"Are you done with your bitch fit?"
✿
On Monday morning, Jughead spots Mickey walking up the Riverdale High steps. He greets her outside of the entrance doors, "Hey! How was your weekend?"
"Other than the obvious," she's referring to the dead teen found in the river, "it was painfully boring."
"How was the dance?"
"I'm sure it was eventful. Veronica gave me an earful." She says, "I would've gone, but no one interesting went." After he dismissed the idea of him being seen at a dance, Mickey didn't feel the urge to go either. "Betty and Archie are Veronica's friends. I didn't want to be glued to them." After the drama that went on between Archie, Veronica, and Betty, she knows she made the right decision not going. "Veronica was pretty pissed."
Jughead holds the door open for her. "Do you guys fight a lot?"
Mickey laughs softly, "Do we? I love my sister and I'd do anything for her, but things happen that force people to change. In New York, I wasn't a person to be proud of. I'm using our move to Riverdale as an opportunity. I don't ever want to be that person again."
"What were you like?" Then he says, "If that's too personal then—"
"It's fine," she cuts him off. "I was the classic rich bitch. Ronnie and I together was like a tornado. I think I was trying too hard to be a certain way. Now, I don't mind not being in the spotlight."
He nudges her, "You still dress like Richie Rich. It's gonna be hard for you not to be in the spotlight."
"Wow. You managed to be nice for two minutes."
The two of them walk down the halls together, like they're old friends who have known each other for longer than a few days.
Then they begin to talk about Jason Blossom, someone whose death seemed to impact everyone in Riverdale.
"I mean, New York was crazy, but dead teenagers in bodies of water? I didn't think your town had it in them." Mickey never expected boring old Riverdale to be in the middle of a murder investigation. The town is so small, everyone could be a suspect for shooting him in the head.
Jughead says, "I think everyone's surprised because Cheryl said he drowned."
"It's very suspicious. Why would she say her brother drowned if it's not true? And who shot him? It seems like everyone looked up to him in this town."
"I told you. In this town, everything is not what it seems."
Mickey couldn't agree more. To top everything off, Kevin and Moose found the body the night of the dance. According to Veronica, Moose is in the closet and they wanted to be alone together.
It's still chilling to think about. Mickey can't get the image of Jason's dead body out of her head. Her, Veronica, and Hermione—along with half the town—watched as the body was wrapped up and sent to the morgue the morning after the dance
The pair stop beside Archie, who's back is facing them as he looks through his locker.
Jughead announces their presence.
Archie looks at us and then dives right back into searching his locker.
"Do you think I can use Jason Blossom's death as an excuse to get out of PE? 'Sorry, Coach, I'm just too depressed and freaked-out right now to do pull-ups,'" Jughead jokes lightly.
Mickey digs her elbow into his ribs. She knows Jughead is trying to smooth things over with Archie after their falling out about Archie ditching him on July Fourth weekend, but this wasn't the way.
Archie closes his locker, "Don't joke about Jason Blossom." He looks around as if he is waiting for someone to pop up in the halls.
"What? Sardonic humor is just my way of relating to the world." Then Jughead scoffs when he sees Reggie, Moose, and a few other jocks, "Look, it's the rich kids from The Goonies. Alright, I'm out."
Mickey and Archie look in the direction Jughead is leaving, which is also the way the jocks are walking.
"Watch it, Wednesday Addams!" Reggie bumps shoulders roughly with Jughead.
"Why are you friends with those idiots?" Mickey questions Archie, but he just sighs and walks off.
"Mickey, you look as sexy as ever," Reggie approaches. "Want me to walk you to class?"
"I can find my own way, thank you." She makes her way around the group and hurries to class. Still, she manages to hear a comment about her ass from Reggie.
✿
Mickey stands in front of Betty's house after school. It's another postcard worthy house because of how perfect it looks. She walks up to the front door only to be surprised by it swinging open.
Cheryl Blossom storms through the front door, but she stops when she notices Mickey. "That bitch is crazy." Then she leaves.
