Betty Cooper had been feeling weird. Weirder than normal. On top of the usual teenage hormones and feelings for every attractive boy that happened to bump into her, the feeling was foreign. Completely new to her. It had started as soon as she woke up. The second she had sat up, her head spinning. It took five minutes to convince her mother to let her go to school. Though really, Betty didn't think she was well enough for school. She had been burning up all morning, and just the thought of food made her want to vomit.
Except her mother had decided that it was the perfect time to have 'The Talk.' Despite the fact that she had started puberty four years ago. Alice Cooper had sat on her bed and held he hands in her lap. 'Remember, Betty,' she had murmured softly. 'When it happens, try not to be frightened, okay? I went through it, as well as your brother and sister.'
'Mom!' She had squeaked. But Alice just shook her head. 'You're at the right age now,' she murmured. 'Elizabeth, I think it's time for me to tell you about-'
'I'm late for school.' Betty had jumped up, her cheeks blazing with embarrassment. She was grabbing her bag and running out of the house before her mother could call after her.
The feeling was just weird. She couldn't think of anything else to explain it. She felt like when her first period had came in freshman year. Her stomach had been uncomfortably dancing all day, nausea twisting her gut. It was just like that. Except a thudding ache tickling the back of her skull accompanied it. Betty was just feeling like shit. She figured there was a bug going around, or she was just tired. She didn't think much of it. Betty had brushed it off by lunch. Though she was still aware of the swarm of butterflies buzzing in her gut by the end of school. Unfortunately, it wasn't a normal day. She had to stay behind an extra hour.
Betty slammed her locker shut, and ducked her head, corking her earphones in. The music wasn't helping in the slightest. Her stomach was still doing flip-flops. The fact that the school corridors were teeming with kids bounding past her, eager to get home, didn't help.
'Betty!' Reggie Mantle swept past in his football jersey. 'I read your article! Damn, Andrews is a FREAK!' He chortled, along with his posse. 'Later, Cooper.'
Betty giggled nervously. 'Thanks!' She squeaked.
Betty inhaled deeply, pressing her textbooks to her chest as she made her way down the corridor, bumping past excited freshman and lingering seniors. Sometimes she wished her blonde hair wasn't in such a strict ponytail. She wished she could hide her face with it, letting it cascade down her face like she was in some kind of horror movie. But Betty had to keep her image perfect. So instead of experimenting, like every other teenage girl her age, Betty stuck to knitted cardigans and pastel pink and blue colours. As well as her ponytail.
Betty squeezed her eyes shut, forcing the nauseous feeling into the pit of her stomach. Her throat was dry, and she didn't have any water. Damn. It wasn't just the weird feeling that had enveloped her that was worrying her. It was the next hour that was twisting her stomach into knots.
Of course she had to get sick on the day of her first detention. Betty was a golden student of Riverdale High. Though it was entirely all her doing that had landed her in detention. She had been desperate for gossip for the school paper, The Blue and Gold and given into her demons, breaking into the school records. The good news; She had found out that Archie Andrews was on Anger Management pills, and Veronica Lodge had a phobia of water.
Even more interesting. Ever since a couple of months ago, Jughead Jones no longer ate. Literally anything. Betty had seen his records were full of doctors notes for eating disorders she had never heard of and printed out emails from his father. Before printing the article, she had watched him for three lunchtimes in a row. Jughead had simply stared down hard at his burger, as if wanting to eat it. But he ended up pulling out his laptop and vigorously typing on that instead. When he had gotten up to leave, he'd grabbed his stuff and left the burger.
It was the perfect gossip. Archie, Veronica and Jughead had officially became the most interesting people in Sophomore year. Ignoring how insensitive and she guessed...mean? it was, Betty spent all night perfecting her piece, and published it the next day.
The article was on the very front page, accompanied with yearbook pictures of the three.
'BULLDOG, RIVER VIXEN AND WRITER: THE TRUTH.' She figured that was the perfect headline. It had a good hook. Something to draw in the reader.
The bad news? Principle Weatherbee had found out, and made her destroy the articles. And thrown her in detention. With the supposed "victims" of her so-called "Bullying".
