Dry Run
By Naoko Asakura
Who came up with this stupid idea anyhow?
This was the question Forsythe Pendleton Jones had asked himself repeatedly over the course of the last half hour. It was stupid to wonder why or who had forced him into his present situation—participation had been his own choice.
The idea, of course, had been Veronica's. Veronica. Ronnie Lodge. She had a certain knack for whipping up excitement whenever and wherever she saw fit. She was presently standing at the closet door between Pepper and Betty Cooper, who was the girl of the hour at this little get-together. The three of them giggled conspiratorially over an egg timer, of all things. Everyone else was sat in a circle in Betty's living room. The coffee table and the rest of the furniture had been pushed out of the way to make space for their powwow.
"Hey Jughead, cheer up! Maybe you'll get lucky!" Reggie Mantle shouted at him. He and Cheryl Blossom erupted into a fit of laughter, leaning into each other like a couple of drunks swapping dirty jokes. Jughead doubled down on his detached demeanor, but all the while his insides were roiling with a queasy nervousness that made him regret eating so much birthday cake. His eyes strayed back to Betty, standing close between Pepper and Veronica gossiping about who knows what. Her eyes, glassy with excitement, lifted to his and his stomach did another flip flop.
This is so stupid.
Suddenly, the egg timer gave a sharp 'DING' and Veronica clapped her hands for attention. "Okay you guys, you'd better be decent in there!" She shouted at the closet door. Betty grinned expectantly, her arms folded across her chest. The rest of the room cut their chatter as Veronica prompted a countdown:
"THREE!
TWO!
ONE!"
She flung the closet door open and the whole room welcomed Nancy Woods and Moose Mason (!) with applause as they emerged, faces flushed with cringing smiles for their respective significant others. Neither Chuck nor Midge seemed to mind too much that the two had just spent seven minutes presumably sucking face in Betty Cooper's foyer closet. Reggie gave a loud wolf whistle and earned a punch in the shoulder from Nancy as she took her seat beside him again. Jughead could see tears in Moose's eyes as he resumed his position beside Midge. She took his hand in hers and squeezed it with a reassuring smile. The room was back in momentary chaos, Veronica's words swallowed in a din of chatter until she forcibly made the egg timer ring again. The room quieted a little and she spoke:
"Alright, alright, guys, guys, what do you think of giving the birthday girl this round?"
"Sounds good to me!" Archie shouted, and others voiced their agreement. "Come on Betty, spin!" Jughead could see a ghost of longing behind his friend's smile and his heart went out to him. Archie Andrews and Betty Cooper hadn't been on the best terms until just a few days before her birthday party. Jughead had helped broker a truce just for the occasion, and in spite of themselves, Archie and Betty were getting along just fine.
Betty laughed, accepting the applause with the mock poise of a beauty queen as she sat herself down between Dilton Doiley and Bingo Wilkin. The two boys started a chant of "SPIN! SPIN! SPIN! SPIN!" And Jughead winced when they heedlessly jostled the blonde back and forth as she leaned forward to take the glass coke bottle in her small hand.
She sent the bottle into a tight spin with a snap of her wrist.
"SPIN! SPIN! SPIN!"
Jughead watched her settle back between Dilton and Bingo, her eyes fixed on the bottle. Wayward strands of her blonde hair clung to her lips, forgotten in the excitement of the party game. The bottle seemed as though it could spin forever, and perhaps it would. He would be trapped in this nightmare scenario wherein he was pressed securely between endless distaste and desire that made his whole body feel like lead. He suddenly hated the two boys on either side of Betty. This whole chanting thing was getting a little creepy- his friends were beginning to seem more like a mob than guests at a teenage birthday party.
"SPIN!"
Suddenly, their chant broke off into a cacophony of cheering and laughter.
That was when he noticed that the bottle had stopped. It's neck pointed directly at him. Ethel Muggs made a vexed noise. Jughead hadn't heard.
"Hey I gotta go to the bathroom." Jughead lied, standing quickly to excuse himself. Quick hands grabbed him by his arms and held him fast. Veronica took a step forward, regarding him with a haughty smile. He just hated how pleased she looked.
"But Juggie, you agreed to play, right?" She asked coyly, twirling a lock of her dark hair around a jeweled finger. He grimaced—it was true. She hardly waited for his answer before addressing the entire party-his jury. "Everyone who agreed to play also agreed to set personal interest aside for sport. Even Moose, amazingly enough!" She laughed. Moose, still holding Midge's hand, shrugged and nodded agreement. Veronica turned back to Jughead, a mischievous glint in her eye. "The least you can do is set aside your indifference and participate!"
