Chapter 38: Curse Of The Mummy!
*Aria's POV*
It had been 2 weeks since Halloween as I sat, on another Friday, and started nodding off again.
"Aria." I heard as I felt myself get poked in the arm. I nodded awake and looked at Jughead, who sat on the right of me and the window to my left in the back of the class, and smiled at him.
"Thanks." I whispered to him. I had History with him but not Dilton.
"You sure you're alright?" He asked me in a worried whispered tone.
"Yeah. Just couldn't sleep last night was all." I told him. I had another nightmare and it was bothering me to no end. I swear I was getting PTSD or something. I laid off horror movies for a couple weeks and it didn't help me at all.
"Nightmares again?" Jughead asked. He, Dilton and Archie knew of my nightmares and I hated worrying them.
"Yeah." I said with a sigh. I was starting to nod off again when I heard the bell ring. I jumped, startled by the loud sound, before grabbing my things. I had Gym class next.
"Hey, are we still on for date night?" Jughead asked me as I finished putting my things in my bag.
"Yeah." I mumbled before I squeaked a yawn while covering my mouth with my hand.
"Maybe we should cancel." Jughead mumbled. I looked at him in shock.
"No no no. I-I just need a nap before we go. I'll be fine. Promise." I said in a panic. I was looking forward to our date, especially since he had postponed all week over Archie's dumb ant mystery. I got to spend a lot of time with Dilton though.
"Well, Alright. I have missed you." Jughead said as I smiled and hugged him.
"I'll see you after school?" I asked him.
"Yeah." He said as I waved goodbye to him and rushed past Archie and Betty's 'Always tomorrow' conversation. I swear he likes putting things off until the last minute, and now he has Jughead pushing things off until later as well. Example our date nights. And for Archie, besides his project, his laundry he tried to sneak into mine so I'd wash it for him. He's gotten a bit lazy lately. Since his usual outfit choice was filthy beyond reason he had decided to wear tan khaki pants, white sneakers, a white long sleeve shirt with two thin stripes at the front and a yellow and orange hooded vest that had two really thick white strips on it. I think he's also wearing it because Uncle Fred got it for him. I, however, wore my usual outfit except for the shirt. I was wearing the 'werewolf attack' black spaghetti strap tank top that I had fixed sewing lavender sparkled fabric under the rips. Anyhow, I rushed to gym class and got ready. It was dodge ball day. I hope Betty and Archie make it to class on time.
*After school at Pop's Aria's POV*
I wasn't doing so good. I'm glad I didn't have to work today but my head hurt. I had started to doze off in gym class and got hit in the head by a ball. Not only that I fell asleep in chemistry while holding chemicals and, well, liquids went boom. Nothing too bad except I had to wash my hair during my study hall. Thank goodness it washed out. It gave me a headache though. While we were at Pop Tate's Archie was upset about the mummy exhibit being full, I was upset too seeing as how I wanted to go but thankfully I will be going tomorrow, and while he was talking about it I fell asleep…...again.
"Aria!" I heard loudly in my ear.
"The answer's 24!" I nearly shouted out.
"What are you talking about?" Archie asked me.
"We're not in math class?" I asked as I then looked at my surroundings.
"You're tired. You fell asleep again." Jughead commented as I blushed.
"Guess I'm more tired than I thought." I said as I rested my head in my hands, fingers in my hair, as I sighed.
"That bad?" Archie asked me, meaning the nightmares, as I sighed again.
"Nothing I can't handle." I said as I started nodding off again. I then felt my side get poked.
"Eep!" I squeaked out and jumped a bit. The boys laughed at me.
"Ha ha. Very funny." I said sarcastically.
"Maybe we should wait until tomorrow night for our date." Jughead said as I looked at him.
"No.~ I'm fine. Really." I said as he looked at me
. "Come on Aria, I'll take you home." Archie said as I pouted. Archie ended up taking me home as I laid down. I ended up sleeping for a few hours before I woke up, sun was setting, and smelled something good. Aunt Mary went with Uncle Fred, who had gone on a business trip, and wouldn't be back until Tuesday so it wasn't them.
*Maybe Archie? But I thought he was on a date with Veronica?* I thought as I made my way down to the kitchen area. I saw two plates on the table and some candles lit.
* What?* I thought as I rubbed my eyes and looked again. I wasn't imagining it.
"Glad to see you're up." I heard as I looked over by the oven.
"Jughead?" I asked as I walked over to him.
"I figured since you were to tired to go out, we'd have date night here while Archie's on his." He told me. My jaw dropped.
"But-What-How-Archie?" Was all that was coming out. What? We've never had a candle lit dinner before, it's not his style. Actually, 85% of the time we eat at Pop's or get Pop's to go.
"Archie knows and said it was fine, Veronica suggested this and I even called Betty to see if it was a good idea, which she said yes to, and I've been here cooking for a while and was going to wake you up when it was done to surprise you." He told me while he put some oven mitts on after stirring something in a pot.
"What did you make? It smells amazing. Almost…...Italian?" I questioned as Jughead pulled chicken out of the oven. Man did it look fantastic.