Betty is standing in between her doorframe when Mickey turns back around. The blonde crosses her arms. "What are you doing here? Did Veronica send you?0
Mickey shakes her head. "I just wanted to check on you. I know we haven't really talked, but—"
"But you know about what happened, right? It's humiliating!"
"Veronica did catch me up on all the latest."
The night of the dance, Veronica spilled all of the details about her first dance at their new school.
Mickey's bedroom door opens and her sister trudges in with a pout on her face. She plops down on Mickey's bed, "I messed up."
"What did you do this time?" Mickey closes her laptop and sits up. "Did you get caught spiking the punch bowl?" It's a joke, sort of.
Veronica rolls her eyes. "I messed up with Betty."
"Oh, no, Veronica. Tell me you didn't do anything with Orange Boy." Mickey hasn't spent nearly as much time with Archie and Betty as Veronica, but still she could see Betty's heart eyes for Archie. It's the most classic tale in the book. "I warned you!" She slaps Veronica's thigh. "Was it worth it?"
"No! I hurt Betty's feelings and I don't know how I can fix this."
"Why would your sister do that to me?" Betty's question snaps Mickey out of her flashback. "She seemed so nice..."
"My sister never really had girl friends," Mickey explains. "Betty, she's probably gonna be a lot to deal with, but I can tell how much you mean to her. She really cares about you."
Betty looks down at her shoes.
"I have a feeling you two are suppose to be friends." The brunette smirks when Betty looks at her with a look of possibility. "And trust me. When I get a feeling, I'm usually right."
"You do a lot of fixing for Veronica?"
"You have no idea," Mickey shrugs. "Well, my sisterly duties are done. If you need anything, you can call me."
The Coopers' front door opens wider and Mrs. Cooper stands there, looking at Mickey with a very disapproving expression. "Betty, come in please. I need help setting up for dinner. Goodnight, Mickey."
The door is slammed in Mickey's face rudely, but she brushes it off and begins to go on her way. That's when she hears shouting whispers coming from next door, and Veronica told her Archie lives next door, so Mickey decides to eavesdrop from behind a hedge that's separating the houses.
"We were at Sweetwater River on July Fourth. We heard a gunshot. The gunshot." It's Archie speaking.
She peeks to see who he's talking to and spots Jughead.
"Dude, you have to tell somebody," Jughead insists.
"I can't. Neither can you. If people find out about Grundy—"
Mickey's mouth opens slightly in surprise. A music teacher involved with a student? This town gets more and more interesting by the day.
"A kid is dead, Archie!" Jughead exclaims. "And you're worried about some...some cougar?"
"Don't call her that," Archie tries to defend Grundy. "Ok, she's not like that. She cares about me."
Mickey can't help but to think how ridiculous Betty and Veronica's fight was. Neither of them had a chance with Archie.
"Stab in the dark, I'm guessing she cares more about herself," Jughead states so surely. "She's the one who's telling you not to say anything, right? Look, I saw you guys. She's messing with you, man. And she's messing with your mind...."
"...But I used to know this guy once. Archie Andrews. He wasn't perfect but," Jughead sighs, "he always tried to do the right thing, at least." He tries to move past Archie.
"Jug," Archie grabs his jacket and sighs. "If you tell anyone about this—"
"What?" Jughead tests, "What are you gonna do?"
Mickey knows when situations are getting heated and this is one of them. She steps out of her hiding space and gets in between the two of them before anything intensifies. "Guys, cool it."
Archie and Jughead both look at her in confusion.
Then Archie's front door opens and all three teenagers turn their heads to see Mr. Andrews stepping on to the porch. "Hey, Jug. Coming in?" Then he squints his eyes at her, "Hermione Lodge's daughter, right? We got take-out from Pop's. Wanna join?"
She smiles at the older man and tells him, "We were just leaving." Then she grabs Jughead's forearm and leads him away from the Andrews' home.
Jughead allows her to pull him until they're half way down the street, but then he halts. "What were you doing? Were you eavesdropping?"
"I stopped you two from fighting," she deflects.
"We weren't gonna get into a fight, Mickey!" He huffs in frustration before continuing to walk ahead at a quick pace—still ranting. "God, you don't want to be the way you were in New York, but that's still you. That's always gonna be you," he snaps. "Stop pretending."
