"God, he's a total smokeshow."
Betty looked up from her spiral notebook to follow her best friend's gaze. Veronica's dark brown eyes were blown wide as she ogled a group of shirtless Bulldogs goofing off on the sidelines of the school's well-kept football field.
It was the last day of their junior year and the feel of summer in the air was especially potent. Even Betty couldn't help but smile at the boys' antics.
"You're going to have to be more specific, V."
Veronica huffed. "Archie, obviously, B. Did I tell you he wrote me a song—"
"Do you see those neanderthals?" Cheryl interrupted in a bored voice from behind them. She slid her cafeteria tray across the blue-holed picnic table, slipping into a seat on the bench opposite. Josie and Midge trailed after her. "Always looking for an excuse to parade around with their shirts off."
"I'm not complaining," Midge said, waving happily to her boyfriend Moose.
"Neither am I," Veronica drawled, continuing to make googly eyes at Archie. The affable redhead grinned back at her and she swooned.
Cheryl groaned and examined her sharp, crimson-tipped nails. "Jeez, can the two of you just bone already?"
"I'm working on it." Veronica pouted. "The boy is fairly oblivious."
"Who said beauty and brains were synonymous?" Betty teased her.
"Don't you worry, B," Veronica tutted. "After Cher's party tonight, he'll be eating out of the palm of my hand. The outfit I have planned is to die for. Perfect for when he asks me on our first date."
"Is he aware of that?" Cheryl jeered.
Veronica glared at her. "He'd better be. A girl can only throw so many hints before she loses interest." She glanced for a moment back in Archie's direction, admiring his toned abs. "Although that would be a damn shame," she added in a low murmur.
"I'm with you, Veronica," Josie said, taking a bite of her salad. "Andrews is adorable, himbo or not."
"Thank you!" she proclaimed. "Cheryl just refuses to admit any guy with red hair except her precious brother Jason is attractive."
"I will have you know—"
The double doors leading to the field banged open, drowning out Cheryl's retort. The girls all turned to see Chuck stalking out.
Despite the growing heat of the June day, Betty felt a chill run through her. Her tall, handsome boyfriend was strutting across the courtyard like a peacock, and yet the only emotion she could conjure up watching him was boredom. If not flat-out annoyance.
Not that Chuck seemed to be paying much attention to her either. With purposeful nonchalance, he brushed by a table a few yards away, knocking the Gryphons & Gargoyles game board a few students were playing on right off it.
"Hey!" Dilton protested with a nasally whine.
"You got a problem, Doiley?" Chuck's row of perfect white teeth glinted in the bright sunlight, looking as menacing as an attack dog's.
Dilton wilted like a flower against the picnic table. "No, Chuck. Sorry."
"Didn't think so."
The tables around them tittered at the exchange, but Betty found herself frowning. She had asked him to stop doing shit like that. Multiple times. Not that he ever listened.
Chuck's eyes landed on Betty next and he shot a wink in her direction, before whipping off his letterman's jacket and fitted v-neck t-shirt and sprinting onto the field with a loud whoop.
"Speaking of hot," Josie said. She fanned herself as Chuck and the rest of the football team began to flex their chest muscles. "You're so lucky, Betty."
Betty cast a cursory glance at the field, eyeing Chuck's glistening brown skin and towering, muscular frame without much interest. She shifted in her seat, her gaze falling quickly back down toward her notebook and the remaining few items on her final to-do list for the year. "I suppose."
Cheryl's eyebrows quirked up. She was always the first to pounce on a potential piece of juicy gossip. "Trouble in paradise?"
Veronica answered before Betty could deny it. "It does appear our sweet Bettykins isn't quite as taken with Riverdale's resident alpha male as she once was."
"Well, maybe if you finally let him give you a sticky maple."
Betty's cheeks flamed red. "Gross, Cheryl. No, thank you."
The fact was Chuck had been pressuring her more and more about sex lately. But she had been holding him at bay. And it wasn't because she had some qualm about doing it in high school or anything like that. It just didn't feel right. Not with him.
"Why not?" Josie leaned forward over the table. "Don't tell me he doesn't get you going."
"Oh, he has, too," Midge piped in. "You guys are so cute together."
Betty fiddled with the silver pendant around her neck. She didn't think of herself as a prude, but there was still something deeply discomfiting for her about this particular topic, especially as the only one of her girl friends who hadn't gone all the way yet, even if she and Chuck had done almost everything but.
And, truthfully, she didn't quite know why the prospect of him being her first made her so nauseous, or even when her feelings for Chuck had started to shift to disinterest. She'd liked him well enough when they began dating in December. They'd been in the same social circle since freshman year, so when Chuck asked her to winter formal, and then officially to be his girlfriend, Betty hadn't seen a reason not to agree. He was cute, confident, and with just enough of an edge to seem almost bad boy-like. A nice contrast to her sweet, buttoned-down, all-American girl persona. But the sheen had slowly started to wear off. The product, inevitably, of one too many date nights devolving into rowdy hangouts with the guys, or the slew of embarrassed apologies she felt compelled to make when Chuck picked on yet another unfortunate classmate. Either way, Betty was pretty much ready to move on.