"Chicken Alfredo with broccoli and garlic and a special treat for dessert." He said to me.
"Did Archie tell you that I liked this? Because I know I didn't." I asked before telling him that.
"Actually…...I, um, called Dilton." He said as he mumbled the last part.
"You called Dilton?" I asked in shock. It's not that Jughead and Dilton hate each other, they just don't like asking each other for he,p when it comes to dates.
"Yeah. He said you might be bored of Pop's food and should change it up once in a while. I remember you liked Lady and the Tramp but I didn't have the sauce and meatballs. Dilton said you liked this though." He told me, almost like he was embarrassed, and shrugged a bit.
"I didn't know you knew how to make this." I confessed to him. He stopped cutting the chicken and then held up something to show me. A cook book. Not any cook book though, and not one from the library either, it was the one I gave him for Christmas.
"You still have it out?" I asked him as I took it and looked it over. I figured that, after the library mystery, he tucked it away somewhere since he could check out other library books.
"Yeah. I'd never pack it away. You gave it to me so that makes it my favorite cook book to read and try out." He told me. I then hugged him from behind. I don't know why it filled me with so much joy to hear that, and know it's true, but it did.
"Careful. I don't need to cut myself." He told me.
"Sorry. Do you want me to dress up or anything?" I asked him. I figured no but it wouldn't hurt to ask.
"Actually yeah. Can you dress up in something nice? Like a dress?" He asked me suddenly. I let him go and looked at him a bit shocked. Why? Why have me dress in a dress?
"It's a surprise, trust me." Jughead said, reading my unvoiced words, without looking at me.
"A-alright." I managed to say as I headed upstairs. Once I got up there I saw Allegro looking at me and wagging his tail. No wonder he didn't wake me up.
"You knew Jughead was here huh?" I asked him like he could understand me. He gave me a light bark and continued to wag his tail. I rolled my eyes with a smile on my face before petting him. I went to my room and looked through my closet. I didn't have many dresses but decided to look anyhow.
*What is Jughead planning? He usually doesn't care what I wear or anything like that.* I thought as I spotted the lace dress Tyrone's aunt gave me before Halloween. I smiled and pulled it out to wear. If I'm going to dress up might as well wow him a bit. After I put the dress on I looked at the new mirror I hung on the wall last week and did my hair, had it down with a little bit pulled back and held together with a black bow (Like sailor Venus in sailor moon) since it decided to wave out on it's own, and make up before butting on my silver earrings and bangles. I then found a black lace choker to put on. I put on my black heels, that are small, Aunt Mary bought me and looked at myself in the mirror.
*I hope this is good enough.* I thought as I walked down stairs. I peaked in and saw everything was set up before I heard music playing. It sounded classical with violins playing softly. I looked over at the CD player and saw Jughead was wearing his blue dress slacks and black shoes from his tux but not the top or jacket that goes with it. Instead he wore a different white button up top that wasn't frilled and top two buttons left undone with no bow tie and no jacket. My jaw dropped and my cheeks turned red. He had his hair a tad neater and wasn't wearing his usual hat. Was this really Jughead?
"You ready for dinner?" He asked me as he came over and held out his hand. He was acting like a gentleman. I don't believe it. All I could do was nod my head and take his hand. He guided me to the table and let go of my hand so he could pull the chair out for me. Oh my.
"Th-thank you." I stuttered out before taking a seat. He pushed me in and then went to his side of the table.
*What's wrong with me?* I thought to myself. This was Jughead, but, he wasn't acting like him.
"Jughead? Is everything alright?" I asked him nervously. My heart was beating so hard I was afraid he would hear it.
"Yeah why?" He asked me. He sounded like him.
"Just, surprised." I said as I looked at my glass. It was a wine glass but it was filled with orange soda.
"Didn't think I could be this romantic?" He suddenly asked me.
"No! No no no it's not that. It just surprised me was all." I said quickly and in a panic. I didn't want him to think I didn't like this.
"I know what you meant, I was just teasing. You shouldn't take this so seriously." He said as he laughed a bit. My cheeks turned so red that it actually made this tips or my ears red too.
"Sorry." I mumbled out.
"It's fine. I figured we could try somewhat fancy tonight. I've been wondering why Archie does this for Veronica constantly anyways, besides the fact she makes him." Jughead confessed to me. It made so much sense now. I calmed down and smiled brightly.
"Well you should've said that from the start." I told him as I put the napkin on my lap.
"Eh, thought the romantic reason was better. Both reasons are true." He told me as I got ready to eat.
"Well lets just see why they like expensive like food and dancing. I've never had a date like this before. Closest was a picnic in the lab with Dilton as he lit a Bunsen burner for us." I confessed to him.
"Yeah, he told me that." He said as I took a bite.
"Mmm, Jughead. This is amazing." I said as I started eating more.
"I'm glad you like it." He told me as he began eating.
"Like it? I love it. It's the best Alfredo I've ever had in my life." I said as I ate more.
