Awful things, Awful Person
⧊
Many of the townsfolk had been hoping against hope that somehow Jason Blossom hadn't drowned on July Fourth. That the high school students would come to school, Monday morning, and there Jason would be. Or that they'd see him and Cheryl in a booth at Pop's. But that was before the undeniable, irrevocable fact of his bloated, water-logged body, a corpse with a bullet hole in his forehead, and terrible secrets that could only be revealed by the cold, steel blade of a coroner's autopsy scalpel.
Sunday night, Rosemary shot up from her bed and quickly shoving her blanket in her mouth to muffle her scream. Her breaths were heavy and tears streamed down her cheeks. Flashes of Ben and what he did to her flashed in her mind. Quickly, she got up out of bed, still in her pajamas, and called an Uber. She slipped on a pair of socks and sneakers before throwing what she needed for school on Monday and her outfit for Monday in her backpack and then rushing downstairs into the kitchen. She left a note on the fridge held up by a magnet saying where she was going and then ran outside to the car.
"Where too, sweetheart?" Asked the driver.
Rosemary quickly told him the address and curled up into a small ball in the back seat. Her cheeks were still tear stained and her hair was knotted. She wore a pair of pajama shorts that had cartoon dogs all over them and an oversized t-shirt. She stared out the window and watched the passing scenery flash by. Once they made it, she paid the guy and left.
Rosemary raced through the empty lot of the Twilight Drive-In and banged on the door to the projection booth. She continued to bang on the door until she heard the lock turn and it opened to reveal Jughead Jones, groggy and a little delusional because of being abruptly woken up.
"Rosie?" Jughead asked, running his hand through his hair. "W-What are you doing here? What time is i-"
Jughead was cut off by Rosemary wrapping her arms around his torso and squeezing him tight. Jughead wrapped his arms around her as well, feeling her entire body shuttering. The two stood like that for a few moments before Rosemary pulled away, wiping her tears and walking over to the desk Jughead set up, throwing her bag on it. Jughead closed the door and turned towards her, looking slightly confused.
"Not that I'm not happy to see you, Rosie," Jughead assured. "But what are you doing here?"
Rosemary stood there, her body still trembling with fear. The nightmare was still haunting her mind and she felt like she was about to collapse. Slowly, Rosemary sat down on Jughead's makeshift bed and leaned against the wall, pulling her knees against her chest and burying her head in her arms. Jughead sat down next to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
Rosemary's entire body shuddered as she sobbed. Her throat was sore from her previous crying and it left her voice cracking and raspy as she sobbed. Jughead pulled her close and Rosemary let him. Soon, Jughead and Rosemary were laying on the cot with Jughead embracing Rosemary. Her heart retching sobs continued and it left Jughead feeling helpless not being able to help her.
Rosemary ended up crying herself to sleep in Jughead's embrace and he looked down at her, slowly reaching forwards and wiping the tears from her cheeks. Rosemary hummed and Jughead froze, not wanting to wake her up. Her body relaxed and she sighed, still fast asleep.
"You're an angel, Jughead Jones," Rosemary whispered in a raspy voice.
Jughead couldn't tell if she had said it in her sleep or if she was awake, but he couldn't help but smile a bit and feel a warmth fill his heart. Jughead wrapped his arms around her protectively and slowly drifted off to sleep, holding Rosemary a little tighter before completely knocking out, his last thought wondering:
Why do awful things happen to wonderful people?
⧊
Rosemary woke up to Jughead's alarm two hours before school had to start. She opened her eyes groggily to see Jughead already up and getting dressed. Once he slipped his shirt on he turned around, hearing her sit up in the cot.
"Morning," Jughead greeted. Rosemary hummed in reply and stood up, stretching.
Jughead turned around so she could get changed. Rosemary changed into a pair of leggings and one of Archie's sweatshirts she stole the previous school year and never gave back. She kept her sneakers on and tied her hair up in a messy bun to hide the knots, her bangs still hanging down and framing her face. Once she was ready, the two went to Pop Tate's for some breakfast before school. Jughead got a stack of pancakes and a coffee. Rosemary got french toast, some fruit, and orange juice.
"So," Rosemary looked up at Jughead from across the table. "You going to write for the Blue and Gold for me? I need an extremely talented and tortured author to help me make my boring stories exciting."
Jughead rolled his eyes. Besides going to a school dance, Rosemary has also been begging Jughead to write for the Blue and Gold for her. Rosemary was amazing when it came to photography, but couldn't write a story like Jughead could.
"Rosemary, you know what I'm going to say," Jughead said from across the table. Rosemary's hopeful face fell and she nodded, looking down at her plate and nudging a strawberry with her fork.
Jughead felt kind of bad. Rosemary really wanted Jughead to be more social and do more extracurriculars and he always turned her down. Maybe, just this once, he should try and make her happy since she seemed to be barely keeping her head above water as it was.
"I'll think about it," Jughead stated. Rosemary looked up at him and for a moment, her usual, bubbly, excited self had come back. She wasn't faking her joy like Jughead knew she was doing for a bit now, she was genuinely happy.
