RYDER HELD ONTO HIS FOOTBALL HELMET, watching the cheerleader auditions with a smirk. This was definitely a great idea, Ryder thought, as two girls passed by in short skirts.

"We're blue! And go! We're dynamite! We'll take you down, and fight the fight! Whoo! Go, Bulldogs!" Ryder loved how timid Betty was but was happy that she was trying out again for the cheerleading team. He knew how much it meant to her and prayed that she would be accepted.

"Hm, ladies, where's the heat? Where's the sizzle?" Cheryl said in a monotonous voice to Betty and Veronica. Ryder rolled his eyes at the redheaded girl's bitchy attitude towards the duo. Despite being friends with Jason Blossom, he was never a fan of Cheryl.

"Well, you haven't seen our big finish yet," Veronica told her slowly and Ryder furrowed his brow in confusion.

He watched in shock as Veronica pulled Betty close and kissed her.

"Woohoo!" Ryder called out, clapping as Betty pulled away with a blush. Before Betty's eyes landed on Cheryl Blossom, she made eye contact with the older Andrew's boy.

"Check your sell-by date, ladies, faux lesbian kissing hasn't been taboo since 1994." Ryder was still stuck on what just happened— it was a dream come true. "So let's see if you do better with the interview portion of our audition. Betty, how's your sister doing?"

Ryder stood beside the rest of the team as they watched on. Everyone else was waiting for more sexy dancing while Ryder waited in anticipation for Betty's response.

"Um, Polly's fine, thanks for asking." Betty replied slowly, clasping her hands together in front of her nervously. She had no idea where this conversation was going.

"Veronica," Cheryl turned to the dark haired girl with a sick smile plastered on her face. "Has Betty told you about her sister yet?"

"Uh, no." Veronica said slowly, turning to the blonde. They barely knew each other but she thought that Betty would have told her she had a sister.

"Go ahead, Betty. Tell Veronica about your sister and my dear brother."

"Polly and Jason dated." Ryder winced as this topic came up.

Cheryl scoffed, "I wouldn't say "dated".

"It didn't end well," Betty mumbled as she was being pushed around by Cheryl.

"In fact, Jason's probably why your sister had a nervous breakdown and now lives in a group home, isn't it?"

"That's what my parents think." Betty breathed deeply as Cheryl kept on speaking.

"What do you have to say about that, Betty? Go ahead, the floor is yours. Whatever you've been dying to spew about Jason and how he treated Polly, unleash it. Destroy me. Tear me a new one. Rip me to shreds. Annihilate me."

"I just–"

"Finally," Cheryl smirked, leaning forward to hear her reply.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry about what happened to Jason. I can't even imagine what you and your family must be going through."

Ryder sighed, happy that Betty didn't comply with Cheryl's demands. It was sick of the redhead to push someone to bully and tear another down. Betty was too good for that.

"Right," Cheryl said dismissively before turning to the girl beside Betty. "Veronica, welcome to the River Vixens. Betty, better luck next time."

"Wait, what? Why? Because you couldn't bully Betty into being a bitch?" Veronica asked shocked. Ryder shook his head in disappointment.

"I need girls with fire on my squad."

"I know what you need, Cheryl, because I know who you are. You would rather people fear than like you, so you traffic in terror and intimidation. You're rich, so you've never been held accountable, but I'm living proof. That certainty, that entitlement you wear on your head like a crown? It won't last. Eventually, there will be a reckoning. Or–Maybe that reckoning is now. And maybe, that reckoning is me. Betty and I come as a matching set. You want one, you take us both. You wanted fire? Sorry, Cherrybombshell, my specialty's ice."

Ryder whistled lowly as he watched. A hand grabbed him and he turned to see Reggie dragging him to practice, and away from Betty.

º º º

RYDER WAS AT FOOTBALL PRACTICE doing his routine when the couch shouted.

"Andrews!" His head turned and he jogged towards but faltered as he noticed his brother, Archie, running towards Coach as well. Wrong Andrews, he guessed. "There we go. Looking good."

Ryder followed just in case, wanting to hear what his coach had to say.

"What's up, Coach?"

"Here," he tossed Archie a jersey and both boys noticed the number immediately, as it fell to reveal number nine.

"This is Jason's number," it's not like Archie was questioning his Coach but he was stating the fact. He just didn't know why he was holding his jersey.

"It's yours now. Usually, sophomores, they only play JV. This year, we've got an open spot in varsity. From what you've been showing us, well, I want you to fill it."

"Varsity's got longer practices. More away games." Archie breathed out as he tried to process this new information.

"Yeah, bigger commitment, yeah." The coach stated.

"Well, I need to think about it, Coach. I–"

"Oh, what, you got something better to do?" Ryder was wondering why his brother wan't jumping at the opportunity to play– it was his dream.

"My dad's company. It's our family business, and he's sort of counting on me to help out - after school, on weekends–"

"Hold up, Jackson, hold the ball." Coach interrupted Archie with a yell, however, he turned back to the redhead. "You know what, why don't you sleep on it. Let's go. Bring it in, guys. Come on."

Ryder gave Archie a look of confusion, what was his brother thinking?

º º º

BETTY AND VERONICA WERE IN THE LOCKER ROOM where Veronica helped zip up the blonde's new uniform. Betty turned around with a giddy smile on her face as she looked at her new friend.

"Perfect. Very Betty Draper, season 1."

Betty was silent for a moment as Veronica turned to fix herself in the mirror. She nervously looked around before trying to catch the dark haired girl's attention.

"Veronica. Why did– Why did you defend me? I know the crowd you ran with in New York. Why are you being so nice–?"

The two of them began walking out of the locker room and outside and began walking home. They wanted to be alone to talk and school wasn't the place to have a heart to heart.

"When my father got arrested, it was the worst thing ever. All these trolls started writing horrible things about us. We'd get letters and e-mails saying that my dad was a thief, my mom was a clueless socialite, and that I was the spoiled rich-bitch ice princess. And what hurt the most about it was The things the trolls were writing were true. I was like Cheryl. I was worse than Cheryl. So, when my mom said we were moving to Riverdale, I made a pact with myself to use this as an opportunity to become maybe, hopefully, a better version of myself."

Betty listened to what Veronica told her, realising that Veronica needed a second chance– redemption from her past mistakes and she knew in her heart Veronica deserved a new start.

"That's a lot of pressure. When Polly and Jason got together It meant everything to her and nothing to him, and— And things got super intense and weird and toxic and my mom turned on Polly. Said Polly wasn't her daughter anymore, said all these awful things to her. Jason hurt Polly, but it's my mom who broke her.

And Betty was determined that Alice Cooper wouldn't break her too.

º º º

season two already makes me excited to write betty/ryder omg