"I bet you can make it better." He told me. I stopped and looked at him.
"Probably not. Jughead, you have an amazing talent here. Ever thought about taking cooking class at the school? Maybe culinary classes in college?" I asked him about this. He nearly choked on his drink and then looked at me before actually thinking about it.
"No, I never thought of that. I wasn't thinking about college yet but maybe I'll take that cooking class next year. If I like it then I'll really think about it." He said as I smiled at him.
"Glad to hear you'll think about it." I said as I took a sip of my soda.
"How about you? What are you going to do for college?" He asked me. I stopped and thought about it. What was I going to do?
"To be honest, I'm not sure. I mean I love cooking but I love my art as well. But then again I love to be near animals but I love to help people out when I can. I'm just not sure." I said as I sighed. Junior year was almost over and I had to think of something soon before senior year.
"Don't worry about it, just do something that feels more you than anything else." He said in a comforting tone. I smiled at his wise words.
"Yeah, your right." I said softly as I took another sip of my soda. We finished eating and Jughead cleaned the table.
"I can help you know." I said as I started to stand up.
"No no no. Just sit there and look pretty, I'll be back with dessert." He said as he walked away from me. I blushed and sat back down.
*How am I supposed to respond to that? I mean, this is wonderful, but it's not completely like Jughead at all. Am I really that important and special to him?* I thought as he set something in front of me. I looked at it as my jaw dropped. It was chocolate volcano cake, something I hadn't had in such a long time.
"Jughead?" I asked as I looked at him.
"Archie told me you used to love this so I looked in all the baking books at the library to find it." He said as he shrugged. I could tell it was fresh because it smelled so good and still looked warm since the whipped cream and small amount of vanilla ice cream were melting and dripping down the sides.
"Well? You can eat it you know." Jughead said as I snapped myself out of my shock. I picked up a spoon and scooped up a piece before taking a bite. My eyes nearly popped out of my head as I swallowed.
"Jughead! This is, it's, wow!" I said as I couldn't form proper words for the delicious mouth watering taste I had just tasted.
"I'll take that as a 'It's so good I can't form words to describe it' compliment." He said with a wide smile as I nodded.
"Exactly." I said as I ate some more. He laughed a bit before eating some himself. We finished and Jughead cleaned up before going to the CD player.
"Care to dance?" He asked me suddenly as he came over and held his hand out to me.
"Sure." I said as I took his hand and stood up. He brought me to the opened area and soon I heard the sound of a guitar and knew the familiar beat. Johnny Be Good by Chuck Berry.
"Can you keep up?" I asked him.
"Let's see." He said as the lyrics came up. Jughead spun me out before spinning me back into him and he smiled. I smiled back and soon we began to do the twist. He started spinning me around, spin me away from him and then pulled me back in, and twisted some more. Then he dipped me in between his legs and, when he brought me back up, I was still arched back when I jumped and grabbed his waist with my knees. I leaned in close to his ear as he nearly yelped in surprise.
"Keep your feet firm on the ground and trust me." I whispered as I held his shoulders tightly. I then put pressure on them and let go of his waist as I flipped myself gracefully over him and landed behind him. Jughead gave a surprised huh as I grabbed his hand and spun myself in front of him before twisting again. He smiled and we spun close to each other and held each other in our arms as the song ended.
"Wow! I didn't know you could dance like that!" He panted out in pure shock.
"I told you I used to dance until I was 7. My parents never entered me in competitions though." I said as I shrugged my shoulders and looked away at the last part.
"Well there's a dance competition coming up next year. Why don't you ask Archie's folks about it?" He asked me. I looked at him as he smiled down at me.
"I'm not sure. I mean, I'm rusty and-" I started explaining before he put his hand on my cheek and kissed me lightly on my lips before he pulled away and smiled.
"Just do what you feel is right." He told me as I nodded lightly. I looked deep in his eyes as he looked in mine. I could feel the heat rising to my face. Dilton was told about Jughead and I making out and I did the same thing with him on one of our dates. It was actually funny to see Dilton turn beat red when it was over. I liked making out with both boys. I saw Jughead's cheeks turn pink as he got close to me and kissed my lips lightly. My heart felt like it was going to burst out of my chest. This always happened when I would kiss Dilton and Jughead passionately. I didn't hesitate to kiss Jughead back as 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road' by Elton John came on. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled away. He wrapped his arms around my waist and we soon started to slow dance. We somehow ended up in the living room because we both fell backwards onto the couch, me on top of him, and yelped in surprise. We then giggled and laughed as we then looked into each others eyes again. We then kissed passionately and hugged each other tighter to one another. I felt his hands roaming up and down my back and sides as I lightly moaned. He took that chance to slip his tongue into my mouth. I gasped out a moan as I tightened my grip around his neck a little, while one hand gripped his shirt tightly, I used my free hand to slip it behind his head so my fingers could run through his hair. Jughead used his legs to help me adjust mine so I could straddle him and that's when our bodies began to grind against each other. I could hear him groan against my kiss as we moved harder against each other. He then turned us over so he could be on top as our motions continued. I gasped and moaned into the kiss as I felt him smile lightly. As one of his hands continued to rub up and down my side I felt his other hand trailing under my skirt and up my leg.
