Betty watched as the level of her milkshake dropped dangerously close to the bottom of the glass. She cringed slightly as the strange combined taste of strawberry and chocolate slide past her tongue and made its way down her throat. She didn't like this flavor at all, in fact she hated it, but it was Archie's favorite, so she never thought twice about getting anything else.
She shifted her eyes upward toward the Coca-Cola brand clock hanging in Pop's Chocolate Shoppe and saw the hand was drawing toward the nine. "Only an hour late," Betty thought. She knew at this point that Archie had stood her up. Again.
She was extremely upset; however she still sat there, cleansing her finger nails of the grease from Archie's transmission. "At least I know that when he has a trouble with his car, Archie always calls me first... I'm a pretty lucky girl..." Betty rambled on in the comfort of her own mind. She fantasized about the day she would tell Archie to get over himself, about how he had no right to make her suffer like she did, about how she never wanted to see his face again. She liked this fantasy, and she thought about it frequently. Of course, in the end Archie would realize what a fool he has been all this time, that he only ever really loved her, and they would be happy together for the rest of their lives. Then came her least-favorite part of the daydream: the part when she realizes it was only a day dream.
The remainder of her milkshake reminded her of forgotten leftover soup, left in the back of the fridge. That was a good way to describe what she felt like right now. She was leftover soup, not anything anyone would want to stomach, but it was nice to know it was there, just in case you ran out of all the other food in the fridge. Archie had made plans with her to grab a milkshake at Pop's in celebration of her fixing his car, even though he couldn't stay long, the Valentine's Day dance was that night, and Archie had to pick up Veronica.
A milkshake shouldn't be that much to ask for, but apparently it had proven to be too much for a certain red-head. Betty finally decided to throw out the milkshake remains, and get ready for the dance. She had no date, again. Her plan was to keep herself free just in case Veronica happened to cancel on Archie. She had about a fifty-fifty shot, but this time her best friend decided to keep him for the night.
Betty looked through her closet, made up of twenty-five percent of her older sister Polly's old clothes and seventy-five percent of Veronica's outfits that she had worn one too many times (meaning once). Betty had no idea what to expect tonight, probably one or two dances with Archie, while Ronnie would spread her love to a few other good-looking Riverdale guys, and the rest of the time would be spent at the refreshments table talking to Jughead, one of her oldest and best friends.
Betty had to admit, though, that was one of the only times she was kind of okay with being ignored by Archie. She enjoyed Jughead's company and the attention he gave her, even if he would be slightly distracted with food. Jughead would actually listen to her, unlike Archie who was quite easily taken away from their conversations by simply a pretty girl walking by. Maybe it wasn't so bad, Betty could talk to Jughead all night, and she would barely even think about Veronica dancing with Archie… and the way they would look each other… and the way they would hold each other… and the way they would laugh...
No. Not this time. Betty was hit with a sudden burst of determination. She would win this time. She was tired and fed up with playing second fiddle to Veronica, even if she was her best friend. In the back of her closet she found a dress Ronnie had given her a while back. She had altered it slightly just for fun, never thinking she would have the courage to try and pull it off, but she needed it tonight.
She sauntered into the dress, the color of a Tuscan sunset. The orange-red was daring but worked surprisingly well on her. The dress had a low-cut back, not too low, but just enough to drive Archie crazy. There was a single line of ruffle skirt that started at her left hip and reached downward until it was inches above her knee. This was a dress practically made for dancing.
She tugged her hair tie out of her beautiful golden locks and with a few adjustments made by a hardly-used curling iron, they received the beach breeze, natural look that one would only dream of creating. With her heels on, she was ready to go, and dressed to kill (or at least break a few hearts).
She arrived at the Riverdale High's gym. She took a deep breath and nearly shook with the adrenaline pumping through her, but she had come much too far and looked way too gorgeous to turn back now. She threw the double doors open and stepped through.
At first no one noticed. The familiar sensation of insecurity came over her. Why hadn't she just kept her hair in its usual pony tail? She was happy with always being the understudy and never being the star, she would be fine like that, why had she insisted on making a big production out of things, she would always be good ol' faithful Betty, that wasn't so bad...
Her mind was going a million miles an hour, and just as she was getting ready to run home and crawl into bed, or at least change into a more conservative dress, she caught somebody's eye. Reggie Mantle happened to glance toward the door to see a beautiful and quite hot blonde. He froze, jaw dropped. "Betty?" He was incredulous and for a good reason.
The reaction started slowly, with just a few people that had heard Reggie turn their attention toward the door, but the commotion picked up momentum, and soon the entire gym was focused on Betty. She was uncertain of what to do. This was the reaction she had hoped for, but she had never been the center of attention before. The sensation was incredible. Being the understudy to Veronica was nothing compared to finally being the star. Wait, where was Veronica?
She had little time to think about it further, because Archie was at her side faster than he had ever been before. He knew that it was only a matter of time before the other guys swarmed her. "Hey Bets! I've been waiting for you! How 'bout a dance?"
"Hands off red-head! I saw her first," Reggie's voice grew louder as he shoved is way through the crowd.
"C'mon guys, let her breathe, besides you guys both have dates," Betty always had Adam's attention, but he was hardly ever this vocal about it.
"But Ronnie was a no show, besides Betty always saves a dance for me." They were growing angrier and more hostile.
"Well Archie, maybe you should wait for Ronnie" Betty was surprised to hear herself say as she grabbed Adam's hand and allowed him to lead her away from the crowd. She must have been around her coy best friend long enough to pick up a few things. With an added boost of confidence, she called back "Reggie, I'll be waiting for you on the dance floor next!" and she even threw in a wink. That's right. She, Betty Cooper, had just winked.