"Obviously, he's good-looking. That's not the issue." Betty paused, contemplating the best way to phrase her misgivings. "But then there's the rest of the package."
"Well, what about it?" Cheryl asked impatiently before Josie could make a lewd joke.
Betty looked around at her friends with a sigh. "You know Chuck. All he cares about is himself. Maybe the cockiness was charming in the beginning, but we've been together all year and I'm starting to feel like a piece of window dressing. For a really boring store, to boot. I don't think having sex with him is going to change that, or suddenly make him more interesting."
Veronica snorted into her water bottle. "I have to agree with Bettykins. Chuck has muscles for days, but his conversation is not exactly the stuff of Oscar Wilde."
"Oh, right, because a lack of conversational skills keeps you from lusting after Andrews," Cheryl sneered at Veronica.
"Jealous much, Blossom?" she shot back, blowing a grimacing Cheryl a kiss.
"I don't know about the rest of you," Josie threw out, "but none of this sounds like a good enough reason to unceremoniously dump a guy that sexy."
Betty bit her bottom lip. "Maybe not," she said, toying once more with her necklace. "But, Chuck can also be so smarmy, and honestly kind of a jerk. You all saw that with Dilton just now. Like why?"
Midge's brow furrowed in confusion, while Josie snickered behind her fork. Only Veronica seemed to sympathize with her concern, recognition flashing in her brown eyes.
"Such a bleeding heart," Cheryl ribbed her. "Worried about all the little nerds."
Betty gnawed at the crust of her grilled chicken sandwich, ignoring Cheryl's dig. It didn't seem worth bringing up the point that as editor-in-chief of the Blue & Gold and one of their class's top students, she was pretty much a nerd herself. Her position on the cheerleading squad and her friendships with most of the popular crowd, notwithstanding.
"All I'm saying is that I think I'm ready for something different," she explained with a shrug. "Something new."
"Well, let me know when he becomes available," Josie trilled.
Betty held back an eye roll. Even though they were friends and fellow River Vixens, Josie had done very little to hide her interest in Chuck since they'd started dating. It had irked Betty in the beginning, but she'd never really felt threatened enough by it to call the other girl out. And now, with her affections for Chuck at a bare minimum, she could hardly muster more than the tiniest amount of energy to care.
"Yes, Josie, we are all very aware you'll be the first to try to stick your tongue down his throat." Sarcasm dripped from Veronica's lips, and Betty had to stifle a giggle. It seemed her best friend wasn't as unwilling to hurl a few laced barbs as she was.
Josie flipped Veronica the bird. "He's hot. Sue me."
"Listen, I get it, Betty, I do." Cheryl took a sip from her juice box straw, somehow imbuing the entire action with more elegance than it deserved. "The guy has the brain of a baked potato. But, sadly, not even a bombshell such as I can deny how popular, or handsome, he is. Consequence of being the team captain and whatnot. Of course, you remember how it was with Jay-Jay."
"Your obsession with your older brother is so weird," Veronica sing-songed under her breath.
Cheryl held up a hand to silence her. "And truth be told, being Chuck's girlfriend is your only chance to beat me as homecoming queen next year. Although, perhaps I should take pity on you poor things and retire from the race. After all, three victories in a row is a nearly unbeatable record."
"Wow, how magnanimous." Veronica scoffed.
Betty bit back a laugh. "Cher, while I'm flattered you think I even have a chance, I am not staying with Chuck all summer just to clinch homecoming queen in the fall. I wouldn't do that."
"If he stays with you first." The corners of Josie's lips curled up mockingly in her direction.
"Jesus, Jos, put some ice on it," Veronica cracked.
A look of distress crossed over Midge's face. "Gosh, I hope Moose isn't thinking about breaking up with me."
Cheryl harrumphed loudly, dismissing their various digressions with an annoyed wave of her hand. "Enough bickering, strumpets. As to the matter at hand, do whatever you want, Betty. It's your funeral."
Betty shook her head, her green eyes catching the afternoon sun. "We'll see."
"B," Veronica called over to her. "Can we go yet?"
Betty glanced up from her perch on the student lounge's well-worn red loveseat. Veronica was seated across from her, tapping the corner of her leather black quilted phone case against the arm of the cozy gray recliner. School had let out 20 minutes before, and the halls were mostly quiet. Aside from a few other stragglers, they were probably the only ones left in the building.
