"oh, archiekins, it's always the time for my sass."
chapter six — slow and hazy
Dashing to the Four Seasons as the sun began to rise was not how Debbie envisioned her morning. As Betty practically dragged her by the arm to the hotel lobby, her cousin ran to one of the elevators, just narrowly avoiding an oncoming old couple, muttering a small apology as she did so. There, Betty anxiously punched in a floor number, and looked at the screen depicting their floor number. Debbie looked at her, bewildered, expecting an answer about why she was rudely awakened and pushed into a car.
Betty awkwardly smiled, fiddling with her fingers and balancing on her feet. "I can explain—"
"You better." She grumbled, crossing her arms. "I was planning on spending my morning watching the rest of Stranger Things while eating some cronuts, but sure, you totally could've just dragged me into the Four Seasons. What a lovely way to spend the day!"
Rolling her eyes, Betty ignored her sarcasm and opened her mouth to start, but was interrupted by the soft bell of the elevator. Again, she grabbed Debbie's arm and ran, despite her protests and occasional screams.
Suddenly though, her cousin stopped at seeing an open door. A soft whisper escaped her lips, "Oh my god..." By this time, Debbie's interest had piqued, and she in turn, curiously neared the door. Betty opened the door, and they mouths dropped as they saw none other than Nick St. Clair in a bathrobe, looking even more sleazy after what happened last night. Debbie felt her blood boiling even as she looked at him.
Why was her cousin so hell-bent on seeing this disgusting piece of trash?
Nick, with a bored expression, turned towards them, scowling. "What? Here to finish what your little friends started?"
"You're alive." Betty stated. At this, Nick slammed his knife down, fully facing them this time.
"Yeah. You tell Veronica she's lucky I'm not pressing charges." Clenching her fists, Debbie resisted the urge to punch his black eye once again. Internally, 'She should be pressing charges on you instead, you spoiled brat!'
Nick's parents entered the room, curious as to who they were and why they were in their suite, one of whom was sweaty and breathing heavily, a furious look evident in her appearance. Betty spoke up, "You're not safe here, okay? Any of you. You need to —"
Sheriff Keller and a fellow officer knocked on the door, disrupting Betty. "Nicholas St. Clair?"
After that, everything was a blur, but all Debbie could think of, was her cousin, who had been acting so suspicious lately, warning Nick, despite his despicable actions to their friends. Now, she needed the answers more than ever or she would probably explode.
As they walked home, neither of them knew who would talk next. Finally, Debbie decided to make the first move, about to speak up, when she was interrupted by Betty's ominous (and creepy) ringtone. Betty silently pleaded with her to stay quiet and she merely nodded, and her cousin accepted the call.
"You didn't kill him." Betty and the unknown caller seemed to argue back and forth, and Debbie gave her some privacy despite being awfully curious. Instead, she looked beyond the graveyard as they slowly walked by, catching bits and pieces of their conversation. "No, no, that's... I'm—" The call ended after a few more moments and Betty looked at it disappointedly, and Debbie rubbed her shoulder in an attempt to ease her. She merely smiled, though it was a fake one.
Once again, Betty's phone let out a small ring, though this time it was a text. From Archie, saying, "Hey, you up?" The message practically screamed Archie and Debbie had to resist the urge to roll her eyes.
Debbie looked at her cousin, worried. The recent events in town must be affecting her largely, and it was having a huge effect on her mental health. Suddenly, she leaned forward and hugged her tightly, which Betty returned. "Are you gonna be okay?"
"I'll be fine."
They both knew that was a lie.
Two hours later though, everything came crashing down like a landslide. Debbie massaged her forehead, sighing as she sat on the bottom steps of the stairs. Her aunt hosted the majority of her high school's best and brightest, sarcasm noted, with their parents and each looking equally caught. What now?
"Thank you for hosting us, Alice." Mayor McCoy curtly spoke up, smiling charmingly, as she normally did in events, though this smile had an infuriated undertone to it, hidden expertly with years of experience, but Debbie saw right through it.
"Of course, Mayor McCoy. After hearing of what happened at Nick St. Clair's party, I decided that we should come together to deal with this," Alice motioned at the group. "Motley crew of liars, dope-fiends, and fornicators. Except for my Betty who was smart enough to leave the party before it descended into a bacchananian free for all."
Betty sighed, "Oh my god, Mom, please don't—"
"Oh great, here we go. Saint Betty and Succubus Veronica," Veronica not-so-discreetly whispered seethingly. Debbie unterstood that she was angry with Betty, but now was not the time. "I may have taken jingle jangle, but she's the one who had a psychotic—"
"That's enough, Veronica." Debbie gave the raven haired girl a steely scowl. She crossed the line there. "She just broke up with Jughead, cut her some slack."
