Just Friends ▻ Jughead Jones

4

"I think many of us, maybe the entire town, had been hoping against hope that somehow Jason Blossom hadn't drowned on July 4th. That we'd come to school Monday morning, and there Jason would be.Or that we'd see him and Cheryl in a booth at Pop's. But that was before the undeniable, irrevocable fact of his bloated, water-logged body, a corpse with a bullet hole in its forehead, and terrible secrets that could only be revealed by the cold, steel blade of a coroner's autopsy scalpel, or the telltale beating of a guilty heart."

____

"Hi." Jughead greeted Archie as the redhead looked down at a section of the hallway where people placed items in memory of Jason Blossom, which was coincidentally right next to Archie's locker, "Do you think I can use Jason Blossom's death as an excuse to get out of PE?" he asked sarcastically, "Sorry, Coach, I'm too depressed and freaked right now to do pull-ups."

Archie sighed as he took out the textbooks he needed for his next few classes before glaring at Jughead, "Don't joke about that. Especially when Tori could be around. You know how she gets." Archie warned him and Jughead nodded.

"Trust me, I know," Jughead told him before looking up to see a group of Bulldog football player walking down the hall, "Look, it's the rich kids from the Goonies and Tori by their side," He announced and Archie turned his head to see that it was Chuck, Reggie, Moose and Victoria all walking together down the hall, "All right, I'm out."

As Jughead tried to walk past the group of football payers, Reggie purposely bumped into him, "Watch it, Wednesday Addams!" Reggie laughed out and Victoria scoffed loudly.

"You got something to say, Munroe? If so, just say it."Reggie spoke up and Tori gave him an angry glare.

"Yeah, I do have something to say. What is the point in you doing that to Jughead all the time?" She questioned and Reggie laughed.

"Ooh, does Victoria like Wednesday Addams?" Reggie teased her and Chuck scoffed.

"She would never go for someone like Jughead," Chuck argued as he playfully wrapped an arm around the Blonde, "Right, Tori?"

"Right." Tori agreed with him quietly, even though she didn't sound too sure.

___

Victoria was walking the hallway with Jughead, looking for Archie, when she heard the announcement on the loudspeaker, "Good Morning, Students. This is your principal speaking. There have been many inquiries about the upcoming pep rally. So let me state clearly, it is happening, as scheduled. No, on a less felicitous note, if you could give your attention to Sheriff Keller."

The speaker was silent for a moment before Kevin's dad began to speak, "Most of you already know the details, but your classmate Jason Blossom's body was found late Saturday night. So as of the weekend, Jason's death is now being treated as a homicide. It's an open and ongoing investigation."

Before the Sheriff could finish, Cheryl suddenly began to speak on the loudspeaker, "And may I interject, neither I nor my parents will rest until Jason's death is avenged, and his cold-hearted killer is walking the green mile to sit in Old Sparky and fry. I, for one have my suspicions. #RiverdaleStrong."

"If you know anything that could help us find and apprehend Jason's killer or anything about what happened to him on July fourth, I strongly urge you to come forward immediately. You can speak with me or principal Weatherbee. A death like this wounds us all. Let's not let Jason down."