|| 1 : C r o i s s a n t s? ||

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As I stepped out of the coach and onto the hard wooden boards of the station platform, I was greeted with a gust of cool, refreshing air.

For a moment, I stood very still, inhaling the wonderful scent of crisp, green leaves, fresh, moist grass-cuttings and warm, buttery croissants.

Wait ... Croissants?

My stomach grumbled loudly and I quickly clapped a hand over it, hoping, that somehow or other, that would help to silence it.

Damn. I'm hungry. Maybe if I just follow the smell of the croissants I'll end up ...

"Kenzie? Baby, is that you?"

I jumped and whirled around at the sound of the rough, gravelly voice. My eyes swept over the platform, past the middle-aged conductor carrying some old lady's bag, past a cluster of little boys playing a game of marbles in the corner, past a young couple reuniting near the open door of a nearby coach ... My gaze landed on a tall, crusty-looking man standing on the back steps of the platform. His hair was slicked back against his head but, even with all the gel, I could still see the streaks of grey in his dark locks. His eyes were watery and filled with disbelief. He was shaking his head in amazement. Then, his mouth cracked into a thin smile as he opened up his arms.

Dad.

"DAD!" I called out, not caring what anyone else thought of me as I nearly tripped over my duffel bag and stumbled clumsily across the platform towards him. "Oh my god, oh my god, Dad! DAD!"

"Sweetie, Kenzie, oh my lord, you almost as tall as me! What the hell?" Dad exclaimed, shocked, as I pummelled straight into his chest.

I couldn't resist the urge to laugh as I wrapped my arms around his waist. "I'm not that tall, Dad."

Dad let out a half-snort, half-guffaw in response as his strong arms encircled me and he settled his stubbly chin on top of my head.

"I - I've missed you, Dad," I choked out, all the emotions of the last few days suddenly bubbling up within me.

Dad nodded slowly as his grip around me tightened. "I've missed you too, Kenz, I've missed you too."

After a few more seconds, Dad pulled away and shot me a crooked smirk. "We look like two lovesick puppies," he drawled.

"Ew, Dad you're so cheesy," I groaned, hitting him playfully in the arm as I bent down to retrieve my bag.

Dad's eyes followed my actions and he raised his eyebrows, confused. "T-that's all you brought with you?"

I paused. "Um ... yeah. Why?"

"Oh, nothing," Dad shrugged. "I - I just thought, you know, being a girl and all you'd bring a bit more ... You know what? Never mind. Here, gimme that. The car's parked around the back. I'll carry it over there for you."

I shot him a warm smile as I glanced around the platform. "Thanks ... Hey, where's Jughead and Jellybean? D-didn't they know I was coming?"

Dad hesitated before replying, "Uh, yeah, they knew."

"Then where are they?" I persisted.

Dad shook his head as he searched for words. "T-they're back home."

I frowned, watching as Dad turned around quickly and scurried off. That didn't make any sense. If the situation was vice versa, I'd definitely make an effort to come and see the sibling I hadn't laid eyes on in ten years. I tried to shrug off my disappointment as I flicked my phone from my pocket and skimmed over the messages Mum had been sending me.

"You coming or what?" Dad yelled from up ahead.

I glanced up. "Yeah. I'm coming." With a sigh, I stuffed the phone back into my phone as I began hurrying after him. Mum would just have to wait.

When I finally caught up to Dad, he was opening up the boot of a rather dingy, banged-up Mazda RX-7. For a moment, all I could do was stare, open-mouthed, at the hunk of metal. It barely looked like it was strong enough to hold my bag, let alone Dad and I.

"Relax, Kenz, it's not my car," Dad piped up upon seeing the horrified look on my face. "It doesn't actually belong to anybody in particular really. The boys down south sometimes use it in drag-racing but no one really drives it anywhere anymore."

"I wonder why," I let out a low whistle as I walked around to the passenger side of the vehicle.

Dad let out a chuckle. "As I said, this poor ol' bugger hasn't been used in centuries."

I rolled my eyes at his sarcastic tone as I opened up the car door and slipped into the front passenger seat. The fabric of the chair was all torn and felt rough and scratchy against my skin. I winced as one of the hairs on my leg caught on the edge of the sticky seat padding. Ouch.

As Dad hopped into the driver's seat and the engine started up with a loud cough and a splutter, I took a good look at my surroundings.

The station platform was back-to-back with a relatively small, cosy little restaurant with red cushioned seats and mini menu cards stacked on each inside table. My nose twitched. That's where the croissant smell must have been coming from. I glanced from the cute little diner to the neo-coloured sign that was displayed above it, "Pop's Chock'Lit Shoppe." I pursed my lips as I considered the title: quaint but suitable.

The car began to roll forwards and I turned my attention towards the sweeping scenery in front of me. Outside of the car-park that we were in lay a scattering of farmhouses and a hill of sweeping fields dotted with daisies. A gravel road shot straight past us, creating a winding path that led into the growing town of Riverdale. From this distance, I could only see the tops of the houses as a slight dip in the road prevented me from glimpsing any further.

As Dad pulled out of the car-park, my eyes flittered over to a yellow weather-washed sign careening near the edge of the road. Northside.

Northside? Wait. What?

Dad turned the car out onto the road - in the complete opposite direction from Riverdale and this weird Northside sign. Confused, I turned to him and queried, "Dad. Aren't you going the wrong way?"

"Nope," he returned simply.

"Y-you don't live in Riverdale anymore?"

"Not in the town itself, no," Dad answered.

"W-what the hell are you talking about? There's nothing else out there!" I exclaimed,  beginning to get agitated as I pointed to the bushy countryside.

"There wasn't when you and your mother left, Kenz," Dad explained. "But that was ten years ago. A construction sight, another school, a trailer park and a load of other stuff has been built up around the southern area since then."

"So ... that's where you live then? In the - er - Southside?"

Dad nodded, obviously not wanting to go into any further details. "Hey, how about, after you see Jug and Jelly, of course, that we all go out and get something for dinner, hmm? My treat."

For the first time since I had arrived, I didn't smile. All I did was nod and say, "Yeah, sounds good," before turning to look back out of the window.

True, I hadn't been here in about a decade, but even still, I definitely hadn't been expecting this.





Gif: Mackenzie's face of confusion as she takes in her surroundings.

* PLEASE REMEMBER to give this chapter a vote if you enjoyed and I'd love to hear any feedback from my readers; so pepper me with questions. If you're confused, I'll try and clarify it for you. If you want more information on a certain point, I'll do my best not to give you spoilers. If you just wanna chat 'bout random stuff, then I'm in *

Q: If you hadn't seen your father or siblings in ten years, would you, for the majority, feel excited about seeing them again or anxious?

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