Chapter Thirteen

Betty

I sit down as slowly as possible, handing Attorney McCoy a glass of water. Mrs. Andrews sits across the table. They have been passing papers back and forth, talking in strained voices to each other.

"Betty! What happened? Are you okay?" Mrs. Andrews asks.

"Yeah. I'm fine," I say, dismissing her.

She does not let it go. She holds her hands in front of her on the table. McCoy sits just feet from me. She is not looking at me at all. I wonder if she doesn't care why my face looks like this or she just does not want to ask anything about it. That is probably smart. I don't think that I can say anything about it anyway.

"Did someone hit you?" she asks. She looks like she might touch the side of my face. I have a black eye and a red mark on the side of my head. I have a bruise under my chin and my ribs look like hell. But they can only see the ones on my face. I have avoided wearing a swim suit for the past few days. It was just yesterday that I was naked in Jug's arms. He told me that he was scared to hurt me so he moved slowly and so gently the entire time. I can remember every feeling of that right now.

"Yeah," I say with a shrug. "It was an accident. There was a party and someone was being clumsy. They didn't mean to hit me."

"Twice?" she asks, pointing under her chin. I shake my head, grinding my teeth together and digging my nails into my palms. I am not sure that I can explain anymore to her. I know the story sounds stupid but there is no way to avoid talking about a black eye. It looks like someone punched me. It could hardly be anything else.

"Betty, I heard Archie yelling at Jug the other day," she says as she shuffles through her papers.

"About what?" I ask.

"Letting you join the serpents."

I take a deep breath. I didn't hide the fact that I am with them. I have the jacket in my room. People know that I am a serpent. I just didn't think it would get around to the adults. Now that it has, I am sure my mother is going to find out if she doesn't know already. I lean back in my chair, defeated.

"What were they saying?"

"Archie thinks it is a bad idea. I have to agree, Betty. You are a sweet girl. The serpents are violent people. You could get mixed up in a lot of legal trouble if you stay on with them," she says.

"That's alright, Mrs. A. I'm fine."

"Is that how you got that black eye? And by the way, there is no amount of make-up that is going to keep that from Archie," she says.

"I know. That is why I haven't been hiding it."

"Should I go?" McCoy asks awkwardly. I look to her and then back to Mrs. Andrews. I hear the door open. I turn to it when Jug walks through with a smile on his face. That perfect smile that makes me smile back at him.

"No. No. It's okay," I say to McCoy.

"Jug, what are you doing here?" I ask with a smile. I stand up to greet him. I know I should be working but I have no choice. There is a magnet pull toward him that I cannot overpower or take away.

"Betty," he says. "What are you doing here?"

His face is in shock, almost as if he is scared for me. I put my hand to his face and look into his scared eyes. Now I can feel a cold fear in my heart too. I kiss his cheek and he puts his arms on either side of me.

"You should brace yourself," he says.

"What?" I demand.

I realize what he is talking about when Archie walks through the door and closes it behind him. The first thing that he sees is me. Our eyes meet and his face breaks into a thousand shattered pieces on the ground. I walk away from Jug so that Archie can truly see me. He looks terrified.

"Betty," he says with concern.

I don't have anything to say. Instead I step toward him with a nod of my head. I let him look at me. He looks down to my toes and then back up to my chin and over to my eye. I know he is terrified from the tears in his eyes and the broken way his lower lip shakes. It scares me too. If I saw him this way, I would react the same way. He will blame himself for not being able to save me.

"Betty?" he asks. "What…how did you…"

He then turns to Jug.

"What happened? Why didn't you tell me? Was she jumped? Where the hell were you?" Archie demands, getting closer to Jug. He stops when their chests are just inches apart. I look to the both of them, considering breaking this up and then decide that it won't matter. Archie already knows.

"I was…Archie, it's not what you think," Jug says.

"Then what the hell is it?"

"I'm fine. Let's not worry about it," I say. "It's not a big deal, Arch."

He looks to me and grazes his finger over the side of my face. He then touches right under my chin and I flinch away from him. He looks shocked and also concerned. Even flinching hurts my ribs. He looks down at me.

"Betty tell me the truth," he says. "Why are you lying? Just tell me what is going on and I will understand."

"No, you won't, Archie," Jug says. He puts his hand on mine, squeezing it at my side. "Just let it be."

"This has to do with you, doesn't it?" Archie asks. He steps closer to him so that their faces are just two inches apart. I am sure that he is going to hurt Jughead. I cannot imagine what he is thinking.

"What are you doing?" I demand.

"Did you hurt her?" he asks.

"Oh my god, Arch! No! No! He didn't hurt me," I promise. I put my hand on Archie's chest and push him away a little. It is enough for him to look to me with desperation on his face. I know I should just ignore all of it and go back to helping the others with Archie's case. But he is not going to let this go.

"Then what?" he asks.

"It was an accident."

"You are still lying," he says.

I turn to Jughead. I know that he doesn't want me to tell him. I don't want him to know either but there might be some truth in it. Jughead presses his lips together and then just nods to me.

"You know I joined the serpents. There is a tradition called the gauntlet where every young serpent hits the new serpent. Since I'm his queen, I had to do it to earn their trust. At the end Jug kisses me and they all welcome me into being a serpent."

He looks to Jughead. Without a single move, he punches him across the face. I step between them as Jughead grabs his shoulders and pushes him off. I push Archie with my own arms as he attempts to go toward Jug again. I stand in front of Jug as he tries to get around me. I keep my arms on his chest.

"Stop it! Stop it, Archie!" I shout.

I hear Mrs. Andrews get up just then. She puts her hand on Archie's shoulder too. We all stand still, watching each other. Archie looks terrified but he is also very strong. He is angry with the man behind me.

"Arch," I say with a sigh. "I did this because I wanted to. Jughead tried to get me to stop. I earned their trust. I am a serpent, Archie. You have to understand that and I need you to be okay with it."

"I will never be okay with that," he says with a shrug. "And just because you did this does not mean that you have to be a serpent. You can stop. You can come back to the rest of us. I just don't want you getting hurt like this."

"This was a one-time thing. After that, she will never be hurt again. A hundred serpents have her back now. She will never walk alone again. No one can harass her without knowing that they are going to be destroyed by the rest of us. Archie, this is protecting her, not hurting her. I would never hurt Betty. I love her, you know that," Jug says.

I want to capture him in my arms and kiss him forever.

"Yeah, she looks fine," Arch says with a shrug. He turns to the stairs and runs up them. I want to go after him but then decide that I shouldn't. I turn back to Jug as the adults disperse. I put my arms on his.

"You will have to talk to him later," Jug says.

"I know. I'm letting him cool off first."

"How have you been keeping this from your mother?" he asks.

"I left before she woke up. I come home later. I wore make up, hoping that she wouldn't notice. She's been busy lately. Honestly, I didn't think that I would be able to avoid her for that long."

He nods. I turn back to the table when I hear a knock on the door.

"I'll get it, Mrs. A," I tell her.

I open the door for her and see my mother standing on their porch.

Uh oh.

"Betty! What the hell happened to your face?"