( chapter twenty three! )
─ This party is pretty dead, if you ask me
─
"I'm sorry, Bets," Lola said, sadly. The next morning, Betty told Manic, Jughead and Lola what happened between her dad and her. And it was truly sad to hear. The twins can relate wholeheartedly. They have their experience with siblings gone bad.
"Yeah, we can really relate." Manic mumbled, sitting down on the couch. Betty and Jughead frown at that sentence. But Lola gave him a quick look.
That made him quiet down.
"What do you mean by that?" Jughead asked, looking at both twins a little suspiciously.
"Uh...nothing, nothing at all." Lola stuttered, playing with the straw of her large caramel ice coffee. "It's...uh...nothing at all, right Manic,"
Manic paused, looking at her and then looking at Betty and Jughead and then back at her. He sighed and shrugged. "Yeah, nothing at all." But Jughead, being an already suspicious person, felt like they were lying. It might not have to do with anything about Jason but something big.
"Anyways," Betty said, drawing the attention back to her. "I asked my dad if I could call Polly. He said she was doing better. But then, when she heard about Jason's death, she had a big set back. He doesn't want to risk another one."
"Why does a rich kid sell drugs?" Jughead asked.
"Please, Jason might have left this world a raging dick but he never had the balls to be a drug dealer," Manic shot down that question real quick. Lola made a disagreeing sound. "Maybe he did it and only Cheryl knew,"
"Let's just say that he was selling them," Betty pacified. "He was running away from his parents."
"Yeah, probably." Jughead said, standing up and walking around. "Or drug dealers."
"That, I'll agree to." Manic said, pointing at him.
But Betty looked visibly upset at that prediction. "Oh, my god. Is that possible?"
"It's a theory. Yours is more likely." Jughead said, standing next to Lola. "But why would he have to run away from mommy and daddy?"
"Because they're redhead wannabe Addams family who believe in incest, I see." Lola mumbled angrily herself. Jughead put his arm around her shoulders and placed a light kiss near her ear.
"You're more of the Addams family, baby." Jughead commented, earning himself a playful slap on the chest. "But why, specifically."
"Manic, did Jason say anything to you the day before he died?" Betty asked, leaning forward. Manic, feeling like he said the same story a hundred times, sighed loudly while rubbing his eyes. "Me and him got into a huge fight and after that, I didn't see him."
Betty leaned back, sighing in defeat. "Well, we can't exactly ask them."
"What, like a poltergeist?" Manic asked.
Jughead nodded. "No, dead men tell no tales"
"But their bedrooms and houses do," Lola finished, already knowing what he was talking about. Manic sat up, looking at the both of them. He looked really interested. "That actually is not a bad idea."
Betty raised her eyebrows, also agreeing with him.
Not a bad idea at all.
-
Saturday came super fast. No one had time to register that this was Jason's final goodbye. Surely, not Manic. And not Lola either. Caramia and Geovani left early to help with final preparations. Manic walked out of his room dressed in all black. Black dress shirt, black tie, black suite, black shoes. Black demeanor.
Lola walked out of her room also in all black.
(Outfit below⬇️⬇️⬇️)
She stood next to her brother in the hall and grabbed his hand. Manic gently squeezed her hand, tears threatening to fall underneath his sunglasses. She looked at him with a heartbroken look. This was hurting him inside. She could feel it in her. Twin telepathy was a powerful thing between them. It made her want to cry.
"You ready?" She whispered.
Manic didn't say a word. But only nodded, suppressing a sob.
Together, hand in hand, they walked out of their big house together, keeping each other strong for the last goodbye.
-
"Thank you for coming." Penelope Blossom greeted as people walked on. She spotted the twins walking in. She walked over to the two with a sad frown. "Manic, Lola thank you for coming."
Lola smiled politely at her. "Thank you for inviting us, Mrs. Blossom."
