This is it. Fourteen-year-old Betty Cooper thought as she took a final glance in the mirror. Her reflection gave her a tentative smile. The first day of high school.
"Elizabeth!" Alice Cooper, the only one to address her by her true first name, called. "Archie and Jughead are here!"
She rolled her eyes at her mother's tone, smoothed down the cream-colored pencil skirt she had chosen to wear, tightened her signature ponytail, and grabbed her backpack from off the desk, her bedroom door slamming shut behind her.
Het two best friends, Archie Andrews and Forsythe Pendleton Jones III, known to those who loved him the most as simply Jughead, stood awkwardly in the foyer, avoiding conversation with Alice, not that she had offered them anything other than allowing them to set foot in her home.
Jughead saw her first, and he silently gave Archie a nudge with his elbow. "Hey Betts."
"Hey." Betty echoed, her gaze already fixated on the red headed boy in front of her. "Hey Arch."
"Betty." He acknowledged, casting a quick glance in her mother's direction. Alice had always made him a little nervous.
"Ready to go?"
Her head bobbed up and down in a nod. "Definitely. Bye mom."
Alice caught her arm, pulling her into a stiff and unexpected hug. When they separated, the older woman pressed something into her hand.
"I refilled your Adderall." Alice announced, and Betty avoided her intense stare. "It seems someone forgot to fill their prescription. I want you to stay focused this year, Elizabeth, is that understood?"
"Yeah, mom." Betty mumbled, stepping away from her. She reached out, grasping the first thing she came into contact with, the thin, soft and warn fabric of Jughead's gray V-neck, and gave it a tug towards the front door. "Bye."
She dragged the dark haired boy along behind her, leaving Archie to follow them.
"Um... Betts?" Jughead began, as they made their way down the street. "You're about to give my favorite shirt short sleeves."
"Sorry!" She stuttered, releasing him immediately. "Sorry, Juggie."
He raised an eye brow, glancing at the container still clutched in her fist. "You haven't been taking those, have you?"
"No." Betty replied. "I flushed them."
"Good." Jughead approved, taking the pills from her. They disappeared into his backpack. "You don't need them."
"Tell me that to my mother." Betty grumbled.
Alice had pulled the same trick with Chic and Polly, saying that the drug helped her elder children focus, but those days were long gone, the elder Cooper children skipping town shortly after graduation, leaving Betty to fend for herself.
This wasn't the first time Jughead had disposed of the pills, she never even had to ask him, he just did it, and she was more than thankful.
"Guys!" A familiar voice called. "Wait up!"
Betty slowed her pace, Archie and Jughead following suit as they waited for the fourth and final member of their little group to join them. Kevin adjusted the weight of his messenger bag against his shoulder, taking a few deep, shallow breaths. His cheeks were pink from running, his hair recently cut and perfectly tousled.
He grinned at them. "You guys ready for this?"
Archie offered him a half-nod, Jughead let his shoulders in a shrug. Better was the only one who returned Kevin's grin with a hopeful smile of her own.
Kevin wrapped an arm around her in response.
The rest of the walk to Riverdale high was oddly quiet. Betty wondered briefly if the others were also in deep thought but decided against it. None of them were wired the same, the boys didn't think, or overthink, like she did, and for that, she was glad. Their differences were what had held the four together since their early childhood.
Finally, Jughead broke the silence.
"Are we still going to Pop's after school?" He asked.
Simultaneously, Archie, Kevin and Betty froze, similar apologetic, if not regretful, expressions on each of their faces.
Jughead stared back at them self-consciously.
"What?" He demanded.
"I have football tryouts." Archie said, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans.
Kevin glanced down at his shoes. "The drama club is having their first meeting."
Betty said nothing.
She had forgotten about their promise to share their first day woes over a burger and fries; Pop's had been their usual hangout since they were old enough to cross the street without a parent present, and she had been hoping to go through with her plan before she announced her intentions to the three boys she was closest to.
She didn't know how they would react.
"Betts?" Jughead questioned.
Kevin's arm tightened against her shoulders. Even Archie was looking at her now.
"Um." She drew out. "I'm going to try out for cheerleading."
Kevin actually squealed, drawing her into such a tight embrace, she could barely breathe. Archie smiled faintly, and Betty wished she could read his mind. It was impossible to tell if he was happy for her, disappointed, or if he couldn't have cared less. He had been distracted all summer, only becoming more distant after his mother up and left to go live with her sister two states away, so she tried her best to not take his lack of response personally.
Only Jughead had yet to react.
"Oh." He said finally, his dark eyes appraising her. "Um... That's great, Betty. Good for all of you, I mean."
Jughead's words surprised her, and they probably shouldn't have. He was the first to admit that without herself, Archie and Kevin, he would have been a loner, hanging out at the library on the weekends instead of in Archie's basement, playing their tedious video games while Betty sat across the room, her nose stuck in a book, rolling her eyes every so often.
Betty suddenly realized that part of her had wanted her longtime friend to be proud, an emotion that was rare for him.
"We could meet after." Betty offered lamely. "Maybe at six?"
"Sure." Archie and Kevin agreed in unison.
