth Cooper.

     This wasn't going to be good.

     Marla let out a fake cough so she could turn away before she got caught staring. "Are you okay?" Betty asked, confused. "I'm fine," Marla answered. "I think I just inhaled some dust or something."

     "Do you want me to get you some water?"

     Marla shook her head. "No, it's okay. I'll be fine."

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When Betty got home that afternoon, she found her mother with her arms crossed and holding the G&G manual.

     "Where did you get this?" Alice demanded. "I don't know where that came from," Betty lied smoothly. "Don't play dumb with me," her mother chided, "I know you found this. Now tell me: where did you get it?"

"I swear, I didn't find it. And it's just a stupid game, anyway." Betty reached for the manual but Alice was quick enough to pull it out of her reach. "This is not just some 'stupid game,' Elizabeth. I want you to get rid of this so I never see it again. On second thought, I'm going to do it myself." Alice made her way to the paper shredder in the kitchen and dropped it in before Betty could say anything.

.｡.:*☆

"Your mom did what?" Marla asked over the phone. She wasn't surprised because Betty said that she was going to be able to find it but she couldn't say that she was at least a little bit disappointed.

     "She destroyed the manual, Marla," Betty answered. "Marla, say something. Mars, please."

     And there was that tug again. But Marla promptly ignored it as she smirked and said, "Good thing I made a copy and found a really good hiding place for it."

     There was a sigh of relief on the other end. "You are such a clever girl, Marla."

     "I know," she replied as she walked around her bedroom, "and I'm willing to let this incident slide so we can move on with our case. Do you think The Farm knows anything about G and G?"

     "I don't think so. My mom didn't mention it at the Farmers Anonymous meeting the other day." Betty giggled at that. "But Jughead and I are heading back to the coroner because he said he found something really interesting."

     Right. Jughead. The boyfriend. "Well, call me when you get the scoop. I got homework to do." Marla didn't like the way her voice sounded; it was kind of terse, kind of clipped. All because she remembered that Betty and Jughead were dating. "Will do. Think you can swing by my house Saturday night? We can meet up then," said Betty. Marla checked her calendar and saw in big, red letters: CASINO NIGHT. Shoot. Right.

     "I wish I could but I'm working at La Bonne Nuit that night," Marla apologized, "I'm sorry, Bets."

"Wait, you got the job? Why didn't you tell me? That's amazing!"

     "I guess it slipped." It wasn't necessarily a lie, since it did slip her mind. "But it's no lie that the people love me."

     "Of course they love you. That's awesome, Mars," Betty congratulated her. Marla could imagine the look on her face when she said that; it was the same one she had given her at lunch. "Well, I've got homework to do. Think we can hang out Friday night?" Marla suggested. "Friday night sounds great. See you then," Betty perked up. "See ya. Bye," said Marla. Betty returned the goodbye and hung up.

Friday came around and Marla found herself standing next to Betty in front of Betty's house.

"I'm gonna introduce you to my mom and I need you to keep your Veronica Mars routine to a minimum, please," Betty instructed. "Can you do that?"

"I can't promise you anything," Marla replied.

"Marla, please. She's already suspicious of her own daughter, I would rather she not be suspicious of my partner in crime, as well. So can you please not. . .bug the house or whatever Veronica Mars does?"

"I'm not gonna bug the house. I'm just gonna bug the table where you guys usually sit and have her spill the beans about what she definitely knows about G and G."

Betty's eyes widened at the response and was about to speak before her front door opened and revealed Alice behind it. "Hi, Betty," she greeted her daughter. "Who's this?"

"Mom, this is Marla. She helps Jughead and me run the Blue and Gold. All the fantastic film photos in the paper are by her," Betty introduced her. Marla stuck out her hand. "Nice to meet you Mrs. Cooper."

"Oh, please. It's Mrs. Smith now," said Alice, shaking her hand nonetheless. "Come on in. I have some snacks on the island in the kitchen." She opened the door a little wider and let the two girls in. They stepped inside and Betty gave Marla a subtle warning glance before heading into the kitchen.

     The kitchen was pristine and the walls were so white that they almost made Marla go blind. On the island was a plate of an assortment of cheese and crackers. "Oh, yum!" Marla set her bag down and went to go grab a cracker. "So, Marla. What do you take pictures of?" asked Alice. "Hm?" Marla's mouth was full with crackers and had a few crumbs at the corner of her mouth. Betty absentmindedly reached over and wiped her mouth with her thumb. Marla tried not think too much of it.