Betty Cooper figured herself as a woman of class. She didn't purposely try and provoke and annoy her classmates, she just ended up doing it anyway. Though the same thing couldn't be said for them. With Archie and Veronica both being popular, on the top of the high school hierarchy, she didn't have a chance. Betty wasn't expecting a confrontation. She had gone to school with the two of them for years and the three of them happily tolerated each other. Betty was okay with that. Though yesterday, when she had been happily chomping through her peanut butter and jelly and instructing her editor, and best friend since Freshman year, Kevin Keller, on how to gather more legal gossip. Her three supposed "victims" had tracked her down. Kevin Keller had been the first one to notice, while she had been too focused on her notes lain out in front of her. 'Uh, Betty.' Kevin cleared his throat, fiddling with his dark hair, suddenly nervous. At that point, Betty had thought he wasn't able to able to keep up with her fast-talking voice. 'What?' she had looked up, and nearly dropped her pen- upon seeing the three most famous kids in Sophomore year.
Thanks to her.
Archie Andrews, Veronica Lodge and Jughead Jones, looming over her, each clutching a copy of The Blue and Gold. They were in their signature High School clique ensemble. The Bulldog was wearing his Jersey, The River Vixen was in her cheerleading outfit, and the writer- well, he was just holding his laptop. All three of them had barely acknowledged each-other in the two years they had been at Riverdale High. But they seemed to have made an unspoken pact that they were going to collaboratively rip her head from her shoulders. Betty would have been scared, if she didn't have a stupid high school crush on all three of them.
Kevin let out a breath and ducked his head to busy himself with working, but Betty could tell he was listening in. He was scribbling way too fast. He was doing some intense short-hand. Though she didn't blame him. She too would eagerly listen in on a confrontation.
'What the hell?' Veronica was the first to hiss out, and Betty wondered if the girl was part snake. Her tongue was unnaturally long. Though damn, Veronica Lodge was a beauty. She had unblemished olive skin and sleek dark hair tied in Blue and Gold ribbons, and Betty had to admit it. She was hot when she was angry. They all were, god dammit.
Veronica held up a copy of the magazine, which was open on the page of the article. Betty could just make out her name signing off the piece. She had been so excited about the information she had gathered, she had not once thought of the repercussions.
'Is our River Vixen cheer captain scared of water?!' Veronica squawked, ragging the magazine angrily. Betty swallowed the urge to remind her that she was destroying school property. Though her mouth was dry. 'What right do you have to print this?' Veronica demanded. Archie, who was stood next to her, nodded. Archie Andrews was the most attractive redhead Betty had ever seen. The boy was the Varsity team captain. He had bright red hair that contrasted almost perfectly with his pale freckled face. His lips were almost always set in his trade-mark jock grin, but he scowled at Betty, his brown eyes blazing.
'I'm not on Anger management pills.' He grumbled. Though his expression, as well as his fists clenched a bit too tight around the magazine he held, and the fact that every word he spoke seethed from gritted teeth, backed up Betty's article perfectly. Betty waited for Archie to let out a laugh, but the boy only stood, frozen, glaring at her. She didn't care how many times he denied it, Archie definitely had an anger problem. Jughead stood next to him covering his mouth and nose, grimacing. 'Dude, you smell like wet dog.'
Though it didn't stop Betty finding him ridiculously attractive. Those dark eyes and tousled red locks stuck to his sweaty forehead. Archie Andrews was Riverdale High's eye-candy.
Betty wasn't sure what to say. "Sorry" just didn't cut it. The three of them were the talk of the school, and had been cast out of their social groups, for being surprise-surprise imperfect. Betty thought it was all ridiculous. That you had to be mentally and physically healthy to be on the football team. The River Vixens had let go of Veronica, because apparently they couldn't have girls on the squad that kids were bitching about.
So, all in all, Betty had ruined their lives.
Jughead Jones, the kid she had practically told the whole school he had an eating disorder, finally spoke up. "Do you know how insensitive this is?" He growled, also seeming to be on the same page as Archie. The two boys eyed her like she was dinner. Jughead was waving a copy of The Blue and Gold. He let out a harsh laugh, which startled her slightly. "Does Jughead Jones have an eating disorder?!" he spat, imitating her article. He dropped the magazine like it was diseased, and folded his arms across his chest. 'What the fuck has it got to do with you, Cooper?!'