*This is moving to fast, but I don't want to stop. Not yet.* I thought as his hand reached mid thigh and gently stroke up and down. I was turning red and moaning to his gentle touch. As his hand got higher up my thigh, and his other one daring to get close to my breast.
"Ahem!" Busted! Jughead bolted up just for me to see a pair of hands grab his shoulders and yank him off me. I looked up to see Archie holding Jughead's shoulders and glaring at him.
"Uh, hey buddy." Jughead said innocently.
"Don't you 'Hey buddy' me." Archie scolded.
"Archie!" I yelped out as I got off the couch and glared at him while fixing my skirt.
"Just dinner and dancing huh?" Archie scolded Jughead again.
"Archie stop it." I said as I went over to him and got him to let go of Jughead.
"Not now, Jughead I thought you were my friend. Why are you taking advantage of her?" Archie scolded as he asked that.
"Archibald Andrews! How dare you assume he's taking advantage of me! If I didn't want him doing that then I would've stopped him myself!" I yelled at him.
"Then you should've! You're a girl and-" He started before I stopped him.
"Archie! Stop! Just stop right now. Jughead and I are both at fault and you have no right to yell at him like that. He's you're best friend and someone you can trust, you know that. As for me, well, I'm not sure why I did that or let him but I liked it alright. I'm not letting this friendship between you two die because of this relationship. You need to trust me more and him as well." I said as I motioned to Jughead.
"Yeah Arch, I'd never do anything to hurt either of you, you of all people should know that." Jughead said to him. Archie then sighed and rubbed his forehead.
"Fine. No more of that though, especially here." Archie told us.
"Fine fine." I said as I waved my hand at him.
"I should get going anyways." Jughead told me.
"Aw, really?" I whined a bit.
"Don't worry, We'll have another date." Jughead told me as I smiled.
"Sounds great." I said to him.
"Not here I hope." Archie groaned out as I glared at him.
"No silly, at Pop Tate's." I said as I helped Jughead get ready to leave.
"Thanks for tonight Jughead, I had a lot of fun and was surprised." I said as I walked him to the door.
"It's no problem for you. Besides, now I see why Archie and Veronica go out to dinner and dancing. Maybe next time we could do dancing sometime." He said as I smiled at him.
"That'd be great." I said to him. He the kissed me lightly on my lips as I kissed back. I then felt him pull away quickly.
"Come on Romeo, I'll take you home." I heard as I opened my eyes and saw Archie pulling Jughead away.
"Bye Jughead." I said as I waved him goodbye.
"See you tomorrow." He said as he started waving back before he yelped out from being pulled backwards hard.
"Come on." Archie said in a slightly annoyed tone as he and Jughead entered the car. Once they drove off I shut the door and held my hand over my heart.
*How can a guy make me feel this wonderful?* I thought as I headed upstairs. I then slipped into my gown and looked at my bear.
"Please don't let Archie kill Jughead. I don't want their long time friendship to be ruined because of me." I said as I patted the bear on the head before crawling into bed. I soon fell asleep with a sigh and a wide smile on my face.
*Archie's POV*
I couldn't believe I walked in on Jughead and Aria kissing, no, making out! Him on her and his hand up her skirt! I lost it. I was in complete shock. He's my best friend and she's my cousin. She yelled at me and told me she could defend herself. I know she can but, after Vinnie jumped her, I don't know, I've become even more protective of her than I should. Now I was driving him home as I decided to take the chance to talk to him one on one.
"What exactly were you thinking Jughead?" I flat out asked him once I drove us a couple blocks away.
"What do ya mean Arch?" He asked me.
"Don't play dumb. You never get like this over a girl, so why now? Why her? Did you think it would be funny or something?" I asked him.
"Archie, you know me, I'd never hurt you or Aria." He defended.
"Then why Jughead?" I asked him.
"We didn't do anything and I wasn't going to go further than that. I would never take advantage of her in any way. Did you ever think that?" He suddenly asked me.
"I just want to be sure." I muttered out. He did make a good point. Jughead would never do anything to hurt our friendship so why would he ever hurt Aria?
"I understand, but it's like I told you from the very beginning, I'd get to know Aria and I'd make sure to help you out with her anyway I could. Yes, I've grown from friendship to boyfriend, but my motives are still the same. I want to still be there for her and help her out, I just, well, have stronger feelings for her, that's all." He said as he tried to find the right words. I sighed.
"Yeah. I should know better. You're my best friend and I just don't want to see her get hurt is all." I confessed as I sighed in disappointment.
"Hey, I get it, you're family. You just want to make sure she's happy and safe is all, I get that. Dilton and I are two of the best guys you could trust with her, we'd never want to hurt her and try to make her happy as well." Jughead told me. He's right.
"You're right. I just can't stop the protective feeling." I told him.
"I get it, and I'm not saying you shouldn't be protective, I'm just saying Dilton and I won't be like that." He said to me.
