A bit of a lower chapter in this one, I hope you guys still enjoy.
When she woke up the next morning, Betty went back down to UCLA to sign the papers to officially sign up for her course. Because she was a transfer and she already had such a good record at paying back her student loan, there hadn't been too many hoops that she had needed to jump through to sign the contract, although there had still been a moment of mild panic when she saw the amount that she was signing for, including her living allowance. But it was nothing compared to the ones that she had been facing if she had ended up going to law school like her parents wanted, or even to the one that she had drawn down for her pre-law degree. So she sucked in a deep breath and signed the papers.
Afterwards, she went by Kevin's work and waved the contract and papers in his face, and he had taken her out to get coffee and waffles, insisting that waffles were a celebratory food, and it didn't matter what time of day it was. So they had binged on waffles, which were completely covered in chocolate sauce, fresh raspberries and strawberries, and Betty freaked out about the classes that she was going to be starting in just a few short months, and Kevin told her all about Joaquin. It turned out that Joaquin did want something more from their relationship than just the physical, and even though Kevin hadn't come home until after midnight the night before, they had only gone to a movie and then gone to a nearby pub to get something to eat. They had talked, and the only physical contact had been the pair of them holding hands and the kiss that Joaquin had give Kevin at the end of the night.
Betty went home after because Kevin had needed to go back to work and budgeted out how much money she was going to need for new clothes, since she was going to need to spend her days in more than just sweatpants and a tee-shirt. It wasn't that she didn't used to have a lot of clothes, it was more that she had only packed one bag when she had come to live with Kevin, and she had no idea what had happened to one's she left back in New York. A lot of the clothes had been ones that she had brought while out shopping with her mother, or that her mother had sent her, and they just weren't the type of thing that she liked to wear, so she had left them all behind.
The next day, Betty was making breakfast when her phone rang, an unknown number flashing on the screen.
"Hello?" Betty asked tentatively.
"Betty, it's Gladys," Jughead's mother spoke jovially down the line and the blonde blinked, confused as to how she had gotten her number. "Now, I just wanted to give you a call to follow up on our discussion from dinner the other night." Betty felt her heart jolt in her chest, wondering if Gladys was about to say that the job had been taken, or she had only said that because she wanted to be nice while Jughead was around. "They want you to come in today, just so they can meet you, for you to get a feel for the place and sign your contract."
"Right, of course," Betty tried to ignore the way her stomach squeezed so tightly that she she felt like she was going to be sick.
"Sweetie, don't you start stressing out," Gladys told her, her voice soothing. "Jenn is a lovely woman, and she has been doing this for a long time. She has taken on a lot of girls who are still going through University, and I believe that there's two girls there who are probably about your age."
"Right," Betty repeated, nodding to herself. Gladys laughed, but not in an unkind way. She gave Betty the address and also the phone number for Jenn Muggs in case she got lost on the way. "Thank you," Betty said quickly before they ended the call. "I know I said this the other night, but thank you. This means a lot."
"No problem, hun," Gladys reassured her before ending the call. Betty took her phone away from her ear, and was torn between staring at her phone—still in disbelief that all of this was happening—and wanting to bounce up and down in excitement. She called up an uber, just because she still didn't confidently know her way to walk or take the bus around, and nervously got in, tapping her fingers against her bag, which was in her lap. The uber driver was thankfully quiet, and didn't try to start any conversation as they drove, allowing her to get lost in her thoughts.
The day care was painted bright yellow, with red and blue splashes of colour, the sign in big, white writing. It looked happy, and cheerful, and she could hear kids yelling and laughing as she paid the driver and approached the building. There was a high wooden fence with an outside lock, to ensure that none of the kids managed to get out and make a break for the road. Betty unlocked it and let herself inside, walking toward the front door.
"Hey," came a cheerful voice was a beautiful, dark skinned girl with curly brown hair. "Can I help you? Are you looking at enrolling your child with us?"
"Wh—oh, no," Betty laughed nervously as she turned to face the girl. "Um, my name is Betty, I'm here to see Jenn Muggs? Um—" she swallowed as she tucked her hair behind her ear nervously. "I think that—"
"Oh, right!" The girl smiled. "Betty. You're starting with us soon, right?" Betty blinked in surprise before nodding. "Yeah, absolutely, she's in her office at the moment. My name is Val, by the way. Well, technically it's Valerie Brown, but I go by Val."
"Hi," Betty grinned, relieved that she knew at least one person, and that person looked welcoming.
