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It started as a normal morning. As always, Peter woke up, had a shower, had breakfast, said 'bye' to his sweet Aunt and went to school...normal, ain't it? It would've been if, in the chemistry class, right at the beginning of the lesson, principal Watherbee and sheriff Keller hadn't shown up. Even more shocking for Peter and his friends were the words Cheryl pronunced right after

Cheryl: "You're here for me, aren't you? Because of the autopsy?"

Watherbee: "We don't need to do this in front of your classmates, Cheryl..."

Cheryl then started to stand up

Cheryl: "It's alright, principal Watherbee: they'll find out soon enough."

And then she extended both her arms, holding her wrists together, ready to be handcuffed

Keller: "Now, that won't be necessary."

Then Veronica decided to ask the question present in everyone's mind

Veronica: "Wait, Cheryl, find out what?"

After that a moment of silence filled the air, as Cheryl turned around, facing Veronica

Cheryl: "That I'm guilty."

In that moment each one of the students weared the same shocked expression on their faces. Those words rang in their ears and floated in their brains like bees in a nest.

'Could she really have killed Jason?'

A question that invaded everyone's minds in the same instant Cheryl spoke, everyone...except Peter Parker: he knew how highly Cheryl spoke of Jason, plus Veronica told him that she was crying at the Pep Rally because she missed her brother, so she couldn't have killed him, but in that case...what was she guilty for? That's what Peter wanted to find out.

As the Sheriff and the principal were bringing Cheryl in his office, Peter asked to go to the bathroom. His friends were looking at him wondering how could he ask something like that in that moment, but he gave them a subtle wink, meaning 'I'm gonna check this, guys'. When he recieved permission he went out in a rush and eventually caught up with Cheryl and the two men, who turned around and looked at him questionly

Watherbee: "Mr. Parker, what are you doing out of your class?"

Peter: "Well, you see...I-I need to ask Cheryl something real quick."

Keller: "Couldn't it wait? We have to interrogate her."

Peter suddently had an idea, a risky one, but it was worth a try

Peter: *making a face and crossing arms* "Without her parents? She's a minor, sheriff, I know what the law says: I'm friends with Captain Stacy."

Keller: *narrows eyes* "Are you threatening me, boy?"

'I got you' thought Peter

Peter: "If you consider this a threat, then it means I'm right: you can't interrogate her without her parents' presence. So, while you call them, may I speak to my friend, please?"

Cheryl couldn't believe that the same guy she ridiculed at her party was now defending her, even more that he was calling her a 'friend'. The sheriff reluctantly released her, still narrowing his eyes at Peter, while the principal was astonished. In the end the two men went to call Cheryl's parents, leaving the two teens alone

Peter: *with a worried look, still crossing arms* "Cheryl, what does that statement, 'I'm guilty', mean?"

Cheryl: *fiddling with her fingers* "It...it was nothing..."

Peter: "Doesn't seem like it."

Cheryl: *looking at him directly, stopping fiddling* "I didn't kill my brother."

Peter: "I know you didn't kill him: I wanna know what did you mean with those words."

Cheryl was a bit surprised

Cheryl: "You...you actually believe me?"

Peter: *uncrossing his arms* "Of course I believe you: how could someone kill their own family member? Plus, I know you truly loved your brother, so tell me, what did you mean?"

Cheryl: *smiles sadly* "You truly are something else, Peter Parker: I made fun of you in public, yet you're worried for me. I wish there were more guys like you in Riverdale."

But as she was about to answer to Peter's question, the sheriff and the principal came back

Keller: "Okay, time's up. Come with us, miss."

Peter: "Wait a sec-"

Keller: "Time. Is. Up."

Watherbee: "Go back to class, Peter: everything's under control."

While Cheryl was been dragged to the office, she kept smiling at Peter, who in the meantime started to get really worried about the whole situation.

'Why did the sheriff want to interrogate Cheryl without her parents? And why was she so surprised that I believed her? I don't like any of this...'

Unable to do anything more, Peter returned back to class and sat on his usual spot beside Betty, who anxiously watched as he took his seat, then she asked him in a whisper

Betty: "So? What did you find out?"

Peter: "Nothing about what she said, unfortunately. But there's still something that doesn't convince me..."

