CHAPTER TWO
"Veronica!" Betty said, almost jumping out of Jughead's arms when she saw her best friends, with looks of surprise and betrayal painted on their faces. Behind the trio stood Sweet Pea, Toni, and Joaquin, a similar expression of betrayal on their faces. Jughead sighed, massaging his temples in exhaustion and exasperation. Veronica walked into the bathroom, her expensive heels clicking against the vintage checkered tile of the bathroom. "Get your hands off her, you serpent trash." Veronica spat, enraged. "What'd you do, drug her?" She asked. "Veronica…" Betty said warily, her face pleading for her friend to show more compassion. Jughead stood so fast that he almost fell. "For your information, Veronica, I didn't drug her, I didn't do anything. In fact-" Betty gave him a warning look that seemed to say: Don't tell them. He continued anyway. "In fact, I was here comforting your 'best' friend while you three were debating what Louis Vuitton bag you should get next." "Oh, really?" Veronica asked, a fake sweetness in her voice. Betty and Jughead both knew that Veronica, once provoked into an argument, could be a bitch-a merciless one too. "What trouble were you comforting her about?" "None of your damn business." Betty chirped up. "Veronica, shut the fuck up." She shouted, surprised with her newfound source of rage and sass. "Jughead, you shut up too. It was never any of your goddamn business in the first place." She then simply turned on her heel and walked out of the bathroom as if nothing serious had occurred. But this only made Jughead love her more.
Jughead tossed and turned in his empty and hard bed. Betty Cooper. Elizabeth Cooper. Although many times Riverdale felt as if it was a tiny town, where everyone knew everyone, right now it felt like New York City, and that Betty Cooper could never be found amongst the swarming mass of people that populated his small hometown. Unable to sleep as thoughts of Betty filled his mind, he texted Toni:
Jughead: U up?
Toni: please tell me that im not the 'u up' girl.
Jughead: ill take that as a yes then
Toni: jug its fucking one in the morning go to sleep
Jughead: could say the same to u
Toni: whats bothering u then? Its weird for u to be up
Jughead: And its not weird for u?
Toni: Im practically a vampire. Whats botherin u
Jughead: can u come over?
Toni: jug…
Jughead: pls
Toni: fine
Toni: omw *means on my way
"Jughead?" Toni asked, smiling as she sat on Jughead's lumpy couch. "What, Antoinette?" "You know I'm into girls, right?" "Toni!" Jughead shouted, his cheeks turning tomato-red. "Yes, I knew that." "Ok…" Toni said, unconvinced and smirking. "I wouldn't date you! You're practically my sister!" He added. "And don't flatter yourself, Toni. You're definitely not my type." "Oh, and you have a type? Hitchcock blondes from the northside?" She pushed him playfully. "What's bothering you?" She probed. Jughead smiled sheepishly. "Do you believe in true love?" He asked, blushing. "Holy shit, Jug. The girl was cute and hot, but she wasn't…" "You didn't answer my question." Jughead intercepted. "I guess, Jug. Everyone has got to have someone out there for them." She smiled sympathetically. "You just met her though, Jughead. She probably doesn't even like you back." "Wow, Toni. That was way harsh." "I just don't want your heart broken, Jughead. Like you said, you're my brother. You spent fifteen minutes together in the bathroom, and now you're suddenly head-over-heels in love with her?" "Do you know her well?" Jughead asked forgetting what Toni said and trying to find a way to contact his seemingly true love. "Betty? We're on the same cheerleading squad together." "Talk to her, okay? Tell her Jughead Jones wants to talk." "Jughead…" Toni said, dragging out his name, looking at him symathetically. "Don't be too disappointed if she doesn't love you back, alright? Protect yourself from some heartbreak."
On the other side of town, two friends were also having a conversation in the dead of night, although theirs was very different. "I'm just trying to protect you, Betty!" "He just helped me, Veronica." Betty cried out, exhausted. "There's nothing to worry about." "Betty, you don't understand. I saw the look in his eyes-he looked crazy in love with you." "And you can tell what people feel by their eyes?" Betty asked, squinting with annoyance. Veronica nodded angrily. "He was just being kind. I don't care if he runs with the serpents, V. He's kind." "Betty, I love you like a sister, and so much more than that, but you don't understand." "What don't I understand, Veronica? Every day you sound more like my fucking parents. 'I'm trying to protect you, Betty.' 'You wouldn't understand, Betty.'" Betty retorted. "You know what you don't understand? You don't understand that men like him, men like Jughead Jones, they put on a façade, they pretend to be kind and caring, but underneath, Betty, it is pure evil." Veronica shouted back. "And you would know this how?" Veronica paused for a minute, letting the silence resonate in the air. "Because my father is like that, Betty. Is that enough proof? He presents himself as a caring and loving father, but threatens my mother to get me to testify. That's how I know, B. I learned from my father." She spoke with such force and such pain, that Betty felt pity towards her, and guilt that she argued so much against her. She hadn't even realized how close this hit to home for her best friend. "I'm sorry, V. I truly am." She said, accepting Veronica's embrace. Perhaps she couldn't protect herself from men like her father, but at least she could try to protect Betty.
"Can I talk to you after practice?" Toni asked Betty as they stopped to get a drink. Jughead had told his best friend what Betty and him had discussed in the bathroom last night, and she finally noticed it. When she first met Betty, she had a small (but still sexy) amount of cellulite between her thighs, and they touched. Now, there lay a gaping hole between her two thighs. Her wrists were tiny and bony. She looked as if she were about to collapse from not eating. "Sure," Betty said, afraid that Toni had taken notice of her sudden change in body weight. "I've got a protein bar, want to split it?" Toni offered politely as she pulled it out of her tattered bag. "I'm good," she responded. "I had a huge lunch." Toni was absolutely certain that she'd never seen Betty Cooper eat a bite, but complied. "Your loss," she said, while stuffing her cheeks with oats and chocolate chips, and returning to the squeaky gym floor.
"Betty." Toni's voice echoed in the empty gym. Betty was gathering her things, which had fallen out of her bag when Toni approached her. "Yeah, Toni?" Betty responded, looking up, smiling sweetly. "What'd you want to talk to me about?" "Jughead." Toni said his name firmly, as if he were hers. Betty's cheeks flared red. "I'm sorry about last night, I didn't know you two were…" "We're not dating, Betty, don't worry. He actually wanted me to talk to you." "Me?" Betty asked, surprised. "Yes, you." Betty raised an eyebrow in confusion and apprehension-it was possible that Toni could be pranking her. "He really likes you, Betty." Toni said earnestly. "You should've heard him last night, he rambled to all the guys in the bar how 'he'd met the perfect girl.' I've never heard him or seen him smile and laugh so much." Betty couldn't keep the smile from creeping onto her face. Her cheeks turned cherry red and Toni couldn't help but laugh. "You like him too, don't you?" Betty shook her head, blushing. "You do!" Toni said. Betty rolled her eyes, but nodded slightly. "In that case, then," Toni smiled. "He asks for your number." "You have paper?" Betty asked. Toni shook her head. "I prefer to call myself the human canvas-it's better for the environment too." She chuckled, while handing Betty a pen. Betty quickly scribbled her number onto Toni's arm. "I've got to go," Betty said, running out of the gym. "Tell Juggie I said hi!" Toni grinned at the fact that Betty already called Jughead a nickname, an action she thought of as true love.
Later that night, while Betty lay on Jughead's couch in his trailer, asleep and dreaming of her newfound love, the entire four grades of Riverdale High were talking amongst themselves about the new viral photo that seemed to be circulating the Riverdale internet-one of Betty Cooper and Jughead Jones.