The conversation then turned into another direction, with many questioning why #Bughead broke up, Kevin in particular being more passionate than the rest of them. Alice had to clear her throat to recapture their attention. Then, the rest of the adults got into another scuffle of their own, until it was cut off by Hiram's question. "I for one, want to know who acquired the jingle jangle."
There was silence for a solid minute, before Reggie sheepishly raised his hand, which was slammed down by his mother, seething at her son. "Not a word, until we get a lawyer, Reginald." Debbie had to resist a laugh. Who names their child Reginald? But then again, Archie was named Archibald, so their parents seemed to be hell-bent on making sure their children were mocked with their names.
"How did you even get the jingle jangle?" Hiram further interrogated.
Reggie sighed, shoving his hands into his pockets as he thought. "Some gang member who deals on the Southside..."
His mother disgustedly looked at him, appalled, "Oh my god, you have a dealer?"
"Once again, mayor, the Southside is the source of all our problems." Hiram pointed out. More questions were asked towards Reggie, which he pointedly answered, though reluctantly. The subject then changed to Nick St. Clair, who was the true source, but it was shot down almost immediately. Josie was then put on the hot seat, who admitted she took some of the jingle jangle. At this, Mayor McCoy stood up, straightening her dress, "I see. From this moment on, bringing the Southside under control is my number one priority as mayor, even if it means razing it from the ground or arresting every single person in sight, starting at that high school, so be it. Let's go, Josephine. Now."
Debbie perked up, the gears in her head turning as a grim thought entered her system. She and Archie shared a look, a common understanding. Jughead was in that high school. When they were out of sight of the grown-ups, both ran for Debbie's car. "Drive," Archie said, and Debbie rolled her eyes.
"That's what a car's supposed to do, isn't it?" Debbie shot back, starting her car.
"Now's not the time for your sass, Debbie."
"Oh Archiekins," Debbie kicked her car into high gear and expertly maneuvered her car out of the garage. "It's always the time for my sass."
—
Coming back to the Southside felt extremely stupid. It was probably the cherry on top of all the bad decisions she's made. That week. But this was for Jughead, and she had to save him for all the times she owed him a favor. This time, she brought her car.
Debbie parallel parked into a spot far from the nearing chaos at the Southside High School, but close enough to be able to slip out in a moment's notice. Archie, curious, exited the car, "How did you know the directions to Southside High?"
"Research." Debbie merely answered, sprinting to the school. "Keep up, Quarterback!"
When they entered the school, they were instantly hit by the lingering smell of smoke and the annoying beeping of a metal detector up ahead. They ignored the guard, dashing past him, though he didn't seem to mind. Today was probably just a typical Monday for him. Students were out and about in Southside High, unaware of the upcoming trouble coming to them.
They spent no time finding Jughead, finding him exiting a hazy classroom, looking down at his phone. Archie ran towards him, grabbing him by the shoulders and attempting to lead him out of there. "Jug! Jug! We have to go—"
"What the hell are you guys doing here? Betty ask you to throw some salt in the wound?" Jughead was radiating anger, and Debbie shook him.
"Mayor McCoy is about to raid Southside High! We came here to get you before you get your beanie wearing self in trouble. Deep trouble. Come on," As if on cue, the doors slammed open, Mayor McCoy and Sheriff Keller made their entrance, accompanied by a group of officers. Hurriedly, Debbie and Archie ushered him out of there but he suddenly stopped. Chaos ensued all around them, but Jughead reached for a pink haired girl, also turning around in an attempt to escape, but Archie held him back.
"Jug? You wanna help her? You can't do that behind bars, come on!" They ran for the exits, but Jughead looked back at her, focused the whole time. He peered behind a window, Debbie doing the same, and her heart hitched as she saw him.
He was slammed into a set of lockers, pure, unfiltered fury on his face as two officers attempted to hold him back and handcuff him. With a force she could hear from behind the doors, he banged his fist into the lockers, growling. But when he met her eyes, his eyes shifted from angry to confused, which his captors took advantage of, finally handcuffing him. Debbie's eyes widened, but she was quickly pulled along by Archie, yelling at her to go.
She saw the pink haired girl, also handcuffed and Jughead's lingering look.
Everything was slow, hazy, as she shakily exited the school, running for her car. Her heart pounded from the scene she witnessed, unbelieving. Archie urged her to drive, which she hurriedly did, making their way out of the Southside.
The whole time, she couldn't shake off the look he gave her. She was hit by a shocking realization.
She had met him before. Way before their most recent encounter. Way before he saved her from getting killed.