'I think many of us, maybe the entire town, had been hoping against hope that somehow Jason Blossom hadn't drowned on July 4th. That we'd come to school Monday morning and there Jason would be. Or that we'd see him and Cheryl at a booth at Pop's. But that was before the undeniable, irrevocable fact of his bloated, water-logged body, a corpse with a bullet hole in its forehead, and terrible secrets that could only be revealed by the cold, steel blade of a coroner's autopsy scalpel, or the telltale beating of a guilty heart.'

I know mine isn't the only guilty heart in Riverdale but right now, seeing Archie at his locker down the hall, it's a guilt that I can assuage. My guilt stems from thinking that maybe I didn't do enough this summer to reach out to my friend. Maybe he was going through something and would have shared if I had tried a little harder.

So I make good on my promise to myself from yesterday at the river and try to bridge this gap.

"Hi," I come up behind him and he startles a little, turning to face me. I'm not sure what to say so I go with what comes naturally to me, humor. "Do you think I can use Jason Blossom's death as an excuse to get out of PE? "Sorry, Coach, I'm just too depressed and freaked-out right now to do pull-ups.""

Instead of the light chuckle or murmur of agreement, Archie levels his gaze at me, "don't joke about Jason Blossom"

"What. Sardonic humor is just my way of relating to the world." And I thought you'd laugh, but okay. This is not going as planned, maybe it was a mistake to reach out. Time to bail, just gotta find … ah, perfect. The Riverdale Bulldogs. "Look, it's the rich kids from The Goonies. Alright, I'm out."

And maybe I'm right to back down because when Weatherbee gives his announcement about Jason's death, Archie starts acting weird, like he's guilty about something too. And suddenly I can't help thinking how he bailed on our July 4th road trip, how he had started acting differently a few weeks leading up to it, and how he's definitely been acting weird since the holiday. Does he know something about what happened to Jason? Did he... no, he wouldn't do anything like that.

Confronting him about it later that day does nothing to reassure me that he's not hiding something. Especially after I hear him questioning Cheryl about her brother right after our 'talk' in biology.

I'm still thinking about it at the start of lunch as I'm walking to the long-deserted Blue and Gold office to work on my book in peace. So I don't notice right away that Betty Cooper has burst through the side doors right next to me until we crash into each other.

"Hey, watch- oh, Betty," that's when I notice the badly contained tears just starting to slide down her cheeks. "Whoa, hey, what's wrong? Are you okay?" I reach out a hand to steady her since we were both unprepared for that collision, but let go quickly.

She sniffs quietly, "Jughead? Oh yeah, I'm fi- I'm … well, no, I'm not fine." She chokes back a sob on the last word and my heart throbs painfully. I shoot a look through the doors and see Archie standing halfway between the school and their lunch table, Weatherbee talking to him.

Okay, I swing my gaze back to the blonde, so this is Archie's fault again. Betty swipes at her tears, looking uncomfortable. "Do you wanna talk about it?" I ask quietly. When she shakes her head, sniffling often, I slip my pack off my shoulder and rummage through it. "Alright, I understand. Here," I pull out one of those little packs of Kleenex, crumpled up and mostly empty but still clean, and hand it to her, "take this and might I suggest the Blue and Gold office? It's always quiet there. Better than a bathroom breakdown." I give her a hesitant smile.

She returns it with a watery one of her own, taking the tissues, "thanks, Juggie."

Juggie

My heart squeezes again. She's the only one who still calls me that.

Well, I guess I have to find a new writing spot for today. Not that I mind, giving up my peace to help Betty is a trade I'd make any day. I watch until she rounds the corner into the office before pulling my headphones out of my bag and slipping them on. I plug in my phone as I'm heading upstairs, looking for an empty classroom or something.

That's when one piece of the Archie puzzle falls into place. I pass the music room, looking in the window to see if it's vacant. When I see people I start toward the next door before realizing it's Archie, standing incredibly close to Ms. Grundy. Too close. I move in closer, pulling my headphones off to hear better. They're not saying anything, they're not even really touching, but it looks too intimate. This is weird.

Is Archie with Ms. Grundy?

And just as I come to that conclusion, she tilts her face up to his, their lips meeting. Oh my god, they are together. This explains so much but also brings up a lot of new questions. What the fuck, Arch.

I have to talk to my old friend.

"Jug, what's up?" Oh, don't pretend to be so innocent.

I get up off the Andrews' front porch stairs, "What's up is I saw you, Archie. In the music room. With Ms. Grundy."

He rushes at me, pointing to his house, "keep your voice down, my dad's inside."

