Chapter 7: Monster's hide

(Here it is, as promised. I will try to upload on Thursdays and Mondays but I might not always manage both. Anyway, as always, Enjoy.)

Jellybean was pissed. She sat in Science and spun her pen furiously between her fingers, annoying the students around her. She probably should be trying to make friends, not pissing people off on her first right now she couldn't care less. She sat through the rest of the class, half listening and left as soon as the bell rang. She stormed off in one direction, determined. But stopped when she realised she didn't know what she was doing. She could look for Jughead and press him for answers but she was too angry right now. She was angry because she knew there was something deeply changed in Jughead and she should have been there to stop it.

Jughead was pissed. Pissed that he couldn't talk to Jughead about the Serpents. He knew he should and he wasn't ashamed of being one. Never would he be ashamed again. He just knew she wouldn't approve and he'd have to face disappointing her. She'd looked up to him her whole life, wanting to be like him, he was her big brother and he just couldn't let her down.

"Hey, Jughead. What's wrong? Is it your sister?"

Betty asked from the seat beside him. He'd come into class late and had plopped down in the seat beside her and had sat with his head down for the rest of the class.

He nodded in answer to her question and pulled his beanie down his forehead a little.

"We bumped into Sweet Pea and the other Serpents. He called her a Serpent princess and I couldn't...I just couldn't tell her about being a Serpent and how she has a given membership and how I followed our father's footsteps. And how she might too. It's her choice of course and I would never suggest it to her but still. It's a slippery slope."

Betty thought for a moment before answering in a whisper,

"Tell her about joining the Serpents. Don't leave it for her to find out from the wrong person. Tell her. Tell her everything."

She said, knowing it wasn't going to be easy. Jughead nodded, already knowing that was the only way. But with no idea what was coming.

She didn't know what she was going to do about Jughead but for now, she would just go to class like a normal person. Like the normal students of Riverdale High did. She scoffed, Normal. Normal didn't exist in a town like this. Terrible things didn't happen like this. Terrible things didn't happen to normal people. Only to the messed up, the broken, the sinners, the innocent. But never to the normal.

She kept walking when suddenly Toni appeared before her and Jellybean blinked at the flash of a camera.

"Hey!"

Jughead said annoyed and Toni put her camera down.

"Sorry. Just wanted a picture of Jughead's sister who mysteriously returned. Mind if it goes in the school paper?"

She asked, snapping another picture. Jellybean shrugged,

"I don't care."

She said with a frown and Toni put her camera down.

"Hey, is this about the whole Serpent thing? Sorry about Sweet Pea, he literally has no filter."

She said smiling, the name ringing in Jellybean's head. Serpents. Serpent. Serpent.

"But we really are cool, once you get to know us."

Toni finished and smiled before turning around and walking away, leaving Jellybean more confused than ever.

Jellybean didn't see Jughead again for the rest of the day but she knew she would have to at some point because she had no idea where she was going to stay for the night. She'd scavenged the place for a nice, hidden spot she could crash for the night. So far the janitor closet was her best option.

As the last bell rang Jellybean picked up her stuff and left her class.

"So...how was your first day?"

Someone asked, coming up beside Jellybean, causing her to jump. She smiled as she recognised her as the cute girl from art.

"Decent."

She answered her question with a shrug.

"Sounds about right."

The stranger said before suddenly remembering something.

"Oh right, before I forget."

She said and pulled out a painting from under her arm, clutching the remaining four close to her.

"I believe this is yours..."

She said and handed Jellybean her painting. Jellybean thanked her and had another look at it. She looked at her painting of Jughead and the longer she looked at it she noticed her mistakes and how he'd changed. It didn't really look like him anymore. She realised the nose was out of proportion and his eyes weren't as big as she remembered. The redhead noticed Jellybean's displeased look,

"Hey, I think it's great."

She said and Jellybean looked up from her painting.

"Yeah thanks, I thought so too but now..."