Betty: "What?"

Peter: "I think it's best if I come to your house and we talk about it, what do you say?"

Betty suddently froze. Peter Parker, the guy she was practically pining over this whole time, just asked her if he could come to her house...this was a lifetime opportunity to ask him what was the deal between him and Veronica...other than, of course, hear what he discovered

Peter: "Betty, are you okay?"

Betty realised she must've been staring at him for too long, so she shook her head and composed herself

Betty: "Uh yeah, yeah. Ehm, you can come after school, maybe we could...walk together?"

Peter: "I'd like to, but I want to tell May first, so that she doesn't get worried. I'll come right after, okay?"

Betty: "Okay, sure."

Betty was actually relieved to have some time to mentally prepare herself.

As the bell rang everyone got out of the class, and we see now Harry trying to catch up with Gwen, who was still pissed with him

Harry: "Gwen! Gwen, c'mon wait a second! Please!"

After that Gwen reluctantly stopped and turned, still mantaining the pissed look. And, with folded arms and narrowed eyes, asked dryly

Gwen: "What?"

Harry: "I need to talk to you."

Gwen: "Oh, now you wanna talk? Why don't you go to Veronica? I'm sure she'll be more than happy to listen to you."

Harry: "Okay, I get it: you're mad at me, but she's only a friend, a talk with her doesn't mean anything!"

Gwen: "You're such an idiot. You really think I'm mad because you talked with Veronica?! No: I'm mad because my boyfriend neither did trust me enough to know what the hell he did with his father the day he wasn't at school, nor he cared enough to put me in the first place instead of his father, again!"

Harry: "Gwen, I-"

Gwen's gaze softened with sadness

Gwen: "I don't want to keep you away from him, since I know your problems, but...sometimes I'd like to feel important to you as well as your father's will is. You promised you would be there at the Pep Rally, with me, and yet you, just five minutes before going, send me a message saying that 'your father needs you', and then you come inside Pop's, join us, and act like it was no big deal. Can't you, just one time, put me before him? Can't you for just one time say a simple 'no, I can't' to him?!"

Herry lowered his head and closed his eyes: he didn't notice how badly he screwed up. He was so focused on keeping her as much away from Peter as possible that he forgot to keep her near him

Harry: "Gwen, I-I'm sorry, I truly am."

Gwen felt bad: she knew that Harry always had a difficult time with his father. She noticed all the times he compared him to Peter, how much he supported Peter and treated Harry poorly, always criticized him for not being good enough...but it wasn't fair that she was the one abandoned everytime Harry was called by his father even for the simplest of things. She wanted to get rid of her feelings for Peter, knowing he didn't feel the same for her and that she already had a boyfriend, but she couldn't be the only one trying her hard to save this relationship, and despite the fact that she understood Harry's struggles, he had to know that she too needed his attentions, not only his dad

Gwen: "I know you are, but you need to figure out your priorities, Harry. Again, I don't pretend to be your only focus of attention, but I'd like if you, a few times, put me before him: you're my boyfriend, Harry, and I'm your girlfriend, this has to mean something. *sigh* Call me when you figure out what you care about."

In the meantime Cheryl got out of the office with her parents, crossing the confused stares of everyone in the hallways.

Peter finally got home, he opened the door and walked in

Peter: "May, I'm back!"

May's voice came from the kitchen

May: "Hey, sweety! How was school today?"

Peter didn't want his Aunt to get worried, God knows how much she had to suffer for his mistake, so he shrugged

Peter: "Same old boring day."

Peter went to hang his jacket near the door, when he noticed some papers on the counter beside the entrance

| EVINCTION NOTICE |

His eyes widened, did his Aunt hide all of this from him?

Peter: "So, May, is everything alright?"

May: "Of course, Peter, why?"

Obviously she didn't want him to know: she must've thought that he would get worried, and she was right.

Peter: "Nothing in particular."

He needed to find out a way to help her Aunt, some part-time job that he could do to help her keep their house and not make her feel too stressed...but what? Maybe he could work as a waiter at Pop's: he was looking for help after all. At this point anything would be good to help at least a little. Peter went inside the kitchen and smiled at her Aunt, then he hugged her and kissed her cheek. Then he released her and said

Peter: "Let me help you, May. I could cut the vegetables..."

