Chapter 3

The second Betty entered Riverdale High, she was on the lookout for a tall, lanky boy with a knitted crown cap atop his dark, wavy hair. When Jughead avoided telling her where he was staying last night, she knew something was up and she started to worry again. She'd texted Archie before bedtime and asked him if he'd seen Jughead, and when he replied no, she couldn't fall asleep. As she lay awake most of the night, she stared up at the ceiling of her bedroom, contemplating whether or not she should attempt sneaking out again to check on him. But she didn't know where he'd be. She was certain he wasn't staying with his dad, wherever the hell his dad was. Jughead didn't say exactly what happened between them, but Betty knew it must have been bad, and his pride would keep him from going home anytime soon.

Deciding to go right to where Jughead was supposed to be, she made a beeline for his homeroom. Checking there first would cause her to be marked tardy, but she didn't care. She had to know he was okay.

As she rounded the corner, she ran right into Archie's chest. Even though he lived next door to her, she hadn't seen him over the summer. She had spent a few weeks traveling with her parents, but Archie had also been M.I.A.. At the time, she thought he had just been working a lot of his dad, but now since the whole Miss Grundy thing had blown up in his face, she knew it was because he was too busy having a clandestine affair with their music teacher. She hadn't see him much since school started either. She and Jughead had been on their own quest to solve a mystery, and Archie was too busy with his music, football, and the Pussycats. She looked at her best friend, who she realized she didn't really know anymore, and wondered if they would ever have the friendship they once had had, or was that something that along with innocence, had been lost to their youth.

Archie was taller and more muscular than he had been last year, but he had the same bright shock of red hair that he'd always had, just like his mother. It's funny how just a few weeks ago, Betty would have said Archie Andrews was the hottest guy at Riverdale High, but not anymore. He didn't even compare.

She'd always had a soft spot for Jughead Jones, but before last week she had never giving him much romantic thought. Yes, every once in awhile, she'd catch herself wondering what it would be like to kiss him or hold his hand, but she always dismissed it. He wasn't the girlfriend type. And even though he was Archie's best friend, Jughead had always been on the outside-quiet, withdrawn, ever the observer. He'd always been there, but it wasn't until their investigation into Jason's murder and Polly's disappearance that Betty started to see Jughead, really see him. Jughead had been there for her like no one else ever had. He'd helped her, supported her, and comforted her when she had needed it.

And then he'd kissed her, woken her up, and she could never go back to sleep.

"Betty! Hey! Where are you off to?" Archie asked.

After the dance, when she'd confessed her love for him and gotten rejected. She was surprised how quickly she got over it. It was almost comical now how she thought she'd felt about him. She'd never really loved him, only the idea of him.

"Have you seen Jughead?" she asked.

"Um. Yeah. Earlier this morning. . . We went running." His eyes shifted away from her as he shuffled his feet from side to side. She'd known him long enough to know that he was hiding something. Right now, she didn't care. Everything was always about Archie and she was growing sick of it.

"Like before school started?" She raised an eyebrow and shook her head when he nodded. "No, you didn't. Not unless Jughead was chasing a food truck."

Archie glanced at his watchless wrist. "Well, look at the time," he said. "Got to get to homeroom before the tardy bell. Bye!" He took off in the opposite direction. Betty shrugged.

When she reached Jughead's classroom, she peered inside, but he wasn't there. She pulled out her phone and sent him a text.

Where are you, Juggie?

The homeroom bell rang as she waited for him to reply. When he didn't respond after a few minutes, she dashed into the girls' restroom, afraid the hall monitor would be making the rounds soon. She wanted to try to avoid getting a tardy slip. She used the restroom, washed her hands, and splashed water on her face. As she walked back and forth in front of the bank of sinks, she calculated that she was seven minutes late to first period.

