Chaperone

Betty was always such a good little girl, always obeying her Father and Mother, no matter the extreme they'd tended to go to. Her best was never good enough, even though she worked herself to the bone. Friends were scarce and the ones she had were not Parent approved nor appropriate company for someone such as Betty. Prim and proper, hair in a neat coif atop her head, she walked the halls of Riverdale High School with a facade so brittle she was liable to crack at any given moment.

When Southside High School was shut down due to deplorable and hazardous conditions, each honor roll student at Riverdale was assigned a Southside High transfer student to befriend and help transition into the fast paced learning curriculum. Nervous, Betty waited by the front office for her assigned peer, a name she'd heard on more than one occasion, a boy she was shocked still attended school at all. She had seen the boy several times at Pop's, on the rare occasion that she was allowed to have a singular sweet treat with the likes of Veronica Lodge, Archie Andrews and Jughead Jones. She found the boy intriguing; she almost said hello to him once, but he was so confident and he most definitely made her nervous from afar, how would she react when they had the rest of the school year for getting acquainted?

Heavy footfalls sounded from behind her, the clinking of metal accompanying the nearing sound of steel toes on tiled floors. Swinging around at the feel of a poke in her shoulder blade, Betty was greeted with the wide expanse of muscle covered by black t-shirt. Looking up, up, up, and into the deep eyes of her pseudo ward for all intents and purposes, Betty sucked in a sharp breath. His black eyes darted from her emerald eyes to her mouth, which had fallen open in awe. She had never felt such a zing in all of her life. With her heart hammering violently in her chest, Betty had forgotten how to speak, she openly gawked at him.

"You Elizabeth Cooper?" His eyes narrowed as he took her in. Judging her with every inch his eyes greedily took in. She was cute enough, but he'd never be into a chick so uptight. Not ever. Didn't mean he wouldn't be checking her out, she just wouldn't catch his fancy in a social way.

"Ye- Yes, please, call me Betty. Sweet Pea, it's a pleasure to meet you." She stuttered at first, then held her hand out to shake his, regaining her confidence.

"Oh, the pleasure's all mine." Winking at her, he took her hand and kissed the back of it. She stiffened almost instantly, not the reaction he was hoping to get out of her.

"Right. Do you have your schedule, I can show you around to your classes." Backing up a step, Betty felt the heat rise in her face, the flush evident over the apples of her cheeks.

"Straight to the point huh? Here." He said, amused by the splash of crimson that tinted her face. Handing her the slip of paper, he held onto it a bit, running his index finger over the back of her hand, the one his lips had grazed moments previous. Her eyes shot to his, wide and questioning.

"If you're trying to throw me for a loop, flattery will get you nowhere." Taking a deep breath through her nostrils, Betty realigned herself, she stood a little taller now. "Our schedules are almost identical, except for the required physical education class."

"Shocked princess?" A smirk tugged at his lips, allowing Betty to see just how confidant he really was.

"No, just surprised, you don't seem like an honors class type of guy when you're dipping french fries into your double chocolate shake at Pop's." The words left her mouth before she was able to think of the consequences for uttering them. Meeting Sweet Pea's surprised and amused look, she handed him back his schedule.

"So you noticed me huh?" Taking the folded piece of paper between thumb and bent finger, he let his remaining free fingers glide over Betty's palm.

"I've seen you around, yes." The weight of Sweet Pea's words settled over Betty's thundering heart. She was most certainly a tomato shade at this point, her ears even felt hot.

"More than seen me around, you know what my go to diner food is. Maybe next time you go to Pop's, you could join me, maybe we split my fries and your onion rings. We like the same shake. Come on, don't wanna be late on my first day." He took Betty's hand in his own, pulling her down the crowded hallway.

"I don't know what to say." Betty felt a shiver run down her spine when Sweet Pea turned to look at her, his perfect front teeth sinking into his bottom lip.

"You don't have to say anything Princess. We noticed each other, it's all good. Where are we going anyway?" Winking at her, he pushed several people out of their way, coming to a stop at the end of the hallway.

"It's this way." She said, allowing herself to take hold of his hand fully now, pulling him to the left, down a less crowded corridor. "I'm curious Sweet Pea." Their hands were intertwined fully now.

"About what?" He was looking around the hallway, his eyes taking in the posters and the lockers and the many students staring at his hand in Betty Cooper's.

"Why you, of all people, would want to share your fries with me." She stopped outside of an open door, looking inside at the many people already in their seats.

"Why not? You seem like a chick I wouldn't mind getting to know." Leaning on the wall next to the doorway, his smile was bright and he was sure he'd had pegged from the start, boy was he wrong.

"We have school for that." Looking down at her feet, Betty wanted to explore the possibility of getting to know Sweet Pea as well, but there was one problem, and she knew it would never happen.

"School is school. I wanna know you outside of the studious learning environment." Lifting her chin with the crook of his finger, Sweet Pea leaned in closer to her.

"I don't think that my Mother and Father would allow such a thing." She suddenly felt entirely aware of the many eyes that were on them. She did her best not to look around at them.

"What Hal and Alice Cooper don't know won't hurt 'em."