Chapter Text
The walk down to Riverdale High felt longer now she knew she wasn’t staying, making her way down Elm Street, through the park and along the main road. For the last few months, she’d walked with Archie, however since he and Veronica had become a thing officially, Archie was out of his house and down at the Pembroke for Veronica before Betty had even got out of bed. She didn’t mind too much as much since she’d gotten over him.
She met Kevin Keller in the student lounge, sat waiting for the others to arrive before heading to lesson. Not long after waiting, Veronica and Archie came in and sat on the sofa opposite to where Betty and Kevin were sat, Veronica’s arm wrapped around Archie’s, a tea in a cardboard cup in her other hand.
Mid conversation, an unrecognised face passed through the lounge. He wore a bulky leather jacket and ripped jeans, however his most distinctive item of clothing was the beanie that he wore on his head. Betty’s eyes were glued to him as he passed though the student lounge, and her head followed him until he was gone completely out of sight. Despite hoping that her friends hadn’t seen that, they had, and both Kevin and Veronica started at her with an eyebrow raised.
“B? What was that?” Veronica asked, resting her cup on her lap, her hand still preventing it from falling over.
Betty shrugged, “I haven’t seen him before, I was just curious.”
Kevin shook his head, “Betty, you are so transparent. You should introduce yourself.”
“I can’t now, he’s gone.” She retorted, glancing at Kevin, “And anyway, what’s the point? I’m moving away in three months.”
Veronica almost spat out her tea, “What! That’s no excuse, B. Go for it. Why not!”
“I’m not as confident as you, V.” Betty responded, glancing back eventhough she knew he wouldn’t be there, “And if I did end up liking him, it would make my move ten times harder.”
Kevin shot Betty a disappointed glance, where Betty responded with an over-exaggerated smile.
Sat in English on the second row, Betty wasn’t able to focus on the lesson like she normally would, however her mind wandered on to think about the beanie boy. Her thoughts were interrupted by the opening of the classroom door, and the teacher stopped his reading mid sentence and glared at who’d entered. Principle Weatherbee was stood at the door, with he who Betty had been daydreaming about beside him. For a lasting moment, Betty’s eyes met with his, lost in a trance in his emerald iris’.
“This is Jughead Jones, he’ll be joining your class this morning.” Weatherbee stated, gently nudging the new student into the room, and he wasn’t at all phased by the pairs of eyes that stared at him.
The teacher placed the book on the desk behind him, “Sure. There’s an empty desk at the back of the class.” His finger was pointing to the desk, “If that’s alright for you, Mr Jones.”
Without saying a word, Jughead made his way past the desks to the back, passing Betty. Her breathing froze as he passed her, and her heartbeat was running a marathon in her chest that she couldn’t slow down. A nod was exchanged between the teachers before Weatherbee left the room.
At random points in the lesson, Betty caught herself glancing back at Jughead, who was either fiddling with a pencil, or staring out of the window. He didn’t seem at all interesting in the lesson, but rather dazed and in a world of his own.
When the lesson came to an end, Betty heard the teacher wanted Jughead to stay behind for a moment, and she debated about purposely asking the teacher a question so that she could spend a little time around Jughead, but her mind came to the conclusion she was being absurd and she left the room with the other students.
Making her way to the student lounge, she sat beside Veronica on the sofa, Kevin opposite and Archie on the other chair, throwing a football lightly up and down.
“So, B.” Veronica began, “Have you seen him yet?”
Betty smiled innocently, “Yeah actually. I have...”
Kevin gasped, “Did you speak to him?”
“We locked eyes in English briefly but that’s it.” She told them, a light blush finding its way onto her cheeks.
Archie stopped throwing the ball for a brief second, “Just talk to him Betty. If you get rejected, so what, you’re leaving in a few months.”
Sighing, Betty shook her head, “It’s not that easy Arch.”
“What’s not easy?” A voice asked.
When Betty looked to where the voice came from, leaning against the doorframe stood Jughead, his arms folded and a hot smirk on his confident face. He made his way over and perked himself on the edge of Kevin’s chair, and Kevin widened his eyes at Betty, who tried her best to ignore him.
“Nothi-“
“Chatting to the new kid, AKA you.” Veronica muttered loudly.
“V!” Betty exclaimed, shooting her an angry expression.
She shrugged, flicking her raven hair to the side, “What? I’m helping you.”
Betty could feel the heat clinging to her skin, and she felt as if she couldn’t look him in the eyes again. However, she did, and he was smirking as he stared at her.
“I don’t bite.” Jughead said, “Underneath this leather jacket, I’m as soft as a panda.”
He looked around the circle at the others, showing a lipped smile to all of them.
“You don’t mind if I hang around with you guys, right?”