Since her first day of ninth grade at Riverdale High, she had only be tardy to school once, and that was because her mom's car had a dead battery. Instead of waiting for the tow truck with Alice, Betty had jogged to school, trying to get there before the first bell, but the mile run took longer than she thought. She received her first and only detention that day. To most people, it wasn't a big deal, but she had been taught that nothing less than perfection was acceptable. That little blight on her record had always haunted her.

And here she was, late again, but this time she didn't care. Okay, she did. She could admit that to herself, but now that she was late, she saw that the world didn't end when she broke a rule. She was so tired of being the perfect girl everyone expected. Maybe being a little bad would do her some good, especially when it came to Jughead. She'd broken a rule and snuck out the other night and look how fun that had been.

Wanting to relive it, she closed her eyes, and recalled what it felt like to have him kissing her, touching the back of her neck in a spot she didn't even know was sensitive until he discovered it. She had a feeling that Jughead could show her a lot more.

She remembered two years ago when Polly lost her virginity to Jason. Polly had described in detail what had happened and how good it felt, but at the time all Betty could think was that sex was such an odd thing. Like sticking your finger up someone else's nose. But when Jughead had been kissing her, with his hardness pressing into her inner thigh, she understood everything.

Lost in lustful thoughts of him, she almost dropped her cell phone went off with a text message from Jughead.

Meet me in the Blue and Gold room.

Good. He was okay, and he was at school. She splashed water on her face again, tightened her ponytail, and left the bathroom. Afraid she'd be discovered by a hall monitor, she stayed close to the lockers as she slinked down the hall. The lights were off in the newspaper room, but Betty saw him the second she opened the door.

His fingers typing away, he was hunched over his laptop like she'd often seen him, his face aglow with the reflection of his screen. Obviously engrossed in whatever he was working on, he didn't look up as she approached him. When she reached him, she leaned in to kiss him, but she stopped herself when he spun around in his chair.

"Hey, Betts," he said. "Look what I found." He turned his attention back to his computer, and she followed his eyeline.

"The county's missing person's page?" She pulled up the chair next to him and saw that her sister's name was typed into the search engine. "Have you found anything?"

"Not much. There was a report filed by your parents on her right after she escaped from the Sister's of Quiet Mercy. Nothing's come of it, though. I also spent the morning calling hospitals and morgues in the area." His voice got heavy and the tone of it frightened her.

"Did you find her?" Was Polly hurt? Dead? Were they too late?

He shook his head. "Sorry. No. Nothing. Sometimes no news is good news." He reached out and covered her hand with his. "What do you want to do?"

At a loss, she shrugged. "I don't know. Sheriff Keller will just tell the Blossoms that Polly had escaped. He won't do anything without their consent."

He squeezed her hand. "I'm sorry. I was hoping after I hacked into the missing person's page I would have found something. I wanted to give you some good news."

"Thank you for trying. Maybe we could try looking for her after school."

"Of course, Betts. I think we should look in the forest near the getaway car. My dad took us camping there one summer. There are plenty of places she could hide out."

"Okay." She leaned over again and this time gave him a peck on the cheek.

She started to pull away, but he caught her chin, keeping her where she was, and kissed her firmly on the mouth. "Hi," he said, smiling. "I missed waking up with you this morning"

"I missed it, too," she said.

"You know what else I missed?" he asked. His hand slipped beneath the hem of her top, and Betty forgot how to breathe for a moment as his fingers skimmed up her stomach, to her ribcage, but stopped before going any farther. His eyes locked with hers. "Betty?"

She knew what he was asking permission for, so she nodded her consent. But just as his fingertips brushed against the underside of her bra, the door to the classroom flew open. They broke apart, both breathing heavily.

The assistant principal Mrs. Hayden walked in, eyeing them suspiciously. "Mr. Jones and Miss Cooper, aren't you two supposed to be in class?" she questioned, her voice nasally.

"We have a deadline for the Blue and Gold," Jughead said. "So we were excused from first period." He'd recovered much quicker than she had. Betty was still shocked into silence over the way Jughead almost touched her, and then being caught in the act.

