"No, Jughead!"
I screamed his name every few minutes whenever I took a break from running. It seemed hours since either Jughead or I had a break, but nonetheless he kept running. I didn't even get to see a glimpse of his face, not that I want to see the hurt expression on his face, it was just the sound of deafening footsteps that blocked my eardrums the enter route. His constant need for running away from me was enough to make my heart drop to the ground.
The world turned gray and colorless, the sounds of bustling cars or angry citizens escaped my field of vision and all I saw was Jughead stomping his feet against the pavement. My head started filling with voices telling me to do things. 'Catch him' they said whenever I was close. 'Feel no pain' one said as my knee slid across the ground creating a huge scratch. 'Ignore your body' they all said whenever I felt hungry or dehydrated. Everything around me and inside me was out of control.
More blood. This time dripping down my arms and legs. I must've fallen but who can remember. I was wearing heels today, numb, blistering heels. Why couldn't I have worn sneakers today? I was trying to impress Jughead. Jughead. Right, Jughead. Keep moving.
My voice finally cracked open making me cry, "Juggie! Please don't go, I need to explain!" and as I did, he seemed fainter and fainter. My breathing got heavier and heavier and the weight of my legs seemed to be enough to crash me down any minute. "Please don't leave!" I croaked again, hoping he could at least hear me. I remembered my sources. He wasn't going to Pop's, we passed there about five minutes ago, and the only place near here was his dad's trailer, but he didn't have a reason to live there anymore. The Southside was a reasonable option, but even Jughead didn't have enough stamina to run all the way over there without a few burgers in his system. I know him, he has to stop eventually.
I thought that for so long. Block after block I tirelessly ran after him. I almost felt as if I could win the Olympics after all this running. Though, does the Olympics have a running time? Can I even join if I'm in high school?
I think I'm just going crazy. After all the training Cheryl put me through, I had thought I was in pretty good shape. I had started to do backflips, and I could carry at least all the cheerleaders in our squad for the pyramid. You'd think I'd have at least strength to do that.
I noticed a grim patch of land coming up, with a sign that had the Southside Serpents logo. I tirelessly giggled and hoped we would stop. Just a little bit closer.
Jughead was getting tired too, I had even caught up to him a little bit. I had hoped he wouldn't looked back at me, in all of my shame and sweatiness, but I had no such luck.
The moment his beautiful brown eyes laid eyes on me, my body finally gave up, and I dropped on the ground.
"Juggie!" I slammed open the doors of Pop's diner and fidgeted my way into one of our usual booths. My mind was a little hazy but the one thing I remembered was to join my friends here at five O'clock sharp so that I wouldn't miss our daily tradition. I looked around the table and saw Veronica and Archie sharing a booth on the opposite side, sharing a chocolate shake while laughing and chatting with Jughead while he eats a stack of burgers. I eyed him wearily before grinning too.
"Wow Betty, I never expected to see you so chipper this morning. What happened, did you donate money to the local orphanage and then volunteer at an animal shelter, where you were able to help adopt all of the animals?" Veronica teased, pushing Archie away from her face as he tried to lean in closer to her.
"Um.. I don't know Veronica, did it seem that way?" I asked, wondering why Veronica had a sudden change in mood. She seemed more sassy and more reluctant to insulting me. "Don't worry Betts, Ronnie's just angry because her dad cut of her credit card privileges." Archie said, nodding towards the sprawled credit cards on the , I thought Ronnie's dad was in prison. And I thought she was barely scraping by. Did he get out suddenly when I wasn't here?
Veronica giggled. "Whatever, that just means that you have to treat me tonight at our date. A rock concert does cost a lot, I'm glad you chose me over Betty. It's okay Betty, it'll be your turn once this idiot ditches me like he did LAST WEEK!" She slapped Archie on the arm but then continued to snuggle up to him.
Archie chuckled nervously. "Y-Yeah I definitely have money. Uh.. would you rather prefer this be our date?" Veronica replied with a death stare and a threat to break up with him. Archie sheepishly shrugged his shoulders like he always does this.
"Do-Don't worry Ronnie. I'm going out with Jughead tonight anyway." I leaned in towards Jughead, who instantly shot up and blushed and swatted me away. "Oh, Jughead? You're going on a date with Betty? Are you hiding feelings from us Forsythe?" Veronica teased and poked fun at Jughead. Jughead sat back down. "Of course not, women are the worse creatures of all time. I'm not attracted to Betty whatsoever. No offense Betts."
"W-What?!" I yelled, slamming Jughead's food on the ground. His face flattened in seconds. "Betty, you have a crush on Jughead?" Archie asked me, seeming more angry than usual
Jughead started freaking out and pointing to his smushed food on the ground. He seemed to care more about that than the situation. "Of course! H-He's my boyfriend!"
Archie snapped his head towards Jughead. "You're dating my girlfriend?!" He yelled at Jughead, for which he replied saying, "Whoa whoa whoa, Betts you're my best friend and all but I don't think of you that way. Trust me Arch, this is probably a scheme to make you jealous an-"
"I DO LOVE JUGHEAD!" I yelled. Everyone looked at me like I was crazy. Why would they? He is my boyfriend. I love him. He loves me. Where on the Earth even are we?!
"Look just calm down Betts, let's just talk about th-"
I turned around and slammed my lips into his. Okay that might sound weird and totally unnecessary, but whoever he was, whoever my friends were, they needed to be reminded that I love him.
Jughead stumbled back and looked at me in terror. "Oh god I've been kissed by a girl!" He wiped his lips off and looked at me shockingly.
Veronica looked at me in disgust. "Ew, you really like needle nose Betty?"
Archie looked at me in anger. "Hey, are you trying to make me angry? You're MY girlfriend! Is it because I don't pay attention to you as much? Is it because I ditched you last night?!"
These weren't my friends. These were some twisted, mixed-up reality version of them. A simpler yet complicated version. Wherever I am, I'm definitely still in Riverdale. Just..not in Riverdale.
Jughead's forgotten about me. Ronnie's disgusted by my actions and Archie... thinks it's okay to date two girls at once and just ditch them?! I want the old Riverdale back!