A big thank you to those who've decided to follow the story! I really appreciate it! My efforts have not been in vain!
Now this is exactly like a Seth Rogen movie, Jughead reflected as the booming sound grew louder for every step he took closer to the frat house. After a short trip on the bus, Jughead had arrived on the other side of town. He knew he'd arrived at the right place as he could see several frat houses aligned one after the other and a whole lot of college students walking about at such a late hour. One of the houses stood out of all the others. It was like any other large house, it vaguely reminded him of the Andrew's household, only larger. All the lights were turned on, the students were walking in and out, some stationing themselves on the lawn, others by the garage.
Jughead could imagine the excitement of most of the guests attending the said party but he just slowed down his pace, the entire place making his blood grow cold. Even the funeral at Thornhill mansion was no match for the horrors that waited for him at the Beta Alpha Omega frat house. It's like being at a party filled with Reggies and Mooses, only drunker, larger and far more confident… Memories of his birthday party returned and did not help his confidence. Do this for Betty, he told himself as he arrived in front of the house. Do this for her.
"Entering the belly of the best, yet again." He whispered to himself as he looked up at the house.
Walking into the front lawn, Jughead looked around to see if he could find the girl Oliva first. It occurred to him on the bus that Betty had forgotten to mention how this Olivia or Jeremy looked like. With a quick search on his phone, Jughead managed to find a picture of Olivia since she worked at the college newspaper but nothing about this Jeremy except that he was gay. Like a needle in a hay stack.
A bunch of guys were sitting on the grass with a bong and several beers looked up at him, muttering between themselves. Jughead avoided any eye contact, fearing to become easy prey. He thought he managed to avoid the problem when one of them called out to him.
"Hey!" A blond-haired guy holding a bong called out at him. He smiled goofily, clearly high.
Jughead bit his lip and turned to look at the group of guys. "Yeah?" He tried to say nonchalantly.
"Dude, can you like, show us your shirt?" The blonde asked curious. Jughead gulped. His bully barometer was not detecting any hostility from the group. Frowning, he opened his jacket, feeling the need to oblige to these stoners, revealing the shirt in question. "Cool shirt." He said before his friends nodded their heads and returned to their illegal consumptions.
Jughead looked down at his famous S shirt and then at the guys again before he frowned and walked in the house, wondering what the hell that was about.
The music booming in his ears, Jughead's eyes opened wide in uncertainty as a swarm of college students were buzzing around the frat house, talking, laughing, drinking and dancing eagerly. Feeling a drop of sweat falling down his back, Jughead's mouth turned dry as he wondered how in the hell could he find two people in question. Fighting the "this was a bad idea" thought out of his mind, Jughead pursed his lips and searched the room with his eyes, wondering where to start.
The house, like a regular school, was separated according to different social groups. He could notice the drunks playing whatever drinking game on the dinner table, the cool kids sitting on the couch, either talking, making out or dancing to whatever music that was booming in the sound system. He looked at the stairs and could see several couples sitting neatly, many eyeing the bedrooms upstairs. Now which place would bring the whole population together? He searched the different rooms before his eyes landed on the copious amounts of food in the kitchen… The kitchen! Of course! Like a watering hole in the savannah or an oasis in a desert! Where else would you get your beer, chips, pretzels or slices of pizza!
Deciding it was probably the best place to start, Jughead went to get himself a slice of cheesy pepperoni pizza and chose a discreet corner by the fridge. People came by, grabbing what they needed and leaving to another part of the house, very few paying any attention to his presence.
Jughead was getting slightly bored as time passed on, getting nowhere. At least, from what he overheard, most of the campus was undergoing midterm exams and the major discussion of the night seemed to be the difficulty of these said exams. Their eagerness to get drunk and forget all their hard work in order to have fun was quite present as the alcohol consumption was at an all-time high.
Jughead was considering moving on to the pool to see if anyone had anything better to talk about when several girls appeared in the kitchen, attacking the food and alcohol. They caught Jughead's attention as they were seemingly talking about some assignment about ethics in journalism. Bingo! He thought to himself as he nonchalantly took another soda can from the fridge and kept busy drinking its content.
"I swear Olivia said Mr. Pollock was going to have a question on that!" A black girl with red weaves sighed as she drank a long sip of beer. "She warned me but did I listen to her? No!" She shook her head dramatically, earning some eye rolls from her two other friends.
"Don't be too hard on yourself, Sky." A brown haired girl with glasses said, patting Sky on the back. "I'm sure you'll do fine."
Sky huffed and gave a sharp look at her friend. "Agnes, it's worth 40 percent of the semester, if I fail, I'll have to bust my ass for the rest of the semester."
The three girls kept talking and Jughead was certain that they were mentioning the same Olivia that Betty had talked to. Knowing what must be done, he took several steps towards the group. The three girls turned towards him, observing him coldly.
