The new girl in town somehow does the impossible and manages to tear down Jughead's walls within hours of meeting him.
Jughead's confused, but he's bound and determined to figure out the mystery that is the black-haired beauty, Savanna Marrows.
...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
As soon as my mom walked in the door, it was like an alarm went off. She had a weird sixth sense almost and could tell when I was even the tiniest bit upset. Maybe I wasn't good at hiding it or maybe she was just attentive. Either way, I didn't even bother trying to keep it from her and just sat on the couch as all my emotions exploded.
"Savanna, I got a call from the school saying that you missed half of the day. Is everything alright?" She hung up her jacket and tossed her keys before going to untie her apron.
"Mom, why'd you adopt me?"
With that, everything in the room froze. She stopped her movements and gently laid her apron on the chair before coming to sit in front of me. My cheeks were stained with tears and I knew I was a mess.
Once I ran from the gang, I came straight home and curled up in one of Archie's sweatshirts that I stole during a cold school day. I tore apart my bedroom in a fit of anger before falling apart on the couch. My hair was tied up in a messy bun and I didn't even bother wiping my makeup away.
Mom's hands moved to rest on my cheeks as her thumbs wiped away tears. "Sweetheart, why are you asking this?"
"Just, please? I don't know anymore." I didn't want to offend her at all but I could tell she took that comment a bit harder than I intended.
Her arms pulled me into an embrace as I sobbed into her shoulder, "Savanna, Hiram and I love you so much. You don't understand. Even though we're not the best parents, and Ronnie's not the best sister around, we aren't complete without you. Don't doubt for a minute that we regret taking you in. It was the best decision we've made, ever. You deserved more than what you were given and we were, we are, determined to give that to you."
I sniffled but didn't shift from her lap, "I'm sorry."
"You have nothing to be sorry for, love," Mom's lips pressed into my forehead, "We love you to the moon and back. We're always here for you, whether you need us or not."
I took a deep breath and tightened my grip on her, "I miss him, Mom. I miss him so much."
I could feel her nod as she ran her hand through my hair, "I know, honey. I know you do."
We stayed like that for who knows how long before Mom finally moved me to my bedroom. I knew some bonds were repaired tonight but it didn't do anything to fill the void in my heart. Only Jughead could manage to do that.
--
"Savanna?" Ronnie's voice came through my door followed by a knock. I didn't move to acknowledge her. My guess was Mom talked to her about what happened the other night and I wasn't up for revisiting it.
My bedroom door creaked as it opened to reveal my sister with two milkshakes from Pop's in her hand. She smiled sheepishly at me before kicking the door closed behind her.
