Between Episode 1x06 and 1x07: Jughead and Betty look for Polly
Jughead hadn't slept hardly at all. Not that he wasn't used to it by now, sleeping at a Drive-In meant sleeping uncomfortably and for a short period of time. But the most sleep he got the previous night was when he fell asleep watching a movie with Betty, which ended abruptly the moment her parents stormed in, demanding to know why he was still there at 2:30 in the morning. Betty tried to defend his presence there, but Jughead thought it best to just leave and make the process easier.
Once he had gotten to the school though, he couldn't stop his brain from racing. He had spent all night with Betty Cooper. Sure, it was mostly looking for her sister and trying to comfort her afterwards, but that wasn't all of it...
He had finally kissed her. He didn't know how long he had been wanting to do it, but once he did, it felt like he had been wanting to kiss her his entire life.
And she didn't recoil. Jughead thought with happiness. She didn't try to pretend it didn't happen and it seems like she might be feeling some of the same things I am.
But Jughead was trying not to get his hopes up. Holding hands when they were alone in her house hardly constituted a relationship. Not that he expected a relationship to form out of this. Honestly, he wasn't sure what he was getting himself into when he kissed her. All that he knew was once he did it, he wanted to do it again. But he wasn't going to, not until he was sure it was what she wanted.
One of the nice things about finally expressing his feelings to Betty was how it enabled him to finish his chapter about Polly. Since thoughts of Betty were keeping him awake, he had made quite bit of progress on his novel. Four chapters in one night had to be some kind of writing record for him.
It was 10 am and while part of him just wanted to crash on the Blue and Gold couch, he knew he should leave before the Riverdale Prayer Group showed up at the school. Jughead packed up his laptop and decided to make the journey to Pop's when he heard his phone ringing.
He was no longer as isolated as he had been this summer, but it continued to surprise him when his phone rang. And he surprised even more when Betty Cooper's name would flash across the screen.
Jughead smiled and picked up the phone. "Hey, Betts."
"Juggie, hi!" Betty voice rang through the phone, sounding both happy and confused.
"You sound surprised. Did you mean to call your other friend named Jughead?" Jughead responded, wincing when he called himself her friend.
"No!" Betty shouted. "No. I just assumed you would be asleep and I would leave a voicemail."
"Oh." Jughead replied, not sure what his reaction should be. "I can hang up and you can call back and leave me that voicemail…"
"No, it is just...didn't you once tell me that you never awaken before noon on the weekends?" Betty questioned
"I did." Jughead conceded. "But awaken implies falling asleep at some point."
"You haven't slept at all?" Betty asked, sounding concerned. "Why not?"
"Chapters don't write themselves." Jughead told her, patting his laptop. "Besides, I had a lot on my mind."
Jughead could almost hear Betty smiling through the phone.
"So, what's going on?" Jughead asked.
"What?" she responded, sounding confused.
"Early phone call. Are you asking me to come to church with you?" Jughead asked her sarcastically. It was not that he was opposed, but he could not remember the last time he had gone. It would have been before Grandpa Forsythe died.
"My parents want to go back to the Sisters of Quiet Mercy to search for Polly." Betty told him in hurry. She sounded as though she were nervous "We are going to leave after church. Do you want to come with us?"
Want to? Definitely. Should I though?
"Are you sure that is a good idea?' Jughead asked, knowing he was going to go anyway if Betty really wanted him to. "I mean, they weren't exactly happy to see me last night."
"Well, you didn't stick around long enough for me to finish my explanation. Once I explained that I asked you to stay and we just stayed downstairs and watched movies, my mom didn't mind." Betty explained.
"I am having a hard time believing that one." Jughead said, grabbing his shoes and a pair of dry socks.
"Seriously. I even told Mom I wanted you to come with us to search for Polly and she said it was ok."
"Huh." was the only response Jughead could come up with. Who body snatched Alice Cooper?
"So, will you go with us?" Betty asked, still sounding as though she were nervous.
"Of course." Jughead responded.
We aren't even anything specific and she still has me wrapped around her finger. Jughead begrudgingly thought
"Great!" Betty said, all nerves gone from her voice and sounding thrilled. "Um, where should we pick you up at?"
