↳ Tuesday
Nov. 22nd↲
A few days had passed since the fight, and I haven't seen Derek besides one passing period every day—fifth period. I never noticed we passed each other until the other day when we accidentally brushed shoulders after class. It bothered me because Jughead wasn't near by since he was all the way across the school.
I was on my way to lunch when Cheryl stopped me in the almost empty hall.
"Hello, Catherine," she said in a rather harsh tone, which didn't surprise me.
"Cheryl," I replied, also feeling cold towards her.
She held up an old picture I nearly forgot. My eyes widened as I took the photo in hand to examine it closer.
It was me and Jason Blossom. I almost forgot that we dated back in elementary school. I was seven and he was eight or nine. In the picture, he was kissing my cheek and I gave a big toothy smile.
"I was looking through one of my scrapbooks and I found this. You want to explain?" She demanded.
I shrugged, handing it back to her. "What can I say? We dated."
She grew even more frustrated and grabbed the front of my shirt. I was waiting for her to yell at me or even slap me, but instead, she dragged me to the janitor's closet, not wanting to make a psycho scene.
She closed the door behind the both of us and turned on the dangling light. I was in an interrogation room.
"Please," she begged, putting down her façade.
She held up the picture to me one more time, tears welling in her eyes. "I just want to remember Jason. I don't remember this."
"Me either, honestly. Uh... maybe ask me some questions and I can try to remember?" I suggested, trying to help her out. Seeing Cheryl cry was a foreign experience for me, which let me know that this was personal and important.
She sniffled, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Um... how did he ask you out?"
I leaned against the wall and thought for a brief moment. A wave of memories hit me.
"I was under a maple tree drawing or doing homework. Jason walked up to me with a bell and a blossom in his hand. He asked if they looked nice, and I said yes. Then he asked me and I also said yes," I smiled to myself. "It was clever."
Cheryl smiled a little bit, laughing and nodding. "That sounds like him. Jay jay was always creative..."
I didn't want to spend the rest of my life in the janitor's closet, so I tried to slide towards the door.
"How did you both break up?" She asked, narrowing her eyes at me.
I looked around, trying to remember. "We just naturally parted I guess. We both lost interest after a month. We were little, so..."
"Did you break-up with him?" She asked, stepping closer to me.
"Look," I quickly said, my back to the door. I grabbed the knob and slightly opened it. "I'm sorry, Cheryl, but I can't remember everything. I know as much as you do."
I slipped out of the closet and jogged away for a few seconds. I walked to lunch to see Jughead turn his head as soon as I walked out of the school doors.
"Where were you?" He asked, bringing everyone's attention to me. They all appeared concerned, which made me smile a little.
I sat down and dropped my bags in the dying grass.
"Cheryl pulled me into the janitor's closet and interrogated me about dating Jason Blossom," I flatly said, mostly because it didn't affect me that much. I was just extremely hungry. Jughead's appetite was growing on me.
I pulled out my lunch and everyone collectively said "What?!"
I looked around, wide-eyed. "What?"
"You dated Jason Blossom?!" Archie questioned, dumbfounded.
I laughed a little. "Yeah! When I was seven."
They all still seemed to be interested.
"How long did that last?" Betty questioned, her blue eyes bubbling with curiosity.
"A month."
"I think I remember that..." Jughead slowly spoke, the idea coming back to him. "Yeah. I was jealous."
I grinned at Juggy, placing my head on his shoulder as a gentle reminder that I only love him.
I spent a good portion of my lunch talking about it. The topic changed to something else, but I tuned it all out since I was scarfing down my sandwich before the bell rang.
Once lunch and fifth period ended, I walked towards my English 10 class when an arm wrapped around my shoulder.
"Heyyy Catherine," Derek greeted me with a cool tone. I would've pushed him off if I didn't feel a blade poke my side as we walked down the hall.
"Don't," I pleaded, loud enough for him to hear. The hall suddenly fell silent, and I could hear his voice clearly. I could smell the alcohol off his leather jacket, strong and unpleasant—making my nose sting and my throat tingle.
"Listen," he purred in my ear. "Your life is going to suck the next couple of months. F.P. won't be able to help you, and neither will his kid. Speaking of him, he's hanging with some of my buddies as we speak."
My stomach dropped, my face turning completely pale.
"I don't get it," I said, my voice frail. "You're the one that hurt me."
He pressed the blade on my side, causing me to breathe rapidly in fear of it penetrating me. I could already feel it cutting into my skin.
"Don't push it, babe," he told me, before kissing my cheek. I felt disgusting.
