[A/N: Thank you so much to Shiva the Sarcastic and darKitty for reviewing! You have no idea how much I appreciate it. This chapter's for you!

[Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Archie Comics (sadly), but I do own Hattie.

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"Jughead… earth to Jughead…"

"Huh?" Jughead blinked as his best friend waved his hand in front of his face.

"Man, you're out of it today," Archie chuckled and settled back down in the booth. "What's up?"

"Nothing," Jughead swished his soda straw around his glass while staring at the plastic tablecloth.

"Yeah, right," Archie stuck a fry in his mouth. "It's never 'nothing'. You always have something to say."

"It's nothing, Arch."

"Okay, okay. It's nothing. Hey, did you meet the new girl yet? Harriet James or something like that."

"Hattie George."

"Yeah, that's her. So you did meet her! She's something else, eh?"

"Mmhm."

"Funny. Smart. Really cute. And great legs…"

Jughead shoved his glass aside and stood up quickly. "I'll be back, I've got to... to use the little boy's room." Then he strode across the room and disappeared inside the men's room, leaving a gaping Archie Andrews staring at his retreating back.

Safe on the other side of the door, Jughead leaned against the sink and let out a shuddering breath. What was wrong with him? Archie always talked about girls that way. So why was it bothering him so much?

"Hattie's just a girl," his whisper echoed in the empty bathroom. But thinking of the way her nose wrinkled when she laughed, how her curly hair tumbled softly around her shoulders, those green eyes… he realized that she wasn't 'just a girl'. He was attracted to her.

Jughead looked into the mirror and frowned. But what did it matter? He'd always been the goofy sidekick, the good friend but never the 'more than'. He sighed. That was always Archie.

He turned the doorknob and walked back out into the Chocklit Shop. So why even worry about it? Archie would get Hattie, and if not Archie, somebody else. Jughead Jones, dating a girl…willingly? No one would take him seriously.

The bell above the front door tinkled as it opened, and Jughead glanced towards it. He did a double take as he realized that Betty, Midge, and Hattie were walking through the door. Jughead froze.

Hattie caught his eye and smiled. "I guess you beat us here, after all," she said as she walked by. She paused mid-step as Jughead opened his mouth to reply.

"Yeah, looks like it." Brilliant, Jug, just brilliant.

"We took the long way, I'm told. It's just such a gorgeous day outside!"

Jughead nodded. Hattie looked at Betty and Midge, who were beckoning her over to their table. "Well, I guess I'd better go sit down. See you."

"Okay," Jughead berated himself inwardly for not having made better conversation. This girl did strange things to the connection between his brain and his vocal cords.

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Hattie slid into the booth next to Midge. "So, what's good here?" she asked.

"Everything's really good, but we usually just get burgers and fries," Betty said. "Want us to order for you?"

"Sure," Hattie discreetly peeked over at Jughead, who had sat down across from a red-haired boy at a booth across the room. As Betty ordered three burgers and three milkshakes, Hattie replayed their meeting in the hallway from earlier this afternoon in her head. She smiled. Poor guy. Not the nicest way to meet someone.

Their burgers arrived quickly, and the three girls dug in hungrily. As the food disappeared, Hattie decided to dig up some information.

"Hey, um, do either of you know that guy over there?" Both Midge and Betty turned to look where Hattie had indicated.

"Archie?" Midge asked. "Betty can tell you all about him, can't you, hun?" Betty had a look of distaste on her face and started to speak, but Hattie quickly interrupted.

"No, not the red-haired guy. The other one. Jughead."

Midge and Betty looked at each other, then stared at Hattie. "You… you want to know about… Jughead?" Betty asked slowly.

"Yeah. Is he… seeing anyone?"

The two girls burst out laughing, then laughed even harder at Hattie bewildered expression. "What?" she asked.

"N-nothing!" Midge sputtered and wiped the tears from her eyes. "It's j-just…"

"Jughead doesn't date," Betty said. "He, well, just doesn't."

"He likes food more than he likes girls," Midge added.

"He's the one guy that our boyfriends don't mind us hanging around with alone, because they know that he'd never try anything, anyway."