"Fine, but count me out after this round." He shrugged out of the grip of his captors. Everyone applauded as he stepped through the circle, carefully avoiding the bottle in the middle. He met Betty's apologetic gaze with a smirk not unlike that of a death row inmate...He certainly felt a sense of impending doom as Pepper and Veronica escorted the pair of them to the closet door. The closet was just big enough to seat two people on the floor.
Betty entered first, sitting against the wall with a resigned sigh. Jughead followed suit. The pair of them looked up at Veronica, now towering over them with the edge of the door in her hand. She had a cool smile on her face that seemed to slip at the corners and he knew she was trying desperately not to crack up. "Have fun, you two!"
"Don't worry, Juggie! It is only seven minutes, after all!" Pepper chimed in, over the din of the rest of the party. They seemed be clapping and Reggie had started up with that old rhyme everyone loves to torment their peers with in childhood:
Betty and Jughead
Sittin' in a tree
K-I-S-S-I-N-
The door shut, dampening the sounds of the party outside. Jughead grimaced as her heard Veronica let loose a very loud and nearly maniacal laugh.
"Well, it was fun being apart of the mob while it lasted." Betty sighed softly. Her voice felt so close, and Jughead knew if that if he reached his hand out he could probably find her. His hands clenched into fists in his lap. She spoke again, "Don't worry, Jug. We don't have to do anything."
That was a small relief. He chuckled softly. "I suppose it could be worse. Could you imagine if I had been paired up with Ethel? There'd be nothing left of me by the end!"
"Oh come on, she's not all that bad!" Betty exclaimed.
Jughead shrugged, realizing at the same time that she could see just as well as he could in the near blackness of the closet. "I am glad it's you, though. Sorry I'm not the most exciting partner for this... Thing." He finished lamely as he uncrossed his legs, pulling his knees up to his chest.
"Don't worry about it. I feel the same." Betty spoke, and Jughead was envious of her calm.
Their friendship had been built on such an easy dynamic. She was his best friend outside of Archie.
But then again, it seemed they were incomparable, when lined up side by side. He had shared in Betty's private (and not-so-private) moments of heartbreak, and although being by her side may have seemed like an unglamourous chore for the woman-hater, it came naturally.
...And Betty? Well, she was his knight in shining armor too.
Who else would spend an entire day giving his Dad's car a tune up while he simply sat and watched her work mechanical magic on the old station wagon? Who else would keep him busy and out of the suffocating embrace of Big Ethel at last year's Sadie Hawkins? Who else could he really talk to when he and Archie were on the outs?
The lapse into silence was broken as Betty suddenly spoke, "I know your M.O. as the constant woman-hater, but have you ever kissed anybody?"
Jughead was stunned speechless. This was new. "Uh... Does Big Ethel count?" His response earned a sigh from the girl sitting across from him. Her disappointment oddly rankled him a little. "Look, you've known me since the second grade. What do you think?" He grimaced at the sound of his own voice, tired and impatient.
Betty laughed though, "Poor Juggie... No one should be forced to give up their first kiss. The way I see it, even if Ethel's kissed you a million times, none of it really counts unless you want it to happen."
"I don't follow."
"What do you mean you don't follow?"
Jughead squinted through the darkness and thought he could make just make her our under the low hanging canopy of coats. He racked his brain for truly pleasurable moments spent in in the intimate company of a lady and pulled up short. "I don't see how it makes a difference. I'm pretty sure I'd be grossed out either way."
Betty scoffed. "You've never had the alternative." She shifted, the sound of her skirt a stage whisper in Jughead's ears. The closet felt smaller, and his heart tightened in a mixture of annoyance and embarrassment he couldn't quite understand.
"Fine Betty, I guess I'm just not as experienced as you are." He said flatly. His eyes went to the crack under the door and he could see the shadow of two pairs of feet... Hopefully Veronica and Pepper couldn't eavesdrop.
"I'm sorry for grilling you, Juggie..." His annoyance melted away- Betty really did sound contrite. She cleared her throat nervously. "If you like... Wanted to try with a control group... I mean, we're kind of stuck in here for that express purpose..." Jughead's head snapped up and with his eyes fully adjusted, he could see that she looked as nervous as he felt. His mind went back to that moment when she took the bottle in her hand... Wayward strands of gold stuck to her lips. "Just saying." Her offer hung in the air. He couldn't help but wonder again who or what turn of fate brought him into this position.
She drew a line and offered to let him cross it.
His voice came out a rough whisper. "This can't get out. Not to anybody."
"Not even Veronica."
This promise made him warm all over, and suddenly they were both grinning. "Come on Jug, we're playing Seven Minutes in Heaven. People are just going to assume what they want anyway. They always do." Betty sighed resignedly. They took a moment to rearrange themselves and she tucked herself neatly between his bent knees.
