Chapter Text
*over the loudspeaker*
“Attention all Southside High Students: Southside High is being shut down. All students will be sent to the nearest school: Riverdale High. Tomorrow is the last day so please clean out your lockers. Your parents are currently being sent e-mails with more information. That is all, thank you.”
Betty Cooper stopped talking to her serpent friend, Toni Topaz, and stood shocked in disbelief. How could this happen? Southside High was her home, her safe place. She actually enjoyed the school and the Serpents. That’s when she remembered.
Jughead Jones goes to Riverdale High.
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Betty and Jughead were close friends since kindergarten when Betty invited Jughead to sit with her, because he looked lonely. They hung out everyday after school, and they were each other’s family.
Betty’s mom had died when she was very young. She had some pictures of her, and she could see the resemblance. They both had beautiful blonde hair, a small figure, a perfect complexion, and very similar facial features. Betty wished she knew her before she passed in a car crash when she was 2.
Betty’s father. She wished that her father was anyone else but him.
Her father was a drunk, coming home every night to his daughter with a beer bottle in his hand, looking tired and restless, even though he had a very simple job. A simple job that he sucked at. Even though it was only Betty that he had to take care of since she was an only child, he acted as though she was the worst thing that had ever happened to him. He would come home and if Betty made a simple comment on how his day went, or anything, he would go off on her. Throw things at her. Harass her.
Betty couldn’t take it anymore. She left one day with a few bags and never came back. She had gone to Jugheads trailer, and knocked on the door.
Jughead lived alone, his dad was in prison for running drugs, and his mom left with his sister when he was young, leaving him by himself at 12. She was in 7th grade when she left her dads house and went to stay with Jughead for a while. She always told him that she would go back, and that one day he would get his act together and they’d be fine. But that wasn’t true. Her dad always stayed the same way, coming home drunk and passing out on the couch.
When Betty found out Jughead was leaving Betty to go to Riverdale High, she was furious. He was going to leave her for a better school? That’s when he told her that she couldn’t stay with him if he was going to a different school. That really set her off. She had nowhere else to go. She couldn’t go back to her father.
She took her things and left, and stayed with her only other friend, Toni Topaz, and told her everything that happened.
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“You have got to be kidding!”, said Betty still furious with the situation. Toni looked at her, knowing how hard it was going to be for Betty to see Jughead again, and became angry as well. “Betty, it’s going to be okay, Jug-“ Betty cut her off before she could finish. “Don’t even talk about him! There’s no way this place is being shut down!”
Betty sat in the principals office all of fifth period trying to explain that Southside High is a good school, and that it shouldn’t be shut down. The principal didn’t listen of course, and Betty realized she would just have to accept the fact that she would have to face Jughead again soon.
Betty spent her last few hours at Southside High School saying goodbye to her favorite teachers, and figuring out how to deal with the Jughead situation.
“I mean, you can just avoid him, right?” asked Toni, trying to help. “No, TT. He will never leave me alone, and will try and make Riverdale High literal hell for me.” Betty said, knowing how hard this was going to be. It wouldn’t just be hard on having to avoid him, but also emotionally. After everything, she was not ready to see him again.
After her last day, she went back to Toni’s small apartment and tried to figure out an outfit for her first day at Riverdale High. She ended up picking a black tank top, ripped boyfriend jeans,black combat boots, a flannel, and her leather Southside Serpents jacket over it. Betty and Toni joined the serpents at the same time, and for the same reason. They both never had a family, so they needed a group that would have their backs. They also both refused to do anything illegal, which was no problem for the Serpents since they had recently decided to make everything legit and legal.
She wore the jacket everyday since she joined, and she wasn’t taking it off anytime soon.
Toni had just ordered in some pizza for dinner, and a salad for Betty. She wanted to keep her figure the way it was, since this was the best she had ever looked. She wasn’t the skinniest girl ever, but she did have a good amount of muscle from working out and eating well. Her father had always called her fat, so that just pushed her even more to get in shape.
“Food’s here!” Toni yelled from the kitchen, already lifting pizza to her mouth. “I don’t know if i’m hungry TT, i’m still-“ Toni cut her off, and Betty braced herself for a mild rant from her best friend, “Listen Betts, I know you’re upset about Southside High closing, and seeing Jughead, and I bet this i stressing you out, but you have got to let this go. When you walk through the big doors of Riverdale High tomorrow morning, that will be your life. We both don’t want to do this, but we have to accept that there’s no other option.” Betty smiled and agreed with her friend, knowing there was no way out of this.
She really wished this was all a dream.