Last Day

When I woke up that morning, I looked over at the dresser. It would be the last day I would use that piece of furniture. My last day at Mom 2.0's house. The three-sided pin was staring me in the face.

Should I . . . ?

I grabbed my beanie and placed the pin inside the fold, tucked away, out of sight, near the other pins. Where I had kept it ever since . . .

I heard Mom 2.0 rap her knuckles against my door, so I turned to open it. She reached in to hug me and wish me well on my last day of school. I was stiff. I just couldn't . . .

But as she pulled away, I found that I could muster up one last parting gift from my heart for her. "You know what?"

"What Juggie?"

"Mom 1.0 sucked," I spat out. Her eyes widened a bit. Then I softened my tone. "The upgrade was much better. Needed. Thank you."

She almost started crying, but thankfully held it together until I left the room.

We drove the familiar route to Riverdale High in silence. I was done talking. I had said my piece. And now memories of what I had loved and lost came flooding back to me. By the time I got to the day it all started to unravel we were almost there.

"Juggie?" Betty had asked me, standing there at the door to the trailer as I tugged my Southside Serpents jacket tightly around me, feeling the easy fit with a smile.

I looked back at her.

It would be just mere minutes before we were alone again, our previous passion in the kitchen all but forgotten in the wake of her worry. She pleaded with me not to do this – not to just give up like this. And I promised her I wouldn't lose myself to the Serpents as long as she promised to never let me go. Yet still I had to –

"We're here!" Mom 2.0 smiled as bright and cheerily as she could.

I only grunted in reply, got out of the car, and slammed the door behind me. I stared up at the front entrance of Riverdale High, towering over me. My last day . . . Would anyone really even care?

I told no one what was going on with me. Not Archie. Not Betty. No one. I needed to cut all ties without generating any pity. And you know what? No one even noticed how quiet I was at lunch. How preternaturally quiet I was.

Betty might have tried to catch my eye at one point, but didn't bother to try again when I blatantly ignored her.

And then it happened. The scene in the cafeteria ignited by 'Miss Hiroshima' and 'Little Miss Nagasaki' blossomed before my very eyes.

Ethel was their target.

As soon as the two fiery cousins strutted into the room hand in hand, a chorus of moo's started up. Pretty quickly almost everyone joined in, even Kevin. I elbowed him harshly.

"Dude, what's your damage?" he protested.

"You're moo'ing at Ethel," I hissed.

"So?"

Unbelievable.

"Archie?" I turned towards my best friend. Betty sat beside him, her mouth open, horrified. I knew Archie wouldn't be one of the ones moo'ing, and I was right. He knew how despicable this was – what needed to be done here for Ethel. We both nodded at each other.

And then Archie sprang from the table, getting right up into Cheryl's face. "STOP IT. Stop it now. Shut your mouth, Cheryl."

I raced to Ethel's side.

"Hey," I reached out to her, but she jerked away, not looking me in the eye.

"Not now, Jughead." She looked close to tears. "Not now."

"Or else what, Archie?" Cheryl let out another enthusiastic moo. But at that point she was the only one still imitating a cow. Archie had effectively shut up the entire cafeteria within mere seconds.

"Don't do this, Cheryl. Angelica." The newest Blossom just gave Archie a dismissive smirk and looked away. "It's cruel."

"You know what's cruel?" Reggie Mantle called out. He crudely grabbed two pieces of mystery meat off of some random sophomores' trays. He held them up and came over to Ethel and circled her, like he was appraising her, nodding every so often.

I didn't know where he was going with this, but it knew it wasn't going to be good. With all the menace I that had learned to muster from spending so much time with the Serpents, I said lowly, threateningly, "Back off, Reggie."

The idiot ignored my warning.

"What's cruel is . . . " he just kept going and jiggled the pieces of meat, getting inappropriately close to Ethel in the process, and dropping them almost to the level of her thighs. I forced my way in between them to protect her. "I said, back off."

Reggie just laughed lightly and turned away from me to address the crowd instead. Holding the meat up in the air he continued, ". . . subjecting us to the sight of your thighs, Ethel."

He jiggled the pieces of mystery meat. "Look how much they wobble? It's disgusting. You seriously need to start working out there, old girl." He tipped his head back towards Ethel and winked. Angelica snorted while Cheryl beamed triumphantly. Like a freakin' vampire, she fed off this stuff.

Reggie continued, "And you really should cover them up better so we don't have to –"

My fist made contact with that cocksucker's hard, chiseled face before he could even finish that sentence. Like the true milksop that he was, he dropped to the ground instantly and didn't get back up. Archie had bolted to my side to assist me, but it turned out I didn't need him. I could definitely handle that prick all on my own these days.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Ethel bolt and I ran after her. And yes, I couldn't help but notice Betty's eyes following me out the door, too.

I caught up with Ethel in a deserted hallway. She was bent over and crying hard. And she hid her face from me as I approached. I surmised that she was too ashamed, too humiliated by what had just happened back there to look me in the eye. But I wanted to let her know that it would be okay – that she was okay – that she shouldn't be ashamed about what Reggie and the Blossoms had just done - they were just assholes. But I couldn't just say that at first.

"Ethel, hey. Come here." I took her into my arms and let her cry into my neck. I just held her and swayed with her for a bit, like a mother rocking a baby, even though we were almost the same height and she was bigger than me. Because absolutely none of that mattered. She needed to be nurtured right now so that she could recover. Just like I had needed nurturing my whole life but had been left out in the cold time and again.

Betty had been there for me – but it hadn't lasted. My relationship with her had been just another fool's dream. Too good to be true. Just like living with Mom 2.0. Oh, God, I hoped Ethel could heal. I squeezed her tighter and almost cried myself there for a second.

Ethel pulled away and looked me in the eye, "Juggie, what is it?"

"Nothing," I said, looking down at my feet. This was not the time to cry. Where was this coming from?

"Is it Betty?"

My head snapped up and I met her eyes in shock.

"No, Ethel. No, of course not," I stammered.

She looked at me as if she could see right through me – with complete understanding and . . . pity? She put her hand on my cheek and said sadly, wistfully, "There's no chance for us is there, Juggie?"

I didn't want to give her any shred of false hope. False hope was a soul crusher, I well knew. I took her hand off my cheek and said truthfully, "There never was."

The remaining light went out of her eyes.

Just then Mr. Weatherbee's strong hand encircled my neck and pulled me away from her roughly. "You're coming with me, Jughead."

Damn it, I hadn't wanted to leave it that way with her.