Hattie didn't know what to say. Betty grinned and patted her shoulder. "Never mind. You just didn't know about Riverdale's token he-man woman-hater." That set Midge into hysterics, and Betty joined her. As her two friends continued to giggle, Hattie gave a half-hearted chuckle.

"Oh well," she said. "Plenty of other fish in the sea, right?"

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"But I don't want any other fish!" Hattie said aloud to herself in her room that night. "I want thatfish." She flopped down on her bed and smiled dreamily as she remembered Jughead's brown eyes locked onto hers. At best guess, he was probably around six foot two or three, which meant that Jughead towered over her tiny five-six frame. "Perfect," she sighed.

She sat up again and snorted. Hattie, come on. You heard Betty and Midge. He can't be the one for you.

But as she started to get ready for bed, Hattie couldn't shake off the feeling that maybe they were wrong about him. Maybe. "Hopefully."

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"…and the animals of the Amazon rainforest will be the topic of your next assignment," Miss Grundy scooped up a stack of outlines and started passing them out. "You will have to write a fifteen-hundred word report -" The glass groaned collectively. "- on the animal of your choice. And yes, Mr. Andrews," she said without turning to look at Archie. "The animal does indeed have to be an inhabitant of the rainforest."

The students sitting around Archie snickered, including Archie himself. Jughead, however, was distracted by the fact that Hattie's curly hair was piled on top of her head today. She looked like a Grecian goddess; all that was missing was the robe. And possibly a spear.

"Now, I will be separating you into pairs for the research portion of this assignment. This is an experiment, but I believe that sharing the research will help you better understand your topic, as you will have someone to discuss the topic with," Miss Grundy flipped open her plan book and began listing off the pairs. "Midge Klump and Moose Mason."

"Figures," Archie muttered to Jughead. Jughead smiled lightly as Miss Grundy continued.

"Archie Andrews and Betty Cooper. Jughead Jones and Hattie George. Veronica Lodge and Reggie Mantle."

What?! Jughead's eyes shot open as he realized that he hadn't been imagining things. He looked towards Hattie, who was busy scribbling on a sheet of paper. As he watched, she quietly tore the page out of her notebook and folded it in half. Then she dropped it on the floor and ever so slowly slid it towards him with her foot.

When Miss Grundy wasn't looking, Jughead leaned down and snatched the paper up. His heart was racing as he unfolded it, and when he did, he was greeted by the sight of a grinning smiley face. Yay! was the only word on the page.

Jughead's mind raced as he felt a grin spreading across his face. He looked up at Hattie again, and when he did she flashed him a smile and a thumbs up. Jughead picked up his pen and tore a piece of paper from his notebook. Then he took a deep breath and wrote, My house after school?

He folded the paper into a tiny square and flicked it so that that it landed right on Hattie's desk. She jumped a little when the paper landed, and sent a smirk over her shoulder. Unfolding the paper, she turned her head and nodded.

Jughead sighed and leaned back in his chair. This was turning out to be a wonderful day.

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Veronica Lodge was fuming. How dare she mess everything up? How dare she? It had been perfect: Veronica had always been paired with Archie, no matter what the assignment, leaving Betty paired with Jughead and Reggie leftover. But with Hattie entering the mix, the pairs had been completely rearranged.

Veronica frowned and rubbed her temples with perfectly manicured fingertips. This would never do. Not if she planned on keeping Betty away from Archie, anyway. That Hattie girl needed to learn her place around Riverdale High. Or else, who knew what else might happen?

I did not spend the last three years of high school carefully constructing the perfect school hierarchy to have some curly-haired bimbo tear it down, Veronica thought angrily.

She glanced towards the bimbo in question and was startled to see her grinning. Veronica followed her eyes to…Jughead? Jughead Jones?

Veronica sneered. Well, that was interesting. The bell rang and Veronica stood and began slipping her notebooks and pens into her Prada bag. She watched as Jughead and Hattie left the classroom together, and then smiled to herself.

I can work with this, she thought.

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[Uh-oh! What's that scheming Veronica planning?? Read and review please!