"Eh, hi." Jughead said a little too nervous. "I'm sorry to interrupt-"
The black haired girl, Sky, put her hands on her hips, frowning unimpressed. "I don't think you're interrupting anything." She said harshly. "You've been standing next to us, eavesdropping quite openly for the last couple of minutes."
Jughead was slightly taken aback and was already preparing a long speech for Betty about how this was the worst idea she ever had but then he thought about how she would have been disappointed by the lack of progress in their search and then took back his little speech. "Okay, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that, well… I sorta did but not for the reasons you might think." He replied, more honest as he leaned back against the kitchen counter. "I'm just looking for someone and I think you might know her. Well, actually, I'm looking for two people. Olivia?" He paused and looked hopeful. "Do you know her? She's in the journalism program or so I've heard… Or maybe a Jeremy?"
"Olivia and Jeremy are best friends." Sky replied, the harshness replaced by curiosity.
The girl in the middle and the one with the glasses looked at one another before smiling. "Oh, you're looking for Jeremy are you?" The girl with glasses said playfully, observing Jughead closely. "Yeah…" She turned to the other girl and whispered eagerly.
Sky stared at Jughead, considering what he'd just said and for a moment he felt like he was in an American Idol episode, waiting for Simon to bite his head off.
"What do you want with them?" Sky asked, taking a step closer, breaking away from the other two girls.
Jughead sighed, fixing his beanie. "I just need to talk to her about something, something that we've lost, can we leave it at that?" He muttered, exasperated. "We were meant to meet up at the party…"
Sky rolled her eyes and broke into laughter, pulling her cellphone from her purse, punching in a few keys. "Just relax kid, she's always talking to random strangers… I guess that's the perk of working for the school paper..." She stepped back. "I just sent her a message, oh, I'll go get her, she's by the pool." She said as she looked at her phone. "I'll be right back."
Sighing in relief, Jughead imagined a little victory dance in his head as he felt gaining a slight momentum. Perhaps finding Lucy would end up being much simpler than he had imagined. He thought maybe sending a message to Betty, letting her know but didn't want her to hurry more than she had to.
What he was unable to handle however was the ever-constant stare of Sky's two friends. The girls were still standing there, studying him intensely and whispering rapidly between one another.
Feeling the bully rally coming on, Juhgead was preparing himself for whatever insult that was about to be sent at him. He was hoping he could avoid that type of shit in college but obviously it seemed intent on following him wherever he went. Sighing inward, he leaned back against the counter, hoping Sky would return with the mysterious Olivia.
The girl with glasses cleared her throat and turned towards Jughead, being pushed on by her other friend. "So, Emilia and I were wondering whether you were interested in Jeremy since you asked for him." The girl said eagerly, her eyes glittering hopeful.
Emilia came over and smiled kindly at him. "The thing is, Jeremy just broke up with Anthony, and you're sort of his type. He needs to get over that loser and you might just cheer him up." The girls looked hopeful at Jughead.
Not knowing whether to be mortified or flattered, he took a deep breath. "Oh, eh, okay." He said nervously. "Thing is, I have a girlfriend, no offense to Jeremy."
Emilia and the other girl lowered their heads, disappointed before they shrugged, knowing their gaydar had probably been proven faulty tonight. The girls with glasses took a drink from her beer and looked at him with renewed interest, smiling sweetly. Jughead frowned, wondering what the hell was happening right now.
"My name is Agnes." The girl with glasses said sweetly as she took yet another swig from her beer, her eyes locking with Jughead.
"I'm Emilia." The brown hair girl said, smiling as she scooted up and sat on the kitchen counter, followed by Agnes. "So, how have mid-terms been for you…?"
"Jughead, my name is Jughead." He said, slightly uncomfortable at the sudden niceness from these college girls.
"Jughead?" Agnes repeated, the word sounding weird as she said it. "That's an interesting name. Is it short for something?"
"Something like that." He replied.
Emilia shrugged, tossing her hair back. "Well, its original and a lot better than Tallulah or Ezequiel."
"Ezequiel?" Agnes laughed. "Yeah, okay, Jughead is better. So how were mid-terms for you, Jughead? Pulled all nighters?"
"They were all right." Jughead lied, not knowing what would make things less worse. "I think I did good."
"Really, then you must be a brain." Emilia scoffed, unimpressed. "From what I've heard, everyone's been struggling. I remember hearing that Riverdale college is trying to upgrade their standard. They don't want to be considered like a small county college anymore… Not that they'll ever become an ivy league school… I mean come on! There's a reason why kids apply there…"
Jughead let the girls do most of the talking, asking anything to keep their attention away from him. They seemingly believed that he was a college student like him and treated him as such. Agnes and Emilia also appeared genuinely nice and despite finding it awkward to speak to total strangers, Jughead strangely felt at ease. His faith in humanity had slightly increased. Perhaps he could survive in college, he thought, a small wicker of hope lighting in his chest.
