"Val, hey. Come in," Archie said. Mariah placed a fake smile on her face though it looked more like a grimace. Valerie smiled and entered the house. The smile didn't leave her face when she saw Mariah.

"Hey Mariah. What are you doing here?" Valerie asked. "You know, I was just about to ask you the same thing," Mariah said. Both girls turned toward Archie, waiting for an explanation. "I invited both of you. I thought that the more people, the more ideas," Archie said.

"Awesome," Mariah said at the same time Valerie said, "Cool." Archie nodded his head. "Okay, let's go upstairs," he said. The two girls followed him up to his room. When they entered, Archie put some pillows on the floor. He grabbed his guitar as Valerie sat on the bed and he sat on the floor.

Mariah stood uncomfortably in the doorway of his room. Archie looked up at her and patted the space next to him, urging her to enter. Mariah complied and sat down next to him. The redhead began playing a song on his guitar and Mariah smiled at him as he played. It was the first time she actually heard his music and she thought it was really good.

When he was done, Valerie spoke. "Good. Now right it down," she commanded. "Musical notation. Not in tabs. Kind of obnoxious, but Oscar's right. You catch on quick, newbie," Valerie said. Her hand rested on his shoulder and she smiled down at him. Archie smiled up at her and Mariah rolled her eyes.

"Why am I here again? I mean, Valerie's better at this music stuff than I am. I don't see how I'm helping," Mariah spoke up.

"You're both good at songwriting--" Archie started but Mariah's laugh cut him off. "I'm terrible at songwriting, remember?" She asked. Archie shook his head dismissively. "No, you used to be terrible at songwriting. Now you're actually good," he said in a matter of fact tone.

The blonde looked at him in confusion causing the boy to sigh. "Cheryl showed me one of your recent songs," he admitted and Mariah groaned. "I'm going to pummel her," she mumbled angrily.

Archie narrowed his eyes. "You told me you didn't write songs anymore. You lied," he said.

"I didn't lie. I said 'no, not really' when you asked if I still wrote songs. 'No not really' isn't a definite no, therefore I didn't lie," Mariah defended. A knock sounded on the door and Fred Andrews entered the room.

"Hey son, time to... Uh hey," Mr. Andrews chuckled as he saw the three. Archie and Valerie quickly stood but Mariah remained seated, seeing as she was extremely comfortable in her seated position. "Hello Mariah," Fred said. Mariah smiled and waved, "Hey Mr. Andrews," he said.

"Hi. I uh... I'm... I'm his old man," Fred said awkwardly to Valerie. "Dad, this is Val. And you already know Mariah. Val, my dad," Archie introduced. Valerie raised her hand in a slight wave. "Val. Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Val. Valerie. Right, Josie and the Pussycats. Oh, I'm a big fan. I... Yeah, I saw you guys at Taste of Riverdale. And you were rocking hard," Fred stuttered out.

Well now Mariah knew where Archie got his stuttering habit from. "Thanks, Mr. Andrews," Valerie replied a little awkwardly.

"Actually, Dad, we're in the middle of some music stuff, so..." Archie trailed off. "Oh, right. Yeah. I'm gonna just close this, not all the way. Um," Fred said as he exited the room. "Thanks, Dad. Goodbye," Archie said. Fred left and then walked past the ajar door and Mariah laughed quietly.

She felt he phone buzz with a text and pulled it out. It was from her mom who apparently needed her at home in that instant. "Uh, I gotta go. My mom needs me. I'll see you guys later," Mariah informed the two. Archie nodded, "Yeah, okay. I'll see you tomorrow."

He pulled the girl into a hug, which caused Mariah to smile. She pulled away and waved to Valerie. "Bye Valerie," she said. "Bye Mariah," Valerie replied with a smile.

Mariah exited the room and walked down the stairs, Archie following behind her. Mr. Andrews was nowhere to be seen so she figured he was in his room. "Why are you following me?" Mariah asked curiously. "So that I can lock the door," Archie answered.

"Right, well if you were gonna come down anyway, we could've exchanged goodbyes at the door," Mariah pointed out. Archie smiled, "I know. But now I have a reason to hug you twice."

He pulled her into another hug and kissed the top of her head. "Goodnight Arch," Mariah said as she pulled away. "What, no Archibald?" Archie asked.