When Jughead offered her his trademark grin, years of adventure and mischief behind it, she felt herself relax. Things were okay again.
He glanced at the clock on the wall in disdain. Had time ever moved more slowly?
Betty had said six, but Jughead, always one to be early, had arrived at five-forty-five, choosing their usual booth. Though he was starving, he had refused to order until his friends arrived.
Now, it was six-thirty, and he was regretting that decision greatly.
Where were they?
A brush of warm air filled the diner as the door was pushed open, the bell ringing to alert the nearest employee that new patrons had arrived.
He heard a familiar laugh, and despite the irritation that had begun to creep into him over the last half-hour, he grinned.
Betty walked in, arm-in-arm with Kevin, laughing at some joke Jughead wasn't in on.
Something was different, and it didn't take a genius to figure out that it had to do with the blue and gold uniform that had replaced the pencil skirt and fuzzy sweater she had worn to school that morning.
Betty Cooper was now a River Vixen.
Her hair was still pulled back into her tight, trademark pony tail, but a bow that matched her cheerleading outfit had been carefully tied around it. She caught his eye and smiled, still giggling.
"Hey Juggie!" She greeted, dropping down into the seat across from him. Kevin joined her.
"Hey." Jughead replied evenly. "Um... Congratulations?"
He could have smacked himself.
He hadn't meant for his statement to come across as a question, and as Betty's contagious smile faltered, he hated himself even more.
He was her best friend, he had been since they were kids. Why couldn't he be more supportive like Kevin, and Archie, if he ever stopped brooding over his changing home life.
Jughead was proud of her.
Really, he was. Betty Cooper could do anything she set her mind to.
But why, dear god, why did it have to be cheerleading?
The Betty he knew was sweet, kind, intelligent, funny, good hearted, good natured, even with a mother who had never really given her a chance.
She was absolutely nothing like Cheryl Blossom, who even in her freshman status, was a leading force in the River Vixen's. Bitchy, bold and beautiful, Cheryl was the type of person who would rather have her peers fear her than like her.
Being a River Vixen came with certain expectations and perks, namely, popularity.
Betty Cooper was now doomed to be popular.
"Thanks." Betty replied shortly, her voice snapping him back to reality.
The door swung open again.
A crowd of Riverdale bulldogs filed in, all talking at once, clapping one another on the back and chuckling loudly. In a sea of brown and blonde hair, Archie Andrews stuck out like a sore thumb amongst them.
Jughead was the only one who made an attempt to call him over.
"Archie!"
Archie cast a glance over his shoulder and offered the three a quick nod before turning his attention back to Reggie
Mantle, resting a hand on the boy's shoulder.
"Arch made the team." Betty told him, as if he could have somehow missed that announcement.
Jughead realized that she still sounded upset.
"Betts…" He began.
"Betty!" A new voice called. The bell jingling for the third time. "Kev!"
"Veronica!" Kevin said, waving the raven haired girl over.
Jughead turned to Betty. "Veronica?"
"It was her first day." Kevin replied, still waving. "Betty's her peer mentor."
Veronica. Jughead thought. The name sounded awfully familiar.
His eyebrow arched upward. "As if Veronica Lodge?"
Suddenly, they were both glaring at him.
"Don't say anything about her father." Kevin hissed through clenched teeth.
Betty avoided his gaze.
"She's really nice." She offered, after a minute. "She helped me make the squad."
Now he had an entirely different reason to distrust Veronica Lodge.
"Hey guys." Veronica greeted. She was wearing a River Vixen's uniform too, her hair loose and falling to her shoulders in flawless curls. She glanced at Jughead, and then stuck her hand out. "Veronica Lodge."
"Jughead Jones." Jughead responded, making no moves to uncross his arms. "The third."
"Jughead Jones the third." The girl repeated, almost sounding wary. "That's-"
"Veronica!" Cheryl barked as she barged into the diner, several Vixen's following along behind her. "Betty! Come on, we're getting a table."
Betty's face faltered. "Oh... Um, actually, Cheryl, we..."
"We are bonding as a team." Cheryl challenged, tossing her hair. "You are part of the team, aren't you, Betty?"
Jughead's jaw tightened.
No one talked to her like that.
But just as he opened his mouth to fire bark with some snarky remark, what, he often said the first thing that came to
mind, and it was more than sufficient, a familiar hand landed on his arm, squeezing softly.
"Do you mind?" Betty almost whispered.
She looked so nervous, so worried that she might upset him, that Jughead would have done anything in his power to make sure she never wore that expression again.
Even if it meant handing her over to the likes of Cheryl Blossom and Veronica Lodge.
"Not at all." Jughead lied. "We can hang out anytime."
Betty immediately looked relieved.
"Thanks Juggie." She muttered, squeezing his wrist before rising.
Veronica looped her arm through Betty's, leading her away.
Kevin clapped him on the back.
"We'll do something this weekend." He said, already following along behind the girls.
As Jughead watched them go, Betty already distracted by something her new friend had said, Archie still trading with Reggie, Jughead's heart sank like a stone.
Somehow, he knew that Kevin's promise would not be kept.