After they finished their breakfast they paid and began their walk to school.
"Crap," Rosemary groaned as he phone rang. "It's my dad, hold on."
Rosemary answered the phone and heard a sigh of relief come from the other end.
"Rosemary Arleen Holland, where the Hell are you?" Rosemary's dad's voice echoed. Rosemary rolled her eyes towards Jughead, who chuckled at her reaction.
"I'm with Jughead, walking to school," Rosemary told her dad. "Sorry for sneaking out last night, I forgot Jughead and I had a mini project to do over the weekend and I stayed the night at him and FP's trailer finishing it."
Lies rolled off the blonde's tongue so smoothly that for a moment, Jughead really believed that's what happened. That she didn't come crying to the projection booth. That she didn't spend the night with him. That she wasn't carrying a huge weight on her chest.
"Nothing happened, right?" Her father asked. Rosemary rolled her eyes again and nodded, even though he couldn't see her.
"No dad, nothing happened," Rosemary assured her dad. Next to her, Jughead laughed that that was what her dad was worried about at the moment. "I slept on the couch and Jughead slept on the floor. We also finished our project and decided to get some Pop's for breakfast before school."
At least that was half true.
"Alright," Her dad sighed. "Oh, your brother and sister are up. Cameron, Lizzy, say good morning to your sister."
"Morning, Mary," Rosemary's thirteen year old brother's voice echoed through the phone.
Rosemary rolled her eyes. Despite how much she hated it, her brother constantly called her Mary. Rosemary found it odd and slightly annoying, but she never got mad over it. The two of them had always been extremely close. They told each other almost everything and were keeping many secrets from their parents.
"Morning, Cam," Rosemary smiled.
"Rosie, Rosie!" Rosemary's eight year old little sister, Elizabeth, yelled into the phone. "Is Jughead with you?"
"Yes, Lizzy, you're boyfriend is here," Rosemary chuckled. "Do you want to say hi?"
Elizabeth hummed in response and Rosemary put her on speaker, looking over at Jughead and wiggled her eyebrows as she offered him the phone. Jughead scoffed and nudged her, taking the phone from her hand and smiling down at it.
"Good morning, Juggie," Elizabeth's voice rang from the phone. Jughead's smile widened and he held the phone closer to his mouth.
"Morning, Lizzy," Jughead greeted the little girl over the phone. "How did you sleep?"
"Amazing," Elizabeth giggled. "How about you?"
Rosemary always teased her little sister for having a crush on Jughead. She always seemed to favor the dark and brooding teenage boy, even over her sometimes. When Elizabeth was five, Jughead and Rosemary took her to the park and all she wanted to do was sit on Jughead's lap and swing on the swings. It was cute and a little awkward for the rest of their time there. Elizabeth even threw a tantrum because her playdate with Jughead was over.
"I slept great," Jughead answered, eyeing Rosemary before looking back down at the phone. "Hey, Liz, we're at the school so I gotta hang up, but it was nice talking to you."
"You too," Elizabeth's high pitched voice answered. "Bye Juggie! Bye Rosie!"
Jughead hung up the phone and handed it back to Rosemary, who sent him a grateful smile.
"Your welcome for ending the phone call before your dad got back on the line," Jughead teased Rosemary, who scoffed and nudged him as the two walked through Riverdale High's parking lot.
⧊
Jughead and Rosemary walked up to Archie, who stood at his locker staring at the memorial in front of Jason Blossom's old locker. In the memorial were pictures of Jason, candles, flowers, and cards all laid out on the hallway's tile floor.
"Hi," Jughead spoke up, catching Archie's attention. Archie turned around quickly eyeing Jughead and then his eyes landing on Rosemary.
She looked awful. Her face was puffy, her eyes had bags underneath of them from lack of sleep, and she looked paler. He eyed the hoodie she wore, obviously recognizing it, but didn't say anything about it.
"Do you think," Jughead started, eyeing the memorial and then looking up at Archie. "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.'"
Archie took his notebook out of his locker and slammed his locker door. Rosemary slapped the back of Jughead's head, shifting how his crown-like beanie sat on his head. He looked down at her with a confused look and she sent him a scolding one.
"Don't joke about Jason Blossom," Archie scolded Jughead.
"What? Sardonic humor is just my way of relating to the world." Jughead joked, trying to lighten the mood. He looked over Archie's shoulder and scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Look, it's the rich kids from The Goonies. All right, I'm out."
Rosemary left with Jughead and looked over where he had been last looking to see Reggie, Moose, and Chuck Clayton. Rosemary followed behind Jughead, keeping her head down to avoid eye contact with Reggie. He had been trying to contact her since Cheryl's party, but Rosemary was ignoring all his calls and texts.
"Watch it, Wednesday Addams," Reggie yelled as he shoulder chucked Jughead. Rosemary turned, locking eyes with Reggie and glaring at him.
"You watch it, Mantle," Rosemary spat towards him. A look of hurt flashed on Reggie's face as she turned her back towards him and followed Jughead to their class they shared.
