Heartbeat (Betty and Jughead)

Two

"Jughead"

It was 5 am and all I could hear was the sound of my dad's alarm clock ringing in my ears. I grabbed a pillow from the floor beside the couch that I was sprawled out on and pressed it tightly against my ears. I groaned as my dad walked into the kitchen and switched every single light on. As I lay there with my eyes still shut, I hear a second pair of footsteps walk into the kitchen. I opened my eyes and saw an unfamiliar woman clothed in one of my dad's oversized t-shirts and was stunned by the sight of her bare legs. I swiftly grabbed my pants from beside the couch and struggled to put them on as I gazed directly at the both of them to make sure neither one of them turned around and noticed my half-naked body. As I started buttoning my pants, I could feel both of their eyes on me. I looked up and glared directly into my dad's eyes. "Jughead, good morning," my dad said as he turned on the coffee maker. I kept my eyes directed at him as I walked slowly into the kitchen. "Morning, dad," I said with a disappointed tone in my voice. My dad looked back at me and looked at his mistress standing just a few feet away from me. "Jughead, this is Tara." I subtly looked up at her and quickly looked away when she locked eyes with mine. "What? You're not going to say hi," My dad asked as he turned his attention on me. I grabbed a bowl and poured myself some cereal. As I took a bite I managed to give her a quick smile. I took another bite of cereal and stood up, leaving the bowl half full on the table. I walked into his bedroom to grab my tank top and serpent jacket. As I put them on, I glanced at his bedside table and rolled my eyes as I saw three used condoms positioned side by side next to each other. I walked out, grabbing my backpack and ran out the front door leaving my dad without a goodbye.

