Have you ever played monopoly? The game that destroys friendships and causes rifts in families? Perhaps I'm being a bit dramatic, but tension was bottlenecking. Hiram Lodge had Boardwalk and Cliff Blossom had Park Place. Cliff was less than happy to come in second and both wanted the monopoly of the game-ending spot. Put up a hotel there and it's basically instant game over for anyone else who might land there. That's actually pretty messed up for a game designed to be played with children.
The point? I think Mr Lodge felt threatened by Mr Blossom. Who else would burn down his business? They discovered it was an electrical problem and Clifford was paid out handsomely, similarly to when Jason died (when you're that rich, I guess everyone gets life insurance), though my gut said somebody must have tampered with it. Nothing is how it seems in this town, not even me, so why should this have been any different?
I was trying to think of how I could investigate my theory further in first period when Archie walked in and sat beside me. He did not look good.
"Blahhhh I feel like death, Jughead. This is worse than that time I first discovered dad's alcohol stash." Ah yes, a night to remember for sure. You can't make me touch the stuff but Barfie here must have thrown up a week's worth of food during that hangover.
"I remember that, and yeah you look like a zombie. Afterlife with Archie Andrews anyone?" I teased.
"What, is that the name of your zombie friend-fiction? You know that's weird, right?" He laughed at me and lightly punched my shoulder. It was good to have my friend back.
"I wear the word weird like a badge of honor. You chose the wrong insult."
Archie was a bit more aggressive than normal and he was getting frustrated with his inability to keep up with the classwork not only as someone who was a week or so behind but just in general.
At lunch we all sat together but things were different, like the atmosphere or something. Archie held Veronica's hand and I rubbed circles into Betty's.
"Did something happen when I was gone?" Archie blurted abruptly. Betty blushed and looked down at her cafeteria tray.
"Betty and I..." God how do I finish this sentence in a way that is considerate from all sides?
"Juggie and I found comfort in each other during this hard time and it's just sort of blossomed from there."
I pulled her shoulders so the front end of her body would be against my chest and held her, kissing the top of her head. Subtility was gone anyways and I was thankful that she could word it so eloquently. It was a lot better than the fact that we made out right outside the hospital while our mutual friend was in a coma.
Our moment was broken by V. "Aren't they so cute together?" She held her hands together in glee, though I wasn't entirely sure it was because we were cute as opposed to Betty no longer competing with her for Archie's affections.
"Eh, I mean I was kind of prepared for this. I knew it had to happen eventually." Arch took a bite out of his sandwich.
"Wait what?" How did Archibald "Dense" Andrews see this coming?
"Well Betty is the only women in Jughead's world that isn't by blood but by choice, no offence Ronnie. It was just a matter of time until she became emotionally ready for him. I dunno, it's kind of a cliché, seemingly good girl ends up with the blooding bad boy with the secret heart of gold or something?" He took a bite out of his sandwich.
"Well, Betty, we had a good run but Archie said we're a walking cliché." I slowly removed my arms from her and winked.
"Oh yeah, we were on borrowed time anyways. Strictly an opposites attract trope. Nothing to see here, definitely no bonding over real things like oh I don't know, your bff and blood brother being in a coma in a ridiculously dangerous small town. It was nice and I'll forever treasure our time together, Jughead Jones. Let's stay friends?" She threw me a teasing smile and I loved her to bits for playing along.
"Nah, I'd just want more anyways." I leaned in and kissed her before we both excused ourselves to go somewhere a bit more private. I wasn't overly into public displays of affection.
She raced me to a tree and I smirked at her childish antics. She won and sat at the base of it, smiling up at me. I got down on my knees with her legs in between mine. I still towered over her, giving me a wonderful view of her face, red from jogging.
"God you're beautiful, Betts." I breathed but my voice sounded deep. I swear I could hear her heart flutter. I leaned down and kissed her. It wasn't dark and primal, it was sweet and I tried to put all my feelings into it, let her know this was real and not just hormones running wild or a cheesy stereotype. She smiled into the kiss and I think she got the message.
I was resting my forehead against hers, our eyes closed in sync with each other when the bell rang signalling the return to class. I threw my arm over her shoulder and we walked to class like nothing else mattered.
Bliss did not last long, however. Once class ended, Archie called out to me. Apparently he was feeling really sick and didn't want Veronica to see him like that. Guess that's not attractive. Whatever, Betty and I didn't have any plans on this particular night and I always thought there should be more male nurses in the world.
I was wondering if maybe we should have gone back to the hospital. He had really bad chills and his whole body ached with cramps and pain. It was so bad his hair stood on end like when you're scared.
In my panic, I called Betty over. She took out her phone and googled it. It took a while for her to sift through the it's cancer and you're pregnant (lol) but she finally found what she was looking for.
"They might have something to help ease his symptoms at the hospital but these are all withdrawal symptoms for fentanyl. The effects must not have kicked in until you woke up and somebody must have given you something to be manageable up till now. Looks like it's going to stay intense for a bit and then slowly go away over the next couple weeks."
"Weeks?! But I can't! I've missed so much already! Dammit!" Archie hit his fist against the wall and then howled in pain. "This is too intense and I feel like I'm craving something and I don't even know what it is but I have an itch for it and it's killing me."
"We really need to figure out whose distributing the drugs here. This is too much. Too many people have died or ended up hospitalized." I clenched my hands in frustration as I spoke.
"Plus once we solve this mystery it should exonerate your dad." Betty lightly touched my shoulder.
"Exonerate? What happened to FP?"