May smiled at Peter's care, but she shook her head

May: *chuckles* "I've learned a lot of time ago that you're better out of the kitchen than inside."

Peter: *laughes a bit* "Okay, fair point. But seriously, if you need help with anything just tell me, okay?"

May: *caresses his cheek* "You're so sweet, Peter, but I'm okay, really."

Peter nodded and May got back to chopping a carrot

May: "So, any programs for today?"

Peter: "I was thinking I could go to Betty's: we could do homework together."

May: *smirks* "Since when you need help with your homework?"

Peter: "I don't need it, it's just better if you do something with someone else."

May: "Suuuure...but I don't want a nephew any time soon, you hear me, Peter Benjamin Parker?"

Peter: *embarassed* "May! It's not what you think!"

May: *laughes* "I'm just kidding, Peter. Okay, you can go, but first let's eat. In half an hour lunch should be ready."

An hour later we move on inside Betty's room. She was doing some homework before lunch, one of the things her mother had her to do to keep the 'perfect student' image, when suddently Alice came in and showed her the new article she wrote about the details she found on Jason's corpse, trying to fuel the hate towards the Blossoms

Alice: "Hot off the presses."

Betty tried to reason with her mother

Betty: "Mom...first you leaked Jason Blossom's autopsy report, and now this?"

Alice: "People are loving the coverage."

Betty: "You have to stop sensationalizing
this horrible thing!"

Alice: "It's news, Betty: we own the Riverdale Register, we have a responsibility to keep the people informed."

Everytime Betty tried, her mom would retort with something like that, denying that what she was doing was wrong, and Betty knew the reason was very different from the whole 'responsability' thing

Betty: "Whatever Jason did to Polly, he's still a person."

Alice: "You reap what you sow."

Betty: "You should be writing about the real story. I mean, what happened to Jason? I mean, who was holding him captive? Why was he frozen? And who shot that gun on July 4th?"

Betty was making pretty fair points, but her mother, like always, defused her reasonings

Alice: "If you are so keen on reporting, why don't you come work with your father and me? The Register could really use a Lois Lane type like you."

She was going away, when she noticed a bit of makeup on her daughter

Alice: "Are you wearing makeup, Elizabeth?"

Betty widened her eyes, realising she had been busted

Alice: *narrows eyes* "So you are...and why, if I may ask?"

Betty: "Well...I wanted to say it but I forgot: Peter is coming here, we wanted to do homework together."

Alice was actually happy that her daughter was spending more time with that boy: he was far better than that Andrews. So she just smiled and said

Alice: "Ohh, alright. But leave the door open, you hear me miss?"

Betty was both shocked and relieved at her mother's reaction

Betty: "Oh, sure yeah."

Alice: "Okay, I'll leave you to it then."

After that she left Betty's room, leaving the door open. At this point Betty was a bit tense about Peter coming over, so she thought of doing the only thing that could calm her in the moments of stress...she played some music and started to dance to the rithym of the song.

Meanwhile Peter arrived at the front door of Betty Cooper's house. He knocked and was met by a, surprisingly, smiling Alice Cooper

Alice: "Peter, dear, hi!"

Alice seemed to always have a soft spot for Peter: she really liked the boy for his good manners and the kindness he always showed to everyone, including her daughter. She was happy that she was starting to spend more time with Peter than with Archie Andrews or Veronica Lodge.

Peter: "Hi Mrs. Cooper, is Betty home?"

Alice: "Oh yes, she said you would come. Please, come in, she's upstairs."

Peter got inside Alice's house and the first thought that crossed his mind was 'Nice house'.

Alice: "Would you like something to drink? Water, juice, coke...?"

Peter: *smiles* "Thanks, Mrs. Cooper, but I'm alright."

Alice: "C'mon, Peter, you know you can just call me Alice: we all know you since you were 9."

Peter: *scratches the back of his neck* "Yeah, sorry: old habits. Then thanks Alice, but I'm alright."

Alice: *smiles* "Much better. In this case you can go: Betty's room is upstairs."

Peter: "Okay, thanks."

Alice: "No problem."