Jughead Jones one of them brooder type guys, who smoked weed and let everyone know it. He was almost always in the same clothes; all of which were black. His style was usually jeans, a t-shirt and his jacket wrapped around his waist. Just a few months ago, he had been sitting on the bleachers at lunch, sucking on a joint. She had been strategically seated so she could see the whole field and was doing some A* cover work. While getting a tan in the late Fall sun. Her gaze had been fixated on Cheryl Blossom, who was rumoured to be pregnant.
"Want one?" He had murmured through a plume of smoke snaking from his lips. He had held out the blunt, and Betty had been so surprised he had even talked to her, she had forgotten how to speak. After a few seconds, he nodded, raising his eyebrows. "Alrighty." He murmured, shooting her a smile before sticking the blunt back between his lips. His gaze returned to the football game going on, and Jughead jones never spoke to her again.
Until she had ruined whatever reputation he had managed to build.
Betty sat up straight, her cheeks blossoming. She could feel them burning, and she tightened her hands into fists in her lap. She winced when she felt her fingernails stabbing into the flesh of her palm. Jughead cocked his head, awaiting an answer. He was pissed. He was intimidating as hell. But like Archie and Veronica, he looked fucking gorgeous when he was pissed. 'Well?' He repeated. 'Do you have an explanation or are you just going to sit there like a fucking melon?'
Betty had eventually found her voice, after Kevin let out an indiscreet snort. She shot the boy a warning glare, before clearing her throat. At that point she was only thinking about saving her own skin. 'I have sources.' She told the three of them, with what she hoped was a smile. But it had felt more like a grimace. Veronica had laughed, a bit too loud for her liking. 'Sources?!' The cheerleader spat. 'Destroy them.' She growled, and before Betty could open her mouth, the girl shook her head. 'I don't wanna hear it, I want every single copy gone,' Veronica leaned in close until Betty could smell her tangy perfume.
'Get. Rid. Of. Them.' The girl spat. Though Betty wasn't a girl to back down. She smiled sweetly. 'But the things I wrote were true.' She said softly. 'The whole point of the Blue and Gold is-' She was about to say "Know and respect each-other" But Veronica cut her off with a snarl. 'Invading our privacy?' She yelled. Betty winced. Too loud.
Eventually, their shouting-match got the attention of the principle. And it didn't go down well. Archie, Veronica and Jughead were thrown in detention for different reasons. Veronica, for dumping Kevin's salad over Betty's head, Jughead for trying to hold the cheerleader back from throwing herself at the blonde when Betty implied that Veronica Lodge wasn't so perfect after all. And Archie for being a bystander (an incredibly hot headed bystander who just stood there seething, watching Veronica try and straddle Betty, who refused to destroy the article.
Betty and Kevin had to sit through a half-hour lecture from the school councillor on Morals and the difference between getting a story, and ruining a life. The magazines had been revoked from the student body, and it became a rule that if anybody was caught reading or in possession of The Blue and Gold Issue #133, they were to be sent to the principles office.
To top it all off, Betty had received The Lecture Of All Lectures from her mother, followed by disappointed looks from her older sister Polly. Betty felt like she she had murdered someone.
In the end, Betty had found herself a celebrity for a day and a half. Everyone knew her name. But now she was in a vastly emptying school with a dodgy stomach and had been cast to a room with the kids who yesterday wanted to murder her. Betty walked as slow as she possibly could down the corridor, hoping a meteor would hit and obliterate everything in its path. Including her and the three kids who's lives she had supposedly ruined.
Detention was in a science classroom. She made her way in, and quickly claimed the empty seat next to Kevin, ducking her head. Betty hadn't scanned the room, but she was sure Archie, Veronica and Jughead were dotted around the classroom. Probably telepathically communicating how many wardrobes they could construct from her bones.