"Just don't do that anymore." I said to him.
"Can't make any promises." He told me smugly as I then glared at him.
"Jughead." I scolded his name out.
"Well, here's my place." He suddenly said as I stopped the car. He then hopped out of the car before I could talk to him some more. I sighed as I decided to go home. I drove all the way home as I thought in silence over this. Once I got home I looked around for Aria. Now was her turn to get scolded. I went up to her room and saw she was asleep. I went over to wake her up until I got close to her. She was smiling. Actually smiling a bright smile.
*How can I wake her up now?* I thought as I saw Allegro poke his head up from behind her and look at me. I reached over and patted his head.
"I'll talk to her when she wakes up. She needs sleep." I said softly as I leaned down and kissed Aria's forehead. I sneaked out of her room and quietly shut the door. Aria was more of a sister to me than a cousin and I would protect her like a brother would. I then went to my room and, after getting into pajamas, went to bed.
*Next day Aria's POV*
Uhg. Archie is such a pain. He scolded me over Jughead and I kissing the way we were. Hypocrite. I'm positive he does the same thing with Veronica at least. I was even madder since tickets for the mummy exhibit sold out and they lost my reservation, unpaid, to get a ticket to go. I decided to wait until Monday, if it was still there, to go see it. Then I heard the phone ring.
"Andrews residence, Aria speaking." I answered the phone.
"Oh, hi Aria. Is Archie-kins home?" I heard Veronica ask me. I rolled my eyes. Speak of the devil.
"Yes, he's here, Hold please." I said to her as I went over to Archie, reading a book, and handed him the phone.
"It's Veronica, make sure you mention something nice about her since she'll probably ask." I quietly told him, as I handed him the phone, before walking away. I swear, this was super annoying. He better not blow Betty off again. I went into the kitchen, ignoring the conversation over the phone, and grabbed a peach to eat. Man, the peaches in Riverdale are amazing.
"Hey Aria, wanna head over to Veronica's?" Archie suddenly asked me.
"Archie! Don't-" I started scolding him before he cut me off.
"It's only for an hour, maybe two, I'll have enough time to get to Betty's. Also Ronnie said this was a surprise for both of us." Archie said as I looked at him in a puzzled manner before sighing and giving up.
"Alright. Fine." I said as I walked with him to the car. The drive down to Ronnie's took a while but at least I got to eat my peach. Yum. Archie wouldn't tell me why Veronica wanted him here, especially since he didn't know either, as we were guided to the room she wanted to meet us in.
"Alright Veronica, what's the surprise?" I asked her just before I noticed an Egyptian man, in his 40's, standing right next to her.
"This is professor Osiris-" She started to say before I quickly interrupted her.
"Professor Osiris, as in the museum curator who arranged the mummy exhibit, and also named after the Egyptian god of the dead, Professor Osiris?" I questioned out of pure shock.
"Yes, the same. I heard that they lost your ticket reservation and I know Archie-kins missed the ticket buy for the exhibit, so I pulled some strings for you two to have a personal interview with him for the article." Veronica said. I was so happy and excited that I hugged Veronica.
"Oh how wonderful!" I shouted with glee over this. Professor Osirus greeted us before Archie snapped a picture and blinded the man. He was just as happy as I was. I soon let Veronica go and went to the Professor to shake his hand.
"It's a great pleasure and honor to meet you Professor." I said as I shook his hand.
"This is Aria Andrews and her cousin Archie Andrews, the friends I was telling you about." She said as he got done shaking my hand and soon shook Archie's.
"It's a pleasure to meet you sir." Archie greeted him politely and ecstatically.
"As Miss Lodge had just mentioned, you two wish to have an interview with me on Pharaoh Neserbean for your school paper." He said to us.
"Oh yes please, especially me for my personal knowledge. Very little is known about Pharaoh Neserbean except for the fact that he was to marry a young lady named Betetitty and that his sarcophagus has a warning of a curse on it, which has not been fully clear on what, and that he had a cousin, Princess Lahn (Meaning Air, Melody, just like Aria's name does.) who remains to be a bigger mystery than him." I pointed out those details that I knew.
"Very good, you know your history." He said, as I now noticed his thick Egyptian/Arabic accent, and smiled proudly.
"I didn't know any of that. How did you?" Archie asked as Professor Osiris lead us to a few comfy chairs to sit in as we continued our talk and interview.
"Seriously? You didn't know? I read about it at the library I used to visit when I lived in New York City, along with the famous NYC museum of natural history which, if I remember correctly, you gave a Seminar there about 4 years ago, when I was 12, based of forgotten Pharaohs and curses that should not be tampered with." I said as I recalled that day, after my burn, I went there to feel better and ended up seeing the whole seminar.
"Hm. You wouldn't happen to be the little red head who asked about strong forgotten female queens and also asked what we can do to remember the forgotten rulers of Egypt, would you." He asked as he took a seat across from us.
"Yes I am. I'm surprised you remember me, sort of." I said as I rubbed my arm in an awkward way.