She rolled up the painting and stuck it in her messenger bag, most of it sticking out.

"Now that I've seen him again after 5 years, it doesn't fit anymore. And it's out of proportion."

The redhead nodded understandingly,

"Memory is deceiving. Time even more so. But still It's a good painting, you should keep it. As a reminder of what you remembered of him."

Jellybean nodded thoughtfully.

"Yeah, I think I just might," she said and the redhead smiled, pleased with herself for helping the new girl when something suddenly occurred to her.

"Hey, I hope you don't mind but I was looking at your painting earlier. Is that the kid from the blue and gold?"

She asked and Jellybean looked at her in confusion. What was the blue and gold? Seeing her confused expression, the redhead continued,

"You know. The Serpent one."

She said and Jellybean heart stopped. She stumbled backwards, causing the other girl's smile to fall and be replaced with a look of confusion. No, she had to be wrong Jellybean thought. It had to be someone else, there must be another boy who could match the face in her painting. Who was she kidding? Of course, there wasn't.

"I'm sorry, did I say something wrong?"

The redhead asked concerned. Jellybean just stared at her, still wide-eyed, the world seemed to be closing into her, spiraling closer and closer together until it would crush her. Her breathing turned ragged and she did it again, what she always did when things got too hard. She ran. She stumbled back another step before breaking into a full sprint. Leaving the redhead to stare after her in surprise and feeling guilty. Had she said something?

Jellybean ran down the corridor and out the exit, squeezing passed students, looking for Jughead. She just had to find him. Had to ask him if it was true. Had to hear him laugh it off and call her silly for ever thinking it. Had to see if the mysterious redhead was right. The name once again ringing through her bones.

Serpents. Serpents. Serpents.

She didn't know what to think or do. She didn't even know why it bothered her that he was 'a Serpent.' But what did it mean?

Fear pooled in her gut at the thought that it might be a gang. Something much bigger than a group of High School friends. What had he gotten himself into? She feared the answer. Knowing it wasn't good.

She ran down the steps and into the parking lot, her eyes searching for his black beanie frantically. She had to catch him before he left. Her heart stopped again as she spotted him.

There he was, in the middle of the parking lot standing in a spot clustered with motorbikes. He had his back to her and couldn't see her from where she stood, frozen where she stood. He was leaning against a motorbike, a black motorcycle helmet under his arm and was talking to Betty Cooper who stood before him with a pink helmet of her own tucked under her arm, smiling down at him.

And there it was, staring at Jellybean menacingly, a green Serpent. It covering his back on his newly dawned leather jacket. She felt like falling to her knees as the sight of the twisted Serpent that brought back memories in painful flashes. She saw the jacket flung over a chair at home, saw her mother screaming at FP as she held the jacket up at him in disgust. She remembered FP coming home drunk out of his mind wearing that jacket. She remembered how she'd learned to fear it, that, as an eight-year-old, her father was a monster to her when he wore it, how she'd feared him but as soon as he took it off or wasn't wearing it, she thought he was her father again. That he loved and was fixing his family.

She would always sigh in relief when she saw him without it and every, fucking, time she believed he would never put it on again. And time after time he did. Time after time she had to see him as the monster he was, the drunk, the murdering, haunted, broken monster he was. Time after time part of her broke as she saw him day after day wearing it. As time, after time he chose the Serpents over his family, over her.

But right this moment, the thing that upset her the most was that Sweet Pea had been right. She was a Serpent princess. In it by blood.

She convinced herself that it was her choice but was it? Had it been Jughead's choice? Would Jughead willingly join a gang that had destroyed their, her, family?

All those thoughts ran through her head as she watched him talking carelessly to Betty. She cursed herself for being such an idiot. That after she'd bumped into his gang and heard Toni's comment she still hadn't managed to put two and two together. She hadn't been able to figure out who Jughead was until someone had said it to her face. And still, she hadn't fully believed it.