"I noticed your camera," Alice rephrased, not even batting an eye at the action between the two, "and I wanted to know what you took pictures of."

"Oh." Marla sat up and wiped her hands. "I just take pictures of the normal stuff. Ya know, trees, sporting events as Betty mentioned, drive-in theaters." Dead bodies popped up into her head as an afterthought but she blocked that out. Alice nodded. "Well, I'll leave you two at it. I've got some work to do." She left the kitchen and left Betty and Marla to talk.

"Why did you do that?" Marla mumbled, lowering her vision to eye the crackers. "Do what?" Betty asked. "Wipe your mouth? There was a crumb there. I wasn't gonna let you look weird in front of my mom. She's kind of a clean freak that way."

"So wiping people's mouths is second nature, then?" Marla lifted her head so she could see Betty's face when she answered. "Not necessarily, no." Betty's mouth quirked up into a little smile. "Just a habit I built for the people I care about."

     For the people I care about rang a little in Marla's head. Betty cared about her. "Come on." Betty tugged on Marla's sleeve a little. "Let me show you my room."

     Marla followed Betty up to her room which seemed to be a little pinker than she imagined. "Either you changed or the room did," Marla commented as Betty closed the door behind her. "What's that supposed to mean?" Betty scrunched up her eyebrows, intrigued by her comment.

     "I mean that the pink doesn't seem to fit you. It's a very pretty ballet pink, I'm not gonna lie." Marla sat down on Betty's bed. "But it doesn't feel like your room. I was kind of expecting some sort of red shade, something Nancy Drew-esque."

    "Pink is a shade of red," Betty pointed out in a smart-aleck tone, which caused Marla to roll her eyes. "I know that, Captain Obvious. I was thinking a maroon or maybe even a moody lavender."

     "Well, my personality matched my room before everything went to complete whack." Betty's shoulders slumped as she plopped a seat onto her bed next to Marla. "We could paint it to fit your true personality," Marla perked up. "Now what color would that be?"

"My mom would kill me if she found out I was painting my room a different color," Betty scoffed. "Bets, when was the last time you listened to your mother?" Marla gave her a look. "I'm sure you would've stopped, now that she's seemed to have joined a cult."

"Mars, how do you still have crumbs around your mouth?" Betty asked, switching subjects. She inched closer and got onto her knees. "You're like a fiend, I swear." Her thumbs were at the corners of Marla's mouth again and Marla went dead silent. Her lips parted a little after she felt Betty graze her bottom lip with her thumb. "Is it off, yet?" she asked. Betty was about to answer when Marla's phone buzzed. Betty pulled away so she could see the text.

"It's my mom," she said, "time for dinner." She wiped around her mouth with the sleeve of her flannel, either trying to wipe away the rest of the crumbs or getting rid of the feeling of Betty's touch. She didn't know yet.

They made their way downstairs and when Betty went to fetch her keys, Marla stuck a small mic under the table to record anything she heard. The mic was pretty old, so she wasn't sure how much she was gonna get until it died on her. So she crossed her fingers and hoped for the best.

"Will I be seeing you Saturday for casino night at La Bonne Nuit?" Marla asked as Betty stopped the car.

"I think so. Unless Jug's got something else planned then," Betty replied, going over the imaginary calendar in her head. "Okay. I'll be wearing the lovely work pants and puffy blouse handing out drinks so you should be able to spot me," Marla chuckled. Betty did the same. Marla went to open the door but it seemed to have been stuck. "Um," she mumbled and pointed at the door handle.

"Oh, the door gets stuck sometimes. I'm sorry." Betty unbuckled her seatbelt so she could reach over and put some force into the door. The door got free and Betty pulled back. "Ta-da."

"Thanks," Marla thanked her and got out of the car to head into her house. She was quick to bound up the stairs and get her equipment working so she could hear what was going on in the Cooper household. It would take a while before she got anything good so she took out her headphones from the headphone jack in her laptop and let the mic run during dinner.

After dinner, she headed back up the stairs and made it just in time to get something.

"You've clearly played G and G before," Betty started and Marla did her best to make everything out from the scratchy feed. "And now I have concrete evidence that when you were my age, there was another suspicious death, maybe a murder, that took place at Riverdale High where the corpse had blue lips." There was a bit of silence before Betty continued. "I can keep digging, or you can just tell me what you know about G and G."

"Alright," Alice cut her off and then her mic died on her. So much for waiting it out.