This was definitely the best Valentine's dance ever. The music seemed more rhythmic, the lights seemed brighter, even the gym seemed to smell cleaner. Everything was perfect. Betty danced her way through a number of guys and finally made it to Archie. She knew she wouldn't be able to hold him off forever.
"Geez Bets, I thought you were just going to tease me all night long." He added a smile, but he did seem a little frustrated underneath it.
"Well come on Arch, you know we're not exclusive." She could see on his face that that had stung a little, as it was supposed to. This was a line he used quite frequently on Betty, and it felt good to give him a taste of his own medicine. After a while of dancing and talking and laughing, Betty decided it was time to take a break, politely excused herself from Archie, and made her way to the concessions.
"Hey Juggie" She said brightly, and then giving a little twirl she asked, "How do I look?" and smiled.
"You always look great, Betty" He said, and shoved a few chips into his mouth. Betty giggled. Jughead was never one for compliments.
"Looks like it's a good night to be you" He said after swallowing the chips.
"Oh Jughead, you have no idea!" She spun around in pure bliss. He smiled. Betty loved to see Jughead smile. They were always so genuine. He never did it just to attract a girl, or to pretend he was having a good time. She was so busy thinking about his smile that she found herself asking him to dance without even realizing it.
"What?" Jughead asked, in complete shock.
Betty gave it a second thought and then made up her mind, "Juggie, you can't hide behind food forever." She tugged at his arm and he surprisingly followed.
Everybody knew that Jughead was an amazing dancer. There had been a few dance competitions with food as the prize. These were usually the only times that he would showcase his true talent. Betty was extremely thankful that he would dance with her now, just for fun. Then again, Jughead was always a truly amazing friend to her.
Betty was torn away from her thoughts and the rhythmic motion when the song changed. It was a slow song. This didn't really bother Betty much, although Jughead seemed a lot more uncomfortable. "We might as well," she said and smiled, hoping this would make him more relaxed. It seemed to work; he stepped closer to her. His eyes staring straight into hers made her feel strangely at home in his gaze. With their bodies so close she could feel his strength, his muscles. He was so sturdy. She felt so fragile against his body, yet so completely safe within his arms.
Betty became so relaxed; she closed her eyes and held her face against his chest. She breathed in deeply and noticed he smelled like... well almost like french toast with powdered sugar. It wasn't that he actually smelled like the food, but that's just what it was like to her. She loved days when she would wake up, not wanting to get out of her covers and face the cold, but then smelling the comfort of her favorite breakfast calling to her from downstairs. This, being in his arms felt like where she belonged, and she almost found herself thinking that she never wanted to leave...
"Hey Bets! I've been looking everywhere for you! It's the first slow song, let's go" Archie tugged her away from the comfort, and Betty, so overjoyed that Archie had been looking for her for the first slow song, completely forgot about the amazing feeling she had just experienced.
"Thanks for keeping her warm, Jug" Archie added as he led Betty to an empty space on the dance floor.
"I'm surprised you're spending this much time with me." Betty admitted and smiled shyly.
"Bets, I really like you, you know that. There's something bout you that no other girls have. I can always count on you, so now I want you to be able to count on me. I think we should start hanging out more." He spoke sweetly and tenderly. Betty was so happy right now. Nothing could ruin this moment. Oh wait, there was something that could… or rather someone.
"What about Veronica?" Betty was almost afraid to ask.
"Aw, I spend plenty of time with her. We never get to hang out, and we've been best buds forever, from now on, it's you and me again, Bets." Yes, this was truly a perfect night. Everything had fallen in to place. This was even better than her fantasies. She knew that Archie hadn't given up Ronnie completely, but it was a start. He would treat them equally at least. He finally wouldn't just use Betty as a backup. He would finally turn Veronica down every once in a while. He would finally stop dropping everything, including Betty, just because Ms. Veronica Lodge stepped through the door...
Betty finally stopped rambling on in her mind when she realized that Archie was gone. She turned her head just fast enough to see the flash of red hair become drowned in a see of guys. What was going on? Betty tried to figure out what everyone was freaking out about. Then she saw it. First there was a flash of sparkle that shined through the mob. Then she saw a leg step through, a long, beautiful, smooth leg. Veronica had arrived.
How stupid could she have been? Betty had once again fallen for all the dirty lies Archie had fed her. How could he? Sadness hit her like a bolt of lightning. It coursed through her every vein, and it pounded against the walls of her head, and her heart. She had to get out of here. Now. She wanted to be anywhere else but here. The music was booming out of control, the dull lights made her headache worse, and the disgusting smell of the gym was enough to make her hurl.
Betty was never one to push, but she made her way through the swarm of guys faster than they hard swarmed her best friend. This was the absolute worst night, not to mention dance, ever. She practically flew through the double doors and into the freezing February night.
Running with her heals through the snow was not exactly practical, and she tripped and fell several times before she actually took the time to take them off. Her entire body felt numb, but it did not stop the ache that ran through her body. The pain of being ignored, even when she tried so hard and even when she looked her best, was too much for her. It was true. No matter what she did, no matter how hard she tried, she would never compare to Veronica. She would never amount to anything more than Reliable Betty. She would never be anything, mean anything, more to Archie. So why did she keep trying? By this time she had slowed down considerably, and walked at a snails-pace. Her bare feet were unable to take her any farther and her lungs unable to sustain her breathing. Why did she keep trying to make Archie love her when it was so obvious that he never could? She should just give him up, and this time for good. Betty collapsed. Maybe she should just give up altogether... Her eyes closed.
Betty laid there in defeat, on the cold, icy cement. For the first time, she really needed somebody. She needed to rely on somebody like everyone relied on her. She needed a friend, and she needed them fast.