"It's not often children are at my seminars and become quite curious of Egyptian history." He replied as he chuckled lightly.
"Please, tell us more about Pharaoh Neserbean, I'm not only curious on him but of the curse as well." I said as I edged him to tell us more on the mummy. He went on to talk about the burial rituals, organs in jars, everything. I would explain things to Archie to help him understand the whole thing for the Pharaoh. Poor Veronica was falling asleep.
"So the curse on his tomb? Real or did he, in a way, curse himself?" I asked out of curiosity.
"Well this isn't a monster movie, but he did, in a way, curse himself." He said to us as Archie, at 1st grew disappointed before, perking up at the cursing himself part.
"Professor, did it have something to do with Betetitty?" I asked out of curiosity.
"You're correct. Why don't I tell you the story." He said as Archie and I smiled and leaned in closer. He began to tell us the story as we both imagined an Egyptian setting.
"You see, Neserbean had a great love in his life, Queen Betetitty. Well, she should've been his queen." He started off.
"What do you mean 'should have been'?" Veronica asked.
"I know she married another but it wasn't told why." I added in before the story continued.
"You see, the two were to be wed, but Pharaoh Neserbean was a procrastinator, and kept putting off the wedding. Tomorrow, he'd tell her, always tomorrow. You see, he didn't want to marry her until his tomb was finished and both could be housed together in the afterlife." He said as I understood.
"So she left him because she couldn't bare to wait any longer." I added in.
"Yes, that's right." Osiris replied with a nod.
"Hmp, He's lucky she stayed around as long as she did." Veronica added in.
"Well, back then, it was not easy for women and especially not easy for them to up and leave. Since she had another suitor, who was actually a sultan in Arabia, she had the option." I informed her.
"You know your history very well." Osiris told me as I smiled.
"And without Betetitty, I guess you could say, the broken hearted Neserbean was cursed to spend all of his tomorrows alone." He added to the story.
"But what did this have to do with his cousin?" Archie suddenly asked. I was curious about that.
"Well, it's said that Princess Lahn was the one who convinced Betetitty to not wait for him and if he denied her one more time then to run off with the other suitor and to continue her life in happiness." He told us as I grew shocked.
"Did he hate his cousin after that?" I asked him.
"No, but he, instead, had her marry another man instead of one of the two suitors she meet with. Not much is known after that except that she had been killed while she was with child." He said as I gasped and covered my mouth with both hands from the shock.
"That's awful." Archie said.
"Indeed. That's what sent Pharaoh Neserbean over the edge with guilt and sadness." Osiris added in.
"You'd never put me aside, would you Archie-kins?" Veronica asked as I then remembered something. Betty!
"Archie! You're project with Betty!" I nearly shouted in shock as I saw the clock.
"Oh no!" He said in shock. "Go on. I'll get the rest of the story." I assured him.
"Thanks Aria, Sorry Ronnie, Nice to meet you Professor." Archie said quickly before bolting.
"I swear, my cousin is exactly like Neserbean with the procrastinating." I said as I shook my head.
"Please continue." I ushered. I really wanted to hear the end of the story.
"Well, Pharaoh Neserbean was so upset with himself over both the loss of his cousin, her unborn child, and his love leaving him that he never wanted to see himself again because it would just remind him of how lonely he was without his love and the mistake of sending his cousin off with the man he forced her to marry. That's when he decided to destroy all his mirrors, statues of himself, and even carved off his face on his sarcophagus. He banned all mirrors and objects that would show his reflection as well. He only kept his cousin's medallion and a statue of her along with a small statue of a child with only eyes and a smile, no special features or gender shown to it, but hid them away and have yet to be found. It was also said that when he had been informed of her death, he had her mummified and buried in a special tomb just for her and found out she had been with child during the mummification process and had the fetus wrapped up and placed with her, in her arms, to hold and love in the afterlife." Osiris explained to us. I wanted to cry over this.
"That's so sad." Veronica said as she sniffled a little.
"Indeed. In one week though we will be searching for her tomb and, hopefully, discover what happened to her and find out who she was married to as well to find out more answers." He explained to us.
"Oh please, let me know right away what you find out. I'd love to get a ticket for the exhibit and be there when you give your presentation." I said to him with a small bit of excitement. I always did love the Greek, Roman, and Egyptian mythological culture and Historical culture the most along with the Romanov family history from Russia.
"Of course, I will make sure you and your cousin each have a ticket to both." He assured me with a smile. I smiled widely.
"Thank you so much." I said as I stood up and shook his hand.
"Not a problem. I must be heading off now, hopefully you and your cousin have enough information for your article." He said to me.
"Believe me, we have more than enough." I said to him.
"Thank you for your time." Veronica thanked him.
"It's of no problem." He said as he then shook her hand before taking his leave. I turned to Veronica.
"Thank you so much Ronnie, Archie and I owe you big time." I said to her as I did a quick look over of my notes.
"You really mean that?" She asked me suddenly.
"Yes I do." I said without even looking at her and not comprehending the way she said that.
