heartbeats ; bughead

10

forsythe;

"Jughead?" She said. 

I stopped. "Betty? I, uh, didn't see you there." 

Her jaw clenched, but she was silent. I was silent. 

There was nothing to say. An apology got stuck in my throat.

I guess, this is one of those moments you can't really...apologize for. 

Then her face turned pink, and she glared. "How COULD YOU? I-I thought you were one of those INFINITESSIMALLY few guys who doesn't carry guns around, just because they think they're so MASCULINE!" And before I could say anything, I felt a sharp pain near my jaw. 

She had punched me. Deserved that. She fell silent, looking at the floor. And that. 

betty;

Jesus, Betty. What did I just do? 

Shivering, I looked down at my hands, throbbing from the strength of his jaw. Oh, come on. He deserved that. Right? 

He was silent. I was silent. At that moment, I realized that I barely even knew Jughead. But I felt like I'd known him for a long time. 

Which was again strange, because he tried to, well, put a gun to my head just now. 

"You know, I'm not holding what happened against you," I said silently, rocking back and forth on my feet. He nodded, rubbing his jaw, and I was about to walk away, when he cleared his throat. 

"Um, Betty?" "Yeah?" 

"On second thought..." He thrust a piece of paper into my hand, and when our hands met, I felt a prick, a tiny one, of electricity. 

He quickly recoiled his hand. "Shoot...sorry about that! Water and electricity, well..." He mouthed zap silently. An electric shock. 

"See you around...Jughead." I picked up the slip of paper from the ground, and suddenly remembered the pouring rain. 

It was so easy to forget things when you're talking to someone. 

Suddenly, a car came rumbling down the road, its lights burning into my skin like flames. When it stopped in front of me, the driver rolled down their window. He shouted, "Betty! You good?" It was Archie. 

I grinned. "Hey Arch. Yeah, I am now." I quickly shoved myself in, and Archie gave me his jacket, which I draped around myself. I noticed it wasn't his normal blue and yellow jacket. 

"Wait, Archie, who told you I was stuck out there?" I pulled out a water bottle from the glove compartment. 

"Oh, um, a friend. You won't know him."

"Um, I'm a Cooper. We know everyone. Try me, Archie." 

He grinned at me. "Fine. His name's Jughead." I choked on my water. 

"Wait, wait. Jughead Jones?" I was stunned. 

He crinkled his eyebrows. "Yeah. What other parent would name their kid Jughead? But how did he know you were out there?" 

I nodded. "Well, I just met him, actually. He put a gun to my head," I explained calmly. 

I didn't mention the fact that I probably broke his jaw. 

He slammed the brakes. "WHAT THE HELL? BETTY!" I patted his shoulder. 

"It's okay. I know his gun wasn't loaded. I could tell by the sound it made." He sighed with exasperation, and started the car again, and it rumbled into place. 

"But the real question is, how do you know Jughead?" 

"He and dad were college mates. Also, he used to work at Andrews Construction. BETTY, YOU COULD HAVE GOTTEN HURT! I will go KILL that son of a--" 

"Archie! First of all, don't yell, my mom can probably hear us. That lady's got EARS. And second, don't go kill Jughead. He's going through a lot right now. Did you know his mom and sister moved to Toledo, and FP's in jail for murdering Jason Blossom? Go easy on the guy. Plus, he seems like a nice guy." 

Archie's face fell. "I didn't. Well, see ya Betts. Love you." I leaned over and kissed his cheek.

I smiled, and got out of the car, and as expected, my mom was waiting at the front of the house. 

I walked over to her, and boldly said, "With a face like that, you could pass off as Jason Blossom's murderer. Just letting you know."

She smiled sarcastically. "You are in big trouble, Elizabeth Cooper. Don't make it worse. Room. Now." 

I waved back at her, and ran up to my room. Locking the door behind me, I grabbed my laptop and my earpods. Jamming them in, I leaned my head against the bedpost, thinking about how terrible my day was. 

Then, I saw something fall out of my pocket onto the bed. 

Jughead's slip of paper. I picked it up and opened it slowly. 

I grinned. It was his number.  

Why was I grinning? I shook my head, and my grin immediately went away. Why would he even give me his number, after what I just did? Oh, you're such a dumbass, Betty, you know that? 

 There was a note written underneath. 

I think I need someone to talk to. ~J

Hey hey hey! Thanks for reading this far, and also for 300+ views! I really appreciate it! But honestly Winter break is almost over *ugly cries*. Hope you guys like my book though, and I'll keep updating as much as I can! To satisfy you, here is a Cole Sprouse.