"You don't like it when I call you Archibald," she replied. "Yeah, but that never stopped you before," he said with a smile. "But, goodnight Mar," he added. "Don't stay up too late," Mariah said as she exited the house.

Mariah left his house and drove home. A stupidly large smile on her face the entire time.

····

The next day, school went by fairly quickly. Then again, it was probably because Mariah wasn't paying attention in the majority of her classes. Now school was over and she was at River Vixens practice. She felt exhausted for some reason and was sluggish the entire practice, much to Cheryl's dismay.

When that was over, her and Veronica were talking about the previous night. "So, let me get this straight. Archie invited both you and Valerie to his house?" Veronica asked. Mariah nodded her head. "So it wasn't just you and him?" The brunette asked. "No, Veronica. It wasn't just the two of us," Mariah replied, annoyed by her friend's constant questioning.

"What an idiot. I mean, he had the perfect opportunity for you two to be alone and he blew it," Veronica said in irritation. The two continued walking down the hall with the other River Vixens when the brunette spotted Archie. Veronica elbowed Mariah in the side and pointed in his direction. He was in his football uniform and was attempting to bandage his hand.

"Speak of the devil. I'll see you tonight," Veronica mumbled before pushing Mariah in Archie's direction and walking away. Mariah glared at Veronica's retreating form before walking over to the boy. Archie looked up when he heard footsteps and Mariah placed her cheer bag on the bench next to the one Archie sat in.

She sat down next to him and took the bandage from his hand. She gently picked up his injured hand and placed it on her leg which rested on the bench, while her other leg dangled from the bench. She began to wrap his hand in the bandage and sighed. "Isn't this your playing hand?" She asked him and he nodded.

She shook her head, "Archie, you need to take better care of yourself. Your hand is pretty important, especially if you're gonna play that guitar of yours. And maybe, stop punishing yourself while you're at it," Mariah scolded.

"I'm not," Archie denied causing Mariah to scoff. "Really? You sure?" She asked in disbelief. "I got slammed because I didn't know the play. And I didn't know the play because, like an idiot, instead of memorizing my plays I was up late last night. Working on some of my songs with Valerie," Archie explained.

"I thought I told you not to stay up too late," Mariah said, giving him a pointed look. Archie nodded, "God I'm such an idiot."

"You got that right," Mariah agreed. "And I don't understand why you would stay up late. Especially with Valerie," Mariah continued. Archie raised an eyebrow at her words. "What?" She asked when she saw his face. "You jealous, Mari?" Archie asked the girl, a small smirk on his face.

Mariah scoffed, "Please. Don't flatter yourself. You're nothing special." Archie chuckled, "I'm obviously something special to you if you're jealous," he said. Mariah narrowed her eyes. "I'm not jealous Archibald. If you like Valerie, then you should keep spending time with her. Maybe even ask her on a date," Mariah said.

"I never said that I liked Valerie," Archie said quickly. He didn't want her to think that he did. "Well you never said that you didn't," Mariah pointed out. Archie shook his head. "I don't," he assured. Mariah shrugged, "Okay." She finished wrapping his hand and smiled before kissing his bandaged wrist.

"All right. But try to take better care of it. This hand can be what puts food on your table one day. It might also be worth millions," Mariah said, wiggling her eyebrows. She grabbed her cheer bag and put the strap around her shoulder. "Thank you," Archie said. Mariah smiled at him and nodded before walking away.

She drove home and took a shower. She changed and quickly packed things into a bag. She was going over to Thornhill for Cheryl's sleepover and she, of course, was packing last minute. After packing everything that she needed, she went over a checklist in her head. Then she grabbed her things and drove to Cheryl's mansion.

····

Thornhill always creeped her out. The mansion was so eerie and spooky. When they were kids, Jason had convinced her that it was haunted. The cemetery out back didn't ease her fears. As she drove up the driveway, she remembered all of the times that she spent there as a kid.

After walking up to the door and ringing the doorbell, Mariah crossed her arms over her chest. Her bag was slung over her shoulder and it bumped against her side as she did so. This caused her to jump a little before she realized what had touched her. "I really hate this place," she mumbled just as the door opened.