"Good, then I need a favor." She suddenly said. I then looked up at her.
"Yes?" I questioned her before I heard the doorbell.
"Perfect timing." She said as she rushed to the front door yelling to Smithers it was for her. Odd. I then heard screaming so I went to the door to see Reggie and Ronnie talking. Oh no.
"Hey Doll Face, didn't know you'd be here! What a treat!" Reggie exclaimed in happiness while I sighed.
"Aria's going to watch the movie with us." Veronica then said out of nowhere.
"Movie?" I questioned. She then came over to me.
"I want you to sit next to Reggie so that I won't have to. That's the favor." She whispered in my ear. Why that sneaky little. I sighed.
"What movie?" I asked.
"A Romance Movie." Veronica said cheerfully.
*Oh please no! Archie, I beg of you, please call for a favor from Veronica!* I thought while I heard the phone ringing.
"Mister Archie Andrews on the phone for you Miss Lodge." Smithers said once we entered the living room. She gladly answered the phone.
"Thank you." I whispered to myself quietly. One problem solved.
"I can't wait to see this with two lovely ladies. This must be my lucky night!" Reggie said as he draped his arm around my shoulders. There was the second problem. Reggie!
"Dang it Reggie, I told you not to do that!" I scolded quietly as I moved his arm off of me.
"Aw come on, you know I'd treat ya right." He said as he wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me closer. My right eye was twitching as he pulled me closer to his right side.
"Reggie!" I warned in a low voice.
"Come on, just one date. I'll have you fall head over heels for me." He was saying.
"Reggie!" I warned again as I felt my blood start to boil. I had to keep calm.
"I still don't know what you see in Dilton and Jughead, especially Jughead. One's a nerd and the other is just plain weird. You need normal and handsome like me." He said, in his own way of flirting, as I just about lost it.
"Guys, we need to get Archie!" Veronica said. I snapped out my 'gonna hit Reggie' mode and looked at her in worry.
"What happened?" I asked her.
"I'll explain on the way. Reggie? Can you drive us?" Veronica asked him.
"Sure thing Ronnie." He said as he released me. Thank you! We got in the car and she explained how Archie was locked in the museum.
"I knew I should've went with him so he wouldn't procrastinate anymore." I said in an upset tone.
"Well? It's typical Archie." Reggie said.
"Is he alone?" I asked.
"No, Jughead's with him." She said to me.
"Drive faster Ronnie! My Jughead's in trouble and I know it!" I shrieked as she sped up a bit. We got there and immediately went inside and called out to them.
"Reggie, you keep the door open." Ronnie said to him.
"Why?" he asked.
"Because daddy says the electronic mechanism is on the fritz and can't be opened from the inside." She said. I then looked over and saw the door closing.
"No!" I yelped out as I bolted past Reggie to try and stop one of the two doors from closing. I failed. Right when I got to it the doors slammed shut and caused me to slam into them with an oof.
"Great. Now we're gonna have to call daddy. He's not going to be pleased." Veronica grumbled before whining her last sentence.
"No guys, I'm fine, really. Not like I smashed my still sensitive nose into the door or anything like that." I said in a sarcastic tone while standing up and rubbed my nose while looking their way.
"Sorry, you okay?" Reggie asked, which shocked me a bit.
"Yeah, let's look for my dimwitted cousin and my lost puppy of a boyfriend." I said as I walked past them and looked around. I saw Veronica hold up a busted phone. Great. Than we heard a groaning noise.
"I smell a prank, and it's getting stinkier with every step he takes." Reggie said as we looked to where he was pointing. Holy scarab it's a walking mummy.
"Oh Archie, did you really drag me down here for this?" Veronica said in a non impressed tone.
"I give you points for effort, but the jokes gone on far enough Arch." Reggie added as the mummy got closer.
"I don't think that's Archie nor Jughead." I said to them in a worried tone.
"Veronica, Reggie, Aria! Run!" I heard Archie yell out. I looked behind me and saw Archie and Jughead.
"I really hate it when I'm right." I muttered out as we turned back to the mummy. I got ready to fight when, for some reason, it walked passed us and started chasing Archie and Jughead.
"Um…...What?" I asked as I blinked a couple times in shock and confusion.
"Why did it avoid us?" Veronica asked as she, too, was stunned.
"Archie and/or Jughead did something. I know they did. Probably Archie." I said as I relaxed a bit.
"Come on girls, we're getting out of here." I heard Reggie say as he ran past us with a chair over him.
"Reggie wait! It's-" I started to say but he threw the chair anyways. Instead of breaking the glass though, it bounced right off it.
"-safety glass." I finished my sentence as Reggie looked at me.
"Seriously? Safety glass?" He asked in a shocked tone.
"They have to so they can keep the valuables in the museum safe and prevent thieves from entering." I said to him in a smart tone of voice. Then I saw Archie and Jughead run over to us.
"Jughead!" I shouted as I ran over and hugged him.
"We can't open the door, the lock is busted on the inside. What did Archie do?" I told him before letting go and asking.
"Hey! Why do you think it's my fault?" Archie asked me.
