↳ Saturday
Oct. 22nd↵
Before I had gone to bed at Betty's, I put in a new SD card in my camera and put the important one in my backpack for safe keeping. I also didn't want to take any more pictures on the same SD card because Jughead might see them and critique them.
I fell asleep that night on Betty's floor, wrapped up in a sleeping bag with a comfy pillow. I woke up to some footsteps in the room. I saw Betty's dad was looking through my things, before looking at my camera. I panicked, not knowing whether to confront him or accept my defeat.
I grabbed Betty's blanket and slowly pulled it down towards me. Naturally, she pulled it back, but I yanked it. She woke up, panicked and alarmed to catch her dad caught in the act. I pretended to be asleep.
"Dad!" Betty hissed. "What are you doing?" I peeked my eyes opened to look at him. He had a crazy look in his eyes, one eye wider than the other. He was obviously determined to find something on me. Pointing at me, he scoffed, "She's just using you to get to us, Betty. She's doing the dirty work for her mother."
"Look. Get out and I won't say a word about any of this. She's been up here the whole time besides dinner," Betty covered for me.
Her dad was about to argue, but he bit his tongue. He set down my camera and walked out of her room. Betty looked over at me with a tired sigh.
"I know you're not asleep."
"Betty. That was scary," I admitted, opening my eyes to see her peeking over her bed.
"I know. I'm sorry," she apologized. "We need to know the truth though."
I nodded, curling up into a ball. I quickly fell back to sleep since I never had any sleep issues before. I didn't feel as safe as I wanted, but what was the worst her parents could do to me? Kill me?
↳ Sunday
Oct. 23rd↵
I woke up the next morning to smell fresh eggs and bacon. Betty was already awake and on her laptop.
"Did I miss breakfast?" I groaned, sitting up. I rubbed my eyes and yawned before looking over to Betty.
"No. It's almost ready though."
Betty and I walked downstairs, and I felt her parents eyes on me, glaring me down.
"Morning!" I forced a smile.
"Good morning, Catherine," her mom said, sounding upset.
Who was I kidding? She was always upset.
I sat down across from Betty, the same as yesterday. I wasted no time eating my food. After quietly eating for five minutes her father managed to say something. It was completely out of the blue.
"You know, Catherine. I used to have a dog. Before Betty was born, of course. He would just smell anything he could get his little nose on," he laughed. "Whether it be garbage, grass, or even the road, he'd smell it."
"How cute," I smiled, my mouth full.
"Yeah. Then one day he and I were in the forest, and he stuck his nose in a bear trap. Ever since that day, he stopped smelling things," her dad finished his story.
My eyes were wide, and my heart raced.
"P-poor dog," I stammered, getting anxious.
Her dad chuckled a little.
"Yeah. Dumb dog learned to never stick his nose where it shouldn't be," her mom also commented, shaking her head.
I gave Betty a "help me" look, but she gave a confused shrug, not understanding what was happening. Both of us nearly swallowed our plates by eating so fast.
Betty stood up, causing me follow her lead.
"Well, Catherine better get ready to leave. She needs to do some chores at home," Betty lied.
"So soon?" Her mom acted upset.
"Yeah," I nodded, walking towards the stairs. "I hope I can come back soon, Mrs. Cooper! The food was A plus."
She gave a cold smile, but I turned to the stairs and booked it. I quickly brushed my teeth and combed my hair. I changed into the clothes I wore from yesterday and gathered my things.
"Thanks for coming over," Betty said, walking me out. "It's nice not being alone and trapped with my parents."
"I wouldn't mind coming back, under better circumstances," I told her with a small smile.
I walked out of her nightmarish home into the free world. I took a deep breath and turned around.
"See you on Monday, Betty," I waved, backing away.
"Bye!" She waved, before quickly closing the door. I checked my phone to see it was 11:00 A.M.
I walked home, again, feeling thankful for having parents like my mom and dad. I could never imagine growing up with the Coopers. I don't know how Betty survives sometimes.
I made it home and dropped my bags at the bottom of the stairs. I peeked into the living room to find my mom and dad on the couch, with my dad asleep and my mom glued to a book she was reading. She looked up and noticed me, and I went into the kitchen.
"How was the sleepover?" My mom asked from the living room.
"A living nightmare," I hollered back. "But Betty's a good friend."
I heard my mom laugh a little, before making her way into the kitchen too. I grabbed a can of soda and a bag of pistachios. "How did her parents treat you?"
I held up my hand, tilting it side to side. "Did you do anything to... y'know... piss them off?" I finally asked.
