Fires of Redemption

Chapter 3

Betty shakes as she sits in the emergency waiting room. Her head is in her hands and her cheeks are stained with tears. Her leg bounces up and down with anxiety. She rushed here after her sister was shot, the doctors haven't been out to update her in 3 hours. Finally, she gets impatient and walks up to the nurse station.

She sniffs trying to pull herself together before she talks, "Excuse me" she says in a quiet voice, the nurses are either ignoring her or they can't hear. "Excuse me," Betty says a little louder, and the nurses ignore her again. Betty was starting to get irritated, she knew they heard her that time, "Excuse me!" she yelled and slammed her hand on the desk. All the nurses in the station look at her with wide eyes.

"Finally," Betty mumbles and clears her throat, "I'd like to know the status of my sister, Polly Cooper." Betty looks at the nurses expectantly. An older nurse walks up to Betty and puts her hand on her hip, "Rude little girls do not get what they ask for." She states and turns back around to continue working. Betty stares at her back in disbelief, she looks around at the other nurses, they're all snickering.

Betty sees red, how dare they sit and mock her while her only sister could be dying back there. How dare they take matters of life and death with a grain of salt. Betty tries to calm down and takes a deep breath, "Please tell me the status of my sister, now." Betty says through gritted teeth.

The older nurse turns back around and scoffs, "You think I'm going to help you after how you've been acting? Like I said little girl, you're not getting information with an attitude."

Betty explodes, "Well wrinkled old bitches get their fingers cut off for withholding information!" Betty leaps towards the nurse and swats at her....

... And that's how Betty ended up outside the hospital, she was escorted by hospital security for, apparently, threatening a nurse. Betty scoffed and rolled her eyes, "They're just a bunch of babies," she yelled at the hospital, and then she kicked the side of the building.

Betty was frustrated, she pushes back her blond hair and takes a deep breath, her cellphone rings from her back pocket. She checks the caller ID.

"Hey Cheryl," Betty answers the phone.

"Betty, where the hell are you? We have a meeting. It literally started 15 minutes ago and obvi everyone noticed that you weren't here." Cheryl stated, "Don't tell me you're trying to play hookey again, you know what happened last time." Betty cringed at the memory, of course she remembers what happened, Betty still has the scar on her hand from the knife game.

"Cheryl," Betty hesitates.

Cheryl could tell something was wrong, "Betty, what happened?"

"It's Polly," Betty's voice broke as she spoke, "She was shot, and it's all my fault." Betty squats and puts her head on her knees.

"Oh my God Betty, why didn't you call me! You can't keep trying to handle everything on your own," Cheryl screams at Betty.

"Cheryl," Betty snapped "Now is not the time for a lecture, we're at the hospital, you have been updated and now I'm hanging up." Betty pressed the red button on her phone, cutting off whatever Cheryl was going to say. Betty stood back up and walked to her car. She's not allowed back into the hospital so she grabs a pack of cigarettes from her car and lights one up.

Smoking wasn't something Betty did all the time, only in times of stress. And this was a time of stress. She looked at her reflection in the car window, I look like shit, she thought. She haphazardly tried to fix her hair and wiped under her eyes to try and look presentable.

Betty took a long drag from her cigarette and looked up to the sky to exhale, so many things were going through her head, she couldn't concentrate on any one thought. She took another long drag and threw the cigarette on the floor, she stomped it out and walked to the driver's side of the car. She opened the car and sat down, the hospital said they would call with any new information since she wasn't allowed back in. So she started the car and headed to the only place that gave her comfort, Pops.

Betty pulls into a parking spot in front of Pop's and rests her head against the headrest. She gives herself a couple of minutes before she starts her journey into Pops. She takes a deep breath and opens the car door. Her feet feel heavier as she climbs the stairs to the entrance.

The bell rings when Betty opens the door, Pop looks up and smiles at her, "Afternoon Betty! Nice to see you!"

Betty tries to smile, "Hey Pop, good to see you too." She walks to a booth and slumps down, she puts her arms on the table and her head on top of them.

"Rough day, Betty?" Pop's voice startled her a bit.

Betty looks up at him, "You could say that, can I get a strawberry shake with extra whip, please?"

Pop looks at her with concerned eyes, but he decides not to press her, "Of course Betty." He pats her back and walks away.

Betty puts her chin on her hand and casually looks around Pops. Her eyes aren't particularly drawn to anything, she loves this little diner, all the art on the walls, the old booths, the retro music, it just felt so warm and familiar to her. She continues her personal I Spy, enjoying all the memories certain things bring her until she feels someone's eyes on her. She tries to subtly look around, she turns behind her to find a man burning holes into the back of her head. The look in his eyes was serious, almost threatening, but nobody threatened Betty Cooper.

So Betty does what Betty does best, she moves to the other side of her booth and looks directly at him with her arms crossed. No ones going to intimidate her, especially today. She keeps eye contact with him and raises an eyebrow, basically telling him to bring it on. The man smirks. Betty rolls her eyes, she's not in the mood for games.

"Hey creep, if you have something to say to me then say it." She shouts across the diner. The man looks surprised, then he grabs his food and drink and starts walking towards her. She wasn't expecting him to accept the invitation.

The man sits down in her booth, Betty doesn't waste any time "So why are you staring at me like that? I really don't have time if you're going to try some pickup line."

The man scoffed, "Yeah right like I'd try and hit on you. You're not even my type." He picked up his burger and took a bite.

Betty rolled her eyes, "Dude seriously, don't mess with me right now."

The man puts the burger down and wipes his hands on his pants, he puts his hand out for a handshake, "The names Jughead" He smiles, one of his cheeks puffs out like a hamster storing food.

Betty looks at him cautiously, Jughead? She thought, what a unique name. So unique in fact Betty swears she's heard it before.

Betty reaches out and shakes his hand, "Betty," She says and retracts her hand.

"So Betty, you know where to get some ZigZag?" Jughead raises his eyebrow expectantly.

This question throws Betty through a loop, ZigZag? He wants to know about ZigZag? Betty decides to act oblivious, "What's ZigZag?" She tilts her head to the side and twirls a piece of hair between her fingers, giving the portrayal of a ditz.

Jughead narrows his eyes at her, "Don't act dumb, I've heard you can get me some." He states matter of factly.

Betty barks out a laugh, "I don't know who you've been talking to, but there's seriously something wrong with them." She leans in, fire in her eyes, and whispers, "I've never touched that shit, so take your food and get the fuck out of my booth."

Jughead raises his hands in surrender, "Hey, I was just trying to get a taste, no harm no foul. I'll leave you to your shake." He says as Pop comes over to drop off Betty's milkshake.

She watches Jughead as he rises out of her booth, he turns around and walks out. Betty notices that he has a design on the back of his jacket, she squints her eyes to get a better look.

"It's a fucking Serpent," Betty whispers to herself.