CARMEN, riverdale.

flesh | ✔️

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— FLESH

       "CARMEN, A WORD?" JUGHEAD didn't have any hint of the joking glint in his eyes as he beckoned the Murdock girl to another hallway. The said brunette shared a look with Veronica and Betty, and slowly nodded, allowing her feet to bring her over to where the older boy stood.

       "If Ronnie and Betty put you up to this, I will tell you again that I am completely fi — "

       "Carmen, I know you live near my dad and I... Well, my dad, just a couple blocks from the Southside. He asked to talk last night, one of his friends saw you. You almost crashed into him," The brunette remembers the boy she crashed into — albeit blindly, and quickly made her face void of any emotions that could be recognized as recognition.

       He pursed his lips since it went unnoticed... smugly, as he nods. "That friend, he followed you. Said you were in a rush... and your face was pale, you dropped as soon as you opened your front door and a gunshot followed. It knicked him in the arm. Moments later, your father arrived, wielding a gun. Another gunshot sounds after."

       Carmen's face was hardened now, jaw clenched tightly as she balled up her hands, a glare searing her eyes.

       "So Carmen... What the hell happened?"

       She grabbed his bicep tightly in a vise-like grip and dragged him somewhere more isolated, an empty classroom, and closed the blinds. "What happened... is none of your damn business. Word gets out about this, even to Betty and Veronica, so help me god I will pull your tongue out of your throat and shove it so far up your ass you taste your own idiocy."

       Carmen pressed her lips together as Jughead frowned. "You weren't supposed to see me again, they were waiting for me in the parking lot. A black van. It was someone bad back from New York."

       "How did you get away?" Jughead had a chaotic, inquisitive look in his eyes as they scanned over her body, looking for any signs of trauma or injury. "What did they do to you?"

       "I didn't take their bait, Jug. I went back home,"

       "Wait, if your father has a gun... does that mean you do?" His eyes darkened. Carmen's whiskey-colored eyes followed the same notion as they narrowed significantly.

       "No, Jughead, we didn't kill Jason. The only name we have ties with were the Lodge's, we worked for them once as a security detail. My father broke the contract as soon as Hiram Lodge pledged threats against me," Carmen answered his suspicion, still his eyes were narrowed. "That was even months before we moved here."

       "Then why wouldn't you tell Betty and Veronica?" He shot back.

       "Why wouldn't I?" Carmen snapped, a bitter taste in her mouth. She knew exactly how to play her buttons. "Tell me, Jughead, if it's the other way around, you wouldn't want strangers breathing down your neck, don't you?" A sinister smile graced her lips at the realization that he had mixed emotions splayed out over his face. "You know... You're putting it all on me because you're familiar with the feeling and you don't want anyone knowing," Carmen shakes her head. "You're going through it, aren't you?"

"Does Archie know? Veronica?" The brunette stepped closer to him, smirking slyly. "...Betty?" And when all he did was stare at her for a moment before casting his eyes to the floor, Carmen let out a bitter laugh. "Seems like I'm not the only one with secrets," She opened the door of the classroom, shaking her head. "See you around, Jones. Don't be a damn hypocrite."