The Perfect Girl Next Door

Letters

-3:00 PM-
    Archie looked towards Betty in disbelief of what he just heard. Seizures? Adderall problem? Why didn't she tell me? "Betty I..."

    Dr. Masters continued to talk, "Her conditions make her the prime victim of drug abuse, so she will have to be watched closely, Mr. Andrews. Fred nodded. Visiting hours are almost over. I'll call you in the morning when they open, and what to bring her when you bring her home tomorrow. As Dr Masters opened the door; and exited the room, Fred followed him to ask more questions. He shut the door behind him, causing the blinds to bounce against the glass panel.

    Betty closed her eyes in embarrassment, and sunk into the hospital bed. "Why didn't you tell me... Betts... I could have helped you." Archie said, hoping for a good excuse.

    She lifted her hands out of the sheets, and placed them on the blanket. "My mom... she wants us to be the perfect family. She wants me to be the perfect girl next door. She wouldn't let me tell, anyone. Not even Jug!" She opened her hands palms, and rubbed the bleeding scars.

    Archie looked at her with a forgiving smile, "it's okay Betty, I just hope you will be. Do you want me to call anyone? Jug? Vee? Kevin?" He listed the options of 'friends' she had.

    "No! No. NOT Jug. Or anyone. No one can know. I... no. She was sitting up now, hands waving in the air. "Absolutely not. I... went to the hospital because I burned myself. If anyone asks, that's what you tell them. You don't say ANYTHING about my... to anyone."

    Archie understood this was a sensitive subject, and obliged. "Okay. Now I'll see you in the morning. Do you need clothes or anything?"

    "Yeah... I guess." She looked down, slightly embarrassed. Just then, Dr Masters came in, signaling it was time to go. "Bye Archie... see you tomorrow."

    "You too, Betty." He said, giving her a hug before leaving. As he exited, Fred was holding a plastic bag with Betty's belongings from the night before. They slowly walked to the elevator, to the truck.

    As they drove away, Fred asked a question, "so is Betty going to call Jughead or Veronica? Maybe Kevin? Does Kevin even know? Would Sheriff Keller told him?"

    Archie shook his head while holding the bag, "No. She doesn't want anyone to know."

-Time skip, 6:00 PM-

When they arrived home, Archie headed over to Betty's again, to wash her clothes and put things in the bag back. Fred didn't stop him, and only went to go lie down after this tiring day. Archie quietly walked down to the basement, and opened the bag. He set all of the things down on a counter nearby the washing machines. He grabbed her clothes, and put them in the wash. There wasn't much else in the bag, just a necklace.

Archie disposed of the bag, and grabbed the locket to open it upstairs. He quickly walked up the stairs, and sat down at the kitchen island. He slowly opened it, to reveal a side of it was empty. He looked in the other, and saw his picture. He smiled at this, and then realized this was the locket he had given her, not for any reason, but purely because he thought it would look pretty on her. When she had put it on a few years ago, before Veronica, or Jughead (they were friends with him, but he wasn't Betty's boyfriend) Archie thought she looked beautiful. Although, he remembered putting his AND Betty's picture in this locket. He wondered what happened to it, as he walked up the stairs into her room.

He opened the door, and put the locket on her desk. As he looked around the room, he could see memories EVERYWHERE. A small stain on the carpet, because they were laughing too hard and spilt their orange freezes. An old read-along record, they used to listen to when they were five. Many pictures of them together, at a pumpkin patch at the age of seven. Ice skating at 10. First day of high school at 14. First pep rally sophomore year, where Betty was a cheerleader and Archie was on the football team. They all seemed like yesterday. In every one of the photos, Betty looked incredibly happy. Standing next to me.
Also, he noticed that there was a dark jacket, barely sticking out from under the bed. He pulled it out, to revealed Jughead's serpent jacket. He looked under the bed, and found many more things. Including a tattered, old, box. Archie grabbed this and opened it. Inside was two letters. The first one he grabbed, looked like it was from Jughead, purely from the way he wrote. He began to read it,
Dear Betty, I gave this letter to Sweet Pea to drop off to you, after I had gone to Toledo. I just wanted to let you know that I will always love you. I hope to see you when I get back. Love Jughead.