"Soon," she said. Betty looked back down at the sheaf of papers in her lap. Her nose scrunched up as she examined the summer reading list, making mental notes of which books she still needed to get copies of.
Start of summer or not, there was no way she'd be waiting until the last minute to read them all.
"Betty," Veronica whined louder. "Sweetwater is calling us."
It was something of a tradition for Riverdale High students to go to the town's swimming hole on the last day of school to mark the beginning of summer vacation. And although public rituals like this tended to make Betty self-conscious, she knew that Veronica, a consummate city girl who had only moved to town at the start of sophomore year, was a sucker for small-town pomp and ceremony.
"And it will still be calling us at 4 pm," Betty replied, barely looking up.
"Your academic diligence is admirable," Veronica proclaimed with a huff. She twirled a lock of jet-black hair around her finger. "Annoying but admirable."
Betty snickered. "I promise I'll be done soon, V."
"You better be," Veronica hummed. "You're lucky I love you."
"I really am," she agreed, her lips curling up.
Betty's smile faltered, however, as Chuck and a few of his teammates sauntered into the room. Probably not a great sign you're this unenthused to see him, came the mocking voice in the back of her mind. She shoved the thought away with a brisk shake of her head. He's still your boyfriend, Betty. Don't be rude. Veronica, for her part, looked pleased by the interruption. She sat up straighter in the armchair, tilting her chin coquettishly toward Archie, who beelined over to her with a grin.
"There you are, babe," Chuck declared.
"Where else would I be, Chuck?" Her voice trembled with agitation despite her best efforts to modulate it. "I told you this morning I was staying late to finish some things."
Not that you listened, she added angrily to herself.
Chuck ignored her scowl and plopped down next to her on the couch. "PMSing much?"
Betty felt her body tense as he spread his arm around her, the heavy suede fabric of his letterman's jacket grazing the frilly collar of her sleeveless coral blouse. It was over 80 degrees outside, she fumed. Why was he still wearing the goddamn thing?
She took a deep breath to calm herself. "Because I'd have to be hormonal to be annoyed at you?" she asked with sugary fake sweetness.
Chuck laughed her off, tugging lightly at the end of her ponytail. "Don't be like that."
Betty refrained from rolling her eyes. "Whatever. Forget it."
"Yo, bro, are we going?" Reggie's voice rang out.
Chuck turned back to Betty. "You ready?"
"I'm just finishing this and then Veronica and I are heading over to Sweetwater."
"Do you ladies need a ride?" Archie asked.
"How kind of you to offer, Archiekins," Veronica cooed. "But my dear chauffeur Smithers is dropping us off at the Pembroke to change first."
"We'll see you there," Betty echoed. "You guys don't have to wait."
Betty looked back down at the papers in her hands, but instead of taking her suggestion as a cue to go, Chuck settled further into the cushions. His arm tightened around her shoulder, and she struggled to wriggle away from his embrace.
"Chuck, it's hot." Her voice was a low murmur, the only way she could keep the irritation she felt out of it. She had come to loathe his too-possessive grip on her.
"Why are you wearing jeans, anyway?" He flicked her knee with his finger. "You know I like seeing your legs."
Betty swallowed hard. Maybe a few months ago, she'd have considered the comment halfway flattering. At least for the insecure part of herself that still sought validity in a man's gaze. But Chuck, she'd come to realize, always found a way to take things too far. As if he truly believed he were entitled in some way to her body and how she did or didn't show it off. It was maddening, and yet another source of the frustration toward him Betty felt simmering just below the surface.
"Because I felt like it."
"Doesn't matter," he said, a wolfish grin alighting on his face. "I'll have you in a bikini soon enough."
Chuck licked his lips as he glanced her over like she was a piece of raw meat, and Betty tried to control her shiver of revulsion.
"Have me?" Her eyebrows crossed. "Seriously, Chuck?"
"Jesus, you're in a mood today." Chuck shot his friends a look that screamed can you believe this shit? before turning his deep brown eyes back to her. "Just take the compliment, Betty. Would you prefer I thought you were ugly?"
Betty's lips twitched. She was half-tempted to go off on him, despite the public audience and her usual aversion to conflict. Before she could decide what to do, though, her ears perked up at Reggie mumbling a smidge too loudly behind them.
"We should have given her a higher score," he said to Moose. "She's hot when she's feisty."
The other boy sniggered and Betty turned to stare at them. "Score," she repeated. "What score?"
The room filled with an awkward silence. Chuck shifted his weight beside her on the couch, his face betraying a guilty expression.
"Chuck?" she asked, her voice as sharp as a razorblade.
Chuck pursed his lips before shooting her a somewhat sheepish smile, which Betty assumed was his idea of being conciliatory. "It's just a ranking, babe. You know of the girls at school. How hot they are—"
"Or not," Reggie cut in with a chuckle.