There was no teacher yet, and Kevin took that miracle as the perfect time to turn around and start chattering away to her. Betty smiled and nodded in all the right places, but her head was pounding. She was sure she was going to vomit. Betty kept her head down, but her anxiety was getting the better of her. She gritted her teeth and found herself scratching her nails into her desk. Something was wrong with her. She started to burn up all over, her stomach still performing cartwheels. Kevin's voice until that point had sounded faded, in the distance. She felt like she was under-water. Her head was pulsing, she could feel her heart slamming against her chest. Betty let out a shaky breath. What the hell was wrong with her? Was she sick? Betty vaguely heard Kevin talking about – she wasn't sure.
'Betty? Are you listening?' Kevin waved a hand in front of her face, and she nodded- which caused a neutron star collision to explode in front of her eyes. Her head throbbed as bright colours and colourful zig-zags rotated and floated across her vision.
'Mm.' Betty wasn't capable of asking for help, or even getting up. She only prayed for the pain to stop. It felt like someone was smashing a brick into the back of her skull.
Was this karma? For what she had done? Betty tried to look at Kevin, but her eyes were going in and out of focus. She blinked and felt the tickle of vomit searing her throat. Not now. Her gaze seemed to bypass Kevin, and was settling on Jughead Jones. He was sitting at the front of the class, his head of dark hair nestled into his backpack. When she risked a glance behind her, Betty spotted Archie Andrews and Veronica Lodge sitting on the table behind. Veronica was leaning back in her chair, her eyes on her phone, while Archie's head was turned, his head cocked thoughtfully as he stared out at the rapidly darkening sky. There was a half-moon illuminating the twilight smear across the clouds.
'Alright, heads up. Phone's away.' The teachers voice snapped her out of it slightly, and she turned back to face the front, wincing when her head spun once again. Jughead lifted his head from his backpack, his dark hair tousled in his face. Betty rarely saw him without his beanie. Jughead looked at her for a second, just a fleeting glance. Had he been asleep? The boy's gaze strayed on her for a moment, his eyes half-lidded. Betty would have smiled, as a kind of truce. But the pain in her head was getting progressively worse. Jughead frowned at her, his eyebrows pushing together. Betty wondered if she was doing a good job of hiding that she was in agony.
'Jones! Face the board!' The teacher- Betty was yet to know his name- yelled at Jughead, who rolled his eyes and twisted in his seat to the face the front. The teacher looked to be a grouch who was nearing retirement. He wore a sweater and a pair of spectacles sat on the bridge of a rather pointy nose. He reminded Betty of a witch. 'Alright, my name is Mr Wheeler.' He introduced himself. 'Please don't tell me your names. I don't care.'
Kevin glanced at her, his lips curved into a smile. 'Lovely.' He mouthed.
Archie and Veronica snapped to attention, the jock turning back to face the teacher, and the cheerleader stuffing her phone in her lap. Veronica raised her hand and the teacher sighed, like he'd just been told he'd been given a day to live. 'What do you want?'
'Uh, can he speak to us like that?' Kevin hissed. He was leaning on his folded arms.
Betty rubbed at her head, resisting the urge to hiss out in pain. The pain was dulling slightly, but her stomach had started to prance again. Veronica cleared her throat. 'Not to sound prude, sir,' When Betty turned to look at her, the girl was smiling sweetly. 'But I don't belong here.' She said. Archie rolled his eyes. 'Ron, you chucked potato salad all over her head.' He murmured, glancing at Betty. Veronica shrugged. 'She deserved it!'
'You could have handled it like an adult, Y'know,' Jughead spoke up from the front. He smirked at the girl. 'We all deserve to be here.' He said promptly.
The teacher sighed. 'Thank you for that wonderful declaration,' He grumbled. 'Now, I want all of your attention.' Betty winced when a slash of pain rocketed across her head. The teacher frowned at her and folded his arms. 'You don't look very well.' He muttered, his expression edging on possibly the first emotion she had ever seen on his face.
Betty forced a smile. There was nothing more she wanted more than to run out of the classroom and out into the fresh air. But the thought of standing up and stumbling out, right in front of her fellow delinquents, it made her feel even more faint. 'I'm okay.' She lied.
The teacher nodded with a sigh. 'Alright, It's your funeral.' He muttered. 'If you feel like dying, please make sure you don't do it in my classroom.'
