Say My Name

Chapter Four

Veronica grabbed Betty's hand and pulled her off the field. "You almost got knocked over by those football players," Veronica said with a smile, and Betty let out a breath of relief when she snapped out of her thoughts.

The cheerleaders got back in their positions on the sidelines and rattled their pom poms in the air. "Woo! Go Bulldogs!" Veronica yelled, and Betty repeated after her, "Woo!"

The game ended 7-0, Bulldogs winning with one touchdown and one field goal. The stadium was riled up, and Veronica had her hands gripped on Betty's forearm, yanking her down as she jumped up and down ecstatically. Betty stayed glued to the ground, smiling at Veronica's burst of excitement, but was soon abandoned when Veronica ran over to a few other cheerleaders to celebrate with them. Betty was left alone, her eyes lighting up at every person as the entire field and sidelines were packed with proud girlfriends, friends, and parents congratulating their star football players.

The parking lot became more crowded as everyone was leaving or getting ready to leave, and Betty followed behind Veronica. They walked passed the bleachers, and Veronica stopped to talk to a few of the other cheerleaders, who were waiting for their rides. Betty lingered behind her, not really interested in engaging in a conversation with them. She looked down at her uniform and noticed a small grass stain on the bottom of her shirt. Betty sighed and tried to wipe it off with her thumb when a faint whistle appeared from behind her, making her head rise immediately.

She turned her head in the direction of the whistle and saw him standing there, back against a wall with his arms crossed at his chest. He had a cigarette in his mouth, and his fingers were fidgeting with the lighter, opening and closing it again over and over. His eyes weren't on her but were fixated on the lighter and though, it seemed as if he wasn't aware of her attention on him, Betty was sure it was him who whistled at her.

His eyes scanned the ground in front of her and landed on her shoes. He looked up at her face quickly before he did a quick nod in the direction of her shoes like he was telling her to look down at them. Betty did and noticed her left tennis shoe was untied. "Shoot," she said under her breath before she bent down and started tying it.

As she made her second loop with the shoelace, she subtly looked up and found herself examining him. Every inch of him.

He looked young, maybe Betty's age. Betty hadn't recognized him, so she didn't think he went to Riverdale High. In all honesty, Betty didn't know guys like him existed in this town. Or any town for that matter. The only boys Betty ever paid attention to were the ones on the football team, mainly just Archie. Being a cheerleader, it was expected of her to be attracted to the jocks at her school, and she planned to keep it that way. Could you imagine her being attracted to a guy like him?

Betty smiled to herself at the thought and quickly buried it in the back of her mind. She stood back up, and her mouth dried at the thought of speaking. Luckily, he looked at her, and she couldn't help but react by curling the corners of her mouth slightly upward, thanking him for his kind gesture. The cigarette still lingering in his mouth; he kept his slightly squinted eyes locked with hers for a few seconds. Not wanting to look away for some reason, she felt her heart miss a beat, and then it made it up by thumping even harder inside her chest. She swallowed when his gaze finally shifted in a different direction, and Betty had forgotten why she was standing there for a second. Before she could think about it anymore, she felt a tap on her left shoulder, and she quickly turned around to a smiley Archie Andrews.

Betty matched with his smile and noticed he had changed from his football uniform to the regular clothes he was wearing at school. "Hey," he said to her, and his eyebrows furrowed when he acknowledged the guy leaned up against the wall. "Who's that guy?"