Suddenly a girl entered in the kitchen and went right over to Emilia and Agnes, the sudden cackling erupting into high gear. The girl just emitted an air of confidence and sassiness that simply reminded Jughead of Veronica Lodge. The girl dressed very similar to his raven acquaintance and even the manner she spoke made him wonder whether Veronica had a long-lost twin somewhere… Remember to not get those two together, he thought wisely, wondering what horrors they could accomplish once united.
"Miranda, hi!" Emilia cooed as she gave her friend a hug. "You came!"
"Of course I had to come, I couldn't have missed the party for the world! How are my girls doing? Where's Sky?" She said with a southern accent.
"She went off to get Olivia." The three of them went on to talk quickly and animatedly. Jughead's ears began to rang as the ranting and laughter reminded him of a chicken coop. He'd hoped that Sky would come back now, as soon as possible, he was tempted to run to the swimming pool only to escape the cluckering that surrounded him. Then he heard his name spoken and the three girls were now staring at him.
Miranda stared at Jughead from head to toe. Her light brown eyes surveyed him intensely showing a sudden interest in him. "Since when are suspenders back in style?" She asked as she looked at his pants and the suspenders hanging down his legs and then looked at his head. "And a freaking beanie shaped like a crown… Interesting… Hmm, I'm seeing several layers of clothes on you, are you like wearing your entire wardrobe?" Without waiting for an answer, she walked up to him and touched his S shirt, his flannel shirt and then his jacket. She dared to lift his shirt and look underneath, seeing his white tank. Having enough of this unwanted physical observation, Jughead pulled away, straightening his clothes while he noticed Agnes and Emilia laughing quietly.
Miranda's eyes widened as she stepped back and put a hand on her chest, her cheeks reddening. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I'm in the fashion line, and I'm always looking for new inspiration. I usually get up close and start dissecting interesting subjects when they pop up in front of me…" She said apologetically. "It's a bad habit."
Jughead leaned back against the counter, slightly embarrassed. Was he going to explain to her that his wardrobe is mostly chosen from thrift stores and hand me downs from his dear old dad?
The raven haired girl smiled embarrassed and introduced herself as Miranda Cane. "I have to say, Jughead, I really like your style. It really brings out the broody, angry Donnie Darko look without going totally goth or grunge, sort of like a modernized grunge. I don't know you but you are so owning your clothes. I can see that they say a lot about you…"
"Eh, thanks?." Jughead said, fixing the beanie on his head. "I don't really know what to say, I just pick clothes for necessity." He explained without wanting to elaborate. "I'm not a big fan of colour."
"So I've noticed." Miranda nodded. She clapped her hands and looked at her friends who were following closely, intrigued. "Girls, I have been officially inspired! Jughead, thank you."
"You're welcome?" He muttered, looking towards the pool, hoping he could escape the pesky eyes of a Versace wannabe. Still no sign of Sky or Olivia. Growing warmer for every minute, Jughead thought of taking a small break by pretending to go to the bathroom but Miranda was still staring at him, touching the fabric of his clothes, inspecting him yet again while ranting to Agnes and Emilia about getting an idea for her class's fashion show. She pulled out her phone and started taking pictures.
"No offense, Miranda, but I'm not really the type to stand around and model." Jughead said annoyed, straightening his flannel shirt for the nth time and covering his face whenever she pointed the phone at his head.
"Nonsense." She scoffed as she straightened his jacket, smiling sweetly at him. "I really think I've found the next trend here. The dark angry broody bold black look. And a beanie to top it off." She stepped forward and made an attempt to grab his beanie but Jughead saw it coming and quickly stepped away, grabbing her hands.
"I'm going to have to stop the manhandling with the beanie." He said, letting her hands go then pointing at his head. "That beanie is sacred."
"Miranda, leave the guy alone." Agnes chuckled as she finished her beer and got handed a dark coloured shot from Emilia before they both drank it quickly, grimacing at the strong taste. They pointed at their friend and giggled. "I think you've violated him enough for one day." Agnes slurred at Jughead. "We're really sorry, Jigsaw, she is just so imposing sometimes. She really means well."
"I've noticed." He replied dryly as he followed Miranda, making certain to keep a step away from her in case she'd get handsy again. He didn't mind the polite talk but being dissected like this from a complete stranger was a bit too much. He made his mind up and thought of leaving for good. If she insists on checking me up some more I might just strip down instead and give her my clothes just to shut her up, he thought wisely. "Look guys." He said, trying to sound polite. "It's been nice talking to you but I think I'll go check out the pool, maybe I can find Olivia by myself."
Miranda, her expression suddenly falling, took a quick step forward again and grabbed his arms, practically pressing herself on him. "Oh please Jughead, I really think I've got something here. Please stay." She said, a sudden desperate look in her eyes.
Jughead, annoyed by the unwanted contact, tried to push her away but found that the tiny girl was just as strong as Betty.
"What the hell is going on, Miranda?"
Hope you guys liked it! I'm basing all college parties from teen movies so sorry if its overexagerated! Its pretty damn fun to write though!
Anyways, last chapter is coming up very soon! Thanks to all of you who are taking the time to read this, appreciate it!