"Do you have a hall pass?" the assistant principal asked.

"Sure do," Jughead said. He rooted around in his messenger bag, and a second later came up with a pink slip of paper and handed it over.

Mrs. Hayden studied it for a moment before, frowning at them. "Fine. I see you're both listed here. But you should get to second period. The bell's about to ring."

"Yes, Mrs. Hayden," Jughead said, standing up and giving her an exaggerated salute.

They followed Mrs. Hayden out of the room as the bell rang. Within seconds, the hallways were again filled with students. Betty considered holding Jughead's hand, but it felt like too much of a statement to make on their relationship to all of Riverdale High when they hadn't defined it themselves. Yes, she liked him and wanted to be his girlfriend, but they've only made out a couple times. That didn't mean much today. And she didn't know exactly how he felt either.

"That was close," she said.

"Which part? The getting caught skipping class or Hayden walking in on us with my hand up your shirt?"

Embarrassed, she buried her face in her hands for moment. "Do you think she knew what we were doing?"

"Nah. I doubt anyone has ever touched Hayden's boobs."

She giggled as she put her hands in her pockets, so she wasn't tempted to touch him. "Where did you get those hall passes?" she asked.

"I swiped them from Miss Grundy's room when she left town in shame. I figured someone should benefit from the illicit affair," he said, smiling as he raised his dark eyebrows.

"I suppose you're right," she responded. Leave it up to Jughead to find the silver lining.

"And just when did you become an expert forger?" she asked.

"Oh, Betts, I have so many hidden talents." He bumped his shoulder into hers.

"Like what?" she asked.

His hand went to the small of her back, pressing in possessively. "You'll just have to wait and see."

She knew what he was suggesting. "You could show me," she said.

"I promise I will soon," he said.

She fed her fingers through his, pressed his hand into her breastbone, and didn't care if all of Riverdale High saw them together. It was time for her to make a statement and express what she wanted. "Now," she said.

Jughead stopped walking, causing the person behind them to almost run into them. He swallowed, his Adam's Apple visibly going up and down. "Like in the hallway, in front of the Riverdale football team? We already got caught on school grounds while I was trying to feel you up."

"But I promised you could this time." She pouted out her lip like he had the other morning when she had to leave him.

"I'd hate for you to have to break a promise. You want to skip class again?" he asked with a grin.

"I already missed first period. And I snuck out the other night and stole my dad's car. I think I'm starting to like doing what I'm not supposed to."

He moved her so that she as in front of him and grabbed her hips, fixing her tightly against him, so close that she could feel every inch of him. He whispered in her ear, "Most people think Betty Cooper is a straight-laced rule follower, but I know who you really are. You have fire within that should never be quieted."

Her cheeks turned pink. Everyone, even Archie, saw her as an idealized, perfect good girl. That was who her mother wanted-forced-her to be, but that was not who Betty was deep down. Jughead had never cared what anyone thought of him, and instead of defiance, she saw bravery at him always being himself. She wanted that, too.

She wanted to rage against everything, question everything. She was never satisfied. She always needed the truth and that often irritated her mother and other authority figures. She didn't want to forever do what she was told. She didn't want to be on the front pew at church or first in her class. She didn't want to only write about everyone else's life. She wanted a life of her own. She wanted to live.

And right now, she wanted to feel alive in only a way Jughead could make her feel. "I don't want to go History class. I don't want to think about being tardy or if I'm going to do on my Algebra test. I don't want to think about Jason Blossom's murder or the killer that might also be after us now. I don't want to worry about Polly or her unborn baby." She rubbed her hands over her face. "I don't want to think about any of it, just for a little while."

"Then I'll distract you," Jughead said. He drew her along the hall, and suddenly, they were in a dark closet under the stairwell. The door shut and he walked her backwards until her back was against it. Probably afraid they'd be interrupted again, he wasted no time, immediately going to the buttons of her shirt. Within seconds, he moved the fabric aside. He smiled and sighed at the same time. She was glad that she'd picked a pretty sheer pink bra this morning when she dressed. It didn't leave much to the imagination. Betty bit her lips as he angled back a little.