When I walked into school, I managed to spot Sweet Pea, Fangs and Red Eye, my three best friends right away. Sweet Pea was a bit of a wild one, while Fangs was more reserved and quiet, which I admired. Red Eye was the deviant one who didn't care much about anyone or anything. I wasn't very close with him, he was always just around. I walked over to them and took my backpack off my shoulders and swung it against Sweet Pea's back. He groaned, while Fangs hysterically laughed. "Ow!" He turned his body towards me, holding his back in pain and realized it was me and managed to crack a smile. "You're gonna pay for that one, Jones," he said while punching my left shoulder. "Ow, fuck you," I said, holding my left shoulder. They both laughed. The tension in the air got more serious when we all realized what today was. "Initiation day," Sweet Pea said looking at me with fear in his eyes. "What do we have to do?" Fangs asked, turning his attention away from me. I looked at all three of them and said, "You guys know these aren't my rules. My dad came up with them and God help anyone who tries to alter them... I'm sorry. If you want to officially become a serpent, then this is what you have to do." They all looked at each other and then turned their attention back on me. "Whatever we have to do," Fangs said. I turned toward the back door to the courtyard and started walking with the hope that they would follow me. As I opened the door, I could feel a fresh breeze of air brush against my face and the sun glaring down on me. I loved being outside. It made me feel safe and free, unlike the claustrophobic sensation I'd feel every time I stepped foot inside my dad's empty trailer. I scanned the courtyard and saw a freshman boy that was about 5'5 and 135 lbs. I looked at Sweet Pea, Fangs and Red Eye and pointed at the small boy. "There's your first target." They looked at my finger pointing in the direction of the boy and widened their eyes when they saw him. Sweet Pea hesitated, "Wha-what do you want us to do to him?" I took a deep breath and cleared my throat. "The first step to initiation is prove to me that you're not afraid of anything. You can't let your humanity get in the way when you're a serpent, so prove to me that you'll do anything to get what you want. Start with forming some sort of chaos and then go..." I choked on my spit and hesitated to get the words out. "Go bully that kid until he fights back or runs away." I didn't want to say the words. I knew everything about being in a gang was wrong, but I couldn't walk away now. My dad would kill me if I disobeyed him and his rules, so I just stood there and watched as the three of them grabbed a big trash bin and kicked it until the trash started flying out. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a toothpick and placed it between my teeth. I moved it around in my mouth with my tongue and bit down on it a little harder every time I looked up and saw them doing something that was vicious. I turned my attention away from them and went to take a seat on a lunch table a few feet away. I sat on top of the table and glued my eyes onto a blonde girl that was sitting on the opposite side of the table. Trying not to think about what Sweet Pea, Fangs and Red Eye was doing to the helpless boy, I smiled at her, so she would turn her attention to me. She looked up at me and gave me a flirtatious smile and continued to engage with me when she put her pencil down and placed her elbows on the table with her chin rested on her hands. I knew she wanted me to say something to her, but all I could think about was what the three of them were doing. She put her hands back in her lap and gazed up at me, giving me a sly smirk like she wanted me to ask what her name is. "I'm Sarah," she said trying to break the awkward tension. I opened my mouth about to reply but got distracted when I saw Sweet Pea, Fangs and Red Eye walking towards someone else in the corner of my eye. I looked at her, hopped off the table and gave her a goodbye smile as I made my way over to them. They were walking towards a tree, but I couldn't make out who was standing under the tree. As I made my way closer towards them, I could see that it was a girl. I saw that Sweet Pea kept getting closer to her, so I yelled after him. "Sweet Pea, what are you doing?" Sweet Pea turned around and gave me a confused look. I frowned while glaring at him. He gave me a quick smirk and said, "I was just going to ask her a question. She seemed like she needed some company." Sweet Pea turned his attention back on her and my eyes directed towards her as she stood there staring at the ground. I watched as she hugged her backpack close to her body and I could see her chest moving in and out fastly as if she couldn't control her breathing. I couldn't make out what Sweet Pea's intentions were with her, but I knew she didn't want any part of it. "She doesn't want to talk to you, Sweet Pea. Enough!" Sweet Pea didn't take his eyes off of her. "Come on, Jones. We're just having a little bit of fun with her. Don't tell me you're really going to stick up for a girl like this." Sweet Pea nervously laughed a little. He looked back at me and raised his eyebrow at me and nodded his head in Red Eye's direction. He looked scared. All of this seemed too played out because Sweet Pea wasn't the type to get in girls faces and taunt them. I gave him a confused look and realized it had something to do with Red Eye. I turned my attention on Red Eye as he gave Sweet Pea a look. Sweet Pea looked back at me and then back at the girl. He scoffed, "You like this girl or something, Jughead?" I looked at the fearful girl and saw her head raise as she locked eyes with mine. I gulped down on my saliva as she stared directly at me. I could feel my heart thumping in my chest even louder and faster than normal. So loud that I was afraid she might hear it. I couldn't stop looking at her. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't stop looking into those beautiful green eyes. I've seen plenty of girls' eyes in my life. Some were beautiful and some weren't worth looking at, at all, but hers... They were the most beautiful eyes I had ever seen. I managed to switch my attention away from her eyes to her lips as I analyzed every little detail about them. The color, the shape, the size. They were perfect. My mind started fading away as I thought about pressing my lips gently against hers. How amazing it would feel. I quickly snapped my attention back to reality and replied sternly, "Just enough is enough, Sweet Pea. Let's go." I kept my eyes fixated on hers as she shyly smiled at me. I nodded at her and finally released my attention away from her and followed behind Sweet Pea, Fangs and Red Eye as they walked away. As I walked behind them, I made a quick glance back at her. I've had a lot of girls interested in me and I've definitely shown interest in a lot of girls, but this girl... she was different. She was dangerous and not in a way that was harmful to anyone or anything. Not that kind of dangerous. Dangerous in a way that would keep me thinking about her. Dangerous in a way that would have me lying awake at night wondering how it would feel if her hand touched every inch of my body... how she would feel. Dangerous in a way that she would have too much control over my life and she wouldn't even know it. Dangerous in a way that... she was undeniably the most beautiful girl I had ever seen and I wanted her... god damn it I wanted her.