"What's that supposed to mean?" She's right on his tail.
"It's the little things I notice. You think hanging with the school's outcast and trying not to be snobby is gonna hide the fact that you're not—"
"That I'm what?" She stops following behind him and plants are feet to the ground stubbornly, waiting for an answer.
Jughead turns and looks at her with a hard demeanor. "Just leave me alone." Then he walks off, leaving her standing there in the middle of the street.
✿
"Hey, Archie!" Mickey catches on to the sleeve of his varsity jacket.
He scratches the top of his head when she lets go. "Uh, hey. How much of the conversation did you hear last night?" Straight to the point.
"Enough," she admits.
"I'd really appreciate it if you kept it between the three of us." It feels weird to ask for a favor. He barely knows her because, unlike her sister, she hasn't tried to befriend Archie. "You can't tell your sister either. She'd tell Betty and she's probably tell Kevin."
"Of course. It's not my place to say anything anyway. I just really want to apologize for eavesdropping." She sticks out her lower lip in a playful pout.
He laughs softly because it reminds him of Veronica. "What can we do about it now, right?"
As the two of them walk down the halls together, a question pops into her mind and she blurts it out before thinking it through. "Do you love her?" Then she takes it back, "I—you don't have to answer that."
"Have you ever loved anyone?" Archie stops walking and looks her in the eye. "Other than family."
She shakes her head, "Not really, no. Not romantically."
"What me and her have is something I've never felt before. I don't want to lose that. No matter what anyone has to say." He's clearly talking about Jughead.
They continue to walk.
"So have you seen Jug?" she ponders.
"Not since last night."
"Yeah. I don't think he's speaking to me right now." She knows he has every right to be upset about the eavesdropping, but if Archie can move past it, so should Jughead. He's blowing the whole situation out of proportion in her mind because it's not his secret that was overheard. Plus, she hates when people are upset with her.
Jughead is in the student lounge when Archie and Mickey walk in together. He's standing on the side of the vending machine, brooding as usual, and of course they go over to the vending machine.
Mickey stand on Jughead's left side and looks up at him, "Are you done with your bitch fit?"
"You can't take a hint, can you?" His arms are crossed stubbornly. Even though he's talking to her, he's glaring at Archie, who is putting his dollar in the machine.
She gets the hint that he's not interested in forgiving her, so she turns her attention to her peers by the couch.
Of course Reggie is in the center of the circle with everyone's eyes and ears.
"Isn't it always some spooky, scrawny, pathetic Internet troll, too busy writing his manifestos to get laid? Some smug, moody, serial killer fanboy freak, like Jughead?" Reggie laughs darkly and looks directly at Jughead—all of his friends doing the same. "What was it like, Suicide Squad, when you shot Jason? You didn't do stuff to the body, did you? Like...after?"
This strikes a nerve with Jughead because he doesn't do his usual, which is backing down and walking away. Instead he retorts, "It's called necrophilia, Reggie. Can you spell it?"
Mickey snorts.
Reggie's anger comes over him in a split second. He jumps over the couch, like some animal to get to Jughead, "Come here, you little—"
A nerve is struck with Jughead because he doesn't back down or walk away, like he usually does. "It's called necrophilia, Reggie, can you spell it?"
Mickey grabs Jughead's arm to stop him from going head to head with Reggie and she's thankful when Archie steps in.
Archie stands between Reggie and Jughead and Mickey. Then he pushes Reggie away. "Hey, shut the hell up, Reggie."
"Stop antagonizing," Mickey says to Reggie, trying to defuse the situation. Now everyone is definitely watching.
"Lodge, you hang out with this freak? You're too hot to be around this social pariah." Then Reggie looks Archie straight in the eye, "Why do you care, Andrews?"
"Nothing. Just leave him alone," Archie says.
"Holy crap." Reggie's big smile returns. "Did you and Donnie Darko kill him together? Was it some sort of pervy, blood brother thing?" He's taunting at this point.
Then things get physical. It all happens so fast.