She sighed, crossing her arms as she stared at the ceiling in thought. "Well... there was this case I had to look into. It was small, and they had a fight and it got out of control. I had to look into it, unfortunately. I mean, I never got anything out of it. Why? Did they talk about me?"
"They expected me to be like you," I explained, cracking open the shell, popping the pistachio into my mouth. "They warned me that I shouldn't stick my nose in places where it shouldn't be."
My mom laughed, before saying "No, no. That's your father, the snoop. Technically it's our job to pry into other people's lives. It's what pays the bills though, and there's no shame in doing it."
I smiled a little and started to go upstairs with my food and drink. I took a quick shower and got ready to go see Jughead. In the shower, I thought about what Betty said about liking Jughead. I needed to understand him first before I knew what my heart wanted.
Knowing that, I thought I would meet him at his house. I put on some light makeup; a pink lip and mascara. I dressed in my favorite gray baggy sweater and wore black jeans. I packed my laptop and the SD card before I left the house.
I wandered over to where I had remembered his house to be. I wasn't positive if he still lived there, but it was worth a shot. His front yard was full of weeds and the grass was overgrown. I assumed someone was home since the outside light was on, oddly during daytime at that.
I walked up to his door and gave it a good knock. Within a few seconds, his door opened up to his dad, F.P. He looked disheveled squinting from the sun hitting his face. He wore a plaid shirt with torn jeans with bleach stains in them, his belt loose, causing his jeans to droop on his waist.
He straightened his posture and leaned in the doorway, placing an arm on the threshold.
"Now who might you be walking in this neck of the woods?" He grinned.
My eyes widened a little as I clutched my laptop bag.
"Uh, Catherine? Is Jughead home?" I squeaked, absolutely terrified.
His dad grinned at me, before saying "He's on his way, actually. He'll be here in five minutes. Why don't you come inside?" He offered.
"That's fine. I just-"
"You're denying my offer?" He quickly turned serious. I suddenly feared for my life.
"N-no-"
"Then come on in," he stepped aside.
I had no other choice but to walk into his messy home. Plates and beer bottles were everywhere, and the TV was playing football. On the coffee table, there was one plate with half eaten pizza, which looked as if it was slowly molding.
"Take a seat on the couch. I'll call him for ya," he patted the arm of the couch.
I sat down quietly and watched football. I was ready to scream or kick if he dared to touch me.
I looked over to see him on the phone.
"Hey! My boy. One of your friends came over. She needs to see you- hey!" He hollered over to me.
I flinched and looked at him.
"What's your name again?" He asked.
"Catherine Bell," I told him, my voice shaking.
"Catherine?... Alright then. See you in a little while," he smiled, hanging up the phone.
His dad walked over and sat next to me, taking up half of the couch. I slowly moved to the corner of the couch, keeping close to myself.
"So, Catherine. Your name sounds familiar," he turned to me. "You also look familiar. Who are you?"
I cleared my throat and leaned back a little, trying to not look as scared as I was.
"I used to live here until Jughead turned eight," I explained in a way that he would at least understand.
"Eight?! Oh man. I think I remember you now," he laughed, shaking his head. "You and Jughead were tight! He was real sore about you leavin' Riverdale."
I gave a gentle laugh, looking down at my lap. "It wasn't easy leaving, believe me."
"Oh, I know. Or else you wouldn't be back," he joked.
I smiled a little, trying to stay calm.
"Oh! You know what? Follow me," he got up, hopping over the couch. I left my bag and followed him, like the idiot I was.
We walked into a much cleaner room, which seemed to look like Jughead's room. The theme of the room was blue. His covers on his bed were blue, his curtains were blue, even his walls were a light blue. He had some knickknacks on his shelves along with some pictures. His closet was barely filled with any clothes. Most of the clothes he did have were dark.
His dad walked over to a shelf with several pictures on it. He took a frame off and handed it to me.
"I don't know when this was," he told me, as I took it. I stared at the picture closely, sitting on the end of his bed. It was a picture of my birthday, and Jughead and I had cake all over our faces. We were only about six at the time. Well, I knew I was six since it was my birthday.
"Wow..." I nodded, smiling a little. "That was my birthday. Are there any other pictures?" I asked.
His dad took the one I was holding and replaced it with another. Jug and I were doing cheesy smiles with each other, and Jellybean was trying to reach high enough to get into the frame.
"Dad."
F.P. and I looked up to see Jughead standing in the doorway. He stared down his dad, seemingly pissed off.
