You move to a new town after your father accepts a promotion at his company. You soon find out that the small town is riddled with secrets, chaos, and intriguing characters. There is one boy in particular, Jughead Jones, you can't seem to get off yo...
When you got back to the hospital Betty had her head on Archie's shoulder and Kevin was asleep in his chair. Shortly afterwards a doctor came out and said that Fred had regained consciousness. It'd take him a bit of time to recover, but he was going to be okay. Your phone vibrated.
Dad: Why did I just get a call from the school saying you were absent today? Get home RIGHT NOW
Your anxiety rose. Everything had happened so quickly it'd had completely slipped your mind that this might happen.
"Everything okay?" Jughead examined you.
"Yeah, I just have to get home."
"Okay, I'll take you."
"No, that's not a good idea."
"I'll drop you off on the corner."
"How about around the corner?"
"Okay sure." He laughed. You enjoyed the fast trip, braced against his back.
"Thank you for the ride." You got off on your side street, handing him back his helmet, your hands trembling.
"Hey..." He grasped the helmet in one hand. "It'll be okay. Maybe, you should just tell your dad the truth."
You scoffed. "Yeah, I definitely don't think that would work." You looked away, tears beginning to form in your eyes knowing what you were about to face.
"Come here." He opened his arms. You nestled into him, his embrace both soothing and firm. He whispered into your ear. "It'll be okay." He pulled away, flashing a small smile. And for a moment, everything was okay.
...
You tried to control your weeping as you endeavored to clean the mess of teal blobs and glass. Your father had begun cursing at you as soon as you came in the door. Saying that you were up to know good, a nasty excuse for a daughter, and that you were the reason your mother was gone; his usual tirade. He had given you a good punch in the stomach and dragged you into your room where he continued his rant. You had told him that your friend Betty's neighbor had been shot and she was devastated, so you had accompanied her to the hospital. He deciphered this to mean that you were skipping school to do drugs and ruin his reputation. He had grabbed your lava lamp and thrown it right at your face, luckily you'd dodged it at the last minute, but you'd probably be picking glass out of the carpet for the next year.
Your phone vibrated in your pocket.
5:40pm
Jughead: How are you?
For some reason seeing his message just made the tears start streaming again. You couldn't respond to Jughead. You had no desire to lie to him, but you couldn't tell him the truth. It was all too humiliating. Too convoluted. He might have wanted to help but there was nothing he could have done. You had no other family, and you'd heard the horror stories of girls that went into the foster system. You were just stuck until you were eighteen. You only hoped you'd make it until then.
Jughead tried calling you at 7:40pm. You put on some noise buffers and went into the restroom to call him back.
"Hello?"
"Hey. Sorry I didn't text you back-"
"Are you alright?"
"Yes."
"Was your dad angry?"
"Yes, extremely. And very inebriated."
"You told him about Mr. Andrews?"
"Yeah, he didn't care though. He thinks I was off doing miscellaneous immoral things."
"The whole town knows about the shooting."
"My dad lives in his own little world and twists everything to satisfy that."
"Has he calmed down?"
"I think he may have finally passed out for the night."
"Should I come over?"
You laughed. "I hope you're joking. Only if you have a death wish."
"Okay... I guess I'll see you at school tomorrow."
"Yeah, I'll see you then. Jughead?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you for checking in."
"Anytime... Well, goodnight."
"Goodnight."
...
When you saw him the next day, you immediately knew something had happened.
"I got a call from my social worker this morning. They found a family for me on the Southside. I am transferring to Southside High tomorrow."
Your heart sank, you didn't want to lose his friendship; without the same school to tether you, you weren't sure what would happen.
"I don't understand why you can't just stay here. You're already at this school and make it fine from the Southside every day. Why do you have to be transferred?"
"I guess they live farther south, across the line that divides the school districts." He shrugged. "I don't really a choice."
"Jug." He looked at you curiously for a moment. You realized that was the first time you'd ever used his nickname that had seemed reserved for his lifelong buddies.
"It'll be fine. I'll make it work."
"You shouldn't have to."
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Life has never dealt me the best hands of cards." He rubbed his eye while you observed him woefully. "Geez don't look so glum, I'm not dying."