He didn't touch her yet, but his eyes roamed over her, looking his fill. "Gorgeous," he said.

He kept his gaze fixed on hers as he palmed her breasts, each one in turn, squeezing, reshaping, lifting them up out of the cups. He rolled her nipple between his thumb and forefinger until it puckered and hardened like a pink pearl beneath his touch. Overcome by the sensation of it all, she closed her eyes, wanting to only concentrate on what Jughead was doing. He broke away from her for a moment, and crouching in front of her, his mouth whispered against her sternum, her ribs, and then her stomach. As he came back up, he unclasped the front closure of her bra and pushed it aside so that this time, his tongue came into contact with her bare flesh. His skilled tongue lavished the peaks until her legs began to tremble.

She grabbed his face, brought him back to her, and then rubbed her lips against his, pushing his apart with her tongue. They just kissed, repeatedly, fervently, until she needed to take a moment to collect herself. After they caught their breath, she reached up and brushed her fingers through his hair, accidentally knocking off his crown cap as she pulled him back down for more.

He reached beneath the hem of her shirt, and pushed it up as he reached behind her to grab the fleshy part of her ass. She tilted her pelvis up until it rubbed against his. She could feel him again, the firm length of him as she instinctively rocked her hips forward, making him let out a low, graveled moan. She wanted to snake her hand in between them and touch him through his jeans. But she was uncertain of how to pull that off, and he was making her feel so good that all she could think about was the ache between her thighs, a need she somehow knew only Jughead could fulfill.

The tip of his erection pressed into the perfect spot, right at her core. She whimpered and he pushed himself harder against her. Still wanting more she wrapped a leg around him, pulling him even tighter. He lifted her up, as she encircled his waist with her legs. Still kissing her, he moved them away from the door, and set her down, a soft blanket beneath her back. He knelt in front of her, her skirt up against her hips, leaving her thighs completely bare. Starting at her ankle, he ran his palms up, over the back of her knees, drawing her legs up and a little farther apart. He kissed the inside of each one, first the left and then the right. Then he kissed the apex of her thighs, his warm breath coming through the lacey texture of her underwear, dampening her already moist skin. There was a slickness there that she had never experienced before.

She almost jolted off the bed when his fingertips touched where his mouth had just glanced. He caressed her there, in firm yet gentle circles. Betty thrust her hips upwards as he continued with the perfect amount of pressure. She shifted beneath him, desperately needing him to do something, but not quite sure then he did it. Heat flushed her as she struggled to breathe. And then everything inside her stilled for a moment. A wave of emotion almost engulfed her, but then her entire body flexed and then relaxed.

She finally breathed and it was heavy and labored, and a wide grin spread across her face as she looked up at the dusty, spiderweb-covered ceiling. "Oh, Juggie," she said. "That was the best distraction I've ever had."

He slid up her body until he was able to lay next to her. He placed his hand underneath his chin and surveyed her. She was sweaty, her hair had come undone, and her clothes were a rumpled mess, but he looked at her like she was the most beautiful thing to ever exist. "You're welcome," he said, smiling himself. He kissed her, and then rested his head on her chest and pulled her against him.

Still trying to steady her breathing, she took in the surroundings of the closet. T-shirts, jackets, and jeans hung on hooks on the wall. There was a pile of well read books next to the bed.

The bed.

It suddenly all registered. They were laying on a pillow and a sleeping bag. This wasn't just some closet under the stairwell. Someone was living here. She sat up, knocking Jughead off her when she recognized one of the S t-shirts he always had on and put it all together.

"Wait. We're on a bed. In a closet. Inside of Riverdale High."

He shrugged, but wouldn't look her in the eye. "Must be the janitor's stuff."

"Jughead Jones!" she said. "You're living at school?"