As soon as it stops, Mickey pulls Jughead out of the student lounge.
Jughead snatches away from her, "You just can't stay out of things, can you?"
"Jug—"
The door to the student lounge opens and Veronica walks out, worry lacing her features. "Mick, are you okay?"
"Y-yeah, I'm—"
"You're bleeding!" Veronica moves over to her sister.
Mickey watches Jughead storm off and then sighs as her sister uses a handkerchief to clean up the blood on her forehead.
"Come on," Veronica leads her sister to the bathroom.
Mickey ends up sitting on one of the sinks, letting Veronica take care of her.
"What was that in the student lounge?" Veronica wets the handkerchief and dabs the cut on Mickey's forehead.
"Reggie being the stereotypical jackass jock?"
"Is there something I should know about you and a certain loner boy?"
Mickey rolls her eyes. "Please, Veronica." She takes the handkerchief from her sister and hops off the sinks. She tends to her own little injury through the mirror, where she can see Veronica giving her a look. "What?"
"You don't get involved in fights for anyone." Veronica leans closer to the mirror next to Mickey and checks herself out. "Something's clearly going on."
"I'm not even sure if we're friends," Mickey admits. "I can never tell with him."
"Then he's an idiot because you're amazing."
Mickey swipes the cut one more time and looks in the mirror one more time. She feels worn out from all the discoveries made in Riverdale recently. It's a good thing she doesn't look it.
Then it strikes her. Maybe Jughead was right.
She purses her lips to spread her fading lipstick. Then she faces her sister. "He's my friend," she decides.
Veronica reaches out and squeezes Mickey's hand. "Whatever's going on, it'll work itself out. Don't worry."
✿
"Here you go." The waiter at Pop's places three milkshakes in the middle of the table. "One double chocolate and two old-fashioned vanilla."
The three girls thank him in unison.
Veronica grabs her glass and pulls it closer to her. "Betty...can we make a vow?"
"Sure," Betty plays with her straw.
"That no matter what, no boy will ever come between us again. Deal?"
Mickey can't help but to smirk at the sappy moment.
"Deal. You too, Mickey!" Betty winks at the other Lodge sister.
"Deal," she nods. "Even though neither of you have as good of taste as me."
They raise their glasses and clink them together as a toast.
The bells by the door jingle.
Mickey and Betty both notice Veronica staring at the entrance and they turn their heads to see what she sees.
There they were. Archie and Jughead.
Betty asks, "Do you guys want to join us?"
The boys share a hesitant look before Jughead agrees. "Yes," he struts over to the table, "but only if you're treating."
They all laugh.
Mickey scoots scolded to the window to make room for Archie sitting on the edge of her side of the table with Betty in between.
"Veronica Lodge," Veronica introduces herself to Jughead.
Jughead hops over to the window seat across from Mickey. "Jughead Jones, the third."
"Jughead Jones, the third," Veronica repeats with the same interest Mickey had the first night she met him. "So you're the one taking up my sister's time?"
Jughead looks at Mickey with a grin and lightly kicks her under the table. "As long as she lets me."
In that moment, everything is perfect for the newly-formed friend group.
Later that evening, after milkshakes, burgers, and fries, Veronica and Mickey are by the entrance about to make an exit.
Jughead jogs over to them. "Can I talk to you before you go?" His question is directed at Mickey.
Veronica tells them, "Go. I'll order mom some food."
Mickey and Jughead go outside together. He instantly says, "I'm sorry for acting like such a jerk."
"If you don't want me to hang around you so much—"
"That's the opposite of what I want," he makes clear.
Then there's some magnetic pull between them, causing them to look each other right in the eye, and it gives her butterflies.
He takes a step back. "Even if that was what I wanted, it'd be impossible because you want to be my friend so bad," he jokes.
Mickey looks through the diner window to see Veronica watching them with a bag of food in her hand. She gestures for her to come outside. "We need to get going," she tells him.
"Yeah. See you in school." Jughead goes back into the diner.
"What was that?" Veronica grins when they're walking to the car.
Mickey ignores her, not thinking into it the way Veronica wants her to. "Let's just get home."