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

In the meantime Betty was still dancing, and unfortunately she didn't notice Peter Parker in front of her room, and when she did, she just wanted to be buried deep below the Earth from all the embarassement she was feeling

Betty: *turns around, shutting down the music* "H-Hey, Peter! Didn't expect you here so soon! *laughs histerically* H-How much did you see...?"

Peter: *smiling* "Enough to know you're born to dance, Miss Jackson."

Betty laughed at Peter's joke

Betty: *fiddling with her hands* "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you see it: It'something I do to relieve stress..."

Peter: "Hey, it's fine, Betty, really. So I think I should probably tell you about what I found out today."

Betty: "Oh yeah, yeah. Come in, *spreading her arms with an embarassed smile on her face* make yourself at home!"

Peter: *chuckles* "Yes, ma'am!"

Peter proceeded to put his backpack on the floor and then he sat on a chair near Betty's bed, while she sat on her bed herself. The two stared a bit at eachother, none of them knowing what to do in a situation like that: Peter had never been in a girl's room before except for Gwen's, and Betty had never had a boy in her room, let alone a cute, smart and funny boy like Peter Parker, who happened to be also the guy she had a crush on, so...yeah it was kinda embarassing for the both of them

Peter: "Okay, so...ehm..."

Betty: "So..."

Peter: "Yeah I should probably start right now..."

Betty: "Yeah, maybe you should..."

Betty couldn't help but smile at Peter's embarassed state, strangely it made him even more cute than he already was

Peter: "Okay, so when I, you know, 'went to the bathroom' I caught up with Cheryl, the sheriff and the principal, and I found out that Mr. Keller wanted to interrogate Cheryl..."

Betty: "Well, until now it seems logic."

Peter: "...without her parents."

Betty: "Ohh, now I get it...but why...?"

Betty wore a thinking expression while watching intensely at Peter while he explained the rest of the story, even about the weird exchange between him and Cheryl

Peter: "It was as if she was actually surprised that another person had actually believed her. You know, I get that she might've been on edge...hell probably everyone hates her...but she just assumed that nobody was gonna believe her, like if the fact itself to be believed was just pure science-fiction, like if she felt..."

Peter/Betty: "Alone."

Peter: "Yeah...exactly like that."

Betty slightly smiled to herself after that little exchange, but her demeanor immediately changed as she thought about something

Betty: "Peter, may I ask you a question?"

Peter: *smirks* "Aren't you already?"

Betty: *chuckles* "C'mon I'm serious."

Peter: "Okay, shoot."

Betty: "Cheryl practically ridiculed you in front of everyone at her party..."

Peter: "Yeah, I...guess she did."

Betty: "But then, knowing that, why do you wanna help her?"

Peter pondered this question for a moment. It's not that he didn't know the answer, but he couldn't just say 'Because I'm Spider-man', so he opted for another one

Peter: "Well, because...she's in trouble. She needs help, and if I'm not at least gonna try, I doubt there will be any other who'll step in, considering her bad reputation."

Saying that Betty was stunned would be the understatement of the year: Peter answered that question as it was the most obvious thing to do. Cheryl needed help, so he wanted to help her: he didn't care about the scandalous episode at the party, he didn't care about what others thought of him, he was just gonna do it with no second thoughts. She smiled looking down a bit

Betty: *mumbles* "Sometimes I think that you're too perfect to exist, Peter."

Peter: "What?"

Betty's head shot upward with wide eyes and mouth agape

Betty: "Nothing! It's just that... *sighs, smiles* you're truly something else, Peter Parker."

Peter: "Nah...I'm not that special."

Betty: *scoffs* "Are you kidding? You were the first one to go help Cheryl in the moment of need, when she did nothing good to you. To me you're a special guy, Peter... *realises* I-I mean, to us! To us you're a special guy!"

Peter: *laughs* "Thanks Betty."

Silence fell on the both of them as they looked at eachother's eyes: Peter wondering where did all of that come from Betty, and her wondering how could he truly not believe to be special, because, for her, he truly was.

Peter: "Ahem, you know, *scratches the back of his neck* I kinda said Aunt May that we were gonna do homework together, so...mind if we do?"

Betty: *smiles* "Actually I said the same thing to my mom, so we have to do them."