"I'm trying to help you, dude. I'm trying to be your friend here. Even though we're not anymore." doesn't hurt to throw a little guilt in there. "How long? You and Grundy"

"Since the summer." And there it is. Explains at least part of why he ditched me. "I like her."

Jeeeeez. I scoff, turning away from him, too grossed out to even look at my once friend. Time to get some answers though, so I gloss over the gross part this conversation implies and ask, "Si I'm guessing she's the reason you've been acting weird since summer?"

"One of them."

My stomach drops. ""One of them?" There's more?" Come on Arch, don't have anything to do with Jason's death.

"We were at Sweetwater River on July 4th," okay not looking good "We heard a gunshot, the gunshot."

Better, not good but better than killing him. "Dude, you have to tell somebody."

"I can't." Why the fuck not. "Neither can you. If people find out about Grundy..."

Really? You're trying to protect your pedophile teacher/girlfriend right now? "A kid is dead, Archie! And you're worried about some ..." don't say pedophile "some cougar?" That sounds better.

"Don't call her that." I could call her a lot worse. Or I could call her the police. "Okay, she's not like that, she cares about me."

"Stab in the dark. I'm guessing she cares more about herself. She's the one who's telling you not to say anything, right?" And your silence speaks volumes. I try to level with him, get a little less hostile. "Look, I saw you guys. She's messing with you, man. And she's messing with your mind."

"What the hell do you know about it, Judhead? Or about me, even?"

Wow, okay. Who's fault is it that I don't know much about you lately. It's not like you know anything about me either, pal. Calm down, Jug, yelling at him won't make him see reason any better. Let's try something a little different. "Nothing. But I used to know this guy once, Archie Andrews, he wasn't perfect but he always tried to do the right thing." I turn to leave, abandoning everything else I wanted to ask him about since I'm not getting anywhere.

He stops me, an arm thrown out to catch my elbow, "Jug." I sigh heavily, sensing he's about to do something stupid. "If you tell anyone about this..."

Really? You're threatening me? Seriously, Archie, is that what we've come to? Lame threats that I don't think you'd ever be able to make good on? But hey, what do I know about this new Archie Andrews "What? What are you gonna do?"

We stare at each other intently, me waiting to see what he'll do next when his dad breaks the tension, stepping out onto the porch to ask if I want to eat with them. Of course I'm hungry and want Pop's but I can't stand to be in Archie's presence a second more if he's gonna act like this. So I'm glad when Archie makes up the excuse that I'm leaving so I can just bolt.

Is there even any hope left for our friendship now?

The next day at school, everyone is talking about Jason and wondering who shot him. During free period, I make the colossal mistake of staying in the student lounge. I just wanted to see if Betty was okay but I couldn't make myself go ask. Too much time and distance between us? Too scared to talk to the one girl I've always liked? I don't know.

What I do know, staying was a mistake. Reggie is going off about how if anyone from Riverdale High killed Jason it would be me. Wow, so original and funny, Reggie, blaming the outcast kid. What makes it worse though is that Archie is right there, at the vending machine next to me. I actually shoot him a dark look when he glances over at me. Archie used to put these guys in their place for me. Or at least tell them to stop and then we'd go eat outside. He's. Just. Standing. There. Face turned to the floor, pretending nothing is happening.

Fine, I don't need him.

"What was it like, Suicide Squad?" terrible movie. "When you shot Jason? You didn't do stuff to the body, did you? Like … after?"

Really, accusing me of necrophilia? Because I wear a lot of dark colors. Why is everyone in this town such a damn cliché? Jock harasses nerd. Other jocks go along with it. The wheel turns round and round and nothing changes.

So I insult his intelligence and he lunges for me, hurtling over the couch. Shit, I can't fight. But this is when Archie finally decides to step in. I guess I should be grateful.

"Did you and Donnie Darko do it together?" at least it's a better movie reference. "Was it some sort of pervy, blood brother thing?" We'd have to still be friends for that to work but way to put that brain to work finally.

And suddenly there's shoving and punching. Shit, I don't know how to handle this. Luckily, the other guys on the football team pull them apart. I can see Reggie got in a good hit to Archie's eye. It's already swelling up.

I know he mostly did it for me, so I guess I feel bad about it. Archie was (-is?) my friend. I don't want him to get hurt. And doing that kind of proves he wants to still be friends, right? I think it's worth it to find out.

So even though it's totally out of character for me, I decide to go to the football game tonight. To see Archie's first game, to see Betty as a River Vixen, and to hopefully talk to Archie about this stuff.

