Chapter Nine

Betty

I have seen Jughead scared before. I have seen him scared a lot of times. But I did not want to see him scared up on that stand. I remember how he cried last time. I held him outside the court room until his mother came out and told him that it was going to be okay. Later we learned that both of his parents were allotted four months of probation. They passed with flying colors, or by bribing their probation officers. I am never really sure.

But now my Jug is sitting up on that stand with his hands together. I see him adjust his hat or shake his leg. To others he might just look like an annoyed teenager. But to Archie, Ronnie and I, he is scared and we all know it.

The lady in the tight women's grey suit, stands right in front of him. He is looking around her, trying to find my eyes without being noticed. After a few times of being jittery, I finally catch his eyes. They are wide and scared. His mouth is in an open expression, as it so often is when he doesn't know what to do.

"It's okay," I mouth to him.

I hope so much that he sees it as the women blocks me from his view again. I can see his panic begin but then he is shaking as she begins her questions.

"Forsythe—" she starts.

"Jughead," he corrects. "They have been saying Jughead this entire time. You know that my name is Jughead."

"Jughead," she says with anger. It is obvious to everyone that he is annoyed now. But no one knows that he is doing that because he doesn't want to be up there. They are going to try to confuse him. That is the part that will really hurt him. When this is all over, I will be the one to remind him that he is doing everything he can to help and that none of this is his fault. I try to find his eyes again but she is blocking me.

"Is it true that Archie Andrews is your best friend?" she asks.

"Yes." There is no wavering in his voice. It is an easy answer.

"Is it also true that Archie cut you from your chains when you were trying to peacefully protest the demolition of your own school?" she asks.

"Yes, but he was being manipulated," he says. I want to tell him not to do that. I want to tell him to just answer the question.

"By whom?"

"Hyrum Lodge."

"What proof do you have of this?" she asks.

I can hear him sigh. His voice is starting to waver just enough that I am the only one that can tell.

"Nothing. I watched it happen. So, did Betty and Veronica and his parents and the bulldogs. We all knew it was happening but none of us could convince him to stop."

"Moving on," she says, placing her hands together. "Are you a member of the South Side Serpents?"

"Yes."

"Is it true that Archie went on a vendetta, creating militia groups for the purpose of threatening and destroying the south side?"

"Yes; but I wasn't a serpent then."

"Was he aware that your father was also a serpent when he did this?"

"Yes."

Jughead catches my eyes. They are scared and worried. He knows that what they are asking him is not fair anyway. But of course, that doesn't matter. To Juggie, every answer that they use against him is his fault.

"Is it true that Archie once got in a physical fight with the Serpents?"

"To my knowledge," he says with a shrug. I can see his expression. It is hardened against her. I know that the moment we are alone, those walls will crumble and I will be left with the real Jug.

"What do you mean?" she asks.

"Well, I wasn't there."

"Are you their so-called leader?"

"Right now, yes. But at the time of that incident, I wasn't even a Serpent a yet," he explains. I watch the jury faces. They seem to be listening to him. a few of them look amused that he is on the stand, almost as if this is not what they expected to come from him. I wonder if some of the more logical ones will be swayed in one direction.

"But you were a friend to the serpents?" she demands.

"I guess you could say that."

I know that Jug joined the serpents almost right after that fight. It had not been long. But they don't need to know that.

"Would you trust Archie Andrews alone in a car with your girlfriend?" she asks. I sit back in my chair, catching his eyes. They are just as confused and filled with hate and concern that mine are.

"What?" he asks.

"Rephrase the question," the judge says.

"Would you trust that Archie would be a perfect gentleman alone in a car with Betty Cooper, your girlfriend at the time of all of his circles and other violent incidents?" she asks with that smile that makes me want to rip her head off.

Jug looks to me and then to Archie. His eyes rest on the woman in front of him that is so determined to tear us apart. But I will have no part of it. None of us will. Jug sniffles and then sits up straight, leaning closer to the woman.

"Yes, as a matter a fact, I would trust Archie alone with Betty in a dark room for seven nights and seven days. He is my best friend. I wouldn't trust him to just save my own life. I would trust him with something much more important than that. I would trust him to save my girlfriends," he says.

"Have you got what you needed?" the judge asks.

"One more thing," she says, turning to Jug again. He raises his eyebrows, surprised that she dared to ask anything else.

"Do you believe from the evidence given, your time with Mr. Andrews and the moments in which you saw him after the murder, that he could have possibly killed Cassidy Blake?" she asks.

"Without a shadow of doubt, Archie Andrews did not kill Cassidy."

"Done?" the judge asks, almost looking annoyed.

"Yes," she says.

"Allow Mr. Jones off of the stand," he orders.

Jughead makes his way back to me, sure to leave a dirty look with the prosecution on his way by. When he sits back down, he is shaking. I reach over and grab his hand. He looks right into my eyes. I nod to him. I want him to know that he did the right thing. Everything he just did was the right thing.

"Court adjourned for the day. We will meet Monday morning at 9," the judge says.

As soon as we are standing, I turn and grab Jug in my arms, smiling into his shirt when he wraps his arms around me tightly. I can feel him resting his head on my shoulder and finding comfort in my touch.

"You did great, Jug," I promise him.

"I don't know, Bets. Some of those questions were messed up and backwards," he says with worry.

"You did everything you could. Everyone seemed to like your last statement," I tell him. He puts his arm around me as we start walking to the lobby, past the constant crowds of people that stay and talk.

"I hope it was enough," he says.

"It was."

I push the door open to the outside world and we both step out into it. He takes in a long breath and then turns to me, his hands still on my waist.

"I thought that it wouldn't feel like we were still free people," he admits. "But it's kind of terrifying, no matter where Archie goes, we can't change it and we aren't a part of it. We are still going to be out here in the rest of the world."

I nod, pulling on his hand.

"Does the rest of the world have Pop's milkshakes?"

"A chocolate malt for my lady," he says with a smile that is filled with freedom; a freedom that I fear Archie will never see again.