Blackmailed by Betty (Jughead Jones III)

The Lost Weekend Part Two

When I was walking to lunch later that day I was stopped by the one person I prayed to never come in contact with. "Baby Andrews, what a pleasure to see the thing of my dreams in front of me." Chuck Clayton.

"Chuck, you and I both know the only time I show up in your dreams is when they're nightmares. What do you want?" As I tried to move past the gorilla he put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me towards the student lounge where a smiling Cheryl sat. "Oh please tell me you did not get this asshole in on the plans. That would mean he knows and I'm not here for that."

"Sweetie Veronica Lodge has crossed me and I need recruits. Chuck here just so happens to be off his suspension and he was a perfect fit. He doesn't know the exact reasons but he's willing to help for the sake of his own revenge." I elbowed Chuck in the gut and took a seat next to Cheryl on the couch. "We strike at the surprise party for that monochromatic psycho."

"Hold on, you plan on crashing Jughead's birthday party? He isn't even having a party Archie told me this morning we were going to the movies." Chuck shook his head and let out a laugh.

"Get with the times Alex, Betty is planning a surprise party for him. Maybe they just told you about the movie so you wouldn't show up."

"My own brother wouldn't do that to me. If you two have any intention of messing with Jughead then you can leave me out of this plan." I stood up and walked towards the door only to be temporarily stopped by Cheryl's voice.

"If you don't do this you're out of everything."

"Then I guess I'm out."

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I waited. Hours went by without a single message from my brother, or anyone for that matter. Maybe Cheryl and Chuck had been lying about the party and we were all still going to the movie, but when I walked downstairs and saw my brother hanging up birthday decorations I was sadly mistaken. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Damn Alex you scared me!" He said getting off the stepladder. "I'm setting up for Jughead's surprise party."

"I thought we were all going to the double feature? American Werewolf? Ringing any bells?" The previous look of confusion quickly turned to realization. "What did you do now?"

"Well at lunch Betty brought up that it might be a good idea to throw him a small party, inner circle only."

"Good to know I'm not inner circle."

"You know I didn't mean it like that Alex. I guess no one found you earlier but of course you're invited! Like I said, it wouldn't be right if you weren't there to celebrate with us." Rolling my eyes at my brothers lame attempt at redeeming the situation I walked right past him into the kitchen.

"And how does Jughead feel about this small social gathering? You know as well as I do he hates his birthday and I know that he really only considers you and Betty his friends right now. He would much rather just go to the double feature with you two and be done with it. What reason could you have to make a guy suffer on his own birthday?"

"It isn't like that. Betty just wants to do something different now that she's dating him."

"Well have fun with your little party. I'll be upstairs waiting for it all to come crashing down."

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Hours later the silence and whispers from downstairs turned into a frat party. From my window I could see at least a hundred kids from our school in front of our house. I knew Cheryl didn't care about what I said, but this was too much. Even with all the commotion I managed to spot a certain truck pulling up and parking in front of the house. I left my room and locked the door before running to find FP.

"Alex I didn't think you would be here."

"Well technically I'm not, but please tell me you're here to shut this down Serpent style? I could really do with some good old fashioned scare tactics right about now." He laughed and walked with me towards the back door.

"Not here to scare anyone kid, Jug's girlfriend called and told me to stop by. Figured I would just say hi to Jug and make my way out." As we walked out the back I Jughead walking into the garage and Archie not too far behind. "There's our boys. You coming with me?"

"Why not? Always a good time with FP Jones."

When we walked in Archie and Jughead were somehow already fighting. "It doesn't matter Jughead you're her boyfriend now."

"What does that mean?" Jughead asked standing up from the chair.

"It means you're getting a party whether you like it or not." Before the two could get any more heated FP stepped forward and caught both boys attention. Archie looked indifferent but Jughead's face still held the anger from the conversation that happened seconds ago.

"Did Betty call you?" He looked at me for a split second before turning back to his dad.

"She came by to. She knows what she wants though."

"She sure does." I muttered making all the guys look at me. "What? We're gonna pretend Betty Cooper hasn't been making demands since day one?"

"Alex now is not the time to be taking digs at Betty." Jughead said.

"Oh so you're allowed to be mad at her but I'm not? She's been blackmailing me for weeks!"

"Wait someone is blackmailing you? I'll kill 'em." FP's anger was the least of my worries as Jughead rolled his eyes and walked out of the garage. "Why didn't you tell me about this? I might be the only person in this town who could help you without the police getting involved."

"It was too hard to deal with, but don't worry. It all ends tonight."