"Follow me," Valerie Brown said as she turned on her heel and walked into the daycare. There were a couple of kids sitting on a mat, playing with building blocks, a couple of other kids who were painting at a low table, and then there were double doors opened up to the back area, where there was a sandpit and a playground in the middle of the grassy area. The kids all looked happy and content, one little girl with bright red hair singing nonsense as she twirled around in circles. Betty smiled before turning her attention back to Val, who was leading her down a hallway. "Hey, Jenn?" Val knocked on a partially closed door. "Betty's here to see you."
"Yes, absolutely, send her in," Jenn Mugg's said from inside, and Betty swallowed down her nervousness as Val grinned at her and pushed the door open. Betty passed by her with a quick smile and the older woman got up from her seat, reaching out her hand to the blonde. "Hi, Betty. My name is Jenn."
"Hi," Betty took her hand and gave it a shake before sitting down in the beside Jenn's desk. "I, uh, I just wanted to start by saying thank you. I know that this was a favor for Gladys, and you had never even met me but I won't disappoint you, I—"
"Betty," Jenn cut her off with a warm smile. "You've got nothing to be nervous about. Gladys is a good friend of mine and she said that you would fit in well here." Obviously Jughead had talked her up quite a bit, since this job had been secured before she had even met Gladys. "Now, you will, of course, start with a three month trial period, just to ensure that we're all happy. Do you know what hours you'll be doing at your course? Because we will need to work out your schedule around those..."
It was so easy.
It was too easy.
The plan that she had in place for herself, that her parents had in place for her, had sounded so long and hard. Maybe it had also felt that way because it was something that she didn't want to do. It just felt like it was going to be a chore.
This felt good.
Betty stayed for almost an hour, and only the first half hour was spent talking about the job, the second half was spent talking about Betty—Jenn said that she wanted to get to know her better. She asked what Betty had been studying, what had prompted her move from New York to Los Angeles, although she seemed to know when she had brushed on a touchy subject, because she backed off before asking why Betty had changed her mind around her degree. Jenn also spoke about herself, that her daughter, Ethel Muggs, had been working there before moving away with her husband. Before she left, Jenn also introduced her to a couple of the other workers; Val, and then three older woman, Carol Mitchell, Annabelle Brighton and Kerry Peters. They all seemed like nice people, and Val whispered as Betty left that she was glad that there was going to be another younger girl around again, since Ethel left.
Betty stood outside for a few minutes, just taking in some deep breaths as she processed everything that had just happened. She began walking up the street, in the direction that the taxi had come from, and typed Kevin's address into her phone, knowing that it was close since it had only been about a ten minute drive. It looked as though there was a short cut that she could take, through a nearby park, and she figured that she could come this way any time she was working there. It would be cheaper than getting a taxi or a bus. The sun was warm on her cheeks as she skimmed through her contacts and tapping down on the one she was looking for.
"Bets," Jughead greeted her when he picked up the phone.
"Jughead, hey," Betty smiled. "So I just went by the daycare...They all seem really nice."
"Yeah? That's good," Jughead answered.
"Hey, so, Jughead? I was thinking..." she trailed off as a dog ran past her, clearly free from it's leash as the owner shouted and chased after it. She grinned before continuing down the cobble-stoned pathway that curved it's way through the park. "I was thinking that you should tell me your name."
"Oh really?" Jughead let out a short laugh, obviously surprised at her request. "I thought I told you—that's fiftieth date material."
"Yeah, well, I'm thinking that you should just tell me know, since I already know there's going to be fifty dates," Betty pulled her lower lip into her mouth, sucking on it hard as she hoped that she hadn't crossed a line. Jughead was quiet for a beat before responding.
"Promise?" He said, his tone playful, and Betty couldn't help but break out into a smile.
"Well, I really like your mum and sister," she told him, laughing a little. "So I think I might stick around." Jughead laughed softly, and her heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest.
"Forsythe. Forsythe Pendleton Jones—the third."
Soooooo? What'd you guys think? Leave a review, make me happy, tell me what you enjoyed, what you disliked and let me know if you want a review :)
Alright, so...My favourite songs haven't really changed, I'm still pretty much listening to The Greatest Showman soundtrack, literally on repeat four times in the weekend. I also fell back in love with Love Me Now by John Legend —that man honestly has the voice of a God and I'm completely head over heels in love with his wife —and also For You I Will by Teddy Geiger, which was one of my favourite songs when I was a teenager. Another one I really like is Stronger by Inna.
TV show wise...Happy! is fucking incredible and so is Black Lightning. Another one I watched the whole first season of in a day was Beyond, although it's not as good as the other two. Not bad though.
I haven't really seen any new movies...Although I'm ridiculously psyched for Black Panther.
Let me know songs, fics, TV series, I love hearing what you guys are enjoying! Look forward to hearing from you beautiful people xx