Forsythe Jones, better known as Jughead, was loudly slurping the blue-raspberry slushie drink that Pop's was now offering. He observed the blue liquid in his plastic cup and started to blow through his straw. A few bubbles appeared, then more and more until the largest one almost reached his nose. His cheeks were now puffing up as he strived to make the bubble reach his nose. This served as the perfect excuse to keep his eyes off the person sitting right across him. His best buddy Archie was going on about something that Jughead couldn't quite make sense of, and didn't really want to either. Jug gave up on the bubble and took in a large gulp of air to fill his lungs.
"Are you listening to me at all?" Jughead could hear the whine in his friend's voice. He gave a weak smile and nodded, but made a face as he looked down at his slushie again.
Fortunately, Archie wasn't that sharp and didn't notice anything. "As I was saying," he continued, "I need your help on something urgent."
"Mmm-hmm?" Jug answered while gulping down the drink. He had put the straw away – it was an obstacle to getting the drink into his system as quickly as possible. He shivered and felt his muscles tense as the icy coolness traveled down his throat. His brain was numb for a few seconds, but soon he was back to normal. Probably another date crisis, which involved the usual girls – Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge. "What is it this time?" he asked without looking up from his empty cup. There was no answer. From the corner of his eyes he saw Arch wring his hands in despair. "Booked them on the same day, I bet."
"How did you know?" His friend's hands froze in the air.
Jughead raised his head up and finally looked Archie in the eye. "Ha! Don't pretend you don't know. You're always getting yourself into this kind of trouble." Once again, Archie had booked Betty and Ron on the same day, at the same time. This had happened a total of thirty-four times. Impressive. Jug remembered each and every incident, because they always seemed to end with a blonde-haired girl walking away with tears forming in her eyes. It was a vicious cycle, one that he didn't want to be a part of. He couldn't push that image out of his mind. How could a nice guy like Archie bear hurting a nice girl like Betty? Jug loved his buddy. The good times and bad times were all spent with Arch. He hadn't bothered much with Archie's various girl chases, but Jughead definitely did not like to see the look on Betty's face every time her date with Archie was cancelled. To be friends with someone you have to accept their flaws, but–
Archie had kept quiet during all this time, but now he spoke up, interrupting Jug's flow of thought. "Jug?" His voice sounded hopeful. "Does this mean you'll help me?"
"Just tell me what you want," Jug said, mentally exhausted from battling his conscience. It was always an endless battle. Neither side ever won.
"Can you tell Betty…"
"That the date is cancelled?" Jughead finished the question for him.
"Yeah."
"Why don't you just tell her yourself?"
Archie's helpless look was on again. "I feel pretty bad for doing this. I don't think she'd want to see me."
"Then why don't you cancel your date with Ron instead?" Jug truly didn't understand how Ron was any better than Betty. In fact, Veronica was quite the snob and stuck-up girl.
"No way! I can't do that…she'll kill me!"
"So you're sacrificing Betty's happiness for your own selfish purposes."
Archie winced reflexively. "What?"
"Just being honest."
"This will be the last time, I promise…"
"Why don't you tell Betty that? And why don't you tell her face-to-face? Do you not love her?"
"It's not that, it's just – I don't know!"
"If you don't love her, tell her before you break her heart even more."
"Great friend you are. Trying to ruin my relationships."
"Whatever," Jughead said nonchalantly. "You disappoint me, Arch. I expected so much more from you. I believed in you as a person. The longer I hang around you these days, the more depressed I am at how you've changed since we were kids." He gave Archie a pat on the shoulder. "Anyways, I'm heading over to Chuck's place to see some of his new sketches and to help myself to his mom's lasagna. Care to come?"
Archie Andrews shook his head. "I'm really hurt by your words, Jug, but if you're being honest with me, I respect that." He sighed. "I need a rest. See you tomorrow."
The two left Pop's together but once they were out the door, each walked a different path. – but would he be able to live with Archie's flaws?