"It's okay, Jug. We were just looking at old pictures of you and me," I smiled, turning the frame towards him. His expression didn't seem to change.
"Come on, Catherine. We're going to Pop's," he nodded me towards the exit.
I set the picture frame down on the bed and left, before saying "Bye, Mr. Jones!"
"It's F.P.," he called after me, still trying to be friendly.
"It's nothing," Jughead whisper shouted at his dad. I could still hear what they were saying as I grabbed my bag.
"We were just chattin' about the past, Jug," F.P. defended himself.
"That was a cheap shot at getting me to come back home, Dad. Next time, don't invite my friends in here," Jughead snapped back, before storming down the hall.
Again, he nodded towards the exit. I left, and he followed.
"Come on. Let's get out of here."
We were walking for a while, but I decided not to say anything until Jughead looked visibly calm. Within about five minutes, he was.
He let out a deep sigh before saying "I'm sorry you had to go through that."
"Juggy, it's fine," I assured him, patting his shoulder. "It's not a big deal-"
"What did he say to you?" He defensively asked.
"Nothing!" I laughed. "He just asked me who I was and brought me to your room."
Thinking back to his room, it did seem awfully clean for a teenage boys room on a Sunday. His bed was perfectly made, the floor was clean enough to walk through, and his closet looked bare.
Then I thought about what he said.
"That was a cheap shot at trying to get me back home dad"
It got me thinking.
Back? Hadn't he been home since?
Maybe I was just overthinking all of this. The only thing I knew was that his dad was the leader of the Southside Serpents. I was going to confront him on that, soon.
Once Jug and I made it to Pop's, I ended up sitting beside him. I pulled out my laptop and put in my SD card.
"So this is...?"
"The pictures of the files in Betty's dad's drawer," I told Jughead. "Can you believe that he started digging through my stuff? Talk about rude."
Jughead scoffed, smiling a little. I looked over to him.
"What's funny?" I asked.
"Didn't you just say that you went through his personal drawer?" He asked me, catching my hypocrisy.
I stayed silent for a brief moment, remembering what I just said and connecting two and two.
"Shut up," I told him, returning to my sleuthing.
I opened the file to see that absolutely nothing was in it. My eyes widened and my heart started to pound.
"W-wha...?" I spoke, at a loss for words.
"Am I missing something?" He asked, looking at my screen.
I shook my head, eyes wide. "Someone switched my SD cards," I told him. "I specifically took the SD card out of my camera and put it in my backpack. Then I put the new one in my camera. Someone must've switched them back and stole the actual one," I explained, upset. I turned to Jughead, taking his shoulder. "You have to believe me when I say he had the files. I'm not crazy!"
"I believe you! Now, do you know who took the card?" He asked, trying to get me to think rationally.
I bit my lower lip and shook my head a little. "Her dad? I mean, he did go through my things," I explained.
"Her mom could've snuck into the room after her dad left to finish the job," Jughead suggested.
I slammed my head on the table repeatedly, upset I lost that one important piece of evidence.
"Hey, hey, hey. It's not the end of the world, alright? We'll ask Betty about it tomorrow," he assured, closing my laptop.
I lifted my head up, seeing him push my laptop away from me.
I remembered his dad and felt as though this was the perfect time to let him know.
I sighed, saying "Jughead. I need to tell you something."
"Uh, oh," he moved back a little.
"What?" I asked, getting scared.
"Whenever you don't say Juggy, I know it's serious," he told me.
I couldn't help but smile a little. I also couldn't help but avoid his eyes.
"Jug. I..." I took a deep breath. "I know about your dad."
His joking nature immediately went away, and the atmosphere changed.
"How?" He asked, genuinely curious. I kept silent, not wanting to rat out Betty. "Because I was hoping to keep that away from you."
"Why, Jug? I would've understood," I softly said, trying to redeem myself.
"How would you understand? Hell, I don't even understand," he shook his head, slamming his fist on the table.
"Listen to me," I said. He avoided my gaze, looking down. "Jug. Listen to me."
I took his cheek and made him look at me. I gave him hopeful smile, before saying "I'm here for you, okay? Maybe I don't understand. But I sure as hell won't look at you any differently than I did before. You hear me? You're not your dad."
He nodded, and I forced him into a hug. I patted his back, holding him closer. Oddly enough, I really enjoyed his hugs. Unfortunately, I couldn't spend the whole day hugging him.
I pulled back first, and we separated.
I cleared my throat and smiled before saying
"I guess now isn't a good time to tell you my idea for an article."
AN: Thank you all so much for reading and don't forget to vote!