✴ SHAPE OF YOU
— CHAPTER FIVE: SORRY CHERYL BOMBSHELL

✴ 

     ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END. But for now, the small gang was consumed with their own conversations, chatting back and forth. "How's your first day going, Veronica?" Astrid played with the opening of her milk carton.

     "Good! Not to be a complete narcissist, but I thought people would be more..." Veronica trailed off as if the right word just wasn't coming to mind.

     "Obsessed with you?" Kevin cut in. "Any other year, you'd be trending number one, for sure. This year, though, it's all about Cheryl trying to win the Best Supporting Psycho Oscar for her role as Riverdale High's bereaved Red Widow."

     Astrid couldn't hold back a snicker. "Don't be so mean, Kev." the redhead and him shared a smile before Archie spoke up.

     "Hey, I should go. I got that meeting with Grundy and then football tryouts, so," Archie gathered his things and stood up.

     "Alright brother, stay out of trouble," Astrid smiled up at her brother, the redhead boy sending Astrid his own mimicking smile back.

     "You know I always try to," he straightened his posture and left the table. Astrid's smile disappeared when she noticed Riverdale's second famous redhead girl coming over to their table. Astrid sighed, not completely prepared for round two.

     "Don't talk about Archie," Betty harshly told Kevin, Axel and Veronica on the other side of the table, having seen Cheryl coming over too.

     "Veronica Lodge, I'd heard whisperings," Cheryl stood with her hands on her hips before the five at the table. Axel looked Astrid straight in the eye and rolled his. "I'm Cheryl Blossom, may I sit? Betty, would you mind?" Cheryl sat at the end of the table where Betty was, causing Betty to scoot down into Archie's old spot. Cheryl sent Astrid a dirty look when Astrid wouldn't move to make even more room for her. Astrid raised her eyebrows. "So, what are you three hens gossiping about? Archie's Efron-esque emergence from the chrysalis of puberty?"

     "Gross," Astrid went back to playing with her milk carton.

     "Extracurriculars," Veronica (thankfully) changed the subject. "Weatherbee wants me to sign up for a few."

     "Cheerleading!" Cheryl said like it was obvious. "You must. I'm senior captain of the River Vixens, and Astrid here is helping me hold tryouts today."

     "Yeah, it's not like I'm your best cheerleader or anything," Astrid smiled at Cheryl, shrugging off the other redhead girl's eye roll.

     "Is cheerleading still a thing?" Kevin asked.

     "Is being the gay best friend still a thing?" Cheryl retorted. Kevin looked Astrid straight in the eye, ignoring Axel's laughter. Astrid shrugged.

     "At Spence, I sat at the top of the Elites' pyramid. I'm in. Betty, you're trying out, too," Veronica started getting into it.

     "Of course, anyone's welcome to try out, but Betty's already got so much on her plate right now and being a Vixen is kind of a full-time thing," Cheryl said. Astrid clenched her jaw. "But open to all!" Cheryl changed her attitude once she saw Astrid's face. "Follow me on Twitter and I'll do the same. My handle is at cherylbombshell," Cheryl got up from the table and walked away.

     "Okay. Go ahead and hate on cheerleading, but if Hipster Prince Harry--" Astrid began laughing at Veronica, knowing by Hipster Prince Harry she meant Archie.

     "I'd love to be a cheerleader," Betty cut Veronica off. "It would look great on my college applications. But last year, when I tried out, Cheryl said I was too fat."

     "Too season 5 Betty Draper," Kevin reminisced. "It was a great line, but not at all true."

     "Well, you're a total smoke show now. I mean it," Veronica tried cheering up Betty as Betty bit into her red apple. "As hot and as smart as you are, you should be the Queen Bey of this drab hive. Look, if you want to be a River Vixen, I'll help you prep. I have moves."

     Astrid turned to Betty, waiting for her answer. "I think you should, for what it's worth."

     "Okay. You know what? Show me your moves."

✴ 

     BLUE AND YELLOW POM-POMS were tossed in the air as Betty and Veronica waved them around. "We're blue! And gold! We're dynamite! We'll take you down, and fight the fight! Whoo! Go, Bulldogs!"

     Astrid clapped, trying to ignore Cheryl's blank stare. "Good job, ladies."

     "Hmm. Ladies, where's the heat? Where's the sizzle?" Cheryl questioned.

     "I think they did fine, Cheryl," Astrid said in a low voice, barely looking at the girl sitting next to her. Two more girls from the team sat with them, but Astrid didn't know them well. Astrid folded her arms back, trying to hide the fact that she was nervous for the two girls.

     "Well, you haven't seen our big finish yet," Veronica said, turning to Betty. It looked like they were whispering to each other. Astrid sighed, knowing if Cheryl didn't like them then there was a little chance that whatever they could come up with next could save them.

     Veronica cupped Betty's face, pulling her closer, and placed her lips on the blondes. Astrid slowly unfolded her arms, her mouth fell open in shock. It took a moment for Veronica to pull away, her hands leaving Betty's face as she bit her lip.

Cheryl sighed. "Check your 'sell by' date ladies. Faux lesbian kissing hasn't been taboo since 1994," she announced, rolling her eyes.

     "Cheryl," Astrid warned.

     "Let's see if you do better with the interview portion of our audition. Betty, how's your sister doing?" Cheryl asked, sitting up straight. Astrid placed her hand on top of Cheryl's throwing her off.

     "Are you serious?" Astrid leaned in and whispered. Cheryl shook her off with ease.

     "Um, Polly's fine, thanks for asking," Betty awkwardly answered.

     "Veronica, has Betty told you about her sister yet?"

     "Uh, no," Veronica furrowed her eyebrows.

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

     "Polly and Jason dated," Betty said, almost too low for Astrid to hear.

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

     "It didn't end well," Betty kept going.

     "In fact," Cheryl pretended to think. "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."

     "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."

     "Cheryl, that's enough!" Astrid snapped, taking a hold of Cheryl's hand again. "Stop it."

     "I just," Betty began. "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."

     "Right," Cheryl whispered to herself. Changing her attitude, she fixed her posture and spoke up. "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 questioned, even looking to Astrid for answers, but Astrid didn't know what to say.

     "I need girls with fire on my squad."

     "I know what you need, Cheryl. Because I know who you are," Veronica said calmly. "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," Veronica kept taking steps forward. "Eventually, there will be a reckoning."

     Astrid's mouth fell open again. 

     "Or," Veronica said, like a lightbulb in her head just went off. "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, Cheryl bombshell, my speciality is ice."

     Cheryl looked to Astrid. "You heard her," Astrid said, taking back her hand from Cheryl's. "She's ice."

✴ 

SHAPE OF YOU ;
sss alaaaa