Manic said nothing. He just nodded and walked off. Lola looked at him with a sigh. "I'm sorry, he's just-"
"It's fine, sweetie," Penelope said dismissively. "He's deeply hurt....just like the rest of us."
Lola nodded, offering her one last smile before walking off to find her sit.
Betty turned and saw Lola walk in. She nudged Jughead, who turned her direction. He was still at awe at her sight. She looked perfect. In everything, every color and every shape and form. He stood up, admiring her. Lola spotted him and walked over to the aisle he was sitting at. She offered a small smile, considering where they were, and hugged Jughead. He hugged back gently, sitting back down. "You look beautiful."
She sat next to him, holding his hand. "Thank you, you do too."
He grinned at her. Lola noticed Betty on the other side of him. "Hey Bets,"
Betty gave her a soft smile. "Hey, Lo."
"Where's Manic?" Kevin asked, noticing he wasn't around. Just like magic, Manic came from wherever he left to and sat down next to Lola. His eyes were red puffy and watery. Looked like he was crying his eyes out. This was a foreign look for Jughead and the rest. But Lola, wanting to cry with him, leaned her head on his shoulder. To which he leaned his head on hers, tears falling down his face.
This house gave him unwanted memories of the two. Each time they played together, hung out, laughed and even fought. It was all coming back to him in this very moment. Like a flood, he was drowning in guilt and self-hatred.
And watching Archie give Penelope Jason's old jersey only made him choke. Like someone knocked the wind out of him.
After talking to Penelope, Archie walked back over to his friends, pausing when he saw Manic cry silently. He had never seen him like that.it showed him how much Jason really meant to Manic. Archie looked down and went back to his seat.
"Did she just touch your hair?" Kevin asked Archie. He looked really uncomfortable at that action. Betty smiled at him. "That was really sweet what you did."
"She deserves it. More than I do," he stated. Manic wiped the tears off his cheek, raising his head up. Veronica walked over to her friends. "Days like today really put things in perspective, huh? I mean, at least we're here.... At least we're alive..."
Lola kept hold of Manic's hand while leaning on Jughead, who put his arm around her, seeing she was upset.
A few seconds later, Cheryl walked down the aisle in the exact same white dress she was wearing the day Jason went missing. Lola almost gasped. Manic looked in shock as a flashback of that morning hit him.
"Jason, what the hell are you talking about?" He chuckled, comically. Jason came over two hours before he and Cheryl were to go to the river. He was dressed in all white, looking eerily pure.
"I mean....I can't be here anymore." Jason said, sitting on his couch in his room. Manic sighed, sitting next to him. "If this is about the fight-"
"It's not about the damn fight!" He yelled, annoyed. "Cheryl's gonna help me fake my own death and then I'm leaving this town."
Manic froze. His face turning white and is demeanor changing quick. He shot up in his seat. "Are you fucking crazy?!" He yelled angrily. Jason sighed, rubbing the back of his head.
"I knew you would say this..."
"Of course, I would! What the hell has gone through your head this summer?!" He ranted. He was pissed. Why would he do something like that?
"Nothing but logic," he said, standing up. "I came here to ask you to come with me....we can start over, rebuild this messed up friendship and go wherever we want, be whoever we want. We use to talk about this when we were kids, what's so different now?!"
"I can understand acting like Thelma and Louise, running away together but you're talking about faking your death!" Manic argued. "Jason....have you even thought this through?!"
"I have thought this through, I don't wanna suffocate in this image everyone wants me to be!" Jason growled. "I'm hurting everyone that knows me best....especially you..."
Manic's face dropped a little. He looked on at the sad looking red head.
"I can't live with myself knowing me and you are drifting apart," he said, letting out a shaky breath. ".....I need my best friend...my brother back.....and the longer I stay, the more I lose you and I would rather die than lose you..."
Happy birthday AshleyMoore336 !!!
Sorry it ended in a sad note but I hope you like it and have a fun day today!!!
Comment your reactions and ❤️!
See ya on the flip side