It took seeing him in his jacket for her to realise who he was, how much had changed, how little she'd been there for him and how far off the rails he'd spun. Jellybean moved towards the happy couple, feeling numb and like she was in a trance. Betty tipped her head back, laughing at something Jughead had said and as she looked back down to Jughead she noticed Jellybean and her smile fell.

"Jughead?" Jellybean asked, sounding like an eight-year-old, Jughead turned around as his name left her lips, staring intently into her eyes. Jellybean's head filled with all the filthy insults she wanted to spit at him but she couldn't voice them. She couldn't voice her pain, anger and confusion. She just clenched her jaw and before Jughead could say anything, she walked away. Jughead knew he had to go after her and explain, but what could he possibly say? He'd prepared a few sentences in his head but seeing the pain in her eyes they all escaped him and seemed stupid, sounding like nothing but excuses. He got up and ran after her, grabbing her hand from behind.

"Jughead please…"

Jellybean said, pulling her hand away,

"Go away."

She whispered and his hope crumbled, there was no way she would ever forgive him.

"I'll go." Jughead said, respecting her wishes, "I get you don't want to talk right now but please. When you're ready, hear me out."

He said but she still didn't turn around, there was a long silence before she finally replied,

"Okay."

She whispered softly and walked away. Jughead watched her and sighed, it was more than he could have hoped for in this situation but it still stung. Only a handful of people accepted him and he prayed that she would too. He wasn't sure what he'd do if she didn't. He walked back to Betty who was waiting for him on his motorbike, she looked at him sadly. Hating that he had to go through this all over again with his sister. How he always had to fight for people to accept him. She approached him and cupped his cheek with her hand,

"It'll be okay, give it time."

She said and he nodded, grateful for her support and leaned further into her hand. She smiled at him before pulling away and pulling her helmet over her head, the newly painted on white crown shimmering under the bright glare of the sun. Jughead sighed and pulled on his own helmet, a matching crown scratched on his. He got on and Betty got on behind him, burying her face in the leather of his jacket as they sped out of the school's parking lot. And as Jughead lost himself in the speed of his motorbike and felt Betty hold on to him tighter than she'd ever done before he thought back to Jellybean, a single tear sliding down his cheek, unseen by anyone as it evaporates in the cushion inside his helmet.

Jellybean walked back into the school block and wandered around the empty halls without a destination in mind, determined not to cry. But as the flashbacks kept hitting her over and over again she couldn't help it. A sob broke free from her body and she stumbled, her hand slamming into a locker to keep her balance. But as the sobs kept breaking free from her she couldn't hold herself up and her hand slid down the locker. She let herself fall back into the locker, her back hitting it hard as she sobbed. She slid down the locker and fell to the floor, curling into a ball. She was so sick of the pain, of the people she loved being strangers, so sick of how lonely she was, so sick of being punched down over and over again, so sick of not being able to pick herself up again. She was sick of letting people down and her mistakes ruining people's life.

She was so fucking sick of crying.

Her sobs began to subside only the occasional hiccup breaking her even breathing as she calmed herself. Suddenly her phone rang, the sound unwelcome and too loud and urgent. She sighed, wiping her eyes and fishing her phone out of her bag. She sighed in relief at the sight of Kath's lopsided grin and happy eyes staring up at her as she opened her phone. She hit accept and brought the phone to her ear, pressing it close as she was desperate for the sound of Kath's voice.

"Hey, Kath,"

She whispered softly, afraid if she spoke any louder Kath would know of the tears she'd cried.

"Jellybean."

Kath said and Jellybean head snapped up at the desperation her tone, what was wrong? What had happened?

"Kath?"

Jellybean asked in concern, stumbling to her feet, suddenly on full alert, not sure what to do or what she could do from here. Was it her mother? Had she gone off the rails? Was everyone okay?

"Kath, what's wrong?"

She asked and held her breath as she heard Kath take in a shuddering breath.

"Jellybean it's…."