Fluorescent Adolescent~Jughead Jones

twenty five

They didn't believe him.

They didn't believe him.

Not Kusho. Not Robbie. Not Lars. The only people he could tell and they called bullshit. 

He hadn't brought the letters with him, which in hindsight was probably a mistake but Kusho said even with them she wouldn't believe him. The small rational part of him knew they were just in denial, after all who wouldn't be after seeing your friend murdered? But without them he didn't have anyone to tell. Anyone to relieve this weight that was crushing his soul. 

Poet hadn't slept last night. After Kusho's and getting mad and cursing them out, he'd gone back to Derek's. He'd snuck into his room through the broken window on the second floor and didn't sleep a wink. 

So, to recap, Poet was sleep deprived, depressed, scared, and alone. He still had Jughead and Toni along with a few other Serpents but they weren't the same as his best friends. The ones he'd known since he was young, while he bounced around from house to house. Robbie who taught him how to drive and let loose. Kusho who was the closest thing he had to a mom and Lars who was stilling young and starry eyed and didn't deserve to watch this go down. They were Poet's family. And they turned on him. 

School was not helping any of this either. With the lack of sleep, he couldn't focus on his classes or make conversation with anyone. All he could do was grunt and nod. He was minutes away from snapping. One small thing and he'd break.

And that one small thing just happened to be the dumbass he had a crush on.

In all honesty, Poet had no problem with not wearing his jacket. Yes, it showed his pride, his gang, his family but it was just an object. One he could not wear for eight hours and still survive. Toni, Sweet Pea, Fangs, and literally every other Serpent seemed to understand that too. If anything it gave them a chance to express themselves with outfits. The jackets were comfy but there was only so many things it could go with. 

The exact moment Poet snapped was 1:47 in the student lounge. Jughead had been an idiot and worn his Serpent jacket to school when he was specifically told not to. Then he instigated those dumb jocks (who kind of had it coming but that's not the point) and Jughead and the other Serpents fought and got detention except for Jughead who still continued to be stubborn and was suspended.  

Now, Poet sat in the student lounge with Toni, Fangs, Sweet Pea, and a ranting Jughead. Jug had fifteen minutes before he had to leave school and his dad picked him up.

"This is insane! He can't do this!" Jughead threw his arms up in the air as he paced back and forth, shouting about 'the principle of the thing' and what not. Toni and the rest were sharing looks while Poet stared at the ground, his fists clenching at his side. 

"It's our right!" That. That was the moment when Poet broke. It wasn't the sentence itself, maybe it was Jughead's rant he'd already heard twice or the tension in the room or literally everything else in his life. But that was the moment Poet snapped.

Poet jumped up from his seat, walking over to Jughead and grabbing his collar. He pulled Jughead slightly closer, holding him by the shirt. Everything in his body shouted at him to not do this because there was no doubt Jughead would hate him after this but, just...everything. 

"Look, Jughead. I know that the Serpents mean a lot to you and I know how important to you this is but you need to let. It. Go. You're only going to make things worse. The rest of us aren't going to jeopardize the only chance we have of getting out of this shit town and going off to collage for something as stupid as not having our logo on. We're okay with not being able to wear our jackets and following their rules if it means we can actually learn and grow and have a fucking decent high school experience so you need to stop acting like a fucking child before this gets worse."