Thanks. Betty thought sourly. She bit her lip. The feeling that had been bothering her all day was starting to drive her mad. It was rooted inside, clawing desperately for a way out.
The teacher clapped his hands, and the noise went right through her. She felt it slamming into her brain, a wave of feedback making her stomach turn. 'Alright, I don't believe in students doing jack shit for an hour.' Mr Wheeler grumbled. He pointed behind the five teens, and they turned around in unison. Betty stayed facing forward and squeezed her eyes shut. Something was crushing her chest, turning her stomach. It was like an entity was inside her, taking her over. 'Betty?' Betty opened her eyes to see Kevin's blue eyes wide with worry. He leaned forward. 'Are you okay?' he murmured. 'Dude, you look white.'
Betty shook her head. She was sweating all over. She could feel straying strands of her hair sticking to her forehead, her tank top glued to her chest. 'No.' She said softly, tears springing to her eyes. 'Kevin, I don't-' Betty started to try and explain what she had been feeling, but was interrupted by the teacher. 'You two!' He growled. 'Get over here.'
Kevin grabbed her hand reassuringly, but abruptly let go like he had snatched hold of a hot iron, and yelped out in pain. Betty yanked her hand back. 'What?' she whispered. 'Kev, what is it?'
Kevin stared at her, his mouth agape. 'You're boiling hot!' he hissed. Betty frowned at him. She was sweating, yes. But she didn't feel like she was burning. Betty opened her mouth to try and offer some kind of explanation, but Mr Wheeler let out a loud, infuriated sigh.
'Are we interrupting you?' The teacher demanded. Betty gritted her teeth. 'Sorry sir.' She mumbled. She held her breath. Don't fall. She mentally hissed at herself as she made her way to the back of the classroom where Veronica and Archie stood with the teacher in front of a pile of dirty science equipment. Jughead stood to the side. Betty couldn't help noticing he was keeping his distance from everyone. He stood casually, his arms folded.
'Finally.' Veronica muttered, rolling her eyes. 'God, she's such an attention seeker.' She grumbled. Any other day Veronica's words wouldn't have fazed her. But for some reason, the girl's words dug hard in her gut. In her chest. Betty felt her blood boil, anger flooding her like a sea of lava. She couldn't even feel the pain from her fingernails pinching her hands.
Calm down. She told herself. She let Veronica's harsh words roll off of her, and eventually she leaned against a desk, letting out a shaky breath. Kevin stood next to her. He was stiff, his gaze kept flicking to her balled fists at her sides. 'So,' Kevin muttered, leaning into her as the teacher instructed the others how to wash up properly. 'Are you ready to tell me why your hand was one thousand freakin' degrees?' he hissed through gritted teeth.
Betty fixated her gaze on the teacher. She didn't dare look at Kevin. 'How am I supposed to know?' she muttered. Kevin chuckled a little hysterically. 'You're not freaked out?!'
'Alright, now we're all here.' The teacher said. 'I hope you all understand how important clean equipment is. Now, Can someone tell me what hazards are in a science classroom?'
Nobody attempted to answer. Mr Wheeler sighed for what have been the hundredth time. 'Acids!' He spat out, making Veronica jump. She had been meticulously scanning her nails. The teacher prodded his wrinkly finger at the pile of equipment. 'I'll just let you get on with it.' He grumbled. 'Try not to kill each-other.'
With that, Mr Wheeler was exiting the classroom, slamming the door, leaving the five of them. Once the teacher was gone, Archie let out a shaky laugh. 'Wow. He was pleasant.'
Veronica giggled nervously. 'Don't you think he looks like Walter White?'
Archie nodded with a smirk. 'I can see it.'
Betty felt weak. She steeled herself against the desk she was leaning on. Kevin didn't move from her side. Once the teacher, or grouchy OAP was gone, the others jumped into action. Archie started up the faucet and piled the dirty beakers into the sink. Veronica and Jughead stood by and watched.
"Are you guys just gonna stand there and watch me do all the work?" Archie twisted to face them, his hands deep in the basin. He grabbed a soiled rag and started to scrub at stubborn stained glasses and beakers. Veronica looked uneasy. She stood a fair distance from the faucet. 'I'll be no help,' she murmured, her gaze flicking to Betty. I'm "scared of water" remember?'