Chuck silenced him with a glare. "It's just stupid locker room stuff. Boys will be boys, you know? No big deal."
She gaped at him, trying to process. The Bulldogs kept a ranking of girls? Like some ridiculous Mark Zuckerberg wannabees? What freaking year was it? Fury pulsed in Betty's throat, and she suddenly felt as if she were trying to breathe underwater. Her fingernails dug into her palms.
Instead of steadying her, though, the twinge of pain had Betty's eyes growing wet and wild. Her gaze darted toward Veronica, who looked equally as disgusted. As a former New York City private schooler, Betty knew Veronica had seen her fair share of boys behaving badly without a worry for the consequences. There was no way she'd stand for it here.
"That's seriously fucked," Veronica told them. Her voice shifted smoothly from ice cold to a sickening lilt. "Like if I went to Principal Weatherbee right now, you'd be all kicked off the team level fucked."
The boys began to hem and haw, their faces appropriately contrite. Betty would have laughed at how quickly Veronica had them by the balls if she weren't so enraged.
"Ronnie's right," Archie said, shaking his head. "I told you guys it was dumb."
Veronica turned her beady-eyed stare on her crush. "And you, Archibald. I certainly hope you weren't an equal participant in this misogynistic little scoring system."
"Andrews?" Reggie snorted. "Fucking choirboy. He wouldn't even look at it."
"Punkass bitch," Chuck ribbed him.
Betty's fists finally managed to unclench as the rest of the guys tittered. This was the last straw. If she were irritated and bored with Chuck before, now she was incensed. And if she forced herself to playact her sweet girl-next-door image any longer, she might actually combust.
Without a word, Betty stuffed the papers in her lap into her shiny pink plastic folder and slapped it shut. She stood up and grabbed her floral-printed backpack from the floor.
"Whoa, where are you going?" Chuck asked.
Betty's eyes flashed angrily at him. "I'm leaving, Chuck. Because we're done."
Moose let out a low whistle, but Chuck just laughed, clearly not taking her seriously. "Babe, don't play around. It's a stupid joke."
"Well, it's not a joke to me," Betty snapped at him. "And I have no interest in being some sexist asshole's plaything. It's over."
She stomped toward the door before a flustered Chuck could respond, looking back at Veronica. "Are you coming, V?"
"Right behind you, B," Veronica trilled. "I'm so over the toxic masculinity in this room anyway."
Betty could feel her toes curling in her ballerina flats, as she waited impatiently for Veronica to gather her black leather tote bag and sling it around her wrist.
"Don't think we're finished talking about this, Archiekins," Veronica warned from the door.
Archie nodded, offering her his best puppy-dog eyes.
"Let's go," Betty muttered, itching to get the hell away from her freshly minted ex-boyfriend.
But they only made it a few steps into the hallway before Chuck's loud voice was reverberating against the gray metal lockers and taupe-painted walls.
"Betty," he bellowed, a scoff on his face. "You can't be serious. You're breaking up with me over this crap?"
Fucking unbelievable, she thought. He really didn't see her. Like, at all. True, she knew she had a bad tendency to keep her innermost feelings bottled up. To people please and avoid ruffling feathers, for fear of others discovering the not-so-pretty scars buried underneath. But for Chuck to be so out of touch as to think she wouldn't be pissed off or offended by this. As if she'd just continue to take all his chauvinistic bullshit and bullying in stride, until the bitter end. The same girl who published exposés in the school paper on the disparity of resources between the town's two high schools, who won scholastic essay competitions writing about her feminist literary heroes? God, he was a moron if he believed that. But, then again, maybe she was the idiot. How on earth else could she explain wasting half a year on the likes of him?
"No, Chuck." Betty's eyes widened, glittering with distaste. "I'm breaking up with you because I am completely and totally not into you anymore."
Chuck's face turned a dark shade of plum. "You're a crazy bitch," he sputtered. "You're going to regret this."
Maybe most of their fellow classmates would be inclined to take Chuck's threats seriously, but Betty couldn't bother herself to care anymore about his bluster. She was suddenly so over anything and everything Riverdale High-related. Him, most of all. Thank god an entire golden summer stretched out before her. She planned to make the most of it, and wash any trace of him right out of her hair.
"I sincerely doubt it, Chuck."
Betty left him behind fuming, Veronica hot on her heels. She slowed as she made it out onto the building's stone steps, allowing Veronica to catch up to her.
"Well, you certainly served Chuckles his comeuppance," she quipped, eyeing Betty with an amused smirk.
Betty grunted, clutching the straps of her backpack tighter. It curbed the urge to once more sink her fingernails into the soft flesh of her palms.
"You okay, B?" Veronica asked, her voice turning gentler.
"Peachy," Betty responded. Her fingers were still shaking a little, but her voice was resolute. "And I'm wearing a one-piece to Sweetwater."