Jughead was instantly filled with panic before remembering that Betty would not think to look for him at his dad's trailer. She didn't even know his dad even had a trailer. Growing up, Jughead and Betty had spent most of their time not at school hanging out at either Archie's house or a tree house that Jughead built in the middle of a particularly woodsy part of town. Betty had never seen his home or even met his family.
He wasn't keeping his family from her per se, but Jughead's home life even at the best of times had its complications. His dad had been a mess in some way, shape, or form ever since he could remember. Her mother tried to hide it, tried to make things better for him and Jellybean than their circumstances allowed, but her efforts were in vain. Jughead didn't want anyone else sucked into the damaging nightmare his life could be. Especially not someone like Betty.
"Um, Jug? You still there?" Betty asked, Jughead not being sure how much time had passed since she asked the initial question.
"I was just gonna grab some coffee from Pop's and maybe some breakfast. I will just meet you guys at your house." Jughead told her
"Ok. I will see you in a little bit." Betty said, her voice cheery.
"Alright. Bye Betts."
"Bye Juggie."
They both hung up their phones and Jughead grabbed some clean clothes from his pack. Couldn't arrive at the Cooper house in the same clothes from the previous night.
A few hours and three cups of coffee later, Jughead arrived on the corner of Third and Elm. Betty was sitting on the stairs in front of her house, holding his jacket and flannel shirt from the previous day.
"Hi." Betty said, standing up and smiling.
"Hi." Jughead replied, walking closer to her, returning her smile.
The two stood apart for a few moments, just smiling at each other.
Betty shook her head and looked down at the clothes she was holding.
"Um, here. You left these here last night." Betty said, extending his clothes out to him.
"Thanks" Jughead replied, taking his jacket from her and preparing to stuff it in his more or less empty backpack along with his laptop.
"Oh, I probably should have waited to give those to you." Betty said, shaking her head again.
"Nah, it is fine. It is not as if these clothes are unfamiliar with a rough life in a backpack." Jughead said, then realizing what he said.
"What do you mean?" Betty asked, looking immediately concerned.
"Nothing. It is not important." he said, zipping up his bag and putting it back on his shoulder.
Betty looked like she was about to say something, but Jughead was not ready to have the "I'm homeless and living out of backpacks" conversation, so he decided to change the subject.
"How are you?" Jughead asked, looking at her with enough concern, hoping she would answer his question rather than ask her own.
"I'm fine." she replied, her voice betraying the lie.
Jughead looked at her, trying to put as much skepticism into a glare as he possibly could.
"At least I want to be fine." Betty told him, sighing. "I am just worried we are not gonna find her and something terrible is going to happen, if it hasn't already. She's alone and she's pregnant and I just feel so helpless right now."
Her eyes fell to ground. She seemed to be saying all the things she wanted to say since the previous night.
"We are going to find her." Jughead reassured her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Somehow, someway, we will get your sister back. I promise you."
Betty looked him in the eye and Jughead could see that she was trying to believe him.
When did I gain the power to change Betty's mind and why haven't I been using it all this time?
Jughead felt Betty's hand brush his and his heart felt as though it constricted.
"Betty, Jug-head, we have to get going." Alice shouted from the driveway.
Betty and Jughead both sighed as they stepped apart and walked over to the car.
Betty's dad Hal was already in the passenger's seat, reading the Sunday edition of the Riverdale Register.
Jughead opened the backseat door and waited for a moment. He had always held open doors for Betty in the past, but this felt different. It felt more personal. More than just something a friend did for someone they respected.
Betty smiled, entering the car and sliding behind the driver's seat.
Jughead followed her, sitting behind her dad, putting a seat belt on. He couldn't honestly remember the last time he had been in a car with adults. It had to be since before his mom left at the very least. So much had changed since then; he had changed so much since then. It was used to making it on his own to places now, no adults to count on to help him through. Riding with adults now felt different. Despite being there to help the Coopers find their daughter he felt like a child being punished.
Alice had gone over to the driver's side, started the car, and backed out of the driveway.
The first ten minutes of the car ride were silent. A welcome silence to be honest; if no one was saying anything, no one could say the wrong thing. But things like these never lasted.