Was this what Reggie meant by getting lucky?
He certainly counted himself lucky, and Jughead suddenly found himself awash with gratitude for this moment; for this beautiful friend who was willingly waiting for his next move. "Ready?" He asked, his voice a hushed whisper. Betty's eyes were wide, looking up at him in this quietly expectant way that was only just beginning to drive him crazy.
"Yeah." She murmured, her tone matching his.
Jughead took a deep breath and slipped a trembling hand around her shoulders, the softness of the sweater she wore was the first of many things he took into account. No perfume, but her own scent was more comforting than that of any eau de toilette. She was warm, and it was near impossible not to notice that her chest was rising and falling rapidly... Yet somehow, she seemed enviously calmer than he.
He pressed his lips to hers for one... two... three seconds.
"What was that?" Betty asked, her voice musical with barely contained laughter. He glared down at her.
"A kiss?" Jughead made a frustrated sound as she shook her head. "What's so funny?"
"You are." She gently poked him in the chest with a finger. "What am I, your sister?" She teased merrily. Jughead tried to scowl but his heart just wasn't in it.
"Look, Miss 'Experience', do it yourself if you don't think I can hack it!" He goaded, tightening his grip on her. The smirk that touched her lips would have turned his legs to jelly if he hadn't already been sitting.
Betty looped her arms around his neck and spoke a single word as she eased his head down.
"Gladly."
Just before she captured his lips with hers he wondered if maybe this was was the reason he had participated in this stupid game.
Then thoughts escaped him.
Her mouth guided his slowly and steadily with an excruciating patience that set his heart pounding. Why wasn't she kissing him faster? Did he want her to? The question died unanswered as her tongue swept out and touched his, testing slowly. She leaned further into him and he was acutely aware of the way her breasts pressed against him. His arm around her shoulders pulled tighter while his other hand found the bare skin of her waist exposed when her sweater rode up. Her breath hitched against his lips.
Oh god...
He was drowning.
His toes hit the other side of the closet where she had been sitting before, completely unaware of how far down the wall he had slid. The only thing that mattered was Betty, who was very nearly on top of him and very quickly undoing him and his sense of time.
Time...
A loud rap at the closet door and Veronica's (very unwelcome) voice sliced into the moment. "YOU GUYS BETTER BE DECENT!" Jughead's heart was in his throat and Betty tensed in his arms. Outside the door, Veronica incited a countdown, and Betty sighed, rolling off of him to straighten herself up.
"Hey," Betty whispered quickly. Jughead looked up as he worked to tuck his shirt back into his pants, only to have her pull him forward to brush his lips sweetly with hers one more time. "Better than what you're used to?" She asked as they broke apart again.
"THREE!
TWO!"
"Definitely." Jughead replied breathlessly, idly wishing they could somehow lock the closet from the inside.
"ONE!"
Later on, when everyone else had gone home, Betty and Veronica sat up watching a romantic comedy on television. Ronnie grabbed a fistful of popcorn from the bowl between their sleeping bags and delicately ate them one at a time.
"So, how was it?" She asked casually. Betty looked over, her eyebrow raised.
"How was what?" The blonde asked, and Veronica rolled her eyes at her friend's aloof tone.
"Don't play dumb, Betty, I'm aware of your little... Crush on that needle-nosed twit." She grimaced at the word 'crush'. Betty's eyes widened, her mouth open. "Spill, Cooper!" Veronica demanded, and at that, Betty's brow furrowed.
"I don't kiss and tell, Lodge." She stated firmly. Ronnie's eyes went to the ceiling again- Betty was so obvious... She hadn't even been watching the movie, just staring into space with that silly dazzled expression on her face. Something had definitely happened in that closet.
Veronica sighed and shrugged. "Fine, you have your secrets, I have mine." She muttered, swiping another handful of popcorn. She nibbled on a kernel thoughtfully. Like how I secretly doubled your time in the closet and distracted literally everybody from noticing... Honestly, the things I do for my friends! Her gaze slid over to Betty again. "So Archie wanted to take you out next weekend," She began probingly.
Betty blinked. "Huh? Oh, cool. I might be busy though." and Veronica smiled at her fondly... The girl had it real bad.
"Happy birthday, darling."
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters!
A/N: I still have a bigger writing project in the works for this pairing, but for now it's on hiatus until I really understand where I want it to go... Hope you've enjoyed this! I imagine it taking place within the same continuity as 'Next Time', probably the birthday before? If it doesn't actually fit in the timeline, let's just call this a parallel universe then. Thanks for reading!