Betty stiffened. She felt something ignite inside her once again. Dark and different. And she had no idea how to control it. Kevin sighed. 'Can you just let it go? The article was destroyed. Leave Betty alone.'
Archie scoffed. 'Yeah, and our high school lives.' he muttered.
Jughead rolled his eyes. 'Can we just leave it?' he grumbled. He was staring at the floor for some reason, his voice shaking slightly. Betty wondered if he was sick too.
"No, it's okay." The words coming out of her mouth weren't even hers. She felt like she was on autopilot. Betty lifted her head and her gaze stuck to Veronica. The urge to dive over and rip the girl's hair out was overwhelming. 'It was a shitty thing to do and I get that now.' She said softly. She glanced down at her hands covered in bloody half-moons. Kevin noticed automatically and mouthed what the hell?
Veronica's glare softened slightly, and she raised her eyebrows. 'Was that an apology, Cooper?'
Betty shrugged. 'I guess?' she started to say, but the latter half of 'guess' was drowned out by the sound of every beaker and glass in the sink shattering. Archie jumped backwards. At first Betty thought he had dropped them, but she watched in fascination as beakers lining the sink blew up one after the other, showering the group with glistening fragments of glass.
'What the hell?!' Veronica managed to yell. Jughead let out a hiss of surprise and ducked, before backing away. Veronica grabbed Archie's hand and the two of them stumbled into the line or desks. Betty unclenched her fists, and the commotion stopped abruptly, leaving the five of them to stare in bewilderment around the classroom, where broken shards of glass decorated every surface.
'What...' Kevin was the first to speak up, cutting into the silence which had been the five's individual shaky breaths. 'Just happened?'
'Okay, hands up.' Jughead said shakily. 'Who's got X-men powers?'
Betty felt the lacerations in the flesh of her palms. Her head was spinning again. Was Jughead Jones sort of on to something? Was it her that had made those containers explode? Betty had been so invested in the exploding science equipment she hadn't realised the pain in her head was gone, the pulsing in her gut. Her vision was back to normal.
Betty started to move forwards to get make a quick getaway, but she cringed when her shoe crunched through a severed beaker head that had been tossed across the classroom. Kevin knelt down and studied tiny pieces of broken glass littering the floor. 'How is this possible?' he murmured. He shakily reached out and picked up a shard, before wincing. 'Ow!' he dropped the glass automatically and laughed nervously. 'Stupid thing spiked me.' he muttered. Betty watched as a scarlet droplet appeared on his index finger. Kevin wafted it, irritably. Then she looked up and noticed both Archie and Jughead's heads had snapped towards Kevin- towards his bleeding finger. It wasn't curiosity or amusement like she expected. When she looked at the two boys, their eyes were fixated on Kevin's cut and nothing else.
'I'll get you a bandage.' Veronica said, oblivious of the way the two boy's had stiffened. She wandered over to the cupboard by the basin and opened it up, pulling out the health and safety kit. Then she grabbed a roll of toilet paper and wet it under the faucet. The girl turned to Kevin as she ran the water, her manicured fingers clutching the wet rag under the stream. 'Do you mind if it's cold water? I don't think we have-'
And then everything exploded. Well, not exactly. In Betty's mind, anything logical, normal and mundane splintered, like the glass still decorating the floor. At the exact moment Veronica Lodge collapsed onto the ground with a yell, Jughead Jones let out an inhuman snarl and leapt across the room at Kevin Keller. Archie, following swiftly behind. Kevin backed away slowly. 'Betty?' he whimpered.
Though for a second Betty's focus was only on one thing. Veronica had landed on her front, her expression a mixture of shock and horror. Her dark hair was no longer sleek and perfect, instead it was damp and tangled in her face. But that's not what set Betty's heart into a frenzied motion. It was the fact that the girl now sported a long, bright blue fish tail, that flopped as the girl struggled to get up.