"Finally!" Cheryl exclaimed, pulling the blonde into the house. A man that Mariah didn't recognize took her bag and Cheryl led Mariah to the formal dining room where Mr. and Mrs. Blossom sat with Cheryl's grandmother, Rose, as well as Veronica. "Sorry I'm late," Mariah said, though she wasn't really sorry.

"It's all right dear. Come, have a seat," Penelope Blossom said. Mariah sat next to Cheryl, who sat next to Veronica. The food was served and everyone ate in an uncomfortable silence. "Thank you for having me." Veronica spoke up, breaking the silence. Mrs. Blossom put on a faux smile as she spoke, "Cheryl invited you. I have no idea why you're here."

Mariah rolled her eyes and scowled at the woman as Veronica spoke again. "Me neither. I thought there'd be other girls," she said. "Nana Rose, would you like some more ham?" Mr. Blossom asked Cheryl's grandmother who stared blankly at him and continued to chew her food.

He then started talking about maple syrup and Mariah rolled her eyes again. The Blossoms and their damn syrup. They then began talking about Veronica's father and Mariah felt like stabbing a fork into Cheryl's parents' throats.

She was sick of listening to Penelope's bitching. She started to regret going to Cheryl's house.

After an awkward dinner Mariah, Cheryl, and Veronica were in Cheryl's room, going through a photo album. "I hope this isn't weird, but Jason was crazy handsome," Veronica told Cheryl, who smiled. "The handsomest. Something tells me he would've liked you," Cheryl said.

Mariah laid backwards onto Cheryl's bed and tuned out the two's conversation. She didn't like talking about Jason, not anymore. "Mariah!" Veronica called. Mariah lazily looked over at her. "You and Cheryl are going to speak at Jason's memorial," she told the girl who shook her head. "No way. I like my head and would prefer to not have it chopped off by that psycho that Cheryl calls a mom," Mariah said.

Veronica sighed and eventually convinced Mariah to do it. A few hours later, the three girls went to bed.

····

The next morning, Cheryl, Veronica, and Mariah got ready for the memorial. Mariah was whispering the words of her speech to herself. Eventually, she walked downstairs to the area that the memorial was being held. The first person she spotted was her mother, who had been looking around the room for her daughter. When she spotted Mariah, she quickly walked over to her and pulled her into a tight hug. "Is it wrong for me to say that you look amazing at a funeral?" Was the first thing she said.

Mariah quietly laughed at the question. "I don't know mom," she answered. Amara Coleman pulled away and looked at her daughter. "Are you ready for your eulogy?" She asked. Mariah shook her head. "Not really. But I have to talk to Mrs. Blossom really quick. I'll see you later," she said and her mother nodded.

Mariah walked over to Penelope and cleared her throat in order to get her attention. The woman turned around and stared blankly at Mariah. "I prepared a eulogy that I would like to read," Mariah said. Penelope scoffed and shook her head. "Didn't Cheryl tell you? I think it would be better if you didn't," she said.

"Better for who? You? Jason was my best friend. He meant more to me than you'll ever know or understand. I'm going to read this and you're not going to stop me," Mariah said, turning to walk away. Mrs. Blossom grabbed her arm harshly and pulled her back. "You will not make this about you. Do you understand?" She said loudly, attracting the attention of some people in the room.

Mariah ripped her arm out of the woman's grasp. "I don't make anything about me. You do. So maybe you should take your own damn advice," she snapped before turning on her heel and walking away. She was furious but kept her cool, she was at Jason's memorial and would not make an even bigger scene than the one that had just occurred.

"Hey," Archie said, causing Mariah to turn around. He immediately pulled her into a hug and she hugged him back. In that moment, she realized that she liked hugging the boy. "I saw what happened. Are you okay?" He asked in concern. Mariah smiled lightly and nodded. "Yup. Peachy," she said. "Are you sure?" He asked, the concern never leaving his face.

"I'm fine Archibald," Mariah assured. Mariah looked around the room and spotted her friends and Valerie. She also saw Veronica's mom talking to her own. "I should probably go start my speech," Mariah said and Archie nodded. "Yeah, of course. Good luck," he said. "Thanks, I guess," Mariah replied before walking up to the podium at the front of the room.