I get there a little later than most of the crowd, preferring the side of the bleachers over trying to fight for a seat with the masses. I see my red haired friend in a huddle with the rest of his blue and gold clad cronies. He breaks off though and goes over to where Ms. Grundy is standing. They have some kind of heated exchange. I can only hope he's telling her to buzz off.

Suddenly he looks up and seems to zero in on my presence. He glances at her again before heading my way.

"Girl trouble," I joke, when he gets within hearing distance, "you?"

"Grundy and me," he starts, looking a little uncomfortable. "We're telling Weatherbee. At least, I am." Good job, Archie, finally doing the right thing. "And also, I didn't mean all that crap I said to you. I'm sorry." He says it simply and sincerely. I can't stay mad. Archie may do a lot of stupid crap, but he's my friend and he's trying to do the right thing again. That's enough for me.

"It's cool." He stands there, staring at me like he's waiting for more. "we're not gonna hug in front of the whole town," I laugh. "So why don't we just do that bro thing where we nod like douches and mutually suppress our emotions?" Gotta lean on that humor. Can't let people know you really feel things, Jones. I almost roll my eyes at myself, so fully incapable am I of being serious in positive emotionally charged moments.

"Yeah, but as friends, right?" He looks so hopeful.

"To be discussed. Over many burgers, Over many days." He smiles and nods, walking back toward the mass of shoulder pads. I can't help the grin on my own face as I watch him go, glad to have my friend back, for real.

I watch as he goes and that's when I get my first image of Betty Cooper in her new River Vixen uniform. It sets off a very conflicting storm of emotions. Pain and pleasure war for dominance in my mind. Pleasure because she is so pretty and my feelings have in no way diminished by not being close to her. Pain because she is too shiny and perfect for someone like me. More pain when she reaches out a hand to touch Archie's black eye. Even when he hurts her, she still wants him. Totally not fair.

I've gotta ask Archie what went down between them last weekend.

After the game, Archie finds me and says we should start discussing our friendship over burgers. I agree, laughing, and we start walking to Pop's which isn't too far from the high school.

He keeps up a steady stream of chatter, avoiding all talk of Ms. Grundy, which is fine with me, on our walk. I'm hoping he'll just tell me what happened with Betty and I won't have to awkwardly ask and come up with a reason for why I want to know. But when has my luck ever been good.

"-so then we went to the dance and it ended badly but now we're okay, I think? But that's not the only thing I've been-" That's really all you're going to tell me about our mutual friend and your big fight? Uh uh.

"Wait, what even happened with Betty. You never told me why you were looking for her at Pop's that night of the dance." Please don't ask why I want to know. Please don't ask why I want to know. Please don't-

He gives a little, embarrassed cough, "well, Betty told me she wanted us to be a couple at the dance," I snap my head to look at him, nearly giving myself whiplash. She did what now!? "And, you know, I don't feel like that about her." I don't know why not. "So then we all went to Cheryl's after party and I kissed Veronica and it was all really bad. That's when I saw you that night."

"Wow, Arch, that's pretty bad," casual, light, joking. Hide the very real curiosity.

"Yeah that's not even the worst part, man. I went to her house and told her I don't feel the same and that I'm not good enough for her" It's not you, it's me? Real nice, Arch. That line tooootally works. "Come Monday, she said we were fine but then I played everyone this song at lunch and she got real upset and bolted." That must be when I ran into her in the hall.

"So you guys aren't on good terms or...?"

Sighing, he shrugs, "I'm not sure. Ronnie said to give her time but I don't know if we'll ever be close again." He shrugs again, looking genuinely upset.

"You guys will be fine. I know Betty, we've all been friends our whole lives, she'll come around." I just hope when she does it will be without any romantic feelings for him. Pop's looms up before us, neon and bright in the darkness. "I mean," we push through the doors, "if I can forgive you-" as we turn to our usual booth, we see Betty and Veronica sitting there already. My stomach swoops, as it does every time I see Betty unexpectedly. The pink lights from the Pop's sign shine through the windows, giving her hair and skin a rosy glow.

Archie and I stop dead, unsure if we should approach them. Betty turns to her companion and then back to us. In a small but resolute voice she asks if we want to join them. YES!

With my success in rekindling a friendship with Archie, I want to do the same with Betty. I was stupid to ever turn away from her.

"Yes," I saunter over, breaking the tension by pretending there isn't any, "but only if you're treating." I hop into the booth next to the new girl, who introduces herself. I reply but I hardly care as Betty gives me a big smile.

Archie doesn't understand how lucky he is.