She stood alone in a pink dress in front of Jughead's trailer door. She held her mom's hand for dear life as her head darted back and forth. She rose up to her tip toes, pulling on her mom's shirt, and begging to leave. "Daddy said we can't be here." Jughead recalled as he watched her loose curls dangle around her shoulders. "No, Sugar!" Her mother shouted as she pried Sugar's hands away. The woman grabbed Sugar by her wrist, yanking her inside and slamming the door behind them. "Be good!" She ordered Sugar sternly. It was then that his father, FP, entered the room to beckon Sugar's mother back. Where, you ask? It would be a little under a decade before Jughead or Sugar would ever learn the answer. Jughead kicked his feet as he attempted to slide out of the raised chair. Sugar heard to patter of his feet, gasped, and jumped backward hitting the closed door. "It's okay," Jughead's welcoming eyes promised her. "Don't worry." He soothed reaching one small hand out to her.
"Don't touch me." Sugar tried to command, but the shiver in her voice was a plea. She pulled her arms in tight, squeezed her legs together, and pulled her head into her shoulders to appear smaller. Jughead withdrew his hand and shoved both into the pockets of his faded, oversized jeans. There was a sudden clatter of the screen door opening causing Sugar to jump with fear. She collided with Jughead sending them both to the floor.
"Jughead!" A shrill voice called at the top of the lungs as a tall, slender woman stepped through the door. Jughead recognized his mother's voice and scrambled out from beneath Sugar. "Where is your father?" She questioned as she knelt to him. "Are you okay?" She wondered dusting him off. Sugar watched for a moment with jealousy as a mother cared for her baby, then quickly averted her gaze.
Jughead raised the same hand he'd tried to reach Sugar with and extended a finger to the door that his father disappeared through. Jughead watched as his mother's chest deflate and her lips pull tight. She rose slowly to her feet causing Jughead to take a large step backward. There was a sudden shadow that seemed to cloud her face as she made her way to the door. As soon as the doorknob turned and the door swung open, life would change for Jughead and Sugar.
Jughead's father, finally home from prison, had promised his wife that he would no longer be involved with the Southside Serpents. It was a promise he couldn't keep. The Snake Charmer had weaseled Forsythe Pendelton Jones II out of a sticky situation and now, he had bigger promises to keep. That's how it seemed, anyway... Sugar's mother, one of very few female Serpents at that time, had been the messenger between FP and Tallboy.
FP had been running the Serpents from their home for eight months, but it was that day that his wife could finally prove it. Consequently, that would be the day that FP would go back to finish his originally sentenced twenty-four months in the Oswald Penitentiary. FP got out after serving only seven months due to a heavy combination of understaffing, inmate overpopulation and so-called good behavior. From the moment that he was released FP fought for custody of, then, seven-year-old, Jughead and three-year-old, Jellybean. Fortunately for JB, she wasn't awarded to their father. For Jughead, it meant returning to a ghost.
On the plus side, he'd be able to go back to his old school and see his best friends, Archie and Reggie. He had only been away for a few months, but Jughead had been pulled from school in anticipation of the move. His mother had decided to take, both, him and JB to Toledo at the time. The realization that Jughead was trading his family for his friends was too harsh a reality for a kid.
The day that Jughead had to say goodbye, he did more than that. He begged them to stay. The tears that streaked down his cheeks stained them for a lifetime. FP knelt down to Jughead and whispered, "Never let them see you cry, son." Words that stuck with Jughead. They echoed in his head endlessly as he replayed his mother tearing Jellybean from his grasp. These words would haunt him. These words that he would come to live by.
Jughead, now, stood outside Riverdale high for his first day of sophomore year. It was better than any other year because he was finally close to the end. He would graduate and go to be with his mother and sister in Toledo. Jughead had become resourceful enough these passed couple of years while his dad has been in prison. The trailer didn't have any water or electricity or food, so Jughead found solace in the drive-in.
"Jughead!" Archie Andrews called as he popped out of his dad's truck.
"Archie!" Jughead grinned as he held the strap of his backpack up on one shoulder and walked over toward Archie. Just as Jughead stepped out into the street a loud, red vehicle screamed into the parking lot. Jughead picked up his pace to get out of the way. He barely made it as an over priced car driven by Reggie Mantle parked evenly in four separate parking spots. Things had changed since elementary school...
"Whoa, you okay?" Archie questioned as he brushed Jughead's jacket with the back of his hand.
"Yeah," Jughead adjusted his hat, "I'm fine."
"You ready to do this?" Archie clapped a hand on Jughead's back.
"Y-ye-" Jughead tried to answer Archie as milk chocolate skin caught his eyes. Her dark auburn hair was down a bit passed her shoulders and looked silky smooth as she flipped it over her shoulder. Sugar? Her brown - almost black - eyes scanned the front of the school before she ascended the stairs. Jughead supposed that relationship, too, had changed. He didn't see her around very often. In fact, last he'd heard she was going to Southside High.
"Jug?" Archie waved his hand in front of Jughead's face. "Hello? Is anybody home?"
"Yeah," Jughead clapped a hand on Archie's forearm and pushed his arm back to his side. "Let's go." Jughead affirmed as he finally tore his eyes from the spot where she stood and nodded his head toward the main doors.
Archie and Jughead made their way into the crowded halls. Cheryl Blossom batted her long eyelashes as she flipped her red locks to one side. She glanced at Jughead for a moment and then locked onto Archie. Jughead knew what was to follow and quickly sidestepped walking through a crowd. Jughead glanced back over his shoulder and made eye contact with Archie. Archie shot him a look that read, "Thanks for leaving me."
"Sorry," Jughead mouthed as he collided with someone sending them to the floor. "I'm sorry." He said out loud as he turned quickly to see that chocolate skinned girl on the floor with a pile of papers. Sugar cursed as she crawled onto her hands and knees.
"Are you going to help me or are you just going to stand there?" Sugar held out a hand to Jughead as he gaped.
"Here," He spoke shortly taking her hand and awkwardly helping her stand to her feet. Jughead straightened out her jacket and brushed it clean.
"Thanks, mom." Sugar replied readjusting her studded jean vest.
"Sugar, right?" Jughead pointed a finger at her as he dropped to his knees to collect her scattered papers.
"Yes, Jughead..." She sighed as she stepped over the mess and around Jughead.
"Don't you need these?" He called over the crowd, holding up the wadded paper, and standing to his feet.
"School's for losers." Sugar called back as she walked back out the front doors. The big green snake on her back hissed at Jughead as his eyes caught the sunlight beaming off the glass door.
"Wait!" He called chasing after her. It took him a moment to work his way back through the crowded hall, but Jughead was able to catch Sugar in the, now, emptying parking lot. "Sugar!" He called to her.
"What do you need, Jones?" Sugar turned back to face him.
"You're going to skip the first day?" He wondered.
"I'm going to back at Southside in a week anyway," She casually shrugged a shoulder. "Want to get a burger?"
"You don't have to ask me twice," Jughead replied as he readily stepped toward her. His conscience gripped him as he turned back to glance at the school. Jughead knew school was important, but it was the first day...and burgers! His stomach growled.
Sugar lead Jughead to Reggie's overpriced vehicle. "What are you doing?" He questioned incredulously.
"I saw him try to mow you down," Sugar mentioned as she hopped into the front seat over the open convertible top. Sugar opened a panel beneath the wheel and began to expose wires. After touching together the right combination, the vehicle started up with a gentle purr. "Don't worry," She coaxed him. "I'll take the heat," Sugar promised. "Get in."