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“I love a good trip to the beach,” Betty says, sunglasses perched on her face and a picnic basket in her hand.
“Who doesn’t?” Jughead says, and Veronica sees him staring at the ice cream stall.
Archie throws a soccer ball up in the air and tries his best to catch it. But he nearly falls and Veronica barely suppresses a laugh.
“Honestly, Archie,” she says. “You’re so clumsy.”
But Archie seems to take her comment as a compliment. “Thanks, Ronnie.”
Veronica rolls her eyes; Betty sees and grins. With the hand that isn’t holding the basket, Betty holds Veronica’s hand.
The four friends walk down the sand-covered steps and step onto the beach. Veronica stares all around her, wishing the beach wasn’t so busy. There are groups of people everywhere, and she kind of wishes they would all go away. She just wants to spend this beach trip with her girlfriend and her two best friends.
Still, it’s a lovely day: the sun is shining, the sky a beautiful shade of blue with only a few white, fluffy clouds, and the sea is calm and blue, lapping gently at the golden sand. And if she ignores the other people rushing around, it’s rather peaceful.
“Right, Archiekins, where should we sit?” Veronica asks, startling Archie and making him drop the soccer ball.
“Um, I dunno,” Archie says, studying the beach.
“What about over there?” Jughead suggests, pointing to an area of sand suspiciously near the ice cream stall.
Veronica sighs, but then smiles. “Why not?”
Jughead grins and rushes ahead, moving faster than Veronica has seen him move for a long time. He lays the picnic blanket on the sand and flops down on top of it, adjusting his sunglasses. When the rest of them catch up, Veronica and Betty sit side by side, slightly leaning against each other. Jughead reaches into the basket and takes out a big bottle of pink lemonade.
“Fancy a glass, anyone?” he says. But when he sees the paper cups, he adds, “Well, a cup?”
“Please,” Veronica says, and Jughead pours her a cup of the pink lemonade. She takes a sip and it fizzes her tongue.
“This stuff’s delicious, Betty,” Jughead says, downing his drink in one go. “Where’d you get it?”
Betty smiles. “It’s homemade. My aunt’s an expert at making lemonade.”
Veronica smiles too, happy to see Betty looking so proud.
“Does anyone want to go swimming?” Archie asks, looking slightly puzzled at the pink colour of his lemonade before drinking it anyway.
Jughead grimaces. “I’ll pass. Anyway, the ice cream stall is calling me.”
Betty giggles. “I’d love to go swimming. What about you, Ron?”
“Why not?” Veronica says. After all, there’s a reason she put her bathing suit on under her dress.
“Awesome!” Archie cries, and Betty laughs again. “Let’s swim!”
Archie is also already wearing his bathing suit, so all he has to do is kick off his sandals and pull his shirt over his head, before running into the water in just his trunks. Veronica hears him scream at the sudden temperature drop of the water and she laughs.
“Honestly, what did he expect?” she says.
Betty removes her dress, showing Veronica her red bikini. She looks stunning, and she gives Betty a kiss.
“You look beautiful, Betty,” she says.
Betty blushes. “Thanks. It’s my best bathing suit. What about you? what’re you wearing?”
Remembering that she has yet to undress, Veronica takes off her dress and reveals her brand new pink bikini. She notices several boys looking at her, but Veronica only wants Betty’s reaction.
“That’s a beautiful bikini, Ron,” Betty says. “It must’ve cost a fortune. You look stunning.”
Veronica finds herself blushing too, and gives Betty a quick kiss. “Thank you.”
Betty holds her hand. “Right then, do you want to go swimming?”
Veronica smiles. “You know I do.”
Still holding hands, they venture into the water. The water is cold as it laps against Veronica’s ankles, and she shivers. Betty actually shrieks.
“See!” Archie yells, doing a clumsy front-crawl towards them. “I wasn’t making a fuss. It is freezing.”
“Yeah, we noticed,” Veronica says, and Archie splashes water at her.
Veronica shrieks and Archie laughs.
“Darn you, Archie Andrews!” she cries, and she kicks a load of water at Archie. She looks at Betty and grins. “Let’s get him, Betty.”
Betty laughs. “Yeah, let’s get him.”
And the two of them run straight into the freezing water, splashing water at Archie. It’s absolutely freezing, goosebumps appearing all over Veronica’s arms, but it’s much better getting into the water quickly. She splashes water at Archie again, and he gets water in his mouth.
“Ugh!” he groans, spitting out salty water. He retaliates by splashing Betty.
Veronica glares at him, but they all know she isn’t being serious. “How dare you splash my girlfriend!”
And Archie must realise that she’s going to get him, because he swims away as quickly as he can. Betty giggles and hugs Veronica, leaning her head against her shoulder.
“My knight in shining armour,” she says.
Veronica smiles. “Designer armour?”
“Obviously,” Betty says, grinning.
Veronica looks at her. As she laughs, with the sunlight making her wet hair sparkle, Betty looks even more beautiful than normal. And Veronica kisses her as they stand together, waist-deep in the sea, knowing she’s so lucky to be dating someone as wonderful as Betty Cooper.