Jughead paced along the worn floor of his bedroom. It was an understatement to say he was nervous. Everyone at school had been on edge since the announcement the other day. Kevin sat in Jughead's beanbag chair in the corner.
"I'm not sure what you're so worried about. The Southside kids are scary but not that scary. I wouldn't be too worried about it." He shrugged.
"You know I'm not a huge fan of change, Kev and our school is about to double in size. Not to mention my mother has been demonizing their side of town any chance she got in the paper for years. What if they realize who I am? What if I get beat up?"
"Well I'm sure Archie will defend you. He always does. Plus, Moose and Reggie would jump in for backup if needed. However, don't expect me to sacrifice my porcelain face for you." He teased. "Besides, they have as much of a chance going after me, my dad's the sheriff and he's had plenty of run-ins with snakes and goulies."
"Yeah, I suppose you're right." Jughead muttered and glanced out of his second story window towards his neighbor's house. A flash of red hair let him know Archie was almost ready for school. Kevin appeared behind him and took over his view once Jughead stepped away and adjusted his crown beanie for the umpteenth time that morning.
"Wow!" He heard his friend exclaim. "Archie got hot!" Jughead turned around and raised an eyebrow at Kevin whose head was still cocked as he continued to oogle Archie. "What?" He asked when he noticed Jughead's exasperated expression. "Objectively speaking, he is good looking without a shirt on. I realize he is not gay and I have zero chance. However, I can appreciate his male essence all I want."
"Whatever, dude." Jughead chuckled. "Come on, we better get going before we're late."
The two boys made their way through the Jones' house. The beanie clad boy stopped at the kitchen table where his family was in the middle of breakfast. He chugged his sister's glass of orange juice and snagged a few pieces of bacon and toast off her plate before patting Jellybean's head and exiting the kitchen. Before the two teens made it to the front door, his father's voice sounded behind them. "Be careful you two, those snakes don't mess around. Keep to yourselves and don't cause any trouble." FP warned.
"Thanks dad, I think we can manage." Jughead called back before closing the door behind him.
"That was rather ominous." Kevin commented.
"Don't mind him, he used to live on the Southside. He has always been so proud he got out. He and my mom aren't too happy about the merger."
"No one is. My dad says those kids are criminals and gangbangers. I'm betting most of them probably won't graduate anyway."
The boys kept walking as Archie fell into step with them as they passed his house. "Hey guys." He said as he approached.
They returned his greeting and continued to talk about the big merger that day until they reached the school.
"Well if anything, today will be interesting." Kevin lamented as they adjusted to seeing a large number of students wearing black and leather weaving in and out of the school.
"Archiekins!" Veronica squealed before jumping into her boyfriend's arms and began an uncomfortable amount of PDA.
"As if they didn't just see each other yesterday." Jughead joked under his breath to Kevin before looking away from the kissing couple.
He didn't know why Veronica's presence always bothered him so much. Kevin always tried to imply that his jealousy meant he might be struggling with feelings for Archie. Which was of course, absolutely absurd. Jughead and Archie had been best friends and neighbors for as long as he could remember. He'd never once felt any sort of attraction for his friend, or any other guy for that matter. Not that he'd ever had much of an interest in girls either but if he were honest with himself, deep down he craved that sort of affection he made fun of. Not that any girls at Riverdale High would ever be interested in him. He was just Jughead. The kid with the funny name, the funny hat, and only two friends.
He'd never cared to interact much with girls, he felt they were too much trouble after observing Archie's trysts with them. Not to mention, girls usually made him shy. At this point, most people just assumed he wanted nothing to do with them because as soon as a girl was around, he wouldn't say much. Veronica had even asked Archie if he disliked her. But the truth was, he just didn't know what to say to girls. They were just these bizarre creatures to him.
He wondered what type of girl he'd even like. Certainly not a diva or overly dramatic girl like Veronica, Cheryl the head cheerleader, or Josie the lead singer of the Pussycats. They intimidated him too much. He glanced around campus to view possible options. Midge was always nice and he was impressed by a lot of things she'd say in class, but her and Moose had been official since freshman year. Ethel made it no secret that she'd always had a huge crush on him but he wasn't sure how he felt about her and it wouldn't be fair to her if he played with her feelings getting into something without thinking it through first. He noticed a lot of girls he'd never seen before, Southside kids wearing leather. A couple of them were cute. A pink haired girl and a blonde one with a ponytail walking with linked arms caught his eye in particular. They both wore leather jackets with serpents on them. The blonde's jacket seemed to have two heads instead of just the one he usually saw the Serpents wear around town. The same as the serpent tattoo his dad had. He made a mental note to ask his dad about it later.
Archie's hand clapped on his back, pulling him from his thoughts.
"What are you thinking so deeply about?" He asks and Jughead looks over at him. No Veronica or Kevin in sight.
"I think I might he interested in finding a girl to date." He confided
"Oh, wow! I honestly didn't even know you were interested in girls. I mean, you do spend a lot of time with Kevin."
"Wait, people think I'm gay?" He sputtered.
"Only speculations."
"That's just great." He face palmed.
"You know, if you were, there wouldn't be anything wrong with that, right?"
"Yes, I know. But I'm not so I don't really want people thinking that." Jughead crossed his arms.
"Okay well I know Kev or Ronnie would love to try and set you up if you let them."
"No, please don't tell them. They'd go overboard and you know it, let's just keep this between us."
"Okay, man." The bell rang for first period and they went their separate ways.
At lunch that day, the group gathered at a picnic table on the quad. Kevin and Veronica were gossiping about the new Southside kids when Jughead joined them. "This has gotta be the worst thing that's happened to this school." He huffed. "I was late to third period because there was a group a Goulies in front of my locker that wouldn't move until the bell rang, the halls are so crowded you can barely get through, you can't even focus in class because these kids are so disruptive."
"Jughead, I believe that's the most I've ever heard you talk." Veronica chirped.
He grunted in response around a mouthful of food. While his friends continued talking his eyes wandered around and spotted the two Serpent girls he'd seen walking into school that morning. They were sitting at a nearby table, the pink haired girl sitting on the edge of the table facing the blonde ponytail seated on the bench. They were giggling about something and the blonde looked up and for a second they locked eyes. Jughead quickly diverted his gaze back to his food.
"Some of these Serpents are so hot though! I'm starting to like the leather look." Kevin stated.
"Yeah, maybe you could find yourself a cute girl, Jughead." Archie smiled.
If looks could kill, Archie would be a dead man.
"Oh are we setting Jughead up?" Kevin sat up excitedly.
"I told you not to say anything Archie." Jughead grumbled as he stood up to leave. He turned around and almost jumped. The blonde Serpent had appeared in front of him.
"I'm sorry this was a dare." She said quickly and before he could respond, she'd grabbed his face and kissed him hard on the mouth. He'd dropped the tray he'd been holding during the commotion. The kiss tasted like vanilla and honey. Too soon, it was over. His eyes fluttered open and she ran back to her friend who was dying laughing.