Peter: *smiles* "Oh, good. Then let's start...I think." *chuckles*

The two of them took their books and started doing their homework. But Betty just couldn't properly focus on the paper: they were both sit down on her bed, across from eachother, with only the books separating them. So, obviously, she stole a few glances at the boy in front of her, fascinated by his focused expression. You could clearly see his brain working at an immense speed: even if the argument they were doing was new, Peter managed to make everything easy, like he already knew every single argument, lesson or result.

In that moment Betty remembered what she wanted to ask Peter

Betty: "Hey, Pete."

Peter raised his head and looked at Betty with slightly raised eyebrows

Peter: "Yeah, Bets?"

Betty: "So...I meant to ask you this thing..."

Peter: *tilting a bit his head to the side* "About what?"

Betty inhaled shakily, really hoping that the answer Peter was about to give was what she wanted to hear

Betty: "It's...It's about you and Veronica. A-Are you, you know...together? Like...are you a couple?"

Betty's heart was pounding against her chest. She REALLY was hoping that the answer was 'no'

Peter: "Oh, ehm, no we aren't. We decided it would be best if we started over as friends so...yeah."

Peter didn't know why Betty was so tense about this question. She couldn't have a crush on him, she already had one for Archie, and he couldn't blame her: by the way, who would want to date a loser like Peter Parker, when you have the football star AND singer Archie Andrews?

Betty on the other hand was beyond relieved, she released a breath she'd been holding the entire time: Peter and Veronica were only friends, that meant that she could finally make her move, and the investigation on Cheryl and Jason's case would be the perfect opportunity to do it.

Betty: "Oh, okay, cool, ehm...I mean, you two need to know eachother better, so I completely understand."

Peter: "So...you're not angry at me for not getting back with her, right?"

Betty: "What? No, of course not. Why would I be?"

Peter: "I don't know... *scratching the back of his neck* she's your friend and...I really didn't wanna mess up anything between me and Veronica or me and you. I was worried you would hate me..."

Betty took his hand and gave it a little squeeze

Betty: "Peter Benjamin Parker, you are the most cute, kind, smart and selfless boy I know: I could never hate you."

Peter was taken aback from all of this

Peter: "Wow, Betty, I... *smiles* thank you, I mean that."

But their moment was interrupted by a beeping noise. Peter realised what it was: it was the tracker he put on Vulture when he faced him, he finally was showing up, he couldn't lose this opportunity.

Betty: "What's this noise?"

Peter: *Pretends to check his phone* "Oh dammit! *stands up and starts collecting his things* I'm so, so sorry Bets, I forgot I had something important to do, ehm...I-I'll call you later, okay?"

Betty was a bit disoriented by his sudden panic, but she brushed it off

Betty: "Ehm, yeah sure."

Peter: "Perfect! Ehm...okay so, uh...sorry again and thanks for the encouraging speech, I really appreciate that. Bye Bets!"

Peter practically runs out of her room without waiting for an answer by the blonde

Betty: "Bye Peter."

Betty lowered her head exhaling, sad that her moment with Peter was interrupted, then she suddently widened her eyes

Betty: "Wait..."

She shot her head up, with her cheeks burning red

Betty: "Did I just hold his hand?!"

🕷

A/N end of part one guys! Wow, so apparently Betty discovered that Peter is single, plus they held hands!!!

We also saw that Aunt May has money problems, her and Peter could lose their home 😱! Peter will have to find a part-time job, are you excited about the idea of him working at Pop's? It's something that came out in my head yesterday evening. I think it would be cool that he works there for the moment, but I'd like to know your opinion.

The next episode will start with finally some Spider-man action! Let me know as always your impressions about this story so far. I also wanted to ask you guys something: I was thinking about opening an art gallery with posters, gifs or even videos about this story. So, if anyone of you is excited about it, feel free to produce these things and send them to me, you will of course recieve all the credits for any poster, video or gif you will make in the art gallery. And maybe, just maybe, the best poster will become the new cover for the fanfiction...maybe 😏

Anyway guys, as always, thank you for all the support and funny comments you write: I really enjoy reading them, so feel free to comment as much as you want. Be safe and have a nice reading, Excelsior!