Blackmailed by Betty (Jughead Jones III)

The River's Edge Part 1

"Dad, I think it's kind of ridiculous to expect me to make new friends when I don't even have old friends." Alex said as she unzipped her old black backpack to shove in her even more tattered copy of A Midsummers Night Dream into the largest pocket. "Haven't you noticed that the only people I'm seen with are the same two people Arch is caught with?"

"Is there something in particular you have against Betty Cooper?" Her father, Fred, asked with a raised eyebrow as he looked up from the blueprints that covered the kitchen counter.

"Not Betty, maybe her psychopathic mother who has no problem telling me no lady my age would be caught dead acting the way I do with any expectation of catching a man." She said as she flicked a loose piece of Strawberry Blonde hair over her shoulder not caring that it would surely stand out against the braid she had spent twenty minutes twisting together.

"Alex, there's gotta be someone at that school you get along with that doesn't have crazy parents or a criminal record."

"Hey! They never proved Jughead was the one who did that!" Alex exclaimed as her brother Archie came bounding down the stairs. "Bet Archie here knows what happened."

"Bet its none of your business." Archie said as he pulled the sleeves of his navy hoodie up his arms. He faced his dad before continuing. "I'm going to Pop's to meet up with Betty."

"Why don't you take Alex with you? I'm sure Betty wouldn't mind." Fred said with a look that said it was more of a demand than an offer.

"Dad we haven't seen each other all summer. I don't really think Alex would be interested in hearing about Betty's book stuff." Archie explained as he looked at his sister with raised eyebrows much like her father had just a few minutes before. "Right Al?"

"Look, how about I go but sit in a separate booth and you just pay for me?" Both siblings looked at their father with hopeful expressions that they wouldn't have to interact with one another in public.

"Fine. Archie pays. Go." He shoed the two away as he turned back to his paperwork letting the two teenagers work their way out of the house. As her brother grabbed the keys, Alex ran back into the kitchen swiftly grabbing her backpack and kissing her father on the cheek. In and out before he even had the chance to register the light 'bye' that had come from his daughter.

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"Just because I'm paying for this doesn't mean you can buy the whole menu. If I see more than one milkshake on that table I'll cut you off myself." Archie warned as the two approached Pop's.

"Arch, just because you came out of the womb a few minutes before me doesn't mean you can boss me around. Dad said you pay, so you will pay." Alex said with a smile before walking to the other side of the diner and sitting down across from Jughead as her brother sat with head-over-heels Cooper.

"Welcome Andrews. What brings you here?" Jughead said without taking a second glance away from his laptop.

"Dad wants me to make friends that aren't criminals." Alex said as she waved at Pops who just got done serving someone at the bar top.

"And here you are with the son of a gang member who has a criminal record?" He retorted with a slight smile.

"I was never good with rules anyway. Plus, who else would give me all the best seats at the Drive In?" As the owner himself came over to take her order, on the other side of the room Archie's eyes didn't lose focus from the blonde in front of him.

Betty Cooper.

Archie and Betty had been friends for as long as they could remember. Sadly, there wasn't room for a third Musketeer in that friendship. Everyone around could see that Alex clashed with the duo. She was better suited by herself. It gave her time to perfect her photography and read all the books her heart desired, with the occasional visit to her forbidden best friend Jughead.

"So what movies are you gonna play this weekend? I need a good reason to be out of the house." Alex asks as she sips on her vanilla shake as Jughead reaches up to steal an onion ring.

"I was thinking maybe a cult classic. Depends on how school goes."

"And here I was thinking you were the only person in the world who wouldn't bring that hell hole into a conversation." She said kicking him lightly under the table finally getting him to look up from the bright screen for more than a second. "How are you ever going to get a girl if you won't look up from that screen?"

"How are you ever supposed to get a boy with that dreadful personality of yours?" Jughead said knowing the speech she got from Mrs. Cooper almost as well as his own name.

"I'm serious. What if a girl had a crush on you and did everything she could to get your attention but you never look up from that thing?" The truth of the matter was as much as Alex treasured patronizing Betty Cooper for fawning over her brother 24/7 she was pretty delusional when Jughead walked into a room herself.

"If she's worth the attention I'll look up." He said maintaining eye contact with the younger Andrews sibling with a small smile. Too caught up in their own little world, neither noticed the dark haired beauty who sauntered into the diner.