They searched for about half an hour before FP found what he was looking for. It was a little lockbox. "It's getting dark, kid. I'll drive you to work and I'll even give Miss Cooper a ride home."
"No!" We yelled in sync.
"I think I'm going to just hangout with Jughead at work if that's alright." A small blush marked her face. My dad just shrugged and drove us to The Twilight.
As I set up that night's movie, the title of which I couldn't tell you since I was doing things automatically as I watched Betty try to open the box. There was a note on my desk saying to thank my friend at consession for both covering my shifts and not burning the whole place down by mistake. He wasn't exactly the seasoned pro at this that I was.
"1-9-4-1," I suggested. She tried it and it popped open. I gave her a triumphant smirk.
There were a lot of letters in there so we divided them in half and started to skim. Betty's face seemed to achieve a permanent red at reading someone's intimate letters. Most were to my grandmother during the war so we were giving up hope and I could tell the movie would be over soon.
"Looks like a dead end, Betty. I'll walk you home in just a sec. We can try something else after school tomorrow." She shot me a glare and kept searching. I was just taking the film off the projector and closing up for the night when I heard a scream. Betty was holding onto a piece of paper that was sealed with a dead scorpion.
"I think I found a clue."
"Good job, Scooby doo."
As everyone left, we stayed to read.
Dearest Forsythe,
While our time together was sweet, it cannot continue. Our presence together is too dangerous now that you've helped me clean up the body and I can't ask you to get involved with this. Henry and I are going to get back together and it will be as if this was all but a bad dream. No one must ever know we had anything to do with what happened to Cooper.
I'm sorry my love,
Farewell
Kathlyn Campbell
"Cooper? Like your last name, Cooper, or the first name Cooper? We have to go look at the city record down at the library!"
"Jughead this is important but I think the library is closed. Maybe we should think on it and investigate tomorrow. I need a minute to breath. What happened to 'Cooper' and how did it need to get cleaned up? I'm not sure I'm ready for that answer without a full night of sleep behind me." I nodded in understanding. I guess I had just got caught up in the hype. This was Betty's mystery and I was just here to help and write it down. I pulled her into a hug as she was completely overwhelmed.
"My supposed-to-be-dead grandma did a bad thing, I think. I just don't know what."
We stayed like that for a while but then it all happened so fast. The whole building started to smell and the flames had almost consumed the whole room. I tried to carry Betty but I was still so weak from getting out of a coma this morning and the smoke was not helping. I had to do something to keep Betty safe. I wrapped her in my jacket to cover her bare arms from fire and dropped us to the ground where the air was cleaner. I tried to crawl out but the fumes from the burning classics, something I was sure I would mourn later, had gotten to her and she was out like a light. I dragged her across the floor with pieces of debris hitting us here and there.
I had to get up and kick a hole in the wall to escape since the door was caved in. Once we were a ways away, I made sure to check on her. Her face was covered in ash and it was haunting, terrifying, and beautiful. I checked to see if she was still breathing, and thank god she was. At that moment, I knew I had to start being more honest with both myself and her.
I almost lost Betty Cooper that night. I also accepted my fate, that I would probably always love Betty Cooper, and I never wanted to feel like she was slipping through my fingers ever again.