Fortunately, upon their return to school, most of the student body and faculty seemed just as unimpressed with Nick. While Jughead didn't have any contact with him, as Nick was senior, it didn't appear that Nick inspired anything but resentment and dislike in anyone who did.
"He's an absolute pig," Ginger Lopez angrily told Maria Rodriguez and Sheila Wu as they entered the shop classroom. Jughead was still there in the back supply room, tasked with organizing materials as a punishment for not paying attention during class.
"He asked me to go down on him in the men's room, and when I wouldn't, he called me a slut!" She went on. "Can you believe it? He wants me to help him cheat on his boyfriend, but when I say no, somehow I'm the ones who gets called names!"
While Nick's lack of fidelity to Kevin was unsurprising, Jughead considered it part of his duty as Kevin's best friend to break the news to him gently before it became school-wide gossip. But his efforts were fruitless: Kevin already knew. And, too occupied with trying to refill a prescription for his sister Patty's asthma prescription in the absence of his parents, Kevin didn't particularly care.
"I already heard," Kevin said with a shrug after Jughead asked if he knew about Nick and Ginger.
"And?" Jughead pressed, quickening his pace to keep up with Kevin, who was striding down the hall to one of his various club meetings. Junior Engineering League, maybe. Or environmental club. Bio club?
Kevin glanced up from dialing a new number on his phone. "What can I say? Nobody's perfect."
"If he cheated on you once, or even just wanted to cheat on you, he'll probably do it again," Jughead pointed out.
"So noted." Kevin hit the 'call' button on his phone. "Thanks for the information, Jug, but I have to procure life-saving medication for my kid sister." He listened at the other end for a moment, then grimaced. "Ugh, they have me on hold. Listen, I don't mean to brush you off. I really appreciate you telling me. It's just that I can only handle so many crises at a time, you know?"
For a moment, Jughead was about to continue forcing the issue, but then he noticed the circles under Kevin's eyes, the pallor of his skin. And his gaze, usually a vibrant blue, now just looked dull and tired. Kevin was obviously exhausted, and he didn't need Jughead harping on him and reminding him of his various problems.
"Got it," Jughead said, though he was unable to keep the half-heartedness from his voice.
When Jughead was loitering around the home economics hallway in hopes of scoring leftovers, and he once again found himself privy to a conversation about Nick.
"That St. Clair boy is absolutely careless," Ms. Crouton huffed when Coach Pacer stopped by for a quick chat. "I warned him to be careful when he was chopping potatoes for the stew, but he didn't listen and ended accidentally cutting Trev Smith on the arm. Luckily it was only a scratch, but Nick refused to apologize for being careless and insisted that it was Trev's fault.
Coach Pacer nodded. "I noticed that when I subbed for Harry's history class earlier this week." Jughead knew that Harry was Coach Clayton's first name. "Nick collided with Angel Angelino—Angel was leaving while Nick was entering—and you have though Angel declared a blood feud. I had to send Nick to the office for cussing Angel out."
Ms. Crouton nodded and opened her mouth to respond, but then she noticed Jughead. "Stop dawdling, Mr. Jones, and get to class," she ordered him.
Jughead complied and found Archie waiting for him outside the classroom, a ferocious scowl on his face and faint bruising forming around the edges of his eyes toward his nose.
"What happened?" Jughead asked.
"Nick St. Clair happened," Archie replied darkly.
"Don't tell me: you and Nick got into a fight?" Jughead hazarded a guess.
"He's much of a wimp for that," Archie replied bitterly. "No, he elbowed me in the face during gym class. Gave me a bloody nose and then claimed it was an accident when Coach Kleats asked him what happened."
"What a tool," Jughead said contemptuously as they entered the classroom together.
"More than a tool. The toolbox. No, the entire toolshed." Archie sighed. "Look, Kevin wouldn't be able to find a decent boyfriend if the fate of the universe hung in the balance, but he's really outdone himself with this creep."
"Too right," Jughead agreed unhappily. He resolved to try to talk with Kevin about Nick again. Maybe Kevin could fit him in between history club and swim team.
For study hall, he nabbed a pass to the library—not because he planned on doing homework, but the chairs in the library were more comfortable, easier to fall asleep in. An odd scene awaited him at the library, though. Reggie, Betty, and Dilton sitting at a table, huddled together conspiratorially. As Jughead paused for a moment to observe, he noticed that whenever someone walked past their table, they would go silent and sit back in their chairs, trying to pretend they weren't having a conversation at all.
Curious, Jughead ambled over to them.
"Hey," he said, sprawling into a chair at the table. "What are all of you talking about? Looks pretty intense."
He did not miss the hurried exchange of glances between them as they floundered for an answer.
"We were talking about Nick," Betty said quickly, as Dilton and Reggie sent her startled glances. "About what a jerk he is."
"He's a troglodyte," Dilton added.
"Yeah, and he's all wrong for Kevin," Reggie contributed.
"Yeah, Nick's really made a name for himself as Mr. Congeniality, hasn't he?" Jughead remarked dryly.
Betty laughed, but Jughead thought he detected a hint of nervousness within it. "Sure has," she answered and then quickly changed the subject to her plans for the community garden in the spring.
Frowning, Jughead quizzically scanned their faces, wondering what the big secret was, but then shrugged his shoulders. He figured he would learn about whatever they were hiding in time.