"So, Bucket-head?" Hal started.
"It's Jughead, dad." Betty spoke up, looking over at Jughead with a look of apology.
"Right. Betty says the two of you work on the school paper together?" he said, not looking away from the newspaper in his hands.
"We do." Jughead said, trying to hide to skepticism creeping out in his voice.
"Very good. We can use more print journalists in the world." he said, sounding as though he had said that last sentence to million potential journalists. "Have you thought about what kind of stuff you would like to report on? Sports? Politics? Scandals?"
Jughead wasn't sure how to respond. He didn't consider himself a journalist. He worked on the Blue and Gold with Betty, but primarily he just contributed parts of chapters from his novel.
"Actually Dad, Jughead is a novelist." Betty said, sounding proud. "His work on the paper is primarily contributing parts of his novel."
"A novelist." Hal said, barely suppressing a laugh. "Don't find many novelists who are still in high school. You are still in high school, right?"
"Yes." Jughead replied, not sure what he was implying.
"Good. Cause you can never really know with kids like you." Hal said almost as though he didn't realize what he was saying.
Jughead felt his temper rising inside him. Hal Cooper was just like any other bully he had ever encountered, he just had a few more years and a few more brain cells than the average jock. Jughead never let Reggie Mantle get the better of him and he wouldn't let Betty's dad...
He's Betty's dad. Jughead thought, immediately feeling disappointed. I can't exactly argue with him. It wouldn't be fair to Betty to make her have to defend me. I'll stand down.
"Dad!" Betty shouted, her face instantly wrought with fury.
Although if she is gonna jump in and defend me herself...
"Hal," Alice jumped in, her voice calmer than her daughter's "Jughead has agreed to help us find Polly. There is no need to be hostile."
Jughead was shocked to his very core. Alice Cooper defending him? What on earth would make her do such a thing?
"I just don't understand why we are not letting the Greendale police handle this." Hal said, sounding as though he were preparing for a well rehearsed argument.
"Because we don't want anyone to find out about Polly...Jughead and Betty already know so between the four of us..." Alice started
"Between the four of us, what Alice?" Hal started.
Betty balled up her fist on the seat between she and Jughead. Jughead took it instantly without thinking. Betty breathed a sigh of relief as she moved to lace her fingers in his.
She looked at him and mouthed the words "I'm sorry" as her parents argued in the front seat.
Jughead shook his head at her.
He was not unfamiliar with the parental argument. He had spent most of his youth in cars, his parents screaming at each other. He wasn't expecting it of Betty's parents, but he honestly didn't know what to expect of her parents. He could have sworn a moment ago he saw Alice glance at their intertwined hands in the rearview mirror and smile, but he convinced himself it must be a trick of the light or she was just particularly happy about this point in the argument she and her husband were having.
Hal and Alice finished the argument just as they were pulling up to the Sisters of Quiet Mercy.
Betty got out of her side of the car and stormed in the opposite direction of her parents.
"Betty!" Alice shouted, starting to walk towards.
"Don't worry, I'll go look over there with her." Jughead told her, not sure why he felt the sudden need to reassure Alice Cooper of anything.
Jughead walked over to where Betty was, a small break in the trees where they had found some of Polly's blood last night. The rain seemed to have washed it away.
"Betty?" Jughead asked, placing a hand on her back. "Are you ok?'
"I don't know why it continues to surprise me that my parents are...who they are." Betty said, sounding as though she were holding back tears. "My sister is missing and my dad doesn't understand why we should be looking for her."
Betty walked through the trees, looking around for Polly. Jughead followed her, looking in the opposite direction
"He would rather break you down than know where his pregnant daughter is." Betty angrily stated. "I am so sorry Juggie."
Betty stopped and looked at him.
Jughead stopped too, less concerned about Polly at the moment than he knew he should be.
"I don't understand how you can...how you could..." Betty started.
Jughead didn't need her to finish her thought. She wasn't sure how he didn't lose his temper with her dad. If it weren't for his desire to not make things more difficult for Betty, he might have. But it was all more complicated than it seemed on the surface and Jughead knew that.