"Nah-ah-ah," Kevin Keller's voice echoed, catching the attention of Rosemary and Jughead as he linked his arm with hers, Betty standing at his side. "Can we steal her for a bit, Jughead?" Kevin asked.
Jughead nodded and waved goodbye to Rosemary, who was slightly nervous leaving Jughead's side. He saw her nerves and mouthed 'you'll be fine' before turning around and continued to walk.
"What happened to you at the party?" Kevin instantly questioned. Rosemary tensed up at the question, flashes of the closet filling her mind.
"Yeah," Betty butted in. "Kevin told me you left crying after you got in the closet with some Ben kid."
"And the you left with Reggie Mantle," Kevin added.
"I... Uh," Rosemary raked her brain for a lie she could tell. Finally, she thought of one and sent them both a small smile. "I'm claustrophobic. I felt like I couldn't breathe so I left. I was embarrassed and Reggie is the only person I've told so I asked him to drive me home."
Betty and Kevin nodded, completely disregarding the topic. Rosemary took a deep, shaky breath before smiling and listening back in on Kevin and Betty's conversation.
"Now that romance is off the table," Kevin started. "I'll just say it. Are we one-hundred percent sure Archie is straight? Because no straight man has that body."
Rosemary scoffed and Betty sighed and shrugged.
"Speaking of Bodies," Betty added. "Have you recovered from finding Jason's?
"It was more traumatizing having to explain to my dad what I was doing with Moose at the river," Kevin assured, making Rosemary scrunch her face a bit and look up at him in confusion. "Yet another perk of being the sheriff's son."
"So let me get this straight," Rosemary held up her finger. "You're more traumatized from telling you sheriff dad, who is one-hundred percent okay with you being gay, that you and Moose were going to the river for a quick hook up, and not the dead body of our classmate, which, might I remind you, had a bullet wound in his head even though we all thought he drowned."
"Yup," Kevin nodded as the three of them walked into the main office. On the front desk sat a bouquet of yellow roses in a glass vase with a small note sticking out of the top.
"Oh my God," Kevin gasped. "Those are gorgeous. Are those for Betty, Mrs. Phillips?"
"That's why I called her," Sneered the older woman from behind the desk.
Kevin plucked the small card out of its holder and held it up. Rosemary snatched it out of his hand to read herself but Kevin snatched it back and bent down so she could read it also.
"'Dear Betty,'" Kevin read. "'Please forgive me, XOXO, V.'"
"Who the Hell is V?" Rosemary asked, plucking the card again from Kevin's hand.
"Veronica," Said Betty's voice and another at the same time. The three teens looked in the doorway to see Veronica Lodge standing in the doorway with a small box in her hand.
"The yellow is for friendship," Veronica pointed at the bouquet. Rosemary shrugged and pulled one out of the vase, pulling off every thorn so she could hold it without accidentally hurting herself. "I also had Magnolia cupcakes flown in from New York. Because, as my mom likes to say, 'There's no wrong the right cupcake can't fix.'"
"Hm," Rosemary hummed. "I'm going to make that my senior quote."
"Also," Veronica added. "I-I've booked us for hers-and-hers mani-pedis at Chez Salon. Blowouts, too. I am so, so sorry, Betty. I don't know what happened to me that night. It was such a basic bitch move. It was like I was... Possessed by-"
"Madame Satan?" Kevin butt in. Rosemary hit him with the rose in her hand, making sure the part still with the thorns on it poked him.
"The old Veronica," Veronica finished. "And I will never, ever do anything like that to you again. I swear on my mother's pearls. Just, can you please give me one more chance?"
They all stood there for a few moments, Kevin and Veronica awaiting Betty's answer while Rosemary tugged the thorns off her flower. Once they were all off she smiled at her accomplishment and undid her messy bun, placing the rose behind her ear. A sharp nick pinched her ear and Rosemary hissed, realizing that she missed a thorn.
"Okay," Betty shrugged.
"What?" Kevin and Veronica asked in shock.
"Good for you, Betty," Rosemary congratulated as she plucked the last thorn she missed and placed it behind her ear again. Kevin looked down at her in confusion and she shrugged, grabbing another rose and starting to take the thorns off.
"Really?" Veronica asked, her whole face lighting up. "Awesome. I'll take it and you won't regret it. And I'll bring these to lunch so we can celebrate!"
Betty nodded and the school bell rang. Veronica turned and walked out, a small skip in her step because of how excited she was that Betty was taking her back. Kevin turned to Betty with a shocked and horrified look on his face.
"It's the path of least resistance, Kev," Betty assured him. "A week ago, Veronica and I weren't friends. Next week, we'll nod to each other as we pass in the hall, but that's it. You know, in two weeks she won't even remember my name. And in three, she'll have latched on to some other girl to destroy."
"I don't know," Rosemary shrugged, plucking the last thorn off the stem of the rose. "I like Veronica. I think she really wants to be your friend, Betty."
"Says you," Kevin nudged her. "You're friends with Cheryl Blossom. You see the good in everyone."
"You're right, Kevin," Rosemary shrugged, heading towards the doorway but turning around so she was facing them. "I guess that just makes me an awful person, doesn't it?