Scared of water. Betty saw the girl's file in her mind. The different notes and psychological exams. She couldn't seem to stop staring, until Veronica, having gotten over her initial shock, gestured wildly to the door. 'Shut it!' she squeaked. She seemed too shocked to say anything more coherent. Betty wasn't going to say it, but her mind was screaming the word. The mythical creature that wasn't real. Wasn't suppose to be real. Yet here she was in modern America, staring at Veronica Lodge, who was a real, actual living and breathing-
'Can you stop staring?! The girl snapped, making her jump. 'Shut the fucking door!'
Mermaid.
'O-okay,' Betty darted to the door and slammed it shut before Kevin's hiss rang out. 'Betty!'
Veronica whipped her head around, and let out another shrill squeak. Betty saw it too. Well, she saw a lot of things, but her mind was too busy re-reading Archie and Jughead's files.
Jughead Jones. Her lips mouthed his name, but no sound came out. He doesn't eat. She memorised a note found neatly stapled to his record, from his father. It simply said that he had a rare eating disorder meaning he could eat barely anything.
The dark haired boy seemed to be stalking towards Kevin, his mouth open, two shiny white glistening fangs protruding from red lips twisted into the smile of a carnivore. His eyes were a blazing red. The lazy stoner boy was gone. In his place was a real, actual fucking-
Kevin had backed into a desk and was trembling. 'It's okay,' Jughead murmured, his voice sultry and soft. 'I'm not gonna hurt you, Keller.' Though everything about the way he was moving, stalking towards his prey, said otherwise. Betty had seen them on TV and films. She had read about them when she was younger. But now she was staring at one. Jughead Jones, the lonely stoner-writer with a rare sweet smile if you were lucky to catch it.
Vampire.
It was too much to take in, and Betty was too afraid to even go near the boy. Instead her frightened gaze was already on the second kid, who had let out an almighty growl when Jughead had claimed Kevin as his dinner. The red-head had let out a whine, before scratching irritably at his head. But then Betty saw his eyes, like Jughead's. They flashed a different colour. Not red, though. Instead Archie's eyes was a dazzling orange that illuminated his iris, almost as if they were on fire.
Archie Andrews. Anger problems. Betty remembered how he had stood, fists clenched, the occasional growl escaping his lips or rumbling from his throat.
'What's-' The red-head staggered away from Kevin, his gaze still on the boy's bloodied finger. 'What's happening to-' but his words morphed into a startled cry.
Betty watched in quiet horror as the boy fell to his knees and let out an ear shattering scream. Archie's football Jersey was torn from his shoulders in streaks of blue and gold strips, his back arching and contorting as his expression twisted with pain. Betty started to see the change. His whole body contorted, limbs flailing. Jughead's comment from yesterday finally hit her; 'You smell like wet dog.'
Betty would have laughed if it what she was looking at wasn't so horrifying. Archie's mouth started to curve into a snout, and his legs gave way. She shivered when he let out another scream of agony that ricocheted around the classroom. Just like the others, he was supposed to be fictional. He was supposed to be a legend dating back centuries.
Werewolf.
Betty could only stare at the mermaid still struggling on the floor, the vampire closing in on Kevin, and the werewolf screaming and flailing curled up, as his bones cracked, his neck snapping. Betty's heart dropped when the boy let out another whine of agony.
'Archie!' Veronica was yelling. 'Oh god, are you- are you okay?!'
'Does he look okay?' Jughead turned away from Kevin, still with that animalistic grin.
Betty was definitely right about something not being right about them. But her mother's words from this morning resurfaced in her mind, and she found herself staring at a jagged piece of glass at her feet. 'When it happens, Betty. Try not to be frightened, okay?
Oh. She thought, the very same second Jughead Jones turned back to his prey and pounced, knocking Kevin to the floor and straddling him. Betty clamped her hands over her ears, squeezing her eyes shut when the sound of his teeth ripping into Kevin's jugular, as well as her best friend's agonised cry slammed into her.
Archie let out a very human howl of pain that rattled her ears. He had stopped mid-way through his change, and was lying on his front, panting. His torn jersey hung off him in tattered rags. He was covered in sweat. Archie lifted his head to stare at her, his brown eyes wide with terror.
Betty couldn't concentrate. Jughead was sucking the life out of Kevin, and she couldn't move. Her mother's words continued to echo in her mind.
'Elizabeth, I think it's time for me to tell you about-'
Oh.
