Between Episodes 1x04 and 1x05: Betty finally opens up about Polly
"I have been so unfocused lately!" Betty shouted, putting her head in her hands and slamming herself into a chair. "I can't think of a single new thing to write about that has anything to do with Jason's murder."
Betty had been in a state of anxiety since entering the room about 20 minutes ago. Actually, if Betty was being honest with herself, she had been anxious for days. Everything terrible seemed to be converging at once and her ever present composure was breaking.
"It is not like there have been any leads to follow." Jughead said, trying to comfort her. "Nothing new has really been discovered in the last few days."
"Still. I wanted this newspaper to be a force of good. To get the real story out there. To actually help figure out what happened to Jason Blossom!" Betty exclaimed, getting up from her chair and beginning to pace.
"It is a force of good, Betts." Jughead proclaimed. "But what else can we do? We and the police have hit a roadblock."
"That's not good enough. I need answers!" Betty says, pacing faster. She could hear the panic in her own voice, unsure how to shake it.
"I need answers too." Jughead explained "A murder mystery novel is not quite the same if it is unsolved."
Betty knew Jughead was just trying to help, but despite his efforts, she was feeling worse.
"But you have time to figure it out. I don't!" she shouted, staring at Jughead now. "It could take years to find Jason's killer and it would not matter to you. But I need to know as soon as possible."
"Hey..." Jughead said, standing up and blocking the path she was pacing.
Jughead and his therapeutic 'heys'. He hasn't had to yet, but Betty felt like the way he said "hey" could talk someone off a ledge.
Betty takes a deep breath and looks at him.
"What's going on? This isn't about Jason." Jughead asks.
Betty felt immediately defensive.
"Of course it is." Betty claimed feebly. "Finding out who murdered Jason is important."
"It is not just about Jason." Jughead reasoned. "What else is it about?"
Betty sighed. How long had this been preying on her mind? She had thrown herself into this Jason Blossom murder investigation with one goal. It's never been exclusively about Jason's killer for her and Betty knew that.
She hadn't told anyone. People knew that Polly was gone, but they didn't know the whole story. Even Betty didn't know the whole story. The residents of Riverdale had no idea just what had happened to her sister and she knew he parents wanted that fact to remain true.
But Jughead wasn't just another resident of the town. He was one of her best friends. He was her partner in running the newspaper. He was her teammate in trying to solve the mystery of the death of Jason Blossom. Betty knew she could trust him. Jughead would never judge her or her family. And right now, Betty needed some of his personal brand of honesty and realistic expectations.
"It's about Polly." Betty told Jughead, closing her eyes as she leaned against his desk and sighed her confession.
"You never talk about your sister." Jughead noted, moving from behind his desk to sit next to her.
Betty shook her head, her hands reaching to grab the edges of the desk to avoid clenching her fists.
"How can I? I don't know what is going on with her." Betty admitted
"What do you mean?" Jughead asked, his eyes filling with concern.
"I haven't spoken to her since Jason Blossom disappeared." Betty confessed.
Jughead looked surprised, but not in any way that made Betty regret telling him.
Betty sighed. "I haven't told anyone that."
Jughead looked quizzically at her "Not even Veronica?"
"Nope." Betty said, shaking her head. "I am not sure she or Kevin or Archie would understand."
Betty wasn't sure why, but she felt like Jughead would understand.
"Where is she?" he asked.
"I don't know that either." Betty admitted, feeling herself close to tears. "I am the worst sister."
"No you are not." Jughead reassured her. "Your mom has siblings, she has to be the worst sister."
Betty let a giggle escape, but it didn't stop the tears from coming.
"She was hospitalized not long before Jason's murder. But my parents won't tell me anything." she explained, wiping her tears away as she did. "They won't tell me what she did to get hospitalized, where she is, or how she is doing."
Betty allowed the next round of tears to roll across her face. She had spent so much of her time holding back. Betty hadn't wanted people to know just how out of the loop she was when it came to her sister. She wanted to be like her parents, confident and in control. But Betty wasn't in control. She felt like everything in her life was controlled by forces she couldn't fight against.
"Betty, that is harsh." Jughead replied, his face sympathetic.
"And I miss her." Betty continued, wiping her tears "I miss our family. She was home for me and my home is gone."
Jughead nodded.
"Why haven't you said anything before?" Jughead asked, his voice much gentler than usual.
"Because I wasn't sure how to without falling apart." Betty admitted unintentionally. "As you can see, I was not able to do so."
"It's ok to fall apart." Jughead told her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Especially over this."
Betty nodded. She wanted to agree with him, but she couldn't allow herself to do so. Her mother had always told her that the Cooper women must be strong at all times. Vulnerability is weakness and weakness impedes goals. If she fell apart over Polly, she would be no closer to finding her. She needed to be strong. But right now, she didn't feel like she could be. She needed to be weak, even if it was only for a moment.
"And I don't know how this logic works," Betty continued. "but in my head I thought if I could figure out what happened to Jason, maybe Polly could come home."
It sounds insane. Betty thought to herself. Jughead is going to think I am crazy just like my mother and my sister. He might not want to judge me, but if it is right there in front of him, how could he pretend he doesn't see the insanity of what I am saying?
"It's not the most logical thought process." Jughead admitted, removing his hand from her shoulder and moving to stand in front of her.
"But the last time you saw Polly, she and Jason were happy and together. It makes sense that the two would be connected for you."
Jughead made it sound so logical. So easy. Betty felt relief flood through her veins. She had picked the right person to break down with.
"I want my family back together, Jug." Betty confided in him.
"I know. I can relat….really understand that." Jughead told her.
Betty knew there was more to that, but she wasn't in quite the right emotional place to change focus.
Later. Betty decided. I will ask him about that later.
"I just wish we could put everything else off and really focus on Jason Blossom." Betty told Jughead, wiping away the last of the tears away.
"We should." Jughead agreed.
"What?" Betty questioned.
"We should. And we can." Jughead told her. "The Variety Show is coming up. We can send a couple freshman writers to interview the Pussycats and other potential acts. Maybe ask another one if they would interview a teacher for that Teacher Spotlight thing you did with Grundy."
"That was a fake interview." Betty pointed out.
"But a good idea for a school newspaper.' Jughead retorted. "Ask Kevin to vamp a little in the gossip section and that is at least two issues we can abstain from."
"You know, we are not supposed to know that Kevin is the head of the Gossip column." Betty explained, "It is supposed to be anonymous."
"I cannot think of a single person that doesn't know it is Kevin." Jughead added
"Kevin." Betty said, struck with an idea.
"What about Kevin?" Jughead replied, looking very confused by Betty's sudden change in mood
"His dad was working on a murder board!" Betty exclaimed
"Yes…." Jughead responded slowly, clearly still confused. "It makes sense that he would. But would Kevin have access to it? Wouldn't everything on it be confidential information?"
"Probably. If Kevin hadn't let it slip during lunch yesterday that his dad's murder board was stolen during the break in at their house!" Betty informed Jughead, the prospect of lead in the case brightening her spirits.
"Stolen?" Jughead said "So anyone could have it?'
"Yes. So the information is no longer confidential."
Betty wasn't sure if that was how it actually worked. But considering anyone in town could have the information, why shouldn't the people who want to help solve the case have access to it to?
"So Kevin could hypothetically help us recreate his dad's murder board and maybe from there we could get some more clues." Jughead concluded, excitement starting to enter into his voice too.
"Way ahead of you, Jug. Dialing Kevin right now." Betty explained, her phone already in her hands and her fingers barely able to keep up with her mind.