"I can handle criticism, Betts." Jughead reassured her, trying not to smile about her defensiveness of him. "Your dad isn't mad at me. He isn't even mad at Polly. He is mad that he isn't in control."
Betty nodded before she started walking around again.
"Polly said that when I last saw her." Betty said, continuing through the trees, looking for any signs of Polly. "She said they locked her up here because they couldn't control her."
"Then maybe her running away was not such a bad idea."
Betty smiled, then continued to look around. She suddenly started running towards a patch of trees near a creek. By the creek's edge, a piece of blue fabric dangled from a tree branch.
"This looks like it could have come from the dress Polly was wearing." Betty said, grabbing the fabric. "Do you think it could be hers?"
She handed the fabric to Jughead. He took it carefully and examined it.
"It could be because of all the rain last night, but this looks like it has been here for awhile." he told her honestly. "It is worth following up on though. Across the creek is another forest, right?"
Betty looked up. "Yeah, I think that is Eversgreen Forest."
"Might be worth looking into." Jughead told her.
"Betty!" Alice could be heard screaming in the distance. "You and Jughead need to come back to the car, immediately."
Betty sighed and the two of them returned to the car.
Alice stood by the car looking furious.
Betty looked as though she was ready to argue with her mother, but Jughead decided to step between them with the piece of fabric.
"Betty found this by the creek." he started, immediately questioning his decision to stand between them "We think it could possibly belong to Polly."
"It doesn't matter, Jug-head." Alice said, sounding defeated. "We have been asked to vacate the grounds."
"But why?" Betty asked, annoyed, stepping around Jughead to be face to face with her mother.
"Since Polly is no longer a guest of the home, our presence is considered trespassing. We were told under no uncertain terms that unless we wanted to call the cops, we were no longer welcome here."
"Then we should call the police." Betty said, pulling out her phone.
"Elizabeth Cooper, we are not getting the police involved in this!" Alice said, her voice coming out rushed and agitated.
"Why not?" Betty asked her
"Because Greendale is just a hop, skip, and a jump back to Riverdale where the walls have ears. We don't want people to know."
"To know Polly is missing?" Betty argued, her patience waning.
"To know Polly is pregnant!" Alice shouted, then glanced from side to side to make sure no one heard. "We need to contain this. No one outside of the people who came here in this car are to know about Polly or her...condition."
Alice reached out for Betty's hand, but she recoiled.
"It is getting dark anyway." Alice said, pointing to the sky. The clouds were heavy and the world was slowly graying out around them. "We will find another way to find her, Betty. Trust that we know what's best for you."
Jughead was having to suppress a laugh of sarcasm. It was his experience in life that parents, especially Riverdale parents, were not well practiced in knowing what was in the best interests of their kids.
Betty looked as though she was ready to come back with another biting remark when her father returned with a small box of what was apparently Polly's things.
"Let's go." He said, shoving the box in the car trunk, returning to the passenger's side.
It was a very long, quiet ride back to Riverdale. Betty folded her arms and stared out the window, making Jughead feel more isolated than he had felt in awhile.
Was she mad I tried to intervene between her and her mother? Maybe I shouldn't have, but I couldn't just stand there and let Betty be hurt by her mother's words.
Jughead spent a long time worrying about this, his thoughts only interrupted by a question.
"Where are we dropping you off, Jug-head?" Alice asked
"Umm, Pop's." Jughead said, grateful it was only a minute or so away. "There is a cheeseburger waiting for me."
"Very well." Alice said, turning onto the road that Pop's was at the end of.
Once Alice pulled up to the doors, she turned her head to Jughead.
"Here you go. Thank you for your help today."
"No problem." Jughead responded, not sure what help he had been exactly.
Jughead tried to look at Betty, to see if there was a way he could say goodbye to her without actually having to say the words in front of her parents.
"Actually Mom, I think I will stay and have a burger with Jughead." Betty said, unbuckling her seatbelt.
Jughead smiled. He was flooded with relief in knowing that she wasn't mad at him.
"Betty, I don't think that is a good idea." Hal started, but Alice looked over at him with hate in her eyes.
"It's been a long day, I think Betty deserves a little time with Jughead." Alice told her husband. "Don't forget your curfew."
