Work Text:
Essay:
Pick an unpredictable moment from your life and explain how it changed you in five hundred words or less.
Betty stared at the essay question as she worried at her lip. Everything else about the college application she was filling out was easy but this had stumped her. Of course there were quite a few moments in her life that were completely and totally unpredictable. She could use Jason Blossom’s murder for instance. There was the fact that her sister had been pregnant with Jason Blossom’s twins or even more unpredictable the fact that they were related to the Blossoms. However, she wasn’t quite sure that a murder mystery or a story about how she became an aunt would wow the admissions board.
Sighing, she put her laptop back on her bed and grabbed a notebook from the bedside table and a pencil from the drawer. Though she would have to type her essay in and send it that way, she always felt better just writing things out in her notebook. She wasn’t like her boyfriend who could spend hours on his laptop typing away.
An idea struck her as her eyes caught one of Jughead’s shirts poking out of her hamper. Was it too cliché? She didn’t care. It was the one thing that she could say actually changed her. In neat print she began to write.
Growing up I was taught that being unpredictable would only bring trouble. I was to be the perfect daughter that my sister couldn’t be. My grades were impeccable, I ran the newspaper, and I only wore light colors. I suppose you could say I was vanilla. Things started to change when a local boy was murdered. That in and of itself is unpredictable but it is not the moment I wish to share. You see, as ridiculously childish as it seems, the moment that irrevocably changed me was the moment I was kissed by a boy wearing a beanie that resembles a crown.
After rereading her words three times she began to transfer them to her laptop, afraid if she didn’t do it fast enough she would lose the inspiration she suddenly found.
Perhaps this will be just a silly thing to anyone who reads this essay. How could a kiss change someone’s life? It wasn’t one of those moments you dream about after watching a Disney princess movie. The change wasn’t all at once. I was dead set on finding out who killed Jason Blossom and he was my partner. Before kissing him, I was the perfect girl who didn’t do anything out of line other than join the River Vixens against my mother’s wishes. I wanted the perfect boyfriend and the perfect boyfriend wanted someone else. This crown-wearing, burger-loving boy had always been in my world yet receiving a kiss was so unforeseeable that I almost forgot to breathe.
Dating Jughead Jones has taught me that the world is more than just black and white. Being his girlfriend has taught me that sometimes the good guys aren’t as good as we thought, or even hoped, and the bad guys can be protectors.
Betty quickly got the words on her application and saved it just in case something happened. A knock on her door caused her to raise her head.
“Come in,” she chirped before looking back down at her laptop.
The door opened slowly and her boyfriend walked in. Jughead sat on the bed and leaned to kiss her lips quickly.
“Hey, what are you working on?” he said as he noticed the notebook in her hand.
“College application essay.”
“How is that going?”
“Well, now that I finally figured out what I wanted to write it’s actually going well.”
“Can I read it?”
The girl paused and contemplated allowing Jughead to read what she had written so far. It wasn’t ready and to be honest she was slightly nervous to allow anyone to read anything so personal. The only reason she was okay with an admission board reading it was because of the almost anonymity of it. She would never know them and they would never know her.
“Perhaps when I’m finished.”
Betty put her notebook away and closed her laptop in favor or spending time with her beanie-clad boyfriend. They weren’t going to do anything other than lay in bed and talk for a while but Betty had learned that sometimes it was good to take breaks and relax. In fact, it was a lesson they had learned together.
Jughead took his shoes off and laid on her bed before wrapping his arms around her. Lips touched her forehead before her head easily fell to his chest. It was natural to her and she realized that since becoming Jughead’s girlfriend every day was easier. She didn’t have as many anxiety attacks as she had in the past and she didn’t worry quite as much about being perfect. Alice Cooper had to deal with her daughter stepping out of the line she had planned for Betty but together they figured it out.
Their talks ranged from their friends to college to the newest novel Jughead was working on. Nothing was taboo between the two of them and that’s exactly how Betty liked it. After an hour of laying there, Betty changed the tempo of their hangout. It wasn’t all at once, it never was with them, but slowly her lips find his neck and begin to leave little marks that will fade within the hour. Electricity ran through her body as she moved to straddle his waist.
“Betts…” he moans out and she isn’t sure if it’s in protest or encouragement.
Regardless, she doesn’t stop. Even after all this time her body reacted to him in ways that made her feel wicked. Betty Cooper was the queen of Jughead’s body and she wore her crown with authority.
“But...your mom…” he managed to get out before he lost all ability to communicate anything other than the desire he had for her.
Betty’s lips had a way of stopping his words, after all. Fingers moved down her body and a tight pressure was felt on her hips as he moved her closer to him. Not that she could really get much closer as long as their clothes were still on. In all fairness, it wasn’t as if there clothes would be on that much longer.
***
A few days later Betty had just gotten off the phone with Veronica. They were talking over plans for college years together and Veronica had admitted that she was nervous about going to college. The whole thing made Betty realize that she needed to finish her essay.
She pulled out her laptop and began to read over what she wrote, fixing any errors she happened to see. After, she pulled out her notebook and began to finish writing from her heart, hoping the college admissions board would see her potential just from this one essay.
I never thought of myself as perfect, though I tried hard to be for everyone around me. I know now that I don’t have to be perfect; not for my parents, my friends, or even myself. I was taught that by a boy who knew he could never be perfect and had given up trying to be. In him I found a best friend, someone to love, and someone to share myself with. He took the bad and loved me still. In doing so, he taught me to love myself for all the good and all the bad that is in me. I am no longer afraid to make mistakes. I do not fear the unknown. Because of loving Jughead Jones I am able to confidently go into college without the worry of not being what everyone wants and the ability to be exactly what I want.
She reread her essay and decided it was just the way she wanted it. Before she sent it in, she copied it and opened up her email. After clicking a new message, she put in Jughead’s email address and pasted her essay in before sending it. As soon as it was sent she submitted her application.
***
A few hours later there is a knock at her door. She frowns to herself because she isn’t aware that anyone is coming over and her mom is not around. Still, she can’t be rude so she heads down the stairs and to her front door. Surprise was written all over her face.
“Juggie-”
Shivers exploded through her body as she was lifted up; her legs hooked around his waist. Her body was in his control. Jughead kicked her door shut and quickly took her up the stairs, muscle memory serving him more than anything else due to his lips moving along every inch of skin he could reach. After fumbling for the door, pushing it open, and then slamming it shut again, he had her on her bed. Fingers fumbled for the hem of the shirt she was wearing and soon it started a pile on the floor. His shirt and her jeans were soon added.
“Did you mean it?” he asked, their lips both swollen from kisses.
“Mean what?”
“What you said...in your email...did you mean it?”
Betty grinned up at him and nodded her head. How could the wonderful boy hovering over her almost naked body not understand just how he felt about him?
“Would I lie to you Juggie?”
A twinkle played in her eye as she looked up at him; hoping he would make the next move. She wasn’t disappointed. When it came to Jughead Jones, an unpredictable moment lead her to a lifetime of imperfection, just the way she liked it.