Chapter Text
Betty has gotten to school early the next day. She wore her hair up in a messy bun, simple black ripped jeans and a grey top with a flannel over it, her serpent jacket got her a lot of looks in the halls yesterday, so she decided it was probably best to leave it.
Betty noticed someone yelling her name from the other end of the hall while she was putting her bag in her locker, and turned to see Veronica standing there next to some tall, ginger-haired boy. He wore a varsity jacket and jeans, he looked friendly, though.
Veronica ran over Betty, looking eager to introduce her to the boy. “Betty! This is my boyfriend, Archie Andrews. Archie, this is the nice girl I told you about.” she said, motioning to Betty. He smiled at her, and she smiled back. He was cute. He seemed nice. But, he was Veronica’s, and Betty couldn’t ruin a harmless friendship that had just been created, she wasn’t like that.
Archie spoke first after the introduction, “Betty Cooper, right? Yeah, Jughead’s told me about you.” Betty froze at the mention of Jughead’s name. “He did? What did he say about me?” Archie looked at her with a guilty look on his face, “You should ask Jug, it’s not really my
place to say, sorry.” Betty nodded. She would definitely ask Jughead, if she could keep herself together.
The day went on as usual, boring classes, lots of homework, etc. Betty walked into the library for her free period with Toni and Veronica, and sat at a table in the very back of the room. They were pulling out their homework when Jughead walked in, and when Betty saw them she slammed her notebook harder in the table than she meant to, making Jughead and his friends look over to her. Archie was with them, walking towards Veronica. Jughead and his friends followed Archie to the table Betty and Veronica we’re sitting at. Archie sat next to Veronica, and Jughead sat next to Betty, leaving the other three guys in varsity jackets to sit in the remaining chairs around the table.
Betty looked to Jughead with the most confused look on her face and asked, “What the hell are you doing here Jughead?” He looked to her with a smirk on his face, “What are you talking about? Archie wanted to sit with Veronica, so we followed him. You just happened to be here.” Betty was annoyed that he sat next to her, especially when she told him off yesterday during the tour.
This would give her a chance to ask what he told Archie. Betty knew Jughead wouldn’t tell her if she had some sort of attitude, so she put on a fake smile to hide her annoyance in him, and in a sweet voice asked, “Archie said you told him about me, what did you say to him?” Jughead saw through her little act and quickly snapped back, “I’ll tell you another time, princess. You know, when you don’t have a smile as fake as your personality.” Betty looked away and rolled her eyes, he was so annoying.
Betty was in the middle of concentrating on her homework when she heard Jughead ask his friends if they wanted to go to a party at his house. Jughead didn’t live in a house, he lived in a trailer in Sunnyside Trailer Park, which was on the Southside. She knew that he still lived there because she drove past it in the morning, and saw his motorcycle outside. Why would he lie about something so simple? Why did that matter?
Look at him, pretending like he has no past with the Southside, Betty thought, he’s acting like he’s one of them, what the hell?
“Where will this party be, Jughead?” Betty asked, knowing his next response, “No way, blondie. You’re not invited.” Jughead said with a stern tone in his voice. They eyed each other for a while, until Betty spat, “Why not? You’re worried i’ll tell them you still live on the Southside, in that old, lame trailer park?”, Jughead looked at her with a shocked look on his face. She looked to Veronica, who looked shocked herself. She didn’t mean to come off too harsh, but she didn’t want them to think he was something he wasn’t.
Jughead got up, grabbed his stuff, and walked into the hall. She definitely came off as harsh and cruel.
Great, Betty thought, now he’ll never leave me alone.
Betty got her stuff and stood up, following him into the halls. To her surprise, he was sitting on the floor a few lockers away from the library doors. His face buried in his hands, he let out a huge sigh. God, what did I do to him? Sure, Betty didn’t like him, and was still mad he betrayed her, but she hated causing anyone this much pain.
Betty slowly walked over to him, and sat down next to him. She waited for him to raise his head and yell at her, but he didn’t. He just sat there with his face in his palms, looking at the floor. Betty had to say something, let him know that wasn’t her intention.
“I’m sorry, Jug. I am.”, and he raised his head at that. They looked at one another for a while, as if they were looking into either ones’ eyes in search of words to respond. Betty knew he felt pain with his mom and dad, but she didn’t want to be the cause of any more pain for him. He has been through a lot.
“It’s okay, Betty. You probably just didn’t want them to think I was someone I wasn’t. You’re right, I am from the Southside, I just need to accept it.” he paused for a moment to look at her. He has the most sorrowful look on his face, making her want to hear more.
“Ever since I came here, I wanted to fit in and leave my past behind. These people think I have a regular Northside Family, and that I live here. I should have not told them that, but I felt like I needed to forget everything and start over, become someone new, you know?” Betty knew. She wanted to become someone she wasn’t for years, to get away from her terrible reality. “I know. I thought you were trying to cover it up because you were trying to be something you weren’t, but when you explained it like that, it made me realize why. I’m sorry, I had no idea.” Betty and Jughead looked to each other, and he nodded, “It’s fine, Betts.”
Betts, She thought, I like it.
With perfect timing, the bell rang, indicating the end of school. Veronica, Toni, and the others at the table walked out to the sight of Betty and Jughead sitting at the bottom of the lockers, looking at them. Toni gave Betty a look, and she shook her head. Her and Jughead didn’t totally make up, but it did explain some stuff.
The others walked away, leaving Jughead and Betty by themselves. Betty took a few steps towards the doors until Jugheads hand grabbed her wrist, pulling her back to him. “Hey, do you want to maybe, go sit down at Pops? To talk about things?”, Jughead said. Normally, Betty would easily turn down the chance to spend any time with the person she hated the most, but after their conversation in the hallway she decided to give him a chance to redeem himself.
If they do clear things up, she won’t be friends with him. She can’t forgive him for stabbing her in the back. The most that will happen will be a silent hatred, and a wave when they pass each other in the halls.
Betty walked outside, telling Toni that she will be home later. Toni and Cheryl seemed to really be hitting it off, so she decided to ask Toni about it later. She was happy that she had found someone, Cheryl seemed nice.
Jughead led her to the back of the parking lot to his motorcycle, which Betty was not expecting. She was really hoping for his dads old pickup truck.
“Alright, Betty, hop on”, Jughead said while swinging his leg over the side, and sitting down on the seat. He looked over to her and saw her slightly acted facial expression, and asked, “What? You haven’t been on a bike before?”
She hadn’t, in fact, ever dared to go near one.
“Well, no, not exactly”, Betty responded, her voice sounding a little shaky. She stared at him in awe, what was she going to do? Get on it? Not a chance.
“Oh, come on. Just sit behind me and hold on, it’s pretty simple.”
Yeah, easy for you to say.
She wasn’t going to get out of this, and she didn’t really want to walk all the way home. So, she swung her leg over the back of the motorcycle and sat down, holding tightly to Jugheads waist, as he handed her a helmet.
Once they left the school parking lot, they were on the main road. Betty instantly regretted wearing ripped jeans because her knees were starting to sting from the friction of the air. At least Pops wasn’t too far from school, so it didn’t bother her for too long.
Betty got off slowly, making sure not to topple over, and took off her helmet and gave it to Jughead. Betty grabbed her backpack as Jughead got off the bike and put away the helmets. He walked behind her into the old, 50’s looking diner, and waved to the owner, Pop Tate.
Betty and Jughead sat in a booth in the back of the diner, and looked at each other for a while.
There were so many things to say, but nothing came out.