The bell rang above our heads as he released his grip on me, putting away his pocket knife.
"Don't be late to class," he told me, before entering a classroom.
I fell to my knees, feeling light-headed and anxious. I calmed down my breathing and held my head, trying to remember which period Jughead had that hour.
Psychology!
I got on my two feet and ran to the other side of the school, peering into the Psychology class.
I saw one empty seat, which was most likely Jughead's seat.
I clutched my chest, not knowing what to do.
I called him, but no answer.
I peered into every single class to make sure I didn't look into the wrong one. Jughead was nowhere to be seen. I looked high and low before leaving the school. English 10 wouldn't miss me.
I ran all the way to Jughead's house and feverishly knocked on the door. The door flew open to F.P. seeming hungover and pissed off.
By the look on my face, he quickly sobered up.
"Something happened to Jughead. I don't know what but I'm scared," I rapidly spoke.
"Slow down, girl. What happened?"
I explained the situation in its entirety and what Derek told me, word for word.
F.P. turned his head over to the side slightly, obviously bothered by this.
"I hate saying this, but we gotta wait. If he doesn't come outside of school to walk you home, come and get me at the Whyte Wyrm," F.P. told me in a slow voice, making sure I heard him loud and clear.
I nodded, and turned around to leave.
"Hold on," he told me, before going back inside. He came back out with his bike keys in hand. "I ain't gonna have you walk yourself all the way back to school. Now that'd just be plain rude."
My stomach turned at the thought of riding a bike, even though it's a five to ten-minute drive. At the same time, it was awfully cold out and I was weak from running almost a mile in the span of a few minutes.
I put on his helmet and locked my hands around F.P.'s waist before he sped off towards school. He played the radio loudly to fill in the awkward silence. My hair whipped around in the crisp wind, and my adrenaline coursed through me at its peak.
He halted at the front of my school, and I handed him the helmet.
"Thanks," was all I could say. "I'll keep in touch."
"Don't forget. Whyte Wyrm," he reminded me, putting the helmet on his own head. He turned his bike around and drove off.
I turned back to the school, knowing that the bell was about to ring. I couldn't go to class knowing that I would be scolded and also I wouldn't be able to focus knowing that Jughead was in trouble. I sat on the front steps until the bell rang.
I waited by the stairs, our usual meeting spot. Archie walked out and saw that I was still hanging around. "Hey. Do you know where Jughead is?"
I shook my head. "No! I think he's in trouble, Archie," I fearfully told him.
"What do you mean?"
I explained the whole situation to him, and he ended up waiting by my side. Once the school was mostly cleared out, I got even more worried. He should've been there already.
"We have to go look," I told Archie. "I'm not going home until I find him."
"Okay." Archie hesitantly nodded. "I'll try the boy's locker room. You look in the janitor's closet."
I nodded, and we both ended up checking the school high and low to find nothing.
We met again at the stairs and tried to think. There was only one place left to check.
Archie and I looked at each other, panicked.
"The field."
We ran all the way to the football field and started calling Jughead's name. I began losing hope until I saw a figure in the distance. I stopped to see Jughead emerge from behind the bleachers, holding his side.
He looked really bad. His face was bloodied and his cheek bruised. He walked with a limp and it seemed like his chest hurt.
I ran towards him at lightning speed, nearly stumbling over the grass.
He collapsed onto his knees, unable to walk anymore. The dewey grass from the sprinklers earlier helped me slide on my knees. I caught Jughead before his face could even touch the soft soil, his body practically dead-weight in my arms. Tears welled in my eyes as I lifted his head to see the damage.
"Are you... okay?" He weakly asked, taking ahold of my shoulders.
"I'm fine," I sobbed. "Oh god! I'm so sorry." I pulled him into a hug and felt how cold he was. Those bastards stole his jacket, and even his beanie.
"Jughead," Archie also slid on his knees, stopping beside him. "Can you walk?"
"Barely," he murmured out.
Archie looked at me for advice.
"We have to go to the Whyte Wyrm," I told him, wiping my tears away. I tried to get ahold of myself in the situation.
"No, no," Jughead protested, his voice slurred as he wavered his hand.
"We have to," I told him. "Your dad already knows."
"C'mon," Archie put Jughead's arm around his shoulder before helping him up. I took his other arm, also placing it around my shoulder.
The Whyte Wyrm was a long ways away, but we were going to make it.
AN:
Me: Hasn't written in a while
Also me: hey let's hurt Jughead to get in the jive of things
I'm so sorry please take my abilities away from me.
Anyway, thanks for reading and don't forget to vote!