Touched by his soul

Chapter twenty-three

"What will you do next year if Jughead and you both get into like top colleges but not in the same one?"

The girl gulped. "Don't ask. We still have a year."

Only that the year went by faster than ever. The Joneses moved into the Cooper house right before Polly could leave to college; in July. Jughead got a separate room, even though he and Betty spent most of their nights in the same bed (mostly in her room, already used to it). The two had countless fights over the smallest of things, but every time they made up and came out stronger.

When their Senior prom came along, they were more in love than they ever thought they could be. They were mature and grownup, the two didn't depend on each other, but they also did want to be together most of the time. They both aced their SATs and were accepted into many colleges. The problem was that they were accepted to both Columbia and Stanford. Betty had always dreamt of living on the west coast and going to Stanford, but Jughead's dream had always been New York and Columbia. So that was the topic of their most recent fights.

There were only a few days left until they graduated, alongside Archie and Veronica who were on a break apparently, which meant they were fucking every single person they thought was attractive. Jughead's Southside friends had all finished high school last year and were scattered all over the state of Ohio. He went to Riverdale High during the Senior year. Just because he lived on that side of the town now and was accepted.

Currently, it was May 2nd. Betty was tightening the breaks of a car that was brought into the Serpent garage just a few hours ago while Jughead was sitting there on a couch, drawing into his sketchbook.

"So, what you're telling me is that if I choose Stanford, you wouldn't come with me?" Betty asked with a frown.

Jughead sighed. "No, baby. What I'm telling you is that I don't want to go there."

Betty pulled herself out from under the table and looked at him, which made him flip a page quickly and start to draw her, liking the position.

"What if I do want to go there?" she asked quietly. The boy looked at her with sad eyes but looked back at the notebook on his lap. "Juggie," she sighed desperately, forcing the guy to look back at her. "We need to choose. By the end of May, we need to make the decision."

The boy sighed and got up, walking to her. He sat down next to her, Betty's green eyes burning into his blue ones. "Betts... Why don't you want to go to Columbia? Really? The teachers are amazing in the poetry program. Best of the world."

"I just..." she sighed, dropping her eyes on the ground. Jughead raised his hand to her face and swiped the dirty oil off of her forehead with his thumb. The blonde looked back up at him with a quiet sigh, meeting his worried eyes. "I told you. I don't want to go to New York."

"You told me you love the city, but you don't want to go," he nodded. "My question is why don't you want to go?"

"I just feel like everybody knows," she murmured. "I know it's stupid and I know they actually don't, but I feel like every time I go back to that city, everyone's always looking after me and whispering and saying these awful things..."

Jug wrapped his arm around her shoulders, letting her lean on him. "Baby maybe we should get you a doctor," he said quietly, pressing his lips against her temple, his eyes meeting hers. "Seriously. You've never tried that. When you were suicidal you didn't tell anybody, you got over it by yourself. You've had so many bad things happen to you. And you're not over it yet. Maybe you just need to get it all out."