She looked down at her cards and then looked back up. "Good afternoon, everyone. My name's Mariah. Some of you may know that Jason Blossom was my best friend. I've known him since I was a baby. Our parents were close so it was inevitable for me, Jason and Cheryl to be friends," Mariah began. She looked down at her cards again and read over the words she had wrote. She looked back up at everyone whose eyes were all on her. She looked back down at her cards and froze. Her eyes then met her mother's. Amara smiled reassuringly and nodded, urging her daughter to continue.

Mariah released a breath before flipping the cards over so that she could no longer read the words.

"I was going to go on and on about how amazing Jason was and how he was such a good friend. But, he was more than that. Jason was loud and obnoxious. But sometimes, he was quiet, and still obnoxious. He always used to pull my hair and call me names. He used to laugh at horror movies and cry at romantic comedies. But if you ever confronted him about the crying, he'd deny it. Jason liked to read. A lot. And whenever he found the perfect book, he'd read it aloud to Cheryl and I. But he never read it exactly perfect. He would stumble here and there and mess up some of the words. But we listened anyway, because it made him happy. Sometimes he was mean. And I mean really mean. When we were younger, tricked me into believing that Thornhill was haunted. He even pulled a prank on me that involved door slamming, feet shuffling, creepy noises, a smoke machine, fake blood, and him and Cheryl covered in that fake blood. It took him weeks to convince me to come back here and when he did, I refused to be left alone in one room. I still think this place is haunted though. Anyways, Jason may have been a jerk at times, but he was also a real sweetheart. Like when he pushed me off the swings and I scraped my knee, he kissed it better. Or when I sprained my ankle attempting a back tuck for the first time, he'd carry me up the stairs of my house and make me food. Though, the food was mainly sandwiches that I'm almost positive he didn't make; they were too good. He liked listening to music and was always playing these awful songs that he loved. He would get excited and happy over little things. Most importantly, Jason always had my back, no matter what. And I always had his, no matter what. He and Cheryl were always there for me. And I thank him for that. I'll always love Jason, no matter what. Because he wasn't just my friend: he was my brother. Rest in peace JJ. Save a spot in heaven for me."

Mariah looked down at her hands as the tears fell from her eyes. The people around her were clapping and she turned to place her hands on Jason's casket. "I love you Jason," she whispered. She then turned to Mr. and Mrs. Blossom who looked touched by her words, though they quickly hid it and stared blankly at her. She glared at them and walked to sit down next to her mother.

Amara wrapped an arm around her daughter and Mariah leaned into her. Suddenly, Cheryl walked into the room. She changed her outfit and was now wearing all white. The girl walked to the front of the room and stood behind the podium.

"Welcome to Thornhill. Thank you all for coming. I'd like to start by saying a few words about Jason. The last time I saw Jason, I was wearing this dress. I know it's impossible. But I swear, when I put it on, it feels like he's in the room with me. Even though we were twins, I used to demand I have my own birthday party. Until one year, out of the blue, Jason convinced me we had to combine them into one. It wasn't until years later, I found out why. It was because no one wanted to come to mine. And Jason didn't want me to know. He protected me. Every single day. I wish, that day at the river, I had protected him. I'm so sorry, JJ. We failed you. All of us." Cheryl began crying and Mariah quickly stood and went up to her, pulling her into a hug.

A few minutes later everyone went to the Winter Salon for a 'light supper', as Mrs. Blossom called it. "Mariah," a voice called. Mariah turned and came face to face with Archie. "Your speech was amazing," he said. "Thanks, Arch," Mariah replied with a small smile.

"Mariah. We should go now," Amara called. "You don't want to stay for 'a light supper'?" Mariah questioned, her voice mocking Mrs. Blossom's. "I'd rather have pizza than the food that they're serving. But don't tell Penelope," Amara replied causing Archie laugh.

Mariah nodded and turned back to Archie. "I'll see you," she said. "Yeah, see you," he replied.

Amara and Mariah Coleman left Thornhill and drove home. When they got there Mariah went to bed. She was exhausted by the day's events and just wanted to be in the comfort of her bed. The day was finally over, but a new day would soon approach.

°°°°

This is a very long chapter, the longest that I've ever written. I hope that you readers made it to the end. Chapter thirteen already? I honestly had no idea how to end this chapter and the ending is kinda cringy. But, I hope you all enjoyed. Don't forget to comment and vote. Have a good day.