"Because you came here instead of Betty's and Jughead was most likely on his evening think when he spotted you and agreed to come with you. Plus you seem to be the one to do something stupid more so than anyone." I pointed out these facts to him.
"She's got a point Arch." Jughead said, agreeing with me.
"Not helping." Archie pointed out.
"So what did you do?" I asked him.
"I'm not sure. All we did was sneak in to see the mummy and the next thing we knew it came to life and started chasing us." Archie said to us.
"And cranky. You should've seen the way he smashed Archie's camera." Jughead said to us.
"Wait? Did it have a purple strap on it?" I asked him. I loaned my camera to Archie until he could find his.
"Yeah why?" Jughead replied and asked.
"Archibald Andrews! That way my camera! You owe me a new one!" I yelled at him with full force. He looked frightened.
"I'm actually more scared of her than that mummy." Archie said as I started fuming.
"It took me weeks to get that camera! You should've looked for yours instead of procrastinating that like you have been doing with everything else for the past two weeks!" I yelled at him some more.
"Yell at him later. Archie? Did you take pictures of the mummy?" Veronica suddenly asked. I then cooled down and thought about it.
*If the mummy came to life, only went after Jughead and Archie, and smashed my camera Archie had then it makes sense.* I thought.
"Well sure, I-" He started before being interrupted.
"Let me see." Veronica said.
"Here. What? Why?" He said and asked after he handed her the pictures. I went over and looked at them to see the mummy and his face.
"Archie, you didn't know the rest of the story." Veronica said to him.
"The rest?" Archie asked. I sighed and told the rest of the story to him.
"So basically, now that he has been walking around and chasing you, the curse is real and he wants those pictures destroyed. So destroy them!" I said to him as I handed him the pictures to destroy.
"Show the mummy you destroying them and all of this will be over, and no procrastinating." I said to him just as the mummy showed up.
"I hope you're right!" Archie said as he ran off.
"Veronica? Is there another phone we can use to call your father?" I asked her.
"No. We're going to have to wait until morning." She said as I sighed.
"It's not so bad. We're together." Jughead said as he pulled me close to him.
"True." I said.
"Got any spare burgers?" I asked him.
"Yup! Two!" He exclaimed as he pulled them both out and handed me one. I smiled as we ate them together while he sat on the floor, leaning against the desk, and me on his lap. Archie came back and told us what happened and we explained we had to wait until morning. Well, once morning came, security called Veronica's father and had him show up with the professor. We explained what happened, Professor Osiris was stunned and amazed at the same time, and, after a bit of scolding, was let go. Now Reggie brought Veronica home while Archie and I brought Jughead home before heading home ourselves. Archie went over to Betty's and then came back home.
"I'm gonna shower and get dressed before I go to the library. Betty finished her half so I need to finish my half as well." He said as I smiled at him.
"Good, then you can get me a new camera while your out and when you get back you can start your laundry before we do the article." I said with a slightly sadistic smile on my face. He sighed but agreed. Now it was night time, Archie did his laundry and gave me my new camera, by the time we got started on the article.
"It was that simple. I had found another weird mystery, and thanks to Veronica and a little bit from Aria, I solved it in the knick of time. ~Archie. But thanks to that we couldn't get out until morning. We had a lot of explaining to do once Veronica's father came to get us. But, fortunately, Ronnie's allowance was enough to cover the damages. Also, Archie was able to replace my camera that got smashed up. ~Aria. Betty had finished her half of the work last night, so I had to finish my half all by myself. ~ Archie. Serves you right for procrastinating and breaking yet another promise. ~Aria. Yes, yes. I know. Anyways, After Betetitty, er I mean, Betty heard what I went through she knew I wasn't going to put anything off anymore. I didn't want to be like Pharaoh Neserbean, always miserable and constantly procrastinating. Maybe now the Pharaoh can rest in peace now knowing someone has learned from his mistakes. ~Archie. Even 3000 years after the fact. ~Aria. …...In a little town called Riverdale! ~Archie and Aria!"
I smiled in satisfaction over this.
"You okay?" I asked Archie.
"Yeah." He said as he went to his bed.
"Betty still mad?" I asked him.
"Yeah." He said as he laid down on his bed.
"Do you want to know how to get her to be less mad?" I asked him. He sat up and looked at me.
"How?" He asked me.
"Well, you should make her a nice dinner and give her some flowers. Tulips, Lilly's and bluebells are what she loves, gt them wrapped in a bright red ribbon. Trust me, she'll love it." I said to him. He sprung up and tackled me in a hug.
"Gak!" I yelped out as his grip tightened.
"That's a great idea! I'll do that after school! I don't know what I'd do without you!" He exclaimed in joy.
"Archie! I won't be here much longer if you keep this up! Can't breathe!" I said as I wheezed out the last sentence.
"Sorry." He said as he released me.
"I'm going to bed before you kill me with your hugs." I said as I left to go to bed. After school he did exactly what I suggested, even though the food was burnt, and she forgave him completely. I was happy that everything ended with a happy ending.